New Books Network
British Studies
Critical Theory February 24, 2021

Penguin Books and Political Change

Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988

Dean Blackburn

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why do books and publishing matter to the contemporary history of Britain? In Penguin Books and Political Change: Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988 (Manchester UP, 2020), Dean Blackburn, a Lecturer in Modern …

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History February 22, 2021

A New History of England

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
'Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life.' Cecil Rhodes's characteristically nineteenth-century confidence rings rather hollow as England enters the twenty-first …
History February 22, 2021

London and the Seventeenth Century

The Making of the World's Greatest City

Margarette Lincoln

Hosted by Joshua Tham
Margarette Lincoln's London and the Seventeenth Century (Yale University Press, 2021) explores the ups and downs of life in Stuart London through the eyes of those who lived through it.  The Gunpowder Plot, the …
Medicine February 19, 2021

The Filth Disease

Typhoid Fever and the Practices of Epidemiology in Victorian England

Jacob Steere-Williams

Hosted by Claire Clark
Typhoid fever is a food- and water-borne infectious disease that was insidious and omnipresent in Victorian Britain. It was one of the most prolific diseases of the Industrial Revolution. There …
Christian Studies February 16, 2021

They Knew They Were Pilgrims

Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty

John G. Turner

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
John G. Turner's excellent new history of the early American separatists, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty (Yale University Press, 2020) provides a new …
History February 15, 2021

Reluctant European

Britain and the European Union from 1945 to Brexit

Stephen Wall

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
In 2016, the voters of the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union. The majority for 'Leave' was small. Yet, in more than 40 years of EU membership, the …
Intellectual History February 12, 2021

Dreamworlds of Race

Empire and the Utopian Destiny of Anglo-America

Duncan Bell

Hosted by Yi Ning Chang
Published in December 2020, Duncan Bell’s Dreamworlds of Race: Empire and the Utopian Destiny of Anglo-America (Princeton University Press, 2020) concludes his loose trilogy of books about the metropolitan settler imaginary in …
Science February 8, 2021

The Experimental Fire

Inventing English Alchemy, 1300-1700

Jennifer M. Rampling

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
A four-hundred-year history of the development of alchemy in England that brings to light the evolution of the practice. Tracing the development of alchemy in England from the beginning of …
Christian Studies February 4, 2021

Christian Socialism as Political Ideology

The Formation of the British Christian Left, 1877-1945

Anthony A.J. Williams

Hosted by Crawford Gribben
Anthony A.J. Williams is a political scientist who has taught at the University of Liverpool and at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Anthony is the author of an outstanding new account …
Military History February 4, 2021

The Compleat Victory

Saratoga and the American Revolution

Kevin Weddle

Hosted by Scott Lipkowitz
British hopes that the American War for Independence would be brought to a swift conclusion began to wane in the early months of 1777. Despite brilliant victories over Washington and …
Architecture February 2, 2021

Estate Regeneration

Learning from the Past, Housing Communities of the Future

Brendan Kilpatrick and Manisha Patel

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
One hundred years ago, the Addison Act created the circumstances for the large scale construction of municipal housing in the UK. This would lead to the most prolific phases of …
Christian Studies February 2, 2021

Sermons on Jeremiah's Lamentations

David Dickson

Hosted by Crawford Gribben
Matthew A. Vogan, who has published several books on the religious history and literature of seventeenth-century Scotland, and several editions of works by Covenanter preachers and theologians, talks today about …
History February 2, 2021

Hotel London

How Victorian Commercial Hospitality Shaped a Nation and Its Stories

Barbara Black

Hosted by Mark Klobas
During the nineteenth century, the grand hotel emerged as a vital part of London life. Originally catering to elite visitors needing a place to stay in the short term, they …
History February 2, 2021

Rogue Empires

Contracts and Conmen in Europe's Scramble for Africa

Steven Press

Hosted by Vladislav Lilic
Steven Press is an Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University. His marvelous first book, Rogue Empires: Contracts and Conmen in Europe’s Scramble for Africa (Harvard University Press, 2017), is …
Christian Studies February 1, 2021

One Small Candle

The Plymouth Puritans and the Beginning of English New England

Francis J. Bremer

Hosted by Crawford Gribben
Frank Bremer's outstanding new book, One Small Candle: The Plymouth Puritans and the Beginning of English New England (Oxford UP, 2020), describes the fortunes of the congregation of pilgrims that settled …
Critical Theory January 29, 2021

Access All Areas

The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond

Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we create a more equal media industry? In Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond, Marcus Ryder and Sir Lenny Henry, both founder members of …
Christian Studies January 29, 2021

Born Again

The Evangelical Theology of Conversion in John Wesley and George Whitefield

Sean McGever

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
While the ministries of John Wesley and George Whitefield have been thoroughly examined by historians and theologians, too little attention has been given to the nuanced doctrine that is most associated …
Asian Review of Books January 28, 2021

The Moth and the Mountain

A True Story of Love, War, and Everest

Ed Caesar

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
In 1933, Maurice Wilson — First World War hero, drifting veteran, and amateur aviator, lands in the aerodrome at Purnea in British India. His goal is to be the first …
Science January 25, 2021

The Doctor Who Fooled the World

Andrew Wakefield's War on Vaccines

Brian Deer

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
A reporter uncovers the secrets behind the scientific scam of the century. The news breaks first as a tale of fear and pity. Doctors at a London hospital claim a link …
History January 25, 2021

Bread Winner

An Intimate History of the Victorian Economy

Emma Griffin

Hosted by Joshua Tham
Emma Griffin's Bread Winner: An Intimate History of the Victorian Economy (Yale UP, 2020) offers a refreshingly different take on the age of national prosperity in Britain from the 19th to early …