Religion Around Walter Benjamin

Brian Britt

“An excellent sourcebook for students and readers of Benjamin coming at his life and writing for the first time. Almost every source that could be called ‘religious’ or ‘religion’ in circles close to him, circles he may have crossed, and circles far from him is given a nod”—Paul North, author of The Yield: Kafka’s Atheological Reformation

Scented Visions

Smell in Art, 1850–1914

Christina Bradstreet

“The first study of its kind, Christina Bradstreet’s Scented Visions documents in stunning detail the important role of scent in nineteenth-century art. Tracing a myriad of scent motifs that emerge across a wide array of art styles and movements, Bradstreet’s book makes a powerful contribution to our understanding of the cultural contexts of smell and history, particularly in this visual discipline in which we assume it must be marginalized. Upending assumptions about what constitutes the visual, Bradstreet offers a powerful model for what it means to ‘see’ smell in our archives of the past.”—Holly Dugan, author of The Ephemeral History of Perfume: Scent and Sense in Early Modern England

The Living from the Dead

Disaffirming Biopolitics

Stuart J. Murray

“A meticulously conceptualized and eloquently argued ethico-rhetorical critique of neoliberal modernity and an impassioned disaffirmation of its biopolitical rationality. . . . This is a book not just to be read and then read again, but also to be thought about for a very long time.”—Barbara A. Biesecker, author of Addressing Postmodernity: Kenneth Burke, Rhetoric, and a Theory of Social Change

Friendly Sovereignty

Historical Perspectives on Carl Schmitt's Neglected Exception

Ted H. Miller

“Sovereignty is a major subject in discussions of politics today. Thanks to widespread interest in Carl Schmitt’s writings, it figures in critiques of liberalism that stress the reality of violent extralegal action. Covering three political thinkers, Friendly Sovereignty directs our eyes to the dangers of nonviolent, ‘friendly’ forms of extralegality—favoritism, corruption, and mercy. It is a timely warning, born of the recognition that ‘friendly sovereignty’ has been a clear and present danger in recent U.S. politics.”—Deborah Baumgold, author of Contract Theory in Historical Context: Essays on Grotius, Hobbes, and Locke

The Journal of Design History says of Timothy McCall’s Brilliant Bodies: “Specialists have long awaited the publication of [McCall’s] book, which will turn into an instant classic in the field.”

The Journal of Ecohumanism calls Fear and Nature, edited by Christy Tidwell and Carter Soles, “representative and symbolic.”

The article “Cormac McCarthy’s Interviews in Tennessee and Kentucky, 1968–1980” in The Cormac McCarthy Journal was recently featured in a story in the New York Times! Click here to access the article which is open until the end of the year.

Call for Papers! 2023 Steinbeck Conference: “Reading, Teaching, and Translating Steinbeck.” Potential topics include comparative studies of Steinbeck and post-Steinbeck writers, issues in translating Steinbeck’s works into other languages, stage/film/video adaptations, and approaches to teaching Steinbeck in contemporary classrooms. For more information, click here.

Political Change and Material Culture in Middle to Late Bronze Age Canaan

Shlomit Bechar

“Bechar has undertaken an in-depth study of the ceramics at Hazor and put its assemblage in dialogue with those of surrounding settlements, which will be extremely useful for archaeologists working in the region. This study allows her to make important conclusions—such as the fact that pottery shapes at Tel Arqa in the LB II become less similar to those in the Southern Levant and more similar to those of the Northern Levant. In border zones where allegiances fluctuate, this kind of ceramic shift may represent one of the few available ways to understand political shifts at the time.”—Ellen Morris, author of Ancient Egyptian Imperialism

The Landfill of Early Roman Jerusalem

The 2013–2014 Excavations in Area D3

Yuval Gadot

“The studies in this volume provide a fascinating window into Early Roman Jerusalem by presenting the results of the meticulous excavation of a massive garbage dump on the southeastern slope of the City of David. The comprehensive and detailed analyses of the various categories of finds—including pottery, coins, stone vessels, glass, animal and fish bones, and wood—indicate the existence of an organized system of rubbish disposal, much of which appears to represent ordinary household waste. These studies therefore add a valuable new dimension to our understanding of daily life in late Second Temple Jerusalem.”—Jodi Magness, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hakim’s Odyssey Book 3

From Macedonia to France

Joshua Kemble

“Toulmé’s affecting storytelling depicts the vast differences of each country’s treatment of migrants, as well as the Kafkaesque maze many ordinary people fleeing hardships face. Series fans will appreciate this thoughtful conclusion, and the completed trilogy should gain a wider readership as well as ready adoption into schools or reading groups.”—starred review, Publishers Weekly

The Pass

Espé

The only way out is through.

Camille and Bastien are overjoyed at the birth of their second child. But their happiness is short-lived. Soon after Louis is born, he is diagnosed with severe heart defects. Because of his young age, he must wait for surgery—and the operation itself could prove fatal.