"Spying in South Asia"

New from Cambridge University Press: Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, and India's Secret Cold War by Paul M. McGarr.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this first comprehensive history of India's secret Cold War, Paul McGarr tells the story of Indian politicians, human rights activists, and journalists as they fought against or collaborated with members of the British and US intelligence services. The interventions of these agents have had a significant and enduring impact on the political and social fabric of South Asia. The spectre of a 'foreign hand', or external intelligence activity, real and imagined, has occupied a prominent place in India's political discourse, journalism, and cultural production. Spying in South Asia probes the nexus between intelligence and statecraft in South Asia and the relationships between agencies and governments forged to promote democracy. McGarr asks why, in contrast to Western assumptions about surveillance, South Asians associate intelligence with covert action, grand conspiracy, and justifications for repression? In doing so, he uncovers a fifty-year battle for hearts and minds in the Indian subcontinent.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Nothing Like the Movies"

New from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better Than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.

For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only...Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend...a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.

Visit Lynn Painter's website.

Q&A with Lynn Painter.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Searching for Feminist Superheroes"

New from the University of Texas Press: Searching for Feminist Superheroes: Gender, Sexuality, and Race in Marvel Comics by Sam Langsdale.

About the book, from the publisher:

How superhero narratives in the margins of the mainstream tell innovative, feminist stories.

It’s no secret that superhero comics and their related media perpetuate a model of a straight, white, male hero at the expense of representing women and other minorities, but other narratives exist. Searching for Feminist Superheroes recognizes that female-led superhero comics, with diverse casts of characters and inclusive storytelling, exist on the margins of the mainstream superhero genre. But rather than focusing on these stories as marginalized, Sam Langsdale’s work on heroes such as Spider-Woman, America Chavez, and Ironheart locates the margins as a site of innovation and productivity, which have enabled the creation of feminist superhero texts.

Employing feminist and intersectional philosophies in an analysis of these comics, Langsdale suggests that feminist superheroes have the potential to contribute to a social imagination that is crucial in working toward a more just world. At a time when US popular culture continues to manifest as a battleground between oppressive and progressive social norms, Searching for Feminist Superheroes demonstrates that a fight for a better world is worthwhile.

Visit Sam Langsdale's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Cure for Sorrow"

New from Lake Union: A Cure for Sorrow: A Novel by Jen Wheeler.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the author of The Light on Farallon Island comes a haunting novel about the power of science, the nature of love, and the enigma of the supernatural.

Convention-flouting Nora Harris is a determined young medical student in Gilded Age Manhattan. A surgeon’s daughter, she always leads with her head―until her father’s latest protégé, Euan Colquhoun, steals her heart. Love and logic bind the newly betrothed couple together, but a tragic accident cuts their bright future short.

Grief-stricken, Nora finds surprising comfort in corresponding with Euan’s older brother, Malcolm. She decides to forsake her ambitions to retreat to the Colquhoun family farm deep in the tangled woods of upstate New York.

There, her longed-for peace is threatened by a suspicion that the whole family harbors haunting secrets. When she starts to see things that science can’t explain, Nora fears for her sanity―and when she gives in to dangerous temptations, she fears for her immortal soul.

Visit Jen Wheeler's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Light on Farallon Island.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Unsettling Thoreau"

New from the University of Massachusetts Press: Unsettling Thoreau: Native Americans, Settler Colonialism, and the Power of Place by John J. Kucich.

About the book, from the publisher:

Henry David Thoreau’s life-long fascination with Native Americans is widely known and a recurring topic of interest, and it is also a source of modern debate. This is a figure who both had a deep interest in Native American history and culture and was seen by many of his contemporaries, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, as “more like an Indian” than his white neighbors. At the same time, Thoreau did little to protest the systematic dispossession of Indigenous people across the country in his lifetime. John J. Kucich charges into this contradiction, considering how Thoreau could demonstrate deep respect for Native American beliefs on one hand and remain largely silent about their genocide, actively happening throughout his life, on the other. Thoreau’s long study of Native peoples, as reflected in so much of his writing, allowed him to glimpse an Indigenous worldview, but it never fully freed him from the blind spots of settler colonialism.

Drawing on Indigenous studies and critiques of settler colonialism, as well as new materialist approaches that illustrate Thoreau’s radical reimagining of the relationship between humans and the natural world, Unsettling Thoreau explores the stakes of Thoreau’s effort to live mindfully and ethically in place when living alongside, or replacing marginalized peoples. By examining the whole scope of his writings, including the unpublished Indian Notebooks, and placing them alongside Native writers and communities in and beyond New England, this book gauges Thoreau’s effort to use Indigenous knowledge to reimagine a settler colonial world, without removing him from its trappings.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Slay Ride Together With You"

New from Crooked Lane Books: A Slay Ride Together With You by Vicki Delany.

About the book, from the publisher:

The slay bells are ringing in this festive seventh installment of national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas mystery series, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Donna Andrews.

Rudolph, New York, shop owner Merry Wilkinson’s best friend Vicky Casey is newly engaged to Chef Mark Grosse and is moving into the historic Cole House–a home surrounded by drama, intrigue, and a possible haunting that is in desperate need of renovation. The wedding is just three weeks away, but all is not bliss for the newly engaged couple as estranged relatives of the late owner fight over her will. Then, late one night, Vicky and Merry come across a dead body in the garden of Cole House–and Mark is the one standing over the corpse.

As Detective Diane Simmonds focuses on Mark as the prime suspect, Vicky asks for Merry’s help to clear her fiancé’s name in time for the wedding. As they dig deeper into the connection between the house, Cole relatives, and town residents, past and present, it becomes clear that plenty of people wanted the victim dead.

With a bakery to run, the busy Easter weekend fast approaching, a house to renovate, and a fiancé to clear of a murder accusation, Vicky’s wedding may end up on the chopping block. It’s up to Merry to put aside the chocolate bunnies and stuffed rabbits and help her best friend save her wedding–and her life.

