General and world history Books

Book SynopsisA brief and original prehistory of the worldTrade ReviewA wonderfully concise and authoritative summary of research into this enormous subject * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *

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Book SynopsisThis tiny yet majestic volume introduces us to some 250 queens who ruled in their own right - who were crowned as the sovereigns of their countries or, in some cases, decided to crown themselves. It begins with queens of the ancient world and ends with those ruling today, encompassing along the way both household names, like Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great, and those who deserve to be better known, like Margaret I of Denmark and Ranavalona I of Madagascar. Each queen is represented by her portrait - painted, carved, engraved, or photographed - and an interesting fact about her reign. This Tiny Folio will be the perfect gift for the powerful women in your life.

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Book SynopsisPresents stories of the bungled efforts by officials at every level to control the smuggling and sale of illegal alcohol. Most entertaining are the creative smuggling efforts undertaken by citizens from all walks of life - from the poor to the affluent, from upstanding citizens to organized criminals and gangsters.

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Book SynopsisTells of the disastrous campaign at Gallipoli in 1915 when the allies failed to knock Turkey out of the war. Featuring photographs, this book provides detailed historical descriptions of the area and the events. It is of interest to the armchair historian and the intrepid visitor to the sites.

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Book SynopsisPeople often complain that in history lessons at school they were taught just a few topics - the Romans, the Tudors, the Nazis - and how they have no idea at all about what happened in between. To remedy this, World History: 50 Key Milestones You Really Need to Know offers brief and stimulating outlines of key developments in the history of the world, from the beginning of agriculture 10,000 years ago to the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11. Ian Crofton, the author of several books of popular history including The Kings and Queens of England, Traitors and Turncoats and History Without the Boring Bits, brings his lively style to bear in a series of essays ranging from ancient Egypt to modern China, from the Vikings and the Mongols to the French Revolution and the Cold War. Each essay is accompanied by a detailed time line of dates and events, and the flavour of the period concerned is brought to life by selected contemporary quotations from figures as diverse as Aristotle, ATable of ContentsIntroduction. FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES: The beginnings of agriculture; The first cities; Egypt of the pharaohs; Classical Greece; Alexander the Great; The spread of Roman power; The fall of Rome and its aftermath; The rise of Islam; The Vikings; The Crusades; The Black Death. OTHER WORLDS: Precolonial India; Imperial China; The Mongols; Japan, the island empire; Incas and Aztecs; Empires and kingdoms of Africa. THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD: The Renaissance; The Ottoman empire; The voyages of discovery; The Reformation; The Counter-Reformation; The English Revolution; The Scientific Revolution; The age of empire; The Enlightenment. GATHERING PACE: The American Revolution; The French Revolution; The Napoleonic Era; The Industrial Revolution; Nationalism in Europe; Slavery; The expansion of the USA; The American Civil War; The rise of socialism; Women's rights. THE 20th CENTURY AND AFTER: The First World War; Lenin and Stalin; The shadow of Fascism; The Great Depression; The Second World War - Europe; The Second World War - Asia and the Pacific; The Holocaust; The Cold War; The end of empire; The Vietnam War; The Arab-Israeli conflict; The fall of communism; The resurgence of China; 9/11 and after. Index.

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Book SynopsisFrom Lisbon to Rome via the islands of the Gulf of Guinee and the sugar mills of Northern Brazil, this book explores the strategies and practices (e. g. bibliopolitics) that displaced scholars cultivated to navigate the murky waters of Late Renaissance politics, through the life of the Portuguese jurist-scholar, Vicente Nogueira (15861654).

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Book SynopsisConsiders the textiles made, traded, and exchanged across Eurasia from late antiquity to the late Middle Ages with special attention to the socio-political and cultural aspects of this universal medium. It presents a wide range of textiles used in both domestic and religious settings, as dress and furnishings, and for elite and ordinary owners.Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Materials and Techniques; 3. Industry; 4. Trade; 5. Dress; 6. Furnishing Textiles; 7. Imported Textiles in European Church Treasuries; 8. Aesthetics; Appendix: Selection of Online Databases of Textile Holdings and Research.

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Book SynopsisThe Great Fire of London which destroyed much of England's capital city in the autumn of 1666 was one of those seminal events that stand out in history, enthralling, fascinating and yet repulsive in the damage and destruction it caused. The story of the fire, which began in the early hours of Sunday 4th September, has been told many times. Phil Carradice's new re-telling of the disaster is different in focusing mainly on the people involved. From Thomas Bloodworth, the inept Lord Mayor, to diarists Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, from the supposed arsonist Robert Hubert to Puritan foretellers of disaster like Humphrey Smith, these people witnessed the Great Fire first-hand. Their views and descriptions make compelling reading. The book does not necessarily give reasons and causes for the fire. Rather it explores how people responded to what was, in reality, the greatest challenge they had faced in their lives. Heroes, cowards and villains are presented in illuminating fashion. King Charles and his brother James, the Duke of York, emerge with nothing but credit, leaving you to wonder how and why James switched from hero of the hour to a position of villain once he became king on the death of his brother. The upsurge of anti-Dutch and French emotion, the panic which seized the population as they tried to flee the stricken city, the breadth and width of the disaster, along with the gradual re-building of London, are all dealt with in Phil Carradice's easy and elegant style. Historical facts and individual characterisation make this book a compelling and accurate read.

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Book SynopsisHow should articulations of blackness from the fifth century BCE to the twenty-first century be properly read and interpreted? This important and timely new book is the first concerted treatment of black skin color in the Greek literature and visual culture of antiquity. In charting representations in the Hellenic world of black Egyptians, Aithiopians, Indians, and Greeks, Sarah Derbew dexterously disentangles the complex and varied ways in which blackness has been co-produced by ancient authors and artists; their readers, audiences, and viewers; and contemporary scholars. Exploring the precarious hold that race has on skin coloration, the author uncovers the many silences, suppressions, and misappropriations of blackness within modern studies of Greek antiquity. Shaped by performance studies and critical race theory alike, her book maps out an authoritative archaeology of blackness that reappraises its significance. It offers a committedly anti-racist approach to depictions of black pTrade Review'Sarah Derbew's impressive first book is a carefully reflective study which is also provocative in the best sense, and a significant intervention in the field of classics. She untangles the vocabulary of race, ethnicity, skin colour and identity to let us see the vested interests and misrecognitions of modern scholarship - and offers a transformative vision of ancient Greek engagements with Africa.' Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek Literature and Culture, University of CambridgeIn Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity, Sarah Derbew provides a radical and desperately needed reframing of Greek antiquity, weaving together a breathtaking range of ancient and modern sources to probe not only the complexity and richness of black presences in the ancient Greek world, but also the modern structures of thought, disciplinary training and even museum curation that have prevented us for far too long from seeing them.' Denise Eileen McCoskey, Professor and Affiliate in Black World Studies, Miami University, Ohio… ambitious and groundbreaking … Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity is proof that the future of classics is already here. It's simply waiting for everyone else to catch up.' Najee Olya, Los Angeles Review of BooksTable of ContentsIntroduction: The metatheater of blackness; 1. Masks of blackness: Reading the iconography of black people in ancient Greece; 2. Masks of difference in Aeschylus's suppliants; 3. Beyond blackness: Reorienting Greek geography; 4. From Greek scythians to black Greeks: Spectrum of foreignness in Lucian's satires; 5. Black disguises in an aithiopian novel; Conclusion: (re)placing blackness; Appendix 1; Appendix 2; Bibliography; Recommended translations of primary Greek texts; Index.

