Books published by Princeton University Press

"How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon."--

"An in-depth look at the ways in which an emboldened effort to ungovern threatens to undermine the effective working of the administrative state. In this book, political theorists Nancy Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead, aim to identify and name a growing effort to undermine the workings of effective government. They call this "ungoverning." It is an unfamiliar name for an unfamiliar phenomenon, but one which has become increasingly strident in recent years. It is a root and branch attack on the functions and legitimacy of the administrative state, that unloved element of modern government that is necessary for everything people expect a modern state to do. The administrative state consists of the vast array of government agencies that shape, implement, adjudicate, and enforce public policies of every kind. It encompasses all those who carry on the day-to day business of government: the ordinary and routine, the wars and emergencies, and even the most basic function of a democracy: the oversight of free and fair elections. Ungoverning is the effort to reverse, by various methods, the already highly developed capacity of state to provide for its citizenry. It is different from state failure because it is a path deliberately chosen by politicians and agency heads who have a specific aim in mind. Ungoverning in the U.S., went from thinly veiled policy to open warfare, during the Trump presidency. Although efforts to ungovern were underway before his term in office, Trump clarified ungoverning as no one else could by forming the first presidential administration that was anti-administration. Rosenblum and Muirehead point to the incapacitation of a range of agencies from the Departments of State and Justice to Housing and Urban Development. Ungoverning did not come out of nowhere. The President brought decades of cultivated hostility toward government to a crescendo. Prior to that, even though over its history hostility toward the administrative state was expressed by both the Left and Right, there had been nothing like errant destruction of government capacity. But this is not just a story of the Trump administration. The damage ungoverning has done and can do remains a grave threat. Despite the Biden's admistration's efforts, reversing the corrosive effects of ungoverning cannot happen at a stroke. The capacity of a public agency takes many years to build. Replacing demoralized civil servants can take decades. The retail consequences of disdain for governing endure: As hard to reverse, and perhaps most serious for democracies, is public belief that neither the ability nor the will to govern exists. Ungoverning is, the authors argues, part of the constellation of actions that make up illiberal, anti-democratic politics with the end result being democratic erosion"--

"The most authoritative account we have on the Shi'a of Iraq. . . . Nakash's book provides a powerful corrective to earlier books on Iraq which have been battered by recent events. No reader who goes through Nakash's work will fail to be moved by the historical vistas he opens up."--Fouad Ajami, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

A landmark history of early radio in Germany and the quest for broadcast fidelityWhen we turn on a radio or stream a playlist, we can usually recognize the instrument we hear, whether it's a cello, a guitar, or an operatic voice. Such fidelity was not always true of radio. Broadcasting Fidelity shows how the problem of broadcast fidelity pushed German scientists beyond the traditional bounds of their disciplines and led to the creation of one of the most important electronic instruments of the twentieth century. In the early days of radio, acoustical distortions made it hard for even the most discerning musical ears to differentiate instruments and voices. The physicists and engineers of interwar Germany, with the assistance of leading composers and musicians, tackled this daunting technical challenge. Research led to the invention in 1930 of the trautonium, an early electronic instrument capable of imitating the timbres of numerous acoustical instruments and generating novel sounds for many musical genres. Myles Jackson charts the broader political and artistic trajectories of this instrument, tracing how it was embraced by the Nazis and subsequently used to subvert Nazi aesthetics after the war and describing how Alfred Hitchcock commissioned a later version of the trautonium to provide the sounds of birds squawking and flapping their wings in his 1963 thriller The Birds. A splendid work of scholarship by an acclaimed historian of science, Broadcasting Fidelity reveals how the interplay of science, technology, politics, and culture gave rise to new aesthetic concepts, innovative musical genres, and the modern discipline of electroacoustics.

