The webpages of Harvard University Press’s editors feature a variety of new works that address some of the most vexing challenges of our time. Focusing on inequality and social disorder around the world, authors speak forcefully about the harm of hate speech, the spread of religious intolerance, the inherent problems of capitalism and democracy, the collapse of criminal justice, and the struggle for dignity and freedom across continents and centuries. Historians grapple with a range of unintended consequences on many fronts, from the First Crusade to the Protestant Reformation, from the accidental founding of New Orleans to the surprisingly short American Century. Several recent books expand the Press’s long-standing conversation in evolution, taking up topics such as the preconditions for monarchy and slavery among civilizations, the development of trust among children, and the emergence in humans of internal biorhythms and an “omnivorous mind.”

As you browse among the books highlighted on our editorial webpages, you will encounter just a small sample of the kinds of questions our authors raise for thoughtful readers. Is the effectiveness of prayer amenable to scientific investigation? When buildings topple over or nuclear power plants melt down, how does the broader cultural context contribute to failures of design? When economists create mathematical models based on human behavior, why do their predictions so often conflict, and what are the implications for public policy? As HUP’s editorial and faculty boards work together each month to shape the Press’s list, they share a belief that books written by scholars and published by university presses are essential channels for understanding our interconnected world. With offices in Cambridge, London, and New York, Harvard University Press is proud to be an editorially-driven publishing house, where international currents in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences converge in unexpected ways.