Whew, spring is moving along quickly here in Mobtown! Here’s a brief rundown of some new JHU Press news and recent, current, and near-future happenings.
Awards
Congratulations to Andrew Scott Dolkart, whose The Row House Reborn: Architecture and Neighborhoods in New York City, 1908-1929 last night received the Antoinette Forrester 
Downing Award from the Society of Architectural Historians. Dolkart’s book, which has also won prizes from the New York Society Library and Friends of the Upper East Side Historical Districts, explores how in the decades just before and after World War I a group of architects, homeowners, and developers pioneered innovative and affordable housing alternatives by converting the deteriorated and bleak row houses of old New York neighborhoods into modern and stylish dwellings. This movement—an early example of what has become known as “gentrification”—dramatically changed the physical character of these neighborhoods and profoundly altered their social makeup.
Hats off as well to Sharon Murphy. Her book Investing in Life: Insurance in Antebellum America received the 2012 Hagley Prize in Business History at the Business
History Conference’s annual meeting in Philadelphia at the end of last month. The book, which Civil War Book Review called “an exemplary piece of scholarship that upon publication immediately became the standard work in the field,” considers the creation and expansion of the American life insurance industry from its early origins in the 1810s through the 1860s and examines how its growth paralleled and influenced the emergence of the middle class.
Reviews
Einstein’s Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and Religion, Steven Gimbel’s newest book (hot off the presses!), already nabbed one rave review from the folks over at Publisher’s Weekly, who note that in seeking to answer the question: is relativity ‘Jewish science’?, Gimbel “felicitously concludes that what makes the theory of relativity so attractive is its cosmopolitanism and intellectual open-mindedness.”
In the latest issue of Reviews in History, Dr. Yolandra Eraso calls Preventive Strikes: Women, Precancer, and Prophylactic Surgery, by Ilana Lowy, “a holistic and formidable account of pre-cancer in comparative perspective.”
Hailing Midnight Ride, Industrial Dawn: Paul Revere and the Growth of American Enterprise, by Robert Martello, as a “finely crafted
book” in the March issue of New England Quarterly, James McWilliams goes on to say that “Martello’s Revere embodies what historians typically identify in more abstract terms: the transition from craft-based to industrial-scaled production . . . [he] deserves credit for portraying these choices in a way that makes the famous ride a prelude to national innovation rather than an isolated act of bravery.”
Events
We just returned from the Renaissance Society of America‘s annual meeting down the road in Washington, D.C., where society members held a series of special sessions honoring the work of former JHU Press Executive Editor, the late Henry Y.K. Tom. Henry passed away on January 10, 2011, just a few short months after retiring from a 36-year career at the Press. The RSA sessions, grouped as “Henry Tom’s Renaissance,” celebrated his contributions to Renaissance and early modern scholarship and explored his methods and approaches to building our widely heralded list of titles about the era.
In Milwaukee for the OAH? Don’t forget to stop on into the exhibit hall to say hello and see our new books and most recent journals. We’re offering a special deal throughout the conference, buy two books at our 25% discount and get a third book for half off, so it might be the perfect time to check out our recent backlist for those books you haven’t gotten around to picking up yet. We’re at booth #302. And while you’re in the hall, don’t forget to drop by and visit our colleagues in Project MUSE (booth #227). They’re showing off the new MUSE website, complete with books from the UPCC (that’s the University Press Content Consortium to those in the know)! What, your institutional library doesn’t subscribe to the UPCC collections? Drop us a note here and we’ll reach out.
We’re looking forward to seeing all of our AAHM friends at next week’s meeting in Charm City. If you’re attending and manage to make it to the book exhibit on the opening day (that’s next Friday) we’ll reward you with a 40% discount on any of our books on display. Plan ahead by downloading a PDF of the conference order form here: AAHM.12.order.form.
Make sure you’re connected with the JHU Press community. Check our calendar for upcoming lectures, readings, book launches, and other events and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news, reviews, and more.
