General and world history Books

Book SynopsisTimely essays from experienced contributors examine the damage recent conflict has caused to cultural heritage, and how it may best be safeguarded in future. `Laurie Rush, a senior archeologist with the U.S. Army, has assembled a seminal book on the threat to important cultural sites from combat operations, and none too soon. Spurred by the tragic and unnecessary loss of artefacts andarchaeology from the invasion of Iraq, she and her colleagues make a persuasive case that a minimum of common sense can not only protect this shared heritage but also enhance the likelihood that a military mission will succeed, and with fewer casualties. This book should be required reading for senior military and civilian leaders, not just in the United States but throughout the world, who are able to initiate the training and education necessary to ensure that planning and targeting personnel will be able to identify significant sites and take every reasonable step to avoid damaging them.' RICHARD MOE, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION, US From Lawrence of Arabia to the Monuments Men to the contributors within this volume, academic scholars have found themselves engaged in conflict areas, in topics involving conflict, and in unlikely partnerships with military professionals. Motives and methods have varied dramatically over the years, but the over-riding theme of this volume is stewardship. In each case, an author has encountered a situation where their expertise has offered the potential tohelp save archaeological properties, historical structures, and sacred places - or has documented the process. Drawing on major contributions from seven armed forces, amongst others, this book aims to set out the obligations to protect cultural heritage under international Conventions; provide a series of case studies of current military practice; and outline the current efforts to enhance this. Overall, it offers examples, anecdotes, and lessons learnedthat can be used for consideration in planning future efforts for global archaeological stewardship. Contributors: Patty Gerstenblith, Krysia Spirydowicz, Julian Radcliffe, Corine Wegener, Joris Kila, Martin Brown, JamesZeidler, Laurie Rush, Paul R. Green, Darrell C. Pinckney, Diane C. Siebrandt, Hugo Clarke, Friedrich Schipper, Franz Schuller, Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen, Holger Eichberger, Erich Frank, Norbert Fürstenhofer, Stephan Zellmeyer,Sarah ParcakTrade ReviewOffers a snapshot of recent efforts to educate and train troops to recognize, protect and preserve cultural heritage during both armed deployments and peacetime. [Its] case studies offer good examples. * TLS *Table of ContentsArchaeology and the Military: an Introduction - Laurie W. Rush The Obligations Contained in International Treaties of Armed Forces to Protect Cultural Heritage in Times of Armed Conflict - Patty Gerstenblith Rescuing Europe's Cultural Heritage: The Role of the Allied Monuments Officers in World War II - Krysia Spirydowicz The UK's Training and Awareness Programme - Julian Radcliffe US Army Civil Affairs: Protecting Cultural Property, Past and Future - Corine Wegener Cultural Property Protection in the Event of Armed Conflict: Deploying Military Experts or Can White Men Sing the Blues? - Joris Kila Good Training and Good Practice: Protection of the Cultural Heritage on the UK Defence Training Estate - Martin Brown In-Theatre Soldier Training through Cultural Heritage Playing Cards: a US Department of Defense Example - James Zeidler In-Theatre Soldier Training through Cultural Heritage Playing Cards: a US Department of Defense Example - Laurie W. Rush Dealing the Heritage Hand: Establishing a United States Department of Defense Cultural Property Protection Program for Global Operations - Laurie W. Rush Teaching Cultural Property Protection in the Middle East: the Central Command Historical Cultural Advisory Group and International Efforts - Laurie W. Rush Cultural Resources Data for Heritage Protection in Contingency Operations - Paul R Green Time not on my side: Cultural Resource Management in Kirkuk, Iraq - Darrell C Pinckney US Military Support of Cultural Heritage Awareness and Preservation in Post-Conflict Iraq - Diane C Siebrandt Operation Heritage - Hugo Clarke Cultural Property Protection in the Event of Armed Conflict - Austrian Experiences - Friedrich Schipper Role of the Swiss Armed Forces in the Protection of Cultural Property - Stephan Zellmeyer Preserving Global Heritage from Space in Times of War - Sarah Parcak Appendices: 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols

Read more less

Book SynopsisShows how the image of Cornish wreckers as villains deliberately luring ships on to the rocks is a myth. Although the popular myth of Cornish wrecking is well-known within British culture, this book is the first comprehensive, systematic inquiry to separate out the layers of myth from the actual practices. Weaving in legal, social and cultural history, it traces the development of wreck law - the right to salvage goods washed on shore - and explores the responses of a coastal populace who found their customary practices increasingly outside the law, especially as local individual rights were being curtailed and the role of centralised authority asserted. This groundbreaking study also considers the myths surrounding wrecking, showing how these developed over time, and how moral attitudes towards wrecking changed. Overall, the picture of evil wreckers deliberately luring ships onto the rocks is dispelled, to be replaced by a detailed picture of a coastal populace - poor and gentry alike - who were involved in a multi-faceted, sophisticated coastal practice and who had their own complex popular beliefs about the harvest and salvage of goods washing ashore from shipwreck. CATHRYN J. PEARCE holds a PhD in Maritime History from Greenwich Maritime Institute. A former associate professor of history with the University of Alaska Anchorage's Kenai Peninsula College, she is now with University Campus Suffolk where she continues to research on the relationship of coastal people with the sea.Trade ReviewA painstaking, well-considered and persuasively argued account of wrecking that shatters the well-established image of the wreckers, and that engages with some of the central issues of crime and the law in Hanoverian and early Victorian England. [...] Pearce's book constitutes a significant addition to knowledge and understanding in a variety of areas that are of considerable interest to contemporary students of history. * JOURNAL FOR MARITIME RESEARCH *Cathryn Pearce has done a masterly job in challenging the traditional stereotype of the Cornish wrecker. ... Cornish Wrecking is full of interesting and well-chosen anecdotes, matching the violent with the humane. [...] This book can be warmly recommended. * THE LOCAL HISTORIAN *This pioneering work is helpful for legal and administrative historians, suggestive for social and literary historians, and necessary for maritime historians. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY *Maritime historian Cathryn Pearce has produced by far the best - in fact the only - authoritative study of wrecking in Cornwall. www.smuggling.co.uk * . *Provides one of the most detailed explanations of the Law and Rights of Wreck that I have read in any non-legal work, and written in clear and concise language. [...] This book really is an excellent piece of research on a subject which is more often told on the basis of myth. * SOUTH WEST SOUNDINGS *Must surely be the definitive study of the subject. [...] Well-researched, well-written and well-presented, Cornish Wrecking is a model study of a controversial practice in Cornish - and British - history which continues to this day. * CORNISH BANNER *A highly readable and intriguing examination of an often misunderstood subject. * PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS *Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Reputation for Wrecking Cornwall and the Sea 'Dead Wrecks' and the Foundation of Wreck Law Wrecking and Criminality The Cornish Wrecker Wrecking and the Popular Morality Wrecking and Enforcement of the Law Lords of the Manor and their Right of Wreck Wrecking and Centralised Authority The Wrecker, the Press and the Pulpit Conclusion: Myths and Reputations Reconsidered

