The Battle of Atlanta in the American Civil War

The Battle of Atlanta in the American Civil War The Battle of Atlanta was fought July 22, 1864, during the  American Civil War  (1861-1865) and saw Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman win a near-run victory. The second in a series of battles around the city, the fighting centered on a Confederate attempt to defeat Major General James B. McPhersons Army of the Tennessee east of Atlanta. While the attack did achieve some success, including killing McPherson, it was ultimately repulsed by Union forces. Following the battle, Sherman shifted his efforts to the western side of the city. Strategic Background Late July 1864 found Major General William T. Shermans forces approaching Atlanta. Nearing the city, he pushed  Major General George H. Thomas Army of the Cumberland toward Atlanta from the north, while  Major General John Schofields Army of the Ohio neared from the northeast. His final command, Major General James B. McPhersons Army of the Tennessee, moved towards the city from Decatur in the east. Opposing the Union forces was the Confederate Army of Tennessee which was badly outnumbered and undergoing a change in command. Major General William T. Sherman. Photograph Courtesy of the National Archives Records Administration Throughout the campaign, General Joseph E. Johnston had pursued a defensive approach as his sought to slow Sherman with his smaller army. Though he had been repeatedly flanked out of several positions by Shermans armies, he had also forced his counterpart of fight bloody battles at Resaca and Kennesaw Mountain. Increasingly frustrated by Johnstons passive approach, President Jefferson Davis relieved him on July 17 and gave command of the army to Lieutenant General John Bell Hood. An offensive-minded commander, Hood had served in General Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia and had seen action in many of its campaigns including the fighting at Antietam and Gettysburg. At the time of the change in command, Johnston had been planning an attack against Thomas Army of the Cumberland. Due to the imminent nature of the strike, Hood and several other Confederate generals requested that the command change be delayed until after the battle but they were denied by Davis. Lieutenant General John B. Hood. Photograph Courtesy of the National Archives Records Administration Assuming command, Hood elected to move forward with the operation and he struck at Thomas men at the  Battle of Peachtree Creek  on July 20. In heavy fighting, the Union troops mounted a determined defense and turned back Hoods assaults. Though unhappy with the result, it did not deter Hood from remaining on the offensive. Fast Facts: Battle of Atlanta Conflict: Civil War (1861-1865)Dates: July 22, 1863Armies Commanders:United StatesMajor General William T. ShermanMajor General James B. McPhersonapprox. 35,000 menConfederacyGeneral John Bell Hoodapprox. 40,000 menCasualties:United States: 3,641Confederacy: 5,500 A New Plan Receiving reports that McPhersons left flank was exposed, Hood commenced planning an ambitious strike against the Army of the Tennessee. Pulling two of his corps back into Atlantas inner defenses, he ordered Lieutenant General William Hardees corps and  Major General Joseph Wheelers cavalry to move out on the evening of July 21. Hoods attack plan called for the Confederate troops to swing around the Union flank to reach Decatur on July 22. Once in the Union rear, Hardee was to advance west and take McPherson from the rear while Wheeler attacked the Army of the Tennessees wagon trains. This would be supported by a frontal assault on McPhersons army by  Major General Benjamin Cheathams corps. As the Confederate troops began their march, McPhersons men had entrenched along a north-south line east of the city. Union Plans On the morning of July 22, Sherman initially received reports that the Confederates had abandoned the city as Hardees men had been seen on the march. These quickly proved to be false and he resolved to begin cutting the rail links into Atlanta. To accomplish this, he sent orders to McPherson instructing him to send Major General Grenville Dodges XVI Corps back to Decatur to tear up the Georgia Railroad. Having received reports of Confederate activity to the south, McPherson was reluctant to obey these orders and questioned Sherman. Though he believed his subordinate was being overly cautious, Sherman agreed to postpone the mission until 1:00 p.m. Major General James B. McPherson. Photograph Courtesy of the Library of Congress McPherson Killed Around noon, with no enemy attack having materialized, Sherman directed McPherson to send Brigadier General John Fullers division to Decatur while Brigadier General Thomas Sweenys division would be allowed to remain in position on the flank. McPherson drafted the necessary orders for Dodge, but before they were received the sound of firing was heard to the southeast. To the southeast, Hardees men were badly behind schedule due to a late start, poor road conditions, and a lack of guidance from Wheelers cavalrymen. Due to this, Hardee turned north too soon and his lead divisions, under Major Generals William Walker and William Bate, encountered Dodges two divisions which were deployed on an east-west line to cover the Union flank. While Bates advance on the right was hampered by swampy terrain, Walker was killed by a Union sharpshooter as he formed his men. As a result, the Confederate assault in this area lacked cohesion and was turned back by Dodges men. On the Confederate left, Major General Patrick Cleburnes division quickly found a large gap between Dodges right and the left of Major General Francis P. Blairs XVII Corps. Riding south to the sound of the guns, McPherson also entered this gap and encountered the advancing Confederates. Ordered to halt, he was shot and killed while trying to escape (Map). Major General Patrick Cleburne. Photograph Courtesy of the Library of Congress The Union Holds Driving on, Cleburne was able to attack the flank and rear of XVII Corps. These efforts were supported by Brigadier General George Maneys division (Cheathams Division) which assaulted the Union front. These Confederate attacks were not coordinated which allowed the Union troops to repel them in turn by rushing from one side of their entrenchments to the other. After two hours of fighting, Maney and Cleburne finally attacked in conjunction forcing Union forces to fall back. Swinging his left back in an L-shape, Blair centered his defense on Bald Hill which dominated the battlefield. In an effort to aid Confederate efforts against XVI Corps, Hood ordered Cheatham to attack Major General John Logans XV Corps to the north. Sitting astride the Georgia Railroad, XV Corps front was briefly penetrated through an undefended railroad cut. Personally leading the counterattack, Logan soon restored his lines with the aid of artillery fire directed by Sherman. For the remainder of the day, Hardee continued to assault the bald hill with little success. The position soon became known as Leggetts Hill for Brigadier General Mortimer Leggett whose troops held it. Fighting died off after dark though both armies remained in place. To the east, Wheeler succeeded in occupying Decatur but was prevented from getting at McPhersons wagon trains by a skillful delaying action conducted by Colonel John W. Sprague and his brigade. For his actions in saving the wagon trains of the XV, XVI, XVII, and XX Corps, Sprague received the Medal of Honor. With the failure of Hardees assault, Wheelers position in Decatur became untenable and he withdrew to Atlanta that night.   Aftermath The Battle of Atlanta cost Union forces 3,641 casualties while Confederate losses totaled around 5,500. For the second time in two days, Hood had failed to destroy a wing of Shermans command. Though a problem earlier in the campaign, McPhersons cautious nature proved fortuitous as Shermans initial orders would have left the Union flank completely exposed. In the wake of the fighting, Sherman gave command of the Army of the Tennessee to Major General Oliver O. Howard. This greatly angered XX Corps commander Major General Joseph Hooker who felt entitled to the post and blamed Howard for his defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville. On July 27, Sherman resumed operations against the city by shifting to the west side to cut the Macon Western Railroad. Several additional battles occurred outside of the city before Atlantas fall on September 2.

