Colonialism and imperialism Books

Book Synopsis''A groundbreaking work . . . Federici has become a crucial figure for . . . a new generation of feminists'' Rachel Kushner, author of The Mars RoomA cult classic since its publication in the early years of this century, Caliban and the Witch is Silvia Federici''s history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Moving from the peasant revolts of the late Middle Ages through the European witch-hunts, the rise of scientific rationalism and the colonisation of the Americas, it gives a panoramic account of the often horrific violence with which the unruly human material of pre-capitalist societies was transformed into a set of predictable and controllable mechanisms. It Is a study of indigenous traditions crushed, of the enclosure of women''s reproductive powers within the nuclear family, and of how our modern world was forged in blood.''Rewarding . . . allows us to better understand the intimate relationship between modern patriarchy, the rise of the nation state and the transition from feudalism to capitalism'' GuardianTrade ReviewRewarding . . . allows us to better understand the intimate relationship between modern patriarchy, the rise of the nation state and the transition from feudalism to capitalism * Guardian *A groundbreaking work . . . Federici has become a crucial figure for young Marxists, political theorists, and a new generation of feminists . . . a true radical who has lived by her political commitments, not just to women but against all forms of exploitation -- Rachel Kushner, author of The Mars RoomIt is both a passionate work of memory recovered and a hammer of humanity's agenda -- Peter Linebaugh, author of The London Hanged

Read more less

Book SynopsisPerfect Victims is an urgent affirmation of the Palestinian condition of resistance and refusal-an ode to the steadfastness of a nation. Palestine is a microcosm of the world: on fire, stubborn, fragmented, dignified. While a settler colonial state continues to inflict devastating violence, fundamental truths are deliberately obscuredthe perpetrators are coddled while the victims are blamed and placed on trial. Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation. How we see Palestine reveals how we see each other; how we see everything else. Masterfully combining candid testimony, history, and reportage, Perfect Victims presents a powerfully simple demand: dignity for the Palestinian.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe seminal work that has redefined our understanding of colonialism and empire, with a preface by the author''Stimulating, elegant and pugnacious'' Observer''Magisterial'' Terry EagletonIn this highly-acclaimed work, Edward Said surveys the history and nature of Western attitudes towards the East, considering orientalism as a powerful European ideological creation - a way for writers, philosophers and colonial administrators to deal with the ''otherness'' of eastern culture, customs and beliefs. He traces this view through the writings of Homer, Nerval and Flaubert, Disraeli and Kipling, whose imaginative depictions have greatly contributed to the West''s romantic and exotic picture of the Orient. Drawing on his own experiences as an Arab Palestinian living in the West, Said examines how these ideas can be a reflection of European imperialism and racism. ''Beautifully patterned and passionately argued''New Statesman''Very exciting ... his case is not merely persuasive, but conclusive'' John Leonard, New York Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis title describes the brutal impact of capitalism and colonialism on both the colonizer and the colonized, exposing the contradictions and hypocrisy implicit in western notions of progress and civilisation.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNiall Ferguson''s acclaimed bestseller on the highs and lows of Britain''s empireOnce vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson''s acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.''The most brilliant British historian of his generation ... Ferguson examines the roles of pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts in the creation of history''s largest empire ... he writes with splendid panache ... and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit'' Andrew Roberts ''Dazzling ... wonderfully readable'' New York Review of Books''A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all'' Jan Morris ''Empire is a pleasure to read and brims with insights and intelligence'' Sunday Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.'At the peak of European Imperialism, steamboat captain Charles Marlow travels deep into the African Congo on his way to relieve the elusive Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader renowned for his fearsome reputation. On his journey into the unknown Marlow takes a terrifying trip into his own subconscious, overwhelmed by his menacing, perilous and horrifying surroundings.The landscape and the people he meets force him to reflect on human nature and society, and in turn Conrad writes revealingly about the dangers of imperialism.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIn his ground-breaking new book, Sathnam Sanghera traces the legacies of British empire around the world. A wonderful book' Rory StewartNuanced and deeply researched' Financial TimesNot just a welcome corrective but a book for our times' Peter Frankopan_____________________________________________________The British empire was built on slavery, but it also pioneered abolition. It spread democracy, but it also seeded geopolitical instability. It devastated nature but it also gave birth to modern notions of environmentalism. In this urgent sequel to Empireland, award-winning author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera extends his examination of British imperial legacies beyond Britain to the wider world. Travelling across outposts of the former empire from Barbados and Mauritius to India and Nigeria and beyond, Sanghera puts to bed the conventional balance-sheet view of imperial history where the good is merely weighed up against the bad. In Empireworld, Sanghera instead seeks out nuance to reveal how contradictory forces of the British empire have shaped our world and what they mean for our place within it today. _____________________________________________________An absolute masterpiece' James O'BrienPuts Sanghera in the firmament of great imperial historians' Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, i Profoundly moving' Elizabeth Day

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis century's most compelling theorist of racism and colonialism -- Angela DavisFanon is our contemporary because when he psychoanalysed the way the French coloniser looked at Arabs, he is also describing the way the police looked at Stephen Lawrence. In clear language, in words that can only have been written in the cool heat of rage, Fanon showed us the internal theatre of racism, and how some of us have been staged in its psychodrama -- Deborah Levy * Independent *A brilliant, vivid and hurt mind, walking the thin line that separates effective outrage from despair. . . He demonstrates how insidiously the problem of race, of color, connects with a whole range of words and images. . . It is Fanon the man, rather than the medical specialist or intellectual, who makes the book so hard to put down -- Robert Coles * New York Times Book Review *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Wry, readable and often astonishing... A provocative and absorbing history of the United States' New York TimesThe United States denies having dreams of empire.We know America has spread its money, language and culture across the world, but we still think of it as a contained territory, framed by Canada above, Mexico below, and oceans either side. Nothing could be further from the truth.This is the story of the United States outside the United States – from nineteenth-century conquests like Alaska and Puerto Rico to the catalogue of islands, archipelagos and military bases dotted around the globe. Full of surprises and previously forgotten episodes, this fascinating book casts America’s history, and its present, in a revealing new light.Trade Review[A] smashing new book… fascinating -- Tim Stanley * Daily Telegraph *Lively and fascinating … [Immerwahr] is incapable of writing a dull page, and he has a real gift for making striking and unusual connections -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph *To call this standout book a corrective would make it sound earnest and dutiful, when in fact it is wry, readable and often astonishing … It’s a testament to Immerwahr’s considerable storytelling skills that I found myself riveted by his sections on Hoover’s quest for standardized screw threads, wondering what might happen next. But beyond its collection of anecdotes and arcana, this humane book offers something bigger and more profound. How to Hide an Empire nimbly combines breadth and sweep with fine-grained attention to detail. The result is a provocative and absorbing history of the United States — ‘not as it appears in its fantasies, but as it actually is.’ * New York Times *There are many histories of American expansionism. How to Hide an Empire renders them all obsolete. It is brilliantly conceived, utterly original, and immensely entertaining - simultaneously vivid, sardonic and deadly serious. -- Andrew J. Bacevich, author of Twilight of the American CenturyThis book changes our understanding of the fundamental character of the United States as a presence in world history. By focusing on the processes by which Americans acquired, controlled, and were affected by territory, Daniel Immerwahr shows that the United States was not just another “empire,” but was a highly distinctive one the dimensions of which have been largely ignored. -- David A. Hollinger, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Protestants AbroadHow to Hide an Empire is a breakthrough, for both Daniel Immerwahr and our collective understanding of America’s role in the world. His narrative of the rise of our colonial empire outside North America, and then our surprising pivot from colonization to globalization after World War II, is enthralling in the telling -- and troubling for anyone pondering our nation’s past and future. The result is a book for citizens and scholars alike. -- Samuel Moyn, professor of law and history at Yale UniversityA deft disquisition on America, and America in the world, with a raconteur’s touch and keen sense of the absurd -- Stephen Phillips * Spectator *[A] lively new book… Immerwahr peppers his account with colourful characters and enjoyable anecdotes… [How to Hide an Empire] throws light on the histories of everything from the Beatles to Godzilla, the birth-control pill to the transistor radio * Economist *This is an easily readable and vividly written book, filled with numerous fascinating tales, some well known, but many obscure… [How to Hide an Empire] illuminate[s] the wider history of both the United States and its colonies -- Andrew Johnstone * BBC History *How to Hide an Empire…achieves a strong grounding in its sources material and the wider history of empire studies… [it] is timely and raises weighty questions on themes of identity and belong that are all very relevant today * All About History *[A] vivid, and sometimes quirky, retelling of American expansionism… The originality of Immerwahr’s book… [is] in his explanation of how Washington purposely avoided converting its occupations to annexations -- Gavin Jacobson * New Statesman *Daniel Immerwahr… writes in the manner of an entertaining and informative lecturer who cannot wait to tell the class his latest discovery from the archives -- James Michael * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe story of Spain''s rise to greatness from its humble beginnings as one of the poorest and most marginal of European countries is a remarkable and dramatic one. With the marriage of Ferdinand & Isabella, the final expulsion of the Moslems and the discovery of America, Spain took on a seemingly unstoppable dynamism that made it into the world''s first global power. This amazing success however created many powerful enemies and Elliott''s famous book charts the dramatic fall of Habsburg Spain with the same elan as it charts the rise.Trade ReviewA major work on Spanish history (The Economist)"Table of ContentsImperial Spain 1469-1716AcknowledgmentsForewordPrologue1. The Union of the Crowns1. Origins of the union2. The two Crowns3. The decline of the Crown of Aragon4. Unequal partners2. Reconquest and Conquest1. The Reconquista completed2. The advance into Africa3. Medieval antecedents4. Conquest5. Settlement3. The Ordering of Spain1. The "new monarchy"2. The assertion of royal authority in Castile3. The Church and the Faith4. The economic and social foundations of the New Spain5. The open society4. The Imperial Destiny1. The foreign policy of Ferdinand2. The Habsburg succession3. Nationalism and revolt4. The imperial destiny5. The Government and the Economy in the Reign of Charles V1. The theory and practice of empire2. The organization of empire3. The Castilian economy4. The problems of imperial finance5. The liquidation of Charles's imperialism6. Race and Religion1. The advance of heresy2. The imposition of orthodoxy3. The Spain of the Counter-Reformation4. The crisis of the 1560s5. The second rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568-70)6. The Faith militant and the Faith triumphant7. "One Monarch, One Empire, and One Sword"1. King and Court2. The faction struggles3. The annexation of Portugal4. The revolt of Aragon (1591-2)8. Splendour and Misery1. The crisis of the 1590s2. The failure of leadership3. The pattern of society9. Revival and Disaster1. The reform programme2. The strain of war3. 16404. Defeat and survival10. Epitaph on an Empire1. The centre and the periphery2. The change of dynasty3. The failure4. The achievementNotes on Further ReadingIndexMapsIberian Expansion in the 16th and 17th Centuries1. The Iberian Peninsula. Physical Features2. Habsburg Spain3. The Conquest of Grenada4. The Four Inheritances of Charles V5. The Collapse of Spanish PowerTables1. The Union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon2. The Spanish Habsburgs3. The Conciliat System4. Imports of Treasure5. The Portuguese Succession

