History: specific events and topics Books

Book SynopsisExplores the world of the thumbscrew and the rack, engines of torture authorized for investigating crime in European legal systems from medieval times into the eighteenth century. Drawing on juristic literature and legal records, this crisply written book provides an account of how European legal systems became dependent on the use of torture.

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Book SynopsisA survey of the history of the French Foreign Legion that outlines the Legion's vicissitudes, victorious campaigns, marches, dirtiest combats and dramatic defeats. This book discusses the Legion in the historical background of France and also describes its development, organization, uniforms, equipments and weapons.

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Book SynopsisThis popular text has now been revised to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the growing number of people interested in all the main philosophical traditions of the world. Introduces all the main philosophical systems of the world, from ancient times to the present day. Now includes new sections on Indian and Persian thought and on feminist and environmental philosophy. The preface and bibliography have also been updated. Written by a highly successful textbook author. Trade Review‘A multicultural feast of ideas and arguments! In language that is expressive, clear and often humorous, David Cooper has written a compelling history of philosophy, covering as it does not only the major figures in Western thought but also the main trends in non-Western philosophy.' Robert L. Arrington, Georgia State University ‘By opening the door to cross-cultural comparison, Cooper has let in a draught that may blow away the whole house of cards, and uncover the parts of philosophy that the histories never reached.' Jonathan Rée, Times Higher Education SupplementTable of ContentsPreface to second edition vii 1 Introduction 1 Part I: Ancient Philosophies 9 2 India 13 3 China 58 4 Greece 92 Part II: Middle Period and 'Modern' Philosophies: 147 5 Medieval Philosophies 151 6 Developments in Asian Philosophy 203 7 From Renaissance to Enlightenment 241 Part III: Recent Philosophies: 307 8 Kant and the Nineteenth Century 311 9 Recent Non-Western Philosophies 377 10 Twentieth-Century Western Philosophies 426 Bibliography 505 Index 527

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Book SynopsisA first history of mediation and arbitration in England before the Common Law. This book shows how natural and widespread mediation and arbitration have been in England since history began. It includes an appendix which deals with the many unsettled questions of the languages of the period, British, Latin, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman.

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Book SynopsisPrinted first in 1666, this source is both an instruction manual and plea for reform, comparing the positive potential of mediation and arbitration with the chicanery of contemporary litigation. It describes in detail some arbitrations of the period.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the revival under Edward VII of the ceremonial state visit by British monarchs, showing the impact and importance of active royal diplomacy during his reign. Using the Royal Archives, memoirs and newspapers, it reveals the contribution made by the use of ceremony and public display to popular appreciation of the monarchy.Trade Review“This absorbing book reveals much of a lesser-appreciated facet of the public life of King Edward VII … . This book confirms the relevance of this area of scholarship to those interested in British diplomacy and royal visits, and invites further comparative research into overseas journeys undertaken by subsequent monarchs.” (Laura Cook, Royal Studies Journal, Vol. 3 (2), 2016) Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Modern Revival of Royal Diplomacy 2. The First Royal Visits 3. A Difficult Host: Edward VII's Visit to Italy 4. Edward's Gift to Diplomacy? 1903 Visit to Paris 5. A Virtual Royal Occasion: Edward VII's 1907 Visit to Spain 6. The Diplomatic Margins: State Visits to Scandinavia 7. Dealing with the Great Bear: Edward VII's Visit to Russia 8. 'The Most Powerful and Influential Diplomat of his Day': Edward VII's Final State Visits Epilogue

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Book SynopsisExploding the myth that Marco Polo discovered pasta in China and brought it back to Italy, this volume shows that pasta has existed in various forms throughout Middle Eastern, Asian, and even North African culinary cultures long before its appearance in the West.Trade ReviewServenti and Sabban's remarkable tracing of pasta's history and development makes this a central addition to the history of food. -- Mark Knoblauch Booklist [Pasta] is stuffed as tight as cannelloni with facts, numbers and quotes...an excellent study not only of pasta but of the way a single product can mutate and influence various economies over time...no doubt the exhaustive new authority on its subject. Publishers Weekly A feast for the mind. Guardian Offers more in the way of pasta history than most readers have even begun to imagine. Kirkus Reviews There are countless books on pasta, but none before has really explained how noodles took over the world, from the two great civilizations of China and Italy... [Pasta] is rich with stories. -- Bee Wilson London Times You might think that a 400-plus-page book about pasta wouldn't be much of a page turner, but you'd be wrong...Serventi & Sabban have written an engrossing book. -- Dan Santow Chicago Tribune [A]nyone who cares about pasta (which is to say, anyone who eats) will find a great deal of fascinating material to savor. This book is catnip for history buffs. -- Fred Plotkin Gastronomica Pasta shows how much is to be gained by looking at historical change through the lens provided by... food. -- Priscilla Ferguson Journal of Modern HistoryTable of ContentsSeries Editor's Preface Preface Note Concerning a Definition of Pasta Products Acknowledgments Introduction: In the Beginning Was Wheat 1. The Infancy of an Art 2. The Time of the Pioneers 3. From the Hand to the Extrusion Press 4. The Golden Age of the Pasta Manufactory 5. The Industrial Age 6. Pasta Without Borders 7. The Time of Plenty 8. The Taste for Pasta 9. China: Pasta's Other Homeland 10. The Words of Pasta

