Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie

Book Description

In this true story of our nation's love affair with firearms, Clayton E. Cramer debunks the myths and takes readers along a winding historical trail full of surprising revelations and riveting anecdotes, explaining the roots of America's gun culture.

Customer Reviews:

The Story of Guns in Early America.......2007-10-06

Clayton E. Cramer has an MA in history from Sonoma State University and has taught history in Boise State University. He published several academic books on history and firearms. His knowledge allowed him to reveal the lies in Bellesiles' book. The 'Acknowledgments' thank those who helped to make this book more entertaining. Cramer notes the changes from the Julian to Gregorian calendar in 1752. Cramer's discussion on Bellesiles' revisionist history begins this educational book. Bellesiles misquoted the historical record to provide false facts for his now discredited book (p.xii). Bellesiles used probate records that were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake (p.xv)! Another scandal was the dishonesty of university historians (p.xvi). [Upton Sinclair wrote a book in 1922 on corporate control of universities.] Cramer explains the difficulty of evaluating written records from 300 years ago (pp.xviii-xx).

Part I deals with Colonial America (1607-1775). America followed the English tradition of a militia, people armed for their protection against Indians and England's enemies (p.3). Gun ownership was required by the 18th century (p.4). Chapter 2 tells of the class and race prohibitions on gun ownership. Some whites were distrusted for religious reasons. Indians were banned from owning guns (Chapter 3) but acquired them through commerce. They were armed for their fights with other tribes (p.42). Chapter 5 tells of the probate records that record personal property; there are problems with these records (p.55). Ads in newspapers may be more reliable, as well as gunpowder import records (p.56). Chapter 5 lists the hunting practices. Murder rates were higher then (p.78). Fights occurred over political concerns (p.80), and tenant uprisings in NY. Pistols were common (p.83). So too were accidents (p.86). Part II documents the Revolutionary War. There are many detailed records on gun ownership. These chapters cover Guns in New England, the Middle Colonies, the South, and the Continental Army and Militias. "Guns were the great equalizers of social status" (p.166).

Part III covers the Early Republic (1783-1846). There are chapters on Militias, Ammunition, Pistols, Guns and Sport, and Guns and Violence. The militia system was superior to a regular army in three ways (p.178). They were low-cost, they were plentiful, and they were widespread. The militia was politically reliable (p.180)! There were arguments against a standing army (p.183). Gunpowder mills were common in most states (Chapter 11). Chapter 12 examines the availability of pistols in America. Hunting was very common and universal on the frontier (p.201). Violence was all too common because of an "honor culture" (p.224). Dueling was quite common, the laws against it nearly useless (a jury would not convict if it conducted honorably). "Regulators" enforced the laws (p.229). Violence was common, often because of slander (p.232). [No mention of the rate of violent death in England or Europe.]

The 'Epilogue' notes that America was a society where guns were common for military defense, defense of a home and family, as a symbol of citizenship, and for violence. Newspapers, law books, memoirs, travel accounts, and advertisements documented the common ownership of guns. The 'Bibliography' lists the Primary and Secondary sources (pp.244-255).
[Neither Bellesiles or Cramer tell how America was a peaceful refuge from the wars and oppressions of Europe.]

Who will debunk the debunkers?.......2007-07-28

Michael Bellisiles wrote a book that, for some reason, scared the NRA. Bellisiles argued that America's gun culture didn't develop until around the time of the Civil War. He did not argue that America does not have a gun culture. Why the right got so exorcized about whether gun lust has a 17th century or 19th century origin is beyond me. But anyway, Mr. Cramer, we are told, figures prominently in the anti-Bellisiles crusade. This is not a good omen. Yes, Bellisiles lost his post at Emory -- that's in the liberal stronghold of Georgia, folks, where their idea of a historian is Newt Gingrich (can you say 'political pressure?' I knew you could.) Yes the Bancroft prize was withdrawn (ditto). Does any of this lend credence to the claims of Mr. Cramer and his NRA allies that Bellisiles work has been revealed to be a complete 'sham' and discredited in toto? Not at all. The official disciplinary committee that backed his dismissal from Emory took issue with only a few items in Arming America, notably one specific chart of probate data that proved to be in error. The vast majority of professional historians though, however they may feel about the bits of Arming America that have been repeatedly challenged, concede that the vast bulk of this large book is accurate. That leaves Cramer more or less alone in trying to debunk the whole enchilada. As the other negative reviews here indicate, there's a lot of questionable assertion going on here. If Cramer draws different conclusions from the same facts Bellisiles notes, we might compare the logic behind the arguments. Both authors note that laws in early America encouraged gun ownership for the purpose of strengthening militias -- lest the Brits return etc., as they did in 1812. Cramer seems to think this proves guns were popular. Bellisiles argues that the fact people had to have all this coaxing to acquire guns indicates the public was not keen on acquiring them of their own accord. Did the laws passed in the 1960s and 1970s encouraging the addition of safety devices and improved fuel economy in automobiles indicate that these features were in demand, or the opposite?

