Beacon Press Titles Available in Multiple Formats

I Dissent
Great Opposing Opinions in Landmark Supreme Court Cases
Edited by Mark Tushnet

June 2008

From Dred Scott to Lawrence v. Texas and more, the most famous Supreme Court dissents, collected in one volume for the first time

Written in accessible and lively language, edited with a lay readership in mind, I Dissent offers an invaluable collection for anyone interested in American history and how we define constitutional rights. By placing the Supreme Court back into the framework of the government rather than viewing it as a near-sacred body issuing final decisions that cannot be questioned, Tushnet provides a radically fresh view of the judiciary and a new approach to reading the overlooked writings of major contentious figures from throughout American history.

Sowing Crisis
The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East
Rashid Khalidi

January 2009

A lucid and provocative analysis of the legacy of the Cold War in the Middle East

In his new book, Rashid Khalidi dissects the crucial dynamics of power in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union as it played out in the Middle East, compellingly arguing that the intense rivalry between the U.S. and the USSR in the region set the stage for the tragic conflicts that have followed in its long wake.

The Lonely American
Drifting Apart in the Twenty-first Century
Jacqueline Olds, M.D. and Richard S. Schwartz, M.D.

February 2009

The personal and societal effects of the unheralded epidemic of social isolation in America

Calling on their extensive clinical experience, new social surveys (including the 2004 General Social Survey and the Pew Internet and American Life Project), and recent research on the physiological and cognitive effects of social exclusion, Olds and Schwartz uncover the ripple effects of social isolation in areas as varied as physical health, children's emotional problems, substance abuse, violent crime—even global warming. They conclude that electronic connection is no substitute for face-to-face interaction.

Toxic Truth
A Scientist, a Doctor, and the Battle over Lead
Lydia Denworth

March 2009

The first book to tell the incredible story of two men behind the bitter thirty-year fight to protect children from lead

In Toxic Truth, journalist Lydia Denworth tells both men's fascinating stories while also documenting the lead industry's well-funded efforts to discredit and silence them. Ultimately, science prevailed. But along the way, these two men and their allies redefined how we conceive of disease, contaminants, and public safety. Their courageous fight offers a lesson on the dangers of choosing corporate interests over public health.

No Sacrifice Too Great
The History of African American Education from Slavery to the Twenty-first Century
James D. Anderson

April 2009

When historian James Anderson began studying the education of African Americans after the Civil War, he uncovered an astounding history. Few today know what African Americans did—and what they sacrificed-to demand, create, and nourish educational institutions for themselves and their families through the twentieth century. Slaves literally risked their lives to learn to read; African American legislators during Reconstruction passed the first laws guaranteeing public schools in America; and poor Blacks pooled their life's savings to build thousands of schools—African Americans demonstrated over and over, in the face of huge obstacles, a wide cultural commitment to education.

Filled with stories, framed around provocative questions, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in race and education in America.

From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act
A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America
Christopher M. Finan

The first comprehensive history of the evolution of Free Speech in America, from a respected historian and free speech activist.

In this lively history of our most fundamental and perhaps most vulnerable right, Christopher Finan traces the lifeline of free speech from the War on Terror back to the turn of the last century. Finan's dramatic review of such touchstones as the Scopes trial and Edward R. Murrow's challenge to Joseph McCarthy are revelatory; many of his narratives are entirely fresh and have as much relevance to our post-Patriot Act world as his final chapter on the twenty-first century. The story of the fight for free speech in times of war and peace—when writers, publishers, booksellers, and librarians are often on the front lines—is essential reading.

“Based on original research as well as secondary sources, this timely book will be of interest both to general and academic readers. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

Can We Talk About Race?
And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.

Afterword by Theresa Perry

Major new reflections on race and schools—by the best-selling author of “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”

“Tatum’s analysis is a probing and ambitious start of a series of books to prod national discussion on issues of race, education, and democracy.” —Vanessa Bush, Booklist

A Dynamic God
Living an Unconventional Catholic Faith
Nancy Mairs

A Dynamic God describes the alternative brand of Catholic worship that Mairs observes in the American Southwest. Raised Congregationalist in New England, Mairs is a convert to Catholicism. She is also feminist, radical, political activist—and all this in a church that tends to scorn her kind of progressive iconoclasm.

A Dynamic God explores why and how Mairs deals with those contradictions and still identifies Catholic, and what she finds to love in that tradition.

American Furies
Crime, Punishment, and Vengeance in the Age of Mass Imprisonment
Sasha Abramsky

“Sasha Abramsky provides us with an invaluable, if harrowing, audit of the cataclysmic damage inflicted upon American values by American prisons. The lack of compassion in our national life and the gangrened hearts of our politicians pose greater threats to our childrens’ futures than any overseas terrorist conspiracy.” —Mike Davis, professor of history at University of California, Irvine

Uncertain Peril
Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds
Claire Hope Cummings

Cummings shows how genetic engineering threatens seeds, and tells the story of those trying to save this most basic environmental resource.

“Uncertain Peril is a must-read for anyone concerned about plants or the planet.” —Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma

For a full list of Caravan titles, visit
www.caravanbooks.org.