Juries are fundamental to our adversarial criminal justice process and Essay

Juries are fundamental to our adversarial criminal justice process and the only real guarantee of fairness between the State (as prosecutor) and the Individual - Essay Example In the case of a trial by jury, a decision is rendered by a group of nine individuals who may be drawn from different backgrounds, thereby bringing a depth of understanding of problems that single judges may not possess. According to Janata, â€Å"it is the mix of different persons with different backgrounds and psychological traits in the jury room that produces the desired results.† (Janata, 1976: 595-596). This feature may imbue juries with a greater ability to discern and make accurate determinations about the credibility of witnesses and the validity of arguments being offered, especially in criminal trials, especially because a jury is able to evaluate witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants from their perspective as ordinary citizens. Judges may sometimes get mired in the legal formalities and procedures to such an extent it may impede their intuitive judgments. There is also a greater possibility of bias arising when a single judge makes a decision on a case, particularly when it is a criminal case. In the case of a jury trial, the decision rendered is the cumulative effect of group deliberation, after the input and reflections from the different members comprising the jury are assimilated. Hence, a jury has the advantage of collective recall and weighing up of factors impacting upon a case. Since each fact is explored and discussed in a group, it allows a group scrutiny where bias is more likely to be eliminated than in the case of a single Judge. Jury trials have been advocated as an effective measure to bring justice to citizens, especially in criminal trials where jurors are believed to be better able to make assessments and judgments about character and believability of witnesses. Gastill and Weiser (2006) argue in favor of jury trials on the basis that being a part of a jury can spur greater levels of civil engagement from juror citizens and thereby provide a spur for real, deliberative democracy. While jurors do not make policy decisions, the