A spectacularly illustrated field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of California California is home to more than 200 species of reptiles and amphibians that can be found in an extraordinary array of habitats, from coastal temperate rainforests with giant redwoods to southeastern deserts offering dazzling wildflower displays each spring. California Amphibians and Reptiles covers every species and subspecies in this biodiverse region of the United States, with outstanding color photography and in-depth species accounts that draw on the latest findings on taxonomy and distribution. Setting a new standard for regional field guides, this state-of-the-art field guide will serve as the definitive reference for California's amphibian and reptile fauna for many years to come.Covers all 209 species of amphibians and reptiles found in CaliforniaFeatures hundreds of stunning photos that illustrate geographic and within-species variation as well as differences between males, females, and youngIncludes first-ever color images and species accounts for newly discovered speciesShows every species and subspecies in full color on a white backgroundDepicts all amphibian larvae in breathtaking color illustrationsDetailed species accounts describe key identification features, similar species, habitat, range and elevation, activity and behavior, diet, reproduction, and conservationProvides updated status of all threatened, endangered, nonnative, and special concern speciesAccurate range maps reflect contemporary and, where applicable, historical distributions in light of significant habitat loss across the stateAn invaluable resource for amateur naturalists, resource managers, and professional herpetologists

Class Dismissed reveals the entrenched inequities that harm our most vulnerable students and what colleges can do to help them excel Elite colleges are boasting unprecedented numbers with respect to diversity, with some schools admitting their first majority-minority classes. But when the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial unrest gripped the world, schools scrambled to figure out what to do with the diversity they so fervently recruited. And disadvantaged students suffered. Class Dismissed exposes how woefully unprepared colleges were to support these students and shares their stories of how they were left to weather the storm alone and unprotected. Drawing on the firsthand experiences of students from all walks of life at elite colleges, Anthony Abraham Jack reveals the out-of-sight and unequal worlds students navigated before and during the pandemic closures and upon their return to campus. He shows how COVID-19 exacerbated the very inequalities that universities ignored or failed to address long before campus closures. Jack examines how students dealt with the disruptions caused by the pandemic, how they navigated social unrest, and how they grappled with problems of race both on campus and off. A provocative and much-needed book, Class Dismissed paints an intimate and unflinchingly candid portrait of the challenges of undergraduate life for disadvantaged students even in the elite schools that invest millions to diversify their student body. Moreover, Jack offers guidance on how to make students' path to graduation less treacherous--guidance colleges would be wise to follow.

How, over the course of five centuries, one particular god and one particular Christianity came to dominate late Roman imperial politics and piety The ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity--or rather, of early Christianities--through five centuries of Empire, mapping its pathways from the hills of Judea to the halls of Rome and Constantinople. It is a story with a sprawling cast of characters: not only theologians, bishops, and emperors, but also gods and demons, angels and magicians, astrologers and ascetics, saints and heretics, aristocratic patrons and millenarian enthusiasts. All played their part in the development of what became and always remained an energetically diverse biblical religion. The New Testament, as we know it, represents only a small selection of the many gospels, letters, acts of apostles, and revelations that circulated before the establishment of the imperial church. It tells how the gospel passed from Jesus, to the apostles, thence to Paul. But by using our peripheral vision, by looking to noncanonical and paracanonical texts, by availing ourselves of information derived from papyri, inscriptions, and archaeology, we can see a different, richer, much less linear story emerging. Fredriksen brings together these many sources to reconstruct the lively interactions of pagans, Jews, and Christians, tracing the conversions of Christianity from an energetic form of Jewish messianism to an arm of the late Roman state.

In the summer of 1964, the turmoil of the civil rights movement reached its peak in Mississippi, with activists across the political spectrum claiming that God was on their side in the struggle over racial justice. This work takes us back to this place and time.