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Book SynopsisWhen refugees flee war and persecution, protection and assistance are usually provided by United Nations organisations and their NGO implementing partners. In camps and cities, the dominant humanitarian model remains premised upon a provider-beneficiary relationship. In parallel to this model, however, is a largely neglected story: refugees themselves frequently mobilise to create organisations or networks as alternative providers of social protection. Based on fieldwork in refugee camps and cities in Uganda and Kenya, this book examines how refugee-led organisations emerge, the forms they take, and their interactions with international institutions. Developing an original theoretical framework based on the concept of ''the global governed'', the book shows how power and hierarchy mediate the seemingly benign notion of protection. Drawing upon ideas from anthropology and international relations, it offers an alternative vision for more participatory global governance, of relevance to oTrade Review'The Global Governed? is a detailed examination of the (underappreciated) role of refugee-led organisations at the local level. Theoretically grounded and empirically rich, the book portrays a wide range of social protection activities undertaken by refugees for refugees. Adopting a bottom-up approach, it shows both the possibility of, and barriers to, participation of refugees in global governance.' T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Professor at the New School, New York, Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility'The Global Governed? draws on the best tradition of Oxford University's Refugee Studies Centre and its founder, Barbara Harrell-Bond, by starting from the premise that refugees, no matter how destitute and vulnerable, are always actively trying to help themselves. They do not sit back and wait for assistance or for someone else to protect them, but work together to get what they need. By focusing on refugee community organisations, the authors shine a light into the relationships of power that often work against such self-help. They recognise the complexity of different forms of refugee community organising. This book provides a welcome contribution to understanding the political economy of refugee contexts, but is also relevant to policymakers and aid providers seeking to support refugee populations and to localise approaches to humanitarian and development assistance.' Laura Hammond, Professor in the Department of Development Studies, SOAS University of London'Pincock, Betts, and Easton-Calabria (all, Univ. of Oxford, UK) have combined their expertise and fieldwork to produce this excellent comparison of four major refugee sites in East Africa-Kampala and Nakivale in Uganda, and Nairobi and Kakuma in Kenya … Because of the tight four-site comparison, this would be an excellent text for discussion in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on refugees, or on humanitarian action in general.' D. W. Haines, ChoiceTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Theoretical framework; 3. Kampala; 4. Nakivale; 5. Nairobi; 6. Kakuma; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisIn this expansive history, Robert J. Steinfeld offers a thorough re-interpretation of the origins of American judicial review and the central role it quickly came to play in the American constitutional system. Beginning with Privy Council review of American colonial legislation, the book goes on to provide detailed descriptions of the character of the first American constitutions, showing that they drew heavily on traditional Anglo/American constitutional assumptions, which treated legislatures as the primary interpreters of constitutions. Steinfeld then expertly analyses the central role lawyers and judges played in transforming these assumptions, creating the practice and doctrine of American judicial review in a half dozen state cases during the 1780s. The book concludes by showing that the ideas formulated during those years shaped critical decisions taken by the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which turned the novel practice into a permanent, if still deeply controversial, featTrade Review'In this meticulous study Robert Steinfeld examines how the distinctive US form of constitutional review emerged from a background tradition in which legislatures and executives assessed constitutionality in their regular work. Combining institutional, political, and intellectual history, Professor Steinfeld shows how the transformation was both rapid and strongly contested. Seeing judicial review as part of a conservative counterrevolution against the democratic excesses of post-Revolutionary legislatures, this is an important new contribution to long-standing discussions about judicial review in the United States.' Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Emeritus, Harvard Law School'This book is a major contribution to the historiography of American law from the 1750s through the first decade of the nineteenth century, representing an important advance in our understanding of the emergence of judicial review in America. The result of Steinfeld's painstaking investigations is to open up a lost world of what might be called 'pre-Constitutional' jurisprudence, and the gradual disintegration of that world as Americans came to understand constitutions, including the US federal Constitution, as a distinctive form of 'higher law' authority that was capable of being interpreted in the same fashion as other 'common law' sources. Anyone interested in exploring the origins of judicial review in America will need to reckon with Steinfeld's research and arguments.' G. Edward White, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of LawTable of ContentsIntroduction. Part I. Legislatures and Legislation under the First American Constitutions: 1. The largely 'legislative' character of the ('Horizontal' and 'Vertical') constitutional checks placed on colonial legislatures; 2. The traditional nature of the first written constitutions and the role of legislatures as their primary expounders; 3. Restoring 'legislative' review of the laws: the New York Constitution of 1777; Part II. The Emergence Of American Judicial Review: 1779-1787: I. 1779-1782; 4. Supplementing traditional legislative 'revision' with judicial review: the New Jersey case of Holmes V. Walton, 1779-1780; 5. The debate over judicial review in the Virginia court of appeals: the case of the prisoners, 1782; II. 1784-1787: 6. The reappearance of 'vertical' judicial review in the case of Rutgers v. Waddington, New York, 1784; 7. The successful battle to establish judicial review in New Hampshire: the ten pound act cases, 1786-87, and their aftermath; 8. Judicial review and legislative supremacy in Rhode Island: the case of Trevett v. Weeden, 1786, and its aftermath; 9. The struggle between traditional constitutionalism and the constitution of judicial review in North Carolina: the case of Bayard v. Singleton, 1786-87, and its aftermath; Part III. Judicial Review at the Federal Convention: 10. Judicial review and the fate of traditional constitutionalism at the federal convention.

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Book SynopsisJeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the author of thirty books, including Maps and History and War and the World 1450-2000.Donald M. MacRaild is Professor of History at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK. His publications include Social History and Social Theory and Nineteenth Century Britain.Table of ContentsAuthors' Preface PART ONE 1. The Scope of History 2. Varieties of History (i): 'Traditional History' 3. Varieties of History (ii): 'the New History' PART TWO 4. Approaches to History: Sources, Methods and Historians 5. Theories and Concepts PART THREE 6. Studying History 7. The Learning Environment 8. Writing History (i): The Essay 9. Writing History (ii): The Dissertation 10. History Exams Afterword Suggestions for Further Reading Index.

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Book SynopsisThe real and potential power of China, the world's most populous nation, has long been seen as a threat by its smaller neighbors and global powers alike. The Fear of Chinese Power provides a history of this perceived threat from the 1880s to the present day, and offers rich historical context to an enduring and current concern. Focusing on the United States, but also exploring perceptions from Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union and Japan, this book asks why these fears exist and shows how they have played out on both a strategic, diplomatic level, and in the public sphere. Taking a chronological approach, the chapters explore themes such as western opposition to Chinese immigration, international views of China's new republic, hopes of friendship during the rule of Chiang Kai-Shek, the Korean and Cold Wars, Communist China's economic growth, the Chinese in popular culture and China as a modern global power. Taking economic, military and cultural vantage pointTrade ReviewA stimulating, wide-ranging, and frequently provocative overview of foreign images and perceptions of China and the Chinese at both elite and popular levels. Crean deftly highlights how often, in multiple cultural, ideological, economic, and strategic contexts, pervasive suspicions, fears, and apprehensions have driven outside thinking on China and its people * Priscilla Roberts, Associate Professor of History, University of St. Joseph, Macau *This thoughtful and engaging volume says as much about China as it does about those who fear it. Crean’s masterful book offers an important message about the global future, and should be required reading in policymaking circles and beyond * Mitchell Lerner, Professor of History, Ohio State University, US *This readable book traces the remarkable continuities and consonances in how the United States has felt toward and seen China, from the nineteenth century to today. Crean is sensitive to the complexity of what has always been one of the United States' most crucial relationships. An enlivening and informative read. * Pete Millwood, Lecturer in East Asian History, University of Melbourne, Australia *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Let Him Sleep 1. The Birth of the Yellow Peril during the late Qing Empire 2. Opposition in the Americas to Chinese Immigration 3. Warlords and Fu Manchu: Views of China’s New Republic 4. Hopes and Fears during the Rule of Chiang Kai-shek 5. The Korean War: China Stands Up 6. Fears of Chinese Military Power 7. Predictions of Chinese Economic Power 8. Representations of Chinese in Popular Culture 9. China Ends its Isolation 10. A “Peaceful Rise” under Deng Xiaoping 11. When He Wakes: From the Beijing Olympics to “Wolf Warrior” Diplomacy Conclusion: Feeling the Dragon’s Breath

