Founded in 1956, Penn State University Press publishes rigorously reviewed, high-quality works of scholarship and books of regional and contemporary interest, with a focus on the humanities and social sciences. The publishing arm of the Pennsylvania State University and a division of the Penn State University Libraries, the Press promotes the advance of scholarship by disseminating knowledge—new information, interpretations, methods of analysis—widely in books, journals, and digital publications.
Scholarly publishing has faced monumental challenges over the past few decades. The Press takes its place among those institutions moving the enterprise forward. Its innovative projects continue to identify and embrace the technological advances and business models that ensure scholarly publishing will remain feasible, and widely accessible, well into the future.
The pathbreaking work of renowned historian Natalie Zemon Davis has added profoundly to our understanding of early modern society and culture. She rescues men and women from oblivion using her unique combination of rich imagination, keen intelligence, and archival sleuthing to uncover the past. Davis brings to life a dazzling cast of ......
Investigates what Nietzsche called the "problem of Socrates," as that problem manifests itself in Plato's work. In particular, the book demonstrates how Socrates' own confrontation with this problem is the key to understanding the distinctively mimetic, dialogic, and reflexive character of Socratic ......
Small Farmers in the Economic Reshaping of Nicaragua, Cuba, Russia, and China
Analyzes the reaction of existing and former socialist countries to neoliberalism. Examines economic transitions in agriculture and the reconfiguration of socialism in Russia, China, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
Cultural Encounter, Imperial Vision, and the Construction of the Ottoman Capital
Studies the reconstruction of Byzantine Constantinople as the capital city of the Ottoman empire following its capture in 1453, delineating the complex interplay of socio-political, architectural, visual, and literary processes that underlay the city's transformation.
Participation and the New Interest Regime in Latin America
A comparative analysis of lower-class interest politics in Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela. Examines the proliferation of associations in Latin America's popular-sector neighborhoods, in the context of the historic problem of popular-sector voice and political representation in the region.
The life and career of a spy, the German-born Johann Heinrich Amadeus "Johnny" de Graaf (1894-1980), who was a double agent for the British against the Soviets before the Second World War, and worked for Canada against Canadian Fascists during the war.
A collection of essays on the American Revolution in Pennsylvania. Topics include the politicization of the English- and German-language press and the population they served; the Revolution in remote areas of the state; and new historical perspectives on the American and British armies during the Valley Forge ......
Investigates what Nietzsche called the "problem of Socrates," as that problem manifests itself in Plato's work. In particular, the book demonstrates how Socrates' own confrontation with this problem is the key to understanding the distinctively mimetic, dialogic, and reflexive character of Socratic ......
Explores the phenomenon of xenoglossia, the sudden, miraculous ability to speak, understand, read, or write a foreign language, as it appears in the later medieval hagiographic record and in English literature. Includes discussion of the late medieval English writers Geoffrey Chaucer and Margery Kempe.
