BOOKSHELF
Political
Economy and Statesmanship: Smith, Hamilton and the Foundation of
the Commercial Republic by Peter McNamara. A comparison of the
Scottish moralist and economic theorist with America's first
Secretary of the Treasury, a member of the Class of 1778, suggests
paths for the development of a new political economy (Northern
Illinois University Press, $35).
The Birth
of Empire: DeWitt Clinton and the American Experience,
1769-1828 by Evan Cornog. The legacy of the Class of 1786
graduate - who served as mayor of New York City and governor of the
state, and narrowly lost the 1812 presidential election - ranged
from introducing the spoils system to making the decision to dig
the Erie Canal; by an associate dean of the Graduate School of
Journalism (Oxford University Press, $29.95).
Mahan on
Naval Warfare: Selections from the Writings of Rear Admiral Alfred
T. Mahan [Class of 1858], edited by Allan Westcott. A reprint
of the classic compendium of writings on naval strategy and tactics
by one of the formative theorists of modern naval warfare (Dover,
$13.95 paper).
A Clever
Base-Ballist: The Life and Times of John Montgomery Ward by
Bryan Di Salvatore. A new biography of the Class of 1885
ballplayer, who regularly made the front pages as a pitcher,
shortstop, player leader, and fomenter of the failed 1890 "great
player rebellion," when four out of five National Leaguers deserted
the establishment to form the short-lived Players' League (Pantheon
Books, $27.50). For an excerpt, see Columbia
Forum.
The
Twilight of the Intellectuals: Culture and Politics in the Era of
the Cold War by Hilton Kramer. In this collection of essays
from the editor of The New Criterion, Whittaker Chambers '24, Alger
Hiss's successful accuser, draws warm praise; the famed Columbia
art historian, Meyer Schapiro '25, suffers a cool revisionism; and
Diana Trilling is castigated for her assessment of her husband,
Professor Lionel Trilling '25 (Ivan R. Dee, $27.50).
The New
Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman '25, preface by John
S. Major. This fourth revision of a work in print for 40 years is
not only a valuable introduction to great works of Western
civilization but also a guide to non-Western works ranging from
Confucius to The Koran (HarperCollins, $24 cloth, $14
paper).
Langston
Hughes ['25]: Poet of the Harlem Renaissance by Christine M.
Hill. An illustrated biography for younger readers of the great
poet and author, who used an unhappy year at Columbia to establish
himself among the Harlem literati of the 1920s (Enslow Publishers,
$19.95).
Lionel
Trilling ['25] and the Critics: Opposing Selves, edited by John
Rodden, foreword by Morris Dickstein '61. An indispensable
compilation of essays and reviews that illuminate the protean
thought and career of one of Columbia's most prolific and
celebrated professors (Bison Books, $70 cloth, $29.95
paper).
Evenings
with the Orchestra by Hector Berlioz, edited, translated and
with an introduction by Jacques Barzun '27. A reprint of Barzun's
1956 translation, with a new introduction, of Berlioz's volume
"intermingling genuine biographies and high criticism with fanciful
anecdotes and stories made out of whole cloth" (University of
Chicago Press, $16 paper).
A God in
Ruins: A Novel by Leon Uris '34. A western governor's bid to
become America's second Irish-Catholic president is put into
jeopardy when it is discovered he was born Jewish; by the
best-selling author of Trinity and Exodus (HarperCollins,
$26).
Berryman's
Shakespeare: Essays, Letters, and Other Writings, edited and
introduced by John Haffenden, preface by Robert Giroux '36. This
collection of essays, lectures, correspondence and criticism shows
Berryman's lifelong engagement with the Bard, which began when
Berryman was a student in Mark Van Doren's Shakespeare course
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $35).
Between
the Raindrops by David V. Pecora '37. An autobiography of a
physician, with an emphasis on his early years, including his
education at Columbia and military service during World War II
(Vantage, $21.95).
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