"Oberammergau"

New from Oxford University Press: Oberammergau: The Passion Play and Its Audiences from the Enlightenment to the Nazis by Robert D. Priest.

About the book, from the publisher:

The passion play at Oberammergau in Bavaria is one of the oldest theatrical spectacles in the world, with a history of regular performance that dates back to 1634. By the dawn of the twentieth century, each season drew hundreds of thousands of spectators from Europe, North America, and beyond. Thomas Cook's first package tourists rubbed shoulders with luminaries ranging from Henry Ford to Rabindranath Tagore and Sylvia Pankhurst to Franz Liszt. This book provides a new account of Oberammergau's surprising rise from local curiosity to global celebrity that weaves its development into the course of European and transnational history. Beginning in 1770, when the play's survival was threatened by a government ban, the book traces Oberammergau's story across the next century and a half, ending with the Nazi government's sponsorship of the tercentenary season in 1934. Combining close analysis of the community's archives and an analysis of the kaleidoscopic cultural and intellectual resonances of the play in Europe and North America, the book shows how the passion play's success hinged on the way its performers channelled the turbulence of modern European history and the shifting fascinations of their international audiences during the long nineteenth century. Not simply a religious relic serving devout spectators a dose of Catholic kitsch, the Oberammergau passion evolved in close connection with shifts in European culture. As the village transformed into an international destination, a diverse and growing crowd of artists, writers, actors, journalists, politicians, musicians, tourists, and pilgrims from across Europe and America took their experiences at Oberammergau back home to intervene in pressing debates of the time. Admirers used Oberammergau to think about unity in a divided Germany, the role of theatre in society, and the waning of religious belief; critics saw an example of commercialisation, cultural decline, and prejudice. This book shows that to explain the extraordinary prominence of Oberammergau in nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American culture, we need to understand the vast array of meanings that viewers drew from the play's content and survival, and recognise that these extended far beyond the religious.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Hard Line"

New from Berkley: The Hard Line by Mark Greaney.

About the novel, from the publisher:

The Gray Man, the world’s deadliest assassin and apex predator, discovers he’s really the prey in the most shocking entry of this #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Family means different things to different people, but in the Gray Man’s world, family is defined by blood—the blood you share with some and the blood you shed with others.

Court Gentry’s current family operates out of an office park in Norfolk, Virginia. The Ghost Town is an off-the-books direct action team run by Matt Hanley, former CIA Deputy Director. They take on the jobs the Agency needs handled “discretely,” and those jobs are rolling in.

Somewhere at the top of the US Intelligence apparatus, security experts and intelligence operations worldwide are threatened.

It starts with a blown safe house in Tunis. Then Court himself barely escapes from an ambush in the jungles of Nicaragua. Now key members of the U.S. counterintelligence community are being assassinated in their own neighborhoods. With the feds compromised, it’s up to Court and his team to stop the hit squads.

But eliminating professional kill teams may be the least of the Gray Man’s worries when he finds himself targeted by the legendary assassin codenamed Whetstone—a man driven out of retirement by a very personal quest to rain down hellfire on Court and everyone he’s ever loved, starting with the father he hasn’t seen in twenty years.

Visit Mark Greaney's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Gray Man.

My Book, The Movie: The Gray Man.

The Page 69 Test: Dead Eye.

Writers Read: Mark Greaney (Novemebr 2013).

--Marshal Zeringue

"The War That Made the Middle East"

New from Princeton University Press: The War That Made the Middle East: World War I and the End of the Ottoman Empire by Mustafa Aksakal.

About the book, from the publisher:

A new history that tells the story of how European imperial ambitions destroyed the Ottoman Empire during the Great War and created a divided and unstable Middle East

The Ottoman Empire’s collapse at the end of the First World War is often treated as a foregone conclusion. It was only a matter of time, the story goes, before the so—called Sick Man of Europe succumbed to its ailments—incompetent management, nationalism, and ethnic and religious conflict. In The War That Made the Middle East, Mustafa Aksakal overturns this conventional narrative. He describes how European imperial ambitions and the Ottoman commitment to saving its empire at any cost—including the destruction of the Armenian community and the deaths of more than a million Ottoman troops and other civilians—led to the empire’s violent partition and created a politically unstable Middle East.

The War That Made the Middle East shows that, until 1914, the Ottoman Empire was a viable multiethnic, multireligious state, and that relations between the Arabs, Jews, Muslims, and Christians of Palestine were relatively stable. When war broke out, the Ottoman government sought an alliance with the Entente but was rejected because of British and French designs on the Eastern Mediterranean. After the Ottomans entered the fight on the side of Germany and were defeated, Britain and France seized Ottoman lands, and new national elites in former Ottoman territories claimed their own states. The region was renamed “the Middle East,” erasing a robust and modernizing 600—year—old empire.

