The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

September’s Book of the Month has been selected by Andy Kernot, Subject Consultant for Geography, Social Policy & Intervention, and Internet Studies.

The story of Earth’s climate in 25 discoveries: how scientists found the connections between climate and life

Donald R. Prothero

Columbia University Press, 2024

QC903.PRO 2024

Why was it chosen

In this lively and entertaining book, Donald R. Prothero explores the astonishing connections between climate and life through the ages, telling the remarkable stories of the scientists who made crucial discoveries.

Book Overview

Over 4.5 billion years, Earth’s climate has transformed tremendously. Before our more temperate recent past, the planet swung from one extreme to another—from a greenhouse world of sweltering temperatures and high sea levels to a “snowball earth” in which glaciers reached the equator. During this history, we now know, living things and the climate have always influenced and even shaped each other. But the climate has never changed as rapidly or as drastically as it has since the Industrial Revolution.Understanding why the climate has changed in the past, this timely book shows, is essential to grasping the gravity of how radically human activity is altering the climate today.

Reviews

In this lively and entertaining book, Donald R. Prothero explores the astonishing connections between climate and life through the ages, telling the remarkable stories of the scientists who made crucial discoveries. This timely book shows, is essential to grasping the gravity of how radically human activity is altering the climate today.

Yale Climate Connections

Meticulous [and] engaging. [Prothero] is a master of identifying, distilling, and connecting key developments… while presenting them in a personal and accessible manner.

The Quarterly Review of Biology

In this enjoyable and deep account, Prothero uses fascinating lessons from geology and paleontology to explain and illustrate the important impacts that climate has had on life, and that life has had on climate in turn. The Story of Earth’s Climate in 25 Discoveries is an excellent addition to the author’s series on the 25 Discoveries concept.

Bruce Lieberman, Dean’s Professor, Senior Curator in the Biodiversity Institute, and Director of the Paleontological Institute, University of Kansas

How can I access it?

We have two lending copies of this book, located at QC903.PRO 2024. Follow the information on our Blog post for how to consult this book during our library closure period for refurbishment works. We also have an eBook of the title available via SOLO. The eBook can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or can be used remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

August’s Book of the Month was selected by John Southall, Bodleian Data Librarian and Subject Consultant for Economics and Sociology.

The sociology of emotions: feminist, cultural and sociological perspectives

Ann Brooks

Bristol University Press, 2024

HM1033.BRO 2024

It was chosen because it offers a comprehensive overview of the field of the Sociology of Emotions, incorporating sociological, feminist and cultural perspectives. It will be useful reading for researchers and students seeking a current and interdisciplinary resource covering a wide range of international material.

Book Overview

Structured around three dimensions – conceptualisation, theory and analysis of emotions – Brooks provides new insights into the field, with a particular focus on contemporary social issues such as loneliness, depression, confidence, consumption, class, intimacy and sexuality.

The book examines the language of emotions, looking at macro and micro framing of emotions in modernity, emotional labour, public emotions, passionate emotions, melancholic emotions, masculinity and emotions, love, intimacy and emotions. It delves into both positive and negative emotions such as happiness, anger, fear and sadness and considers both classical and contemporary social theories in this area.

Reviews

“This prolific author’s magisterial breadth of knowledge produces an overview of sociology of emotions at once extensive and concise. An up-to-date, indispensable resource for students and researchers.”

Catherine M. Roach, University of Alabama

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, its shelfmark is HM1033.BRO 2024. We also have an eBook of the title available via SOLO. The eBook can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or can be used remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

July’s Book of the Month has been selected by Sarah Rhodes, Subject Consultant for International Development and Forced Migration.

Handbook on Humanitarian Crises

Alpaslan Özerdem (Editor)

Edward Elgar, 2025

BJ1475.3.HAN 2025

Book Overview

This Handbook provides a clear overview of the impacts of and responses to humanitarian crises. It explores their many causes, including political instability, natural disasters, and economic inequality, while highlighting the significant difficulties faced by humanitarian workers.

