Robert Gale ’42 adds to his extensive collection of reference books on American authors with an examination of the short-lived writer of The Day of the Locust and Miss Lonelyhearts in Characters & Plots in Nathanael West’s Fiction (World Association Publishers).

Albert Hine ’67, a geological oceanography professor at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, discusses the cycle of sea levels in the past, the science behind current measurements and the potential consequences of inevitable change to coastal systems in Sea Level Rise in Florida: Science, Impacts, and Options (University Press of Florida).

Management consultant Shirley Spence ’77 shares reflections, guiding principles and practical advice about investing and family wealth as coauthor of Wealth and Families: Lessons from My Life Journey (Timberline).

Peter Hirshberg ’78, chairman of marketing agency Re:Imagine Group, chronicles the efforts of leaders in 50 cities to encourage better urban economic development as coauthor of Maker City Playbook: A Practical Guide to Reinvention in American Cities (Maker Media).

S. Alexander O’Keefe ’80 follows the last surviving knight of the Round Table as he journeys to find the queen of the Britons in the first volume of the “Guinevere’s Prayer” series, The Return of Sir Percival (Greenleaf Book Group).

Yale history professor Steve Pincus ’84 examines the Declaration of Independence and argues the document is actually a blueprint for a government with extensive powers to promote and protect the people’s welfare in The Heart of the Declaration: The Founders’ Case for an Activist Government (Yale University Press).

Brad Weiss ’84, a professor of anthropology at the College of William & Mary, draws on his experiences working on pig farms to trace the desire for “authentic” local foods in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina in Real Pigs: Shifting Values in the Field of Local Pork (Duke University Press).

Paul Thomas, DMS’85, draws on his experience treating more than 11,000 children to present an approach to immunity that limits a child’s exposure to neurotoxins while building overall good health in The Vaccine-Friendly Plan: Dr. Paul’s Safe and Effective Approach to Immunity and Health-from Pregnancy Through Your Child’s Teen Years (Ballantine Books).

Georgia Institute of Technology professor of American studies Nihad Farooq ’94 examines scientific and literary narratives of the 19th century to encourage a new view of “personhood” in Undisciplined: Science, Ethnography, and Personhood in the Americas, 1830-1940 (NYU Press).

Early childhood policy expert Minh Lê ’01 follows a young boy as he tries to elude a variety of lively animals so he can settle down and read a book in Let Me Finish! (Disney-Hyperion).

Redpoint venture capitalist Tom Tunguz ’04, Th’05, explores the cultural changes big data brings to business and how to leverage data to maximum effect as coauthor of Winning with Data: Transform Your Culture, Empower Your People, and Shape the Future (Wiley).

Larry Olmsted, Adv’06, who writes the “Great American Bites” column for USA Today, exposes the unregulated food industry and reveals that—from high-end foods such as olive oil and wine to everyday staples such as coffee and cheese—Americans are not always eating what they think they are in Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do About It (Algonquin Books). Read an excerpt from Real Food/Fake Food.