BOOK REVIEWS

 
This section contains Dennis McDonald’s occasional book reviews.

  • An index of book reviews is here.
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Anthony Lewis' FREEDOM FOR THE THOUGHT THAT WE HATE: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

This little volume is packed with an amazing amount of readable information about the history of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, libel, privacy, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.

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Posted on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 08:50PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Helen Nicholson's THE CRUSADES

I assigned three tags to this book review:

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Posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 08:41PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Evelyn Fox Keller's THE CENTURY OF THE GENE

Cloning, evolution, and the Human Genome Project are often in the news. One of my 2008 New Years’ Resolutions was to learn more about genetics and molecular biology. I had resolved to “get smarter” about DNA and its role in evolution and in generation-to-generation stability and inheritance.

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Posted on Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 10:45PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , | CommentsPost a Comment

Arturo Pérez-Reverte's CAPTAIN ALATRISTE

“Captain” Alatriste is an ex-soldier in 17th Century Madrid who scratches out a living via odd jobs and spends part of his time gabbing and drinking at a local bar. An old “friend” tosses him a job which is initially to scare a pair of English travelers but turns out to be a contract for murder.

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Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 04:16PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , | CommentsPost a Comment

Lisa Jardine's INGENIOUS PURSUITS: BUILDING THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Late 17th Century London and the Royal Society provide the setting for this book. It concentrates on the “great men” who lived, worked, and created modern science.

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Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 10:06PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Shelby Foote's SHILOH

This novel follows several Confederate and Union solders during the two days of the 1862 battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.

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Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 09:08PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Stephen Jay Gould's ROCKS OF AGES

Scientist Gould in this short book attempts to demonstrate both (a) how Science and Religion can learn to co-exist and (b) how efforts to control Science through Religion-imposed limits are prime examples of the two “magisteria,” as he refers to Science and Religion, transgressing on each other’s territory.

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Posted on Monday, December 3, 2007 at 02:03PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Stephen Alter's FANTASIES OF A BOLLYWOOD LOVE THIEF: INSIDE THE WORLD OF INDIAN MOVIEMAKING

This book is a great read if you are at all interested in the nuts and bolts of film production.

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Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 05:34AM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Will Eisner's THE PLOT: THE SECRET STORY OF THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION

It is common knowledge that the book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which tells about a sinister Jewish plot to take over the world, is a 19th-century fabrication that emerged in Europe during the time of the infamous Dreyfuss affair.

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Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 at 08:02PM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Chiara Frugoni's BOOKS, BANKS, BUTTONS, AND OTHER INVENTIONS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES

Beautifully translated by William McCuaig from the original Italian, this lavishly illustrated book tells the surprising story of the many important inventions that emerged from Europe during the Middle Ages.

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Posted on Monday, May 28, 2007 at 06:55AM by Registered CommenterDennis D. McDonald in , | CommentsPost a Comment
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