Reviews

‘[The Handbook] is one of those rare compilations possessing the imaginative power and practical insight needed to help recreate an entire field of thought and practice.  The essays collected here take a refreshingly critical look at the conceptual foundations, current operations, and future prospects of the field of humanitarian intervention’.

Professor Richard E. Rubenstein, George Mason University, USA

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, which is located on our New Books Display Area (around the corner from our Issue Desk), its shelfmark is BJ1475.3.HAN 2025. We also have an eBook of the title available via SOLO. The eBook can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or can be used remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

The Wild West of Eastern Europe: A Ukrainian Guide on Breaking Free from Empire

Pavlo Kazarin, translated by Dominique Hoffman with Andriy Kononenko, with an introduction by Dominique Hoffman.

Hannover, Stuttgart: Ibidem Verlag, 2024

Book Overview

Pavlo Kazarin was born and lived in Crimea until October 2014: he was one child of the many immigrants arriving in Crimea during its ‘golden age’ in the 1970s and 80s. He remembers a society that longed for this golden age to return – a society that preferred the Soviet past to a Ukrainian future. In February 2014 the Russian soldiers arrived; Crimea was officially annexed by the Russian Federation in March 2014. As Kazarin describes, Russia offered to resurrect its Imperial past. The Wild West of Eastern Europe is an account of his own conversion towards building a Ukrainian future after 2014 – as Ukraine itself came to understand its determination to defend this future.

The Wild West of Eastern Europe was published in Ukrainian in early 2022, just before the Russian full-scale invasion on February 24. By this time Kazarin had become a broadcast journalist in Kyiv: he found himself catapulted into his first live news broadcast that morning, as the Russians attacked. He joined the Ukrainian army the following day, and continues to serve as an officer. The Wild West of Eastern Europe therefore is a valuable exploration of the Russian war against Ukraine that preceded the full-scale invasion, and its consequences. Ironically one of these consequences was a growing awareness among Ukrainians of their commitment to resist Russia’s attempts to draw their country back into its Empire.

Kazarin’s account demonstrates particularly clearly the destructive power of the universal human impulse to hide from unpleasant truths. As it shows, people living in the east of Ukraine had first-hand experience of Russia’s aggressive intentions before February 2022; they were forced to confront a truth that politicians and citizens in countries further to the west had the luxury of being able to deny. As Kazarin says, “The phrase “time will tell” only applies to very large time scales. It only works when the person evaluating events has no stake in that evaluation” (p. 246). The Wild West of Eastern Europe shows that the sustained, systematic effort to uncover truth is essential to human flourishing.

Reviews

The Wild West of Eastern Europe won a BBC News Ukraine Book Award in 2022.

https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2022/bbc-ukraine-book-awards-2022-winners-revealed , accessed at 13.55 on 28/05/2026.

How can I access it?

You can currently find this book around the corner from our Issue Desk, above our New Books display. The book has been ordered up from Bodleian Offsite Storage for our display and is currently for library use only.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

May’s Book of the Month has been selected by Jo Gardner, Bodleian Social Science Librarian and Subject Consultant for Politics and International Relations.

The back sliders: why leaders undermine their own democracies

Susan C. Stokes

Princeton University Press, 2025

JC495.STO 2025

It was chosen because the author provides a timely analysis of the erosion of democracy, especially among consolidated democracies.

Book Overview

First, the book provides an up-to-date account of erosion research, synthesising disparate theories into a clear narrative. Second, Stokes evaluates the “why now” question, identifying structural openings that make democracies vulnerable. Finally, the book offers a set of action steps to put the brakes on democratic erosion.

Reviews

“This splendid book is a model of well-argued, timely, and accessible scholarship. Stokes draws on an impressive range of methods and evidence to teach us about the economic and institutional roots of democratic backsliding, the ideas that would-be autocrats use to gain support, and the psychological bases of supporters’ responses. Her argument deserves a global audience of academics and activists alike.”
Nancy Bermeo, University of Oxford

“The most important book on the most urgent and compelling topic in political science.”
James A. Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, which is located on our New Books Display Area (around the corner from our Issue Desk). Its shelfmark is JC495.STO 2025. We also have an eBook of the title available via SOLO. The eBook can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or can be used remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

April’s Book of the Month was selected by Helen Worrell, Subject Consultant for Anthropology.

