Book of the Week (October 28, 2009)

In Honor of Halloween!

On the New Book Shelf in the Library
Call Number: BF 1566 .P38 2009

Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials

By Brian A. Pavlac

Publisher's Description: This comprehensive resource explores the intersection of religion, politics, and the supernatural that spawned the notorious witch hunts in Europe and the New World. Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials traces the evolution of western attitudes towards magic, demons, and religious nonconformity from the Roman Empire through the Age of Enlightenment, placing these chilling events into a wider social and historical context.

Witch hunts are discussed in eight narrative chapters by region, highlighting the cultural differences of the people who incited them as well as the key reforms, social upheavals, and intellectual debates that shaped European thought. Vivid accounts of trials and excerpts from the writings of both witch hunters and defenders throughout the Holy Roman Empire, France, the British Isles and colonies, Southern Europe, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe bring to life one of the most intriguing and shocking periods in Western history.

This in-depth and comprehensive resource explores the intersection of religion, politics, and the supernatural that spawned the notorious witch hunts in Europe and the New World. Witch Hunts in the Western World traces the evolution of western attitudes towards magic, demons, and religious nonconformity from the Roman Empire through the Age of Enlightenment, placing these chilling events into a wider social and historical context. Witch hunts are discussed in fascinating detail by region, highlighting the cultural differences of the people who incited them as well as the key reforms, social upheavals, and intellectual debates that shaped European thought. Vivid accounts of trials and excerpts from the writings of both witch hunters and defenders throughout the Holy Roman Empire, France, the British Isles and colonies, Southern Europe, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe bring to life one of the most intriguing and shocking periods in Western history.

Accessible narrative chapters make this a fascinating volume for general readers while offering a wealth of historic information for students and scholars. Features include a complete glossary of terms, timeline of major events, recommended reading selections, index, and black and white illustrations.

Book of the Week (October 14, 2009)

On the New Book Shelf in the Library Lobby

Call Number TX 750 C27 2009

The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-year-old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight

By Mark Caro

Publisher's Description: In announcing that he had stopped serving the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese at his world-renowned restaurant, influential chef Charlie Trotter heaved a grenade into a simmering food fight, and the Foie Gras Wars erupted. He said his morally minded menu revision was meant merely to raise consciousness, but what was he thinking when he also suggested — to Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Caro — that a rival four-star chef 's liver be eaten as "a little treat"? The reaction to Caro's subsequent front-page story was explosive, as Trotter's sizable hometown moved to ban the ancient delicacy known as foie gras while an international array of activists, farmers, chefs and politicians clashed forcefully and sometimes violently over whether fattening birds for the sake of scrumptious livers amounts to ethical agriculture or torture.

"Take a dish with a funny French name, add ducks, top it all off with celebrity chefs eating each other's livers, and that's entertainment," Caro writes. Yet as absurd as battling over bloated waterfowl organs might seem, the controversy struck a serious chord even among those who had never tasted the stuff. Reporting from the front lines of this passionate dining debate, Caro explores the questions we too often avoid: What is an acceptable amount of suffering for an animal that winds up on our plate? Is a duck that lives comfortably for twelve weeks before enduring a few weeks of periodic force-feedings worse off than a supermarket broiler chicken that never sees the light of day over its six to seven weeks on earth? Why is the animal-rights movement picking on such a rarefied dish when so many more chickens, pigs and cows arebeing processed on factory farms? Then again, how could the treatment of other animals possibly justify the practice of feeding a duck through a metal tube down its throat?

In his relentless yet good-humored pursuit of clarity, Caro takes us to the streets where activists use bullhorns, spray paint, Superglue and/or lawsuits as their weapons; the government chambers where politicians weigh the ducks' interests against their own; the restaurants and outlaw dining clubs where haute cuisine preparations coexist with Foie-lipops; and the U.S. and French farms whose operators maintain that they are honoring tradition, not abusing animals. Can foie gras survive after 5,000 years? Are we on the verge of a more enlightened era of eating? Can both answers be yes? Our appetites hang in the balance.

New Book of the Week (October 5, 2009)

On the New Book Shelf in the Library lobby
Call Number: NA 105 .S79 2009

Time Honored: A Global View of Architectural Conservation

By John H. Stubbs

Publisher's Description: Time Honored is a comprehensive survey of the practice, theory, and structure of architectural heritage conservation throughout the world. Offering an argument for why architectural conservation is indispensable to modern life, Time Honored describes its parameters and evolution in an historical context, and then methodically presents approaches used in various countries, showing how historic preservation in the West differs from conservation in the rest of the world.

Illustrated throughout with over 300 photographs, drawings, maps, and charts. No other book navigates the global conservation programs, policies, and project types so completely.
This introductory volume of an ambitious series that will profile architectural conservation practices in different regions around the world lays a broad groundwork for the principles and practices of historic restoration and preservation.

Book of the Week (September 25, 2009)

On the 3rd Floor of the Library in the Instructional Materials Center

Call Number: GV 865 .K67 W56 2009

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?

By Jonah Winter

Publisher's Description: In this striking picture book biography, an old-timer tells us what made Sandy Koufax so amazing. We learn that the beginning of his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers was rocky, that he was shy with his teammates, and experienced discrimination as one of the only Jews in the game. We hear that he actually quit, only to return the next season—different—firing one rocket after another over the plate. We watch him refuse to play in the 1965 World Series because it is a Jewish high holy day. And we see him in pain because of an overused left arm, eventually retiring at the peak of his career. Finally, we are told that people are still “scratchin’ their heads over Sandy,” who remains a modest hero and a mystery to this day.

Library News (September 28, 2009)

A selection of Audiobooks are now available for checkout at the UWSP Library!

The books are part of the Leisure Reading Collection and are available at the Main Desk on the 1st Floor of the Library.

Audio Titles in Leisure Reading include:

Playing for Pizza by John Grishman
Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
In Defense of Food: an eater's manifesto by Michael Pollan
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Marley & Me by John Grogan
Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Watch for additional titles soon!