What Kind of Liberation?

November 10, 2008
Al-Ali and Pratt’s examination of women in postinvasion Iraq argues that the invasion has undermined women’s rights, as the nationalist movement supersedes the women’s movement, as heightened security risk forces many women into their homes. Aside from physical danger, gender studies scholar Al-Ali and foreign relations expert Pratt deftly illustrate cultural resistance to women’s freedom: for instance, Iraqi women are viewed as “custodians and transmitters of national culture” rather than as actors on the political stage, and as rhetorical pawns, with military invasion justified as a means of protecting them. The authors make overgeneralized statements—e.g., “militarism at home contributes to reproducing social inequalities in countries that are a target of military intervention”—rooted in assumptions not all readers will share (“military intervention is a tool of U.S. empire building”). The authors also sometimes assume knowledge of treaties, events and organizations many readers won’t be familiar with, such as the Algiers Agreement of 1975. Still, the book thoroughly exposes the disparities between the talk of politicos and the situation of Iraqi women—a timely addition to scholarship on Iraq.

February 16, 2009
Drawn from Swanson's 2007 adult work, Manhunt
, this adaptation offers younger audiences a chronological, sometimes graphic play-by-play of Lincoln's assassination and the pursuit of his murderer and cohorts. An ever-increasing cast of characters in the 1865 conspiracy fills the pages, from assassin John Wilkes Booth to the Union sergeant who ended Booth's life in a burning tobacco barn. The narrative, peppered with some editorializing, jumps between Washington, D.C., and Booth's countryside hideouts: “Booth's leg was throbbing painfully. He needed a doctor.... At the Petersen house, Abraham Lincoln would soon have more doctors than he could ever want, but little use for any of them.” While Swanson's 14 brief, descriptive chapters tell a riveting story, the myriad details and jumping back and forth can at times feel whipsawing. Still, this smartly designed work, printed in sepia ink and featuring well-integrated news clippings, playbills, portraits, period artwork and other extras, should appeal to students of Lincoln and the Civil War, but also attract newcomers to the subject. Ages 12–up.

January 4, 2009
Al-Ali and Pratt\x92s examination of women in postinvasion Iraq argues that the invasion has undermined women\x92s rights, as the nationalist movement supersedes the women\x92s movement, as heightened security risk forces many women into their homes. Aside from physical danger, gender studies scholar Al-Ali and foreign relations expert Pratt deftly illustrate cultural resistance to women\x92s freedom: for instance, Iraqi women are viewed as \x93custodians and transmitters of national culture\x94 rather than as actors on the political stage, and as rhetorical pawns, with military invasion justified as a means of protecting them. The authors make overgeneralized statements\x97e.g., \x93militarism at home contributes to reproducing social inequalities in countries that are a target of military intervention\x94\x97rooted in assumptions not all readers will share (\x93military intervention is a tool of U.S. empire building\x94). The authors also sometimes assume knowledge of treaties, events and organizations many readers won\x92t be familiar with, such as the Algiers Agreement of 1975. Still, the book thoroughly exposes the disparities between the talk of politicos and the situation of Iraqi women\x97a timely addition to scholarship on Iraq.