European history Books
The University of Chicago Press DDay Through French Eyes Normandy 1944
Book SynopsisTrade Review "In the great tradition of Studs Terkel and Is Paris Burning?, Mary Louise Roberts uses the diaries and memoirs of French civilians to narrate a history of the French at D-Day that has for too long been occluded by the mythology of the allied landing. Students approaching WWII history for the first time will now be able to go beyond the beachhead and think deeply about the French-American encounter in all its complexity. For the French, liberation meant American heroes--demigods packing Hershey’s chocolate and chouine gomme--and it also meant the destruction of property and the loss of life, the violent end to years of waiting. The switch of point of view from American to French is an exercise in empathy that renews history at the core. What a great idea and what a gripping and artful book!" -- Alice Kaplan, author of Dreaming in French"A moving examination of how French civilians experienced the fighting." * Telegraph *"Roberts's work is commendable, finally, because her work reminds readers that D-Day was not only a positive event that reestablished freedom, but that its cost was tragically high for all concerned." * New York Journal of Books *"The author shows great skill in allowing these eyewitnesses to 'speak for themselves,' vividly evoking their experiences of the tragedy, the brutality, the destruction, the joy, and the fear that the invasion brought. . . . In its treatment of an often neglected aspect of military history, this will be an attractive acquisition for all libraries." * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: The Night of All Nights 2: The Paras 3: Devastation 4: The First Glimpse 5: Sharing a Battlefield 6: Making Friends Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
£18.00
The University of Chicago Press Music in GoldenAge Florence 12501750
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Cummings’s history of music in Florence over a five-hundred-year period is a work of brilliant synthesis, bringing together in one place a vast array of sources that few readers could otherwise hope to access, much less encompass. Music in Golden-Age Florence, 1250–1750 succeeds in its author’s goal of raising Florentine accomplishments in music to a status comparable to that enjoyed by the city’s extraordinary achievements in arts, letters, and science, and in so doing it becomes a compelling argument for why music should be integrated into interdisciplinary considerations of Florentine culture. Specialists and nonspecialists alike will find this a highly readable narrative of this great city’s vibrant musical life during the medieval and early-modern periods.” * Blake Wilson, Dickinson College *“Whether one is studying human endeavors in the areas of humanism, architecture, painting, or literature or evaluating musical inventions such as the Renaissance madrigal, opera, or pianoforte, the city of Florence emerges as a location in which pioneering work was valued. In the book’s opening pages, Cummings situates readers in the city’s buildings, streets, and public squares, then encourages readers to imagine the music heard in those spaces during past centuries. Cummings not only explores both well- and lesser-known musical genres and works but also introduces the individuals who commissioned, performed, and listened to music. This book is a valuable resource for historians of all stripes, whether musicologists, art historians, or scholars of Italian literature. It can also serve as a useful guide for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the history of this much visited and beloved city.” * Kelley Harness, University of Minnesota *Table of ContentsPreface Book the First Music in Late-Medieval Florence: The Duecento and Trecento Music and the Ecclesiastical and Political Organization of the Late-Medieval City The Duecento 1 * Church and State in Florence circa 1300 Santa Reparata/Santa Maria del Fiore Palazzo della Signoria Music at Santa Reparata/Santa Maria del Fiore The Duecento Lauda Instrumentalists of the Signoria The Trecento 2 * Secular Polyphony: The Beginnings of the Florentine Tradition The Social Context of Performance Johannes de Florentia (fl. ca. 1351) 3 * Secular Polyphony: Francesco Landino and the Central Florentine Tradition Ser Gherardellus de Florentia (†1362 or 1363) Donatus de Florentia and Laurentius Masii de Florentia (†1372) Francesco Landino (†1397) 4 * Secular Polyphony: The Gallicization of Florentine Musical Culture Some Florentine Kleinmeistern: Magister frater Egidius, Magister Guglielmus frater, and Corradus Andreas de Florentia (Andrea di Giovanni) (†1415) Some Florentine Kleinmeistern Redux: Bonaiutus Corsini and Andrea Stefani Paulus de Florentia (†1436) 5 * Music in Communal Worship and Civic Life Liturgical Polyphony The Trecento Lauda The Herald of the Signoria Book the Second Music in Renaissance Florence I: The Quattrocento Aristocracy Emulated: The De Facto Medici Regime 6 * The Medici Regime and the Public Ecclesiastical Institutions Nicolaus Zacharie and the Professionalization of Composing and Performing The Consecration of the Cathedral of Florence The Musical Establishments Stabilized Heinrich Isaac 7 * Tradition and Innovation in Sacred Music Tradition: Music for the Liturgy Tradition and Innovation: The Quattrocento Lauda Innovation: The Sacra Rappresentatione 8 * Heralds, Knights, and Carnival Revelers Tellers of Tales Medieval Chivalric Tradition Reimagined Florentine Carnival and the Canto Carnascialesco 9 * Music and Domestic Life: The House of Medici Occasions for Music-Making The Patrons, Their Musicians, and Their Music The Musical Sources Varieties of Music-Making 10 * Girolamo Savonarola and the Medici in Exile Theocratic Censure The Medici in Exile, 1494–1512 Book the Third Music in Renaissance Florence II: The Cinquecento Aristocracy Achieved: The De Jure Medici Regime, Family as Country, and “Florentinism” 11 * The Medici Restoration: The Florentine-Papal Tandem The Restoration Composers in Medici Service Music in Private Medici Settings: Instrumental Music 12 * A New Institution, a New Technology, a New Genre: The Madrigal Wellsprings of the Madrigal: The Chanson Wellsprings of the Madrigal: The Canto Carnascialesco and Trionfo, the Lauda, and Solo Song The Earliest Madrigals Florentine Academies and Madrigals for the Theater at Midcentury Intimate Settings: Isabella de’ Medici, Solo Song, and the Polyphonic Madrigal Intimate Settings: The Florentine Madrigal after Midcentury 13 * The Church The Reconstitution of the Polyphonic Chapels The Reformation and Counter-Reformation The Cinquecento Lauda and Sacra Rappresentatione Intermedi Sacri e Morali and Music in Religious Communities for Women 14 * Medici Pageantry, 1539–1589: “L’état, c’est moi” Book the Fourth Music in Florence in the Baroque Era Cross-Genre Influences: Monody, the Stile Recitativo, and the Stile Concertato in Florentine Music of the Seicento and Early Settecento 15 * Opera in Florence, Act 1: The Florentine Aristocratic Phase Academic Theories Applied The Beginnings of Opera Widening Applications of the Innovations The Meaning of Baroque 16 * Intermedio I: Music in Religious and Dynastic Ritual Religious Ritual: A Cappella and Concerted Vocal Music Religious Ritual: Music for Organ Dynastic Ritual (“L’état, c’est moi”): The Equestrian Ballet 17 * Opera in Florence, Act 2: The Pan-Italian Phase A New Institution: The Opera House Beginnings of the Pan-Italian Phase: La finta pazza A Native Attempt at a Venetian-Style Opera: Celio Venetian Imports: Ipermestra A Distinctively Florentine Tradition of Comic Opera: Il potestà di Colognole Venetian Imports: Ipermestra, Redux The Baroque Aesthetic on Full Display: Ercole in Tebe, L’Orontea, La Dori 18 * Intermedio II: Devotional and Convivial Uses of Music Devotional: The Lauda Reimagined: Canzonette Spirituali Devotional: The Oratorio Convivial: Ballet Entertainments Convivial: The Seicento Madrigal Convivial: The Seicento Cantata Convivial: Instrumental Genres Convivial: The Invention of the Piano 19 * Opera in Florence, Act 3: The Pan-European Phase Opera in Arcadia? The Halting Adoption of Reform Principles—Griselda Grand Prince Ferdinando and a Restitution of Aristocratic Opera The Reopening of Teatro della Pergola Vincer se stesso è la maggior vittoria, or Rodrigo Opera in Arcadia: The Fuller Adoption of Reform Principles—Catone in Utica The Settecento Cantata Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography IndexColor illustrations follow page 000.
