Winter round-up of alumni publications

We're pleased to feature some exciting new titles published by Harris Manchester College Alumni 

 

If you would like us to mention any new works published within the last 18 months, please send the details to our Head of Communications, Malcolm Gilmour. 

 

Elizabeth Burbridge, "Convocation: Taxes, Petitions, and the Quest for the Medieval English Church’s Autonomy", Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques, 51.2 (2025)

  • Burbridge’s new article returns to "the assembly of the medieval English and Welsh clergy, known as Convocation", which met from the late thirteenth to seventeenth century. She explores "tax subsidy requests by the kings to Convocation […] across three centuries in conjunction with clerical petitions to the monarchy", revealing efforts for "self-rule and autonomy by the English clergy in the later Middle Ages."

 

Matthias Fahrenwaldt, Merchant of Ideologies: Erich Ludendorff (1919 – 1937) (2026)

  • Fahrenwaldt’s new monograph is the first comprehensive analysis of the Ludendorff’s "ideological development after 1919", examining a number of the books and essays promoting the myth of the Jewish-Masonic conspiracy, which he self-published. While Ludendorff’s prominent role in Weimar has received substantial scholarly attention, this book traces "his activities as a publisher and their role in the radicalization process" and his "interactions with conservative associations." 

 

Paul Humphreys, The Oxford Chair (2026)

  • Humphreys has woven a wonderfully warm and rather whimsical meditation on what it means to be a creative in a city whose rich history and succession of "greats" simultaneously inspires and asserts the anxiety of influence. The story follows the retired Humphreys, who is keen to try his hand at creative writing, in his search for "a proper writer’s chair." When his Oxonian expedition yields a battered and worn specimen, which may or may not have belonged to J.R.R. Tolkien himself, Humphreys muses over questions of provenance, literary lineage, and the nature of creativity.

 

Adriane Martini, "Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Research-Practice Links in Education for a Research-Informed Future", in The Bera Guide to Practitioner Research (2025)

  • Martini’s new chapter explores "the fragmented relationship between academic research and educational practices in England." She examines current programmes and initiatives that have sought to bridge this gap, arguing that "effective communication channels, the strategic use of technology and knowledge broker, as well as the ethical commitment to education, are essential for fostering a meaningful connection between research and practice."

 

Gareth Morgan and Peter Willis, Becoming Good at Crises (2025)

  • HMC alum, Gareth Morgan, has teamed up with fellow Oxonian, Peter Willis, to co-author this new handbook for developing one’s leadership approach to dealing with organisational crises. Readers will gain confidence and "practical ideas", building a better understanding of "why, how and where you can lead your people effectively, no matter what kind of crisis your organisation faces."

 

Lee Joseph Morrissey, Milton’s Ireland: Royalism, Republicanism, and the Question of Pluralism (2024)

  • This is the first full-length study of the poet John Milton’s engagement with Ireland. Morrissey examines the period leading up to the Cromwellian Conquest, exploring Milton’s role as a "public figure because of Ireland and tracing the paradoxical resonances of Milton’s republicanism in Ireland to this day." Readers interested in early modern literature, culture, and politics will find not only a fresh and insightful examination of a canonical English writer, but a bold and rigorous exploration of Milton’s place within "the fraught relationship between Ireland and England."

 

Kirren Schnack, Tools for Life: 10 Essential Therapy Skills Everyone Should Know (2026)  

  • In her new book, Schnack draws on over two decades of experience as a Clinical Psychologist to offer readers practical tools to improve their mental health in the form of ‘ten essential therapeutic skills everyone should know’. Her tools aim not only to enable people to build a better understanding of themselves but to develop strategies for creating ‘the life you want’. You can read a recent interview with Dr Schnack, which was published on the College’s alumni news page.