Visit Vicki Delany's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen.

The Page 69 Test: A Scandal in Scarlet.

The Page 69 Test: Murder in a Teacup.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (September 2021).

The Page 69 Test: Deadly Summer Nights.

The Page 69 Test: The Game is a Footnote.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (January 2023).

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (January 2024).

The Page 69 Test: The Sign of Four Spirits.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Telling Blackness"

New from Oxford University Press: Telling Blackness: Young Liberians and the Raciosemiotics of Contemporary Black Diaspora by Krystal A. Smalls.

About the book, from the publisher:

Telling Blackness begins with two simple premises: conventional models of the ways people make meaning of the world fail to account for the particularities of Blackness; and accounts of Black life often miss the significance of the smallest and subtlest acts that sustain it. With this introduction of raciosemiotics, Smalls remaps the field of semiotic anthropology around the specificities of race and the body, and remaps contemporary Black diaspora through the embodied significations of a group of young Liberian women in the US.

This transdisciplinary ethnographic account of their lives helps us reimagine their talk, twerks, and tweets as “tellings” that exceed our understandings of narrative and that potentially act on the world of meaning. And, with careful historical contextualization, we see how such acts reproduce, refuse, or powerfully disregard racial logics that have entangled the US and Liberia for two centuries. Led by Black feminist scholarship, Telling Blackness also provides a semiotic glimpse into ways of relating that help create complex diasporic intimacies and that sustain Black life beyond survival.

Visit Krystal A. Smalls's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Swallow the Ghost"

New from Mulholland Books: Swallow the Ghost: A Novel by Eugenie Montague.

About the book, from the publisher:

This "intricate" and "remarkable" debut novel traces the impact of a violent event on three different lives, each interconnected story further complicating the truth. (Laura van den Berg)

Things are going well for Jane Murphy, or so it seems. She’s making it in New York, a sort of wunderkind at the social media marketing startup where she works. She’s put an experimental writer, Jeremy Miller, on the map by helping him concoct a viral internet novel, told in fragments through various fake social media accounts. But privately, Jane feels trapped, ruled by her routines and her compulsions with food and social media, caught up in an endless cycle of soothing and punishing herself. There is so much that she has to keep hidden, especially from Jeremy as their professional relationship transforms into something more.

But then, tragedy strikes, and the story changes track. As the perspective shifts, so too does our image of Jane and those in her orbit as what we think we know begins to unravel.

Audacious, emotionally precise and head-spinning in its ingenuity, Swallow the Ghost interrogates our public identities and private realities through the kaleidoscopic portrait of one woman's life.

Visit Eugenie Montague's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Gobsmacked!"

New from Princeton University Press: Gobsmacked!: The British Invasion of American English by Ben Yagoda.

About the book, from the publisher:

A spot-on guide to how and why Americans have become so bloody keen on Britishisms—for good or ill

The British love to complain that words and phrases imported from America—from French fries to Awesome, man!—are destroying the English language. But what about the influence going the other way? Britishisms have been making their way into the American lexicon for more than 150 years, but the process has accelerated since the turn of the twenty-first century. From acclaimed writer and language commentator Ben Yagoda, Gobsmacked! is a witty, entertaining, and enlightening account of how and why scores of British words and phrases—such as one-off, go missing, curate, early days, kerfuffle, easy peasy, and cheeky—have been enthusiastically taken up by Yanks.

After tracing Britishisms that entered the American vocabulary in the nineteenth century and during the world wars, Gobsmacked! discusses the most-used British terms in America today. It features chapters on the American embrace of British insults and curses, sports terms, and words about food and drinks. The book also explores the American adoption of British spellings, pronunciations, and grammar, and cases where Americans have misconstrued British expressions (for example, changing can’t be arsed to can’t be asked) or adopted faux-British usages, like pronouncing divisive as “divissive.” Finally, the book offers some guidance on just how many Britishisms an American can safely adopt without coming off like an arse.

Rigorously researched and documented but written in a light, conversational style, this is a book that general readers and language obsessives will love. Its revealing account of a surprising and underrecognized language revolution might even leave them, well, gobsmacked.

Visit Ben Yagoda's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Coup de Grâce"

New from Titan Books: Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram.

About the books, from the publisher:

A mindbending and visceral experimental horror about a young man trapped in an infinite Montreal subway station, perfect for readers of Mark Z. Danielewski and Susanna Clarke.

Vicken has a plan: throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal and end it all for good, believing it to be the only way out for him after a lifetime of depression and pain. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station.

Determined to find a way out again, he starts to explore the rooms and corridors ahead of him. But no matter how many claustrophobic hallways or vast cathedral-esque rooms he passes through, the exit is nowhere in sight.

The more he explores his strange new prison, the more he becomes convinced that he hasn’t been trapped there accidentally, and amongst the shadows and concrete, he comes to realise that he almost certainly is not alone.

A terrifying psychological nightmare from a powerful new voice in horror.

Visit Sofia Ajram's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Fragments of Home"

New from Stanford University Press: Fragments of Home: Refugee Housing and the Politics of Shelter by Tom Scott-Smith.

About the book, from the publisher:

Abandoned airports. Shipping containers. Squatted hotels. These are just three of the many unusual places that have housed refugees in the past decade. The story of international migration is often told through personal odysseys and dangerous journeys, but when people arrive at their destinations a more mundane task begins: refugees need a place to stay. Governments and charities have adopted a range of strategies in response to this need. Some have sequestered refugees in massive camps of glinting metal. Others have hosted them in renovated office blocks and disused warehouses. They often end up in prefabricated shelters flown in from abroad. This book focuses on seven examples of emergency shelter, from Germany to Jordan, which emerged after the great "summer of migration" in 2015. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, the book reflects on their political implications and opens up much bigger questions about humanitarian action. By exploring how aid agencies and architects approached this basic human need, Tom Scott-Smith demonstrates how shelter has many elements that are hard to reconcile or combine; shelter is always partial and incomplete, producing mere fragments of home. Ultimately, he argues that current approaches to emergency shelter have led to destructive forms of paternalism and concludes that the principle of autonomy can offer a more fruitful approach to sensitive and inclusive housing.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Lines"

Coming October 29 from Unsolicited Press: Lines by Sung J. Woo.

