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From that beginning, Cornell University Press has grown to be a major scholarly publisher, offering 150 new titles a year in many disciplines, including anthropology, classics, cultural studies, history, literary criticism and theory, medieval studies, philosophy, politics and international relations, psychology and psychiatry, and women's studies. Our many books in the life sciences and natural h

istory are published under the Comstock Publishing Associates imprint, and a distinguished list of books in industrial and labor relations is offered under our ILR Press imprint.

09/17/2025

Sanctuary isn’t just shelter—it’s a claim to belonging. 🗽

In THE POLITICS OF SANCTUARY, Vojislava Filipcevic Cordes explores how immigrants and activists in New York City use sanctuary practices to challenge exclusion and demand recognition as full urban citizens.

Blending case study, theory, and lived experience, this book shows how sanctuary reshapes politics and opens pathways to inclusion for undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.

📘 Discover more:

The Politics of Sanctuary examines sanctuaries as spaces where activists oppose what they see as an unjust restrictive regime trapping immigrants in conditions of legal liminality. Drawing on her fieldwork...

09/16/2025

From the Black Death to the Enclosure Movement to Tudor conquest, poetry shaped how people imagined land and labor.

In THE WORK OF REFORM, William Rhodes traces how Piers Plowman’s vision of enforced agrarian toil influenced centuries of thought on land use, improvement, and empire. Linking medieval English manors with the colonial projects of Tudor Ireland, Rhodes reveals how poetry could both envision transformation and be appropriated to justify power.

A groundbreaking eco-Marxist literary history of environment, labor, and empire.

📘 Discover more:

The Work of Reform interweaves literary, economic, and environmental history to trace the influence that William Langland's harsh vision of enforced agrarian labor in Piers Plowman had on later medieval...

09/15/2025

What can borderlands teach us about solidarity in an age of walls and nationalism? 🌍

In UNBOUNDING EUROPE, Ilaria Giglioli examines Sicilian–Tunisian relations to uncover how belonging is shaped at the edges of nations. She shows why ignoring inequality reinforces hierarchies—and why solidarity must begin with recognizing histories of exclusion.

A timely and thought-provoking book for anyone interested in migration, borders, and the future of Europe.

📘 Discover more:

At a time of global border fortification and rising nationalisms, Unbounding Europe analyzes the potential of Mediterranean borderlands to offer alternative models of belonging. Drawing on ethnographic...

09/12/2025

“The medium is the message.”

Marshall McLuhan’s famous idea still explains why technologies reshape the way we live, work, and think.

In THE MEDIUM IS STILL THE MESSAGE, Grant N. Havers explores McLuhan’s enduring insights, showing how media alter politics, culture, and even our sense of identity—while also pointing to ways we can reclaim control from the technologies we’ve created.

📘 Discover more:

The Medium Is Still the Message presents Marshall McLuhan, history's foremost philosopher of media, as the indispensable guide for understanding the impact of technologies. McLuhan (1911-1980) shows...

09/11/2025

For decades, New York City has tried to tackle poverty, joblessness, and homelessness through its Human Resources Administration.

In REFORMING SOCIAL SERVICES IN NEW YORK CITY, Thomas J. Main explores six decades of welfare reform, from John Lindsay’s 1960s vision to Giuliani’s work-oriented approach to de Blasio’s progressive agenda.

Through archival research and insider interviews, Main shows how the HRA became the arena where the city’s social battles were fought—and proves that bold change in social policy can succeed.

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Reforming Social Services in New York City examines efforts across six decades to respond to poverty, joblessness, and homelessness through the establishment and periodic restructuring of the city's...

09/10/2025

Vaccine skepticism didn’t start with COVID-19—and it isn’t just about denying science.

In ANTI/VAX, Bernice L. Hausman explores the deeper motivations behind vaccine hesitancy: distrust of Big Pharma, concerns over government authority, and beliefs about the role of illness in health.

This book reframes the conversation, showing that to understand vaccine resistance, we must look beyond misinformation and into the cultural and political issues shaping public health.

