From the deadly war on Gaza to the Trump administration’s brutal crackdown on immigration, 2025 will undoubtedly stand out as an exceptionally grim year in history. But as authoritarianism, conflict, and far-right nativism threaten an ever grimmer year in 2026, Inkstick has put together a list of new and forthcoming books to help you make sense of what is happening, how it has happened before, and how you might stop it from happening again.
Julian Hattem, Shelter from the Storm (New Press, Jan. 6)
Journalist and migration expert Julian Hattem has reported on migration from several continents around the world. Now, Hattem’s debut book, Shelter from the Storm: How Climate Change Is Creating a New Era of Migration, investigates the ever-worsening climate catastrophe’s ongoing displacement of people around the world and offers a worrying glimpse of how the future will look without action to stop the planet from warming. (You can read an excerpt of Shelter from the Storm here at Inkstick.)
Molly Crabapple, Here Where We Live Is Our Country (One World, April 7)
Molly Crabapple, a New York-based artist and writer, has spent decades covering war, rebellion, and resistance across the world. Her work has taken readers to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the frontlines of Russia’s war on Ukraine. In Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund, Crabapple travels back in time to introduce readers to the anti-Zionist Jewish Bund that fought for socialism and equality in Eastern Europe.
Robin Andersen, The Complicit Lens, (OR Books, June 2)
Robin Andersen is a media scholar and professor emerita at Fordham University who has already authored and co-authored several books. In The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza, Andersen dissects the dark role of the American press in manufacturing consent for the US government’s involvement in Israel’s most recent — and most devastating — war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Lionel Morrison and Liz Morrison, Footprints (Haymarket Books, June 9)
The South African-born British journalist Lionel Morrison, who was jailed for anti-apartheid activism and even stood trial for treason, spent his life covering struggles for equality the world over. Morrison eventually passed away in 2016. Completed by his partner Liz, Footprints: A Black Journalist’s Fight Against Apartheid in South Africa and in Exile tells the story of Morrison’s life, including his time at the heart of the anti-apartheid struggle, the rise of pan-African nationalism, and the rebellious days of the UK’s anti-racist and labor struggles.
Rozina Ali, Seasons of Fury (Crown, Aug. 25)
Longtime reporter Rozina Ali, whose stunning and pressing reportage regularly appears at the New York Times Magazine and the New Yorker, has spent years chronicling the insidious impact of the War on Terror, Islamophobia in the United States, and upheaval in the Middle East and South Asia. In her forthcoming Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America, Ali traces the trajectory of four families enduring anti-Muslim bigotry across several decades, the fallout of bigoted policies (particularly in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks), and the political machinery designed to sow distrust and suspicion toward Muslims in the United States.
Reece Jones and Greg Boos, Smuggler (Prometheus, Fall 2026)
Veteran border expert and author Reece Jones and immigration lawyer Greg Boos have teamed up for what promises to be a thrilling read. Jones is the author of White Borders, Nobody Is Protected, and Violent Borders, among others, and has time and again examined the history of borders, border violence, and the distortions at the heart of the popular debate over immigration. In Smuggler: Drugs, Gangs, and Refugees at America’s Northern Border, Jones and Boos retrace the life of Bob Boule, an American federal government informant who clandestinely helped more than 1,000 asylum seekers cross the border into Canada.
