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D-Day: Turning Point #10

Any 20^th-century history buff knows that June 6 marks the anniversary of the D-day Normandy landings, part of Operation Overlord to retake Nazi-occupied western Europe during World War II. No maritime invasion had ever been larger in the history of warfare; even Helen of Troy’s face only launched a thousand ships. About 7,000 Allied ships sailed across the English Channel from the United Kingdom, in what many would see as a reverse invasion of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. By 1944, however, Allied victory was as yet uncertain.

Historian P.M.H. Bell, author of Twelve Turning Points of the Second World War, chronicles the twelve events most central to understanding the range of conflict in what was an undeniably complex and (ha!) globally-encompassing war. He argues that a “turning point is simply a point at which a decisive or important change takes place….When we examine these turning points, it becomes plain that the war followed a shape and pattern.” Bell divides the war into three phases: 1940 – 1941; 1942 – May 1943; and finally from 1943 – 1945, writing that in this final phase inclusive of D-Day, “the Germans still had a slender chance of avoiding defeat,” an opportunity they failed to take. You can check out the other eleven points by viewing the Table of Contents, and read a post by Bell on the Yale Books London blog.  

Scenes from the other "London Underground"

Faced with the impending blitz during the Second World War, Winston Churchill and his cabinet sought protection in an underground headquarters beneath the Treasury building in London. Though the prime minister much preferred to observe the war from the keener vantage point of the top floor of 10 Downing Street ("to the horror of his staff"), the Cabinet War Rooms played host to more than 100 meetings of Churchill's war cabinet between 1939 and 1945.

Since 2003, when the restored Churchill War Rooms were reopened to the public, visitors have had the opportunity to tour the site for themselves, yet many continue to wonder how a dank storage basement could have become the prime minister’s base of wartime operations, not to mention what life was really like in this underground bunker. Drawing on a wealth of original material, including new firsthand accounts of the people who lived and worked there, distinguished Churchill biographer Richard Holmes provides the first comprehensive history of the Cabinet War Rooms in his new book Churchill’s Bunker.

For those unlikely to be making a pilgrimage to London in the near future, be sure to view the Imperial War Museum's excellent virtual tour below, and read up on Churchill's wartime retreat in Holmes's excellent new book.

Israel's Independence and Churchill's Zionism

As Israel, and its millions of supporters world-wide, celebrate its 60th birthday, few realize the important role that Winston Churchill played in the establishment of the State of Israel and the shaping of the modern Middle East.

Michael Makovsky’s groundbreaking Churchill’s Promised Land, brings this and much more to light in his careful and nuanced examination of Churchill’s complex relationship with Zionism.

In exploring Churchill’s evolving and ultimately romantic interest in Zionism, Makovsky offers a fresh, more complete and revealing understanding of this great statesman’s worldview. 

Churchill’s Promised Land won the National Jewish Book Award for History (2007) and was a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature (2008).

Read an excerpt, or view the table of contents. Click here to listen to an interview with Michael Makovsky on the Yale Press Podcast.

Morris's 1948 is a critics' favorite

Under the spotlight of the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence, Benny Morris's recent book, 1948, is a praised as a shining example.

Last Sunday’s New York Times Book Review features David Margolick's review, saying: "Morris relates the story of his new book soberly and somberly, evenhandedly and exhaustively."

The May 5th issue of The New Yorker hit newsstands on Monday with a feature piece by David Remnick. This piece on Israeli history centers around Morris and the publication of 1948, calling it "a commanding, superbly documented, and fair-minded study of the events that, in the wake of the Holocaust, gave a sovereign home to one people and dispossessed another."

Last Monday, David Holahan reviewed the book for the Hartford Courant. 1948, he said, is "a richly detailed and thoroughly researched primer.... A compelling 'aha' book, 1948 brings order to complex, little-understood subjects." He went on to compliment Morris on his "vivid narrative prose and masterly analysis."

Canada's National Post began running excerpts from 1948 on May 5, and will run a total of 5 installments. Read the second and third installments.

May Day and National Hamburger Month

In honor of May Day, Slate ran an article on the best recent books about Communism. After reviewing some basics like the Communist Manifesto, they recommend the Annals of Communism series:

...Once you've got the surveys under your belt, you can turn to Yale University Press' Annals of Communism series, a unique publishing venture designed to make use of Soviet archives. Whether you want Andrei Sakharov's personal files, Stalin's correspondence with Molotov, or documents explaining the Katyn massacre, they're all available in beautifully edited and annotated translations. Don't miss John Haynes and Harvey Klehr's history of the American Communist Party (also a Yale book, also based on Soviet archives), either.

Read the entire article here.

May 1 is also the beginning of National Hamburger Month. Hamburger expert and Yale Press author Josh Ozersky reviewed New York's best burgers for the Daily News. Here is what the Daily News had to say in return about Ozersky and his new book, The Hamburger: A History:

If the city has a professor of patties, it's probably Josh Ozersky, the online food editor for New York magazine.

Not only does he test out several specimens a week, but he has just written a sexy little volume on the history of the patty from its 18th-century beginnings to its postwar boom thanks to White Castle.

Read the entire article here.

Yale Press wraps up Nat'l Poetry Month with awards and readings

At their annual awards ceremony last night, The Publishing Triangle announced Janet Malcolm, author of the critically acclaimed Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice, as winner of the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction. View the complete list of award winners here.