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Book SynopsisIn the early hours of the morning of 26 April 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded, unleashing a storm of radioactive material into the atmosphere and contaminating most of Europe with its fallout. It was a disaster on an unprecedented scale.This is a story of hubris, heroism and tragedy as engineers, firefighters, doctors and government officials all worked to contain the fiasco.In this volume, Ian Fitzgerald reveals the details of how the accident occurred, the desperate response to the situation and the investigation and recriminations that followed. He asks what lessons can be learned - and what, if anything, we are doing to make sure they can never happen again.

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Book SynopsisA unique new look at the sixteenth century, told through the lives of 100 different women.

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Book SynopsisExplores the transformations of the notion of 'the people' from the late Ottoman to current Turkish political discourses

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Book SynopsisJourney back in time to explore one the most fascinating and influential periods of ancient history.In this concise and incredibly readable short history, Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts journeys from the warrior societies of The Bronze Age all the way to the invention of democracy during the golden age of Athens, charting the incredible rise and fall of the Greek world and revealing just how much the Greeks influenced the world we live in today, from art and philosophy to architecture and politics.Brief Histories: Ancient Greece is the perfect short introduction for anyone interested in the Greek world and all it has to offer.

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Book SynopsisOver a million Indian soldiers fought in the First World War, the largest force from the colonies and dominions. Their contribution, however, has been largely forgotten. Many soldiers were illiterate and travelled from remote villages in India to fight in the muddy trenches in France and Flanders. Many went on to win the highest bravery awards. For King and another Country tells, for the first time, the personal stories of some of these Indians who went to the Western Front: from a grand turbanned Maharaja rearing to fight for Empire to a lowly sweeper who dies in a hospital in England, from a Pathan who wins the Victoria Cross to a young pilot barely out of school. Shrabani Basu delves into archives in Britain and narratives buried in villages in India and Pakistan to recreate the War through the eyes of the Indians who fought it. There are heroic tales of bravery as well as those of despair and desperation; there are accounts of the relationships that weTrade ReviewA stirring, fascinating and fresh account of a part of our history that should be declared Not Forgotten * Ian Hislop *A beautifully written book that gently yet powerfully reminds of the debt freedom owes to the Indian soldier and nation. It is compellingly different and it's timing perfect. It serves humbly to remind we British of the debt we owe the people of the sub-continent and of the ties that irrevocably bind us together * Lord Richards, Former Chief of Defence Staff *Shrabani Basu has captured the epic drama and the human tragedy of World War I with an artist's eye and a historian's mind. Her narrative vivifies a chapter of modern history that had dullened into sepia * Gopal Gandhi *In this moving chronicle of dauntless courage and human fortitude, Shrabani Basu restores to history and to greatness valorous men orphaned by the king they served and forgotten by the country they loved * Shashi Tharoor *Basu’s book tells us of children as young as 10 who fought in the frontline; of special arrangements made by the British to accommodate caste and religion, including separate funeral provisions; of the enduring blight of untouchability, even on foreign shores; and of outstanding examples of bravery, earning 11 Indians the Victoria Cross * The Hindu *In her new book For King and Country, the historian Shrabani Basu movingly explores the ordeals, and the achievements, of the million-plus Indian troops who fought for the Empire in the First World War * Independent *

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Book SynopsisExam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: AS: Summer 2016; A-level: Summer 2017Endorsed for EdexcelEnable your students to develop high-level skills in their Edexcel A level History breadth and depth studies through expert narrative and extended reading, including bespoke essays from leading academics- Build a strong understanding of the period studied with authoritative, well-researched content written in an accessible and engaging style- Ensure continual improvement in students'' essay writing, interpretation and source analysis skills, using practice questions and trusted guidance on successfully answering exam-style questions- Encourage students to undertake rolling revision and self-assessment by referring to end-of-chapter summaries and diagrams across the years- Help students monitor their progress and consolidat

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Book SynopsisExam Board: AQA, Edexcel, OCR & WJECLevel: A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and accessibility. Access to History is the most popular, trusted and wide-ranging series for A-level History students.This title:- Supports the content and assessment requirements of the 2015 A-level History specifications- Contains authoritative and engaging content- Includes thought-provoking key debates that examine the opposing views and approaches of historians- Provides exam-style questions and guidance for each relevant specification to help students understand how to apply what they have learntThis title is suitable for a variety of courses including:- AQA: International Relations and Global Conflic

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Book SynopsisA compact guide to 40 of the most iconic ships that have shaped warfare from the Ancient world to today.Since the days of the Ancient Greeks, naval ships of all sizes have revolutionized warfare. From the Viking longship, pirate ships and super dreadnoughts to today's nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, naval warfare has proved to be an essential component of military forces across the world.The Ship Spotter's Guide provides essential information on 40 iconic ships, using detailed profile artwork to illustrate and aid recognition, as well as specification boxes to provide all the technical details.Table of ContentsIntroduction/ Ancient Warships/ The Norse Longship/ Warships of the Far East/ Tudor Warships/ The Spanish Galleon/ Warships of the Anglo-Dutch War/ Pirate Ships/ Warships of the War of Independence/ Napoleonic Ship-of-the-Line/ Ironclads/ Union Monitors/ River Gunboats/ Commerce Raiders/ British Dreadnoughts/ German Dreadnoughts/ Super Dreadnoughts/ Austro-Hungarian Battleships/ Battlecruisers/ Destroyers/ Submarines/ Kriegsmarine U-boats/ German Battleships/ British Coastal Forces/ German Cruisers/ German Destroyers/ Japanese Carriers/ American Carriers/ Allied Submarines/ Japanese Battleships/ British Battleships/ American Destroyers/ American Fast Battleships/ Japanese Heavy Cruisers/ Italian Battleships/ British Cruisers/ Japanese Destoyers/ Vietnam Riverine Craft/ American Cold War Carriers/ Nuclear Submarines/ American Modern Super Carriers

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Book SynopsisWhen commercial air services were launched in 1976, Concorde was hailed as one of the wonders of the technological world. Flying at speeds in excess of Mach 2, she was the only commercial airliner ever developed that could maintain twice the speed of sound for periods of over two hours. This is an illustrated guide to Concorde that examines how its designers had to overcome significant challenges in the pursuit of supersonic commercial passenger travel. It documents early opposition to the development of supersonic flight, going on to trace Concorde''s path to commercial success. With stunning photography of the aircraft in development and in service, this gift book tells the story of one of the greatest engineering and technological feats of modern history.Table of ContentsIntroduction /Chronology /Design and Development /Technical Specifications /Service History /The Aftermath /Appendices /Index

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Book SynopsisAn account of the Home Front experience in Grimsby.