£45.60
McGill-Queen's University Press Penal Servitude
Book SynopsisPenal Servitude is the first comprehensive study of the convict prison system that housed all those who were sentenced to penal servitude between 1853 and 1948, detailing the administration and evolution of the system, its creation, the building of the prison estate, and the experiences of prisoners and staff within it.Trade Review“There is no other comprehensive study of the convict prison system in England and Wales during this period. Helen Johnston, Barry Godfrey, and David Cox have played a leading role in linking government records with other primary sources to understand a system as a whole, and they put this approach to good use here. Penal Servitude makes a major contribution to the field and is sure to become the standard work on the subject.” Neil Davie, Université Lumière, Lyon, and author of The Penitentiary Ten: The Transformation of the English Prison, 1770–1850"This ambitious work aims to explain the origins, design and evolution of the convict prison system, how it worked and how it was experienced by the incarcerated. In this, it blends institutional and social history." Family & Community History“Penal Servitude is the first book-length treatment of the penal servitude sanction [that] foregrounds convicts’ lives and the creation of ‘whole-life’ histories. Drawing on innovative archival approaches to tell the story from above and below … the authors take pains to lay bare the nature of penal shift and its evolution through the years of the convict system, demonstrating the messiness and contingency inherent in its existence.” Labour / Le Travail
£27.90
Penguin Books Ltd George III
Book SynopsisKing of Britain for sixty years and the last king of what would become the United States, George III inspired both hatred and loyalty and is now best known for two reasons: as a villainous tyrant for America''s Founding Fathers, and for his madness, both of which have been portrayed on stage and screen.In this concise and penetrating biography, Jeremy Black turns away from the image-making and back to the archives, and instead locates George''s life within his age: as a king who faced the loss of key colonies, rebellion in Ireland, insurrection in London, constitutional crisis in Britain and an existential threat from Revolutionary France as part of modern Britain''s longest period of war.Black shows how George III rose to these challenges with fortitude and helped settle parliamentary monarchy as an effective governmental system, eventually becoming the most popular monarch for well over a century. He also shows us a talented and curious individual, committed to musTrade ReviewThis volume forms part of the Penguin Monarchs series, an impressive collection of short biographies written by renowned historians ... Their aim is not simply to summarise, but to offer genuine insights in accessible format. Black's analysis of George III is a welcome addition. [He] ... manages to pepper his trim narrative with lovely frills. The mark of a good short book is its ability to inspire curiosity and further investigation. Black achieves just that. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Black brilliantly demolishes the paranoiac Whig view of George as trying to accrete powers to himself unconstitutionally. The George who emerges is a far more attractive figure than the Whig historians depicted, let alone Thomas Jefferson with his 28 histrionic and inaccurate accusations against George in the Declaration of Independence, and especially Lin-Manuel Miranda's hilarious but profoundly historically incorrect caricature. -- Andrew Roberts * The Critic *
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Darkest Hour Official TieIn for the OscarWinning
Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER AND OFFICIAL TIE-IN TO THE AWARD-WINNING MOTION PICTURE STARRING GARY OLDMAN, WHO TOOK HOME BEST ACTOR AT THE OSCARS FOR HIS SUBLIME TURN AS WINSTON CHURCHILL.From the prize-winning screenwriter of The Theory of Everything, this is a cinematic, behind-the-scenes account of a crucial moment which takes us inside the mind of one of the world''s greatest leaders - and provides a revisionist, more rounded portrait of his leadership.May, 1940. Britain is at war, European democracies are falling rapidly and the public are unaware of this dangerous new world. Just days after his unlikely succession to Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, faces this horror - and a sceptical King and a party plotting against him. He wonders how he can capture the public mood and does so, magnificently, before leading the country to victory.It is this fascinating period that Anthony McCarten captures in this deeply researched, gTrade ReviewI learned things from the script I didn't know. I just thought, "Can that be right? Were we that perilously close?" And so it just grabbed me. -- Gary OldmanThis is history written with the verve of a novel. Compelling and provocative -- Piers Brendon, former Director, The Churchill ArchivesPacy, refreshing, intimate and clear-eyed -- Sonia Purnell, author of 'Clementine'Impeccably researched, provocative and absolutely thrilling. I couldn't put it down. -- Henry Hemming, author of Churchill's IcemanEngrossing... a bold and hugely readable story about doubts, decision and the power of words that vividly conveys the man and the moment. -- Clare Mulley, author of The Woman Who Saved the ChildrenDarkest Hour has the panache, pace, wit and authenticity of its place and time...a concise and convincing distillation of the events of May 1940. -- Lawrence James [on the film]It is quite simply brilliantly well done. Gary Oldman's performance is nothing short of a masterpiece and Kristin Scott Thomas is remarkable. At one moment in the film I closed my eyes and I thought it was my grandmother speaking. It is also extremely moving - what my mother used to call a "two-handkerchief film" -- Nicholas Soames [on the film]
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd George VI The Dutiful King
Book SynopsisThe definitive biography of George VI, the hero of The King''s SpeechGeorge VI reigned through taxing times. Acceding to the throne upon his brother''s abdication, he was immediately confronted with the turmoil in European politics leading up to the Second World War, then the War itself, followed by a period of austerity, social transformation and loss of Empire. George was unprepared for kingship, suffering from a stammer which could make public occasions very painful for him. Moreover he had grown up in the shadow of his brother, a man who had been idolized as no royal prince has been, before or since. However, as Sarah Bradford shows in this sympathetic biography, although George was not born to be king, he died a great one.''A triumph ... Sarah Bradford looks set to inherit Lady Longford''s mantle as royal biographer supreme'' Mail on Sunday''Lucid, convincing and admirably fair ... George VI has been fortunate in his biographer'' Philip Zie
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Berlin Now
Book SynopsisIn Berlin Now, and on the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Wall, a legendary Berliner tells the inside story of the city.Over the last five decades, no other city has changed more than Berlin. Divided in 1961, reunited in 1989, it has morphed over the last twenty-five years into Europe''s most vibrant melting-pot of artists, immigrants and entrepreneurs. Pieces of the wall are collected around the world. Blending memoir, history, anecdote and reportage, this legendary Berliner takes us behind the scenes - from wrenching stories of life under the Stasi, to the difference between East and West Berliners'' sex-lives, to a present-day investigation of its arts scene, night-life, tumultuous politics and hidden quirks - revealing what makes Berlin the uniquely fascinating place it is.Peter Schneider makes the city come alive. He knows his stuff and shares it beautifully, elegantly, generously and Trade ReviewPeter Schneider makes the city come alive. He knows his stuff and shares it beautifully, elegantly, generously and informatively. Berlin has found its bard -- Breyten Breytenbach, author of 'Notes from the Middle World'Enlightening. Berlin resident Schneider unearths the city's charms and hazards . . . [to] reveal an authentic city that does not bother being more lively than beautiful * Publishers Weekly *Wonderful -- Ian McEwan (on 'The Wall Jumper')Marvelous . . . creates, in very few words, the unreal reality of Berlin -- Salman Rushdie (on 'The Wall Jumper')Schneider's description of the Berlin Wall from both sides . . . is the ultimate depiction of this structure. Nothing more need be said -- Werner Herzog (on 'The Wall Jumper')Peter Schneider, a novelist and essayist who knows and loves Berlin like few other living German writers, gives an intimate picture of the city's transformation * Financial Times *The inside story of the city then and now * Stylist *Berlin Now is stuffed with glorious anecdotes about the rows over architecture, infrastructure, sexuality and morality in a city forced to weld itself together since 1989 * New Statesman *As rich, vibrant and snappy as its subject * Wanderlust Magazine *In 30-odd short pieces on the city's architecture, its immigrant communities, its famous night life and its sexual mores, Mr. Schneider tries to answer this question: If Berlin is not beautiful, why is it so beloved? To his credit, he avoids the easy answers * Wall Street Journal *A gathering of illuminations, a button box of participant observations . . . Schneider is an old-school flaneur, a psychogeographer who can screw down very close upon a subject. He finds a wide scattering of exceptional nooks and crannies whose critical mass may well be the city's soul * Barnes and Noble *Illuminating. Page after page yields surprising nuggets of wisdom . . . Schneider entrances with his off-the-beaten-track forays. His final picture is a detailed and absorbing portrait of an unfinished city that has all the dynamism of a complete one * New Criterion *[An] engrossing book, which attempts what's practically impossible - describing the essence of what makes Berlin so Berlin * Christian Science Monitor *The author of The Wall Jumper presents his collected musings about the city that has inspired and perplexed him since he was first seduced by West Berlin as a young man in the early 1960s. Berlin is not traditionally beautiful, he notes; it is a hodgepodge of cultural fits and starts . . . It is a city scarred by its history but also proud of its weirdness, its resilience, and its condition of constant change. In the end, Schneider seems to suggest, liveliness is far more important than beauty * Booklist [STARRED REVIEW] *An intriguing journey through Berlin by a longtime interested observer * Kirkus *
£11.69
Indiana University Press The Wretched of France
Book SynopsisTranslated into English for the first time, The Wretched of France contemplates the protest's lasting significance in France as well as its impact within the context of larger and comparable movements for civil rights, particularly in the US.Trade Review"In The Wretched of France, Abdellali Hajjat explores the complex interface between historical patterns of racial and social exclusion and marginalization in France and traces the challenging path to political visibility through activism, mobilization, and protest. The book is of utmost relevance to contemporary global conversations about anti-racism, diversity, inclusivity, and multiculturalism and provides invaluable insights into how ethnic mobilization continues to shape calls for individual freedom, equality, and social justice today."—Dominic Thomas, author of Black France, Letessier Professor of French and Francophone Studies, UCLA"The March for Equality and Against Racism was a turning point in the history of France's relationship with its postcolonial immigrants and ethnoracial minorities. In this compelling study, Abdellali Hajjat produces the first rigorous empirical account of the genealogy and sociology of a too often mythicized social movement, masterfully analyzing its political meaning and illuminating its blind spots."—Didier Fassin. James D. Wolfensohn Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study"Abdellali Hajjat's The Wretched of France, an exhaustively researched, sharply analytical, elegantly constructed explication of the 1983 March for Equality and against Racism, was pathbreaking when it came out in French in 2013. Now with a new Afterward, sketching the posthistory of racism and revolt, it remains essential reading, in both French and English, today. Melding archival research, interviews, close readings of the press and other media, with deep knowledge of French postcolonial history and the sociological and political science literatures on race and racism, and anti-racist political mobilizations on both sides of the Atlantic, Hajjat offers a uniquely original and powerful explanation for this crucial moment and its afterlives."—Leora Auslander, Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor of Western Civilization, University of ChicagoTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: The Protest March as an Index of Social and Racial Tensions in France1. The Laboratory of Les Minguettes: The Micro-History of a Working-Class District2. Riots or Rebellions? 'Urban Youths' on the Borders of the Political3. The Fear of Rebellion4. The Unlikely Construction of an Anti-Racist National Consensus5. The Ambiguities of the Parisian Apotheosis6. Divided MemoriesConclusion: After the March: The Challenges of Postcolonial PoliticsAfterword: From 1983 to 2020: Reflections on an Enduring Problem of Racism and RevoltAppendicesBibliographyIndex
£20.99
Indiana University Press Catalonias Human Towers
