Editors’ Picks: August 2022 Edition

10 reviews handpicked from the latest issue of Choice.

Posted on August 17, 2022 in Editors' Picks

Clearly this book is technical in focus. However, many concepts are introduced in an approachable way for readers new to blockchain and AI.

—J. Brzezinski, McHenry County College

Blockchain, big data and machine learning: trends and applications, ed. by Neeraj Kumar et al. CRC Press, 2020. 360p bibl index ISBN 9780367370688, $160.00; ISBN 9780367371685 pbk, $64.00; ISBN 9780429352546 ebook, $63.95.

It will be hard to find a more pivotal convergence of digital technologies than in the book under review. Although many publications focus on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, data integrity consensus algorithms, and smart contracts, this book goes a step beyond. Several chapters discuss the synergy between artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperledger-based frameworks. AI and blockchain might converge in numerous applications, such as financial services, fraud detection, supply chain monitoring, and medical records management. One critical technology presented in several chapters is blockchain databases, which introduce a new transaction model and new approaches to asset storage, metadata, and support for big data volumes. System developers are in the early stages of addressing blockchain limitations resulting from the absence of relational structure and issues with making blockchain queryable. A few chapters cover the increasingly important area of blockchain-related visualizations. Technologies discussed include cryptocurrency visualization systems—peer, security-related, and flow visualizations. One of the more interesting chapters focuses on blockchain creation using Javascript. Some chapters address business and social media applications, such as the excellent chapter on Synapse AI and the changing economic model of using and contributing data. Clearly this book is technical in focus. However, many concepts are introduced in an approachable way for readers new to blockchain and AI. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. —J. Brzezinski, McHenry County College

It is essential reading for practitioners who may be contemplating training in clinical psychoanalysis.

—M. Uebel, University of Texas

Borch-Jacobsen, Mikkel. Freud’s patients: a book of lives, tr. by Andrew Brown. Reaktion Books, 2021. 256p bibl ISBN 9781789144550, $26.68; ISBN 9781789144543 ebook, contact publisher for price.

Borch-Jacobsen (comparative literature, Univ. of Washington), a renowned scholar of psychoanalysis, presents brief accounts of the lives of 38 patients who underwent psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud. The current book, translated from the French work published in 2011, expands from the original 31 biographies and corrects errors based on further archival research. Most of the biographical portraits demonstrate the abject failure of psychoanalysis to address the patients’ core symptoms, let alone cure them. One of Freud’s most famous patients, Sergius Pankejeff (1887–1979), whom Freud nicknamed “the Wolf Man,” denied the claim that he was cured and went so far as to state that “. . . instead of doing me some good, psychoanalysis did me harm” (p. 173). Pankejeff’s verdict is one found frequently in the largely tragic portraits of the patient biographies presented here. Borch-Jacobsen summarizes: “with a few ambiguous exceptions, such as the treatments of Ernst Lanzer, Bruno Walter and Albert Hirst, Freud’s cures were largely ineffectual, when they were not downright destructive” (p. 9). This well-documented book will be instructive for scholars and general readers interested in separating historical fact from psychoanalytic mythology. It is essential reading for practitioners who may be contemplating training in clinical psychoanalysis. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers. —M. Uebel, University of Texas

Other databases provide free access to selected issues or fragments of historical Russian newspapers, but Imperial Russian Newspapers is the most comprehensive database of Russian newspapers before 1917.

—Abstracted from, ccAdvisor

Imperial Russian Newspapers. East View Information Services. Contact publisher for pricing. Internet Resource.
https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/irn/

Imperial Russian Newspapers is a digital archive of newspapers published in the Russian Empire from the 18th to the early 20th century. As Sofia Fagiolo wrote for ccAdvisor, the database “currently includes 25 titles with nearly 40,000 issues and over 363,000 pages, all presented in full-image and full-text format.” Access to most of the material was “provided [by] the National Library of Russia’s Newspaper Division, which holds the largest and most comprehensive pre-revolutionary newspaper collection in the Russian Federation.” Chronicling Russian history from 1767 to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, this is an excellent resource for scholars.

