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Explore a selection of publications by alumni and academics, and books with a link to the University or Cambridge

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Chaucer the Alchemist: Physics, Mutability, and the Medieval Imagination
Alexander Gabrovsky (Trinity 2009)

The secrets of Nature's alchemy and the mysteries of "change" captivated both the scientific and literary imagination of the Middle Ages. Beneath the sphere of the moon in the medieval realm of mutability, the endless process of chemical transmutation of one element into another was seen as the basis of all physical change on Earth; human beings, animals, and all material things were thought to be part of a continual cycle of generation and corruption. This book investigates Chaucer's fascination with earthly mutability.

Walk With Us: How "The West Wing" Changed Our Lives
Claire Handscombe (King's 1997)

The West Wing premiered in 1999. That's a long time ago. Back then, we were worrying about the Millennium Bug, paying $700 for DVD players, and using pagers. 1999: a century ago.

Chains of Sand
Jemma Wayne (Newnham,1999)

He has always been good at tracking down things that are hidden, like cockroaches in his mother's kitchen cupboard, or tunnels in Gaza. At 26, Udi is a veteran of the Israeli army and has killed five men. He wants a new life in a new place. He has a cousin in England.

Daniel is 29, a Londoner, an investment banker and a Jew. He wants for nothing, yet he too is unable to escape an intangible yearning for something more. And for less. He looks to Israel for the answer.

Under the Tump: Sketches of Real Life in the Welsh Borders
Oliver Balch (Christ's 1999)

Hay-on-Wye is world famous as the Town of Books. But when travel writer Oliver Balch moved there, it was not just the books he was keen to read, but the people too.

After living in London and Buenos Aires, what will he make of this tiny, quirky town on the Welsh-English border? To help guide him, he turns to Francis Kilvert, a Victorian diarist who captured the bucolic rural life of his day. Does anything of Kilvert's world still exists? And could a newcomer ever feel they truly belong?

Magical Musical Kingdom
Frances Turnbull (Homerton 2013)

Magical Musical Kingdom is a vibrant theme that uses well-known and lesser-known childhood songs to teach musical concepts with a royal flavour! Dance like a Dragon to semi-breves, walk like a King to crotchets and queen to quavers, as we use physical movement to express the grounding rhythms of music!

Tributes to Jean Michel Massing: Towards a Global Art History
Mark Stocker (King's 1975) and Phillip Lindley (Downing 1976)

This book is a Festschrift to honour Jean Michel Massing, Professor of the History of Art at the University of Cambridge, on his retirement and contains essays from 21 of his colleagues and former students.

Today We Die A Little
Richard Askwith (Trinity 1977)

"Today We Die A Little: The Rise and Fall of Emil Zátopek, Olympic Legend" is an attempt to tell the full, extraordinary story of Emil Zátopek, the Czechoslovak soldier who in the decade following the Second World War revolutionised distance-running – and became an international symbol of decency and courage. He won four Olympic golds (three in the space of eight days – including his first ever attempt at a marathon); set 18 world records; and went undefeated over 10,000 metres for six years. In doing so, he redefined the boundaries of human endurance.

The Voices Within
Charles Fernyhough (Queens' 1986)

We all hear voices. Ordinary thinking is often a kind of conversation, filling our heads with speech: the voices of reason, of memory, of self-encouragement and rebuke, the inner dialogue that helps us with tough decisions or complicated problems. For others - voice-hearers, trauma-sufferers and prophets - the voices seem to come from outside: friendly voices, malicious ones, the voice of God or the Devil, the muses of art and literature.

Bamboo Island
Ann Bennett (Girton 1981)

Malaysia 1962: Juliet Crosby, a plantation owner’s wife, has lived a reclusive life on her Malaysian rubber plantation since the Second World War robbed her of everyone she loved.

The sudden appearance of a young woman from Indonesia disrupts her lonely existence and stirs up unsettling memories. Together they embark on a journey to Singapore and Indonesia to uncover secrets buried for more than twenty years.

Bamboo Heart
Ann Bennett (Girton 1981)

Thailand, 1943: Thomas Ellis, captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore, is a prisoner-of-war on the Death Railway. In stifling heat he endures endless days of clearing jungle, breaking stone and lugging wood. He must stay alive, although he is struck down by disease and tortured by Japanese guards, and he must stay strong, although he is starving and exhausted. For Tom has made himself a promise: to return home. Not to the grey streets of London, where he once lived, but to Penang, where he found paradise and love.

Ambition: why it's good to want more and how to get it
Rachel Bridge (Emmanuel 1986)

Ever have that nagging feeling that you are better than the sum of your current achievements? Do you have a secret desire to be achieving much more, to change the world or to reach the top of your game?

Shakespeare in Swahililand cover
Dr Edward Wilson-Lee (Sidney Sussex 2006)

Published to commemorate 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in April 2016, a breathtaking exploration into Shakespeare as a global poet.

The Weaver Fish
Robert Edeson (Trinity Hall 1980)

Cambridge linguist Edvard Tøssentern reappears after a balloon crash in which he is presumed to have died. When he staggers in from a remote swamp, gravely ill and swollen beyond recognition, his colleagues at the research station are overjoyed. But Edvard’s discovery about a rare giant bird throws them all into the path of an international crime ring.

The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin
Elinor Teele (Corpus 2001)

Roald Dahl meets The Penderwicks in this quirky, humorous, whimsical, and heartwarming middle grade debut about two siblings who run away from home to escape working in the family coffin business.

Great Interactions: Life with learning disabilities and autism
Author: Polly Braden. Project Editor: Rashmi Becker (Selwyn 1995)

There are around 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability and 700,000 with autism. In partnership with Project Editor Rashmi Becker, Polly Braden spent two years travelling the UK photographing people with disabilities. Her photographs look at the everyday moments, achievements and milestones. The subject is complex but the aim is simple: to highlight everyday interactions and life-changing experiences.

A Man of Genius
Janet Todd (Newnham 1961)

A literary novel of 1819, set in London and Venice, where a successful Gothic writer battles emotional dependency and suffers the complexity of obsession.

Business Coaching and Mentoring For Dummies
Marie Taylor (St Catharine's 2001) and Steve Crabb

Business Coaching & Mentoring For Dummies is an essential resource for business owners, business leaders, coaches, and mentors who want to take their skills to the next level.

Rebel of the Sands
Alwyn Hamilton (King's 2006)

Sold immediately at auction across the world, this phenomenal novel is the first in a trilogy packed with shooting contests, train robberies, festivals under the stars, powerful Djinni magic and an electrifying love story. This promises to be a global super lead.

How to Have a Good Day
Caroline Webb (Christ's 1989)

In How to Have a Good Day, economist and former McKinsey partner Caroline Webb shows readers how to use recent findings from behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience to transform our approach to everyday working life.

 

My Spirit Sang All Day: A Life in Music
Elizabeth Werry (Girton 1955)

A memoir of a life in music. Elizabeth Werry, pianist, harpsichordist and organist, was born shortly before the Second World War, and has been immersed in music since childhood. From early beginnings at Dartington, she spent seven years in Canada, returning to England at the age of eleven to complete her education in London and at Cambridge. A pupil of Harold Craxton, Harold Darke, David Willcocks and Thurston Dart, she became a fine chamber music play and worked with many of the most distinguished musicians of her generation. She has taught widely since her schooldays and her pupils are now all over the world.

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