Book SynopsisTrade Review"On the whole, Catalonia's Human Towers is a marvelous ethnography, reliant on fine-grained insights gained from thorough fieldwork. Her prose is highly accessible, and her text is alive to contemporary concerns within anthropology, performance studies, nationalist studies, and allied disciplines."—Jeremy MacClancy, author of Anthropology in the Public Arena: Historical and Contemporary Contexts"Mariann Vaczi takes us inside the complex embodied collaboration that generates Catalonia's human towers. Celebrated as allegories of national striving, raised literally to new heights by the incorporation of women and girls, transitioning from festival into sport, these ephemeral constructions also anchor support networks and mediate social inclusion. Tracing the practice through the European economic crisis, the Catalan independence referendum, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Vaczi elegantly captures the force of endlessly renewed collective effort against the eternal threat of collapse."—Dorothy Noyes, author of Fire in the Plaça: Catalan Festival Politics After Franco, and Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social Life."At the intersection of effervescent regional separatism, cultural habits of competition and death-defying risk, multiple activisms, gender tensions, and intergenerational solidarity lies an unusual form of bodily confluence: the Catalan human tower. Mariann Vaczi weaves her vivid ethnographic account, as structured and as intricate as the towers of living bodies she describes, to show us how social actors physically debate the dilemmas of identity in daring, defiant, and demonstrative displays. Through her intensely observed account of the enduring tug-of-war between the sensual and the sensible, Vaczi brings immersive fieldwork and political history into a lively and engaging synergy."—Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University"This lovely book is as intriguing and illuminating as the incredible ten story human towers it describes. Vaczi takes us on a journey into the world of the castells and their Catalan makers in a brilliant exploration of solidarity and complexity at possibility's tottering edge."—Orin Starn, author of The Passion of Tiger Woods: An Anthropologist Reports on Golf, Race, and Celebrity Scandal."Catalonia's Human Towers demonstrates how close attention to a visually spectacular sporting event can enhance our understanding of local politics, ethnic relations, and social organization and identity. Mariann Vaczi has produced a magnificent, beautifully written and illustrated contribution to the ethnography of contemporary Iberia and the Mediterranean world. It is a literary and social scientific treasure"—Stanley Brandes, University of California, Berkeley.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Sisyphean AscentVisual Glossary1. From "People of Farts and Burps" to Crowning the Olympic Games2. The Politics, Erotics, and Social Class of Touch and the Body3. Risking the Fall4. Rivalry, Antagonism, and Identity Among the Boys of Valls5. Bones Have No Gender6. The Grace in Every Child7. At the Height of DeathEpilogue: Rebuilding Towers in Messianic Times and the Global PandemicBibliographyIndex
£22.49
University of Washington Press The Swedish Theory of Love
Book Synopsis
£31.38
Yale University Press Anne Boleyn
Book SynopsisA biography that offers a fresh portrait of Anne Boleyn, one of England's most captivating queens. Through a wide-ranging forensic examination of sixteenth-century sources, it reconsiders Boleyn's girlhood, her experience at the French court, the nature of her relationship with Henry, and the authenticity of her evangelical sympathies.Trade Review"'Here at long last is a historian of great skill and persuasive power... who cuts through the fog of speculation to get to the woman herself, in a book whose accessible style will mean that most readers, like this one, will devour it in a single setting.' (Alexander Lucie-Smith, Catholic Herald) 'Bernard deals with historical reputations and questions of guilt and innocence in his magnificent new life of Anne Boleyn...It is brilliantly argued, sometimes exhaustingly so, but it will reward those who come to it with an open mind.' (Linda Porter, History Today) 'A close-up, fine-focus retelling of dysfunctional royal family history... G W Bernard argues that Anne Boleyn, King Henry's most controversial temporary queen was very different from her popular sanitised portrait.' (Patrick Skene Catling, Irish Times)"
£13.99
Yale University Press George II King and Elector
Book SynopsisDespite a long and eventful reign, Britain's George II is a largely forgotten monarch, his achievements overlooked and his abilities misunderstood. This biography paints a richly detailed portrait of the many-faceted monarch in his public as well as his private life.Trade Review“Thompson has finally, and triumphantly, given us one of the essential, basic building blocks for royal history in the 18th century….I’m utterly delighted that this long-standing gap has been filled so authoritatively.”—Lucy Worsley, BBC History Magazine (Books of the Year) -- Lucy Worsley * BBC History Magazine (Books of the Year) *“[A] fine biography . . . Mr. Thompson makes a strong case for his subject's importance.”—Martin Rubin, Wall Street Journal -- Martin Rubin * Wall Street Journal *“This is an impeccably sourced, cross-referred and well indexed book, drawing on new archival material in both Britain and Germany. It is, thank goodness, unashamedly chronological and written in an engaging narrative style.”—Richard Ormrod, The Tablet -- Richard Ormrod * The Tablet *“[A] stunning biography of the ‘forgotten’ king that not only takes us deep into the psyche of the man, but also gives a detailed picture of 18th century Hanoverian England. . . . This is a studious but very readable account, and one that may well set the royal record straight.”—Cambridgeshire Journal * Cambridgeshire Journal *'If George III is well known as 'the man who lost America', it was won in the reign of George II. It is very much to be welcomed that Andrew Thompson - one of the most promising of the younger British historians working in this vibrant field - has written the biography of this relatively unknown King. By looking at the political, marital, religious, musical and strategic interests of his subject - and drawing heavily on rich material in the German archives - the author gives us a scintillating picture of a story which spans not only the Atlantic Ocean but, more importantly, the North Sea separating George's British Kingdom from his Hanoverian homeland.' - Brendan Simms, University of Cambridge -- Brendan Simms'A groundbreaking study of a neglected monarch. Using newly-discovered archival material, Andrew C. Thompson offers a fundamental reappraisal of George II both as British King and Hanoverian Elector, revealing his central political role fully for the first time.' - Hamish Scott, University of Glasgow -- Hamish Scott'Andrew Thompson is a first-rate archival historian, equally at home in both British and German archives. He is thus uniquely well qualified to write a biography of one of Britain's most neglected monarchs and the last one to be born abroad. The result is an impressive and sympathetic reassessment, full of fresh and original insights, of the man who presided over Britain's emergence as a world power. This will remain the definitive biography for a generation and more.' - Stephen Taylor, University of Reading -- Stephen Taylor'This magnificent biography will mark a watershed in our knowledge and understanding of Hanoverian England.' - Tim Blanning -- Tim Blanning“….a judicious, careful and clearly written examination of George and his role.”—Bob Harris, Times Literary Supplement -- Bob Harris * Times Literary Supplement *"The author's detailed study and clear mastery of German sources… shed[s] light on the political nature of Germany in the eighteenth century."—A.T. Contemporary Review -- A.T. * Contemporary Review *
£18.99
Yale University Press Contesting Democracy
Book SynopsisIn this brilliant guide to modern European political ideas and thinkers spans the twentieth century, the author illuminates both the twentieth-century's ideological extremes and how Europeans built lasting liberal democracies in the second half of the century.Trade Review" [An] impressive survey of 20th-century European political thought.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *'This is a pathbreaking study in the intellectual history of Europe in our time. Analysing ideas that had political impact, Jan-Werner Mülller illuminates a never-ending debate about true and false democracy.' - Timothy Garton Ash -- Timothy Garton Ash'The most innovative parts of this admirably thorough and comprehensive book deal with the not so liberal roots of the liberal political institutions and practices that came to fruition in post-war Europe. What strikes me is the balanced treatment of developments in Western and Eastern Europe.' - Jürgen Habermas -- Jürgen Habermas'The great achievement of Jan Werner Müller's Contesting Democracy is to guide us safely across the vast unruly manifestos of European political ideas, from the appalling doctrines that helped generate the totalitarian regimes and world wars to the uneasy decency of our own era, without sacrificing the reader's sense of urgency and signifiance.' - Charles S. Maier -- Charles Maier'Ideology is the place where theory and practice, philosophy and history, meet. Understand this "in-between" and you are well on your way to understanding the deepest dynamics that shape modern political existence. In this illuminating study Jan-Werner Müller helps us see the experience of twentieth-century Europe, East and West, in a fresh light by showing how its characteristic ideologies developed, functioned, and adapted to the world they created. By focusing on "political thought that matters politically" Müller takes us beyond the simple stories we have inherited about revolution and reaction, post-war reconstruction, the Cold War, the Sixties, and much else. By the end he puts us in a much better position to understand the forces at work in contemporary European politics and the strange attraction of the "anti-political" ideology that governs our time.' - Mark Lilla, author of The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics -- Mark Lilla'Jan-Werner Müller’s Contesting Democracy is the most philosophically sophisticated and topically comprehensive study of political ideas in twentieth- century Europe yet available. It exhibits a masterful command of primary texts, archival sources, and myriad secondary literatures. Müller assembles for political theorists, intellectual historians and social scientists previously disparate pieces of intellectual-political life from the last, most incomprehensible century on that eternally perplexed and infinitely perplexing continent. By so expertly conveying the full significance of communism, fascism, liberalism, social democracy and Christian democracy, Müller makes the European twentieth century much more fathomable from a historical, moral and political standpoint than any previous work, in any language.' - John P. McCormick, author of Machiavellian Democracy -- John P. McCormick“…… [A] fine study of the impact of mass democracy on European political cultures.”—David Marquand, The New Statesman -- David Marquand * The New Statesman *“…..[An] excellent book…..Müller provides an insightful and comprehensive overview of the development of political ideas in 20th-century Europe that takes in Fascism, Communism, social democracy, liberalism, and much else.—Jeremy Jennings, Standpoint Magazine -- Jeremy Jennings * Standpoint Magazine *“Muller’s profound and stimulating book has much to offer, both to specialists and for others.”—Roger Morgan, Times Higher Education -- Roger Morgan * Times Higher Education *“There is no chapter of the twentieth century’s European political thought that is not luminously analysed in this superbly written, lucidly argued and immensely engaging book.”—Vladimir Tismaneanu, International Affairs -- Vladimir Tismaneanu * International Affairs *"Jan-Werner Muller has written a fine book which for the first time gives us a reliable synthesis of twentieth-century European political thought." European Review of History * European Review of History *"The originality of Contesting Democracy stems in good part from the diversity of its subject, its well thought-out structure, and, last but not least, its lively anecdotes and memorable quotes. Müller writes elegantly and has a good eye for important ideas and neglected authors." A. Craiutu, Springer. -- A. Craiutu * Springer *
£16.99
Yale University Press Cornwallis
Book SynopsisThe first biography of Charles Cornwallis in forty years—the soldier, governor, and statesman whose career covered America, India, Britain, and IrelandTrade Review“[A] well researched [biography].”—Gerard DeGroot, Times (UK)“Richard Middleton, in this defensive biography of Cornwallis, the first for almost half a century, proves himself an able historian who has mastered the relevant sources. . . . [Cornwallis’s] efforts are recorded diligently by Middleton.”—Paul Lay, Sunday Telegraph“Never less than fair and consistently entertaining.”—Ferdinand Mount, Times Literary Supplement“Middleton has written both a biography and an important work of history. . . . Middleton makes perceptive comments on Cornwallis’s command in America [and] puts this in the context of a career of imperial service that includes posts of responsibility in Britain, Germany, India and Ireland.”—Jeremy Black, Catholic Herald“Richard Middleton vividly narrates the surprising and revealing life of Britain’s leading general during the Age of Revolutions. In lucid prose and telling detail, Cornwallis reappears as a sensible, progressive, and effective leader in crises that both shook and rebuilt the British Empire.”—Alan Taylor, author of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804“A comprehensive, thoughtful, and nuanced biography of a leading British soldier and administrator whose career spanned three continents during a tumultuous half century of war and revolution. In this major reassessment, the general best known for sustaining a defeat that guaranteed American independence emerges as an unusually capable, humane, and—by the standards of his own age—enlightened servant of empire.”—Stephen Brumwell, author of George Washington: Gentleman Warrior“Scholarly yet accessible to general readers, Richard Middleton’s new biography of Cornwallis captures his pivotal role in events in America, India and Ireland. Based on a heroic trawl through a great mass of primary sources, notably Cornwallis’s voluminous papers, this book will surely endure as the standard life of this eighteenth-century imperial soldier.”—Stephen Conway, author of History of the British Army, 1714–1783
