"The First Elections"

New from the University Press of Kansas: The First Elections: The Rise of Electoral Democracy in the Early American Republic by Jay K. Dow.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this groundbreaking and comprehensive look at Congressional elections in pre–Jacksonian America, Jay K. Dow examines the origins of our modern electoral politics.

When did the United States become a recognizably modern republic? The traditional understanding is that elections in the Age of Jackson introduced institutionalized political parties, campaigning, partisanship, position-taking, stump speeches, high elector turnout, and other familiar features of electoral democracy. Before that, so the story goes, elections were less organized along party lines, often uncompetitive, and frequently dominated by elites rather than average citizens. The First Elections offers a compelling alternative to this interpretation of the early American republic.

Through systematic analysis of an impressive new collection of early American election returns known as A New Nation Votes, Jay K. Dow has discovered what these results tell us about the development of Congressional elections between 1796 and 1825. The so-called first party era marks the transition from a “deferential” politics in which local elites exercised great influence over elections to a more recognizably democratic politics. But the extent of this transition has been largely opaque before these new data became available. Focusing on House of Representatives as the foundational institution in national republican government, Dow uses these election returns to provide a more fine-grained picture of United States electoral development than ever seen before. In doing so, he reveals more party-centric, competitive, and developed elections than scholars have generally recognized.

The First Elections begins with the election to the Fifth Congress in 1796, the year that elections first became truly contested following the Federalist and Anti-Federalist period. It concludes with the elections to the Nineteenth Congress, which marked the start of the Jacksonian Second American Party System. Because American politics is territorial politics—in general, but especially in this era—Dow’s work is organized geographically, giving due attention to how electoral democracy developed unevenly across each region of the early United States. Since the states used different methods to elect their representatives, The First Elections pays special attention to the variety of electoral systems that characterized the political mosaic of early America.

The First Elections is a groundbreaking look at what elections were like in the dawn of the new American nation.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies"

Coming September 1 from Minotaur Books: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury.

About the book, from the publisher:

Set against the backdrop of post-WWII Oxford University, The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies is the irresistible debut from Kate Westbury that seamlessly layers mystery, romance, and a dash of academia to introduce the Crown’s newest undercover operatives.

Oxford, England, 1951 - The Honorable Ginevra Bishop likes red lipstick, clever retorts, and earning top marks in her tutorials. She’s following her mother’s footsteps by studying at Oxford, eager to prove she’s more than a debutante.

Sidney Braithwaite likes brooding, Latin, and ignoring his nightmares. He’s determined to forge a new life for himself at Oxford, far from his childhood mining village and free from memories of the war.

Though Gin and Sidney have little in common, the British Security Service is keen to unite her charm with his espionage experience: there’s a Soviet spy at the university, and the agent tracking them down was poisoned. MI5 wants Gin and Sidney to pick up the trail and identify the informant before more sensitive information is compromised. As a team, the pair of undergraduates clash in personality, upbringing, and taste––but have a connection neither can deny. Gin and Sidney must unite their respective talents to follow the clues before they’re caught in the traitor’s crosshairs…if the sparks flying between them don’t blow up the operation first.

Visit Kate Westbury's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Purist Pursuits"

New from Stanford University Press: Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire by Jennifer Manoukian.

About the book, from the publisher:

Purist Pursuits chronicles how and why Armenians in the Ottoman Empire fashioned a new language called Western Armenian. Tracing its rise from the eighteenth to the early-twentieth centuries, Jennifer Manoukian studies the evolution of an ever-changing ideology that undergirded all phases of the language's formation: linguistic purism. Constituting the primary preoccupation of the Ottoman Armenian intelligentsia, linguistic purism dictated that Armenians needed to abandon Turkish loanwords and fundamentally alter the way they wrote and spoke. While linguistic purism continues to be a powerful force throughout the Armenian diaspora today, its historical roots have not been explored until now. With this book, Jennifer Manoukian reimagines what language histories can be for Ottoman-era language communities. She is the first to expose Western Armenian as an ideologically fueled project and to examine the power of global intellectual movements in crafting new language ideologies in the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on untapped Armenian-language sources published in Istanbul, Izmir, Venice, and Vienna, she underscores how examining shifts in attitudes, anxieties, and debates about language can serve as indicators of ideological change and reveal unarticulated global linkages. Ultimately, her work charts a new course in the study of language in the Ottoman Empire.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Big & Lily"

Coming August 11 from Harper Perennial: Big & Lily: A Novel by Lisa Roe.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A sharply funny, deeply heartfelt novel about two sisters who discover the best way to find yourself is by getting lost.

