History Books

Book SynopsisThe story of humanity’s last major source of food from the wild and how it enabled and shaped the growth of civilization

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Breathtaking, highly entertaining and understandable for non-specialist readers, who will be amazed by the great variety of tales that the book addresses...An excellent book that shows nicely that “every star story is about us”.”—H. Natalia Sánchez, Journal of Skyscape Archaeology“In this book of stories, Aveni introduces readers to the diversity of constellation mythologies. An entirely original, vividly written, and totally absorbing book by a world expert.”—Simon Mitton, University of Cambridge“Aveni is the star of his own luminous book: casting light in the form of stories – about the sky, time, earthly correspondences and concerns, and human imagination.”—Christopher Vecsey, author of Imagine Ourselves Richly: Mythic Narratives of North American Indians"Aveni skillfully guides us around the awesome night sky through the imagination of different peoples around the world, past and present. A wonderful treasury of cultural astronomy."—Jacqueline Mitton, author of Zoo in the Sky““Connections between Earth Mother and Sky Father are universal. The stories in this book are wise and wonder‑filled to encourage humility and mindfulness.”—Sunny Dooley, Diné Traditional Wisdom Keeper

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Book SynopsisThe first theory of legitimate opposition in fifty yearsTrade Review“Legitimate opposition—an essential political practice aimed at concentrated power—has been hiding in plain sight. Now, at this critical moment, Kirshner brings it forcefully into focus.”—Nancy L. Rosenblum, coauthor of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy“In this brilliant book, Alexander S. Kirshner reminds us that representative democracy can hardly be conceived without permanent legitimate opposition and the practice of disagreement and political conflict.”—Nadia Urbinati, author of Me the People“Alex Kirshner offers the definitive account of how we should understand the ‘legitimate opposition’—one that is realistic, skeptical, and yet preserves the most demanding aspirations for democracy.”—Russell Muirhead, coauthor of A Lot of People Are Saying“Alexander Kirshner’s Legitimate Opposition offers a subtle, systematic and powerful way to analyze one crucial vulnerability in democracy: opposition by some to democracy itself.”—Corey Brettschneider, author of The Oath and the Office

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Book SynopsisThe most complete picture to date of the moral worlds of the political left and right and how their different views relate to specific political issuesTrade Review“This cogent, brilliant book reveals the morality at both ends of the political spectrum. Janoff-Bulman is one of the smartest people in the room, and she says we need both. Listening to her might save our democracy.”—Susan T. Fiske, author of Social Cognition“Ronnie Janoff-Bulman expertly debunks recent canards in moral psychology: that liberals are more individualistic than conservatives; that conservative morality is broader or more extensive than liberal morality; and that we, as a society, can hope to succeed on the basis of a social order that is lacking in social justice.”—John T. Jost, author of Left & Right: The Psychological Significance of a Political Distinction“What’s the fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals? Ronnie Janoff-Bulman delivers a cogent, evidence-based answer that challenges the received wisdom and dissipates the partisan fog—an illuminating book.”—Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them

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Book SynopsisExplore the wonders of wild Mongolia through the eyes of a distinguished field biologistTrade Review“Schaller is driven by his vision of what must be done if wild spaces and rare species are to persist. . . . He is eloquent in his condemnation of what he deems gross mismanagement by the nation’s current political leaders, who allow oil drilling, mining and road-building in crucial protected areas.”—Tom McCarthy, Nature“George Schaller’s genius has been to bring the style of the best nineteenth-century natural histories together with solid present-day science. Into Wild Mongolia is a superb example of this combination.”—Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University“With great dedication to wildlife in all of its manifestations, George Schaller explores the vast steppes and other habitats of Mongolia. His revelatory explorations will undoubtedly aid the conservation of this unique ecosystem.”—Frans de Waal, author of Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves“Traveling in remote and unpredictable regions, George Schaller conveys the thrill of sitting near snow leopards, the beauty of vast glowing grasses, and the discovery of thousands of wandering gazelles.”—Amy Vedder, author of In the Kingdom of Gorillas: The Quest to Save Rwanda’s Mountain Gorillas“Luminously written, Into Wild Mongolia introduces us to remote, often cold, and desolate landscapes, animals such as the Bactrian camel, and local characters, richly rendered. We learn to read the wordless movements of elusive creatures like the snow leopard, communicated in the oldest writing on earth, their footprints in soil and snow. George Schaller is an icon; for his dedication to conservation and his love of biodiversity we can only be grateful.”—James Prosek, author of Trout of the World and Eels.“George Schaller, a true giant, is essentially the original field biologist. His words are living history. This astonishing, vivid book describes a region that has changed, but must never be forgotten.”—Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

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Book SynopsisTrade Review'Thomas Mitchell has written a clear, lively and instructive account of the world’s first democracy in ancient Athens. He has mastered the latest scholarship in the field and put it to good use in interpreting the ancient sources and demonstrating its character and importance in shaping democratic thought and institutions throughout the millennia. The acuteness and balance of his judgments do justice to the strengths and weaknesses of such a regime, even as his belief in democracy ancient and modern enlivens analysis. All is set forth in an engaging style that will bring pleasure as well as enlightenment to his grateful readers.' - Donald Kagan, author of The Peloponnesian War'The story of democracy in classical Athens continues to be a story that raises acute questions about the principles and practices of democracies today. Thomas Mitchell's book explores that story with a light touch deeply embedded in the testimony of ancient writers and the research of modern scholars, offering an introduction that reveals the importance of understanding what Athenians thought about what they were doing, as well as the importance of what they were doing. This is the ideal foundation on which to build a critical appreciation of what Athenian democracy involved.' - Robin Osborne, author of Greece in the Making 1200–479 BC 'Democracy’s Beginning combines careful research with a passionate conviction in the potential of true democracy, as a form of government and as a way of life. Thomas Mitchell presents the full story of the rule of the people in ancient Athens, from early beginnings, through the imperial era of Pericles, to the culmination of participatory citizenship in the age of Plato and Aristotle. He warns us of the dangers of over-enthusiastic democratic foreign policy and notes the failings of Greek treatment women, slaves, and foreigners. But all the while he focuses our attention on how government of, for and by the people once did — and might again — produce a fairer, freer and more equal society.' - Josiah Ober, author of The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece"Lucid, sophisticated and elegant, Mitchell's fresh contribution to the field makes Athenian political history come alive and really matter. While its specific focus is on ancient Athens, the book never loses sight of how the study of the Athenian democracy enriches our understanding of modern democracies, and it leaves one with a sense of how the study of historical antecedents might help guide how we organize our societies in our own, and future, time."—Ralph Rosen, University of Pennsylvania'Democratic deficit is on everyone's lips these days, but Thomas Mitchell's lively and comprehensive new study harks back to the days of democratic surplus, when democracy - both the word and the thing - was young. Reading Democracy's Begnnining should be an inspiriting as well as an invigorating experience.' - Paul Cartledge, author of Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A comprehensive and valuable survey of the threats facing China’s economy.”—Edward Chancellor, Wall Street Journal“George Magnus offers a forensic take on why the Chinese economy will continue to be bedevilled by politics and why it matters.”—Isabel Hilton, New Statesman“Red Flags lands with exquisite timing"—Richard McGregor, Financial Times“Magnus offers the vision of a dispassionate outsider on the state of China” — Martin Wolf, Financial Times (Books of the Year 2018)"For insight into the dilemmas and decisions China’s leaders, notably Xi Jinping, will face in the next decades, it would be hard to beat Red Flags."—Diane Coyle, author of GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History"An excellent, tightly argued and fluently written analysis of the challenges that lie behind the China Dream."—Jonathan Fenby, author of Will China Dominate the 21st Century?"An immensely important and powerful book from one of our premier commentators on economics."—Rana Mitter, author of China’s War with Japan, 1937–1945"A nuanced, historically informed and highly readable account of why we should never be complacent about the People’s Republic."—Kerry Brown, author of CEO, China"Compelling, ominous and thought-provoking, George Magnus has written a book that should be essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of what is happening in China— and why it will have a global impact."—Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

