Bookshelf

A Nation Like All Others: A Brief History of American Foreign Relations by Warren I. Cohen ’55. Cohen, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, provides a comprehensive overview of America’s foreign policy and diplomacy from 1776 to the present (Columbia University Press, $35).

The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His Times by Jerome Charyn ’59. Theodore Roosevelt — New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider and 26th President — assumes superhero status in Charyn’s playful historical fiction (Liveright, $26.95).

Weird Thoughts by Thomas Wm. Hamilton ’60. Seventeen short stories of science fiction, fantasy and satire span the years 1912 to 50 million years in the future (Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency, $15.87).

Religion Within Reason by Steven M. Cahn ’63. In under 96 pages, Cahn examines big questions of faith and reason, morality, miracles, heaven and hell, mystical experiences, religious diversity and the problem of evil (Columbia University Press, $25).

We Can Do It: A Community Takes On the Challenge of School Desegregation by Michael T. Gengler ’66. How black and white administrators, teachers, parents and students worked together to create desegregated public schools in Alachua County, Fla., in the late 1950s (Rosetta Books, $24.99).

Hells Heroes: How An Unlikely Alliance Saved Idaho’s Hells Canyon by David C. Carlson ’68. The author focuses on three critical policy issues relating to the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (Caxton Press, $16).

No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding by Sean Wilentz ’72. Acclaimed political historian Wilentz upends conventional views of the Constitution, describing the document as “a tortured paradox that abided slavery without legitimizing it” (Harvard University Press, $26.95).

Milk Street Tuesday Nights: More Than 200 Simple Weeknight Suppers That Deliver Bold Flavor, Fast by Christopher Kimball ’73. Named one of Epicurious.com’s “Greatest Home Cooks of All Time,” Kimball delivers a quick and easy cookbook for beginners and foodies alike (Little, Brown and Co., $35).

Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds: A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales edited by Keller Kimbrough and Harou Shirane ’74. Stories and illustrations featuring hungry ghosts, flesh-eating demons, talking animals, amorous plants and journeys to supernatural realms (Columbia University Press, $35).

The Existentialist’s Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age by Gordon Marino ’76. St. Olaf College philosophy professor Marino dispenses wisdom about facing existence head-on, especially when the universe feels like it’s working against you (HarperOne, $25.99).

The Duty to Stand Aside: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Wartime Quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort by Eric Laurensen ’82. An examination of the literary and political arguments between two of Britain’s most prominent intellectuals during WWII (AK Press, $16).

Bush II, Obama, and the Decline of U.S. Hegemony in the Western Hemisphere by Thomas A. O’Keefe ’82. O’Keefe reviews the last decades of U.S.-Latin American relations and explains why the United States has lost so much power in this part of the world (Routledge, $44.95).

Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud by Beth Berkowitz ’92. Berkowitz, chair of the Jewish Studies department at Barnard, considers themes in animal studies — intelligence, morality, sexuality, suffering, danger, personhood — with a religious perspective (Cambridge University Press, $80 Kindle edition).

Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways by Thomas Bollyky ’96. The author interweaves history about the rise and fall of plagues in human societies with modern case studies of the consequences (MIT Press, $27.95).

Never Shut Up: The Life, Opinions, and Unexpected Adventures of an NFL Outlier by Marcellus Wiley ’97. A candid autobiography from one of the best football players in Columbia history (Dutton, $28).

Decorating a Room of One’s Own: Conversations on Interior Design with Miss Havisham, Jane Eyre, Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth Bennet, Ishmael, and Other Literary Notables by Susan Harlan ’99. Harlan spoofs decorating culture by imagining famous fictional homes and “interviewing” the residents about their true tastes (Abrams, $19.99).

Violence: Humans in Dark Times by Brad Evans and Natasha Lennard ’10. Conversations with historians, theorists and artists that explore the problem of violence in everyday life (City Lights Publishers, $18.95).

— Jill C. Shomer