Books

This is the first book to tell the full, inside story of the inspiring rise, tragic mistakes, devastating fall, determined recovery, and ongoing renewal of one of the most iconic mission-driven companies in the world. No previous book has focused so intently on the challenges of staying true to that mission. No other book has explained how the company came to be sold to corporate giant Unilever, or how that relationship evolved through years of conflict to allow Ben & Jerry’s to pursue its mission on a much larger stage. It’s a funny, sad, surprising, and ultimately hopeful tale.  Buy it from BetterWorldBooks or Indiebound, or get the audiobook and e-book versions here.

This beautifully designed book combines over 100 first-person narratives with photographs, illustrations, and excerpts from newspapers, reports, letters, and diaries.  The material is organized by themes such as the GI Bill, the role of women students, football and sports, dating and sex, and the Cold War on campus. Narration is kept to a minimum, so the story can be told in the voices of those who lived it. Postwar Cornell takes readers on “a marvelous journey back in time,” according to foreword author Isaac Kramnick, “to the era when present-day Cornell was born.”  Buy it here.

The story of the twenty-year campaign that passed revolutionary land-use plans putting tight restrictions on development in the six-millon-acre Adirondack Park. Based on in-depth interviews with the people who fought for and against the plans, it’s a dramatic story reviewers have called “a masterful job of tale-spinning,” “an amazing read,” and “long-form nonfiction done right.” Buy it from BetterWorldBooks or Indiebound, or get the audiobook and e-book versions here.

The dramatic story that A Wild Idea began continues with Adirondack Green and gets even wilder. This forthcoming book traces the career of visionary ecologist George Davis, his mentor Harold Jerry, and their allies as they fight to turn the Adirondacks into a “wilderness park.” Their hard-line positions run into fierce opposition, as private property owners and small-town folks in the North Country fight the “Albany invaders.” After an angry two-decade standoff that edged into violence, the two sides finally put aside their differences and create a template for the global movement to protect wild land. Scheduled for release in spring 2027.

This privately-produced, beautifully-designed volume tells the story of America’s first hotel school, from its scrappy founding in 1922 to its current global influence. It is profusely illustrated with images chosen by veteran photo editor John Marcham. Buy it here.