Penn Press Log

A Century of Social Work and Social Welfare at Penn--Now Available

A Century of Social Work and Social Welfare at Penn
Ram A. Cnaan, Melissa E. Dichter, and Jeffrey Draine, Editors
632 pages | 7 x 10 | 26 illus.
Cloth 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4103-7 | $65.00 | £42.50

The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice is a leader in promoting theoretical and practical social work knowledge. Celebrating the school's centennial, this volume heralds the progressive thinking of its leaders and students while setting the stage for the next century of work at the frontier of the field. Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here.

Philadelphia Weekly Talks to Birch about Greening Philly

Eugenie Birch, co-editor of Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century, spoke with Philadelphia Weekly's Jeffrey Barg about Philly's status as a green metropolis.

"How is Philly doing?" asked Barg.

“It’s a tremendous leader," said Birch. "There’s the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s work with community gardens—it’s an international leader. Another area is the work that the Water Department is doing with drainage issues and infrastructure. A lot of really sensational things are going on in Philadelphia. Philly is equal to other cities that have been more highly touted.”

Check out PW's map of Philadelphia's green scenes to see how the City of Brotherly Love stacks up.

Growing Greener Cities--Now Available

Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century
Edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter
416 pages | 6 x 9 | 17 color, 55 b/w illus.
Paper 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-2037-7 | $34.95 | £23.00
A volume in the City in the Twenty-First Century series

This thoroughly illustrated collection of essays, written by scholars as well as practitioners of urban policy, gives a panoramic view of sustainability and environmental issues for green-minded city planners, policy makers, researchers, and citizens.

Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here. 

Many Identities, One Nation--Now in Paperback

Many Identities, One Nation: The Revolution and Its Legacy in the Mid-Atlantic
Liam Riordan
392 pages | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 27 illus.
Cloth 2007 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4001-6 | $49.95 | £32.50
Paper Aug 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-2050-6 | $24.95 | £16.50
A volume in the Early American Studies series

"An admirable historical study whose treatments of early national religion and politics are particularly strong and well worth the perusal of historians teaching the American survey. Riordan's depth of research and analysis speaks to his skill and dedication, and the ambitious range of his project a testament to his vision as a historian of the early republic."--Journal of the Early Republic

Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here. 

Dangerous to Know--Now Available

Dangerous to Know: Women, Crime, and Notoriety in the Early Republic
Susan Branson
200 pages | 6 x 9 | 8 illus.
Cloth Aug 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4088-7 | $39.95 | £26.00

This tale of kidnapping, betrayal, and murder follows the lives of two women on the margins of early nineteenth-century society, showing how they manipulated conventions to further their own ends while redefining what was possible for women in early American public life. Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here.

Black Phliosopher, White Academy--Now Available

Black Philosopher, White Academy: The Career of William Fontaine
Bruce Kuklick
192 pages | 6 x 9 | 7 illus.
Cloth 2008 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4098-6 | $55.00 | £36.00

At a time when almost all African American college students attended black colleges, philosopher William Fontaine was the only black member of the Penn faculty. Bruce Kuklick sheds light on Fontaine's career as a black scholar as well as on the discipline of philosophy and academic life at mid-century.

Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here. 

Bruce "Monty" Montgomery

The staff of Penn Press was saddened by news of the passing of Bruce Montgomery, composer, educator, director, and author of Brothers, Sing On!: My Half-Century Around the World with the Penn Glee Club. Montgomery died on June 21 in his home in Maine shortly after his 81st birthday. As director of Penn's Glee Club and founder of the Penn Singers, Monty cut a memorable figure on campus for generations of students. Montgomery will also be remembered as the lyricist and composer of the off Broadway hit, "The Amorous Flea". He was recently honored at an Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts gala where a studio theater was renamed the "Bruce Montgomery Theatre."

More information on Montgomery's work and legacy is available at The Philadelphia Inquirer online.

Inside and Out Weekend for Penn Press

This coming weekend will be an extremely busy one for Penn Press staff. Not only to we host our annual Open House on Saturday, May 17. We'll also be participating in the Philadelphia Book Festival which runs from the 17th to the 18th of May.

University of Pennsylvania Press Open House
Saturday, May 17
4:30 p.m to 6:30 p.m.
University of Pennsylvania
3905 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Please call Ellen Trachtenberg at 215-898-1674 for more information

In the Penn Press Open House tradition, visitors will have the opportunity to meet Press editors, learn about the publishing process, and enjoy refreshments provided by Picnic, all within the restored Victorian mansion that serves as home to the Press. This year, in celebration of the release of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies by William C. Kashatus, open house guests will have the chance to win tickets to a Phillies game. There will be other give-aways as well. All guests will receive a Penn Press tote bag.

Philadelphia Book Festival
Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103
(between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway)

Both Kashatus and Neil Lanctot, author of Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution, will be at the Penn Press tent at the Philadelphia Book Festival to sign copies of their work and discuss baseball history. The Kashatus book signing begins at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 17. Lanctot will be available to sign books beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 18.

Almost a Dynasty Rekindles Fond Memories

A review of Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies, by William C. Kashatus, appeared in the March 30 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. In this review, retired sports journalist Bill Lyon writes:

. . .[Kashatus] has knitted together a meticulously detailed, exhaustively researched, thoroughly dissected offering that contains no fewer than four appendices, a selected bibliography, an index, an introduction, a list of acknowledgments, and a veritable novella's worth of notes. It is difficult to believe that anything has been left out. . . .

If you grew up with the Phillies of his generation, this book will resonate and rekindle fond memories. If you are learning of it for the first time, well, there was a time, believe it or not, when the Phillies rose above their rag-tag history, when the teams of the most futile franchise in all of sport were perennial contenders.

Spring Training Trivia Challenge Final Results

Today is opening day of the Philadelphia Phillies 2008 season. Time to announce the final results of the Almost A Dynasty Spring Training Trivia Challenge.

The weekly trivia challenge winners are:

week 1, Bill Baer of Aston, PA
week 2, John Fea of Philadelphia, PA
week 3, Rodney Reuter of Lincoln, NE
week 4, Ron Rosen of Shrewsbury, MA

Each weekly winner receives a copy of Almost A Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies, signed by author William C. Kashatus.

The grand prize winner, Rodney Reuter, also receives two section 109 tickets to a Phillies vs. Mets game at Citizens Bank Park here in Philadelphia.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Almost A Dynasty Spring Training Trivia Challenge and congratulations to the winners.