Resource Estimates and Budgets Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Resource Estimates and Budgets - Research Paper Example The following discussion will emphasize each activity in terms of its time and cost resources and identify the variances as a result of differences in the baseline and actual performance. Planning Planning activity is the first activity of the project in which 15 days were specified as baseline duration. Due to efficient utilization of time, the project team completed this activity in just 12 days sparing 3 days for the next activity to be commenced. In terms of cost resources, the project team managed to save $4,000 in respect of material cost whereas the company had to pay extra $2,000 for the wages to the labor. Overall, the company performed better and managed to save both time and cost resources. Development This was the biggest activity for the project team in terms of both time and cost resources such that the baseline duration for this activity was kept for 44 days and total cost estimates were reserved for around $55,000. This activity also went successful such that the proj ect team saved 4 days as well as $4,500 on overall basis. Testing After the development, the next activity was the testing of the product which had been developed at the previous stage. Baseline resources for this activity included 10 days of duration and $27,000 in terms of total cost. Since the previous two activities saved around 7 days in total, therefore, the testing activity took more time and underwent with serious stress testing procedures. In this whole practice, the project time consumed around 15 days and spent around $27,000. Overall, the activity could not perform up to the mark in terms of both time and cost estimates. Commercial Viability Testing activity led the project to the commercial viability of the product such that the product was experienced by different types of consumers and analysts to check how the product is perceived. Baseline resources in terms of time and cost were set to be 15 days and $37,000 respectively. The overall activity completed in 13 days s aving 2 more days, but the company had to pay the extra cost $3000 for this activity. Branding The moment commercial viability was affirmed by the project team and it was decided that the product was ready for its commercial production and launch in the market, the branding activity took place such that effective marketing and advertising campaigns were launched by the project team. Around 21 days were kept as the baseline period for the completion of this activity and $20,000 were specified as the cost of this activity. Project team almost completed the activity in 20 days with 1 day to spare but, on the other hand, incurred around $21,500 showing an adverse variance of $1,500. Product Launch Actual product launch was the last activity of this project and only 5 days were specified for the completion of this activity, but the activity actually took around 10 days utilizing the previous 5 slack days. In terms of cost estimates, the activity was assigned around $20,000 on overall bas is. However, the activity underperformed in this activity as well and incurred around $4,000 in excess of the baseline cost of $20,000. Conclusion Overall, the project remained partially successful in achieving its desired results such that time resources have been utilized effectively as the project team managed to

