Special Collections added the following 11 titles to ASC's holdings during the second quarter of 2023. The list is a sample of purchased and donated publications and while not exhaustive, is meant to highlight recent acquisitions. For a full list of Special Collections titles, please search PRIMO, the library’s catalog.
Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating BL254 .R83 2022
ISBN: 9780226821122
Publication Date: 2022-11-25
A revealing look at the parallel mythologies behind the colonization of Earth and space--and a bold vision for a more equitable, responsible future both on and beyond our planet. As environmental, political, and public health crises multiply on Earth, we are also at the dawn of a new space race in which governments team up with celebrity billionaires to exploit the cosmos for human gain. The best-known of these pioneers are selling different visions of the future: while Elon Musk and SpaceX seek to establish a human presence on Mars, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin work toward moving millions of earthlings into rotating near-Earth habitats. Despite these distinctions, these two billionaires share a core utopian project: the salvation of humanity through the exploitation of space. In Astrotopia, philosopher of science and religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein pulls back the curtain on the not-so-new myths these space barons are peddling, like growth without limit, energy without guilt, and salvation in a brand-new world. As Rubenstein reveals, we have already seen the destructive effects of this frontier zealotry in the centuries-long history of European colonialism. Much like the imperial project on Earth, this renewed effort to conquer space is presented as a religious calling: in the face of a coming apocalypse, some very wealthy messiahs are offering an other-worldly escape to a chosen few. But Rubenstein does more than expose the values of capitalist technoscience as the product of bad mythologies. She offers a vision of exploring space without reproducing the atrocities of earthly colonialism, encouraging us to find and even make stories that put cosmic caretaking over profiteering.
The Conquest of Mexico: 500 Years of Reinventions by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating F1230 .C287 2022
ISBN: 9780806190372
Publication Date: 2022-07-07
The Spanish invasion of Mexico in 1519, which led to the end of the Aztec Empire, was one of the most influential events in the history of the modern Atlantic world. But equally consequential, as this volume makes clear, were the ways the Conquest was portrayed. In essays spanning five centuries and three continents, The Conquest of Mexico: 500 Years of Reinventions explores how politicians, writers, artists, activists, and others have strategically reimagined the Conquest to influence and manipulate perceptions within a wide variety of controversies and debates, including those touching on indigeneity, nationalism, imperialism, modernity, and multiculturalism. Writing from a range of perspectives and disciplines, the authors demonstrate that the Conquest of Mexico, whose significance has ever been marked by fundamental ambiguity, has consistently influenced how people across the modern Atlantic world conceptualize themselves and their societies. After considering the looming, ubiquitous role of the Conquest in Mexican thought and discourse since the sixteenth century, the contributors go farther afield to examine the symbolic relevance of the Conquest in contexts as diverse as Tudor England, Bourbon France, postimperial Spain, modern Latin America, and even contemporary Hollywood. Highlighting the extent to which the Spanish-Aztec conflict inspired historical reimaginings, these essays reveal how the Conquest became such an iconic event--and a perennial medium by which both Europe and the Americas have, for centuries, endeavored to understand themselves as well as their relationship to others. A valuable contribution to ongoing efforts to demythologize and properly memorialize the Spanish-Aztec War of 1519-21, this volume also aptly illustrates how we make history of the past and how that history-making shapes our present--and possibly our future.
Cowgirl Smarts: How to Rope a Kick-Ass Life by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating F596 .S63 2007
ISBN: 9780976080503
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Wild West cowgirls were bodacious. They bucked all the rules and persevered against tremendous odds to live full, adventurous lives. This book demonstrates how to get cowgirl smart through the stories of real cowgirls from the Wild West. If you want to rope a kick-ass life or enjoy some cowgirl history, this book is for you. It's a sassy guide for finding your cowgirl spirit.
Defiant Braceros: How Migrant Workers Fought for Racial, Sexual, and Political Freedom by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating HD8081.M6 L67 2016
ISBN: 9781469629766
Publication Date: 2016-09-06
In this book, Mireya Loza sheds new light on the private lives of migrant men who participated in the Bracero Program (1942-1964), a binational agreement between the United States and Mexico that allowed hundreds of thousands of Mexican workers to enter this country on temporary work permits. While this program and the issue of temporary workers has long been politicized on both sides of the border, Loza argues that the prevailing romanticized image of braceros as a family-oriented, productive, legal workforce has obscured the real, diverse experiences of the workers themselves. Focusing on underexplored aspects of workers' lives--such as their transnational union-organizing efforts, the sexual economies of both hetero and queer workers, and the ethno-racial boundaries among Mexican indigenous braceros--Loza reveals how these men defied perceived political, sexual, and racial norms. Basing her work on an archive of more than 800 oral histories from the United States and Mexico, Loza is the first scholar to carefully differentiate between the experiences of mestizo guest workers and the many Mixtec, Zapotec, Purhepecha, and Mayan laborers. In doing so, she captures the myriad ways these defiant workers responded to the intense discrimination and exploitation of an unjust system that still persists today.
