As a celebration of our alumni, each month we will highlight a new book written by one of
Oxford's alumni.
Our September 2023 book is "Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives"
by Brook Manville (Wadham College, 1972).
Brook Manville’s career reflects an unusual breadth of experience and accomplishment, across multiple organizations and sectors. First trained as an academic historian (B.A. Yale [1972], M.A. Wadham College, Oxford [1977: First Class, Lit.Hum.], Ph.D. Yale [1979]), he began work as an assistant professor at Northwestern University, where he won a Dean’s Award for teaching excellence in the humanities. His first book became a still-in-print classic of ancient Greek history.
Brook later moved into media (1983), working initially as a free-lance journalist, and then as an executive at CBS Inc. He thereafter joined the CBS-backed start-up “Colleague,” the world’s first online medical information service.
In 1987 he was hired by McKinsey & Co, to help lead the firm’s transition in a strategy to become a global knowledge-based organization. During his twelve-year tenure, he was elected to partnership, and served as McKinsey’s Director of Knowledge Management, Co-Chief Information Officer, and then a member of the firm’s Organizational Consulting Practice, advising Fortune 500 clients on organizational design and leadership.
In 1999 he joined Saba Software as a Director of Strategy, and then as their Chief Learning Officer. Between 2003-2008, he was Executive Vice President of the United Way of America, and head of the network’s Center for Community Leadership. In 2008, he launched Brook Manville LLC, providing strategic consulting, and executive coaching to for leaders of non-profit organizations, including Ashoka, Root Cause, and multiple philanthropic foundations, including Bill & Melinda Gates, Hewlett, Packard, Cargill, New Hampshire Charitable, and others.
Throughout his career Brook continued to publish industry, management and historically-focused articles and books. Today he blogs for Forbes.com and Substack, with a focus on issues of democracy and democratic leadership. His latest book, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives (co-authored with Josiah Ober) was published by Princeton University Press in 2023.
Brook Is married to Margarita Egan. Parents of three children, they reside in Bethesda, Maryland.
You can purchase "The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives" here.
Are you an alumni author?
If you have written a book which was published within the last three years, or is due to be released soon, please email us the following information.
Your full name
A high-quality headshot
A short bio
Alumni number (or college/year of matriculation)
Title of book
Date of publication
ISBN
Link to purchase the book online
We thank you for sharing your books with us, and will let you know if you are selected for a feature in the coming months.
Please visit our archive page to look back at previous Alumni Authors