Abstracts of Books

Unsigned abstracts arrived at the Journal before the editorial offices moved to The Ohio State University (when we instituted a policy of identifying authors), or the abstract author requested anonymity.

Tsaritsa Alexandra. The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra. Ed. Vladimir A. Kozlov and Vladimir M. Khrustalev. Introduction by Robert K. Massie. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1997. lvii + 225 pp.; ill. ISBN 0-300-07212-0 (cl).

This volume is the first publication of the entire personal diary of Empress Alexandra of Russia from 1 January 1918 until her final entry on 16 July 1918, the night the Bolsheviks executed her along with her husband, Tsar Nicholas II, and their five children. Alexandra's diary offers an intimate portrait of one of the most controversial consorts in recent history and is an invaluable primary source for information about the private lives of Russia's last royal family. Russian authorities recently declassified the diary, which is housed in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and have made it available for study. Massie's lengthy introduction places Alexandra and her family in the historical context of the Russian Revolution and provides unique insight into her familial and marital relationships.——Lorraine Netrick Abraham

Gunilla-Friederike Budde, ed. Frauen arbeiten: Weibliche Erwerbstätigkeit in Ost- und Westdeutschland nach 1945. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1997. 301 pp.; charts. ISBN 3-525-01363-9 (pb).

In this fascinating collection, women historians consider the question of wom-en's work and women working in the differently structured yet pervasively male-
dominated job markets of East and West Germany during the postwar era. Topics include housework; the wage gap between women and men; the influence of World War II on German women in the workforce; and women working in such fields as agriculture, technology, and the academy.——Sarah M. Liros

Timothy Burke. Lifebuoy Men, Lux Women: Commodification, Consumption, and Cleanliness in Modern Zimbabwe. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1996. x + 298 pp. ISBN 0-8223-1753-2 (cl); 0-8223-1762-1 (pb).

Burke investigates the making of commodity relations and consumption in Zimbabwe, with a focus on goods for use on the body. Early chapters on the colonial political economy and cultural hegemony under colonial rule are followed by an analysis of post-World War II commodity culture and the role of consumption in shaping African identities in Zimbabwe. Burke argues that commodities represented the power of colonial capitalism but also were testimony to the contested process of making consumers and a commodity culture, a process that was not simply one of a monolithic power acting against powerless subjects. Additionally, he notes that commodification affected women differently than men since it was a process inextricably linked to gender relations and changing ideas about women's proper place.——Chad Montrie

Erica Carter. How German Is She? Postwar West German Reconstruction and the Consuming Woman. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. xi + 272 pp.; ill. ISBN 0-472-10755-0 (cl).

As the 1997 selection in the book series "Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany," this work utilizes the topic of women as participants in the postwar consumer economy to explore intersections in media representation, femininity, and feminism. Carter showcases an interdisciplinary approach to present insightful connections among national identity, perceptions regarding social and economic power, changes in available consumer goods, and advances in domestic technology from the early 1940s into the 1950s. Juxtaposing the Basic Law and economic reform with such cultural visual representations of women as advertisements, fashion, and film, Carter applies a wealth of primary and secondary sources. In exploring societal expectations and women's agency in the evolving definitions of women's roles in private and public spaces, she offers an engaging portrait of women in Germany during economic and social reconstruction.

Catherine Clinton and Michele Gillespie, ed. The Devil's Lane: Sex and Race in the Early South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. xx + 274 pp. ISBN 0-19-511242-3 (cl); 0-19-511243-1 (pb...