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St. John de Crevecoeur is known among American history buffs for Letters of an American Farmer, his trenchant observations on life in the Revolutionary era. In St. John de Crevecoeur: The Life of an American Farmer (New York: Viking, 266 pp., $19.95), authors Gay Wilson Allen and Roger Maurice Asselineau offer a dramatic portrait of this farmer, statesman, and man of letters whose life was deeply affected by the American and French revolutions.
Offering an account of a modern-day upheaval is Imagining Argentina (New York: Doubleday, 214 pp., $16.95), by Lawrence Thornton. This political novel presents a haunting account of los desaparecidos—the men, women, and children swept from sight by Argentina's military rulers in the late 1970s.
Making her debut as a science fiction writer, Judith Moffett conjures up the world of Penterra, a fertile planet that is humanity's last hope for survival. Paying heed to the natives' warnings, a small colony of Quakers has limited its population and use of heavy machinery. But new settlers arrive and challenge the delicate ecological balance. Penterra (New York: Congdon & Weed, 382 pp., $17.95) is being heralded as a powerful tale by a newcomer on the science fiction scene.
On the domestic front, Prospects for Privatization, edited by Steve Hanke (New York: Academy of Political Science, 214 pp., $9.95), pulls together contributions by leading privatization analysts, including the Reason Foundation's Robert W. Poole, Jr., and Philip E. Fixler, Jr.