Book shelf

Book shelf

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

To have your book considered for inclusion, please submit your publication's details

Please note: to have your book considered for inclusion, its publication date must be either upcoming or it must have been published during the last 12 months. Unfortunately, we cannot include any details of books published prior to this time.

CAMCard discounts

Get up to 20% off when you use your CAMCard in selected book shops!

orphan train cover

Orphan Train

Christina Baker Kline (Selwyn 1986)

Nearly 18 years old, Molly Ayer knows she just has one chance. Months away from `aging out' of the welfare system and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman, Vivian Daly, clear out her home is the only thing keeping her out of dentention or worse.

Vivian has led a quiet life on the coast of Maine, but in her attic are the vestiges of a turbulent past. As Molly helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, she discovers they aren't as different as they seem.

a tale of seven elements cover

A Tale of Seven Elements

Eric Scerri (Darwin 1974)

In 1913, English physicist Henry Moseley established an elegant method for 'counting' the elements. Soon afterwards, it became clear that there were precisely seven elements missing from the periodic table-those that had yet to be isolated among the 92 naturally occurring elements from hydrogen (#1) to uranium (#92). In A Tale of Seven Elements, Eric Scerri presents the discovery of those seven elements, five of which are radioactive and three or possibly four of were first isolated by women.

welcome to the free zone

Welcome to the Free Zone

Nathalie and Ladislas Gara, translation and introduction by Bill Reed (Christ's 1968)

Welcome to the Free Zone is a vivid and dark humoured novel based on the true story of Nathalie and Ladislas Gara, Jews fleeing Nazi occupation during the Second World War, translated from the original French (St Boniface et ses Juifs). In 1942, several Jewish families have washed up in the sleepy French town of Saint-Boniface in the Ardeche. Lodged in guest houses and rented farmhouses, they are attempting to carve out new lives for themselves among the folded hills and isolated farmsteads.

telling tales cover

Telling Tales from Turkey

Tina Caba (Hughes Hall 1966) Ros Elliott-Ozlek and Celia Gasgil

For anyone with an interest in modern Turkey, this delightful collection of true stories is a must-read. Three British teachers record their varying experiences of living in the country, from daily life and local festivals to finding jobs and surviving earthquakes. These amusing and informative recollections provide insight into Turkish culture and also show how the authors have adapted to life in this fascinating world that all three have grown to love.

cricket cauldron cover

Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan

Shahryar M Khan (Corpus Christi 1953) and Ali Khan (Corpus Christi 1992)

Pakistan is a country beset with politicised instabilities, economic problems, ethnic conflicts, religious fervour and crises of identity. It is also a country in which the game of cricket has become a nationwide obsession. How has that happened? How does a Muslim country, jealous of its independence and determined to forge a Pakistani identity, so passionately embrace the alien gentleman's game imported by the distant and departed former colonial masters? What do we learn of Pakistan from its attitudes and responses to cricket?

king cover

King

Riad Nourallah (Darwin 1977)

The novel follows the journey of a prince who must forge new alliances to avenge the murder of his father in pre-Islamic Arabia. Considering themes of war, peace, freedom and tyranny, King is also a celebration of life and joys of and challenges of the physical world and human relationships.

John Devlin Nova Cantabrigiensis

John Devlin (St Edmund's 1979) and Sandra Adam-Couralet

This richly illustrated catalogue documents the exhibition John Devlin Nova Cantabrigiensis held in May 2013 at Galerie Christian Berst, Paris.

1955 cover

1955 The Summer When...

Valerie Thornhill (Newnham 1954)

The endearingly frank memoirs of an optimistic nineteen-year-old student travelling alone across postwar Europe in 1955. Both a ‘rite of passage’ book, and a unique commentary on the social issues of a pre-feminist era without mass tourism, easy communications or the contraceptive pill.

a force that takes cover

A Force That Takes

Edward Ragg (Selwyn 1999)

In Edward Ragg’s poetry an extraordinary creative pressure is brought to bear on language to convey what ‘Note on Text’ calls the ‘silent messages / surrounding the truth of words’. Thoughtful, honed and exact, the depths of Ragg’s reflections are matched by the delicacy and precision of his metaphorical language. In poems that move from contemporary Beijing to Vancouver to rural England – or even Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley’ (‘Chateau Musar’) – the compelling force in operation is one that questions dichotomies.

people power cover

People Power: A User's Guide to Democracy

Dan Jellinek (Caius 1986)

Politicians have a notoriously bad reputation: one recent survey found people trust them less than used-car salesmen. Voter turn-out in most elections is shockingly low; and episodes like the MPs' expenses scandal of 2009 simply serve to confirm the opinion of many that 'they're all as bad as each other'. But deep down, most of us also know we are incredibly lucky to live in a democracy, with freedoms that billions of people across the planet would give anything to enjoy. So we are lucky - but still, we don't like our system and we don't trust our politicians.

