(J) = Review forthcoming
ARCHITECTURE
- (J) The Skyscraper and the City: The Woolworth Building and the Making of Modern New York
By Gail Fenske. University of Chicago Press, £34.00. ISBN 9780226241418
Striking, fanciful and a groundbreaking synthesis of Beaux-Arts and Gothic touches, the iconic New York landmark gets its first full history as Fenske argues that its design incarnates the distinctive urban culture of Progressive-era Manhattan.
ART HISTORY
- The Cambridge Companion to Giovanni Bellini
Edited by Peter Humfrey, professor of art history, University of St Andrews. Cambridge University Press, £19.99. ISBN 9780521728553
This companion volume brings together commissioned essays by an international team of scholars on Giovanni Bellini, the dominant painter of early Renaissance Venice, and aims to complement existing monographs by concentrating on aspects of Bellini that have thus far been treated only in passing.
- Hellenistic and Roman Ideal Sculpture: The Allure of the Classical
By Rachel Meredith Kousser, assistant professor of ancient art, Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Cambridge University Press, £45.00. ISBN 9780521877824
Kousser draws on contemporary reception theory to present a new approach to Hellenistic and Roman ideal sculpture, analysing the Romans' preference for retrospective, classicising statuary based on Greek models as opposed to the innovative creations prized by modern scholars.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
- Research Methods for Human-Computer Interaction
Edited by Paul Cairns, senior lecturer in human-computer interaction, University of York, and Anna L. Cox, lecturer in human computer interaction, University College London. Cambridge University Press, £60.00 and £21.99. ISBN 9780521870122 and 690317
This text brings together a single resource of methods used in human-computer interaction that draws on the fields of computer science, psychology, cognitive science and organisational and social sciences.
HISTORY
- (J) The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe
By Andrew Wheatcroft, professor of English, University of Stirling. The Bodley Head, £20.00. ISBN 9780224073646
A 17th-century clash of cultures between two mighty empires in the city the Turks called "the golden apple" marked the start of the decline of the Ottomans' power. Wheatcroft considers the events' enduring resonance.
- Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976
By Michael H. Kater, distinguished research professor emeritus of history, York University. Cambridge University Press, £19.99. ISBN 9780521873925
Rather than a traditional biography, this book is both a descriptive narrative of Lehmann's life and a critical analysis of the interconnections of the artist and society, describing the varying phases of her life, as well as the sociocultural settings in which she found herself.
LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
- Meter in Poetry: A New Theory
By Nigel Fabb, professor of literary linguistics, University of Strathclyde, and Morris Halle, institute professor and emeritus professor of linguistics, MIT. Cambridge University Press, £60.00 and £23.99. ISBN 9780521885645 and 713252
This book presents an account of all known types of metrical verse, illustrated with detailed analyses of poems in many languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, French, classical Greek and Latin, Sanskrit, Chinese, Vietnamese and Latvian.
- Communicating Affection
By Kory Floyd, professor of interpersonal communication, Arizona State University. Cambridge University Press, £13.99. ISBN 9780521731744
This text explores the scientific research on affection exchange to emerge from the disciplines of communication, social psychology, family studies, psychophysiology, anthropology and nursing.
- An Introduction to English Syntax
By Jim Miller, professor emeritus and honorary fellow in linguistics and English language, University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press, £45.00 and £14.99. ISBN 9780748633609 and 3616
In this revised edition, Jim Miller discusses the central concepts of syntax that are applied in a wide range of university courses, in business communication, in teaching and in speech therapy.
LITERATURE
- (J) Shakespeare and Laughter: A Cultural History
By Indira Ghose, professor of English, University of Freiborg. Manchester University Press, £55.00. ISBN 9780719076923
Touching on fools, Puritans, class identity, the courtly tradition and the evolving entertainment industry, Ghose's is the first major Shakespearean analysis to consider laughter, rather than comedy as a whole, and argues that few cultural phenomena have changed as radically over time.
- The Writings of Walter Burley Griffin
By Dustin Griffin, professor of English, New York University. Cambridge University Press, £75.00. ISBN 9780521897136
In this edition, 71 pieces of writing from distinguished modernist American architect Walter Burley Griffin have been thematically categorised under ten headings to reflect the variety and interrelations of his professional interests.
MUSIC
- Verdi and the French Aesthetic: Verse, Stanza and Melody in Nineteenth-Century Opera
By Andrea Giger, associate professor of musicology, Louisiana State University. Cambridge University Press, £50.00. ISBN 9780521878432
Focusing on Verdi's French operas, Giger shows how the composer acquired an ever-better understanding of the various approaches to French versification while gradually bringing his works in line with French melodic aesthetic.
PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY
- The Apology Ritual: A Philosophical Theory of Punishment
By Christopher Bennett, lecturer in philosophy, University of Sheffield. Cambridge University Press, £45.00. ISBN 9780521880725
Christopher Bennett presents a theory of punishment grounded in the practice of apology, and in particular in reactions such as feeling sorry and making amends, arguing that offenders have a "right" to be punished.
POLITICS
- New Race Politics in America: Understanding Minority and Immigrant Politics
Edited by Jane Junn, associate professor of political science, Rutgers University, and Kerry L. Haynie, associate professor of political science, Duke University. Cambridge University Press, £45.00 and £15.99. ISBN 97805218546 and 670142
This book explores the impact and political consequences of immigration on American politics, considering the organisations that mobilise new citizens to politics, the political psychology of group consciousness for political mobilisation and the emerging patterns and choices of new voters.
- The Politics of Extremism in South Asia
By Deepa M. Ollapally, professorial lecturer in Asian studies, George Washington University. Cambridge University Press, £45.00 and £17.99. ISBN 9780521875844 and 699129
Ollapally examines extremist groups in Kashmir, Afghanistan, northeast India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to offer a fresh perspective on the causes of extremism.
- Ending Wars
By Feargal Cochrane, senior lecturer in politics and international relations, Lancaster University. Polity, £40.00 and £12.99. ISBN 97807456403 and 0334
This book aims at understanding how violent conflicts can be brought to a close. Efforts at third-party intervention, mediation and political negotiation across a range of conflict zones from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa are discussed in full.