A sweeping narrative of war, great power politics, and ordinary people caught up in the devastation, The War That Made the Middle East offers new insights about the Great War and its profound and lasting consequences.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Vermilion Sea"

New from Lake Union: The Vermilion Sea: A Novel by Megan Chance.

About the novel, from the publisher:

From the author of Glamorous Notions comes a harrowing tale set aboard a yacht in the 1920s, where luxury borders on lunacy and mysteries of the deep blur the lines between science and the occult.

The Great War may be over, but brilliant scientist Billie McKennan continues the fight to be taken seriously. When a deliberate omission wins her a marine biologist position aboard an expedition funded by a wealthy eccentric, she quickly discovers she’s not the only one keeping secrets.

The opulent Eurybia sets sail for the Gulf of California with a handful of well-to-do passengers and talented scientists on board. To Billie’s surprise, her ex-husband counts among them. The true mission of the voyage comes into question when a mysterious specimen is captured. And then science unexpectedly gives way to wild rumors and superstition.

Soon, a sinister force takes hold of the vessel―and everyone on it. Billie must reconcile her beliefs with the reality of what she encounters in the vermilion sea. But how much is she willing to sacrifice in order to survive?

Visit Megan Chance's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Splendid Ruin.

The Page 69 Test: A Splendid Ruin.

Q&A with Megan Chance.

The Page 69 Test: A Dangerous Education.

My Book, The Movie: A Dangerous Education.

Writers Read: Megan Chance (February 2023).

Writers Read: Megan Chance (January 2025).

My Book, The Movie: Glamorous Notions.

The Page 69 Test: Glamorous Notions.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Black Power, White Heat"

New from Oxford University Press: Black Power, White Heat: From Solidarity Politics to Radical Chic by Alice Echols.

About the book, from the publisher:

A rich history of cross-racial coalitions and alliances of the Sixties' freedom movement, acclaimed historian Alice Echols's Black Power, White Heat reshapes our understanding of the entire era.

One of the most divisive issues in recent progressive politics has been what role, if any, allies might legitimately play in other people's movements. Despite the significance of this debate, it has taken place in a historical vacuum.

In Black Power, White Heat: From Solidarity Politics to Radical Chic, the Sixties historian Alice Echols explores what happened some sixty years ago when whites and Blacks came together in the fight against racism. She tells this story by focusing on two Black-led organizations that bookend the Sixties: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Black Panther Party. In SNCC, whites were, in part, meant to generate a "white heat" so searing it would accelerate change. Results were mixed, and white activists formed new movements, from women's liberation to draft resistance.

By 1967, the Black Panther Party was advancing its own unique brand of "revolutionary nationalism", and seeking out white supporters. Partnering with whites brought the group visibility and resources, but it also put the Panthers at odds with other Black radicals, with unfortunate consequences.

Black Power, White Heat explains how solidarity lost credibility, and not just from within the movement. Here, the FBI played a key role, and so did the discourse of "radical chic", advanced most effectively by the journalist Tom Wolfe. Still, even as Black-white solidarity lost steam, it was not entirely played out. In some of the era's most important political trials, even courtrooms became sites of solidarity as predominantly white juries returned verdicts that suggested they trusted Black Panther defendants more than the District Attorneys prosecuting them. Clear-eyed about the difficulties of solidarity, Black Power, White Heat nonetheless emphasizes the achievements and considerable promise of uniting across difference, and in ways that will inform and deepen current debates roiling progressive politics.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Nightshade and Oak"

New from Orbit: Nightshade and Oak by Molly O'Neill.

About the novel, from the publisher:

An Iron Age goddess must grapple with becoming human in this delightful historical fantasy of myth and magic from the author of the instant hit Greenteeth.

When Malt, the goddess of death, is accidentally turned human by a wayward spell, she finds she's ill-equipped to deal with the trials of a mortal life. After all, why would a goddess need to know how to gather food or light a fire?

Unable to fend for herself, she teams up with warrior Bellis on a perilous journey to the afterlife to try to restore her powers. Frustrated by her frail human body and beset with blisters, Malt might not make the best travelling companion.

But as animosity slowly turns to attraction, these two very different women must learn to work together if they are to have any hope of surviving their quest.

