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NO DUTY TO RETREAT

Name: NO DUTY TO RETREAT
Author: Richard Maxwell Brown
ISBN: 0-19-504310-6

VIOLENCE AND VALUES IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND SOCIETY

by Richard Maxwell Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1991

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A confused and tedious treatment of the legal doctrine and moral tradition in America of ``no duty to retreat''—the doctrine that one need not retreat when attacked, but may stand one's ground and defend oneself. Brown (Northwest & Pacific History/Univ. of Oregon; Strain of Violence, 1975) points out that under English common law, a murder defendant, in order to successfully argue self-defense, had first to convince the jury that he had used all available means of avoiding the situation. Brown also recognizes that American courts have vitiated and, in most cases, eliminated this requirement. In several long, digressive chapters, he examines the role of the gunfighter in the Old West, particularly in a war between settlers and railroad interests in California in the 1870's. Advancing a historical theory seemingly irrelevant to his subject, Brown reduces the history of the West to a confrontation of socioeconomic forces (he repeatedly labels it the ``Western Civil War of Incorporation,'' a war between industrial and agrarian forces) but fails to explain clearly how a ``duty to retreat'' would have applied in these cases. He goes on to advance a number of sociological theories about the crime surge in American society (although choosing not to mention drugs, demographics, or the proliferation of guns), and argues, finally, that America's refusal to retreat has embroiled it in foreign wars (though one could make a similar argument about the foreign policy of Britain, which has retained the duty to retreat). Brown's information and theories are interesting enough, but too little logical thread holds the various arguments together as the author digresses from his legal argument to sociohistorical theorizing.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1991

ISBN: 0-19-504310-6

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.