Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Essays in Political Anthropology: Reviewing the Essence of Capitalism

“Essays in Political Anthropology: Reviewing the Essence of Capitalism is a valuable book that inscribes in the fields of emotions, where the dichotomies of fear/terror/risk captivate scholars as the signs of our times. Essays in Political Anthropology… as a very attractive way of understanding political anthropology leaves the reader in a position to understand the role of fear as an emotion prevalent on the planet. Likewise, it allows capturing the restructuring potential of terror as a feature of consumer societies as a tool of power. With this book, Korstanje shows how the radicalization of risk in fear/terror “made the body” allows us to understand how “…the risk is dead, long live the risk”. Definitely: a must-read book.” – Adrian Scribano CONICET-UBA //CIES

“Kostanje’s latest book brings anthropology’s comparative cultural perspective to contemporary global politics. This approach offers a fresh analysis of the chaotic violence which has characterized the first decades of the twenty-first century. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the present circumstances of world politics.” – Geoffrey Skoll, Emeritus Professor at SUNY Buffalo, USA

“How should government leaders and corporate investors make the hardest decisions like whether to risk helping sick people or hostages in another country? This is not actually a moral decision – the easy answer of yes is not what is at stake anymore in the era of global terrorism. If it were, that would be a psychology study. To better understand the relevant global decision-making factors that leaders must learn about the social-cultural philosophy and behavioral impacts. Groups make decisions differently as compared to individuals. When actions in one country can be discovered so quickly using today’s technology, leaders of businesses and government must go back to political anthropology school to learn about the underlying theories and how the philosophical factors can be integrated into contemporary decision-making models. Likewise, researchers and professors must also go back to political anthropology school so they can update the body of knowledge and revise what is taught to students. This is where Max Korstanje’s book comes into play as he explains the domain of knowledge and impacts about political anthropology in the modern global terrorism era. It is valuable and relevant.” – Kenneth David Strang, Associate Professor at SUNY Plattsburgh, US (Founder/Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management IGI Global USA)

For more information about this book, please click here.

Occurrences, Structure, Biosynthesis, and Health Benefits Based on Their Evidences of Medicinal Phytochemicals in Vegetables and Fruits. Volume 11

“Nutrition plays an important role in our complementary approach to health. This uniquely comprehensive and evidence-based book delivers detailed and systematic guidelines for healthier and beneficial dietary habits. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that the consumption of a diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables is essential to maintain health. USDA’s dietary guidance system ‘MyPlate’ states that half of our plate should consist of fruits and veggies. For a 2,000-calorie diet, it is advised that our daily diet should contain two cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies. The types of supplements available together with dietary sources are also explored.

A daily diet with sufficient quantity of fruits and vegetables has been linked to improved health. Veggies and fruits are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants, which play an important function in protecting against chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases and cancer. They are low in calories, making them a great choice to reduce one’s waistline. Selecting a colorful assortment of fruits and vegetables is preeminent, as different benefits exist in the different color spectrum. Volume 11 is comprised of four chapters dedicated to describing the health benefits of 1. Turmeric (Curcuma longa); 2. Cardiometabolic effects of functional foods and phytochemicals within Mexican Folklore Medicine (Part 1); 3. Cardiometabolic effects of functional foods and phytochemicals within Mexican Folklore Medicine (Part 2), and 4. Arthospira maxima (spirulina): Protection against mitomycin C-induced dominant lethal mutations.

In the first chapter, the author discusses the orthodox secondary metabolites present in turmeric rhizomes and other parts of the plant. Turmeric rhizomes and leaves are a rich source of terpenoids and polyphenols including curcumonoids. The authors suggested that the acceptable quantity of turmeric consumption does not meet our daily nutritional requirements vital for health. Hence, the health benefits of turmeric are experienced primarily from its secondary metabolites. Curcumin present as major constituents in rhizomes recently gained prominence for its anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. Thus, this chapter describes how turmeric is recognized as a valuable produce in reducing or preventing microbial infections and cancers like colon and breast cancer.

The second and third chapters describe the cardiometabolic effects of functional foods and phytochemicals from Mexican Folklore Medicine. In these, the authors covered the chemistry and biological activities of cimmon bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), avocado (Persea Americana), maize (Zea mays), vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), chilli peppers (Capsicum spp) (Chapter 2) and chayote (Sechium edule), calabaza (Curcubata spp), agave (Agave spp) and Palama enana (Serona repens) (Chapter 3). In particular, the authors described the various products made from the agave plant and their constituents as well as their health benefits in greater detail. Agave is a valuable source in preparation of various products in Mexico. The plant is underutilized in other parts of the world.

