OFF THE SHELF: FEBRUARY 2026

Honour And Shame: Mistreatment of, Violence Against, and Attitudes Towards Women in the Developing World by Ruth Frances Itzhaki (World Scientific, January 2026)

Originally a physicist and biophysicist, later specialising in medical research particularly concerning Alzheimer's disease, the author is currently a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing but has written this book for a general audience. She believes it ‘the only general book on such topics that has been published for some years’. The book explores the systemic treatment of women in various countries – especially in the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa – highlighting why these areas are among the most dangerous places in the world for women to reside. Drawing on global data and real-world observations, the author investigates the cultural, societal and political factors that perpetuate gender-based violence and discrimination. The writing of the book was inspired by stark realities: about one in three women worldwide has suffered violence, usually from a husband or partner during her lifetime; 200 million have been subjected to female genital mutilation in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia; 130 million are 'demographically missing' across the low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) due to gender bias. These sobering figures lay the foundation for a broader examination of deeply ingrained societal norms and systemic failures. While acknowledging that gender-based violence is a global issue – including in wealthier nations – the book pays particular attention to how public attitudes in many LMIC often tolerate, excuse or even endorse harmful practices. More hopefully, the book also charts the slow but steady progress being made through education, advocacy and policy reforms aimed at empowering women and securing their rightful place in society. 

Wilkie Collins on Cornwall by Wilkie Collins (Bodleian Library Publishing, February 2026)

Who wouldn’t want this book on their shelves with a wonderful cover like that? Whether or not you already love Cornwall, this new edition of an old book returns readers to the county in 1850, when the celebrated novelist Wilkie Collins (1824-89) set off on foot from Plymouth with his artist friend Henry Brandling (1823-97), to explore a land they considered off the beaten track, not to say outlandish and wild. It’s full of adventure and anecdote, including vignettes of Tintagel, Land’s End, St Michael’s Mount and Loe Pool, also pilchard fishing, eccentric innkeepers and local cuisine. On the cusp of railway access that would transform everything by ushering in mass tourism, this is a different, unfamiliar Cornwall that nonetheless speaks across the ages, including in a delightful foreword by Oxford alumnus and famous seafood chef Rick Stein (New College, 1969).

Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice by Rachel Kolb (HarperCollins, December 2025)

Published in December, Rachel (St John’s College, 2013) has written movingly about being deaf. Born profoundly deaf the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, the author grew up as part of the first generation of deaf people with legal rights to accessibility services. Still, from a young age she contorted herself to expectations set by a world that prioritises hearing people. American Sign Language (ASL) and written literature were supplemented by speech therapy, lipreading and an eventual cochlear implant.

Now, in Articulate, Rachel blends personal narrative with commentary to explore the different layers of deafness, language and voice. She tells the story of how, over time, she came to realise that clear or articulate self-expression isn't just a static pinnacle to reach, a set of words to pronounce correctly, but rather a living and breathing process that happens between individual human beings. In chronicling her own voice and the many ways she's come to understand it, she illuminates the stakes and complexities of finding mutual and reciprocal forms of communication.

Part memoir, part cultural exploration, Articulate details a life lived among words in varied sensory forms and considers why and how those words matter. Told through rich storytelling, analysis and humour, this is a linguistic coming-of-age in both Deaf and hearing worlds, challenging us to consider how language expresses our humanity – and offering more ways we might exist together.

Yoga and Animal Ethics by Kenneth R. Valpey (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

This book is by intention open access, which means it can be read for free. Author Dr Kenneth R Valpey is a Research Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, both independent of the University but in close proximity. To the presumably fairly large number of Oxford alumni who may practice yoga and own pets (a starting point, not the only point!) this volume struck us as being original and thought provoking. The glue between yoga and animals is how humans relate more broadly towards the environment. The book inspires, via various traditions and perspectives, ‘“beautiful action” that serves the well-being of all beings’ within a non-violent lineage of thinking derived from Bhagavadgītā’s ‘sacrificial wheel’.

Promise the Earth: A Safe Climate in Good Faith by Julian Allwood and Andrew Davison (Cambridge University Press, January 2026)

Just out, this is one of those unusual, hugely welcome books that brings together a scientist with a theologian: Julian, a Professor of Engineering and the Environment at Cambridge, and Andrew, the Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford. The premise of the book is that technology promises to solve climate change are not the same as a plan to solve climate change. We can no longer wait for solutions to climate change. There are no silver or golden bullets. To reduce our emissions quickly, argue the authors, we need to cut back on some aspects of modern life through inventive tweaks – and via restraint. Restraint is normal. It is also fundamental across all religious faiths. Rather than starting from the vantage points of economics and politics, they rethink climate action in the long tradition of the virtues – Courage, Justice, Prudence, and Temperance – along with Faith, Hope, and Love from the Bible. By acting in good faith now, a safe climate becomes an expression of our faith in and love for humanity. There is the additional benefit of being brought back to such themes in an age broadly defined by excess, engendering hope.