With a clear interface, Imperial Russian Newspapers is easy to use, “offer[ing] multiple avenues for searching and browsing … the collection,” such as by title and date or using the Map navigation, though at present this latter feature is less helpful because most titles are from St. Petersburg. The Basic Search function allows for keyword searching using Boolean operators, wildcards, word proximity, and fuzzy search. Users can search in either English or Russian, aided by a virtual Cyrillic keyboard and a transliteration table. “The main page … [also] offers a random selection of documents published on each day of the calendar (‘On This Date in History’),” Fagiolo added.

This database “provides a unique, firsthand perspective on the political and cultural events in Tsarist Russia … and all for free,” although because the content is in Russian, its audience will be limited to more advanced researchers. Other databases provide free access to selected issues or fragments of historical Russian newspapers, but Imperial Russian Newspapers is the most comprehensive database of Russian newspapers before 1917. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty.

This review is a summary of a longer review by Sofia Fagiolo, AIB, Italian Library Association, Rome, Italy, originally published in ccAdvisor.org. Copyright © 2022 by The Charleston Company. —Abstracted from, ccAdvisor

This is a must read for anyone interested in better understanding the Latina experience with the American criminal justice system and society at large and those vested in positive transformation.

—M. G. Urbina, Sul Ross State University

Latinas in the criminal justice system: victims, targets, and offenders, ed. by Vera Lopez and Lisa Pasko. New York University, 2021. 384p bibl index ISBN 9781479804634, $99.00; ISBN 9781479891962 pbk, $35.00; ISBN 9781479806324 ebook, contact publisher for price.

Perhaps no other institution has been more impactful or detrimental to everyday life than the American criminal justice system. Though many aspects of law enforcement’s efforts to control, marginalize, and silence selected segments of society are well documented, the historical mechanisms, beliefs, and ideologies that shape criminal justice practices and discourse and, by extension, one of the most vulnerable populations—Latinas—are much less analyzed. Editors Lopez (Arizona State Univ.) and Pasko (Univ. of Denver) have compiled an excellent collection documenting this vulnerable community’s experiences of the criminal justice system, urging understanding, reform, accountability, equality, and justice. Contributing authors masterfully examine and vividly delineate the historical, social, legal, and ideological forces governing the Latina experience with the penal system and mainstream American society. In a highly charged political era, this book is a timely contribution to help educate readers about police, law and society, race/ethnic relations, and social and legal reform. It will be vital in the fields of sociology, history, ethnic/minority studies, legal studies, and criminal justice. This is a must read for anyone interested in better understanding the Latina experience with the American criminal justice system and society at large and those vested in positive transformation. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. —M. G. Urbina, Sul Ross State University

Every reader interested in facing current failures and discussing radically relevant solutions will find something of interest in this volume.

—M. C. Stephan, Washington State University

Negotiating climate change in crisis, ed. by Steffen Böhm and Sian Sullivan. Open Book Publishers, 2021. 472p bibl index ISBN 9781800642614, $56.53; ISBN 9781800642607 pbk, $41.23; ISBN 9781800642638 ebook, $9.16.

This open-access anthology offers a refreshingly non-US-centric look at the implications of decades of neglect for climate change concerns. The diversity of topics and contributing authors suggest that although there is much to criticize about successive failures to address climate change, there is also much to learn about the history of social, economic, and governmental responses to it. The idea of negotiation embedded in the title signals the perspective of urgency adopted throughout: readers must reframe not only their understanding of the problem but also their inventory of possible solutions. Authors tackle deep issues, including the historical structuring of responses by capitalism (emissions-trading) and protracted trend of development based on “extractivism.” As some authors argue, even the currently promoted solutions, such as green energy, involve unacknowledged costs. Humans seem unwilling to face the dramatic shifts that must occur. Part 4 focuses on human-wildlife conflicts, land-use impacts, and indigenous ontological risk in Namibia, a “climate change frontline country.” Böhm (Univ. of Exeter) and Sullivan (Bath Spa Univ.) have brought together a group of writers skilled at communicating the sense of imminent existential challenge, whose recommendations ask much of society. Every reader interested in facing current failures and discussing radically relevant solutions will find something of interest in this volume. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers. —M. C. Stephan, Washington State University