Read more less

Book SynopsisA materialist analysis reframing the Palestinian struggle within the contexts of imperialism and global capitalism, debunking mainstream misconceptions and providing a critical, materialist perspective on the region's complexities and conflicts.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBased on his experiences as a policeman in Burma, George Orwell''s first novel presents a devastating picture of British colonial ruleBurmese Days describes corruption and imperial bigotry in a society where, ''after all, natives were natives''. When Flory, a white timber merchant, befriends Indian Dr Veraswami, he defies this orthodoxy. The doctor is in danger: U Po Kyin, a corrupt magistrate, is plotting his downfall. The only thing that can save him is membership of the all-white Club, and Flory can help. Flory''s life is changed further by the arrival of beautiful Elizabeth Lackersteen from Paris, who offers an escape from loneliness and the ''lie'' of colonial life.George Orwell''s first novel, inspired by his experiences in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, Burmese Days includes a new introduction by Emma Larkin in Penguin Modern Classics.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisVladimir Lenin created this hugely significant Marxist text to explain fully the inevitable flaws and destructive power of Capitalism: that it would lead unavoidably to imperialism, monopolies and colonialism. He prophesied that those third world countries used merely as capitalist labour would have no choice but to join the Communist revolution in Russia. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2020 'A compelling read. Carys Davies has an amazing gift' Penelope Lively From the prize-winning author of West, a collision between old and new, east and west, in a former British hill station in South India. Fleeing the dark undercurrents of his life in Britain, Hilary Byrd takes refuge in Ooty, a hill station in South India. There he finds solace in life's simple pleasures, travelling by rickshaw around the small town with his driver Jamshed and staying in a mission house beside the local presbytery where the Padre and his adoptive daughter Priscilla have taken Hilary under their wing. As Hilary's friendship with the young woman grows, he begins to wonder whether his purpose lies in this new relationship. But religious and nationalist tensions are brewing and the mission house may not be the safe haven it seems... 'Brilliantly crafted' Daily Mail 'An absolute triumph' Cynan Jones 'Subtle with nuance and alive with immediacy' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewThe Mission House puts another genre, Raj fiction, to fresh purposes... The prevailing tone modulates between gentle humour and low-key poignancy... Subtle with nuance and alive with immediacy, again adroitly using small-scale effects to enlarge understanding and extend empathy, the resulting novel is a masterly achievement * Sunday Times *A novel about the pitfalls of human connection in contemporary India... Davies's use of [language] reveals an ear finely tuned to subcontinental peculiarities... The Mission House is an interesting take on a familiar trope: the westerner who finds in India deliverance from the wasteland of modernity * Guardian *Brilliantly crafted... Having subtly prepared the ground, Davies finally springs the jaws of her plot, revealing, heartbreakingly, to us and the tragically blinkered Hilary, what kind of story this really is * Daily Mail *A delicately political tale that keeps the real drama largely below the surface, leaving the reader to gauge the extent of the protagonist's self-deluding solipsism * Metro *The Mission House is an absolute triumph. That rare type of book - resoundingly tender, and gently heart-wrenching. Carys Davies doesn't drop a sentence. I was deeply moved, and spellbound -- Cynan JonesAn astonishingly assured and gripping piece of work and a worthy follow-up to WEST. Davies has a voice unlike any I've read: clean, otherworldly, eerily original, and capable of devastating effect -- Julie MyersonA compelling read. Carys Davies has an amazing gift for summoning up a place, a situation, the characters. Her skill is that of brevity, nailing a personality with a few lines of dialogue, saying most by saying least -- Penelope LivelyI felt, reading this extraordinary novel, that the thorough oddity of its chief characters, their strange innocence, amounts to a revolt, on our behalf too, against the stupidity, cruelty, fanaticism and bigoted violence of the world in which they more or less successfully live their eccentric lives -- David ConstantineCarys Davies' enthralling fictions carry us across time and continents, and bring interior worlds to life -- Clare MessudTender, playful, piercing, light-footed-this is an irresistible novel -- Michelle de KretserDavies weaves her story with brevity and to devastating effect, drawing a portrait of an odd group of lonely people struggling to find a connection in a changing world * Radio Times *A wonderfully written tale of subtle repetitions from multiple points of view set in India - it has the simplicity of fairy tale, the heft of fable and contains all the human sadness and joy of misfits -- Bernard MacLaverty

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo the colonized, the term ''research'' is conflated with European colonialism; the ways in which academic research has been implicated in the throes of imperialism remains a painful memory.This essential volume explores intersections of imperialism and research - specifically, the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as ''regimes of truth.'' Concepts such as ''discovery'' and ''claiming'' are discussed and an argument presented that the decolonization of research methods will help to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being.Now in its eagerly awaited third edition, this bestselling book includes a co-written introduction features contributions from indigenous scholars on the book's continued relevance to current research. It also features a chapter with twenty-five indigenous projects and a collection of poetry.Table of ContentsIntroduction to the Third Edition Foreword Introduction 1. Imperialism, History, Writing and Theory 2. Research through Imperial Eyes 3. Colonizing Knowledges 4. Research Adventures on Indigenous Land 5. Notes from Down Under 6. The Indigenous People's Project: Setting a New Agenda 7. Articulating an Indigenous Research Agenda 8. Twenty-Five Indigenous Projects 9. Responding to the Imperatives of an Indigenous Agenda: A Case Study of Maori 10. Towards Developing Indigenous Methodologies: Kaupapa Maori Research 11. Choosing the Margins: The Role of Research in Indigenous Struggles for Social Justice 12. Getting the Story Right, Telling the Story Well: Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Research Conclusion: A Personal Journey Twenty Further Indigenous Projects Poems Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis'[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion.' – Kwasi Kwarteng, Sunday TimesIn this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. This edition, fully revised and updated, features a new chapter encompassing the Windrush scandal and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, events which put black British history at the centre of urgent national debate. Black and British is vivid confirmation that black history can no longer be kept separate and marginalised. It is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation and it belongs to us all.Drawing on new genealogical research, original records, and expert testimony, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination, Elizabethan ‘blackamoors’ and the global slave-trading empire. It shows that the great industrial boom of the nineteenth century was built on American slavery, and that black Britons fought at Trafalgar and in the trenches of both World Wars. Black British history is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation. It is not a singular history, but one that belongs to us all.Unflinching, confronting taboos, and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries.Winner of the 2017 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.Winner of the Longman History Today Trustees’ Award.A Waterstones History Book of the Year.Longlisted for the Orwell Prize.Shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize.Trade ReviewYou could not ask for a more judicious, comprehensive and highly readable survey of a part of British history that has been so long overlooked or denied. David Olusoga, in keeping with the high standards of his earlier books, is a superb guide. -- Adam HochschildGroundbreaking. * Observer *[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion. It is thoroughly researched and there are many interesting anecdotes. -- Kwasi Kwarteng * The Sunday Times *A radical reappraisal of the parameters of history, exposing lacunae in the nation’s version of its past. -- Arifa Akbar * Guardian *A thrilling tale of excavation -- Colin Grant * Guardian *[Olusoga] has discovered new and exciting research materials . . . Such sources give his writing freshness, originality and compassion . . . [Black and British] will inspire and will come to be seen as a major effort to address one of the greatest silences in British historiography -- David Dabydeen * New Statesman *Lucid and accessible. * Herald Scotland *Olusoga's account challenges narrow visions of Britain's past. By tracing the triangulated connections between Britain, America and Africa, he presents black British history in global terms [...] His subjects, even those who barely figure in the historical record, appear as individuals who matter, both in their own right and as historical exemplars. * The London Review of Books *An insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain . . . Rich in detail and packed with strong personalities, this is an important contribution to our understanding of life in the UK. * History Revealed *An insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain which is rich in detail and packed with strong, interesting characters. -- Stephanie Yeboah * GQ *Ambitious . . . Long overdue -- Hakim Adi * Spectator *Olusoga has single-handedly over recent years forced our forgotten history on the agenda . . . Written with an urgency it is a thrilling and engaging read. * Nigerian Watch *An erudite exploration of racism and how it continues to mutate . . . it is exhilarating to read a fine mind at work. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * Guardian *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Preface Introduction - iii: ‘Years of Distant Wandering’ Chapter - One: ‘Sons of Ham’ Chapter - Two: ‘Blackamoors’ Chapter - Three: ‘For Blacks or Dogs’ Chapter - Four: ‘Too Pure an Air for Slaves' Chapter - Five: ‘Province of Freedom’ Chapter - Six: ‘The Monster is Dead’ Chapter - Seven: Moral Mission Chapter - Eight: ‘Liberated Africans’ Chapter - Nine: ‘Cotton is King' Chapter - Ten: ‘Mercy in a Massacre' Chapter - Eleven: ‘Darkest Africa’ Chapter - Twelve: ‘We are a Coloured Empire' Chapter - Thirteen: ‘We Prefer their Company' Chapter - Fourteen: ‘Swamped' Section - iv: Conclusion Acknowledgements - v: Acknowledgements Section - vi: Bibliography Section - vii: Notes Index - viii: Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2021 DUKE OF WELLINGTON MEDAL FOR MILITARY HISTORYA DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020From an acclaimed military historian, the definitive account of Italy''s experience of the Second World WarWhile staying closely aligned with Hitler, Mussolini remained carefully neutral until the summer of 1940. Then, with the wholly unexpected and sudden collapse of the French and British armies, Mussolini declared war on the Allies in the hope of making territorial gains in southern France and Africa. This decision proved a horrifying miscalculation, dooming Italy to its own prolonged and unwinnable war, immense casualties and an Allied invasion in 1943 which ushered in a terrible new era for the country.John Gooch''s new book is the definitive account of Italy''s war experience. Beginning with the invasion of Abyssinia and ending with Mussolini''s arrest, Gooch brilliantly portrays the nightmare of a country with too sTrade ReviewJohn Gooch knows more about 20th-century Italy than perhaps anyone else in Britain ... He paints a record of appalling brutality, epic incompetence ... There are echoes of the madness of Benito Mussolini in outpourings that we hear daily from several world capitals, among them Washington. Listen, and be afraid. -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *A meticulous, skilful account ... it is hard to imagine a finer account, both of the sweep of Italy's wars, and of the characters caught up in them. -- Caroline Moorhead * Guardian *An important book, adding much to our knowledge of Italy's baleful contribution to the conflicts of the 1930s and 1940s ... a work of meticulous scholarship. -- Saul David * The Times *Lucid ... diligently researched ... an exceptionally detailed portrait. -- Ian Thomson * The Spectator *Excellent ... This detailed military history shows the long arc of strategic ineptitude. -- Richard Overy * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEdward Said experienced both British and American imperialism as the old Arab order crumbled in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This account of his early life reveals how it influenced his books Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. Edward Said was born in Jerusalem and brought up in Cairo, spending every summer in the Lebanese mountain village of Dhour el Shweir, until he was 'banished' to America in 1951. This work is a mixture of emotional archaeology and memory, exploring an essentially irrecoverable past. As ill health sets him thinking about endings, Edward Said returns to his beginnings in this personal memoir of his ferociously demanding 'Victorian' father and his adored, inspiring, yet ambivalent mother.Trade ReviewEdward Said is among the truly important intellectuals of our century. His examined life, from the tragic and triumphant perspective of a mortal illness, is superbly worth living. I know I shall not read an autobiography to match this one for many years -- Nadine GordimerSaid is capable of writing like a gifted novelist, like a Palestinian Proust * Independent on Sunday *Out of Place recreates the sights and sounds, the smells and shouts, of a lost world, as Gunter Grass did for Danzig or Joyce for turn-of-the-century Dublin ... One of the greatest cities of our age has produced a work of art, one of the noblest autobiographies of our time * Irish Times *A fine elegy and a scrupulous reckoning with the past -- Marina Warner, Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph *This delicate and candid memoir by a very private man moved me enormously. Written in "counterpoint" to his illness (leukaemia) at times when he was recovering from chemotherapy, its importance may be measured by the ferocity of the public attempt which preceded and accompanied publication to discredit him as an authentic Palestinian voice -- Ahdaf SoueifOut of Place is an intensely moving act of reclamation and understanding, a portrait of a transcultural and often painful upbringing written with wonderful vividness and unsparing honesty. To read it is to come to know [Said's] family and his younger self as closely as we know characters in literature, to be shown, intimately and unforgettably, what it has meant in the last half-century to be a Palestinian -- Salman Rushdie

