Did you know that Cornell has an online book club? Check it out!<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For more titles by Big Red authors, peruse our previous round-ups<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you published a book you’d like to submit? Scroll down for details!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Susan Brewer, PhD \u201991, Richard Immerman \u201971 & Douglas Little, PhD \u201978<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Subtitled How Walter LaFeber Explained the History of U.S. Foreign Relations<\/em>, the book<\/a> is a festschrift<\/em>\u2014a scholarly tribute to a distinguished academic by colleagues and former students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a companion volume<\/a>, published by Cornell University Press, to a 2023 conference in NYC that paid tribute to the late professor, a giant in the field of U.S. history. In the introduction, the editors describe how the idea for the book and conference came about when former students gathered after his death to reminisce.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cHe was the greatest teacher and wisest mentor that anyone present had ever encountered,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis days must have lasted more than 24 hours for him to have written so many iconic books and articles while still managing to stay in touch with students, friends, and colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The volume is available in hardcover and paperback or as a free ebook download<\/a>, a\u00a0free Kindle book<\/a>, or\u00a0individual PDF chapters<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gerold Yonas \u201961, BEP \u201962<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This techno thriller<\/a> is the second in a series\u2014a sequel to Yonas\u2019s The Dragon\u2019s C.L.A.W.<\/em>, in which rival nations jockey for control of technology that could provide unlimited clean energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His hero, physicist Alek Spray, is back and battling another scientifically based peril: a discovery at a famed nuclear research lab may be causing a mysterious neurological pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s up to Spray and his team to find a cure\u2014but that solution could itself have deadly implications. Meanwhile, the life of the woman he loves is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n An engineering physics alum, Yonas holds a doctorate from Caltech. He served as chief scientist for the Strategic Defense Initiative (commonly known as \u201cStar Wars\u201d) and blogs as SDI Guy<\/a>; he was also a vice president at Sandia National Labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susan Brewer, PhD \u201991<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A doctoral alum in history (and coeditor of the LaFeber festschrift <\/em>detailed above), Brewer is a professor emerita<\/a> at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. She\u2019s also a native of Oneida, NY\u2014the subject of her nonfiction book<\/a> from Cornell University Press\u2019s Three Hills imprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the book, Brewer contemplates the history of the farmland on which she grew up\u2014a parcel that had been in her family for generations, but which American settlers had stolen from Indigenous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div> During Brewer\u2019s youth in the 1970s, the Native residents\u2019 demand for sovereignty over their rightful land sparked tensions in the community\u2014even leading to the loss of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow could the people of Oneida live side by side and be so divided from each other?\u201d she writes. \u201cFrom the first, I had no difficulty believing the claim of the Oneida Indians that they had lost their lands as a result of dishonesty and corruption. I listened to people I had known all my life admit that wrongs had probably been done long ago and declare that they should not be held responsible for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brewer\u2019s previous books include To Win the Peace<\/em> and Why America Fights<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amy Snyder Kaminski \u201998<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Kaminski holds a doctorate in science and technology studies from Virginia Tech and currently serves as NASA\u2019s chief of science engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She previously edited the volume Space Science and Public Engagement.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This nonfiction book<\/a> explores the popular history of the space shuttle\u2014specifically, the American public\u2019s relationship with the program over its four-decade history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the Apollo 11 astronauts returned from humanity\u2019s first voyage to the moon in 1969, NASA officials advocated for more ambitious missions,\u201d notes the publisher, University of Pittsburg Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut with the civil rights movement, environmental concerns, the Vietnam War, and other social crises taking up much of the public\u2019s attention, they lacked the support to make those ambitions a reality. Instead, the space agency had to think more modestly and pragmatically, crafting a program that could leverage the excitement of Apollo while promising relevance for average Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Birgitta Sif Jonsdottir \u201903<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aimed at children ages five and up, this anthology<\/a> comprises eight stories that are narrated as letters offering life lessons from parent to child. It\u2019s both written and illustrated by Jonsdottir, author of several previous books for kids including Swish & Squeak\u2019s Noisy Day<\/em> and Where My Feet Go<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The anthology\u2019s stories contemplate such themes as perseverance, hope, courage, trying new things, and finding friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div> As she writes: \u201cRemember that seeds we sow, \/ become buds that blossom and grow, \/ nurtured with love, roots of kindness, \/ and most of all, time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A native of Iceland<\/a>, Jonsdottir earned a BFA on the Hill; her literary debut\u2014Oliver<\/em>, about an iconoclastic boy who finally makes a friend\u2014won Iceland\u2019s Dimmalimm Prize for illustration in children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Marks \u201965<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marks is the founder<\/a> and former head of the peacebuilding nonprofit Search for Common Ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A former government major in Arts & Sciences, Marks previously penned The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence<\/em> and The Search for the \u201cManchurian Candidate\u201d: The CIA and Mind Control<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His nonfiction book<\/a> from Columbia University Press, subtitled Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship<\/em>, offers practical advice on negotiating effectively and resolving conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen people told me that something could not be done, I usually replied, \u2018Let\u2019s find a way,\u2019\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes foolishly and sometimes wisely, I rejected the idea that most things were not possible. In some cultures, being told \u2018no\u2019 absolutely means \u2018no.\u2019 In other places, and particularly to successful social entrepreneurs, refusing to take \u2018no\u2019 for an answer is a useful quality\u2014except on those occasions when it is not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To submit your book for consideration, email cornellians@cornell.edu<\/a>. Please note that to be included in our listings of new titles, books must be recently published by a conventional publisher\u2014not self published, pay-to-publish, publish on demand, or similar\u2014and be of interest to a general audience. Books not featured will be forwarded to Class Notes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Published November 12, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n This month\u2019s featured titles include an homage to a beloved prof, a techno thriller, and a popular history of the space shuttle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-43802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\nThinking Otherwise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Cover](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/Thinking_Otherwise_book_cover-A.jpg\")
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\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/dragons-brain-A.jpg\")
<\/figure>The Dragon\u2019s Brain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Best Land<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/the-best-land-A.jpg\")
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\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/The-Peoples-Spaceship-A.jpg\")
<\/figure>The People\u2019s Spaceship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWherever You Go, My Love Will Follow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/wherever-you-go-A.jpg\")
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\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/marks-book-cover-A.jpg\")
<\/figure>From Vision to Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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