In the final chapter, the authors present original research on antigenotoxic spirulina (Anthrozspira maxima). The protective effect of spirulina is linked to its antioxidant capacity and protection from anti-mutagenicity caused by mitomycin C. This chapter is comprised of original research findings which are usually found in journals.

In total, Volume 11 is an excellent source of information describing the health benefits of various components present in vegetables and fruits. All chapters include reliable information, collected from various research sources including some original findings. With such copious information, Volume 11 is an essential reference for everyone studying nutrition with a complementary health perspective as well as in libraries.” – Rao Gollapudi, Ph.D., University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.

For more information about this book, please click here.

Gazing at Death: Dark Tourism as an Emergent Horizon of Research

“The topic of dark tourism is growing in attention globally. Dr. Korstanje has dedicated this book to understanding the phenomena of travel surrounding death, disasters and terror. This book provides a one-stop shop for understanding a number of key areas of research within dark tourism: the motivations and behaviors surrounding dark travel, smart tourism for dark sites, as well as the economic impact of dark tourism. This book fills a gap in the literature which can be used by students, academics and practitioners alike.” – Professor Dr. Lori Pennington-Gray, University of Florida, USA

“This is a must-read book which starts a new discussion not only on dark tourism issues but on the role of death in modern society. A much deep-seated issue that merits to be investigated in the years to come.” – Abraham Abe Pizam, University of Central Florida, USA

“Dr. Max Korstankje is one of the great minds of our young century. You may agree or disagree with his conclusions but this book, like much of his work makes the careful reader ponder his points and consider his positions. Korstankje is more than a thinker, he is the best type of academic, one who makes us question even the simplest of assumptions. Encountering his ideas is more than a mere journey into another academic work, but a chance to come face to face with multiple questions and academic challenges.” – Peter Tarlow – Texas A&M University, USA

“Gazing Death draws together the latest research in the field by presenting new and important insights in a well-crafted meticulously researched book. The chapters in this volume employ a multidisciplinary perspective to address the social, political, ethical, philosophical and cultural perspectives of dark tourism. It is an indispensable guide that will satisfy the novice and more experienced dark tourism scholar seeking to understand the tourism of macabre spectacles, places of disaster and sites on the darker side of life.” – Demond S. Miller, Rowan University, USA

“Gazing at Death is a must-read book, which allows a restructuration in the ways global tourism should be thought. This represents a fertile invitation to build a new theoretical framework of tourism in this new millenium.” – Associate Professor Celeste Nava – University of Guanajuato, Mexico

For more information about this book, please click here.

Corporate Social Responsibility – Applications of Good Practices and Malpractices in Tourism and the Hospitality Industry in the Developing World

“Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a crucial and challenging aim for the tourism and hospitality industry. This book critically engages with the multidimensional and often ambiguous idea of CSR with an integrated and conceptually sophisticated but still practically driven approach. The book brings into focus the practices of CSR in Global South contexts which is a highly valuable contribution for academic and policy-oriented debates on sustainability and responsibility in tourism development.” – Jarkko Saarinen, University of Oulu, Finland, and University of Johannesburg, South Africa

“This book provides some serious food for thought. It examines a range of case studies and assists the reader to learn from the best practices from around the world. CSR is presented as a methodology to enable different actors to contribute towards value cocreation and happiness. Tourism and hospitality are particularly critical for peripheral, remote and insular places as they are often the only source of income for communities and individuals. The chapters provide a wealth of information and offer a starting point for understanding these themes. They challenge the reader to see different perspectives especially in the context of developing countries.” – Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, Head of Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Bournemouth University, Poole, England

“This volume offers an authoritative set of contributions steering through the complex domain of Corporate Socially Responsibility (CSR) in tourism and hospitality in developing and emerging destinations. It offers a sound collection of critical pieces discussing CSR in its different forms, dimensions and context specific applications, constituting a must read not only for undergraduate and postgraduate students, but also for those who have an interest in the subject both in the academic and practitioners’ world.” – Marina Novelli, Professor of Tourism and International Development, Academic Lead for ‘Responsible Futures’, University of Brighton, England

“The field of this edited book concerns the association of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with tourism and hospitality industry in the developing world. Overall, the book includes seven chapters, each of them well articulating the thematic of reference. The provided insights are very helpful for the reader to contextualize and understand CSR issues related with tourism and hospitality in developing communities. The editorial introduction is efficiently presenting and explaining the aspects elaborated in the edited book, as well as the main CSR issues that need to be taken under consideration for tourism and hospitality development.

