A strong contribution to our understanding of an important tradition of Indigenous ethics.
The first English translation of a key text of Aztec philosophy.
In the eyes of Mexico’s Spanish conquerors, the Aztec or Nahua people were idolaters. A friar named Andrés de Olmos (circa 1485-1571) was more sympathetic; renowned in his day for his mastery of the Nahuatl language, he took an interest in what these people actually thought. Purcell, a philosophy professor at SUNY–Cortland, works with Olmos’ text, begun in 1535, to produce a work that will remind some readers of the principal Confucian texts in their “virtue ethics”—though with an emphasis less on individual comportment than the instruction of the group to arrive at proper decisions. There is both an element of exoticism to the text and many important philosophical insights. As Purcell notes, “the Nahuas reason that all our actions are subject to an impressive degree of luck, so that whether those actions go well or poorly is often beyond our individual control.” Most of the pieces in this collection are instructions reminding well-bred (and probably well-born) young people of how to live with humility and in service to society. “Do not best people with your words and so cut off their speech,” reads one dictum. “Do not talk unkindly to people, do not make them forget or fail to conserve those words which are good.” Instructions to young women give them slightly less room to roam: “Take charge of the spindle, the weaving tablet….In that way you will deserve a bit of atole, a folded tortilla, some greens, some cactus.” Purcell does a good job teasing out the Christian elements that Olmos may have inserted in an earlier example of syncretism, and while his discussion of Nahuatl grammar in relation to these texts can be a touch daunting—e.g., when he describes the language as “maximally omnipredicative”—the book reads fluently.
A strong contribution to our understanding of an important tradition of Indigenous ethics.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781324020585
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.
A popular novelist turns his hand to historical writing, focusing on what shipwrecks can tell us.
There’s something inherently romantic about shipwrecks: the mystery, the drama of disaster, the prospect of lost treasure. Gibbins, who’s found acclaim as an author of historical fiction, has long been fascinated with them, and his expertise in both archaeology and diving provides a tone of solid authority to his latest book. The author has personally dived on more than half the wrecks discussed in the book; for the other cases, he draws on historical records and accounts. “Wrecks offer special access to history at all…levels,” he writes. “Unlike many archaeological sites, a wreck represents a single event in which most of the objects were in use at that time and can often be closely dated. What might seem hazy in other evidence can be sharply defined, pointing the way to fresh insights.” Gibbins covers a wide variety of cases, including wrecks dating from classical times; a ship torpedoed during World War II; a Viking longship; a ship of Arab origin that foundered in Indonesian waters in the ninth century; the Mary Rose, the flagship of the navy of Henry VIII; and an Arctic exploring vessel, the Terror (for more on that ship, read Paul Watson’s Ice Ghost). Underwater excavation often produces valuable artifacts, but Gibbins is equally interested in the material that reveals the society of the time. He does an excellent job of placing each wreck within a broader context, as well as examining the human elements of the story. The result is a book that will appeal to readers with an interest in maritime history and who would enjoy a different, and enlightening, perspective.
Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781250325372
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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