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Book SynopsisThe first book to bring together the key writings and speeches of civil rights activist Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander – the first Black American economist.Trade Review“Nina Banks’ excavation and presentation of Sadie Alexander’s words offers this pioneer’s early vision into the complex and irreducible structures race, class, gender and power in American economic life.”—Marcellus Andrews, Bucknell University “Sadie Alexander embodies the Black feminist saying, 'the political is personal.' Her speeches brilliantly intertwine economics and law and will empower the next generation scholars-activists fighting for social justice.”—Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe, President, Women's Institute for Science, Equity and Race "The speeches and writings of Sadie Alexander capture the intellectual reflections of a brilliant political economist, lawyer and racial justice advocate. Some of her observations have been confirmed by modern analysis; some cry out for closer scrutiny; others turn out to be dire predictions of the existential threat of racial discriminations for the rule of law and the fate of our democracy. Ignore at our own peril."—Warren C. Whatley, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A welcome reissue of Glenn Richardson's magisterial examination of the Field…If one has time to read only one study of the Field, it has to be Glenn Richardson: subtle, sound and well-written.”—Jean Wilson, Times Literary Supplement'This is an impressive piece of work. Its great strength is the author's use of original French material, which has enabled Richarson to reconstruct the French preparations in the same detail as the English, and to explore the cultural significance of the Field for Renaissance diplomacy. Richardson is right to conclude that it was seriously intended, and not merely a jeu d'espirit or an excuse for conspicuous consumption.' - David Loades, author of The Tudors: History of a Dynasty'Glenn Richardson has meticulously scoured the archives, in both French and English, to provide a sparkling new account of the Field of Cloth of Gold as an extraordinary demonstration of ostentatious rivalry. Richardson notes that there has been no new history of the Field for forty years; after his definitive, detailed and careful study, there need be no new one for many years to come.' - Suzannah Lipscomb, author of A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England

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Book SynopsisAn essential exploration of how Russian ideas about the United States shaped architecture and urban design from the czarist era to the fall of the U.S.S.R.Trade Review“The book isn’t argumentative or polemical so much as illuminating, a collection of extraordinary anecdotes, objects and ephemera. . . . The illustrations, some of which are assembled into photo-essays between chapters, are stories in themselves.”—Owen Hatherley, London Review of Books“A fascinating history of reflections and distortions that traces the image of Russia and that of modernity itself.”—Arquitectura VivaNamed One of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2020, sponsored by the Swiss Culture Awards Federal Office of CultureWinner of the SAH Exhibition Catalogue Award, sponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians

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Book SynopsisA fast-paced narrative about the world-famous libertine Giacomo Casanova, from celebrated biographer Leo Damrosch Trade Review“The great virtue of Mr. Damrosch’s biography is that, while never losing critical distance, he fully succeeds in communicating that ‘vivid presentness,’ that ‘joyful eagerness’ for life, which is what keeps us reading Casanova—and reading about him.”—Gregory Dowling, Wall Street Journal“Damrosch’s biography is undoubtedly a huge achievement, at once erudite and vivid. By the end I was almost convinced that Casanova was worthy of such prodigious scholarship.”—John Carey, Sunday Times“[A] stern but measured book. . . . In his stylish, insightful and, yes, one must admit, sexy biography, Damrosch gives us the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.”—Laura Freeman, Times (UK)“Colourful and entertaining. . . . The author is clear-eyed about Casanova’s faults.”—The Economist“There have been many biographies of Casanova before, some of them very good, although they have tended to be thesis driven. . . . [Damrosch] is in turn clear that he is writing a post MeToo Casanova. At the same time, he is also keen that we should understand just what a valuable document Histoire is for scholars working on the 18th century.”—Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian“Damrosch’s biography condenses a vast trove of Casanoviana into a well-researched, four-hundred-page narrative that is most engaging on its subject’s catholic interests as an intellectual and on the milieus he traversed as an itinerant charlatan.”—Judith Thurman, New Yorker“Leo Damrosch is a professor emeritus of literature with an emphasis on the 18th century. And he reads Casanova post-Weinstein, so to speak—but not sourly or dogmatically, instead confidently, inspired, admiringly and at the same time critically, passionately. And he can write brilliantly too.”—Jean-Martin Büttner, Basler Zeitung (Basel, Switzerland)“Damrosch’s adroit and balanced narration is never less than enthralling.”—Michael Prodger, New Statesman“Casanova rarely describes his surroundings and omits much on contemporary Venice that he simply takes for granted. Damrosch fills in the details, provides comment on Casanova from third parties, identifies those lovers whose identities Casanova attempted to obscure, adds previously unpublished material from Casanova’s later years, and places the libertine’s transgressions in the context of the mores of the time.”—Peter Neville-Hadley, South China Morning Post“Casanova’s life was in the best of hands with Leo Damrosch’s erudition. He follows Casanova’s escapades and escapes as a vertiginous heroic story. Out of Venice we are thrown into an experiment with the eighteenth century, its tastes, and transgressions, revealing a surprising ‘book of life.’”—Pierre Saint-Amand, author of Suite libertine: Vies du XVIIIe siècle“A pleasure to read, remarkably clear and readable, engaging, vivid, informative—in short, an excellent biography that both delights and instructs.”—April Alliston, Princeton University“The name Casanova has become synonymous with serial seduction—hardly a model in the age of #MeToo. The excellence of Leo Damrosch’s energetic biography is that it reveals so many other dimensions of this remarkable man: pioneering autobiographer, questioner of received ideas, traveler through high culture and low.”—Jonathan Bate, author of Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the WorldPraise for Leo Damrosch’s The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age “Damrosch brilliantly brings together the members’ voices. . . . As this stellar book moves from one Club member to another, it comes together as an ambitious venture homing in on the nature of creative stimulus.”—Lyndall Gordon, New York Times Book Review “Engaging and illuminating. . . . In The Club, as the actors appear one by one, surrounding Johnson and Boswell on Damrosch’s stage, we are transported back to a world of conversations, arguments, ideas, and writings.”—Jenny Uglow, New York Review of Books “Beginning in 1764, some of Britain’s future leading lights (including Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke and Edward Gibbon) met every Friday night to talk and drink. Damrosch’s magnificent history revives the Club’s creative ferment.”—New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice

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Book SynopsisA major contribution to the field of comparative state formation and the scholarship on long-term political development of Latin AmericaTrade Review“This book delivers what Max Weber never did—an empirically convincing positive theory of state formation. You’ll never think about Latin America in the same way again.”—James A. Robinson, University of Chicago “A pathbreaking account of why trade-led state formation in Latin America produced weaker states than those generated by military conflict in Europe and a powerful explanation of divergent trajectories within Latin America. Empirically rich and beautifully written, Latecomer State Formation will be required reading in comparative politics. It is the most important book on state development I have read in many years.”—Steven Levitsky, Harvard University “In this dazzling and conceptually innovative book, Mazzuca distills the core logic of state formation in Latin America. Latecomer State Formation illuminates how global historical forces shape the very size and capacity of modern states. Magisterial and incisive, it is indispensable reading for any comparative scholar of state-building in the post-colonial world.”—Maya Tudor, University of Oxford “Each page explodes with intellectual energy and new insights. It teaches a profound lesson: forming a state is not the same as state-building. Historically rich and conceptually innovative, this is the best book I have read on state-building in over a decade.”—Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard University “Trade makes states, but it makes weaker states than war. Mazzuca sheds new light on why Latin American politicians formed states that were territorially solid yet institutionally incapable. In our collective quest to understand non-European states, Mazzuca’s far-reaching study helps us draw lessons from Latin America as much as from Europe.”—Dan Slater, University of Michigan

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Book SynopsisExplores the origins and evolution of Georgian landscape architecture, a period of innovative and diverse garden structures in which some of the era’s greatest architects experimented with different forms, styles, and new technologyTrade Review“This book thus represents the life’s work of a doyen, and it shows. White convinces utterly in his thesis.”—Iona McLaren, The Telegraph“Scholarly yet approachable—and lavishly illustrated with 290 colour plates and black-and-white illustrations—this is a title for enthusiasts as much as experts.”—INIGO“An architectural historian and authority . . . [White has] produced a synthesis of this most alluring topic. The result is a richly illustrated volume, one that merits our attention.”—Timothy Mowl, Country Life“Wherever you turn in Georgian Arcadia, you’re confronted with ruins, follies and eyecatchers—the richest, most varied collection of beautiful and bizarre structures that you’re ever likely to meet.”—Adrian Tinniswood, The Critic“Yale have brought out [this] current tome, packed with a lifetime’s thought and observation. It’s a milestone.”—Clive Aslet, Oldie“Roger has had a long fascination with this subject and this richly illustrated book is the result. It is highly readable and informative, and also enjoyed encyclopaedic.”—Jeremy Musson, House & Garden“Written by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable expert who successfully manages to transmit his enthusiasm and make his knowledge accessible to the more general reader.”—Sally Jeffery, Garden History“[A] magisterial survey of Georgian landscape buildings. . . . Georgian Arcadia is an important book, but it is also an entertaining one.”—Adrian Tinniswood, The Critic“White is an opinionated, amusing guide to the architectural follies—and aristocratic folly—of 18th-century British garden design.”—Iona McLaren, The Telegraph, Summer reading list“This excellent book has taken many years in its making and explores the origins and evolution of Georgian landscape architecture. It contains 290 glorious colour and black & white illustrations.”—JK, Follies Magazine“This is a beautifully produced book at a reasonable price, which can be highly recommended as a gazetteer to the pleasures to be enjoyed in the exploration of the designed landscapes of Georgian Britain” —Malcolm Airs, Context, Journal of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation

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Book SynopsisAn intimate look at the afterlife of lynching through the personal stories of Black victims and survivors who lived through and beyond its traumaTrade Review“A compassionate, sensitive, and insightful meditation on where to discern the hidden memories of the collective trauma of lynching and where to discover the manifest forms of African American resistance and resilience in response to it.”—Ashraf H. A. Rushdy, author of American Lynching“My Soul Is a Witness examines the oral histories, literature, art, and music that constitute the living memory of lynching. It’s an exceptionally researched, exquisitely written, and important book.”—Julie Buckner Armstrong, author of Mary Turner and the Memory of Lynching“Mari Crabtree has written a hauntingly beautiful book, telling the stories of those whose lives have been weighed down by the traumatic memory of lynching and a nation haunted by the traumatic memory of what it has done and what it tries not to remember. Powerful. Disturbing. Brilliant. A must read!”—Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Princeton University

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Book SynopsisA new edition of a seminal work—one that explores crucial changes within Europe from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century

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Book SynopsisA provocative manifesto, arguing for a new understanding of the Jews’ peoplehoodTrade Review“Trenchant, plangent, and courageous, Daniel Boyarin’s polemic rewrites the ground rules of what has been known for centuries as ‘the Jewish question.’ Any future discussion must take his ’no-state solution’ into account.”—Haun Saussy, University of Chicago“Daniel Boyarin’s book delves into the very heart of what it means to be Jewish in the world today, not as an assertion of exclusiveness but rather as the starting point for a universalist idea about Jewishness drawn from its complicated multifaceted history. The manifesto is thus a provocation to think anew about what constitutes nation, society, culture, and the ultimate goals of cosmopolitan humanistic enquiry. A masterpiece!”—Ato Quayson, author of Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature“In his intrepid manifesto, Daniel Boyarin calls for a Jewish nationalism not sited in a nation-state. Far beyond the Jewish case, it provokes both those who see no more need for national identity and those who insist on a territorial home for each. As unexpected in his arguments as he is witty in his prose, Boyarin is in characteristically good form in this essential new statement.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University“Daniel Boyarin’s stirring manifesto for a Jewish diaspora nation proposes an expansive anti-statist argument that makes common cause with the freedom of Palestinians and the rights of Black Lives. His rousing call for subaltern solidarity provokes me to ask: how does the ‘no-state’ solution address the claims for an independent nation-state or a bi-national state as articulated by the Palestinian people whose sovereignty has been repeatedly subverted and whose dignity is daily disfigured? Read this daring essay that invites your argument, not your agreement.”—Homi Bhabha, Harvard University

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Book SynopsisA vibrant history of the castle in England, from the early Middle Ages to the present dayTrade Review“Fascinating . . . eyewitness accounts from behind the gates of fortresses from the seventh century to now bring these imposing buildings to life.”—Maev Kennedy, Art Newspaper“Through the work of figures including Gawain Poet, Walter Scott, Evelyn Waugh, and P.G. Wodehouse, Goodall draws both on first-hand accounts and feats of imagination to build a picture of the castle’s place in our history and national consciousness.”—This England“Explores not only the merlons and crenels, knights and damsels, towers and dungeons, but why these still resonate with us as much as they still do today.”—Hereward Corbett, Cotswold Life“Ranges from focused vignettes of moments in the life of real castles to wider discursions on social and architectural history through the prism of fictional ones. . . . New discoveries, such as the use of cathedrals for military purposes during ‘the Anarchy’ in twelfth-century England, are delightful surprises.”—Historic House“No one knows castles better than John Goodall. . . . The book is well-written: expert but always intelligible; conversational but never condescending.”—Marc Morris, BBC History Magazine“John Goodall, has followed his majestic survey, The English Castle (Yale, 2011), in . . . a surprising and brilliant way. . . . A magpie reader will also find much to delight: swooping in, then out clutching a single gem or nugget. Equally, should you be planning a weekend jaunt—and here the portable size is a boon—the related entry will help to bring your chosen ancient abode to life.”—Jacqueline Riding, Country Life“This lively, literary book illuminates each of these facets by drawing on the accounts of people who were there at the time, and also sets out to explain why castles continue to exert such a pull on our imagination today, in the 21st century.”—BBC History Revealed“[Goodall] is persuasive that different histories, real or imagined, have been projected onto these buildings across the centuries. This insightful, engaging book allows us to better understand these complex buildings, now and in the future.”—James Sewry, Times Literary Supplement“Looking at castles from the medieval period to Civil War engagements, right up to modern manifestations in Harry Potter, this book is well-researched and complemented by 352 fascinating illustrations.”—Countryside“This new book by John Goodall is a fascinating and unusual take on the castles of England in that it shows the reader inside and beyond the usual descriptions of these massive buildings and fortifications.”—Sandra Callard, On: Yorkshire Magazine“A masterful and erudite companion of the neglected heroes of British architecture.”—Simon Jenkins, author of A Short History of England“It is a pleasure to find John Goodall moving on from his masterpiece, The English Castle, to this evocative account of all that life in them has inspired.”—Mark Girouard, author of Life in the English Country House“Hugely powerful, this captivating triumph redefines the castle narrative. A comprehensive history, with tales from above crenelations and down dungeons—through which Goodall’s architectural expertise and passion ooze. Like the fortifications brought to life on every page, this is a landmark work, as equally ambitious as it is expertly researched.”—Emma J. Wells, author of Pilgrim Routes of the British Isles‘Nobody is better qualified than John Goodall to chart the history of the castle across more than a thousand years. Using chronicles, letters, accounts, poems, and material culture, he reveals through the eyes of contemporaries the castle’s changing form and place in Britain’s landscape, and in its history and culture. The Castle is a tour de force of architectural history.’—Sophie Thérèse Ambler, author of The Song of Simon de Montfort ‘The Castle is the first of its kind in its wide-sweeping ambitious chronology presented in an accessible and exciting way. John Goodall uses historical evidence in conjunction with images, architecture, and literary texts to masterfully take the reader on a journey from the earliest origins of the castle to the modern magical castle of Hogwarts and beyond. This book is a must for anyone interested in over 1000 years of castle history in Britain.’—Audrey Thorstad, author of The Culture of Castles in Tudor England and Wales

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Engagingly written…This is an effective entry point for those interested in the grand politics of crusader states.”—Andrew D Buck, BBC History Magazine “In this compelling book…Tibble argues persuasively that although the crusaders lacked the jargon and analytical apparatus of what we now (often incorrectly) call ‘strategy’, their ability to support policy by actions repeated over time and modified in the light of constraints properly amounted to just that.”—Ian Garrick-Mason, SpectatorShortlisted for the 2020 Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History“The Crusader Strategy tackles the fundamental problem faced by 'the defenders of the East' in the twelfth century. How did practical men implement God's will in almost impossible circumstances? Tibble's penetrative analysis shows that they responded by developing intelligent long-term strategies, skilfully adapted to the numerous challenges which confronted them.”—Malcolm Barber, author of The Crusader States “Viewing the crusader states' first century through the lens of strategic theory, Steve Tibble finds broad designs amid a whirlwind of battles, sieges, and negotiations. It is a compelling story vigorously-told of medieval men and the plans that they made.”—Thomas F. Madden, author of The New Concise History of the Crusades“Confident, brisk and engaging, Tibble offers a sharp new understanding of the Crusader States. He deftly reveals the strategic imperatives that shaped the early eras of conquest and consolidation, convincingly showing how and why the crusaders made their strategic choices. Pithy anecdote and clever analysis illuminate the crucial competition for Egypt, a race won by Saladin, who forced the crusaders out of their mighty castles and onto the fateful battlefield at Hattin. Insightful, original and persuasive - the perfect sibling to Tibble's Crusader Armies.”—Jonathan Phillips, author of The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin“Yes indeed! The kings of Jerusalem did have a strategy. The case is argued with great panache. Tibble brings a freshness and a breadth of knowledge to his subject and has clearly thought long and hard as to why things went wrong. A welcome addition to a lively debate.”—Peter W. Edbury, author of The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade

