Author Article by Andrew Wilson: Why I wrote about Belarus, the last European dictatorship
Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship by Andrew Wilson explores the country’s complicated past from medieval times through to its current situation under a corrupt, authoritarian and surprisingly tenacious president. Here the author, an expert in Eastern European politics, discusses why he chose to write about Belarus and gives a damning indictment of its leader and his … Read more
Books Unbound: Non-Fiction Literary Prizes. Are they Useful?
It has been an exciting year for Yale University Press titles, with a large selection winning prestigious literary awards, including the History Today Prize and the £50,000 Warwick Prize for Writing. Here Yale publisher Heather McCallum, whose books have picked up four significant awards this year, discusses non-fiction prizes and their role within the publishing … Read more
Author Article by Daniel Branch: Kenya and Somalia, landscape of tension
Kenya: Between Hope and Despair , 1963-2010 by Daniel Branch is an illuminating account of Kenya’s first fifty years of independence. Here the author gives a detailed analysis of the fractious mix of violence and politics that is unsettling the relationship between Somalia and Kenya. The Somali militia group known as al-Shabaab is often viewed as … Read more
Michael Hunter wins Samuel Pepys prize for ‘Boyle: Between God and Science’
Historian Michael Hunter has won the 2011 Samuel Pepys Award for his fascinating biography of 17th-century scientist and philosopher Robert Boyle. Boyle: Between God and Science by Michael Hunter has been awarded the biennial Samuel Pepys Award, which is given to a book which makes the greatest contribution to the understanding of the famous diarist Samuel … Read more
The Art of Revolutionary China: New exhibition and book explores the work of Fu Baoshi
Opening this month at Ohio’s Cleveland Museum of Art is a fantastic new exhibition exploring the work of Fu Baoshi, a preeminent figure in twentieth-century Chinese art. For those of us unlikely to visit the Buckeye State in the coming months, a beautiful catalogue from Yale accompanies the exhibition. Today we look at Fu Baoshi and … Read more