For her entire life, Bridget “Big” Ackerman Petty has struggled to hold everything together—her kids, her husband, her demanding mother, all in dizzying orbit around her. While the kids are grown and her husband is retired, every day still feels like a to-do list she can never quite finish. Why is everything so effortless and easy for her sister Lily—a woman blessed with a magnetic personality, a thriving business, and a husband who adores her.

But when Lily discovers her husband’s been cheating, her “perfect” life implodes. Devastated and overwhelmed, she decides to run as far away as possible: to Alaska to lose herself on a hardcore survival trek—and she’s dragged her reluctant sister Big along.

No cell service, no easy exits—just grizzlies, outdoor plumbing, and a group of strangers who know how to read a compass. As the sisters navigate freezing rivers, unmarked trails, and more than one near-death experience, the defenses they’ve used to protect themselves begin to crumble, and they’re forced to face everything they’ve spent decades avoiding: resentment, regret, envy, and the terrifying possibility that the other one’s life might not be as easy as it looks.

Big & Lily is a laugh-out-loud, emotionally rich novel about second acts, sisterhood, and the unexpected ways we find ourselves when we’re truly lost.

Visit Lisa Roe's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Conventional Maritime Deterrence"

New from Georgetown University Press: Conventional Maritime Deterrence: The Operational Foundations of Influence at Sea by Adam Lockyer.

About the book, from the publisher:

A conceptual framework for understanding the critical role of naval operations in deterrence strategies

A future clash between the United States and China would occur across the seas, islands, and peninsulas of the Indo-Pacific region. Thus, mastering maritime deterrence―creating and displaying naval power to discourage an attack―is vital for peace.

Conventional Maritime Deterrence revives and updates our understanding of how deterrence at sea differs from its terrestrial counterpart. Adam Lockyer examines four types of maritime deterrence strategies: offensive sea control, defensive sea control, offensive sea denial, and defensive sea denial. These fleet operations showcase what crises a nation can plan to respond to, how it can intend to respond, and the likely success of these efforts. Lockyer conducts analysis of cases throughout history and also takes a deeper look at the US Maritime Strategy from the late Cold War in the Pacific, ultimately finding that the credibility of conventional maritime deterrence rests upon what a naval power can be seen to do rather than what it can do.

This book will provide policymakers, naval officers, and scholars of international relations with insight into maritime deterrence for both current and future contests.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Where Her Secrets Lie"

New from Thomas & Mercer: Where Her Secrets Lie by Katie Tallo.

About the novel, from the publisher:

From the bestselling author of Dark August comes a tense, moody thriller about a reclusive grandmother forced to confront her darkest fears to protect her family from a ruthless foe.

Seventy-year-old Lenny Bird lives in a cage of her own making. It’s protected by a strong will, stubborn habits, and hidden secrets―like the crime scene photos in her basement. And the body in her backyard.

Lenny shut down long ago, when her daughter was murdered and her husband committed suicide. But fifteen years later, a court has ordered her estranged grandson Juls to move back in with her when he’s arrested, courtesy of his notorious paternal grandfather. Juls has crossed the wrong people and his criminal world comes crashing through Lenny’s door, along with his twin daughters.

Lenny’s sanctuary overrun, she and Juls clash over long-held grudges. When she delves into his shady world, Lenny realizes he’s more pawn than player. But when her investigation threatens to dredge up her own dark past, Lenny must fight a ruthless crime boss―and choose between protecting her private purgatory … or breaking free to save the family she loves.

Visit Katie Tallo's website.

The Page 69 Test: Dark August.

Q&A with Katie Tallo.

Writers Read: Katie Tallo (June 2022).

The Page 69 Test: Buried Road.

Writers Read: Katie Tallo (December 2024).

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Black Aerial Imagination"

New from Columbia University Press: The Black Aerial Imagination: Aviation and Flight in African and Diasporic Literature by Delali Kumavie.

About the book, from the publisher:

Across a range of literary texts, Black writers depict taking flight to escape systems of subordination from the Middle Passage and the plantation to the present-day racialized order. While flight, air, and aviation technologies have long held out the promise of freedom, they also function as devices for constraining Black mobility.

In The Black Aerial Imagination, Delali Kumavie examines how aviation and flight have shaped Black lives and the global Black cultural imagination. Considering works by African and diasporic writers such as Kofi Anyidoho, Toni Morrison, and Abdulrazak Gurnah, she argues that representations of aviation and air travel reveal the structures circumscribing Black existence. Kumavie interweaves narratives of flying Africans with the airlessness of the slave dungeons, aspirations for flight with the terrors of the air, and global airline travel with incarceration to show how stories of flight connect transatlantic slavery to the racialized violence of borders, the surveillance of international movement, and the postcolonial nation-state. Through deft, nuanced readings of African and African diasporic literature, this book provides vital new insights into the limits of aerial mobility and the persistence of anti-Black violence.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Payback"

New from Severn House: Payback (A Frank Verity Thriller) by Lawrence Light.