Ultimately, this work offers a fresh, up-to-date examination of the historical narrative and future direction of studies of religion, culture, and politics while challenging the stale dichotomies of past interpretations.

—M. S. Hill, Liberty University

Religion and politics beyond the culture wars: new directions in a divided America, ed. by Darren Dochuk. Notre Dame, 2021. 370p bibl index ISBN 9780268201296, $55.00; ISBN 9780268201289 ebook, $43.99.

Religion, politics, and culture are enduring themes in American society and have sparked a growing body of scholarly works. Dochuk (Univ. of Notre Dame) has compiled a fine collection on this subject, which challenges the standard interpretations of past academic studies. The editor and contributing authors push back against the patent narrative of conflict between conservatives and liberals, right and left, and the conflict thesis between religion and secularism. They argue for the underlying pluralism of American society, changing political and religious loyalties, and the role of contingency in shaping decisions. Chapter essays consider capitalism, school vouchers, minority groups, religious liberty, the growth of megachurches, environmentalism, family life, women, and differences in Catholic and Protestant perspectives. By opening the door to such broad considerations, the book offers readers a scholarly snapshot of religion, culture, and politics through different frameworks that challenge long-held assumptions. Ultimately, this work offers a fresh, up-to-date examination of the historical narrative and future direction of studies of religion, culture, and politics while challenging the stale dichotomies of past interpretations. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. —M. S. Hill, Liberty University

Ritter (New Mexico Highlands Univ.) details how Americans attempted to curb immigration, especially among people from Germany and Ireland, during the 1840s and 1850s.

—R. D. Screws, Arkansas National Guard Museum

Ritter, Luke. Inventing America’s first immigration crisis: political nativism in the antebellum West. Fordham, 2020. 253p index ISBN 9780823289844, $105.00; ISBN 9780823289851 pbk, $35.00; ISBN 9780823289875 ebook, contact publisher for price.

As the US deals with current immigration issues, Inventing America’s First Immigration Crisis reminds one that nativism, anti-immigration sentiment, and anti-Catholicism have deep histories. Ritter (New Mexico Highlands Univ.) details how Americans attempted to curb immigration, especially among people from Germany and Ireland, during the 1840s and 1850s. Many immigrants from these areas were Catholic, and fear of their religion increased the number of nativist Americans in antebellum western cities such as Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis. Protestant Americans were appalled that Catholic immigrants refused to use the King James Bible and did not adhere to traditional American values on the Sabbath. By the 1850s, political nativism emerged, especially with the rise of the National American Party, unofficially called the Know-Nothings. In the 1856 presidential election, the Know-Nothings garnered 22 percent of the national vote. Ritter explains that “urban-based westerners and southerners joined the ranks … because the party’s rhetoric addressed major cultural and economic concerns” (p. 147). However, this also spelled the end of the party as a major political force because of the issue of slavery. Thus, the first invented immigration crisis in the US ended, but it would not be the last. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals. —R. D. Screws, Arkansas National Guard Museum

This solid contribution to medical anthropology reifies the concept that individuals enfold themselves into larger, collective, societal arenas.

—G. R. Campbell, University of Montana

Wentzell, Emily A. Collective biologies: healing social ills through sexual health research in Mexico. Duke, 2022. 240p bibl index ISBN 9781478013945, $99.95; ISBN 9781478014881 pbk, $29.95; ISBN 9781478022176 ebook, $29.95.

