European history Books
Academic Studies Press Collected Studies: The Jews of Provence
Book SynopsisIn Collected Studies (Volume 1): The Jews of Provence, Joseph Shatzmiller, the foremost expert on Provençal Judaism, offers a comprehensive overview of the medieval history of the Jews in Provence. Through an analysis of community regulations, tax distribution, rabbinic leadership, and everyday life, Shatzmiller provides a rich and powerful mosaic of Jewish society in Provence. This masterful work sheds light on the diverse experiences of Jews in the region, from their interactions with Christian neighbors to their internal conflicts and struggles. With its insightful analysis and meticulous research, The Jews of Provence is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Jewish communities in medieval Europe.“The collection of studies that these four volumes offer is the result of more than sixty years of commitment to scholarship. Like many colleagues, I relied in the beginning on printed material in books that dealt with law, religion, and secular literature. Then, as a disciple of George Duby, I discovered the world of archives and hand-written Latin manuscripts. The present collection relies, to a great extent, on previously unknown information discovered during years of search in the archives of Southern France, mostly on those of the county of Provence. They are situated in the cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence as well as the town of Digne. The legal registers of the High Middle Ages (1250-1350) as well as those produced by the counties’ administration introduce us to the ordinary people of the region, to their daily life and to their preoccupations; their names are spelled out, the dates are recorded and the localities in which they were active are designated. At times these documents encourage us to endorse information found in contemporary literary sources and to overcome our hesitation and excessive caution concerning their value as historical evidence.”— Joseph ShatzmillerTrade Review“Joseph Shatzmiller, the foremost expert on Provençal Judaism, has throughout the course of his career provided a rich and powerful mosaic of Jewish society in Provence. Known for his insightful analysis of historical documents and primary sources, Shatzmiller’s research consistently illuminates the significance of Provence Jewry within the larger framework of Jewish communities in the Mediterranean and western Europe during the Middle Ages. Drawing on a wealth of archival sources and intellectual history, his work is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Jewish communities in medieval Europe.”— Ram Ben-Shalom, Professor of the History of the Jewish People, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; author of The Jews of Provence and LanguedocTable of ContentsVol. One: The Jews of Provence: Introductory ObservationsAn IntroductionI Tolerance: Its Reason and Its Limits1. Les Angevins et les Juifs de leurs États: Anjou, Naples et Provence2. The Angevins of Naples and the Jews3. Saint Louis et l’usure juiveII Historical Records In Hebrew1. כרונוגראפיה פרובנסאלית 1בקונדרסו האבוד של שם טוב שאנצולו(Provencal Chronicles in the Lost Book of Shem-Tov Sancholo)2. שלמה ן׳ וירגה וגירוש יהודי אנגליה(Shlomo Ibn Verga and the Expulsion of the Jews from England)3. תקנות פרובנסאליות משנת 1313 (Provençal Ordinances of 1313)III A State Agency—The Jewish Community1. Community and Super-Community in Provence in the Middle Ages2. L’organisation communautaire et les limites du “self-government” en Provence (1250-1350)3. L’excommunication, la communauté juive et les autorités temporelles au Moyen- ge4. La Perception de la Tallia Judeorum en Provence au milieu du XIVe siècle5. Encore la Tallia Judeorum 6. La “collecta” de Perpignan (1412) IV Within the Jewish Community 1. Politics and the Myth of Origins: The Case of the Medieval Jews2. Structures communautaires juives à Marseille: autour d’un contrat de 1278 3. Documents de la communauté d’Aix-en-Provence (1336) 4. En Provence médiévale: les Juifs de Gordes (Vaucluse) 1312 5. Rabbi Isaac Ha-Cohen of Manosque and his Son Rabbi Peretz: The Rabbinate and its Professionalization in the Fourteenth Century6. Une «matriarche» juive au tournant du XIVe siècle: Rosa de Grassa V Solidarity and Its Limits1. Les limites de la solidarité: antagonismes au sein de la société juive ancienne et moderne2. La solidarité juive au moyen âge et ses limites : histoire et contre-histoire3. Au sein de la commu nauté juive : l’etranger et sa concurrence économique4. "Violence, chantage et mariage: Arles 1387VI Tumult and Uproar in the Synagogue 1. Tumultus et Rumor in Sinagoga: An Aspect of Social Life in Provençal Jews in the Middle Ages2. Tumultus et Rumor in Sinagoga: suite d’une enquête
£54.89
Academic Studies Press Shaping the Jewish Enlightenment: Solomon Dubno
Book SynopsisDrawing from diverse multilingual sources, Krzemień delves into Solomon Dubno's life (1738–1813), unraveling complexities of the Haskalah movement's ties to Eastern European Jewish culture. Dubno, a devout Polish Jew and adept Hebrew grammarian, played a pivotal role in Moses Mendelssohn's endeavor to translate the Bible into German with a modern commentary (Biur). The book explores Dubno's library, mapping the intellectual realm of a Polish Maskil in Western Europe. It assesses his influence on Mendelssohn's project and the reasons behind their divergence. Additionally, it analyzes Dubno's poetry, designed to captivate peers with the Bible's linguistic beauty. The outcome portrays early Haskalah as a polyvocal, polycentric creation shaped by diverse, occasionally conflicting, visions, personalities, and egos.Trade Review“This wonderful and comprehensive study of one of the less known but prominent and moderate agents of Jewish modernity helps us understand the complexity of the modern Jewish cultural project in the eighteenth century. Dubno, committed to tradition, represents the multifarious phenomenon of the Jewish Diaspora in Europe which included individuals with heterogeneous views. The book is a major contribution to the new scholarship on the Jewish Enlightenment, justly emphasizing the East European origins of the Haskalah.”— Shmuel Feiner, The Samuel Braun Chair for the History of the Jews in Germany, Bar Ilan University“This is a much, much needed and important book, impressively wide yet precise in source basis, innovative yet crystal-clear in analysis, and bold yet convincing in argumentation. Through the intellectual biography of a maskil, Talmudist, and Hebraist, Solomon Dubno, this impressive study helps us understand much more: the trajectories of the Jewish Enlightenment and the complex interrelation between East and Central European versions of the Haskalah in both their intellectual and social dimensions. A must-read for anybody interested in early modern and modern Jewish culture, both Western and Eastern.”— Marcin Wodziński, Professor of Jewish history and literature, University of WrocławTable of ContentsA Note from the EditorsPreface: Zuzanna Krzemień at University College LondonA Note on the Presentation of Source MaterialsIntroduction Eastern European participation in the Jewish Enlightenment: the lessons of one life A Jewish scholar's life between Volhynia, Berlin, and Amsterdam Re-orientations: the scope and limits of Jewish intellectual transformation in the Age of Enlightenment Dubno, Hebrew Literature, and the Haskalah Chapter outline1. Solomon Dubno's Booklists Introduction Book collecting in early modern times The content of Solomon Dubno’s library General overview Methods of book collecting Maskilic works Non-Jewish books and works on Christianity Rabbinic literature Authors with the largest number of books in Dubno’s booklist Philosophy Poetry and belles lettres History and contemporary Jewish conflicts Grammar Science Dubno’s collexConclusion2. Dubno and the Biur Project The publication of the Biur The conflict between Mendelssohn and Dubno Dubno’s role in the publication of the Biur The authorship of Alim li-terufah The Biur and the Jewish tradition of biblical textual criticism The Biur as a debate with Christianity The reaction to the publication of the Biur Speculations regarding Dubno’s withdrawal from the Biur project Dubno’s own Pentateuch edition Conclusion3. Dubno and the Renewal of Hebrew Language The study of Hebrew grammar among Ashkenazi Jewry Dubno’s views on Hebrew grammar The status of the Hebrew language in the maskilic community Enlightenment thinkers’ views on language Dubno’s belief in the divine nature of Hebrew Dubno’s view of the German Pentateuch translation Conclusion4. Dubno’s Poetry and Belles Lettres Introduction Maskilic Hebrew poetry in the eighteenth century “Yuval ve-Na’aman” Dubno’s poetry Works wrongly attributed to Dubno ConclusionConclusionsBibliographyAppendixSe’u enekhemShir kashur min me’ah yetedotShir na’eh al midat ha-ḥanupah
£89.09
HarperCollins Publishers Ireland Since the Famine
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Yale University Press The Story of the Country House
Book SynopsisThe fascinating story of the evolution of the country house in Britain, from its Roman precursors to the presentTrade Review“Some of those details are jawdropping. . . . What Aslet does best is provide a crisp, chronological survey of how the country house evolved architecturally from early Tudor times through to Lutyens in the early 20th century and to Quinlan Terry and the like today.”—Richard Morrison, Times (UK)“An eclectic scholarly account, tracing the evolution of the country house from the hunting lodges of the Middle Ages to the modern villas of today. . . . Mr. Aslet is an elegant writer with a wry sense of humor.”—Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal“Aslet, a former editor of the quietly influential magazine Country Life, provides a knowledgeable and briskly witty backdrop stretching back to the Romans and their well-built villas.”—Miranda Seymour, Financial Times“A wonderful survey of the architectural splendours of the British country house. Beginning with medieval manor houses, Aslet unfolds a history which moves through the centuries. . . . The tradition he celebrates so richly in this book still thrives.”—Nick Rennison, Daily Mail“The Story of the Country House is in many respects what we have been waiting for. . . . His book doesn’t just tell us who built what, and for whom, and in what style, but about the prevailing economic circumstances and fashions of each period.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph“The 223 pages can be read in one gripping sitting and create a desire to rush off and visit the many houses mentioned. . . . Mr Aslet’s nimble book is the perfect companion guide.”—Jeremy Musson, Country Life“Written in a wonderfully accessible style. . . . Examples abound, lively and amusing, but always subservient to the narrative. It’s a perfect primer for anyone new to the subject, but even aficionados will enjoy it for pleasure of reading a magisterial overview of Britain’s quintessential cultural form.”—Historic House Magazine“Leaving no stone unturned, this fascinating book allows readers to acquaint themselves with the architects of these houses, and their many interesting occupants.”—This England“The Story of the Country House, while based on impressive knowledge and experience, is neither a formal academic study nor a practical gazetteer. Its virtue is to encourage the reader to stop fretting about theoretical difficulties and enjoy a good story well told in amicable company.”—Stephen Bayley, Spectator“From a medieval manor house to a modern-day folly, Clive Aslet whisks us through time and place on a fascinating tour of British country houses.”—Beth Williamson, Studio International “[Aslet’s] account is enlivened not only by his descriptions of the genesis and purpose of the historical buildings he features here, but also by the stories of the owners and the architects and by an impressive evocation of the wider context and social history of the periods he covers. Add to this 60 illustrations, half of them in colour, and the result is a lively, informative and enjoyable book.”—Shiny New Books“Architecturally, every type of vast country abode is covered. . . . Along the way there are illustrations and plenty of biography, as the lives, talents and eccentricities of some of the architects and inhabitants of these edifices are revealed alongside the descriptions of the buildings themselves.”—Nic Bottomley, Bath Life“Elaborating on the idea that the country house is its own ‘little kingdom,’ architectural historian Clive Aslet explores some of the finest examples in Britain. . . . Organised by period, this is a book less about the architecture and more about the people and the context that shaped—and continues to shape—these estates.”—House & Garden, “Gifts for Bookworms”“An engaging, knowledgeable overview of this ever-developing subject, from eccentric owners to ha-has.”—Richard Hopton, Country & Town House, “Christmas Books”“Clive Aslet’s expertise is deployed masterfully in this beautifully produced new work. Modern, witty and slick, it is an excellent introduction to one of Britain’s most famous entities from the Roman period to today, successfully disentangling the ‘ghostly, indecipherable smudge’ of these houses, and their complex histories, in erudite prose packed with spice.”—Rory Fraser, The Victorian“The Story of the Country House is a witty, well-researched and absorbing retelling of the story of the British country house. Clive Aslet brings to life a fascinating cast of characters—the builders, their families, their servants and their architects, all living to nurture the beau idéal of the country house—and charts their changing fortunes and hidden histories.”—Julian Fellowes“Clive Aslet is the Capo dei Capi of British country houses—few people alive today understand them better, or better know where the bodies are buried. His decades as an architectural historian and editor, his authoritative eye and matchless prose, combine to make him the ideal person to explore this important topic.”—Nicholas Coleridge“Aslet has spent a lifetime exploring and investigating the architectural and social history of the country house and in this concise, but magisterial sweep he provides an elegant and perceptive introduction to the subject from the medieval to the present day. It is a must for the library of every country house enthusiast or anyone indeed anyone trying to understand this rich and dynamic subject in which so many threads of British culture and history meet. Aslet peppers his discerning fluent, scholarly overview with well chosen details and contemporary quotations which evoke country house culture in each period.”—Jeremy Musson“What an excellent book, an eloquent introduction to an everlasting British institution.”—Simon Jenkins
£12.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Navigational Instruments
Book SynopsisWith over two-thirds of the globe covered by water, the ability to navigate safely and quickly across the oceans has been crucial throughout human history. As seafarers attempted longer and longer voyages from the sixteenth century onwards in search of profit and new lands, the tools of navigation became ever more sophisticated. The development of instruments over the last five hundred years has seen some revolutionary changes, spurred on by the threat of disaster at sea and the possibility of huge rewards from successful voyages. As this book shows, the solution of the infamous longitude problem, the extraordinary impact of satellite positioning and other advances in navigation have successfully brought together seafarers, artisans and scientists in search of better ways of getting from A to B and back again.Table of ContentsGetting About on the Water / The Basic Tools / Going Further / The Longitude Found / The Age of Measurement / The Radio Revolution / Navigation in the Satellite Age / Further Reading / Index
£8.54