I wonder how many of the folks who laud Cramer's expose of Bellisiles have actually read Arming America and compared the two cases, and how many only have Cramer's version of Bellisiles to go on. This seems to me a pretty common phenomenon on both right and left: we tend to take reports of someone else's supposed outrageous conduct for granted and join the outrage, without carefully examining whether the actual facts fit the outraged reporter's description.

Interesting ideological footnote: look at the Amazon 'Better together' feature that offers to pair the book on the page you're viewing with another similar book. For Armed America, Amazon suggests another pro-gun book. For Arming America, Amazon suggests... Armed America. Not a bad idea if was reciprocated, eh. So go ahead and buy this book if you're interested in the topic, but buy Bellisiles book as well, and try to think for yourself.

Good book, but it won't convince those who "know" it isn't so.......2007-07-16

A few years ago Michael Bellsiles wrote a book claiming that early Americans didn't own guns, didn't have them, and that historical documentation proved it. He was widely discredited even by many of his anti-gun peers when it was found that much of his research was false or totally inaccurate.

Clayton Cramer spent five years researching the same records Bellesiles "used" and found totally opposite results, guns were very common all over the colonies (the book covers a period from the 1600's to the 1840's). Divided into 3 sections, Colonial America, the Revolutionary war, and the early Republic- Cramer gives exhaustive detail on what America was really like. The author is even careful to note that sometimes a modern reader can't be sure just what some statements from the past meant.
There are a lot of footnotes (unfortunately he gives no indication of just how hard it is for the average person to get at the original documents to read them, he does mention that Bellesiles usually reported just the opposite of what sommething actually said in print.) and a 12 page bibliography to back up his statements.

My worst problem with the book was that the few included photographs are too dark, hard to get any detail from them. It's a good fascinating book that I don't regret owning, it just won't convince anyone who doesn't believe it is true.

Excellent scholarly work.......2007-05-13

This is definitely a book for people who enjoy history through original sources. Mr. Cramer brings together a wealth of material that many "professional" historians can't seem to be bothered with.

Guns and Apple Pie--You left out Baseball and Mom, Mr. Gun Nut!.......2007-05-11

The title alone is so over the top and ridiculous as to invite uncontrollable laughter. Cramer is the almost perfect incarnation of the type "Creepily gun obsessed loner" of which we see many poorer examples in the cheerleading reviews posted here.

Really, these people are to be pitied, lonely and frightened little boys trying to be men and failing so utterly, caressing their rifles in the darkness in the absence of human warmth and comfort, fantasizing psychotically about being John Wayne or Rambo and constantly being drawn back to the cruel truth that they are merely anti-social, hateful, angry, psychologically unbalanced hermits, many of whom will never know emotionally real human companionship, and who are far more likely to use their guns to intimidate or kill their family members or blow their own brains out than to heroically defeat Evil in the form of a 15 year old kid trying to steal a ten speed bike off their front porch at night. What a sad bunch.

Average customer rating:

Pragmatism, the Law, and the Political Economy of Sexuality
Fun and Fascinating
A Mind-opening Book
Posner and the Sexual Revolution
A Major Breakthrough

Sex and Reason
Richard A. Posner
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Sex | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Pay Dirt
A Treatise on the Family: Enlarged Edition
Crime: Public Policies for Crime Control
A Guide to America's Sex Laws
The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory

ASIN: 0674802799

Book Description

Sexual drives are rooted in biology, but we don't act on them blindly. Indeed, as the eminently readable judge and legal scholar Richard Posner shows, we make quite rational choices about sex, based on the costs and benefits perceived.

Drawing on the fields of biology, law, history, religion, and economics, this sweeping study examines societies from ancient Greece to today's Sweden and issues from masturbation, incest taboos, date rape, and gay marriage to Baby M. The first comprehensive approach to sexuality and its social controls, Posner's rational choice theory surprises, explains, predicts, and totally absorbs.

