Review of Carry A. Nation: Retelling the Life (Hardcover)

A fascinating account of an important and little known American historical figure.The book is well researched and very well written.



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Review of Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics (Hardcover)

Contemporary Iran is a collection of documented and highly detailed research papers by authors of the first quality. Great Reference! If the information you seek is not contained in the volume, the Bibliographies will take the reader there. All black and white keeps the cost down, but the charts are easy to understand. Permits the reader to unravel much of the current mystery of Iran and to develop a third order of knowing the Land of the Persians.



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Review of Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition (Hardcover)

It's difficult to be comprehensive on a topic as diverse and ill-defined as social ethics, but Dorrien's effort is at least profoundly inclusive. Reinhold Niebuhr is the crux of the book, receiving more attention than anyone else. Dorrien traces those who followed explicitly in Niebuhr's footsteps, but he also traces divergences, expansions and contentions of the tradition. The book is erudite and accessible. It tells an almost unified story of the tradition as a whole, while also providing a valuable introduction to many individual figures from the tradition. Perhaps most importantly, it makes the reader want to go back to the original sources Dorrien's discussing.



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Review of Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith (Hardcover)

I think this is a fantastic book on American Catholics.First of all, it's beautifully written; I'm not used to sociology books being such a page-turner.Second, the author actually listened to real-life Catholics -- liberal and conservative, gay and straight, afluent and poor, people of different races and ethnicities -- and is very nuanced in his teasing out the trends in their thinking and ways of being religious.Finally, Baggett uses sociological theory to make some very sophisticated observations about how the people in the pews draw upon Catholic (and other) symbols and narratives to provide a sense of meaning to their lives.Honestly, I think as many Catholics as possible (as well as other people interested in the important changes in American religion more generally) should read this book in order to get beyond the stereotypes that keep people from really understanding one another.This is a wonderful book.



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