Books From University Presses

If you're interested in law and history, G. Edward White's biography of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes can offer a nuanced look at the man behind the legend. It paints a full picture of Holmes as not just a judge but as a person, revealing his human complexities. This book could change the way you think about figures in the legal system, showcasing that they're shaped by personal experiences just as much as their professional achievements.

White, G. Edward, American Judicial Tradition, Profiles Of Leading American Judges

A vagrant de Tocqueville gives an eloquent, dry-eyed report of his tramping adventures in the violent underworld of late 19th century America and BritainAn untutored Welsh tramp who became a popular poet acclaimed by the conservative Georgians and the vanguard Ezra Pound alike, W. H. Davies surprised his contemporaries with the unlikeliest portrait of the artist as a young man ever written.After a delinquent childhood Davies renounced home and apprenticeship and at twenty-two sailed to America—the first of more than a dozen Atlantic crossings, often made by cattle boat. From 1893 to 1899 he was schooled by the hard men of the road, disdaining regular work and subsisting by begging. Crossing Canada to join the “Klondyke” gold rush, Davies fell while hopping a train. His foot was crushed and his leg amputated. “All the wildness had been taken out of me,” Davies wrote, “and my adventures after this were not of my own seeking.”Praised by Osbert Sitwell for his “primitive splendour and directness,” Davies evokes the beauty and frontier violence of turn-of-the-century America in prose that George Bernard Shaw commended to “literary experts for its style alone.” The insurgent wanderlust that found an American voice in Jack London and Jack Kerouac is expressed here in a raucous true adventure story by the man Shaw called “the incorrigible Supertramp who wrote this amazing book.”

Recommendation: This book is recommended for those who enjoy reading autobiographies of people who have lived unconventional lives. The unique and distinctive feature of this book is its narrative style, which is unvarnished and straightforward. It offers insight into the difficult life of a traveling tramp, and provides a glimpse into the harsher side of American life during the Great Depression. Readers who appreciate a raw human experience and a unique perspective on life will appreciate this book.

A "commonplace book," must, by its very nature, be unique, a mixture of personal, critical, playful, and profound musings. In Interplay , the noted critic and poet D. J. Enright has arranged and expanded his jottings, thoughts, observations, and impressions from over the years, resulting in amoving, lucid, and inviting mixture of autobiography and commentary.Much of what Enright shares concerns literary the eccentricities of reviewing; the reductiveness of current fiction; reflections on modern biography; the necessity and impossibility of censorship; irony and sentimentality; treason among intellectuals; linguistic hanky-panky; literarytheory and literary practice (Proust versus Paul de Man); and some of his new poetry. Interspersed are such fascinating asides as a layman's look at Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, and Barthes; curious points of theology; an account of racial stereotypes, their use and limitations; ars eroticaancient and modern; sidelights on Chinese and Japanese thought; the obsolete notion of integrity in politics and business; and dreams in life and literature.To all of these questions and subjects Enright brings his inimitable style and manner, as well as varying moods--sad, humorous, ironic--bound together by his overwhelming humanism that makes life and literature inseparable. This is a brilliant book, full of wit, insight, and intriguing miscellany,one that serves as an eclectic self-portrait of a leading literary mind and a very telling account of modern attitudes and life as we know it.

“I took my road with no little pride of fear; one morning I feared very sharply, as I saw what looked like a rising shroud over a wooden cross in the clustering mist. Horror! But on a closer study I realized that the apparition was only a flannel gas helmet. . . . What an age since 1914!”In Undertones of War , one of the finest autobiographies to come out of World War I, the acclaimed poet Edmund Blunden records his devastating experiences in combat. After enlisting at the age of twenty, he took part in the disastrous battles at the Somme, Ypres, and Passchendaele, describing them as “murder, not only to the troops but to their singing faiths and hopes.”All the horrors of trench warfare, all the absurdity and feeble attempts to make sense of the fighting, all the strangeness of observing war as a writer—of being simultaneously soldier and poet—pervade Blunden’s memoir. In steely-eyed prose as richly allusive as any poetry, he tells of the endurance and despair found among the men of his battalion, including the harrowing acts of bravery that won him the Military Cross.Now back in print for American readers, the volume includes a selection of Blunden’s war poems that unflinchingly juxtapose death in the trenches with the beauty of Flanders’s fields. Undertones of War deserves a place on anyone’s bookshelf between Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry and Robert Graves’s Goodbye to All That .