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Book SynopsisPresents an argument that the research university developed in response to market forces and bureaucracy, producing a academic whose goal was to establish originality and achieve fame through publication. This book investigates the origins and evolving fixtures of academic life: the lecture catalog, the library catalog, and the grading system.Trade Review"In almost any way that one can imagine, Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University is an astonishing book.... Many times the prose is purposefully funny and anything but dry-as-dust academic writing. No summary can do justice to a book so relentless in analysis and so rich in original source material.... This is a brilliant book. The styles and methods may be recognizable, but the whole is daringly new, exciting, and disturbing." - Sheldon Rothblatt, American Scientist "[Clark] makes his case with analytic shrewdness, an exuberant love of archival anecdote, and a wry sense of humor. It's hard to resist a writer who begins by noting, 'Befitting the subject, this is an odd book.'" - Anthony Grafton, New Yorker"

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Book SynopsisThe Phantom was developed for the US Navy as a long range all-weather fighter and first flew in May 1958. Phantoms have been used in combat in many conflicts throughout its long service history. This text provides a history of this craft.

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Book SynopsisA half-century of Wall Street history as seen through the lives of its most illustrious family This compelling new narrative from bestselling author John Rothchild tells the story of three generations of the legendary Davis family, who rank among the most successful investors in the history of the Street.Trade Review"...Rothchild's book is a combination of entertaining biography and successful investment philosophy..." (Lloyd's List, 28 September, 2001) "...well-researched, solidly written book..." (Institutional Investor, 1 October, 2001)Table of ContentsIntroduction. Davis Meets His Bankroll. From the Great Depression To the Hitler Crisis. Beyond the Rear-View Mirror. A Last Hurrah for Bonds. A Crib Course in Coverage. From Bureaucrat to Investor. The Bullish 1950s. Davis Shops Abroad. Wall Street a Go-Go. Shelby Gets Funded. The Inheritance Flap. Cool Trio Runs Hot Fund. The Worst Decline Since 1929. Davis on the Rebound. Shelby Buys Banks--Davis Buys Everything. The Grandsons Get in the Game. The Family Joins Forces. Chris Inherits Venture. Investing à la Davis. Source Notes. Index.

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Book SynopsisThe Monarch History of the Church is an eight-volume series by world-renowned historians and theologians. Each volume offers an even-handed, comprehensive and readable assessment of the main strands of Christianity within its period. The first volume covers the period AD 30-312. During this time, the church experienced major challenges politically, culturally and intellectually, yet grew and defined itself in remarkable ways. Here is the story of Christianity's earliest shapers - men and women whose influence is still felt today.Trade Review`A telling account of early Christianity from Bible times down to the conversion of Constantine that is clear, readable and informed by recent scholarship.’ -- David Bebbington, Professor of History, University of Stirling`An account of the early church that is both readable and informative, without being simplistic’ -- Gerald Bray, Anglican Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School

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Book SynopsisThis volume is part one of a two-volume set. Volume I: From the Puritans through Transcendentalism. Volume I: From the St. Louis Hegelians through C. I. Lewis

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Book SynopsisIncludes such contents as: The Absolute Immigrates to America - The St Louis Hegelians; The Evolutionary Controversy; Charles Sanders Peirce; William James, the Tough-Minded - An Appraisal; Josiah Royce; George Santayana - The Exile at Home; Dewey - Battling Against Dualisms; C I Lewis: Conceptualistic Pragmatism; Epilogue; and, Index.