Within its seven chapters, this edited book tries to provide a more internationalized perspective concerning CSR in the developing world. It successfully documents several challenges in CSR activities and regional development connecting theoretical with practical domains. In addition, the chapters individually provide a basic understanding for the areas they elaborate. This edited book can be valuable for students and practitioners especially in the field of CSR and tourism development. The illustrated diverse disciplines contribute to the provision of an understanding in terms of tourism and hospitality in the developing world and CSR’s current trends and issues. As a result, the general reader has the ability not only to attempt reading the whole book but to select the chapter(s) of interest. Additionally, it is up to the reader’s interest whether to focus on a specific part of the book or in individual chapters.” – Dr. Nikolaos Pappas, Director of CERTE (Centre for Research in Tourism Excellence), University of Sanderland, England

For more information about this book, please click here.

Modeling and New Trends in Tourism: A Contribution to Social and Economic Development

“Tourism is widely recognized as a basic determinant of economic growth at the national, regional and global level. Moreover, it constitutes a basic pillar of social development. Tourism exerts a great impact on employment and output, especially when it is examined in the context of the current economic and financial crisis. However, in an increasingly integrated economic environment a coherent scientific framework is required in order to identify emerging issues as well as latest trends and synergies concerning new policy perspectives. It must be realized that to a large extent tourism has successfully confronted the global crisis and external shocks demonstrating its resilience in terms of stimulating economies. Active tourism policies have played an essential role in supporting a competitive and sustainable tourism economy. However, addressing major challenges and maximizing tourism’s full economic potential, requires a multidimensional and operational approach in terms of policy design. The book “Modeling and New Trends in Tourism: A Contribution to Social and Economic Development” captures these ongoing tendencies and implications based on scientific methodologies in order to model and explain tourism competitiveness, local conditions of tourism and territories’ viability. Moreover, the book analyses tourism performance and recent policy trends, objectives, initiatives and reforms contributing to a new vision for contemporary tourism industry. The book highlights the need for active, innovative and consistent policy responses to ensure that tourism remains a sustainable and a competitive sector. As a result, the book may serve as an international reference and benchmark regarding the enhancement of sustainable tourism with the aim to support agents’ decisions either in the public or in the private sector.” – Ioannis Vavouras, Professor Economic Policy, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece

“Going through this book the readers will surely notice the commitment, and even passion, put into its design and enhancement. Indeed, contributors, editors and authors, were able to align a set of models giving a new insight for the contemporary tourism economy in a clear and well-structured way following a scientific approach, aiming to supply tools to decision makers, public or private. It is to highlight that the text evidences there was really much reflection and research on the current reality to base the opinions expressed in this work as well as possible. This gave rise to that “Modeling and New Trends in Tourism: A Contribution to Social and Economic Development” is a high quality scientific book, with a very pleasant reading, fundamental for professionals and researchers of the problematic of tourism and also accessible to anyone curious about this subject.” – Professor Manuel Alberto M. Ferreira, ISCTE-IUL, Lisboa

For more information about this book, please click here.

International Event Management: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice

“Event management has become a fashionable topic over the last few decades, so there have been enormous efforts in contributing to its applications in research, education and practice. Event management is diversified encompassing academic (meetings, forums etc), social (wedding parties, concerts etc), economic (mega events, fairs, football etc), and geographical (hiking, skiing, water sports etc) dimensions; all has become a brand name in many societies. It is pleasing to see that the academia has paid much more attention to advance the limits of event management to make it as one of the most significant elements of the new millennium’s economic activities worldwide. In this context, Event Management is a nice contribution to introduce its association with some other subjects such as image, planning, policies and education and also provide case studies representing various countries worldwide. It is a useful reference for both the academia and practice.” – Professor Metin Kozak, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

“I welcome this edited book on event management. We need to constantly add to knowledge and these diverse, contributed chapters will be of interest to everyone in the field.” – Don Getz – University of Calgary, Canada

“This edited collection features contributions from a highly experienced and diverse group of international scholars with it representing an authoritative and timely contribution to the domain of international event management. In seeking to bridge the gap between theory and practice the contribution includes a good range of event destination scenarios with examples drawn from the UK, Caribbean, Greece, South Africa and the Middle East. An invaluable read for all those engaged in the management of events internationally.” – Dr Alan Fyall, Orange County Endowed Professor of Tourism Marketing, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida

For more information about this book, please click here.