Read more less

Book SynopsisWestern governments and elites have supported the destruction of Gaza, silencing the Palestinians and those who speak on their behalf.Providing a record of the first six months of the war waged by the Israeli army after the 7 October attacks and drawing on a rich range of international sources, Didier Fassin examines how most Western governments have acquiesced in and often contributed to the destruction, by the Israeli army, of Gaza, its homes, infrastructures, hospitals, institutions of education, and civilian population. To justify their support and prevent criticism, they have provided an official version of the events, adopting the Israeli narrative. It was largely taken up by mainstream media, which ignored the experiences and perspectives of Palestinians. Dissenting voices were silenced. A policing of language and thought was imposed. Censorship and self-censorship became normalized. To call for a ceasefire or to demand the respect of humanitarian law was enough to prompt the ever-ready accusation of antisemitism. Exploring the multiple dimensions of the extreme inequality of lives between the two sides of the conflict and analyzing the complex geopolitical, economic and ideological stakes that underlie it, Fassin intends to constitute an archive of this moral abdication. In his view, the abandonment of the values and principles proclaimed by Western elites to be foundational will leave a deep scar in the history of the world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Volume 3 of Penang Chronicles, as the 18th century draws to a close, Penang must fortify and prepare for war, and Francis Light's partner, Martinha Rozells, learns to negotiate the murky waters of colonial prejudice and corruption for the sake of her family.

Read more less

Book SynopsisColonial and imperial powers have often portrayed arid lands as “empty” spaces ready to be occupied, exploited, extracted, and polluted. Despite the undeniable presence of human and nonhuman lives and forces in desert territories, the “regime of emptiness” has inhabited, and is still inhabiting, many imaginaries. Deserts Are Not Empty challenges this colonial tendency, questions its roots and ramifications, and remaps the representations, theories, histories, and stories of arid lands—which comprise approximately one-third of the Earth’s land surface. The volume brings together poems in original languages, conversations with collectives, and essays by scholars and professionals from the fields of architecture, architectural history and theory, curatorial studies, comparative literature, film studies, landscape architecture, and photography. These different approaches and diverse voices draw on a framework of decoloniality to unsettle and unlearn the desert, opening up possibilities to see, think, imagine it otherwise. With contributions from Saphiya Abu Al-Maati, Menna Agha, Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel AlYaqoub, Yousef Awaad Hussein, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Danika Cooper, Brahim El Guabli, Timothy Hyde, Jill Jarvis, Bongani Kona, Dalal Musaed Alsayer, Observatoire des armements, Francisco E. Robles, Paulo Tavares, Alla Vronskaya, and XqSu.Trade Review[Deserts Are Not Empty] is a terrific compilation of essays that allow us to rethink how the desert has been transformed from an actual condition to an idea in service of extractive politics. -- Ali Ismail Karimi * The Atchitect's Newpaper *Table of Contents1. Against the Regime of “Emptiness” Samia Henni2. Desert Futures CollectiveA Conversation with Brahim El Guabli, Jill Jarvis, and Francisco E. Robles3. It Is Not a Desert Where Grandmother SitsMenna Agha4. Drawing Deserts, Making WorldsDanika Cooper5. Imperial Desert Effect: Palestine Is There, Where It Had Always BeenAriella Aïsha Azoulay6. Space Wars: An Investigation into Kuwait's HinterlandA Conversation with Saphiya Abu Al-Maati, Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel AlYaqoub, and Yousef Awaad Hussein7. The Colonial-Modern Politics of Desertification (Notes on the Past and the Future of the Amazon Forest)Paulo Tavares8. Overland There’s Shorter Time to DreamXqSu9. Archives of ForgetfulnessA Conversation with Bongani Kona10. Anywhere, USA: Aramco’s Housing in Saudi Arabia’s DesertDalal Musaed Alsayer11. The White Sea Canal and the Rhetorical Desertification of KareliaAlla Vronskaya12. Architecture Adrift in the Antarctic DesertTimothy Hyde13. Observatoire des armements

Read more less

Book SynopsisA series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, the world's greatest living public intellectual, about the pressing issues of our time'One of the greatest, most radical public thinkers of our time' Arundhati RoyIn this illuminating collection of interviews, Noam Chomsky shares his insights on the pressing challenges facing humanity. A Liveable Future is Possible addresses artificial intelligence and the potential for such programs to surpass humans in cognitive awareness; what lies ahead for a world engulfed in a deadly climate crisis; the rise of neo-fascism internationally, and why we should organize across borders to confront it and the striking similarities between Trump and Biden's foreign policies. Noam Chomsky has been an incomparable model of moral clarity and intellectual courage during his many decades as a scholar, political activist and social critic. A Liveable Future Is Possible is not only an urgent and informative book, it is a call-to-action for those hoping to help carry the torch of one of history's greatest minds. Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . he may be the most widely read American voice on foreign policy on the planet' The New York Times Book Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisOver several centuries, England imposed itself by force and by treaty on the other three nations of the Hiberno-British Isles to form its own English Empire. For much of its life, the United Kingdom has only endured out of shared interest in overseas territorial expansion--a British Empire built on slavery. In his new history, Victor Bulmer-Thomas charts the slow rise and rapid decline of English imperialism at home, from the fourteenth century to the present. When independence movements in the colonies began challenging the British Empire, a Commonwealth was constructed to hold together both former imperial possessions--including the Irish Free State-- and the four nations of the internal empire. The Commonwealth was later supplanted by the European Economic Community, but Europe's potential as a long-term source of cohesion for the UK was dashed when the English voted to leave the EU in 2016, dragging the whole UK with them. With Empire, Commonwealth and Europe all gone, British unity is more fragile than ever. Facing the prospect of an independent Scotland, a reunited Ireland and an increasingly autonomous Wales, England may yet have to acknowledge its forgotten history as an aggressive imperial force on Britain's own, often unwilling, soil.Trade Review‘This is a remarkable book, remarkable in the considerable period it covers, from the early Middle Ages virtually to last year, for the immense complexity of the issues discussed and the clarity with which they are expounded, for the manner in which the four nations are addressed in turn, and finally remarkable for the boldness with which recent controversies such as Brexit are approached. . . [This is] a brave and formidable book, enterprisingly exploring the nature of identities in all four nations of the Hibernian and British Isles.’ — John M. MacKenzie, The Round Table

