University of Chicago Press, Books

February Features

Theft of intellectual property has a long and vital history—a history that has been largely forgotten and is little understood. In Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates Adrian Johns shows that piracy has always stood at the center of our attempts to reconcile creativity and commerce—a vehicle for innovation as aften as disruption. The intellectual property crisis of our age is not unprecedented and history points to solutions. Read an excerpt.

Allan H. Meltzer’s history of the Federal Reserve is the most ambitious, most intensive, and most revealing investigation of the subject ever conducted. And never more needed. We published the first volume to widespread critical acclaim in 2003; the second volume is now available in two books. Read the introduction to A History of the Federal Reserve, Volume 2, Book 1, 1951-1969.

The field of media studies is undergoing a transformation no less rapid than media itself. Critical Terms for Media Studies is an exciting collection of essays that explore the most critical language for dealing with the qualities and modes of contemporary media. It is edited by two outstanding scholars in the field, W. J. T. Mitchell and Mark B. N. Hansen. Read their introduction.

Just months before the Berlin Wall cut the city in two for almost thirty years, painter Gerhard Richter slipped from East to West, “to get away from the criminal ‘idealism’ of the socialists.” In the past several decades his work has become well-known around the world but Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting by Dietmar Elger is the first biography of this influential artist. Read an excerpt about his early years in Dresden.

Spring 2010 Catalog

Last words, Duke Ellington, bulletproof feathers, and nonsense on stilts: All in our Spring 2010 catalog, now available for online perusal (PDF format, 5.1Mb). Cruise through its 200+ pages for this season’s new books from Chicago and the fine publishers we distribute. Foreign publishers may consult our foreign rights catalog.

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