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BLACK TRIALS

Name: BLACK TRIALS
Author: Mark S. Weiner
ISBN: 0-375-40981-5

CITIZENSHIP FROM THE BEGINNINGS OF SLAVERY TO THE END OF CASTE

by Mark S. Weiner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2004

Well-researched and cogent discussions of how legal cases involving blacks tell us much about the evolving notion of...

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Thorough and provocative analyses of legal cases (criminal and otherwise) involving black Americans since the 17th century.

Weiner brings appropriate credentials to this daunting endeavor of writing social, legal, cultural, and racial history: a Ph.D. in American studies as well as a law degree and currently teaches at Rutgers Univ. School of Law. Beginning with a disquisition on his general topic (with a tone and texture very much like a law school lecture: one can almost see the accompanying PowerPoint), Weiner then moves into a chronological examination of cases ranging from the 1721 murder trial of Joseph Hanno (convicted of killing his wife) to the still controversial and celebrity-infested death-row case of Abu-Jamal. In between are the expected (the Amistad, John Brown, Plessy v. Ferguson, the Scottsboro Boys, Brown v. Board of Education, Huey Newton, and the Clarence Thomas–Anita Hill confrontation) and some enlightening surprises, especially the 1830s case of Prudence Crandall, a young idealistic white woman who opened in Canterbury, Conn., a school for black girls. Despite warnings (from officials and others), despite threats of heinous harm to her and her girls (including public whippings), Crandall persisted until she was arrested, tried (hung jury), re-tried, convicted, then released by an appeals court. But a mob trashed her school, driving her from the state. Other interesting treatments include an 1847 case involving runaway slaves and an 1871 case that sought to punish some KKK members. The author begins each chapter with a passage that one might find in a historical novel—e.g., this sentence about the hanging of John Brown: “Beneath the feet of an old man, the scaffold door opens, and he falls through space.” Weiner then proceeds with a narrative of the events and ends with some commentary on their significance. Assigned to minor roles in this sweeping drama are Dred Scott and O.J. Simpson.

Well-researched and cogent discussions of how legal cases involving blacks tell us much about the evolving notion of American citizenship.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2004

ISBN: 0-375-40981-5

Page Count: 448

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2004

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.