Ethnography and Virtual Worlds is the only book of its kind--a concise, comprehensive, and practical guide for students, teachers, designers, and scholars interested in using ethnographic methods to study online virtual worlds, including both game and nongame environments. Written by leading ethnographers of virtual worlds, and focusing on the key method of participant observation, the book provides invaluable advice, tips, guidelines, and principles to aid researchers through every stage of a project, from choosing an online fieldsite to writing and publishing the results. Provides practical and detailed techniques for ethnographic research customized to reflect the specific issues of online virtual worlds, both game and nongame Draws on research in a range of virtual worlds, including Everquest, Second Life, There.com, and World of Warcraft Provides suggestions for dealing with institutional review boards, human subjects protocols, and ethical issues Guides the reader through the full trajectory of ethnographic research, from research design to data collection, data analysis, and writing up and publishing research results Addresses myths and misunderstandings about ethnographic research, and argues for the scientific value of ethnography

A unified framework for understanding monetary policy, including recent unprecedented interventions by central banks Over the past two decades, monetary policy has been deployed in unprecedented ways, as central banks attempted to mitigate the adverse consequences of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 global lockdown, and recent inflationary surges. In Monetary Economics and Policy, Pierpaolo Benigno offers a new way to understand the potency and effectiveness of monetary policy, presenting a unified modeling framework to analyze policy challenges posed by both paper and digital currency systems. He investigates current theoretical and policy controversies, drawing connections with historical themes in monetary economics. Benigno examines how central banks control the value of their currency amid competition from cryptocurrencies and private money-like securities; discusses the desirability of inflation targeting for macroeconomic stabilization; and explores theoretical grounds for the unconventional monetary policies seen in the recent period of zero nominal interest rates, including forward guidance, quantitative and credit easing, and helicopter money. He accompanies his analysis with an innovative visual representation of the New Keynesian model and inflation-targeting policies. Benigno's novel framework also allows the study of monetary policy normalization through quantitative tightening toward what has become the "new normal." He discusses the optimal provision of liquidity and the different roles of the government and financial intermediaries. Finally, he recounts historical controversies regarding the inflation-unemployment trade-off to understand the 2020s inflationary surge and delves into the causes and dynamics of hyperinflations, tracing them to the subtle, ambiguous linkages between monetary and fiscal policy and weak balance-sheet conditions for the central bank.

Why leaders, not citizens, are the driving force in Europe's crisis of democracyA seeming explosion of support for right-wing populist parties has triggered widespread fears that liberal democracy is facing its worst crisis since the 1930s. Democracy Erodes from the Top reveals that the real crisis stems not from an increasingly populist public but from political leaders who exploit or mismanage the chronic vulnerabilities of democracy.In this provocative book, Larry Bartels dismantles the pervasive myth of a populist wave in contemporary European public opinion. While there has always been a substantial reservoir of populist sentiment, Europeans are no less trusting of their politicians and parliaments than they were two decades ago, no less enthusiastic about European integration, and no less satisfied with the workings of democracy. Anti-immigrant sentiment has waned. Electoral support for right-wing populist parties has increased only modestly, reflecting the idiosyncratic successes of populist entrepreneurs, the failures of mainstream parties, and media hype. Europe's most sobering examples of democratic backsliding-in Hungary and Poland-occurred not because voters wanted authoritarianism but because conventional conservative parties, once elected, seized opportunities to entrench themselves in power.By demonstrating the inadequacy of conventional bottom-up interpretations of Europe's political crisis, Democracy Erodes from the Top turns our understanding of democratic politics upside down.

How Robespierre's career and legacy embody the dangerous contradictions of democracyMaximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) is arguably the most controversial and contradictory figure of the French Revolution, inspiring passionate debate like no other protagonist of those dramatic and violent events. The fervor of those who defend Robespierre the "e;Incorruptible,"e; who championed the rights of the people, is met with revulsion by those who condemn him as the bloodthirsty tyrant who sent people to the guillotine. Marcel Gauchet argues that he was both, embodying the glorious achievement of liberty as well as the excesses that culminated in the Terror.In much the same way that 1789 and 1793 symbolize the two opposing faces of the French Revolution, Robespierre's contradictions were the contradictions of the revolution itself. Robespierre was its purest incarnation, neither the defender of liberty who fell victim to the corrupting influence of power nor the tyrant who betrayed the principles of the revolution. Gauchet shows how Robespierre's personal transition from opposition to governance was itself an expression of the tragedy inherent in a revolution whose own prophetic ideals were impossible to implement.This panoramic book tells the story of how the man most associated with the founding of modern French democracy was also the first tyrant of that democracy, and it offers vital lessons for all democracies about the perpetual danger of tyranny.

