Hot Off Penn Press: October’s New Books

Yes, it's technically November, but that's just because there were so many new releases last month we couldn't fit in time to post about it!

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Jump to: American History | Ancient Studies | Anthropology | Literature | Medieval and Early Modern Studies | Politics and Human Rights | Religious Studies | World History


AMERICAN HISTORY


The BrandywineThe Brandywine: An Intimate Portrait
W. Barksdale Maynard

"A refreshing take on Delaware's most famous river—much like the waters that flow through it. With this groundbreaking book, Maynard has made a valuable contribution to telling our history."—Jack A. Markell, Governor of Delaware

"The Brandywine: An Intimate Portrait helps illuminate the richness and variety of our country's past—an enjoyable and revealing read about this Pennsylvania-Delaware region that is home to a unique blend of colonial, Revolutionary, agrarian, and industrial aspects of American culture and history."—Ken Salazar, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and U.S. Senator

"The Brandywine flows through—and is witness to—American history like no other river. Guided by Maynard's insightful writing and illustrations, I made a fascinating journey to meet up with Washington and Lafayette, the du Ponts, the Wyeth family and their times in this famous valley."—Bruce Babbitt, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Governor of Arizona

Richly illustrated with seldom-seen historical photographs, paintings, and drawings, The Brandywine: An Intimate Portrait is the first book to trace the history and culture of the Brandywine Valley from colonial times to today.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

276 pages | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 15 color, 19 b/w illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4677-3 | $34.95t | £23.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9073-8 | $34.95t | £23.00

 

The First PrejudiceNOW IN PAPERBACK
The First Prejudice: Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in Early America
Chris Beneke and Christopher S. Grenda, Editors

"The religious diversity of early America has been fully documented in historical scholarship. How religious tolerance was conceived, codified, and practiced has garnered less attention. This anthology by Chris Beneke and Christopher S. Grenda initiates a productive conversation about the contours of religious difference in early America."—Philadelphia Magazine of History and Biography

Leading religious historians connect changes in law and rhetoric to daily cooperation and conflict in early America. These essays examine such topics as Native American spiritual life, the biblical sources of tolerance and intolerance, contemporary philosophies of religious liberty, and the resilience of African American faiths.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

408 pages | 6 x 9
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4270-6 | $45.00s | £29.50
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8122-2314-9 | $24.95s | £16.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0489-6 | $24.95s | £16.50
A volume in the Early American Studies series

 

Death by EffigyNOW IN PAPERBACK
Death by Effigy: A Case from the Mexican Inquisition
Luis R. Corteguera

"An important contribution to the literature on the early modern Spanish world and, specifically, to the large and seemingly ever-growing body of scholarship related to the inquisition. The case illustrates the power of inquisitorial symbols and the juridical nature of inquisitorial investigations. It approximates a transcription of an Inquisition case, although judiciously condensed into an absorbing narrative."—American Historical Review

On July 21, 1578, a small Mexican town awoke to the news of a scandal. Nailed to the door of its church was a double-faced effigy denouncing a neighbor as a Jew who should burn at the stake. Nine trials over the course of four years revealed a story of dishonor, revenge, and the Inquisition's relentless determination to defend its symbols.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

240 pages | 6 x 9 | 11 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4439-7 | $39.95s | £26.00
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8122-2316-3 | $24.95s | £16.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0705-7 | $24.95s | £16.50
A volume in the Early Modern Americas series

 

Reinventing Childhood After World War IINOW IN PAPERBACK
Reinventing Childhood After World War II
Paula S. Fass and Michael Grossberg, Editors

"These well-researched essays, which frequently reference one another, providing a tight, synchronized analysis, would provide useful background reading in any course addressing childhood themes or artifacts. One comes away from this thin volume realizing that American children are growing up faster (in terms of marketers' and parents' expectations) and slower (in terms of monitoring and control) than ever before."—Journal of American Culture

This volume brings together prominent historians of modern childhood in an effort to define how children's lives and our conceptions of childhood have changed since World War II. Essays explore how childhood has transformed in response to major elements of change, including schooling, parenting, law, culture, and the global economy.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

200 pages | 6 x 9
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4367-3 | $42.50s | £28.00
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8122-2318-7 | $22.50s | £15.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0516-9 | $22.50s | £15.00

 

Religious Transformations in the Early Modern AmericasReligious Transformations in the Early Modern Americas
Stephanie Kirk and Sarah Rivett, Editors