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Book SynopsisExploring recent political efforts to rectify injustices handed down from the past, John Torpey argues that there are major differences between reparations for the living victims of past wrongdoing and reparations for the descendants of such victims. This reprint edition contains a new preface by the author.Trade Review"History is written by the winners, it is commonly said. But heritage—history shaped to present purposes—is increasingly fashioned by the losers. Ex-colonial peoples, minorities, tribal indigenes everywhere demand reparations—atonement for the suffering of those deprived of autonomy and agency, repatriation of treasures purloined or pillaged or purchased, compensation for past injustices… Among millions maltreated by history, John Torpey notes, an unseemly contest for the status of worst-victimized often ensues. Torpey's short and scintillating book, Making Whole What Has Been Smashed, explores reparation demands ranging from official apologies and admissions of wrongdoing to memorials, cash payments, health and welfare aid, and property return to groups and individuals. Chapters on post-apartheid Namibia and South Africa, on Japanese-American and Japanese-Canadian Second World War internees, and on legacies of slavery that still disable African Americans suggest his topical scope. But the book's greatest merit is its profound and lucid critique of the causes and political, legal, economic, and symbolic implications of reparation claims. Compassionate erudition, deft demolition of holier-than-thou posturing, and clarity of expression make this a minor classic reminiscent of Paul Bator's 1983 The International Trade in Art. Torpey rightly links current campaigns to redress wrongs with the broader trend, consequent on widespread public pessimism, refocusing attention from the future to the past." -- David Lowenthal * The Times Literary Supplement *"Torpey has written on reparations politics in a manner that is both informed by scholarship and usefully oriented toward influencing relevant thinking." * American Journal of Sociology *"After reading this book, I am struck with the question of to whom to give reparations for the past injustices. In a country where the victims of abuses do not live, and persons or groups who ask for reparations are not merely the descendant of the victims, is it evenhanded to give reparations? Torpey puts forth this quandary in exemplifying the case of reparations for Black Americans, Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians. This analysis of trans-generational justice is one of the precious contributions of this book that all researchers of transitional justice as well as students of political science, sociology, history and philosophy must consider. His invaluable analysis of the reparations movements, drawn from an interdisciplinary perspective, calls to a wide range of readers." * International Journal on World Peace *"Anyone interested in the history, politics, sociology or philosophy of reparations should read John Torpey's brilliant analysis of global reparations politics. Torpey uses a superb blend of historical sociology and philosophy to offer his readers an informed, skeptical, yet not entirely unsympathetic look at the reparations movement." * Canadian Journal of Sociology Online *"While the reader might not share Torpey’s dissatisfaction with past-oriented politics, his analytical insights into the rise of the past as an object of politics are fresh and perceptive… Theorists and practitioners of past-oriented politics would be well advised to take on Torpey's challenge and ask themselves why they pursue past-oriented politics, and how these politics relate to projects of the future." * Ethics & International Affairs *"Torpey’s book, both theoretical and empirical in its analysis, is unquestionably the most clear-headed work available on the several international campaigns to redress past injustices. Keenly insightful and analytical, Torpey is no polemicist favoring or opposing reparations. Rather, he is a smart social scientist who unravels the persistent human concern of reckoning with the past and righting history’s wrongs." * North Carolina Historical Review *"'When the future collapses, the past rushes in.' With this formidable insight, John Torpey launches his penetrating study of the many varieties of reparations politics around the world. In exemplary fashion, Torpey clarifies what is at stake in a global movement seeking recompense and apology for the past's insulted and injured in an era inhospitable to ideals for future reconstruction. This reflective work is a splendid starting point for thinking through not only reparation ideas but some of the other large quandaries of reform thought today." -- Todd Gitlin * author of The Intellectuals and the Flag *"Making Whole What Has Been Smashed: On Reparations Politics is comprehensive, thoughtful, and almost compulsively readable. John Torpey's willingness to query the unquestioned pieties of our era's therapeutic politics is a tribute to the rigorousness of his approach. The tone of the work is consistently cool, analytical, and tactfully skeptical, no small achievement given the highly charged nature of these debates." -- Michael Brown * author of Who Owns Native Culture? *"Why do we so regularly hear admonishments to 'come to terms with the past?' In reply, John Torpey identifies momentous trends in a splendid, far-ranging inquiry: the collapse of transformative politics and the end of the Cold War, the emergence of the Holocaust as a template for the rectification of historic wrongs, the mobilization of the historically victimized, and the mix of human rights commitments with the juridification of politics. Critical, yet balanced and humane, Torpey presents a savvy, deeply-informed analysis that should be contemplated by all who seek a better global future. I couldn't recommend him more enthusiastically." -- Michael R. Marrus * author of The Holocaust in History *"The German campaign of 1904 to end Herero resistance in the northern part of the colony of South-West Africa culminated in the forced movement of the Herero into the Kalahari Desert, or capturing these people and herding them into concentration camps. Torpey does an excellent job of explaining how this massacre of the Herero, considered by many to have been a dress rehearsal by the Germans for the Holocaust, engendered reparations initiatives in Namibia that focused primarily on monetary compensation, rather than on an apology by the German government" -- Lamont DeHaven King * JSTOR: Association for the Study of African-American Life and History *"A seminal study that is impressively informative and thought-provoking, "Making Whole What Has Been Smashed: On Reparations Politics..." [is] unreservedly recommended" -- Micah Andrew * Midwestern Book Review *Table of ContentsPreface to the Paperback Edition Acknowledgments Introduction 1 The Surfacing of Subterranean History 2 An Anatomy of Reparations Politics 3 Commemoration, Redress, and Reconciliation: The Cases of Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians 4 Forty Acres: The Case of Reparations for Black Americans 5 Post-Colonial Reparations: Reparations Politics in Post-Apartheid Namibia and South Africa Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe U.S. Senate recently proposed the U.S.-China Cultural Engagement Act, a $1.3 billion initiative to provide Chinese language and culture instruction in American schoolsTrade Review"A brief introduction to the main characteristics of Chinese, written to be accessible to beginning students as well as anyone with a general interest in Chinese language and culture. Provides a demystifying overview of Chinese from a linguistic, historical and social perspective." --Omniglot.com blog"Excellent overview of the Chinese language. It's perfect for a reader with some knowledge of linguistic terms, but it's definitely written for a layman. It has tons of examples and really whetted my appetite to learn more." —Goodreads

