Pragmatism, as Richard Rorty has said, "names the chief glory of our country's intellectual tradition." In Democratic Hope, Robert B. Westbrook examines the varieties of classical pragmatist thought in the work of John Dewey, William James, and Charles Peirce, testing in good pragmatic fashion the truth of propositions by their consequences in experience. Westbrook also attends to the recent revival of pragmatism by Rorty, Cheryl Misak, Richard Posner, Hilary Putnam, Cornel West, ...

Over a career spanning American history from the 1880s to the 1950s, John Dewey sought not only to forge a persuasive argument for his conviction that "democracy is freedom" but also to realize his democratic ideals through political activism. Widely considered modern America's most important philosopher, Dewey made his views known both through his writings and through such controversial episodes as his leadership of educational reform at the turn of the century; his support of American in...

Why We Fought is a timely and provocative analysis that examines why Americans really chose to sacrifice and commit themselves to World War II. Unlike other depictions of the patriotic “greatest generation,” Westbrook argues that, strictly speaking, Americans in World War II were not instructed to fight, work, or die for their country—above all, they were moved by private obligations. Finding political theory in places such as pin-ups of Betty Grable, he contends that more often t...

Intimate LiesHer Son's StoryF. Scott Fitzgerald, the brilliant author of The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, was a man haunted by failure to live up to his own early successes. In 1937, desperate for money, nearly broken in spirit, he headed west for work as a Hollywood screenwriter and one last shot at staying sober There, living in Hollywood's legendary hotel, The Garden of Allah, Fitzgerald met the beautiful young gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, whose elaborate po...

Public sociology—an approach to sociology that aims to communicate with and actively engage wider audiences—has been one of the most widely discussed topics in the discipline in recent years. The Handbook of Public Sociology presents a comprehensive look at every facet of public sociology in theory and practice. It pays particular attention to how public sociology can complement more traditional types of sociological practice to advance both the analytical power of the discipline and its a...

On a cold November night, Howard Moon Deer is walking home through the woods when he is accosted by a ghost from his past: Nick Stanton, his long-ago roommate at college, who makes a seemingly simple request for Howie to take a message to his sister, Grace.But Nick is an eco-terrorist who is on the run from the FBI and his beautiful sister Grace, now a bestselling author, was Howie's first love when he was nineteen. Their father is US Senator Harlan Stanton and when murder intrudes...

We are, once again, a world at war. Geopolitical elites are deploying the implacable forces of ethnocentric hatred and religious nationalism; ordinary people are paying a fearful price. Not for the first time: this has been the characteristic pattern of war for more than a century. Every selection in this anthology (except for the timeless Aeneid) casts light on modern war, observed or directly experienced. Most are grounded in particular places—Stalingrad, Halberstadt, Budapest, ...

Howie and Claire are hiking on the remote trail to Eagle Falls in the mountains of New Mexico when they find the body of a seventeen-year-old girl, Zia McFadden, floating in the river at the foot of the falls.It looks like suicide. But could it be murder? Zia is the granddaughter of Charlie McFadden, San Geronimo's most famous author. When he hires Wilder & Associate to investigate Zia's death, Howie, Jack, and Howie's daughter, Georgie, find themselves on a baffling case that take...

Jack Wilder and Howard Moon Deer are back with a baffling new case. A lonely woman, recently arrived in New Mexico, has vanished mysteriously from her house on a snowy winter day, leaving her front door open and her emotional support dog, Gurdjieff, dead on the dining table.She is the Turquoise Lady, dressed in Indian jewelry and a cowboy hat, who came looking for a new life and instead found murder and betrayal. A year later, Wilder & Associate have been hired by the family to see...

In San Geronimo, New Mexico, a bizarre murder unearths the ancient secrets of the Anasazi. And rumors of evil flesh-eating spirits run rampant . . .The murder of an esteemed archaeologist is fueling an already heated war between natives and the academics who excavate their land. And when the coroner confirms that the victim was cannibalized, the story takes a twisted turn . . .Private eye Howard Moon Deer and ex-police chief Jack Wilder are on the case. The...

Driving home from Utah, Howard Moon Deer is passing through an empty stretch of New Mexico desert when a young Chinese woman staggers onto the highway, seemingly out of nowhere, and collapses before his onrushing car. Howie screeches to a stop but she dies before he is able to get help.Who was this woman and where did she come from? When Jack Wilder and Howie are hired by a non-profit organization, Washington Women Against Trafficking, they are soon embroiled in the most dangerous ...

In San Geronimo, New Mexico, the rich and famous mingle with the down and out—and the secrets of the past collide with the crimes of the present . . .Shortly after private eye Howard Moon Deer decides to settle down with his latest lady love, he accepts a new case that takes him away from the homefront—and introduces him to the dangerous passions that drive San Geronimo's thriving art scene . . .Howard and ex–police commander Jack Wilder have been hired to ...