£23.75
Yale University Press Salvaged Pages Young Writers Diaries of the
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Zapruder . . . has done a great service to history and the future. Her book deserves to become a standard in Holocaust studies classes. . . . These writings will certainly impress themselves on the memories of all readers."—Publishers Weekly"These extraordinary diaries will resonate in the reader’s broken heart for many days and many nights."—Elie Wiesel"Salvaged Pages offers important perspectives for today’s Holocaust education students. The voices of young adults during the Holocaust resonate in a way that can’t be replicated by other resources."—Jennifer L. Goss, Robert E. Lee High School"Salvaged Pages shares the despair, frustrations, hopes, and loves of young adults who struggle mightily with the impact of the hatred and indifference of their neighbors. My students are enthralled."—Lynne Ravas, Lower Dauphin Middle School"Salvaged Pages is a window into the private world of young diarists existing under Nazi occupation. Readers cannot help but respond to the humanity of writers in a world whose deprivations we can only begin to comprehend through their own words."—Elaine Culbertson, Director, Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers’ Program"A searing collection of Jewish youngsters’ private Holocaust diaries, Salvaged Pages shines a bright light on their daily lives and their inner lives. Zapruder offers us the opportunity follow these child and adolescent writers as they endured and responded to an ever harsher Nazi regime. Salvaged Pages gives us a glimpse, too, of the unfulfilled potential lost with the murder of a generation. A key text for teachers and students alike, Salvaged Pages enriches our understanding of how life was lived and lives were destroyed, day by day, year after year."—Debórah Dwork, Director, Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University
£26.12
Yale University Press Dirty Old London
Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a tightly argued, meticulously researched history of sanitation that reads like a novel."—Paula Byrne, The Times"Lee Jackson stops to have a good poke around – and consider in fascinating, sometimes gruesome detail, the filth and nuisances of the time . . . Utterly engrossing."—Jo Baker, The New York Times Book Review"Mr Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter."—Emily Cockayne, Wall Street Journal Europe“Impressive . . . [Lee] Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter.”—Emily Cockayne, The Wall Street Journal"Rich in wonderful contemporary details gleaned from newspapers and archives, Jackson’s study is a vivid account of the enormous challenges faced by a city expanding at an unprecedented rate."—P. D. Smith, The Guardian“An atypical look at London’s social history. Jackson manages to make a disgusting topic much funnier than one would expect.”—Library Journal"There is an extensive bibliography and index and this makes Dirty Old London a very welcome addition to the social history of the Victorian capital. It will be useful to scholars as well as being a very enjoyable popular history which deserves a wide readership."—Drew Gray, The London Journal"From the dustmen who grew rich from recycling, to a history of the public lavatory, this fascinating book provides a (dare I say fresh?) insight into life in the Victorian capital."—Current Archaeology"Where there’s muck there’s brass. Let’s hope so for Lee Jackson, author of this volume on all things feculent, filthy and noisome in the Victorian city. It’s a big topic that deserves a big audience."—Matt Brown, The Londonist"The book is engagingly written, and based on a wide reading of source material and recent academic writing."—Peter Hounsell, Who Do You Think You Are Magazine"Delve deep into Victorian London’s dirty streets in this detailed, but enjoyably graphic, account of efforts to make life better for the British capital’s growing population."—History Revealed"This superb book places the humdrum business of keeping a city and its people clean in a detailed social and political context."—Jonathan Wright, The Tablet"This interesting and informative book deserves to have a wide circulation."—John Beasley, The Methodist Recorder"This is a fascinating work that will engage both those interested in Victorian in general and London in particular."—Stephen Halliday, BBC History Magazine"I thought I knew nineteenth-century London-this book made me smell it . . . Mud: it’s so often mentioned in Victorian literature, but I didn’t know what it was until I read this admirable book."—Clive Aslet, Country Life"Dirty Old London is a treat – truly Victorian, in that it is shocking, entertaining, educational and grisly by turns."—Catharine Arnold, author of Necropolis: London and its Dead"I can't think of a better companion with whom to explore London's underbelly - expert, engaging and approachable."—Sarah Wise, author of The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum"So much meticulous research packaged into such a vividly readable narrative. I loved it."—Liza Picard, author of Victorian London"The squalor of Victorian London was proverbial. Lee Jackson’s revelatory clean-up goes behind the headlines to allow us to see not just what, but why, London was so dirty."—Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London
£11.39
Yale University Press For God and Kaiser
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Yale University Press The Real Lives of Roman Britain
Book Synopsis
£12.99
Yale University Press The London Cage
Book SynopsisTrade Review“An impressively forensic study, which not only throws light on an intriguing (and murky) backwater of World War II but also on an unresolved ethical dilemma still with us today.”—Tony Rennell, Daily Mail Book of the Week“In 1954 Scotland wrote his memoirs, but Special Branch raided his publishers and seized the manuscript . . . Now, finally, the original manuscript has been released by the National Archives. This uncensored version is the backbone of Fry’s absorbing book, and Scotland’s powerful personality dominates virtually every page.”—William Cook, Spectator"Intelligence professionals should read The London Cage: it is they who will be tasked to build and run future interrogation programs, and Dr. Fry's book offers an important historical analogue for the work."—J. R. Seeger, CIA Studies in Intelligence“A most valuable addition to our understanding of British intelligence activities. . . highly recommended.” —Britain at War“Golders Green historian Helen Fry has trawled the National Archives to uncover life inside this top secret facility in The London Cage” —Bridget Galton, Ham&High“Impressively researched, this overdue investigation sheds new light on British interrogation methods during and after the Second World War. Shocking and important.” —Clare Mulley, author of The Spy who Loved "A tour de force. Helen Fry's absorbing and authoritative account of how Britain's wartime spies used both brutality and guile to get vital intelligence out of German prisoners-of-war is a shocking but fascinating read."—Michael Smith, author of The Anatomy of a Traitor “A compelling account of the subterranean world of the London Cage and the 3,000 POWs who passed through its doors, presided over by the tough and eccentric Colonel Scotland. Despite the fact that some of the records still remain classified, Helen Fry makes an important contribution to our understanding of what took place in Kensington Palace Gardens during these years, shining a powerful light onto this hidden corner of WW2 history.” —Tom Carver, author of Where the Hell Have You Been?: Monty, Italy and One Man's Incredible Escape"Helen Fry shines the light of historical inquiry into a dark and disturbing corner of World War II, revealing for the first time the shocking story of The London Cage."—Mark Felton, author of Castle of the Eagles: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz “The history of the London Cage is controversial and, even after 70 years, many questions are unanswered. Helen Fry’s book gives a cohesive picture of WW2 British Military Intelligence, raising important questions about means and ends in wartime. A clear and chilling insight into a long concealed chapter of Military Intelligence.” —Michael Jago, author of The Man Who Was George Smiley
£11.99
Yale University Press One Hot Summer
Book SynopsisA unique, colorful view of Victorian London when residents both famous and now-forgotten endured the Great Stink across one hot summer? While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence. Ashton mines Victorian letters and gossip, diaries, court records, newspapers, and other contemporary sources to uncover historically crucial moments in the lives of three protagonistsCharles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli. She also introduces others who gained renown in the headlines of the day, among them George Eliot, Karl Marx, William Thackeray, and Edward Bulwer Lytton. Ashton reveals invisible threads of connection among Londoners at every social level in 1858, bringing the celebrated city and its citizens vibrantly to life.Trade Review“Superbly researched . . . argues that the year was a crucial one in the lives of the three great Victorians: Dickens, Disreali and Darwin.”—Paula Byrne, Times“Rosemary Ashton’s new book charts four boiling hot months in 1858 when the sewage of London went awry and . . . can often feel much closer to how people actually lived and breathed than grander, more panoramic narratives.”—Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday“England was changing in that smelliest of summers, and Ashton gives us a finely scented snapshot of it all.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph“[The Great Stink] is a terrific subject for Ms. Ashton . . . She excels at unearthing and explaining the daily distractions of the nose-holding populace over the course of the summer: horse races, art shows, murder and divorce trials . . . Her detailed atomic record produces thought-provoking coincidences and reminds us of figures who deserve to be better known . . . In short: This book does not stink. Far from it.”—Alexandra Mullen, Wall Street Journal“A wide-ranging narrative, written with [Ashton’s] customary flair.”—John Bugg, TLS“Not just another book about the Victorians, but one that could just as easily have been written by them. Turning its pages is like opening a window on to their world.”—Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Guardian“The book’s real strength is its description of London quivering between modernity and the dark ages . . . There is plenty to enjoy in this panorama of Victorians in their heyday.”—The Economist “Finding space for clubland quarrels alongside state affairs and scientific advances, her lively study is elegantly executed, informative and entertaining.”—Anne Somerset, Literary Review “A wondrous, illuminating and evocative saga . . . Ashton has delved with comprehensive skill into the now-digitised copies of the newspapers of the day to discover the far from fake facts.”—Gerald Isaaman, Islington Tribune“[Ashton] is the best at navigating the hidden rapids of life, politics, art and popular culture.” —Judith Flanders, "Best History Books 2017", History Today"The new celebrity cult developed by the popular press collided with the revolting state of the Thames, in that hot summer. Rosemary Ashton's brilliant description of the result is a 'must-read', whatever this summer brings."—Liza Picard, author of Victorian London"Rosemary Ashton's evocative and intriguing portrait of public, private and political tensions in the long hot summer of 1858 delivers fascinating insights into the interconnected lives of her subjects."—Lee Jackson, author of Dirty Old London"History-writing too often confines itself to great events set in motion by great people. In One Hot Summer Rosemary Ashton has produced history-writing of the most important kind, as she explores what happens in between those great events, and great people, and connects previously unconnected subjects and ideas. It reads as easily as fiction, as excitingly as a thriller. It is history as it should be written, but so rarely is."—Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City
£12.99
Yale University Press Adventurer