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Catalaunian Fields AD 451
Book SynopsisThe battle of the Catalaunian Fields saw two massive, powerful Empires square up in a conflict that was to shape the course of Eurasian history forever. For despite the Roman victory, the Roman Empire would not survive more than fifteen years afterward, while the Huns, shattered and demoralized, would meet their downfall against a coalition of German tribes soon after. This book, using revealing bird''s-eye views of the plains of Champagne and detailed illustrations of the opposing warriors in the midst of desperate combat, describes the fighting at Chalons and reveals the broader campaign of Hunnic incursion that led up to it. Drawing on the latest research, Simon MacDowall reveals the shocking intensity and appalling casualties of the battle, while assessing the wider significance and consequences of the campaign.Table of ContentsOrigins of the campaign Chronology Opposing commanders Opposing armies Orders of battle Opposing plans The campaign Aftermath The battlefields today Further reading Index
£15.29
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Rome Victorious: The Irresistible Rise of the
Book SynopsisRome – Urbs Roma: city of patricians and plebeians, emperors and gladiators, slaves and concubines – was the epicentre of a far-flung imperium whose cultural legacy is incalculable. How a tiny settlement, founded by desperate adventurers beside the banks of the River Tiber, came to rule vast tracts of territory across the face of the known world is one of the more improbable stories of antiquity. The epic scale of the Colosseum; majestically columned temples; formidable legionaries marching in burnished steel breastplates; and capricious Caesars clad in purple robes who thought themselves gods: all these images speak of a grandeur that continues to be associated with this most celebrated of ancient capitals. The glory of Rome is further underlined by enduring monuments like Hadrian’s Wall, holding the line as it did against ferocious Pictish barbarians thought to be from Hyperborea: the mythic Land Beyond the North Wind. This book vividly recounts the rags-to-riches story of Rome’s unlikely triumph. Perhaps the most famous example in history of modest beginnings rising to greatness, Rome’s empire was never static or uniform. Over the centuries, under the ‘boundless grandeur of the Roman peace’ (as the Elder Pliny put it), imperial law, civilisation and language vigorously interacted with and influenced local cultures across western and central Europe and North Africa. Provincial subjects were made Roman citizens, generals and senators. In AD 98 Trajan became the first of many Romans from outside Italy to assume supreme power as Emperor. Poets, philosophers, historians and legalists – and many others besides – all participated in the brilliant intellectual constellation secured by the pax Romana. However, as Dexter Hoyos reveals, the empire was not won cheaply or fast, and did not always succeed. The Carthaginian general Hannibal came close to destroying it. Arminius freed Germania by brutally annihilating three irreplaceable legions in the Teutoburg Forest – a disaster that broke Augustus’ heart. And the Romans themselves, in expanding their empire, were often ruthless. Caesar boasted of killing a million enemy fighters in his Gallic Wars, while the accusation of a Caledonian lord became proverbial: they make a desert and call it peace. Yet at the same time the Romans strove to impose moral and legal principles for directing their subjects as much as themselves, and laid down standards of government that are still valid today. Rome Victorious is a masterful new treatment of the rise of Rome – from the viewpoints both of the city itself and the people it came to rule and make its own.Trade ReviewDexter Hoyos has written a remarkably efficient and wonderfully lucid account of the Roman Empire from its beginnings in the third century BC to the height of its power in the third century AD. Combining narrative with thematic discussion throughout, Professor Hoyos shows readers how the empire functioned and enables them to see what set the Roman Empire apart from other empires. This is a book that anyone interested in how political and social power are created and exercised, in any age, will find welcome. Although able to draw upon a truly impressive command of modern scholarship, and equally impressive command of ancient evidence of all sorts and periods, Professor Hoyos never loses sight of the lived experience of the Roman world. His lucid analysis allows readers to grasp the complexity of the Roman world, while his clear prose and unpretentious style makes this a book that anyone interested in history can and will enjoy. -- David Potter, Professor of Greek and Latin, University of Michigan, USAHow did Rome acquire her mighty empire? What drove the Romans in the pursuit of war? And what was the experience of the provinces under Roman rule? Hoyos proves himself a steady and engaging guide as he charts Rome’s meteoric rise, as well as the resistance she met along the way. -- Kathryn Tempest, Senior Lecturer in Latin Literature and Roman History, Roehampton University, UK{B.D] Hoyos … has achieved a rich account of the rise of the Roman empire, both chronologically and thematically. [Rome Victorious] offers an excellent introduction to and overview of the subject. His lucid style also makes this a highly enjoyable read. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Engaging, densely informed and gripping account of Roman power, Hoyos, a widely acknowledged authority on Roman imperialism, has written a strong and easily accessible introduction to the Roman empire. * The Classical Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Rome and Her Imperialism 1. Rome before Empire: Hegemony over Italy 2. Mediterranean Hegemony and the First Provinces 3. The Provinces of the Republic 4. The Political Impoverishment of the Imperial Republic 5. Augustus: The Greatest Imperialist 6. Imperial Takings and Leavings AD 14–212 7. The New Romans 8. Governing and Misgoverning 9. Judging the Empire: Romans and Others 10. Resistance 11. How Roman Was the Roman Empire? Conclusions The Ancient Sources Notes Bibliography Index
£38.00
Quarto Publishing PLC The Housekeeper's Tale: The Women Who Really Ran
Book Synopsis'I read the book with enormous appreciation. Tessa Boase brings all these long-ago housekeepers so movingly to life and her excitement in the research is palpable.' Fay Weldon: Novelist, playwright – and housekeeper's daughter Revelatory, gripping and unexpectedly poignant, this is the story of the invisible women who ran the English country house. Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a nineteenth and early twentieth century woman could want – and also one of the toughest. A far cry from the Downton Abbey fiction, the real life Mrs Hughes was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and gruelling physical labour. Until now, her story has never been told. Revealing the personal sacrifices, bitter disputes and driving ambition that shaped these women’s careers, and delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories of five working women who ran some of Britain’s most prominent households. From Dorothy Doar, Regency housekeeper for the obscenely wealthy 1st Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire, to Sarah Wells, a deaf and elderly Victorian in charge of Uppark, West Sussex. From Ellen Penketh, Edwardian cook-housekeeper at the sociable but impecunious Erddig Hall in the Welsh borders to Hannah Mackenzie who runs Wrest Park in Bedfordshire – Britain’s first country-house war hospital, bankrolled by playwright J. M. Barrie. And finally Grace Higgens, cook-housekeeper to the Bloomsbury set at Charleston farmhouse in East Sussex for half a century – an era defined by the Second World War.Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBX-NONEX-NONETrade Review'A fluent study…Boase builds a deep, rich account of their individual lives, returning from the archive with some telling tales.' -- Kathryn Hughes * Times Literary Supplement *‘A gripping popular history.’ -- Bee Wilson * Sunday Telegraph * 'The truth is more scandalous than film or fiction – this is one of those social history studies that makes the reader howl with rage.' -- Roger Lewis * Daily Mail *'It’s fascinating stuff, moving too, written with great brio and such a light but confident touch, which makes it all the more enjoyable.' -- Virginia Nicholson‘It is no easy task to find the voice of the professional domestic servant before the 20th century, but the author has done an excellent job piecing together the stories of these five lives through her painstaking research into letters, memoirs and accounts.’ * Country Life *‘Wiped clean of romantic sheen, this is a fascinating perspective into our upstairs/downstairs history.’ * Sainsbury's Magazine *‘A brave book.’ * Saga Magazine *‘Serves not only as an account of those who worked below stairs but also the lords and ladies who were their employers, thus providing an admirable social history.’ * Scottish Home and Country *‘One of the great strengths of this book is how Boase gets under the skin of the real side of country house life.’ * Eastern Daily Press * 'Boase makes history sing, packing her stories with details of family life and class distinctions and the minutiae of everyday living in a house with 10 or 30 or even 100 servants. A great read.' * Toronto Sun *‘Forget Downton Abbey; this exceptionally well-written book is the real deal.’ * Spirit FM *
£9.49
Oneworld Publications A History of Britain in 21 Women: A Personal
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of A History of the World in 21 Women They were famous queens, unrecognised visionaries, great artists and trailblazing politicians. They all pushed back boundaries and revolutionised our world. Jenni Murray presents the history of Britain as you’ve never seen it before, through the lives of twenty-one women who refused to succumb to the established laws of society, whose lives embodied hope and change, and who still have the power to inspire us today.Trade Review‘Fascinating…this entertaining book will be enjoyed by women of all ages.’ * BBC History *‘Ideal to press into the hands of young women studying politics and history.’ * Independent *‘Celebrates the defiant spirit of Britain’s groundbreaking heroines…Entertaining.’ * Daily Mail *‘Shows intent to share the joy of learning something new about what may seem familiar…The value she gives those presently underrated qualities, patience and fortitude, will stand a lifetime’s reference.’ * Telegraph *‘Murray chooses twenty-one women who changed the world, and tells their remarkable stories with her own extraordinary wit, passion and piercing insight. She is the perfect guide.’ -- Helen Castor‘I can’t think of any more seductive way of learning about the past than meeting its principals as if they were friends in a room. That’s the gift that Jenni Murray gives us; a rare gift because these principals are women. If someone in every country were to write a book like this, scholars might finally admit there are two things – history and the past – and they are not the same.’ -- Gloria Steinem‘I was fascinated by this well-researched, informative and entertaining book. I knew the names of many of the women among its pages, but not their stories and it was wonderful to read about them via Jenni Murray’s warm and well-written prose. Entertaining, enjoyable and scholarly.’ -- Elizabeth Chadwick, bestselling author of the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy‘Jenni Murray has invited us to her feast of extraordinary women: queens, artists, writers, musicians, scientists and activists. All are entertaining, all bring their talents to the table where confident Nancy Astor sits beside retiring Gwen John, and Fanny Burney describes her harrowing mastectomy to the pioneering doctor Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. As incomparable host, Jenni lets her guests display themselves lavishly, telling their own noble or quirky stories while she delicately inserts anecdotes from her own distinguished life – her teenage yearning for the ‘gender-quaking’ look of Mary Quant, her terror at the idea of interviewing the redoubtable Margaret Thatcher. This is no closed event. The book invites us all to come in. It’s a feast you won’t want to miss!’ -- Janet Todd, professor emerita, University of Aberdeen, and author of Death and the Maidens‘Jenni Murray has compiled a list of 21 women [that] befits a keen feminist’. * Catholic Herald *‘A fresh and very timely way of looking at British history, illuminated by Murray’s own incomparable experience in the world of women’s stories. Her twenty-one vignettes – of well-known and little-known alike – benefit from the blend of warmth and scepticism that has long marked her own contribution to national life.’ -- Sarah Gristwood‘A History of Britain in 21 Women is impossible to put down or ignore. The legendary Jenni Murray opens up the lives of great figures living and long dead. The veteran interviewer’s voice is present throughout; probing, challenging but never drowning out her well-chosen subjects. The book is dedicated to the young but offers so much to women and men of all ages.’ -- Shami Chakrabarti
£8.79
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-22
Book SynopsisMichael Llewellyn-Smith sets the Greek occupation of Smyrna and the war in Anatolia against the background of Greece's 'Great Idea' and of great power rivalries in the Near East. He traces the origins of the Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos's 'Ionian Vision' to his joint conception with David Lloyd George of an Anglo-Greek entente in the Eastern Mediterranean. This narrative text presents a comprehensive account of the disaster which has shaped the politics and society of modern Greece.Trade Review'I have been reading Ionian Vision with immense enjoyment. It is a wonderful book - scholarly, readable, and, when it deals with the final terrible dénouement, truly tragic. How did I ever manage without it?' -- Michael Howard, OM, CH, CBE, MC, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War and Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford‘An outstanding addition to the growing body of serious academic studies on the modern history of Greece … Llewellyn Smith’s book is indispensable reading for anyone who would seek to understand the convoluted politics of Greece in the twentieth century.’ -- New Society‘’Ionian Vision’ has a theme worthy of Thucydides. … Mr Llewellyn Smith has produced a fine, temperate and engrossing study.’ -- International Affairs‘The expedition to Asia Minor in 1919-22 was a Greek tragedy in every sense. … Among the merits of Mr Llewellyn Smith’s scholarly version of the tragedy is the sense of anxious urgency and hope against hope which it sustains throughout. … An all but definitive account.’ -- Times Literary Supplement‘Consistently readable, industriously researched and documented in detail. … In this absorbing, dramatic and melancholy saga of war and diplomacy, Mr Smith gives us a historical work of great fascination and substance.’ -- Books and Bookmen
£12.34
Verso Books Workshop of the World: Essays in People's History