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Book SynopsisThis work collects, analyzes, and systematically presents in over 160 examples a magnificent tradition to future generations of cantors, scholars of Jewish music, and music enthusiasts worldwide. It reacquaints acculturated Jews with a largely unknown part of their heritage.

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Book SynopsisOprah''s book club has declared The Feminist Revolution a must-read for Women''s History Month.The Feminist Revolution offers an overview of women''s struggle for equal rights in the late twentieth century. Beginning with the auspicious founding of the National Organization for Women in 1966, at a time when women across the world were mobilizing individually and collectively in the fight to assert their independence and establish their rights in society, the book traces a path through political campaigns, protests, the formation of women''s publishing houses and groundbreaking magazines, and other events that shaped women''s history. It examines women''s determination to free themselves from definition by male culture, wanting not only to ''take back the night'' but also to reclaim their bodies, their minds, and their cultural identity. It demonstrates as well that the feminist revolution was enacted by women from all backgrounds, of every color, and of

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Book SynopsisInvestigates the period from the 1890s until the 1930s, when prostitution was legal in Argentina. At the same time, pogroms and anti-Semitic discrimination left thousands of Eastern European Jewish people displaced. For many Jewish women, participation in prostitution was one few ways they could escape the limited options in their home countries.Trade Review"Recommended."— Choice "Yarfitz has approached the delicate subject deftly and with sophistication."— H-Net “A fascinating account of Jewish participation in sexual commerce in Buenos Aires…Impure Migration deepens our knowledge of the relation between prostitution and migration.”— Cristiana Schettini, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) / University of San Martín, Argentina “A tour de force. It transcends conventional accounts of victimized prostitutes and malevolent pimps with an intellectually bold exploration of sexual and racialized public anxieties. An important contribution to the history of international mobility, immigrant sociability, gendered labor, and multi-ethnic cities.”— José Moya, professor of history, Barnard College “Impure Migration presents a fascinating chapter in the history of Jewish immigration to the Americas... it is important that this story be made available.”— Adriana M. Brodsky, professor, St. Mary's College of Maryland "Wyklęta Varsovia. Sutenerski szlak "Napoleona" ze Smoczej," by Wojtek Rodak— Weekend Gazeta "If you want to read just one of the very many books on Jewish white slavery, this is the one you should choose. Both specialists and the general public will find this volume engaging and insightful."— Raanan Rein, vice president, Tel Aviv University "This book provides us with exciting ways in which the perspectives of the subaltern can be narrated into a transnational history of elites who dominated the talk about them. Impure Migration is a brilliant piece of history writing which will speak loudly and inspirationally to global and transnational historians. Its findings will equally be of immense help to activists and academics engaged in debates on contemporary sex work and trafficking."— ConnectionsTable of ContentsContents Note on Translation and Transliteration Acronyms and Abbreviations Introduction: White Slave Wives on the Road to Buenos Aires 1 White Slaves and Dark Masters 2 Jewish Traffic in Women 3 Marriage as Ruse, or Migration Strategy 4 Immigrant Mutual Aid among Pimps 5 The Impure Shape Jewish Buenos Aires Conclusion: After the Varsovia Society Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisSix tells the complete story of the service's birth and early years, including the tragic, untold tale of what happened to Britain's extensive networks in Soviet Russia between the wars. It reveals for the first time how the playwright and MI6 agent Harley Granville Barker bribed the Daily News to keep Arthur Ransome in Russia, and the real reason Paul Dukes returned there. It shows development of tradecraftA" and the great personal risk officers and their agents took, far from home and unprotected. In Salonika, for example, Lieutenant Norman Dewhurst realised it was time to leave when he opened his door to find one of his agents hanging dismembered in a sack. This first part of Six takes us up to the eve of the conflict, using hundreds of previously unreleased files and interviews with key players to show how one of the world's most secretive of secret agencies originated and developed into something like the MI6 we know today. The second part, published in Spring 2012, will tell the story from the outbreak of World War Two to the present.Trade ReviewEngrossing... As a rollicking chronicle of demented derringdo, Smith's book is hard to beat. His research is prodigious and his eye for a good story impeccable, and his book, while perfectly scholarly, often reads like a real-life James Bond thriller.A" Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times If you want to know every detail of how Mansfield Cumming, the original C, won the fight with the directors of intelligence to establish the independence of his new service... then Smith's is your book.A" Literary Review Michael Smith's book covers events in more depth, features the identity of leading players, and affords readers and researchers an opportunity to seek further information. It is a brilliant work - meticulously researched and presented.A" Eye Spy Magazine

