How history can use sociology and vice versa strictly for specialists in both fields. The former question is hotter, because sociologists' concern with history took a nose dive in the Thirties, got utterly scrapped during the Fifties' heyday of "empirical" data on scattered, narrow subjects. Mills and Reisman urged a return to macroscopic, historically oriented analysis (but, as Hofstadter points out here, they themselves failed to do so). These essays display the concern with methodology for its own sake which Mills deplored, and the topics mostly stay within American history. Authors include Benson, Baltzell, Donald, Merritt, Thernstrom and Lazarsfeld. The effort to keep the best in the quantitative approach predominates; a trend toward comparative, cross-disciplinary study is also perceptible. The editors are prominent professors of history and sociology respectively. But as anthologizers they must how to Levitas (Culture and Consciousness, 1967) and Lindenfeld (Reader in Political Sociology, 1967), who excelled in delineating the issues and presenting a genuine diversity of selections.
Pub Date: June 15, 1968
ISBN: 0465079938
Page Count: 183
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1968
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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