"This nuanced and compelling volume charts religion's invention, reinvention, and interventions across the geographies of the Americas in early modernity. Editors Kirk and Rivett are to be highly commended for their clear voice, light touch, and firm hand in this perfect assembly of essays representing interdisciplinary expertise, spatial reach, and thoughtful, carefully moderated comparative analysis. A model set of important studies: fascinating, articulate, smart, and, I dare say, transformative of the ways we think about early modern American histories, religions, populations, and practices."—Sally M. Promey, Yale University

Religious Transformations in the Early Modern Americas shows what happened to Christianity when Old World doctrine and belief crossed the Atlantic and collided with New World realities. Essays from across disciplines explore the impact of colonial contexts on the symbolic institutions of Protestantism and Catholicism.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

360 pages | 6 x 9 | 23 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4654-4 | $49.95s | £32.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9028-8 | $49.95s | £32.50
A volume in the Early Modern Americas series

 

The Catholic CalumetNOW IN PAPERBACK
The Catholic Calumet: Colonial Conversions in French and Indian North America
Tracy Neal Leavelle

"Compelling, well written, and evocative of an important time and place in colonial North America—where the sharing of spiritual concerns could result in new meanings, new understandings, and new relationships (both ambiguous and fraught)—Leavelle's scholarship opens new windows of interpretation that demand scholarly attention."—Journal of American History

Historian Tracy Neal Leavelle examines religious conversions in the upper Great Lakes and Illinois country in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the Illinois, Ottawas, and other Algonqiuan-speaking peoples and the rapidly evolving and always contested colonial context in which they occurred.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

264 pages | 6 x 9 | 5 illus
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4377-2 | $39.95s | £26.00
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8122-2321-7 | $22.50s | £15.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0704-0 | $22.50s | £15.00
A volume in the Early American Studies series

 

Race, Riots, and Roller CoastersNOW IN PAPERBACK
Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America
Victoria W. Wolcott

"History professor Wolcott recounts a staggering litany of large and small-scale protests and riots at recreational facilities across the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s. Wolcott aims to make the case that the struggle to desegregate recreational facilities is an often overlooked but essential facet of the American Civil Rights narrative. . . . Together the stories reveal a national pattern of White violence against protestors and illuminate the shameful tactics employed by recreation facility owners to subvert the growing demand for desegregation."—Publishers Weekly

Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters tells the story of the battle for access to leisure space in cities across the United States. This detailed and eloquent history shows how African Americans fought to enter segregated amusement areas not only in pursuit of happiness but in connection to a wider movement for racial equality.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

320 pages | 6 x 9 | 18 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4434-2 | $34.95s | £23.00
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8122-2328-6 | $24.95s | £16.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0759-0 | $24.95s | £16.50
A volume in the Politics and Culture in Modern America series

 


ANCIENT STUDIES


Excavations in Residential Areas of Tikal—Nonelite Groups Without Shrines: Tikal Report 20A
William A. Haviland

Excavations in Residential Areas of Tikal—Nonelite Groups Without Shrines is a two-volume presentation of the excavations carried out in and near small residential structures at Tikal, Guatemala. Tikal Report 20A is a descriptive presentation of the excavation data and includes nearly two hundred illustrations.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

720 pages | 8 1/2 x 11 | 183 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-1-934536-70-4 | $89.95s | £58.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-1-934536-71-1 | $89.95s | £58.50
Distributed for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

 

Foundation Myths in Ancient SocietiesFoundation Myths in Ancient Societies: Dialogues and Discourses
Naoíse Mac Sweeney, Editor

"An outstanding contribution to the study of foundation myths in ancient societies. Mac Sweeney sets out an exciting new paradigm in which they are treated as segments of multilayered foundation discourse; the individual contributors apply this model to a wide range of ancient societies from Italy to Afghanistan, with breathtaking results."—Ian Rutherford, University of Reading

Why did so many ancient communities have not one, but several, foundation myths? This book addresses the phenomenon of plural foundation myths, exploring examples from across classical antiquity. It makes the case for understanding foundation myths not as stand-alone stories, but as elements within a wider discourse of origins.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

256 pages | 6 x 9 | 36 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4642-1 | $69.95s | £45.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9021-9 | $69.95s | £45.50

 


ANTHROPOLOGY


Porta PalazzoNOW IN PAPERBACK
Porta Palazzo: The Anthropology of an Italian Market
Rachel E. Black. Foreword by Carlo Petrini

"A robust, well-structured and argued book. [Rachel Black] provides us with a fresh, different slant on an urban space that, as she demonstrates, is far from being a place simply for buying and selling food."—Anthropology of Food

"A very readable and accessible ethnography of the Porta Palazzo open-air market in Turin, Italy."—Journal of Modern Italian Studies

