Birth Control and the Rights of Women: Post-Suffrage Feminism in the Early Twentieth Century, by Clare Debenham Carmel Quinlan on the social and cultural history of the birth control movement from 1921 to 1973 19 June
Hard-Core Romance: Fifty Shades of Grey, Best-Sellers, and Society, by Eva Illouz Laura Frost on the needs met by an erotic best-seller 19 June
American Tax Resisters, by Romain D. Huret Martin Daunton on the history of the anti-tax movement in America 19 June
Malcolm X at Oxford Union: Racial Politics in a Global Era, by Saladin Ambar Hakim Adi finds an analysis of an often overlooked speech reveals much about the activist’s views 12 June
Revolutionizing Retail: Workers, Political Action, and Social Change, by Kendra Coulter Amanda Pyman on the changes necessary to improve conditions for shop workers 12 June
A State of Play: British Politics on Screen, Stage and Page, from Anthony Trollope to The Thick of It, by Steven Fielding Vernon Bogdanor has a few points of order on an analysis of political fiction’s wider effects 12 June
Mammon's Kingdom: An Essay on Britain, Now, by David Marquand Danny Dorling lauds an impassioned call to tame the UK’s ever more toxic worship of money 12 June
Academic Life and Labour in the New University: Hope and Other Choices, by Ruth Barcan Fred Inglis on the deep predicament of scholars in present-day institutions 29 May
Women of the World: The Rise of the Female Diplomat, by Helen McCarthy Roger Morgan applauds a pioneering work offering a welcome introduction to a neglected set of issues 29 May
Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason, by Norman S. Poser Mary Sokol on the life of William Murray, the 18th-century lawyer, judge and politician 29 May
The Unknown Lloyd George: A Statesman in Conflict, by Travis L. Crosby Concentration on politician’s character and motivation makes for an almost psychological study, says A.W. Purdue 29 May
After They Closed the Gates: Jewish Illegal Immigration to the United States, 1921-1965, by Libby Garland Hasia Diner on the evolution of US immigration policy, its complex aims and intended and unintended consequences for a small group of Jews 22 May
One Hour in Paris: A True Story of Rape and Recovery, by Karyn L. Freedman Lynne Segal on an analytic philosopher’s first-hand account of sexual violence and its aftermath 22 May
Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain, by Robert Ford and Matthew J. Goodwin A study of Ukip’s rise yields surprising facts about the party’s followers, says Daphne Halikiopoulou 22 May
Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism, by David Harvey Chris Knight extols a persuasively argued work from a Marxist thinker on tensions in the system 22 May
Malthus: The Life and Legacies of an Untimely Prophet, by Robert J. Mayhew Niall O’Flaherty on a penetrating and nuanced account of Malthus’ insights and the consequent responses 22 May
Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream, by Suzanne Mettler David Bell on how US political gridlock is ruining the chance for social and economic equality 22 May
The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art, by Don Thompson Marta Herrero lauds an analysis from an insider affording rare insight into the market 15 May
Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well, by Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone Self-help guide encourages employees to conform, tolerate and adapt, says Sandra Leaton Gray 15 May
It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, by Danah Boyd Tara Brabazon on an attempt to capture and express the voice of young people 15 May
Beyond Reason and Tolerance: The Purpose and Practice of Higher Education, by Robert J. Thompson, Jr. In a utilitarian age, service learning helps cultivate rounded individuals, says Steven Schwartz 15 May
The Lawn Road Flats: Spies, Writers and Artists, by David Burke Architecture meets social experiment in a Modernist block of flats, Flora Samuel writes 15 May
On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City, by Alice Goffman Dick Hobbs on how the intense nature of policing creates secondary casualties in poor communities 15 May
The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan, by Aqil Shah Farzana Shaikh finds persuasive arguments in an analysis of democracy and military rule in Pakistan 8 May
Gender and Violence in Haiti: Women’s Path from Victims to Agents, by Benedetta Faedi Duramy In a culture of impunity, the categories of victim and perpetrator are still blurred, says Gwendolyn Beetham 8 May
The Psychopath Whisperer: Inside the Minds of Those Without a Conscience, by Kent Kiehl Luna Centifanti welcomes a disentanglement of popular confusions over brain and behaviour 8 May
Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty Philip Roscoe extols a mischievous economics blockbuster brimming with ideas and predictions 1 May
Punk Sociology, by David Beer Les Gofton on the application of the punk ethos to studying sociology 1 May
Risk Savvy: How To Make Good Decisions, by Gerd Gigerenzer A good grasp of basic statistics will help us to make the right life choices, finds Omar Malik 1 May
Publishing and the Advancement of Science – From Selfish Genes to Galileo’s Finger, by Michael Rodgers Jon Turney on an editor whose work with popular science writers helped to re-establish the genre 24 April