Book SynopsisA fast-paced narrative about the world-famous libertine Giacomo Casanova, from celebrated biographer Leo Damrosch Trade Review“The great virtue of Mr. Damrosch’s biography is that, while never losing critical distance, he fully succeeds in communicating that ‘vivid presentness,’ that ‘joyful eagerness’ for life, which is what keeps us reading Casanova—and reading about him.”—Gregory Dowling, Wall Street Journal“Damrosch’s biography is undoubtedly a huge achievement, at once erudite and vivid. By the end I was almost convinced that Casanova was worthy of such prodigious scholarship.”—John Carey, Sunday Times“[A] stern but measured book. . . . In his stylish, insightful and, yes, one must admit, sexy biography, Damrosch gives us the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.”—Laura Freeman, Times (UK)“Colourful and entertaining. . . . The author is clear-eyed about Casanova’s faults.”—The Economist“There have been many biographies of Casanova before, some of them very good, although they have tended to be thesis driven. . . . [Damrosch] is in turn clear that he is writing a post MeToo Casanova. At the same time, he is also keen that we should understand just what a valuable document Histoire is for scholars working on the 18th century.”—Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian“Damrosch’s biography condenses a vast trove of Casanoviana into a well-researched, four-hundred-page narrative that is most engaging on its subject’s catholic interests as an intellectual and on the milieus he traversed as an itinerant charlatan.”—Judith Thurman, New Yorker“Leo Damrosch is a professor emeritus of literature with an emphasis on the 18th century. And he reads Casanova post-Weinstein, so to speak—but not sourly or dogmatically, instead confidently, inspired, admiringly and at the same time critically, passionately. And he can write brilliantly too.”—Jean-Martin Büttner, Basler Zeitung (Basel, Switzerland)“Damrosch’s adroit and balanced narration is never less than enthralling.”—Michael Prodger, New Statesman“Casanova rarely describes his surroundings and omits much on contemporary Venice that he simply takes for granted. Damrosch fills in the details, provides comment on Casanova from third parties, identifies those lovers whose identities Casanova attempted to obscure, adds previously unpublished material from Casanova’s later years, and places the libertine’s transgressions in the context of the mores of the time.”—Peter Neville-Hadley, South China Morning Post“Casanova’s life was in the best of hands with Leo Damrosch’s erudition. He follows Casanova’s escapades and escapes as a vertiginous heroic story. Out of Venice we are thrown into an experiment with the eighteenth century, its tastes, and transgressions, revealing a surprising ‘book of life.’”—Pierre Saint-Amand, author of Suite libertine: Vies du XVIIIe siècle“A pleasure to read, remarkably clear and readable, engaging, vivid, informative—in short, an excellent biography that both delights and instructs.”—April Alliston, Princeton University“The name Casanova has become synonymous with serial seduction—hardly a model in the age of #MeToo. The excellence of Leo Damrosch’s energetic biography is that it reveals so many other dimensions of this remarkable man: pioneering autobiographer, questioner of received ideas, traveler through high culture and low.”—Jonathan Bate, author of Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the WorldPraise for Leo Damrosch’s The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age “Damrosch brilliantly brings together the members’ voices. . . . As this stellar book moves from one Club member to another, it comes together as an ambitious venture homing in on the nature of creative stimulus.”—Lyndall Gordon, New York Times Book Review “Engaging and illuminating. . . . In The Club, as the actors appear one by one, surrounding Johnson and Boswell on Damrosch’s stage, we are transported back to a world of conversations, arguments, ideas, and writings.”—Jenny Uglow, New York Review of Books “Beginning in 1764, some of Britain’s future leading lights (including Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke and Edward Gibbon) met every Friday night to talk and drink. Damrosch’s magnificent history revives the Club’s creative ferment.”—New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice
£23.75
Yale University Press Georgian Arcadia
Book SynopsisExplores the origins and evolution of Georgian landscape architecture, a period of innovative and diverse garden structures in which some of the era’s greatest architects experimented with different forms, styles, and new technologyTrade Review“This book thus represents the life’s work of a doyen, and it shows. White convinces utterly in his thesis.”—Iona McLaren, The Telegraph“Scholarly yet approachable—and lavishly illustrated with 290 colour plates and black-and-white illustrations—this is a title for enthusiasts as much as experts.”—INIGO“An architectural historian and authority . . . [White has] produced a synthesis of this most alluring topic. The result is a richly illustrated volume, one that merits our attention.”—Timothy Mowl, Country Life“Wherever you turn in Georgian Arcadia, you’re confronted with ruins, follies and eyecatchers—the richest, most varied collection of beautiful and bizarre structures that you’re ever likely to meet.”—Adrian Tinniswood, The Critic“Yale have brought out [this] current tome, packed with a lifetime’s thought and observation. It’s a milestone.”—Clive Aslet, Oldie“Roger has had a long fascination with this subject and this richly illustrated book is the result. It is highly readable and informative, and also enjoyed encyclopaedic.”—Jeremy Musson, House & Garden“Written by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable expert who successfully manages to transmit his enthusiasm and make his knowledge accessible to the more general reader.”—Sally Jeffery, Garden History“[A] magisterial survey of Georgian landscape buildings. . . . Georgian Arcadia is an important book, but it is also an entertaining one.”—Adrian Tinniswood, The Critic“White is an opinionated, amusing guide to the architectural follies—and aristocratic folly—of 18th-century British garden design.”—Iona McLaren, The Telegraph, Summer reading list“This excellent book has taken many years in its making and explores the origins and evolution of Georgian landscape architecture. It contains 290 glorious colour and black & white illustrations.”—JK, Follies Magazine“This is a beautifully produced book at a reasonable price, which can be highly recommended as a gazetteer to the pleasures to be enjoyed in the exploration of the designed landscapes of Georgian Britain” —Malcolm Airs, Context, Journal of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation
£38.00
Yale University Press The Passage to Europe
Book SynopsisTrade Review“A work of impressive scholarship and historical imagination, whose range of intellectual reference and polish of style make it unlike anything written about the EU before or since”—Perry Anderson, London Review of Books"This insightful book, written by someone close to events, comprehends and confronts the dynamic tensions in Europe between the politicians and public opinion. A must-read for reform-minded pro-Europeans and sceptics alike."—Lord Mandelson"The Passage to Europe is a book on European integration like no other: history, political theory, social science and constitutional law laid out in such a personal and compelling narrative that one does not perceive the depth of learning and experience underlying it. Students, politicians and anyone interested in European politics will profit from reading this book. There are few better ways to grasp how a continent became a Union."—Joseph H.H. Weiler, author of The Constitution of Europe: 'Do the New Clothes Have an Emperor?' and Other Essays on European Integration"A revolution in thinking and speaking about Europe."—Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans
£14.99
Yale University Press Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Popoff's summary of Grossman's life in the 1930s is striking. [. . .] clear and well-structured”—Robert Chandler, Spectator“Alexandra Popoff's biography is crisp and comprehensive, deftly interweaving Grossman's personal life with the momentous events he experienced”—John Thornhill, Financial Times “[A] fine biography”—William Boyd, Sunday Times“Gripping . . . As told by Popoff, the stories behind Grossman’s stories, particularly of censors’ efforts to alter and limit them, are fascinating.”—William Taubman, New York Times“[Popoff] tells Grossman’s story with sensitivity and a keen understanding of his world, drawing on little-known archival collections to produce what must be considered the definitive biography.”—Douglas Smith, Wall Street Journal“[Popoff’s] emphasis on what she calls “the connection between totalitarian regimes and political ignorance” not only applies to Soviet Russia but constitutes a warning for the United States” —William Taubman, International New York Times“Excellent biography”—Ian Thomson, Evening Standard“Popoff ’s biography offers useful context to how Grossman contemplated death and his own mortality at an early age [. . .] and how Russia’s future was a central topic as he grew up”—Julian Evans, Daily Telegraph“Alexandra Popoff’s account excels in depicting Vasily Grossman’s battle with oppressive censors” —Philip Ó Ceallaigh, Irish Times“Alexandra Popoff’s biography, Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century, provides fascinating detail about his publishing travails.” —Louise Adler, The Sydney Morning Herald“For a new study of Grossman's life, readers can turn to Alexandra Popoff's Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century”—Oldie“[An] engaging contribution to Grossman scholarship likely to appeal to general and expert readers alike”—O. T. Jones, Slavonic & East European Review“The strong point of Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century is the aggregation and collation of a wealth of biographical and related detail and gossip that has come to light over the last 30 years.”—Leslie Jones, Quarterly ReviewLonglisted for the 2019 Cundill History Prize sponsored by McGill University Winner of the the Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the Biography category, sponsored by the Koschitzky Centre for Jewish StudiesFinalist in the 2019 National Jewish Book Awards, Biography categoryWinner of the Jewish Studies Literary Awards in Biography, sponsored by The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards"Alexandra Popoff has produced a magnificent biography of the great Soviet Jewish writer and journalist Vasily Grossman. Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century does justice to Grossman’s outspoken eloquence and defiance as one of the twentieth century’s foremost witnesses to the twin evils of Nazism and Stalinism."—Joshua Rubenstein, author of The Last Days of Stalin“A harrowing tale of cruelty and courage, this unflinching study of Vasily Grossman’s life in a totalitarian society is a timely reminder of how all despots thrive on fear and lies. Alexandra Popoff has given us an invaluable autopsy of various Soviet monsters, including the enigmatic Stalin himself, yet in her inspiring account of Grossman’s efforts to resist tyranny, she has also created an unforgettable portrait of one brave soul’s triumph over a soulless state.”—Michael Shelden, author of Orwell: The Authorized Biography
£17.09
Yale University Press Cairo 1921
Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive history of the 1921 Cairo Conference which reveals its enduring impact on the modern Middle EastTrade Review“Cairo 1921 is a good read for historians of the Middle East and casual enthusiasts looking to learn more. It shows how colonial powers failed miserably at the closure of their empires, how fragile democracies could be, and how a conference held in Cairo in 1921 and the decisions taken then have had reverberating ramifications 100 years later.”—Omar Darwazah, Arab Studies Quarterly“A seasoned storyteller. . . . C. Brad Faught has produced a highly readable re-enactment of those diplomatic negotiations that is not short of gusto and dense atmosphere.”—Arie M Dubnov, History Today“A brilliant and comprehensive examination of the events, individuals involved and actions taken by Britain under Churchill as Colonial Secretary and his advisors in Cairo in March 1921 while challenged by nascent nationalism and prevailing colonial mindset.”—Michael D. Berdine, author of Redrawing the Middle East“A refreshingly clear and straightforward account of the 1921 Cairo Conference that largely shaped the Middle East as we know it today.”—David Stafford, author of Oblivion or Glory: 1921 and the Making of Winston Churchill
£19.00
Yale University Press Yale French Studies Number 139 Photography and
Book SynopsisThe first Yale French Studies issue on photography, examining French photography's place in art, identity, and society through a lens of diversity and interdisciplinary investigation
£52.25
Yale University Press After the Nazis
Book SynopsisA wide-ranging, insightful history of culture in West Germany—from literature, film, and music to theater and the visual artsTrade Review“[An] excellent new book. . . . After the Nazis seeks to explore not only the details of West German culture, but also its importance to the nation in the first place.”—Ben Hutchinson, Times Literary Supplement“Kater paints a picture of a nation stripped of cultural touchstones it could rely on. . . . From the outset, Kater reflects on his own personal connections and experiences to draw readers into these stories.”—All About History
£23.75
Yale University Press The Elizabethan Image