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe influence of the Moravian Church on the missionary awakening in England and its contribution to the movement's nature and vitality. The Moravian Church became widely known and respected for its "missions to the heathen", achieving a high reputation among the pious and with government. This study looks at its connections with evangelical networks, and its indirect role in the great debate on the slave trade, as well as the operations of Moravian missionaries in the field. The Moravians' decision, in 1764, to expand and publicise their foreign missions (largely to the British colonies) coincided with the development of relations between their British leaders and evangelicals from various denominations, among whom were those who went on to found, in the last decade of the century, the major societies which were the cornerstone of the modern missionary movement. These men were profoundly influenced by the Moravian Church's apparent progress, unique among Protestants, in making "real" Christians among the heathen overseas, and this led to the adoption of Moravian missionary methods by the new societies. Dr Mason draws on a wide range of primary documents to demonstrate the influences of the Moravian Church on the missionary awakening in England and its contribution to the movement. Dr J.C.S. Mason first became aware of both the International Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) and his La Trobe forebears, who appear in the book, whilst working for his degree as a mature student at Birkbeck College, University of London; he later completed his thesis at King's College London.Trade ReviewExcellent. * JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY *A very thorough study... The book, which is attractively illustrated, is well-written, and the author has a good eye for apt quotations. The treatment is also sophisticated. * HISTORY *Mason deserves our praise... broadens our understanding of this eighteenth-century religious movement. * ALBION *[A] solidly researched study. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *Thoroughly researched.... A solid and reliable account. * ANGLICAN AND EPISCOPAL HISTORY *

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamination of welfare during the last years of the Poor Law, bringing out the impact of poverty on particular sections of society - the lone mother and the elderly. Social welfare, increasingly extensive during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was by the first third of the nineteenth under considerable, and growing, pressure, during a "crisis" period when levels of poverty soared. This book examines the poor and their families during these final decades of the old Poor Law. It takes as a case study the lived experience of poor families in two Bedfordshire communities, Campton and Shefford, and contrasts it with the perspectives of other participants in parish politics, from the magistracy to the vestry, and from overseers to village ratepayers. It explores the problem of rising unemployment, the provision of parish make-work schemes,charitable provision and the wider makeshift economy, together with the attitudes of the ratepayers. That gender and life-cycle were crucial features of poverty is demonstrated: the lone mother and her dependent children and the elderly dominated the relief rolls. Poor relief might have been relatively generous but it was not pervasive - child allowances, in particular, were restricted in duration and value - and it by no means approximated to the income of other labouring families. Poor families must either have had access to additional resources, or led meagre lives. Samantha Williams is a university lecturer in local and regional history at the Institute of ContinuingEducation, Cambridge, and a Bye-Fellow in History, Girton College, Cambridge.Trade ReviewAn important work for historians of poverty and poor relief, particularly for those interested in the lives of the poor. * FAMILY & COMMUNITY HISTORY *[A] finely researched book ... makes a very significant contribution to poor law history. ... [It] is a very fine piece of scholarship. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *Makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the nature of the old poor law. [...] Only Williams's careful, forensic approach allows her to defiantly make such claims. For this alone, the book has to be essential reading for all poor law specialists and welfare historians. * REVIEWS IN HISTORY *Table of ContentsPeople, place and poverty Policy and paupers Paying for poverty Gender, life-cycle and the life-course Work, unemployment and the makeshift economy