The Triple Package: What Really Determines Success, by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld Deborah Rogers on the Tiger Mother’s new polemic 24 April
China’s Foreign Policy, by Stuart Harris The Party is still at the root of everything, says Jonathan Mirsky 24 April
The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, by Mitchell Thomashow A US approach to environmental integrity offers useful pointers for the UK, says David Maguire 17 April
Vanishing for the Vote: Suffrage, Citizenship and the Battle for the Census, by Jill Liddington New data enrich an account of the activists who refused to be counted in 1911, says June Purvis 17 April
Deconstructing Dignity: A Critique of the Right-to-Die Debate, by Scott Cutler Shershow Sigrid Sterckx on a Derrida-inspired analysis of calculation, incalculability and ending life 10 April
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel Hazel Christie relishes a polished and powerful narrative that explains how memory works 3 April
Everyday Utopias: The Conceptual Life of Promising Spaces, by Davina Cooper Howard Segal on an analysis of six small-scale projects and their participants’ experiences 3 April
The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities, by Amanullah De Sondy Julia Droeber praises an interrogation of the image of the Muslim man 20 March
First World War: Still No End in Sight, by Frank Furedi The conflict takes a backseat to questions about the state of ideological and cultural thinking, says Angela K. Smith 13 March
Risk: A Study of its Origins, History and Politics, by Matthias Beck and Beth Kewell Theories abound but Omar Malik wishes that more of them had been submitted to the test of reality 13 March
I Met Lucky People, by Yaron Matras Shattering stereotypes starts with sharing everyday experiences, suggests Annabel Tremlett 6 March
How Universities Work, by John V. Lombardi Malcolm Gillies relishes the lean explanations in this drily witty and handy account of higher education 6 March
Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics, by Marco Pasi Clive Bloom praises an admirable introduction to the magical and political connections of a controversial figure 6 March
The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It, by David Weil Virginia Doellgast finds workers pay dearly when big firms devolve oversight of pay and conditions 6 March
Learning Trajectories, Violence and Empowerment Amongst Adult Basic Skills Learners, by Vicky Duckworth John Field is captivated by personal battles against educational disadvantage and illiteracy in marginalised communities 27 February
Pain and Retribution: A Short History of British Prisons, 1066 to the Present, by David Wilson A millennium of jails, their inmates and those in charge makes riveting reading for Yvonne Jewkes 27 February
The Oxford Map Companion: One Hundred Sources in World History, by Patricia Seed Robert Mayhew is delighted to follow a determinedly non-Eurocentric cartographic collection through the ages 27 February
Life Interrupted: Trafficking into Forced Labor in the United States, by Denise Brennan Lee Maril on how immigration policies prolong the misery of the exploited 27 February
Are We All Scientific Experts Now?, by Harry Collins Athene Donald agrees that scientists, although not infallible, do know better about some things 27 February
Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit, by Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber When the lending system isn’t working, interests rate a check, advises Howard Davies 20 February
Tribal Modern: Branding New Nations in the Arab Gulf, by miriam cooke Discussion of underground and emergent queer cultures are interesting, but Caroline Osella wishes for more insight from a respected scholar 20 February
The Politics of the Body: Gender in a Neoliberal and Neoconservative Age, by Alison Phipps Mary Evans agrees that feminism today focuses on women’s agency and identity at the expense of examining framing structures 20 February
All That Is Solid: The Great Housing Disaster, by Danny Dorling Our use of housing as an asset to be traded is a collective failure that is preserving inequality, finds Tim Hall 20 February
Reclaiming American Virtue: The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s, by Barbara Keys Marilyn Young on the development of human rights as an important issue in the US 13 February
The Watchdog That Didn’t Bark: The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investigative Journalism, by Dean Starkman A demonstration of the need for modern muckrakers also celebrates the best work journalism can do, finds Tim Luckhurst 13 February
Following the Leader: Ruling China, from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping, by David M. Lampton Jonathan Mirsky on a selective view of the Chinese political elite 13 February
I Spend, Therefore I Am: The True Cost of Economics, by Philip Roscoe Michelle Baddeley on an exploration of what makes us tick 13 February
Blockbusters: Why Big Hits – and Big Risks – are the Future of the Entertainment Business, by Anita Elberse Mega-budget shows are not a guaranteed recipe for success, says Janet Wasko. It’s not that simple 6 February
The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century, by Angela Stent Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman on the give and take between the two superpowers since the Soviet collapse 6 February
