History Books

Book SynopsisOn 1 July 1916, after a stupendous 7-day artillery preparation, the British Army finally launched its attack on the German line around the River Somme. Over the next four and half months they continued to attack, with little or no gain, and with horrendous losses to both sides. This book, written by the world''s foremost expert in the subject, describes in chilling detail everything from the grand strategy to the experience of the men on the ground. Illustrated throughout, it is a stunning and absorbing depiction of the horror that was the Somme in 1916.

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Book SynopsisGerald of Wales was among the most dynamic and fascinating churchmen of the twelfth century. A member of one of the leading Norman families involved in the invasion of Ireland, he first visited there in 1183 and later returned in the entourage of Henry II. The resulting Topographia Hiberniae is an extraordinary account of his travels. Here he describes landscapes, fish, birds and animals; recounts the history of Ireland's rulers; and tells fantastical stories of magic wells and deadly whirlpools, strange creatures and evil spirits. Written from the point of view of an invader and reformer, this work has been rightly criticized for its portrait of a primitive land, yet it is also one of the most important sources for what is known of Ireland during the Middle Ages.

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Book SynopsisThe only suriving continuous narrative source for the events between 133 and 70 BCAppian's writings vividly describe Catiline's conspiracy, the rise and fall of the First Triumvirate, and Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, defeat of Pompey and untimely death. The climax comes with the brith of the Second Triumvirate out of anarchy, the terrible purges of Proscriptions which followed and the titanic struggle for world mastery which was only to end with Augustus's defeat of Antony and Cleopatra.If Appian's Roman History as a whole reveals how an empire was born of the struggle against a series of external enemis, these five books concentrate on an even greater ordeal. Despite the rhetorical flourishes, John Carter suggests in his Introductions, the impressive 'overall conception of the decline of the Roman state into violence, with its sombre highlights and the leitmotif of fate, is neither trivial nor inaccurate.'For more than seventy years, Penguin hasTable of ContentsThe Civil Wars - Appian Translated with an Introduction by John CarterAcknowledgmentsIntroductionBibliographical NoteNotes on the TranslationTable of DatesTHE CIVIL WARSBook IBook IIBook IIIBook IVBook VNotesAppendixMaps:A. Northern and Central ItalyB. Southern Italy and SicilyC. Greece and the Aegean BasinD. Provinces and Kingdoms of the EastIndex

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Book SynopsisBooks VI-X of Livy''s monumental work trace Rome''s fortunes from its near collapse after defeat by the Gauls in 386 bc to its emergence, in a matter of decades, as the premier power in Italy, having conquered the city-state of Samnium in 293 bc. In this fascinating history, events are described not simply in terms of partisan politics, but through colourful portraits that bring the strengths, weaknesses and motives of leading figures such as the noble statesman Camillus and the corrupt Manlius vividly to life. While Rome''s greatest chronicler intended his history to be a memorial to former glory, he also had more didactic aims - hoping that readers of his account could learn from the past ills and virtues of the city.Table of ContentsRome and Italy - Livy Translated and Annotated by Betty Radice with an Introduction by R. M. OgilvieTranslator's PrefaceIntroductionSelect BibliographyBook VIBook VIIBook VIIIBook IXBook XMaps:1. Rome2. Central Italy3. Western Central Italy4. The Valley of the Caudine ForksIndex

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Book SynopsisXenophon''s History recounts nearly fifty turbulent years of warfare in Greece between 411 and 362 BC. Continuing the story of the Peloponnesian War at the point where Thucydides finished his magisterial history, this is a fascinating chronicle of the conflicts that ultimately led to the decline of Greece, and the wars with both Thebes and the might of Persia. An Athenian by birth, Xenophon became a firm supporter of the Spartan cause, and fought against the Athenians in the battle of Coronea. Combining history and memoir, this is a brilliant account of the triumphs and failures of city-states, and a portrait of Greece at a time of crisis.Table of ContentsA History of My TimesIntroductionSelect BibliographyA Note on the NotesA History of My TimesBook OneBook TwoBook ThreeBook FourBook SixBook SevenAppendixMaps:1. The Aegean2. Asia Minor3. Northern Peloponnese and North West Greece4. Central Greece5. Area of the Isthmus and the Saronic Gulf6. Central and Southern Peloponnese7. ChalcidiceIndex

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Book SynopsisThe most important historical source on one of the most powerful leaders of the ancient world, Arrian''s The Campaigns of Alexander illustrates how Alexander the Great came to rule over a vast empire of his own making, translated from the Greej by Aubrey de Sélincourt, and revised with an introduction and notes by J.R. Hamilton in Penguin Classics.Although written over four hundred years after Alexander''s death, Arrian''s Campaigns of Alexander is the most reliable account of the man and his achievements we have. Arrian''s own experience as a military commander gave him unique insights into the life of the world''s greatest conqueror. He tells of Alexander''s violent suppression of the Theban rebellion, his total defeat of Persia and his campaigns through Egypt, India and Babylon - establishing new cities and destroying others in his path. While Alexander emerges from this record as an unparalleled and charismatic leader, Arrian succeeds brilliantly in creating an objective and fully-rounded portrait of a man of boundless ambition, who was exposed to the temptations of power and was worshipped as a god in his own lifetimeAubrey de Sélincourt''s vivid translation is accompanied by J.R. Hamilton''s introduction, which discusses Arrian''s life and times, his synthesis of other classical sources and the composition of Alexander''s army. This edition also contains appendices, maps, a list for further reading and a detailed index.The details of Arrian''s life (b. 86) are uncertain, though the shape of it indicates a man of wide and varied talents. He was governor to the Emperor Hadrian, the author of a number of works of non-fiction and an Athenian citizen. In 145 he rose to become a chief magistrate of Athens and thereby part of the governing body of the city. His date of death is not known.If you enjoyed The Campaigns of Alexander, you might like Thucydides'' History of the Peloponnesian War, also available in Penguin Classics.

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Book SynopsisWritten following the collapse of Rome''s secular control over western Europe, the History of Gregory (c. AD 539-594) is a fascinating exploration of the events that shaped sixth-century France. This volume contains all ten books from the work, the last seven of which provide an in-depth description of Gregory''s own era, in which he played an important role as Bishop of Tours. With skill and eloquence, Gregory brings the age vividly to life, as he relates the exploits of missionaries, martyrs, kings and queens - including the quarrelling sons of Lothar I, and the ruthless Queen Fredegund, third wife of Chilperic. Portraying an age of staggering cruelty and rapid change, this is a powerful depiction of the turbulent progression of faith at a time of political and social chaos.

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Book SynopsisThe story of the bravest battle ever fought.

