BOOK REVIEWS

General

Modernizing Peasant Societies. A Comparative Study in Asia and Africa. By Guy Hunter. London, Oxford University Press (for the Institute of Race Relations), 1969. Pp. xi + 298. Tables. Bibliog. Index. £2.

The Politics of Foreign Aid in India. By P. J. Eldridge. London, Weidenfeld &; Nicolson, 1969. Pp. xx + 187. Appendices. Notes. Bibliog. Index. £3.

The Role of Land Reform in Economic Development. A Case Study of Taiwan. By Anthony Y. C. Koo. New York, Praeger; London, Pall Mall, 1968. Pp. xvii + 125. Tables. Notes. Bibliog. Index. £5.20.

The Persian Land Reform 1962–1966. By Ann K. S. Lambton. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1969. Pp. xiii+366. Tables. Glossary. Index. £4.20.

Language &; literature

A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. By Yuen Ren Chao. University of California Press, 1968; London, IBEG, 1969. Pp. xxxi + 847. Bibliog. Index. £7.15.

A First Course in Literary Chinese. By Harold Shadick, with the collaboration of Ch'iao Chien. Cornell University Press, 1968; London, IBEG, 1969. 3 vols. Pp. 888. Maps. Indexes. £5.25.

The Etymologies of 3,000 Chinese Characters in Common Usage. By Chang Hsuan. University of Hong Kong Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1969. Pp. 960. Indexes. £7.00.

Beginning Korean. By Samuel E. Martin and Young‐Sook C. Lee. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1969. Pp. xxix + 575. Vocabularies. $8.75 or £3.95 (paperback; also available in cloth).

Three Mughal Poets. Mir, Sauda, Mir Hasan. By Ralph Russell and Khurshidul Islam. London, Allen &; Unwin, 1969. Pp. xxii + 290. Map. Bibliog. Glossary. Index. £2.40.

Ghalib, 1797–1869. Vol. 1: Life and letters. Translated and edited by Ralph Russell and Khurshidul Islam. London, Allen &; Unwin, 1969. Pp. 404. Frontispiece. Bibliog. Index. £3.50.

The World of Premchand. Selected stories of Premchand, translated by David Rubin. London, Allen and Unwin, 1969 (for UNESCO). Pp. 215. Glossary. £1.75.

War

History of the Second World War: The War Against Japan. Volume V. The Surrender of Japan. By Major‐General S. Woodburn Kirby. London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1969. Pp. 599. Maps. Illus. Index. £6.30.

Korea: 1950–1953. By Edgar O'Ballance. London, Faber &; Faber, 1969. Pp. 171. Maps. Index. £1.80.

The Suez Expedition 1956. By Général d'Armée André Beaufre, translated by Major‐General Richard Barry. London, Faber and Faber, 1969. (Editions Bernard Grasset, 1967.) Pp. 161. Maps. Illus. Index. £2.

The Siege. By Russell Braddon. London, Jonathan Cape, 1969. Pp. 353. Illus. Maps. Bibliog. £1.9.

Kut: The Death of an Army. By Ronald Millar. London, Secker &; Warburg, 1969. Pp. 323. Illus. Bibliog. Index. £3.75.

Six Battles for India. The Anglo‐Sikh Wars: 1845–6, 1848–9. By George Bruce. London, Arthur Barker, 1969. Illus. Maps. Bibliog. Index. £2.25.

The Coming War between Russia and China. By Harrison E. Salisbury. London, Secker and Warburg, 1969. Pp. 200. Maps. £2.50

The First Afghan War. By Lady Sale. Edited by Patrick Macrory. London, Longmans, 1969. Pp. xix + 186. Maps. Frontispiece. Appendices. Index. £2.10.

Last Post at Mhow. By Arthur Hawkey. London, Jarrolds, 1969. Pp. xii + 196. Illus. Index. £1.75.

Plassey: The Founding of an Empire. By Michael Edwardes. London, Hamish Hamilton, 1969. Pp. x + 209. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. £2.10.