Ap European History Essay Example for Free

Ap European History Essay After reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to discuss the meanings of the term renaissance. You should be able to explain the economic context for the Renaissance, the new status of the artist in Renaissance Italy, and the meanings of the terms humanism, secularism, and individualism as applied by scholars to the Renaissance. Also, you should be able to explain how the Italian Renaissance affected politics, the economy, and society. Finally, be able to elaborate on the evolution of medieval kingdoms into early modern nation-states, and the spread of Renaissance humanism northward. Chapter Outline I. The Evolution of the Italian Renaissance A. Economic Growth as the Basis of the Renaissance 1. Venice, Genoa, and Milan grew rich on commerce between 1050 and 1300. 2. Florence, where the Renaissance originated, was an important banking center by the fourteenth century. B. Communes and Republics 1. In northern Italy the larger cities won independence from local nobles and became self-governing communes of free men in the twelfth century. 2. Local nobles moved into the cities and married into wealthy merchant families. This new class set up property requirements for citizenship. . The excluded, the popolo, rebelled and in some cities set up republics. 5. By 1300 the republics had collapsed, and despots or oligarchies governed most Italian cities. C. The Balance of Power among the Italian City-States 1. City patriotism and constant competition for power among cities prevented political centralization on the Italian peninsula. 2. As cities strove to maintain the balance of power among themselves, they invented the apparatus of modern diplomacy. 3. In 1494 the city of Milan invited intervention by the French King Charles VIII. 4. Italy became a battleground as France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Emperor vied for dominance. 5. In 1527 the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sacked Rome. II. Intellectual Hallmarks of the Renaissance A. Individualism 1. Renaissance writers stressed individual personality, greatness, and achievement, in contrast to the medieval ideal of Christian humility. B. Humanism 1. The revival of antiquity took the form of interest in archaeology, recovery of ancient manuscripts, and study of the Latin classics. 2. The study of the classics became known as the â€Å"new learning,† or humanism. 3. Humanist scholars studied antiquity not so much to find God as to know human nature and understand a different historical context. 4. Humanists derided what they viewed as the debased Latin of the medieval churchmen. C. Secular Spirit 1. The secular way of thinking focuses on the world as experienced rather than on the spiritual and/or eternal. 2. Renaissance thinkers came to see life as an opportunity rather than a painful pilgrimage toward God. 3. Lorenzo Valla argued that sense pleasures were the highest good. 4. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote about an acquisitive, sensual, worldly society. Renaissance popes expended much money on new buildings, a new cathedral (St. Peter’s), and on patronizing artists and men of letters. III. Art and the Artist A. Art and Power 1. In the early Renaissance, corporate groups such as guilds sponsored religious art. 2. By the late fifteenth century individual princes, merchants, and bankers sponsored art to glorify themselves and their families. Their urban palaces were full of expensive furnishings as well as art. 3. Classical themes, individual portraits, and realistic style characterized Renaissance art. 4. Renaissance artists invented perspective and portrayed the human body in a more natural and scientific manner than previous artists did. B. The Status of the Artist 1. Medieval masons were viewed as mechanical workers/artisans. Renaissance artists were seen as intellectual workers. 2. The princes and merchants who patronized artists paid them well. 3. Artists themselves gloried in their achievements. During the Renaissance, the concept of artist as genius was born. 4. Renaissance culture was only the culture of a very wealthy mercantile elite; it did not affect the lives of the urban middle classes or the poor. IV. Social Change A. Education and Political Thought 1. Humanist writers were preoccupied with education for morality and virtue. 2. Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier (1528) presented an image of the ideal man as master of dance, music, the arts, warfare, mathematics, and so on. 3. Daughters of the elite received an education similar to sons and a few went on to become renowned painters or scholars. 4. In The Prince (1513), Niccolo Machiavelli argued that politics could not follow simple rules of virtue and morality—that it ought in fact to be studied as a science. B. The Printed Word 1. Around 1455 in the German city of Mainz, Johan Gutenberg and two other men invented the movable type printing press. 2. Methods of paper production had reached Europe in the twelfth century from China through the Near East. 3. Printing made government and Church propaganda much more practical, created an invisible â€Å"public† of readers, and stimulated literacy among laypeople. C. Clocks 1. City people involved in commerce had a need to measure time. 2. By the early fourteenth century mechanical clocks were widespread in Europe. . Mechanical clocks and precise measurement of time contributed to the development of a conception of the universe in measurable, quantitative terms. D. Women and Work 1. Early modern culture identified women with marriage and the domestic virtues. 2. Women were involved with all economic activity connected with the care and nurturing of the family, as well as working outside the home. 3. Women during the Renaissance worked in a variety of businesses—for example, sailmaking—and even in a few isolated cases managed large enterprises. Wealthy women were usually excluded from the public arena and instead managed their households. E. Culture and Sexuality 1. Women’s status in the realm of love, romance, and sex declined during the Renaissance. 2. Writers such as Castiglione created the â€Å"double standard†? women were to be faithful in marriage, while men need not be. 3. Penalties for rape in Renaissance Italy were very light. 4. In spite of statutes against â€Å"sodomy,† generally referring to male homosexuality, Florentine records from the fifteenth century show a lot of homosexual activity going on, usually relations between an adult male and a boy. F. Slavery and Ethnicity 1. In medieval and Renaissance Europe many Slavic, Tartar, Circassian, Greek, and Hungarian slaves were imported. 2. Beginning in the fifteenth century the Portuguese brought many black African slaves into Europe. 3. Within Africa the economic motives of rulers and merchants trumped any cultural/ethnic/racial hostility toward Europeans. They sold fellow Africans into slavery apparently without qualms. 4. Africans did not identify themselves as â€Å"black,† but as members of more than 600 different tribal and ethnic groups. 5. Black slaves were an object of curiosity at European courts. 6. The Renaissance concept of people from sub-Saharan Africa was shaped by Christian symbology of light and darkness? blacks represented the Devil. Race did not emerge as a concept until the late seventeenth century. V. The Renaissance in the North A. Northern Humanists 1. In the late fifteenth century students from northern Europe studied in Italy and brought the Renaissance home. 2. Thomas More (1478–1535) of England argued that reform of social institutions could reduce or eliminate corruption and war. 3. The Dutchman Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) was an expert in the Bible and Greek language who believed that all Christians should read the Bible. 4. Francois Rabelais (1490–1553) ridiculed established institutions such as the clergy with gross humor in Gargantua. 5. Flemish artists came to rival the Italian Renaissance painters. VI. Politics and the State in the Renaissance (ca 1450–1521) A. Centralization of Power 1. Some scholars have viewed Renaissance kingship as a new form, citing the dependence of the monarch on urban wealth and the ideology of the â€Å"strong king. In France Charles VII (r. 1422–1461) created the first permanent royal army, set up new taxes on salt and land, and allowed increased influence in his bureaucracy from middle-class men. He also asserted his right to appoint bishops in the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. 3. Charles’s son Louis XI (r. 1461–1483) fostered industry from artisans, taxed it, and used the funds to build up his army. He brought much new territory under direct Crown rule. 4. In England Edward IV ended the War of the Roses between rival baronial houses. 5. Henry VII ruled largely without Parliament, using as his advisers men with lower-level gentry origins. 6. Henry’s Court of the Star Chamber tried cases involving aristocrats and did so with methods contradicting common law, such as torture. 7. Although Spain remained a confederation of kingdoms until 1700, the wedding of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon did lead to some centralization. Ferdinand and Isabella stopped violence among the nobles, recruited â€Å"middle-class† advisers onto their royal council, and secured the right to appoint bishops in Spain and in the Spanish empire in America. . Popular anti-Semitism increased in fourteenth-century Spain. In 1478 Ferdinand and Isabella invited the Inquisition into Spain to search out and punish Jewish converts to Christianity who secretly continued Jewish religious practices. 9. To persecute converts, Inquisitors and others formulated a racial theory? that conversos were suspect not because of their beliefs, but because of who they were racially. 10. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain.