Customer Reviews:

Pragmatism, the Law, and the Political Economy of Sexuality.......2006-12-08

Judge Richard Posner's 'Sex and Reason' has influenced me more then any book I recently read, lead me to a complete reevaluation of what the Law is, and what it should be.

In this review I wish to concentrate less on Judge Posner's approach to the regulation of sex, although we will get there, but to his general approach to Jurisprudence. Becuase if 'Sex and Reason' taught me anything, it is that the way lawyers 'do' the Law is in need of thorough revision.

From my perspective as a third year law student in Israel, most of what the Law deals with is the meaning of words. Lawyers and Judges argue about whether or not various actions fall into various legal categories, and, particularly, about ways of interpreting statues and precedents. The main questions are 'how should one interperate the law'? and 'By what method does one decide which interpretation of the Law is best'?

In the United States, the main 'field of battle' regarding these questions are between the various Originalist positions (roughly, those who believe that words in statues mean what the people who wrote them meant), textualists (those who believe that texts should be read to be internally consistent) and living conbstitutionalists (the ones who believe that times change and the constitution - indeed, all laws - change with the times).

In Israel, the main contribution is by former Supreme Court Chief Justice and professor of Law, Aharon Barak. By Barak's lights, statutory interpretation is not originalist, nor is it textualist ("the interpretor is not a linguist" is his famous catchphrase - sounds better in Hebrew). Rather, Barak subscribes to a form of Living Constitutionalism which for want of a better term I'll call contextualism (Sometimes, misleadingly in my view, refered to as 'Purposive appraoch') - Barak argues that you can learn about the meaning of laws and decisions from their wider environment - the principles, laws and mores of the society. When faced with a legal question, Barak will strive for Harmoney not with the language of other statues, but with their intentions, so that all Law would create a single, ideologically cogent, fabric. In paraphrasing Hillary Rodham Clinton, one may say that according to Barak, It Takes a Village to decipher a Law.

I emphasises these different approaches in order to demonstrate that the criteria by which we decide whether an interpretation of the law is good are very unclear. But accept, for the moment, that one of these goals is superior to the others, and that we can evalutate various interpretations based on these criteria; We are still left with the question of what the marginal untility of trying to improve our interprative approach according to one of these criteria is.

Suppose a new study slightly imroves our understanding of the original meaning of the U.S. Constitution. Let's say that after a great deal of historical study and analysis, professor A has improved our understanding of the meaning of a certain clause by 5 %. Now interpretations are 5% more likely to correspond to the original understanding of the terms in question.

Well, so what? Are we, as a society, better off because we get a slight improvement in statue interpretation? That is highly unlikely. Even if we accept that one method of interpretation is correct, that does not mean that its outcomes are good. Indeed, it is unlikely that s study of 18th century political philosophy, or a comperative study of the spirit of law, will lead to good social outcomes. If you accept that it will, congratulations: you have just passed from the domain of Jurisprudence to the realm of theology.

From of social point of view, imrpoving stuatory interpretation based on any of the above criteria is a huge waste of time; a great deal of effort and resources are spent on things that will not, frankly, matter.

What I glimpse in Richard Posner's 'Sex and Reason' is an alternative: Pragamtism. The alternative is implicit here; I assume, not having read any of his other books (but I do frequest his excellent Blog, written jointly with econmist Gary Becker), that this approach is developed further elsewhere.

'Pragmatism', as I understand it, is about making positive statements about the consequences of various legal rules, and then chosing the best one. This requires sound theoretical analysis (Posner, and I, see the foundation of it in economics, but in principleit can be founded on psychology, anthropology, sociology, or many other fields, and Posner used reasearch from all these fields in his book) of the situation, and especially empirical research to find if the theory holds. Thus, a pragmatic approach to the questions of legal interpretations and doctrine requires first making positive inquiries into the subject; Only then should we make a normative judgement.

An example for this kind of reasoning would be the case for the supply of contraception to Teenagers. In the United States, some conservatives oppose supplying sexual education and contraception to Teenagers, and promote abstinence instead (in prgrams such as "The Silver Ring Thing", "True Love Waits", and "Free Teens"). Reasearch, however, demonstrated that such programs rarely decrease the negative side effects of Teenage sexuality such as unwanted pregnancy and disease (pp. 270-271). As Posner writes "the idea that puritanism may actually increase ... unwanted births is difficult to accept, but ... only because effective puritanism... would have the oppositve effect. A Puritan ethic that has only a modest effect in reducing the amount of teenage sex may produce more teenage pregnencies and unwanted births than moral indifference to such activity would" (p.272).

Now, in my view, this kind of analysis should be paramount in deciding legal questions such as whether government support for abstinence programs should be deemed constitutional. Perhaps the legal rethoric allowing the government to fund such projects is powerful - but legal niceties should not obscure the underlining realities.

Fun and Fascinating.......2005-12-17

Judge Posner is the finest legal mind of the current age, and "Sex and Reason" is precisely what you'd expect from him. Bemoaning the lack of empirical study that supports modern day sexual jurisprudence, the author takes it upon himself to correct the oversight. Empiricism is not wanting in the book; footnotes are omnipresent, filled with broad support and delightful nuggets.

The book begins with an investigation of sexuality throughout the ages. Sociobiological principles are explained and taken as postulates (women, on average, seek quality, whereas men seek quantity). Posner builds his model of rational sex--dismissing easily typical objections to economic modeling of human behavior--and usng it, attempts to unearth truths about some of the more risque periods of history. We are treated to an analysis of Greek pederasty, the rise of companionate marriage in the Christian church, prostitution throughout the ages, countless other subjects.

Modern sexual jurisprudence is investigated: Griswold is discussed, critiqued, defended. Utilitarian approaches are ventured forth in an attempt to justify Roe. Posner discusses cultural policy issues at the helm of modern debate, and offers us his own bright proposals: a free market in adoption, for instance, coupled with a thorough and unabashed defense.

Richard Posner's mind is nimble. His arguments are fun, light, powerful, thrown forth quickly into the crucible. So criticize what he says: one gets the feeling Posner wants nothing less. Be fascinated as insights are bred from left field. The book will make you think (about sex, no less, as if a person needed any prodding in that direction), make you smile, and it will make you, as it made me, quite impressed with a certain seventh circuit jurist.

A Mind-opening Book.......2002-03-30

Reading Judge Posner's book is a humbling experience. Much of what I thought I knew about sex is a tiny fraction of what this book has documented, analyzed and argued.

I have known that many early Greek luminaries, such as Plato, Socrates and Sophocles were homosexual. This book puts these mere points of interest in a wholly different light by exploring the social settings of the early Grecian (Athenian) society: that the early marriages were not companionate, that women in that society, including wives, were sequestered, that boys and girls were raised separately, and not by the mother, that pederasty was almost an accepted social institution, etc.

I have always believed that homosexuality is a rooted genetically, although it is not binary factor. This book puts homosexuality, through the use of the "Kinsey scale", into different degrees and clearly distinguishes between homosexual tendency and homosexual activity, and defines the opportunistic homosexual in economic terms. With very simple reasoning, this book explains why urbanization seems (only seems) to foster homosexuality and the emergence of homosexual enclaves such as San Francisco and New York.

This book also explains, again through an economic model, why the black men in this country seem (again, only seem!) to be sexually aggressive and promiscuous, whereas sexual abuse of off-spring children (girls) have a higher incidence in white households.

I am also enlightened on how the child birth, which in the early days often caused the death of the mother, created serial polygamy (polygyny, to be more precise) and that the widower, who were older and more economically established men, puts young bachelors at a competitive disadvantage in securing a mate, especially in the early industrial society where the cost of marriage was high.

I am enlightened to the role of the Church as the promoter of companionate marriage and how its fairly profound effect on this social institution. And also why the Church "overtly condoned prostitution and covertly condoned monastic homosexuality."

There are many other issues, such as infanticide, fornication, adultery, divorce, coercive and abusive sex, pornography, adoption, surrogate child-bearing ... to which Judge Posner gave interesting and informative treatment.

The thoroughness with which Judge Posner analyzes a problem is unmatched. Although I am not always completely convinced by his reasoning (because some of the arguments are necessarily qualitative and intuitive,) but the plausibility is striking. And I am frequently amazed by the different angles with which he looks at an issue, and the amount of facts and data he brings forth to support his views. When facts contradict what his theory predicts, he graciously points that out. In the conclusion of the book, Judge Posner, with scholarly grace and modesty, points out that his work was exploratory, a learning process for himself, and was not being presented as definitive.