Read more less

Book SynopsisA story of wartime intelligence, super-power relations and spies and their handlers - seen through the experience of Melita Norwood. On September 11th 1999 The Times newspaper carried the front page article "Revealed: the quiet woman who betrayed Britain for 40 years. The spy who came in from the Co-op." Melita Norwood, the last of the atomic spies, hadfinally been run to ground, but at 87 she was deemed too old to prosecute. Her crime: the shortening of the Soviet Union's atomic bomb project by up to 5 years. At a time when the world faces fresh dilemmas caused by the proliferation of nuclear weapons, this is the remarkable story of a much earlier drama. After the atomic bomb strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, British and American intelligence estimated the earliest date for the production of a Soviet bomb to be 1953. In fact, the Soviet Union went nuclear in 1948, and tested an atomic bomb in 1949. The Soviet Union's bomb coincided with the onset of The Cold War, and threatened humankind with extinction. Melita Norwood was a member of one of those communist spy networks in America and Britain, who by guaranteeing those weapons of mass destruction threw down a challenge to America as sole superpower in the post-Second World War era. This fascinating book sets her in the context of the times, and uses her as a prism and focus through which to investigate the whole milieu. Dr DAVID BURKE is a Supervisor for the Rise of the Secret World: Governments and Intelligence Communities since 1900 at the University of Cambridge.Trade ReviewAn absolutely riveting story of the boiling cauldron of angry conflicting beliefs in Europe and Britain between and during the World Wars. It is brilliantly and concisely told and is essential reading - some of it worryingly apposite today. * BELSIZE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER *[A] fascinating volume. * EAST WEST *Burke's knowledge of Russian exiles enables him to provide a thorough and fascinating account of the fervid political and social world from which Norwood emerged. * THE WEEKLY STANDARD (US) *Presents not just a study of a now infamous individual and her motives but a narrative of a hidden but important part of British left-wing history. This book should not be missed. * CHARTIST *This is a splendid book, exhaustively researched and written in a clear, unpretentious style. * GUARDIAN *A valuable addition to the expanding library of works on the history of East-West espionage. * TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany more people encountered newspapers, business press products or jobbing print than the glamorous books of the Enlightenment. This book looks at the way in which print effected a business revolution. Publishing Business in Eighteenth-Century England assesses the contribution of the business press and the publication of print to the economic transformation of England. The impact of non-book printing has been long neglected. A raft of jobbing work serviced commerce and finance while many more practical guides and more ephemeral pamphlets on trade and investment were read than the books that we now associate with the foundations of modern politicaleconomy. A pivotal change in the book trades, apparent from the late seventeenth century, was the increased separation of printers from bookseller-publishers, from the skilled artisan to the bookseller-financier who might have noprior training in the printing house but who took up the sale of publications as another commodity. This book examines the broader social relationship between publication and the practical conduct of trade; the book asks what itmeant to be 'published' and how print, text and image related to the involvement of script. The age of Enlightenment was an age of astonishing commercial and financial transformation offering printers and the business press new market opportunities. Print helped to effect a business revolution. The reliability, reputation, regularity, authority and familiarity of print increased trust and confidence and changed attitudes and behaviours. New modes of publication and the wide-ranging products of printing houses had huge implications for the way lives were managed, regulated and recorded. JAMES RAVEN is Professor of Modern History at the University of Essex and a Fellow of Magdalene College Cambridge.Trade ReviewThe delight of this study is actually in the many surprising discoveries that Raven has collected as the basis for his larger argument. * LIBRARY *The breadth and nuance of this study make its arguments persuasive and make it a significant contribution to the history of the book and of printing. * PAPERS OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA *An innovative and exciting book [which] represents a major scholarly achievement and step forward not simply in linking the history of printing and trade, but in challenging influential trends in eighteenth-century historiography more broadly.. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the social, economic, educational or political history of eighteenth-century Britain. * HISTORY *[An] exceptionally fertile and knowledgeable book. * ARCHIVES *With Publishing Business in Eighteenth-Century England, Raven makes his position as the doyen of eighteenth-century book trade historians pretty much unassailable.. Raven has cleared the way for a new wave of financially literate research into the knowledge economies of eighteenth-century Britain. * SHARP NEWS *Convincingly shows that the printing business did more than profit from the new information age - it had a key role in sustaining the 'English miracle'. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *Table of ContentsThe Mediation of the Press England and the Uneven Economic Miracle The Printed and the Printers Serviced by Stationery and Printing Printing and the City of London Advertising The Advertisers Intelligence Instruction and Guidance Widening Discussion Business, Publishing and the Gentleman Reader Conclusion Select Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents the history of the raising, training and service of the Barnsley Pals in the Great War.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAll That Is Solid Melts into Air is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest books on modernity. A kaleidoscopic journey into the experience of modernization, it captures the dizzying social changes that swept up and transformed the lives of millions of people. Berman delves into the aesthetic and intellectual controversies of art, literature, and architecture: from the writing of Goethe, Marx and Dostoevsky to the Paris of Baudelaire and Haussmann, the Petersburg of the Tsarist builders and Pushkin, and the New York of devastated wastelands and creative artists.Trade ReviewA bubbling cauldron of ideas. * New Statesman *A wonderful book ... generous, exuberant and dazzling. -- John Leonard * New York Times *Berman lights up every text he examines. * Newsweek *The imaginative range, intellectual force and infectious generosity of this book are what place it incontestably in the gallery of canonical texts. -- Mica Nava * Times Higher Education Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the beginning of the eighteenth century to the high water mark of the Victorian era, the world was transformed by a technological revolution the like of which had never been seen before. Inventors, businessmen, scientists, explorers all had their part to play in the story of the Industrial Revolution and in this Brief History Thomas Crump brings their story to life, and shows why it is a chapter in English history that can not be ignored.Previous praise for Thomas Crump's A Brief History of Science:'A serious and fully furnished history of science, from which anyone interested in the development of ideas . . . will greatly profit.' A. C. Grayling, Financial Times'Provides an enduring sense of the extraordinary ingenuity that defines our relationship with nature.' Guardian'An excellent account . . Crump writes with authority.' TLSTrade ReviewA clear and concise explanation of an unwieldy but fascinating subject. * Good Book Guide *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book Steven J Zaloga offers a fascinating comparison of the combat performance of the two most important tanks involved in the crucial fighting of 1944, the Sherman and the Panther. Examining the design and development of both tanks, Zaloga notes the obvious superiority that the Panther had over the Sherman and how the highly engineered German tank was eventually beaten back, not necessarily by the improvements made to the Sherman, but rather by the superior numbers of tanks that the Allies were able to put into the field.Putting the reader into the heart of this battle between quality and quantity Zaloga examines the tactical intricacies of the battles between these two rivals. Using a compelling account of the ferocious fighting in the Ardennes region to explain the successes and failures of each tank he also highlights the fact that a tank can only be as good as its crew, weighing up the impact of low morale, high cost and mediocre crew training on the Panthers su

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe two attempts by Khubilai Khan, the Mongol Emperor of China, to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281 represent unique events in the history of both countries. It pitted the samurai of Japan against the fierce warriors of the steppes who had conquered half the known world.The Mongol conquest of Korea left them with a considerable quantity of maritime resources, which enabled them to thin seriously for the first time about crossing the Tsushima strait between Korea and Japan with an army of invasion. The first invasion, which began with savage raiding on the islands of Tsushima and Iki, made a landfall at Hakata Bay and forced the samurai defenders back inland. Luckily for the Japanese defenders, a storm scattered the Mongol invasion fleet, leading them to abandon this attempt. In the intervening years the Japanese made defensive preparation, and the Mongol increased their fleet and army, so that the second invasion involved one of the largest seaborne expeditions in world

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisNew and affordable edition of this major naval history of the First World War Five volumes to be published in time for the centenary of the War Specially commissioned introductions

