In his landmark book Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples since 1500, acclaimed historian Peter H. Wilson offers a masterful reappraisal of German militarism and warfighting over the last five centuries, leading to the rise of Prussia and the world wars. Below, Wilson answers our questions about this complex history, breaking down key moments and challenging preconceptions about a specifically “German way of war.”  Why did you feel it important to include the histories of Austria and Switzerland in the story of German military history? Modern Germany is a ver ..read more

In The Burnout Challenge, leading researchers of burnout Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter focus on what occurs when the conditions and requirements set by a workplace are out of sync with the needs of people who work there. These “mismatches,” ranging from work overload to value conflicts, cause both workers and workplaces to suffer. In our interview, the authors discuss the current state of burnout in the workplace as well as the reaction to their book.  You both have been researching burnout in the workplace for a long time. What has been the biggest workplace or management styl ..read more

In her new book Elixir: A Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life, Theresa Levitt tells the story of two scientific outcasts whose work rewrote the boundary between life and nonlife—and in so doing, takes us on a sensory journey through nineteenth-century Paris. Here, we asked Levitt a few questions about some of the unexpected things she discovered while writing this fascinating history.  What first brought you to writing a book about the history and chemistry of perfume? I had been interested for a while in the question of whether there is anything “special” about l ..read more

For Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the work of Elizabeth Cobbs, whose new book Fearless Women shows how the movement for women’s rights has been deeply entwined with the history of the United States since its founding. Cobbs traces the lives of pathbreaking women who, inspired by American ideals, fought for the cause in their own ways. These stories offer valuable lessons for the state of the nation today.  In Fearless Women, you argue that feminism has been as important in shaping who we are as Americans as were the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, and the Great Depress ..read more

It is inconceivable to think that a year has passed since Russia first launched its devastating invasion of Ukraine. The following books shed light on the ongoing conflict and provide a better understanding of Ukrainian history as well as the complicated, intertwined pasts of both countries as the war continues. Recent titles published by the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute also highlight the voices of Ukrainian writers through timely and harrowing narratives.   The Torture Camp on Paradise Street Stanislav Aseyev Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev details his experience as a pri ..read more

There is no better way for readers to usher in the new year than by looking back to the books that defined the last. For Harvard University Press, our 2022 bestsellers make up a diverse list of books across time and discipline. Last year gave us new essentials like Thomas Piketty’s A Brief History of Equality and Henry Louis Gates and Andrew S. Curran’s Who’s Black and Why?, both of which speak directly to current pressing issues of injustice and inequality. Ever relevant, Kathleen Belew’s Bring the War Home and Eswar S. Prasad’s The Future of Money continue to provide insight into today’s pol ..read more

  HarperCollins and Harvard University Press have a new collaboration - The Lecture, a series of talks by writers and thinkers from around the world brought to Indian audiences.    The inaugural lecture – ‘Vivekananda, Guru to the World’ by Professor Ruth Harris will take place at Delhi’s iconic India Habitat Centre's Stein Auditorium, on Friday January 27, 2023, 7.00 p.m.  The lecture will be based on Professor Harris’s definitive biography of Vivekananda, the Indian monk who shaped the intellectual and spiritual history of both East and West. Professor Harris is Seni ..read more

Starting in the summer of 2023, for the first time in almost thirty years, Harvard Book Store will have two locations: our flagship store in Harvard Square, and a large new store in the Prudential Center in Boston.  For University Press Week, we wanted to show some bookseller love, so we reached out to Rachel Cass, General Manager of the Harvard Book Store to see what's planned for their exciting new location.   Among the many challenges of opening a second location, a central question has been identifying what exactly makes us Harvard Book Store. In Cambridge, we sit directly ..read more

August 14 and August 15 mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of independence from British rule for Pakistan and India, respectively. Inextricably linked to the birth of these two South Asian nations is the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent that tragically accompanied the end of British colonialism. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, described the moment of independence as a tryst with destiny. “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the ..read more

We asked our colleagues, “What is one word you would use to describe an ideal summer read?” Their answers range across all the summer feels, from those easygoing lazy hazy days to that voltage of energy that fires up a reawakening. What’s more, their responses include book recommendations sure to help you breeze through the sunny season—from our own library as well as those of fellow university presses. Cheerful • Memory Speaks • Lives of Houses (Princeton University Press) “I wouldn’t want to read anything too heavy or depressing over summer.” —Ellie Diverting • Memory Speaks • Go Ahead in ..read more