Changing a Lifestyle in Only Six-Weeks :: Health Diet Nutrition Excersize Essays

Changing a Lifestyle in Only Six-Weeks Jennifer is a twenty-year-old college student struggling with body image issues. She is a size eight. She has never developed an interest in athletics and has never exercised in her life. She has no muscle tone and has a high body fat percentage. Jennifer is not confident about her body. She wants to be skinny and is constantly dieting. Instead of eating healthy and balanced meals, she skips meals often. When she does eat, she eats only fried foods like French fries and hamburgers and refuses to eat fruits and vegetables. Samantha is Jennifer's friend at college. She is an athlete. She is a runner and a weight lifter. She is training for the Boston Marathon, her second marathon, that is three months away. She runs for an hour three days a week and on the weekends runs for longer distances. She also weight lifts three times a week in the gym. Samantha is very confident and is in the best shape of her life. She eats a lot of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein. She has very defined muscles and a low body fat percentage. Jennifer admires Samantha's discipline in exercise and healthy eating, but she resists exercising and eating well. She is afraid to become too muscular and develop a manly physique. Jennifer strives to look like a supermodel, not like an athlete. Samantha encourages Jennifer to go to the gym to weight lift with her but Jennifer refuses. Jennifer lacks motivation and is not interested in participating in ?masculine? activities like bodybuilding. After months of coercing, Samantha finally convinces Jennifer to go to the gym with her. Jennifer succumbs because she hopes to meet some hot guys at the gym. Samantha convinces Jennifer to go to the gym with her three days a week for six weeks. After that, if she does not like it, Samantha will never bother her again about taking up an exercise regime. When Jennifer arrives for the first time at the gym, she is surprised to see how many women are working out with weights. Half of the people weightlifting are women. Jennifer also observes that the majority of women have very feminine physiques. They are muscular, lean, and have very attractive figures. Jennifer was expecting to see very few women weightlifting. In addition, she expected those women to be very muscular and masculine looking.

