2023 Book reviews

Approaching Recent World History Through Film: Context, Analysis, and Research. Scott C. M. Bailey. London; New York: Routledge, 2021. ISBN: 9780367280888.

Reviewed by Cynthia Ross, Texas A&M University – Commerce

Edited by Birgit Schneider

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

The Greco-Persian Wars: A Short History with Documents. Erik Jensen. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2021. ISBN: 9781624669552.

Reviewed by Ian Worthington, Macquarie University

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.


Technology and the Historian: Transformations in the Digital Age. Adam Crymble. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780252052606.

Reviewed by Yang Yunfei, Ph.D. student, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

The Practical Renaissance: Information Culture and the Quest for Knowledge in Early Modern England. Donna A. Seger. London: Bloomsbury Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781350200241.

Reviewed by W. Cole Younger, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin Before Nationalism. Mana Kia. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781503611955.

Reviewed by Aslıhan Gürbüzel, McGill University

Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Broken Cities: A Historical Sociology of Ruins. Martin Devecka. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781421438412.

Reviewed by Brian de Ruiter, Brock University

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

LGBTQ Politics in Nicaragua: Revolution, Dictatorship, and Social Movements. Karen Kampwirth. University of Arizona Press, 2022. ISBN: 97880816542796.

Reviewed by Florence E. Babb, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Edited by Daniel Blumlo and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Atlantic Passages: Race, Mobility, and Liberian Colonization. Robert MurrayGainesville: University Press of Florida, 2020. ISBN: 9780813066752.

Reviewed by Christine Whyte, University of Glasgow

Edited by Julie Tanaka and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Teaching Difficult Histories in Difficult Times: Stories of Practice. Edited by Lauren McArthur Harris, Maia Sheppard, and Sara A. Levy. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 2022. ISBN: 9780807766446.

Reviewed by Stephen Jackson, University of Sioux Falls

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Constantinople: Ritual, Violence, and Memory in the Making of a Christian Imperial Capital. Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos. Oakland: University of California Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780520304550.

Reviewed by Joseph M. Snyder, Southeast Missouri State University

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Constructing the Sacred: Visibility and Ritual Landscape at the Egyptian Necropolis of Saqqara. by Elaine A. Sullivan. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9781503603332.

Reviewed by Joseph M. Snyder, Southeast Missouri State University

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Going the Distance: Eurasian Trade and the Rise of the Business Corporation, 1400-1700. Ron Harris. Princeton University Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780691150772.

Reviewed by Jennifer Morris, Mount St. Joseph University

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 26, Fall 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Ripe for Revolution: Building Socialism in the Third World. Jeremy Friedman. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2021. ISBN-13: 9780674244313.

Reviewed by Emily Machen, University of Northern Iowa

Edited by Birgit Schneider and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Phoenicians and the Making of the Mediterranean. Carolina López-Ruiz. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2021. ISBN-13: 9780674988187.

Reviewed by Hugh Bowden, King’s College London

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and James A. Bjork, chief intern

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

The Undocumented Americans. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. New York: One World, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780399592706.

Reviewed by Julie M. Weise, University of Oregon

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and James A. Bjork, chief intern

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Imposters in Late Colonial Mexico. By William B. Taylor. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021. ISBN-13: 9780520368569.

Reviewed by Joseph M.H. Clark, University of Kentucky

Edited by Birgit Schneider and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Information: A Historical Companion. Edited by Ann Blair, Paul Duguid, Anja-Silvia Going, and Anthony Grafton. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021. ISBN-13: 9780691179544.

Reviewed by Erik Kwakkel, The University of British Columbia

Edited by Julie K. Tanaka

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Atlantic Transformations: Empire, Politics, and Slavery during the Nineteenth Century. Edited by Dale W. Tomich. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9781438477848.

Reviewed by Evan C. Rothera, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

Edited by Daniel Blumlo and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany. Edward B. Westermann. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2021. ISBN-13: 9781501754197.

Reviewed by Katlyn MW Rozovics, doctoral student in history, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Big Water: The Making of the Borderlands Between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Edited by Jacob Blanc, Frederico Freitas, and Zephyr Frank. University of Arizona Press, 2018. ISBN-13: 9780816537143.

Reviewed by Andrea K. Moerer, Saint Paul Academy and Summit School

Edited by Birgit Schneider and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War. Shay Hazkani. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press, 2021. ISBN-13: 9781503627659.

Reviewed by Nir Arielli, University of Leeds

Edited by Daniel Blumlo and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1733-1795: Light and Flame. Richard Butterwick. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780300252200.

Reviewed by Robert Frost, University of Aberdeen

Edited by Frank Zator and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Beyond the Steppe Frontier: A History of the Sino-Russian Border. Sören Urbansky. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780691181684.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Wishnick, Montclair State University

Edited by Daniel Blumlo and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Sugarcane and Rum: The Bittersweet History of Labor and Life on the Yucatán Peninsula. John Robert Gust and Jennifer P. Mathews. Tuscon: The University of Arizona Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780816538881.

Reviewed by Aurea Toxqui, Bradley University

Edited by Julie Tanaka

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and her World. Amy Stanley. New York: Scribner, 2020. ISBN-13: 9781501188527.

Reviewed by Jonathan Dresner, Pittsburg State University, Kansas

Edited by Birgit Schneider

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.

Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt. Steven Johnson. New York: Riverhead Books, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780735211605.

Reviewed by Erin Becker-Boris, independent historian

Edited by Daniel Blumlo and intern J. A. Bjork

© 2023 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 25, Spring 2023 http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org.

See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.