About the book, from the publisher:

Journalist Frank Verity must stop the murder of New York’s wealthiest when they’re targeted for revenge in Payback, the edge-of-your-seat financial thriller from Pulitzer Prize nominee and noted finance journalist Lawrence Light.

Bring down the billionaires . . .

A Wall Street billionaire, one of the four infamous “Medici Boys,” takes a swan dive from his high-floor Fifth Avenue apartment. Near the window from which he was thrown is a note: I AM COMING FOR ALL OF YOU.

With no leads and three of the city’s wealthiest men marked for death, the case detective turns to former CIA operative and New York reporter Frank Verity. Frank sees things others do not and knows firsthand that it takes money to fight money.

As Frank races to prevent the next murder of a financial titan, it’s clear these killers are hell-bent on revenge and ingenious at breaching the well-guarded billionaires’ security. One thing is certain―the wealthy rule this town, but maybe this time their billions can’t save them...

This fast-paced suspense thriller is perfect for fans of Lee Child, Dan Brown, the TV show Billions, and Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer series.

Visit Lawrence Light's website.

The Page 69 Test: Ladykiller.

The Page 69 Test: Fear & Greed.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Deprived of Sense and Intellect"

New from the University of Michigan Press: Deprived of Sense and Intellect: Insanity, Possession, and Diagnosis in Medieval Europe by Leigh Ann Craig.

About the book, from the publisher:

Medieval saints were thought to be able to provide miraculous cures for a wide variety of illnesses, and about one tenth of their miracles involved the restoration of sanity to those who had lost their minds. Deprived of Sense and Intellect explores 460 of these stories written across Latin Christendom between 1240 and 1500. The study uses the lens of critical disability studies to bridge the gap between discussions of demonic possession and naturally arising somatic conditions, treating all these narratives about disability and miraculous healing not as documentation of changes to the function of an individual person, but instead as evidence of substantial and intrusive interpersonal tensions in medieval communities.

While medieval communities assigned these tensions to a malfunction of consciousness in a single person, medieval miracle texts also reveal how the function and malfunction of consciousness was named and classified. In studying these texts, Leigh Ann Craig explores the terminology and rhetoric used to diagnose a loss of mind as either from natural causes or as an effect of demonic predation, tracing the use of Latin vocabulary in medical compendia, law, and theology. Deprived of Sense and Intellect finds that since diagnoses were difficult and frequently subject to doubt, they varied based on regional cultures of disability in northern and southern Europe, the influences on the development of community consensus in Latin Europe in the Middle Ages, and assumptions based on gender, material evidence, and self-diagnosis.

--Marshal Zeringue

"What the Trees Remember"

New from She Writes Press: What the Trees Remember: A Novel by Abigail Cutter.

About the book, from the publisher:

Deeply researched and perfect for fans of Jayne Anne Phillips’s Night Watch, this action-packed coming-of-age tale, set in post–Civil War Appalachia, is part suspenseful mystery, part incisive examination of this nation’s history of racial violence.

Dora Minor, a quirky and fiercely courageous girl, grows up in a remote Virginia mountain community in a family of outliers, thanks to their Quaker beliefs that all people are born equal. After her mother’s death, her indomitable, pipe-smoking grandmother Alma—a revolutionary in her own right—becomes her primary caregiver and protector. With a fierce moral compass, Alma helps shape Dora’s worldview and guides her to question the status quo.

When Dora’s father partners with formerly enslaved Ginny Dudley to open a school for Black children in a place where none would otherwise exist, it sparks a violent backlash. After her father’s death and then a lynching, Dora, with Alma at her side, are forced to look at their community in a new light. Alongside Ginny’s husband Randolph and her closest friend Watcher James, a preacher guided by Nature spirits, Dora confronts hard truths about her neighbors, her father’s death, and, finally, the mysteries of her mother’s life—all of which ultimately leads to healing.

A post–Civil War novel that opens just as Reconstruction is falling apart, What the Trees Remember depicts a time of extreme social unrest and the birth of the Jim Crow era as experienced by strong women constrained by the limitations of the time they live in. Through the devastating loss of loved ones, the destruction of the comfortable life they’ve known, and Nature’s wrath, Dora and Alma strive to rise above their trials by drawing strength from the natural world and never losing faith in themselves.

Visit Abigail Cutter's website.

--Marshal Zeringue