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Book SynopsisExploring the philosophical underpinnings of three foundational daoist texts: the Laozi, the Zhuangzi, and the Liezi.Trade ReviewAn insightful and comprehensive overview of the plurality of approaches within this tradition, making Daoist texts philosophically relevant and significant. -- Hans-Georg Moeller, author of The Philosophy of the Daodejing Steve Coutinho's An Introduction to Daoist Philosophies is a hugely intelligent object lesson in textual phenomenology-a hermeneutically-driven method needed to find coalescence between the clues, signs, and data provided by composite Daoist texts and our own knowledge and experience. He provides his reader with the broad terminological and textual associations required to reconnoiter and map the pluralistic landscape of the Daoist philosophies that are at once resolutely unique yet resonant, and continuous with one another yet complex and multivalent. -- Roger T. Ames, University of Hawai'i It is now a commonplace in Daoist scholarship that imposing the Western categories of "philosophy" and "religion" on early Chinese texts obscures more than it illuminates them. With care and sensitivity, however, Steven Coutinho has well analyzed three core texts Daoist within a Western philosophical conceptual framework, while yet giving the multiply authors of the Laozi, Zhuangzi, and the Liezi their own voices, both with respect to the Western philosophical tradition, and with each other. (The plural in the title of the book is important). In short, Coutinho has enlarged the field of philosophy - Chinese and more generally -- without diminishing religion, Daoist or more generally. The book is also of particular topical interest today because of the artful way Coutinho treats the similar perspectives on nature in the three basic Daoist works, by his emphasis on their insistence that the natural world is not to be seen as a congeries of resources for exploitation, but rather as the context within which human life is possible, and can be made meaningful. -- Henry Rosemont, Jr., Brown University An Introduction to Daoist Philosophies is an accessible introduction to fundamental Daoist concepts and themes. Coutinho's presentation of ideas in three early Daoist texts-Laozi, Zhuangzi and Liezi-has a nuanced, east-west comparative philosophical perspective. The book strikes a fine balance between illuminating Daoist philosophy drawing on contrasting and parallel concepts from western philosophy, on the one hand; and uncompromisingly preserving the richness and distinctiveness of the Daoist texts, on the other. Coutinho rightly emphasises the centrality of methodological awareness to understanding the significance of Daoist philosophy. Daoist Philosophies is an important resource for those wishing to gain insights into Daoist philosophy, as well as methodological cues for encountering the texts directly themselves. -- Karyn Lai, University of New South Wales Steve Coutinho's book is a timely contribution to Daoist philosophies in English language, given that most existing introductory texts are focused on religious Daoism. Coutinho dances elegantly between philosophical exposition and textual analysis, emphasis on the unique ancient Chinese elements and illustration of the universal and contemporary relevances, and intelligibility to the beginners and inspiration to scholars. It is a must read to anyone interested in Daoist philosophy. -- Yong Huang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Steve Coutinho has written a rich, stimulating introduction to Daoist thought that is also an engaging entree to Chinese philosophy more generally. He rightly portrays the Daoist tradition as diverse and complex-hence the plural 'philosophies' of his title-yet sharing a broad intellectual sensibility characterized by valuing nature, avoiding artifice, and orienting human life by reference to the 'nonperspective' of the cosmos as a whole. The book offers clear, concise, yet nuanced discussions of key philosophical concepts and issues, giving readers enough detail to really dig their teeth into the material. Above all, Countinho treats Daoism as a philosophical tradition to be taken seriously, subjecting Daoist ideas to friendly but searching criticism and constructively exploring possible Daoist responses. This book will inform and challenge students, the general reader, and even specialists in Chinese philosophy. -- Chris Fraser, University of Hong Kong Coutinho's introduction is to date perhaps the most comprehensive attempt to bring the full breadth of classical Daoist philosophy into a systematic dialogue with contemporary Western styles of thinking. Coutinho does an impressive job of isolating and analyzing key Daoist themes and terms, subjecting them to a thorough philosophical accounting and rendering them accessible and digestible to certain kinds of minds that would otherwise be very unlikely to find their meat in these texts which can seem so pungent with other mens' poisons. For the great contribution Coutinho has made to our still incipient engagement with these radical texts, his book deserves high praise. -- Brook Ziporyn, The University of Chicago Divinity School This detailed and intelligently written philosophical work reveals a mind of keen intelligence in engagement with both classical Chinese philosophers and modern Western scholars... Coutinho emerges as a comparative philosopher with excellent training, and a creative thinker in his own right. CHOICETable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments 1. Daoist Philosophies 2. Fundamental Concepts of Chinese Philosophy 3. The Laozi 4. The Zhuangzi: Inner Chapters and Zhuangzian Philosophy 5. The Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters of the Zhuangzi: From Anarchist Utopianism to Mystical Imperialism 6. The Liezi 7. Philosophy of Skill in the Zhuangzi and Liezi Afterword: A Family of Dao Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOverall, Mandair's broad temporal, spatial, and intellectual perspectives make this a very interesting volume. By exploring Sikhism from the perspectives of deconstructionist, postcolonial, and postsecular theory, he fills in an important gap in Sikh philosophy and charts out provocative new directions. -- Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh History of Religions Arguably the most theoretically incisive work in Sikh studies since the field's inception. -- Balbinder Singh Bhogal Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Mandair has... provided us with a sketch of a postsecular theory that promises to vigorously decolonize the mind. -- Harjot Oberoi, University of British Columbia The Journal of Asian Studies By pursuing a postcolonial perspective that aims to undo inherited imperialist configurations, Mandair paves new ground and pushes the boundaries of a currently widespread postcolonial critique of power, especially when it comes to the question of religion and secularism in the public sphere. -- Michael Nijhawan, York University Translation Studies [A]n ambitious book that is an important contribution to the critical discourse about religion in the context of post-colonialism. -- Gavin Flood, University of Oxford Method and Theory in the Study of ReligionTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. "Indian Religions" and Western Thought 1. Mono-theo-lingualism: Religion, Language, and Subjectivity in Colonial North India 2. Hegel and the Comparative Imaginary of the West Part II. Theology as Cultural Translation 3. Sikhism and the Politics of Religion-Making 4. Violence, Mysticism, and the Capture of Subjectivity Part III. Postcolonial Exits 5. Ideologies of Sacred Sound 6. Decolonizing Postsecular Theory Epilogue Glossary of Indic Terms Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewHaboush lets the individual voices of Koreans, both powerful and powerless, ring in the ears of the reader... Highly recommended. Choice Haboush's edited anthology of letters from the Choson dynasty is a fascinating and substantial contribution to the volume of literature. -- Janet Poole Journal of Asian Studies JaHyun Kim Haboush's Epistolary Korea... is a welcome addition to the body of literature from early modern Korea available in English. Biography Scholarly, well-written and well-translated, this large book showcases an important tool of the past Korean literary culture. -- Bill Drucker Korean QuarterlyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Explanatory Note Introduction: The Epistolary Genre and the Scriptural Economy of the Choson I. Public Letters 1. Royal Edicts: Constructing an Ethnopolitical Community (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 2. Female Rulers: Queen Dowagers' Edicts and Letters (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 3. Memorials to the Throne (John Duncan and JaHyun Kim Haboush) 4. Joint Memorials: Scholars' Channel of Communication to the Throne (Hwisang Cho) 5. Individual Petitions: Petitions by Women in the Choson (Jisoo Kim) 6. Petitions by a Collective Body: A Petition by the Residents of the Chip'yong District (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 7. Letters of Appeal (Sun Joo Kim) 8. Circular Letters in Choson Society: Writing to Publicize Opinions (Hwisang Cho) 9. Open Letters: Patriotic Exhortations from the Imjin War (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 10. Manifestos During the Hong Kyongnae Rebellion of 1812 (Sun Joo Kim) 11. Chon Pongjun's 1894 Tonghak Declaration (George Kallander) 12. Letters to the Editor: Women, Newspapers, and the Public Sphere in Turn-of-the Century Korea (Se-Mi Oh) II. Letters to Colleagues and Friends 13. Correspondence Between Scholars: Political Letters (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 14. Scholarly Letters (Marion Eggert) 15. Friendship Between Men (Marion Eggert) 16. Friendship Between Women: One Man's Consorts (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 17. Friendship with Foreigners (Marion Eggert) III. Social Letters 18. Letters of Greeting (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 19. Letters on Everyday Life (Sun Joo Kim) 20. Male Concubinage: Notes on Late Choson Homosexuality by an American Naval Attache (Carter J. Eckert) IV. Family Letters 21. Letters Between Spouses (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 22. Personal Royal Letters: Correspondence Between Monarchs and Their Children (Eleanor S. Hyun) 23. The Sunch'on Kims: Vignettes of Family Life Through Letters (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 24. Fathers' Letters Concerning Their Children's Education (Sun Joo Kim) 25. Mothers' Letters of Instruction to Their Children (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 26. Yi Ponghwan's Letters to His Mother During His Trip to Japan (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 27. Daughters' Letters to Members of Their Natal Families (JaHyun Kim Haboush) V. Letters Written Away from Home 28. Letters Written in Korean by Exiles (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 29. A Letter Written in Literary Chinese by Chong Yagyong While in Exile (Bonnie S. Kim) 30. Letters by Prisoners of the Imjin War (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 31. Letters Sent Home by Royal Hostages (JaHyun Kim Haboush) VI. Deathbed Letters 32. A Letter Written Before Execution: A Condemned Man's Last Thoughts to His Children (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 33. Letters of the Catholic Martyrs (JaHyun Kim Haboush) 34. Madam Yi's Farewell Letter to Her Son (Jungwon Kim) 35. Daughters' Letters of Farewell to Their Fathers (Jungwon Kim) VII. Letters to the Dead 36. A Wife's Letter to Her Deceased Husband (Sun Joo Kim) 37. Kwon Sangil's Farewell to His Deceased Wife (Martina Deuchler) 38. Letters to Deceased Children (JaHyun Kim Haboush) VIII. Fictional Letters 39. Love Letters in The Tale of Unyong (Michael J. Pettid) Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewCohen's second outstanding book on