C&RL News November 2011 606 George M. Eberhart is senior editor of American Libraries, e-mail: geberhart@ala.org N e w P u b l i c a t i o n sGeorge M. Eberhart 2011), offers interesting charts and maps that illustrate inequalities in income and wealth, social and environmental conditions, education and literacy, infrastructure, and political rights among the nations of the world. An essay that expands on the significance of the inequality accompanies each topic. $21.95. University of California. 978-0-520-26822-7. Blood on the Tracks, by S. Brian Willson (441 pages, August 2011), is the autobiography of well-known Vietnam veteran and antiwar activist Willson, who has participated in dem- onstrations, civil disobedience, lengthy fasts, tax refusal, and eco-activism since the early 1980s. Like fellow antiwar veteran Ron Kovic, Willson was also born on the Fourth of July (five years earlier, in 1941). His Vietnam War experience led him to reject militaristic U.S. foreign inter- ventions in Latin America, the Middle East, and elsewhere, and he has traveled to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Argentina, and other countries to document the effects of American policies on people’s lives. Even after losing both of his legs during a nonviolent protest at the Concord, California, Naval Weapons Station when a train carrying munitions ran over him in September 1987, Willson has not curtailed his activism. This well-written account, with an introduction by Daniel Ellsberg, is filled with lucid reflections on the meaning of participatory democracy, war, market culture, and the American Way of Life. $20.00. PM Press. 978-1-40486-421-2. The Halloween Encyclopedia, by Lisa Morton (255 pages, 2d ed., April 2011), updates the 2003 edition by some 20 pages and 50 new entries to include even more information on the origins, history, traditions, games, folklore, food, literature, and films related to one of America’s favorite holidays. Numerous illustrations and a solid bibliography enhance the text, and ap- pendices offer a chronology of the Halloween holiday and Halloween in literature and the arts. $75.00. McFarland. 978-0-7864-6074-8. Antarctic Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide, by James Lowen (240 pages, June 2011), is a sturdily bound, photographic field guide to the birds and mammals (and two species of flowering plants) that ecotourists are likely to see on cruis- es originating from the tip of South America. Though not a comprehensive handbook on the continent’s wildlife, Lowen’s book does zero in on the three major cruise routes: the Beagle Channel, Drake Passage, and the Antarctic Peninsula, each with its own distinctive fauna. In addition to species accounts, Lowen provides information on polar tourism, environmental safety, observation tips, and seasonal changes. $22.95. Princeton University. 978-0-691-15033-8. If luaus, leis, and coral atolls are more to your liking, then try Birds of Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Central and West Pacific, by Ber van Perlo (256 pages, August 2011), a more traditional field guide with compact descriptions and distribution maps that make this a handy avian checklist for some 750 species. $29.95. Princeton University. 978-0-691-15188-5. Arthurian Figures of History and Legend: A Biographical Dictionary, by Frank D. Reno (264 pages, December 2010), is definitely a reference written for scholars with more than a passing familiarity with the Arthurian Cycle and Anglo-Saxon history. In each of some 400 biographical entries (from Abloyc to Ygerna), Reno attempts to separate the folklore from the probable history embedded in the legends. Col- lections specializing in Arthurian lore will also want to acquire Reno’s two other McFarland titles: The Historic King Arthur (1996) and His- toric Figures of the Arthurian Era (2000). $39.95. McFarland. 978-0-7864-5824-0. The Atlas of Global Inequalities, by Ben Crow and Suresh K. Lodha (128 pages, February November 2011 607 C&RL News case, the trial of two Italian anarchists for rob- bery and murder in South Braintree, Massachu- setts, in 1920. Geary depicts the many flaws in the prosecution of the case and highlights the worldwide protests that erupted on the day of their execution in 1927. With a precise eye for detail and the ability to summarize a complex case with remarkable conciseness, Geary sets the standard for graphic historical narrative. $15.99. NBM. 978-1-56163-605-1. Osama bin Laden, by Michael Scheuer (278 pages, February 2011), assesses the life of the former al-Qaeda leader through 2010 and offers an objective analysis of his quali- ties as a strategist and adversary. Scheuer, a former CIA counterterrorism officer who served as chief of the CIA’s bin Laden unit from 1996 to 1999, has written in his other books (Imperial Hubris, Marching Toward Hell) that the Islamist movement is follow- ing a rational strategy to oppose U.S. Middle East policies it characterizes as anti-Muslim. In this biography, Scheuer demonstrates that bin Laden is “not the caricature that we have made of him” and that he could more accurately be described as “pious, brave, generous, intelligent, charismatic, patient, visionary, stubborn, egalitarian, and, most of all, realistic”—a formidable enemy whom we have underestimated and misunderstood. $19.95. Oxford University. 978-0-19-973866-3. Thanksgiving: An Illustrated History, by John Wesley Thomas and Sandra Lynn Thomas (160 pages, September 2011), reproduces a wide array of illustrations depicting America’s oldest holiday and its traditions, especially illustrated newspapers and magazine covers (arranged chronologically), and postcards (arranged by artist or theme). In addition to the standard turkeys, Pilgrims, and feasting, it’s surprising to see so many patriotic images as an essential ingredient of the Thanksgiving holiday. A companion to the authors’ 2004 book Thanksgiving and Turkey Collectibles: Then and Now, this work focuses exclusively on printed materials of the past 150 years. $29.99. Schiffer. 978-0-7643-3829-8. The Infinite Dream: The Opening of the Great American West, by Allan W. Eckert (688 pages, September 2011), chronicles the western ex- pansion of the United States in the 1840s, from the establishment of Sutter’s Fort in northern Califor- nia to the end of the Mexican War. Published after Eckert’s death in July, the book is the last of the author’s masterpieces of historical narrative that focus as much on the personalities of the participants as on the events themselves. As with his earlier books in the Winning of America series, Eckert tells the story with a minimum of contextualizing, letting the drama of the tale speak for itself and weaving in extracts from such original sources as journals, speeches, letters, military orders, and diaries. By the end, the reader comes to know the principal players intimately—among them John Sutter, President James K. Polk, John Fremont, Stephen W. Kearny, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, Brigham Young, and the Mor- mon Battalion (best known for its 2,000-mile march from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego). A substantial bibliography and amplification notes are provided in the back. $25.00. Jesse Stuart Foundation. 978-1-931672-75-7. T h e L i v e s o f Sacco and Van- z e t t i , w r i t t e n and illustrated by Rick Geary (76 pages, Au- gust 2011), con- tinues the illus- trator’s graphic- novel treatment of 20th-century crime with the Sacco-Vanzetti