Ten Books That Shaped the British Empire: Creating an Imperial Commons

Antoinette Burton, AM’84, PhD’90 Coeditor

Each of the 10 essays in this collection examines a book that influenced, and was influenced by, the British Empire—from Jane Eyre to Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj. Drawing from imperial studies and transnational book history, the essays offer a fresh perspective on the role of print culture in the British Empire as well as how books shaped one of history’s most powerful empires.

American Biodefense: How Dangerous Ideas about Biological Weapons Shape National Security

Frank L. Smith III, SB’00, AM’03, PhD’09 Author

Biological weapons have threatened US national security as early as the Revolutionary War, when British forces reportedly infected Continental troops with smallpox. But today most American funding for biodefense comes from public health, not military, budgets. Frank L. Smith III argues that US armed forces neglect biodefense in favor of bullets, bombs, and kinetic warfare, leaving America more vulnerable not only to biological weapons but also to radiation and cyber attacks.

Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East

Donna Lee Bowen, AM’72, PhD’81, and Evelyn A. Early, PhD’80 Coeditors

Containing contributions from editors and scholars including Anne Betteridge, AM’74, PhD’85; William Beeman, AM’71, PhD’76; Marcie Patton, AM’77, PhD’89; Robert Bianchi, AB’66, AM’68, PhD’77, JD’95; and Christine Nutter, AM’05, PhD’13, this collection of 37 essays aims to show the depth and diversity of life in the Muslim Middle East. Topics covered in the book range from Moroccan child rearing to Iran’s LGBT subculture. The third edition includes insight into the effect recent wars and uprisings, social media, and technology have had on Muslims’ lives and regional politics.

Boom, Bust, Exodus: The Rust Belt, the Maquilas, and a Tale of Two Cities

Chad Broughton, AM’97, PhD’01 Author

In 2004 a Maytag refrigerator plant closed in the small town of Galesburg, Illinois, and reopened as a maquila, or a factory operating in a free-trade zone, in the border city of Reynosa, Mexico. Galesburg workers scrambled to find new employment while jobs and money streamed into Reynosa, but the lasting impacts were much more complex. Focusing on how the plant’s relocation affected residents in each city over the following decade, Chad Broughton, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, offers a nuanced examination of the effects and costs of globalization and industrial migration.

Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice

Bill Browder, AB’85 Author

American-born financier Bill Browder describes his journey to the helm of the largest investment fund in post-USSR Russia and how his attempts to gain more transparency in the country’s business culture led President Vladimir Putin to revoke his visa in 2005. After one of his lawyers, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested and died at the hands of Russian officials a few years later for investigating a raid on Browder’s Moscow offices, Browder became devoted to exposing corruption and human rights abuses in Putin’s government. Browder also covers his ongoing campaign for reform—and justice for Magnitsky.

Who’s Afraid of Academic Freedom?

Akeel Bilgrami, PhD’83 Coeditor

In 17 essays, senior academics— including University faculty members John Mearsheimer; Richard A. Shweder; Geoffrey R. Stone, JD’71; and President Robert J. Zimmer— tackle the complicated and often controversial issue of academic freedom. Coedited by Akeel Bilgrami, a philosophy professor at Columbia University, the essays discuss obstacles to free inquiry that the writers have experienced personally or professionally, from the influence of donors to institutional review board licensing to intellectual orthodoxy, and affirm the importance of academic freedom in our society.