Fifteen Eighty Four

The Letters of Samuel Beckett is back with Volume 3, covering the years 1957-1965. After the success of Waiting for Godot, these letters find Beckett coming to terms with his international fame. As he delves into the world of the theatre, begins writing for television and radio, and drafts his first novel in over a decade (Comment c’est), Beckett opens up about his writing process in a series of compelling letters to his BBC producer Barbara Bray. The newest installment in one of the greatest collection of twentieth century letters, this is Samuel Beckett in his own words—passionate, bracing, witty, vulnerable—and it offers countless new reasons to appreciate both the man and his writing.

Just as religious freedom and civil rights go head to head in the Supreme Court this summer in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, Marci A. Hamilton has updated her classic constitutional law book God vs. the Gavel to take a close look at the modern conflict between religious groups and the law. From discrimination against same-sex couples to clergy child abuse to debates over vaccinations and faith healing, this new edition of a constitutional law classic puts today’s hot-button church-state controversies in the spotlight and explains the dangers we face when we allow religious freedom to trump our most basic laws.

New work from celebrated scientists includes Science and Human Experience, a collection of essays, lectures, and new writings by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon N Cooper. And coming this October is The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time, a groundbreaking take on physics, philosophy, and considering the Universe by Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Lee Smolin.

In Leo Strauss: Man of Peace, Robert Howse reexamines the famous neoconservative and presents a portrait of Strauss in stark contrast to popular perception: from Strauss’ writings on political violence and what he taught in the classroom on this subject, he emerges as a man of peace, favorably disposed to international law and skeptical of imperialism, and a critic of radical ideologies (right and left) who warns of the dangers to free thought and civil society when philosophers and intellectuals ally themselves with movements that advocate violence.

Sappho is the definitive new collection of the poet’s work, including substantial poems, fragments, single words—and one nearly complete poem discovered in 2004, along with two recently discovered fragments that have never been published in English.

As Cambridge honors the centennial of World War I this summer, we will be releasing a wide range of titles on the Great War: July Crisis explores the key moments leading up to the war’s beginning in 1914, while The Great War at Sea demonstrates why the naval war mattered in the course of WWI, and also highlights how it impacted the evolution of warfare at sea. Stay tuned this summer for more content on the Great War Centennial.

There’s something for everyone on the Cambridge bookshelf next season! Which new title are you excited to pick up?