Israel's nuclear project, and the veil of ambiguity that has swathed it from inception, provides a richly detailed account of its history and a provocative analysis of its future. Cohen shows how Israel's beleaguered national existence and persistent Holocaust memories led to the taboo on any acknowledgment of its nuclear weapons program, which cannot, in his view, any longer serve Israel's interests. This is a splendid work of historical research as well as a thought-provoking challenge for both current and future Israeli and American policymakers. -- Samuel Lewis, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, 1977-1985 This important book should be read by anyone interested in understanding the changes that Israel will need to make in its nuclear program as the world reduces reliance on nuclear weapons. Cohen makes a compelling case for why it is in Israeli's interest to confirm its nuclear weapons program and participate in efforts to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons. -- Morton H. Halperin, senior advisor, Open Society Institute Avner Cohen has written the most informed history of Israel's secret drive to get the bomb, and now he has gone further. In The Worst-Kept Secret, he describes and explains Israel's insistence that all talk or writing about its nuclear arsenal be exorcised from public discourse. The nuclear "taboo," as Cohen depicts it, continues unabated today, undermining Israeli democracy at home and its credibility abroad. -- Seymour M. Hersh, author of The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy Cohen's persistent research and numerous books and articles have set the standard in the field and serve as an unrivaled source for anyone interested in Israel's biggest taboo. The Worst-Kept Secret provides a firm factual basis upon which our knowledge about Israel's nuclear program, with its richness of historic detail and personal anecdotes, rests. Moreover, it lays out a wide-ranging theoretical framework for discussing the pros and cons of Israel's amimut policy and its prolonged effect on the country's democracy and governance and its possible future revision. This book will undoubtedly serve as the new benchmark for studying and debating its topic. -- Aluf Benn, editor-at-large, Haaretz [Cohen's] exploration of the issues is thoughtful, measured and deep, and very much worthy of wide consideration. -- Ethan Bronner New York Times A brave, provocative, and very important book. -- Bruce Riedel HaaretzTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction: Amimut as a National Nuclear Bargain Abbreviations Chronology 1. The Birth of Amimut 2. The Case for Amimut 3. Israel's Nuclear Path: The Key Decisions 4. The Infrastructure of Amimut 5. The Citizenry: The Taboo Keepers 6. The Democratic Cost of Amimut: The Impact on the Citizenry 7. The Democratic Cost of Amimut: Governance 8. Domestic Reforms 9. Iran, the Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), and Beyond 10. Toward a New Bargain Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisYoshimasa may have been the worst shogun ever to rule Japan. But his influence on the cultural life of Japan was unparalleled. Yoshimasa is remembered primarily as the builder of the Temple of the Silver Pavilion and as the ruler at the time of the Onin War (1467-1477), after which the authority of the shogun all but disappeared.Trade ReviewKeene's multifarious learning and engaging manner illuminate the improbable story of the fastidious aesthete whose taste has been so important in forming the look of the modern world. The New Yorker Keene has crafted a small gem that provides a fresh and penetrating study of 15th-century Kyoto and the role of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa... Keene is a master at placing Yoshimasa in his time and drawing out the cultural influences flowing from the Silver Pavilion. A well-written and accessible essay. Highly recommended [for] readers at all levels interested in Japanese history and culture. Choice [An] elegant, incisive new biography... Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion is a dense little book, packed almost to overflowing with information, and one that richly rewards the careful reader. Keene is a graceful, entertaining companion, writing with a refreshing lack of pomposity... Yet the book is always authoritative and lucid. Anyone curious about the development of the legendary style of Japan will find it an invaluable and charming guide. Time Magazine With such admirable industry did then Yoshimasa create "the soul of Japan." And his assiduity has been matched by that of Keene, who in this short and elegant book contributes a popular account of the man and his times. -- Donald Richie The Japan Times Keene has outdone himself with this exceptional book, which is based on the idea that the modern Japanese aesthetic was the creation of an exceptionally incompetent fifteenth-century shogun. Colorado Springs Independent Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion gives this long-neglected but critical period in Japanese history the thorough treatment it deserves. Sushi and Tofu This is a book not only for all students of Japanese history but also for all who want to understand what Keen calls "the soul of Japan." -- Hugh Cortazzi The Royal Society for Asian Affairs Keene, the prominent scholar of Japan, brings together a masterful account. -- Yumi Sakugawa Pacific CitizenTable of ContentsChronology Shoguns of the Ashikaga Family Introduction Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis is the extraordinary story of how Japan was dramatically transformed during the long reign of Emperor Meiji, from an isolated island nation to one of the five great powers of the world, poised as a rival in Asia to Russia and the European colonial powers.Trade ReviewFew scholars are as well qualified to undertake this tremendous project... [Keene's] special gifts are on display in Emperor of Japan... [which] brings us as close to the inner life of the Meiji emperor as we are ever likely to get. New York Times Book Review Utterly brilliant... the best history in English of the emergence of modern Japan. Los Angeles Times Keene gracefully marshals evidence to illuminate [an] astonishing transformation. New Yorker Keene does a heroic job of painting a personal picture of the Meiji Empire, which is an impossible task. The New York Review of Books Distinguished and massively authoritative... This book probably comes as close as we shall ever get to the man himself. Times Literary Supplement (London) Despite the book's massive scale, Keene's graceful writing holds the reader's interest throughout... This should become the Meiji biography against which all others are judged. Booklist A fresh and fascinating portrait. Choice This is a monumental work, the result of years of painstaking research and meticulous scholarship, unlikely to be superseded by any book about the Emperor Meiji in this century and destined to be required reading for all foreign students of the Restoration and the growth of modern Japan. -- Hugh Cortazzi The Japan Society The first reliable and full biography of the Japanese monarch in any language... Carefully crafted, judicious, balanced, authoritative, it is another remarkable gift from a distinguished American author. Washington Post One comes away from Keene's lively account with the feeling that one person made an extraordinary difference in Japan's history. Foreign Affairs Eminently readable... a staggering achievement. Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer The most complete picture possible of a sovereign who remains as distant as a proper Confucian ruler should. Publishers Weekly Keene... is a master narrator with an eye for fascinating details. Library Journal This book is as close to being a definitive biography of the Emperor Meiji as we are likely to see in Western languages. It is an important contribution to our understanding of Japan's modernizing experience. -- W. Dean Kinzley The HistorianTable of ContentsPreface Emperor of Japan Notes Glossary Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA thorough examination of the manner in which three of the most unsettling modern writers-Aragon, Sartre, and Barthes-affirm their personal rebellion followed by Kristeva's own ideas on the future of rebellion.Trade ReviewKristeva... follows up The Sense and Non-Sense of Revolt with this important, interdisciplinary tour de force. Library Journal The reader will encounter in these pages the literary music of allusive, profound passages that uniquely characterize the expression of Kristeva's thoughts. Choice Kristeva's work is an intricate mix of cultural criticism and psychoanalysis... Kristeva's call to return to the intimate is salutory in a world given over to the dictates of production and consumption alone. The comments on patriotism, nationalism, hospitality and cosmopolitanism are politically astute and ethically humanist. -- Pramod K. Nayar Philosophy in ReviewTable of ContentsChapter 1. What Revolt Today? The Dignity of Revolt (The Novel) Man in Revolt (Retrospective Return) Revolt as Jouissance and Dispersion (Psychoanalysis) Negativity in Revolt (Philosophy and...Freud) Paradoxical Logics (Resistances to Psychoanalysis) Intimacy in Revolt (The Imaginary) Chapter 2. Can Forgiveness Heal? The Trilogy of Evil Donation or Sadness The Consciousness of Fault (Heidegger and Freud) Against Guilt: Rebirth The Poiesis of Interpretation Depression at the Edge of Words (the Story of Anne) Chapter 3. The Scandal of the Timeless Psychoanalysis is not Intersubjectivity The Subversion of Temporality The Freudian Scandal Three Figures of the Analytical Timeless: 1. The Memory-Trace (Erinnerungsspur or Errinnerungrest), Working-through (Durcharbeitung), The Dissolution of Transference-Homo natura and Homo analyticus Chapter 4. The Intimate: from Sense to the Sensible (Logics, Jouissance, Style) Once more, On the Soul (organic, animal, general) Images, loquela, Jouissance (Augustine, Loyola, Sade) Psychical Life as Jouissance Science and Experience: Counter-transference The Taste for the Singular Life (Style) Plato's Cave Hides a Sensory Cave The "Second Dwelling" (Proust's Dream) Writing, Therapy, Beauty Between word-signs and word fetishes: Interpretation Chapter 5. Fantasy and Cinema Organisms of Mixed Race (Didier, the Collages Man) Fear and Spectacular Seduction Fantasy and the Imaginary: The Specular The Representable Conflict Cinema and Evil Chapter 6. Barthes: The Savor of Disenchantment Iconoclasm A Position: Writing Against Modern Man in all his States: Vices and Affections Myth: A Type of Speech Chosen by History Chapter 7. Barthes: Constructor of Language, Constructor of the Sensory The Spiritual Exercises of Loyola Who is the Subject of this Polyphony? Images The loquela Indifference and Suspension Chapter 8. Barthes: The Intractable Lover Figures The Jardin du Luxembourg Abysses Outside Language Sensory vs. Sexual: The New Lovers N. W. P.: The Non-will-to-possess Chapter 9. Sartre: The Imaginary and Nothingness The Fatal Freedom of Consciousness Negativity, "I," "Bad Faith" What Transcendence? Who is of Bad Faith? or, Atheism The Realized Imaginary: The Totalizing Spectacle Chapter 10. Sartre: Freedom as Questioning Negation at its Origin Symbolic Castration: A Question (The Story of Martine) Before Judgment: Repulsion or Freedom? The Freudian Attempt to Articulate the Drive and the Symbol Childhood: Self-Destruction or the Power of Words: The Words Chapter 11. Sartre: Again, the Imaginary, Fantasy, Spectacle The Mental Image: Virtual Nonbelief The Consubstantiality of Image and Thought Lack or Lie? Body and Image: From Hallucination to Fantasy Back to the Unconscious Chapter 12. Giving the Game Away out of Anticipation From the Political to the Intimate, from the Feminine to the Impossible What's it about? Why "Blanche"? The Woman and the Linguist "Gaiffier! Gaiffier! Go back to your place. Where is he?" "And then I realized the trickery..." More on Communism and the Destiny of the Question

