Indiana University Press blog

Staff recommendations for 50% off spring book sale

Today is the first day of spring, and we're celebrating with a 50% off book sale! It can be a daunting task to make a selection from our 2,000+ titles, so we surveyed our staff to see which books they recommend to jump-start your spring reading. We hope you find something you like from the list below, which includes a wide range of interests from American History to Women's Studies! Check out the IU Press website for a complete list of books. Our sale ends March 22, so don't delay purchasing your favorite titles at half off!

American History

• Defeating Lee
  Dave Hulsey, Director of Sales and Marketing
• The Darkest Dawn
  Rich Pierce, Systems Analyst/Programmer
• Somebody’s Darling
  Bernie Zoss, Production Director
• Dillinger: The Untold Story
  Rhonda Vander Dussen, Sales and Marketing Assistant
• A Life is More Than a Moment
  Mary Lou Shelly, Senior Customer Service Representative

Anthropology

• Connected in Cairo
  Angela Burton, Managing Editor
• The Art of Loving Krishna
  Marvin Keenan, Project Manager

Art & Photography

• Contemporary Quilt Art
  Linda Bannister, Journals Marketing Manager
• Saving the Big Cats
  Kate Matthen, Marketing and Sales Coordinator
• Real Stories of Big Cat Rescues
  Mary Beth Haas, Sales Manager

Education

• Searching for Hope
  Mandy Clarke, Trade Marketing and Publicity Manager
• Conversations with Great Teachers
  Rebecca Tolen, Sponsoring Editor

Film & Media

• The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies
  Dan Pyle, Production Coordinator and Vendor Liaison
• The Magazine Article
  Joy Andreakis, Electronic and Serials Publishing Manager

Literature & Essays

• Earth Works
  Laura Baich, Electronic Marketing Manager
• Rural Free
  Jennifer Witzke, Marketing Designer
• Petersburg
  Peter Froehlich, Rights Manager

Books from the Global African Voices series:

• Little Mother
  Dee Mortensen, Senior Sponsoring Editor
• Life and a Half
  June Silay, Project Manager
• Murambi, The Book of Bones
  Jennifer Coyle, Customer Service Representative

Book from the Break Away Books series:

• The Glimpse Traveler
  Sarah Jacobi, Assistant Sponsoring Editor

Book from the Library of Indiana Classics series:

• A Girl of the Limberlost
  Kathy Stout, Accounting Associate

Music

• Debussy Redux
  Raina Polivka, Sponsoring Editor
• Beethoven in America
  Pam Rude, Senior Book Designer

Nature

• Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests
  Linda Oblack, Sponsoring Editor
• 101 Trees of Indiana
  Nancy Lightfoot, Project Manager
• Fishes of Indiana
  Steve Carter, Warehouse Manager
• Mammals of Indiana
  Laura Hohman, Production Assistant
• Perennials Short and Tall
  Dan Nichols, Operations Director
• The Natural Heritage of Indiana
  Tony Brewer, Composition Coordinator

Politics

• Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate
  Janet Rabinowitch, Director

Railroads

• Moonlight in Duneland
  Mary Blizzard, Book Designer
• The Indiana Rail Road Company
  Jamison Cockerham, Book Designer

Science

• Dinosaurs of Eastern Iberia
  Bob Sloan, Editorial Director
• Why You Can Never Get to the End of the Rainbow And Other Moments of Science
  Ted Boardman, Technology Director

Women’s Studies

• A Home of Her Own
  Judith Caldwell, Journals Production Manager
• To Write Like a Woman
  Darja Malcolm-Clarke, Project Manager

World History

• Last Folio
  Mollie Ables, Marketing Services Coordinator
• The Style of Paris
  Theresa Halter, Publicity Coordinator

Women's History Month interview with Sylvia D. Hoffert

In honor of Women's History Month, I'm taking a closer look at Sylvia D. Hoffert's new biography, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont: Unlikely Champion of Women's Rights.

As a New York socialite, Alva was known to be domineering, temperamental, and opinionated. In the later half of her life, she converted to feminism and became the most generous donor to the National Woman's Party.

I talked with Professor Hoffert about the history of the women's rights, how issues have changed (or, how they haven't), and how Alva became a remarkable promoter of the women's social movement.

This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is “Women’s Education—Women’s Empowerment.” In your personal experience and professional studies, how have you seen women’s education change?

The changes have been dramatic. When I applied for admission to college in 1961, many elite colleges including the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, and the Ivy League schools did not admit women as undergraduates. Now they all do. 

One of the accomplishments of second wave feminism was to force the introduction of courses about women across the liberal arts curriculum—in such fields as history, sociology, anthropology, communication, political science. ... And female scholars created programs and departments in women’s studies... Essentially there was a re-evaluation of what constituted an appropriate focus of study. The result was an inclusiveness that was unprecedented. 