From the history of Porta Palazzo, Western Europe's largest open-air market, to its current growing pains, this book turns an ethnographic eye on a meeting place for trade, cultural identity, and cuisine.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

232 pages | 6 x 9 | 12 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4406-9 | $49.95s | £32.50
Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8122-2315-6 | $24.95s | £16.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0579-4 | $24.95s | £16.50
A volume in the Contemporary Ethnography series

 

Gay Voluntary Associations in New YorkGay Voluntary Associations in New York: Public Sharing and Private Lives
Moshe Shokeid

"Moshe Shokeid brings a comparative perspective to the study of gay men in America that is truly novel. By approaching gay men's lives through their involvement in voluntary associations, he reveals particularly American ways of being gay, rarely considered by scholars grounded only in the United States."—Ellen Lewin, University of Iowa

Gay Voluntary Associations in New York examines social groups and personal experiences in the LGBT population of New York City, including religious congregations and assemblies of senior, interracial, bisexual, and compulsive individuals, to shed light on their social discourse of sex, love, friendship, and spirituality.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

240 pages | 6 x 9
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4657-5 | $49.95s | £32.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9036-3 | $49.95s | £32.50

 


LITERATURE


Hamlet"Hamlet" After Q1: An Uncanny History of the Shakespearean Text
Zachary Lesser

"Zachary Lesser's fascinating book about Q1 Hamlet details what happened after the discovery of this black sheep in Shakespeare's textual family. The rich cast of characters here, including both bit players and eminent scholars, makes the story a Stoppard play waiting to be written."—Douglas Bruster, University of Texas at Austin

In 1823, Sir Henry Bunbury discovered an early edition of Hamlet that radically differs from the known and celebrated version of the play. Zachary Lesser examines how this improbable discovery forced readers to reexamine accepted truths about Shakespeare as an author and the nature of Shakespeare's texts.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

304 pages | 6 x 9 | 27 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4661-2 | $59.95s | £39.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9039-4 | $59.95s | £39.00
A volume in the Material Texts series

 


MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES


Learning to Die in London, 1380-1540Learning to Die in London, 1380-1540
Amy Appleford

"An original and significant work that demonstrates the different, and evolving, ways in which Londoners understood the nature of death and prepared themselves for it, and for what was to come afterwards."—Caroline Barron, University of London

"An astonishingly good book that recenters our understanding of late medieval religious devotion."—Fiona Somerset, University of Connecticut

Learning to Die in London, 1380-1540 argues that the educated awareness of death and mortality was a vital aspect of the city's civic culture, critical not only to the shaping of single lives and the management of households but also to practices of cultural memory, building of institutions, and good government of the city itself.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

336 pages | 6 x 9 | 3 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4669-8 | $65.00s | £42.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9047-9 | $65.00s | £42.50
A volume in the Middle Ages Series

 

Doppelgänger DilemmasDoppelgänger Dilemmas: Anglo-Dutch Relations in Early Modern English Literature and Culture
Marjorie Rubright

"A gracefully written, thought-provoking, and original book. Although the Dutch were central to how the English understood themselves, they have received surprisingly little attention from those interested in ethnicity and nationhood until now. Doppelgänger Dilemmas revises our understanding of the role the Dutch played in English self-definitions and of how ethnicity was constituted in the early modern period—and beyond."—Frances E. Dolan, University of California, Davis

Examining literary and dramatic puns, double entendres, and other doublings, Marjorie Rubright uncovers the ways early modern England's real and imagined proximities with the Dutch played a crucial role in the making of English ethnicity.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

352 pages | 6 x 9 | 32 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4623-0 | $69.95s | £45.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9006-6 | $69.95s | £45.50

 


POLITICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS


Adapting to WinAdapting to Win: How Insurgents Fight and Defeat Foreign States in War
Noriyuki Katagiri

"Adapting to Win makes highly compelling and analytically sound arguments about how to understand the forces that influence the ability of states to confront and defeat nonstate actors."—William C. Martel, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Through case studies of violent insurgent groups pitted against foreign state powers, including in-depth examinations of the war in Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq war, Adapting to Win examines the circumstances and tactics that allow some insurgencies to succeed in wars against foreign governments while others fail.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

312 pages | 6 x 9 | 5 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4641-4 | $69.95s | £45.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9013-4 | $69.95s | £45.50

 

After Civil WarAfter Civil War: Division, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation in Contemporary Europe
Bill Kissane, Editor