Read more less

Conventional chronologies of world history concentrate on the reigns of kings and queens, the dates of battles and treaties, the publication dates of great books, the completion of famous buildings, the deaths of iconic figures, and the years of major discoveries. But there are other more interesting stories to tell - stories which can bring the past vividly and excitingly to life. Imagine a book that tells you the date of the ancient Roman law that made it legal to break wind at banquets; the name of the defunct medieval pope whose putrefying corpse was subjected to the humiliation of a trial before a court of law; the identity of the priapic monarch who sired more bastards than any other king of England; and last but not least the date of the demise in London of the first goat to have circumnavigated the globe - twice. Imagine a book crammed with such deliciously disposable information, and you have History without the Boring Bits. By turns bizarre, surprising, trivial, and enlightening, History without the Boring Bits offers rich pickings for the browser, and entertainment and inspiration aplenty for those who have grown weary of more conventional works of history.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe use of terror has been a characteristic of Russia from the days of the Tsars. The Okhrana was the oppressive police force of the Romanovs. Then came the Cheka, the OGPU, SMERSH and the NKVD - organisations that used terror to control every aspect of military and civilian life. So, during the Great Patriotic War , Soviet soldiers and citizens feared not only the Germans but the tentacles of the secret police. To maintain iron discipline in the face of the German onslaught, to root out dissent and defeatism and to counter the threat of treachery and collaboration, the agents of the NKVD waged a merciless campaign against their own people. The full extent of this extraordinary wartime operation is told in Rupert Butler's compelling study.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the outstanding mysteries of the twentieth century, and one with huge political resonance, is the death of Dag Hammarskjold and his UN team in a plane crash in central Africa in 1961. Just minutes after midnight, his aircraft plunged into thick forest in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), abruptly ending his mission to bring peace to the Congo. Across the world, many suspected sabotage, accusing the multi-nationals and the governments of Britain, Belgium, the USA and South Africa of involvement in the disaster. These suspicions have never gone away.British High Commissioner Lord Alport was waiting at the airport when the aircraft crashed nearby. He bizarrely insisted to the airport management that Hammarskjold had flown elsewhere - even though his aircraft was reported overhead. This postponed a search for so long that the wreckage of the plane was not found for fifteen hours. White mercenaries were at the airport that night too, including the South African pilot Jerry Puren, whose bombing of Congolese villages led, in his own words, to 'flaming huts ...destruction and death'. These soldiers of fortune were backed by Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of the Rhodesian Federation, who was ready to stop at nothing to maintain white rule and thought the United Nations was synonymous with the Nazis. The Rhodesian government conducted an official inquiry, which blamed pilot error. But as this book will show, it was a massive cover-up that suppressed and dismissed a mass of crucial evidence, especially that of African eye-witnesses. A subsequent UN inquiry was unable to rule out foul play - but had no access to the evidence to show how and why. Now, for the first time, this story can be told. Who Killed Hammarskjold follows the author on her intriguing and often frightening journey of research to Zambia, South Africa, the USA, Sweden, Norway, Britain, France and Belgium, where she unearthed a mass of new and hitherto secret documentary and photographic evidence.Trade Review'[Williams] has done a fine job of marshalling new evidence and painting a vivid picture of a past era of Rhodesian colonists in long socks and white shorts, and of cold war politics played out through vicious proxy wars in Africa.' * Sunday Times *'Part detective, part archivist, part journalist, Williams schmoozed spies, befriended diplomats and mercenaries and won the trust of Hammarskjold's still grieving relatives and UN colleagues to get her tale. She unwinds each thread of the narrative with infinite patience, leading us carefully down the tortuous paths of Cold War intrigue.' * The Spectator *'A startling, meticulous, convincing book, written in the understated prose of a Scandinavian crime thriller.' * Simon Kuper, The Financial Times *'Susan Williams' fascinating book explores the unresolved issues surrounding his death in a plane crash in central Africa. With the help of her engaging and no-nonsense style - part Miss Marple, part No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - we are led through the messy, ugly and secretive dark arts of decolonisation in a world of white supremacists and Cold War lunatics. Kids: don't try this at home.' * Times Higher Education *'This welcome, and highly readable, historical detective story sheds yet more mystery on the sad fate of Dag Hammarskjold, arguably the most significant and influential UN secretary general. ... What the book does very well, through extremely thorough research of an international nature, is to highlight the controversies surrounding the crash and the numerous investigations into it. ... this is an important piece of research. It should be read by all those concerned with the activities of right-wing politicians and businessmen and their links to mercenaries, intelligence operations and European economic dominance in the post-independence Congo; and by those concerned with whoever may have been responsible for Hammarskjold's death and the weakening of the UN.' * International Affairs *'This engaging book marks a concerted effort to explore the historical mysteries that shroud the UN Secretary-General's death. ... This is a fascinating, meticulously researched, and easy-to-read study of the events surrounding the episode.' * African Affairs *'Susan Williams' impressive probing draws together previously secret archived material and witness statements never before aired. The book is rigorously academic, with intensive referencing and quotes from expert informants, but it is also an intriguing whodunnit, albeit one with particularly sombre connotations,' * The Canberra Times *'Susan Williams has produced a compelling account from a monumental amount of historical detective work and encounters with an extraordinary range of personalities, some of them extremely shady.' * The Witness (South Africa) *'Fascinating book...' * New Internationalist *'Immensely impressive … Williams writes with clarity and knowledge, demonstrating a depth of understanding of this crucial period in the history of the UN.' * Irish Examiner *'Susan Williams' fascinating book explores the unresolved issues surrounding his death in a plane crash in central Africa. With the help of her engaging and no-nonsense style – part Miss Marple, part No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency – we are led through the messy, ugly and secretive dark arts of decolonisation in a world of white supremacists and Cold War lunatics. Kids: don't try this at home.' * Times Higher Education *'This welcome, and highly readable, historical detective story sheds yet more mystery on the sad fate of Dag Hammarskjöld, arguably the most significant and influential UN secretary general. … What the book does very well, through extremely thorough research of an international nature, is to highlight the controversies surrounding the crash and the numerous investigations into it. … this is an important piece of research. It should be read by all those concerned with the activities of right-wing politicians and businessmen and their links to mercenaries, intelligence operations and European economic dominance in the post-independence Congo; and by those concerned with whoever may have been responsible for Hammarskjöld's death and the weakening of the UN.' * International Affairs *'This engaging book marks a concerted effort to explore the historical mysteries that shroud the UN Secretary-General's death. … This is a fascinating, meticulously researched, and easy-to-read study of the events surrounding the episode.' * African Affairs *'This is an extraordinary story, narrated with clarity and devastating effect. Susan Williams is to be congratulated for shining a light onto a very strange and disturbing incident. The result is a gripping and astonishing read.' * Alexander McCall Smith, novelist, author of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series *'Susan Williams' impressive probing draws together previously secret archived material and witness statements never before aired. The book is rigorously academic, with intensive referencing and quotes from expert informants, but it is also an intriguing whodunnit, albeit one with particularly sombre connotations,' * The Canberra Times *'Susan Williams has produced a compelling account from a monumental amount of historical detective work and encounters with an extraordinary range of personalities, some of them extremely shady.' * The Witness (South Africa) *'Williams has done remarkable research … to gallantly demonstrate that the UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa, directly or indirectly, caused Hammarskjold's crash. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Congo and decolonization; it is very well researched, lucidly written and provides an alternative point of view to a subject that Europe refuses to claim responsibility for.' * African Studies Bulletin *'The author's scrupulous research shines through this book's carefully argued narrative. … All the evidence she uncovers points to the Hammarskjöld plane crash being the culmination of an assassination plot—and put into current context, with Congo peace talks breaking down at the AU in Addis Ababa … it is a story that continues to unfold.' * Stephen Williams, African Business *