That is not to say that those changes came easily or that women were treated well when they invaded what had previously been almost exclusively male professional space. ...Remember, if you will, that within the last ten years Larry Summers, President of Harvard University, was fired partly because he publicly denigrated the ability of women to excel in science.

Continuing with this year's theme, do you believe that women's empowerment is a direct result of education? How else can young women feel empowered?

The only way for women to achieve power in American society is through education and organization. Education provides them the intellectual tools they need to identify the structural barriers that prevent women from achieving justice and equality and from controlling their own bodies and lives. Organizing provides them with the strength in numbers needed to challenge those structural barriers and destroy them.

How has the women's rights movement progressed in the past century?

Originally, feminists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton had a fairly broad agenda for improving the status of women in the United States. The Declaration of Sentiments signed at the 1848 Seneca Falls [New York] Woman’s Rights Convention contained provisions for advancing the status of American women in all aspects of economic, social, political, legal, and religious life. By the time Alva Belmont became a feminist in the early twentieth century the agenda had been reduced to the right to vote.

What issues should modern-day feminists pay attention to?

The issues haven’t changed much. At all levels of society and in all aspects of economic, political, and religious life, women are still second class citizens. Many women are still denied the right to control their bodies. Many women are still the victims of abuse. Many women and their children still don’t have adequate health care. Women are still underrepresented in male dominated fields such as engineering, chemistry, and physics. Most women still make less money than most men. Fortune 500 companies still do not typically appoint women to be their CEOs or to serve on their boards of directors. There are still denominations that refuse to allow women to become full-fledged ministers. Only a few members of congress are female. I could go on and on.

In your book, you discuss how all biographies have a sense of autobiography to them, since the biographer reads their subject’s life through their own lens of personal experiences. Could you expand on this?

It is impossible to spend the time necessary to write a biography and not develop some sort of personal relationship with the subject of your work. You may end up liking or disliking that individual. You may respect or not respect what they did and approve or not approve of the way they did it. It takes years to do the research for a biography and then write it. By the time you have finished, you have an opinion about such matters. 

The point I was trying to make is that we inevitably see the world through our own lens and interpret the actions of others through our own experience. Thus the issue is not whether what we write is true but whether our representation of the life of someone else is based solidly on the evidence available to us. That’s as close to the truth as we are ever going to get.

In addition to her generous financial support to the women’s suffrage movement, Alva’s celebrity status was an important part of the social campaign’s success. Would those donations have been as impactful without Alva’s socialite reputation?

Money, and lots of it, always has an impact whether or not it is attached to a celebrity. Alva’s celebrity was important to the woman’s rights movement because it served as an incredibly important form of free advertising. She was a public relations executive’s dream.

Finally, what words of wisdom do you have for the future generations? Or, what do you suppose Alva would say if she saw the world today?

As for words of wisdom—never assume that women will gain and then maintain their rights without a struggle. There has always been and will continue to be a backlash against women’s progress that is supported and organized by those whose interests are served by women’s subordination. 

I think Alva would still support women’s rights and be willing to give money to women’s causes. And, given her incredible ego, I think she would still be trying to take credit for the advances that women have been able to gain for themselves.

Book review: Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate

"In this well-researched account, ... Shaw focuses on the senator's interests and actions during his three decades in the Senate ... Attention is also given to Lugar as a truly bipartisan politician ... Shaw gives a convincing description of Lugar's 'considerable legislative legacy.'" —Publishers Weekly

Book review: Al Capone and His American Boys

"Al Capone and His American Boys is more than just fascinating history—it's built on the human interest element of living a gangster’s life." —MafiaLife Blog

Author interview: David M. Jordan (FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944)

Although the presidential election of 1944 placed FDR in the White House for an unprecedented fourth term, historical memory of the election itself has changed. Today most people assume that FDR’s reelection was assured. Yet, as the new book FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 reveals, neither the outcome of the campaign nor even the choice of candidates was assured. On this 67th anniversary of the election, I talked with author David M. Jordan to learn more about the fascinating campaign between FDR and Dewey.

Many assume that FDR’s 1944 re-election was a given, but the presidential race was much closer than many recall. Why has the historical memory of this election changed?

I believe that the historical memory of FDR as a candidate who never lost is part of it—“how could FDR even have a close election?”—and the fact that it was very much a part of the war and the war effort. Also perhaps the fact that Dewey lost again four years later tends to lower him in the historical memory.

What were the reasons that the election was so close?

The country seemed to be trending toward more conservatism and the liberalism of the New Deal was fading as the economy improved. A lot of folks were also unhappy with the government-imposed restrictions of the war effort, and the rumors about Roosevelt’s health had some effect, as did all the Communism talk by the Republicans. And, while it didn’t affect the electoral college vote, FDR’s popular vote in the South went down, as the Democratic strength in the South started on its way down.

