Category: History

December 18, 2019

Announcing Our 2020 History Catalog

Letter from the editor: We are delighted to present the 2020 Columbia University Press history catalog. The titles featured here demonstrate the vibrancy of Columbia University Press’s list as we continue a long tradition of publishing top scholarship, ranging from...

December 12, 2019

Book Excerpt! Extraordinary Justice, by Craig Etcheson

“In this absorbing, persuasively argued book, Craig Etcheson draws on over thirty years of involvement with Cambodia and on his prolonged association with the so-called Khmer Rouge Tribunal, giving his readers a clear idea of what happened at the Tribunal...

December 5, 2019

Book Excerpt! Allies of Convenience: A Theory of Bargaining in U.S. Foreign Policy

 “Standard bargaining theories are puzzled by the ability of allies that are not only weak but also distasteful to get so much advantage when dealing with the United States. In an important contribution, Evan N. Resnick shows that the...

November 19, 2019

The Last Days of Shakespeare and Company

“This lovely book, scholarly and well annotated, is a pleasure to hold. It documents what Beach once called ‘my missionary endeavor’ and also what she called, correctly, her ‘interesting life.’” ~Dwight Garner, New York Times November 19, 2019 marks the...

November 7, 2019

Book Excerpt! Amboina.1623, by Adam Clulow (introduction)

“A true model of globally minded historical scholarship, Clulow’s brilliant new study combines insights derived from his cutting-edge work in the digital humanities with the best traditions of archival research and interpretation. Carefully exploring the Asian context in which the...

November 6, 2019

Why Waterboarding Won’t Die

“In a gripping story about fear and loathing in Amboina, Adam Clulow probes a pivotal event in world history to offer fresh insights about the entanglements of European empires in Asia. Meticulously researched and engagingly told, Amboina, 1623 is that...

October 25, 2019

Cameron Vanderscoff on Robert Rauschenberg in India

“Fall in love with Robert Rauschenberg, galactic master of art and life, through his worldwide collaborations.” ~Dorothy Lichtenstein, president of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation To close our week long celebration of Robert Rauschenberg, oral historian Cameron Vanderscoff brings Rauschenberg’s 1975...

October 23, 2019

Q&A: Sara Sinclair on Robert Rauschenberg: An Oral History

“Fall in love with Robert Rauschenberg, galactic master of art and life, through his worldwide collaborations.” ~ Dorothy Lichtenstein, president of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation In today’s Q&A, the editor and lead interviewer for Robert Rauschenberg: An Oral History, Sara Sinclair, describes...

October 22, 2019

Make Your Acquaintance with Robert Rauschenberg!

“Fall in love with Robert Rauschenberg, galactic master of art and life, through his worldwide collaborations.” ~ Dorothy Lichtenstein, president of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Today we are wishing Robert Rauschenberg—one of America’s most influential artists— a happy birthday. Rauschenberg is...

October 17, 2019

Book Excerpt! Modern Things on Trial (prologue)

“By tracing the evolution of ‘laissez-faire Salafism’ in response to consumer concerns about the religious status of new commodities and technologies, Halevi positions Islam’s modern reformation as driven more by materialist than ideational forces. This is a highly original rethinking of...

October 2, 2019

Q&A: Ulbe Bosma on The Making of a Periphery

“The incorporation of Island Southeast Asia into the global capitalist economy was not one homogenizing process, as scholars from Immanuel Wallerstein to Daron Acemoğlu would have it. Instead, local demographic, social, and political conditions determined the emergence of a variety...

September 30, 2019

Reading List: Books About WWII and Its Aftermath in Translation

It’s International Translation Day and we’re celebrating with a list of recommended reading that is sure to delight World War II buffs and aficionados. Bringing lesser known aspects of the time period to light, this compilation of books in translation...