About the book, from the publisher:

On a foggy morning in New York City, a man and a woman are about to run into each other, literally. Upon impact, they fall to the ground in an instinctively protective hug. The fog dissipates, and they stare into each other's eyes in disbelief, at the sheer magnitude of their bodily collision and their subsequent, spontaneous coupling. They laugh. The man, a writer, invites the woman, an artist, for coffee and they talk until lunch. They date. They fall in love, hard. They marry just two months later. And four years later, their marriage is on the precipice of disaster.

On a foggy morning in New York City, the same man and woman pass through the fog, oblivious of each other's existence. Until five years later, when the writer finds an oval-shaped locket no bigger than his thumbnail, a tiny white dress painted within the boundary of its golden border.

Lines is about possibilities, about the choices we make - or fail to make. It's a star-crossed love story; it's a bitter tragedy. It's about Josh and Abby and their intertwined lives, together and apart, through births and deaths and the beautiful mess in between.

Visit Sung J. Woo's website.

The Page 69 Test: Everything Asian.

My Book, The Movie: Skin Deep.

Q&A with Sung J. Woo.

The Page 69 Test: Skin Deep.

My Book, The Movie: Deep Roots.

The Page 69 Test: Deep Roots.

Writers Read: Sung J. Woo (Septemeber 2023).

Coffee with a Canine: Sung J. Woo & Koda.

--Marshal Zeringue

"From Jihad to Politics"

New from Oxford University Press: From Jihad to Politics: How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics by Jerome Drevon.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Syrian regime unleashed unprecedented violence to suppress large-scale non-violent protests amid the Arab uprisings. Hundreds of armed groups formed throughout the country to defend the protesters and fight back. However, in contrast to other conflicts previously dominated by al-Qaeda and Islamic State, the two largest Syrian Jihadi groups, Ahrar al-Sham and then Jabhat al-Nusra, rejected global jihad and began to cultivate new ties with the population, other armed opposition groups, and even foreign states. This strategic shift is a response to the Jihadi paradox--a realization that while Jihadis excel at leading insurgencies, they fail to achieve political victories. In From Jihad to Politics, Jerome Drevon offers an examination of the Syrian armed opposition, tracing the emergence of Jihadi groups in the conflict, their dominance, and their political transformation. Drawing upon field research and interviews with Syrian insurgents in northwestern Syria and Turkey, Drevon demonstrates how the context of a local conflict can shape armed groups' behavior in unexpected ways. Further, he marshals unique evidence from the Arab world's most intense conflict to explain why the trajectory of the transnational Jihadi movement has altered course in recent years.

Visit Jerome Drevon's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Pike Island"

Coming November 1 from Thomas & Mercer: Pike Island: A Thriller by Tony Wirt.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the bestselling author of Just Stay Away comes a haunting thriller about a rising politician whose shadowy past threatens to end his career―and his future shot at the presidency.

What happens at the cabin stays at the cabin. Right?

Andrew Harrison “Harry” Leonard is destined for politics. Getting his start on the Rochester City Council, he quickly rose to become the youngest representative in Congress. Now the up-and-comer from Minnesota is on the brink of something big. If all goes well, he’ll be in perfect position to aim for the presidency.

Then a postcard arrives, blank except for the name on the address: Andy Leonard. Harry hasn’t used that name since high school. Krista Walsh, Harry’s chief of staff, recognizes his old moniker, and when he dodges questions about it, she wonders what he’s trying to hide. She soon discovers the lake pictured on the postcard holds secrets too.

Krista’s investigation into Harry’s past uncovers the truth of what happened one fateful teenage summer. But as disturbing details come to light, how far will Krista go to keep Harry’s career―and her own―headed to the top?

Visit Tony Wirt's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Bravest Pets of Gotham"

New from Rutgers University Press: The Bravest Pets of Gotham: Tales of Four-Legged Firefighters of Old New York by Peggy Gavan.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the New York Fire Department permitted firemen to keep one dog, one cat, or singing birds in their firehouse. Since the firemen were required to live and work at the firehouse full-time, these animal mascots—along with the horses that pulled the fire trucks—were their constant companions, making a dangerous workplace feel more like home.

The Bravest Pets of Gotham takes readers on a fun historical tour of Old New York, sharing touching and comical stories about the bond between FDNY firefighters and their four-legged or feathered friends. The book contains more than one hundred astonishing, emotional, and sometimes hilariously absurd tales of the FDNY animal mascots whose extraordinary intelligence, acts of bravery, and funny antics deserve to be remembered. Some anecdotes depict fire companies that broke the one-pet rule and welcomed a veritable menagerie of animals into their firehouses, including goats, turtles, and even monkeys. Whether you are an animal lover, a history buff, or a fan of firefighting, The Bravest Pets of Gotham is full of stories that will thrill and amuse you.

Visit Peggy Gavan's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Coldest Case"

Coming November 5 from Severn House: The Coldest Case (A Shana Merchant Novel, 6) by Tessa Wegert.

About the book, from the publisher:

News of a missing Instagram celebrity brings Senior Investigator Shana Merchant to a frozen island community of just eight people. When the visit turns deadly, her hunt for a killer collides with a cold case she'll never forget . . .

It's February in the Thousand Islands and, cut off from civilization by endless ice, eight people are overwintering on tiny, remote Running Pine. Six year-rounders, used to the hard work, isolation and freezing temperatures . . . and two newcomers: social media stars Cary and Sylvie, whose account documenting their year on the island is garnering thousands of followers, and thousands of dollars' worth of luxury gifts.

