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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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Chasing Butterflies in the Sunlight

Chasing Butterflies in the Sunlight

Morenike Euba Oyenusi (Jesus 1985)

“Chasing Butterflies in the Sunlight" describes the joys and innocence of childhood experienced by Ronke, growing up in a beautiful, culturally and racially diverse world on a university campus in Nigeria.

Sidnie Manton; Letters and Diaries Expedition to the Great Barrier Reef 1928-1929

Sidnie Manton; Letters and Diaries Expedition to the Great Barrier Reef 1928-1929

Sidnie Manton (Girton 1921)

Sidnie Manton was a woman of great determination and academic brilliance. At the age of 26 she became a member of the Great Barrier Reef Expedition. This was the first such scientific study of a coral reef anywhere in the world: an eminent and intrepid group of biologists, geographers and oceanographers examined the structure and ecology of the surrounding reef. They were based on Low Isle near Port Douglas but also sailed small boats to study nearby small islands and the mouth of the Daintree River, often sleeping on board or setting up tents.

For Her Good Estate The Life of Elizabeth De Burgh, Lady of Clare

For Her Good Estate The Life of Elizabeth De Burgh, Lady of Clare

Frances Underhill, Jennifer Ward, Margaret Smith (Clare Hall 1977), Jacqueline Tasioulas, Paul Binski, Claire Barnes (Clare 1976)

Elizabeth de Burgh showed feisty spirit in adversity and imprisonment, war and plague – and she and her friends were influential patrons of books and all arts while English craftsmanship was at its finest. Her legacy includes Clare College and Clare Hall in the University of Cambridge, and a treasure trove of records illuminating the contrasting reigns of her uncle Edward II and cousin Edward III.

Intimations Six Essays

Intimations Six Essays

Zadie Smith (King's 1994)

Deeply personal and powerfully moving, a short and timely series of reflective essays by one of the most clear-sighted and essential writers of our time

Ireland and the Great War A Social and Political History

Ireland and the Great War A Social and Political History

Niamh Gallagher (University Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History)

On 4 August 1914 following the outbreak of European hostilities, large sections of Irish Protestants and Catholics rallied to support the British and Allied war efforts. Yet less than two years later, the Easter Rising of 1916 allegedly put a stop to the Catholic commitment in exchange for a re-emphasis on the national question.

When Peace Kills Politics International Intervention and Unending Wars in the Sudans

When Peace Kills Politics International Intervention and Unending Wars in the Sudans

Sharath Srinivasan (David and Elaine Potter Lecturer in Governance and Human Rights in the Department of Politics and International Studies)

Why do war and coercion still dominate the political realm in the Sudans, over a decade since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and despite a litany of conflict resolution efforts? This book explains the paradoxical role of international peacemaking in the reproduction of violence and political authoritarianism in Sudan and South Sudan.

Double Lives A History of Working Motherhood in Modern Britain

Double Lives A History of Working Motherhood in Modern Britain

Helen McCarthy (University Lecturer in Modern British History, since c. 1800)

A groundbreaking history of mothers who worked for pay that will change the way we think about gender, work and equality in modern Britain.

Waves Across the South A New History of Revolution and Empire

Waves Across the South A New History of Revolution and Empire

Sujit Sivasundaram (Professor of World History, Director of the Centre of South Asian Studies)

This is a story of tides and coastlines, winds and waves, islands and beaches. It is also a retelling of indigenous creativity, agency, and resistance in the face of unprecedented globalization and violence. Waves Across the South shifts the  narrative of the Age of Revolutions and the origins of the British Empire; it foregrounds a vast southern zone that ranges from the Arabian Sea and southwest Indian Ocean across to the Bay of Bengal, and onward to the South Pacific and the Tasman Sea.

Greenery Journeys in Springtime

Greenery Journeys in Springtime

Tim Dee (Selwyn 1980)

One December, in midsummer South Africa, Tim Dee was watching swallows. They were at home there, but the same birds would soon begin journeying north to Europe, where their arrival marks the beginning of spring. Between the winter and the summer solstice in Europe, spring moves north at about the speed of swallow flight. That is also close to human walking pace.

Taking Up Space

Taking Up Space

Chelsea Kwakye (Homerton 2015), Ore Ogunbiyi (Jesus 2015)

As a minority in a predominantly white institution, taking up space is an act of resistance. Recent Cambridge grads Chelsea and Ore experienced this first-hand, and wrote Taking Up Space as a guide and a manifesto for change.

FOR BLACK GIRLS:

Understand that your journey is unique. Use this book as a guide. Our wish for you is that you read this and feel empowered, comforted and validated in every emotion you experience, or decision that you make.

FOR EVERYONE ELSE:

Not Quite Behaving

Not Quite Behaving

Michael Dawes (Queens' 1966)

In the “Roaring Twenties” three young ladies, Penrose, Clara and Tamora are preparing to be presented as débutantes for the London Season. There they meet Noel, Daniel and Neville (a Queens’ undergraduate). Society requires that débutantes and their families be of impeccable character and background. Will their dreams be shattered when Clara’s father befriends a night club hostess who is later found murdered, and Tamora’s mother becomes unhappy with the state of her marriage? And their own  antics may just cause a few problems.