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Book SynopsisRichard Sennett''s The Fall of Public Man examines the growing imbalance between private and public experience, and asks what can bring us to reconnect with our communities. Are we now so self-absorbed that we take little interest in the world beyond our own lives? Or has public life left no place for individuals to participate? Tracing the changing nature of urban society from the eighteenth century to the world we now live in, and the decline of involvement in political life in recent decades, Richard Sennett discusses the causes of our social withdrawal. His landmark study of the imbalance of modern civilization provides a fascinating perspective on the relationship between public life and the cult of the individual. ''Brilliant ... One admires the breadth of Professor Sennett''s erudition, the reach of his historical imagination, the doggedness of his analysis ... Buy this book and read it. Ironically, it may provide a key to happiness''  Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times ''A powerful argument for a more formal public culture and a swipe against the rise of a self-indulgent counter-culture''  Melissa Benn, Guardian ''A provocative book ... Sennett brings us to an undeniably recognizable place, the contemporary urban scene''  Richard Todd, Atlantic Monthly Richard Sennett''s previous books include The Fall of Public Man, The Corrosion of Character, Flesh and Stone and Respect. He was founder director of the New York Institute for the Humanities, and is now University Professor at New York University and Academic Governor and Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.

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Book SynopsisTamerlane, the Ottomans, the Mughals, the Manchus, the British, the Soviets, the Japanese and the Nazis.All built empires they hoped would last forever: all were destined to fail. But, as John Darwin shows in his magnificent book, their empire building created the world we know today. From the death of Tamerlane in 1405, last of the world conquerors', to the rise and fall of European empires, and from America's growing colonial presence to the resurgence of India and China as global economic powers, After Tamerlane provides a wonderfully intriguing perspective on the past, present and future of empires.

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Book SynopsisThe third book in a trilogy that includes Seeing the Divine and Hearing the Divine, this book articulates the religious sensibility underlying the traditional performing arts and examines the relationships between the arts and religion in India today.Trade ReviewThis volume is a gem that deserves wide distribution. It is destined to become a classic contribution to the literature on Hinduism and Indian civilization. Choice It thoughtfully explores an aesthetic of great depth and elegance. Dance Magazine This book is clear and accessible for the introductory reader. -- Mythili Kumar Asian Theatre Journal As a writer on dance, Schwartz really shines. -- Martha Ann Selby, University of Texas at Austin Journal of Asian Studies [Rasa] should prove a valuable classroom tool as well as a necessary addition to college libraries. -- Constantina Rhodes Bailly Hindu Studies Recommended to all those needing a sympathetic and intelligent introduction to the Indian performance arts and their appreciation. -- Edwin Gerow Journal of the American Oriental SocietyTable of ContentsPreface Transliteration and Romanization A Taste of Things to Come RASA in Theory: Text and Context A. Etymological Ingredients B. Sources of Inspiration C. A Written Recipe for the Arts D. Influences and Implications RASA in Practice: Drama, Dance, Music A. All The Stage Is But a World B. Dance As Mystery Bharata Natyam Shringara Rasa: What Love Has to Do With It Kathakali Kathak C. Good Taste In Music Transformations In Time And Space Glossary Bibliography

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Book SynopsisNamed Book of the Year by the Sunday Times, TLS, Spectator, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and Scotland on Sunday, Ian Kershaw''s The End is a searing account of the final months of Nazi Germany, laying bare the fear and fanaticism that drove a nation to destruction.In almost every major war there comes a point where defeat looms for one side and its rulers cut a deal with the victors, if only in an attempt to save their own skins. In Hitler''s Germany, nothing of this kind happened: in the end the regime had to be stamped out town by town with an almost unprecedented level of brutality.Just what made Germany keep on fighting?Why did its rulers not cut a deal to save their own skins?And why did ordinary people continue to obey the Fuhrer''s suicidal orders, with countless Germans executing their own countrymen for desertion or defeatism?''Nuanced and sophisticated ... undoubtedly a masterpiece'' Trade ReviewA remarkable feat of historical scholarship and intelligent analysis -- Jonathan Sumption * Spectator *Gripping yet scholarly ... the best attempt by far to answer the complex question of why Nazi Germany carried on fighting to total self-destruction. Kershaw, the author of the best biography of Hitler, is the finest sort of academic, for he combines impeccable scholarship with an admirable clarity of thought and prose -- Antony Beevor * Telegraph *Masterly ... Kershaw's gripping and boldly intelligent work of scholarship ... will surely become the standard popularly accessible account of the Nazi system's terrible final phase * Financial Times *Brilliant ... nuanced and sophisticated ... undoubtedly a masterpiece * Mail on Sunday *Well-written, penetrating ... and ground-breaking -- Andrew Roberts * Evening Standard *No one is better qualified to tell this grim story than Kershaw ... A master of both the vast scholarly literature on Nazism and the extraordinary range of its published and unpublished record, Kershaw combines vivid accounts of particular human experiences with wise reflections on big interpretive and moral issues ... No one has written a better account of the human dimensions of Nazi Germany's end * New York Times Book Review *Sober, judicious, clearly written and superbly well researched - a definitive history of the last months of the Third Reich -- Richard Bessel * History Today *Magisterial ... distinguished * Daily Mail, Book of the Week *Kershaw is a sure-footed guide through the Hades of the final dark months of the war in Europe ... his is a thoughtful and thought-provoking account, which admirably combines analysis, historiography and commentary within a very readable narrative * Independent on Sunday *A compelling account of the bloody and deluded last days of the Third Reich ... this is far from being of mere academic interest ... The greatest strength of Kershaw's narrative is that he gives us much more than the view from the top ... Interwoven are insights into German life and death at all levels of society * The Times *[Kershaw] understands as well as any man alive the complex power structure that existed in Nazi Germany ... Gripping ... arguably the most convincing portrait of Germany's Götterdämmerung we have seen so far * Wall Street Journal *Britain's most feted and prolific historian of the Third Reich * Sunday Times *[Kershaw] is among the foremost western scholars of Nazi Germany. Although this book pursues a narrative of events between June 1944 and May 1945, its real business is to explore the psychology of the German people -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *An insightful study of how the Führer held his grip over the German people for so long * Telegraph *Comprehensive ... it generates real power * Observer *