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Book SynopsisThe first major history of Chile’s most significant peasant rebellion and the violent repression that followedTrade ReviewWinner of the Whitaker Book Prize from the Mid-Atlantic Council on Latin American Studies (MACLAS)“This deeply researched narrative unfolds like a historical novel, capturing the protagonists in the long history of conflict over land, labor conditions, and national government policies that provoked the Ranquil rebellion and massacre, as well as its ‘place’ in present-day Chilean politics and historical memory.”—Brian Loveman, author of No Higher Law: American Foreign Policy and the Western Hemisphere since 1776“In this meticulously researched, finely crafted, and cogently argued work, Klubock challenges Chile’s long-standing image as a paradigm of social peace and political concord in Latin America. This is a mandatory read for anyone interested in contemporary Chilean history.”—Julio Pinto, Universidad de Santiago de Chile

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Book SynopsisA fresh and insightful history of how the German arts-and-letters scene was transformed under the NazisTrade Review“Absorbing, chilling study of German artistic life under Hitler.”—Max Hastings, The Sunday Times“While providing a chronology for understanding the creeping totalitarianism, Kater shines most when discussing individual artists and their work, displaying a thoroughness and texture unrivalled by any other scholar.”—Jonathan Petropoulos, Art Newspaper“A much-needed study of the aesthetics and cultural mores of the Third Reich, with often surprising turns . . . in a narrative rich in detail and documentation. . . . ‘The relation between culture and tyranny is a complex one,’ Kater concludes. Indeed, and his book does much to make it comprehensible.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“Kater in this richly researched, fluently written book sets out to recast the story of Hitler’s Germany.” —Roger Boyes, Times (UK)“Incorporating both official art and that cast out of German public life, the range of cultural forms considered is similarly ambitious, including literature, music, architecture, fine art, radio, the press, film and theatre”— Lucy Wasensteiner, Times Literary Supplement“There is no greater authority on the culture of the Nazi period than Michael Kater, and his latest, most ambitious work gives a comprehensive overview of a dismally complex history, astonishing in its breadth of knowledge and acute in its critical perceptions.”—Alex Ross, music critic at the New Yorker and author of The Rest Is Noise

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“An Illuminating account.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Books of the Year 2018”“For a greater understanding of Scotland and Catalonia within a wider crisis of mainstream politics, this thought-provoking book is an ideal place to start.”—Donald MacRaild, THES“A pioneering and scrupulously even-handed comparative history.”—The Economist“Nobody writing in English knows more about early modern Spain than Elliott. . . . I rejoice at the depth of context this book brings to two highly unpredictable political situations.”—Jerry White, Irish Times“Scots and Catalans is a stimulating history book, but most of all it is a political polemic. It aims to show how the two independence movements are based on false interpretations of history.”—Michael Eaude, Catalonia Today“John Elliott has written a book that is both topical and timeless.”—Luis Fernández-Galiano, Arquitectura Viva“Lucid and well-reasoned book.”—David Gilmour, Literary Review“Elliot’s elegant prose and clear observations bring life to this remarkable book.”—Stephen Jacobson, English Historical ReviewFinalist in the 2019 Los Angeles Times Prizes, History category“J. H. Elliott is a superb guide through the complexities of Catalan and Scottish history. With a deft touch and lucid prose he fully demonstrates the great value of historical comparison for understanding present conditions in both societies.”—Professor Emeritus Sir Tom Devine, University of Edinburgh“Rarely has a work of comparative history been so timely and newsworthy. J. H. Elliott’s learned comparative study of the long-term trajectories of Scotland and Catalonia is a reliable guide to the current travails of the nation-state in Western Europe. Elliott cogently explains the background to the phoenix-like revival of long-submerged historic nations within both the UK and Spain.”—Colin Kidd, author of Union and Unionisms: Political Thought in Scotland, 1500–2000 and British Identities before Nationalism: Ethnicity and Nationhood in the British Atlantic World, 1600–800“An excellent, detailed, properly comparative study that foregrounds the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding in modern constitutionalism.”—Murray Pittock, University of Glasgow“J. H. Elliott’s new book offers a deeply considered and timely perspective on the attempts of the Scottish and Catalan nationalist movements to secure independence. Written with all his customary elegance and incisiveness, it is authoritative in its historical assessments and notably fair-minded in its examination of controversial issues. Scots and Catalans provides the essential starting point for anyone who wishes to understand the problems currently besetting both London and Madrid on their northern periphery.”—Professor Hamish Scott, FBA, All Souls College, Oxford“The similarities and contrasts between Scotland and Catalonia throw many fundamental aspects of Scottish history into sharp relief. The result is not only a masterful exercise in comparative history. It is also a compelling account of British history from a Scottish perspective, and a superb introduction to Scottish history itself.”—Dauvit Brown

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Book SynopsisA timely look into how abstract art in South America aimed to envision a better society Trade Review“Sullivan’s close reading, contextual sensitivity and sidestepping of grand simplifying narratives make this book an extremely valuable addition to the growing literature on art from regions outside the classic mainstream.”—Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, Art Newspaper“Beautifully constructed and convincingly argued, this book fills an important gap in published literature and will have a great impact on how scholars and students study Latin American modernism.”—Harper Montgomery, author of The Mobility of Modernism: Art and Criticism in 1920s Latin America“Radical Form is original and certainly very intelligent. It makes an important contribution to the field of Latin American art history.”—Abigail McEwen, author of Revolutionary Horizons: Art and Polemics in 1950s Cuba

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Book SynopsisA rediscovery of patriotism as a virtue in line with the core values of democracy in an extremist ageTrade Review“Smith superbly illuminates the distinctiveness of the American idea of patriotism and reminds us of how important patriotism is, and how essential to making America better.”—Leslie Lenkowsky, Wall Street Journal“Like you perhaps, I still regard myself as an extremely patriotic person. Which is why I so admired . . . Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. It explained my emotion to me, as it might yours to you.”—David Brooks, New York Times“Smith has drawn intelligent distinctions. . . . [His] book will help prevent patriotism from fading to something only dimly remembered.” —George Will, Washington Post“It’s a brave man who takes on the vital and necessary task of defining and defending patriotism from the left. Professor Steven Smith rises to the challenge, making a nuanced but forceful case in concise and compelling prose.”—Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World“Steven B. Smith brings a wonderful blend of learning and lucidity to the most important question of the day: What does it mean to be American? At a time when Trumpian conservatives have revived the ethno-nationalism that runs like a dark stain throughout our history, and when many progressives regard the nation’s founding principles as little more than hypocrisies, Smith’s appeal to a patriotism of liberalism is as refreshing as it is vital.”—Robert Kagan, author of The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World“In contrast to those who see only a choice between xenophobic nationalism or radical anti-Americanism, Steven B. Smith shows how American patriotism can be a partnership in pursuit of a more perfect union. A valuable book that blends cosmopolitan learning with a deep understanding of what is best in America.”—Rogers Smith, author of That Is Not Who We Are! Populism and Peoplehood“Steven Smith decouples patriotism from nationalism and reclaims a viable conception of patriotism from its critics on the left and right. Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes is a clearly written, historically informed, and utterly necessary book for our troubled times.”—William A. Galston, Brookings Institution

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Medu fought for the liberation of South Africa through screen prints and lithographs . . . This book assembles nearly all the surviving specimens, and should offer young artists a model of collective authorship and political engagement.”—Jason Farago, New York Times (“Best Art Books of 2020”)

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Book SynopsisA nuanced look at how the Museum of Modern Art’s carefully curated treatment of Latin American architecture promoted U.S. political, economic, and cultural interestsTrade Review“In this thorough and thoughtful study, Patricio del Real weaves a careful balance between formal elements of architecture, its exhibitions, and its various cultural, social, and political meanings.”—Alejandro Anreus, William Paterson University“This is an impressive book: thoroughly researched, well-conceived and organized. It makes an important contribution to the literature on 20th-century architecture, particularly as it emerged and played out in the Americas.”—Keith Eggener, University of Oregon