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFROM THE WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE and author of EAST WEST STREETTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ''Should be read by anyone who cares about justice, humanity and human rights'' Elif Shafak''An essential account'' Sunday Times''Powerful and persuasive . . . superb'' Abdulrazak Gurnah ''An urgent reminder that Britain''s colonial rule isn''t our past. It''s our present'' New Statesman''An important [book]'' Observer''Elegant, moving and profoundly informative'' The ScotsmanThrough one woman''s fight for justice, the award-winning author of East West Street exposes the shocking events that marked the 1965 establishment of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Written with Sands'' characteristic expertise, insight and thrilling storytelling, The Last Colony lays bare the brutal legacy of colonial rule, the devastating impact of Britain''s grip on its last colony in AfriTrade ReviewMindful of not only the stories but also the silences of the past, THE LAST COLONY is a powerful and poignant book that should be read by anyone who cares about justice, humanity and human rights. Rarely does a book combine erudition and empathy so eloquently - it is stellar in every sense of the word -- ELIF SHAFAKThe Chagossians were forced from their archipelago in the Indian Ocean in the 1970s, and Britain still refuses to hand it back. Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands relates the wider tragedy of the scandal with nerve and precision . . . [he] makes a steely and forensic case, laced with human empathy . . . an important and welcome corrective -- Tim Adams * OBSERVER *A powerful and persuasive account . . . superb -- ABDULRAZAK GURNAHGripping . . . Sands writes fluently and passionately throughout, linking the story of the Chagossians to the wider narrative of the end of colonialism, and postwar attempts to codify and enforce the right of self-determination of peoples. Elegant, moving and profoundly informative * THE SCOTSMAN *An important book about a great injustice - alas, the sins of our colonial fathers are still with us -- HENRY MARSHPowerful and elegantly written . . . Sands uses the story of one Chagossian woman to tell a broader story about colonialism and international human rights from the 20th century to today. An essential account of a continuing and little-known area of injustice -- Tomiwa Owolade * SUNDAY TIMES *A fascinating story which shows the personal and ongoing toll of colonial rule * IRISH TIMES *Sands, who represented Mauritius at the International Court, is the right person to tell this story. He elegantly mixes a more general history of the development of international law, on which he knows as much as anyone, with the particular subject of the book * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Brings a human touch to the story . . . Sands is a worthy and effective advocate * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT *Interweaves personal stories with global politics and the development of international law . . . an urgent reminder that Britain's colonial rule isn't our past. It's our present * NEW STATESMAN *A devastating indictment of Britain's colonial past, exploring the decision to deport the entire population of Chagos in the 1960s. It recounts one courageous woman's four-decade fight for justice in the face of a crime against humanity, culminating in a courtroom drama at The Hague and a historic ruling * DAILY MIRROR *A resounding history, thrilling as any novel * JEWISH CHRONICLE *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWashington Bullets is written in the best traditions of Marxist journalism and history-writing. It is a book of fluent and readable stories, full of detail about U.S. imperialism, but never letting the minutiae obscure the larger political point. It is a book that could easily have been a song of despair—a lament of lost causes; it is, after all, a roll call of butchers and assassins; of plots against people’s movements and governments; of the assassinations of socialists, Marxists, communists all over the Third World by the country where liberty is a statue. Despite all this, Washington Bullets is a book about possibilities, about hope, about genuine heroes. One such is Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso—also assassinated—who said: “You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.” Washington Bullets is a book infused with this madness, the madness that dares to invent the future.Trade ReviewThis book brings to mind the infinite instances in which Washington Bullets have shattered hope. — Evo Morales Ayma, former President of Bolivia // Like his hero Eduardo Galeano, Vijay Prashad makes the telling of the truth lovable; not an easy trick to pull off, he does it effortlessly. — Roger Waters, Pink Floyd

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis**Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024**A story of staggering scope and drama, Revolusi is the masterful and definitive account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonisation of the modern world. 'Astounding . . . history at its best' Yuval Noah Harari'Utterly compelling . . . astonishing' Financial Times'Superb' GuardianOn a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of tired people raised a homemade cotton flag and on behalf of 68 million compatriots announced the birth of a new nation: Indonesia. Four million civilians had died during the Japanese wartime occupation that ousted its Dutch colonial regime. Another 200,000 people would lose their lives in the astonishingly brutal conflict that ensued - as the Dutch used savage violence to reassert their control, and as Britain and America became embroiled in pacifying Indonesia's guerrilla war of resistance: the 'Revolusi'. It was not until December 1949 that the newly created United Nations finally brought the conflict to an end - and with it, 350 years of colonial rule - setting a precedent that would reshape the world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eye-witness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative that is alive with human detail at every turn. A landmark publication, Revolusi shows Indonesia's struggle for independence to be one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century. 'A magnificent fusion of oral history, sparkling analysis, and historical wisdom. Revolusi has it all: a masterpiece' Sebastain Mallaby'A magisterial and gripping account of events of urgent importance to us now' Jason Burke'A wonderful book' Peter Frankopan'Masterly' J M Coetzee**Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize**

