July 22, 2008

"In Praise of Localism": From American Pests

Following up on yesterday’s post about James McWilliams’s American Pests: Losing the War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT, here is an excerpt from the book that was posted on Celsias, which was recently named one of the top...

July 21, 2008

Catch Jimmy McWilliams in Person Discussing the History of American Attempts to Kill Pests

It’s that time of year again, with the hot weather driving us all outdoors, Americans are encountering insects in their backyards, at the local park, and splattered on the windshield of their cars. In his new book, American Pests: The...

July 18, 2008

Views on the Beijing Olympics

Earlier this week, the Columbia University website posted an interview with Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science on what the upcoming Beijing Olympics means for China. Nathan is a co-editor of How East Asians View Democracy,...

July 18, 2008

The Highest and Lowest-Ranking Districts in the U.S.: More from The Measure of America

In separate articles, New York’s Daily News and the Huffington Post look at findings from The Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009 that determine the best and worst Congressional Districts in the United States in terms of such...

July 17, 2008

The Measure of America

Yesterday, at a press conference in Washington D.C., the authors of The Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009 discussed the results of their groundbreaking study on the health and well-being of the United States.The report reveals some of...

July 16, 2008

The Los Angeles Times reviews Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success

The Los Angeles Times just ran a very favorable review of Christopher Davidson’s Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success. As the review points out, Dubai’s wealth and booming economy does not come from oil but from trade, luxury tourism, high technology,...

July 15, 2008

The New Yorker Cover Controversy and the History of Editorial Cartoons

While the New Yorker Obama cover has been dominating the news cycle for the past 24 hours, disputes and controversies regarding editorial cartoons are hardly new. Here are a couple of books that offer some historical perspective: In her forthcoming...

July 14, 2008

What's Different About the Immigration Problem We Face Today — And What Can Be Done About It?: A Post by Phil Kretsedemas

There is an interesting article by Phil Kretsedemas, co-editor of Keeping Out the Other: A Critical Introduction to Immigration Enforcement Today, on History News Network which looks at the history of immigration policy and how the United States has defined...

July 11, 2008

A Crock Pot Lamp?: Two Columbia University Press Employees Explain

Now that you are ready to crack open one of the newest titles from Columbia University Press, you’ll need a light to read to read it under and it just so happens that we have a great suggestion for where...

July 10, 2008

Lights, Camera, Action at University Presses

In a marvelous moment of navel-gazing we’d like to draw your attention to a recent article at the Chronicle of Higher Education that reports on the new trend of University Press publishers producing videos to promote their books. We’re proud...

July 10, 2008

Gary Francione on Vegan Freak, Part II

This ran a few days ago but we forgot to mention that the second part of Gary Francione’s interview with Vegan Freak is now available. (Click here for the first part.) The book has received a lot of notice from...

July 9, 2008

Pests and Presidents: On the Air with Alan Schroeder and James McWilliams

You can read excerpts from James McWilliams’s American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT and Alan Schroeder’s Presidential Debates: Fifty Years of High-Risk TV but you can also listen to them thanks to NPR. In...