Here is a selection of the fascinating fiction and non-fiction written by Univ alumni published recently.

Professor Peter Beresford OBE (1964, History and Social Studies) published, The Antidote: How People-Powered Movements can renew Politics, Policy and Practice (Policy Press, 2025). More…

“It explains how personal politics and new social movements forge human connections that can be harnessed to transform society and shape a future beyond neoliberalism.”
Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner

Adil Jussawalla (1960, English) published Body of evidence in sickness and in health: selected prose (1966-2002) (Red River, 2024), a selection of articles, reviews, and essays, written by Adil Jussawalla over a period of 36 years, which deal with body, mind, and soul, in environments that both nurture life and destroy it. More…

Rebecca Kuang (2019, Contemporary Chinese Studies), writing as R.F. Kuang, published Katabasis, a 2025 fantasy novel that follows two magicians, doctoral candidates, who must venture into hell to save their thesis advisor in order to get letters of recommendation (HarperVoyager, August 2025). Kuang won the American Book Award in 2024 for her novel Yellowface and the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2023 for Babel, or the Necessity of Violence. More…

“The heretical glee of this novel is irrepressible”, The Guardian

“Katabasis shines with devastatingly real characters and absorbing world building”, The New York Times

Dr Sara Lodge (1994, English) published, The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective, a revelatory account of real women who worked as detectives in the nineteenth century (Yale, 2024). More…

“Lodge’s book takes us into the murky underworld of Victorian society on both sides of the Atlantic, revealing the female detective as both an unacknowledged labourer and a feminist icon”, Goodreads

Tom Mayne (1997, Modern Languages) published Indulging Kleptocracy (co-written with John Heathershaw and Tena Prelec) (Oxford University Press, February 2025). More…

“A powerful and sophisticated analysis of how Western professionals have enabled kleptocratic elite networks and undermined the rule of law”, Guardian bookshop

Skye McAlpine (2003, Classics) published, The Christmas Companion: Recipes, crafts and inspiration for a magical festive season (Bloomsbury Publishing, October 2025). More…

“If you are into Christmas, The Christmas Companion by Skye McAlpine will absolutely delight you. It’s a beautiful book, a great read and full of inspiring recipes”, Dame Prue Leith

“Skye is a maker of magic in the kitchen, and every glorious photograph inside makes me want to don my apron and press play on the carols”, Luke Edward Hall

Dr Steven Parissien (1978, History) published, Another Round?: A Post-War History of Britain in Twelve Drinks (August Books, September 2025). More…

Blending social history with cultural commentary, Another Round? examines how each drink reflects and redefines British life, politics and popular culture. From pubs and clubs to house parties and garden bars, the book reveals how our relationship with alcohol offers a unique perspective on the country’s post-war story.

Published: 3 November 2025

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