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Witty, energising and refreshing'' Jeffrey BoakyeTake a step through the looking-glass to a strange land, one where Piers Morgan is a voice worth listening to about race, where white people buy self-help books to help them cope with their whiteness, where Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are seen by the majority of the population as ''the right (white) man for the job''. Perhaps you know it. All the inhabitants seem to be afflicted by serious delusions, for example that racism doesn''t exist and if it does it can be cured with a one-hour inclusion seminar, and bizarre collective hallucinations, like the widely held idea that Britain''s only role in slavery was to abolish it.But there is a serious side too. Society cannot face up to the racism at its heart and in its history, so the delusions, irrationalities and hallucinations it conjures up to avoid doing so can only best be described as a psychosis, with the costs being borne by the sons and daughters of that racist history. Living in a racist world is like living in a world that bears no resemblance to reality. Black and brown people suffer from a greater number of mental health difficulties too, caused in no small part by trying to survive a racist society.Kehinde Andrews is your piercing, wry and not a little funny guide back to sanity, unpicking the absurd and outrageous lies society tells to keep up the status quo. The Psychosis of Whiteness is your lifeboat out of this topsy-turvy world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe reader Art and its global histories represents an invaluable teaching tool, offering content ranging from academic essays and excerpts, new translations, interviews with curators and artists, to art criticism. The introduction sets out the state of art history today as it undergoes the profound shift of a 'global turn'. Particular focus is given to British India, which represents a shift from the usual attention paid to Orientalism and French art in this period. The sources and debates on this topic have never before been brought together in a satisfactory way and this book will represent a particularly significant and valuable contribution for postgraduate and undergraduate art history teaching.Table of ContentsIntroductionSection One: Confronting Art History: Overviews, Perspectives and Reflections Introduction Critical Approaches1.1 Orientalisma) Edward W. Said, ‘Introduction – Section II’ , Orientalism b) Linda Nochlin, ‘The Imaginary Orient’1.2 Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture a) ‘The Other Question: Stereotype, Discrimination and the Discourse of Colonialism’b) ‘Articulating the Archaic: Cultural Difference and Colonial Nonsense’1.3 New perspectives and approaches in Art Historya) Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, ‘The Geography of Art: Historiography, Issues, and Perspectives’ b) James Elkins, ‘Why Art History is Global’ c) Parul Dave Mukherji, ‘Whither Art History in a Globalizing World’ Section Two: European art and the Wider World c. 1350–1550Introduction Primary Source texts2.1. Europeans describing Amerindian artists in Mexicoa) Allè, Francesco da Bologna, letter sent from Mexico to Padre Clemente Dolera da Moneglia, head of the Order of Conventual Franciscans in Bologna, and other friars of the orderb) Bernal Díaz, The Conquest of New Spainc) Bartolomé de Las Casas, ‘Indian Houses, Featherwork and Silverwork’2.2 Albrecht Dürer, ‘Part II: Diary of a Journey the Netherlands (July, 1520 – July, 1521)', Memoirs of Journeys to Venice and the Low Countries2.3 Sources on proposed work by Leonardo and Michelangelo for the Ottoman Sultansa) Leonardo da Vinci, undated letter to Sultan Bayezid II b) Tommaso di Tolfo in Edirne (in Ottoman Turkey) to Michelangelo in Florencec) Ascanio Condivi, ‘Life of Michelangelo’2.4 Gifts to Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence from the Gifts from Qaytbay, the Mamluk Sultan in Cairoa) L. Landucci, Diario fiorentino dal 1450 al 1516 continuato da un anonimo fino al 1542b) Paolo Giovio, Gli elogi. Vite brevemente scritte d’huomini illustri di guerra, antichi et moderni2.5 Travel Narrativesa) Vasco da Gama, ‘A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497–1499’b) Duarte de Sande, ‘An Excellent Treatise of the Kingdom of China’c) Giovanni da Empoli, extract of a letter to his fatherd) Duarte Barbosa, ‘The Great City of Bisnagua’Critical Approaches2.6 Claire Farago, ‘Reframing the Renaissance Problem Today: Developing a Pluralistic Historical Vision’2.7 Avinoam Shalem, ‘Dangerous Claims On the ‘Othering’ of Islamic Art History and How it Operates within Global Art History’ 2.8 Luca Molà and Marta Ajmar-Wollheim, ‘The Global Renaissance: Cross-Cultural Objects in the Early Modern Period’ 2.9 Jack Goody, ‘The Idea of the Renaissance’Section Three: Art, Commerce and Colonialism: 1600–1800 Introduction Primary Source texts3.1 Johan Huyghen van Linschoten on Goa, from Iohn Huighen van Linschoten. his discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies Deuided into foure books3.2 Texts on Colonial Latin American arta) Extract from the First Provincial Council in Lima 1551–52b) Extract from Padre Antonio de Vega Loaiza, Historia del Colegio y Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola en la Ciudad de Cuscoc) Letter from the Viceroy of Peru Manuel Amat y Junyent to Crown official Julián de Arriaga accompanying a shipment of Casta paintings to the collection of the Royal Cabinet of Natural History 1770d) Picture caption by Diego Rivera, from The Arts in Latin America 1492–18203.3 Johann Albrecht von Mandelslo on Amsterdam, from Adam Olearius, The voyages and travells of the ambassadors sent by Frederick, Duke of Holstein, to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia…3.4 Texts on Chinoiserie in Britain.a) A catalogue of all the rich and elegant household furniture, …late the property of Her Grace the Duchess of Kingston, deceased…at Thorseby Park…Which will be sold by auction, by Mr. Christie …on Wednesday, 10th June 1789b) Oliver Goldsmith, ‘Letter XIV on Chinoiserie’ in The citizen of the world; or Letters from a Chinese philosopher, residing in London, to his friends in the East 3.5 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginiaa) 14 Lawsb) Query 19 Colleges, Buildings, Roads, &c.Critical Approaches3.6 Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, ‘Painting of the Kingdoms: A global view of the cultural field’3.7 Benjamin Schmidt, ‘Mapping an Exotic World: The Global Project of Dutch Cartography, circa 1700’ 3.8 David Porter, ‘A Wanton Chase in a Foreign Place: Hogarth and the Gendering of Exoticism in the Eighteenth-Century Interior’3.9 Daniel Maudlin and Bernard L. Herman, ‘Introduction’ in Building the British Atlantic World: Spaces, Places, and Material Culture, 1600–1850 Section Four: Empire and Art: British India Introduction Primary Source texts4.1 Did India have an authentic, truly Indian tradition of fine art? The contentious issue of Gandharan arta) Alexander Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of India. Report for the Year 1871–72, Vol. 3b) Raja Rajendralal Mitra, Indo-Aryans: Contributions Towards the Elucidation of Their Ancient and Mediaeval Historyc) James Fergusson, Archaeology in India, with Special Reference to the Works of Babu Rajendralal Mitrad) Sister Nivedita, ‘Introduction’ in Kakuzo Okakura (ed.) The Ideals of the East with Special Reference to the Art of Japan 4.2 Neo-Orientalism, Nationalism and Pan-Asianisma) E. B. Havell, ‘The New Indian School of Painting’b) Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, ‘The Aim of Indian Art’c) Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, ‘Art of the East and of the West’4.3 Ravi Varma – The first modern Indian Artista) Balendranath Tagore, ‘Ravi Varma’b) Ramananda Chatterjee, ‘Ravi Varma’4.4 The Modern, Internal Primitivism and Hinduizationa) Roger Fry, ‘Oriental Art’b) Vincent A. Smith, A History of Fine Art in India & Ceylon4.5 Authentic Indian Designsa) George Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India, Part 1b) George Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India, Part 2c) Thomas Holbein Hendley, ‘Decorative Arts in Rajputana’d) Thomas Holbein Hendley, ‘The Opening of the Albert Hall and Museum in Jeypore’Critical Approaches4.6 Tim Barringer, Geoff Quilley and Douglas Fordham, ‘Introduction’ in Art and the British Empire4.7 Theodore Koditschek, ‘Race Struggles’4.8 Lee Lawrence, ‘The Other Half of Indian Art History: A Study of Photographic Illustrations in Orientalist and Nationalist Texts’4.9 Carol A. Breckenridge, ‘The Aesthetics and Politics of Colonial Collecting: India at World Fairs’4.10 Christopher Pinney, ‘The Material and Visual Culture of British India’Section Five: Art after Empire: From Colonialism to Globalisation Introduction Primary Sources5.1 Modernism and Primitivisma) Maurice de Vlaminck, ‘Discovery of African Art’b) Emil Nolde, ‘On Primitive Art’c) Andre Breton et al., ‘Murderous Humanitarianism’5.2 Mexican Muralismd) David Alfaro Siqueiros, ‘A Declaration of Social, Political and Aesthetic Principles’e) Interview with Alberto Hijar Serrano, Researcher of Plastic Arts of the National Institute of Fine ArtsCritical Approaches5.3 Terry Smith, ‘The Provincialism Problem’5.4 Stuart Hall, ‘Museums of Modern Art and the End of History’ 5.5 Okwui Enwezor, ‘The Postcolonial Constellation: Contemporary Art is a State of Permanent Transition’5.6 Chin-Tao Wu, ‘Biennials without Borders’5.7 Hito Steyerl, ‘Politics of Art: Contemporary Art and the Transition to Post-Democracy'Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Brisk and thoughtful, this book could hardly be more timely'' Dominic Sandbrook, BBC History Magazine, Books of the YearFrom a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prize-winning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialismIn 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watched in outrage, this violation of national sovereignty was in fact only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the merging of imperialism and nationalism in Russia today by delving into its history.Spanning over two thousand years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin have exploited existing forms of identity, warfare and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy. A strikingly ambitious book, Lost Kingdom chronicles the long and belligerent history of Russia''s empire and nation-building quest.Trade ReviewLost Kingdom tells the story of how the history of Russia was being written when that history was being made. . . A singularly fascinating account of Russian nationalism through the ages -- Charles Clover * Financial Times *A sweeping study. . . Not merely an intellectual exercise but one closely linked to contemporary geostrategic debates * Wall Street Journal *Brisk and thoughtful, this book could hardly be more timely -- Dominic Sandbrook * BBC History Magazine *Lost Kingdom is an erudite exploration of the contradictions of Russian nationalism. . . A master historian on top of his game, Serhii Plokhy lays out the challenges this past presents for transforming Russia into a better country for its people and its neighbours -- Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World HistoryIn Lost Kingdom, Serhii Plokhy does for Russia what only great historians can do-make the connections between the distant past and vital present feel relevant and alive. . . With Russia everywhere in the news today, and every pundit pretending to be an expert, Lost Kingdom is essential reading for those wishing to understand Russia beyond the headlines -- Garry Kasparov

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A work of exhilarating scope and relevance ... What a rare and powerful experience to feel a book in your very body'' Naomi Klein''Health is not something we can attain as individuals, for ourselves, hermetically sealed off from the world around us. An injury to one is an injury to all.''Our bodies, societies and planet are inflamed. In this boldly original book, renowned political economist Raj Patel teams up with physician Rupa Marya to illuminate the hidden relationships between human health and the profound injustices of our political and economic systems. In doing so, they offer a radical new cure: the deep medicine of decolonization.Journeying through the human body - our digestive, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems - Marya and Patel show how inflammation is connected not just to the food that we eat, the air that we breathe and access to healthcare, but is also linked to the traumatic events we experience and the very model of health that doctors practice: one which takes things apart, rather than seeking to bring ideas and lived experiences together.Combining the latest scholarship on globalization and biology with the stories of patients in marginalized communities and the wisdom of Indigenous groups, Inflamed points the way toward a medicine that heals what has been divided and has the potential to transform not only our bodies but the world.Trade ReviewA work of exhilarating scope and relevance to this infected moment in the body politic. Inflamed mixes medicine, argument, and metaphor into a post-pandemic poultice: reading it is the first step in the deep medicine it prescribes. What a rare and powerful experience to feel a book in your very body. -- Naomi Klein * author of On Fire *Provocative and thought provoking. . . a reckoning with modern medicine . . . At each physiological juncture, the co-authors relate the malfunctions of human biology to the inadequacies of our political and economic systems -- Andrew Zaleski * GQ *A compelling book on the social and environmental roots of our poor health... the writers combine their respective expertise to analyse the workings of these cells and organs, and to interrogate how they have been disrupted by our modern constructs of capitalism, colonialism, extractivism and individualism, amongst others -- Rachel Andrews * Irish Times *Urgent, impeccably researched . . . a subversive political analysis . . . remarkably lucid -- Aarathi Prasad * Guardian *A remarkably powerful analysis . . . compelling detail . . . a revolutionary book that calls for courageous action to dismantle those structures that harm the health of people and the planet and to rebuild ones that centre care -- Aletha Maybank * The Lancet *At last! A book about medicine and healthcare that is holistic in the broadest sense in that it integrates histories of colonialism, conflict and inequality with alternative forms of knowledge. And all that while remaining compellingly readable and engaging. -- Amitav Ghosh * author of Jungle Nama and Gun Island *Science and medicine are often treated as fields that are subtracted from social movements, separate from the struggle for power that billions of human beings are embroiled in and abstracted from the material conditions around us. Luckily for us, Rupa Marya and Raj Patel are out here making these connections and encouraging us to see these as processes we all must take ownership of as we fight to have control of our surroundings. This book is on fire. -- Boots Riley * frontperson for The Coup and Writer/Director of Sorry to Bother You *A critique of the wreckage of capitalism and colonialism for our time--beautifully written, storytelling at its best. This book can change your life. -- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz * author of An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States *Compelling reading... It encourages both clinicians and members of the public to look at their health intrinsically linked to other people, their own community, the environment, as well as the politics and economics of their country, and more broadly, the world -- Dipesh Gopal * BJGP Life *Inflamed takes the reader on a journey deep inside the human body . . . In doing so, it reveals how external inequalities affect these systems and cause serious harm -- Layla Liverpool * New Scientist *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA reappraisal of the tumultuous Partition and how it ignited long-standing animosities between India and Pakistan Trade ReviewA 2008 Top Seller in Asian History as compiled by YBP Library Services"Mahatma Gandhi called the traumatic experience of Partition 'the vivisection of India'. In this book, Yasmin Khan shows how this operation was performed. She describes the suffering of the victims with great sensitivity, and traces the perceptions of contemporary observers, most of whom were at a loss when trying to imagine the contours of the new states. To a country that took its territorial unity for granted, the partition of India came as a rude shock; its impact reverberates through the pages of this illuminating book."--Dietmar Rothermund, Professor Emeritus of South Asian History, Heidelberg University, and author of The Routledge Companion to Decolonisation and (with H Kulke) A History of India"This is a compassionate and devastating book. It charts the long, complex and often brutal processes that engulfed millions of unsuspecting people in chaos. Few among the South Asian and British political elite could have imagined what they were letting loose, while many of those swept up even tangentially had no clear idea of what it might mean. Its long aftermath still scars the subcontinent, as India and Pakistan see each other through the lens of carefully constructed nationalist history which feeds on the partially understood history of Partition. This is a book for all who wish to understand attitudes on the subcontinent today."--Judith M Brown, Balliol College Oxford, and author of Nehru"Yasmin Khan makes a significant contribution to the ongoing study of the Partition of India in this lucid account. Her eye for detail strongly evokes the issues, personalities and events at this crucial moment in the subcontinent's modern history. Narrative and sharp analysis go hand in hand in a work which bears all the hallmarks of a first-rate scholar."--Ian Talbot, University of Southampton"Yasmin Khan's The Great Partition vividly and memorably portrays the sheer turmoil of decolonisation. In turning the spotlight away from high-level politics to bitter personal experience, she exposes the bewilderment, brutality and mayhem that followed the hasty British decision to 'divide and quit.' This book will be a touchstone in the retelling of one of the twentieth century's greatest calamities."--David Arnold, University of Warwick and Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Asiatic Society"This is an exceptional book. Yasmin Khan has written a vivid, authoritative and accessible account of one of the greatest human tragedies and dislocations of the modern era. Her particular achievement is in weaving the lived experience of Partition - the agony, the uncertainty, the conflicting identities and loyalties - into a broader account of the turmoil and confusion which so gravely soured India's and Pakistan's achievement of independence."--Andrew Whitehead, editor of History Workshop Journal and former BBC South Asia correspondent