Marcus Banks; edited by David Zeitlyn and Chihab El Khachab.

Understanding social images: essays on visual methods and teaching anthropology

Berghahn, 2025

GN347.BAN 2025

Book Overview

This edited volume celebrates the work of Marcus Banks (1960-2020). It showcases his contributions to contemporary anthropology and demonstrates the importance of integrating visual methods into social and cultural anthropology. 

Reviews

“This book ambitiously addresses a wide array of topics, including ethical issues and presents a diverse range of perspectives.” 

Aleksandra Gracjasz, Leiden University

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, which is located on our New Books Display Area (around the corner from our Issue Desk). Its shelfmark is GN347.BAN 2025. We also have an eBook of the title available via SOLO. The eBook can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or can be used remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

March’s Book of the Month was selected by Andy Kernot, Subject Consultant for Geography, Social Policy & Intervention, Public Policy, and Internet Studies.

Following the Bend: how to read a river and understand its nature

Ellen E. Wohl

Princeton University Press, 2025

GB1203.7.WOH 2025

Why was it chosen?

When we look at a river, either up close or while flying over a river valley, what are we really seeing? Following the Bend takes readers on a majestic journey by water to find answers, along the way shedding light on the key concepts of modern river science, from hydrology and water chemistry to stream and wetland ecology.

Book Overview

In this accessible and uniquely personal book, Ellen Wohl explains how to “read” a river, blending the latest science with her own personal experiences as a geologist and naturalist who has worked on rivers for more than three decades. She charts how water travels through the hydrologic cycle around the globe and downstream to distribute energy, move sediment, and shape river channels, and how living organisms adapt to life in flowing water to create vibrant river ecosystems. Wohl looks at the role of disturbances such as floods and droughts and discusses how geologists interpret the sedimentary records of past river processes. She illustrates how river networks interact with Earth’s surface and considers issues for rivers in the future, such as progressive drying, river restoration, and advocating for the legal personhood of a river to maintain its distinctive spirit, identity, and integrity.

Sharing a new understanding of how rivers function as both physical systems and ecosystems, Following the Bend enables us to observe rivers with fresh eyes and more fully appreciate the beauty, vibrancy, and complexity of our planet’s vital waterways.

Reviews

“An impassioned guide to interpreting rivers. . . . [Wohl’s] accessible scientific explanations alternate with lyrical passages that pack an emotional punch.”

Publishers Weekly

“Wohl’s passion for her subject shines through throughout. . . . A thorough primer on understanding rivers.”

Genevieve Williams, Library Journal

“Wonderfully engaging. Wohl’s storytelling is rich with the deep insights about rivers that she has cultivated over decades of research, fieldwork, and experiences.”

Joann Mossa, University of Florida

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, which is located on our New Books Display Area (around the corner from our Issue Desk). Its shelfmark is GB1203.7.WOH 2025.

It is also available as an eBook which can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or use it remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

February’s Book of the Month was selected by John Southall, Bodleian Data Librarian and Subject Consultant for Economics and Sociology.

Open secrecy: how technology empowers the digital underworld

Isak Ladegaard

University of California Press, 2025

HV6773.LAD 2025

It was chosen because of the way it employs sociological and empirical analysis to describe how contemporary information technology expands the digital underworld, generating new social practices and movements.

Book Overview

This book examines technology in relation to three ‘digital underworlds’; drug trading on the darknet; groups developing technologies to evade state censorship; and digitally networked far-right movements. By conducting a cross-cutting analysis of these seemingly disparate phenomena, the author proposes the concept of “open secrecy,” where the seemingly contradictory forces of “secrecy” and “openness” intertwined to produce new social forms.

Ladegaard presents many insights into contemporary digital society, sketching a portrait of the freedoms and vulnerabilities generated by technological progress, the limits of state and corporate control, and the emergence of new social practices. These themes are explored through meticulous data analysis and rich qualitative materials. While the book is indispensable for readers in sociology, information society studies, and political science, its significance extends well beyond these fields.