Islam, Turkey, middle east

Early Muslim Architecture. I. Umayyads: A.D. 622–750. By K. A. C. Creswell, with a contribution on the Mosaics of the Dome of the Rock and of the Great Mosque at Damascus, by Marguerite Gautier‐van Berchem. 2nd edition, in 2 parts. Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press. 1969. Pp. xlv + 684. 141 plates + 690 text illustrations. £36.

Paintings from. Islamic Lands. Essays by D. Barrett and others. Edited by R. Pinder‐Wilson. (Oriental Studies, 4). Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1969. Pp. 204. 131 illus. £2.75.

Arabs, Islam and the Arab Caliphate in the early Middle Ages. By E. A. Belyaev. Translated from the Russian by Adolphe Gourevitch. New York and London, Praeger: Pall Mall, 1969, £3.75.

The Young Turks. The Committee of Union and Progress in Turkish Politics, 1908–1914. By Feroz Ahmad. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1969. Pp. 205. Bibliog. £2.50.

Politics and Government in Turkey. By C. H. Dodd. Manchester University Press, 1969. Pp. xvi + 335. Bibliog. Index. £3.25.

Anatolia I: From the beginnings to the end of the 2nd millennium B.C. By U. Bahadir Alkim. London, Barrie and Rockliff: the Cresset Press, 1969. Pp. 279. Map. Illus. Index, Bibliog. £3.

A Modern History of Syria including Lebanon and Palestine. By Dr. A. L. Tibawi. London, Macmillan, 1969. Pp. 433. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. £4.

The Russian Presence in Syria and the Holy Land 1843–1914: Church and Politics in the Near East. By Derek Hopwood. Oxford University Press, 1969. Pp. viii + 232. Bibliog. Index. £2.50.

Republican ‘Iraq: A Study in ‘Iraq Politics Since the Revolution of 1958. By Majid Khadduri. Oxford University Press for the RIIA, 1969. Pp. xii + 318. Map. Index. £3.

Arab Historians of the Crusades. Translated from Arabic by Francesco Gabrieli and from Italian by E. J. Costello. London, Routledge, with University of California and Artemis of Zurich, 1969, Pp. xxxvi + 362. Bibliog. Index. £2.50.

Makers of Arab History. By Philip K. Hitti. London, Macmillan, 1969. Pp. 268. Maps. Index. £2.75.

The British in the Middle East. By Sarah Searight. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, Pp. xvi + 215. £3.50.

Central Asia

Central Asia. By Gavin Hambly with Alexandre Benningson, David Bivar, Hélène d'Encausse, Mahin Hajianpur, Alastair Lamb, Chantal Lemercier‐Quelquejay and Richard Pierce. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969. Pp. 388. Illus. Bibliog. Maps. Index. £4.20.

Afghanistan: Some New Approaches. George Grassmurk, Ludwig W. Adamec, and Frances H. Irwin, editors. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies, 1969. Pp. 405. Chronology. Bibliog. No price.

Tibet. By Thupten Jigme Norbu and Colin Turnbull. London, Chatto and Windus, 1969. Pp. 362. Illus. £2.50.

From the Land of Lost Content. The Dalai Lama's Fight for Tibet. by Noel Barber. London, Collins, 1969, Pp. 224. Map. Bibliog. £1.50.

Prolegomena to Lamaist Polity. By Nirmal Chandra Sinha. Foreword by Hugh Richardson. Calcutta, Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1969. Pp. xi + 92. R.20.

Indian sub‐continent

Himalayan Frontiers. By Dorothy Woodman. London, Barry and Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969. Pp. 423. Maps. Bibliog. Index. £4.50.

History of Firuz Shah Tughluq. By J. M. Banerjee. Delhi, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1967. Pp. x + 228. Bibliog. Index. Rs. 20.

Classical India. Edited by William H. McNeill and Jean W. Sedlar. (Readings in World History, Volume 4). Oxford University Press, New York, 1969. Pp. 201. £0.65.

Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India. By R. S. Sharma. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass. 2nd Edition, 1968. Pp. 337. Biblio. Index. Rs. 20.00.

Kingship in Northern India. (circ. 600 A.D.‐1200 A.D.). By Ram Charita Prasad Singh. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1968. Pp. 151. Bibliog. Index. Rs. 15.00.