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Book SynopsisCodes of Modernity explores the global history of Chinese script reforms—efforts to alphabetize or simplify the writing system—from the 1890s to the 1980s.Trade ReviewA brilliant book on the political economy of script reforms in modern China. For the first time, Uluğ Kuzuoğlu clarifies how the technologies of writing, such as the making of new or simplified scripts to manage labor, information flow, and so on, became increasingly central to the political struggles over the future of China and its place in the world. This rich and well-researched study is a major contribution to the fields of Chinese history and global history. -- Lydia H. Liu, author of The Freudian RobotKuzuoğlu’s achievements in Codes of Modernity are unmatched. Analyzing a dazzling array of transnational historical, linguistic, and communications phenomena, he presents nothing less than the ascendancy of China’s twentieth-century political economy of information. Kuzuoğlu proves convincingly that it both shared features with and departed from global labor regimes of economy and efficiency. -- Christopher A. Reed, author of Gutenberg in Shanghai: Chinese Print Capitalism, 1876-1937Uluğ Kuzuoğlu's Codes of Modernity is not only one of the most rigorous and fascinating histories of Chinese scripts ever written, it is also a story of media, of the conditions of thought and language, and of the technological mythologies structuring the goals of 'modernity' that were central to China's ongoing transformations during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This is a field-defining book, as rich in analysis as it is in archival insights. Kuzuoğlu brilliantly reframes the history of China's efforts at language and script reform as part of a much larger economy of information and knowledge work. Codes of Modernity brings questions about the evolving conditions of Chinese orthography into conversation with the rise of information capitalism, computation, and global politics. Codes of Modernity will be indispensable to scholars of Chinese writing, but it also deserves a much wider readership—a book of archival treasures and powerful synthesis for anyone interested in the evolution of information technologies over the past two centuries. -- R. John Williams, author of The Buddha in the Machine: Art, Technology, and the Meeting of East and West Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Alphabetic Labor Time: Scripts, Wires, and Brains in the Late Qing2. The National Phonetic Alphabet: Scripts and the Birth of Language Politics3. Basic Chinese: Cognitive Management and Mass Literacy4. Simplification of Chinese Characters: Mining, Counting, Seeing5. The New Dunganese Alphabet: Latinization Across Eurasia6. The Chinese Latin Alphabet: A Revolutionary Script7. The Empire of PinyinEpilogue: A New Age of CodesNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe veteran journalist Sandy Gall reported from Afghanistan at length through the 1980s and â90s, spending months with Massoud and his forces.

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Book SynopsisSuch wisdom is as relevant in today's stressful world as it was thousands of years ago, when it was first written. It was my love for this wonderful book which prompted me to write my adaptation, and I hope I have been able to share that love with others.

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Book SynopsisAnyone who experienced the attacks on September 11 cannot forget the imagery: the smoking, falling towers, the Pentagon smoldering, the Shanksville crash site, the first responders.But there is an invisible story hidden in the wreckage, one that required years of patient investigation and the piecing together of a sequence from many scattered sources. By establishing the most definitive timeline of how that day unfolded, William M. Arkin shows how the US government failed in the face of the unprecedented attack. It is a story of laughable airport security, vulnerable airspace, blind intelligence, poor communications, muddled orders, Pentagon chaos, and presidential isolation. Everything about the emergency procedures of the governments-from White House security to continuity of government to military alerts-went wrong.On That Day is a stunning, nightmare journey through a government reeling in confusion while many civilians performed individual acts of heroism. It is a chilling exposé of government negligence and overreach, and a constitution in crisis.