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewEngrossing ... eye-opening ... an enormously refreshing treat -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *With great skill the authors have managed to combine clarity and consistency, substance and fluency, historical precision and a text that is a joy to read * Lira Neto *A thoughtful and profound journey into the soul of Brazil...The Brazil that emerges from this book is, indeed, a fascinating, complex, multicoloured, contradictory and challenging organism, more like a living being than a political, cultural and geographical entity -- Laurentino Gomes * Folha de São Paulo *Coinciding with the election of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, this epic history of the world's sixth most populous country is a shocking, dramatic and utterly engrossing read. The details of Brazil's history, from the 19th-century empire to the suicide of the quasi-fascist dictator Getulio Vargas, are largely unknown to British readers, but that only makes its dark story all the more fascinating. * The Sunday Times, Books of the Year *Detailed and deeply reasoned . . . Illuminating, engrossing, and consistently thoughtful. -- Larry Rohter * The New York Review of Books *Compelling and insightful . . . One of Schwarcz and Starling's great strengths is their dissection of changing racial identity. -- Geoff Dyer * Financial Times *Evocative . . . Schwarcz and Starling adopt what they call a biographical approach: an attempt to tell the collective stories of the generations of Brazilians that have lived . . . They achieve this with flair in their rich evocations of colonial and imperial Brazil . . . Rich and absorbing. -- Patrick Wilcken * The Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''They won''t know you, the you that''s hidden somewhere in the castle of your skin''Nine-year-old G. leads a life of quiet mischief crab catching, teasing preachers and playing among the pumpkin vines. His sleepy fishing village in 1930s Barbados is overseen by the English landlord who lives on the hill, just as their ''Little England'' is watched over by the Mother Country. Yet gradually, G. finds himself awakening to the violence and injustice that lurk beneath the apparent order of things. As the world he knows begins to crumble, revealing the bruising secret at its heart, he is spurred ever closer to a life-changing decision. Lyrical and unsettling, George Lamming''s autobiographical coming-of-age novel is a story of tragic innocence amid the collapse of colonial rule.''Rich and riotous'' The Times''Its poetic imaginative writing has never been surpassed'' TribuneTrade ReviewIts poetic imaginative writing has never been surpassed * Tribune *Rich and riotous * The Times *Fluent, poetical, sophisticated * Sunday Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThrough her mother's memories, accounts from her Indian family and her own research in both India and Pakistan, constitutional and human rights lawyer, Marina Wheeler, explores how the peoples of these new nations struggled to recover and rebuild their lives.Trade Review'A personal, sometimes harrowing history of partition... a writer well worth reading.' * The Times *A deeply personal story of identity and a highly relatable journey for many in the diaspora... Wheeler taps a rich vein of personal history... Evocative... Gripping. * Financial Times *In spare, occasionally lyrical prose, The Lost Homestead meticulously tells the story of her much-loved Sikh-born mother. -- Sonia Purnell * Evening Standard *Her poignant memoir reminds us that our past shares no borders with our present. -- F.S. Aijazuddin * Dawn *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A groundbreaking and important book that will surely reframe our understanding of the Great War' David Lammy 'A genuinely groundbreaking piece of research' BBC History 'Meticulously researched and beautifully written' Military History Monthly In a sweeping narrative, David Olusoga describes how Europe's Great War became the World's War – a multi-racial, multi-national struggle, fought in Africa and Asia as well as in Europe, which pulled in men and resources from across the globe. Throughout, he exposes the complex, shocking paraphernalia of the era's racial obsessions, which dictated which men would serve, how they would serve, and to what degree they would suffer. As vivid and moving as it is revelatory and authoritative, The World's War explores the experiences and sacrifices of four million non-European, non-white people whose stories have remained too long in the shadows.Trade ReviewA groundbreaking and important book that will surely reframe our understanding of the Great War -- David LammyIn a remarkable and eye-opening book Olusoga has restored the conflict's global perspectives... The magnificent, eloquently written The World's War is a genuinely groundbreaking piece of research' * BBC History Magazine *Meticulously researched and beautifully written * Military History Monthly *The wartime experience of African, Chinese and Indian participants, for too long neglected, is detailed here * Good Book Guide *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEarly in life, Walter Rodney became a major revolutionary figure in a dizzying range of locales that traversed the breadth of the Black diaspora: in North America and Europe, in the Caribbean and on the African continent. He was not only a witness of a Pan-African and socialist internationalism; in his efforts to build mass organizations, catalyze rebellious ferment, and theorize an anti-colonial path to self-emancipation, he can be counted among its prime authors. Decolonial Marxism records such a life by collecting previously unbound essays written during the world-turning days of Black revolution. In drawing together pages where he elaborates on the nexus of race and class, offers his reflections on radical pedagogy, outlines programs for newly independent nation-states, considers the challenges of anti-colonial historiography, and produces balance sheets for a dozen wars for national liberation, this volume captures something of the range and power of Rodney's output. But it also demonstrates the unbending consistency that unites his life and work: the ongoing reinvention of living conception of Marxism, and a respect for the still untapped potential of mass self-rule.Trade ReviewIf Walter Rodney's assassins were under the impression that they could arrest the flow of his ideas by destroying his body, they could have not been more wrong ... In the context of the new resistance to global capitalism, his captivating analysis resonates more than ever before. -- Angela Davis, author of Women, Race and ClassRodney's perspective is alive, dazzling with the potential of revolution. -- Vijay Prashad, author of The Poorer Nations and Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social ResearchHighly original ... It is very rare to find a thinker in the contemporary world who is equally committed to both theory and action and perhaps Rodney is one those few who does it seamlessly and that is what marks him as unique. -- Viswesh Rammohan * Marx & Philosophy *Walter Rodney galvanised liberation by awakening radical Pan-African consciousness ... [Decolonial Marxism's] messages are consequential for our day and age. -- Donari Yahzid * Race & Class *Table of ContentsEditorial Note IntroductionPart 1: Marxist Theory and Mass Action1. A Brief Tribute to Amilcar Cabral2. Masses in Action3. Marxism and African Liberation4. Marxism as a Third World Ideology 5. Labour as a Conceptual Framework for Pan-African Studies 6. The Angolan QuestionPart 2: Development and Underdevelopment7. The Historical Roots of African Underdevelopment8. Problems of Third World Development 9. Slavery and UnderdevelopmentPart 3: Their Pedagogy and Ours10. The British Colonialist School of African Historiography and the Question of African Independence11. Education in Colonial Africa 12. Education in Africa and Contemporary TanzaniaPart 4: Building Socialism13. Tanzanian Ujamaa and Scientific Socialism14. Class Contradictions in Tanzania 15. Transition 16. Decolonization