Judge Posner's writing style is very good. The book is never boring, though some of the information and arguments are repeated due to the inter-relatedness of many of the issues. Throughout the book, the Judge's remarkable analytic skill can be felt. At one point, the Judge mercilessly took apart the New Jersey Supreme Court's opinion of the Baby M case (Stern vs. Whitehead) and clearly showed how judges, lacking knowledge on the subject matter and often ignorant about economics, proceeded to vote their own prejudices, and substituted rhetoric and sloppy logic for judicial analysis. This one episode, which clearly illustrates the reason he wrote this book, as he stated in the introduction, is worth the price of the book.

How many judges are as good as Judge Posner? Since he has published so much, chances of his ever being nominated and confirmed to be a justice of the High Court must be pretty slim, considering the infamous borking effect. This is just as well. I wishfully think his publications probably has a greater influence on the society, especially the legal community, than if he were appointed a justice.

Having read several of Judge Posner's books, I mark him down as one of a handful of top-notch intellectuals in my estimation.

Posner and the Sexual Revolution.......2000-08-14

Chief Judge Posner's book is an erudite and interesting one. Whilst often regarded as a conservative for his scholarly analysis of economic issues in a market economy, this book is not conservative. It appears basically supportive of the sexual revolution. Its utility is at its greatest when it applies neutral economic analysis to the social aspects of sex. It is at its weakest when in the enthusiasm for the novelty and power of its analytical insights, it at least appears to derive moral or normative conclusions that do not necessarily follow from the positive analysis. It reflects the dangers that both libertarian Austrian economists, such as Ludwig von Mises and social democratic economists have both seen in trying to apply insights derived from markets to non-market transactions - here sexual ones. Accordingly, whilst Chief Judge Posner speaks supportively of certain aspects of Swedish policy in relation to sexual matters and expressly and by inference against the traditional conservative Judeo-Christian attitudes to sex in those areas, economic analysis does not dictate that viewpoint. Values dictate that choice, but economics can illumine the consequences of those choices. In sum, an able, readable, but a very personal work, which could be read by those who are not familiar with the limits to the economic analysis of law - an area Posner has brilliantly contributed so much to - as conclusively determinative of issues which cannot be resolved by that positive analysis alone. Whilst less accessible in view of the use of math, Professor Becker's works are closer to a neutral analysis of many of these important questions.

A Major Breakthrough.......2000-07-06

In this book Richard Posner manages to singlehandedly turn legal scholarship on its head. He examines human sexuality from a myriad of perspectives--literature, sociology, evolutionary biology, morality, and history. He does so with impeccable scholarship, demonstrating not only that he is widely read in these diverse areas, but that he has something to say. The book is worth reading for just that.

But Posner's more impressive accomplishment is his singular approach to the regulation of human sexual behavior. His rational choice, economics of law approach is compelling. Even if you are not entirely convinced, Posner builds a powerful case for both academic and policy debate.

Posner's approach contrasts with most legal scholarship, which is lifeless and rarely bothers to consider the social sciences. Posner's book shows the intergal link between law, politics, and economics. It is also approachable and direct. You can't read Sex and Reason and not feel your deeply held beliefs directly challenged by a kind and discerning intellect. He is passionate, articulate, and eminently readable.

Book Description

Rules and Processes is at once a compelling essay in social theory and a pathbreaking ethnography of dispute in an African society. On the basis of a sensitive study of the Tswana of southern Africa, John Comaroff and Simon Roberts challenge most of the orthodoxies of legal anthropology. They argue that the social world, and the dispute processes that occur within it, are given form and meaning by a dialectical relationship between sociocultural structures and individual experience. The authors explore in a novel way the relations between culture and ideology, system and practice, social action and human intention. They develop a model that lays bare the form and content of "legal" and "political" discourse in all its variations—a model that accounts for the outcome of conflict processes and explains why the Tswana, like people in other cultures, conceive of their world in an apparently contradictory manner—as rule-governed yet inherently open to pragmatic individualism; orderly yet inherently fluid and shifting. Rules and Processes offers a fresh and persuasive approach to our understanding of the dialectics of social life.

"A work of impressive scholarship in which theoretical sophistication and ethnographic richness are convincingly matched."—Ian Hamnett, Times Higher Education Supplement.