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Book SynopsisFrom Accra and Algiers to Zanzibar and Zululand, African football today reflects the history and culture of those who play the game and how they have shaped it in a distinctively African manner. Football may obey global rules, but the influence of magicians and healers, the nurturing of different tactics and styles of play, and local forms of spectatorship give football in the continent a cultural and sporting imprint all of its own . In African Soccerscapes Peter Alegi explores how football was influenced by colonialism, the growth of cities, independence, and global capitalism. Regional differences and the links between sport, culture and politics feature prominently in his book. In the independent era football offered a rare form of 'national culture' in ethnically diverse nations and symbolized pan-African unity and solidarity through the anti-apartheid struggle and the campaign for more guaranteed places for African teams in the World Cup finals. Huge numbers of Africans play overseas, disproportionately rewarding European leagues at Africa's expense, and this phenomenon is discussed, as are the recent privatization of the African game, football development programs and the growth of women's football.Trade ReviewNobody understands the background to African soccer better than the Italian-American historian Peter Alegi. This World Cup is his moment. His African Soccerscapes crams daunting erudition, gleaned over many years of study of African football, into under 200 pages of history. -- Financial TimesPeter Alegi's African Soccerscapes is simply the best available overview of the history. Concise and to the point, you'll be through it before the round of 16 begins, having covered all the basics without forgetting the pleasures and the passions that animate African football. -- The GuardianA fascinating history of African football, from empire to the post-colony. -- Sunday Independent (South Africa)Table of Contents1: The White Man's Burden: Football and Empire, 1860s-1919 2: The Africanization of Football, 1920s-1940s 3: Making Nations in Late Colonial Africa, 1940s-1964 4: Nationhood, Pan-Africanism, and Football after Independence 5: Football Migration to Europe Since the 1930s 6: The Privatization of Football, 1980s to Recent Times Epilogue: South Africa 2010: The World Cup Comes to Africa

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Book SynopsisFor decades, many have doubted the existence of American cuisine, believing that hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza define the nation’s palate. Not so, says leading food historian Paul Freedman. Freedman traces the twentieth-century rise of processed food, standardisation and fast-food restaurants. With the farm-to-table movement, a culinary revolution has transformed the way Americans eat. Whether analysing how businesses and advertisers used seduction and guilt to dictate women’s food-shopping habits, exploring how class determines what Americans eat or documenting the contributions provided by immigrants, Freedman reveals an astonishing history.Trade Review"In American Cuisine, Paul Freedman embarks on an epic quest, to locate the roots of American foodways and follow changing tastes through the decades, a search that takes him straight to the heart of American identity. It is an enormous, endlessly fascinating subject, and Freedman makes a wonderful tour guide, scholarly and wry." -- William Grimes, former New York Times restaurant critic"This fascinating book delves into American cuisine with gusto." -- Choice

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Book SynopsisHow dangerous were fairies? In the late seventeenth century, they could still scare people to death. Little wonder, as they were thought to be descended from fallen angels, and to have the power to destroy the world itself. Such beliefs, along with some remarkably detailed sightings, lingered on well into the twentieth century. In literature and art fairies often retained this edge of danger. From the wild magic of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, through the dark glamour of Keats, to the improbably erotic poem `Goblin Market’ or the paintings inspired by opium dreams, the amoral otherness of the fairies ran side-by-side with the newly delicate or feminized creations of the Victorian world. In the past thirty years the enduring link between fairies and nature has been robustly exploited by eco-warriors and conservationists, from Ireland to Iceland. This book, now available in paperback, tells the story of the many fairy terrors that lay behind Titania or Tinkerbell.Trade Review'[An] engrossing new book.'-Seattle Times; 'Richard Sugg wants to disabuse you of any nonsense you may harbour about fairies being small, whimsical and affectionate . . . Sugg writes well, and amusingly, about the evolution of fairies from Terror to Tinkerbell.'-Toronto Star; 'Sugg's book is in itself a kind of bewitchment, shimmering and eloquent, written with a certain ironic awareness and in the spirit of surrender to unknowing.'-The Australian

