Information Resources

Suggestions for
Summer Reading

Here are some recommendations for summertime read-ing from friends of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies.

Harold Ridley:

American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center, by William Langewiesche.

As a reporter Langewiesche gained access to the WTC site right after 9/11, and he describes all of the different types of challenges that presented themselves -- political, technical, demolition, etc. The book also provides excellent insight into the various "cultures" that were in competition at ground zero, e.g., NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority of NY and NJ.

If you would like to purchase this book, click here.

Joseph Hough:

Introducing Theologies of Religions, by Paul Knitter.

This book is by far the best survey of Christian theolog-ical positions related to the question of whether there is salvation only in Jesus Christ. Knitter has done more research on these matters than any other American theologian, and he is very fair in stating both the strong points of the various positions and the problems he has with them. He has grouped all of the theological posi-tions into types without obscuring important distinctions, and all the while he writes so that it is a joy to read him.

If you would like to purchase this book, click here.

Taylor Branch:

Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides, by Christian G. Appy, Viking 2003.

This is a book of oral histories from a wide range of people who were affected by the war -- generals, peasants, flight attendants on troop flights, teenage girls who built the Ho Chi Minh trail. The overall effect
is transforming, in part because it makes clear by con-trast that our memories contain far less than half the human perspective on the war.

If you would like to purchase this book, click here.

The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People, by Jonathan Schell, Metropolitan/ Henry Holt 2003.

An examination of war and nonviolence in the last few centuries, arguing that nonviolent forces increasingly rule durable history, more than we realize or are con-ditioned to believe. Not a perfect or unimpeachable book, but a bravely fresh perspective.

If you would like to purchase this book, click here.

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