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Book SynopsisWhen it comes to historical violence and contemporary inequality, none of us are completely innocent. We may not be direct agents of harm, but we may still contribute to, inhabit, or benefit from regimes of domination that we neither set up nor control. Arguing that the familiar categories of victim, perpetrator, and bystander do not adequately account for our connection to injustices past and present, Michael Rothberg offers a new theory of political responsibility through the figure of the implicated subject. The Implicated Subject builds on the comparative, transnational framework of Rothberg's influential work on memory to engage in reflection and analysis of cultural texts, archives, and activist movements from such contested zones as transitional South Africa, contemporary Israel/Palestine, post-Holocaust Europe, and a transatlantic realm marked by the afterlives of slavery. As these diverse sites of inquiry indicate, the processes and histories illuminated by implicated subjectivity are legion in our interconnected world. An array of globally prominent artists, writers, and thinkers—from William Kentridge, Hito Steyerl, and Jamaica Kincaid, to Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi, Judith Butler, and the Combahee River Collective—speak to this interconnection and show how confronting our own implication in difficult histories can lead to new forms of internationalism and long-distance solidarity.Trade Review"A significant work by a major scholar with a well-deserved international reputation, The Implicated Subject develops a new and necessary conceptual vocabulary for the conflicting histories of our world. While drawing on a global range of histories and texts, the book never loses focus on the contemporary moment." -- Robert Eaglestone, Royal Holloway * University of London *"A pathbreaking meditation on the politics and ethics of remembrance in our time, The Implicated Subject shifts the discussion in a variety of disciplines from the dated notions of guilt and innocence to the complexities of responsibility and accountability. This is imperative reading for our age of muddled categories and retreat from personal and scholarly engagement." -- Amir Eshel * Stanford University *"My students and I have been waiting for this book. Offering a fresh vocabulary to confront our personal and collective responsibility in the face of massive political violence, past and present, The Implicated Subject is sure to advance the conversation. Its stakes are as high as its thinking is subtle, clear, and persuasive." -- Marianne Hirsch * Columbia University *"This is a bold project....as we confront a climate catastrophe of global proportions, we must all face the future as implicated subjects." -- Zoë Waxman * Times Higher Education *"Rothberg's strength lies in his remarkable ability to explain complicated theoretical issues in a few sentences, weaving together the political and the ethical, the historical and the aesthetic....[This is a] brilliant and courageous discussion of contemporary political identity. I have no doubt that this book will become, much like Rothberg's previous work, Multidirectional Memory, a basic reference for students of our interregnum world." -- Nitzan Lebovic * Critical Inquiry *"This is a notable book that will reconfigure debates over memory and power." -- Miguel Cardina * Memoirs *"[The] term 'implicated subject' is a valuable contribution to the vocabulary of human rights and should be immediately adopted for use across a variety of disciplines, from political science and philosophy to history and economics." -- Guy Lancaster * International Journal on World Peace *"[Rothberg] avoids the charged terms guilt and morality in order to attain a fresh perspective onto why people of various historical and cultural contexts participate in wrongdoing, even in spite of knowing better. Such a fresh perspective is urgently needed in order to move beyond a mere naming, blaming, and singling out of culprits, towards any analysis of the complexity of involvements." -- Juliane Prade-Weiss * Journal of Perpetrator Research *"As is often the case with the best academic work, The Implicated Subject takes something that had hitherto sat in a theoretical blind-spot and, through clear description and incisive discussion of examples, makes that concept seem rather obvious in hindsight....[It] will make an immediate impact on, and a valuable supplement to, academic work addressing issues of perpetration and complicity." -- Ivan Stacy * Textual Practice *"After coining the groundbreaking notion of multidirectional memory, Rothberg's The Implicated Subject is another crucial contribution to the scholarship on memory studies....Undoubtedly, the notions of implicated subject and implication provide scholars with precious tools to complicate the study of the roles of a wide range of transnational social actors and groups who, at different levels, directly or indirectly engaged contexts where human atrocities were committed." -- Ana Lucia Araujo * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroductionFrom Victims and Perpetrators to Implicated Subjects chapter abstractThis chapter introduces the conceptual framework of the book. Starting from a discussion of responses to the killing of Trayvon Martin and other examples of racist violence, the chapter argues that the familiar categories of victim, perpetrator, and bystander do not adequately account for our connection to injustices past and present and proposes a new theory of political responsibility through the figure of the implicated subject. The chapter distinguishes an approach based on implication and implicated subjects from related approaches to complicity, postmemory, and the beneficiary; it lays out the stakes of the book; and provides an account of the chapters to come. 1The Transmission Belt of Domination: Theorizing the Implicated Subject chapter abstractThis chapter discusses thinking on intersectionality, complicity, and responsibility that contributes to an understanding of the implicated subject. It considers reflections on victimhood, perpetration, responsibility, and memory that have emerged in the field of Holocaust studies, and supplements it with approaches to structural injustice and the Black feminist theory of intersectionality. Drawing on these diverse sources, the chapter formulates a theory of implication and the implicated subject that offers an alternative to the usual accounts of human rights violations and their aftermaths. Above all, this theory leaves behind the detached and disinterested spectators who dominate discussions of distant suffering in favor of entangled, impure subjects of historical and political responsibility. The implicated subject, the chapter argues, is a transmission belt of domination. 2On (Not) Being a Descendant: Implicated Subjects and the Legacies of Slavery chapter abstractThis chapter begins by considering what the concept of the "implicated subject" can lend to the debates about historical redress, restitution, and reparations that have accompanied attempts to confront the long-distance legacies of transatlantic slavery. Next, in order to assess those legacies, it reflects on the very word "legacy" along with its conceptual kin. In a third section, the chapter turns to a literary example, Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place, in order to think further about how the category of the descendant functions in the aftermath of traumatic histories. Kincaid's powerful polemic provides a visceral and affectively charged example of what implication might mean for the beneficiaries of slavery's legacies. Finally, the chapter considers Kincaid's text in dialogue with Catherine Hall and Nicholas Draper's Legacies of British Slave-Ownership project in order to distinguish between two forms of implication: the genealogical and the structural. 3Progress, Progression, Procession: William Kentridge's Implicated Aesthetic chapter abstractThis chapter considers the implicated aesthetic of the Jewish South African artist William Kentridge. Kentridge's work serves as inspiration for thinking about the narrative form embedded in transitional justice—a politico-legal regime that has emerged in response to transformations like the one in South Africa. The chapter provides a brief introduction to the "narratology" of transitional justice. It argues that transitional justice brings with it a fundamental narrative tension involving the negotiation between continuity and discontinuity, on the one hand, and between implicated and disembedded subjects, on the other. This framework helps open up the narrative dimensions of Kentridge's experiments in animated filmmaking, where he first begins to explore the minimally narrative genre of the procession. The two final sections of the chapter illustrate how Kentridge's quasi-autobiographical exploration of "complex implication" opens up a deep, multidirectional history of race that is simultaneously post-slavery and post-Holocaust. 4From Gaza to Warsaw: Multidirectional Memory and the Perpetuator chapter abstractThis chapter reflects on complex implication through the example of Jewish diasporic critique of Israel. It focuses on a controversy that arose when a radical American sociology professor declared that "Gaza is Israel's Warsaw" and forwarded students a photo essay with "parallel images of Nazis and Israelis," several of which depict the Warsaw Ghetto. Through this example, the chapters maps the range of forms that public memory can take in politically charged situations in which complex forms of implication are at play. That mapping includes an extended discussion of artist Alan Schechner. A concluding section turns to two Jewish critics of Israeli policy, Judith Butler and Ariella Azoulay, to argue that thinking through implication—rather than vulnerability or perpetration—represents the most productive avenue for solidarity. The concept of implication, the chapter concludes, offers an opportunity to confront the role of perpetuators of injustice. 5Under the Sign of Suitcases: The Holocaust Internationalism of Marceline Loridan-Ivens chapter abstractThis chapter considers the life of filmmaker Marceline Loridan-Ivens. Loridan-Ivens was a Holocaust survivor who experienced the emancipatory and destructive possibilities of revolutionary struggle when she took up anticolonial causes. The chapter begins by exploring relevant varieties of internationalism: socialist and anti-imperialist internationalism and human rights. It recounts how Loridan-Ivens first entered the public sphere through the testimony she gave in the film Chronicle of a Summer about her deportation to Auschwitz. Later, Loridan-Ivens went on to make films in such political hotspots as Algeria, Vietnam, and China. The chapter focuses especially on the film about the Vietnam War she made with her partner Joris Ivens and argues that it involves a shift on Loridan-Ivens's part from the position of surviving victim to implicated subject offering internationalist solidarity. Yet, the chapter concludes, such solidarity comes with its own pitfalls that also deserve critical exploration. 6"Germany is in Kurdistan": Hito Steyerl's Images of Implication chapter abstractThis chapter addresses project undertaken by the internationally prominent German artist and theorist Hito Steyerl. In the video November, and in subsequent videos, performances, and essays, Steyerl explores the life and death of her childhood friend Andrea Wolf, a radical activist who joined the PKK (Kurdish militants), and was killed in battle by the Turkish state. In Steyerl's hands, Wolf's life becomes an opportunity to reflect on questions of internationalism and political solidarity. While Wolf's comrades have celebrated her as a martyr and internationalist hero and the dominant media have typically labeled Wolf a terrorist, Steyerl comes to a more complex and ambivalent verdict about her friend and her commitments. In refusing binary simplifications and highlighting how the complexities of Wolf's story intersect with her own story, Steyerl's project helps us interrogate the implicated subject as a figure of historical responsibility and internationalist solidarity in a time of globalization. 7Conclusion: Transfiguring Implication chapter abstractThe conclusion considers what it means to call the implicated subject a "figure" and addresses the widespread, but uneven nature of implication along with the possibilities for transfiguring it in the direction of long-distance solidarity. Reflecting back on the preceding chapters, it offers eleven theses that synthesize the argument of the book.