Book SynopsisThe new paperback edition of Roy Strong's popular introduction to Elizabethan portraiture.Trade Review“Britain’s great Renaissance man – in the sense both that the Renaissance is his period, and that he can turn his hand to anything – appears as spring-chickenish as he is inexhaustible. His 43rd book, The Elizabethan Image, is published this month, and its sequel, The Stuart Image, is already being written – Hannah Betts, Telegraph“There is no better person to introduce this period afresh and to convey its richness and complexity, with the aid of the magnificent illustrations that run through this book” —Frances Spalding, Daily Mail (Book of the Week)“[A] lavish production [. . .] Strong has always had an instinctive feel for, and understanding of, the Elizabethan mindset and aesthetic. This book is no exception — and is particularly good on the ways in which the upwardly mobile used portraiture to signal their social ascent. Learned yet accessible, The Elizabethan Image provides a rich overview of the portraiture of the period which will appeal to fans of Strong's original publications as well as to a new generation of readers” — Elizabeth Goldring, Spectator “Engaging overview, in portraiture, of a rich period of English history.” —The Bookseller “Strong returns to his specialist subject in this sumptuously illustrated book” —Apollo Magazine (Off The Shelf)“An account rich in biographical detail”— Matthew Dennison, World of Interiors“When an academic with such a distinguished track record as Roy Strong's publishes a new work in the field to which he has already contributed so much, it is an important event –particularly when the publisher also has a history of producing sumptuously illustrated books. Indeed, the result is a book delightful both to read and to look at, in which text and image support one another in an ideal manner” —Paul Flux, Albion “Thorough, but never exhausting, this is an authoritative and comprehensive interpretation that provides a wealth of historical insight as well as artistic vision and presentation” — Henry Malt, The Artist “While many of Strong’s previous publications were beautiful artefacts, this one surpasses them all” — Helen Hackett, TLS“[Strong] returns to his first love, revealing that he has kept up with all the developments in modern scholarship. The result is a sumptuous, beautifully illustrated volume [. . .] A book to treasure” —A.N.Wilson, Spectator (Books Of The Year)“This beautiful book opens up to a wide audience a world of emblem and allegory, political manoeuvrings and religious conflict, serpents, sea monsters, and armillary spheres [. . .] In The Elizabethan Image Strong integrates a lifetime’s work with a synthesis of recent research by others, and the book will serve as an essential introduction to Elizabethan portraiture for many years to come”—Juliet Carey, Apollo MagazineCHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles, 2020
£27.08
Yale University Press Song
Book SynopsisFrom one of our most innovative singers, a vibrant history of song stretching from Hildegard von Bingen and Benjamin Britten to BjörkTrade Review“John Potter . . . ranges across centuries and styles in Song: A History in 12 Parts. . . . He doesn’t absolutely insist on a performance and an audience for a song to be a song, but he clearly prefers both.”—Eric Felten, Wall Street Journal“Potter has succeeded triumphantly, revealing fascinating detail about composers and writers, the times in which they lived and the singers who sang their songs.”—Henrietta Bredrin, Country Life“A very readable and engaging way to learn something new, while at the same time learning about much more than just the music itself.”—Steven Port, GetHistory“John Potter’s timely and ecumenical meditation on 12 songs explores the enigmatic nature of what constitutes a song, why songs continue to be important, and perhaps how or whether they can survive as a uniquely human undertaking.”—Sting“Erudite, witty, rewardingly provocative and absorbing—this book got me revisiting the songs I used to sing and rushing to seek out the ones I didn’t know.”—Catherine Bott, singer and broadcaster“A richly fascinating take on the enduring power and shape-shifting form of the art song, told with authority and wit by the uniquely qualified John Potter.”—Kerry Andrew, composer, performer, and author“John Potter’s wide-ranging experience across many styles of vocal music ensures an entertaining and original view.”—John Surman, saxophonist and composer“The mix of skill, erudition, and imagination that has distinguished John Potter’s recordings with the Dowland Project and the Hilliard Ensemble finds its echo in these wide-ranging texts on the history of song. Whether writing about the innovations of Josquin Desprez, the playful songs of Erik Satie, or Berio’s experimental settings of James Joyce, Potter’s perspective is always a fresh one.”—Manfred Eicher, founder of ECM Records
£19.00
Yale University Press Murillo
Book SynopsisA revealing exploration of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s genre paintings and the cultural significance of his depictions of ordinary people
£42.75
Yale University Press St Jamess Palace
Book SynopsisThe first modern history of St James’s Palace, shedding light on a remarkable building at the heart of the history of the British monarchy that remains by far the least known of the royal residences Trade Review“Thurley and co chart this rollercoaster history with scholarship and flair, while Yale’s collaboration with the Royal Collections Trust means the inclusion of some delightful and unfamiliar illustrations. St James’s Palace, warns Thurley in his introduction, “is a mysterious and confusing place”. Not any more. With this book, the accidental palace takes its place with the best of them.”—Adrian Tinniswood, The Sunday Telegraph
£57.00
Yale University Press William Burgess Great Bookcase and The Victorian
Book SynopsisInterweaving art, literature and chemistry, Charlotte Ribeyrol draws on rare archival material to explore the fascinating story of an extraordinary piece of furniture in the context of the Victorian “color revolution”
£38.00
Yale University Press Adventurer
Book SynopsisA fast-paced narrative about the world-famous libertine Giacomo Casanova, from celebrated biographer Leo Damrosch Trade Review“The great virtue of Mr. Damrosch’s biography is that, while never losing critical distance, he fully succeeds in communicating that ‘vivid presentness,’ that ‘joyful eagerness’ for life, which is what keeps us reading Casanova—and reading about him.”—Gregory Dowling, Wall Street Journal“Damrosch’s biography is undoubtedly a huge achievement, at once erudite and vivid. By the end I was almost convinced that Casanova was worthy of such prodigious scholarship.”—John Carey, Sunday Times“[A] stern but measured book. . . . In his stylish, insightful and, yes, one must admit, sexy biography, Damrosch gives us the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.”—Laura Freeman, Times (UK)“Colourful and entertaining. . . . The author is clear-eyed about Casanova’s faults.”—The Economist“There have been many biographies of Casanova before, some of them very good, although they have tended to be thesis driven. . . . [Damrosch] is in turn clear that he is writing a post MeToo Casanova. At the same time, he is also keen that we should understand just what a valuable document Histoire is for scholars working on the 18th century.”—Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian“Damrosch’s biography condenses a vast trove of Casanoviana into a well-researched, four-hundred-page narrative that is most engaging on its subject’s catholic interests as an intellectual and on the milieus he traversed as an itinerant charlatan.”—Judith Thurman, New Yorker“Leo Damrosch is a professor emeritus of literature with an emphasis on the 18th century. And he reads Casanova post-Weinstein, so to speak—but not sourly or dogmatically, instead confidently, inspired, admiringly and at the same time critically, passionately. And he can write brilliantly too.”—Jean-Martin Büttner, Basler Zeitung (Basel, Switzerland)“Damrosch’s adroit and balanced narration is never less than enthralling.”—Michael Prodger, New Statesman“Casanova rarely describes his surroundings and omits much on contemporary Venice that he simply takes for granted. Damrosch fills in the details, provides comment on Casanova from third parties, identifies those lovers whose identities Casanova attempted to obscure, adds previously unpublished material from Casanova’s later years, and places the libertine’s transgressions in the context of the mores of the time.”—Peter Neville-Hadley, South China Morning Post“Casanova’s life was in the best of hands with Leo Damrosch’s erudition. He follows Casanova’s escapades and escapes as a vertiginous heroic story. Out of Venice we are thrown into an experiment with the eighteenth century, its tastes, and transgressions, revealing a surprising ‘book of life.’”—Pierre Saint-Amand, author of Suite libertine: Vies du XVIIIe siècle“A pleasure to read, remarkably clear and readable, engaging, vivid, informative—in short, an excellent biography that both delights and instructs.”—April Alliston, Princeton University“The name Casanova has become synonymous with serial seduction—hardly a model in the age of #MeToo. The excellence of Leo Damrosch’s energetic biography is that it reveals so many other dimensions of this remarkable man: pioneering autobiographer, questioner of received ideas, traveler through high culture and low.”—Jonathan Bate, author of Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the WorldPraise for Leo Damrosch’s The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age “Damrosch brilliantly brings together the members’ voices. . . . As this stellar book moves from one Club member to another, it comes together as an ambitious venture homing in on the nature of creative stimulus.”—Lyndall Gordon, New York Times Book Review “Engaging and illuminating. . . . In The Club, as the actors appear one by one, surrounding Johnson and Boswell on Damrosch’s stage, we are transported back to a world of conversations, arguments, ideas, and writings.”—Jenny Uglow, New York Review of Books “Beginning in 1764, some of Britain’s future leading lights (including Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke and Edward Gibbon) met every Friday night to talk and drink. Damrosch’s magnificent history revives the Club’s creative ferment.”—New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice
£16.99
Hachette Books The Last Battle
Book SynopsisSOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREMay, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold''s VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.Trade ReviewPraise for The Last Battle "A tale as compelling as it is unlikely. The Last Battle demonstrates that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction, particularly in war. Well-researched and well-told."--Rick Atkinson, author of The Day of Battle "Stephen Harding has a laser-beam instinct for the detail that tells the story, he's a fine writer, and, most important, knows a good story when he sees one. All the above is true of The Last Battle, one of the more remarkable battles in a truly vast war, now very nicely illuminated."--Alan Furst, bestselling author of Dark Star and Night Soldiers "A little-known but fascinating story brought brilliantly to life."--Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The Liberator "I love untold stories from World War II, and this is a great one. Brilliantly told, meticulously researched, and filled with larger-than-life heroes and villains. The Last Battle is such a compelling read, I couldn't put it down."--Patrick K. O'Donnell, bestselling author of Dog Company "The Last Battle combines good history and good storytelling. Harding writes with the skill and grace of a novelist but also the authority of an historian who has done some rather remarkable research into a previously lost chapter from World War II's final days. I had trouble putting this book down, and I think you will, too."--John C. McManus, author of September Hope "The Nazis capture two former Prime Ministers of France (who detest each other) and lock them in a medieval castle in Austria. A handful of intrepid American soldiers sets out to rescue them. And then...well, you'll have to read The Last Battle to find out what happened. It's going to make a fantastic action movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger, call your agent!"--Peter Carlson, author of K Blows Top San Diego Union Tribune, 4/28/13 "At the heart of The Last Battle is a largely unknown story that (a) seems implausible, (b) would make a great movie, and (c) reminds us that almost 70 years after the end of World War II there are countless tales still to be told...Harding's skills as a researcher and dedicated historian are apparent...[A] moment-by-moment real-time report of the events from the viewpoints of the Americans and prisoners...Page-turning...Harding has brought the implausible story to life." New York Journal of Books, 4/29/13 "Well done and eminently readable." Daily Beast, 5/12/13 "The most extraordinary things about Stephen Harding's The Last Battle, a truly incredible tale of World War II, are that it hasn't been told before in English, and that it hasn't already been made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie...Steven Spielberg, how did you miss this story?...Harding is a respected military affairs expert...and his writing style carries immediacy as well as authority...Everything that Harding reports in this exciting but also historically accurate narrative is backed up with meticulous scholarship. This book proves that history can be new and nail-bitingly exciting all at once...While the book concentrates on the fight for Castle Itter, it also sets that battle in the wider strategic contexts...This book is thus a fascinating microcosm of a nation and society in collapse...Part Where Eagles Dare, part Guns of Navarone, this story is as exciting as it is far-fetched, but unlike in those iconic war movies, every word of The Last Battle is true." Roanoke Times, 6/9/13 "If, in these halcyon days, a Hollywood screenwriter had approached a major producer with a movie script so packed with improbabilities, so extraordinary in its premises and fanciful in its conclusions, he -- the screenwriter -- would very likely have been shown the door...sheer tension and melodrama...Stephen Harding, a career journalist and military historian, has put together a fine tale of heroism and cowardice, petty bickering and unselfish sacrifice, and if Hollywood does not snap it up for an epic film, that's its loss...A page-turner." ARMY Magazine, 9/1/13 "The book is a very quick read...The Last Battle has the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster... Harding is a gifted storyteller and effective military historian who details the battle and its background with precision...This compact work is an unqualified success and will prove immensely enjoyable for virtually any reader of ARMY. With the pace of a tightly-written novel, Harding writes with the determination of a true crime novelist and thoroughness of a first-rate historian." CollectedMiscellany.com, 8/15/13 "Harding recounts a fascinating piece of World War II history...Harding writes an engaging story about a battle that helped save many of France's political elite from certain death."