How campus communities of every kind can transform themselves from good to greatBecoming Great Universities highlights ten core challenges that all colleges and universities face and offers practical steps that everyone on campus-from presidents to first-year undergraduates-can take to enhance student life and learning.This incisive book, written in a friendly and engaging style, draws on conversations with presidents, deans, and staff at hundreds of campuses across the country as well as scores of in-depth interviews with students and faculty. Providing suggestions that all members of a campus community can implement, Richard Light and Allison Jegla cover topics such as how to build a culture of innovation on campus, how to improve learning outcomes through experimentation, how to help students from under-resourced high schools succeed in college, and how to attract students from rural areas who may not be considering colleges far from their communities. They offer concrete ways to facilitate constructive interactions among students from different backgrounds, create opportunities for lifelong learning and engagement, and inspire students to think globally. And most of the ideas presented in this book can be implemented at little to no cost.Featuring a wealth of evidence-based examples, Becoming Great Universities offers actionable suggestions for everyone to have a positive impact on college life regardless of whether their campus is urban or rural, private or public, large or small, wealthy or not.

The importance of collective behavior in early medieval EuropeBy the fifth and sixth centuries, the bread and circuses and triumphal processions of the Roman Empire had given way to a quieter world. And yet, as Shane Bobrycki argues, the influence and importance of the crowd did not disappear in early medieval Europe. In The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages, Bobrycki shows that although demographic change may have dispersed the urban multitudes of Greco-Roman civilization, collective behavior retained its social importance even when crowds were scarce. Most historians have seen early medieval Europe as a world without crowds. In fact, Bobrycki argues, early medieval European sources are full of crowds-although perhaps not the sort historians have trained themselves to look for. Harvests, markets, festivals, religious rites, and political assemblies were among the gatherings used to regulate resources and demonstrate legitimacy. Indeed, the refusal to assemble and other forms of "slantwise" assembly, became a weapon of the powerless. Bobrycki investigates what happened when demographic realities shifted, but culture, religion, and politics remained bound by the past. The history of crowds during the five hundred years between the age of circuses and the age of crusades, Bobrycki shows, tells an important story-one of systemic and scalar change in economic and social life and of reorganization in the world of ideas and norms.

An essential primer on impeachment for today's divided public squareWe are witnessing an unprecedented moment in American politics in which impeachments are increasingly common. In today's partisan environment, it is more vital than ever that government officials, scholars, and ordinary citizens understand what an impeachment can reasonably be expected to accomplish. In this incisive and accessible book, Keith Whittington provides needed clarity on the constitutional power of impeachment, explaining why it exists and how it should be used to preserve American democracy. Drawing insights from American and British history, congressional practice, and the language of the Constitution itself, Whittington shows how impeachment is a tool for checking abuses of elective office and defending constitutional norms. While we have come to associate impeachment today with the presidency, it can be used to remedy gross misconduct in any of an array of officers of the federal government. Whittington cautions against abusing this immense and consequential power to settle political scores, demonstrating how it undermines the independence of the branches and makes Congress the seat of political power. Required reading for the informed citizen, The Impeachment Power argues that impeachment is ultimately a political instrument and gives us the perspective we need to recognize when an impeachment might be useful and when we are better served by looking for alternative ways to solve our political problems.

