Fred Korematsu’s decision to resist F.D.R.’s Executive Order 9066, which provided authority for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, was initially the case of a young man following his heart: he wanted to remain in California with his white fiancée. However, he quickly came to realize that it was more than just a personal choice; it was a matter of basic human rights. After refusing to leave for incarceration when ordered, Korematsu was eventually arrested and convicted of a federal crime before being sent to the internment camp at Topaz, Utah. He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, which, in one of the most infamous cases in American legal history, upheld the wartime orders. Forty years later, in the early 1980s, a team of young attorneys resurrected Korematsu’s case. This time, Korematsu was victorious, and his conviction was overturned, helping to pave the way for Japanese American redress. Lorraine Bannai, who was a young attorney on that legal team, combines insider knowledge of the case with extensive archival research, personal letters, and unprecedented access to Korematsu his family, and close friends. She uncovers the inspiring story of a humble, soft-spoken man who fought tirelessly against human rights abuses long after he was exonerated. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Alfred Edersheim's 'Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah' is a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the life of Jesus Christ, providing a detailed account of the historical context in which Jesus lived and the events that shaped his ministry. Edersheim's work is known for its meticulous research, engaging narrative style, and extensive use of ancient sources, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the historical Jesus. The book delves into the religious, political, and social landscape of first-century Palestine, shedding light on the cultural milieu in which Jesus carried out his teachings and miracles. Edersheim's thorough exploration of the life of Jesus is not only informative but also deeply insightful, offering readers a deeper understanding of the person of Jesus and the significance of his mission. Alfred Edersheim, a respected biblical scholar and minister, was well-versed in Jewish history and culture, which greatly informed his writing. His background in theology and biblical studies enabled him to provide a nuanced and compelling portrayal of Jesus' life and times. I highly recommend 'Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah' to readers seeking a thoughtful and in-depth study of the historical Jesus, as Edersheim's work remains a classic in the field of biblical scholarship.

In Colors of Veracity, Vera Schwarcz condenses four decades of teaching and scholarship about China to raise fundamental questions about the nature of truth and history. In clear and vivid prose, she addresses contemporary moral dilemmas with a highly personal sense of ethics and aesthetics. Drawing on classical sources in Hebrew and Chinese (as well as several Greek and Japanese texts), Schwarcz brings deep and varied cultural references to bear on the question of truth and falsehood in human consciousness. An attentiveness to connotations and nuance is apparent throughout her work, which redefines both the Jewish understanding of emet (a notion of truth that encompasses authenticity) and the Chinese commitment to zhen (a vision of the real that comprises the innermost sincerity of the seeker’s heart-mind). Works of art, from contemporary calligraphy and installations to fake Chinese characters and a Jewish menorah from Roman times, shed light light on the historian’s task of giving voice to the dread-filled past. Following in the footsteps of literary scholar Geoffrey Hartman, Schwarcz expands on the “Philomela Project, which calls on historians to find new ways of conveying truth, especially when political authorities are bent on enforcing amnesia of past traumatic events. Truth matters, even if it cannot be mapped in its totality. Veracity is shown again and again to be neither black nor white. Schwarcz’ accomplishment is a subtle depiction of “fractured luminosity,” which inspires and sustains the moral conviction of those who pursue truth against all odds.

After many "out-of-print" years, this volume has been reissued in response to an increasing demand for copies. This reflects that the fundamental questions that motivated this book thirty years ago are still being asked. But more important, the answers -- or at least their outlines -- now seem to be in sight. In 1968, this book stood as an expression of a paradigm crisis in its critique of the state of personality psychology. The last three decades have been filled with controversy and debate about the dilemmas raised here, and then with renewal and fresh discoveries. It therefore seems especially timely to revisit the pages which posed the challenges. Mischel outlined the need to encompass the situation in the study of personality, but with a focus on the acquired meaning of stimuli and on the situation as perceived, viewing the individual as a cognitive-affective being who construes, interprets, and transforms the stimulus in a dynamic reciprocal interaction with the social world. He focused on the idiographic analysis of personality that had originally motivated the field, and the complexity, discriminative facility, and uniqueness of the individual, and sought to connect the expressions of personality to the individual's behavior -- that is, to what people do and not just what they say. Even the intrinsically contextualized "if...then..." expressions of the personality system -- its essential behavioral signatures -- were foreshadowed in this book that fired the opening salvo in a search for "a truly dynamic personality psychology."

This volume consists of a selection of the Albert Einstein Memorial Lectures presented annually at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Delivered by eminent scientists and scholars, including Nobel laureates, they cover a broad spectrum of subjects in physics, chemistry, life science, mathematics, historiography and social issues. This distinguished memorial lecture series was inaugurated by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities following an international symposium held in Jerusalem in March 1979 to commemorate the centenary of Albert Einstein's birth. Considering that Einstein's interests, activities and influence were not restricted to theoretical physics but spanned broad fields affecting society and the welfare of humankind, it was felt that these memorial lectures should be addressed to scientists, scholars and erudite laypersons rather than to physicists alone.