Book Synopsis'ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING, ORIGINAL INTELLECTUALS OF HIS GENERATION', Stuart Hall, author of The Hard Road to RenewalThe work of the pioneering historian Raphael Samuel opened up new vistas of historical enquiry. He was committed to the idea of people's history, in which he excavated the ordinary lives of those often overlooked or discarded by other writers. This 'unofficial knowledge' transformed what history was, who was allowed to do it, and who it was for.Workshop of the World brings the full range and depth of Samuel's historical writing on nineteenth-century Britain to the fore. From his pioneering study of the influence of the Catholic Church on England's Irish population to his expansive and erudite essay on the itinerant labourers of Victorian Britain, the collection captures both the breadth and depth of his learning. Guided by both a political engagement as well as a methodological commitment to uncovering the stories of ordinary people, Workshop of the World will help introduce Raphael Samuel's work to a new generation of readers.Trade ReviewWorkshop of the World reveals how Raphael Samuel dived into the nineteenth century to find just how onions were pickled or the temperature of cheese tested, extending far and wide from rough sleepers in Willesden to Roman Catholic missionaries in Wallasey. John Merrick's collection of Samuel's essays provides the reader with an invaluable introduction to the political and cultural background which inspired this insightful and exploratory radical historian. -- Sheila RowbothamThese essays are works of extraordinary intellectual energy, refusing to identify method with political orientation, luminous in their historiographic clarity, which turn our attention from the commonplaces of history to the exceptions that deny the clichés: to a post- 1800 world driven by seasons, not the clock, a post-industrial revolution world of production dominated not by the factory, but the farm, the workshop, the cottage, where skills are created and work degraded, where the machine does not rule; of peri-urban villages of brickmakers, and much, much more besides. A feast of erudition with purpose. -- David Edgerton, author of The Rise and Fall of the British NationJohn Merrick and Verso should be thanked for giving a new generation of readers the chance to encounter the youngest of the British Marxist historians, and the one closest in time to ourselves. Samuel was a charismatic teacher, an extraordinarily well-read historian, and a generous man - his too-long-forgotten voice greets us from every line. -- David RentonAn excellent selection ... Merrick's smart introduction and deftly chosen texts should revive interest and admiration in a socialist historian whose eye for unconsidered trifles led him beyond the political binaries of his time and ours. -- Michael Ledger-Lomas * Engelsberg Ideas *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Making of a People's Historian, by John MerrickPeople's HistoryHeadington Quarry: Recording a Labouring CommunityComers and GoersWorkshop of the World: Steam Power and Hand Technology in Mid-Victorian BritainA Spiritual Elect? Robert Tressell and the Early SocialistsThe Roman Catholic Church and the Irish PoorNotes
£23.75
Prospect Books Lost World: England 1933-1936
Book SynopsisDuring 19331936, Dorothy Hartley was commissioned by the Daily Sketch newspaper to write articles describing the English countryside, old English crafts and customs, country foods and country ways (with the odd excursion to Wales, Scotland and Ireland). She did her research in the British Museum (she had by then written several books of social history) and on the ground, travelling around the country on her sturdy bicycle, staying with her subjects, or under a hedgebank if no other choice. These articles were to form her knowledge-bank which she used in several books that came out during the 1930s and beyond (particularly Here’s England, 1935), but they have never been seen as they were first written. We offer a selection, with a foreword by Lucy Worsley (who is presenting the BBC TV documentary on Hartley to be transmitted in November) and introduced by the writer Adrian Bailey (who befriended Dorothy Hartley in her later life). The 65 articles are illustrated with some of Hartley’s own snapshots which she kept as notes for future reference. The subjects range widely over matters as various as thatching, clog-making, eels, the country chemist, marram grass, sand shoes, crabs, sheep shearing, spring-cleaning, country kitchens, ploughing, weather lore, and elevenses.
£14.25
John Donald Publishers Ltd The Kings of Alba: c.1000 - c.1130
Book SynopsisThe events of 1000-1130 were crucial to the successful emergence of the medieval kingdom of the Scots. Yet this is one of the least researched periods of Scottish history. We probably now know more about the Picts than the post-1000 events that underpinned the spectacular expansion of the small kingdom which came to dominate north Britain by the 1130s. This expansion included the defeat and absorption of other significant cultural and political groups to the north and south of the core kingdom, and was accompanied by the introduction of reformed monasticism. But perhaps the most momentous process amongst all these political and cultural changes was the move towards the domination of the kingship by just one segment of the royal kindred, the sons of King Mael Coluim mac Donnchada's second marriage to Queen Margaret. The story of how these sons managed to achieve political supremacy through machination, murder and mutilation runs like an unsavoury thread throughout this book. The book also investigates the building blocks from which the kingdom was constructed and the various processes which eventually allowed the kings of the different peoples of north Britain to describe themselves as Rex scottorum. It is a hugely rewarding voyage of discovery for anyone interested in the formation of the kingdom of the Scots.
£999.99
John Donald Publishers Ltd Hebridean Folk Songs: Waulking Songs from Barra,
Book SynopsisThe classic three volumes of Hebridean Folksongs, reissued simultaneously for the first time since their original publication (1969, 1977, 1981), contain 135 songs connected with the waulking of homespun tweed cloth in the Hebridean isles. Volume 1 is based on waulking songs collected by Donald MacCormick in South Uist in 1893. Volumes 2 and 3 are based on John Lorne Campbell's recordings of songs made between 1938 and 1965 in Barra, South Uist, Eriskay and Benbecula. The translations for all the songs in Volumes 2 and 3 and many of those in Volume 1 are by John Lorne Campbell, who also wrote detailed notes discussing the songs. Multiple versions of the same song are compared with each other and with versions drawn from unpublished manuscript sources. Francis Collinson's meticulous musical transcriptions of the songs, and musicological analyses, are invaluable. The songs are from the repertoires of some well-known singers of their generation, including Miss Annie Johnson, her brother Calum and Miss Mary Morrison, all of Barra, Mrs Neil Campbell of South Uist, and Miss Nan MacKinnon of Vatersay.
£22.50
Birlinn General Warriors of the Word: The World of the Scottish
Book SynopsisWords have always held great power in the Gaelic traditions of the Scottish Highlands: bardic poems bought immortality for their subjects; satires threatened to ruin reputations and cause physical injury; clan sagas recounted family origins and struggles for power; incantations invoked blessings and curses. Even in the present, Gaels strive to counteract centuries of misrepresentation of the Highlands as a backwater of barbarism without a valid story of its own to tell. Warriors of the Word offers a broad overview of Scottish Highland culture and history, bringing together rare and previously untranslated primary texts from scattered and obscure sources. Poetry, songs, tales, and proverbs, supplemented by the accounts of insiders and travellers, illuminate traditional ways of life, exploring such topics as folklore, music, dance, literature, social organisation, supernatural beliefs, human ecology, ethnic identity, and the role of language. This range of materials allows Scottish Gaeldom to be described on its own terms and to demonstrate its vitality and wealth of renewable cultural resources. This is an essential compendium for scholars, students, and all enthusiasts of Scottish culture.Trade ReviewA complete rewrite and massive expansion of the author's previous Handbook of the Gaelic World. Essential for anyone interested in the Gaelic world.
£22.50
V&R Unipress 1870/71: Der Deutsch-Franzosische Krieg in
Book SynopsisNeue interdisziplinÃre Forschungen zu einem einschneidenden Ereignis europÃischer Geschichte
£43.19
McGill-Queen's University Press Drugging France
Book SynopsisNineteenth-century drug consumption permeated French society and encouraged the chemical enhancement of modern life. Drugging France highlights the medical histories of these drugs, chronicling how doctors transformed exotic botanicals and unpredictable chemicals into substances that reconfigured how people experienced their minds and bodies.Trade Review“Highly accessible and enjoyable to read, Drugging France is pathbreaking not only for the historical literature on France, but for the entire field of drug history.” Howard Padwa, UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs“This fascinating work is an important contribution to the understanding of the practices of care, pleasure, and experimentation made possible by psychotropic drugs in the nineteenth century. Sara Black considerably enriches a historiography that has until now been too concentrated on the phenomenon of addiction, by showing how much the use of psychotropic drugs was in fact anchored in the practices of the French, and by extension of Westerners, in a complex and varied set of consumptions.” H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews"A meticulously researched and vividly detailed analysis of the impact of war on the landscape and society of the battlefields of the Western Front in France and Belgium. Connelly’s study provides valuable insights into the motivations and significance of visiting battlefields and the first mass tourism to former sites of war and violence, as well as the emergence of a whole new industry." Francia-Recensio
£30.60
McGill-Queen's University Press Stalingrad Lives Stories of Combat and Survival
Book SynopsisFeaturing lost work by Vasily Grossman alongside texts by luminaries such as Konstantin Simonov, Viktor Nekrasov, and Ilya Ehrenburg, Stalingrad Lives reveals, for the first time in English, the real Russian narrative of Stalingrad in the fall of 1942 – an epic story of death, martyrdom, resurrection, and utopian beginnings.Trade Review“This thoroughly-researched volume brings to life an era when journalism – in its particular Russian literary form – really was the first draft of history. Soviet victory at Stalingrad changed the course of the Second World War, and consequently the course of European and world history. Ian Garner’s impressive achievement here is to combine commentary and context with lively translation. It is extremely timely at a moment when journalism – not least in Russia – once again finds itself on the frontline.” James Rodgers, City, University of London, and author of Assignment Moscow: Reporting on Russia from Lenin to Putin“A long-overdue study of what is probably the most important body of war correspondence ever written.” Robert Chandler, translator of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad and Life and Fate
£52.70
University of Notre Dame Press Coire Sois The Cauldron of Knowledge A Companion
Book SynopsisOffers thirty-one previously published essays by Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, which together constitute a magisterial survey of early Irish narrative literature in the vernacular.Trade Review“Tomás Ó Cathasaigh is that rare scholar in Celtic studies whose work has much to say not only to advanced scholars in the field but also to specialists dealing with other literatures, comparative mythologists, and undergraduates. Our understanding of medieval Irish epic and saga is immeasurably enriched by his elegant writing style, his erudition, and his wide-ranging critical eye. It is indeed a bounteous blessing, then, to have collected in this volume Ó Cathasaigh’s best, most representative, and most useful work." —Joseph Nagy, University of California, Los Angeles"A turning-point in Celtic studies occurred in 1981 when Tomás Ó Cathasaigh began a series of thematic studies of Irish sagas, starting with ‘The Theme of Lommrad.’ Now, three decades later, his ground-breaking collection of essays has been gathered together in a book. The student experience has been transformed. No essay or article on Irish sagas can be written without consulting Professor Ó Cathasaigh’s close readings. We are all in debt to him, Matthieu Boyd, and the University of Notre Dame Press." —Patrick Sims-Williams, Aberystwyth University, Wales"Tomás Ó Cathasaigh has long been known for his sensitive and superbly nuanced readings of early Irish literature. This impeccably edited collection brings together his most important articles of the past thirty years, many of which appeared originally in anthologies and periodicals not always easy to find outside Ireland. Ó Cathasaigh's deep learning and profound insights are evident on every page. This is truly a 'must-have' book both for specialists in Celtic and for all medievalists interested in vernacular culture and the intersection of native and Latin traditions." —Robin Stacey, University of Washington"To read Tomás Ó Cathasaigh’s essays gathered and ordered in this splendid volume is to explore the web of early Irish literature with a learned and witty guide. Each chapter stops at a particular point in the early Irish literary record, but the light that Ó Cathasaigh sheds on each text or theme illumines the entirety of the landscape. His close attention to the nuances of language and his finely tuned sense of social relationships in medieval Ireland are but two of the qualities that make Ó Cathasaigh perhaps the most skilled reader that early Irish literature has ever had. Coire Sois will be an indispensable vade mecum for generations of students and scholars to come." —Catherine McKenna, Margaret Brooks Robinson Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University“This book is a credit to its editor, publisher, and (above all) to its author, whose perceptive interpretations and civilized discussions lead the reader to an appreciation of the breadth of early Irish saga literature. It is a book that can and should be read by all those who seek insight into the literature and culture of medieval Ireland.” —breac: A Digital Journal of Irish Studies“This is a book that should be acquired by anyone who is concerned with the study of early Irish literature . . . . This is a very special book, indeed, its sum greater than its already outstanding parts.” —Parergon“This collection of essays, originally published between 1976 and 2011, reflects the life’s work of one of the most perceptive and subtle readers of early Irish literature of the last fifty years . . . . Ó Cathasaigh’s expository style, his close reading of a wide range of texts, and the enduring authority of these essays certainly does provide the reader with a lucid guide to some of the most important debates and texts in the field.” —SHARP News“Ó Cathasaigh’s work combines aspects of the traditional philological and etymological studies of early Irish myth and saga with interpretations of these works as literary works in their own right. Ó Cathasaigh is an excellent guide through the complexities of early Irish literature, whether it be on general issues such as he addresses his essays on The Semantics of síd, The Concept of the Hero in Early Irish Literature, and Early Irish Literature and Law, or more specific themes, such as ‘Cath Maige Tuired’ as Exemplary Myth, Mythology in ‘Táin Bó Cúailgne’, and The Rhetoric of ‘Fingal Rónáin’.” —Fabula
£35.10
University of Wisconsin Press Citizen Countess Sofia Panina and the Fate of
Book SynopsisBased on detailed research in archival collections, this book establishes Sofia Panina as an astute eyewitness to and passionate participant in the historical events that shaped her life. Her experiences shed light on the evolution of the European nobility, women's emancipation and political influence, and the fate of Russian liberalism.