"The two world wars were undoubtedly two of the most catastrophic events in human history, not just for those who actually fought in them, but for untold millions of civilians. And even though the wars' superlativeness is unquestioned, our understanding of exactly how bad the civilian costs were is limited. Although the numbers are better for the two wars than for most earlier wars, gaps and uncertainties remain. States went to great lengths to record military casualties, but civilian fatalities often went uncounted, and figures were often deliberately obscured. In this book, renowned economic historian Cormac O Grada aims to set the record straight, establishing a figure for civilian fatalities that reveals much about the nature of modern war. The book builds on earlier estimates of casualties from a range of causes, some reliable, some approximate at best, and warns against spurious precision when approximations are impossible. For example, while the human toll of the Jewish Holocaust is generally agreed to have been about 6 million, the tolls of two other war genocides, those of the Armenian community in Turkey during World War I and of the European Roma community during World War II, cannot be determined with any precision. (Scholarly estimates of these range from 0.6 to 1.2 million, and from "at least 130,000" to "between 250,000 and 500,000.") During World War II Chinese civilians faced both a civil war and Japanese occupation, and no estimate of the resulting civilian deaths, which range from an implausibly low 2.5 million to 20 million, is reliable. The book shows that the single biggest cause of civilian deaths during the two wars were famines, some of which are familiar and well-documented, while others have attracted research only recently, and a few await systematic analysis. The book covers these as well as genocides, particularly the Jewish Holocaust, and deaths from aerial bombing, and shows how in each of these categories the numbers have been controversial and contested. Most of the book deals with death, but it contains accounts too of the tens of millions of displaced persons and refugees and forced labourers, of civilian trauma, and of sexual violence and other atrocities. In the end O Grada argues that the two world wars cost at least 45 to 50 million civilian lives, almost double the cost in military lives. Addressing the uncertainties and inaccuracies in civilian casualties, the book shows the failings of international law and gives a vital and harrowing understanding of the true cost of war"--

How social and intellectual changes undermine our justifications for the welfare state The welfare state has come under severe pressure internationally, partly for the well-known reasons of slowing economic growth and declining confidence in the public sector. According to the influential social theorist Pierre Rosanvallon, however, there is also a deeper and less familiar reason for the crisis of the welfare state. He shows here that a fundamental practical and philosophical justification for traditional welfare policies—that all citizens share equal risks—has been undermined by social and intellectual change. If we wish to achieve the goals of social solidarity and civic equality for which the welfare state was founded, Rosanvallon argues, we must radically rethink social programs.Rosanvallon begins by tracing the history of the welfare state and its founding premise that risks, especially the risks of illness and unemployment, are equally distributed and unpredictable. He shows that this idea has become untenable because of economic diversification and advances in statistical and risk analysis. It is truer than ever before—and far more susceptible to analysis—that some individuals will face much greater risks than others because of their jobs and lifestyle choices. Rosanvallon argues that social policies must be more narrowly targeted. And he draws on evidence from around the world, in particular France and the United States, to show that such programs as unemployment insurance and workfare could better reflect individual needs by, for example, making more explicit use of contracts between the providers and receivers of benefits. His arguments have broad implications for welfare programs everywhere and for our understanding of citizenship in modern democracies and economies.

A marvelously illustrated guide to the world’s mothsWith more than 160,000 named species, moths are a familiar sight to most of us, flickering around lights, pollinating wildflowers about meadows and gardens, and as unwelcome visitors to our woolens. They come in a variety of colors, from earthy greens and browns to gorgeous patterns of infinite variety, and range in size from enormous atlas moths to tiny leafmining moths. Moths of the World is an essential guide to this astonishing group of insects, highlighting their remarkable diversity, miraculous metamorphoses, marvelous caterpillars, and much more.Features hundreds of breathtaking color photos of moths from around the worldCovers anatomy, evolution, life cycle, behavior, ecology, and conservationProfiles species from every major family, showcasing their endless variety of sizes, colors, shapes, and fascinating life historiesDiscusses habitats, distribution, and hostplant associationsWritten by a world-renowned expert