Read more less

Book SynopsisStalin's Secret Weapon is a gripping account of the early history of the globally significant Soviet biological weapons programme, including its key scientists, its secret experimental bases and the role of intelligence specialists, establishing beyond doubt that the infrastructure created by Stalin continues to form the core of Russia's current biological defence network. Anthony Rimmington has enjoyed privileged access to an array of newly available sources and materials, including declassified British Secret Intelligence Service reports. The evidence contained therein has led him to conclude that the programme, with its network of dedicated facilities and proving grounds, was far more extensive than previously considered, easily outstripping those of the major Western powers. As Rimmington reveals, many of the USSR's leading infectious disease scientists, including those focused on pneumonic plague, were recruited by the Soviet military and intelligence services. At the dark heart of this bacteriological archipelago lay Stalin, and his involvement is everywhere to be seen, from the promotion of favoured researchers to the political repression and execution of the lead biological warfare specialist, Ivan Mikhailovich Velikanov.Trade Review'Eye-opening . . . [Rimmington's] remarkable findings . . . [and] painstaking analysis of the Russian archives is [a] real achievement . . . an important book.'‘Thorough and well researched, this book presents a detailed overview of early Soviet BW activities, as well as the chaotic and harsh environment in which these activities developed.’ -- Cold War Studies Journal‘Rimmington’s book is a fascinating and at times horrifying read that is highly recommended to anybody interested in arms control or the excesses of totalitarian regimes.’ -- The Russian Review'In this pathbreaking book, Anthony Rimmington peels back successive layers to reveal the inner workings of a secret state. The efforts of Soviet scientists and various intelligence agencies to discover what was going on are outlined in remarkable detail. Original and fascinating.' -- Michael Goodman'Under Stalin the Soviet Union aimed to be at the forefront of every branch of weapons development. Soviet tanks and planes became world-famous; Soviet anthrax, plague, and other pathogens remained a closely guarded secret. Rimmington's careful study has mapped the surprising dimensions of this little-known branch of Soviet military industry.' -- Mark Harrison'A fascinating account of Stalin's multi-pronged, well-resourced and ambitious biological weapons programmes. Rimmington expertly synthesises intelligence assessments and academic publications, concluding that much of the structure created by Stalin is still in place.' -- Jonathan Brewer

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new edition of a classic Batsford title from the 1930s. London is brought to life through its people, buildings and history in this classic book, first published in 1935. The Spirit of London presents a wonderful snapshot of our capital before World War II and a charming insight into urban life in the 1930s. Paul Cohen-Portheim was an Austrian traveller and writer who was interned in the UK during World War I. His enforced stay made him fall in love with England and in particular, London. This is his take on the irrepressible city. Chapters include: Towns Within, Town Streets and their Life, Green London, London Amusements and Night Life, Traditional London, London and the British and London and the Foreigner. The book features Brian Cook’s iconic illustration of Ludgate Circus and St Paul’s on the cover. Add in the charm of the authentic voice of a 1930s Londoner, this book should be enjoyed by all Londoners and London enthusiasts.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe present volume is concerned with some of the work done at Pichnvari between 1960 and 1989. Coin hoards had led to the identification of the site in the 1950s. Small-scale fieldwork was carried out in 1953 and 1956 , but it was only in 1960 that large scale excavation began. Perhaps the most significant contribution was the investigation of the Greek cemetery which constitutes the largest ethnic Greek necropolis in the Black Sea region.

Read more less

Book SynopsisStanely G. payne here presents a full history of fascism in interwar Europe, as well as a survey of fascist theory and postwar fascism.The author examines all major fascist movements as well as other forms of authoritarian nationalism and provides a comprehensive work on generic fascism to date. The book traces the phenomenon of fascism through the history of ideas, previous political movements, and the events of the First World War. Although the focus is principally fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the book also gives detailed attention to the Romanian Iron Guard, Franco's Spain, Japan and proto-fascist movements around the globe.The author explores the reasons for both the limits of fascism's appeal and the historical transcendence of the "fascist era".The inclusion of other forms of authoritarian nationalism lays a foundation for comparative analysis and leads to a more workable definition of authoritarianism.It should be useful reading for students studying the rise of totalitarianism in twentieth-century Europe and for those concerned about the rise of ultranationalism today.Trade Review'Invaluable ... likely to be the definitive study of its subject for a considerable time ... a model of historical narrative, analysis and interpretation.' - The New York TimesTable of ContentsFascism - A Working Definition Part 1: History: The Cultural Transformation of the Fin de Siecle Radical and Authoritarian Nationalism in Late 19th-century Europe The Impact of World War I The Rise of Italian Fascism, 1919-29 The Growth of Nonfascist Authoritarianism in Southern and Eastern Europe, 1919-29 German National Socialism The Transformation of Italian Fascism, 1929-39 Four Major Variants of Fascism The Minor Movements Fascism outside Europe? World War II - Climax and Destruction of Fascism Part 2: Interpretation: Interpretations of Fascism Generic Fascism Fascism and Modernization Elements of a Retrodictive Theory of Fascism Epilogue - Neofascism - A Fascism in our Future?

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn A History of Diplomacy, historian Jeremy Black challenges the conventional account of the development of diplomacy, devoting more attention to non-Western traditions and to the medieval West than is usually the case. By the nineteenth century a system of diplomacy was increasingly formalized. Black charts the course and evolution of 'diplomacy' in all its incarnations, concluding with the ideological diplomatic conflicts of the twentieth century and the situation today. The role of modern inter- and non-governmental organizations - from the United Nations and NATO to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch - in diplomatic relations is assessed, and the challenges facing diplomacy in the future are identified and investigated. A History of Diplomacy presents a detailed and engaging study into the ever-changing phenomenon of diplomacy: its aims, its achievements, its successes and failures, against a historical and cultural background. An essential read for students and scholars of history and politics, it will also be of interest to anyone intrigued by the forces that have shaped international relations throughout history.Trade Review'An ambitious, innovative and remarkably wide-ranging survey by a historian of formidable breadth.' - BBC History Magazine 'thought-provoking and usefully targeted to the questions of today.' - TLS '[a] spirited defence of traditional diplomacy ... a history of the profession, but with an alternative focus, looking at modern diplomacy's non-Western traditions and its roots in the medieval West. It provides fascinating details along the way about the development of embassies, envoys, and give-and-take or 19th century statesmanship. It almost made me want to rejoin the trade - except in a time capsule.' - Eamon Delaney, Irish Times 'Using illuminating, sometimes fascinating examples and an easy-going style, he describes the development of embassies and the self-taught skills of their envoys all the way up to the zenith of statesmanship, the nineteenth century ... beyond merely demonstrating the forces that have shaped international relations today, Professor Black delivers a clarion call for today's diplomats to not forsake their traditional skills and functions in favour of easy sound bites.' - Diplomat magazine 'Jeremy Black's book provides a highly effective tour d'horizon of the practice of diplomacy to date, as well as indicating its future longetivity.' - International Affairs 'Jeremy Black brings together a wide ranging body of knowledge to produce a powerful defence of the traditional academic discipline of Diplomatic History. In so doing he also demonstrates the continuing importance and relevance of diplomacy in the changing conditions of the modern world.' - Professor John Clark, University of Buckingham