£14.39
Little, Brown & Company In Shakespeares Shadow
Book SynopsisThe true story of a self-taught sleuth's quest to prove his eye-opening theory about the source of the world's most famous plays, taking readers inside the vibrant era of Elizabethan England as well as the contemporary scene of Shakespeare scholars and obsessives.What if Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare . . . but someone else wrote him first? Acclaimed author of The Map Thief, Michael Blanding presents the twinning narratives of renegade scholar Dennis McCarthy and Elizabethan courtier Sir Thomas North. Unlike those who believe someone else secretly wrote Shakespeare, McCarthy argues that Shakespeare wrote the plays, but he adapted them from source plays written by North decades before.In Shakespeare's Shadow alternates between the enigmatic life of North, the intrigues of the Tudor court, the rivalries of English Renaissance theater, and academic outsider McCarthy's attempts to air his provocative ideas in the clubby world of Shakespearean scholarship. Through it all, Blanding employs his keen journalistic eye to craft a captivating drama, upending our understanding of the beloved playwright and his 'singular genius.'Winner of the 2021 International Book Award in Narrative Non-Fiction
£14.39
Hodder Education Access to History AntiSemitism and the Holocaust
Book SynopsisEnsure your students have access to the authoritative and in-depth content of this popular and trusted A Level History series. For over twenty years Access to History has been providing students with reliable, engaging and accessible content on a wide range of topics. Each title in the series provides comprehensive coverage of different history topics on current AS and A2 level history specifications, alongside exam-style practice questions and tips to help students achieve their best. The series:- Ensures students gain a good understanding of the AS and A2 level history topics through an engaging, in-depth and up-to-date narrative, presented in an accessible way. - Aids revision of the key A level history topics and themes through frequent summary diagrams- Gives support with assessment, both through the books providing exam-style questions and tips for AQA, Edexcel and OCR A level history specifications and through FREE model answers
£26.97
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) Conservatives and Right Radicals in Interwar
Book SynopsisThis book features a broad range of thematic and national case studies which explore the interrelations and confrontations between conservatives and the radical Right in the European and global contexts of the interwar years.It investigates the political, social, cultural, and economic issues that conservatives and radicals tried to address and solve in the aftermaths of the Great War. Conservative forces ended up prevailing over far-right forces in the 1920s, with the notable exception of the Fascist regime in Italy. But over the course of the 1930s, and the ascent of the Nazi regime in Germany, political radicalisation triggered both competition and hybridisation between conservative and right-wing radical forces, with increased power for far-right and fascist movements.The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics, history, fascism, and Nazism.Trade Review"Bresciani’s book makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the highly heterogeneous political Right in interwar Europe. Against the backdrop of the recent rise of right-wing populism in Europe and beyond, this is a particularly timely intervention that explores the complex relationship between conservatism and Right radicalism. The chapters in this book, written by some of the finest historians of their generation, will be of interest to anyone who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of the rise of fascism, notably in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe." — Robert Gerwarth, Director of the Centre for War Studies at University College Dublin, Ireland"Interwar conservatism and right radicalism appear in this volume as part of an "open system," subject to influences and provoking reactions across ideological positions and national boundaries. The tableau that emerges is of a pluriform Right watching and learning from one another, forming strategic alliances, and fostering similarly strategic enmities. With several provocative interventions—and as many hitherto under- or unexplored periods, places, and transnational connections—the book has a great deal to offer readers seeking to learn more about crises of democracy and the history of the Right more generally." — Holly Case, Professor of History at Brown University, USA"To assemble a volume so rich in theoretical insights and so wide-ranging in coverage is an impressive achievement. But to do so while also challenging—compellingly—some of the most persistent orthodoxies about fascism and the ‘old’ right or about supposed ‘centres’ and ‘peripheries’ of interwar radical right-wing politics is a rare feat for which the editor and all authors alike deserve special praise." — Aristotle Kallis, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Keele University, UKTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. "Laboratory for World Destruction": The Habsburg Monarchy and Fascism 2. Volksdeutsch Revisionism: East Central Europe’s Ethnic Germans and the Order of Paris 3. Conservative and Radical Dynamics of Italian Fascism: An (East) European Perspective (1918–1938) 4. The Crisis of Legitimacy and the Rise of the Radical Right in Interwar Yugoslavia (1918–1941) 5. Integral Nationalism in Absence of Nation-State: The Case of Ukraine 6. Catholic Authoritarians or Fascists as Such? The Polish Rightist Subculture Turns Fascist (1919–1939) 7. Faith, Family and Fatherland: Conservatism and Right Radicalism in Interwar Hungary 8. The Romanian Right: Images of Crisis, the Press and the Rise of Fascism 9. Nationalism and Authoritarianism in Interwar Greece (1922–1940) 10. Dynamics of Division: The French Right (1918–1941) 11. Consecrating the Fatherland: Catholicism, Nationalism and Fascism in Spain (1919–1939) 12. In the Mirror of Fascism: Portugal and the Italian Experience 13. America as Alternative to European Radicalism? The United States and the Transnational Rise of the Right 14. Fascism After Fascism: History and Politics
£128.25
Taylor & Francis Prison Journal 19401945
Book SynopsisEven after fifty years, and in spite of the reams of documents now available,it remains difficult-especially in France-to form an objective view of what things were like in the period between the wars and in 1940.The greater, the swifter, the more unexpected the disaster, the less people are willing to deal with it squarely. Once a certain threshold of suffering,shame, and humiliation is reached, actual facts become unimportant,analyses become bothersome. History falls prey to myth and rumor.People refuse to hear any more, but they still need someone to blame. In France, the strangest of bedfellows have come to speak about it in one voice, and the good people have remained mute.Table of ContentsForeword /Stanley Hoffmann -- Preface to the English Edition /Jean Daladier -- June 1940: The Departure for Morocco -- 1940 -- 1941 -- 1942 -- 1943 -- 1944 -- 1945 -- Appendix A: France's Principal Modern Weaponry -- Appendix B: The Riom Trial -- Appendix C: Biographical Time line -- About the Book -- Name Index.
£28.99
Taylor & Francis Children and Childhood in Western Society Since
Book SynopsisUpdated to incorporate recent scholarship on the subject, this new edition of Hugh Cunninghamâs classic text investigates the relationship between ideas about childhood and the actual experience of being a child, and assesses how it has changed over the span of 500 years.Through his engaging narrative Hugh Cunningham tells the story of the development of ideas from the Renaissance to the present, revealing considerable differences in the way Western societies have understood and valued childhood over time. His survey of parent/child relationships uncovers evidence of parental love, care and, in the frequent cases of child death, grief throughout the period, concluding that there was as much continuity as change in the actual relations of children and adults across these five centuries. Since the bookâs first publication in 1995, the volume of historical research on children and childhood has escalated hugely and is testimony to the level of concern provoked by the dominance of the negative narrative that originated in the 1970s and 1980s. A new epilogue revisits the volume from todayâs perspective, analysing why this negative narrative established dominance in Western society and considering how it has affected historical writing about children and childhood, enabling the reader to put both this volume and recent debates into context.Supported by an updated historiographical discussion and expanded bibliography, Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500 remains an essential resource for students of the history of childhood, the history of the family, social history and gender history. Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Children and childhood in ancient and medieval Europe 3. The development of a middle-class ideology of childhood, 1500-1900 4. Family, work and school, 1500-1900 5. Children, philanthropy and the state in Europe, 1500-1860 6. Saving the children, 1830-1920 7. 'The century of the child?' 8. Conclusion 9. Epilogue: 1995-2020
£37.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Thinking on Earthquakes in Early Modern Europe
Book SynopsisThis book is the first extensive study of ideas on earthquakes before the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. The earthquake had a deep impact on European culture, and the reactions to it stood in a long tradition that, before this study, had yet to be explored in detail. Thinking on Earthquakes investigates both scholarly theories and views that were propagated among the early modern European population. Through a chronological approach, Vermij reveals that in contrast to the Ancient and medieval philosophers who suggested rational explanations for earthquakes, supernatural ideas made a powerful comeback in the sixteenth century. By analysing a variety of sources such as pamphlets, sermons, and treatises, this study shows how changes in the ideas on earthquakes were a result of social and political demands as well as from improvements in the means of communication, rather than from scientific methods. Thus, Vermij presents an illuminating case for the production of knowledge&nTrade Review'Following a chronological development, this volume represents an important synthesis of the scientific opinions and theories that have matured over the centuries in the European cultural sphere, showing how the ancient and medieval philosophers, who provided rational hypotheses for the origin of earthquakes, both switched to supernatural and sectarian explanations, diverting science towards social, political and religious needs.The analysis carried out by Rienk Vermij testifies to the cultural and knowledge development in modern Europe and represents a fundamental source for scholars of the history of geology and science.'Marco Pantaloni, Geological Society of Italy, 2020 (https://www.socgeol.it/N2838/thinking-on-earthquakes-in-early-modern-europe.html) 'In short, Vermij offers a fascinating study on confessionalized science and the study of earthquakes. His sensitivity to the political and social use of earthquake explanations is commendable and a welcome addition to disaster studies. [...] His intention to also look at explanations among the wider populace and his inclusion of different media are innovative for a history of science.'Marieke van Egeraat, Early Modern Low Countries, 2021'Thinking on Earthquakes is a solid piece of historical research [...] this book fills a long-standing gap in the literature on the early modern understanding of earthquakes, and it will prove a valuable reference work for historians and philosophers of science as well as for geologists, teachers, and science communicators.'Francesco Luzzini, Early Science and Medicine, 2021'[...] As the book demonstrates, the subject of earthquakes can certainly serve as an excellent point of entry for inquiring into the shifting configurations of science and religion in early modern Europe. [...] Thinking on Earthquakes fills a gap in scholarship. It makes a valuable contribution to the history of geology, the history of science and religion, and disaster studies.'Fa-ti Fan, Isis, The Journal of the History of Science Society, vol. 113, no.1, 2022‘By providing a chronicle of the events, the volume is a worthy contribution to the history of those seismic beliefs and ideas that had developed in the European milieu over the centuries. The author points out how ancient and medieval philosophers, after suggesting rational hypotheses about the origin of earthquakes, moved on to supernatural and confessional explanations, turning science to social, political and religious needs. Rienk Vermij’s work not only bears witness to the cultural history of modern European society, but also is a fundamental source for historians of geology and science.’Marco Pantaloni, Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Physis International Journal for the History of Science Vol. LVII (2022)Table of ContentsPart I: Scientific, philosophical, and religious traditions up to the Renaissance 1. Experiencing earthquakes 2. Reading on earthquakes: explanations and interpretations up to the end of the Renaissance 3. Writing on earthquakes: the available information 4. Earthquakes in Renaissance scholarship Part II: Early modern confessionalized science 5. The assault on naturalism 6. The emergence of a science of signs 7. Prodigies in Reformation scholarship 8. Miracles and meteorology among Catholic scholars 9. Reactions to earthquakes in the sixteenth century: the emergence of a discourse 10. Interpreting earthquakes in the seventeenth century 11. Marginalized approaches Part III: The rise of modern empiricism 12. New sources of information and the rise of a scientific public 13. New observations and theories: the non-confessional investigation of nature 14. Confessionalized natural philosophy in the age of the new sciences 15. Earthquakes in the religious discourse of the late seventeenth century
£37.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd TwentyFive Women Who Shaped the Italian