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Book SynopsisIn Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's great literary treasures as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, and explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate and freedom.Trade Review"One of the great marvels of World Literature.... This is a dream come true." --Ted Hughes"A testimony to the human spirit's ability not only to endure what fate may send it but to be renewed by the experience." --Seamus Heaney"The glory of the Sagas is indisputable." --Milan Kundera"Generally excellent, accurate and readable, these translations are sure to become the standard versions." --The Times Literary Supplement (London)Table of ContentsThe Sagas of Icelanders List of Illustrations and TablesPreface by Jane Smiley Introduction by Robert KelloggFurther ReadingA Note on the TextsSagasEgil's Saga (trans. Bernard Scudder)The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (trans. Andrew Wawn)The Saga of the People of Laxardal (trans. Keneva Kunz)Bolli Bollason's Tale (trans. Keneva Kunz)The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi (trans. Terry Gunnell)The Saga of the Confederates (trans. Ruth C. Ellison)Gisli Sursson's Saga (trans. Martin S. Regal)The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue (trans. Katrina C. Attwood)The Saga of Ref the Sly (trans. George Clark)The Vinland Sagas:The Saga of the Greenlanders (trans. Keneva Kunz)Eirik the Red's Saga (trans. Keneva Kunz)TalesThe Tale of Thorstein Staff-struck (trans. Anthony Maxwell)The Tale of Halldor Snorrason II (trans. Terry Gunnell)The Tale of Sarcastic Halli (trans. George Clark)The Tale of Thorstein Shiver (trans. Anthony Maxwell)The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords (trans. Anthony Maxwell)The Tale of the Story-wise Icelander (trans. Anthony Maxwell)Reference Section:Illustrations and Diagrams: Ships; The Farm; Social and Political StructureGlossaryIndex of Characters

