What are you reading?

Roger Brown, professor of higher education policy, Liverpool Hope University, is reading Anthony Nutting’s No End of a Lesson: The Story of Suez (Constable, 1996). “It describes the abject failure of our attempt, with the French and Israelis, to unseat Nasser, the president of Egypt. It’s a salutary tale that should be read by any British prime minister who wants to regain domestic popularity by standing up to an unsavoury foreign ‘bully’.”

Jim Butcher, lecturer in the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University, is reading Alex Standish’s The False Promise of Global Learning: Why Education Needs Boundaries (Continuum, 2012). “Standish points out that geographical knowledge has declined as ‘global education’ has expanded. He reminds us that the former is a precondition for understanding, judging and acting upon the world. Bypassing knowledge en route to a global agenda focused on social and emotional skills can undercut the capacity of geography to contribute to critical intellects and expert problem-solvers.”

Tina Haux, lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, is reading Tamsin Hinton-Smith’s Lone Parents’ Experiences as Higher Education Students (NIACE, 2012). “I particularly enjoyed this book as it captures very well the experience of lone parents of learning to juggle childcare, studying and finances, while at the same time placing those findings in the wider context of adult learners. In addition, the research design using email exchanges over a year is innovative and appropriate. Highly recommended!”

Hillegonda Rietveld, reader in sonic culture, London South Bank University, is reading Rebekah Farrugia’s Beyond the Dance Floor: Female DJs, Technology and Electronic Dance Music Culture (Intellect, 2012). “Finally, here is a book about women in the DJ profession, who are battling it out in a male-dominated electronic dance music industry. Based on an extensive ethnographic postgraduate research project in the US, we are given an overview of the various tactics and collective strategies that these women adopt, supported by social network tools. One day we will simply speak of DJs, without qualifications.”

Sharon Wheeler, senior lecturer in journalism, University of Portsmouth, is reading David Foot’s Footsteps from East Coker (Fairfield Books, 2010). “When I was a wannabe journalist, I coveted David Foot’s job - reporting on cricket and theatre seemed like the dream career. Every page of this book is steeped in those two passions, with Foot reflecting on his Somerset childhood and his early career on West Country newspapers. And it’s like the man himself - charming, literate and elegiac.”