University of California Press Blog

Review: China's Communist Party

On Sunday, June 29, 2008, The Washington Post posted an article by William J. Dobson called Lessons Learned. The subject of the article talks about how the leaders of China's Communist Party can learn from the mistakes of the former Soviet Union. Dobson based his opinion on David Shambaugh's ideas from his book entitled, China's Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation (UC Press, April 2008). Below is an excerpt from the article.

"Many people look hungrily for any clues that the regime may be teetering. Shambaugh's analysis will disappoint them. Although he is not blind to the serious -- and growing -- challenges to Beijing's rule, neither, in his telling, is Beijing. Such open-minded vigilance may be the Chinese leaders' best insurance against following in the footsteps of the communists who went before them."

(Reviewed by William J. Dobson, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine.)

Episode 5 of the UC Press Podcast Series is Now Available

Episode 5 of the UC Press podcast series is now available.  In July's episode, Chris Gondek of Heron and Crane Productions interviews Marion Nestle, author of Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine and Nalini M. Nadkarni, the author of Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees. The audio for episode 5 is included herewith.  You may subscribe to the monthly podcast feed that contains the individual episodes using your RSS aggregator or directly via the iTunes store.  You can listen to individual author interviews from the episodes at www.ucpress.edu/podcast or on the individual book pages using the embedded player.

They Called Me Mayer July Wins the Samuel and Rose Cohen Memorial Award!

Congratulations to Mayer Kirshenblatt and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, authors of They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust, for winning the Samuel and Rose Cohen Memorial Award in Biography/Memoir from the Canadian Jewish Book Award jury at the Koffler Centre for the Arts. The Canadian Jewish Book Awards celebrates exceptional Canadian writing that touches upon Jewish culture, where this year marks the 20th Anniversary of the prestigious awards. The award-winning book showcases Kirshenblatt's paintings, and along with his daughter Barbara, provides commentary on his childhood memories of pre-World War II Poland. To learn more about the authors and the book, you can read the book's blog here.

UC Press is now on Gather.com

As we continue into the 21st century, social networking websites are becoming more of a social norm. With Facebook and Myspace's wide-spread use, other websites are taking form. Such is the case with Gather.com. Gather is more for the slightly older crowd, but it is still an essential tool. If you are a member, please join our UC Press group page.

Again, here's to social networking!

Share Your Favorite UC Press Books

UC Press has added links to a number of the most popular social bookmarking websites to it's book pages. Now, you can easily share your favorite UC Press titles with your friends or with the world at large.

Social bookmarking sites allow you to store your bookmarks online, which lets you access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere.  See the links that your friends, colleagues, and others bookmark, and share links with them in return.

For more information on social bookmarking, check out the Wikipedia article here.  Currently, the site supports the following services: del.icio.us, digg, Facebook, Google Bookmarks, Stumpleupon, Reddit, BlinkList, and Furl.  Others will likely be supported in the future.

Episode 4 of the UC Press Podcast Series is Now Available

Episode 4 of the UC Press podcast series is now available.  In June's episode, Chris Gondek of Heron and Crane Productions interviews Bill Fletcher, Jr. and Fernando Gapasin, the authors of Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice and Robert J. Davis, the author of The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting through the Hype about Your Health. The audio for episode 4 is included herewith.  You may subscribe to the monthly podcast feed that contains the individual episodes using your RSS aggregator or directly via the iTunes store.  You can listen to individual author interviews from the episodes at www.ucpress.edu/podcast or on the individual book pages using the embedded player.

UC Press is on Facebook!

Please find us on our Facebook fan page here. If you are on Facebook, we would appreciate your support by becoming a fan of our page. We will be updating our page with the latest news, author appearances, podcasts, audio and video clips, and other information. The page also enables you to connect and interact with authors and other fans of the Press.

Here's to social networking!

Episode 3 of the UC Press Podcast Series is Now Available

Episode 3 of the UC Press podcast series is now available.  In May's episode, Chris Gondek of Heron and Crane Productions interviews David Ngaruri Kenney and Philip G. Schrag, the authors of Asylum Denied: A Refugee's Struggle for Safety in America and Mark Juergensmeyer, the author of Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State, from Christian Militias to al Qaeda. The audio for episode 3 is included herewith.  You may subscribe to the monthly podcast feed that contains the individual episodes using your RSS aggregator or directly via the iTunes store.  You can listen to individual author interviews from the episodes at www.ucpress.edu/podcast or on the individual book pages using the embedded player.

Episode 2 of the UC Press Podcast Series Now Available

Episode 2 of the UC Press podcast series is now available.  In April's episode, Chris Gondek of Heron and Crane Productions interviews Bill Ivey, the author Arts, Inc: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights, and Elias Aboujaoude, the author of Compulsive Acts: A Psychiatrists Tales of Ritual and Obsession.  The audio for episode 2 is included herewith.  You may subscribe to the monthly podcast feed that contains the individual episodes using your RSS aggregator or directly via the iTunes store.  You can listen to individual author interviews from the episodes at www.ucpress.edu/podcast or on the individual book pages using the embedded player.

New Author Podcast Series

This week, UC Press is pleased to announce the start of a brand new author podcast series.  The podcasts can be found on our podcast page.  The series is produced by Chris Gondek of Heron and Crane Productions, and the initial show features interviews with UC Press authors Gayle Greene, the author of Insomniac, and Rajmohan Gandhi, the author of Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire.  The monthly podcasts will become a regular feature of the website.  Individual interviews with authors are featured on the podcast page, and you may subscribe to the monthly podcast feed with your RSS aggregator or directly via the iTunes store.  This month's entire show is available as part of this post.