Lost Children Archive: A Novel by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating PQ7298.422.U37 L67 2019
ISBN: 9780525520610
Publication Date: 2019-02-12
WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION, WINNER OF THE FOLIO PRIZE, NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST, FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION, LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE, LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE. One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, A Best Book of 2019: Entertainment Weekly; TIME; NPR; O, The Oprah Magazine; The Washington Post; GQ; The Guardian; Chicago Tribune; Dallas Morning News; and the New York Public Library. "The novel truly becomes novel again in Luiselli's hands--electric, elastic, alluring, new." --Parul Sehgal, The New York Times A fiercely imaginative new novel about a family whose road trip across America collides with an immigration crisis at the southwestern border--an indelible journey told with breathtaking imagery, spare lyricism, and profound humanity. A mother and father set out with their two children, a boy and a girl, driving from New York to Arizona in the heat of summer. Their destination: Apacheria, the place the Apaches once called home. Why Apaches? asks the ten-year-old son. Because they were the last of something, answers his father. In their car, they play games and sing along to music. But on the radio, there is news about an "immigration crisis": thousands of kids trying to cross the southwestern border into the United States, but getting detained--or lost in the desert along the way. As the family drives--through Virginia to Tennessee, across Oklahoma and Texas--we sense they are on the brink of a crisis of their own. A fissure is growing between the parents, one the children can almost feel beneath their feet. They are led, inexorably, to a grand, harrowing adventure--both in the desert landscape and within the chambers of their own imaginations. Told through several compelling voices, blending texts, sounds, and images, Lost Children Archive is an astonishing feat of literary virtuosity. It is a richly engaging story of how we document our experiences, and how we remember the things that matter to us the most. With urgency and empathy, it takes us deep into the lives of one remarkable family as it probes the nature of justice and equality today.
New Mexico Native American Lore: Skinwalkers, Kachinas, Spririts and Dark Omens by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating GR110.N6 D43 2022
ISBN: 9781467150545
Publication Date: 2022-08-15
Pull on the uncanny threads from the legendary tapestry of New Mexico's Native American heritage. Ancient Indian history and present Native American cultures are woven together in the Land of Enchantment. The threads of these tales stretch back to Mimbres burial grounds and prehistoric trade routes. Stories and traditions tie the land to its people, in spite of the cycles of slaughter and theft that have threatened to pluck them apart. Descend into the kivas of Chaco Canyon or seek out the high mountains where the clouds mark the stones. From legends of the Salt Woman to the legacy of the Ghost Dance, Ray John de Aragon examines the mysteries of the mesas.
Open Range: America's Big-Outfit Cowboy by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating F596 .L36 2018
ISBN: 9781936611164
Publication Date: 2018-12-01
John Langmore began cowboying in 1975 at the age of twelve, after his father photographed the seminal book, "The Cowboy." John spent twelve summers cowboying across the West before pursuing a professional career. In 2012, after thirty years away from his time in the saddle, John began a six-year project photographing fourteen of the nation's largest and most famous ranches. Of all those who have photographed the cowboy, John is one of the few who came to it first as a cowboy and only later as a photographer. John's photographs and writings reflect this deep connection to the cowboy world and offer an unrivaled chance to witness a way of life that many dream of but few experience.
The Ranger Ideal: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, Volume 2: 1874-1930 by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating F385 .I94 2017
ISBN: 9781574417333
Publication Date: 2018-10-31
Established in Waco in 1968, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum honors the iconic Texas Rangers, a service that has existed, in one form or another, since 1823. They have become legendary symbols of Texas and the American West. In The Ranger Ideal Volume 2: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1874-1930, Darren L. Ivey presents the twelve inductees who served Texas in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Ivey begins with John B. Jones, who directed his Rangers from state troops to professional lawmen; then covers Leander H. McNelly, John B. Armstrong, James B. Gillett, Jesse Lee Hall, George W. Baylor, Bryan Marsh, and Ira Aten--the men who were responsible for some of the Rangers' most legendary feats. Ivey concludes with James A. Brooks, William J. McDonald, John R. Hughes, and John H. Rogers, the "Four Great Captains" who guided the Texas Rangers into the twentieth century. The Ranger Ideal presents the true stories of these intrepid men who fought to tame a land with gallantry, grit, and guns.
