CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood.  By Jennifer E. Langdon.  New York NY: Columbia U P-gutenberg-e.org, 2008.

As part of Columbia U P's innovative Gutenberg-E initiative, Jennifer Langdon's 2008 book represents the promise and challenge of digital scholarship.  Published simultaneously online and in print, the book acknowledges that it "is a partial representation" of the Gutenberg-e version (ii).  The latter indeed has some terrific archival historical materials to augment Langdon's impressive scholarship.  Such multiple versions pose a challenge to the reader: does one consult the eminently portable and durable version that requires no power outlet or Internet connection?  Or does one use the richer online version featuring images that one might have found in the book if Columbia U P had published it ten (10) years ago?  For the purposes of this review, I have consulted the online version, which includes all of the text from the book.  In the long term, though, I wonder whether having such multiple versions are doomed to serve multiple masters, but none of them as well as a single published work.

IN PROGRESS

Steven Alan Carr

Indiana University - Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW)