"Provide[s] grist for thinking through the difficulties of compromise in [domestic policy], from tragic choices at desperate moments of history to the routine nastiness in American public life today. . . . Until recently, who would have thought it necessary to offer . . .

"This book sets two goals for itself: it reviews the basic cycling of elements in natural waters and the atmosphere, and documents how humans have altered these cycles. Appropriate for undergraduates with little science background, and including chapters that would fit in a . . .

"Matthew Briones is a creative and courageous thinker who explores uncharted terrain in American studies. This magisterial book confirms his elevated status in our new discourse on race, class, and empire in America."--Cornel West, Princeton University

"Trust and Violence is a richly textured and erudite meditation on the intimate proximity between civilization and barbarism. Drawing on authors as diverse as Shakespeare, Schopenhauer, and Primo Levi, Reemtsma's lucidly written and deftly argued book . . .