Ken Broun, a UNC law professor, former Chapel Hill mayor, and expert on South Africa law, has written “Saving Nelson Mandela” (Oxford University Press), his account of what is known as the “Rivonia” Trial. After Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1963, he was sentenced to death. Using interviews with trial participants and transcripts of the proceedings, Broun chronicles how a team of legal advocates saved Mandela’s life in this trial, and eventually changed the history of South Africa.

Broun will be signing copies of his book Feb. 10 at 11:30 a.m. at the William and Ida Friday Center at UNC.

Here are some other readings and events:

-- Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is the inspiration for the title of Eleanor Brown’s novel “The Weird Sisters” (Berkley). The Andreas sisters’ father is a Shakespeare scholar, who named his three daughters after his favorite Shakespeare characters – Rosalind, Bianca and Cordelia. They return home to help care for their ailing mother, but must confront the disappointments and failures of their own lives.

Brown will read and sign copies of “The Weird Sisters” at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Flyleaf Books, 752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill.

-- The University of North Carolina Press has announced the release of a new series of e-books titled “UNC Press Civil War Shorts.” Each short is a narrative excerpted from previously published UNC Press titles from Civil War scholars.

UNC Press plans to release more digital excerpts from books in other disciplines.

Digital downloads are available from Amazon.com for the Kindle e-book reader, at BarnesandNoble.com for the Nook reader, and at Sony's ebookstore.sony.com.

For more information about titles, visit UNC Press at www.uncpressebookshorts.com.

-- Photographer James Valentine and Chris Bolgiano collaborated on the book “Southern Appalachian Celebration: In Praise of Ancient Mountains, Old-Growth Forests, and Wilderness” (UNC Press). Valentine’s photos and Bolgiano’s text introduce readers to some of the remaining pristine wild places in the Southern Appalachians.

Valentine will sign copies of the book Feb. 19 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the N.C. Botanical Garden, 100 Old Mason Farm Road in Chapel Hill. Valentine will give a presentation titled "Falconry: The Ancient Connection," that includes a live falconry demonstration by Peter Kipp-Dupont.

-- Tom Spector began meditating in 1968 while undergoing a personal crisis as a doctoral candidate in Yale University’s center for drug research. Spector went on to become vice president for cancer research for Burroughs Wellcome, where he also taught meditation to employees.

He has been teaching meditation since 1976, and currently teaches at Hatha House Yoga Studio in Chapel Hill. He shares some of his personal journey, and offers advice on the benefits of meditation for personal happiness, in his new book “Our Two Gardens: How to Cultivate Healing.” Spector will discuss and sign copies of the book at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at The Regulator Bookshop, 720 Ninth St. in Durham.

Send notices of signings and new releases to cbellamy@heraldsun.com.