The long-term islanders will tell you Running Pine can be perilous - especially for city slickers who'll do anything to get the perfect shot. So when Cary doesn't return from ice fishing one morning, his neighbors fear the worst.

With the clock ticking to find the missing influencer, a police team is dispatched to take the dangerous journey to the island . . . but Sylvie, his frantic partner, will only talk to one person: newlywed Senior Investigator Shana Merchant.

Where is Cary - and what is it that Sylvie's not sharing? With aspects of the case reminding Shana of an unsolved homicide from her past that haunts her still, she risks her ownelp. But little does she know that a storm is coming - and if she doesn't solve both crimes soon, she may become the island's next victim . . .

The latest taut, thrilling small-town mystery featuring New York State senior investigator Shana Merchant, and set against the beautiful backdrop of the Thousand Islands, is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ruth Ware.

Visit Tessa Wegert's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Dead Season.

The Page 69 Test: The Dead Season.

Q&A with Tessa Wegert.

The Page 69 Test: Dead Wind.

Writers Read: Tessa Wegert (April 2022).

Writers Read: Tessa Wegert (December 2022).

The Page 69 Test: Devils at the Door.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Beyond Moral Fundamentalism"

New from Oxford University Press: Beyond Moral Fundamentalism: Toward a Pragmatic Pluralism by Steven Fesmire.

About the book, from the publisher:

While complex global problems cry out for solutions devised with moral sensitivity and responsibility, a more common mentality tends to prevail, one that assumes those going the right way (“us”) are endangered by others (“them”) going the wrong way. Philosopher Steven Fesmire calls this approach “moral fundamentalism,” the idea that only we have access to the right diagnosis and prescription to our problems. Moral fundamentalism causes us to oversimplify, neglect broader context, take refuge in dogmatic absolutes, ignore possibilities for common ground, assume privileged access to the right way to proceed, and shut off honest inquiry. Moral fundamentalism--exacerbated by social media silos--also makes the worst of native impulses toward social bonding and antagonism. This depletes social capital and makes it impossible to debate and achieve superordinate goals, such as public health, justice, security, sustainability, peace, and democracy.

Drawing from John Dewey's pluralistic and pragmatic approach, Fesmire develops an alternative to the oversimplification of moral fundamentalism and the arbitrariness of relativism. He proposes a “pragmatic pluralism” that can be applied to complex ethical, political, educational, and policy problems--without flattening variability among values or presuming that abstract theories determine what we ought to do. He argues that the single-right-way premise that logically underlies moral fundamentalism is both unwarranted and constrictive, and that grand philosophical quests for unifying principles can still be accommodated within a wider pluralistic approach. In an engaging style, Fesmire shows the reader a new perspective on the challenges and promises of democratic decision-making in societies that are struggling to grow beyond moral fundamentalism.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Whenever You're Ready"

New from St. Martin's Griffin: Whenever You're Ready by Rachel Runya Katz.

About the book, from the publisher:

After reconnecting on a road trip, two friends must decide if love is the ultimate risk worth taking in this funny, emotional sapphic romance.

Nia and Jade had been inseparable ever since their best friend, Michal, introduced them at her tenth birthday party. But now it’s been three years since Michal died of cancer— since the brutal fight Nia and Jade had in the weeks after— and they're barely on speaking terms.

Until Nia reads a letter Michal wrote for her 29th birthday, asking her and Jade to go on the southern Jewish history road trip they'd planned before she died. To add to the complications, Michal's then-boyfriend and Jade's twin brother, Jonah, joins the trip. Despite the years apart and Jade and Jonah’s strained relationship, any awkwardness quickly disappears as it becomes clear how much Nia and Jade have missed each other.

Unfortunately, old issues soon arise. Nia has been in love with Jade since they were teenagers, and Jade has been so committed to their friendship that she never let herself consider something more. As the stops pass, tensions mount, running high until Nia and Jade are forced to confront what happened three years ago, their feelings for one another, and even their respective relationships with Jonah.

Rachel Runya Katz’s Whenever You’re Ready is about family, friendship, and the kind of first love that could last a lifetime—if only you are willing to take a chance.

Visit Rachel Runya Katz's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Power of the Badge"

New from the University of Chicago Press: The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States by Emily M. Farris and Mirya R. Holman.

About the book, from the publisher:

A sobering exploration of the near unchecked power of sheriffs in the United States.

Across the United States, more than 3,000 sheriffs occupy a unique position in the US political and legal systems. Elected by voters—usually in low-visibility, noncompetitive elections—sheriffs oversee more than a third of law enforcement employees and control almost all local jails. They have the power to both set and administer policies, and they can imprison, harm, and even kill members of their communities. Yet, they enjoy a degree of autonomy not seen by other political officeholders.

The Power of the Badge offers an unprecedented, data-rich look into the politics of the office and its effects on local communities. Emily M. Farris and Mirya R. Holman draw on two surveys of sheriffs taken nearly a decade apart, as well as election data, case studies, and administrative data to show how a volatile combination of authority and autonomy has created an environment where sheriffs rarely change; elections seldom create meaningful accountability; employees, budgets, and jails can be used for political gains; marginalized populations can be punished; and reforms fail. Farris and Holman also track the increasingly close linkages between sheriffs and right-wing radical groups in an era of high partisanship and intra-federal conflict.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Lightning Bottles"

New from Simon & Schuster: The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley.

About the book, from the publisher:

The author of New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick Lucky returns with a spellbinding story of rock ‘n’ roll and star-crossed love—about grunge-era musician Jane Pyre’s journey to find out what really happened to her husband and partner in music, who abruptly disappeared years earlier.

He was the troubled face of rock ‘n’ roll…until he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Jane Pyre was once half of the famous rock ‘n’ roll duo, the Lightning Bottles. Years later, she’s perhaps the most hated—and least understood—woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate), Elijah Hart—even if Jane was the one who wrote the songs that catapulted the Lightning Bottles to instant, dizzying fame, first in the Seattle grunge scene, then around the world.

