April showers bring a hearty crop of books for May! Check out the latest titles published this month:
Refugees and Rescue
The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald, 1935–1945
Edited by Richard Breitman, Barbara McDonald Stewart, and Severin Hochberg
Compelling new evidence challenges widely held opinions about Franklin D. Roosevelt's views on the rescue of European Jews before and during the Holocaust, disclosing the struggles of leaders to transfer many of the otherwise doomed.
Jewish Public Culture in the Late Russian Empire
Jeffrey Veidlinger
By highlighting the cultural experiences shared by Jews of diverse social backgrounds through voluntary associations such as libraries, drama circles, literary clubs, and historical societies, Veidlinger revises traditional views of Jewish society in the late Russian Empire.
The Hoosier Cabinet in Kitchen History
Nancy R. Hiller
"In a very real sense, the Hoosier cabinet was a key element in the transformation of the American kitchen from the little-seen, out-of-the-way domain of servants to the focus of all family activity. This book should appeal to the American imagination." —Mary Ellen Polson, senior editor of Old House Interiors magazine
Battle of Surigao Strait
Anthony P. Tully
"Aims to sort out the discrepancies that have crept in over time to standard accounts of the battle…a confused and complex night action. Of special interest is Tully's exploitation of fresh source materials." —Malcolm Muir, Jr., author of Black Shoes and Blue Water: Surface Warfare in the United States Navy, 1945–1975
Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity
Leigh H. Edwards
"The Man in Black embodied many of the contradictions that dot the American landscape. In this bold new study, Leigh Edwards explains how time, place, talent, and manhood made his legend." —Toby Miller, author of Makeover Nation: The United States of Reinvention
The Great American Symphony
Music, the Depression, and War
Nicholas Tawa
"Out of tragedy emerges great art. This is the message contained in the well-documented book by Nicholas Tawa. He reminds us of rich treasures, both known and yet to be rediscovered. The work will be a valuable resource for musicians, as well as lovers of perhaps, the most creative time in American music." —Leonard Slatkin, Music Director, Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Ceremonial Musicians of Late Medieval Florence
Timothy J. McGee
"McGee is without question the leading authority on civic patronage of music in Florence and this book will be central to our understanding of the cultural history of one of the most important cities of the Renaissance." —Keith Polk, New England Conservatory
Now in paperback, CD included
Moriz Rosenthal in Word and Music
A Legacy of the Nineteenth Century
Edited and with an Introduction by Mark Mitchell
and Allan Evans. Preface by Charles Rosen
"This is a valuable work for pianists and an enjoyable read for everyone. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Inclusive music libraries serving readers at all levels." —Choice
Street Dreams and Hip Hop Barbershops
Global Fantasy in Urban Tanzania
Brad Weiss
"Dr. Weiss has chosen a very difficult group to study—young men—but also a group about which we urgently need to know much more, since they are increasingly seen, in Africa and elsewhere, as a problem-group that is potentially dangerous. …A seminal analysis of the global-local conundrum." —Peter Geschiere, University of Amsterdam
Surfaces
Color, Substances, and Ritual Applications on African Sculpture
Edited by Leonard Kahan, Donna Page, and Pascal James Imperato in collaboration with Charles Bordogna and Bolaji Campbell. Introduction by Patrick McNaughton
Six essays by distinguished African art historians investigate the culture of surface decoration from creation to its ritual use and "retirement." Beautiful color and black-and-white photographs embellish the text and illustrate the power and potency of African sculpture.
Enterprising Women in Urban Zimbabwe
Gender, Microbusiness, and Globalization
Mary Johnson Osirim
Investigating the business and personal experiences of women entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe, this comprehensive study advances the literature on gender and development, showing women as agents during challenging political and economic times.
Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America
A Genealogy
Ladelle McWhorter
McWhorter reveals how a carefully structured campaign against abnormality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries encouraged white Americans to purge society of so-called biological contaminants, people who were poor, disabled, black, or queer.
Habits of Whiteness
A Pragmatist Reconstruction
Terrance MacMullan
"One of the clearest statements of why Dewey and Du Bois are both committed to the pragmatist project of human brotherhood." —Bill E. Lawson, co-author of Between Slavery and Freedom
Loneliness and Lament
A Journey to Receptivity
Patricia Joy Huntington
"A brave and brilliant book, which brings to bear a rich array of philosophical sources to address one of the most pressing issues women face in their lives—loneliness." —Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
The New Black Gods
Arthur Huff Fauset and the Study of African American Religions
Edited by Edward E. Curtis IV and Danielle Brune Sigler
In this essential dynamic perspective, a new generation of scholars offers fresh ideas for understanding the religious expressions of African Americans in the United States.
Now in Paperback
Fugitive Vision
Slave Image and Black Identity in Antebellum Narrative
Michael A. Chaney
Analyzing the impact of black abolitionist iconography on early black literature and the formation of black identity, Fugitive Vision examines the writings of Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, William and Ellen Craft,
and Harriet Jacobs, and the slave potter David Drake.
Language, Emotion, and Politics in South India
The Making of a Mother Tongue
Lisa Mitchell
"Written with great zest and clarity, this book deepens our understanding of the complex relationships among linguistic identity, state formation, and individual political participation in South India." —Martha Ann Selby, University of Texas
Beyond Bollywood and Broadway
Plays from the South Asian Diaspora
Edited by Neilesh Bose
"An important contribution to the field of South Asian diasporic studies…it has significant potential to invigorate both an academic audience and a general audience of theatre enthusiasts interested in South Asian diasporic drama." —Rajini Srikanth, co-editor, Contours of the Heart: South Asians Map North America