Brandeis University Press

06/11/2026

Forget the grilling equipment, whiskey, and quirky dress socks. How about some great nonfiction for Father’s Day?

06/09/2026

We're pleased to see The Gap Years featured in a McKinsey Author Talk. Tom French reflects on mountaineering, second acts, and the enduring power of lifelong passions.

Tom French explores how gap year retirement can strengthen leadership, resilience, and purpose through deliberate reflection and reinvention.

06/05/2026

Which kind of travel takes more endurance: a book tour or summiting Everest? Tom French, author of The Gap Years, seeks the answer to this question with recent stops at the Boston Athenaeum, Still North Books, White Birch Books, Andover Bookstore, and more.

06/02/2026

Our book recommendation for Pride Month? Lessons in Drag by Kareem Khubchandani! The Lambda Literary Awards are among the most prestigious awards honoring LGBTQ+ literature, and we couldn’t be happier to see this book earn the recognition it deserves.

Witty, bold, and deeply personal, Lessons in Drag is both an invitation to explore drag as a practice and a celebration of its transformative potential. Read more: https://brandeisuniversitypress.com/title/lessons-in-drag-a-queer-manual-for-academics-artists-and-aunties/

05/26/2026

"In her rich and well-researched 'Lunch on a Beam,' Ms. Roussel, the archivist of Rockefeller Center, details the making of this uniquely American picture."

Read the review in The Wall Street Journal:

One of the most celebrated images of the 1930s captures a crew of workers, taking a break high above Manhattan.

05/18/2026

The warm weather has officially put us in a gardening state of mind. 🌸 Hydrangea Happiness by C.L. Fornari is the perfect companion for hydrangea season.

05/11/2026

Tomorrow evening, in this compelling conversation, historians Robert J. Allison and Iris de Rode uncover the hidden story behind Improbable Patriot, revealing how intrigue, ambition, and daring shaped the fight for independence.

In 1776, the playwright and inventor Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732–1799) conceived an audacious plan to send aid to the American rebels. What’s more, he convinced King Louis XVI to bankroll the project and single-handedly carried it out. By war’s end, he had supplied Washington’s army with most of its weapons and powder, though he was never paid or acknowledged by the United States. To some, he was a dashing hero, a towering intellect who saved the American Revolution. To others, he was a pure rogue, a double-dealing adventurer who stopped at nothing to advance his fame and fortune. In fact, he was both, and more: an advisor to kings, an arms dealer, and an author of some of the most enduring works of the stage.

Learn more:

Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French playwright Who Saved the American Revolution, a conversation with Suffolk University historian Robert Alison and Iris De Rode.In 1776, the playwright and inventor Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732...

05/08/2026

This Mother’s Day, we’re thinking about a very different kind of “mother.”

Mother Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, rejected traditional family life entirely. Known to her followers as “Mother,” she built a movement grounded in equality, discipline, and devotion—leaving a legacy that would shape American religious history.

If you’re looking for a Mother’s Day read that challenges expectations, this is it: a new edition of Nardi Reeder Campion’s Mother Ann Lee: Morning Star of the Shakers. The biography was the inspiration for the movie The Testament of Ann Lee, starring Amanda Seyfried.

🌟 Learn more: https://brandeisuniversitypress.com/title/mother-ann-lee-morning-star-of-the-shakers-1/

05/04/2026

Listen to Christine Roussel, Rockefeller Center archivist, talk to Joe Fryer (NBC News) about the mystery behind the iconic photograph "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper." Who were these guys? Who took the photo? Was it spontaneous or part of a PR campaign? Roussel searched for answers for her new book, “Lunch on a Beam: The Making of an American Photograph.”

7 likes. "'Lunch on a Beam' explores mystery surrounding iconic photo of Rockefeller Center workers"

04/30/2026

Today we’re celebrating the release of two incredible new books: Hydrangea Happiness by C.L. Fornari and Lunch on a Beam by Christine Roussel.

Though their subjects diverge—one a practical, joy-filled guide to hydrangeas, the other a surprising history behind an iconic building—both authors are true experts in their fields. Each book is a reminder of just how compelling great nonfiction can be.

Hydrangea Happiness and Lunch on a Beam are available everywhere books are sold.