New Books Network
Early Modern History
Political Science January 6, 2022

Uncivil Mirth

Ridicule in Enlightenment Britain

Ross Carroll

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Political Theorist Ross Carroll takes the reader through Enlightenment conversations about the use of ridicule and laughter in politics and political engagement in his new book, Uncivil Mirth: Ridicule in …

Early Modern History

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Interviews with scholars of early modern history about their new books.

Early Modern History December 24, 2021

The Dragoman Renaissance

Diplomatic Interpreters and the Routes of Orientalism

E. Natalie Rothman

Hosted by Ian Hathaway
The Dragoman Renaissance: Diplomatic Interpreters and the Routes of Orientalism (Cornell UP, 2021) is a fascinating study of a crucial early modern cadre of "go-betweens:" the Istanbul-based diplomatic translator-interpreters, known …
General History December 22, 2021

Mapping, Connectivity, and the Making of European Empires

Luis Lobo-Guerrero, Laura Lo Presti, and Filipe Dos Reis

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Luis Lobo-Guerrero is one of the three editors of this volume—Mapping, Connectivity, and the Making of European Empires (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021)—and one of the six contributing authors. He wrote the …
Political Science December 20, 2021

Beyond Slavery's Shadow

Free People of Color in the South

Warren E. Milteer, Jr.

Hosted by Susan Liebell
We often focus on enslaved people of color but Dr. Warren E. Milteer Jr.’s Beyond Slavery's Shadow: Free People of Color in the South (UNC Press, 2021) directs our attention …
Japanese Studies December 20, 2021

Revisiting Japan's Restoration

New Approaches to the Study of the Meiji Transformation

Timothy D. Amos and Akiko Ishii

Hosted by Jingyi Li
Revisiting Japan's Restoration: New Approaches to the Study of the Meiji Transformation (Routledge, 2021) presents the reader with thirty-one short chapters that capture an exciting new moment in the study …
Islamic Studies December 17, 2021

Leaving Iberia

Islamic Law and Christian Conquest in North West Africa

Jocelyn Hendrickson

Hosted by SherAli Tareen
In her landmark new book Leaving Iberia: Islamic Law and Christian Conquest in North West Africa (Harvard UP, 2021), Jocelyn Hendrickson launches a searingly brilliant legal history centered on the …
General History December 15, 2021

Bonds of Empire

The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660–1783

Lee B. Wilson

Hosted by Derek Litvak
Lee B. Wilson is the author of Bonds of Empire: The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660-1783, published by Cambridge University Press in …
Intellectual History December 8, 2021

Crafting Enlightenment

Artisanal Histories and Transnational Networks

Jennifer Ferng and Lauren R. Cannady

Hosted by Alexandra Ortolja-Baird
A ground-breaking volume examining the transnational conditions of the European Enlightenment, Crafting Enlightenment: Artisanal Histories and Transnational Networks (Voltaire Foundation, 2021) argues that artisans of the long eighteenth-century on four different …
Medieval History January 25, 2022

The Middle Ages

A Graphic History

Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel

Hosted by Evan Zarkadas
A unique, illustrated book that aspires to bring medieval history closer to the general audience will change the way you see medieval history, The Middle Ages: A Graphic History (Icon …
Architecture January 7, 2022

Architecture and the Senses in the Italian Renaissance

The Varieties of Architectural Experience

David Karmon

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
Architecture and the Senses in the Italian Renaissance: The Varieties of Architectural Experience (Cambridge UP, 2021) is the first study of Renaissance architecture as an immersive, multisensory experience that combines …
Law January 5, 2022

North Carolina's Free People of Color, 1715-1885

Warren E. Milteer Jr.

Hosted by Siobhan Barco
In this episode, Siobhan talks with Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr. about his book North Carolina’s Free People of Color, 1715-1885 (LSU Press, 2020). He is an assistant professor of history …
Buddhist Studies January 3, 2022

A Buddhist Sensibility

Aesthetic Education at Tibet`s Mindröling Monastery

Dominique Townsend

Hosted by Jue Liang
Founded in 1676 during a cosmopolitan early modern period, Mindröling monastery became a key site for Buddhist education and a Tibetan civilizational center. Its founders sought to systematize and institutionalize …
Russian and Eurasian Studies December 28, 2021

Succession to the Throne in Early Modern Russia

The Transfer of Power 1450-1725

Paul Bushkovitch

Hosted by Erika Monahan
The transfer of power is something every must state attend to (and preferably by peaceful means). Remarkably, this fundamental aspect of statecraft was governed by custom rather than law into the …
General History December 22, 2021

Zwingli

God's Armed Prophet

Bruce Gordon

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
Zwingli: God's Armed Prophet (Yale, 2021) is a major new biography of Huldrych Zwingli--the warrior preacher who shaped the early Reformation. Zwingli (1484-1531) was the most significant early reformer after Martin Luther. As the …
East Asian Studies December 20, 2021

What the Emperor Built

Architecture and Empire in the Early Ming

Aurelia Campbell

Hosted by Noelle Giuffrida
One of the most famous rulers in Chinese history, the Yongle emperor (r. 1402–24) gained renown for constructing Beijing’s magnificent Forbidden City, directing ambitious naval expeditions, and creating the world’s …
General History December 17, 2021

Eagles Looking East and West

Dynasty, Ritual and Representation in Habsburg Hungary and Spain

Tibor Martí and Roberto Quiros Rosado

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
The fifteen contributors to Eagles Looking East and West: Dynasty, Ritual and Representation in Habsburg Hungary and Spain (Brepols, 2021) describe politics and representation in the Kingdom of Hungary from …
Middle Eastern Studies December 16, 2021

As Night Falls

Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Cities after Dark

Avner Wishnitzer

Hosted by Reuben Silverman
In a world that is constantly awake, illuminated and exposed, there is much to gain from looking into the darkness of times past. Avner Wishnitzer's As Night Falls: Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Cities after …
Indian Religions December 16, 2021

Savoring God

Comparative Theopoetics

Gloria Maité Hernández

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Gloria Maité Hernández's Savoring God: Comparative Theopoetics (Oxford UP, 2021) compares two mystical works central to the Christian Discalced Carmelite and the Hindu Bhakti traditions: the sixteenth-century Spanish Cántico espiritual …
Environmental Studies December 15, 2021

Community, Urban Health and Environment in the Late Medieval Low Countries

Janna Coomans

Hosted by Mohamed Gamal-Eldin
By exploring the uniquely dense urban network of the Low Countries, Janna Coomans debunks the myth of medieval cities as apathetic towards filth and disease. Based on new archival research …
Education December 14, 2021

Traditions of Eloquence

The Jesuits and Modern Rhetorical Studies

Cinthia Gannett and John Brereton

Hosted by Thomas Discenna
Traditions of Eloquence: The Jesuits and Modern Rhetorical Studies (Fordham UP, 2016) explores the important ways Jesuits have employed rhetoric, the ancient art of persuasion and the current art of …