Read more less

Book SynopsisThere are few more historic and evocative places in the world. Caesar was cremated there. Charles V and Mussolini rode by it in triumph. There Napoleon celebrated his festival of liberty. In this radical reappraisal David Watkin teaches us to see the Forum with new eyes and helps us to rediscover its rich history. This is as stimulating to the armchair traveller as it is useful as a guide to the Forum itself. 'With verve, authority and no little humour, Watkin tells the detailed and complex story of this great but mutilated landmark ... it is an almost impossible task, superbly done' Peter Jones, BBC History Magazine 'In this sprightly volume ... the distinguished architectural historian David Watkin charts the shifting fortunes of the site ... he has an engagingly romantic feeling for the place... deploying a good deal of sharp wit, he reveals how the relatively recent obsession with recovering the Forum's classical past has led to much unhappy destruction and much less scarcely happy invention' Matthew Sturgis, Country LifeTrade ReviewThis charming and erudite book not only reveals much about the history of its subject; it stands as a humanist reproach to the scientific philistinism of our times. -- Allan Massie * Literary Review *An excellent, handy new book... More successfully than any author before him, Watkin makes his reader aware of the multilayered, fascinating history of the site -- Masolino D'Amico * TLS *Professor Watkin has an engagingly romantic feeling for the place ... Deploying a good deal of sharp wit, he reveals how the relatively recent obsession with recovering the Forum's classical past has led to much unhappy destruction -- Matthew Sturgis * Country Life *Watkin provides a challenging new perspective on Rome's ancient heart. -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *David Watkin's short, polemical, brilliant history...the painstaking explanation of the true history and origins of all visible fabric, in clear, authoritative but enjoyable and lively language that makes this an invaluable guide...read this: it will help to tell you who you are. -- Timothy Brittain-Catlin * The Tablet *Learned but lively... Informative... -- Christopher Hirst * Indepedent *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'In Modern Love, Marcus Collins sets out to survey the changing expectations men and women have brought to their relationships with one another.' -- Damian Thompson, Daily Telegraph Drawing on social, economic and political history, Modern Love explains for the first time at book length how relations changed between men and women in Britain in the twentieth century. Marcus Collins shows how men and women's expectations from life radically shifted and converged, describing how we moved from inhabiting our separate spheres with wholly different prospects and values towards the ideal, if not quite the actuality, of equality, mutuality, companionship and friendship.'Enlightening... Collins charts the progress of a radical turn-of-the-century idea that men and women could achieve joyful intimacy if only they got to know one another as equals ... he elegantly demonstrates the power of public perception in determining whether or not we manage to be happy in love.' --Decca Aitkenhead, New Statesman'From the Victorians to Bridget Jones, it's a miracle women actually have relationships... Marcus Collins gets back to basics and allows us to hear the voices of ordinary women and men for ourselves'.--Rachel Cooke, Observer'Rather a well-mannered history of those who have sought to make marriage a better thing. The questions he raises... are just as compelling today as they were a century ago.'--Lesley White, Sunday TimesTrade Review'A subtle and persuasive account of relationships between men and women from the nineteenth century through to the new millennium' * Economist *'A well-mannered history of those who have sought to make marriage a better thing' -- Lesley White * Sunday Times *'Elegantly demonstrates the power of public perception in determining whether or not we manage to be happy in love' -- Decca Aitkenhead * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisEvery year, thousands of people come to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to have their photograph taken on the line of the Prime Meridian - longitude 0 Degrees - as they stand in the eastern and western hemispheres at the same time. But what is the purpose and history of the Greenwich Meridian? What other points in the world lie along it? And what links the line with navigation, timekeeping and the stars? Find out on this whistle-stop tour from the North Pole, through Greenwich, to France, Spain, Africa and Antarctica, revealing the Greenwich Meridian's fascinating history along the way.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover the rich royal history of the area where Henry VIII built his first tournament ground, Elizabeth I took daily walks in the Park and Charles II raced early royal yachts against his brother. In 2012, to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Greenwich officially became a Royal Borough. It was just the third in London, and the honour recognised centuries of royal connections that have shaped the area's history. From late Saxon times to the present day Greenwich has been the backdrop to many notable royal events, from the birth of Henry VIII, to the first public engagement of the future Elizabeth II. Royal Greenwich traces these links and reveals how, through architecture, pageantry, patronage and more, Britain's monarchs have been the creators of historic Greenwich as it exists today.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Silk Road is a route from the edges of the European world to the central plains of China. For thousands of years, its history has been a traveller's history, of brief encounters in desert towns, snowbound passes and nameless forts. It was the conduit that first brought Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China, and the site of much of the 'Great Game' between Victorian empires. Jonathan Clements guides the reader through the trackless wastes of the Taklamakan Desert, its black whirlwinds and dead lakes, its shimmering mirages, lost cities and mysterious mummies, but also its iconic statues and memorable modern pop songs. He explains the truth behind odd tales of horses that sweat blood, defaced statues and missing frescoes, and Marco Polo's stories of black gold that seeps from the earth.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRisking harsh retribution, including beatings, further privations, and at the very least confiscation, Far East prisoners of war (FEPOW) were still determined to provide the world with visual accounts of their brutal existence. Doing so was strictly forbidden, so their art had to be done on whatever scraps of paper or other materials they could beg, steal or borrow, and their paints and tools were ingeniously acquired or home made. Captive Artists brings together for the first time this secret art, created by over 65 previously unrecognised artists, all British servicemen, who documented survival during Far East captivity. In colour, pencil, pen and ink, even needle and thread and clay, this uncompromising and at times challenging collection illustrates both the importance of art as therapy, and the resilience of the human spirit. Humorous cartoons, caricatures and portraits bring the men to life. Glorious watercolours of landscapes, local flora and fauna, camp life and medical ingenuity poignantly reveal how the men lived and survived in the face of such deprivation and despair. Survival, and the artists' need to record it in myriad ways, underpins this unique collection of unseen Second World War art. Not only is the art often of an astonishingly high standard, it is also a sobering but vital portrayal of man's inhumanity to man. * Published to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day (Victory in Japan) in 2020 * The only book that really conveys in both a visual and verbal way just what it was like living through the nightmare of captivity in the Far East * Exhibition in Philip Mould Gallery in Pall Mall in February 2020Trade Review"This wonderfully produced book expresses how unbreakable the human spirit can be in circumstances of unthinkable adversity. The art these men generated, so excellently exposited within these pages, reveals untold historical truths in ways that words alone could never impart." Philip Mould, art historian, art dealer and broadcaster (BBC's Fake or Fortune)

