The chasm between Americans who have served in the military and those who haven’t has troublesome consequences, says Andrew Bacevich *82 in Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country (Metropolitan Books). Americans have become unrealistic about what the military can and can’t do, he argues, and more tolerant of seemingly endless military interventions. Bacevich is a professor of history and international relations at Boston University.
“I champion sensibly designed racial affirmation action ... because, on balance, it is conducive to the public good,” writes Randall Kennedy ’77 in For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law (Pantheon Books). A professor at Harvard Law School, Kennedy explores the legal history of affirmative action, analyzes its benefits and costs, and reflects on its future.
In Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture (University of California Press), Hilary Levey Friedman *09 examines the world of competitive soccer, dance, and chess for children and explores why families devote so much time to these activities. “Parents worry that if their children do not participate in childhood tournaments they will fall behind in the tournament of life,” she writes.
In Band of Angels: The Forgotten World of Early Christian Women (The Overlook Press), Kate Cooper *93 explores the role played by women in helping spread and shape the early Christian movement. Among women she discusses are the martyr Perpetua and the empress Pulcheria. Cooper is a professor of ancient history at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
All but two of the 16 tracks on the solo piano CD Home and Away, Volume One (BMS) by Barry Miles (Silverlight) ’69 are originals. A composer, arranger, and keyboardist, he recorded many of the songs in his living room on the Steinway grand piano he’s owned since age 13.
Luke Cissell ’02’s CD Cosmography (Silver Squid Music) includes 12 tracks of instrumental music that blend electronic and bluegrass sounds. A New York City resident, Cissell plays fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and synthesizers, and wrote 11 of the tracks. This is his second album.