Books for Understanding: Scholarship Beyond the Headlines

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Books for Understanding is a free, easy-to-use resource to help you find books on current events. New bibliographies are compiled when a major news story breaks or public debate heats up. For more information, click here.

The Financial Crisis

The extent of the 2008 financial crisis is still not entirely known, but a greater understanding of how and what happened is available today. Scholarship on the history of financial markets and previous panics, economic analyses of financial products and regulatory regimes, and political studies of the intertwining of government and capital offer insight and knowledge in these days of uncertainty.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In Wall Street & Financial Markets:
Wall Street: A History From Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron, by Charles R. Geisst

In Financial Panics and Market Crises:
The Great Credit Squeeze by Martin Neil Baily, Douglas W. Elmendorf, and Robert E. Litan

In Market Regulation:
Vicious Cycle: Presidential Decision Making in the American Political Economy, by Constantine J. Spiliotes

China

With its large role in the world's balance of trade and power, China is rarely out of the news. Now, with the Beijing Olympics, troubled provinces, and the remaining after-effects of the tragic earthquake, this scholarly bibliography offers a deeper understanding of the headlines.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In History (General):
The Chinese State at the Borders by Diana Lary

In Regional and International Relations:
Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sports in Asia by Victor Cha

In Economy and Development:
Wealth into Power: The Communist Party's Embrace of China's Private Sector by Bruce Dickson

In Religion and Philosophy:
China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society by Daniel A. Bell

Tibet

The upcoming Beijing Olympics and the recent riots in Lhasa have reignited international interest in the tensions between China and Tibet. The background of this unrest is explored in the works of scholarship cataloged here.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In Tibetan History (General):
A History of Modern Tibet, Volumes 1 and 2, by Melvyn C. Goldstein.

In Tibetan History (Under Chinese Rule):
Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule, by
Tubten Khétsun, translated by Matthew Akester.

In Tibetan Religion & Society :
The Violence of Liberation: Gender and Tibetan Buddhist Revival in Post-Mao China, by
Charlene E. Makley.

The Former Yugoslavia

In a region where internal struggle has often had global repercussions, Kosovo's declaration of independence has focused the worlds attention on the Balkan states of the former Yugoslavia.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In History: 1991-Present:
Serbia Since 1989: Politics and Society under Milosevic and After, edited by Sabrina P. Ramet and Vjeran Pavlakovic.

In People and Society:
Understanding Evil: Lessons from Bosnia, by Keith Doubt.

In History: Yugoslavia:
Yugoslavia: The State that Withered Away, by Dejan Jovic

In Arts, Languages, Literatures:
Liberated Cinema Expanded Edition: The Yugoslav Experience, 1945-2001, by Daniel J. Goulding

New Updates:

Ronald Reagan updated 4/10/08
New Orleans updated 3/4/08
Climate Change updated 2/20/08

2008 U.S. Presidential Election

The convention season has begun, marking the start of official campaigning. Numerous domestic and foreign issues at play in the presidential contest are covered by Books for Understanding resources—as well as the historical contexts to this election.

Contexts
Voting and Elections • U.S. Race Relations

International Affairs
Iraq • Climate Change • Israel & Palestine • Korea • Terrorism • China

Domestic & Social Policy
Taxes • Social Security • Marriage • Reproductive Rights • Civil Liberties • Financial Crisis

Hurricanes and Disaster Relief

The effects of Ike and Gustav are being felt across Texas, Louisiana, and in Caribbean nations. Numerous books on the history and science of hurricanes, as well as on disaster recovery, can be found in the bibliography compiled after Hurricane Katrina and in other lists.

Go to: • Hurricane Katrina • Grief, Loss, and Trauma Book List (Sept. 11) • Catastrophe & Disaster Management Book List (Sept. 11)

Global Climate Change

Al Gore and the UN's International Panel on Climate Change have won the Nobel Peace Prize. The award recognizes both Mr. Gore and the IPCC's work to create an informed awareness of global warming and the climate consequences of human action.

Go to: • Climate Change Book List • IPCC

Iraq

As American public opinion leans further toward the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, General Petraeus urges no quick action in his report to Congress.

Go to: • Iraq Book List

Wall Street: America's Dream Palace

Steve Fraser
Yale University Press, 2008

In this fascinating history of Wall Street, Fraser considers the uncomfortable intersections of wealth and greed, democracy and power in America. From the first panic of 1792 to the bubbles and scandals of recent years, Wall Street explores the deep cultural, moral, and political ambivalence with which the nation has viewed its financial center.
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Defending the Border: Identity, Religion, and Modernity in the Republic of Georgia

Mathijs Pelkmans
Cornell University Press, 2006

Based on extensive ethnographic research, Pelkmans' book illuminates the myriad ways residents of the Caucasus have rethought who they are since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The recent violent dispute between Russia and Georgia over border regions throws this work into high relief.
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Earthquakes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Seismic Disruptions

Jelle Zeilinga de Boer & Donald Theodore Sanders
Princeton University Press, 2004

This award-winning title traces how political and social institutions have been shaped by the human aftershocks of seismic calamities. Beginning with the history of the 1755 quake that destroyed Lisbon, the book follows through to explore the connections between revolutionary upheaval and quakes in the 1970s. Learn more
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Karaoke Fascism: Burma and the Politics of Fear

Monique Skidmore
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004

Skidmore's work is the first ethnography of fear in Burma (Myanmar) and provides a sobering look at the psychological strategies employed by the Burmese people in order to survive under a military dictatorship that seeks to invade and dominate every aspect of life. The term "karaoke fascism" describes the layers of conformity that Burmese people present to each other and, more important, to the military regime. Learn more
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More Books of Note...

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