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2011The horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618-48) tore the heart out of Europe, killing perhaps a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to whole areas of Central Europe to such a degree that many towns and regions never recovered. All the major European powers apart from Russia were heavily involved and, while each country started out with rational war aims, the fighting rapidly spiralled out of control, with great battles giving way to marauding bands of starving soldiers spreading plague and murder. The war was both a religious and a political one and it was this tangle of motives that made it impossible to stop. Whether motivated by idealism or cynicism, everyone drawn into the conflict was destroyed by it. At its end a recognizably modern Europe had been created but at a terrible price.Peter Wilson''s book is a major work, the first new history of the war in a Trade ReviewPeter Wilson is a brave man to undertake a new general survey of one of the most long-lasting, multi-dimensional and controversial wars of all time. It is a joy to report that, at least in this reviewer's opinion, Europe's Tragedy succeeds brilliantly ... His scholarship seems to me remarkable, his prose light and lovely, his judgments fair -- Paul Kennedy * Sunday Times *An ambitious and accomplished account, abreast of modern scholarship, has been overdue, and EUROPE'S TRAGEDY supplies it all admirably -- Blair Worden * Literary Review *A wonderfully comprehensive and detailed account -- Tim Blanning * Daily Telegraph *Magisterial ... a wise, wide-seeking account, tenaciously researched -- Lauro Martines * The Times Literary Supplement *A history of prodicious erudition ... a definitive account has been needed, and now Peter Wilson has provided it -- Jeffrey Collins * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is the first sustained and comprehensive attempt to base a whole account of animal rights around an interest-based theory of rights, and the first to use such a theory to deny that animals have an intrinsic right to liberty. It dispels once and for all the myth that animal rights must be about condemning all uses of animals and that a failure to do so commits one to an acceptance of an animal welfare ethic. -- Robert Garner, University of Leicester Non-human animals may have morally relevant interests in avoiding suffering and death without also possessing comparable interests in non-interference. By drawing on this neglected insight into the specificity of animals' interests, Cochrane's rigorous yet accessible book exposes a false dichotomy that has divided animal ethicists for decades, making a major advance in our understanding of the subject. -- Paula Casal, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Alasdair Cochrane argues that there is a plausible theory of animal rights that allows us to continue to own and use animals. It would be an understatement to say that I disagree with Cochrane but he does a fine job presenting the argument and his book will surely provoke debate and discussion. -- Gary L. Francione, Rutgers University ...thoughtful and thought-provoking, making it a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal and academic library Contemporary Ethics reference collections and supplemental reading lists.Midwest Book Review Midwest Book Review Well-argued Political Science ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. Animals, Interests, and Rights 3. Animal Experimentation 4. Animal Agriculture 5. Animals and Genetic Engineering 6. Animal Entertainment 7. Animals and the Environment 8. Animals and Cultural Practices 9. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA food history that illuminates a community’s struggle for survival.Trade ReviewChow Chop Suey is an eye-opener, a book that will give everyone a deep appreciation of the exquisite skill required to produce authentic Chinese food and the sweep of history that brought Chinese cooking to America. Anne Mendelson's prodigious research has given us a highly respectful, insightful, refreshing, wonderfully written, and utterly compelling account of the role and plight of Chinese restaurant workers in this country. I learned something new on every page. -- Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and author of Soda Politics Well-written and impeccably researched, Chow Chop Suey is a beautiful ode both to the history of Chinese Americans and the intriguing ways in which China's rich food culture continues to take root here and flourish. Anne Mendelson's section on Chinese American cookbook writers is nothing less than a classic, for she brings sense and order to a long overlooked field with her customary clear perspective and dry wit. Mendelson is one of my favorite food writers and I'd expect nothing less, but this time she's outdone herself. -- Carolyn Phillips, author of All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China and The Dim Sum Field Guide There are other accounts of the American enthusiasm for Chinese food and the simultaneous persecution of Chinese immigrants. What makes Anne Mendelson's Chow Chop Suey unique is how it integrates cooking styles with American and Chinese cultural contrasts. Mendelson never loses sight of the food and how Chinese restaurants and American "experts" of various sorts shaped a cuisine that was both exotic and irresistible. No one has discussed in such a fascinating and authoritative way the American misunderstanding of basic Chinese culinary principles, the importance of a few key cookbooks and restaurants, and the gradual awakening of American palates to something resembling actual Chinese food in the postwar decades. Fun to read, judicious, and above all authoritative. -- Paul Freedman, author of Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination Chow Chop Suey is a well-written and insightful guide to the Chinese food scene in America. In a field full of myths, Anne Mendelson's book is accurate and detailed. A delightful read! -- Eugene N. Anderson, author of, Food and Environment in Early and Medieval China Anne Mendelson brings together political and culinary history, showing that it was by inventing quasi-Chinese dishes that titillated American palates that Cantonese immigrants found a way to survive anti-Asia persecution. Gripping, authoritative, and timely. -- Rachel Laudan, author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History A deeply researched look at the history of Chinese food in the U.S. I'll be dipping into it for years. Wall Street Journal A timely and nuanced reminder that Chinese-American identity has long been conflated with Chinese food. -- Peter Ho Davies Times Literary Supplement Anne Mendelson writes like the engaged scholar she is, with dry wit and easy, uncompromising erudition... [Chow Chop Suey] is full of wonder. New York Times A solid choice for readers interested in Chinese immigration and U.S.-China history, as well as those curious about American foodways and culinary culture. Library JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Romanization and Terminology Introduction Prologue: A Stroke of the Pen Part I 1. Origins: The Toisan-California Pipeline 2. The Culinary "Language" Barrier 3. "Celestials" on Gold Mountain 4. The Road to Chinatown Part II 5. The Birth of Chinese American Cuisine 6. Change, Interchange, and the First Successful "Translators" 7. White America Rediscovers Chinese Cuisine 8. An Advancement of Learning 9. The First Age of Race-Blind Immigration Postscript: What Might Have Been Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisCapturing the unusual cultural character of a formative period and its intellectual ferment across multiple disciplines.Trade ReviewA rich and pathbreaking collection of materials that span the humanistic discipliines, this volume includes key texts that should not be omitted in a sourcebook of this kind as well as many that are available for the first time in English. Its thematic organization encourages new ways of thinking about the period that transcend traditional boundaries. The expert translations and extensive critical matter will make this an indispensable resource on early medieval China. -- Pauline Yu, President, American Council of Learned Societies [An] excellent resource... Highly recommended. CHOICE [A] pioneering handbook. Library JournalTable of ContentsChronological Contents Acknowledgments A Note on the Translations Abbreviations Introduction Part I. The North and the South by Jessey J. C. Choo 1. Return to the North? The Debate on Moving the Capital Back to Luoyang, by Jessey J. C. Choo 2. The Disputation at Pengcheng: Accounts from the Wei shu and the Song shu, by Albert E. Dien 3. Between Imitation and Mockery: The Southern Treatments of Northern Cultures, by Jessey J. C. Choo 4. Literary Imagination of the North and South, by Ping Wang Part II. Governing Mechanisms and Social Reality by Yang Lu 5. Managing Locality in Early Medieval China: Evidence from Changsha, by Yang Lu 6. Classical Scholarship in the Shu Region: The Case of Qiao Zhou, by J. Michael Farmer 7. Ranking Men and Assessing Talent: Xiahou Xuan's Response to an Inquiry by Sima Yi, by Timothy M. Davis 8. On Land and Wealth: Liu Zishang's "Petition on Closing Off Mountains and Lakes" and Yang Xi's "Discussion on Abolishing Old Regulations Regarding Mountains and Marshes", by Charles Holcombe 9. Crime and Punishment: The Case of Liu Hui in the Wei shu, by Jen-der Lee 10. Marriage and Social Status: Shen Yue's "Impeaching Wang Yuan", by David R. Knechtges 11. Religion and Society on the Silk Road: The Inscriptional Evidence from Turfan, by Huaiyu Chen Part III. Cultural Capital by Wendy Swartz 12. The Art of Discourse: Xi Kang's "Sound Is Without Sadness or Joy", by Robert Ashmore 13. Poetry on the Mysterious: The Writings of Sun Chuo, by Paul W. Kroll 14. The Art of Poetry Writing: Liu Xiaochuo's "Becoming the Number-One Person for the Number-One Position", by Ping Wang 15. Six Poems from a Liang Dynasty Princely Court, by Xiaofei Tian 16. Pei Ziye's "Discourse on Insect Carving", by Jack W. Chen 17. Classifying the Literary Tradition: Zhi Yu's "Discourse on Literary Compositions Divided by Genre", by Wendy Swartz 18. Zhong Rong's Preface to Grades of the Poets, by Stephen Owen 19. Book Collecting and Cataloging in the Age of Manuscript Culture: Xiao Yi's Master of the Golden Tower and Ruan Xiaoxu's Preface to Seven Records, by Xiaofei Tian Part IV. Imaging Self and Other by Wendy Swartz 20. Biographies of Recluses: Huangfu Mi's Accounts of High-Minded Men, by Alan Berkowitz 21. Classifications of People and Conduct: Selections from Liu Shao's Treatise on Personality and Liu Yiqing's Recent Anecdotes from the Talk of the Ages, by Jack W. Chen 22. The Literary Community at the Court of the Liang Crown Prince, by Ping Wang 23. Self-Narration: Tao Yuanming's "Biography of the Master of Five Willows" and Yuan Can's "Biography of the Master of Wonderful Virtue", by Wendy Swartz 24. On Political and Personal Fate: Three Selections from Jiang Yan's Prose and Verse, by Paul W. Kroll 25. The Shadow Image in the Cave: Discourse on Icons, by Eugene Wang Part V. Everyday Life by Jessey J. C. Choo and Albert E. Dien 26. Dietary Habits: Shu Xi's "Rhapsody on Pasta", by David R. Knechtges 27. The Epitaph of a Third-Century Wet Nurse, Xu Yi, by Jen-der Lee 28. Festival and Ritual Calendar: Selections from Record of the Year and Seasons of Jing-Chu, by Ian Chapman 29. Custom and Society: The Family Instructions of Mr. Yan, by Albert E. Dien 30. Adoption and Motherhood: "The Petition Submitted by Lady [nee] Yu", by Jessey J. C. Choo 31. Estate Culture in Early Medieval China: The Case of Shi Chong, by David R. Knechtges Part VI. Relations with the Unseen World by Robert Ford Campany 32. Biographies of Eight Autocremators and Huijiao's "Critical Evaluation", by James A. Benn 33. Divine Instructions for an Official, by Stephen R. Bokenkamp 34. Tales of Strange Events, by Robert Ford Campany 35. Texts for Stabilizing Tombs, by Timothy M. Davis 36. Reciting Scriptures to Move the Spirits, by Clarke Hudson 37. Confucian Views of the Supernatural, by Keith N. Knapp 38. Encounters in Mountains, by Gil Raz List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisA classical historian confronts our crises of time, radically calling into question our relations to the past, present, and future.Trade ReviewSince his classic Mirror of Herodotus, Francois Hartog has emerged as the most significant theorist of history and chronicler of our changing relationship to our own past that France has produced. In this series of meditative chapters, he takes us from the Greeks to the present once more, emphasizing how the theory of history must move from diagnosing the modern gap between expectation and experience to confronting the exigency of historical crisis today. Hartog's reflections are valuable for all humanists. -- Samuel Moyn, Columbia University In a book that should be required reading for anyone interested in history's role in contemporary society, Francois Hartog shows how unexamined assumptions about the past shape our understandings of ourselves and our place in history. -- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles Francois Hartog's pioneering work on the concept of 'regimes of historicity' makes this book a must for scholars in both the social sciences and the humanities. A distinguished classical historian, Hartog uses specific, well-chosen examples to explain how understanding regimes of historicity will allow us to better understand the conditions of possibility for producing histories and, more generally, our own relationship to time. -- Robert Morrissey, University of Chicago Francois Hartog is perhaps the most important historian of historiography today... Regimes of Historicity should be required reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future writing of history. American Historical Review Regimes of Historicity should be required reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future writing of history. Time's BooksTable of ContentsPresentism: Stopgap or New State? Introduction: Orders of Time and Regimes of Historicity Orders of Time 1 1. Making History: Sahlins's Islands 2. From Odysseus's Tears to Augustine's Meditations 3. Chateaubriand, Between Old and New Regimes of Historicity Orders of Time 2 4. Memory, History, and the Present 5. Heritage and the Present Our Doubly Indebted Present: The Reign of Presentism Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAltogether a tremendous achievement.... This volume provides us with an immediate sense of the scale and diversity of Gramsci's project. -- Richard Bellamy * Times Literary Supplement *An impressive and welcome commencement to the translation of one of the great intellectual legacies of the twentieth century...in Gramsci, Marxism acquires the founder of a proletarian intellectual tradition that is likely to continue as long as society has use for democracy. -- William Hartley * Italian Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisThe Greeks and Romans were not shy about sex. In classical Greece, statues of erect penises served as boundary-stones and signposts. In Rome, marble satyrs and nymphs grappled in gardens. How are we to make sense of this abundance of sexual imagery? Were these images seductive, shocking, humorous? This title answers these questions.

