New Books Network

In Warsaw: A City at War 1939–45 (Osprey, 2026), historians Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor bring to light the unparalleled experience of a city caught between two invading powers, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and the resilience of its citizens.This fascinating history illuminates how Warsaw's centuries-old fight for identity shaped the course of its wartime experience. For a mere 21 years, Warsaw thrived as the proud capital of an independent Poland, only to be betrayed when Nazi Germany invaded in 1939. Yet the heart of the city – its people – refused to surrender. From the tragic Ghetto Uprising to the heroic city-wide revolt, Warsaw's resistance was fierce as it faced the systematic attempt to erase it from the map. The story does not end with the conclusion of the war, as Warsaw found itself trapped behind the Iron Curtain.This compelling narrative is not just about battles – it's about a city and its inhabitants, whose unwavering spirit defined them in the darkest of times. Drawing from rare archival material including countless first-hand accounts, Warsaw's wartime years are majestically brought to life. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s April, 1959, a respected naval commander comes back from time at sea to find out that his wife is having an affair. Despondent and angry, he drives to the apartment of his wife’s lover to talk to him. The lover ends up dead. The murder trial of Commander Kawas Nanavati captivated Bombay because it had everything—sex, betrayal, intrigue. When the jury verdict came out, many were outraged and they thought the jury system was to blame. The trial came to be known as “The Last Jury Trial in India” because it heralded the end of the jury in India and became a lightning rod for concerns about the jury being corrupted by prejudice and the media.The Last Jury Trial in India is a four-part series hosted by Sonali Chakravarti, professor of government at Wesleyan University. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This conversation was hosted by Chella Ward as part of the Open University’s Islamophobia Awareness Month events in 2026. Salman Sayyid and AbdoolKarim Vakil join Chella to discuss their longstanding work towards a people’s definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Here they explain that Islamophobia is a kind of racism, and discuss what work a definition can do to change the social contract and work towards a fairer society. They draw on their numerous books and articles, as well as on the practical work they did as part of the team behind the definition of Islamophobia drafted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, and accepted by universities, councils and civil society organisations across the political spectrum.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How can the 2026 midterm elections in the U.S. be interpreted, from a public-opinion standpoint? I talk about this with Bruce Stokes, a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and formerly a public-opinion analyst at the Pew Research Center. We talk about the potential for bipartisanship in Congress, the tendency for voters not to identify with either major party, and attitudes on issues including the U.S. relationship with Israel. We also touch on public-opinion sentiments in Europe as right-wing candidates like Marine Le Pen come to the fore. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A daring reassessment of the critical method that reshaped the humanities and an invitation to imagine new ways of doing history.The genealogical method—a mode of historical analysis that shows that what looks timeless is in fact contingent, bound to shifting relations of meaning, knowledge, and power—has become the dominant paradigm of humanistic inquiry. In The Genealogy of Genealogy, Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm turns this influential practice back on itself, tracing its unlikely rise through Nietzsche and Foucault and uncovering its suppressed ties to eugenics and racism. He rethinks the very stakes of critical history and proposes new tools for thinking about historical continuity, change, and difference.Provocative and timely, The Genealogy of Genealogy offers both a diagnosis and a vision, challenging scholars across the humanities and social sciences to rethink how we write history and whether our most trusted methods are fit for the futures we seek to build.Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm is Francis Christopher Oakley Third Century Professor of Religion and chair of science and technology studies at Williams College. He is the author of Metamodernism: The Future of Theory and The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences, both published by the University of Chicago Press.Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.