But ever since Elijah disappeared five years earlier and the band’s meteoric rise to fame came crashing down, the public hatred of Jane has taken on new levels, and all she wants to do is retreat. What she doesn’t anticipate is the bombshell that awaits her at her new home in the German countryside: the sullen teenaged girl next door—a Lightning Bottles superfan—who claims to have proof that not only is Elijah still alive, he’s also been leaving secret messages for Jane. And they need to find them right away.

A cross-continent road trip about two misunderstood outsiders brought together by their shared love of music, The Lightning Bottles is both a love letter to the 90s and a searing portrait of the cost of fame.

Visit Marissa Stapley's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Film and Everyday Resistance"

New from Northwestern University Press: Film and Everyday Resistance by Marguerite La Caze.

About the book, from the publisher:

A philosophical exploration of how modern global cinema represents everyday means of resisting authoritarianism and totalitarianism

Václav Havel’s concept of “living within the truth” in an authoritarian regime frames Marguerite La Caze’s readings of international cinema, highlighting forms of resistance in which seemingly pre- or nonpolitical aspects of life—such as professional labor, exile, and truth telling—can be recognized as political when seen against a backdrop of general acquiescence. La Caze’s case studies cross genres, historical eras, and national contexts: the apartheid regime in South Africa, in A Dry White Season; post-Suharto Indonesia, in The Look of Silence; 1980s East Germany, in Barbara; the Chilean military dictatorship, in No; contemporary Iran, in A Separation; and current-day Saudi Arabia, in Wadjda. This book explores the films’ use of image, sound, narrative, and character in dialogue with the work of Simone de Beauvoir, Aimé Cesaire, Hannah Arendt, Sara Ahmed, and W. E. B. Du Bois to reveal how cinema depicts ordinary people enacting their own philosophies of defiance.

--Marshal Zeringue

"In the Garden of Monsters"

New from MIRA: In the Garden of Monsters: A Novel by Crystal King.

About the book, from the publisher:

A woman with no past. A man who seems to know her. And a monstrous garden that could be the border between their worlds…

Italy, 1948

Julia Lombardi is a mystery even to herself. The beautiful model can’t remember where she’s from, where she’s been or how she came to live in Rome. When she receives an offer to accompany celebrated eccentric artist Salvador Dalí to the Sacro Bosco—Italy’s Garden of Monsters—as his muse, she’s strangely compelled to accept. It could be a chance to unlock the truth about her past…

Shrouded in shadow, the garden full of giant statues that sometimes seem alive is far from welcoming. Still, from the moment of their arrival at the palazzo, Julia is inexplicably drawn to their darkly enigmatic host, Ignazio. He’s alluring yet terrifying—and he seems to know her.

Posing for Dalí as the goddess Persephone, Julia finds the work to be perplexing, particularly as Dalí descends deeper into his fanaticism. To him, she is Persephone, and he insists she must eat pomegranate seeds to rejoin her king.

Between Dalí’s fevered persistence, Ignazio’s uncanny familiarity and the agonizing whispered warnings that echo through the garden, Julia is soon on the verge of unraveling. And she begins to wonder if she’s truly the mythical queen of the Underworld…

Visit Crystal King's website.

The Page 69 Test: Feast of Sorrow.

Writers Read: Crystal King (March 2019).

The Page 69 Test: The Chef's Secret.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Politics of Gen Z"

New from Columbia University Press: The Politics of Gen Z: How the Youngest Voters Will Shape Our Democracy by Melissa Deckman.

About the book, from the publisher:

Progressive activism today is increasingly spearheaded by the nation’s youngest voters. Gen Z―those born between 1997 and 2012―has come of age in a decade of upheavals. They have witnessed the election of Donald Trump, the murder of George Floyd, and the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, and they have lived under the constant threats of mass shootings and climate change. In response, left-leaning Zoomers, particularly women and LGBTQ people, have banded together to take action.

This book tells the story of Gen Z’s growing political participation―and why it is poised to drive U.S. politics leftward. Bringing together original data and compelling narrative―including nearly one hundred interviews with Gen Z activists and several national surveys―political scientist Melissa Deckman explores the world of youth-led progressive organizing, highlighting the crucial importance of gender and sexuality. She reveals why women and LGBTQ Zoomers are participating in politics at higher levels than their straight male peers, creating a historic “reverse gender gap.” Deckman takes readers inside Gen Z’s fight for a more inclusive and just future, sharing stories of their efforts to defend reproductive rights, prevent gun violence, stem climate change, and win political office. A deep dive into the politics of Gen Z, this book sheds new light on how young voters view politics and why their commitment to progressive values may transform the country in the years ahead.

Visit Melissa Deckman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Death by Misadventure"

New from Minotaur Books: Death by Misadventure: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the latest installment of Tasha Alexander’s New York Times bestselling series, Lady Emily must solve a string of high stakes “accidents” while trapped in a lavish villa in the Bavarian Alps.

In the winter of 1906, Lady Emily and husband Colin are invited to the opulent home of Baroness Ursula von Duchtel in the Bavarian alps. Outside is a mountainous winter wonderland with a view of Mad King Ludwig’s fairy tale castle. Inside, the villa hosts a magnificent but eclectic art collection—as well as an equally eclectic collection of fellow guests, among them a musician, an art dealer, a coquette from the demi-monde, and Kaspar, the Baroness’ boorish son-in-law, whom, it begins to appear, someone wants dead.

Almost forty years earlier, Niels, a young German lord, sings to himself in the forest surrounding those same alps, capturing the attention of a not-yet-mad King Ludwig. Niels and the king become fast friends, their relationship deepening into something more as their time together stretches on. But while King Ludwig is content to live out a fantasy where their responsibilities don't matter and the outside world doesn't affect them, Niels knows that their bliss cannot last forever...