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Book SynopsisIt was a bold, ambitious and wildly arrogant idea: extending the reach of communism into space. Spurred on by the defeat of Hitler and the competitive rivalry with the United States, the Soviet space programme saw a frenetic surge of scientific activity focused on the objective of demonstrating Communist mastery beyond the confines of the Earth. In order to create the optimally standardized bodies that cosmonauts would require, top secret military laboratories were set up in 1970s East Germany. The New Man the modern colonist of space was intensively trained for the purpose of surviving years of weightlessness in outer space. Experiments were carried out in prisons, hospitals and army barracks with the aim of creating the perfect body: self-sufficient and able to endure extreme conditions for as long as possible. In order to exert dominance over space, it was first necessary to exert total control over those who were being trained to conquer it. Ines Geipel unravels this largely unknown and extraordinary history by delving into East German military records and talking to those who bear the scars of this state-inflicted trauma. Some of the older scientists conducting experiments had already served under the Nazi regime; others threw themselves into collaborating with the Stasi via the military research programme in order to avoid dealing with the war's emotional legacy. Written like a thriller and infused with empathy from someone who had herself experienced the debilitating effects of state-administered doping programmes in the former GDR, this book exposes some of the most disturbing episodes in Germany's recent past.

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Book SynopsisThis title is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education to support the International History 1870-1945 Option from the Cambridge AS History syllabus for first examination from 2021. Develop knowledge and analytical skills with engaging comprehensive coverage of the International History 1870-1945 Option from the Cambridge AS History syllabus for first examination from 2021. - Trust in the clear and authoritative content written by topic experts- Develop source skills through questions on a wide range of sources- Stay focused on the key issues you need to understand with questions throughout each chapter - Improve study and understanding through detailed chapter summary diagrams- Build confidence with applying your knowledge through exam guidance and exam-style questions

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Book Synopsis'Fascinating and richly documented . . . Few books manage to be so informative and so entertaining.' – Sunday TimesSantiniketan-Sriniketan in India, Dartington Hall in England, Atarashiki Mura in Japan, the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, the Bruderhof in Germany and Trabuco College in America: six experimental communities established in the aftermath of the First World War, each aiming to change the world.Anna Neima's The Utopians is an absorbing and vivid account of these collectives and their charismatic leaders and reveals them to be full of eccentric characters, outlandish lifestyles and unchecked idealism.Dismissed and even mocked in their time, yet, a century later, their influence still resonates in progressive education, environmentalism, medical research and mindfulness training. Without such inspirational experiments in how to live, post-war society would have been a poorer place.'Thanks to Neima’s rigorous research, each chapter offers something new.' – Spectator'Neima ranges with impressive confidence across the world'. – Literary ReviewTrade ReviewFascinating and richly documented . . . This is Neima’s first book, and should not be her last. She writes with a novelist’s eye for detail and clearly revels in the eccentrics she has to chronicle — Gurdjieff selling sparrows painted yellow, for example, to fund his trek from Russia to France. Few books manage to be so informative and so entertaining. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *[Neima] offers an original perspective on the entire period and a new way of navigating its artistic and ideological upheaval . . . Fascinating . . . by showing how a global crisis can lead people to question tradition and reshape society, the subject remains important to this day. -- Guy Stagg * Spectator *[Neima] ranges with impressive confidence across the world . . . pleasingly non-judgemental and avoids laborious analysis. Reading this book is perhaps the most delightful way to indulge in elite communism in the 21st century, other than being recruited to a Californian tech start-up. -- Marc Mullholland * Literary Review *Neima’s brisk storytelling and eye for the illustrative quote and telling anecdote conveys the thrilling and sometimes scandalous strangeness of these experiments . . . highly readable -- Mary Harrington * The Critic *Meticulously researched . . . an engaging and immersive blend of macro- and micro-histories. The fascinating protagonists of each story are expertly situated within wider socio-economic history, with parallels usefully drawn between each community. -- Zoe Apostolides * Prospect *Neima’s diligent account focuses on six interwar endeavours, in Japan, India, America, Germany, England and France, each established by a charismatic leader, each with a goal of creating a more democratic, just and peaceful society. -- Olivia Laing * TLS *Neima’s writing is absolutely, faultlessly superb. It was a pleasure to read every page and an example of how non-fiction can be capable of blending intense research with first-class prose plus a large dash of entertainment. Highly recommended. * BookMunch *Anna Neima has picked a valuable and illuminating focus for her first book . . . Engagingly written with colour, warmth and unobtrusive erudition, The Utopians looks back to find some sturdy roots of hope. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Arts Desk *In the midst of crisis it’s inspiring to read about men and women who dedicated themselves to creating new worlds. Neima’s book, impeccably researched and beautifully written, will be an inspiration for anyone looking to an alternative future today. -- Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats and The Great LevelCan we ever transform ourselves and our divided societies? Deeply interesting and a pleasure to read, The Utopians illuminates the history of “social dreaming” at a time when it has never been more needed. This is a lovely book. -- Alison Light, author of A Radical Romance, Common People and Mrs. Woolf and the ServantsNeima is a historian of rare and wonderful powers. She writes with utter lucidity, bringing great swathes of thinking into focus, uncovering deep connections between experimental communities across the world. Considering her chosen utopians with a precious mix of shrewd realism and questing open-mindedness, she honours both practicalities and dreams. I finished this book newly persuaded of what the interwar years can teach us about the future. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know, and looking to Neima as an inspiring new voice in non-fiction. -- Alexandra Harris, acclaimed author of Weatherland and Romantic ModernsBy highlighting the wide-spread, magnetic attraction of ramshackle and often spartan utopias, Neima's meticulously researched and measured study underscores the collective trauma of the First World War, and people's fervent attempts never to see those horrors repeated. -- Susan Gray * Church Times *A book that carefully recuperates the wild desires of a diverse group of dreamers who founded new societies between the 1920s and the 1940s . . . One of the great joys of the book is the kookiness of the projects [Neima] highlights. -- Joe P. L. Davidson * Tribune *

