"Icouldn't imagine a finer or livelier guide through the world of opera. . . . [Levine] distills a lifetime of passion and insight into this immenselyenjoyable survey, and with the right comic touch to make you wonder how operaever seemed intimidating." —Thomas May, author of Decoding WagnerDespitethe popular success of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Live in HD” series, opera’s grandworld of soaring sopranos and breathtaking baritones—of tragic Rigoletto, triumphal Sigmund, and desperat...

The extraordinary activism of towering literary figure and great American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, after publishing the novel that changed American history.Alone among American novels, Uncle Tom’s Cabin forever changed the social fabric of the United States. It sold more than a million copies, energized abolitionism, and helped to spark the Civil War—but the book also transformed its author. After Uncle Tom’s Cabin follows Harriet Beecher Sto...

In this engaging and spirited book, eminent social psychologist Robert Levine asks us to explore a dimension of our experience that we take for granted-our perception of time. When we travel to a different country, or even a different city in the United States, we assume that a certain amount of cultural adjustment will be required, whether it's getting used to new food or negotiating a foreign language, adapting to a different standard of living or another currency. In fact, what contribu...

In Do Parents Matter? anthropologists (and grandparents) Robert & Sarah LeVine investigate the diversity of parenting practices across the world - from the USA to Africa, Japan to Mexico - and come away with a reassuring conclusion: children tend to turn out to be the same well-adjusted adults all around the world no matter the parenting style.Japanese children sleep with their parents well into primary school, women of the Hausa tribe (largely based in Ni...

When it comes to parenting, more isn't always better-but it is always more tiringIn Japan, a boy sleeps in his parents' bed until age ten, but still shows independence in all other areas of his life. In rural India, toilet training begins one month after infants are born and is accomplished with little fanfare. In Paris, parents limit the amount of agency they give their toddlers. In America, parents grant them ever more choices, independence, and attention.

Everyone ages. Not everyone ages well. Aging Wisely explains that much of what happens to our minds and bodies as we grow older depends on our approach to life and our attitudes and feelings about ourselves. Though there are elements beyond our control, we must take advantage of those things we can control while dealing competently with adversity. In describing the impact of aging and various conditions associated with the aging process upon our minds and bodies, Aging Wisely provides read...

Frederick Douglass’s fluid, changeable sense of his own life story is reflected in the many conflicting accounts he gave of key events and relationships during his journey from slavery to freedom. Nevertheless, when these differing self-presentations are put side by side and consideration is given individually to their rhetorical strategies and historical moment, what emerges is a fascinating collage of Robert S. Levine’s elusive subject. The Lives of Frederick Douglass is revisio...

The extraordinary activism of towering literary figure and great American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, after publishing the novel that changed American history.Alone among American novels, Uncle Tom’s Cabin forever changed the social fabric of the United States. It sold more than a million copies, energized abolitionism, and helped to spark the Civil War—but the book also transformed its author. After Uncle Tom’s Cabin follows Harriet Beecher Stowe beyond her monumental first novel...

First published in 1986, this book proposes and illustrates a new approach to the comparative analysis of educational policy, based on anthropological and historical inquiry. It reviews the transitions of Western countries, Japan, and the People’s Republic of China and in doing so investigates cultural ideas of human potential and how they inform social and economic goals of education. An analysis of the problems and emerging patterns in developing countries reveals how and why the meaning...

This new edition of Culture, Behavior, and Personality is organized into ve parts. Part I de nes the eld of inquiry, Part II presents a critical review of existing theories and methods, Part III expounds LeVine's unique Darwinian model of culture and personality, Part IV deals with the strategies and methods with which to study individual dispositions within the sociocultural matrix, Part V concludes with two essays on cultural and personality research including new advances and avenues of...

Who are we? Where is the boundary between us and everything else? Are we all multiple personalities? And how can we control who we become?From distinguished psychologist Robert Levine comes this provocative and entertaining scientific exploration of the most personal and important of all landscapes: the physical and psychological entity we call our self.Using a combination of case studies and cutting-edge research in psychology, biology, neuroscience, virtu...

It is easy to believe God has abandoned us.In atrocities from Hitler's Germany to today's Darfur, the meek and the poor are left to fend for themselves. In the United States, we are menaced by violent terrorists who claim to act in God's name. Our own neighbors threaten us with an absolute choice between faith and a fiery path to hell.Robert Levine steps into the fray with What God Can Do For You Now. A leading American clergyman, he asks us to commit to a ...