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn For the People: Left Populism in Spain and the US Jorge Tamames offers a stimulating comparative study of Spain’s Podemos and the Bernie Sanders movement in the US. Left populism emerges as a potential powerful antidote to rising inequality in both Europe and America. Recent years have witnessed dramatic challenges to established politics across Europe and America. Opposition to business-as-usual has not been limited to the radical right: left populist movements with transformative agendas offer a very different – if equally radical – response to the status quo. Focusing on left populist movements in the contrasting political landscapes of Spain and the US, For the People brings together insights from Karl Polanyi, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe to offer a bold new explanatory framework for today’s left populism. The book will be a key text for activists, students of politics, and anyone interested in the current political landscape of Europe and America. It grounds its insights in a careful excavation of recent political history in the two countries, tracing the emergence and advance of left parties and movements from the early days of neoliberalism in the 1970s, through the political landslides that followed the 2008 financial crisis and the post2011 protest cycle, up to the present day. In the age of Trump and Brexit, For the People offers an indispensable mix of theoretical, historical and practical insights for all those interested in and inspired by the radical potentials of left populism.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Populists at the gates 1.Populism and its discontents 2. Earthquakes and countermovements 3. The move to the market 4. From consensus to crisis: Spain 1978-2013 5. From New Deal to no deal: America 1977-2014 6. Storming heaven: Podemos and Spain’s populist moment 7. Bernie Sanders’s political revolution Conclusion: Hopes and prospects for left populism

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis series documents a second strand of Wales'' transport heritage, namely its now lost tramways. This rigorously researched account, photo-illustrated throughout, details the history of Swansea''s tramway and the city at the time when these services were in regular use, guiding you through its story station by station.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhile volumes have been devoted to the legendary "Flying Tigers," the ultimate American Volunteer Group, another virtually unknown band of flyers preceded them in 1932. When Colombia and Peru became embroiled in what is known as the "Leticia Affair," a little-heralded arms race ensued. The Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation saw an opening and soon had not only sold the Colombians on an impressive assortment of aircraft types but also an American cadre to bridge the gap until their own crews were ready. Illustrated with rare contemporary illustrations, this books tells the fascinating story of these oft-forgotten men and the aircraft they flew.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe United States Naval Aviation service celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011 and since then it has continued to be at the forefront of military aviation developments. The past ten years have been significant for continuous improvement, development, and efficiency. In that time, the service has dealt with highlights and various challenges, such as a sequestration in 2013, the resulting reduction in combat readiness, and aircraft manufacturing delays. Focusing on the squadrons of the US Navy and Marine Corps, and illustrated with over 150 images, this book delves into the various carrier air wings, the aircraft, such as the F/A-18 and E2 variants, and the training that together make US Naval Aviation the force it is today. It describes the developments of the West Coast bases over the past decade, the successes the United States Navy has achieved, and the methods used to further standardize and optimize the fleet.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the beginning, the story goes, two gods conjured the islands out of primordial chaos with the tip of a sacred spear. The ?Great Eight-Island Country?, Japan has always followed its own unique path, often alone through centuries of deliberate isolation. Contact and conflict with other nations has often taken the form of flashpoints of social and technological shock: firearms, trade ships electric light and atom bombs. Yet despite the challenges that have beset it from outside and from within, Japan has maintained and expanded its singular and compelling culture for thousands of years. Today, Japan is a key player on the world stage, a technological powerhouse, and an icon of non-aggressive international policy. Amid its hi-tech cities, ancient shrines call the faithful to venerate heavenly gods and the spirits of the land. Glittering technological marvels vie with traditional folklore; culinary practices and ceremonies to beguile visitors; and ancient buildings still hide in the shadows of the new. Take a journey into the history of this fascinating island nation and discover some of the people, events and beliefs that have shaped the Land of the Rising Sun.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this stirring memoir by a member of the first generation of LGBTQ+ activists in Italy, Porpora Marcasciano tells her story and shares the struggles and accomplishments of her fellow activists who achieved so much in the 1970s yet suffered devastating losses during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. AntoloGaia offers an insider’s look at the beginnings of the gay liberation movement in Italy and reveals how it was intimately intertwined with other forms of left-wing activism. At the same time, it powerfully conveys the queer joy of a young person from a small village first encountering the vibrant sexual minority communities of Naples, Bologna, and Rome. As Marcasciano starts to embrace her trans identity, she meets the famous anthropologist Pino Simonelli, who introduces her to Naples’s unique femminielli subculture and gives her the name Porporino, which she later shortens to Porpora. In keeping with this story of gender, sexual, and political discovery, AntoloGaia is the first piece of Italian life-writing to use gender-neutral and mixed-gender language. Trade Review"Porpora Marcasciano says of this electrifying memoir that, if she could, she would have written it in verse to better capture the wild anarchic energy of the world that fueled her activism. No need. Her life story is poetry enough. What a gift to English speakers for her story to find us now, when we need the inspiration of as much wild anarchic energy as possible." -- Susan Stryker * author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution *"A fascinating look into Italy's radical queer and trans cultures and their fraught relationship with wider left-wing politics, Marcasciano's AntoloGaia is just as much a guide to how to live one's life with courage, conviction, and creativity." -- Juliet Jacques * author of Trans: A Memoir *"This is a book of exploration—of gender, of one’s life, of things one has dared to dream. Like the people we meet, the stories Porpora Marcasciano tells are cradled in a radical trans love, and isn't that one of the best kinds of love? As you read, you too will be cradled and never abandoned." -- Marquis Bey * author of Black Trans Feminism *"This trans memoir by Porpora Marcasciano, someone who felt born into the wrong world, could not come at a better time. Sexual rights for minorities have been on the map since humans have shared their feelings about being in the world, and what a fitting opportunity that a trans story from 1970s Italy has come to light in this beautiful translation." -- Bernadette Wegenstein * coeditor of Radical Equalities and Global Feminist Filmmaking: An Anthology *"Marcasciano's life is a valuable part of trans history, and her account of the queer movement in Italy during the chaotic 1970s is eye-opening." -- Diana Goetsch * author of This Body I Wore: A Memoir *Table of ContentsForeword: "Giving Voice to the Italian Trans Community," Sara Galli and Mohammad Jamali Translator's Note, Francesco Pascuzzi and Sandra Waters Preface to the Italian edition: "The Unbearable Lightness of Gender in History and Biography," Laura Schettini Chapter One Le début (1973–1976) Somewhere in the West Traces of Dreams The Source of Consciousness Coming Out It Happened Trip Other Dimensions Changing the World The Underground Technical Rehearsals of Resistance The Best of Youth Rebel Music Exodus, Displacement, Transition EscapeChapter Two 1977: Dreaming and Utopia And 1977 Exploded! The First Lesbian We Want Everything! Alice in the City, Transversalism, Situationism, Fantasy Strawberries and Blood Between Class and Gender Consciousness Nomadic Tribes The Crush Continuous The Biggest Piazza Was Too Small The Transvestite Cries Out for Revenge in the Presence of the Phallus Porporino La dolce vita Lud With the Faguettes or With the Chavs Being Overwhelmed Flora and Fauna Good Morning, Night The First of May Distress and Self-Awareness Living in a Dream and Not Dreaming about LivingChapter Three Extravagance (1978–1982) Zanza Valentina Sanna Cortese Narciso The Festival of Poets at Castelporziano Capo Rizzuto and Gay Camping Gay Activism and Its First Conference Mario Mieli Royal Family and Self-Defense Techniques Monte Caprino Extravaganza Pisa Desiring Bologna and the Grand Duchy of Pistoia Lesbians and/or Feminists Punk The '80s Began Valerie Theater 1981 and the First Gay New Year Trans Manifesto for 164 Gay Occupations Beaches The CasseroChapter Four Transition, Epic Passage (1983...) Then Night Came! The Gay Plague Blows to the Heart Author Acknowledgments Appendices Timelines Key Words Porpora's Publications Notes on Contributors

