"A civil but honest dialogue...As illuminating as it is fascinating."-Ayaan Hirsi AliIs Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem to be drawn to extremism
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ ChoiceA Newsweek “50 Coolest Books to Read This Summer” ChoiceA Financial Times Summer Book of 2018The world is in turmoil. From Russia and Turkey to the United S
The white power movement in America wants a revolution.Returning to a country ripped apart by a war they felt they were not allowed to win, a small group of Vietnam veterans and civilians who shared t
For decades, top scientists in colleges and universities pursued a clear path to success: enroll in a prestigious graduate program, conduct research, publish papers, complete the PhD, pursue postdocto
In the run-up to the millennium, in 1997, revised in 1999, prominent American paleontologist Gould (1941-2002) explains why human history cannot be predicted, not merely as a practical limitation, but
This book, translated by acclaimed translator Harman, compiles the letters of Rainer Maria Rilke to Franz Kappus from 1903 to 1908. In 1902 Kappus, a young writer in need of advice, had requested corr
Many people in developing countries lack access to health technologies, even basic ones. Why do these problems in access persist? What can be done to improve access to good health technologies, especi
Philosophers have often reflected on the Ancient Greeks' concepts of time, but an anthropological approach is necessary to understand their practical concept of time as tied to space. The Greeks not o
This book covers the social, political, and architectural history of the church from the fourth century to the present. From the threshold, to the subterranean Roman necropolis, to the dizzying height
Read the Bldg Blog interview with Mary Beard about the Wonders of the World series(Part I and Part II)Oscar Wilde compared it to a white goddess, Evelyn Waugh to Stilton cheese. In observers from Lord
Yuri Shcherbak--former Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S.--is a writer and physician who came to international prominence with his expose on Chornobyl, as a founder of the Ukrainian Green Party, as Ukra
The Big Bang: A Big Bust? The cosmos seems to be in crisis, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see it. How, for instance, can the universe be full of stars far older than itself? How could
In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France at General Pershing’s explicit request. They were masters of the latest technology: the telephone switchboard. While suffragettes picketed
Idealization is a fundamental feature of human thought. We build simplified models to make sense of the world, and life is a constant adjustment between the models we make and the realities we encount
Winner of the John Hope Franklin Prize A Moyers & Company Best Book of the YearHow did we come to think of race as synonymous with crime? The Condemnation of Blackness is a biography of the idea of bl
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the YearA Tablet Book of the YearMarking a departure in our understanding of Christian views of the afterlife from 250 to 650 CE, The Ransom of the Soul explores
The media are in crisis. Confronted by growing competition and sagging advertising revenue, news operations in print, on radio and TV, and even online are struggling to reinvent themselves. Many have
On Poetry will be prized by writers and readers who wish to understand why and how poetic technique matters. Long regarded as one of Britain's major poets, Glyn Maxwell shows that the greatest verse a
Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics applies comparative literary approaches to classical Persian traditions of composing and performing poetry and song. Olga M. Davidson focuses on ep
On the Wonders of Land and Sea: Persianate Travel Writing initiates a comparative study of non-European travel writers in the eastern Islamic or Persianate world from the eighteenth to early twentieth
This book is motivated by the idea that the cost of inaction can be much greater than the cost of action. Inaction can lead to serious negative consequences—for individuals, the economy, and society.
First published by Harmony Books in 1996, this volume by the much missed champion essayist on the theory of evolution presents one extended argument regarding the nature of evolution as necessarily un
In 1953, reflecting on early ventures in quantum theory, J. Robert Oppenheimer spoke of terror and exaltation, of history happening in a realm so remote from common experience that it was “unlikely to
In the context of a growing scholarly literature devoted to the topics of biography and autobiography, especially in the Arabic literary tradition, the essays in this volume explore the forms and mean
In 1894, a young Muslim mystic named Muhammad al-Kattani abandoned his life of asceticism to preach Islamic revival and jihad against the French. Through his activism, he mobilized a socially diverse
“What is a Greek priest?” The volume, which has its origins in a symposium held at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., focuses on the question through a variety of lenses: the visual
Francesco Petrarca, one of the greatest of Italian poets, was also the leading spirit in the Renaissance movement to revive ancient Roman language and literature. Petrarch’s four Invectives, written i
Writing to a friend, Horace describes the man as fascinated by "the discordant harmony of the cosmos, its purpose and power." Andrew Scholtz takes this notion of "discordant harmony" and argues for it
Over the past two decades, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia have been engaged in unprecedented efforts to re-cast and rapidly expand the legal profession—with profound implications not only
Challenging the claim that Palestine's peasant economy progressed during the 1920s and 1930s, Amos Nadan skillfully integrates a wide variety of sources to demonstrate that the period was actually one
Since the inception of the noh drama six centuries ago, actors have resisted the notion that noh rests on natural talent alone. Correct performance, they claim, demands adherence to traditions. Yet wh
In our globalizing world, the movement of people and resources has accelerated, giving rise to transnational connections and interdependencies. New Patterns for Mexico examines novel and emerging patt
The mysteries of the physical world speak to us through equations--compact statements about the way nature works, expressed in nature's language, mathematics. In this book by the renowned Dutch physic
This book promotes understanding of how the fields of health and human rights can better work together, including both addressing human rights implications of reproductive health interventions and fos
In 1952 Bolivia was transformed by revolution. With the army destroyed from only a few days of fighting, workers and peasants took up arms to claim the country as their own. Overnight, the electorate
Drawing on past speculation and present knowledge, reproductive biologist David Bainbridge conducts us through the forty weeks of a human pregnancy, from conception to breastfeeding, explaining the co
