Book reviews

CHINA

SOW‐THENG LEONG. Migration and Ethnicity in Chinese History: Hakkas, Pengmin, and their Neighbors. Tim Wright, ed., G. William Skinner, Maps and introduction. Illustrations, maps, tables, index, character list. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997. xxiii, 236 pp. A$69.95, hardcover.

BONNIE S. McDOUGALL and KAM LOUIE. The Literature of China in the Twentieth Century. London: Hurst, 1997; Gosford: Bushbooks, 1998. Acknowledgments, introduction, further reading, glossary, index, vi, 504 pp. A$39.95, paper.

XIAOBO LU and ELIZABETH J. PERRY (eds). Danwei: the Changing Chinese Workplace in Historical and Comparative Perspective . Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. 270 pp. US$72.95, hardcover; US$34.95, paper.

JAPAN, KOREA

SYDNEY GIFFARD. Japan Among the Powers, 1890–1990. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994, 1997. xxii, 218 pp. Abbreviations, introduction, author's note, glossary, index. US$35.00, hardcover; US$15.00, paper.

KATHERINE H. S. MOON. Sex Among Allies: military Prostitution in U.S.‐Korea Relations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. xiii, 240 pp. Preface, acknowledgments, abbreviations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. US$47.50, hardcover; US$16.50, paper.

SOUTH ASIA

JAMAL J. ELLAS (trans and intro). Death Before Dying. The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. 145 pp. Acknowledgments, introduction, bibliography, index of first lines. US$45.00, hardcover; US$14.95, paper.

AJIT K. NEOGY. Decolonization of French India: liberation Movement and Indo‐French Relations 1947–1954. Pondicherry: French Institute of Pondicherry, 1997. xxviii, 299 pp. Foreword, preface, endnotes, appendixes, bibliography, index, resume. US$37.00, paper.

SURESHCHANDRA SHUKLA and REHKLA KAUL (eds). Education, Development and Underdevelopment. New Delhi: Sage, 1998. US$39.95, hardcover.

EMMA TARLO. Clothing Matters: dress and Identity in India London: Hurst & Company, 1996. xxi, 360 pp. Illustrations. £40.00, hardcover; £19.95, paper.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

KEVIN Y. L. TAN and LAM PENG ER (eds). Managing Political Change in Singapore. London: Routledge, 1997. xii, 228 pp. £45.00, hardcover.

SHARIFAH ZALEHA SYED HASSAN and SVEN CEDERROTH. Managing Marital Disputes in Malaysia: Islamic Mediators and Conflict Resolution in the Syariah Courts. £40.00, hardcover; £15.99, paper.

KEVIN HEWISON (ed). Political Change in Thailand: democracy and Participation. London and New York: Routledge, 1997. xv, 301 pp. US$29.99, paper.

ANN KUMAR. Java and Modern Europe: ambiguous Encounters. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1997. viii, 472 pp. US$52.00, hardcover.

MARTIN STUART‐FOX. A History of Laos. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1997. A$80.00, hardcover; A$24.95, paper.

MARTIN STUART‐FOX. The Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang: rise and Decline. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1998. A$22.50, paper.     

HHpXRF study of recent zinc and lead pollution on lava stepping stones from Pompeii: Tourist footfall,tyre dust and leaded petrol

A helium-enabled Niton X-ray analyser (HHpXRF) study of 296 lava stepping stones from ancient Pompeii showed that their surfaces were contaminated with superficial deposits of Zn and Pb. Recent research has shown that concentrations of these elements are highest in urban areas, where they were attributed to tyre dust and leaded petrol, respectively. The distribution of these elements on the stepping stones is represented on maps of the site. Zn pollution is most abundant in areas visited by tourists and is attributed mostly to wear from their rubber-soled footwear. Pb pollution is attributed to the movement of onsite vehicles using leaded petrol.     

Reconceptualizing Resistance in the Historical Archaeology of the British Isles: An Editorial

The present resonates with the harmonics of past events. Our archaeologies, because they deal with the everyday materiality of life, should not neglect to concern themselves with the domination of past people, since many similar forms of oppression persist. Moreover, we should consider the resistance to such domination. Rather than seeing resistance as simply reactive a problem which has generated much criticism—we can reconceptualize it to encompass a more nuanced understanding of the volition and agency of people in inferior positions of power. This lends new strength to the role of archaeologists in representing historical narratives of resistance.     

The Difference Context Makes: Planning and Ethnic Minorities in Northern Ireland

The ways the British planning system fosters racial disadvantage and the initiatives taken by local authorities to address such bias have been subject to a number of studies over the last 17 years. This body of research has revealed isolated examples of progressive professional practice within a general pattern of inaction and ignorance. This paper looks at how the needs of ethnic minorities have been accommodated by the planning system in Northern Ireland that has a very different institutional and political context than other parts of the UK. The nature of 'race' relations in Northern Ireland is examined and the concept of 'policy processes' is used to explain why ethnic minorities in the region face similar difficulties to those in Britain. The influence of the political and cultural context is shown to play a key role in framing the policy processes that shape patterns of discrimination. The paper suggests that a full understanding of this context is required if multiculturalism is to be fully accommodated by planning in Europe.     

Constantine and the Bishop: The Roman Church in the Early Fourth Century

When Constantine first entered Rome after his defeat of Maxentius in October 312, he encountered a rich and complex Christian community and a bishop whose position was precarious. Centuries of growth and a long religious peace had resulted in the development of a large number of locally based communities in Rome with their own centres of worship - the tituli. Constantine needed to convince these communities of his bona fides as a Christian emperor. The bishop of Rome, Miltiades, was the ruler of a relatively newly unified see, recently fractured by persecution and controversy. Miltiades' relative weakness was to Constantine's political advantage, especially since it made him eager to receive the vast ocean of generosity which Constantine began to pour into the Roman Church. The particular and immediate beneficiary of this generosity was the bishop, who gained a vast and lavishly appointed cathedral, and a palace to go with it.