Readings in Juvenile Justice Administration (Readings in Crime and Punishment)

Average customer rating:

Readings in Juvenile Justice Administration (Readings in Crime and Punishment)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Children | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Customs & Traditions | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Issues | Teens | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Teen Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice
The Practice of Social Research

ASIN: 0195104056

Book Description

Readings in Juvenile Justice Administration analyzes the judicial, legal, and correctional agencies that respond to delinquent offenders. The articles reveal the diversity and complexity of the juvenile courts and present the current policy debates regarding juvenile justice. They reflect the historical origins and the recent transformation of the juvenile justice system as it moves from a nominally rehabilitative social welfare agency to a more scaled-down criminal justice system for young offenders. Chapter 1 features a discussion of the origins of the juvenile court system. Chapter 2 examines juvenile justice administration, focusing on the various stages of the process and the sources of organizational diversity. The articles in Chapter 3 look at the quality of procedural justice in juvenile courts. This section examines the conflicts between the procedural rights of juvenile offenders, the traditional conception of the juvenile court as a rehabilitative agency, and the increased severity of sentencing policy in response to recent efforts to get tough and crack down on youth crime. Chapter 4 focuses on alternative strategies that would transfer serious young offenders to criminal courts for prosecution as adults, demonstrating the conceptual and administrative tensions embodied in defining the boundaries between delinquents and criminals, between children and adults, and between treatment and punishment. Chapter 5 analyzes several aspects of sentencing delinquents in juvenile courts. The articles in this section reveal the shifts in juvenile justice jurisprudence, policy, administration, and practices from rehabilitation to retribution and from offender to offense. The final set of articles in Chapter 6 highlight some of the current policy debates about the future of the juvenile court as an institution, exploring the need to maintain a separate juvenile justice system for young offenders. Bringing together some of the most important articles in the field, Readings in Juvenile Justice Administration is ideal for courses in criminal and juvenile justice.

Breaking the Bonds: Marital Discord in Pennsylvania, 1730-1830 (American Social Experience Series)

Average customer rating:

Breaking the Bonds: Marital Discord in Pennsylvania, 1730-1830 (American Social Experience Series)
Merril Smith
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Divorce & Separation | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Domestic Relations | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Customs & Traditions | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

"In Breaking The Bonds, Merril Smith establishes the ambitious goal of determining 'what kind of problems arose in troubled marriages' and of analyzing 'how men and women coped with marital discord.' . . . To accomplish this, Smith studied hundreds of divorce petitions, other legal documents, newspapers, almshouse dockets, and prescriptive literature. She concludes that, as in the present day, married couples fought and parted over sex, money, and abuse."
—Pennsylvania History

"A richly textured study. . . With an eye to cross-class and cross-race representation, Smith utilizes diverse sources, including memoirs and diaries, correspondence, probate records, newspaper advertisements, depositions and petitions for divorce, and various moral reform and social regulatory organization records. . . . A brave attempt to write a description of 'the development of the Puritan concept of spirtiual growth.' . . . Gracefully written. . . provides specific new insights into a too-neglected area of early republican domestic politics."
—William and Mary Quarterly

The late eighteenth century marked a period of changing expectations about marriage: companionship came to coexist as a norm alongside older patriarchal standards, men and women began to see their roles in more disparate ways, expectations about the satisfaction of marriage grew, and gender distinctions between husbands and wives became more complicated. Marital strife was an inevitable outcome of these changing expectations. The difficulties that rose, including abuse, a lack of sexual communication, and domestic violence (frequently brought on by alcholism) differ little from those with which couples struggle today.

Breaking The Bonds is an imaginative and original account that brings to light a strongly communicative world in which neighbors knew of, dinscussed, and even came to the aid of those locked in unhappy marriages.

The International Law and Custom of Ancient Greece and Rome

Average customer rating:

The International Law and Custom of Ancient Greece and Rome
Coleman Phillipson
Manufacturer: William S Hein & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1575886677

Rethinking Kazakh and Central Asian Nationhood: A Challenge to Prevailing Western Views

Average customer rating:

Rethinking Kazakh and Central Asian Nationhood: A Challenge to Prevailing Western Views
R. Charles Weller
Manufacturer: Asia Research Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Former Soviet Republics & Siberia | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

Central Asia | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Modern Clan Politics: The Power Of "Blood" In Kazakhstan and Beyond