"For the first time in one volume, the most elegant and accessible translation of Dante's enduring masterpieceCharles Singleton's English-language translation of The Divine Comedy is widely considered to be one of the finest renderings of Dante's great masterpiece. Singleton's prose is both faithful and scholarly, and sensitive to the subtle nuances of meaning and richness of reference in Dante's epic poem. Here for the first time is the single-volume edition of Singleton's celebrated translation.This beautifully illustrated book brings together all three volumes of Dante's poem, describing his travels down to the circles of Hell, up over the mountain of Purgatory, and his ultimate ascension through the celestial spheres of Paradise. Dante's divine tour provides a timeless allegory for the journey of one's soul toward union with God.Featuring an incisive introduction by Simone Marchesi, a glossary, and stunning illustrations by acclaimed artist Roberto Abbiati, this handsome edition of The Divine Comedy introduces a new generation of readers to what is perhaps the preeminent achievement of Italian literature"--

The first book to offer a comprehensive exploration of Marx's relationship to republicanism, arguing that it is essential to understanding his thoughtIn Citizen Marx, Bruno Leipold argues that, contrary to certain interpretive commonplaces, Karl Marx's thinking was deeply informed by republicanism. Marx's relation to republicanism changed over the course of his life, but its complex influence on his thought cannot be reduced to wholesale adoption or rejection. Challenging common depictions of Marx that downplay or ignore his commitment to politics, democracy, and freedom, Leipold shows that Marx viewed democratic political institutions as crucial to overcoming the social unfreedom and domination of capitalism. One of Marx's principal political values, Leipold argues, was a republican conception of freedom, according to which one is unfree when subjected to arbitrary power. Placing Marx's republican communism in its historical context-but not consigning him to that context-Leipold traces Marx's shifting relationship to republicanism across three broad periods. First, Marx began his political life as a republican committed to a democratic republic in which citizens held active popular sovereignty. Second, he transitioned to communism, criticizing republicanism but incorporating the republican opposition to arbitrary power into his social critiques. He argued that although a democratic republic was not sufficient for emancipation, it was necessary for it. Third, spurred by the events of the Paris Commune of 1871, he came to view popular control in representation and public administration as essential to the realization of communism. Leipold shows how Marx positioned his republican communism to displace both antipolitical socialism and anticommunist republicanism. One of Marx's great contributions, Leipold argues, was to place politics (and especially democratic politics) at the heart of socialism.

"A sweeping history of intimacy and family life in France during the age of revolution. The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars devastated Europe for nearly a quarter of a century. The Soldier's Reward recovers the stories of soldiers and their relationships to family and domestic life during this period, revealing how prolonged warfare transformed family and gender dynamics and gave rise to new kinds of citizenship.In this groundbreaking work combining social, cultural, gender, and military history, Jennifer Heuer vividly describes how men fought for years with only fleeting moments of peace. Combatants were promised promotion, financial gain, and patriotic glory. They were also rewarded for their service by being allowed to return home to waiting families and love interests, and with marriages that were arranged and financially supported by the state. Heuer explores competing ideas of masculinity in France, as well the experiences of the men and women who participated in such marriages. She argues that we cannot fully understand the changing nature of war and peace in this period without considering the important roles played by family, gender, and romantic entanglements.Casting new light on a turbulent era of mass mobilization and seemingly endless conflict, The Soldier's Reward shows how from the Revolution through the Restoration, war, intimacy, and citizenship intersected in France in new and unexpected ways"--

A new account of the central role developmental processes play in evolutionA new scientific view of evolution is emerging-one that challenges and expands our understanding of how evolution works. Recent research demonstrates that organisms differ greatly in how effective they are at evolving. Whether and how each organism adapts and diversifies depends critically on the mechanistic details of how that organism operates-its development, physiology, and behavior. That is because the evolutionary process itself has evolved over time, and continues to evolve. The scientific understanding of evolution is evolving too, with groundbreaking new ways of explaining evolutionary change. In this book, a group of leading biologists draw on the latest findings in evolutionary genetics and evo-devo, as well as novel insights from studies of epigenetics, symbiosis, and inheritance, to examine the central role that developmental processes play in evolution. Written in an accessible style, and illustrated with fascinating examples of natural history, the authors present recent scientific discoveries that expand evolutionary biology beyond the classical view of gene transmission guided by natural selection. Without undermining the central importance of natural selection and other Darwinian foundations, new developmental insights indicate that all organisms possess their own characteristic sets of evolutionary mechanisms. The authors argue that a consideration of developmental phenomena is needed for evolutionary biologists to generate better explanations for adaptation and biodiversity. This book provides a new vision of adaptive evolution.