This remarkable work of literary biography and investigative journalism, turns on the mysterious survival of Stein and Toklas, as Jewish lesbians in Occupied France. Also a fascinating illumination of the world of Stein scholarship, and a stunningly perceptive work of criticism.

For those poety lovers in the New Haven area, the five most recent winners of the prestigious Yale Series of Younger Poets competition will read from their work on Friday, May 2nd.  Free and open to the public, the event will take place at the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall Street, Room 208, at 4:00 p.m.

Awarded since 1919, the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize celebrates the most prominent new American poets by bringing the work of previously unpublished artists to the attention of the larger public.  Previous winners of the prize include such talents as Adrienne Rich, John Ashberry, and Robert Hass.  It is the longest-running poetry prize in the United States. More information on the event after the jump.

Hartford Courant profiles Brent and YUP's digital Stalin archive

The Hartford Courant profiled Jonathan Brent, editorial director of Yale Press' Annals of Communism Project, and interviewed him about the Press's $1.3 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to develop a digital documentary edition of Stalin's Personal Archive.

After sharing a story of Stalin's correspondences with director Sergei Eisenstein and novelist Upton Sinclair, the Courant said, "It is documents like the dispatch to Sinclair that distinguish Yale's Stalin archive." Read the entire article here.

The article in the Courant was picked up by the History News Network, as well as by RussiaTrek and cafe historia, who said, "This is surely what the web was designed to do. If only other institutions would follow suit."

The digitization of Stalin's Personal Archive is a new initiative of Yale University Press' acclaimed Annals of Communism series, begun in 1992.  The digitized documents from this archive will become the basis for future scholarly research, while expediting traditional book publications on topics of great importance in understanding Soviet and twentieth-century world history.

Yale Press authors explore Broadway, investigate Roswell, and report on Latin America

Especially in these winter months, it's hard to imagine a world without "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and other classic Frank Loesser tunes. Mark Steyn, reviewing Thomas L. Riis' Frank Loesser for the Wall Street Journal, realizes that "a world without Frank Loesser and 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' would be very cold indeed." Steyn calls Frank Loesser by Yale Press author Thomas L. Riis "a solid overview of an underappreciated talent." Steyn not only praises this "invaluable" book, but also Yale University Press as a whole for the "important and valuable Broadway Masters series of musicological studies." You can read the entire review here.

Frank Loesser, most famous for composing the ever-popular musical Guys and Dolls (1950), also wrote the music and lyrics for the Pulitzer prize-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and other hits. This book is the first to bring the full story of Loesser’s life and creative achievement in Hollywood and on Broadway into the light.

Elsewhere in the Wall Street Journal, Max Holland listed the "Five Best" books on untangling the rise of conspiracy theories. Number 2 was Yale Press' Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America by Robert Alan Goldberg, which Holland called "unrivaled" for books published within the past decade. You can see Holland's entire list here.

In this enthralling book Robert Goldberg focuses on conspiracy theories in post-World War II America, examining how they became popular and why they remain so. He investigates conspiracy theories surrounding the Roswell UFO incident, the Communist threat, the rise of the Antichrist, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the Jewish plot against black America. Those who suspect conspiracies are not confined to the lunatic fringe, Goldberg shows. In fact, paranoid rhetoric and thinking are disturbingly widespread and have become an integral part of American political culture.

You can tune in tomorrow to KERA Texas public radio to hear Michael Reid, author of Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul. His hour-long interview for Think with Krys Boyd will start at noon, February 12, and can be heard online here.

Latin America, home to half-a-billion people, the world's largest reserves of arable land, and 8.5 percent of global oil, is in the midst of a vast transformation. Michael Reid, a journalist with many years of experience in the region, explores Latin America's current shift to the political left, its struggle to compete economically, and the potential for democracy to flourish there.

Yale Press Awarded $1.3 Million Grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Yale University Press is pleased to announce that it has received a $1.3 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop a digital documentary edition of Stalin's Personal Archive.

The digitization of Stalin's Personal Archive is a new initiative of Yale University Press's acclaimed Annals of Communism series, begun in 1992.  The digitized documents from this archive will become the basis for future scholarly research, while expediting traditional book publications on topics of great importance in understanding Soviet and twentieth-century world history.  Scholars worldwide will be able to investigate the rare primary source materials and documents contained in this archive without having to travel to Moscow where the archive is held and will be able to communicate their findings instantaneously online. The archive contains significant new materials relating to Stalin's political life and death:  documents concerning foreign policy with Germany before World War II; Stalin's communications with Nikolai Yezhov, head of the NKDV during the Great Purges; Stalin's directives to the Politburo after World War II; material illuminating his relations with Western intellectuals and political leaders, including Franklin D. Roosevelt; and his private notations concerning Lenin, Trotsky, Bukharin, and other Soviet leaders. It also contains inestimably important materials from Stalin's library.

Janet Malcolm at a Chelsea reading

BandofThebes.com has put up this excellent picture of Yale Press author Janet Malcolm at a reading for her book Two Lives in Chelsea on Wednesday night.

Stephen Bottum, the blogger behind BandofThebes.com, likes Two Lives for the "many fascinating revelations in the slim book, which manages to say something new and important about the nature of biography, the quirks of writing, the work of reading, the unknowability of human actions, the ways in which biographers 'use' their minor characters, and how a scholar's overwhelming fear of not living up to early promise can ultimately prevent him from completing any work." He called the book "always engaging."

You can read his entire blog post here.