£31.96
Yale University Press The Dead of the Irish Revolution
Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive account to record and analyze all deaths arising from the Irish revolution between 1916 and 1921A monumental new book [and] an incredible piece of research. . . . Formidable, authoritative and handsomely produced, The Dead of the Irish Revolution is a fitting memorial.Andrew Lynch, Irish IndependentWill surely serve as the indispensable reference work on this topic for the foreseeable future. . . . A truly remarkable feat of close scholarship and calm exposition.Gearoid O Tuathaigh, Irish Times Weekend This account covers the turbulent period from the 1916 Rising to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921a period which saw the achievement of independence for most of nationalist Irelandand the establishment of Northern Ireland as a self-governing province of the United Kingdom. Separatists fought for independence against government forces and, in North East Ulster, armed loyalists. Civilians suffered violence from all combatants, sometimes as collateral damage, oTrade Review“A sobering book for anyone who views the partition of Ireland as a reasonable compromise. And even more sobering for anyone who might wish to set about dismantling what was established then.”—Colm Tóibín, Financial Times“Draws on published work, including memoirs, contemporary newspaper reports and accounts of participants...Detailing those killed in the conflict and the best information on how the deaths occurred.”—Charles Lysaght, Studies“A highly significant work...Eunan O’Halpin and Daithí Ó Corráin have succeeded admirably.”—Dr. Rory Finegan, An Cosantóir“An extremely important work that makes a very significant contribution to our understanding of the revolutionary period...An absorbing read”—Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, History Ireland“As close to a comprehensive picture of the human costs of this complex violence as we are ever likely to have...The sheer detail and complexity of the stories recorded here helps to break down and undermine simplistic historical narratives of this period.”—Stephen Hopkins, Cercles“This is a truly astonishing piece of work…A work which will be of immense value to historians generally and to family historians in particular.”—Richard McMinn, Familia (Journal of the Ulster Genealogical and Historical Guild)“Physically, the book is a beautiful production, elegantly laid out. It is also, to quote Diarmaid Ferriter, ‘a triumph of even-handed research’...This masterful book will be indispensable to all students of the period. The authors are owed a deep debt of gratitude.”—Cian Flaherty, Decies (Journal of the Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society)“The authors of this important new study of the fatalities of the Irish revolution, succeed magnificently in combining the statistics and the stories, in a volume that will surely serve as the indispensable reference work on this topic for the foreseeable future. It is a truly remarkable feat of close scholarship and calm exposition, based on an exhaustive mining of a wealth of primary source material.”—Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Irish Times Weekend“A monumental new book [and] an incredible piece of research...Formidable, authoritative and handsomely produced, The Dead of the Irish Revolution is a fitting memorial.”—Andrew Lynch, Irish Independent“I have read many books about that period, but none exposes like this book does the raw callousness and bigotry and pure hapless human blundering that energised that violence.”—Malachi O’Doherty, Belfast Telegraph“Without intending to be iconoclastic, takes a more granular approach, bringing the reader face to face with those who paid the ultimate price in the conflict. Clearly written, and based on hitherto unknown material recently released by the Irish Military Archives, it makes for riveting but emotionally taxing reading.”—Rory Rapple, The Tablet“Mesmerising reading...Eunan O'Halpin and Daithi O Corrain have followed up leads in a vast range of official and unofficial sources...Their book also conveys, as few historical records succeed in doing, the sheer cumulative sadness, as well as the intermittent heroics, of those revolutionary times - an achievement hitherto left to the realms of memoir and fiction.”—Roy Foster, New Statesman "A truly remarkable piece of work, on a heroic scale. It forms a complex, illuminating narrative of the lived experience of armed conflict, the nature of insurgent forces and their relationship with the people, and the operations of the security forces. Exceptional."—Charles Townshend, author of Easter 1916"Promises to be the outstanding volume of the decade of commemorations."—Tom Bartlett, editor of The Cambridge History of Ireland"Unique and powerful. A towering monument to all those who died as a result of the Irish Revolution."—Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor of Modern Irish History, University College Dublin"This astonishing work intimately documents the deaths of the Irish Revolution. It will transform scholarship on the period."—Margaret O’Callaghan, author of British High Politics and a Nationalist Ireland
£52.25
Yale University Press Old Age in Greek and Roman Art
Book SynopsisA comprehensive look at ancient sculptures, wall paintings, vases, and more depicting the elderly in Greek and Roman society
£45.00
University of California Press Homosexuality in Greece and Rome
Book SynopsisCollects the primary texts on homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome that are translated into modern English. Covering a period - from the earliest Greek texts in the late seventh century bce to Greco-Roman texts of the third and fourth centuries ce - this title includes well-known writings by Plato, Sappho, Aeschines, Catullus, and Juvenal.Table of ContentsTranslation Credits Preface Introduction 1. Archaic Greek Lyric 2. Greek Historical Texts 3. Greek Comedy 4. Greek Oratory 5. Greek Philosophy 6. Hellenistic Poetry 7. Republican Rome 8. Augustan Rome 9. Later Greco-Roman Antiquity Works Cited Index Illustrations
£30.60
University of California Press Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome
Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Any] omissions do nothing to detract from the theoretical richness and the numerous insights that fill all the pages of this deeply suggestive and wonderfully dense work of scholarship." * Gnomon *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations • vii Periods of Greek and Roman History • xv Acknowledgments • xvii Introduction. Visuality and Viewing in Ancient Greece and Rome • 1 1. Space, Action, and Images • 15 2. Time, Memory, and Images • 97 3. Person, Identity, and Images • 153 4. The Dignity of Reality • 206 5. Representation • 257 6. Decor • 304 Notes • 341 Illustration Credits • 389
£35.70
Harvard University Press Faces of Perfect Ebony
Book SynopsisThough blacks were not often seen on the streets of seventeenth-century London, they were already capturing the British imagination. In her exploration of this emerging black presence, Molineux assembles evidence ranging from shop signs, tea trays, trading cards, board games, and playing cards to song ballads and William Hogarth’s graphic satires.Trade ReviewOffers an important and original analysis of local and popular representations of empire in Britain. It is the first account to present a sustained analysis of how images of white mastery and black servitude were mobilized to help Britons think about themselves in a metropolitan context. This book will make a major contribution to British imperial history, Atlantic history and culture, the history of racialization and slavery, and the histories of art and visual culture. -- K. Dian Kriz, Brown UniversityA vivid and arrestingly original book. Molineux's innovative work shows us that the story of black life in imperial Britain survived in the most unlikely of sources: in contemporary print, iconography and theatre, in shop signs, trade cards, and ephemera of all kinds. Her persuasive argument, allied to the richness of her evidence, illuminates not only eighteenth-century Britain, but provides a discerning insight into the broader world of Atlantic history in the long century before abolition. What had once seemed a curiosity is now revealed, via Molineux's forensic and literary skills, as a multilayered portrait of cultural change during the long century of Britain's Atlantic empire. -- James Walvin, University of YorkAn exemplary work that takes the study of the visual cultures of slavery in bold new directions. By turning her delicate skills of interpretation to anything and everything that Britain's colonial ambition generated, Molineux has inaugurated what may be a tidal change in early slavery studies. She deserves our gratitude for having produced a brilliant piece of detective work which redefines our notions of racial encounter. Faces of Perfect Ebony is a book we should all read, digest, and read again, if we hope to understand the bizarre ways in which the white gaze appropriated and unfortunately still appropriates the black body. -- Marcus Wood, University of SussexFocusing on the period of Britain's greatest engagement in the Atlantic slave trade (ca. 1680-1807), Molineux taps on material culture and popular literature to reveal the presence of Africans in Enlightenment Britain. In doing so, she extends further into the past the growing body of scholarship emphasizing the imperial metropole as a significant contact zone between Britain and its tropical empire. She also highlights slavery's existence in the UK and correlation with racial "othering." While Britain's black population remained small, its presence exerted significant influence in British culture, from the use of images of Africans on shop signs and household commodities to the role of black subjects in performance and art. Most important is Molineux's exploration of British society's ambivalence toward people of African descent. This ambivalence enabled the simultaneous drawing of contrasts and similarities between whites and blacks in the UK, the latter feeding abolitionist sentiment. Based on exhaustive research, this book skillfully employs cultural critique to illuminate the empire's influence on British society. -- A. M. Wainwright * Choice *
£47.56
Harvard University Press Dialogues
Book SynopsisGiovanni Pontano (14261503), whose academic name was Gioviano, was the most important Latin poet of the fifteenth century as well as a leading statesman who served as prime minister to the Aragonese kings of Naples. His Dialogues are our best source for the humanist academy of Naples which Pontano led for several decades.Trade ReviewThe best possible tribute to Pontano is that his dialogues still make entertaining reading… A large part of this entertainment is Gaisser’s doing—this is as shrewd and effervescent a rendering as poor forgotten Pontano is ever likely to get. It’s another triumph for I Tatti, a benchmark of Pontano studies, and a required starting-point for all future textual scholars of his work. But it mainly makes readers think about the vanities of intellectuals and the joys of good raillery. It would be a shame if it found its way only into the hands of scholars and students, even though Pontano himself would probably have preferred it that way. -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Monthly *
£26.96
Harvard University Press The Blood of the Colony
Book SynopsisUnder French rule, majority Muslim Algeria became one of the world’s largest wine producers. Owen White explores the impact of the wine industry on what was France’s most important possession—and on the Algerians for whom grapevines became a hated symbol of colonial exploitation.Trade ReviewMeticulous and colorful…White’s lucidly analytical narrative, with its focus on the social rather than the economic or technical dimensions of the subject, is very compelling…A major achievement in a growing field, this book succeeds admirably as a contribution to both French and Algerian history. -- James McDougall * Journal of Modern History *White describes the economics of the Algerian wine business in revealing detail. -- Richard Vinen * Literary Review *With the publication of Owen White’s magisterial study, we have a comprehensive overview of the vine and wine in Algeria that makes use of new archival collections and new methodological approaches…An essential read for anyone interested in French wine, environment, race, and the aggressive capitalism of imperialism. -- Kolleen M. Guy * Social History *White brilliantly unveils the remarkable story of how Algeria became the world’s fourth-largest wine-producer, before the industry’s post-Independence reduction to insignificance…A fascinating and important study which may be warmly recommended to all those with an interest in the complex legacy of France’s colonial presence in Algeria. -- Philip Dine * French Studies *Handily brings together a history of wine—from unpromising beginnings, through phylloxera and the subsequent surge in production, to the travails of the interwar years and the eventual demise of viniculture—with a history of settler colonialism and all its contradictions…White has performed an admirable job and has served up a monograph that is scholarly in the best sense but also a real pleasure to read. -- Paul Nugent * Journal of Wine Economics *White traces France’s role in turning a largely Muslim country into a powerhouse wine producer before abandoning the vines when the country gained independence in 1962. Told with energy and riveting detail, it’s a fascinating—and sobering—tale that touches on issues of politics, race relations, economics and