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Book SynopsisThe story of the British Empire is a familiar one: Britain came, it saw, it conquered, forging a glorious world empire upon which the sun never set. In fact, far from being the tale of a single nation imposing its will upon the world, the British Empire found itself reshaped by the tenacious resistance of the powerful Indigenous and non-European people it encountered. From ill-advised ventures in Ireland to the failure to curtail North African Corsair states all the way to the collapse of commercial operations in East Asia, British attempts to create an imperial enterprise often ended in embarrassment and even disaster.In this book, David Veevers looks beyond the myths of triumph and into the realities of British misadventures in the early days of Empire, meeting the extraordinary people across the world who were the real forces to be reckoned with. From the Emperors who determined the expansion of the English East India Company, to the West African kings who resisted Englis

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Book SynopsisTHE PERFECT READ FOR TROUBLED TIMESFrom the bestselling author of The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places comes this inspiring and beautifully written meditation on the wisdom inherited from our ancestors.For all we have gained in the modern world, simple peace of mind is hard to find. In a time that is increasingly fraught with complexity and conflict, we are told that our wellbeing relies on remaining as present as possible. But what if the key to being present lies in the past? In Wisdom of the Ancients, Neil Oliver takes us back in time, to grab hold of the ideas buried in forgotten cultures and early civilizations. From Laetoli footprints in Tanzania to Keralan rituals, stone circles and cave paintings, Oliver takes us on a global journey through antiquity. A master storyteller, drawing on immense knowledge of our ancient past, he distils this wisdom into twelve messages that have endured the test of time, and invites us to consider how these might apply to our lives today. The result is powerful and inspirational, moving and profound.Trade ReviewReading Wisdom of the Ancients is like putting on the finest headphones ever made. Here, cutting out the background noise of a society fevered by consumption and sensation...is a book that really makes you think and offers up the excitement of discovering things that when you read them make you fizz like understanding a foreign language you never realised you knew. This book is the equivalent of diving into a cool sea on a baking hot day, you emerge smiley and refreshed. I wish I had written this. * Tim Smit *Neil Oliver writes beautifully - bringing the past to life and letting us see ourselves in a new light. * Alice Roberts *A fascinating fact-laden expedition through the ages. Oliver's erudition shines off every page. * Anna Pasternak *

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Book SynopsisIn the bestselling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization, humanistic learning, gunpowder warfare, and mass religious conflict in the long term, and their intensely disruptive consequences in the short-term.As told through the lives of ten real people-from famous figures like Christopher Columbus and wealthy banker Jakob Fugger to a ruthless small-time merchant and a one-armed mercenary captain-The Verge illustrates how their lives, and the times in which they lived, set the stage for an unprecedented globalized future.Over an intense forty-year period, the seeds for the so-called "Great Divergence" between Western Europe and the rest of the globe would be planted. From Columbus's voyage across the Atlantic to Martin Luther's sparking the Protestant Reformation, the foundations of our own, recognizably modern world came into being.For the past 500 years, historians, economists, and the policy-oriented have argued which of these individual developments best explains the West's rise from backwater periphery to global dominance. As The Verge presents it, however, the answer is far more nuanced.

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Book SynopsisReplete with color photographs, drawings, and maps of Viking sites, artifacts, and landscapes, this book celebrates and explores the Viking saga from the combined perspectives of history, archaeology, oral tradition, literature, and natural science. The book''s contributors chart the spread of marauders and traders in Europe as well as the expansion of farmers and explorers throughout the North Atlantic and into the New World. They show that Norse contacts with Native American groups were more extensive than has previously been believed, but that the outnumbered Europeans never established more than temporary settlements in North America.

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Book Synopsis'A wonderful idea, gloriously put into practice. Greg Jenner is as witty as he is knowledgeable' - Tom Holland'You will love Greg Jenner's jolly account of how we have more in common with our ancestors than we might think ... all human life is here, amusingly conveyed in intriguing nuggets of gossipy historical anecdote' - Daily MailEvery day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. In this gloriously entertaining romp through human history - featuring new updates for the paperback edition - BBC Horrible Histories consultant Greg Jenner explores the hidden stories behind these daily routines.This is not a story of politics, wars or great events, instead Greg Jenner has scoured Roman rubbish bins, Egyptian tombs and Victorian sewers to bring us the most intriguing, surprising and sometimes downright silly nuggets from our past.It is a history of all those things you always wondered - and many you have never considered. It is the story of our lives, one million years in the making.Trade ReviewGreg Jenner's magpie mind takes you through the history of who we are and what we do, answering tons of questions you never thought to ask -- Al MurrayA wonderful idea, gloriously put into practice, Greg Jenner is as witty as he is knowledgeable -- Tom HollandLike visiting the most wonderful and cluttered museum, each chapter like another room teetering with illuminating ideas and information -- Robin Incebright, fun and enjoyable * HISTORY VAULT *One of my all time favourite books about history: erudite, witty and packed with things you've never thought about -- Peter FrankopanDelightful, surprising and hilarious, this is a fascinating history of the everyday objects and inventions we take for granted -- Lauren LaverneIf you find yourself secretly relishing your children's Horrible History books, you will love Greg Jenner's jolly account of how we have more in common with our ancestors than we might think ... all human life is here, amusingly conveyed in intriguing nuggets of gossipy historical anecdote * DAILY MAIL *Fascinating ... [Jenner] crafts some fine aphorisms, and it would be a staggeringly learned person who could not glean anything new from this work -- Steven Poole * WALL STREET JOURNAL *

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Book SynopsisThe defeat that Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock suffered at Coronel in 1914 at the hands of Maximilian Graf von Spee, one of Germany's most brilliant naval commanders, was the most humiliating blow to British naval prestige since the eighteenth century and a defeat that had to be avenged immediately. On 8 December 1914, the German squadron steamed towards Port Stanley, unaware that in the harbour lay two great British battle-cruisers, the 'Invincible' and 'Inflexible'. Realizing this, Spee had no option but to turn and flee. Hour by hour during that long day, the British ships closed in until, eventually, Spee was forced to confront the enemy. With extraordinary courage, and against hopeless odds, the German cruisers fought to the bitter end. At five-thirty that afternoon, the last ship slowly turned and rolled to the bottom. Cradock and Britain had been avenged.

