It’s always nice to discover a review like this on a Monday morning: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/mar/08/tale-two-bishops-and-brilliant-saint/

In a round-up review of several books about Augustine and The Confessions, Peter Brown has very nice things to say for the inaugural book in our Lives of Great Religious Books series. Brown says the biography is “another gem of a little book by Garry Wills.”

He continues, writing that “Wills describes brilliantly the manner in which this strange work seeped slowly through literary circles…His book is a passionate plea that we should read Augustine’s strange book as it was first heard, and in the light of the purposes for which it was first written.”

Happily his review dovetails nicely with the purpose of the series which is to examine the history and “life” of major religious texts — tracing generation, interpretation, uses, and misuses over time. We are gearing up for the launch of the next two books in the series — biographies of The Book of Mormon and The I Ching — in April.

Here in the UK we’ve been treated to a number of radio appearances from PUP authors in recent weeks:

Persi Diaconis, Stanford Professor of Statistics and Mathematics and co-author of the hugely entertaining Magical Mathematics, provided BBC Radio 4’s More or Less listeners with a special Christmas treat when he dropped in on Tim Harford to discuss the maths behind the magic. Listen again to the interview via the BBC iPlayer.

Welcoming in the new year, we tuned in to an episode of BBC Radio 4′s Analysis to hear Raghuram Rajan take part in the debate over society’s increasing moral aversion to the exploits of the ‘super-rich’. Catch up on-line here to listen to the Chicaco Booth Professor of Economics, and author of Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, share his thoughts on bonuses and bail-outs.

At the end of last month, David Scheffer was interviewed by Matthew Sweet for BBC Radio 3’s Night Waves. Scheffer was appointed by President Clinton as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, and led American initiatives on war crimes tribunals during the 1990s. His new book, All the Missing Souls, provides a detailed personal account of investigations into such attrocities as the killing fields of Sierra Leone and the Rwandan genocide. To hear his account of all that led to bringing those responsible to justice, listen on-line here:

We’ve also tuned in to hear European Advisory Board members Rana Mitter and Margaret MacMillan take to the airwaves. Last week saw two important anniversaries of events in world history: the 70th aniversary of the fall of Singapore (15th February 1942) and the 40th anniversary of President Nixon’s visit to meet Mao in China (17th February 1972). On Wednesday, Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China (Oxford), was welcomed on to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme to discuss the lasting impact of the event described by Winston Churchill as the “largest capitulation in British history”.  On Friday morning, Margaret MacMillan, Professor of International History (Oxford), joined Lord Charles Powell, also on Today, to reflect on Nixon’s visit to China and discuss its influence upon the United States’ relationship with China today.

A few more announcements from the European Advisory Board: our congratulations go out to Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford, who received a knighthood from Her Majesty, the Queen, for his services to scholarship in the 2012 New Year Honours list.  Secondly, we send our warmest regards to Ann Mroz, former Editor in Chief of the Times Higher Education, who is now stepping up to the role of Digital Publishing Director of the TSL Group.

Now as a special treat, some Valentine’s wishes from Philosophy and Classics Editor Rob Tempio:

What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than reading some philosophy with your sweetheart, beau, or paramour, right? Okay, maybe not, but if it’s depth you’re after in your love life and not just superficial passion or infatuation, then do we have the books for you.

First stop, the origins of romantic love. In this classic work, Love in the Western World, Dennis de Rougemont explores the psychology of love from the legend of Tristan and Isolde to Hollywood. At the heart of his exploration is the inescapable conflict in the West between marriage and passion. Mais oui!

The French may consider themselves the world’s greatest lovers, but are they also the greatest philosophers of love? Judge for yourself in French provocateur Pascal Bruckner’s new book, The Paradox of Love.

Today may not be the best day to wonder why we love what we love, but in his book, The Reasons of Love philosopher Harry Frankfurt says that self-love is at the heart of all else that we love. Try using that to explain why you got yourself chocolates and flowers. Also, if your significant other gives you a copy of Harry Frankfurt’s best-selling book Harry Frankfurt’s best-selling book On Bullshit today, things may be on the rocks. Just saying.

Love is irrational and blind, guided by passion not reason. Not exactly says philosopher and poet Troy Jollimore in his book, Love’s Vision. In this beautifully written book chock full of wonderful examples from poetry, literature, and music, Troy Jollimore show that love is a “vision” which combines the irrational and the rational, reason and passion, and guides us away from an excessive self-concern. And what says Valentine’s Day more than poetry, so why not read some of Jollimore’s poetry to your beloved as well: At Lake Scugogg.

Last but not least, no discussion of the philosophy of love would be complete without the Great Dane himself, Soren Kierkegaard. Yes, the man gave up the one great love of his life to devote himself to philosophy, but nevertheless it freed him up to write the many beautiful works on love that he did, including the aptly named Works of Love.

BBut, for those unattached and looking for love… at least for Valentine’s Day, pick up a copy of The Seducer’s Diary for all the tips sure to win you the favor of someone special. Satisfaction guaranteed…we hope.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Princeton University Press.

The Paradox of Love is now available in cloth and electronic form!

Princeton University Press rocked the house at the 2011 PROSE Awards in Washington D.C., taking home a staggering 14 prizes!

