Prisons

Gr 8 Up—Each title begins with a brief history of its subject and then delves into the topic. Prisons and Torture should have qualifiers added to their titles, as the books are written almost exclusively from an American perspective. Military Might is much more global in scope. Prisons does an excellent job of providing an overview of current prison conditions, violence, funding issues, and populations. One chapter tackles the philosophical debate regarding the purpose of imprisonment-punishment or rehabilitation. Strangely, there are only passing references to death row and capital punishment. By nature of the time frame of the subject, Torture is the most specific of the three. The premise is that torture of "enemy combatants" and detainees occurred during George W. Bush's War on Terror, and specific evidence (names, dates, methods, etc.) is provided to back up that claim. While graphic at times, the writing is not sensationalized. Military Might is the most philosophical of the three titles, with much discussion of theory, ethics, and principles of military and global intervention. The author attempts to make this discussion concrete with examples of successful (e.g., Kosovo) and unsuccessful (e.g., Somalia) interventions. All three titles have exhaustive notes, bibliographies, and indexes, along with high-quality historical photographs and illustrations. These books will be useful for reports.—Lisa Crandall, formerly at Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI