Noteworthy Book Reviews from H-Net Lists

September 1996
Media History Project Feature
Noteworthy H-Net Book Reviews

Editor's Note:: The following articles were selected from among the hundreds of book reviews posted on the various discussion lists sponsored by H-Net, and are provided here because of their relevance to the broad topic of media history. Of course, this list is neither a comprehensive representation of the availability of topics on H-Net, nor does it exhaust all the possible pertinent reviews, and readers are encouraged to visit the H-Net Book Review Project to find additional materials. Readers or authors are also encouraged to respond to the reviews included here; at present our response method is via email. The response format could be converted into a threaded bulletin board if sufficient interest exists. The articles are reprinted for non-profit educational uses only, in accordance with H-Net's reproduction policies, and each individual review carries the full H-Net copyight information. Additional review selections will be added to this site periodically.

orality & early inscriptions
Incan Astronomy
Memory & Ethnicity

1 Read review
Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes:
The Cultural Origins of Inca Sky Watching

Brian S. Bauer and David S. P. Dearborn. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access, for H-LatAm ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (May, 1996).

2 Read review

Memory, Narrative, and Identity:
New Essays in Ethnic American Literatures

Amritjit Singh, Joseph Skerrett, Robert E. Hogan, eds. (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1994.) Reviewed by Peter Powers, George Mason University for H-PCAACA ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (April, 1996).

writing, printing & journalism
Martin Luther
Best Sellers in Pre-Revol. France
Polish Language Press, 1939-1945

1 Read review
Printing, Propaganda, and Martin Luther

Mark U. Edwards, Jr. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995.) Reviewed by Susan R. Boettcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for H-German. Published by [email protected].

2 Read review

The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France

Robert Darnton. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1995.) Reviewed by Christopher J. Garton-Zavesky, North Carolina State University, for H-France ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (July, 1995).

3 Read review

Reptile Journalism:
The Official Polish Language Press
Under The Nazis, 1939-1945.

Lucjan Dobroszycki. Translated by Barbara Harshav. (New Haven, Ct. and London: Yale University Press, 1994.) Reviewed by L. M. Stallbaumer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for H-German. Published by [email protected].

material culture & advertising
History of Credit Cards

1 Read review
A Piece of the Action

Joseph Nocera. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994.) Reviewed by Jeremy Atack, Vanderbilt University, for H-Business. Published by [email protected].

film
Documentary Film
Women Screenwriters
German Cinema
Cecil B. DeMille

1 Read review
Claiming the Real:
Documentary Film Revisited

Brian Winston. (London: British Film Institute, 1995.) Reviewed by Ken Nolley for H-Film ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (January, 1996).

2 Read review

Script Girls:
Women Screenwriters In Hollywood

Lizzie Francke. (London: British Film Institute, 1994.) Reviewed by Steven Mintz, University of Houston, for H-Film ([email protected]). Published by [email protected].

3 Read review

Cinema In Democratizing Germany:
Reconstucting National Identity After Hitler

Heide Fehrenbach. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.) Reviewed by Steven Mintz, University of Houston, for H-FILM ([email protected]). Published by [email protected].

4 Read review

Cecil B. DeMille and American Culture: The Silent Era

Sumiko Higash. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.) Reviewed by Steven Mintz, University of Houston, for H-Film ([email protected]). Published by [email protected].

broadcast media
Vatican Radio
Erik Barnouw

1 Read review
Vatican Radio:
Propagation by the Airwaves

Marilyn J. Matelski. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995.) Reviewed by Thimios Zaharopoulos, Pittsburg State University. Published by [email protected] (May, 1996).

2 Read review

Media Marathon:
A Twentieth-Century Memoir

Erik Barnouw. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1996.) Reviewed by Christopher Harper ([email protected]), New York University, for J-HISTORY. Published by J-HISTORY, [email protected], (September, 1996).

ideas, theorists, movements
Geertz
Objectivity
Frontier
Truth & Epistemology
Legitimizing Pop Culture

1 Read review
After the Fact:
Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist

Clifford Geertz. (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.) Reviewed by Ken Jacobs, Univ. de Montreal, for H-IDEAS ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (July, 1995).

2 Read review

Social Science In The Crucible
The American Debate Over Objectivity and Purpose, 1918-1941

Mark C. Smith. (London: Duke University Press, 1994.) Reviewed by Loretta Czernis, Bishop's University, for H-Ideas ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (August, 1995).

3 Read review

Where Cultures Meet:
Frontiers in Latin American History

David J. Weber and Jane M. Rausch (eds.). (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1994.) Reviewed by Lynne Guitar, Vanderbilt University, for H-LatAm ([email protected]). Published by [email protected] (March, 1996).

4 Read review

Social History of Truth:
Civility and Science in 17th-Century England

Steven Shapin. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.) Reviewed by James Bogen, Pitzer College, for H-World ([email protected]). Published by [email protected].

5 Read review

Against Academia:
The History of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association and the Popular Culture Movement, 1967-1988

Ray Browne. (Bowling Green, OH: Popular Press, 1989.) Reviewed by Peter C. Rollins, Oklahoma State University, for H-PCAACA. Published by [email protected] (June, 1995)

reference works
Bibliography of L. Am. Manuscripts

1 Read review
Fuentes Manuscritas Para La Historia De IberoAmérica:
Guía De Instrumentos De Investigación

Sylvia L. Hilton and Ignacio Gonzalez Casasnovas, compilers. (Madrid: Fundacion Mapfre America, Instituto Historico Tavera, 1995.) Reviewed by Ralph Lee Woodward, Tulane University, for H-Latam ([email protected]). Published by [email protected].