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The author is a serious academic, his researches oceanic and his arguments exhaustive, his subject as much economic as social history [. . .] Readers of this scholarly but intoxicating book will share the author's glee.”—John Walsh, The Sunday Times“Lively and superbly researched history” - Paula Byrne, The Times“As Lee Jackson demonstrates in his beguiling study of the 19th-century entertainment industry, pleasure is, at bottom, a deeply serious business, and the sharply opposed forces at work in Victorian society were just as apparent on the sea-front of England’s south coast as in a House of Commons committee room the great strength of his book lies in its attention to detail.”—D. J. Taylor, Wall Street Journal“This fascinating history shows how . . . new venues flourished, along with music halls and seaside resorts, thanks to a growing middle class, favorable legislation, and shifting morals.”—New Yorker“[An] engaging account of Victorian mass entertainment [. . .] fascinating background on the rise of London’s gin palaces, which created panic in middle-class observers when they noticed that the gaudy decor of these working-class venues – all shiny plate glass and flaring gas jets – was hard to distinguish from their own favourite West End shops” —Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Guardian“A fascinating book exploring the history of light entertainment in this country.” – David Leafe, Irish Daily Mail“[Jackson] is wonderfully comprehensive and engagingly readable”— Andrew Lycett, Spectator“Jackson creates an unfamiliar picture: gone are the stern, upright, moral men and women of popular imagination. Instead, the Victorians are revealed with all their foibles and desires.” — Joanne Cormac, BBC History Magazine “Lee Jackson’s authoritative and fascinating book makes a nonsense of the claim that the 21st century is the age of mass instant gratification.”—Alexander Larman, The Observer“Lee Jackson is an expert on the Victorian era and he brings the pleasure palaces of the title ably and vividly to life, recreating a world that is all too often ignored in favour of the stereotype of covered table legs and unsmiling monarchs.” — All About History“This fascinating book is a guide to the pleasure domes of 19th-century England, most of which would have been closed if campaigners for moral improvement had got their way” —Clive Aslet, Country Life“This entertaining book provides a valuable insight into just what our Victorian ancestors got up to in their leisure time when they had more free time and money in their pockets” —Karen Clare, Family Tree Magazine“In this wide-ranging survey of Victorian fun Jackson [. . .] takes the reader on a journey through gin palaces, music halls, seaside resorts and football stadia to counter the narrative that the Victorians were all about moral asceticism and po-faced imperialism.” —Charlie Connelly, The New European“It turns out that the Victorians were very much amused. Lee Jackson's entertaining chronicle of 19th- century entertainment depicts a riot of laughter and hi-jinks.”—Oldie“[A] readable and immensely informative discussion of Victorian popular attractions”—The Victorian Web“Jackson’s focus is predominantly metropolitan but his conclusions about developing London amusements are supported by reference to other towns and cities demonstrating a fascinating overlap of offerings not to mention personnel”— Kathryn Ferry, The Victorian“[A] readable and immensely informative discussion of Victorian popular attractions and venues” – Jacqueline Banerjee, Cercles“There is a sense, throughout Jackson’s book, of the sheer bustling energy of our nineteenth-century forebears when it came to finding ways to spend their leisure time” — Mark Jones, Albion“Jackson writes well, has researched widely, has an eye for telling detail, aided by 26 illustrations, and has something new to add on each of his topics.”—Hugh Cunningham, Cultural and Social History “Jackson’s narrative is appropriately entertaining, adding much colorful detail to a fairly well-known history.”—Robert Snape, Journal of British Studies“The industrialisation of the modern world is, all too often, described entirely in terms of coal, iron and desperate factory lives. In Palaces of Pleasure, by contrast, Lee Jackson has produced a detailed look at the industrialisation of pleasure: how the Victorians turned enjoyment into Big Business.”—Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City“A treasure-chest of a book. Queen Victoria may not have been amused – but her subjects certainly knew where and how to party.”—Liza Picard, author of Victorian London“It is a pleasure to stagger (in print, of course) from pub to gin-shop to music hall with Lee Jackson as your companion. This is outstanding scholarship that changes our notions of 19th-century entertainment. It is original, thorough, accessible and fully explains the commercial underpinnings of change in this sector across the century. ”—Sarah Wise, author of The Blackest Streets“Inspired and fascinating. Jackson leads the reader on an incredible journey and breaks new ground in our understanding of the pioneering entrepreneurs who created mass entertainment for the Victorians.”—Alex Werner, Lead Curator, Museum of London

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The great strength of The War for the Seas is the way in which Mawdsley, a former professor of international history at Glasgow University, treats his subject as an interconnected global story. . . . This innovative, well-written single-volume account will be invaluable for all who study the Second World War.”—Ben Wilson, Times (UK)“An impeccable, myth-busting study.”—Max Hastings, Sunday Times“For WWII enthusiasts, academics, and students, this book will provide a solid grounding in how the sea was used for strategic purpose and how victory was ultimately achieved by the Allied powers.”—Jennifer F. McKinnon, Canadian Journal of History“Mastering an immense range of sources in diverse languages is only the start. Mawdsley’s real achievement is to link so many ships and fleets and armies together and in such a way as to make sense of what was going on, showing why things happened when they did, how each part affected all the rest.”—N. A. M. Rodger, London Review of Books“[A] landmark work for which its author is to be congratulated. It is the best overall history of the maritime war not least in its critical discussion of well-worn legends and the stress on factors other than naval battles. It should be acquired by everyone interested in the subject.”—Professor Eric Grove, Navy News“There is much to commend in The War for the Seas. Mawdsley’s impressive scholarship and sound judgement are evident throughout the volume. The book provides both a solid overview of the maritime war and a thought-provoking analysis of the global nature of the Second World War.”—Christopher M. Bell, Journal of Military History“This is without doubt an outstanding book…It must be very strongly recommended even to those already well instructed in the subject.”—Richard Channon, Naval Review“This is a bold and authoritative maritime history of World War II which takes a fully international perspective and challenges our existing understanding. . . . This is a detailed account of a very wide subject but the author has achieved a comprehensive history of these war years at sea.”—Shipping Today and Yesterday“Mawdsley’s book is, quite simply, a tour de force. Reviewers should hesitate before applying the word ‘definitive’ but War for the Seas is certainly that for the naval war.”—Th. W. Bottelier, Journal of Strategic Studies“This book is a truly impressive piece of scholarship, which will be a standard text for years to come.”—Tim Benbow, War in History“An essential contribution to understanding how command of the sea was won and with what consequences. Rich in detail on the tactics and technology that mattered, and on the roller-coaster campaigns in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres, Mawdsley provides the first full, integrated account of a truly global dimension to the war.”—Richard Overy, author of The Bombing War: Europe, 1939–1945“The beautifully crafted and deeply research maritime history of WWII that we have always needed. Few books deserve to be called ‘definitive’—this is one of them.”—Joseph Maiolo, author of Cry Havoc: How the Arms Race Drove the World to War 1931–1941“Will be prized for its concision, clarity and sound judgement, all backed by impeccable scholarship.”—Simon Ball, The Bitter Sea: The Struggle for Mastery in the Mediterranean, 1935–1949“This powerfully argued re-appraisal establishes Command of the Sea as the critical issue that shaped and defined the Second World War. By securing control of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean the Allies were able to operate together, including supplying the Soviet Union with essential aid. The same Command of the Sea kept the Axis powers apart, and they were defeated in detail by globally deployable air and land forces.”—Andrew Lambert, author of The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812“Accentuated by his highly readable style, this is an excellent introductory work.”—D. M. Hall, Lake Erie College

