The Dinner Party: Judy Chicago and the Power of Popular Feminism, 1970-2007 by Jane F. Gerhard Mary Evans relishes this re-evaluation of an installation artwork that depicts a collection of famous women 20 June
Celebrity Politics by Mark Wheeler Judith Bara on the politicisation of celebrities and the celebritisation of politicians 20 June
Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air by Richard Holmes Robert J. Mayhew lifts off with a true balloon enthusiast 13 June
Liberty and Security by Conor Gearty Amanda Cahill-Ripley on a radical critique of counter-terrorism 13 June
China’s Growth: The Making of an Economic Superpower by Linda Yueh Yongjin Zhang on the riddle at the heart of an Eastern paradox 13 June
The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South by Vijay Prashad Stefan Andreasson on an engaging but unbalanced view of a vital subject 13 June
The Democracy Project by David Graeber Rationality yields to sentimentality in an Occupy Wall Street-inspired call for direct action, Fred Inglis finds 6 June
Among Murderers: Life after Prison by Sabine Heinlein Laura Piacentini ponders the power of the penal system to destroy a prisoner’s sense of self 6 June
Higher Education in the Digital Age by William G. Bowen Miriam E. David considers a commentary on the preservation of pedagogy in the face of technological advances 6 June
Divided Nations: Why Global Governance is Failing, and What We Can Do About It by Ian Goldin Dries Lesage on a wake-up call for 21st-century bodies no longer fit for purpose 6 June
Northern Ireland: The Reluctant Peace by Feargal Cochrane Cheryl Lawther on a history of the conflict and peace process and how the past continues to affect current attitudes 30 May
Top Student, Top School? How Social Class Shapes Where Valedictorians Go To College by Alexandria Walton Radford Sandra Leaton Gray on inequality in access to higher education in the US as a result of class 30 May
Payback: The Case for Revenge by Thane Rosenbaum Judith Rowbotham on the arguments for a justice system that enables a victim to be avenged 23 May
Moral Crusades in an Age of Mistrust: The Jimmy Savile Scandal by Frank Furedi R. Danielle Egan on an analysis of scandals that fails to link them with a sociological narrative 23 May
Human Capitalism: How Economic Growth Has Made Us Smarter – and More Unequal by Brink Lindsey An argument that blames financial inequality on ‘cultural attitudes’ exasperates Kitty Stewart 23 May
What’s Wrong with Climate Politics and How to Fix It by Paul G. Harris Joanna Depledge applauds bold suggestions for how to end the international stalemate over the environment 23 May
The Unpredictable Species: What Makes Humans Unique by Philip Lieberman Kerstin Hoge probes an account of mental creativity that takes no prisoners 23 May
German Europe by Ulrich Beck, translated by Rodney Livingstone Roger Morgan on Germany’s economic domination of the European Union and the need for a sociological approach to redress the balance 16 May
Curious Subjects: Women and the Trials of Realism by Hilary M. Schor Shelley King on asking questions, realist fiction and female subjectivity in Victorian novels 9 May
The Politics of Exile by Elizabeth Dauphinee Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik on a study of the process of researching the Bosnian wars 9 May
Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson Michelle Harvey agrees with inspiring advice to young science researchers to never forget what initially attracted them to the discipline 9 May
Return from the Natives: How Margaret Mead Won the Second World War and Lost the Cold War by Peter Mandler Chris Knight on an anthropologist whose theories were embraced then shunned by the US military 2 May
The Political Worlds of Women: Gender and Politics in Nineteenth Century Britain by Sarah Richardson Susan Hogan on a challenge to analyses of 19th-century politics that marginalise the role of women 2 May
The Second Arab Awakening: Revolution, Democracy, and the Islamist Challenge from Tunis to Damascus by Adeed Dawisha Christina Hellmich on the complex dynamics reshaping the Arab world 2 May
Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat by Jeffrey D. Simon Matthew Feldman on the expanding threat to society from unpredictable individuals 2 May
Utopia and Terror in Contemporary American Fiction by Judie Newman Kate North recommends an analysis of the use of apparently contradictory concepts in selected texts over the past 15 years 25 April
Karl Marx: A Nineteenth Century Life by Jonathan Sperber Sheila Rowbotham on a crisp portrait of a restless thinker who was neither infallible nor prophetic 25 April
