Last week was National Library Week, and though we’re a little late to the party, Yale Press has a number of titles to help bibliophiles continue exploring this year’s theme: “Worlds connect @ your library.” “Libraries,” Alberto Manguel says, “have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as
Paul VanDevelder is a featured author on Smithsonian.com’s History and Archeology page this week, giving readers a sneak peek at his new book, Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America’s Road to Empire through Indian Territory. His latest post sets the scene on what the tribes called “The Great
Congratulations are in order for Pekka Hamalainen, author of Comanche Empire and winner of the 2009 Bancroft Prize. One of the most prestigious honors in the field of history, the Bancroft Prize is awarded annually by the trustees of Columbia University to the authors of exceptional works in the fields
When we look back at the conditions that early Americans tolerated every day (sewage streaming through the streets, animals sharing spaces with their keepers) it’s amazing that they ever achieved that near-godly state known as cleanliness. In an enlightening discussion at the University of Pennsylvania, YUP author and UPenn historian
If you’re looking for a great gift book for the holiday season, Jessica Helfand‘s Scrapbooks: An American History may be your answer. The New York Times recently called the volume the best gift book of the year, praising its stunning, evocative visuals that “work to bring the world into our
Today’s Wall Street Journal features an enthusiastic review of the Nelson-Atkins Museum’s exhibit “Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America, and the Railway, 1830-1960,” in which the author praises the “outstanding” essays collected in the accompanying catalog published by the Yale University Press. With more than 250 illustrations, The
Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes recently snagged the 2008 National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) in the History/Biography category. From stories of the triumphant to those of the thwarted, Fallen Giants chronicles over 120 years of mankind’s attempts to
At the Seventh Annual Connecticut Book Awards held in the atrium of Hartford Public Library on September 21, 2008, Drawn to Enchant was awarded the 2008 Connecticut Book Award for Design in praise of its imaginative and colorful arrangement. The Connecticut Center for the Book, which presents the awards every
Though talk of the Middle East may have slipped from the front page in the midst of an economic crisis, the scholars at the Washington Institute have remained firmly focused on their goal of “promoting security, peace, prosperity, and democracy” for the people of the Middle East. In their inaugural