"How the United States crusade against prostitution became a tool of empireBetween the 1870s and 1930s, American social reformers, working closely with the United States government, transformed sexual vice into an international political and humanitarian concern. As these activists worked to eradicate prostitution and trafficking, they promoted sexual self-control for both men and women as a cornerstone of civilization and a basis of American exceptionalism. Empire of Purity traces the history of these efforts, showing how the policing and penalization of sexuality was used to justify American interventions around the world.Eva Payne describes how American reformers successfully pushed for international anti-trafficking agreements that mirrored US laws, calling for states to criminalize prostitution and restrict migration, and harming the very women they claimed to protect. She argues that Americans' ambitions to reshape global sexual morality and law advanced an ideology of racial hierarchy that viewed women of color, immigrants, and sexual minorities as dangerous vectors of disease. Payne tells the stories of the sex workers themselves, revealing how these women's experiences defy the dichotomies that have shaped American cultural and legal conceptions of prostitution and trafficking, such as choice and coercion, free and unfree labor, and white sexual innocence and the assumed depravity of nonwhites.Drawing on archives in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, Empire of Purity ties the war on sexual vice to American imperial ambitions and a politicization of sexuality that continues to govern both domestic and international policy today"--

A sweeping intellectual biography that restores the Enlightenment polymath to the intellectual, scientific, and courtly worlds that shaped his early life and thoughtDescribed by Voltaire as "perhaps a man of the most universal learning in Europe," Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) is often portrayed as a rationalist and philosopher who was wholly detached from the worldly concerns of his fellow men. Leibniz in His World provides a groundbreaking reassessment of Leibniz, telling the story of his trials and tribulations as an aspiring scientist and courtier navigating the learned and courtly circles of early modern Europe and the Republic of Letters. Drawing on extensive correspondence by Leibniz and many leading figures of the age, Audrey Borowski paints a nuanced portrait of Leibniz in the 1670s, during his "Paris sojourn" as a young diplomat and in Germany at the court of Duke Johann Friedrich of Hanover. She challenges the image of Leibniz as an isolated genius, revealing instead a man of multiple identities whose thought was shaped by a deep engagement with the social and intellectual milieus of his time. Borowski shows us Leibniz as he was known to his contemporaries, enabling us to rediscover him as an enigmatic young man who was complex and all too human. An exhilarating work of scholarship, Leibniz in His World demonstrates how this uncommon intellect, torn between his ideals and the necessity to work for absolutist states, struggled to make a name for himself during his formative years.

How animals conceive of death and dying--and what they can teach us about our own relationships with mortality When the opossum feels threatened, she becomes paralyzed. Her body temperature plummets, her breathing and heart rates drop to a minimum, and her glands simulate the smell of a putrefying corpse. Playing Possum explores what the opossum and other creatures can teach us about how we and other species understand mortality, and demonstrates that the concept of death, far from being a uniquely human attribute, is widespread in the animal kingdom. With humor and empathy, Susana Monsó tells the stories of ants who attend their own funerals, chimpanzees who clean the teeth of their dead, dogs who snack on their caregivers, crows who avoid the places where they saw a carcass, elephants obsessed with collecting ivory, and whales who carry their dead for weeks. Monsó, one of today's leading experts on animal cognition and ethics, shows how there are more ways to conceive of mortality than the human way, and challenges the notion that the only emotional reactions to death worthy of our attention are ones that resemble our own. Blending philosophical insight with new evidence from behavioral science and comparative psychology, Playing Possum dispels the anthropocentric biases that cloud our understanding of the natural world, and reveals that, when it comes to death and dying, we are just another animal.