books

• 
• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  2/6/2023
  

  Madeline Kripke Built an Immense—and Bawdy—Dictionary Collection

  One woman's passion for collecting has been an invaluable resource for studies of the evolution of slang, profanity and vulgarisms; after her recent death, an epic quest to preserve the collection ensued. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  1/27/2023
  

  Review: New Book Worships the False Idol of the Responsible Corporation

  The idea of corporate social responsibility is an artifact of the domination of society by big business, a domination so powerful as to make alternatives exceedingly difficult to imagine. A new book internalizes that difficulty. 

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  11/29/2022
  

  Smithsonian's Best History Books of 2022

  Candice Millard, Jonathan Freedland, Kerri K. Greenidge, April White, Beverly Gage, Kelly Lytle Hernández, Matthew Delmont, Megan Kate Nelson, Tomiko Brown-Nagin and Estelle Paranque are recognized as authors of the top books in history this year. 

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  8/1/2022
  

  Vivien Green Fryd Awarded Eldredge Prize for Book on Sexual Trauma in American Art

  The prize jurors noted the publication stands out given its “academic rigor, historical understanding and contemporary relevance that characterize the highest achievements in our field.”

• 
• SOURCE: Museum of African American History
  8/1/2022
  

  Mass. African American Museum Announces Book Prize Shortlist

  The nominees reflect diverse scholarly approaches to Black history across time periods and subjects, including public health, slavery, public history, pedagogy, reproduction, and politics. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  6/7/2022
  

  James Kirchick's "Secret City" Tells the Story of Closeted Washington

  by Samuel Clowes Huneke

  Samuel Huneke reviews a new history of the capital city's gay residents, which focuses on those in government and conservative politics and the gradual lessening of hostility to gays in public service, a choice that undermines the book's usefulness for understanding contemporary queer liberation issues. 

• 
• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  4/27/2022
  

  A Preview of Summer Books in Black Studies

  by Robert Greene II

  Academics who plan to catch up on their reading this summer can look here for suggestions. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/19/2022
  

  These Books Tell of Change Happening Slowly, then Suddenly

  Historians Lynn Hunt, Adam Hochschild, Kate Clifford-Larse and Keenaga-Yamahtta Taylor are among the authors whose books dig beneath the surface of famous leaders to describe how social movements built the strength to change laws, institutions and ideas. 

• 
• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  4/12/2022
  

  Greg Ginn, SST Records, and the Rise of SoCal Punk

  "In its 1980s heyday, SST released at least a dozen canonical rock albums that were notable for their rejection of convention."

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/25/2022
  

  Linda Hirshman Offers a Lively Dissection of the Competing Strains of American Abolitionism

  by Drew Gilpin Faust

  Hirshman focuses on the complex character of abolitionist editor Maria Weston Chapman, whose combination of moral fervor and racial prejudice pushed Frederick Douglass from the moralistic Garrisonian camp to a pragmatic and more effective strategy of political activism. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/25/2022
  

  Ted Cruz is an Unwitting Publicist for Left-Leaning Books

  If you have written a book about racism, policing, or other controversial issues, your best promotional strategy is to have Senator Cruz wave your book around in a televised Senate hearing. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/16/2022
  

  A Family History of the Futility of Preparing for Nuclear War

  On the lessons learned from working at the government's network of bomb shelters. 

• 
• SOURCE: Philadelphia Gay News
  3/15/2022
  

  Marc Stein Examines LGBTQ History through Academic and Community Lenses

  "Queer Public History" examines the connections between academic historians and the shared narratives maintained by LGBTQ communities. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/11/2022
  

  Historian Marci Shore's Recommended Books for Understanding Ukraine

  Including history, memoir, political theory and fiction, the Yale historian of Ukraine recommends 9 books to those looking to get up to speed on the history of the crisis. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  3/7/2022
  

  The Conservative and the Murderer

  Sarah Weinman's book on the friendship between William F. Buckley and convicted murderer Edgar Smith reveals uncomfortable truths about the balance of principle and self-interest in modern conservatism and the persistent tolerance of violence against women. 

• 
• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  2/3/2022
  

  Teaching Fannie Lou Hamer, Past and Present

  by Nicole M. Gipson

  Keisha N. Blain's biography of the Mississippi freedom activist is an important addition to the literature, but also an excellent roadmap to teaching African American history and its linkages to present struggles for justice. 

• 
• SOURCE: Public Books
  1/6/2022
  

  In Praise of Search Tools

  by Diedre Lynch

  Books by Dennis Duncan and Craig Robertson examine the history of indexing, filing, and other technologies for locating information in books and the resultant culture of research.

• 
• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  12/3/2021
  

  A Descent into Textual Paranoia

  by Christopher S. Celenza

  "Doing one's own research" in an environment of proliferating information and few gatekeepers isn't new to the internet age. 

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  11/30/2021
  

  Smithsonian's Ten Best History Books of 2021

  The titles chosen offer an escape from the present while also showing our connections to the past. 

• 
• SOURCE: TIME
  11/16/2021
  

  ‘We’re Preparing For a Long Battle.’ Librarians Grapple With Conservatives’ Latest Efforts to Ban Books

  by Olivia B. Waxman

  “We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Executive Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “I’ve worked for ALA for 20 years, and I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.”