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Book SynopsisThe source of tremendous power and the focus of incredible devotion, throughout history notions of beauty have been integral to social life and culture. Each age has had its own standards: a gleaming white brow during the Renaissance, the black eyebrows considered charming in the early eighteenth century, and the thin lips thought desirable by Victorians. Beauty has ensured good marriages, enabled social mobility and offered fame and notoriety, and has led women and some men to remarkable lengths in cultivating it, from the dangerous quantities of lead applied by Elizabeth I, to the women of the 1940s and ''50s, who employed face powder, lipstick and mascara to look their best during the privations of war and austerity, creating a chic appearance to which many still aspire.Table of ContentsThe Sin of Vanity The Fairy Queen Pale and Lovely Beauty and Blackmail The Actress and the Ingénue From Elegance to Expression Index

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Book SynopsisA concise, illustrated guide to these Second World War defences scattered across the British landscape.With invasion a very real threat, in 1940 Great Britain began a huge military construction programme designed to stop an invading army in its tracks. Around vulnerable coastlines, and inland, thousands of pillboxes, anti-tank barriers and other obstacles were erected to defend against attacks from sea and sky. Though many of these structures were dismantled in the wake of the Second World War, the coast and even some inland areas still boast a wealth of fascinating remains. In this fully illustrated introduction, fortifications authority Bernard Lowry guides the inquiring reader in identifying these remaining defensive structures and explains their seemingly ''random'' placement across the British landscape.Table of ContentsAn Island Fortress Britain Alone A Pause for Breath 1942: A New Defence Policy Britain Becomes a Fortified Island 1944: Tidying Up and Aftermath Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisGypsies have been a part of the British and European social fabric for centuries and have faced prejudice and oppression for nearly as long, since at least the time of Henry VIII. Theirs is a peripatetic existence, dwelling in tents and in caravans and living often precariously at the edges of towns and villages, moving on in search of opportunities or as mainstream society drives them away. Gypsies of Britain explores the history of this unique lifestyle, looking at how Gypsies have maintained their distinctive culture and how they have adapted to the twenty-first century, and shedding light on a range of traditional Gypsy occupations including harvesting, horse-dealing, fortune-telling and rat-catching. Archive illustrations and modern photographs depict their lives, work and ornately carved and painted caravans.Table of ContentsIntroduction / Travelling Groups in Britain / Travelling Patterns and Abodes / Earning a Living / Evangelism and War Work / The Twenty-first Century / Further Information / Index

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Book SynopsisThis title explores what life was like in the 1950s American home. An age of optimism, it is about living the American Dream and how this was achieved, changes in the home, new convenience technology, new ways of living. From Ranch House to American Modernism to affordable homes in the suburbs, this was how to live the good life in an era of unprecedented prosperity and opportunity.Table of ContentsA Clean Break: Achieving the American Dream / Home Sweet Home: Domestic Architectural Styles / How They Lived: The Living Room / The Woman's Realm: The Kitchen, Food and Entertaining / The Good Life: 1950s American Style / Places to v Visit / Further Reading / Index

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Book SynopsisOver the centuries Britain's soil has yielded countless spectacular hoards of ancient coins and other artefacts, affording us priceless insights into our ancestors' lives and it is not only such large finds that await discovery but also many thousands of individual pieces. Wonderfully, discoveries both minor and momentous are frequently made not by teams of professionals but by amateur archaeologists and metal-detector enthusiasts, for whom this book is intended as a helpful companion. It provides a catalogue of commonly encountered coins, dating from ancient times until the modern day, explaining their historical context, how they might have come to be lost and where they may be found today.Table of ContentsBritain’s Buried Coinage / Iron Age Coins / Roman Coins / Medieval Coins / Post-medieval Coins / Tokens, Counters and Medals / Recording Coin Finds / Further Reading / Index

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Book SynopsisThe groundbreaking series that will tell the story of Britain from VE Day in 1945 to the coming of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 as never beforeTrade Review'This is a classic; buy at least three copies - one for yourself and two to give to friends and family' John Charmley, Guardian 'The book is a marvel ... the fullest, deepest and most balanced history of our times' Sunday Telegraph 'What a treat we have in store *****' Craig Brown's Book of the Week, Mail on Sunday 'A wonderfully illuminating picture of the way we were' Roy Hattersley, The Times

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of night - the nocturnal world, insomnia, the creative potential of the dark hours, the work that happens at night to keep the modern world moving - by Sunday Times bestselling author Dan Richards

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Book Synopsis* The book is a remarkable piece of modern history which tells the story - for the first time - of a speech that was written by Pope Pius XI in 1939 in which he was intending to speak out against Mussolini and the Fascists and condemn anti-Semitism.Trade Review"Simply put, this is the most thorough and best documented study yet to appear on Pius XI."America Magazine "This excellent new book unearths and magisterially exposes new evidence - a key document for those interested in Europe's turbulent pre-war history."Hugh O'Shaughnessy, Review 31 "A first-rate study."American Historical Review "Now the most comprehensive work on the Vatican's relations with states and national churches in western and central Europe in the 1930s."European History Quarterly "Insightful, provocative and original. Fattorini's examination of Pius XI's evolving attitudes toward totalitarian states is complex and convincing."The Journal of Modern History "A revealing insight into European politics in the 1930s, and the first scholarly attempt to look at the Church's relationship with Fascism and the Nazis during that period."Birmingham Jewish Recorder "A crucial new perspective on the relationship between the Vatican, Mussolini's Fascism, and National Socialism. The tendency to focus exclusively on Eugenio Pacelli, the future wartime pope Pius XII, has obscured the troubled papacy of Pius X1 between 1922 and 1939. Professor Fattorini's narrative, in the light of the recent release of Vatican documents of the period, is sure to breathe new life into this controversial era of Church-state relations on the brink of world war."John Cornwell, University of Cambridge "Emma Fattorini's remarkable work extends our understanding of how the leadership of the Catholic Church grappled with fascism and Nazism. She does so by drawing on riveting documentation recently released from the Vatican Secret Archive and by focusing on the relatively overlooked pontificate of Pius XI. "Michael R. Marrus, University of Toronto "Fattorini's objective and scholarly volume helps to demolish the long-prevailing belief that Pius XI and his secretary of state Eugenio Pacelli - later his successor as Pius XII - concurred in the policy to pursue towards fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. She demonstrates, on the basis of solid documentation, that, while Pius XI increasingly perceived the need for confrontation with these regimes after 1936, Pacelli preferred conciliation and impartiality - policies he pursued during World War II and the Holocaust."Frank Coppa, St John's University "Emma Fattorini has produced an important work on the activities of the Vatican in the years leading up to World War II. She portrays a pope whose spirituality, rather than political views, led him increasingly to speak out against Nazism. Her book adds to a slowly increasing body of literature which illustrates that, while the Vatican may have been slow in speaking out about the persecution of the Jews, no one in the secretariat of state harbored any sympathy for Hitler."Gerald Fogarty, University of Virginia

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Book SynopsisThis innovative volume presents for the first time collective expertise on women's magazines and periodicals of the long eighteenth century.