environmental sustainability that remain integral to the conversation around wine today. * Wine and Spirits *A tour de force. This lively book explores the centrality of vineyards and wine to Algeria’s economy and society in a revealing, long-neglected story about the crown jewel in France’s colonial empire. White uses wine to shed new light on Algeria’s links with France, colonial labor relations, capitalism, and trade. He also engages with the history of science and technology and environmental studies while providing insight into a devastating war of decolonization and its fallout. -- Eric T. Jennings, author of Escape from Vichy: The Refugee Exodus to the French CaribbeanDeeply researched and elegantly written, this is the first major work on wine in Algeria, which is surprising given the extent to which Algeria helped rescue the French wine industry from the crisis of phylloxera. White tells a story that is at once French and Algerian, but also global, seamlessly weaving together histories of agriculture, labor, political economy, environment, migration, race, and colonial governance. I highly recommend this erudite and compelling book. -- Mary Dewhurst Lewis, author of Divided Rule: Sovereignty and Empire in French Tunisia, 1881–1938A beautifully researched and lucidly written book. Explaining how and why wine became the lifeblood of French Algeria, White tacks gracefully between the local and the global, weaving social, economic, and political history into a comprehensive portrait of a settler society. A commodity history that is also a concise, accessible account of French colonization in North Africa and its legacies. -- Jennifer E. Sessions, author of By Sword and Plow: France and the Conquest of AlgeriaIn tracing the emergence of Euro-Algerian viticulturalists and the wine industry they developed, White achieves a sweeping view of French colonialism in Algeria grounded in the everyday experiences of those who made and unmade the Algerian wine industry. Innovative in approach and impressive in scope, this important book will garner a wide readership. -- Elizabeth Heath, author of Wine, Sugar, and the Making of Modern FranceA superb, elegantly written history of colonial Algeria’s immense wine industry and its complex relationship to mainland France. In this landmark work in the history of empire, labor, and capitalism, White covers the full span of Algeria’s tumultuous colonial past, from French conquest to the first years of national independence. A tremendous achievement. -- Herrick Chapman, author of France’s Long Reconstruction: In Search of the Modern RepublicThis wonderfully insightful book shows us how wine production in Algeria became integral to France’s colonization project. As White makes clear, wine exports reconfigured Algeria’s economy within a fabric of colonial dependency. Little wonder that vineyards figured among the most decisive battlegrounds of the Algerian revolution. From start to finish, the detail is brilliant, the conclusions powerful. -- Martin Thomas, author of Fight or Flight: Britain, France, and Their Roads from EmpireThrough the prism of a single commodity, White offers new insights into the economics and cultural significance of French settler colonialism. An elegant and illuminating study. -- David Todd, author of A Velvet Empire: French Informal Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
£32.36
Harvard University Press The OpEd Novel
Book SynopsisThe Op-Ed Novel follows a clutch of globally renowned Spanish novelists who swept into the political sphere via the pages of El País. Their literary sensibility transformed opinion journalism, and their weekly columns changed their novels, which became venues for speculative historical claims, partisan political projects, and intellectual argument.Trade ReviewThe Op-Ed Novel not only elegantly recounts a vital intellectual and cultural history of post-Franco Spain. Carefully exploring the careers of Spain’s most eminent writers, it demonstrates, too, the osmotic links between political journalism and literary fiction—salutary reading in the English-speaking countries, where politics and literature are still regarded as strangers to each other. -- Pankaj Mishra, author of Run and HideIn few places are novelists as powerful as in Spain, with the op-ed page serving as their pulpit and ring for political or cultural pugilism. In this hugely valuable study of the cross-fertilization between opinion writing and Spanish fiction, Seguín discovers a space where ideas are tested and novels are hatched. His book lets readers judge for themselves how much newspapers, novels, and public debate have been enriched as a result—and how much the opposite has happened. -- Giles Tremlett, author of España: A Brief History of SpainMost Anglophone literary critics have clicked on an op-ed whose byline they recognize from the cover of a favorite novel, but few have thought to examine, as Bécquer Seguín does in this bold study, cases where the writing of novels and op-eds overlap so much as to become a single enterprise. Tracing the growth of a culture in which novels mimic, grow out of, or usurp the functions of op-eds—and vice-versa—this book forces us to rethink our understanding of institutions and of genre, as well as received ideas about fictionality, the status of the intellectual, and the always slippery category of ‘nonfiction.’ -- Leah Price, author of What We Talk About When We Talk About BooksThere are two types of intellectuals: the brave and everyone else. Bécquer Seguín analyzes why after Franco’s death Spain encouraged the former. His case study should serve as a lesson to America’s public intellectuals, if there is still such a thing, the majority having become dispensable entertainers. -- Ilan Stavans, author of Quixote: The Novel and the World
£32.26
Harvard University Press Travels with Tocqueville Beyond America
Book SynopsisAlexis de Tocqueville famously wrote about democracy in America, but he also lauded Catholic society in Quebec, feared the nationalism he saw in Germany, and controversially defended French colonization of Algeria. Jeremy Jennings traces Tocqueville's lesser-known travels, recovering the wider insights of one of history's great political thinkers.Trade ReviewIn a magisterial biography, [Jennings] retraces the footsteps of Tocqueville, not just across America, but on his other foreign excursions—always with a notebook in hand and driven by a voracious intellectual curiosity…A highly readable introduction to the work of one of the 19th century’s most insightful political theorists, as well as a persuasive defence of his ideas. -- Toby Young * The Spectator *Jennings proves a splendid guide to Tocqueville’s travels…Tocqueville’s was, Beaumont wrote, ‘a great intelligence united with a noble heart.’ This same Tocqueville comes through in…Travels With Tocqueville—a man of moral seriousness, who combined subtlety with common sense, an original thinker both whom and about whom one cannot read too often or too much. -- Joseph Epstein * Wall Street Journal *Jennings offers a sweeping account of the nineteenth-century French aristocrat. Through a thorough examination of Alexis de Tocqueville’s personal correspondence, the author has produced a biography not only of the man in question, but also of his close friend and fellow political scientist Gustave de Beaumont. Their stories are intertwined and, in Jennings’s eyes, an understanding of their relationship is integral to understanding Tocqueville’s work…Jennings excels in his treatment of the relationship between Tocqueville and Beaumont. -- Oliver-James Campbell * Times Literary Supplement *Composed in an unvarnished but attractive style, alive to scholarly controversy but not mired in it, respectful of the reader’s intellect, and profoundly knowledgeable about its subject matter…Jennings’s book successfully reframes one of modernity’s most worked-over European writers and offers an elegant introduction to the mind-melting complexity of the international interactions that reshaped the nineteenth-century world. -- Alex Middleton * The Critic *Tocqueville, an aristocrat at heart—despite his serious liberal commitments—who liked to associate with people in similar positions and was influenced by them, nonetheless appears in Jennings’ portrait as a discerning tourist…Americans, he perceived, shared an implicit belief in human perfectibility…This kind of observation is what makes Tocqueville such a rewarding author to read. -- Nick Burns * New Statesman *Travels with Tocqueville Beyond America invites reflection…on what it is to travel and theorize a ‘new political science for a world altogether new.’ By implication, Jennings also invites reflection on the significance of home and our points of departure, on our loves of the new and of the old, and on the quest for rest in a restless, rapidly shifting world. -- Sarah Gustafson * Law & Liberty *Jennings has given us nuance against the cliché of Tocqueville; he has given us the process and the dynamics—not just the results and expected outcomes. Jennings is not just interested in ‘the man who understood democracy’…Instead, Jennings has given us more: the man who also questioned democracy and the democratic process. -- Andreas Hess * Society *[As] Jennings illustrates in his new book, not only were Tocqueville’s extensive wanderings remarkable for their variety and length. He looked at cities ranging from Manchester to Quebec City and countries as different as Ireland and Switzerland through an uncommon lens…Without his penchant for travel, Tocqueville would not have been the figure whose ideas continue to fascinate and stimulate. -- Samuel Gregg * Engelsberg Ideas *A superb study of the distinctive character of Tocqueville’s mind. Few scholars are as well equipped as Jennings to offer such penetrating insights into the origins of Tocqueville’s comparative method of political analysis. -- Arthur Goldhammer, translator of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and The Ancien Régime and the French RevolutionThis is intellectual biography at its best. Following Tocqueville on his many travels, and drawing extensively on his letters and journals, Jennings offers an erudite and riveting new portrait of the great liberal thinker whose influence is still keenly felt on both sides of the Atlantic. -- Ruth Scurr, author of Napoleon: A Life Told in Gardens and ShadowsGuiding us along Tocqueville’s paths through North America, Europe, and North Africa, Jennings deftly analyzes his abundant and meticulous notes on each place that he visited. At every turn, this book considerably enriches our understanding of Tocqueville’s democracy as inherently comparative. -- Olivier Zunz, author of The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis de TocquevilleThis is what many of us have waited for: a readable and engaging account of Tocqueville’s myriad travels and their impact on his intellectual development. Written by one of the leading experts on French political thought, it is at once impeccably researched, insightful, and thought-provoking. In short, a brilliant book. -- Helena Rosenblatt, author of The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
£30.56
Harvard University Press The Dynamics of Learning in Early Modern Italy
Book SynopsisA longstanding tradition holds that universities in early modern Italy suffered from cultural sclerosis and long-term decline. Drawing on rich archival sources, including teaching records, David Lines shows that one of Italy's leading institutions, the University of Bologna, displayed remarkable vitality in the arts and medicine.Trade ReviewWith this contribution, Lines provides students and scholars with an excellent summary of the organization of university life in early modern Bologna, and he fosters the pursuit of new studies to shed light on the dynamics of teaching and learning that are yet to be unveiled. -- Silvia M. Marchori * History of Universities *This is foundational scholarship at its best. Joining great scope with precise detail, Lines offers a sweeping account of an institution central to European education and thought over many centuries. Through his eyes, we see the dynamism, energy, and innovation that characterized life at one of Europe’s greatest universities. -- Ann Moyer, author of The Intellectual World of Sixteenth-Century Florence: Humanists and Culture in the Age of Cosimo IAn impressively researched book on Bologna la dotta. David Lines puts to rest the image of the early modern Italian university as an institution in relentless decline. Instead, he demonstrates how the civic and religious government of Bologna, along with its dynamic community of learned professors, repeatedly reinvented the university to meet their needs. -- Paula Findlen, author of Possessing Nature: Museums, Collecting, and Scientific Culture in Early Modern ItalyDavid Lines skillfully reframes the history of the University of Bologna, revealing a dynamic institution with numerous links to cultural life in Italy and beyond. This book is essential reading for historians of science and medicine, intellectual historians of humanism, and anyone interested in understanding the social contexts of education from the late Middle Ages to the modern age. -- Craig Martin, author of Subverting Aristotle: Religion, History, and Philosophy in Early Modern Science
£39.06
Harvard University Press Harvard Studies in Classical Philology Volume 112
Book SynopsisHarvard Studies in Classical Philology, Volume 112 includes Olga Levaniouk, The Dreams of Barcin and Penelope; Paul K. Hosle, Bacchylides' Theseus and Vergil's Aristaeus; Vayos Liapis, Arion and the Dolphin: Apollo Delphinios and Maritime Networks in Herodotus; and other new essays on Greek and Roman Classics.
£35.66
Harvard University Press Old English Lives of Saints Volume I
Book SynopsisOld English Lives of Saints, a series composed in the 990s by the Benedictine monk Aelfric, portrays an array of saints—including virgin martyrs, kings, soldiers, and bishops—whose examples modeled courageous faith, self-sacrifice, and individual and collective resistance at a turbulent time when England was under severe Viking attack.Trade ReviewBoth the first complete edition and the first complete translation of the Lives of Saints in 120 years…This is a stellar work in all respects…The translation is exceptionally elegant, accurate, and idiomatic…The volumes are not only well suited to classroom use but indeed constitute the new and definitive leading edition. -- P. S. Langeslag * Anglia *Filled with deep learning, energy, and good sense. Although the editors wear their learning lightly, these three volumes are the product of extensive knowledge and erudition. Scholars of all levels, as well as generalists interested in the early medieval past, will find much to admire in this accomplished and elegant edition. -- Stacy S. Klein * Medieval Review *
£26.96
Harvard University Press Inside the Kremlins Cold War
Book SynopsisCovering the volatile period from 1945 to 1962, Zubok and Pleshakov explore the personalities and motivations of the key people who directed Soviet political life and shaped Soviet foreign policy.Trade ReviewReads like a page-flipping thriller… Accounts of [Cold War] events are now bolstered for the first time with firm, enlightened documentary evidence… Offers—both to historians and to the lay generations who inherited the fear without the facts—invaluable insights into the pervasive, simmering war that forged the dominant mindset of the latter part of the twentieth century. -- John O’Mahony * Financial Times *[This book is] the most significant addition to the literature on Soviet foreign policy to have appeared since the end of the Cold War. -- Robert Legvold * Foreign Affairs *A Russian publishing a book in the bygone Soviet era that analyzed foreign policy in terms of its architects would have been unthinkable… Most Americans of the time would have found equally unthinkable the suggestion that the Kremlin was home to anyone other than evil tyrants cut from the same drab cloth… What pleasure it is, then, that such previously unthinkable thoughts pop from every page of Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov’s Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War. -- Jane E. Good * Washington Post Book World *Despite the plethora of books on the origins and course of the Cold War, none have provided a documented inside account of the Soviet role in that conflict. Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov are the first to help close the gap by drawing on official archives opened since the Soviet collapse… Calling for a rethinking of the Soviet role in view of new evidence, the authors say that the ‘human factor,’ or how personality skewed policy, has been underplayed in the literature. They offer a revealing account of the actions of Stalin and his lieutenants and then of Khrushchev and his circle. -- Carl A. Linden * American Historical Review *[The authors] have produced a remarkably readable book…[where] new details are brought to light and several old suspicions confirmed… Zubok and Pleshakov are to be commended for their efforts. They have written a book which is as scholarly profound as accessible to a broad audience. -- Kees Boterbloem * Canadian Slavonic Papers *This is a much-awaited book from two prominent young Russian historians. Covering the period from 1945 to 1962, Zubok and Pleshakov provide a fascinating look at the issues and, in particular, the personalities involved in the shaping of Soviet foreign policy from the end of World War II to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Largely relying on recently opened Soviet archives, the authors weave a picture of the Kremlin’s elite, their internal struggles, differences of opinion, how they viewed the West and their Communist allies, and why they triggered some of the gravest Cold War crises (Berlin, Korea, Cuba, and so on)… The authors must be commended for one of the most important books on the Soviet side of the Cold War to have appeared in the last decade. -- J. Hanhimäki * Slavonic Review *Two of Russia’s most accomplished Cold War historians have brought us a treasure trove of arresting new information, insights, and judgments that do much to change our understanding of the Soviet Union’s motives and behavior during its long and tragic confrontation with the West. -- Michael R. Beschloss, author of The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960–1963Table of ContentsPreface Prologue: The View from the Kremlin, 1945 Stalin: Revolutionary Potentate Stalin and Shattered Peace Molotov: Expanding the Borders Zhdanov and the Origins of the Eastern Bloc Beria and Malenkov: Learning to Love the Bomb The Education of Nikita Khrushchev Khrushchev and the Sino-Soviet Schism Khrushchev and Kennedy: The Taming of the Cold War Postmortem: Empire without Heroes Notes Index
£26.96
Harvard University Press Time of Anarchy
Book SynopsisIn 1675 English America descended into anarchy, as rebellions, massacres, and riots swept the colonies from New York to Carolina. Behind the upheaval was the Susquehannock Indians. Their shrewd responses to settler violence altered the future course of life and government for colonists and Indigenous peoples from the Great Lakes to the Deep South.Trade ReviewAn eye-opening account of an obscure chapter in colonial American history. * Publishers Weekly *Time of Anarchy is a fine work of historical scholarship. Outstanding research and evocative writing bring this important history to life. -- Gregory D. Smithers * North Carolina Historical Review *Remarkable…Kruer brings a rare sense of historical empathy to all actors without minimizing the horrid levels of indiscriminate destruction and loss experienced by all. Combining nuances and engaging style, this book will remain a reference for years to come. -- Céline Carayon * Virginia Magazine of History & Biography *In his well-organized story on Indigenous power, Kruer solidly argues for the strength and persistence of the Susquehannock with captivating precision and careful detail to source-driven narratives…brings a new perspective to the colonial crises of the late seventeenth century. -- Tyler Daniels * H-Net Reviews *Kruer tells the fascinating and necessary narrative of the Susquehannock people at the end of the seventeenth century. His work and its underlying archive in this regard will be of great importance and interest. -- Caroline Wigginton * Native American and Indigenous Studies *Flowing with insights and executed with skill, Time of Anarchy rearranges conventional understandings of seventeenth-century Anglo–Indian relations. Examining the fateful ‘revolution’ in Anglo–Indian affairs during the 1670s, it upends paradigms of Indigenous victimization, uncovers surprising degrees of Susquehannock power, and challenges normative assumptions about racial formation in the Chesapeake. A remarkable work of recovery, Time of Anarchy compels a major re-periodization of early American history, one in which the currents of race, power, and colonialism follow much less familiar and determined paths. -- Ned Blackhawk, author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American WestTime of Anarchy is a brilliant book on the Susquehannock Indians and their creative and bold maneuvering among North America’s colonial powers. But the book is also an incisive account of colonial tactics and expansion, making it quite extraordinary: we have rarely seen such measured balance in writing early American history. The book is filled with insights and historiographical interventions, but Matthew Kruer introduces them to us surreptitiously with elegant and compelling prose. -- Pekka Hämäläinen, author of Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous PowerMixing exquisite historical detail with brilliant analysis, Matthew Kruer remaps colonial North America, locating a small Native nation—the Susquehannocks—at the very center of a continental world of imperial conflict. Time of Anarchy makes a bold and provocative intervention into early American history. Our understanding of Indigenous power will never be the same. -- Philip J. Deloria, author of Indians in Unexpected PlacesIn a blood-soaked time of war and chaos in the seventeenth-century Chesapeake, the Susquehannocks emerged as a powerful nation. Matthew Kruer tells their compelling story with grace and insight, managing to make new a history often considered well-worn. Here was a ‘time of anarchy’ that unleashed astonishing and novel orders, both indigenous and colonial. This era will never look the same again. -- Sarah Pearsall, author of Atlantic Families: Lives and Letters in the Later Eighteenth CenturyIn these pages we see the hand of a careful ethnohistorian, a thoughtful political theorist, an archival political historian, a theoretically-sophisticated scholar of affect, and an engaging stylist. Time of Anarchy has the narrative feel of masterful old history but carries the theoretical heft of contemporary scholarship. -- Gregory E. Dowd, author of A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745–1815Time of Anarchy will have a significant impact on our understanding of early American and Native American history. Kruer’s fusion of the histories of emotion and of gender helps to resolve some truly mysterious features of this critical period, and his compelling analysis of the power of threatened masculinity and conspiracy theories make this very much a book for our own time. -- James Rice, author of Tales from a Revolution: Bacon’s Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America
£31.46
Harvard University Press Dantes Bones
Book SynopsisLike a saint's relics, Dante's bones have been stolen, exhumed, and worshiped. Guy Raffa narrates the Florentine poet's hereafterthe physical afterlife of the writer who vividly imagined the spiritual afterlife. In the story of the bones lies the tale of Dante's evolution from Renaissance to Italian to nationalist hero, and finally global icon.Trade ReviewDante Alighieri changed literature forever by reimagining the afterlife, and Dante’s Bones now captures Dante’s afterlife in a way that has never been done. Adeptly guiding us through medieval politics as well as modern science, Guy Raffa achieves the elusive accomplishment of vividly bringing Dante to life through his death. -- Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante ClubDante’s Bones is at once a vivid retelling of Dante’s fortunes in the centuries following his death and an important work of historical scholarship. Guy Raffa’s deft prose illuminates the enduring contest over the great poet’s mortal remains, providing a remarkable instance—by turns comical, deadly serious, and always captivating—of the appropriation of literary genius for political and cultural purposes. -- Albert Ascoli, author of Dante and the Making of a Modern AuthorDante’s Bones is an enormous gift to readers and scholars of the poet and Italian history. With intensive scholarship in a wide variety of fields as his loom, Raffa has woven a fascinating tapestry out of 700 years of guarding, stealing, hiding, maintaining, studying, celebrating, debating, and claiming the material form and symbolic meaning of Dante’s remains. -- Arielle Saiber, author of Measured WordsRaffa tells the remarkable story of Dante’s afterlife, by turns grotesque, lively and farcical, as the loss and recovery of his bones intertwines with the tempestuous fate of Italy. -- Barbara Newman * London Review of Books *In fiction and in fact, Dante Alighieri has been influencing the world order for centuries. Just how he’s achieved global-icon stature is the subject of Guy P. Raffa’s fascinating, comprehensive new book. -- Jenny McPhee * Air Mail *Fascinating…In tracing the history of Dante’s bones, Raffa also provides an illuminating exploration of Italian nationalism and political thought. * Publishers Weekly *Pulling together many threads of Dante's story, Raffa offers an engaging, informative, and original account of the material culture of the poet’s epic body of work. Highly recommended. * Library Journal *Learned, literate, and quite entertaining…Raffa’s tale touches on art and architecture, forensic science, war, public spectacle, political machination, literary trends, body snatching, air raids, and more…An excellent book for anyone with an interest in Dante, the arc of Italian history, or merely an historical adventure well told. * StrategyPage *An intensively researched, gripping story of Dante’s lively bones that also tells a brisk history of modern Italy. Raffa keeps a detached historian’s eye on how Italian political figures used Dante to justify their own vision of the nation, the race, and the culture…Fascinating. -- Kelly Scott Franklin * Law and Liberty *Details the path that Dante’s remains trod in his physical afterlife, from the time of his death to the present, and of the people who wanted a piece of him for themselves…Has the marks of a detective story. -- John M. DeJak * Chronicles *Meeting the challenge of invigorating historical events with whodunit tones of intrigue, Guy P. Raffa’s Dante’s Bones delivers a fairly adventurous tale. -- Patrick James Dunagan * Rain Taxi *As Guy Raffa charts in his beautiful book Dante’s Bones, Dante’s corporeal afterlife is its own story. -- Candida Moss * Daily Beast *A fascinating narrative of translation (literal), cultural appropriation, and myth making. Dante becomes a humanist ideal, a nineteenth-century prophet, and hence father for Italy, and abstraction to which all political persuasions have sought to harness themselves. The actual travails of Dante’s remains also make for fascinating reading. -- Daragh O’Connell * Annali d’Italianistica *
£28.76
Harvard University Press Empire Incorporated