📘 Discover more:

In Anti/Vax, Bernice L. Hausman challenges the widespread perception of vaccine skepticism shaped by media, celebrities, and internet misinformation. She explores other motivations behind vaccine hesitancy,...

09/09/2025

In 1917, New York women—and their allies—changed the course of American history. 🌍✊

WOMEN WILL VOTE by Susan Goodier and Karen Pastorello celebrates the victory of diverse suffragists who built a coalition that crossed racial, ethnic, and regional lines. Rural farmers, African American leaders, Jewish activists, immigrants, and men all joined the fight, securing the state referendum that gave women the vote.

Their success energized the national movement and paved the way for the Nineteenth Amendment. This book brings their stories back to life—and reminds us what determined collective action can achieve.

📘 Discover more:

Women Will Vote celebrates the 1917 victory of the women's suffrage movement in New York State. Susan Goodier and Karen Pastorello highlight the activism of rural, urban, African American, Jewish, immigrant,...

09/08/2025

A judge remembered for one of the most controversial cases in American history. ⚖️

In JUDGMENT AND MERCY, Martin J. Siegel tells the riveting story of Irving Kaufman, infamous for sentencing Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death, yet later hailed for rulings on desegregation, prison reform, and free speech.

Haunted by the Rosenberg affair, Kaufman faced renewed protests, lost his Supreme Court ambitions, and endured personal tragedy. This finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize captures the ambition, contradictions, and torment of a man whose decisions shaped history.

📘 Discover more:

2023 National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize FinalistIn Judgment and Mercy, Martin J. Siegel examines the complex life and career of Irving Kaufman, the judge infamous for sentencing Julius...

09/05/2025

Long before the Adirondacks became a destination for hikers and tourists, they were home to Black pioneers fighting for freedom and the vote.

In THE BLACK WOODS, Godine uncovers the stories of land, resilience, and justice that shaped this northern wilderness. From Gerrit Smith’s land grants to the struggles of Black settlers left to fend for themselves, this is a history that has too long been overlooked.

Winner of the Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Forest History Society Book Award, this book finally gives these pioneers their rightful place in America’s story.

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Winner of the Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Forest History Society Book AwardThe Black Woods chronicles the history of Black pioneers in New York's northern wilderness. From the late 1840s to the 1860s, they...

09/04/2025

What can a walk along Lake Michigan reveal about Chicago? 🌊🏙️

In WALKING CHICAGO’S COAST, Michael McColly sets off from his North Side apartment and treks for two days along the shoreline to the Indiana Dunes National Park. Along the way, he discovers stunning parks, crowded beaches, polluted neighborhoods, and unexpected beauty hidden in scrapyards and industrial ruins.

Blending memoir, travelogue, and environmental reportage, McColly uncovers Chicago’s grandeur and history while confronting its environmental and social realities.

📘 Take the walk:

Blending travelogue, memoir, and environmental reportage, Walking Chicago's Coast takes readers on an urban journey. Michael McColly begins his walk at his far–North Side Chicago apartment and proceeds...

09/03/2025

From daily dives that cover a mile in a single day to migrations that cross entire oceans, sharks are some of the most extraordinary travelers on Earth. 🌊🦈

In SHARKS, Michael Bright takes readers on these journeys, exploring why sharks travel such distances, how they find their way through the currents, and what dangers they encounter along the way. Backed by the latest science and tracking technology, the book reveals both the beauty of shark migration and the urgent threats these creatures face from humans.

Engaging, informative, and eye-opening, this is a must-read for ocean lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the hidden world beneath the waves.

📘 Discover more:

The extraordinary journeys of sharks are revealed by Michael Bright in the beautiful and sweeping Sharks. Bright shines attention on the thousands of miles some sharks traverse through the world's oceans,...

09/02/2025

While summer isn't officially over, we're preparing for the upcoming months.

Take a look ahead at things to come this Fall/Winter 2025 season!

Books to be published by Cornell University Press and its imprints between September 2025 and February 2026

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