The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating QC903 .R425 2021
ISBN: 9781942173434
Publication Date: 2021-04-20
When the Red Nation released their call for a Red Deal, it generated coverage in places from Teen Vogue to Jacobin to the New Republic, was endorsed by the DSA, and has galvanized organizing and action. Now, in response to popular demand, the Red Nation expands their original statement filling in the histories and ideas that formed it and forwarding an even more powerful case for the actions it demands. One-part visionary platform, one-part practical toolkit, the Red Deal is a platform that encompasses everyone, including non-Indigenous comrades and relatives who live on Indigenous land. We--Indigenous, Black and people of color, women and trans folks, migrants, and working people--did not create this disaster, but we have inherited it. We have barely a decade to turn back the tide of climate disaster. It is time to reclaim the life and destiny that has been stolen from us and rise up together to confront this challenge and build a world where all life can thrive. Only mass movements can do what the moment demands. Politicians may or may not follow--it is up to them--but we will design, build, and lead this movement with or without them. The Red Deal is a call for action beyond the scope of the US colonial state. It's a program for Indigenous liberation, life, and land--an affirmation that colonialism and capitalism must be overturned for this planet to be habitable for human and other-than-human relatives to live dignified lives. The Red Deal is not a response to the Green New Deal, or a "bargain" with the elite and powerful. It's a deal with the humble people of the earth; a pact that we shall strive for peace and justice and a declaration that movements for justice must come from below and to the left.
Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating QK477.2.A6 T76 2020
ISBN: 9781421437774
Publication Date: 2020-04-21
What if the stories of trees and people are more closely linked than we ever imagined? Winner of the World Wildlife Fund's 2020 Jan Wolkers Prize, one of Science News's "Favorite Books of 2020", a New York Times "New and Noteworthy" Book, a 2020 Woodland Book of the Year, Gold Winner of the 2020 Foreword INDIES Award in Ecology & Environment, Bronze Winner of the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Award in Environment/Ecology. People across the world know that to tell how old a tree is, you count its rings. Few people, however, know that research into tree rings has also made amazing contributions to our understanding of Earth's climate history and its influences on human civilization over the past 2,000 years. In her captivating book Tree Story, Valerie Trouet reveals how the seemingly simple and relatively familiar concept of counting tree rings has inspired far-reaching scientific breakthroughs that illuminate the complex interactions between nature and people. Trouet, a leading tree-ring scientist, takes us out into the field, from remote African villages to radioactive Russian forests, offering readers an insider's look at tree-ring research, a discipline known as dendrochronology. Tracing her own professional journey while exploring dendrochronology's history and applications, Trouet describes the basics of how tell-tale tree cores are collected and dated with ring-by-ring precision, explaining the unexpected and momentous insights we've gained from the resulting samples. Blending popular science, travelogue, and cultural history, Tree Story highlights exciting findings of tree-ring research, including the fate of lost pirate treasure, successful strategies for surviving California wildfire, the secret to Genghis Khan's victories, the connection between Egyptian pharaohs and volcanoes, and even the role of olives in the fall of Rome. These fascinating tales are deftly woven together to show us how dendrochronology sheds light on global climate dynamics and uncovers the clear links between humans and our leafy neighbors. Trouet delights us with her dedication to the tangible appeal of studying trees, a discipline that has taken her to austere and beautiful landscapes around the globe and has enabled scientists to solve long-pondered mysteries of Earth and its human inhabitants.
When Cimarron Meant Wild: The Maxwell Land Grant Conflict in New Mexico and Colorado by
Call Number: Branson Library, Special Collections - Non-circulating F802.M38 C34 2023
ISBN: 9780806191799
Publication Date: 2023-04-27
The Spanish word cimarron, meaning "wild" or "untamed," refers to a region in the southern Rocky Mountains where control of timber, gold, coal, and grazing lands long bred violent struggle. After the U.S. occupation following the 1846-1848 war with Mexico, this tract of nearly two million acres came to be known as the Maxwell Land Grant. When Cimarron Meant Wild presents a new history of the collision that occurred over the region's resources between 1870 and 1900. Author David L. Caffey describes the epic late-nineteenth-century range war in an account deeply informed by his historical perspective on social, political, and cultural issues that beset the American West to this day. Cimarron country churned with the tensions of the Old West--land disputes, lawlessness, violence, and class war among miners, a foreign corporation, local elites, Texas cattlemen, and the haughty "Santa Fe Ring" of lawyerly speculators. And present, still, were the indigenous Jicarilla Apache and Mouache Ute people, dispossessed of their homeland by successive Spanish, Mexican, and American regimes. A Mexican grant of uncertain size and bounds, awarded to Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda in 1841 and later acquired by Lucien Maxwell, marked the beginning of a fight for control of the land and set off overlapping conflicts known as the Colfax County War, the Maxwell Land Grant War, and the Stonewall War. Caffey draws on new research to paint a complex picture of these events, and of those that followed the sale of the claim to investors in 1870. These clashes played out over the following thirty years, involving the new English owners, miners and prospectors, livestock grazers and farmers, and Native Americans. Just how wild was the Cimarron country in the late 1800s? And what were the consequences for the region and for those caught up in the conflict? The answers, pursued through this remarkable work, enhance our understanding of cultural and economic struggle in the American West.