2023: List of Books Indexed
Happy New Year! For the first post of 2024, I am providing a chronological listing of all the books I indexed over the course of 2023.
Published Indexes
“A Man by Any Other Name: William Clarke Quantrill and the Search for American Manhood,” by Joseph M. Beilein, Jr.
In this book, the author examines the complete character of Civil War-era chief, William Clarke Quantrill. The author considers Quantrill’s experiences and the cultures — of Ohio and Illinois in the northern U.S., and the frontier territories of the West and South — that shaped the man he was to become; and with this in mind, the book goes through Quantrill’s various roles, from student and schoolmaster, to frontiersman, confidence man, warrior, to chieftain, and outcast wanderer. In this examination of the world Quantrill moved through, the author seeks to reveal the authentic man, the cultural context and expectations of manhood, and the Kansas-Missouri border war that served not just as Quantrill’s final testing grounds but played an important role in the overall Civil War.
“Partners in Gatekeeping: How Italy Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy Over Ten Pivotal Years, 1891–1901,” by Lauren Braun-Strumfels
This book gives readers a look at the early development of U.S. immigration policy and the significant events, diplomatic relations, and legal processes that shaped it, with significant attention given to the Italian government’s own emigration deliberation and policies. The author analyzes U.S. and Italian legislation. Throughout the course of the book, the author provides an in-depth analysis of the asymmetric “gatekeeping partnership” that developed between 1891 and 1901, with specific discussion of several events that influenced the evolution of gatekeeping policies. Finally, the author discusses the lasting effects of those ten years on current U.S. immigration policy.
This book is a collection of selected speeches, statements, and letters by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), General Martin E. Dempsey, who was nominated to serve from October 2011 through September 2015. Readers will find a brief biography, along with his service record with a listing of promotions, assignments, and decorations. The selected works are presented in chronological order, starting in 2011, and include addresses given at graduation ceremonies, as well as to a number of military and civilian groups. The selected works cover topics such as the development of Joint Force 2020, force postures, leadership, partnerships and coalitions, cyber issues, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, veterans and the importance of keeping faith with the military family, budget, sequestration, and military capability. Through his own words on philosophy and current events, the book provides insights into military decision-making and concepts that were important throughout General Dempsey’s tenure.
“Energy Transitions in the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities,” edited by Katherine Wolff and Karen E. Young.
This book provides an analysis based on primary source data on the countries of the Midde East and North African region (MENA) — including the Gulf states and the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) — and how they are shaping their economic and energy development policies. It is divided into three main sections: financing, regulation, and economic development for the energy transition; new energy technologies and their development in the Middle East; and case studies. Within those sections, the authors of each chapter discuss the role that new global regulations and zeitgeist surrounding climate change play in foreign and domestic policy, with a particular focus on fiscal and economic impacts. They examine countries’ access to finance and natural (energy) resources, such as fossil fuels or solar power, as well as the challenges or possibilities for sharing those energy resources. The authors also consider hydrocarbon producers’ challenges and advantages when enacting energy transition policies, including risks that might affect the transition, along with possible solutions. From macroeconomics to micro-competitiveness, and from geopolitics to finance structures and technical aspects, the book provides a thorough examination of the region’s efforts to address both a changing climate and energy demands.
“American Diplomacy Toward Lebanon: Lessons in Foreign Policy and the Middle East,” written by David Hale.
In this book, David Hale presents the details surrounding six events which serve as case studies for the examination of the history of U.S.-Lebanon interactions. Hale considers the role of Lebanese government and its sectarian power-sharing structure, and how that structure influences local and regional political decisions and conditions. Starting with the American missionaries who ventured into the Levant, and those missionaries’ impacts on the community and interactions with U.S. diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, to the Lebanese establishment of independence. Hale continues through the post-WWII era and the 1958 crisis which resulted in the Lebanese government’s request, and U.S. acquiescence, of military support. He next analyzes the factors leading up to the 15-year civil war, examining events within that time-period and on through present day. Throughout the book, the author demonstrates how regional politics and conflicts have played out within Lebanon and how U.S. regional interests impacted American actions; he also analyzes diplomatic decision-making of American leaders, providing domestic contexts for foreign policies. Finally, Hale provides an overview of the history of U.S. policy toward Lebanon that considers the lessons that may be learned from those six case studies.
“America's Cold Warrior: Paul Nitze and National Security from Roosevelt to Reagan,” by James Graham Wilson.
This political biography of Paul Nitze examines his life and career, starting with a look at some formative events from his childhood, through his educational interests and endeavors, to working on Wall Street, and most notably, to his career in government service. The book shows Nitze’s commitment to emulating men of action and staying close to those “levers of influence” that shaped U.S. national security policy. It describes the context of Nitze’s drafting of National Security Counsil report 68 (NSC-68); it demonstrates Nitze’s aversion to party politics and his concerns over the nuclear threat from the Soviet Union and potentially China, and specifically their perception of U.S. strength; it provides insights into his comments and actions regarding the impacts of U.S. policies during the Korean and Vietnamese wars, the 1961 Berlin Crisis, and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; and it examines his role in the internal politics and policy-making behind the Soviet-U.S. arms limitation talks during the Reagan years. Beyond the Cold War era, the book discusses Nitze’s focus on national security threats through the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and notes his lasting impact on U.S. national security policy.
(Here is the Substack post and the Blog post listing all the books I indexed in 2022.)
Indexes Available on My Website
There are four indexes available for free on my website, as an example of my work. Three are to previously published books, and the fourth link is to the full text of the e-book on General Martin E. Dempsey (#3), discussed above.