What is one of the most interesting aspects of the election?

The most interesting aspect of the election in my eyes was the struggle for the selection of the Democratic vice-presidential nominee: the down-grading of Wallace, the push for Byrnes and others, the reluctance of Truman, and, most of all, the “hands-off” and sometimes duplicitous attitude of Roosevelt.

In the preface, you write about some of your childhood recollections of this presidential election. What is your most vivid memory from that time?

What I remember most is my mother’s constant talk about how bad FDR was. I also have a vivid memory of going to my local barber shop and, while waiting, picking up and reading LIFE magazine and a feature on Senate races across the country; I particularly recall reading about Leverett Saltonstall of Massachusetts and Wayne Morse of Oregon.

FDR’s personal physician made misleading statements about the president’s health to keep the public in the dark about the seriousness of his condition. Do you think it’s possible to keep this kind of information a secret today?

No, I think today’s media would never stand for something like what Dr. McIntire did. Even then, the reporters could see that Roosevelt looked a lot different from before and they felt that there was something they weren’t being told, but they had nowhere else to turn. Today, even if the mainstream media were to go along with some kind of a cover-up, all those magazines that turn up next to the supermarket check-out lines would have a field day with the president’s health secrets.

How did Dewey, who has been described as “cold,” “humorless,” and having “little natural political endowment,” end up securing the 1944 Republican nomination?

The main reason he got it was the fact that Republican politicians across the country felt that Dewey was the only one who could carry New York State against Roosevelt. They looked at what he had done in the 1938 and 1942 statewide elections and they figured he had a good chance of carrying NY (as well as the other eastern states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc.). Most of them liked Bricker much better than Dewey, but they didn’t think Bricker had any real chance to crack the eastern-states bloc. And, of course, Dewey had very persuasive agents like Brownell and Jaeckle going around the country pushing his (invisible) candidacy and getting delegates lined up.

What were some new or surprising facts you learned while doing research for your book?

I never knew about Willkie and the Wisconsin primary until I started on the book or the Warren VP-boom that he scuttled or the struggle to permit some sort of military voting.

How long did it take you to complete the research for the book?

Looking back, I would say it was some six or seven years, with my first research trip to Notre Dame to go through the Frank Walker papers.

In addition to this book, you’ve also written several others on a range of topics, including politics, history, and sports. Are you working on any other books? What will the next one be about?

The publisher of my 2001 history of the Philadelphia Phillies, Occasional Glory, has me doing a second edition, bringing it up to date through 2011. I have also started a history of the Athletics franchise from coast to coast, from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland. And I’ve been giving thought to my next non-baseball work.

Kentucke's Frontiers wins Kentucky Governor's Award

Congratulations to Craig Thompson Friend, whose book Kentucke's Frontiers won the 2011 Kentucky Governor's Award! This award, given every four years, honors the author who made the most significant contribution to Kentucky history during the Governor's term. The Office of the Governor and the Kentucky Historical Society present this award together.

Book review: Railroad Noir

"Scholars who seek to understand the realities of skilled industrial labor and the lived experience of workers in the world of deregulation, Title IX, union-busting, and head-spinning corporate mergers will be nothing but pleased with this book." —Technology and Culture

Book review: Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary

"Boomhower's account of the 1968 Indiana primary is a highly readable monograph that contextualizes the campaign quite well. ... The book is a valuable contribution to RFK scholarship and sheds new light on the inner workings of one of Kennedy's most important political endeavors." —Presidential Studies Quarterly

Read an excerpt from Wreck of the Carl D.

On this day back in 1958, a 623-foot limestone carrier—caught in one of the most violent storms in Lake Michigan history—broke in two and sank in less than five minutes. Four of the 35-person crew escaped to a small raft, to which they clung in total darkness, braving 30-foot waves and frigid temperatures. As the storm raged on, a search-and-rescue mission hunted for survivors, while the frantic citizens of nearby Rogers City, Michigan, the hardscrabble town that was home to 26 members of the Carl D. Bradley's crew, anxiously awaited word of their loved ones' fates. In Wreck of the Carl D., Michael Schumacher reconstructs the terrible accident, perilous search, and chilling aftermath for the small Michigan town so intimately affected by the tragedy.

Read an excerpt from the book.

Book review: American Confluence

"Perhaps the greatest contribution that the book ... makes is to cast a series of new ways of thinking about our region. ...[T]his book offers a compelling and fresh way of thinking of the constant movement of people and development of strategies in the region that creates a regional realpolitik that flows and changes like, well, the rivers themselves." —Jeffrey Smith, Lindenwood University, History Happens Here