Book SynopsisHistorians typically regard the British Empire as a state project aided by corporations. Philip Stern turns this view on its head, arguing that corporations drove colonial expansion and governance, creating an overlap between sovereign and commercial power that continues to shape the relationship between nations and corporations to this day.Trade Review[A] landmark book…[a] bold reframing of the history of the British Empire. -- Caroline Elkins * Foreign Affairs *British colonialism…Stern says, was conceived by investors, creditors, entrepreneurs, and, lest we forget, parvenus and embezzlers. This cast of men-on-the-make flourished alongside sovereigns and their ministers and produced what Stern calls ‘venture colonialism’—a form of overseas expansion that was driven by a belief that ‘the public business of empire was and had always been best done by private enterprise.’ The history of British colonialism is really the history of the joint-stock corporation. -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *Remarkable…The richness of detail and evidence that Stern…brings to his subject is [new]—as is the lucidity with which he organises his material over six long chapters that stretch from the mid-16th century almost to the present. -- Linda Colley * Financial Times *Empire, Incorporated offers a refreshingly new take on British imperialism…[It] is a remarkably comprehensive account of how—from the reigns of Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II, and from some of the earliest plantation projects in Ireland to the Falklands War—corporations have played a defining role in the British Empire. -- Dinyar Patel * Los Angeles Review of Books *[A] commanding history of British corporate imperialism…Stern avoids a trite parallelism that reduces chartered companies to the forerunners of modern multinationals. The East India Company didn’t just bow out to Apple or Tesla; instead, it has undergone a sort of resurrection…But it’s also possible to finish this book convinced that the British Empire has been just one phase in the pragmatic imagination of Anglophone capitalism. -- Michael Ledger-Lomas * London Review of Books *The genius of Empire, Incorporated lies in weaving a coherent narrative that is at once solid and lucid, explaining how corporations are structured and how they ended up ruling the world, creating empires…Scholarly, engaging, and entertaining. -- Salil Tripathi * Mekong Review *Stern is a tireless researcher and an accomplished explainer of geopolitical and financial matters. This is a consequential reconsideration of the history of colonialism. * Publishers Weekly *Brilliant, ambitious, and often surprising. With great clarity and remarkable archival reach, Stern convincingly argues that it was joint-stock ‘venture colonialism’ that financed and drove the earliest attempts at establishing Tudor and Elizabethan colonies from Ulster to Spitsbergen, Virginia to ‘Cathay,’ and even a Puritan republic of the Bahamas. A remarkable contribution to the current global debate about empire and a small masterpiece of research and conceptual reimagining. -- William Dalrymple, author of The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an EmpireThis is an extraordinary book of great erudition and vast scope. Stern has written the definitive work on how the British Empire was driven by the joint-stock company and the legal device of incorporation. This remarkable account of a dizzying number of corporations that drove imperial expansion will be unrivaled for many years to come. -- Andrew Fitzmaurice, author of King Leopold’s Ghostwriter: The Creation of Persons and States in the Nineteenth CenturyStern has written the most important book on the history of the company in the English-speaking world in over a century. Empire, Incorporated is a gift for historians and general readers alike. Lawyers and investment bankers—always looking for the next clever idea to structure a deal or a new commercial entity—will delight in all the examples this book provides, and profit from the cautionary tales that abound. -- Paul Halliday, author of Habeas Corpus: From England to Empire
£26.96
Princeton University Press Mussolinis Intellectuals Fascist Social and
Book SynopsisOffers an account of the intellectual figures of Italian Fascism, tracing how the movement's ideas evolved in response to social and political developments inside and outside of Italy. This book follows Fascist thought from its beginnings in socialist ideology through its evolution into a separate body of thought and to its destruction.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2005 "The book succeeds admirably in convincing the reader that, far from being a doctrine based on irrationalism and violence, fascism's foundations are very sophisticated intellectual constructs."--Paul Petzschmann, Political TheoryTable of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xi CHAPTER ONE: Some Issues in the Intellectual History of Fascism 1 CHAPTER TWO: The Historic Background and Enrico Corradini 18 CHAPTER THREE: Alfredo Rocco and the Elements of Fascist Doctrine 38 CHAPTER FOUR: Sergio Panunzio: From Revolutionary to National Syndicalism 61 CHAPTER FIVE: Idealism, Ugo Spirito, and the Outlines of Fascist Doctrine 85 CHAPTER SIX: Ugo Spirito and the Rationale of the Corporative State 111 CHAPTER SEVEN: Sergio Panunzio and the Maturing of Fascist Doctrine 140 CHAPTER EIGHT: Camillo Pellizzi, Carlo Costamagna, and the Final Issues 165 CHAPTER NINE: Doctrinal Interlude: The Initiatic Racism of Julius Evola 191 CHAPTER TEN: Doctrinal Continuity and the Fascist Social Republic 222 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Conclusions 246 Index 263
£31.50
Princeton University Press Why We Are Restless On the Modern Quest for
Book SynopsisTrade Review"I have read many critiques of liberalism, but none so original as Why We Are Restless."---Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal"[Benjamin and Jenna Storey’s] book is an education in the irony and complexity of the modern quest for contentment, and in the pre-modern sources required for any understanding of how to actually achieve meaningful contentment. . . . I can’t recommend it enough."---Yuval Levin, National Review"[A] terrific book. Hard to understand modern secular culture if you don't know anything about Montaigne."---Timothy Keller, New York Times bestselling author"Throughout this excellent book, the Storeys provide a model for how the thought of the past can be made vital."---Diana Schaub, Claremont Review of Books"Unapologetically earnest . . . brave and countercultural."---Joe Moran, Times Higher Education"Written in an engaging and compact style, [Why We Are Restless] is essential reading for all observers of the persistent, often hidden, but increasingly visible unhappiness of contemporary life. Benjamin and Jenna Storey have done us the service of restoring some of the deepest arguments about human happiness that lie at the roots of modern politics."---Adam Thomas, Public Discourse""Why We Are Restless is a rich analysis of why we are unhappy and what we might begin to do about it.""---Nathaniel Peters, Law & Liberty"Beautifully written and carefully argued, it’s as searching as it is subtle. . . . [Why We Are Restless] does a magnificent job of summarizing four hugely important thinkers with impressive clarity, wit, and brevity and raises some profound questions about the modern quest for happiness in the process."---Andrew Wilson, Gospel Coalition"A powerful case that the invention of ‘immanent contentment’ in early modern France has everything to do with the infinite restlessness of the postmodern United States."---Delaney Thull, Fare Forward"A great read for pastors, theologians, and Christians who want to think deeply and critically about the culture."---Stephen Roberts, Modern Reformation"Culturally significant. . . . this study is a rich resource for reflection." * Paradigm Explorer *"Excellent. . . . Why We Are Restless stands out among other books like it by answering the question implied by its title with rigor and charity."---Matt Dinan, Hedgehog Review
£19.80
Princeton University Press Goya
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the PROSE Award in Biography & Autobiography, Association of American Publishers""A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Art, Architecture, & Photography Book of Fall 2020""One of The Sunday Times' Best Art Books of 2020""An impressive and scrupulous work of scholarship."---Michael Prodger, The Sunday Times"Goya: A Portrait of the Artist [is] a newly informed chance to reflect on an artist of enigmatic mind and permanent significance. . . . Tomlinson addresses, with refreshing clarity, a chronic question of just how independent, not to say subversive, Goya was of the powers that employed him. . . . She admirably keeps the mysteries of Goya’s character distinct from its self-serving machinations."---Peter Schjeldahl, New Yorker"[A] thorough and balanced biography. . . . Tomlinson is an excellent guide."---Robin Simon, Literary Review"According to Janis Tomlinson, the great Spanish painter and etcher was not, as legend has it, a man who turned in on himself and . . . depicted a horror-haunted inner world with demons and witches everywhere, but a social creature who took on the cultural and folkloric currents of his time. Her Goya is no recluse, but shifts alongside his rapidly changing political masters." * Sunday Times *"If ever there was a time that demanded a fuller understanding of Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, that time is now. Goya navigated the tempestuous shoals around being a court painter and an independent humanist during the brutal period of Spain’s Imperial unraveling. In the process he emerged as arguably the first modern artist…[A] superlative study."---Christopher Knight, LA Times"Tomlinson has produced an authoritative, reliable and thoroughly up-to-date biography that includes many insights into Goya’s social and political milieu during a time of unprecedented upheaval in Spain. . . . [The book offers] a detailed account of his life while simultaneously offering insights into the artist’s creative process and providing the reader with the opportunity to distinguish between the legends and the facts concerning many facets of Goya’s life and work."---Simon Lee, Burlington Magazine"In Goya: A Portrait of the Artist, [Janis Tomlinson shows that] the painter was not the loner that he is sometimes imagined to be. . . . One of the pleasures of Tomlinson’s book lies in encountering the unvarnished details of Goya’s life; her delineation of the artist’s remarkably flexible political allegiances is especially engrossing."---Andrew Martin, Harper's Magazine"[Tomlinson] is an expert, evenhanded guide and there is no question we are in the surest hands."---Maxwell Carter, Wall Street Journal"Tomlinson’s detailed account of this long and productive life is discriminating and trustworthy. . . . Tomlinson has supplied a cool and corrective scholarly chronicle."---Julian Bell, New York Review of Books"A passionate and well-researched biography. . . . Tomlinson refutes the common image of Goya as a dark, obsessive artist and attributes his success, instead, to his geniality and initiative. The writing is insightful, with Tomlinson’s pensive, philosophical tone mirroring her deep expertise and knack for critical thinking. This inspired, thoughtful work sheds new light on Goya and will enthrall any lover of fine art." * Publishers Weekly *"Tomlinson’s meticulous distillation of a voluminous number of parish records, drawings, notes, and letters is impressive, and her knowledge of and passion for Goya continually shine through in her writing, making for a fascinating and insightful reading experience. A top-notch biography." * Kirkus starred review *"This well-informed, comprehensive biography would make an excellent gift for an art lover. Tomlinson has fashioned a clear and informative biography that will appeal to Goya researchers and enthusiasts."---Alexander Adams, The Critic"This masterly biography now puts the work into context and breathes life into the legend of the morose recluse."---Bel Mooney, The Daily Mail"The 'portrait of the artist' painted by Tomlinson is that of a man able to adapt to an ever-changing political landscape. Her prose interweaves personal biography and major historical events with brief interludes of artistic description that whet the visual appetite. Reading it is like walking on a frozen lake, aware of the scholarly depth beneath but safe on top of the thick ice. Bite-size chapters transform the tome into a digestible and enjoyable read. . . . in a world brimming with books on Goya, this will surely stand as the definitive biography for years to come."---Isabelle Kent, Apollo"Goya [is] a lucid, meticulously researched, and nuanced account of the life of the perennially fascinating Spanish painter, Francisco de Goya…[Janis] Tomlinson’s book is both a meticulous scholarly contribution and a highly accessible biography for the non-specialist reader. . . . Tomlinson’s tour de force is a profoundly sensitive and masterful portrait of one of the towering artists of the modern era."---Catherine M. Jaffe, Dieciocho"Goya takes a fresh look at well-trodden misconceptions about the artist, exhuming details from parish records, court papers, newspapers, and other archives, and investigated how recent discoveries like an early sketchbook and new access to his letters provide insight into his six decades of art."---Allison C. Meier, Fine Books & Collections"Francisco de Goya is often thought of as the reclusive, deaf and delusional artist who depicted drowning dogs, mutilated bodies and Saturn devouring his son…In Goya, the American art historian Janis Tomlinson goes some way to dispelling this perception, scouring primary resources — including the Spaniard’s letters, court papers and sketchbooks — to provide a more nuanced depiction." * Christie's *"Janet Tomlinson’s new biography restores [Goya] to his own times. . . . The pragmatic portrait of the artist offered by Tomlinson is one that makes compelling sense of the surviving textual evidence. . . . Tomlinson has provided the most reliable life of the artist to date."---Tom Stammers, London Review of Books
£18.00
Princeton University Press Rain of Ash
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Ernst Fraenkel Prize, Wiener Holocaust Library""Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Holocaust Category""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""An astonishing breadth of interviews of survivors and their relatives. . . . Of profound interest to serious students and readers of history." * Library Journal *"Joskowicz offers a fascinating and often heartbreaking account of the Roma struggle for justice and restitution in the face of persecution. . . . The great virtue of Joskowicz’s book, alongside the comprehensiveness of its research, is its refusal to reduce any of the weighty issues it discusses to abstractions, or to stray from the complex and often contradictory human experiences at stake. Instead, Joskowicz grounds his account in the lives of the people whose suffering and whose activism animate his scholarship."---Daniel Kraft, Slate"A clear, flowing portrait of this understudied but deeply violated population that fundamentally alters our perception of the Holocaust, enlarging it to include the Romani victims and bringing to the fore their quest for historical justice and self-representation. . . . [An] illuminating new book."---Linda F. Burghardt, Jewish Book Council"Remarkable. . . .At a time when Holocaust parallels have become once again contentious and politicised, Joskowicz’s book builds a refreshing case for careful and nuanced historical comparison."---Dr Christine Schmidt, BBC History Magazine"[Joskowicz] brings new focus to the testimonies of victims of the Nazi regime, especially the stories of long-ignored Romani victims, often gathered from the witness testimonies of and interviews with Jewish survivors of the camps. . . . A deeply important book for the questions it raises about the ways in which historians collect and analyze history." * Choice Reviews *"It is rare for an academic text to be highly readable, accessibly written, and an important work of historical scholarship, but Ari Joskowicz’s Rain of Ash: Roma, Jews, and the Holocaust ticks all three of these boxes. . . . This book is an absolute must-read. Ultimately, Rain of Ash is a completely novel achievement, a real boon to multiple fields of study, and well worth your time."---Claire Greenstein, Ethnic and Racial Studies"Incisive. . . . Joskowicz grapples with fundamental issues in the field of memory studies, namely, what and how we remember, and the way that a politicization of memory can destabilize or challenge dominant narratives of history. . . . A significant and poignant contribution to the field of Holocaust (and Romani) Studies."---Natasza Gawlick, Journal of Austrian Studies"Time and eloquent. . . . Each chapter of Rain of Ash offers new and sometimes surprising data and insights, to which a short review cannot do justice. It draws on adventurous research in archives all over the world and on digitised sources which have become available in recent decades. Joskowicz has exploited these imaginatively to identify the personalities and reconstruct the interactions that drove institutional and political engagement with the facts and significance of the Romani Holocaust between 1945 and the 2010s. He displays an admirable sensitivity to the challenges as well as the opportunities offered by this expanding source base, and he writes with an analytical clarity that is simultaneously humane and even-handed."---Eve Rosenhaft, Continuity and Change