The Great University Gamble: Money, Markets and the Future of Higher Education, by Andrew McGettigan Joanna Williams seeks more context in this political and economic analysis of sector finance 18 April
Soldier, Sailor, Beggarman, Thief: Crime and the British Armed Services since 1914 by Clive Emsley A. W. Purdue on the prevalence of crime within the British armed forces 18 April
Lush Life: Constructing Organised Crime in the UK, by Dick Hobbs Tim Hall on an informed probe into the world of illegal trade in East London 18 April
Orgasmology by Annamarie Jagose A study of la petite mort focuses on cultural views not sociological explorations, finds Sally R. Munt 11 April
America’s Assembly Line by David E. Nye Howard Segal pieces together the fascinating history of a key innovation in US manufacturing 11 April
The Great Indian Phone Book: How Cheap Mobile Phones Change Business, Politics and Daily Life by Robin Jeffrey and Assa Doron Jyothsna Latha Belliappa on technology’s transformative effects 11 April
Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time by Ira Katznelson Christopher Phelps on a dazzling new look at the US response to the Depression 11 April
Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet and How We Live by Marlene Zuk Camilla Power enjoys a demolition of prelapsarian pseudoscience 11 April
Making War at Fort Hood: Life and Uncertainty in a Military Community by Kenneth T. MacLeish James T. Crouse on a book that should be on every politician’s reading list 4 April
Soldier of Christ: The Life of Pope Pius XII by Robert A. Ventresca John Pollard on a biography of a controversial head of the Catholic Church 4 April
British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960 by James Smith Matthew Feldman on the connections between literary history and intelligence studies 4 April
Eco-Business: A Big-Brand Takeover of Sustainability by Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister Isabelle Szmigin on how big companies sustain their profits first, and the environment second 4 April
Everything for Sale? The Marketisation of UK Higher Education by Roger Brown, with Helen Carasso Joanna Williams commends a rigorous analysis of the impact of funding changes on the sector 28 March
Speaking of Race and Class: The Student Experience at an Elite College by Elizabeth Aries, with Richard Berman Ann Mullen is intrigued by the findings, but would have enjoyed more analysis 28 March
Image Warfare in the War on Terror by Nathan Roger Neville Bolt on how states and militaries fail to grasp the changing role of media in our lives 28 March
Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World by Shereen El Feki Shahidha Bari considers an exploration of desire and denial amid Egypt’s shifting sands 28 March
Murdoch’s Politics: How One Man’s Thirst for Wealth and Power Shapes Our World by David McKnight Ivor Gaber on what motivates Rupert Murdoch 21 March
The Scientific Sherlock Holmes: Cracking the Case with Science and Forensics by James O’Brien Stephen Wade on the accurate contemporary science behind the Holmesian investigations 21 March
Markets of Sorrow, Labors of Faith: New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina by Vincanne Adams Kevin Fox Gotham on the negative consequences of privatised disaster services and aid work 21 March
Academic Armageddon: An Irish Requiem for Higher Education by Mary Gallagher Sue Norton on the difficult days ahead for Ireland’s academy as bureaucracy and consumerisation seem set to increase 21 March
Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman by Jeremy Adelman Andreas Hess discusses the incredible life of an artist of ‘possibilism’ 14 March
The University and the City by John Goddard and Paul Vallance Geoffrey Alderman on the social and economic benefits that an institution can bring to a locality 14 March
Shaping Europe: France, Germany and Embedded Bilateralism from the Elysée Treaty to Twenty-First Century Politics by Ulrich Krotz and Joachim Schild Roger Morgan on the Franco-German alliance within the EU and its effect on decision-making in the union 14 March
Going Grey: The Mediation of Politics in an Ageing Society by Scott Davidson Sarah Harper on the changing approach of the media and governments to ageing populations 14 March
Education: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Thomas Anthony Feiler reviews a concise explanation of how the UK education system works and how it evolved 7 March
Becoming Sexual by R. Danielle Egan Mary Evans discusses moral panic and girls’ sexualisation 28 February