Personal log

If you are a biologist interested in working in the tropical rainforest's, briefly describe a research study you could complete at each level in the biological hierarchy, starting from the organisms level to the biosphere. 2. What are the two biotic variables that dictate type of terrestrial bimbo? Do aquatic and marine systems rely on the same two variables? Why or why not? 3. Which of the terrestrial boomers Is the most vulnerable to anthropogenic (human) Influence and why?What Is being affected? 4. Create a table that lists the bimbo, biotic variables that are elevate, and examples of organisms that would reside there. 5. Why arena species all over the planet? What influences dispersal? 6. What is the value of describing populations using density, dispersion, and demographic information? Be specific and be sure to demonstrate your understanding of the terms. 7. What are the two mall population growth models? What organisms may follow those growth models? 8.What factors influence t he populations described in #6? How do density-dependent and density-independent factors play a role? Chapter 41 1 . What are the five mall types of Interspecies Interactions discussed In the chapter? Describe each. . When Interactions result In a negative outcome for one species (e. G. Parasitism, predation, herbivore), the species that is affected will typically have a response to prevent that negative outcome. Describe examples of how species respond to these effects. 3.How do invasive species affect the natural populations? 4. What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? 5. What type of ecosystems would likely demonstrate bottom-up control? Top-down control? Why? 6. Is ecological disturbance a bad thing? Why or why not? Give an example to support your answer. 7. How did MacArthur and Wilson demonstrate the connection between area and species richness & diversity? Chapter 42 1 . Why do ecologists need to understand the laws of thermodynamics? How do they apply to a n ecosystem? 2.How much energy Is being transferred for each atrophic level? 3. What is primary production? What limits primary production in aquatic ecosystems? Why is primary production so low in the open ocean? 4. Why can we say that biochemical cycles are nature's way of recycling? 5. List the inputs and outputs (to the atmosphere) of each of the following biochemical cycles: a. Water cycle b. Carbon cycle d. Phosphorus cycle Chapter 43 1. What are the three levels of biodiversity? Is one level more important to study than the others?Why or why not? 2. What are the threats to biodiversity? Describe specific examples of each. 3. Why are small populations at risk? Describe specific issues associated with small populations. 4. Should we preserve land in multiple small patches or one large patch (SOLOS theory – single large or several small)? Using your knowledge of landscape structure and biodiversity, how would you establish a protected area and why? 5. How does climate cha nge affect species diversity and distribution? 6. What do we mean by the term â€Å"sustainability'?

A Review of Nirvana for Sale by Rachelle M. Scoot Essay

Nirvana for Sale by Rachelle M. Scott is an anthropological investigation into the intersection of wealth and piety in Thailand Theravada Buddhism. Through ethnographic methods, the book seeks to describe this relationship in a historically situated context. Thus, the book is concerned with cultural praxis within the context of religious discourses about wealth and piety. As a piece of ethnography, the work is competent, but draws little attention to the classic anthropological methodology of participant observation, characterized by long-term engagement with local cultural practices. Instead the claims made are gathered through an analysis of publications and dialogues within the Thailand Buddhist community, mostly centered on a†¦show more content†¦Next Scott examines how this embracement of a modernist prosperity-gospel model of Buddhism becomes problematized within the socio-historical context of the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. After this, she expands the analysis looking at â€Å"the broader field of debate over the commercialization of Buddhism† and its commodification â€Å"as a product† as well as â€Å"the effects of consumerism on contemporary Thai society† (17). This is contextualized through an overview of the discourses of various â€Å"principle voices within this discussion† (17) such as Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, â€Å"a well known promoter of dhammic socialism. These diverse voices help to contextualize and complicate the discourse surrounding both the modernist prosperity Buddhism of Dhammakaya Buddhism through a post-modern commentary. It is this post-modern commentary that is the focus of the concluding chapter, in which she frames the commentary as a â€Å"rallying cry for religious reform† (17). Importantly, this work avoided a Marxist analysis of the commodification of religion such as is described by the Comaroffs. In doing so it avoids claims about authenticity that end up as essentializing Buddhism, and instead shows that it â€Å"is not a static entity; it is continuously created through space and time† (16). Another important epistemological consideration is Scott’s treatment of Orientalism and the rationalization of modern interpretations