CGR Forerunners
Celebrating a decade of Columbia Global Reports, the Forerunners series revives groundbreaking works of investigative journalism and incisive analysis published a century before CGR’s founding. These texts, once forgotten or underexplored, reflect CGR’s core mission: fearless reporting, global perspective, and intellectual rigor. Each selection remains strikingly relevant today, offering historical insights that challenge contemporary perspectives and reaffirm the power of journalism to shape the world.

by Elizabeth L. Banks, with an introduction by Brooke Kroeger
A nineteenth-century Barbara Ehrenreich, Elizabeth Banks went undercover in England’s working world, taking on low-wage jobs to expose the realities of women’s labor. From domestic service to factory floors, her bold and witty writing stands as an early feminist statement, confronting rigid societal norms and advocating for women’s rights in Victorian Britain. Learn more
by Richard Harding Davis with an introduction by Peter Maass
A pioneering foreign correspondent, Richard Harding Davis delivers a gripping eyewitness account of Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain. With vivid battlefield reporting and a sharp eye for the human cost of war, Davis captures the brutal conditions of guerrilla warfare and the resilience of those caught in the conflict, offering an unfiltered look at a pivotal moment in global history. Learn more
by Kelly Miller, with an introduction by Jonathan Scott Holloway
Mathematician, sociologist, and leading Black intellectual Kelly Miller presents a compelling series of essays addressing the systemic racial injustices of his time. Advocating for self-empowerment and strategic advancement, Miller’s work offers prescient critiques of inequality and forward-thinking solutions that remain deeply resonant in ongoing conversations about race and justice. Learn more
A landmark of progressive social thought, Walter Lippmann’s Drift and Mastery argues for a rational, scientific approach to governance as a counter to the inefficiencies of an increasingly chaotic society. His call for informed leadership and deliberate reform established him as a leading public intellectual—and his insights on democracy and political responsibility remain as urgent today as they were a century ago. Learn more