Read more less

Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Prix Goncourt Winner of the Goncourt du Premier Roman Winner of the Prix des Cinq Continents Winner of the Prix François Mauriac THE NOVEL THAT HAS TAKEN THE INTERNATIONAL LITERARY WORLD BY STORM He was the brother of ‘the Arab’ killed by the infamous Meursault, the antihero of Camus’s classic novel. Angry at the world and his own unending solitude, he resolves to bring his brother out of obscurity by giving him a name – Musa – and a voice, and by describing the events that led to his senseless murder on a dazzling Algerian beach. A worthy complement to its great predecessor, The Meursault Investigation is not only a profound meditation on Arab identity and the disastrous effects of colonialism in Algeria, but also a stunning work of literature in its own right, told in a unique and affecting voice.Trade Review'A splendid achievement...Daoud has an angry and loquacious register...both beguiling and arresting. It's reminiscent of Italo Calvino: magical, labyrinthian, rhetorical and playfully dark'. * The Tablet * 'Daoud has created his own memorable fiction in which he brilliantly exposes the rise of Islamism in Algeria and his nation's failures post-independence.' * Huffington Post *'[A] wonderfully entangled novel. Establishing a conversation across time, Daoud not only uses Camus's words to expose the hypocrisy and inherent violence of the French 'civilising mission', but also deploys them in order to convey the cultural, political and social suffocation that is the lot of so many contemporary Algerians. This is a crucial novel for our times' * Literary Review * 'Daoud's work stands on its own as it tackles grief, growing up, post-independence Algeria and conservative Islam today...a clever and suspenseful work that is a masterpiece in its own right'. * The Times (Saturday Review) *'A tour-de-force... Daoud has performed a great service for his country: he has taken a western classic and used it to illuminate the Algerian mind'. * The Sunday Times (Culture) *'Wholly astonishing...There are no illusions to be found in this wonderfully embittered, beautiful book.' * Observer *'An indispensable companion to Camus...superlative writing, beautifully translated...brilliantly metaphorical. For its incandescence, its precision of phrase and description, and its cross-cultural significance, The Meursault Investigation is an instant classic.' * Guardian *'A dazzling appropriation of L'Etranger' * London Review of Books *'An accomplished work of fiction, the anger of Daoud’s hero convinces' * Spectator *‘There is far more to his book than a clever deconstruction of a canonical novel… suspenseful…its narrative vitality never flags…beautifully taut…Despite the gravity of its concerns, Daoud’s writing maintains a wryness that makes its moments of sharp insight even more arresting. It is a testament to Daoud’s subtle, profound talent that his story works both as a novelistic response to Camus and as a highly original story in its own right. The Meursault Investigation is perhaps the most important novel to emerge out of the Middle East in recent memory’ * FT *'An impressive, provocative undertaking...that might not prove easy to put down...the polemic is balanced by artistic ingenuity...A relentlessly adroit blend of fire and clinical precision ensures that Kamel Daoud's iconoclastic deliberation is about far more than a renowned novel by Albert Camus' * Irish Times *‘[An] extraordinary novel.’ * London Review of Books *'A tour de force.' * The New Yorker *‘Clever… Daoud is in equal measure a thoughtful and provocative writer’ * Times Literary Supplement *'[Kamel Daoud’s] book, The Meursault Investigation, is a retelling of Albert Camus’s classic The Stranger, from an Algerian perspective. Within its 160 pages, Mr. gives voice to the brother of the nameless Arab murder victim who is shot five times on a beach in Algiers by the antihero, Meursault.' * New York Times *‘A thrilling retelling of Albert Camus’s 1942 classic … ingenious.’ * New York Times Magazine *‘a scorching debut novel that is sure to become an essential companion to Camus’s masterpiece.’ * The Economist *‘Daoud’s novel has the magnetism of its forebear, but its themes of voicelessness and vengeance feel utterly present day’ * Vogue (US) *‘[A] mesmerizing first novel … The Meursault Investigation has an inescapable topical resonance, given the role played by political Islam in Algeria in recent times … an absorbing, independent story and a shrewd critique of a country trapped in history’s time warp.’ * Wall Street Journal *‘Humour erupts in The Meusrsault Investigation every time there is tragedy, and this recipe for the Algerian absurd gives Daoud’s book its literary sting.' * The Nation *‘Give Kamel Daoud credit for audacity. In his debut novel, The Meursault Investigation, the Algerian journalist goes head-to-head with a pillar of 20th century literature…The true measure of the novel…is that Daoud realizes critique is not enough…the power – and, yes, the beauty – of The Meursault Investigation is that it moves … to an unexpected integration in which we recognize that for all the intractable divides of faith or nationality, our humanity remains (how can it not?) essentially the same.’ * Los Angeles Times *‘Mr. Daoud’s writing is like a live wire flowing with anger. It sparks fresh insights, raises important questions about the links between literature and politics, and challenges us to view the literary past and political present in new ways.’ * Pittsburgh Post Gazette *‘Camus’s The Outsider is vividly reimagined in Daoud’s intensely atmospheric novel … readers will be captivated.’ * Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) *‘In the hands of Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud, The Outsider has become the springboard for another novel that serves as both homage and rebuke to Camus’ masterpiece … It is a brilliant, infinitely rich tour de force of the imagination that never mentions Camus by name but gives Meursault’s victim not only a name – Musa – but a history, a family and a would-be future … Its originality of vision carries the book a long way toward mastery of its form … The Meursault Investigation stirs our imagination, showing that literary classics are never finished.’ * Wichita Eagle *‘Very beautiful writing, original, located between suppressed anger and bursts of elation.’ * Les Echos *‘A breathtaking and effectively realized novel. The Outsider becomes a palindrome ... The Meursault investigation approaches the incredible, in that it reverses the perspective and point of view not without an emphatic ferociousness, all while playing with the prose and perspective of The Outsider.’ * La Croix *‘A remarkable homage to its model.’ * Le Nouvel Observateur *‘Fiction with a strong moral edge, offering a Rashomon-like response to a classic novel.’ * Kirkus *‘A superb novel … In the future, The Outsider and The Meursault Investigation will be read side by side.’ * Le Monde des Livres *‘An intense and surprising story.’ * La Montagne *'A labyrinth of dilemmas, absurdities and personal crisis. Camus started it and Daoud finished it. you’ll think of The Stranger in a different way after reading this book.' -- World Translations Review

Read more less

Book Synopsis'An astonishingly rich story... wonderfully informative' The Times 'Rappaport does a terrific job of bringing respectful rigour to her account of Seacole's extraordinary life' Daily MailIn Search of Mary Seacole is a superb and revealing biography that explores her remarkable achievements and unique status as an icon of the 19th century, but also corrects some of the myths that have grown around her life and career. Having been raised in Jamaica and worked in Panama, Mary Seacole came to England in the 1850s and volunteered to help out during the Crimean War. When her services were turned down, she financed her own expedition to Balaclava, where she earned her reputation as a nurse and for her compassion. Popularly known as ‘Mother Seacole’, she was the most famous Black celebrity of her generation – an extraordinary achievement in VTrade Review'I salute Helen Rappaport for taking us to this place so completely with all her imagination, research and thinking. This is an astonishingly rich story... This wonderfully informative book presents Seacole in all her roundness: a ministering angel who was no angel; a driven woman who basked in adulation, and was forgotten for 90 years after her death.' -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times *'Lively and entertaining... Seacole has become such an iconic figure that many legends have grown up around her, but Rappaport's book is a more valuable monument to Seacole's legacy than that painting [she discovered], or many of the other books and poems celebrating her life. Myth is important; but not as important as history.' -- Tomiwa Owolade * Sunday Times *'Scholarly biographer Helen Rappaport says that...the authors of school textbooks have failed to check the facts...[and] Rappaport crisps up the details. Rappaport does a terrific job of bringing respectful rigour to her account of Seacole's extraordinary life.' -- Helen Brown * Daily Mail *'The story of Seacole's life is riven with holes and clouded with myth. And it's these absences and confusions that Helen Rappaort seeks to fill in and smoooth out in her impressive...new biography. The Seacole we meet in these pages is enterprising, intrepid, and...really rather shrewd.' -- Lucy Scholes * Daily Telegraph *'Richly detailed...much of the book reads like a detective story. What leaps from these pages, as well as Seacole's remarkable deeds and character, is the great esteem, indeed love, in which she was held. In this wonderful book, Dr Rappaport has created a fitting tribute.' -- Jacqueline Riding * Country Life *'Well-researched...Rappaport leaves no shred of evidence unexamined... And her work pays off; the Crimean section of In Search of Mary Seacole is the book’s beating heart... A comprehensive and much-deserved tribute to an incredible life' -- Linda Villarosa * New York Times *'An invaluable contribution to the scholarship on Seacole... Rappaport paints a vivid picture of Seacole's portly and brightly dressed figure treating grateful soldiers... Rappaport's biography is a welcome contribution to our understanding of this truly remarkable medical pioneer.' -- Wendy Moore * Literary Review *'Strips away the layers of mystery from the life of the heroine of the Crimean War. I love history books like this that describe the author’s voyage through the archives.' -- Lucy Worsley * Irish Independent *'Inevitably comparisons have been made with Florence Nightingale, who also achieved fame for her nursing exploits in the Crimea, but this is unfair to both women... Rappaport’s eloquently argued work sets the record straight by revealing the life story of a most extraordinary woman.' -- Trevor Royle * Herald *'Rappaport fleshes out Seacole's own account...she throws light on her subject's family [and] there are vivid passages about British and Caribbean society. Rappaport is particularly good at addressing her subtitle [The Making of an Icon]. This portrait of an outstanding woman is timely.' -- Andrew Lycett * Spectator *'A carefully researched piece of scholarship, balanced and informative... I was also struck by an insightful analysis of the impact that Seacole’s pioneering work has had on the development of the nursing profession. This book will serve specialists in the field and casual readers equally well, and opens a window into the life of a unique and remarkable woman about whom there is still much to be discovered.' -- Nick Goulding * Church Times *'A major new study...Rappaport's work is thoroughly documented. She has discovered a significant amount of new material. Various myths are demolished... In Search of Mary Seacole presents its subject as a woman and writer who overcame much and resists the too easy categorisations of both her own time and ours.' -- John T. Gilmore * History Today *'Rappaport’s fascination with her subject started twenty years ago when she discovered the 1869 portrait of Seacole that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. This image of an older woman, resolute, unfussy yet proudly wearing her honours, seems incredibly modern. The book, equally measured and impressive, feels like the biography Seacole has so long deserved.' -- Clare Mulley * Historia *'This is an excellent book... She has doggedly pursued and expanded the leads thrown up by her methodology with consummate success. The tone of the book is engaging.' -- Glenn Fisher * The War Correspondent: Journal of the Crimean War Research Society *'A welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship on the presence of people, especially women, of African ancestry in the UK. Detailed and interesting...the book highlights the joys, frustrations, and often unrecognised challenges in all history writing.' -- Meleisa Ono-George * Lancet *

