Mathematics is one of humanity's most successful yet puzzling endeavors. It is a model of precision and objectivity, but appears distinct from the empirical sciences because it seems to deliver nonexp
The nineteenth century introduced developments in science and medicine that made the eradication of pain conceivable for the first time. This new understanding of pain brought with it a complex set of
South African artist William Kentridge’s drawings, films, books, installations, and collaborations with opera and theater companies have established him as a world-class star in contemporary art, medi
Economists often act as if their methods explain all human behavior. But in Cents and Sensibility, an eminent literary critic and a leading economist make the case that the humanities, especially the
"It is safer to be feared than loved." These words embody the spirit of The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli's classic work of political philosophy. Machiavelli's advice for how a ruler should acquire and
Contrary to conventional wisdom, countries that ignite a process of rapid economic growth almost always do so while lacking what experts say are the essential preconditions for development, such as go
Panter’s version doesn’t rely on Milton’s words, but faithfully follows the structure of Milton’s Paradise Regained, with one notable exception: Jesus has been replaced by a hillbilly, Songy, who is o
One in four American workers says their workplace is a "dictatorship." Yet that number probably would be even higher if we recognized most employers for what they are--private governments with sweepin
What does it mean to call something "contemporary"? More than simply denoting what's new, it speaks to how we come to know the present we're living in and how we develop a shared story about it. The s
There are an ever-increasing number of books on improvisation, ones that richly recount experiences in the heat of the creative moment, theorize on the essence of improvisation, and offer convincing a
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) can be exceptionally effective tools for national resources revenue management in the current global economy. As a response to the challenges posed by financial shocks, S
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the global Mennonite church developed an uneasy relationship with Germany. Despite the religion's origins in the Swiss and Dutch Reformation, as well as
This volume brings together current scholarly debates about how to bridge the gap between theory and practice in media and journalism research. Drawing on work from media scholars and media practition
Between September and December 2016, Ludovic Balland set out with journalist Dasha Lisitsina and researcher Anna Levy to document how Americans were making sense of the campaigns and the constant hum
Caliph Washington’s life was never supposed to matter. As a black teenager from the vice-ridden city of Bessemer, Alabama, Washington was wrongfully convicted of killing an Alabama policeman in 1957.
Across the Middle East in the post–World War I era, European strategic moves converged with late Ottoman political practice and a newly emboldened Zionist movement to create an unprecedented push to p
From the end of the nineteenth century until the onset of the Great Depression, Wall Street embarked on a stunning, unprecedented, and often bloody period of international expansion in the Caribbean.
Two spectacular dead bodies—Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia, found dumped and posed in a vacant lot in January 1947, and Marilyn Monroe, found dead in her home in August 1962—bookend this n
At the turn of the twentieth century the stereograph was king. Its binocular images revealed the world in vivid, three-dimensional detail. Generations of Americans, especially schoolchildren, absorbed
Finland shocked the world when its fifteen-year-olds scored highest on the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a set of tests touted for evaluating critical-thinking skills in
Globalization and cheaper travel have led to a rapid increase in cross-cultural encounters worldwide—which makes understanding problems of conflict, prejudice, interaction, and adaptation ever more im
In Albino, photojournalist Ana Palacios takes us inside a shelter for people with albinism and reveals what daily life is like for those living with the genetic condition in Tanzania. As Palacios docu
At the turn of the twentieth century, many observers considered suicide to be a worldwide social problem that had reached epidemic proportions. This idea was especially powerful in Mexico City, where
Mainstreaming Black Power upends the narrative that the Black Power movement provided a catharsis for black rage but achieved little institutional transformation or black uplift. Retelling the story o
In the last decade, public discussions of transgender issues have increased exponentially. However, with this increased visibility has comes not just power, but regulation, both in favor of and agains
In the wake of the murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012 and the exoneration of his killer, three black women activists launched a hashtag and social media platform, Black Lives Matter, wh
The book of Genesis records the fiery fate of Sodom and Gomorrah—a storm of fire and brimstone is sent from heaven and, for the wickedness of the people, God destroyed the cities “and all the plains,
“Latin America” is a concept firmly entrenched in its philosophical, moral, and historical meanings. And yet, Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo argues in this landmark book, it is an obsolescent racial-cultural
Published in 1973, L'Etourdit was one of the French philosopher Jacques Lacan's darkest and most important works. The book posed questions that traversed the entire body of Lacan's psychoanalytical ex
In the mid-twentieth century, scientists’ anxieties about survival and salvation led them to stockpile and freeze materials from communities that seemed to embody potentially valuable biological resou
Pictorial maps are artistic renderings rather than scientific representations of places that combine cartographic elements with texts and images and feature bold and arresting graphic design, bright a
George Steiner is one of the preeminent intellectuals of our time. The Washington Post has declared that no one else “writing on literature can match him as polymath and polyglot, and few can equal th
More than five hundred years after Machiavelli wrote The Prince, his landmark treatise on the pragmatic application of power remains a pivot point for debates on political thought. While scholars cont
Cicero remains little known even among political theorists and political philosophers. This book will change that, and do so forcefully: Gary Remer has recovered a vibrant tradition of political mor
Supersizing Urban America reveals how the US government has been, and remains, a major contributor to America’s obesity epidemic. Government policies, targeted food industry advertising, and other fac
The first rule of warfare is to know one’s enemy. The second is to know thyself. More than fifteen years and three quarters of a trillion dollars after the US invasion of Afghanistan, it’s clear that
In this finely crafted critical biography, Amir Engel provides a corrective to much of the vast literature on the enigmatic, but highly influential, twentieth century figure Gershom Scholem. Engel con
In the views of most believers and critics, religion is essentially connected to the existence of a supernatural deity. If supernaturalism is not reasonable, the argument goes, religion cannot be reas
Malkasian’s stunning landscapes and depictions of nature, gestural character nuance, and sophisticated storytelling are on display in her latest graphic novel. For a thousand years, the unfinished dre