Critical Essays in Tourism Research

“Critical Essays in Tourism Research offers a thoughtful and critical read that confronts the complacency evident across so much tourism research and the traditional, primarily Western (English-speaking), view of the marketing, management and economics of tourism. Tourism is clearly much bigger and more impactful than just an industry with this edited collection reminding us of the anthropological routes of tourism and for prompting the need to re-read many of the original classics that seem to have been forgotten in the intervening decades. A most useful and timely contribution to the future scholarly and theoretical development of tourism and its multiple faces.”
Dr. Alan Fyall, Orange County Endowed Professor of Tourism Marketing, University of Central Florida

“In this book, the contributors raise some fundamental questions about the nature of tourism knowledge that are rarely asked but always assumed. Our mainstream knowledge of tourism is a bundle of generally held beliefs and these need to be deconstructed to see the deeper undercurrents making up the tourism system. One particular epistemological question that always baffled me is the validity of responses about touristic motivation and behavior that we gather from people who are not in their touristic state of mind when the survey is conducted. The contributors to this volume have shown the boldness to un-assume beliefs and opinions to propose a critical theory of tourism. This book will offer a great reading experience for the scholarly practitioners in tourism and associated areas.” – Babu George, Fort Hays State University, USA

“Critical Essays in Tourism Research offers an opportunity to revisit furtherly some of the conceptual foundations and discourses, which are taken for granted in tourism fields. Its main value lies in the incorporation of critical perspectives to the global discussions and current understanding of tourism.” – Juan Carlos Monterrubio Cordero, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico

“Over the years tourism scholars who base their innovative insights on the social sciences stand in opposition to those who exclusively rely on management and marketing as their status quo position. Maximiliano Korstanje represents the former camp by challenging the latter. In this edited book he brings together writers who share his anti-establishment views which thereby allow the multidisciplinary understanding of tourism to progress. Interestingly, some of these contributors do not have English as their first language.” – Graham Dann, Professor Emeritus, Artic University of Norway, Norway

For more information about this book, please click here.

Delirium: Prevention, Symptoms and Treatment

“Delirium is unquestionably one of the most important psychiatric illnesses in those who have general medical illness, as it frequently results in a substantially increased risk of morbidity and mortality, if not prevented or treated early and effectively. Delirium is also unique in that it is both a “psychiatric” and general medical illness, which requires vigilance and routine partnering with other treatment partners in order to optimally manage. Bourgeois and colleagues have done a masterful job with defining and presenting a practical and balanced approach to the prevention and treatment of delirium.

It is also helpful to read their detailed evidence-based treatment plans for the most common causes of delirium (e.g. alcohol related, medication induced). I encourage all psychiatrists and other providers to read this text and use as a valuable clinical resource. Furthermore, this text should be required reading for medical students; psychiatry residents; psychosomatic fellows; internal medicine residents; family medicine residents; physician assistant students; nurse practitioner students; emergency medicine residents and neurology residents. I appreciate this important clinically relevant addition to the medical literature and strongly recommend it for medical providers.”
Robert McCarron, DO, Vice Chair of Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine

“This text is timely, important, and much-needed by clinicians, researchers, and even healthcare system administrators. The incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, effects of persistence/recurrence, and costs of delirium are under-estimated and always breathtaking. There are few resources devoted to delirium assessment and management that are consolidated into a single source.” READ MORE…James R. Rundell, MD

For more information about this book, please click here.

Humanist Psychiatry

“Professor Dr. Nash Boutros, MD, is a world-renown expert in the fields of clinical and biological psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, clinical neurophysiology and EEG. His book “Humanist Psychiatry” covers the wide range of the most important topics of modern psychiatry − from biological bases of mental disorders and addiction to such social aspects as stigma and psychiatric care systems. The existence and /or development of mental symptoms such as depression, anxiety, phobias, delusions, hallucinations, ets. have biological nature, while the content of these pathological feelings, sensations, thoughts is determined by cultural factors and by individual life experience of the patient.  Thus, the combined treatment included both appropriate syndrome-based medication and psychotherapy must be the most effective. The evolution of the views on brain-mind relationships (or psycho-physiological problem) is described by Author at example of development of the DSM classifications of mental disorders from division to “organic” and “functional” disorders up to contemporary bio-psycho-social paradigm. The book is addressed and would be useful for the wide range of readers interested in the modern humanistic psychiatry state-of-art – for medical students, practitioners-psychiatrists, university professors, as well as for mental patients, their relatives and care-givers.” – Professor Dr. Andrey Iznak, PhD, DSci.biol. Moscow, Russia 