Decades later, Emily continues to investigate Kaspar's increasingly lethal “mishaps" when tragedy strikes, ensnaring the guests in a web of fear and suspicion. It’s up to Emily to sift through old secrets and motivations, some stretching far into the past, to unmask the killer.

Visit Tasha Alexander's website.

Q&A with Tasha Alexander.

The Page 69 Test: The Dark Heart of Florence.

Writers Read: Tasha Alexander.

The Page 69 Test: Secrets of the Nile.

My Book, The Movie: Secrets of the Nile.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Einstein's Tutor"

New from PublicAffairs: Einstein's Tutor: The Story of Emmy Noether and the Invention of Modern Physics by Lee Phillips.

About the book, from the publisher:

A revelatory story of the woman who made foundational contributions to science and mathematics and persevered in the face of discrimination.

Emmy Noether's mathematical genius enabled Einstein to bring his General Theory of Relativity–the basis of our current theory of gravity–to fruition. On a larger scale, what came to be known as “Noether’s Theorem”—called by a Nobel laureate “the single most profound result in all of physics”—supplied the basis for the most accurate theory in the history of physics, the Standard Model, which forms our modern theory of matter.

Noether’s life story is equally important and revelatory in understanding the pernicious nature of sexual prejudice in the sciences, revealing the shocking discrimination against one of the true intellectual giants of the twentieth century, a woman effectively excluded from the opportunities given to her male counterparts. Noether’s personality and optimistic spirit, as Lee Phillips reveals, enabled her unique genius to persevere and arrive at insights that still astonish those who encounter them a century later.

Visit Lee Phillips's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"In Our Likeness"

New from Little A: In Our Likeness: A Novel by Bryan VanDyke.

About the book, from the publisher:

The wonders and chaos of AI converge in a powerful and thrilling novel about rewriting history, identity, love, and what it means to be human.

Graham Gooding is a leader at a tech start-up when his brilliant coworker―and work crush―Nessie Locke asks for help testing a new algorithm. Graham jumps at the chance to impress her, and to improve his floundering personal life. He soon discovers that the algo is more powerful than Nessie―or anyone―realizes. It was built to detect lies on the internet, but when Graham makes a small edit to Nessie’s online profile, hoping to see if the program will catch the lie, Nessie changes in real life. The algo can alter the real world. Now, so can Graham.

No one knows what Graham has done, except his boss, enigmatic tech guru David Warwick. Graham is racked with guilt, but Warwick thrills to the possibilities of what they can do next. This promises to be the innovation that will make Warwick a household name. Drawn by the power of the algo but terrified by its potential for chaos, Graham must decide what to do and whom to trust in a world where one true reality no longer exists.

As love, trust, memories, and what it means to be human begin to slip away, Graham and Nessie work together to restore the past―before it’s lost to the anarchy of a world without truth.

Visit Bryan VanDyke's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Relics of War"

New from Princeton University Press: Relics of War: The History of a Photograph by Jennifer Raab.

About the book, from the publisher:

How a single haunting image tells a story about violence, mourning, and memory

In 1865, Clara Barton traveled to the site of the notorious Confederate prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia, where she endeavored to name the missing and the dead. The future founder of the American Red Cross also collected their relics—whittled spoons, woven reed plates, a piece from the prison’s “dead line,” a tattered Bible—and brought them back to her Missing Soldiers Office in Washington, DC, presenting them to politicians, journalists, and veterans’ families before having them photographed together in an altar-like arrangement. Relics of War reveals how this powerful image, produced by Mathew Brady, opens a window into the volatile relationship between suffering, martyrdom, and justice in the wake of the Civil War.

Jennifer Raab shows how this photograph was a crucial part of Barton’s efforts to address the staggering losses of a war in which nearly half of the dead were unnamed and from which bodies were rarely returned home for burial. The Andersonville relics gave form to these absent bodies, offered a sacred site for grief and devotion, mounted an appeal on behalf of the women and children left behind, and testified to the crimes of war. The story of the photograph illuminates how military sacrifice was racialized as political reconciliation began, and how the stories of Black soldiers and communities were silenced.

Richly illustrated, Relics of War vividly demonstrates how one photograph can capture a precarious moment in history, serving as witness, advocate, evidence, and memory.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Sleep Tight"

New from Crooked Lane Books: Sleep Tight: A Novel by J. H. Markert.

About the book, from the publisher:

The sole survivor of a serial killer might hold the key to stopping a new spree of murders in this propulsive horror thriller in the vein of The Black Phone and The Whisper Man.

Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the "clear heir to Stephen King.”

Beware the one who got away . . .

Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his "House of Horrors," they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast.

The detective’s daughter, Tess Claibourne, is a detective herself, haunted by childhood trauma and horrified by the death of her father and the resurgence of Father Silence’s legacy.

When Tess’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, Tess is forced to face her worst fears and long-buried memories. With no leads to follow, she travels back to Twisted Tree to visit the boy who survived and see what secrets might be buried in the tangled web of his broken mind.

With captivating prose and an old-school horror flair, Sleep Tight is a must-read, haunting tale from a true master of the genre.

Visit J.H. Markert's website.

Q&A with J. H. Markert.

My Book, The Movie: The Nightmare Man.

The Page 69 Test: The Nightmare Man.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Golden States"

New from the University of California Press: Golden States: How California Religion Went from Cautionary Tale to Global Brand by Eileen Luhr.

About the book, from the publisher:

Whether they were utopian communitarians, sun-seeking gurus, or Protestant health reformers, Southern California's spiritual seekers drew on the United States' deepening global encounters and consumer cultures to pair religious and personal reinvention with cultural and spiritual revitalization. Through a rereading of the region's cultural landscape, Golden States provides an alternative history of California religion and spirituality, showing that seekers developed a number of paths to fulfillment that enhanced the region's lifestyle brand. Drawing on case studies as varied as surfing and yoga practices, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, and the only designated "Blue Zone" in the United States, this work explores the long-term impact of alternative beliefs on the region. In doing so, it highlights the ongoing tensions between privileging personal choice and pursuing social good as communities navigated whether the commitment to the emotional and therapeutic needs and desires of individual believers should be pursued at the expense of broader efforts to achieve collective well-being.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Swimmer"

New from Montlake: The Swimmer: A Novel by Loreth Anne White.