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Book SynopsisThe fascinating story of the evolution of the country house in Britain, from its Roman precursors to the presentTrade Review“Some of those details are jawdropping. . . . What Aslet does best is provide a crisp, chronological survey of how the country house evolved architecturally from early Tudor times through to Lutyens in the early 20th century and to Quinlan Terry and the like today.”—Richard Morrison, Times (UK)“An eclectic scholarly account, tracing the evolution of the country house from the hunting lodges of the Middle Ages to the modern villas of today. . . . Mr. Aslet is an elegant writer with a wry sense of humor.”—Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal“Aslet, a former editor of the quietly influential magazine Country Life, provides a knowledgeable and briskly witty backdrop stretching back to the Romans and their well-built villas.”—Miranda Seymour, Financial Times“A wonderful survey of the architectural splendours of the British country house. Beginning with medieval manor houses, Aslet unfolds a history which moves through the centuries. . . . The tradition he celebrates so richly in this book still thrives.”—Nick Rennison, Daily Mail“The Story of the Country House is in many respects what we have been waiting for. . . . His book doesn’t just tell us who built what, and for whom, and in what style, but about the prevailing economic circumstances and fashions of each period.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph“The 223 pages can be read in one gripping sitting and create a desire to rush off and visit the many houses mentioned. . . . Mr Aslet’s nimble book is the perfect companion guide.”—Jeremy Musson, Country Life“Written in a wonderfully accessible style. . . . Examples abound, lively and amusing, but always subservient to the narrative. It’s a perfect primer for anyone new to the subject, but even aficionados will enjoy it for pleasure of reading a magisterial overview of Britain’s quintessential cultural form.”—Historic House Magazine“Leaving no stone unturned, this fascinating book allows readers to acquaint themselves with the architects of these houses, and their many interesting occupants.”—This England“The Story of the Country House, while based on impressive knowledge and experience, is neither a formal academic study nor a practical gazetteer. Its virtue is to encourage the reader to stop fretting about theoretical difficulties and enjoy a good story well told in amicable company.”—Stephen Bayley, Spectator“From a medieval manor house to a modern-day folly, Clive Aslet whisks us through time and place on a fascinating tour of British country houses.”—Beth Williamson, Studio International “[Aslet’s] account is enlivened not only by his descriptions of the genesis and purpose of the historical buildings he features here, but also by the stories of the owners and the architects and by an impressive evocation of the wider context and social history of the periods he covers. Add to this 60 illustrations, half of them in colour, and the result is a lively, informative and enjoyable book.”—Shiny New Books“Architecturally, every type of vast country abode is covered. . . . Along the way there are illustrations and plenty of biography, as the lives, talents and eccentricities of some of the architects and inhabitants of these edifices are revealed alongside the descriptions of the buildings themselves.”—Nic Bottomley, Bath Life“Elaborating on the idea that the country house is its own ‘little kingdom,’ architectural historian Clive Aslet explores some of the finest examples in Britain. . . . Organised by period, this is a book less about the architecture and more about the people and the context that shaped—and continues to shape—these estates.”—House & Garden, “Gifts for Bookworms”“An engaging, knowledgeable overview of this ever-developing subject, from eccentric owners to ha-has.”—Richard Hopton, Country & Town House, “Christmas Books”“Clive Aslet’s expertise is deployed masterfully in this beautifully produced new work. Modern, witty and slick, it is an excellent introduction to one of Britain’s most famous entities from the Roman period to today, successfully disentangling the ‘ghostly, indecipherable smudge’ of these houses, and their complex histories, in erudite prose packed with spice.”—Rory Fraser, The Victorian“The Story of the Country House is a witty, well-researched and absorbing retelling of the story of the British country house. Clive Aslet brings to life a fascinating cast of characters—the builders, their families, their servants and their architects, all living to nurture the beau idéal of the country house—and charts their changing fortunes and hidden histories.”—Julian Fellowes“Clive Aslet is the Capo dei Capi of British country houses—few people alive today understand them better, or better know where the bodies are buried. His decades as an architectural historian and editor, his authoritative eye and matchless prose, combine to make him the ideal person to explore this important topic.”—Nicholas Coleridge“Aslet has spent a lifetime exploring and investigating the architectural and social history of the country house and in this concise, but magisterial sweep he provides an elegant and perceptive introduction to the subject from the medieval to the present day. It is a must for the library of every country house enthusiast or anyone indeed anyone trying to understand this rich and dynamic subject in which so many threads of British culture and history meet. Aslet peppers his discerning fluent, scholarly overview with well chosen details and contemporary quotations which evoke country house culture in each period.”—Jeremy Musson“What an excellent book, an eloquent introduction to an everlasting British institution.”—Simon Jenkins

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A work of impressive scholarship and historical imagination, whose range of intellectual reference and polish of style make it unlike anything written about the EU before or since”—Perry Anderson, London Review of Books"This insightful book, written by someone close to events, comprehends and confronts the dynamic tensions in Europe between the politicians and public opinion. A must-read for reform-minded pro-Europeans and sceptics alike."—Lord Mandelson"The Passage to Europe is a book on European integration like no other: history, political theory, social science and constitutional law laid out in such a personal and compelling narrative that one does not perceive the depth of learning and experience underlying it. Students, politicians and anyone interested in European politics will profit from reading this book. There are few better ways to grasp how a continent became a Union."—Joseph H.H. Weiler, author of The Constitution of Europe: 'Do the New Clothes Have an Emperor?' and Other Essays on European Integration"A revolution in thinking and speaking about Europe."—Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewSelected for Choice's 2019 Outstanding Academic Titles ListWinner of the Ray Allen Billington Prize, sponsored Organization of American Historians "Jeffrey Ostler's Surviving Genocide covers a full century and a huge swath of territory but is never less than comprehensive. This is benchmark history at its best."—John Mack Faragher, Yale University"Surviving Genocide provides a panoramic survey of American-Indian relations and takes a hard look at U.S. policies that were predicated, one way or another, on the removal of Native people; at the same time, it offers important testimony on the resilience of Native people who refused to disappear."—Colin G. Calloway, author of The Indian World of George Washington“Stunning in its depth of research and scope of learning, Surviving Genocide brings a new level of sophistication to the study of the United States' 'Indian wars,' revealing the genocidal impulse at the core of the conflicts as well as the Native ingenuity that prevented an even more profound loss of life and land.”—Karl Jacoby, author of Shadows at Dawn: A Borderlands Massacre and the Violence of History“A landmark book essential to understanding American history, Surviving Genocide is an act of courage. Ostler’s brilliant concept of reconstructing 'an Indigenous consciousness of genocide' is significant for its insight into how American Indians understood, discussed, and resisted genocidal threats to their families, communities, and nations. His modern vocabulary of 'atrocities' and 'killing fields' is not for political effect but appropriate to the brutal reality of Indian policy in American history.”—Brenda Child, Northrop Professor of American Studies, University of Minnesota

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Popoff's summary of Grossman's life in the 1930s is striking. [. . .] clear and well-structured”—Robert Chandler, Spectator“Alexandra Popoff's biography is crisp and comprehensive, deftly interweaving Grossman's personal life with the momentous events he experienced”—John Thornhill, Financial Times “[A] fine biography”—William Boyd, Sunday Times“Gripping . . . As told by Popoff, the stories behind Grossman’s stories, particularly of censors’ efforts to alter and limit them, are fascinating.”—William Taubman, New York Times“[Popoff] tells Grossman’s story with sensitivity and a keen understanding of his world, drawing on little-known archival collections to produce what must be considered the definitive biography.”—Douglas Smith, Wall Street Journal“[Popoff’s] emphasis on what she calls “the connection between totalitarian regimes and political ignorance” not only applies to Soviet Russia but constitutes a warning for the United States” —William Taubman, International New York Times“Excellent biography”—Ian Thomson, Evening Standard“Popoff ’s biography offers useful context to how Grossman contemplated death and his own mortality at an early age [. . .] and how Russia’s future was a central topic as he grew up”—Julian Evans, Daily Telegraph“Alexandra Popoff’s account excels in depicting Vasily Grossman’s battle with oppressive censors” —Philip Ó Ceallaigh, Irish Times“Alexandra Popoff’s biography, Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century, provides fascinating detail about his publishing travails.” —Louise Adler, The Sydney Morning Herald“For a new study of Grossman's life, readers can turn to Alexandra Popoff's Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century”—Oldie“[An] engaging contribution to Grossman scholarship likely to appeal to general and expert readers alike”—O. T. Jones, Slavonic & East European Review“The strong point of Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century is the aggregation and collation of a wealth of biographical and related detail and gossip that has come to light over the last 30 years.”—Leslie Jones, Quarterly ReviewLonglisted for the 2019 Cundill History Prize sponsored by McGill University Winner of the the Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the Biography category, sponsored by the Koschitzky Centre for Jewish StudiesFinalist in the 2019 National Jewish Book Awards, Biography categoryWinner of the Jewish Studies Literary Awards in Biography, sponsored by The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards"Alexandra Popoff has produced a magnificent biography of the great Soviet Jewish writer and journalist Vasily Grossman. Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century does justice to Grossman’s outspoken eloquence and defiance as one of the twentieth century’s foremost witnesses to the twin evils of Nazism and Stalinism."—Joshua Rubenstein, author of The Last Days of Stalin“A harrowing tale of cruelty and courage, this unflinching study of Vasily Grossman’s life in a totalitarian society is a timely reminder of how all despots thrive on fear and lies. Alexandra Popoff has given us an invaluable autopsy of various Soviet monsters, including the enigmatic Stalin himself, yet in her inspiring account of Grossman’s efforts to resist tyranny, she has also created an unforgettable portrait of one brave soul’s triumph over a soulless state.”—Michael Shelden, author of Orwell: The Authorized Biography

