Books published by University of Wisconsin Press

Shows how the debate on female genital excision has evolved over the last four decades of the twentieth century, in response to changing attitudes about ethnicity, nationalism, colonialism, feminism, and human rights. The author discerns a gradual evoluti

Best known for his two-year sojourn at Walden Pond in Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau is often considered a recluse who emerged from solitude only occasionally to take a stand on the issues of his day. This book explores Thoreau's nature writings to offer a way of understanding the unique politics of the so-called hermit of Walden Pond.

Identifying and documenting the conditions of Russian serfs has proven difficult because the Russian state discouraged literacy among the serfs and censored public expressions of dissent. This title offers a collection of autobiographies by serfs.

A record of the heritage of Dane County, Wisconsin's capital region, from its earliest days through the 1940s. It describes the origins and evolution of local names that reveal a colorful history: Whiskey Creek, Brag Hollow, Marxville, Pancake Valley, Halunkenburg, Skunk Hollow, and Tipple School.

In 2004 director Oliver Stone's epic film ""Alexander"" generated a renewed interest in Alexander the Great. The critical response to the film offers a fascinating lesson in the contentious dialogue between historiography and modern entertainment. This book scrutinizes Stone's project from its inception and design to its production and reception.

A collection of narrative poems that the author writes about what moves him, whether that is the war in Iraq, the notion of synchronicity, the retelling of children's stories, or a problem of recollection.

Unfolds a cultural history of the Panama Canal project, revealed in the texts and images of the era's policymakers and commentators. This book examines various images of the Panama Canal project and shows how they reflected popular attitudes toward an evolving modern world.

Tells the story of voting in elections across the years and investigates electoral trends and patterns over the course of Wisconsin's history. This book explores the ways that ethnic and religious groups in the state have voted historically and looks at the successes and failures of the two major parties over the years.

The Royal Baker's Daughter was raised on a diet of stone soup and the occasional leftover royal treat. This leaves her with an appetite for authenticity. With nothing but her two deft hands to guide her, she embarks on a journey into the dark forest, ""where sticks and stones and absolutes reign and nothing, even sin, is original.

Remote and rugged, Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been home to a rich variety of indigenous peoples and Old World immigrants. This book presents and ponders the folk narratives of the region's loggers, miners, lake sailors, trappers, and townfolk.

Probes the parameters of Jewish integration in the half century between the founding of the German Empire in 1871 and the early Weimar Republic. This book revises the chronology of anti-Semitism in Germany, showing that Jews only began to experience exclusion from Breslau's social world during World War I.

Reveals the author's experience of Hollywood in its golden days and tells the stories of the stars who appeared in his films, including Natalie Wood, John Wayne, Peter Sellers, Sidney Poitier, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, and many others.

Inspired by years of talking with farmers, foragers, loggers, tribal activists, seed savers, fishers, railroaders, and nature lovers of all stripes, this title presents a communal conversation that invites readers to ponder their own roles in grassroots environmentalism.

David Obey has in his forty years in the US House of Representatives worked to bring economic and social justice to America's working families. In 2007 he has assumed the chair of the Appropriations Committee. Here, he looks back on his journey in politics. He also discusses his own central role in the evolution of Congress and ethics reforms.

Investigates the changes that have taken place in university research over the years, gauging the state of research in higher education and examines issues and challenges crucial to its future. This work also explores the cost of doing science, the commercialization of university research, and the changing composition and number of PhD students.

Chronicles twentieth century history as ""universal civil war"" between a succession of conflicting dualisms such as freedom and equality, race and class, capitalism and communism, liberalism and fascism, East and West.

One of the significant philosophical works of the 20th-century, ""Contributions to Philosophy"" is also one of the most difficult. This collection of essays, unravels this challenging work. It highlights Heidegger's ""being-historical thinking"" as thinking that sheds light on theological, technological, and scientific interpretations of reality.

A book-length poem that pounds the pavement of the New Jersey Turnpike, driving through America - past land-fills and wetlands and weapons labs - under the towering shadows of engines, oil, and war.

Explores the history of the park land, from its importance to Native Americans and early European settlers through the 20th century. This work relates the role of conservationists and progressives in establishing the state park, its popularity for tourism and recreation, and efforts to protect the park's resources from a variety of threats.

Presents the oral traditions, legends, speeches, myths, histories, literature, and historically significant documents of the twelve independent bands and Indian Nations of Wisconsin. This anthology introduces us to a group of voices, enhanced by many maps, photographs, and chronologies.

Combines ethnographic and historic strategies to reveal how dance plays crucial cultural roles in various regions of the world, including Tonga, Java, Bosnia-Herzegovina, New Mexico, India, Korea, Macedonia, and England. This work finds a balance between past and present and examines how dance practices are core identity and cultural creators.

How are we to think and act constructively in the face of today's environmental and political catastrophes? Gail Stenstad finds answers in the thought of German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Stenstad's writing enacts Heidegger's transformative way of thinking; and brings new insight into contemporary environmental, political, and personal issues.

A biography of the major American writer of novels and short stories - Sherwood Anderson. In the first volume of this two-volume work, the author chronicles the life of Anderson. The second volume covers Anderson's return to business pursuits, and his extensive travels in the South, touring factories.

Ivan, a young Jewish boy from Milwaukee, embarks on a journey of sexual discovery that leads him from Wisconsin to Alaska, Philadelphia, and Mexico through stints as a fishery worker, artist, and finally a hustler who learns to provide the blank canvas for other people's dreams.