Reviews

“A compelling work for anyone seeking to fundamentally rethink the nature of control in the digital age and the evolving relationship between the state, corporations, and civil society.” 

Haruhi Abe, International Criminal Justice Review

“Compared to the many qualitative and journalistic studies of these groups, Ladegaard’s work stands out for the range and depth of his data collection”

Sam DiBella, LSE Review of Books

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, which is located on our New Books Display Area (around the corner from our Issue Desk). Its shelfmark is HV6773.LAD 2025.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection that has been chosen by one of our Subject Consultants. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

January’s Book of the Month was selected by Sarah Rhodes, Subject Consultant for International Development and Forced Migration.

Forced migration and humanitarian action: operational challenges and solutions for supporting people on the move

Edited by Lorenzo Guadagno and Lisette R. Robles

Routledge, 2025

HV640.FOR 2025

It was chosen because it highlights the challenges faced by agencies in helping forced migrants access support and assistance.

Book Overview

This book focuses on the diversity of operational modalities and types of assistance provided by both traditional and non-traditional humanitarian agencies to address the specific needs of displaced children, women, people with disabilities and older people, as well as trafficked migrant workers.

Reviews

‘[This book] brings together a wealth of experience and much-needed knowledge on how humanitarian action can be improved to more effectively meet the specific and differentiated need of displaced people who are all too often lumped together under the label of ‘vulnerable groups’.

Walter Kalin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Bern

How can I access it?

We have one lending copy of this book, which is located on our New Books Display Area (around the corner from our Issue Desk). Its shelfmark is HV640.FOR 2025. It is also available as an eBook which can be accessed from a Bodleian Library computer or use it remotely, by logging on to SOLO with your SSO.

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

Bakhmut

Myroslav Laiuk, translated by Dmytro Kyyan and Kate Tsurkan

Kyiv: Ukraïner, 2025

Shelfmark: DK5479.B35.LAI 2025

Book Overview

Myroslav Laiuk was a poet and academic before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; he continues to teach at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. However the invasion caused Laiuk to abandon the publication of fiction in favour of war reporting, in common with many of Ukraine’s leading writers. He often writes his articles in the car, as he travels away from the scene he has just witnessed: it is generally impossible to use voice recorders on the front line. Bakhmut is one result of his work, which has just been translated into English. It offers perfectly judged vignettes of the battle of Bakhmut – a town in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine – interspersed with photographs by Danylo Pavlov, and followed by Laiuk’s own reflections.

Laiuk depicts the interactions he had as faithfully as he can, retaining the language of his interlocutors. Hence Bakhmut presents a series of vivid encounters with the people and animals caught up in the fighting – ranging from Oleksandra, the elderly citizen of Bakhmut whose story forms one of the book’s central themes, to two unnamed Russian prisoners of war. Laiuk is masterful in his selection of powerfully evocative details; for example, the solder who advised him to avoid looking at the skinny ginger cat trembling in its box.

The chapter on army Chaplains offers a moment of hope and encouragement. Maksym and Oleh are clear-eyed, determined, and prepared to help throughout the war and beyond; Laiuk is sure that they will “carry others on their shoulders” (Laiuk 2025, 61). Laiuk’s own care and determination is another inspiration. His book is an essential reminder of the human experience that lies behind all the news stories, social media feeds, and high-level negotiations – and of the infinitely complex struggle between good and evil that is manifested by the war in Ukraine, although it encompasses the world.

Reviews

Peter Pomerantsev:

“…this is a writer who knows not only how to observe war, but also how to think about it. There exists no better tribute, in any language, to the world of Ukraine’s frontlines – a world that is fast disappearing under Russian shells.”

https://www.ukrainer.net, accessed on November 25, 2025 at 13.45.

How can I access it?

You can currently find this book around the corner from our Issue Desk, above our New Books display. This title is loanable for University card holders. Its shelfmark is DK5479.B35.LAI 2025

What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.