"This important book may well be the first serious comparative study of how European societies reconstruct national identities after civil conflict. The cases, from Ireland and Finland early in the twentieth century to the 1998 peace agreement in Northern Ireland, are varied in their approaches but all interesting and enlightening. The contributors find that in most cases the political system was rebuilt first, while societal reconciliation took many decades—an important lesson for peace processors everywhere."—Stuart Kaufman, University of Delaware

After Civil War compares the postconflict reconstruction projects of Bosnia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Spain, and Turkey to explore how former combatants and their supporters learn to coexist as one nation in the aftermath of ethnopolitical or ideological violence.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

312 pages | 6 x 9 | 14 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4652-0 | $69.95s | £45.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9030-1 | $69.95s | £45.50
A volume in the National and Ethnic Conflict in the 21st Century series

 

Fateful TransitionsFateful Transitions: How Democracies Manage Rising Powers, from the Eve of World War I to China's Ascendance
Daniel M. Kliman

"Nothing will be more important to twenty-first-century strategy than a global approach to managing the rise of both China and India as their economies and strategic options increase. The wisdom and history in Fateful Transitions are a good place to start."—Admiral James Stavridis, Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University

Fateful Transitions offers a new perspective on the debate about China's ascendance and the global power shift. The book examines how democratic nations have navigated the rise of other states from 1895 to the present and explains what today's leaders can learn from history.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

248 pages | 6 x 9 | 1 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4653-7 | $59.95s | £39.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9029-5 | $59.95s | £39.00
A volume in the Haney Foundation Series

 

Power-Sharing ExecutivesPower-Sharing Executives: Governing in Bosnia, Macedonia, and Northern Ireland
Joanne McEvoy

"This innovative, nuanced study of power sharing is the first to focus on institutional rules. It is a well-researched and well-written text, which will be worthwhile reading for undergraduates, graduates, and professors alike."—John McGarry, Queen's University, Canada

Based on interviews with power-sharing executives and external actors in Bosnia, Macedonia, and Northern Ireland, this in-depth study explores the challenges of promoting cooperation and accommodation between elites representing contending groups in deeply divided places.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

288 pages | 6 x 9
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4651-3 | $79.95s | £52.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9026-4 | $79.95s | £52.00
A volume in the National and Ethnic Conflict in the 21st Century series

 


RELIGIOUS STUDIES


Practicing Piety in Medieval AshkenazPracticing Piety in Medieval Ashkenaz: Men, Women, and Everyday Religious Observance
Elisheva Baumgarten

"This fascinating and persuasive book will play an important bridging role as the study of medieval Christianity focuses more on lay piety, and as medievalists seek more and more to integrate material on diverse cultures into their scholarship and teaching."—Ruth Mazo Karras, University of Minnesota

Elisheva Baumgarten offers a fresh assessment of Jewish daily practices in medieval Ashkenaz. The first study to address the practices of men and women together, Baumgarten explores how Jews who were not learned alongside those who were expressed their convictions and reinforced their identities as Jews within a Christian world.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

344 pages | 6 x 9 | 17 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4640-7 | $69.95s | £45.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9012-7 | $69.95s | £45.50
A volume in the Jewish Culture and Contexts series

 

Liturgical SubjectsLiturgical Subjects: Christian Ritual, Biblical Narrative, and the Formation of the Self in Byzantium
Derek Krueger

"A thrilling tour of Byzantine culture through wholly unexpected routes. With beautifully crafted prose, Krueger presents a trajectory lucidly drawn, filled with arresting insight and searing, poignant imagery; yet the account is concrete and concise, moving deftly through its chapters with impressive economy and formidable command of a wide array of textual and material evidence."—Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Brown University

Focusing on the practice of Byzantine Orthodoxy in Constantinople from the sixth to eleventh centuries, Liturgical Subjects examines how hymns, sermons, prayers, and art offered models for Christian self-recognition and scripts for repentance.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

328 pages | 6 x 9 | 24 illus.
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4644-5 | $75.00s | £49.00
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9015-8 | $75.00s | £49.00
A volume in the Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion series

 


WORLD HISTORY


Food and Environment in Early and Medieval ChinaFood and Environment in Early and Medieval China
E. N. Anderson

"This is a marvelous book, a long-view description of China's basic geography, the advantages and constraints imposed by climate and terrain, human conservation and despoliation of the natural environment, and the effect of all of these on food customs."—Paul Freedman, Yale University

Food and Environment in Early and Medieval China provides an account of the development of food systems, agriculture, and trade in China's imperial era, connecting those foodways to the global phenomenon of Chinese cuisine today.

Full Description, Table of Contents, and More

352 pages | 6 x 9
Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4638-4 | $69.95s | £45.50
Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-9009-7 | $69.95s | £45.50
A volume in the Encounters with Asia series

 


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