Published this Week

(?) = Review forthcoming

ARTS AND DESIGN

- Pictures for Use and Pleasure: Vernacular Painting in High Qing China

By James Cahill, professor emeritus of Chinese art, University of California, Berkeley. University of California Press, £34.95. ISBN 9780520258570

Cahill's investigation of Chinese pictorial art history challenges the prevalent dogma and doctrine of the literati paintings of the Chinese male elite. He demonstrates how the vernacular images - simultaneously beautiful and appalling - strengthen our understanding of High Qing culture.

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

- Protecting Life on Earth: An Introduction to Conservation

By Michael P. Marchetti, associate professor of biology, California State University, Chico; and Peter B. Moyle, professor of fish biology, University of California, Davis. University of California Press, £34.95. ISBN 9780520264328

Marchetti seeks to provide a comprehensive introduction into the growing field of conservation science. He considers a variety of issues related to the conservation of biodiversity, including extinction, climate change, conservation law and invasive species.

EDUCATION

- St Augustine

By Ryan N.S. Topping, visiting assistant professor in theology, Walsh University, Ohio. Continuum, £75.00. ISBN 9780826426611

Topping provides a coherent account of St Augustine's educational thought, including coverage of the reception and influence of his work and its relevance today. The author's analysis identifies limitations as well as strengths in Augustine's educational philosophy, and applies his ideas to contemporary debates about the university.

- Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching with Technology

Edited by Michael Thomas, professor in English, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, Japan; and Hayo Reinders, head of language and learning support, Middlesex University. Continuum, £75.00. ISBN 9781441101532

This text examines the widespread interest in technology-enhanced learning environments to look at how they are being used to promote task-based education. It is intended for practitioners and researchers in applied linguistics, second-language acquisition and education studies.

HISTORY

- War, Empire and Slavery, 1770-1830

Edited by Richard Bessel, professor of 20-century history, University of York; Nicholas Guyatt, lecturer in modern history, University of York; and Jane Rendall, honorary Fellow, University of York. Palgrave Macmillan, £55.00. ISBN 9780230229891

Covering southern India, the Caribbean, North and South America and southern Africa, this volume explores the impact of revolutionary wars and how people's identities were shaped by their experiences.

- Mexico: Why a Few Are Rich and the People Poor

By Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, professor emeritus of history, University of California, San Diego. University of California Press, £37.95 and £14.95. ISBN 9780520262355 and 2362

Focusing on the underdevelopment that has shaped the country since the Spanish conquest, Ruiz presents a panoramic interpretation of Mexican history from the pre-Hispanic and colonial eras through to the 20th century. He draws on the areas of economics, psychology, literature, film and history.

LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS

- The Language of Fictional Television: Drama and Identity

By Monika Bednarek, lecturer in linguistics, University of Sydney. Continuum, £75.00. ISBN 9781441155856

Bednarek addresses the need for a systemic analysis of television discourse and characterisation within linguistics and media studies, presenting both corpus stylistics and "manual" analysis of linguistic and multimodal features of fictional television.

LITERARY STUDIES

- The Pen and the Cross: Catholicism and English Literature 1850-2000

By Richard Griffiths, former professor of French, King's College London. Continuum, £25.00. ISBN 9780826496973

This text aims to offer a detailed account of the growth of Catholicism as a cultural, social and political force in Britain. Considering movements on the Continent, the author also examines the impact of French Catholic writers such as Huysmans, Peguy and Mauriac on their British counterparts, as well as the influence of British Catholic writers including Newman, Faber and Chesterton on Europe.

MEDICINE

- Patient and Provider Interaction

By Lisa Sparks, presidential research fellow in health and risk communication, Chapman University; and Melinda Villagran, associate professor of communication, George Mason University. Wiley, £55.00 and £17.99. ISBN 9780745645360 and 5377

The authors present an introduction to the dynamics of the communication exchange between providers and patients in the healthcare environment. Explaining how health communication theory and research can help in understanding these interactions, they also provide strategies for improving patient and provider communication.

- Reproducing Women: Medicine, Metaphor, and Childbirth in Late Imperial China

By Yi-Li Wu, associate professor of history, Albion College. University of California Press, £34.95. ISBN 9780520260689

Examining the development of medicine in Qing dynasty China, Wu focuses on the speciality of "medicine for women". She explores the material and ideological issues associated with childbearing in the late imperial period, as well as drawing on medical writings from 17th- to 19th-century China to analyse the issues that helped shape people's views of female reproductive diseases.

PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY

- How to Be a Philosopher: Or How to Be Almost Certain that Almost Nothing Is Certain

By Gary Cox, teacher in philosophy, University of Bristol. Continuum, £14.99. ISBN 9781441144782

In this practical guide to philosophising, Cox explains philosophical ideas and explores life's big questions, aided by examples drawn from works such as Family Guy, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Matrix and Red Dwarf.

POLITICS

- Permanent Alliance? Nato and the Transatlantic Bargain from Truman to Obama

By Stanley R. Sloan, visiting scholar, Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, Middlebury College. Continuum, £65.00 and £19.99. ISBN 9781441151261 and 38057

Sloan looks at topics including European integration, global security, emerging powers and the role of the US as a world leader in this discussion of the global trends that are changing the environment for transatlantic relations. He examines whether Nato has become a "permanent alliance" of the sort George Washington warned against and whether it is nearing the end of its utility.

- (?)Understanding Euroscepticism

By Cecile Leconte, senior lecturer in political science, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Lille. Palgrave Macmillan, £65.00 and £24.99. ISBN 9780230228061 and 8078

Leconte seeks to provide a concise and readable assessment of the dynamics, character and consequences of opposition to European integration, examining it from all levels including elites and governments through to parties and the media, as well as voters and grass-roots organisations.

- Ethics, Law and Military Operations

By David Whetham, senior lecturer in defence studies, King's College London. Palgrave Macmillan, £65.00 and £23.99. ISBN 9780230221703 and 1710

This text offers a first look at the relevance of legal and normative issues in military practice. Covering the entire spectrum of military operations, it is written particularly with military decision-makers in mind.

- A History of the Baltic States

By Andres Kasekamp, professor of Baltic politics, University of Tartu. Palgrave Macmillan, £50.00 and £16.99. ISBN 9780230019409 and 9416

Kasekamp traces the development of three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He examines events such as their experiences of Naziism and communism, the northern crusades against Europe's last pagans, as well as their incorporation into the Russian empire and the creation of their modern national identities.