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Brilliant and sobering.”—Paul Kennedy, Wall Street Journal"Snowden . . . examines the ways in which disease outbreaks have shaped politics, crushed revolutions, and entrenched racial and economic discrimination. . . . Gigantic in scope, stretching across centuries and continents, Snowden’s account seeks to explain, too, the ways in which social structures have allowed diseases to flourish."—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker“[A] necessary and persuasive book…In an updated introduction to his book, Snowden traces a comparable arrogance in our own leaders, who have allowed global inequalities to foster the illusion that infectious diseases, old and new, are a thing of the past.”—Tim Adams, The Guardian"Frank Snowden’s book presents a comprehensive historical perspective on societies' vulnerabilities to pandemics. The author presents these not as random events but rather endogenous: "Every society produces its own specific vulnerabilities". Pandemics help us understand societies' structures and their political priorities. A well-written, highly entertaining and relevant book."—Milton Hayek, Financial Times ‘Readers' Best Books’ “[A] wide-ranging study”—Laura Spinney, Nature"Covering roughly a millennium on about 550 pages is no small task…very readable"—Christoph Gradmann, The Lancet“This book shows us horrors and positive results of the past, from greater suffering and inequality to the creation of the World Health Organisation and Doctors Without Borders.”—Gloria Steinem, The Week“This wide-ranging book…argues that [epidemics] have been central to the development of our world, and continue to pose a significant threat to its survival. Such a grim reminder could hardly be more timely.”—Christopher Kissane, Irish Times Weekend“Epidemics and Society offers space for discussion and interdisciplinary perspectives that allow the reader to grasp the role played by infectious diseases in shaping human societies in all its complexity.”—Baptiste Baylac‐Paouly, Metascience“The worst demographic disaster of the twentieth century, is mentioned, but not analysed, in Snowden’s splendidly readable book, originally given as lectures to his undergraduate class at Yale. If the inter-disciplinary lectures were as clear and provocative with ideas as the book, they were fortunate students indeed.”—David Killingray, Family & Community History"Essential reading for anyone who is concerned about society’s preparedness to meet new microbial challenges and who appreciates the importance of history to develop effective and efficient responses."—Socrates Litsios, author of The Tomorrow of Malaria“A superb synthesis of a complex and important topic. Snowden brings to the subject a wealth of previous research on disease and brilliantly integrates his work into more general historical concerns. A major achievement.”—William Bynum, author of A Little History of Science"Professor Snowden provides an authoritative and very readable historical account of several of the major the major infectious diseases epidemics that have afflicted mankind with a focus on their impact on society."—Brian Greenwood, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine"In an era of rapidly emerging diseases, Epidemics and Society reminds us that in framing epidemics we are also, always, refiguring human life and fate in relation to ecology and society."—Warwick Anderson, author of Colonial Pathologies: American Tropical Medicine, Race, and Hygiene in the Philippines“A distinctive and very useful contribution to the public understanding of disease."—Mark Harrison, author of Contagion: How Commerce Has Spread Disease and Director, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine

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Book SynopsisA definitive history of ideas about land redistribution, allied political movements, and their varied consequences around the worldTrade Review“[Guldi explores], through history, ecology and informatics, the relationship between global poverty, the forced movement of populations and climate change. . . . She brings context and perspective to the facts.”—Geraldine Van Bueren, Times Literary Supplement“Guldi’s global study of land redistribution and allied political movements over 150 years considers how these can inform responses to current crises that affect refugees, including global warming.”—Andrew Robinson, NatureWinner of the 2023 Nautilus Book Award silver medal2023 Book of the Year by The New Statesman Magazine“An epic work of breathtaking scope and moral power, The Long Land War offers the definitive account of the rise and fall of land rights around the world over the last 150 years. Jo Guldi’s global history of property tells the story of some of the most important social transformations of the 20th century, from land reform and mass evictions to the rise of corporate agriculture and resistance movements fighting for the right to land and housing. Read this amazing achievement: an intellectual tour de force, a poetics of tragedy and hope, and a call to action connecting insights from the past to the great challenges of our time.”—Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City“Jo Guldi offers a compelling, extremely innovative account of the major movements for land in the late-nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries—one that could not be more timely.”—Jess Gilbert, author of the award-winning Planning Democracy: Agrarian Intellectuals and the Intended New Deal“It is said we can’t own the land; the land owns us. Jo Guldi’s The Long Land War is a tour-de-force that sets the land into its philosophical, colonial, spiritual, and practical contexts.”—Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power“The Long Land War is an exhilarating read. It puts the struggle for land rights at the heart of progressive politics in the context of the climate crisis and rampant inequality. This is a profound, elegant, globe-spanning, and ultimately hopeful book.”—Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly Waters“The Long Land War is one of the most interesting and different analyses of familiar conditions. It is about a war centered on circumstances we rarely associate with war. And in that sense the book forces us to consider and recognize that, for many people, access to housing is a battle that will only grow.”—Saskia Sassen, author of Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages

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Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive history of the 1921 Cairo Conference which reveals its enduring impact on the modern Middle EastTrade Review“Cairo 1921 is a good read for historians of the Middle East and casual enthusiasts looking to learn more. It shows how colonial powers failed miserably at the closure of their empires, how fragile democracies could be, and how a conference held in Cairo in 1921 and the decisions taken then have had reverberating ramifications 100 years later.”—Omar Darwazah, Arab Studies Quarterly“A seasoned storyteller. . . . C. Brad Faught has produced a highly readable re-enactment of those diplomatic negotiations that is not short of gusto and dense atmosphere.”—Arie M Dubnov, History Today“A brilliant and comprehensive examination of the events, individuals involved and actions taken by Britain under Churchill as Colonial Secretary and his advisors in Cairo in March 1921 while challenged by nascent nationalism and prevailing colonial mindset.”—Michael D. Berdine, author of Redrawing the Middle East“A refreshingly clear and straightforward account of the 1921 Cairo Conference that largely shaped the Middle East as we know it today.”—David Stafford, author of Oblivion or Glory: 1921 and the Making of Winston Churchill

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Book SynopsisThe first Yale French Studies issue on photography, examining French photography's place in art, identity, and society through a lens of diversity and interdisciplinary investigation

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Book SynopsisSelections from the Pandemic Files published by The Yale Review, the preeminent journal of literature and ideasTrade Review“Here diverse contributors, from Zimbabwe to Rikers to Yale itself, discuss their fear for loved ones, their adjustment to new conditions, and their research into historical precedents (AIDS) or structural inequalities behind the pandemic.”—Alexander Wells, Exberliner“We are still making sense of the COVID-19 pandemic. A World Out of Reach gives us a path towards understanding by offering direction from diverse domains: personal vignettes, poetry, law, public health and history. This multicultural compendium is unflinching in depicting what we face while giving hope that the human spirit is resilient and determined.”—Jerome Groopman, M. D., Harvard Medical School, author of The Measure of Our Days “A World Out of Reach is a necessary and illuminating archive. . . . Invaluable and absorbing.”—Cathy Park Hong, author of Minor Feelings: An Asian-American Reckoning"'Who are we—who were we—in the pandemic?' Meghan O'Rourke asks in the introduction to this remarkable new anthology. A World Out of Reach is an astonishing look at the early months of COVID-19.”—Jess Row, author of White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination “This book will be valuable for decades to come for anyone who wants to study, analyze, or simply contemplate what happened to America and the world in 2020.”—Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life “This absorbing and impressive gathering—broad in cultural and geographic range—beautifully integrates the immediate with long-range views. This is a special collection.”—Langdon Hammer, Yale University

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Book SynopsisA trenchant look at how the coronavirus reveals the dangerous fault lines of contemporary societyTrade Review“A stirring alarm addressed to an unsettled world.”—Kirkus Reviews“This is an important work— one that offers a powerful challenge as to where our political leaders have taken us in the past few months. The voice of Bernard-Henri Levy must be heard.”—Stephen Leah, Methodist RecorderPraise for the Author “Bernard-Henri Lévy does nothing that goes unnoticed. He is an intellectual adventurer who brings publicity to unfashionable political causes.”—New York Times “Only France could produce a phenomenon like Bernard-Henri Lévy, . . . As celebrated as any rock star, he speaks uncomfortable truths.”—Vanity Fair “We need Mr. Lévy’s voice—clear, unconstructed, unconstrained, real—to help us.”—Wall Street Journal “A writer of enormous power and vitality.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Bernard-Henri Lévy, perhaps the most prominent intellectual in France today, [speaks] truth to power.”— Boston Globe

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Book SynopsisThe selected correspondence of the great American abolitionist and reformer dating from the immediate post–Civil War years

