Read this book. Change the system.

For anyone interested in how courts deal with juvenile crime, and for anyone who thinks there must be a better way, read this book. Drawing upon the simple, yet profound idea that children do not turn into adults on a single day, the authors elaborate on the deficiencies of a legal system that is, in fact, largely based upon just that notion. The chapters help us to envision a legal system that would see adolescent development as a gradual and continuous process, and that would not allow prosecutorial ambition alone to determine which young offenders should be held criminally responsible for their actions.

This is an important albeit not uncontroversial contribution to the field of international political economy. The book tries to answer the question whether the world capitalist system is in crisis and the paths available for future world development. The works are firmly located within the world system thesis expounded by Wallerstein in many of his previous works.

The book intoruduces the concept of 6 vectors within which future paths can be examined. These are the inter-state system; world production; world labour force; human welfare; cohesion of states; and the structures of knowledge.

The book displays the weaknesses inherent in the world system thesis. These include overstating the degree of integration of the economies of the world and thus not taking into account the emergence of "non-states" run either by armed bandits or by organised crime.

The book does not deal adequately with the current state of the state. Given the debate around MNCs and their increasing expansion into areas which were the domain of the state this is an issue needing serious appraisal.

The depiction of this era as being a post US hegemonic era is also an area which will be contested by many writers, not least of all the Fukuyama's of the world.

Wallerstein concludes that the future depends onm how the following factors develop: * the extent to which there is loyalty to citizenship;

* the level of security through police order; the extent to which military orders are maintained; * level of welfare especially in relation to health and food distribution; * stability of religious institutions.

Probably the best account of its subject matter out there.

I found this book was able to shed some much needed light on America's first master painters. I found Flexner's writing to be beautiful and the result of reading this book has been several trips to view the works of the artists featured within. I heartily recommend this title to all who are interested in this period of American/art history, or to those who would likee to be!

I read this book for business school and enjoyed it thoroughly enough to recommend it to friends and family who are interested in the recent history of business. This book documents the major events and themes in American Business during the past 80 years. The writing gives enough detail without being boring. In addition, I found it interesting to see how certain themes persist through time proving that history does repeat itself. The book is a very quick read and provides the reader with enough information on each era. After that, the reader can use the suggested reading list to learn more about the subjects, eras and people that might interest him/her. Overall, a great read.

Dennis R. Hidalgo

Thomas Bender, ed. The Antislavery Debate

What can a historian do when there is not enough empirical evidence to produce a quantitative and comprehensively thesis for a social historical problem that defies psychological scrutiny? David Brion Davis opted for an answer that satisfies cynic assumptions with circumstantial evidences. Davis argues that the strength of abolitionism in early industrial Britain derived from its susceptibility to the needs of the dominant political elite. It was particularly influenced by this new bourgeoisie capitalist class' modes of industrial discipline. Antislavery main, and unconscious, purpose was to desensitize English society to the newer forms of oppression evident in the increasing wage labor. His context of conceptual reference appears to flow from Marxism and Freudian thought: the rise of an oppressing bourgeoisie driven by its hidden and selfish Id. To Thomas Haskell this idea of unconscious "self-deception" and motivation by class interests is not convincing. For him, it is impossible for the historian to bring concrete evidence to bear, which will distinguish between unconscious intention and unintended consequences. Following what appears to be a more objective goal, Haskell intends to draw a straighter line between the rise of the market economy and the rise of the abolitionist movement in 1750s. In doing so he moves from a quasi-Freudian historical analysis to an Ericsonian: that of a cognitive change of behavior. For Haskell capitalist and market expansion broaden social perception that in turn promoted moral responsibility. The most powerful catalyst in this process of change was the "intensification of market discipline, and the penetration of that discipline into spheres of life previously untouched by it." To this Davis decries Haskell approach for being more economic deterministic than a rationalistic. To this, John Ashworth adds that Haskell is not able to follow up the empirical inclinations of his Davis' critic since he does not supply enough evidence to support his argument. Indeed, his only example of moral switch to Antislavery is the Quaker John Woolman. Without knowing Haskell is caught in one of the most frustrating traps of an empirical driven discipline. His response is that he is not looking for a comprehensive societal change but for a mechanism that might have caused the change. The problems this approach is the usefulness of such "found" mechanism if there is no proof that the mechanism was indeed used sufficiently as to merit its historical validity. Nevertheless, Haskell bottom line is his desire to demonstrate that abolitionists rationally attached the worst evil of their times. Davis and Ashworth's response to Haskell's premise is that wage labor could have been also attacked and was not. Ashworth spend most of his time criticizing Haskell and throwing some bits toward Davis. Yet he is also able to provide an interesting proposition. First, he asserts Davis' starting point as the place to launch the investigation: the emergence of a dominant class. This would lead us to the disregarding of wage labor abuses and protected interests. But instead of moving completely toward Davis, he detours into the cultural notion of family and its effect on productivity. The simple conclusion, thus, is that since slavery, through its detrimental effect on family and society, slowed the pace of economic advance, "it is not surprising that to more people than ever before it seemed an unmitigated evil." Haskell response to this is that these family values could have been in existence long before the abolitionist movement, thus, rendering useless in the debate. Ashworth's last answer is that the production ethos has a long family history, it was the innovation brought by master-wage earner relationship that transformed the view of family into a more entrepreneurial project. Clearly this debate is provocative, but narrowly conceived, as is mainly centered around Marxist concepts of history, evasive evidences and a revival of neo-Whiggists approaches. Very little criticism could be employed against the authors since they exhausted most of it that could be applicable to their line of argument. However, an also important critique to a combine look at the arguments presented may be the dearth of sociological and cultural approaches that may enhance the historical view that as historians we are trying to discover.

Kenny's text on Aquinas is informative and to the point. If you want more than a shallow introduction to Aquinas' life and thought, this is an excellent place to begin. Like other contributions in the Past Masters series, the text offers a brief biography, articulates the main philosophical concerns, offers some criticism, then reflects on the consequences or influences of the subject under study.

We purchased this book from an art museum while on a driving trip. We used it all during out trip to make our stops a learning pleasure. It is amazing what wonderful art is out there in small museums. This book will be used whenever we plan a trip. If would be perfect for someone traveling in a motor home.

John Biggers came to artistic maturity in an academic setting far from the art centers of New York. He was repulsed by the New York art scene that had so summarily dismissed black art when he had participated in a MOMA black student art exhibit. Perhaps his avoidance of the centers of art commerce were as responsible for the late acceptance of his genius as was the segregationist mindset in the United States during Biggers's early career. As well as producing important paintings, drawings, and sculpture, Biggers is one of this country's most important muralists, creating more than twenty major murals in fifty years. His life has been dramatic in both content and context. Wardlaw draws a clear portrait of African-American life in the black section of a sharply segregated Gastonia, North Carolina, where Biggers grew up in the 1930s, and the rich family and community life of rural black America of the time. The other essays, written by noted scholars, trace the history of Biggers's artistic career through a careful study and analysis of his body of work.

This book contains miscellaneous information about the Mythos collectible card game. It contains: the rules of the game, a FAQ, a short play and deck construction guide, a sort of designer's notes on the game, background information on selected cards, rules for solitaire play and creating your own adventures, a complete spoiler list for the limited edition of the game and lists of card attributes and requirements for completing adventures.

As a collector and player of the game, I found the designer's notes on the history of the game and the design philosophy to be especially interesting. Also useful to me are the short notes on the background of selected cards and the rules for creating and scoring your own adventures. The pictures of the selected cards are black & white with a paragraph of background info. Buyers should also note that there is an updated version of the rules of the game at the Chaosium website.