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Book SynopsisBlack Sea is a homage to an ocean and its shores, from the earliest times to the present. It explores the culture, history and politics of the volatile region which surrounds the Black Sea. Ascherson recalls the world of Herodotus and Aeschylus; Ovid's place of exile on what is now the coast of Romania; the decline and fall of Byzantium; the mysterious Christian Goths; the Tatar Khanates; the growth of Russian power across the grasslands, and the centuries of war between Ottoman and Russian Empires around the Black Sea. He examines the terrors of Stalinism and its fascist enemy, both striving for mastery of these endlessly colourful and complex shores, and investigates the turbulent history of modern Ukraine.WITH A FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR 'A brilliant biography of place' Guardian'Every page is freighted with rich and fascinating detail' IndependentTrade ReviewA brilliant biography of place. The complex social, ethnic and extraordinary ecological histories of this region - combined with vivid anecdotes and encounters - provide the background for stimulating reflections * Guardian *Must certainly be among the year's most memorable non-fiction books * Financial Times *A scholarly desktop travel through lost worlds * The Times *A genuinely compelling book: erudite, original, beautifully written * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisOne hundred years ago, French troops fired tear gas grenades into German trenches. Designed to force people out from behind barricades and trenches, tear gas causes burning of the eyes and skin, tearing, and gagging. Chemical weapons are now banned from war zones. But today, tear gas has become the most commonly used form of "less-lethal" police force. In 2011, the year that protests exploded from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, tear gas sales tripled. Most tear gas is produced in the United States, and many images of protestors in Tahrir Square showed tear gas canisters with "Made in USA" printed on them, while Britain continues to sell tear gas to countries on its own human-rights blacklist.An engrossing century-spanning narrative, Tear Gas is the first history of this weapon, and takes us from military labs and chemical weapons expos to union assemblies and protest camps, drawing on declassified reports and witness testimonies to show how policing with poison came to be.Trade ReviewIt is this violence that comes through most clearly in Tear Gas - the psychological factors, the sheer unfairness and dismissiveness that accompany the use of chemicals against demonstrators and ordinary citizens, all come through brilliantly. Tear gas not only affects protesters and bystanders indiscriminately; it relegates the status of a dissenting citizen to that of a mere irritant. -- Yiannis Baboulias * Times Literary Supplement *A vivid history of the time and also-as good radical accounts should be-a source of encouragement to those fighting all too similar battles today -- Hilary RoseThere is something epic about Anna Feigenbaum's Tear Gas, its scope and intensity, the way that chemistry - the orienting science of the industrial revolution - provides the material to manage that revolution's epic collapse ... There is crucial knowledge to be found here. -- Joshua Clover, author of Riot.Strike.RiotA passionately argued history of the development and gradual spread of tear gas around the world ... a clarion call for reassessment of the widespread availability and misuse of tear gas. -- Patrick Wicklen, Researcher on Arms Control and Human Rights at Amnesty InternationalFascinating, deeply researched and lucid ... We have become so accustomed to the use of tear gas during protests that it comes as a shock when we realize, in reading this book, how little we know about the longer-term effects of what is in some ways a chemical weapon. -- Laleh Khalili, author of Time in the ShadowsRead Feigenbaum's book. It's timely, well-written, and very important. -- Evaggelos Vallianatos * Independent Science News *Feigenbaum integrates science and history with a compelling discussion of tear gas's history and its present role in the civilian arena. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisChallenger 2 (CR2) is the British Army's main battle tank. CR2 is based on the Challenger 1 tank, which served with distinction on operations in the Gulf War and the Balkans.

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Book SynopsisBook of the Year in the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and New Statesman'A powerful illumination of a lost world that is nevertheless part of living memory.' Simon Heffer, 'Books of the Year' , Daily Telegraph'A joyous new book on post-war Britain.' Daily MailWhen Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952, Britain had a far-flung empire, Winston Churchill was prime minister, sweets were rationed, mums stayed at home and kids played on bombsites. In the years that followed everything changed utterly. Through original research, interviews with people who were there and his own memories of the time, Matthew Engel traces this transformation of British society as never before. Beginning with the death of King George VI and ending on the eve of Margaret Thatcher's election, Engel not only covers all the major historical events but also explores everyday life - from the food we ate and where we shopped, to what we watched on television and the newspapers we read. In doing so, he brings these three decades to life with his own light touch and a wealth of fascinating, forgotten, often funny detail. Previously published as The Reign - Life in Elizabeth's Britain.Trade ReviewDelivers equally sharp observations of Teddy Boys, hanged murderers, the British Empire, swinging London, National Service and Mrs Thatcher's ascent to power... A powerful illumination of a lost world that is nevertheless part of living memory. -- Simon Heffer * 'Books of the year', Daily Telegraph *Masterly... Consistently entertaining, frequently surprising and sometimes provocative. -- Peter Wilby * 'Books of the Year', New Statesman *A joyous new book on post-war Britain. * Daily Mail *Entertainingly written... An immediately credible, and at times highly personal, picture... Engel brings his own views to bear, usually with wit, and at times with pleasing eccentricity. * Spectator *A pleasingly anecdote filled new social history of the second Elizabethan era... Like the best assortment boxes, it encourages regular dipping, each chapter short and tasty enough to make you say "oh, just one more". -- Patrick Kidd * The Times *Has at least one priceless detail per page. -- Philip Norman * Observer *Full of richly revealing stories and quotidian detail, laced with incisive but humane judgements, and never missing the big picture of a country where the pace of social change was rapidly quickening - Matthew Engel has given us a tour de force about post-war Britain which delights and illuminates on every page. -- David KynastonA pure delight. There is a gem on every page. -- Peter HennessyI really enjoyed this romp through the headlines, partly because Matthew Engel is such an amusing writer and partly because all sixty-one of his chapters come up like three-minute songs on the jukebox - soon over and always time for just one more... Engel thinks like a journalist but writes like a raconteur. * Literary Review *The best feature writer of his generation, Engel really scores in his attention to the minutiae of lived experience... And he has a journalist's eye for the killer detail. * The Tablet *Rich in anecdote and telling detail it's a masterly evocation of a time of great social change. * Choice Magazine *