Visit Molly O'Neill's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Seeing Matters"

New from Cambridge University Press: Seeing Matters: A Psychology of the Image and Its Politics by Sarah Awad.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Seeing Matters, Sarah Awad offers a psychological exploration of how images shape our actions, perceptions, and identities. She examines how we use images to symbolically and materially influence the world, others, and ourselves, while also revealing how the images around us shape our thoughts, emotions, and memories. Awad investigates the social and political dynamics of visual culture, questioning who is seen, how they are portrayed, and why these representations matter. By using clear language and real-world examples, she makes complex theories accessible to readers, offering diverse methodological approaches for analyzing a wide range of image genres – such as graffiti, digital memes, photojournalism, and caricatures. This comprehensive analysis addresses the politics of visual representation, making the book an essential guide for researchers across disciplines, while providing valuable insights into how images impact society and our everyday lives.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Land of Dreams"

New from Lake Union: Land of Dreams: A Novel by Gian Sardar.

About the novel, from the publisher:

In the 1930s, scandal, secret loves, and murder shatter a woman’s Hollywood dream in a gripping novel by the USA Today bestselling author of When the World Goes Quiet.

It’s 1933, and though the country is stuck in the Great Depression, movies are the ultimate escape. But Hollywood is skilled at selling lies, and nothing is as it seems.

Frankie Donnelly is scrappy, smart, and ambitious. Her knack for spinning any story into stellar publicity has made her an invaluable “fixer” at RCO Studios, where she works under the tutelage of powerful Nico Marconi. Frankie’s latest fix is the upcoming marriage of Hollywood royals Jack Sawyer and June Finney, and millions of fans can’t wait to see their favorite silver-screen lovers tie the knot. But Frankie knows the truth: The marriage is an artful cover for Jack and June’s darkest secrets.

When a shocking murder occurs, allegiances fracture, the tabloids go wild, and a devastated public is left reeling. Frankie uncovers new layers of scandal and deception and is forced to choose which Hollywood player to protect and who to destroy. Now, more than ever, the country needs a happy ending―but at what cost?

Visit Gian Sardar's website.

Q&A with Gian Sardar.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Printing Nueva York"

New from NYU Press: Printing Nueva York: Spanish-Language Print Culture, Media Change, and Democracy in the Late Nineteenth Century by Kelley Kreitz.

About the book, from the publisher:

Uncovers the network of Spanish-language writers and editors in 19th-century New York, whose media innovations fueled anticolonial struggles and democratic ideals

At the end of the nineteenth century, New York City was a vital hub for writers from Latin America, providing a haven of press freedom and the latest printing technology. In Printing Nueva York, Kelley Kreitz reexamines the development of mass media in the United States by highlighting the significant contributions of Spanish-language newspapers and magazines created by US-based Latinx writers, editors, and their allies. This dynamic, hemispheric network of collaborators used a mix of storytelling and strategic media engagement to model democratic principles centered on equality and collective action.

Kreitz's work offers a fresh look at U.S. media and literary history, challenging established narratives that have primarily focused on English-language publications. Through a vivid analysis of innovative figures such as José Martí, Rafael Serra, and Sotero Figueroa, the book uncovers a rich intellectual exchange that crossed national and linguistic borders. Unlike many Anglophone outlets that emphasized passive consumption, these trans-American media networks promoted active participation, cultural exchange, and collective mobilization to address pressing issues of the time, including colonialism, anarchism, and the pursuit of economic, gender, and racial equality.

Printing Nueva York demonstrates how early Latinx writers and editors redefined what democracy could be, offering insights that are highly relevant to our current digital age. The book encourages readers to consider how storytelling, participation, and the transformative power of technology can continue to drive the potential of contemporary media to build a more democratic future.

Visit Kelley Kreitz's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Beast You Let In"

Coming April 7 from Sourcebooks Fire: The Beast You Let In by Dana Mele.

About the book, from the publisher:

Everyone in the rural town of Ashling knows the tale of Veronica Green, a teen who was murdered in the woods. But did a party trick bring her back to claim her revenge? A fast—paced, suspenseful YA horror from the author of Summer's Edge and People Like Us.

There is no one Hazel trusts less than her self—centered twin, Beth. So when Beth abandons her at a party she didn't want to attend in the first place, Hazel decides not to let it ruin her night. She throws herself into flirting and telling ghost stories over a Ouija board. Hazel might not be the popular twin, but she is going to have fun if it kills her.

Except Beth doesn't come home that night, and Hazel's anger morphs into anxiety. It only sharpens when Beth reappears a day later, disoriented and claiming to be Veronica Green, a teen who was murdered in their small town years before. If it isn't a possession, Beth is really good at faking it. Did they accidentally release a vengeful horror during the party?

Hazel must uncover what happened to Veronica all those years ago if she's going to save Beth. But the truth may destroy them both—if they don't destroy each other first.

Visit Dana Mele's website.

--Marshal Zeringue