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisExploring the rise and fall of global power from the mid-nineteenth century, this book tracks the long and interrelated trajectories of the most serious challenges facing the world today. Although at first the urgency of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 seemed to take precedence over other global problems such as socioeconomic inequality and climate change, it has ultimately exacerbated these issues and created opportunities to address them boldly and innovatively. A Brief History of Now provides a bird’s-eye view of world hegemony, economic globalization and political regimes as they have evolved and developed over the last two hundred years, providing context and insights into the forces which have shaped the Western world. Presented in an accessible and engaging narrative, the book addresses key contemporary challenges and explores the repercussions of a technological revolution, the potential instability of democracy over the coming years, and the urgent struggle to tackle climate change. With his book, Diego Olstein helps to answer pressing questions about our world today and provides a roadmap for analysing future trajectories.Table of Contents

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book provides an advanced introduction to the Cold War, assessing its origins, development and conclusion as a dynamic interaction between superpower confrontation and complex regional and local situations. The evolution of the subject’s scholarly debate is discussed throughout and the contest situated alongside enduring historical themes including decolonisation, development, nationalism and globalisation. Regional case studies, on Europe, East and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, illuminate the Cold War’s global reach. Thematic analysis considers competition in military, strategic and economic spheres, as well as in aspects of culture, ideology, society, and Human Rights. The Cold War’s transnational elements and facets of international cooperation are also highlighted. The book unpacks the subject’s extensive scholarly discourse, underlining the interdisciplinary character of today’s Cold War historiography and the importance of understanding that its development has been informed by a vibrant interface between international history, international relations and the Cold War itself. Table of Contents1. Introduction.- Part I.- 2. Historical Background: World War II and Tensions in the Wartime Alliance.- 3. The Origins of the Cold War in Europe: from World War II to the Berlin Blockade.- 4. Studying the Cold War: core themes and concepts. Is there a new international history of the Cold War?.- 5. The Early Development of the Cold War in Europe: the division of Germany, the formation of NATO and European Integration.- 6. The Origins of the Cold War in East Asia: the emergence of communist China, Japan and the Korean War.- Part II.- 7. The Superpowers and the Cold War in the 1950s.- 8. Crises 1958–1962.- 9. The Vietnam War.- 10. The Cold War and the Third World: Latin America.- 11. The Middle East and the Cold War.- 12. Waging the Cold War.- Part III.- 13. Détente.- 14. The Travails of Détente.- 15. Beyond Geopolitics: economics, culture and the transnational Cold War.- 16. The Superpowers and the end of the Cold War.- 17. Regional Finales.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Black Middle Ages examines the influence of medieval studies on African-American thought. Matthew X. Vernon focuses on nineteenth century uses of medieval texts to structure racial identity, but also considers the flexibility of medieval narratives more broadly in the medieval period, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book engages disparate discourses to reassess African-American positionalities in time and space. Utilizing a transhistorical framework, Vernon reflects on medieval studies as a discipline built upon a contended set of ideologies and acts of imaginative appropriation visible within source texts and their later mobilizations. Trade Review“A volume consisting of four chapters that all stand alone and conclude with their own bibliography. … While each chapter stands all on its own, the volume concludes with an index for the entire book.” (Albrecht Classen, Mediaevistik, Vol. 32 (1), 2019)Table of Contents1. Introduction- Reading Out of Time: Genealogy, African-American Literature, and the Middle Ages.- 2. Medieval Self-Fashioning: The Middle Ages in Early African-American Scholarship and Curricula.- 3. Failed Knights and Broken Narratives: Mark Twain and Charles Chesnutt’s Black Romance.- 4. History, Genealogy, and Gerald of Wales: Medieval Theories of Ethnicity and their Afterlives.- 5. Other Families: Dryden’s Theory of Congeniality in Dante, Chaucer, and Naylor.- 6. Coda- True and Imaginary History in Django Unchained.

Read more less