From Russia with Love

By Franchesca Winters 10C

Pioneering airwoman Anna Yegorova piloted combat missions for the former Soviet Union during World War II, survived imprisonment at a Nazi camp, and was later freed only to be suspected of treason by her country’s secret police. Through compelling anecdotes, Yegorova tells her inspiring life story in Red Sky, Black Death: A Soviet Woman Pilot’s Memoir of the Eastern Front (Slavica Publishers, 2009). The memoir was edited and cotranslated from Russian by Kim Green 92C, a Russian major at Emory who also has worked as a flight instructor. Red Sky, Black Death delves not only into the war itself, but also into the meaningful camaraderie Yegorova shared with the other members of her regiment.

Spiritual Connections: The daily demands of work, school, family, and friends often leave little time for reflection. In Simply Connect: Morning and Evening Prayers for 31 Days (The Peppertree Press, 2008), retired United Methodist pastor Archie Buie 71T helps readers reconnect with God in their everyday lives. The book provides a month-long spiritual journey founded around simple, unique, and uplifting prayers.

Building History: In Bungalow Homes for the Nation (Shawnee County Historical Society, 2008), Max Movsovitz 85C, who has a background in historic preservation, explores the architectural legacy of a small Midwestern bungalow plan company that grew into one of the nation’s largest house plan companies. Filled with illustrations, the book examines architectural styles from Tudor Revival to Cape Cod. Recently, Movsovitz restored a historic home of his own, a 1924 Craftsman bungalow in Lawrence, Kansas.

Colonial Dining Room Politics: During the 1600s, English citizens believed that diet influenced not only health, but character as well. While the country’s laborers were forced to dine on coarse scraps, the wealthy enjoyed a wide array of refined foods. These delicacies, which were thought to produce virtue and sophistication, reinforced an aristocrat’s elite position in society. Trudy Eden 77L explores the history of this social phenomenon and its influence on the colonization of America in The Early American Table: Food and Society in the New World (Northern Illinois University Press, 2008).

Close Encounters of the Psychic Kind: Following a series of phone calls with Greta Alexander, a woman who believed she gained psychic abilities after being struck by lightning, Leon E. Curry 59C 62M conducted some of the first scientific experiments in psychic medical diagnosis. In The Doctor and the Psychic (BookSurge, 2008), Curry discusses these experiments and Alexander’s tested ability to diagnose patients’ diseases by simply examining a handprint. Curry’s story encourages scientists to continue their study of the connection between psychic abilities and medical diagnosis.

Middle Eastern Conflicts: In Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), Jonathan Schanzer 94C examines the internal Palestinian rivalry that may be stifling recent peace efforts in the Middle East. Schanzer is the director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center.