About the book, from the publisher:

A deviously twisty novel of psychological suspense about secrets, neighbors, a need to belong, and murder by the award-winning author of The Maid’s Diary.

Socially awkward Chloe Cooper divides her time between dog walking, bartending, caring for her ailing mother, and at a safe distance, watching people and inventing the stories of their lives. Like Chloe’s new neighbors: glamorous influencer Jemma Spengler and Jemma’s husband, Adam, a renowned surgeon. They’re attractive, wealthy, and in a house of open windows, so exposed.

A move to the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be a fresh start for Jemma and Adam. It’s a renewed commitment to a marriage fractured by secrets. A chance to work through the tragic losses in their past. For Jemma, however, this new beginning also comes with an unnerving sensation that she’s being watched.

Then, on a fog-shrouded beach early in the morning, Chloe witnesses the murder of a swimmer. Her suspicions aroused, she suddenly sees her neighbors in a sinister new light. But as a detective and her partner close in, nothing is quite as it seems. Because the Spenglers are not the only ones with secrets. And Chloe isn’t the only one who’s been watching.

Visit Loreth Anne White's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Zhuangzi: Ways of Wandering the Way"

New from Oxford University Press: Zhuangzi: Ways of Wandering the Way by Chris Fraser.

About the book, from the publisher:

Zhuangzi: Ways of Wandering the Way presents a richly detailed, philosophically informed interpretation of the personal and interpersonal ethics found in the Daoist classic Zhuangzi, introducing a unique Daoist approach to ethics focusing on the concept of a way and our capacity for following ways.

Zhuangist thought reframes our relation to our social and natural setting while offering a distinctive, intriguing view of dao, agency, and the structure and grounds for action. At the same time, it embodies an ethical and epistemic modesty that rejects the idea of there being any uniquely privileged form of the good life or any authoritatively correct way to interact with others. The Zhuangist dao is inherently plural, provisional, and protean, and we are likely to find a variety of justifiable ways of wandering along it. Any number of these might contribute to a well-lived, fulfilling life, marked by appropriate social interaction, provided it is pursued with adept responsiveness to our circumstances and awareness of our place in the larger scheme of things.

The book examines what prominent threads of discourse in the Zhuǎngzǐ have to say about the nature and content of dào, how we might guide our path along dào, the personal training and cultivation involved, and the criteria by which to evaluate our performance. The discussion illustrates how a Zhuangist outlook in metaethics, ethics, moral psychology, and moral epistemology remains relevant to readers today.

Visit Chris Fraser's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Hitchcock Hotel"

New from Berkley: The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel.

About the book, from the publisher:

A Hitchcock fanatic with an agenda invites old friends for a weekend stay at his secluded themed hotel in this fiendishly clever, suspenseful new novel from the international bestselling author of Darling Rose Gold.

Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan. He is the founder, owner, and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains dedicated to the Master of Suspense. There, Alfred offers his guests round-the-clock film screenings, movie props and memorabilia in every room, plus an aviary with fifty crows.

To celebrate the hotel’s first anniversary, he invites his former best friends from his college Film Club for a reunion. He hasn’t spoken to any of them in sixteen years, not after what happened.

But who better than them to appreciate Alfred’s creation? And to help him finish it.

After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a body.

Visit Stephanie Wrobel's website.

The Page 69 Test: Darling Rose Gold.

My Book, The Movie: Darling Rose Gold.

Q&A with Stephanie Wrobel.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Polarized by Degrees"

New from Cambridge University Press: Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics by Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins.

About the book, from the publisher:

Over the past several decades, American society has experienced fundamental changes – from shifting relations between social groups and evolving language and behavior norms to the increasing value of a college degree. These transformations have polarized the nation's political climate and ignited a perpetual culture war. In a sequel to their award-winning collaboration Asymmetric Politics, Grossmann and Hopkins draw on an extensive variety of evidence to explore how these changes have affected both major parties. They show that the Democrats have become the home of highly-educated citizens with progressive social views who prefer credentialed experts to make policy decisions, while Republicans have become the populist champions of white voters without college degrees who increasingly distrust teachers, scientists, journalists, universities, non-profit organizations, and even corporations. The result of this new “diploma divide” between the parties is an increasingly complex world in which everything is about politics – and politics is about everything.

The Page 99 Test: Matt Grossmann's Artists of the Possible.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Played"

New from Montlake: Played by Naima Simone.

About the book, from the publisher:

USA Today bestselling author Naima Simone heats up the page with intensity and wit in this romance between a pro hockey player and a firefighter, both struggling to move on from the past.

Being a firefighter isn’t easy. Especially for a Black woman. Working with family helps a little. But when somebody from your company doesn’t come back from a call, it’s brutal―as in, “How’m I supposed to go on?” brutal.

And one death took me to a really dark place.

A year later, I’m at the Pirates’ hockey training facility. Just another day on the job. Until I find a charred journal. I look inside for the owner’s name, but the words on the page punch me in the gut. It’s like reading my own thoughts. Reliving my own pain.

The journal belongs to Solomon Young, left-winger for the Pirates―a father and widower. When I return it, I’m racked with guilt for the invasion of privacy. The look Solomon gives me is cold as ice.

But damn if that man isn’t hot as hell.

Now he’s stuck in my brain. And fate seems intent on making us face off.

Visit Naima Simone's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Great Reversal"

New from Yale University Press: The Great Reversal: Britain, China and the 400-Year Contest for Power by Kerry Brown.