Read more less

Book SynopsisPankaj Mishra''s provocative account of how China, India and the Muslim World are remaking the world in their own image - shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2013SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2013Viewed in the West as a time of self-confident progress, the Victorian period was experienced by Asians as a catastrophe. As the British gunned down the last heirs to the Mughal Empire or burned down the Summer Palace in Beijing, it was clear that for Asia to recover a new way of thinking was needed. Pankaj Mishra re-tells the history of the past two centuries, showing how a remarkable, disparate group of thinkers, journalists, radicals and charismatics emerged from the ruins of empire to create an unstoppable Asian renaissance, one whose ideas lie behind everything from the Chinese Communist Party to the Muslim Brotherhood, and have made our world what it is today.Reviews:''Arrestingly original ... this penetrating and disquieting book should be on the reading list of anybody who wants to understand where we are today'' John Gray, Independent ''A riveting account that makes new and illuminating connections ... deeply entertaining and deeply humane'' Hisham Matar''Fascinating ... a rich and genuinely thought-provoking book'' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph''Provocative, shaming and convincing'' Michael Binyon, The Times ''Lively ... engaging ... retains the power to shock'' Mark Mazower, Financial Times''Subtle, erudite and entertaining'' Economist, New DelhiAbout the author:Pankaj Mishra is the author of Butter Chicken in Ludiana, The Romantics, An End to Suffering and Temptations of the West. He writes principally for the Guardian, The New York Times, London Review of Books and New York Review of Books. He lives in London, Shimla and New York.Trade ReviewMeticulous scholarship ... History, as Mishra insists, has been glossed and distorted by the conqueror ... [This] passionate account of the relentless subjugation of Asian empires by European, especially British, imperialism, is provocative, shaming and convincing -- Michael Binyon * The Times *One can only be thankful for writers like Mishra. From The Ruins Of Empire is erudite, provocative, inspiring and unremittingly complex; a model kind of non-fiction for our disordered days ... May well be seen in years to come as a defining volume of its kind -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *Deeply researched and arrestingly original ... this penetrating and disquieting book should be on the reading list of anybody who wants to understand where we are today -- John Gray * Independent *From the Ruins of Empire gives eloquent voice to [the] curious, complex intellectual odysseys ... of some of Asia's most educated, thoughtful men -- Julia Lovell * Guardian *Fascinating ... a rich and genuinely thought-provoking book -- Noel Malcolm * Telegraph *Superb and ground-breaking. Not just a brilliant history of Asia, but a vital history for Asians -- Mohsin HamidLively ... engaging ... From the Ruins of Empire retains the power to instruct and even to shock. It provides us with an exciting glimpse of the vast and still largely unexplored terrain of anti-colonial thought that shaped so much of the post-western world in which we now live -- Mark Mazower * Financial Times *Brilliant ... Mishra reverses the long gaze of the West upon the East, showing modern history as it has been felt by the majority of the world's population - from Turkey to China. These are the amazing stories of the grandfathers of today's angry Asians. Excellent -- Orhan PamukJolts our historical imagination ... a book of vast and wondrous learning and delightful and surprising associations that will give a new meaning to liberation geography -- Hamid Dabashi (Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University, New York)After Edward Said's masterpiece Orientalism, From the Ruins of Empire offers another bracing view of the history of the modern world. Pankaj Mishra [is] a brilliant author of wide learning ... skillful and captivating narration -- Wang Hui (Professor of Chinese Intellectual History, Tsinghua University, Beijing)Pankaj Mishra has produced a riveting account that makes new and illuminating connections. He follows the intellectual trail of this contested history with both intelligence and moral clarity. In the end we realise that what we are holding in our hands is not only a deeply entertaining and deeply humane book, but a balance sheet of the nature and mentality of colonisation -- Hisham MatarHighly readable and illuminating ... Mishra's analysis of Muslim reactions is particularly topical -- David Goodall * Tablet *Enormously ambitious but thoroughly readable, this book is essential reading for everyone who is interested in the processes of change that have led to the emergence of today's Asia -- Amitav Ghosh * Wall Street Journal *Sophisticated ... not so much polemic as cri de coeur, motivated by Mishra's keen sense of the world, East and West, hurtling towards its own destruction * Tehelka, New Delhi *Outstanding ... Mishra wears his scholarship lightly and weaves together the many strands of history into a gripping narrative ... The insights afforded by this book are too many to be enumerated ... Mishra performs a signal service to the future - by making us read the past in a fresh light * The Hindu, New Delhi *[Full of] complexity and nuance * Mail Today *Subtle, erudite and entertaining * Financial Express *Mishra allows the reader to see the events of two centuries anew, through the eyes of the journalists, poets, radicals and charismatics who criss-crossed Europe and Asia * Free Press Journal *A vital, nuanced argument ... prodigious * Mint *

Read more less

Book SynopsisOn November 2, 1917, the British government, represented by Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour, declared that they were in favor of 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.' This short note would be one of the most controversial documents of its time. A hundred years after its signing, Bernard Regan recasts the history of the Balfour Declaration as one of the major events in the story of the Middle East. Offering new insights into the imperial rivalries between Britain, Germany and the Ottomans, Regan exposes British policy in the region as part of a larger geopolitical game. Yet, even then, the course of events was not straightforward and Regan charts the debates within the British government and the Zionist movement itself on the future of Palestine. The book also provides a revealing account of life in Palestinian society at the time, paying particular attention to the responses of Palestinian civil society to the imperial machinations that threatened their way of life. Not just a history of states and policies, Regan manages to brilliantly present both a history of people under colonialism and an account of the colonizers themselves.Trade ReviewIn this major account of the Balfour Declaration, Bernard Regan's timely book sheds light on the most powerful symbol of the official British-Zionist alliance over the last century. It deserves to be widely read by those yearning for truth and reconciliation in the Middle East. -- Professor Nur Masalha, SOAS, University of LondonThis is a meticulously researched account of the background and aftermath of a transaction that launched in 1917 a malignant conflict that has poisoned the Near East and the wider international arena ever since. Bernard Regan places the Balfour Declaration in its proper context ... It is compelling essential reading to anyone who wishes to understand the roots of one of our world's most dangerous potential explosion spots. -- Moshé Machover, author of Israelis and PalestiniansMost have heard of the Balfour Declaration, without fully appreciating its history and consequences. With this meticulous and insightful study, we have a fascinating and timely guide to British colonial policy in Palestine, and its devastating impacts for the Palestinian people to this day -- Karma Nabulsi, Oxford UniversityAnother good addition to the library exploring the origins of our current Middle East problems. * Palestine Chronicle *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA New Statesman Best Book of the Year 2023. A Waterstones Book of the Year 2023. An Economist Book of the Year. One of Smithsonian Magazine''s Ten Best History Books of 2023. A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year 2023. Winner of the Voltaire Medal.''An untold story of colonial history, both epic and intimate, and a thrilling revelation'' Adam Rutherford''Mind-blowing . . . this is how history should be told'' Benjamin ZephaniahIn this groundbreaking new history, Caroline Dodds Pennock recovers the long-marginalised stories of the Indigenous Americans who - as enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants and traders - left a profound impact on European civilisation in the ''Age of Discovery''. On Savage Shores is a sweeping account of power and influence in America and Europe - one which could forever change the way we understand our global history.Trade ReviewOn Savage Shores is a work of historical recovery . . . few books make as compelling a case for such a reimagining -- David Olusoga * GUARDIAN, Book of the Day *In On Savage Shores, Dodds Pennock has performed a monumental work of historical excavation. Beautifully written and painstakingly researched, this is first-rate scholarship -- Susannah Lipscomb * FINANCIAL TIMES *A thrilling, beautifully written and important book that changes how we look at transatlantic history, finally placing Indigenous peoples not on the side-lines but at the centre of the narrative. Highly recommended -- PETER FRANKOPANDodds Pennock's unpeeling of the indigenous experience from obscure manuscripts . . . is a much-needed and refreshing take on our all-too Eurocentric telling of the past -- Andrea Wulf * THE TIMES *Not only changes how we think about the first contact between America and Europe but also sets the methodological standard for a new way of understanding the origin of the modern world * NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS *On Savage Shores is mind-blowing, and it's an important contribution to struggle for a fair and more balanced telling of history - I felt genuinely enlightened. Dodds Pennock is a truth teller of the highest order, and a first class communicator. This is how history should be told -- BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAHOn Savage Shores offers a welcome non-Eurocentric narrative about how the great civilisations of the Americas discovered Europe . . . an important book * INDEPENDENT *An untold story of colonial history, both epic and intimate, and a thrilling revelation, not about the invasion of the Americas by Europeans, but the journeys of Indigenous people to Europe. Caroline Dodds Pennock is the perfect guide, cannily and eloquently shifting the axis of global history away from its Eurocentric grip -- ADAM RUTHERFORDCaroline Dodds Pennock's utterly original book is chock full of remarkable stories . . . there is much to enjoy in this unusual history of a forgotten corner of our past * DAILY MAIL *Deftly weaves diverse and fascinating tales of the exciting adventures, complex diplomatic missions, voyages of discovery, triumphant incursions, and heartbreaking exploitations - of the many thousands of Indigenous travellers to new lands. Essential reading for anyone interested in how the events of the "Age of Exploration" shaped the modern world -- JENNIFER RAFF, author of ORIGINInspiring and important . . . Expertly researched, convincingly argued, erudite yet readable, and introduces new readers to the reality of Indigenous American experience * HISTORY TODAY *Caroline Dodds Pennock offers a remarkably fresh and compelling account of the so-called Age of Discovery. Whether arriving as ambassadors or enslaved, these travellers experienced Europe as a new and disorienting world: a place of shocking violence and perplexing social norms. Pennock, a leading authority on Indigenous Mexico, tells their stories with insight and humanity. A must read -- BRETT RUSHFORTH, author of BONDS OF ALLIANCE: INDIGENOUS AND ATLANTIC SLAVERIES IN NEW FRANCEPennock has pieced together hundreds of fragments to create a new and remarkable portrait of the travellers who crossed the Atlantic not to the Americas but from them, and who found in Europe a strange, often hostile, sometimes intriguing society, vastly different from their own -- CATHERINE FLETCHER, author of THE BEAUTY AND THE TERROR[A] fascinating and fluidly written revisionist history . . . This innovative and powerful account breaks down long-standing historical assumptions * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review *An impressive and consequential act of research and interpretation that consistently acknowledges the profound and ongoing . . . fissure caused to indigenous identities by colonisation, enslavement, violence and displacement. * GEOGRAPHICAL *As Caroline Dodds Pennock shows, there were many thousands of Native Americans in early modern Europe who have long been forgotten . . . an overdue diversion of attention towards people marginalised by race . . . Dodds Pennock's skilful method involves subtly layering European accounts -- Malcom Gaskill * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *Imaginative and passionately argued * Wall Street Journal *An excellent exploration of Indigenous presence in and contribution to Europe and nascent globalization. Pennock, by recognizing and voicing a space for Indigenous Peoples in Europe, has told a story that needs to form a part of every history class from grade school to university. On Savage Shores is an original and important recasting of sixteenth-century Europe . . . a decolonizing and un-whitening approach to the past * Anishinabek News *On Savage Shores not only changes how we think about the first contact between America and Europe but also sets the methodological standard for a new way of understanding the origin of the modern world. * New York review of Books *

Read more less