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Book SynopsisPresents a study grounded in the transnational geography and political economy of the coca-leaf and coca-derived commodities market stretching from Peru and Bolivia into the United States.Trade Review"Suzanna Reiss presents a novel and compelling argument ... We Sell Drugs brings drugs into conversations where they did not participate before." -- Emily Dufton American StudiesTable of ContentsIllustrations Acronyms Introduction 1. "The Drug Arsenal of the Civilized World": WWII and the Origins of US-Led International Drug Control 2. "Resources for Freedom": American Drug Commodities in the Postwar World 3. Raw Materialism: Exporting Drug Control to the Andes 4. The Alchemy of Empire: Drugs and Development in the Americas 5. The Chemical Cold War: Drugs and Policing in the New World Order Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisHelen Rappaport is an historian and Russianist with specialisms in the Victorians and revolutionary Russia. Her books include No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War, Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs, Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer, Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert and the Death that Changed the Monarchy; Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses and Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, 1917. A fluent Russian speaker, she has translated many classic Russian plays (including all of Chekhov's) and was historical consultant to Tom Stoppard's National Theatre trilogy The Coast of Utopia (2002). She is also a frequent contributor to television and radio documentaries, most recently Russia's Lost Princesses (BBC2, 2014). She lives in West Dorset.Trade ReviewA gripping, vivid, deeply researched chronicle of the Russian Revolution told through the eyes of a surprising, flamboyant cast of foreigners in Petrograd, superbly narrated by Helen Rappaport. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The RomanovsNext year's centenary will prompt a raft of books on the Russian Revolution. They will be hard pushed to better this highly original, exhaustively researched and superbly constructed account. -- Saul David * Daily Telegraph *This is narrative history at its very best, communicating the confusion, exhilaration, horror and despair of that momentous year * BBC History Magazine *Chronicles the events of 1917 through the eyes of foreigners resident in Petrograd — diplomats, journalists, merchants, factory owners, charity workers and simple Russophiles... a wonderful array of observations, most of them misguided, some downright bizarre. What makes this book so delightful and enlightening is the depth of incredulity it reveals... [A] wonderful book. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Thoroughly-researched and absorbing... this book offers a compelling picture of life in Petrograd in this momentous and often terrible year... One gets a wonderful picture of the extraordinary and beautiful city... and a keen sense of the really grotesque inequality that has always existed there. -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *A past more dramatic than Chekhov, more tragic than Tolstoy and more romantic than Pasternak... Helen Rappaport collates a vast menagerie of eyewitnesses [from Petrograd 1917] into a cast of fascinating characters... bring[ing] an absorbing period of history closer to home. -- Guy Pewsey * Evening Standard *A vivid account of the city ‘taut as a wire’… highly readable and fluent… Rappaport has unearthed striking new material -- Spectator * Charlotte Hobson *Fascinating… A colourful account of expatriate life in the Russian capital in 1917. -- Peter Conradi * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisGuy Crosby offers a lively tour of the history and science behind the art of cooking, with a focus on achieving a healthy daily diet. He traces the evolution of cooking from its earliest origins, recounting the innovations that have unraveled the mysteries of health and taste.Trade ReviewAs a foodie myself I was delighted to see all suspicions confirmed in Cook, Taste, Learn—that advances in the culinary arts are commonly empowered by curious scientists who also happen to be hungry. -- Neil deGrasse Tyson, American Museum of Natural HistoryCook, Taste, Learn entertains with a smorgasbord of curious facts, delightful explanations, and fun recipes. What is so special about olive oil? Why use one kind of potato for baking and another for boiling? How does one make scrambled eggs fluffy? Crosby’s history of cooking provides a riveting education for your inner chef. -- Richard Wrangham, author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us HumanCook, Taste, Learn elegantly intertwines history, chemistry, anthropology, and culinary science to create a captivating guided tour through the arc of human invention. The general scientific advancements feel just as vital to our enjoyment of good food as the evolution of cooking science. An accessible and inspiring contribution to the history of science! -- Ali Bouzari, author of Ingredient: Unveiling the Essential Elements of FoodCrosby is a longtime collaborator, my science expert-in-chief, who has answered every food science question I have ever had. . . . The genius of his Cook, Taste, Learn is that he pairs useful science with the history of cooking. This makes for a digestible work that [is] punctuated by useful deep dives into boiling in water versus cooking in oil, the science of gels, why terroir matters when cooking beans (the calcium content varies wildly), and how atomic theory changed the understanding of cooking. In Cook, Taste, Learn, you can have your cake and understand its chemistry too. -- Christopher Kimball * Milk Street Magazine *If you are chemist who is whizz in the lab but not so great in the kitchen, this might just be the perfect thing for you! * Chemistry World *A sprightly delight. * Nature *Reveals the possibilities for transforming cooking from a craft into the perfect blend of art and science. * Food Technology *If you’re interested in the science of food and cooking and its history, this is a great book to read. * Food Crumbles *A well-developed volume with a strong foundation in science. * Choice *Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. The Evolution of Cooking (2 Million–12,000 Years Ago)2. The Dawn of Agriculture Revolutionizes Cooking (12,000 Years Ago–1499)3. Early Science Inspires Creativity in Cooking (1500–1799)4. The Art of Cooking Embraces the Science of Atoms (1800–1900)5. Modern Science Transforms the Art of Cooking (1901–Present)6. Cooking Science Catches Fire!7. The Good, the Bad, and the Future of Cooking ScienceBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisBy the 15th century BC the valley of Hwang Ho was dominated by a palace-based military caste which owed its supremacy to a monopoly of bronze-working techniques among a still mainly Stone Age population. To the Shang Dynasty, war was a means of legitimising the power of their new aristocracy. This fascinating volume by C. J. Peers covers the period of China''s history from the first documented civilisation to the establishment of an enduring unified empire, examining the history, organisation, uniform and weapons of ancient Chinese armies.Table of ContentsIntroduction · Chronology · The Shang Dynasty · The Western Chou · The Eastern Chou · The 4th and 3rd Centuries · The Ch'in Empire · Tactical & Strategic Doctrine · Ten Decisive Battles · The Plates

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Book SynopsisUnique overview of the origins, development and significance of Military Intelligence.