Jane Austen: Her Life, Her Times, Her Novels

Professor Janet Todd (Newnham 1961, President of Lucy Cavendish College)

Over the last 200 years, the novels of Jane Austen have been loved and celebrated across a diverse international readership. As a result, there is a bottomless appetite for detail about the woman behind the writing. Jane Austen traces her life and times; her relationships with family and friends; the attitudes and customs of the time that shaped her and were in turn shaped by her work; and the places where she lived, worked and set her novels, from rural Hampshire to fashionable Bath Spa. Chapters on each of her novels run throughout the book and place them in the context of her life.

bad moves cover

Bad Moves: How Decision Making Goes Wrong, and the Ethics of Smart Drugs

Professor Barbara Sahakian (Professor in the Department of Psychiatry) and Dr Jamie Nicole LaBuzetta

Making decisions is such a regular activity that it is mostly taken for granted. However, damage or abnormality in the areas of the brain involved in decision-making can severely affect personality and the ability to manage even simple tasks. Here, Barbara Sahakian and Jamie Nicole LaBuzetta discuss the process of normal decision making - our strategies for making decisions, biases that affect us, and influential factors - and then describe the abnormal patterns found in patients with conditions such as severe depression, Alzheimer's, and accidental brain damage.

The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon

Stephanie Dalley (Newnham 1962)

Recognised since ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon and its location have long remained a mystery. It was on the “must see” list of Greek and Roman travellers centuries after its supposed existence, yet no trace could be found by excavation or in Babylonian inscriptions. So what did it look like? Who made it? How did the tradition arise?

the bone dragon cover

The Bone Dragon

Alexia Casale (Trinity Hall 1999)

A debut young adult novel, The Bone Dragon is a contemporary psychological thriller, with a touch of magical realism. The story is told from the viewpoint of Evie, a fourteen-year-old girl damaged by a past she can't talk about, in a hypnotic narrative that, while giving increasing insight, also becomes increasingly unreliable.

A blend of psychological thriller and fairytale, The Bone Dragon explores the fragile boundaries between real life and fantasy, and the darkest corners of the human mind.

we sang better vol2 cover

We Sang Better, Volume 2: Why It Was Better (2 of 2)

James Anderson (Trinity Hall 1970)

In We Sang Better, two hundred of these singers explain the art of singing in over 70,000 of their own words. Much of their evidence is appearing for the first time in a modern edition. In Volume 2 Why It Was Better (260 pp) the singers explain how they enabled the possibility of superlative singing.

we sang better vol 1 cover

We Sang Better, Volume 1: How We Sang (1 of 2)

James Anderson (Trinity Hall 1970)

In We Sang Better, two hundred singers explain the art of singing in over 70,000 of their own words. Much of their evidence is appearing for the first time in a modern edition. In Volume 1 How We Sang (490 pp) the singers present their basic advice.

after the great east japan earthquake

After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Edited by Gijs Berends (Queens' 1996) and Dominic Al-Badri

The triple disaster that struck Japan in March 2011 began with the most powerful earthquake known to have hit Japan and led to tsunami up to 40 meters in height that devastated a wide area and caused thousands of deaths. The ensuing accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant was Japan's worst and only second to Chernobyl in its severity.

business behaving well cover

Business Behaving Well: social responsibility, from learning to doing

Edited by Ron Elsdon (Churchill 1972)

Social responsibility has become a goal for both employers and employees in the business community. But what does the term “social responsibility” mean, and what paths must businesses take to make a positive impact on society? Business Behaving Well provides a rationale and roadmap that will enable businesses to integrate social responsibility into their purpose and operations.

unlikely spanish don cover

An Unlikely Spanish Don: the life and times of Professor John Brande Trend

Dame Margaret Joan Anstee DCMG (Newnham 1944)

John Brande Trend, the first Professor of Spanish in Cambridge in 1933, arrived at his Chair by a circuitous route through a variety of disciplines, encountering a host of prominent people in pre-war political, cultural and intellectual life. It was this wider experience that made his teaching so unique and makes his story central to the period through which he lived.

Cambridge Computing: The First 75 Years

Professor Haroon Ahmed (King's 1959, former Master of Corpus Christi)

Cambridge Computing: The First 75 Years covers the 'halcyon' years of Roger Needham's reign and the expansionist eras of his successors, Robin Milner, Ian Leslie and Andy Hopper. The story begins with Charles Babbage and his 'magical machines' and includes Alan Turing, whose 'Universal Turing Machine' defined the theoretical basis of computability. The central theme of the book is the 75-year history of the Computer Laboratory.

Pages

Want to see your book here?

Submit your book's details for consideration using our webform.

Submit your book