“The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976, the PROSE Awards are extraordinary for their breadth and depth.”

The press took home two Awards of Excellence, five Category Award Winners, and seven Honorable Mentions! Congratulations to our fantastic authors. A full list of who won what is available after the jump!

Timur Kuran, author of The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East, has two events coming up later this month in Princeton and NYC. Kuran, a professor of economics and political science at Duke University, published The Long Divergence in 2010. Read an extract from the book’s first chapter here!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

4:30 p.m in Jones 100 (campus map)

Free and open to the public

The Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia presents Timur Kuran:

“Structural Inefficiencies of Islamic Courts: Ottoman Justice and Its Implications for Modern Economic Life”

More information about the event here.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012: The American Turkish Society, New York, NY
6:30 – 8:00 PM
305 East 47th Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Free for members, $25 for non-members

Register for the event here, or read the full announcement!

Princeton University Press is pleased to congratulate Kwame Anthony Appiah (The Ethics of Identity), Andrew Delbanco (College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be), and Teofilo Ruiz (The Terror of History: On the Uncertainties of Life in Western Civilization), all of whom will receive a National Humanities Medal today. A total of eight writers will be honored, including poet John Ashbery, historian Robert Darnton, musical scholar Charles Rosen, literary scholar Ramón Saldívar, and Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate in economics.

From the White House press release:

Kwame Anthony Appiah for seeking eternal truths in the contemporary world. His books and essays within and beyond his academic discipline have shed moral and intellectual light on the individual in an era of globalization and evolving group identities.

Andrew Delbanco for his insight into the American character, past and present. He has been called “America’s best social critic” for his essays on current issues and higher education. As a professor in American studies, he reveals how classics by Melville and Emerson have shaped our history and contemporary life.

Teofilo Ruiz, medieval historian, for his inspired teaching and writing. His erudite studies have deepened our understanding of medieval Spain and Europe, while his late examination of how society has coped with terror has taught important lessons about the dark side of western progress.

The ceremony will begin streaming live at 1:45 PM Eastern time and you can watch it here.

Ken Rogoff co-author with Carmen Reinhart of the bestselling ‘This Time is Different’ had ‘Lunch with the FT’ in which he was interviewed by Gideon Rachman during the World Economic Forum at Davos. In the decade that he has been attending Davos this was Ken’s first opportunity to have a decent lunch. As well as discussing the global economic crisis the conversation also covers his early love of chess and how thinking about chess helps him get through boring meetings!

Twenty-four years ago a 2,392-city example of the TSP was solved in a 23-hour run on a super computer to set a new world record. This same problem now solves in 7 minutes on an iPhone 4 thanks to a free app: Concorde TSP Solver!

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/concorde-tsp/id498366515
Press release for Concorde TSP Solver: http://press.princeton.edu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cook-TSP-app.pdf

Bill Cook, author of In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman, has just launched a FREE app in the iTunes store called CONCORDE TSP SOLVER. The app allows users to plot TSP routes for an uploaded list of cities or any number of random cities.

The CONCORDE TSP SOLVER app is a powerful display of the potential to solve on mobile devices large examples of even the most difficult computational problems. This makes it an ideal tool for understanding and teaching the mathematics behind the most successful line-of-attack on the salesman problem. The colorful graphics show step-by-step how a tool called linear programming zeros in on the optimal route to visit a displayed collection of cities.

CONCORDE TSP SOLVER is a great companion to Cook’s book In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman for general readers and mathematics students alike.

Some early reviews from Twitter:

@CompSciFact (2/5/12)
“We have an embarrassment of computational riches when we can solve traveling salesmen problems on a phone.”

@misterbrash (2/5/12)
“This unravels by University degree and hurts my brain! Solve traveling salesman problem(s) on your iPhone. In seconds.”

@ehtayer (2/5/12)
“Computational life is lush: traveling salesman app.”

@miketrick (2/4/11)
“Touring lots of cities? There’s an app for that! Amazing work by @wjcook and gang.”

Congratulations to Lawrence P. Jackson, whose book The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960 has won the 2012 BCALA Literary Award in the Nonfiction Category. This award recognizes excellence in adult fiction and nonfiction by African American authors published in 2011. According to the BCALA press release:

“The Indignant Generation is a fascinating exploration of the development of African American literature after the Harlem Renaissance to the modern day Civil Rights Movement. Lawrence P. Jackson offers readers rare insights into the lives of key players who contributed to the breadth of writing that flourished between 1934 and 1960. From Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes to James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, Jackson highlights the unique challenges faced by the writers during the time of the Great Depression, Jim Crow, World War II and the Cold War. Dozens of illustrations and photographs enhance this stunning work that celebrates African American artistic and intellectual achievement in writing. Professor Jackson teaches English and African American Studies at Emory University.”

ABA president Jeff Gordon and Richard Crossley were out birding ahead of the daily activities at Space Coast Birding Festival and the conversation turned to popularizing birding in America. As Jeff notes, this is a favorite subject for Richard and one on which he has a few thoughts and wishes. Enjoy the video below and post a comment either here or at the ABA blog on what YOU think are the next steps for American birders.

For our part — Princeton University Press will continue publishing great bird books like The Crossley ID Guide, Avian Architecture, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds, and The Atlas of Birds and promoting them to the national media and science publications. Deal?