x

Fifteen Eighty Four

Academic perspectives from Cambridge University Press

Menu

International Women’s Day

Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present is to be free again in March, to celebrate Women’s History Month. This is great news. If you are not yet a subscriber, this is your opportunity.

8 Mar 2015

An Interview with Celia Marshik

Celia Marshik, the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Modernist Culture, sat down with us to discuss the legacy of modernism and the early 20th century in our lives today–from our fascination...

6 Mar 2015

We’re Sorry, the Final Frontier is Closed

Gerry Canavan, the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to American Science Fiction, traces our fascination with outer space from Star Trek to Guardians of the Galaxy and charts the evolution of our bleak pop cultural view of living beyond Earth.

Gerry Canavan | 5 Mar 2015

A Legacy of Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman appointed to the highest court in the United States, and her tenure there has been a storied one. In her 22 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg has become a leading figure in the battle for gender equality and civil rights. We asked four contributors to the new volume The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to weigh in on how she will be remembered.

4 Mar 2015

Catch Up on Your History

At the 2015 American Historical Association Meeting, we caught up with five authors on our history list, including Gregory T. Cushman, whose Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World won the 2014 Jerry...

3 Mar 2015

Why the Romans?

Dean Hammer explains why it's both important and fascinating to study the Romans, and that gave rise to his book Roman Political Thought.

Dean Hammer | 2 Mar 2015

The Racial Roots of Labor Law

Reuel Schiller, the author of Forging Rivals, describes how the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow gave rise to modern labor and employment discrimination laws.

Reuel Schiller | 27 Feb 2015

The Path to Emancipation

David Williams, the author of I Freed Myself, explains why the traditional picture of emancipation as an abolitionist movement with the Great Emancipator Lincoln at its helm isn't entirely correct—African American slaves played a key role in achieving their own freedom.

David Williams | 27 Feb 2015

Douglass and Douglas

In Slavery, Race, and Conquest in the Tropics, Robert E. May pits Lincoln's notorious opponent Stephen A. Douglas against abolitionist Frederick Douglass to examine the uncertain future of slavery not only in the US, but in Latin America as well.

Robert E. May | 26 Feb 2015

Chile and Civil Unions

In the wake of Chile's major reform on civil unions, Jordi Díez, the author of The Politics of Gay Marriage in Latin America, discusses the state of the fight for gay rights in South and Central America.

Jordi Díez | 25 Feb 2015

The Red Summer of 1919

David F. Krugler's 1919, the Year of Racial Violence chronicles the deadly mob attacks that broke out from Chicago to Texas to DC that summer. In this excerpt from his book, Krugler explores the racial tensions that perpetuated the violence of the Red Summer.

David Krugler | 24 Feb 2015

The Civil War and America’s Changing Legal Order

Laura Edwards, the author of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction, reveals the story of Bella Newton, an African-American woman who broke new ground by filing criminal charges against her white neighbor in 1869.

Laura Edwards | 23 Feb 2015