The History Department is proud to announce that both Associate Professor Dale Stahl and Professor Emerita Pamela Laird published books this academic year. Their books are wonderful contributions to their respective fields and will certainly remain valuable to the field of history for years to come.
Pamela Laird’s research and work explore the history of American business cultures and how they affect and reflect broader cultural values and expectations. Her 2025 book, Self-Made: The Stories that Forged an American Myth, explores four centuries of American history in which ambitious actors have forged the myth of self-made success into an “ideological tool that rewards individualism and promotes inequality.” Her book reveals the roots of American cultural and political divides while also highlighting traditions of self-improvement that serve the common good. A 2025 “Library Journal Review” calls Self-Made an “ambitious, sweeping history of the evolution, or perhaps devolution, of the self-made ideal across four centuries.” Congratulations to Pamela on her newest publication!
Dale Stahl’s 2026 book, Two Rivers Entangled: An Ecological History of the Tigris and Euphrates in the Twentieth Century, evaluates the “profound physical transformations the rivers underwent.” His book aims to weave imperial and national histories with ecological ones by knitting “together the movement of engineers and bureaucrats with that of salt,” following the flow of water into poetry, and linking the disappointment of revolutionaries to the dissolution of rock. Two Rivers Entangled further works to understand the contradictions between sustaining political order through Iraq’s water and land and the ecological reality of environmental damage. In a 2026 review of Dr. Stahl’s book, Timothy Mitchell from Columbia University calls Two Rivers Entangled an “impressive retelling of the making of modern Iraq.” Dr. Stahl’s work weaves environmental history and sociopolitical factors together beautifully; congratulations, Dale!
These publications by Pamela Laird and Dale Stahl are amazing accomplishments that the department is proud to recognize. To purchase Pamela’s and Dale’s books, follow the links below.
Self-Made: The Stories that Forged an American Myth
Two Rivers Entangled: An Ecological History of the Tigris and Euphrates in the Twentieth Century