Stephen J. Whitfield, in The South Atlantic Quarterly (Autumn 1978), Duke University Press, P.O. Box 6697, College Station, Durham, N.C. 27708.
In his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) tells of scoring a propaganda success "among the powdered heads of Paris" simply refusing to wear a wig while serving as Ambassador to France from the rebellious American colonies. One and a half centuries later, Black Muslim leader Malcolm X abandoned attempts to tame his kinky red- dish hair...
the grandeur of Mecca during
his 1964 pilgrimage, he was frustrated the Arabs' passivity ex-
pressed in the phrase insha Allah ("God willing"). Like Franklin, he
believed in self-help as well as self-control.
Never mind that these three autobiographies have the usual errors
and omissions, says Whitfield (even the editors of the standard Yale
edition report that Franklin's Autobiography is "not notably accurate").
They stand as fascinating testaments to the belief that...
the introduction of mass vasectomy camps and liberalization of abor- tion laws. Major incentives for sterilization (e.g., payment of as much as 60 rupees in some areas) brought dramatic results: vasectomies jumped from 1.6 million in 1968 to 3.1 million in 1973. But red tape hampered the effort to provide inexpensive, legal abortions.
In April 1975, Indira Gandhi decided on a coercive approach, raising the legal age of marriage and pressuring men to submit to sterilization. The number of forced...
ss Wealth 541 North fÃ?§lriÃ?Ë?uCt., Chicago, 111.
60611.
~ith
thehigneatannualpercapitaincometabout$16,000)in them&
trialized Wd, Switzerland enjoys an enviably law employment rate (03 percent ofthe labor force) and a carmmer price index that creeps up at less than I percent a year. Suchfactors have made the Swiss franctheworld'ss-;but nowthat very strength,wrim Fmw -t ?=-,?a mte a -tic economiccrisis.
WhenPresidentCartermewed to rescuethe toNovember 1978, t...
Koji Taira, in Current History (Nov. 1978), 4225 Main St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127.
When the OPEC countries quadrupled their oil prices in 1973, many economists believed that energy-poor Japan would be ruined. Now, five years later, Japan has weathered an economic slump and finds itself in an enviable international position. Its annual GNP is growing again at a healthy 5 or 6 percent after regressing in 1974 and, most surprising, Japan registered an $1 1 billion trade surplus in 1977 after showing...
by Edmund S. Morgan
Norton. 1975, 464 pp.
$11.95 cloth, $3.95 paper
L of C 75-1753
by Gordon A. Craig
Oxford, 1978
840 pp. $19.
LofC78-js471
by Peter Burke
Harper, 1978, 365 pp.
$6.95(paperonly)
L of C 78-402
by Michael Waiter
Basic, 1977
381 pp. $15
L of C 77-75252