This is a truly excellent compilation of essays. Some of these contributors have subsequently amplified their essays into monographs (Karen Brodkin's superb essay "How the Jews Became White Folks" being one of the most noteworthy). Nevertheless, this collection is one of the highest quality edited volumes on this subject that I have had the pleasure of reading.

Despite the volume's title, the scope of almost all the essays is race in the United States, with a single foray into the Caribbean (Michel-Rolph Trouillot's well-historicized discussion of class and color in Haiti). That said, the theoretical sophistication of nearly almost the analyses presented here makes this monograph required reading for anyone interested in the topic from an anthropological perspective.

I will only briefly mention the essays which I personally found most useful, but I think it would be fair to say that there is nary a dud among them. The essays by Michael Blakey, Ruth Frankenburg and Brodkin on the issues of whiteness and privilege within US racial discourses illuminate the extent to which history and ideology combine with the personal political stances of members of what Noel Ignatiev and the other contributers to 'Race Traitor' label "the white race". Annette Jaimes provides a wonderfully pointed discussion of the role of the Federal government in the legal definition of Indianness while Clara Rodriguez and Patricia Zavella engage with similar issues with respect to the Puerto Rican and Chicana communities.

Some of the most interesting essays in the book deal with the ways in which institutions are (or are not)meeting the challenge of the terrains of privilege which race inscribes in this country. The discussions by Evelyn Hu-deHart and Roberto Alvarez regarding the academy's responses to multiculturalism and minority activist academics are particularly useful in this respect. Finally, Brett Williams and John Attinasi provide acute analyses of the discourses surrounding the 'welfare under-class'and ebonics respectively.

The final chapter by Gregory illustrates the ways in which anthropological analysis can be integrated with community activism and at least to some extent, repatriated to urban and embattled communities. An altogether absorbing and inspiring example of scholarship, practical analysis and community-centered anthropology.

This title should be read by anyone interested in race, identity or urban anthropology. Students who question the relevance of scholarship to larger social issues will gain a renewal of faith from this book.

trihedra

These folktales reveal the universality of the human condition. Human emotions from pride, as in the tales of Anansi the Spider, to the uniqueness of the individual, as in the Black-handed Monkey, are told in short and simple prose. These tales continue to interest my college students, as we read them each semester. Some stories are so humorous that we cannot refrain from sharing a good belly-laugh. Time after time, incidents occur that remind us of the simple characters in the tales, and we will say, "You sound like Anansi," or,"You're behaving like the man with the mango tree." This book is a special treat, and I highly recommend it.

The book offers a critique of the penal substitution model of atonement. Penal substitution is found through evangelical theology, and enjoys wide popularity today (see for example Christianity Today's "Call for Unity" of June 14th for a list of theologians and authors who consent to this view). The book begins with an examination of the various "models" or "ways of speaking about atonement" present in the New Testament. The authors argue that the New Testament writers did not present only one view of the atoning work of the cross, but instead presented a variety of metaphors and models that were rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and connected to the specific contexts of the writers.

The book then proceeds to survey some models of atonement from church history, looking at thinkers such as Irenaeus, Anselm, Charles Hodge and others. With respect to Hodge and penal substituion, the authors argue that Hodge's notion of justice is too deeply entrenched in a Western idea of justice, and can lead to a warped view of God. The book concludes with examples of people who are trying to re-articulate the saving significance of the cross today in their own specific contexts.

This book is an important book because it highlights the need for evangelical Christians to think seriously about how to contextualize the message of the atonement. If missionaries in Africa or Japan need to contextualize the gospel, why shouldn't Western Christians do the same? This book is a call for Christians in North America to re-engage their culture with a message of the cross that speaks clearly into their situation.

This book is also important because it offers a balanced, biblical critique of penal substitution. For too long evangelicalism has allowed penal substitution to remain the dominate model, without seriously looking at the implications and consequences of this model. This book opens up the question of atonement in evangelicalism to re-examination, while still trying to be faithful to the biblical text.

Finally, a note to those who might be scared off by all this theological language. Don't be! This book is dense, but also very readable and understandable and would be a valuable resource for anyone interested in recovering the scandal of the cross for their own contexts.

Also, for those of you who have read this book, more of Mark's writing can be found [on the internet].

This is an amazing book. It opens up all kinds of interesting questions about the importance of seeing and vision in a range of different religious contexts. In each major section, Plate invites us to approach a religious tradition not through its main scriptures but through a visual medium. Islam, for example, is approached via calligraphy as a way of thinking about the written word as image. Buddhism is approached through zen gardens as a way of thinking about the concept of shinjin (mind-body). I used this book as the primary textbook for a college course called "Religion and Visual Culture." It was a huge success. It is filled with interesting ideas and fresh approaches, and it is great reading. I highly recommend it.

A brilliant analysis of the micro and macro aspects of cultural organizations.

Rethinking Ethnicity and Health Care is a "must read" book on the complex subject of health care in the rapidly growing and evolving Hispanic, Asian American, African American, and Native American communities in the U.S. It sets a theoretical basis for discussion of this multidimensional topic, and provides the lay reader, service provider, and researcher with culturally sensitive and competent approaches and solutions to, and insights into the unique problems faced by these communities. Besides its didactic underpinnings, the book is enjoyable reading. I recommend it highly.

This book is a fantastic look at the paintings of the Aboriginal artist Rover Thomas. The reproductions are flawless, and the analysis is deep.

This book conveys a teaching whose roots are anchored in the past. It gives a new-life to the Rose+Cross. Not only you will find historical explanations about the mysterious order, but also secret ancestral techniques. These exercises can be a key to understand the meaning of life, and will show you the path to a good and healthy inner development.

For any who cast &/or work within Sacred Circles, this book is a must! Knight very clearly & simply describes the dynamics of the Magic Circle, and then goes on to place it in the context of several mystical philosophies; Pagan Greece & Egypt, Rosicrucian work, and more. His key point & common denominator is the Magic Circle as the manifestation of the Divne Feminine.