The Transition in Bengal, 1756–1775. A Study of Saiyid Muhammad Reza Khan. By Abdul Majed Khan. Cambridge University Press, 1969. Pp. xv + 376. Maps. Bibliog. Index. £4.25.

British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance. By David Kopf. University of California Press (London, IBEG), 1969. Pp. 324. Bibliog. Index. £4.05.

Lord Northbrook's Indian Administration, 1872–1876. By Edward C. Moulton. London, Asia Publishing House, 1969. Pp. 313. Map. Illus. Bibliog. Index. £2.50.

Superior Person: A Portrait of Curzon and his circle in late Victorian England. By Kenneth Rose. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969. Pp. 475. Illus. Bibliog. Index. £3.75.

The Viceroy's Wife. Letters of Alice, Countess of Reading, from India, 1921–35. By Iris Butler. London, Hodder &; Stoughton, 1969. Pp. 110. Illus. Index. £2.25.

John Morley at the India Office, 1905–1910. By Stephen E. Koss. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1969. Pp. 231. Bibliog. Index. £3.80.

Politics and Administration in the Local Councils. A study of Union and District Councils in East Pakistan. By M. Rashiduzzaman. London and Karachi: Oxford University Press 1969. Pp. 124. Tables. Index. Bibliog. 90 np.

Judicial Control of Administrative Action in India and Pakistan. By M. A. Fazal. London, OUP, 1969. Pp. xxxv + 345. Bibliog. Index. £4.

India and the League of Nations. By D. N. Verma. Patna, Bharati Bhawan, 1968. Pp. 350. Index. Bibliog. Rs. 30.00.

From Zamindar to Ballot Box: Community Change in a North Indian Market Town. By Richard G. Fox. Cornell University Press, 1969. Pp. 302. Maps. Bibliog. Index. £1.90.

Bureaucrats under Stress. Administrators and Administration in an Indian State. By Richard P. Taub. University of California Press; London, CUP, 1969. Pp. 235. Tables. Bibliog. Index. £3.25.

Shri Ram. A Biography. By Khushwant Singh and Arun Joshi. London, Asia Publishing House, 1968. Pp. 240. £1.50.

Student Unrest in India. By Aileen D. Ross. Montreal &; London, McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1969. Pp. 301. Bibliog. Indexes. $12.50. £5.62.

Government Archives in South Asia. A Guide to the National and State Archives in Ceylon, India and Pakistan. Edited by D. A. Low, J. C. Iltis and M. D. Wainwright. London, Cambridge University Press, 1969. Pp. xiii + 355. £4.25.

Origins of Trotskyism in Ceylon. A Documentary History of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, 1935–1942. By G. J. Lerski. Stanford, Cal.: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, 1968. 288 pp. Index, Paperback, $2.85.

Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, with Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. Vol. 2: Megapodes to Crab Plover. By Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley. London, OUP, 1969. Pp. xiv + 345. Illus. Maps. Index. £4.40.

Birds of Kerala. Second edition of The Birds of Travancore and Cochin. By Salim Ali. London, OUP, 1969. Pp. xxii + 444. Illus. Maps. Index. £4.00.

Southeast Asia

War, Peace, and the Viet Cong. By Douglas Pike. Cambridge, Mass., and London, MIT Press, 1969. Pp. 186. Figures. Tables. Index. £2.80.

The Peasants of North Vietnam. By Gérard Chaliand. Preface by Philippe Devillers. Translated by Peter Wiles. Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1969. Pp. 244. Maps. Tables. Bibliog. 35p.

Selected Articles and Speeches. By Ho Chi Minh. Edited by Jack Woddis London, Lawrence &; Wishart, 1969. Pp. 172. 52p.

Loosely Structured Social Systems: Thailand in Comparative Perspective. By John F. Embree and others. Edited by Hans‐Dieter Evers. Yale University, Southeast Asia Studies, 1969. Pp. 148. Tables. Bibliog. $6.50.

Burma and General Ne Win. By Maung Maung. London, Asia Publishing House, 1969. Pp. 332. Ilus. Bibliog. Index. £3.25.

Indians in Malaya. Some Aspects of their Immigration and Settlement (1786–1957). By Kernial Singh Sandhu. Cambridge University Press, 1969. Pp. xxiv + 346. Illus. Maps. Tables. Glossary. Index. £6.