ASIN: 1425705235

Book Description

After summarizing the five main views of nationhood, including the central debate between ´naturalists-perennialists´ and ´Western modernists´, a critique is offered of Western modernist writers treating the Kazakh and Central Asian nations. These writers insist on applying the cardinal Western doctrine of ´the separation of ethnicity and state´ in the Central Asian context in an effort to conform the post-Soviet Central Asian nations to Western norms of multiethnic ´democratic´ nationhood. To achieve this, they offer historiographical reinterpretations based in late 20th century Western modernist theories which themselves still echo Western eurocentric views of ´historyless, cultureless peoples´. They attribute the rise of modern ethnicity and statehood in Central Asia to Tsarist and/or Soviet policy. Modern Central Asian ethnic identities as well as the nation-states associated with them are, in their view, artificial (i.e. ´imagined´ or ´invented´) constructs, political fabrications "created" via Russian "ethno-engineering" and Russian-trained ´elite´ nationalists who inculcated in the masses an entirely ´new´ and ´modern´ idea of ethnonational identity having little or no roots in their own past. By taking this approach, they allegedly demonstrate that today´s nation-states in Central Asia have no true or historic relation to the ethnic nations whose names they bear and that those ethnic identities themselves in their current forms are ´inherently problematic´, inconsistent and highly instable, largely divorced from their pre-colonial histories. The Central Asians are conveniently (for Western modernists) left with no rightful historical claim as ´ethnic nations´ to their own modern ´political nations´. These views continue to profoundly impact international and ethnonational human rights in the modern global age, including rights of national language, culture and history in Central Asia. As a challenge to these prevailing Western views, the author offers a perspective on Central Asian ethnonational identity which affirms its ´complex unity´ and depth of historical rootedness, recognizing the long-standing intimate connection between the ethnosocial, ethnocultural, ethnolinguistic, ethnoreligious and ethnopolitical dimensions of nationhood in the Central Asian tradition. From this unique, non-Western historical and contextual base, a more indigenous, integral form of ´Central Asian democratic nationhood´ is sought which strives to achieve genuine justice and equality for all ethnonational peoples involved. The author lived and worked in Kazakhstan for eight years and completed his Ph.D. in cultural theory and history at Kazakh National University in Almaty working entirely in Kazakh under the direction of Kazakh scholars. He draws significantly upon Kazakh scholarship as central part of the ´challenge to prevailing Western views.´ (Click on the link below to read the ´Preface´ from the book; visit www.ara-cahcrc.com/ca-nationhood.htm for more details.)

Average customer rating:

A one-sided view...
Gutsy gal...good story
Good is a four letter word!
Great book, poor editing...
Very touching and shocking book!

U.S. Customs: Badge of Dishonor
Darlene Fitzgerald , and Sandy G. Nunn
Manufacturer: Authors Choice Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Law Enforcement | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Federal Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595167950

Book Description

To expose the corruption running rampant in the U. S. Customs Service, Darlene Catalan knew she would have to walk out on a 20-year career. U. S. Customs: Badge of Dishonor is the real-life account of a woman forced to resign simply to keep her honor and integrity intact.

The story of a bureaucracy out-of-control at the taxpayer's expense, it's also a survival story. Even after suffering harassment, threats, intimidation, and investigations by Internal Affairs on false charges, Catalan and her fellow former agents didn't abandon their courageous fight against corruption within of one of our country's largest and most powerful federal agencies.

Catalan's gutsy, first-hand account of corruption and abuse within the U. S. Customs Service reveals why America has fallen victim to the evil of drug cartels and terrorist networks. No federal agent should ever have to put up with the colossal incompetence and abuse from federal management inflicted on Darlene Catalan.

Customer Reviews:

A one-sided view..........2006-08-01

To say that I am disappointed in this book is an understatement.

To begin with, how can one expect their views to be taken seriously when it lacks proper editing? It is hard to understand how a person that doesn't even possess the most basic of writing skills could ever become a federal agent. I cringe at the thought of reading her statements (which a defense attorney loves to read).

Also, I was formerly employed by the US Customs Service. Granted, there are cases of corruption but they are few and far between and you'll see just about everyone one of them on news. Her story makes it sound as if the entire agency is as she portrays it in her book. Well, if the corruption was as widespread as she states it is, then there is no way that the agency could have functioned at all.

We have to remind ourselves that we are reading this book from her viewpoint. While not trying to discredit her or her service to this country, it is obvious that some parts were embellished and other parts omitted. I've always been leary of the "I was an innocent victim" stories that make outrageous claims such as hers.

It is unfortunate that this type of fiction can be treated as literal truth.

