Scholarship Offers Insight into Controversial Practice
NEW YORK, NY—With the September execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, we are reminded of the ongoing controversy behind the use of capital punishment in the United States—a controversy that could be revived in upcoming elections. The U.S. remains one of the only developed nations that has not abolished the death penalty; a unique and contentious history lies behind this state of affairs.
The latest Books for Understanding bibliography from the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) compiles more than 80 works of scholarly analysis of the history behind American capital punishment and insight into the current debate.
http://www.booksforunderstanding.org/deathpenalty/list.html
Featuring scholarship from more than 30 AAUP member presses, “Books for Understanding: Capital Punishment” includes such titles as:
- Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition by David Garland (Harvard University Press, 2010);
- From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and the Death Penalty in America edited by Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. and Austin Sarat (New York University Press, 2006);
- Writing for Their Lives: Death Row USA edited by Marie Mulvey-Roberts (University of Illinois Press, 2007).
Books for Understanding is a free public service of AAUP to help librarians, journalists, educators, and interested readers find the best books on current events. The program highlights one of the highest values of university presses: to publish top research and scholarship in all fields regardless of immediate commercial potential. Often the most complete and illuminating background research and knowledge for a breaking news story is only available in scholarly books from presses committed to the public interest.
The Association of American University Presses is one of the world’s largest organizations of nonprofit scholarly publishers. AAUP is dedicated to the support of creative and effective scholarly communications. Through its programs and information resources, AAUP helps its members fulfill their common commitments to scholarship, the academy, and society. Visit the AAUP Web site, www.aaupnet.org, to learn more about the association and its members.
http://www.booksforunderstanding.org
Media Inquiries:
Regan Colestock
rcolestock@aaupnet.org
212-989-1010 x24