Book SynopsisTwenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance takes readers on a journey through early modern Italy that places women at the heart of the artistic and cultural developments of this transformative era. Highlighted here are figures like Caterina Sforza, who defended her city against an invading army; Veronica Franco, the Venetian courtesan whose erotic verse enthralled Europe; Sofonisba Anguissola, acclaimed for her arresting portraits; Isabella Andreini, the original prima donna of Italian theater; and Margherita Sarrocchi, the epic poet and mathematics prodigy who corresponded with Galileo Galilei.Though many of their names have been neglected by history, the artists, writers, performers, leaders, and feminists of Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance overcame daunting obstacles to find their own voices. Excluded from the educational opportunities granted to men, often compelled into arranged marriages or confined to the convent, and subjecTrade Review“I, though female, have abandoned female things.” So says one of the fascinating twenty-five Italian Renaissance women brought to life thanks to Meredith Ray’s authoritative research. Nobles, writers, painters, musicians, religious rebels, even courtesans, many of whom were relegated to the cracks of history, are now revealed as extraordinary players in their own right. Brought together in one book, the history of the Italian renaissance is infinitely richer for their place in it.Sarah Dunant, Novelist, broadcaster, and criticThis is a rich and compelling introduction to the extraordinary women in Italy who lived and fought and loved and wrote during the Italian Renaissance, and whose voices have so often been neglected. In her lucid introduction and twenty-five varied and engaging short biographies, Meredith Ray widens our perspective on one of the most important periods in European history.Ramie Targoff, Brandeis UniversityThis pithy and thoroughly engaging volume belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in early-modern European history and culture – full stop, no exceptions. Meredith Ray’s expertise in early-modern Italian literature across genres as well as in women’s writing enriches every chapter, as does her careful attention to historical context for each of these twenty-five riveting protagonists.Sarah Gwyneth Ross, Boston CollegeTwenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance provides a marvelously accessible introduction to the versatile and talented women of Renaissance Italy. Female painters, musicians, actresses, poets, philosophers, nuns, Jews, and heretics all come to life in Ray’s account of their lives.Paula Findlen, Stanford UniversityMeredith Ray’s authoritative, engaging, and lucid study makes bold claims for women’s impact on the Italian Renaissance. She persuasively describes these women’s influence not only as individuals but as a collectivity. The easy flow of Ray’s prose belies the labor involved in compressing vast amounts of research on these figures into one succinct volume. And yet this book is much more than a synthesis. Rather, it calls for a reevaluation not only of women’s role in the Renaissance, but of the typically selective, exclusionary practice of history-writing itself.Shannon McHugh, University of Massachusetts, BostonTable of ContentsIntroduction: Hidden HistoriesPart One: Politics and Power Brokers1. Lucrezia Tornabuoni (1427-1482): Medici Matriarch2. Caterina Sforza (c. 1463–1509): Countess, Warrior, Alchemist3. Isabella d’Este (1474-1539): Diplomat and Tastemaker4. Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519): Entrepreneur from Italy’s Most Controversial Family5. Bona Sforza (1494-1557): Italian Queen of PolandPart Two: Poets, Reformers, and Courtesans6. Vittoria Colonna (1490?–1547): Divine Poet, Michelangelo’s Mentor7 Lucrezia Gonzaga (1522–1576): Epistolary Icon and Religious Dissident 8 Olimpia Morata (1526–1555): Humanist and Heretic 9 Laura Terracina (1519–c.1577): Bestselling Author, Defender of Women10. Veronica Franco (1546-1591): Celebrity CourtesanPart Three: Musicians, Composers, and Performers11. Gaspara Stampa (1523-1544): Renaissance Sappho12. Tarquinia Molza (1542-1617): Virtuosa and Philosopher13. Isabella Andreini (1562-1604): Diva of Stage and Page14. Francesca Caccini (1587–post-1641): Opera’s Star at the Medici Court15. Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677): Trailblazing ComposerPart Four: Artists and Scientists 16. Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625): Portraitist to Kings17. Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614): Pioneering Professional Artist18. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656?): Fearless Painter, Feminist Icon19 Camilla Erculiani (d. post-1584):Pharmacist-Philosopher20 Margherita Sarrocchi (c. 1560–1617): Reader of the Stars, Galileo’s CorrespondentPart Five: Renaissance Feminists21 Laudomia Forteguerri (1515–1555?): Queer Poet, Civic Hero22. Moderata Fonte (1555-1592): Visionary of Equality for Women23 Lucrezia Marinella (1571?–1653): Champion of Women’s History24 Sarra Copia Sulam (1592–1641): Poet and Polemicist in Venice’s Jewish Ghetto25. Arcangela Tarabotti (1604-1652): Radical Nun, Feminist ForceNotes and Further ReadingDates of ReignAcknowledgmentsIndex
£19.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Decolonizing Colonial Heritage
Book SynopsisDecolonizing Colonial Heritage explores how different agents practice the decolonization of European colonial heritage at European and extra-European locations. Assessing the impact of these practices, the book also explores what a new vision of Europe in the postcolonial present could look like. Including contributions from academics, artists and heritage practitioners, the volume explores decolonial heritage practices in politics, contemporary history, diplomacy, museum practice, the visual arts and self-generated memorial expressions in public spaces. The comparative focus of the chapters includes examples of internal colonization in Europe and extends to former European colonies, among them Shanghai, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro. Examining practices in a range of different contexts, the book pays particular attention to sub-national actors whose work is opening up new futures through their engagement with decolonial heritage practices in the present. The vTable of ContentsLists of figures; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; Preface; Introduction; Part I: Haunted Worlds: Ghosts of the Colonial Past: Chapter 1: Europe and Its Entangled Colonial Pasts: Europeanizing the ‘Imperial Turn; Chapter 2: 1917, Brexit and Imperial Nostalgia: A Longing for the Future; Chapter 3: Spectres of Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town; Chapter 4: Decolonizing the Narrative of Portuguese Empire: Life Stories of African Presence, Heritage and Memory; Chapter 5: Decolonizing Warsaw: The Multiple Afterlives of ‘Ali’; Part II: Contemporary Heritage Practices: New Agents, Urban Space Events, Intercultural Encounters: (i) Museums and curatorship: Chapter 6: Curating Colonial Heritage in Amsterdam, Warsaw and Shanghai’s Museums: No Single Road to Decolonization; Chapter 7: The Influence of Western Colonial Culture on Shanghai: A Case Study of the ‘Modern Shanghai’ Exhibition at the Shanghai History Museum; Chapter 8: Decolonizing Contemporary Art Exhibitions: Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019), The Turning Point of Curatorship; (ii) Echoes of colonial heritage, visual culture and site-specific art: Chapter 9: Sensitive Memories at a World Heritage Site: Silencing and Resistance at the Valongo Wharf; Chapter 10: Traces of Contempt and Traces of Self-Esteem: Deconstructing our Toxic Colonial Legacy; Chapter 11: Reframing the Colonial in Postcolonial Lisbon: Placemaking and the Aestheticization of Interculturality; Chapter 12: Aesthetics and Colonial Heritage: An Interview with Artists Based in Marseille; Chapter 13: Enslaved Bodies, Entangled Sites and the Memory of Slavery in Cape Town: The Meeting of the Dead and the Living; Part III:Imagining Decolonial Futures: Chapter 14: Decolonial Countervisuality; Chapter 15: New Diplomacy and Decolonial Heritage Practices; Chapter 16: Decolonial Voices, Colonialism and the Limits of European Liberalism: The European Question Revisited; Index.
£37.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Rituality and Social DisOrder
Book SynopsisCarnival has been described as one of the foundational elements of European culture, bearing an emblematic and iconic status as the festive phenomenon par excellence. Its origins are partly obscure, but its stratified and complex history, rich symbolic diversity, and sundry social configurations make it an exceptional object of cultural analysis. The product of more than 12 years of research, this book is the first comparative historical anthropology of popular European Carnival in the English language, with a focus on its symbolic, religious, and political dimensions and transformations throughout the centuries. It builds on a variety of theories of social change and social structures, questioning existing assumptions about what folklore is and how cultural gaps and differences take shape and reproduce through ritual forms of collective action. It also challenges recent interpretations about the performative and political dimension of European festive culture, especiaTable of Contents1. A Theory of Popular Culture from the South 2. A Critical Model of European Carnival 3. The Elusive Origins of Carnival 4. Ritual Inversions, Cultural Hegemony, and the Structure of the Conjuncture
£39.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Italian CityRepublics
Book SynopsisNow in its fifth edition, The Italian City Republics illustrates how, from the eleventh century onwards, many Italian towns achieved independence as political entities, unhindered by any centralising power. Until the fourteenth century, when the regimes of individual tyrants' took over in most towns, these communes were the scene of a precocious, and very well-documented, experiment in republican self-government.In this new edition, Trevor Dean has expanded the book's treatment of women and gender, the early history of the communes and the lives of non-élites. Focusing on the typical medium-sized towns rather than the better-known cities, the authors draw on a rich variety of contemporary material, both documentary and literary, to portray the world of the communes, illustrating the patriotism and public spirit as well as the equally characteristic factional strife which was to tear them apart. Discussion of the artistic and social lives of the inhabitants showsTable of Contents1. The legacy of power 2. The population 3. Government 4. Town and country 5. External relations 6. Civic spirit and the visual arts 7. Internal divisions 8. The failure of the republics 9. The historiography of the city-republics
£35.99
Taylor & Francis The World We Have Lost Routledge Classics
Book SynopsisWhat was life like in England before the Industrial Revolution? The World We Have Lost is widely regarded as a classic of historical writing and a vital book in reshaping our understanding of the past and the structure of family life in England. Turning away from the prevailing fixation of history on a grand scale, Laslett instead asks some simple yet fundamental questions about England before the Industrial Revolution: How long did people live? How did they treat their children? Did they get enough to eat? What were the levels of literacy? His findings overturned much received wisdom: girls did not generally marry in their early teens, but often worked before marrying at much the same ages that young people marry today. Most people did not live in extended families, or even live their whole lives in the same villages. Going beyond the immediate structure of the family, he also explores the position of servants, the gentry, rates of migration, work and social mobility. Laslettâs classic work was crucial in causing an important sociological turn in early modern English history and remains as fresh and exhilarating today as upon its first publication. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Kevin SchÃrer.Trade Review"Peter Laslett’s greatest gift as his best-known book, The World We Have Lost, suggests, was more for evocation than analysis: to bring back to life, in all their confusion, ingenuity and suffering, the human beings who have long gone.£ - John Dunn, The Independent"The outcome of years of research…transformed our knowledge of the English family…Laslett showed how life in pre-industrial society was no idyll." - The Telegraph"Peter Laslett’s greatest gift as his best-known book, The World We Have Lost, suggests, was more for evocation than analysis: to bring back to life, in all their confusion, ingenuity and suffering, the human beings who have long gone." - John Dunn, The Independent"The outcome of years of research…transformed our knowledge of the English family…Laslett showed how life in pre-industrial society was no idyll." - The TelegraphTable of ContentsForeword to the Routledge Classics Edition Kevin Schürer Introduction 1. English society before and after the coming of industry 2. A one-class society 3. The village community 4. Misbeliefs about our ancestors 5. Births, marriages and deaths 6. Did the peasants really starve? 7. Personal discipline and social survival 8. Social change and revolution in the traditional world 9. The pattern of authority and our political heritage 10. The politics of exclusion and the rule of an élite 11. After the transformation 12. Understanding ourselves in time General Note List of Authorities Index
£17.99
WW Norton & Co The Battle that Stopped Rome Emperor Augustus
Book SynopsisThe previously untold story of the watershed battle that changed the course of Western history.Trade Review"Always literate and learned....Wells is able not only to reconstruct a credible analysis of the German strategy, but also to explore the thoughts and fears of the combatants on both sides as the massacre commenced." -- Kirkus Reviews"Wells does an excellent job of weaving the few written accounts, recent archaeological evidence, and his own interpretation into a compelling story that is fluently written and well organized." -- Library Journal"Gives the story in clear and engrossing detail." -- Publishers Weekly"Peter Wells conducts us to a hitherto mysterious and myth-enshrouded place....A journey well worth taking." -- Robert Cowley, editor of What If?
£14.24
WW Norton & Co The Great Departure
Book SynopsisA panoramic history of the vast migration of Eastern Europeans to the West by a recent winner of a MacArthur Fellowship.Trade Review"... vivid and meticulously researched work... The Great Departure offers a deep, multifaceted understanding of mass migration." -- Times Higher Education"...a perceptive history of migration and Eastern Europe…" -- The Economist"...timely, myth-busting chronicle…" -- Nature"... The Great Departure, an illuminating study of emigration from Eastern Europe to the US..." -- Financial Times
£15.19
WW Norton & Co The Roman Way
Book SynopsisDrawing on the greatest writers of its civilization, Hamilton vividly depicts the life and spirit of Rome.Trade Review"No one in modern times has shown us more vividly… ‘the grandeur that was Rome.’ [Edith Hamilton] proved how applicable to our daily lives are the humor and wisdom of more than 2,000 years ago." -- The New York Times"... her [Edith Hamilton's] works still have the power to enlighten, particularly as artefacts of a time when what “Europe” meant was in crisis." -- Times Literary Supplement
£13.29