The Faces

The Faces

A A Khan (Clare 2018)

At Cambridge University, we follow the adventures of Elio Husseini who wakes up to strange goings on at night, while dealing with his tumultuous teenage years. In FantaBridge - Fantasy Cambridge - darkness is home to the spectres and phantoms of Cambridge's finest fellows, past and present, who roam the streets. When the 700th anniversary party is disrupted, and an evil plot by power-hungry people to turn the university upside down and cause havoc is discovered, Elio must race against time to save his world from ruin.

Bauble, Me and the Family Tree

Bauble, Me and the Family Tree

Jennifer Moore (Selwyn 1994)

Noel is used to his unusual family set-up: him, Mum, super-brainy little sister Bauble, and his gay uncles (both called Mike) next door. But when Bauble spots Mum kissing Santa Claus—in August—everything Noel thought he knew about his family is turned upside-down...

Who’s the mysterious ‘F’ sending Mum romantic postcards? Why has she started taking weird photos of people in food bikinis? And, even though he’s clearly not Santa, might Dad still be alive after all?

The Pale Tiger

The Pale Tiger

Michael Harrison

What is 'The Pale Tiger'? A myth? An almost forgotten sheet of A4 gathering dust in the vaults beneath Beijing? Or a ruthlessly audacious plan to wreak deadly revenge on America with breath-taking historical symmetry? From the steaming jungles of Hong Kong to the hard-edged clamour of New York and the Autumn chill of the grey streets of London, 'The Pale Tiger' is a piece of contemporary fiction that shines the light on some of the existential challenges facing the world today.

A Rainbow Palate How Chemical Dyes Changed the West's Relationship with Food

A Rainbow Palate How Chemical Dyes Changed the West's Relationship with Food

Carolyn Cobbold (Darwin 2011)

Aniline and ado dyes were the first of many novel substances that chemists began to synthesise on an industrial scale, and by the 1900s, a wave of bright coal tar dyes had begun to transform the Western world. Originally intended for textiles, the new dyes soon permeated daily life in unexpected ways, and by the time risks and uncertainties began to surface, they were being used in everything including food.  A Rainbow Palate examines how chemists in Europe and the US manoeuvered themselves to become instrumental players in new regimes of food production, regulation and quality testing.

Monologues from the Makom: Intertwined Narratives of Sexuality, Gender, Body Image, and Jewish Identity

Monologues from the Makom: Intertwined Narratives of Sexuality, Gender, Body Image, and Jewish Identity

Rivka Cohen, Naima Hirsch, Sara Rozner Lawrence, Sarah J. Ricklan (Jesus 2017), and Rebecca Zimilover, editors

The book is an anthology featuring 32 first-person narratives, exploring a wide range of themes relating to Jewish feminism. Through this book, we aim to amplify observant Jewish women’s voices in a way that they haven't been amplified before, subverting the community’s taboo against open discussion of female sexuality and related topics. Themes relating to the #MeToo movement and sexual assault emerge prominently throughout the book.

The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy is the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space.

The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy is the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space.

Arik Kershenbaum

We are unprepared for the greatest discovery of modern science. Scientists are confident that there is alien life across the universe yet we have not moved beyond our perception of 'aliens' as Hollywood stereotypes. The time has come to abandon our fixation on alien monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing.

BEYOND: The Frozen Future

BEYOND: The Frozen Future

Ema Cory

Beyond is an immersive, uniquely dynamic and fast paced novel launched in 2020. The story takes the readers on a journey to 2279, where 30% of the population elect for Body Freezing yet there is no solution for waking anyone up. Populist pressure to wake up a previous US president to solve global turmoil is met with political and monetary resistance to keep those frozen in a world of limited resource. It’s up to the female leaders at Life Beyond - a London-based company – to tackle these issues in the face of scientific complications, strained egos, and personal struggles.

The Adventures of Ellie & Boo

The Adventures of Ellie & Boo

Millie Kerr (Fitzwilliam 2015)

In this middle grade novel, Ellie Caldwell — a Cambridge graduate student and wildlife conservationist—adopts a kitten named Boo. Between lectures, Ellie heads to the countryside for camping trips, her Instagram-anointed 'adventure cat' in tow. On rocky trails, Boo discovers that, like Ellie, she has a passion for the natural world, and because she's able to communicate with all animals, she can relate their challenges back to Ellie.

Business and Community in Medieval England. The Cambridge Hundred Rolls Source Volume

Business and Community in Medieval England. The Cambridge Hundred Rolls Source Volume

Catherine Casson, Mark Casson, John Lee (Corpus 1997) and Katie Phillips

One of the most important manuscripts surviving from thirteenth-century England, the corpus of documents known as the Hundred Rolls for Cambridge have been incomplete until the recent discovery of an additional roll.

This invaluable volume replaces the previous inaccurate transcription by the Record Commission of 1818 and provides new translations and additional appendices.

Shedding new light on important facets of business activity in thirteenth-century Cambridge, this volume makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of the early phases of capitalism.

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