Social scientists assume that individuals, rather than being isolated nodes, are embedded in larger collectives, whether through familial relations or membership in a nation-state, deriving connections beyond themselves through intersecting identities and behaviors. Wentzell (Univ. of Iowa) employs the concept of “collective biologies” as a framework to qualitatively examine how individual men participating in a biomedical study of human papillomavirus (HPV) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, embodied their biosocial interrelationships through their individual behavior and actions toward collective well-being. This longitudinal study incorporates a series of open-ended interviews, situating men’s experiences of selfhood and personal health within Mexican cultural understandings of group belonging. As Wentzell’s nuanced ethnography illustrates, though participation in the HPV study is an individualistic pursuit, male participants, their female partners, and single participants embedded their personal biomedical experiences within larger social entities through self-identifying and interconnectedness both relational and context specific. Through such culturally rooted interconnectedness, the “individualized body” creates relationships to various “collective biologies,” whether expressed in familial relations or by societal health. Wentzell concludes by highlighting the utility of the collective biologies approach for investigating relationships between individual behaviors and the well-being of society. This solid contribution to medical anthropology reifies the concept that individuals enfold themselves into larger, collective, societal arenas. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. —G. R. Campbell, University of Montana

Gorey considered himself an author first, then an artist. This book explores his inspirations and the meanings behind his work.

—A. J. Ezzo, Lake Erie College

Whyte, Malcolm. Gorey secrets: artistic and literary inspirations behind divers books by Edward Gorey. University Press of Mississippi, 2021. 159p bibl index ISBN 9781496831552, $35.00; ISBN 9781496836809 ebook, contact publisher for price.

Edward Gorey (1925–2000) was an established, prolific author and artist. He wrote and illustrated some 100 books, and he illustrated several 100 more. Gorey considered himself an author first, then an artist. This book explores his inspirations and the meanings behind his work. Whyte, an established literary writer and a fan of Gorey, set three goals in crafting this book: to convey the fun and excitement in searching for Gorey’s influences, to contribute fresh insights about Gorey’s works, and to give those new to Gorey the infinite pleasure of getting to know him. Whyte gathered all the evidence—from public and private resources, including his own substantial collection of Gorey’s books, drawings, paintings, and prints—in his quest to reveal the hidden meanings and inspirations behind Gorey’s work. Meticulously researched and rich in detail, Gorey Secrets explores everything, from Hogarth and Redon to Matisse and children’s illustrations, from Melville and Lear to Agatha Christie, the Brothers Grimm, and many more. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. —A. J. Ezzo, Lake Erie College

Overall, this delightful book will engage a broad audience.

—C. E. Neumann, Miami University

Wickenden, Dorothy. The agitators: three friends who fought for abolition and women’s rights. Simon & Schuster, 2021. 400p bibl index ISBN 9781476760735, $30.00; ISBN 9781476760766 ebook, $14.99.

This popular history is a page-turner with considerable depth and breadth. In the 1840s and 1850s, Auburn, NY, percolated with suffrage and abolition activism largely because of the efforts of close friends Frances Seward, Harriet Tubman, and Martha Coffin Wright, which Wickenden (executive editor, The New Yorker) here recounts. Married to New York politician William Henry Seward, Frances befriended many of the notables of the era, including Frederick Douglass, Charles Sumner, and Tubman. After decades of service to her husband and his political career, Seward refused to continue hosting pro-slavery politicians in the late 1850s. Returning to her family home in Auburn, she ran a stop on the Underground Railroad and sold some of her Auburn property at a bargain rate to help Tubman return to the US from Canada. Wright, sister of suffragist Lucretia Mott and mother of six children, lobbied for the Married Women’s Property Act and organized the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. She often worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to organize anti-slavery meetings. Tubman left no letters and spent much of this era ferrying slaves to freedom. Overall, this delightful book will engage a broad audience. Summing Up: Essential. All levels. —C. E. Neumann, Miami University

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