Month: January 2013

Author: Armando Favazza, M.D. Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Book Review by: Artha Hemrajani This book, first published in 1987, is probably the first psychiatric study on self-mutilation and related behavior, and has been described by reviewers as a ‘classic and authoritative book’ on this subject. It has been noted by people working in the press as “a pioneering work that identifies cultural and societal factors that impel and even compel people to harm themselves.” This new edition published in 2011 contains updates and new findings from hundreds of new studies. As someone who does not know much about...

Editor: Radha S. Hegde Publisher: New York University Press Book Review by: Artha Hemrajani No, this is not an engineering or science book. It is not on electricity or optics that comes to mind when you come across words like circuits and visibility. This book is part of a series of five such ones published so far on the theme of critical cultural communication. This series is part of a project of the department of media, culture and communication at New York University. Sixteen academicians and researchers with particular expertise and backgrounds in various subjects contributed a wide range...

Editor:  David K. Vaughan Publisher: South Carolina University Press Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram This is a fascinating and colorful story of a flamboyant, highly self-confident, bold and courageous World War I flying ace named Elliott White Springs (1896-1959). Flying was his first passion in which he achieved outstanding success and received high honors. With steely nerves and deadly aim at his enemies, he earned four kills in air combat when he was with the prestigious British 85 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, later renamed the Royal Air Force. There was a pause and he went off duty...

Author: Andrew Wedeman Publisher: Cornell University Press Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram Andrew Wedeman documents 2,816 cases of corruption in China from a Lexis-Nexis database, which are sorted in two ways: 1. by time period (from the pre-Reform or pre-1978 era up to 2009) and 2. by type of corruption. The types of government corruption at many levels are wide-ranging. If alphabetically sorted, they are: ‘asset-stripping’ with 208 cases, to taxation with 38 cases. The fewest instances of documented corruption are related to taxation, and the most are construction and real estate-related, with 439 cases. You will be shocked...