Indians in Malaysia and Singapore. By Sinnappah Arasaratnam. Oxford University Press, 1970. Pp. xiii + 169. Maps. Bibliog. Index. £1.25.

China, Manchuria, Korea

What Mao Really Said. By Philippe Devillers. Translated by Tony White. London, Macdonald, 1969. Pp. 317. Bibliog. Index. £1.50.

Great Britain and the Taipings. By J. S. Gregory. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969. Pp. xvi + 271. Bibliog. Index. £2.50.

While China Faced West. American Reformers in Nationalist China 1928–1937. By James C. Thomson, Jr. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1969. Pp. 310. Bibliog. Index. $7.95.

Kidnapped in London. By Sun Yat Sen. Reprinted, with a Foreword by Kenneth Cantlie. London, China Society, 1969. Pp. xii 134. Illus. £1.25.

The Economic Development of Manchuria in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. By Kungtu G. Sun &; Ralph W. Huenemann. Harvard and OUP, 1969. Pp. 124. Maps. Tables. Bibliog. Glossary. Index. £1.70.

Korea: Democracy on Trial. By John Kie‐chiang Oh. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1968. Pp. xiv + 240. Map. Tables. Bibliog. Index. £3.80.

Japan, Philippines

A Diplomat in Japan. By Sir Ernest Satow. Oxford University Press, 1968. Pp. xii + 427. Illus. Glossary. Index. £4.50.

Britain and Japan, 1858–1883. By Grace Fox. Oxford University Press, 1969. Pp. 627. Maps. Illus. Glossary. Bibliog. Index. £5.50.

The New Generation in Meiji Japan. By Kenneth B. Pyle. Stanford University Press; London, OUP, 1970. Pp. 240. Bibliog. Index. £3.75.

Japan Unmasked. By Ichiro Kawasaki. Rutland, Vermont, and Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle, 1969. Pp. 231. £1.90.

The Philippines. By Raymond Nelson. London, Thames &; Hudson, 1968. Pp. 192. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. £1.75. The Philippines. By John Cockcroft. London &; Sydney, Angus &; Robertson. 1969. Pp. 128. Illus. £2.62.     

Enhanced kinship analysis and STR-based DNA typing for human identification in mass fatality incidents: the Swissair flight 111 disaster

A bioinformatic tool was developed to assist with the victim identification initiative that followed the Swissair Flight 111 disaster. Making use of short tandem repeat (STR) DNA typing data generated with AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus (PP) and AmpFlSTR COfiler(CO) kits, the software systematically compared each available STR genotype with every other genotype. The matching algorithm was based on the search for: (i) direct matches to genotypes derived from personal effects; and (ii) potential kinship associations between victims and next-of-kin, as measured by allele sharing at individual loci. The software greatly assisted parentage analysis by enabling kinship evaluation in situations where complete parentage trios were unavailable and, in some situations, with distantly related relatives. Exclusion of fortuitous kinship associations (FKA) was made possible through the recovery at the disaster site of at least one remains for every sought-after victim, and was incorporated into the kinship software. The data from the 13 combined STR loci produced 6 and 23 times fewer FKAs when compared with PP alone and AmpFlSTR Profiler (PR) alone, respectively. Identification leads or confirmations of identification were obtained for 218 victims for which DNA reference samples (personal effects and kin) had been submitted. Confirmation of an inferred kinship association was sought through frequency and likelihood calculations, as well as corroborative data from other identification modalities. The use of a simple, yet powerful, automated genotype comparison approach and the use of megaplexes with high power of discrimination (PD) values extended considerably the identification capabilities in the case of the Swissair disaster. The DNA typing identification modality proved to be a valuable component of the large arsenal of identification tools deployed in the aftermath of this disaster.     

