‘Delectable, utterly brilliant and, in that hackneyed phrase, a must-read.’ – Nigella Lawson on Play All
With time (and hand-baggage) at such a premium, we thought we’d take a stroll through our Yale summer reading favourites, ready for the 2016 holiday season. Whether you’d rather take a walk in the woods with Fiona Stafford, pay a visit to the ‘PsychoBarn’ at the Met with Cornelia Parker, bingewatch box sets accompanied by Clive James, or go to the mind gym (and the edge of reason!) with Julian Baggini, the latest Yale catalogue may well have something for your summer reading list. Here’s a sneak preview of some books we’re excited to be publishing between July and September.
Yale Summer Reading – Sneak Preview
A Little History of Religion
BY RICHARD HOLLOWAY
For curious readers of all ages and beliefs, this rich and colourful history explores religion from humanity’s earliest days to our own contentious times. Richard Holloway illuminates the beliefs of major and minor religions, the sources of religiously motivated violence, the place of faith in a secular world and much more.
Play All: A Bingewatcher’s Notebook
by CLIVE JAMES
In this enlightening, entertaining analysis, the inimitable Clive James takes readers on a fascinating journey through the twenty-first century’s ever-expanding television landscape and explores how quality TV programming like The West Wing, The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, has influenced modern society and created a vast audience of unabashed bingewatchers.
‘Clive James on Game of Thrones: delectable, utterly brilliant and, in that hackneyed phrase, a must-read.’ – Nigella Lawson
The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World
by JULIAN BAGGINI
British philosopher Julian Baggini offers an urgent defense of reason, too often dismissed in today’s divisive public discourse. He explores the power and value of reason and calls for a ‘community of reason’ where disagreements are settled by rational debate and discussion in place of brute force or political intimidation.
The Long, Long Life of Trees
by FIONA STAFFORD
A lyrical tribute to the diversity of trees, their physical beauty, their special characteristics and uses, and their ever-evolving meanings
Throughout history trees have served humankind in countless practical ways, but they also are sources of great inspiration. In this lyrical tribute to the rich diversity of trees, the author explores seventeen specific species that have inspired stories, myths, songs, poems, paintings, religious and patriotic devotion, and much more.
Medieval Europe
by CHRIS WICKHAM
A spirited and thought-provoking history of the vast changes that transformed Europe during the 1,000-year span of the Middle Ages
This book tracks the pivotal crises and developments of the era century by century, from the breakup of the Roman Empire to the Reformation. The result is the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation.
The Maisky Diaries:
The Wartime Revelations of Stalin’s Ambassador in London
IVAN MAISKY
edited by GABRIEL GORODETSKY
New in Paperback!
Highlights of the extraordinary wartime diaries of Ivan Maisky, Soviet ambassador to London
‘Easily the most important diary of the Second World War period … All new accounts of the period will have to quote them in future … intensely readable, highly revelatory and well edited.’ – Andrew Roberts, Evening Standard
Cornelia Parker: The Roof Garden Commission
by BEATRICE GALILEE & SHEENA WAGSTAFF
Turner Prize-nominated British artist Cornelia Parker is well known for her large-scale, site-specific installations. This, the latest book to document the Metropolitan Museum’s renowned Roof Garden installations, features her brilliant new work ‘PsychoBarn’, a reenvisioning of the infamous mansion from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Distributed by Yale University Press
Orthokostá: A Novel
by THANASSIS VALTINOS
Translated from the Greek by Jane Assimakopoulos & Stavros Deligiorgis, foreword by Stathis N. Kalyvas
A preeminent work of modern Greek literature, this provocative novel probes the events of the nation’s Nazi occupation and early Civil War years through the voices of narrators from all sides – participants, victims, innocent bystanders and many others.
The Margellos World Republic of Letters
Find out more about the Margellos series
Beyond Caravaggio
by LETIZIA TREVES
This examination of the Italian artist Caravaggio, and others who adopted his dramatic style of painting, offers fascinating insights into the fortunes of artists’ reputations and the history of taste.
Accompanies a major autumn show at The National Gallery of Art, London, from 12 October 2016 – 15 January 2017
Read more
Published by National Gallery Company, London
Distributed by Yale University Press
Browse our new catalogue for more Yale summer reading:
