New Faculty Books Explore Caribbean Soldiers, Estranged Siblings, and More

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Democracy’s Foot Soldiers: World War I and the Politics of Empire in the Greater Caribbean

Reena N. Goldthree, professor of African American studies

This is the lesser-known story of the tens of thousands of Caribbean men who volunteered as soldiers for the British Empire during World War I. In Democracy’s Foot Soldiers (Princeton University Press), Goldthree highlights the British West Indies Regiment. She tells of the soldiers’ journeys across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, exploring their military services as well as their struggles against racial discrimination. Drawing on overlooked archives from the Caribbean, Britain, and the United States, Goldthree reveals how military mobilization inspired and fueled new demands for social and political reform back on home soil.

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The Float Test

Lynn Steger Strong, lecturer in creative writing

The Float Test (Mariner Books) follows four semi-estranged siblings reunited under unfortunate circumstances — the death of their mother. Jenn, Fred, Jude, and George are each dealing with their own struggles as they try to come together in the sweltering Florida heat. Secrets, love, and betrayal all play a role as this story unfolds and ultimately paints a picture of how complicated a family can truly be. The novel reflects on the power of family ties for better and for worse.

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Kinkakuji and Kitayama: Space, Place, Monuments and Memory in Japan 1222-1994

Thomas D. Conlan, professor of East Asian studies and history

Kinkakuji and Kitayama (Brill) traces the extraordinary history of Kinkakuji, a Zen Buddhist temple and major tourist attraction in Kyoto, Japan. First a symbol of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu’s power before being declared a national treasure of Japan and then burning down and finally being rebuilt in 1950, Kinkakuji is a case study for looking at how monuments change in meaning over time. Conlan, who specializes in medieval Japanese history, chronicles this story, concluding that Kinkakuji’s reconstruction had a profound influence on UNESCO’s definition of what makes a monument “original.”

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Novel Ecologies: Nature Remade and the Illusions of Tech

Allison Carruth, professor of American studies and the High Meadows Environmental Institute

Novel Ecologies (University of Chicago Press) explores the closing gap between ecology and engineering over the past three decades. Carruth, who is director of Princeton’s Program in Environmental Studies, coins a new environmental paradigm called “nature remade,” which argues that ecosystems, species, and even planets can be engineered. Through case studies exploring synthetic wildlife, the digital cloud, and space colonization, Carruth reveals how present-day environmentalism has fused nostalgia for wild nature with futuristic technological ambition. Ultimately, Novel Ecologies is a challenge to this framework, focusing on writers and artists who dream of a better environment and community-centric future without trying to engineer it piece by piece.