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Booklist - American Library Association - Booklist is ALA's official review source for current materials worthy of consideration for purchase by small and medium-sized public and school libraries. The full text of Booklist's starred review of Modern Scandals is reproduced below.August 2009 Great Events from History: Modern Scandals. Bankston, Carl L. (Author) Mar 2009. 1,236 p. Salem, hardcover, $295.00. (9781587654688). 909.82. The wise folks at Salem Press define scandal as behavior that damages the reputation of a famous person because it violates the "codes of morality, propriety, or ethics to which the transgressors are normally expected to adhere." Within this framework, Modern Scandals presents more than 350 episodes of scandalous behavior from 1904 to 2008. Chronologically arranged entries cover such events as architect Stanford White's murder, in 1927; poet Ezra Pound being charged with treason in 1945; the 1953 Piltdown Man hoax; Jane Fonda's 1972 visit to North Vietnam; Princess Diana's death, in 1997; and Don Imus losing his radio show in 2007 after making sexist and racist remarks. In rough measure, 40 percent of the scandals involve politics and government. Although the title begins with Theodore Roosevelt's 1904 presidential campaign ("Theodore Roosevelt Is Accused of Accepting Corporate Funds"), coverage is heavily weighted toward events that occurred since 1970. Coverage is also weighted toward the U.S. Almost all of the essays run to about 1,600 words and, as with the other Great Events sets, provide ready reference information followed by an event summary, a discussion of the event's impact, and a brief list of suggested readings. The writing style and tone are geared to high-school and undergraduate students. Each of the three volumes contains a handy 16-page "Keyword List of Contents" listing every entry under each keyword from its title. For example, the article covering the World War II internment of Japanese Americans may be located under the keywords Roosevelt, Japanese Americans, and Internment of Japanese Americans. Additional access features include indexes by chronology, geography, general category, personages, and subjects. A captivating read, this is a recommended purchase for public, high-school, and undergraduate academic libraries. Purchase entitles the buyer to three years of online access at no additional cost. (A sticker on the inside cover of the first volume gives a unique activation number and the Web site address for Salem's new reference platform, Salem History, www.history.salempress.com.) | |||||
| - Art A. Lichtenstein |
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