“This book provides a broad view of how clinical psychiatry is practiced today and how it would look if the ideals of reliance on science within the context of every human’s absolute worth and dignity could be widely observed. The Introduction indicated how the author came to subscribe to the above belief system. The book covers a wide swath of the field of psychiatry from research to education and from personality disorders to correctional psychiatry. The book simply provides a new and very futuristic outlook for the discipline.”
Professor Salvatore Campanella, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

“Dr. Nash Boutros eloquently, passionately and scientifically describes the uniqueness of psychiatry as a medical discipline that strives to restore all the aspects of humanity to those afflicted by the sufferings, perils and stigma of mental illness. The author encourages and behooves not just clinicians but humanity at large, to re-examine the social biases and preconceived beliefs about psychiatric patients. The various chapters offer the reader new journeys to explore the most recent advances in utilizing DSM diagnostic criteria, laboratory and neuroimaging tools, and implementing sound scientifically based treatment interventions. Comprehensive and integrated treatment modalities that address the biological, psychological and socio-environmental domains of each individual psychiatric patient are also described. Medical students, physicians in training, mental health providers, academicians and mental health policy makers would find this humanistic account to be challenging, refreshing, practical, scientific, and all-inspiring.” – Hani Raoul Khouzam, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UC Davis Medical School, California, USA

“In my view, this is a wonderful text, which includes very good and optimistic vision of life per se. The author linked many interesting topics together and the book includes very detailed scientific information as well as clinical experiences (and more which is wisdom). I believe this book will be good step that will be useful and helpful to many people who will read it.”
Peter Bob, PhD, Prague, Czech republic.

For more information about this book, please click here.

Women and War: Opening Pandora’s Box – Intimate Relationships in the Shadow of Traumatic Experiences

“This book, Women and War, is a searingly readable collection of narratives, which painstakingly take us through the specific experiences of women in war, or resulting from war, in some cases as the remote victims of war. Running through these accounts are insights drawn from intercultural experience, and the tragedy arising from our human differentiation into races and cultures. An enthusiastic team of Editors, Marie-Claire Patron, the magician storyteller of intercultural tales, Roni Wildeboer, the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, and Ami Rokach with his psychological and editorial expertise, have assembled a work of great importance. No one who reads this book will forget it.” – Raoul Mortley AO FAHA (Officer in the Order of Australia, and Fellow of the Academy of Humanities of Australia); Pro Vice-Chancellor International. Executive Dean, Faculty of Society & Design. Bond University, Australia

“It was a real challenge to read the chapters – I had dealt with Veterans most of my working life (in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs) and some of the stories brought back memories of these times. I am very happy to endorse this book. The stories put in real terms, in simple terms, the distress felt by those suffering from PTSD or those so close to those suffering. I wish we had something like this for the people I dealt with. It concerns real people, telling their real stories and I feel it would make much more sense to PTSD sufferers than us as “workers” telling them that it is real – real people so poignantly tell their stories. What I saw as well was some hope for an education resource for the medical and other professionals from these real stories.” – Rob Fitzgerald, (BSc, DipT (sec) and MBA) Australia

“As with all of Marie-Claire Patron’s books (‘Diary of a French Girl’, ‘Victim Victorious’, ‘The Legacy of the Baby Boomers or the French Social System’), I wish I had read Women and War: Opening Pandora’s Box a decade earlier. Being a polyphony of female voices that brings different countries and tragic events in human history together, Women and War provides an insightful focus into the nature of PTSD and its intergenerational and intercultural legacy. It reveals the interconnectedness of human beings in the cruelties they inflict upon each other and the sufferings they share, regardless of their origin, race, colour, nationality, and the sides they happen to be on in any war conflict. I would recommend this book to young men, to prevent them from entrusting their lives and career choices into the hands of politicians. For it is not only their lives and careers, it is the lives and lifestyles of their future wives, children and grandchildren that are at stake. Women will also benefit enormously from the experiences of the brave authors who have worn their hearts on their sleeve. Marie-Claire Patron and her co-editors, Roni Wildeboer and Ami Rokach have produced a truly unique anthology of narratives and academic chapters told through the prism of multicultural contexts, which makes it obvious that one does not have to be directly involved in a war-torn conflict in order to experience the devastating aftershocks of war. I was born in a country that lost 27 million people to the fight against Nazis in the Second World War. It is only thanks to Women and War that I have fully realized the scale of that war’s horrific intergenerational influence on my grandmother, my mother and me. I probably would never have done it if I had not read Women and War.” – Julia Kraven, PhD, Intercultural Communication, Bond University | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

For more information about this book, please click here.