Systematic analysis of stutter percentages and allele peak height and peak area ratios at heterozygous STR loci for forensic casework and database samples

To assist the interpretation of STR DNA typing results from forensic casework samples containing mixtures, the range of heterozygous allele peak height and peak area ratios (HR) and stutter percentages (stutter %) for the loci comprised in the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus (PP) kit were assessed on 468 database and 275 casework single source samples. Stutter % medians were similar for database and casework samples, ranging from 2% to 7%. The upper limit of the stutter value range was 16%, calculated as median +3 SD, although lower locus-specific values could be used. HR medians were 93 +/- 6.5% for database samples, 88 +/- 12% for casework samples. For casework samples, the maximum signal imbalance noted was 52%, calculated as median -3 SD. No significant difference was observed between peak height and peak area calculated values. This study shows the importance of selecting the proper reference database for the establishment of HR threshold values.     

Sensitive and specific quantification of human genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in forensic science specimens: casework examples.

We describe the forensic science application of a method for quantification of human genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The two cases cited in this report involve DNA samples extracted from skin tissue and bloodstained clothing recovered from different crime scenes. High-molecular-weight DNA was recovered from both specimens, and the concentrations of these DNAs were estimated to be approximately 0.5 microgram/microL by ethidium bromide/agarose gel electrophoresis. Using the human-specific DNA probe p17H8 (locus D17Z1) to quantify the amount of human genomic DNA in these samples, it is shown that less than 1% of the DNA isolated from the skin tissue is of human origin and that the DNA isolated from the bloodstained clothing is effectively devoid of human DNA sequences. These case examples illustrate the need to quantify not only the total amount of DNA recovered from forensic casework material, but also the proportion of the DNA that is of human origin.     

Party convergence and vote switching: Explaining mainstream party decline across Europe

How can one explain the significant vote losses of mainstream parties across Europe in recent years? In this article, it is argued that mainstream party convergence is an important determinant of the recent political and electoral volatility in European party systems. More specifically, it is hypothesised that as mainstream parties converge on the left-right scale, voters will switch from supporting a mainstream party to a non-mainstream party in the next election as they look for an alternative that better represents their ideological views. To test these theoretical expectations, data is combined from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the Manifestos Project for nearly 15,000 vote choices of individual voters in 30 elections in 16 West and East European countries from 2001 until 2013. The findings have important implications for understanding the recent rise of non-mainstream parties, the changing nature of party systems and the increasing complexity of cabinet formation across Europe.     

A Framework for Understanding Consensus-Building Initiation

The potential of consensus building is dependent upon overcoming difficulties associated with the challenges in getting parties to the table. This article builds a framework for understanding the factors and variables most fundamentally involved in the initiation of consensus-building efforts. Nine factors involved at the beginning of a consensus-building process are identified and outlined. The framework is structured on three major functions of the initiation phase: the definition of the problem, the structure of negotiation, and the motivation to participate.     

Bringing Horses to Water? Overcoming Bad Relationships in the Pre-Negotiating Stage of Consensus Building

This article uses a case-study methodology to explore the impact of problematic relationships on the initiation of consensus-building efforts. The article notes that poor relations hinder the initiation process, while the expectation of benefits likely to result from the effort fosters the involvement of parties. The association between poor relations and expected benefits is explored with a focus on the appeal of collaboration. Strategies are then outlined to help facilitators to deal with problematic relationships by mitigating poor relations, highlighting incentives for participation, and building on the appeal of collaboration. Facilitators can use these strategies to increase their chances of success in initiating consensus-building efforts.     

Ruptured berry aneurysms: a clinical, pathological and forensic review

A retrospective autopsy survey of 583 cases of ruptured berry aneurysm over a period of 25 years with reference to incidence, circumstances and predisposing factors. Over half of the deaths occurred in the 50-80 year age group, the overall male/female ratio being 2:3, the aneurysms being predominately on the middle and anterior cerebral arteries. Most deaths occurred in the home environment without precipitating factors, one fifth being sudden and unexpected in nature. There was no connection between physical trauma and ruptured aneurysm and no instance of a criminal or civil charge. Autopsy and dissection of the cerebral vessels is vital to diagnosis, particularly when deaths are unexpected in nature.     

Carbon monoxide poisoning

This paper illustrates the remarkable fall of carbon monoxide poisoning due to the abolition of coal gas in the 1970 era and a corresponding decrease in suicide deaths. It enfolds the varying forms of suicide and accident according to age, sex and circumstance.