£25.20
McGill-Queen's University Press Lord Mansfield
Book SynopsisThe life and times of the great eighteenth-century judge and statesman, whose legacy continues to influence Anglo-American law and society.Trade Review"[An] engaging biography ... Poser offers us a fascinating portrait." Wall Street Journal "With meticulous research in sources including the Mansfield archives in Scotland, Poser has produced a brilliantly readable history. Essential." Choice "A remarkable portrait of both a man and a legal age. I enjoyed the book tremendously, learned so much, and am deeply grateful. A master work." Kent Syverud, Washington University School of Law
£25.19
Cornell University Press On Greek Religion
Book SynopsisA provocative and wide-ranging entrée into the world of ancient Greek religion.Trade ReviewAlthough one might expect a mere survey from the title, Parker delivers far more than a beginners' summary. Rather, this book is a probing exploration of the methodological and interpretive difficulties associated with Greek religion from the eighth through the second centuries BCE.... This work provides a wealth of insights from one of the leading experts in the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *On Greek Religion has all the virtues we have come to appreciate in his writings: a fruitful blend of the factual and theoretical; a simultaneous inclination towards and distrust of categories, schemes, and generalities; scrupulous attention to detail; an awareness of what we do and do not and cannot know about Greek religion; precise and generous but not uncritical discussions of others' views; the integration of literary and epigraphical sources; common sense; and a lively style with touches of whimsy. -- Jon D. Mikalson * The Classical Journal *This book derives from the Townsend Lectures given by Parker at Cornell in 2008, but its style is not noticeably different from that of Parker's two previous books.... Its scope is wider than those two works, both chronologically, dealing with material from the eighth to the second century BC, and geographically, covering the entire Greek world. Its ambition is also greater, in that its seven chapters and five appendices aim to provide an interpretation of Greek religion as a whole.... This is a very important book that everyone working in the field of Greek religion will have to read. -- Hugh Bowden * The Journal of Hellenic Studies *This book is an important step in its author's scholarly journey in the field of ancient Greek religion.... This work is outstandingly well-informed, well-written, clever and also very cautious. -- Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *This work, derived from a series of lectures given by the author at Cornell University in 2008, offers a discussion on a series of central questions in the domain of Greek religion. R. Parker achieves his goal with much maestria in this work, which is proof of an excellent knowledge of Greek religion, both ancient evidence and equal historiography, to which he returns frequently. To enrich his reflections, the author systematically echoes various interpretations of the issues he tackles, thus giving breadth to his analysis. All of these qualities make On Greek Religion an indispensable text for specialists in Ancient Greek religion, who will find in it abundant material for reflection. -- Stéphanie Paul * L'Antiquité Classique *Table of Contents1. Why Believe without Revelation? The Evidences of Greek Religion 2. Religion without a Church: Religious Authority in Greece 3. Analyzing Greek Gods 4. The Power and Nature of Heroes 5. Killing, Dining, Communicating 6. The Experience of Festivals 7. The Varieties of Greek Religious ExperienceAppendices 1. Seeking the Advice of the God on Matters of Cult 2. Accepting New Gods 3. Worshipping Mortals, and the Nature of Gods 4. Types of Chthonian Sacrifice? 5. The Early History of Hero CultBibliography Index
£23.99
Cornell University Press Form as Revolt
Book SynopsisThe German writer and art critic Carl Einstein (1885–1940) has long been acknowledged as an important figure in the history of modern art, and yet he is often sidelined as an enigma. In Form as Revolt Sebastian Zeidler recovers Einstein's multifaceted career, offering the first comprehensive intellectual biography of Einstein in English.Trade ReviewSebastian Zeidler presents not only a detailed, rigorous analysis of Einstein’s fragmentary, gnomic writings, but a provocative extrapolation of their potentials.... Among other things, Form as Revolt is an impressive exercise in intellectual history, ranging with ease from Novalis and Hegel to Rosa Luxemburg, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, and beyond.... Form as Revolt is a far-reaching, learned, and ambitious volume.... In this book, over and above the vital contribution he makes to the reception of his hero, Carl Einstein, Sebastian Zeidler takes his own place among the leading critical historians of modernist art. * CAA Reviews *Zeidlers Buch führt in Eisteins literarisches und kunsttheoretisches Werk ein, sprengt aber zugleich das Format der Monografie an so gut wie jedem Punkt seines Textes. Form as Revolt handelt entschieden weniger über den historischen Autor als mit ihm. Im skrupulösen, am Poststrukturalismus, an Derrida und Deleuze geschulten Versuch, die spezifische Verschränkung von Formen und Inhalten in Einsteins Denken und Schreiben herauszuarbeiten, um Einstein gewissermaßen neu zu schaffen, entdeckt und entwickelt Zeilder die Elemente einer Kunstgeschichte der Moderne vor dem Hintergrund der offenkundigen Krise wesentlicher Achsen der Disziplin, von der Semiologie bis zur social art history. * Kunstform *Form as Revolt is the inverse of esoteric; it ceaselessly winnows away the abstruse to place difficult art and thought within reach, but not in dumbed-down ways. To say this volume offers a remarkably insightful contribution to scholarship on the history and criticism of early twentieth-century art would certainly be true, but even such an accolade would hardly speak to the significance—and the courage—of Zeidler’s study. * Critical Inquiry *Table of ContentsCarl Einstein: A LifeCarl Einstein: An Introduction1. The Lost Wanderer2. Sculpture Ungrounded3. Cubism's Passion4. The Double Style5. Private Mythologies
£31.35
Cornell University Press A Culture of Fact
Book SynopsisBarbara J. Shapiro traces the surprising genesis of the "fact," a modern concept that, she convincingly demonstrates, originated not in natural science but in legal discourse. She follows the concept's evolution and diffusion across a variety of...Trade ReviewShapiro has written an excellent work in intellectual and cultural history. * Virginia Quarterly Review *The book is filled with quotes and references to a very wide range of primary as well as secondary sources. It will be of much heuristic value in studying the changing meanings of 'fact' in this period, quite apart from Shapiro's strong argument concerning the special role of the law. -- Peter Dear, Cornell University * Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences *This nutshell presentation does far from justice to the nuances of the basic argument of the book, still less to the striking nature of the supporting detail... It should be given a hearty welcome as a trenchant and well illustrated contribution to an ongoing debate. -- Paul Dukes * Journal of European Studies *
£26.59
Johns Hopkins University Press Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots
Book SynopsisBased on wide-ranging and imaginative research, Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots stands as a major contribution to the history of human-animal relations, eighteenth-century culture, and French colonialism.Trade ReviewIt is both amusing and disturbing to read of people's bizarre interactions with animals in 18th-century France... Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots conveys the joy and wonder Parisians reaped from the monkeys and elephants frolicking around in their society. As Robbins points out, lurking beneath is the animals' profound exploitation: their torturous importation from their native climes; their high mortality rates on the way to France (many died of maltreatment aboard ship; others, if food supplies ran low, simply became dinner); their minimally competent care is they happened to arrive in Paris intact. -- Randy Malamud Chronicle of Higher Education A lively glimpse of 18th-century Paris's infatuation with exotic animals. Here is a genuine labor of love, not merely synthesizing what has already been published, but the result of an apparently exhaustive culling of Parisian archives... What exotic animals 18th-century Parisians saw and owned, how they got there, what the locals made of them, how they influenced fashion, are all well described in Louise Robbins's fascinating book. -- Herman Reichenbach International Zoo News This book adds a new dimension to our understanding of eighteenth-century France by investigating the provenance, treatment, and fate of exotic animals living in Paris in the 1700s. Attentive to the minutiae of everyday life as well as to long-term changes in the Parisian mentalite, Louise E. Robbins studies such creatures in order to show that human history is inseparable from that of the animals living in our midst... A signal contribution. Free of the jargon that plagues much historiography, this study is accessible to the specialist and the general reader alike. -- Julia V. Douthwaite American Historical Review A delightful tour of the world of exotic animals in eighteenth-century Paris... Robbins sketches a striking picture of what the public might have seen by using handbills, police records, and natural history texts. She has been resourceful. In her research, for example, she uncovered a trove of documents relating to the oiseleur's guild. Although small and generally unknown, the guild's history allows us a detailed glimpse into the bird trade (and trade in other animals, as well)... A welcome addition to the literature on eighteenth-century Paris and to our understanding of what animals meant to the people of that city. -- Paul Lawrence Farber Journal of the History of Biology A closely researched account, richly illustrated with material drawn from the contemporary press and archives, of the material and cultural presence of a range of exotic creatures imported into Paris... An exemplary historical account of the domestication of the exotic, cataloging the specific workings of such a process at a given historical moment. -- Charles Forsdick Journal of Romance Studies Robbins's book... highlights a neglected area of social and scientific historical writing. Notable is a deft use of a delicious variety of primary sources ranging from ships logs and personal correspondence of the French crown with its scattered agents to prints circulated among the Parisians and entries in tomes as formidable as the 1765 Encyclopedie... An unusual and fascinating piece of scholarship. -- Robert B. Ridinger E-Streams Using an impressively broad range of sources, Robbins gives a comprehensive account of the many unlikely spaces (literal and figurative) occupied by exotic animals in eighteenth-century Paris. From travelers' descriptions and aristocrats' memoirs, Robbins culls stories of the princesse de Chimay's pet monkey and of the seal loveingly exhibited by a fairground entrepreneur; from police reports, she traces the workings of the Paris bird-sellers' guild; from the colonial archives (and those of the king's menagerie), she charts the routes of African, Asian, and American animals on their way to the French capital... In short, Robbins' book is the product of research that was thorough and thoughtful. -- Rebecca L. Spang H-France Book Reviews Solid and engaging, this book is thoroughly satisfying in its fresh approach to eighteenth-century society. -- Mary Beth Decatur VIII: New Perspectives on the Eighteenth Century Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots has rightly attracted plaudits for its richness and the fascinating subject-the multifarious worlds of animal trading and keeping in eighteenth-century Paris-which the author treats in extensive and well-researched detail... The book is an enjoyable read, well written and thorough, and undoubtedly contributes much to our understanding of a subject about which little was previously known. -- E. C. Spary British Journal for the History of Science Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots is a job very well done. Robbins forcefully uses her sources of diaries, letters, and not least newspapers to drive home the importance of exotic animals in eitheenth-century French imagination... All in all, this book is a delight to read with well-chosen illustrations -- Sofia Akerberg Environmental History 2003 Caged animals could stand in metaphorically not only for slaves but also for victims of royal despotism... It is in showing how ubiquitous such discourses were and how central exotic animals were to them that this well-researched, witty, and thoroughly enjoyable book make its major contribution. -- Cissie Fairchilds Journal of Social History 2004 A captivating book that is not only impreccably researched but also eloquently written. -- Dorothee Brantz Journal of Modern History 2005 Let me stress that although Robbins' book is lots of fun to read, it is also meticulously researched and cogently argued... Do read this book; you will enjoy it and learn a lot. -- Jean Perkins Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer 2010Table of ContentsContents: List of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Live Cargo Chapter 2: The Royal Menagerie Chapter 3: Fairs and Fights Chapter 4: The Oiseleurs' Guild Chapter 5: Pampered Parrots Chapter 6: Animals in Print Chapter 7: Elephant Slaves Chapter 8: Vive la Liberte Epilogue Abbreviations List of Primary Resources Bibliographical Essay Index
£45.00
Louisiana State University Press Jefferson Davis Napoleonic France and the Nature
Book SynopsisIn this highly original study of Confederate ideology and politics, Jeffrey Zvengrowski suggests that Confederate president Jefferson Davis and his supporters saw Bonapartist France as a model for the Confederate States of America.
£41.60
Louisiana State University Press Sweet Land of Liberty
Book SynopsisExamines how the French left perceived and used the image of the United States against the backdrop of major historical developments in both countries between the Revolution of 1848 and the Paris Commune of 1871. Along the way, Tom Sancton weaves in the voices of scores of French observers.
£37.50
The Catholic University of America Press The Priest Who Put Europe Back Together The Life
Book SynopsisPhilip Fabian Flynn led a remarkable life, bearing witness to some of the most pivotal events of the twentieth century. Flynn took part in the invasions of Sicily and Normandy, the Battle of Aachen, acted as confessor to Nazi War Criminals, and assisted Hungarian revolutionaries on the streets of Budapest. The Priest Who Put Europe Back Together tells the story of this fascinating life.
£28.46