[It’s been a while since I shared a series on scholarly books I’ve had the pleasure of checking out recently, and for this latest iteration I wanted to highlight recent reads that have offered inspiration in these very tough times!]
I’ve been deeply invested in the concept of critical optimism since at least my fourth book, which for most of its development was entitled Hard-Won Hope (a concept that remained at its heart). But as I wrote in this August 2021 Saturday Evening Post Considering History column, it’s become increasingly difficult to find reasons for such critical optimism in the face of unfolding histories like the climate crisis (among others in recent years). Which made me particularly excited to learn about and check out Nathan K. Hensley’s wonderful book Action without Hope: Victorian Literature after Climate Collapse (2025). It doesn’t hurt that Hensley’s unique approach opens up really compelling new sides to longtime favorites of mine like George Eliot’s Middlemarch. But ultimately, Hensley’s book is a particularly vital example of the thing I spend so much of my time trying to model and support, in this space and everywhere else: public scholarship, connecting our scholarly subjects to every layer of our world and every audience that’s part of it.
Next recent read tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Recent reads you’d share?
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