About the book, from the publisher:

A vivid history of the relationship between Britain and China, from 1600 to the present

The relationship between Britain and China has shaped the modern world. Chinese art, philosophy and science have had a profound effect upon British culture, while the long history of British exploitation is still bitterly remembered in China today. But how has their interaction changed over time?

From the early days of the East India Company through the violence of the Opium Wars to present-day disputes over Hong Kong, Kerry Brown charts this turbulent and intriguing relationship in full. Britain has always sought to dominate China economically and politically, while China’s ideas and exports—from tea and Chinoiserie to porcelain and silk—have continued to fascinate in the west. But by the later twentieth century, the balance of power began to shift in China’s favour, with global consequences. Brown shows how these interactions changed the world order—and argues that an understanding of Britain’s relationship with China is now more vital than ever.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Live Fast"

Coming February 11, 2025 from Ecco: Live Fast: A Novel by Brigitte Giraud, translated by Cory Stockwell.

About the book, from the publisher:

Winner of the Prix Goncourt

A powerful autobiographical novel of loss, the incandescent love that remains, and the small decisions that define the course of fate

Paced and structured with the inevitable suspense of a countdown, Brigitte Giraud’s tense and haunting novel follows one woman’s quest to comprehend the motorcycle accident that took the life of her partner Claude at age 41.

The narrator of Live Fast recounts the chain of events that led up to the fateful accident, tracing the tiny, madden twists of fate that might have prevented its tragic outcome. Each chapter asks the rhetorical question, “what if,” departing from an image or memory from early years meeting in Algeria during the war, to moving to the suburbs of Lyon, buying and renovating a home where they could “put down their suitcase for a whole life.” A sensitive elegy to her husband and a subtle, precise vision of a lasting love, Live Fast is a moving and electrifying portrait of two people caught up in the mundane activities of life, forgetting that living itself can be dangerous.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Reading Practice"

New from the University of Chicago Press: Reading Practice: The Pursuit of Natural Knowledge from Manuscript to Print by Melissa Reynolds.

About the book, from the publisher:

Through portraits of readers and their responses to texts, Reading Practice reconstructs the contours of the knowledge economy that shaped medicine and science in early modern England.

Reading Practice tells the story of how ordinary people grew comfortable learning from commonplace manuscripts and printed books, such as almanacs, medical recipe collections, and herbals. From the turn of the fifteenth century to the close of the sixteenth century, these were the books English people read when they wanted to attend to their health or understand their place in the universe. Before then, these works had largely been the purview of those who could read Latin. Around 1400, however, medical and scientific texts became available in Middle English while manuscripts became less expensive. These vernacular manuscripts invited their readers into a very old and learned conversation: Hippocrates and Galen weren’t distant authorities whose word was law, they were trusted guides, whose advice could be excerpted, rearranged, recombined, and even altered to suit a manuscript compiler’s needs. This conversation continued even after the printing press arrived in England in 1476. Printers mined manuscripts for medical and scientific texts that they would publish throughout the sixteenth century, though the pressures of a commercial printing market encouraged printers to package these old texts in new ways. Without the weight of authority conditioning their reactions and responses to very old knowledge, and with so many editions of practical books to choose from, English readers grew into confident critics and purveyors of natural knowledge in their own right.

Melissa Reynolds reconstructs shifting attitudes toward medicine and science over two centuries of seismic change within English culture, attending especially to the effects of the Reformation on attitudes toward nature and the human body. Her study shows how readers learned to be discerning and selective consumers of knowledge gradually, through everyday interactions with utilitarian books.

Visit Melissa Reynolds's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Vampire of Kings Street"

New from Crooked Lane Books: The Vampire of Kings Street: A Mystery by Asha Greyling.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this gothic debut novel, perfect for fans of Tread of Angels and Gail Carriger’s Soulless, Miss Radhika Dhingra, a newly minted lawyer in 19th century New York, never expected that her first client would be a vampire accused of murder.

Having a resident vampire is just the thing for upper-class New Yorkers–besides being a status symbol, they make excellent butlers or housekeepers. The only thing they require in return is a drop or two of blood and a casket to shut out the dawn’s early light.

Tolerated by society only if they follow a strict set of rules, vampires are seen as “less than”–and as the daughter of immigrants, Radhika knows firsthand how this feels. Accused of murder, her undead client Mr. Evelyn More, knows that the cards are stacked against him.

With the help of a journalist friend and a diminutive detective inspector, Miss Dhingra sets out to prove her client’s innocence and win his freedom. Failure will mean Mr. More’s death, the end of her dreams of becoming a successful attorney, and the loss of the vampire Miss Dhingra has begun to call her friend.

Offering an alternative paranormal history, delightful characters, and insightful social commentary, The Vampire of Kings Street will thrill readers of Deanna Rayburn and Rebecca Roanhorse.

Visit Asha Greyling's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Raid and Reconciliation"

New from the University of Nebraska Press: Raid and Reconciliation: Pancho Villa, Modernization, and Violence in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands by Brandon Morgan.

About the book, from the publisher:

Around the turn of the twentieth century, the formation of the U.S.-Mexico border through the rise of capitalism brought new forms of violence, this time codified in law, land surveys, and capitalist land and resource regimes—the markers of modernity and progress that were the hallmarks of Gilded Age America and Porfirian Mexico. Military units, settlers, and boosters dispossessed Southern Apache peoples of their homelands and attempted to erase the histories of Mexican colonists in the Lower Mimbres Valley region. As a result, people of multiple racial and national identities came together to forge new border communities.

In Raid and Reconciliation Brandon Morgan examines the story of Pancho Villa’s 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico—an event that has been referenced in various histories of the border and the Mexican Revolution but not contextualized on its own—and shows that violence was integral to the modern capitalist development that shaped the border. Raid and Reconciliation provides new insights into the Mexican Revolution and sheds light on the connections between violence and modernization. Lessons from this border story resonate in today’s debates over migration, race, and what it means to be an American.

--Marshal Zeringue