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Book SynopsisA new history of English trade and empire—revealing how a tightly woven community of merchants was the true origin of globalized BritainTrade Review“Wonderfully wide-ranging and deeply-researched.”—William Dalrymple, Financial Times“An assured study of the merchants who changed England’s relationship with the world in the century after 1550. . . . Edmond Smith’s analysis of merchant activity has clear relevance for contemporary debate about Britain’s role in the world, and how to understand global economic change.”—Times Literary Supplement“A very welcome book. . . . The argument that merchants’ cooperation, skills, and adaptable corporate structures were essential to England’s global trade and nascent empire is both compelling and important.”—Eleanor Hubbard, Journal of Modern History“This exceptional, scholarly book is written with verve and style and will immerse readers in a vibrant world glimpsed only occasionally in plays and histories. It will widen their scope of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries not just geographically but culturally and socially. . . . A colourful, witty treat, from the pages of which waft exotic spices and sea salt.”—Steven Veerapen, Aspects of History, “Books of 2021”“Merchants is a fine book, full of humanity and insight. . . . This excellent new book . . . is not economic history as we know it [and] Smith uses his vivid reconstruction of the lives of merchants to make an important point about the birth of capitalism: it depended on culture, on institutions, on people getting together and doing things. The blind force of the market was just one part of the story; the meeting, greeting, schmoozing, learning, counting and thinking undertaken by the merchants themselves were integral to the birth of England as an international trading power.”—Literary Review“This scholarly yet highly readable—indeed, page turning—text is certainly timely. . . . Throughout, Smith demonstrates an exemplary handling of sources, weaving together an enormous variety (both printed and manuscript) into a delightful narrative. The resultant history of the trade—or art—of merchandising becomes a wide and compelling picture of innumerable interesting personalities trading, arguing, and organising their communities across place and time.’”—Aspects of History“The book sets out its stall to demonstrate how the contacts, community, and astonishing confidence of the merchant class were so central to the development of early modern England and its subsequent role on the world stage.”—Helen Tovey, Family Tree Magazine“Packed with detailed archival evidence and brimming with palpable stories of the lives of English merchants, this is a vivid and telling account of what it meant to be a merchant in sixteenth and seventeenth century England, and how that simple fact changed not only England but also the world forever.”—Business History“An invaluable addition to scholarship of the early modern period. Merchants gives a fresh and vital insight into the human relationships behind the vast networks of trade and diplomacy which drove England’s development as a global force.”—Emily Stevenson, Cultural and Social History“Smith makes an important contribution to the field of early modern trade and trading companies, and Merchants should be read by any scholars interested in the history of capitalism, globalization, and corporations.”—Jason C. White, Journal of British Studies“At last an account of early modern merchant communities that balances the cold, hard reality of profit and investment with the intangible capital of trust, sociability and human connection that drove English trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Sharply observed, innovatively analysed, and always accessible, this is a book that demands the attention of anyone who is interested in the traffic between English trade and imperialism in this early, foundational period.”—Nandini Das, University of Oxford“A terrific achievement. Written with pace and panache, Merchants shows how in the space of 100 years England’s merchants went from a group of largely irrelevant traders on the fringes of Europe to international empire builders. Managing to combine intricate detail of mercantile innovations within a broad sweep of English commercial relations from the Americas to Japan, Smith is brilliant at recording the credits and debits of this most decisive period in English commercial history. A superb book.”—Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps“‘Mere merchants’ as individuals, but as a class they shaped modern English history. This is a rich and deeply fascinating account which addresses fundamental questions about England’s rise to commercial power.”—James Evans, author of Merchant Adventurers“Merchants is an important new study of the men who, for better or worse, laid the foundations of England’s first commercial empire. Drawing on impeccable research, Smith shows how it was corporate institutions and collaborative practices that turned England from European backwater into global power.”—Phil Withington, author of Society in Early Modern England

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Book SynopsisA powerful and counterintuitive argument that we should welcome the current slowdown—of population growth, economies, and technological innovationTrade Review“[Dorling] argues that society is not speeding up in the way some claim in books like James Gleik’s Faster – The Acceleration of Just About Everything. Indeed, [he] does an excellent and entertaining job of showing that most of this is bunk.”—Iain Macwhirter, Herald“[A]n engrossing read that throws up all manner of questions, as well as offering an upbeat view of the planet’s future”—Paul Donovan, Morning Star Online“While poised at the dawn of the golden age of digital technology, this might seem counterintuitive, but the statistics, phase graphs and the maths back up the case for the end of the 'great acceleration'. Fascinating stuff.”—Nick Smith, Engineering & Technology“Dorling draws on data ranging from the number of books per person published in Holland over the century, to population levels and birthrates for entire continents…[T]he argument is provocative and well worth a read.”—Money Week“Dorling argues convincingly that the global slowdown in population increase is a symptom of global development.”—Victoria White, Irish Examiner“Dorling…argues – with lots of graphs to validate his claims – we are already experiencing a slowdown in terms of population, fertility and even Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”—Sylvia Thomson, Irish Times“[A] fascinating book”—Vicky Pryce, The Society of Professional Economists“Published in the midst of a global pandemic, Dorling’s insightful and persuasive book is a well-timed forecast that the storm will eventually subside and humankind will advance towards an era of peace and stability for all.”—Theo Curtis, LSE Review of Books“Blinded by a cult of progress, many of us can’t see the slowdown that Dorling makes clear. A true public intellectual, he shows that, if we survive, life will be slower—and possibly better.”—Paul Chatterton, author of Unlocking Sustainable Cities: A Manifesto for Real Change“Slowdown is a new standard for visually understanding human history and social change. Using beautifully illustrated graphs, Danny Dorling provides a broad perspective on long-term social changes, the limits of growth, and widening inequalities, and emphasizes the importance of adapting to this slowdown.”—Tomoki Nakaya, author of The Atlas of Health Inequalities in Japan “A spellbinding book that will almost certainly make you reconsider what you thought was happening in and to the world, and then think again about where we might be heading.“—Juliette Powell, author of 33 Million People in the Room “Powerful, thought-provoking, and timely. Professor Dorling brilliantly exposes how spiraling work intensity, alongside bumper profits and freedoms for capital, cannot sustain people and planet. From stronger unions to a greener economy, he compellingly shows how we can choose a more hopeful and humane future.”—Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress “Dorling’s optimism is infectious as he brilliantly explores the huge challenges of a slowing pace of growth while the world transitions to a new ‘normal’ of stable and then shrinking populations.”—Vicky Pryce, author of Women vs Capitalism

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Book SynopsisAn exemplary collection of work from one of the world’s leading scholars of intellectual historyTrade Review“It is precisely Földényi’s approachable style, as well as Ottilie Mulzet’s impeccable translation, that makes this collection easily accessible to scholars and casual readers alike.”—Barbara Halla, Asymptote“Földényi’s brilliant essay on Dostoyevsky reading Hegel is an essential meditation on history, civic responsibility and our ongoing responsibility towards others.”—Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading“It is a hallucinatory moment: Dostoyevsky, first condemned to death, then sent as a soldier to the endless emptiness of Siberia, where he reads Hegel’s thoughts about the abstract building of History, a building in which neither Siberia nor Africa can have a place, an unsentimental construction made of glass, with its holy ending the Weltgeist, in which all the personal suffering of mankind has disappeared. Laszlo Földenyi has written about this in such a way that you can feel the sacred shudder with him.”—Cees Nooteboom

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to the complex relationship between African Americans and the African continent What is an African American and how does this identity relate to the African continent? Rising immigration levels, globalization, and the United States' first African American president have all sparked new dialogue around the question. This book provides an introduction to the relationship between African Americans and Africa from the era of slavery to the present, mapping several overlapping diasporas. The diversity of African American identities through relationships with region, ethnicity, slavery, and immigration are all examined to investigate questions fundamental to the study of African American history and culture.Trade Review“Blyden has filled a gap in the scholarship on the relationship between African Americans and Africa by offering a synthetic narrative that contextualizes African American history firmly within the history of the African Diaspora.”—Jeannette Eileen Jones, University of Nebraska–Lincoln“Nemata Blyden has mined the relationship between African Americans and Africa to produce an impressive volume that covers African American connections with Africa from the era of the slave trade to the present.”—Robert R. Edgar, Howard University“African Americans and Africa examines perceptions of Africa based in the reality of experience and construction through propaganda and stereotypes.”—Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin

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Book SynopsisThe first major visual and cultural exploration of the legacy of La Malinche, simultaneously reviled as a traitor to her people and hailed as the mother of MexicoTrade ReviewAlfred H. Barr Jr. Award finalist, sponsored by CAA2023 PROSE Award Finalist in the Art Exhibitions categoryWinner of the 2023 Thoma Foundation Exhibition Catalogue Award, sponsored by the The Association for Latin American Art

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Book SynopsisHow objects associated with the American, French, and Haitian revolutions drew diverse people throughout the Atlantic world into debates over revolutionary idealsTrade Review“By excavating the power of material objects and visual images to express the fervor and fear of the revolutionary era, Ashli White brings us closer to more fully embodied, more fully human, figures.”—Richard Rabinowitz, author of Objects of Love and Regret: A Brooklyn Story“In this important, innovative book, Ashli White moves nimbly between North America, Europe, and the Caribbean to capture the richness and complexity of material culture in the Age of Revolutions.”—Michael Kwass, Johns Hopkins University“Envisioning revolution as the turning of a wheel—a cycling and circulating material thing—rather than as a new beginning offers fresh insights into how times of massive transformation can encompass enduring ways of life. White’s vivid and deeply researched account of the Atlantic Age of Revolutions takes its shape from the contested meanings of objects made, disseminated, and used in ways that show how even the most successful revolts against empires could still leave people firmly within their orbit.”—Vincent Brown, author of Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War“By focusing not on inspirational texts but on the circulation of the material culture of everyday life, Ashli White’s exciting and deeply-researched study makes the Age of Revolutions look all the more intriguing.”—Colin Jones, author of The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon

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