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Book SynopsisThe ash tree has long been an integral part of the British landscape, its familiar branches protruding from limestone scars and chalky cliff faces.But tragically ash dieback, a disease from mainland Europe, now poses a serious threat to the trees' survival. And their grave prognosis took on a personal resonance when, while writing this book, Lisa Samson was diagnosed with a brain tumour, forcing her to contemplate her own mortality while the trees' likely fate emerged.Taking us from the lowlands of Norfolk to the northernmost reaches of the British Isles, Epitaph for the Ash offers up a rallying cry to treasure these remarkable woodlands while we can, before it is too late.Trade Review‘Fascinating … Her pilgrimage to discover the present state of the ash in the UK, and the work that is being done to accommodate or counter ash dieback, is both a labour of love and an extraordinary achievement, especially given the heart-rending physical limitations Samson eventually endures as a result of life-saving surgery’ OBSERVER ‘Everywhere Lisa’s powerful affinity with the natural world is palpable… Samson is right to urge appreciation of what we have; her book will also help raise awareness of the need to protect our invaluable natural heritage for future generations’ Literary Review ‘Lisa Samson’s … quest to travel the length and breadth of the land takes us on a leafy green jewel of a journey into a kingdom that will change the way you look at the ash tribe forever’ BBC Wildlife

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Book SynopsisFormer Indian foreign secretary Jagat Singh Mehta critiques Nehru's ideological agnosticism during decolonization and the Cold War. He questions Nehru's views on China, the Soviet Union, and America, criticizing civil servants' blind faith in him. Mehta suggests Nehru's actions were less severe than perceived despite his intimidating presence.

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Book SynopsisA new history of the American Jewish relationship with Israel focused on its most urgent and sensitive issue: the question of Palestinian rights Trade Review“Overturning conventional understandings of American Jewry’s relations with Israel during the state’s formative decades, Geoffrey Levin depicts a long arc of American Jewish concern and protest over Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Meticulously researched and powerfully argued, Levin’s book provides essential background for the current state of Israel-diaspora relations.”—Derek Penslar, Harvard University“Intelligent, compelling, and riveting. Levin gives us, for the first time, a truly transnational history of the relationship between American Jews and Israel.”— Melani McAlister, George Washington University“Geoffrey Levin’s engrossing study powerfully dismantles conventional wisdom about the attitudes and activities of American Jewish communal leadership vis-à-vis Palestinian rights in the decades after 1948. The result is a book that should be read by all interested in the past and future of justice in Israel/Palestine.”—James Loeffler, author of Rooted Cosmopolitans

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Book SynopsisA beautifully illustrated survey of 500 years of exploration told through a series of biographical portraits of forty of the most outstanding men and women who discovered our world.Trade Review'Absorbing, factually tight, sensitive to its Eurocentricity, it gathers together a host of valuable essays' - Guardian'A genuine contribution to modern thinking about the nature of exploration … nigh-on perfect' - Bookdealer'Inspiring, entertaining, enlightening' - All About HistoryTable of ContentsGeneral Introduction • Oceans: Christopher Columbus; Vasco da Gama; Ferdinand Magellan; Louis-Antoine de Bougainville; James Cook • The Land: Hernando de Soto; Lewis and Clark; Thomas Baines; Richard Burton; Nain Singh; Nikolai Przhevalsky; Ney Elias; Francis Younghusband; Marc Aurel Stein • Rivers: Samuel de Champlain; James Bruce; Robert Mackenzie; Mungo Park; John Hanning Speke; David Livingstone; Henry Morton Stanley; Francis Garnier • Polar Ice: Fridtjof Nansen; Edward Wilson; Roald Amundsen; Wally Herbert • Deserts: Heinrich Barth; Charles Sturt; Gertrude Bell; Harry St John Philby; Ralph Bagnold; Wilfred Thesiger • Life on Earth: Alexander von Humboldt; Marianne North; Alfred Russel Wallace; Frank Kingdon-Ward. New Frontiers: ‘Gino’ Watkins; Yuri Gagarin; Jacques-Yves Cousteau; Andrew Eavis

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

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

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Book Synopsis

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