Gutsy gal...good story.......2005-05-17

Former Federal Agent, Darlene Fitzgerald, proves to be a very gutsy woman in this non-fiction piece of work, telling her version of the corruption and collusion she encountered during her tenure with the U.S. Customs Service. So...what else is new? Or that's what one would ask that's probably already been there and done that. Apparently Fitzgerald isn't the first ex-employee to expose this major governmental problem. Still, I suppose what amazed me, or even amused me, is that Fitzgerald had enough guts to name a certain popular and politically powerful California Senator in her book. And she wasn't talking favorably either. I'm still shaking my head on that one. Fortunately, this Federal Agent, like so many others, had the sense to get out while the getting was still good and she was still breathing. Some weren't so lucky according to Fitzgerald.
Overall, this is a good story, and no doubt Fitzgerald was a qualified and capable employee, both highly needed attributes for the position she held. Unfortunately, there aren't many like her that will stand up and tell the truth. Surely a time will come when there will be enough like Fitzgerald to tell their story and someone that can do something about it...can...and will. Sooner or later, a change will have to come about.
My problem with this book itself is that it was so poorly written. Poor grammar was indeed a factor, but even worse was the dialogue bunched up in the same paragraphs all the time, making the reader wonder who was talking most of the time and who wasn't. Also, the pictures didn't impress me all that much either.
Had this book been properly written in book format, and edited for errors, it could have been a real winner. Too bad, because it really is a great story. Regardless, I still have to recommend this book to non-fiction lovers. The information Fitzgerald comes forth with about the apparent corruption and collusion that's running amok in the U.S. Customs Service is worth reading. Makes the reader wonder if anything has changed since Fitzgerald wrote this book in 2002.

Good is a four letter word!.......2002-01-05

Do you like the raw boned truth, as ugly as it may be, dragged from the shadows and held up in the bright light? As a retired Special Agent for U.S. Customs and the author of a book about the "Drug War" (FADED COLORS), I applaud the guts displayed by Darlene Catalan. Knowing the long arm of the Treasury Department, I may question her sanity but I don't question her guts. Well done Agent, you are a loyal American in spite of the institutional meat grinder brush with which you will undoubtedly be painted. And if you're a literary snob who likes your i's dotted just so and every T cleary crossed, give this work a wide birth. It isn't written by a desk jockey, it's written by a street cop that has been thrown under the U.S. Custom's Service's bus! Darlene isn't trying to impress you with her prose, she is trying to send you a message; one which if ignored will cost you one hell of alot more than the price of her book.

Great book, poor editing..........2001-07-22

While I understand the idea of publishing a journal verbatim to capture the reality of it, I wonder if that was the intent, or the author tried to save a few bucks by not hiring a proofreader - misspellings would work in the body of the book, but can you really say that misspellings belong in the Dedication in the front of the book? "Guaddel Cannel" indeed!

Once I resigned myself to working through the grammatical issues I found the book very intriguing, and it reinforces the all-too-common feeling that this country's government is out of control, and ripe for another Revolution. Where's the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin when we need them?

Very touching and shocking book!.......2001-07-18

This book was very touching to me. I totally identified with the author in this book. I have gone through similar extreem emotional experiences in my life, and I too had reoccuring dreams that seemed to guide me through them. I wonder if the author of this book ever had her dreams evaluated. I feel it would be helpful to her to gain closure. This Book reminds me of the movies Erin Brokeveich and Traffic. This Book would also make a great movie!!!

America's Drug Enforcement Airforce: Customs, Coast Guard, Cap, Dea and Dod Airborne Drug Busters (Power Series)

Average customer rating:

America's Drug Enforcement Airforce: Customs, Coast Guard, Cap, Dea and Dod Airborne Drug Busters (Power Series)
Nena Wiley
Manufacturer: Motorbooks Intl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

General | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0879385731

Courtships, Marriage Customs, and Shakespeare's Comedies

Average customer rating:

Courtships, Marriage Customs, and Shakespeare's Comedies
Loreen L. Giese
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Domestic Relations | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Marriage | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312166044
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Book Description

This study focuses on the courting and marrying behaviors in matrimonial enforcement suits in the London Consistory Court depositions from 1586 to 1611 and in Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Twelfth Night. Linking these two different kinds of evidence, the book’s detailed readings examine the roles available to women and men within courtship and marriage, probe the ways in which they perceived and contested their behaviors within these processes, and reveal females and males as agents capable of challenging the roles assigned to them.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books