This book provides an in-depth insight into the life of Benjamin Cardozo- one of the most influential American judges and his jurisprudence. It examines how his childhood experiences, religious training, and personal views shaped his judgments on issues ranging from rape to conscientious objectors. The book highlights how his opinions continue to impact American law, and it offers readers a nuanced understanding of his liberalism through his rulings on the New Deal measures such as the Social Security Act.

Richard Gilman examines each of Chekhov's full-length plays, showing how they relate to each other, to Chekhov's short stories, and to his life. He also places the plays in the context of Russian and European drama and the larger culture of the period. Gilman interweaves biographical narrative with textual commentary and with a discussion of stage-craft and dramaturg - Chekhov's techniques for influencing viewers, the scenic framing of the action, and issues of genre and temporal structuring. Although previous critics of Chekhov have tended to view him as an essentially social dramatist or as an observer of the smaller aspects of existence, Gilman asserts that Chekhov was far more of an innovative playwright, a revolutionary, than has been seen.

Spider Eaters is at once a moving personal story, a fascinating family history, and a unique chronicle of political upheaval told by a Chinese woman who came of age during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution. With stunning honesty and a lively, sly humor, Rae Yang records her life from her early years as the daughter of Chinese diplomats in Switzerland, to her girlhood at an elite middle school in Beijing, to her adolescent experience as a Red Guard and later as a laborer on a pig farm in the remote northern wilderness. She tells of her eventual disillusionment with the Maoist revolution, how remorse and despair nearly drove her to suicide, and how she struggled to make sense of conflicting events that often blurred the line between victim and victimizer, aristocrat and peasant, communist and counter-revolutionary. Moving gracefully between past and present, dream and reality, the author artfully conveys the vast complexity of life in China as well as the richness, confusion, and magic of her own inner life and struggle.Much of the power of the narrative derives from Yang's multi-generational, cross-class perspective. She invokes the myths, legends, folklore, and local customs that surrounded her and brings to life the many people who were instrumental in her her nanny, a poor woman who raised her from a baby and whose character is conveyed through the bedtime tales she spins; her father; and her beloved grandmother, who died as a result of the political persecution she suffered.Spanning the years from 1950 to 1980, Rae Yang's story is evocative, complex, and told with striking candor. It is one of the most immediate and engaging narratives of life in post-1949 China.

Collection of essays written in honour of Emeritus Professor Thumboo. It reflects the wide range of his interests: poetry, sociolinguistics, post-colonialism and new literatures, especially those of Singapore, Malaysia, India and Africa.

This book would be a good read for anyone interested in true stories of resilience and survival in the face of extreme adversity. Charles Robert Jenkins' harrowing memoir takes readers on a journey into the inner workings of North Korea's isolated society and provides a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit. Through his gripping storytelling, Jenkins offers a unique perspective on his years spent in captivity, making this a compelling and unforgettable read.

This memoir, "The Lives and Times of HRH," takes you on an inspiring journey through the life of Herman Hochstadt. From his rise in the civil service to his influential positions in key ministries, HRH's wit and charm shine through. The book not only shares the personal and professional experiences of HRH, but also offers a unique perspective on Singapore's development. With warmth and humor, HRH's dedication to public service is evident throughout the pages. A must-read for anyone seeking inspiration and a deeper understanding of Singapore's history.

If you love immersing yourself in rich, historical settings, "The Mystery of 'A Yellow Sleuth'" promises an engrossing experience. As you traverse the colonial backdrop of Malaysia with Detective Sergeant Nor Nalla, the book's fusion of exotic locales and classic mystery elements make it an intriguing pick for lovers of historical detective fiction. The protagonist's unique cultural perspective brings an added layer of depth to the sleuthing genre.