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Book SynopsisNovember 1932. With the German economy in ruins and street battles raging between political factions, the Weimar Republic is in its death throes. Its elderly president Paul von Hindenburg floats above the fray, inscrutably haunting the halls of the Reichstag. In the shadows, would-be saviours of the nation vie for control. The great rivals are the chancellors Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher. Both are tarnished by the republic's all-too-evident failures. Each man believes he can steal a march on the other by harnessing the increasingly popular National Socialists - while reining in their most alarming elements, naturally. Adolf Hitler has ideas of his own. But if he can't impose discipline on his own rebellious foot-soldiers, what chance does he have of seizing power?Trade ReviewA sharply focused study of the many poor decisions that ended with Hitler's taking power. * Kirkus *Startling ... What comes clear in the authors' account is how few understood the extent of the abyss that lay ahead ... The more the reader knows about the horrors to come, the darker The Last Winter seems. -- Andrew Stuttaford * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisHeroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages is a history like no other: it is a history of the imagination, presented through two celebrated groups of the period. One group consists of heroes: Charlemagne, El Cid, King Arthur, Orlando, Pope Joan, Melusine, Merlin the Wizard, and also the fox and the unicorn. The other is the miraculous, represented here by three forms of power that dominated medieval society: the cathedral, the castle and the cloister. This imaginative history is a continuing story that presents the heroes and marvels of the Middle Ages as the times defined them: venerated, then bequeathed to future centuries where they have continued to live and transform through remembrance of the past, adaptation to the present and openness to the future.Trade Review"Le Goff explores wonders and oddities that caught the imagination in the past. If you are a parent of an eight-year-old girl you are likely to meet unicorns on a daily basis. Multicolored unicorns with rainbow-hued manes and tails on T-shirts and pyjamas and drawings stuck on the fridge. Your daughter will write stories about unicorns and even have one as pet in some virtual technological world she inhabits with her friends. And when you ask what’s so great about unicorns you'll be told, 'Well, they're magic!' But you still won't get it. To begin to understand, you need to go straight to the unicorn chapter of this first English translation of Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages by the French medievalist le Goff. The existence of the unicorn has been attested since classical times, including in Pliny's De Rerum Natura, but the key text, Goff tells us, is a Gnostic treatise written in Greek in Alexandria between the second and fourth centuries AD, and soon translated into Latin, called the Physiologus." -- Philip O Ceallaigh * Irish Times *"At the time of his death in 2014, Le Goff (formerly, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris) was a leading scholar of medieval Europe. . . . In these 19 short essays—originally published in French in 2005—he offers case studies of "the medieval imaginary" to argue that many creations of medieval culture not only had long lives but are still present today. . . . The erudition is smoothly presented with an implicit argument for the basic similarity between medieval culture and its modern heirs. . . . Recommended." * Choice *"This welcome translation makes Le Goff’s Heros et merveilles du Moyen Age, originally published in 2005, available to an Anglophone audience. The work of this French historian emphasized the multilayered nature of history and the importance of social and economic trends alongside political or diplomatic themes. Le Goff’s contributions to the reassessment of medieval civilization continued throughout his life, and his influence has been far-reaching." * Folklore *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Arthur The Cathedral Charlemagne The Castle Knights and Chivalry El Cid The Cloister The Land of Cockaigne The Jongleur The Unicorn Melusina Merlin Pope Joan Reynard Robin Hood Roland Tristan and Iseult Troubadours and Trouveres The Valkyrie Bibliography

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Book SynopsisOne of the greatest and most terrible years in world history.‘This war has now assumed the character’, wrote Benito Mussolini, before 1941 was six months old, ‘of a war between two worlds’, and the Italian dictator had rarely predicted more truly.Before the year had ended, following Hitler’s surprise assault on Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, thirty-seven nations were engaged in an all-out war reminiscent of Armageddon, ‘the battle of that great day of God Almighty’.Richard Collier’s latest narrative spans both this entire, devastating year, as well as the events that led up to it. From the hunting of the Bismarck through the North Atlantic to the triumphs of Rommel’s Afrika Korps, from the horror and heroism of besieged Leningrad to the debacles of Hong Kong, Malaya and the Far East, this is a panorama of truly world-wide proportions.An unputdownable narrative of the most extraordinary year in world history, perfect for readers of Max Hastings, James Holland and Antony Beevor.

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Book Synopsis'An illuminating glimpse of the chain reactions of human and physical geography.' Financial Times 'A truly original adventure into new ways of exploring what we mean by a sense of place.' Simon Jenkins 'A fascinating exploration of the lesser-known and more subtle borders across the earth and the surprising ways in which they shape our lives.' i news Our world has innumerable boundaries, ranging from the obvious - like an ocean - to subtle differences in language or climate. Most of us cross invisible lines all the time, but don't stop to consider them. In Invisible Lines, geographer Maxim Samson presents 30 such unseen boundaries, intriguing and unexpected examples of the myriad ways in which we collectively engage with and experience the world. From football fans in Buenos Aires to air quality in China, Paris' banlieues to sub-Saharan Africa's Malaria Belt, the existence - or perceived existence - of dividing lines has manifold implications for people, wildlife, and places. Fully illustrated with maps of each location, Invisible Lines reveals the extraordinary ways in which we try to render the planet more liveable and legible; a compelling guide to seeing and understanding our world in all its consistency - and all its messiness, too.Trade ReviewAn illuminating glimpse of the chain reactions of human and physical geography * Financial Times *A chance to see the world anew through the eyes of a wonderfully curious new writer * Observer *A fascinating book ... a truly original adventure into new ways of exploring what we mean by a sense of place -- Simon Jenkins, author of The Celts and A Short History of EnglandA fascinating exploration of the lesser-known and more subtle borders across the earth and the surprising ways in which they shape our lives * i news *Endlessly interesting * The Spectator *Invisible Lines is a fascinating, detailed exploration of the hidden boundaries that carve up the world ... it is a pleasure to accompany Samson to the Malaria Belt, inside eruvim (markers of a single domestic space within which fewer Sabbath regulations apply), or along the border of Portugal to discover why vultures prefer not to cross it. * Telegraph *Old worlds enhanced, new worlds exposed and challenged ... a wise and thought-provoking series of raids across borders we thought we knew and others made visible to us, by Maxim Samson's forensic eye, for the first time -- Iain Sinclair, author of The Gold Machine and The Last LondonUtterly engrossing! Samson's literary atlas of the world's unseen boundaries and how they've shaped our lives demands to be read -- Professor Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History[An] intricately detailed explanation of how each invisible line came to be, as well as what it can tell us about the world and our place within it...a fascinating read * Geographical Magazine, Book of the Month *The world is a mesh of lines. We don't normally see them, and so we blunder on, unaware of where we really are and missing out on so much. Samson's iconoclastic new geography will make the scales fall from your eyes. A tremendous and important read -- Charles Foster, author of Cry of the WildA journey to the unmarked and unseen borders that shape our world ... a fascinating, extraordinary and insightful exploration of the many boundaries that define us -- Alastair Bonnett, author of The Age of Islands and Off the MapThis absorbing book is an accessible and wide-ranging read, built upon erudition, curiosity and careful compilation. It reveals and reflects upon many types of divisions between places - stretching from the Antarctic to the Urals, and from the turfs of passionate soccer fans in Buenos Aires to linguisitic divisions in Brittany, to name but a few -- Cliff Hague OBE, Emeritus Professor of Planning and Spatial Development at Heriot-Watt University

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Book Synopsis'This fascinating and refreshing book is more necessary than ever. A must-read' Thomas Piketty'Fascinating' - New York TimesWINNER OF THE 2024 JACQUES BARZUN PRIZE IN CULTURAL HISTORY Equality is in crisis. Our world is filled with soaring inequalities, spanning wealth, race, identity, and nationality. Yet how can we strive for equality if we don't understand it? As much as we have struggled for equality, we have always been profoundly sceptical about it. How much do we want, and for whom?Darrin M. McMahon's Equality is the definitive intellectual history, tracing equality's global origins and spread from the dawn of humanity through the Enlightenment to today. Equality has been reimagined continually, in the great world religions and the politics of the ancient world, by revolutionaries and socialists, Nazis and fascists, and post-war reformers and activists.A magisterial explorat

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