Two Books for Juveniles

Book reviewed in this article: The Wonder Child & Other Jewish Fairy Tales: Howard Schwartz and Barbara Rush Magid Fasts for Ramadan: Mary Matthews     

Reviews

A Persian Requiem , Simin Daneshvar, trans. Roxane Zand, New York: George Brazillier, Inc., 1992, 279 pp., $12.50.

Epic and Sedition: The Case of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh , Dick Davis, Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas Press, 1992, 222 pp., $30.00.

Modern Capitalism and Islamic Ideology in Iran , Cyrus Bina and Hamid Zangeneh, eds., New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992, 301 pp., incl. bibliography, index, $45.00 (cloth).

Waqf in Central Asia: Four Hundred Years in the History of a Muslim Shrine, 1480–1889 , R. D. McChesney, Princeton University Press, 1991, 319 pp. + Glossary, Bibliography, and Index, $49.50.

Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center , Carl W. Ernst, New York: State University of New York Press, 1992, xxxi + 381 pp.

The Warriors of Islam: Iran's Revolutionary Guard , Kenneth Katz‐man, Boulder, San Francisco and London: Westview Press, 1993, 180 pp., Bibliography to page 185, Index to page 192, $42.50.

The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism , Leonard Lewisohn, ed., London, New York: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1992, 434 pp.

Les otages américains à Téhéran , Nouchine Yavari‐d'Hellencourt, Paris: La Documentation Francaise, 1992, 128 pp., FF 95.

Entre l'Iran et l'occident: adaptation et assimilation des idées et techniques occidentales en Iran , Yann Richard, ed., Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1989, 242 pp.

Zerfall der Staatsmacht Persiens unter Nasir ad‐Din Schah Qa?ar (1848–1896): Einblicke in die Machtsverhältnisse am Teheraner Hof nach den Tagebüchern I'timad as‐Saltanas , Mostafa Edjtehadi, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1992, Islamkundliche Untersuchungen Bd. 161, 184 pp.

Irangeles: Iranians in Los Angeles , Ron Kelley, Jonathan Friedlander and Anita Colby, eds., with photography by Ron Kelley, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993, 381 pp., incl. index, $35.00 (paper).

Sociology in Iran , Ali Akbar Mahdi and Abdolali Lahsaeizadeh, Bethesda, Md.: Jahan Book Company, Middle Eastern Series N 27, 1992, 141 pp., $8.00.

Education and the Making of Modern Iran , David Menashri, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1992, xvii + 328 pp., bibliography (p. 342), index (p. 352).

The Theology of .al‐'Allama al‐Hilli (d. 726/1325) , Sabine Schmidtke, Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, Band 152 (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1991), 260 pp. + bibliography, indices.

Ay kūtah astinan , ’Ali Akbar Sa'idi Sirjani, Costa Mesa, Calif. and Bethesda, Md.: Mazda Publishers (in association with Iranbooks, Inc.), 1991, 263 pp., no price listed.

From Palace to Prison: Inside the Iranian Revolution , Ehsan Naraghi, trans. from the French by Nilou Mobasser, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1994, ix + 283 pp.

Whirling Dervishes , Shems Friedlander, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991, 160 pp., hard cover $30.50 paperback $12.95.

The History of al‐Tabari (Ta'rikh al‐rusul wa'l‐muluk), vol. XV: The Crisis of the Early Caliphate: The Reign of ‘Uthman, A.D. 644–656/A.H. 24–35, Muhammad b. Jarir al‐Tabari, trans. and annot. R. Stephen Humphreys, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1990.cover $39.50, paperback $12.95.

An Ocean Without Shore: Ibn Arabi, the Book, and the Law , Michel Chodkiewicz, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1993, 184 pp.     

Experimental Research with Salt Crystallization in Historical Portuguese Azulejos

The most serious form of degradation of historical azulejos is the spall of the glaze and it is widely accepted that the crystallization of salts dissolved in water circulating in the masonry is its main cause. This article reports the results of an accelerated aging test aimed at studying the physical deterioration of azulejos caused by cycles of dissolution and re-crystallization of sodium chloride (NaCl). Experiments were carried out on 26 Portuguese azulejos from the 17th–19th century, some of which with original manufacturing defects or with varying degrees of previous decay.

The results of 75 cycles over 18 months did not verify that the action of NaCl could trigger an accelerated loss of glaze in a healthy azulejo. Furthermore, the results lead to the induction that there must be other, eventually concurring, causes for the spall of glaze than a simple challenge with salts that crystallize by evaporation.     

Facilitating spatial thinking in world geography using Web-based GIS

Advocates for geographic information system (GIS) education contend that learning about GIS promotes students’ spatial thinking. Empirical studies are still needed to elucidate the potential of GIS as an instructional tool to support spatial thinking in other geography courses. Using a non-equivalent control group research design, this study examines the effect of using Web-based GIS in a world geography course on the development of students’ spatial thinking abilities. The findings indicate that Web-based GIS activities implemented in this study significantly enhanced students’ spatial thinking skills.     

Pushing the Boundaries of 1980s Feminism in a Northern English Town

During the 1980s, women youth workers in Wigan changed their male-orientated profession and communicated their feminist beliefs to young women in council estates. Through practical activities with young women feminism was lived rather than theorized, as they implemented the demands of the women’s liberation movement. A strong strand of personal development was woven throughout their work, driven by powerful emotion arising from the consciousness-raising process. After a decade of growth, cuts to local government services decimated the work with girls and young women. Notwithstanding their lasting reputation in the youth work profession, they were ultimately unrealistic about what was required to solidify, and therefore protect, their position within the council structure. The 1980s work with girls did, however, lay down a bedrock of practice which is acknowledged by youth work scholars to have filtered into mainstream youth work practice and training.