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Book SynopsisThis volume explores the experience of everyday life in Scotland during a period of immense political, social and economic change.Trade ReviewBook review: A History of Everyday Life in Scotland 1600-1800Premium Article 05 April 2010 By TC SMOUT A History of Everyday Life in Scotland 1600-1800 Edited by Elizabeth Foyster and Christopher A Whatley Edinburgh University Press, 352pp, GBP24.99 NOTHING in history is more difficult to uncover than everyday life. The epics of kings and politicians rest on sources ranging from the registers of the state to the memoirs of sycophantic courtiers. The records of the church are voluminous and formaADVERTISEMENTl. The records of trade and industry are left in ledgers. Great events that are not everyday, especially wars and disasters, have their chroniclers. But the routines of ordinary life are elusive, often unrecorded, and the historian often has to approach the task obliquely and persistently, aware there will be lacunae and difficult judgments to make. This book is the first of a series of four that will try to uncover the routines of our pasts, and it chooses to do so in the 17th and 18th centuries when Scotland was first wracked with civil and ecclesiastical war, then bolted into union with a powerful neighbour, then wracked again with rebellion and rapid economic and social change. We know a lot about all those themes. What we know less about are everyday things like food and clothes, smells and noises, travelling, rejoicing and courting, working and relaxing, believing and doubting. In 11 chapters, this book tries to explore some of this territory, aware that there will be gaps that cannot be filled, yet using a variety of sources and approaches to illuminate the routines and peculiarities of our pasts. Because it is an edited volume, it lacks a single tone and some chapters are more satisfying than others. But you cannot read it without learning a lot; it is entertaining, surprising and instructive. Take, for example, the all-male Highland funeral of the 1720s, where an English observer found "pyramids of plum cake, sweetmeats and several dishes, with pipes and tobacco". When it was over the men took the remaining sweetmeats away in their hats and pockets, "which enables you to make a great compliment to the women of your acquaintance". Flirting with funeral leftovers is probably a lost art. Or the advertisement for the Saracen's Head in Glasgow in 1754, which commends the 36 bedchambers "none of them entering through another, so there is no need of going out of doors to get to them" and all the beds "very good, clean and free from Bugs". This speaks volumes about expectations. The essence of history, of course, is change. How different did everyday life become in Scotland over these two centuries? Up to around 1750, the answer seems to be that it was not so different from what it had been in 1600; food was still based on oatmeal (up to 37 ounces a day) and clothing was mainly woollen and of dark colours. White was for the wealthy, because it showed you could afford to have your clothes washed by someone else. By 1800, things had improved marginally for the poorer classes and more so for the middle classes and the rich: more meat was eaten by most people, potatoes had arrived, more linen and cotton were worn and soap was more available. In terms of belief, Sabbath observance still reigned supreme though there was a shortage of places in kirk for the urban poor. Witches and fairies had been relegated from being the living imps of Satan to becoming mere superstitions in remote country places. Work was more controlled and onerous, but also more regular and better remunerated: the industrial workforce at this stage of factory development depended heavily on women and children, but so did rising household earnings. This is a book with ambitious coverage, with chapters on rural life, architecture, birth, death and marriage, illness, food and clothing, literacy and education, keeping order, belief, travel and work. One chapter by Elizabeth Foyster deals with smells, sound and touch. It is particularly full of unexpected insights, like the way in which a traveller could have been led blindfolded round a town and still known where he was by the smells and sounds of different quarters harbouring the tanners, dyers, butchers, bakers, brewers and hammermen, all concentrated in different quarters. Edinburgh, as a city, smelt vile, but Glasgow by contrast was commended, in 1669 famous for "sweetness of air" and a century later for the way its markets for fish and meat were "constantly kept sweet and neat" by channels of water. What was it like being ill in the past? Helen Dingwall has a particularly illuminating account of the impact and practice of medicine (both official and folk), covering most aspects except dentistry, at least sparing us that vicarious agony. Pain and illness were a social leveller, equally inflicted on rich and poor, without much relief that money could buy. Medicine in towns was more likely to attract professional doctors and pharmacists than in the country -- there was said to be only one "medical man" for 50 miles north of Aberdeen at the start of the 18th century. Remedies were mainly herbal everywhere, and directed at relieving symptoms rather than curing disease. There is much here that is fascinating. Some things irritate. It is sad to see the dreary modern use of "the 1600s" and "the 1700s" in place of the 17th and 18th centuries. If one is told that witch persecution flourished in the early 1660s, one knows it was between 1660 and 1665. If one is told, as here, of struggles between church and crown "during the 1600s" one has to know in advance if it means between 1600 and 1609 or in the wider 17th century. There are inevitably omissions as well. Little is said, in dealing with education, about school routines. How long were school days, what were the routines of learning, how and how frequently were children punished? It would have been interesting to learn about external horizons, too; was not Aberdeen, for example, closer culturally and commercially to the Netherlands than to Glasgow? But this is a book full of insights and genuinely pioneering. We can look forward to the following volumes. -- T.C. Smout The Scotsman This is a book with ambitious coverage, with chapters on rural life, architecture, birth, death and marriage, illness, food and clothing, literacy and education, keeping order, belief, travel and work... There is much here that is fascinating... This is a book full of insights and genuinely pioneering. We can look forward to the following volumes -- T.C. Smout The Scotsman The essays will be of interest to both casual and expert readers, and taken together they add up to an impressive and stimulating snapshot of early-modern Scottish society. Moreover, the reading experience is enhanced by the high quality of the production, the wide range of engaging and unusual illustrations, and the provision for each chapter of brief but useful guides to further reading... There can be no doubt about the importance of this publication. It offers a stimulating and authoritative overview of Scottish social history in the early-modern period, written by a group of historians whose expertise and formidable familiarity with the sources are obvious. As a synthesis of past and current research it provides a resource that will be especially cherished by historians and students. But equally importantly, its determination to look beyond the obvious, to interrogate the sources in innovative and imaginative ways, and to give a voice to the almost silent masses of history, is a welcome reminder of the richness of the historian's craft, not to mention a stirring battle-cry to expand horizons ever further. -- Allan Kennedy, University of Stirling History Scotland A vauluable addition to a growing historiography of ordinary, everyday life. -- Alexandra Logue, University of Guelph International Review of Scottish Studies Book review: A History of Everyday Life in Scotland 1600-1800Premium Article 05 April 2010 By TC SMOUT A History of Everyday Life in Scotland 1600-1800 Edited by Elizabeth Foyster and Christopher A Whatley Edinburgh University Press, 352pp, GBP24.99 NOTHING in history is more difficult to uncover than everyday life. The epics of kings and politicians rest on sources ranging from the registers of the state to the memoirs of sycophantic courtiers. The records of the church are voluminous and formaADVERTISEMENTl. The records of trade and industry are left in ledgers. Great events that are not everyday, especially wars and disasters, have their chroniclers. But the routines of ordinary life are elusive, often unrecorded, and the historian often has to approach the task obliquely and persistently, aware there will be lacunae and difficult judgments to make. This book is the first of a series of four that will try to uncover the routines of our pasts, and it chooses to do so in the 17th and 18th centuries when Scotland was first wracked with civil and ecclesiastical war, then bolted into union with a powerful neighbour, then wracked again with rebellion and rapid economic and social change. We know a lot about all those themes. What we know less about are everyday things like food and clothes, smells and noises, travelling, rejoicing and courting, working and relaxing, believing and doubting. In 11 chapters, this book tries to explore some of this territory, aware that there will be gaps that cannot be filled, yet using a variety of sources and approaches to illuminate the routines and peculiarities of our pasts. Because it is an edited volume, it lacks a single tone and some chapters are more satisfying than others. But you cannot read it without learning a lot; it is entertaining, surprising and instructive. Take, for example, the all-male Highland funeral of the 1720s, where an English observer found "pyramids of plum cake, sweetmeats and several dishes, with pipes and tobacco". When it was over the men took the remaining sweetmeats away in their hats and pockets, "which enables you to make a great compliment to the women of your acquaintance". Flirting with funeral leftovers is probably a lost art. Or the advertisement for the Saracen's Head in Glasgow in 1754, which commends the 36 bedchambers "none of them entering through another, so there is no need of going out of doors to get to them" and all the beds "very good, clean and free from Bugs". This speaks volumes about expectations. The essence of history, of course, is change. How different did everyday life become in Scotland over these two centuries? Up to around 1750, the answer seems to be that it was not so different from what it had been in 1600; food was still based on oatmeal (up to 37 ounces a day) and clothing was mainly woollen and of dark colours. White was for the wealthy, because it showed you could afford to have your clothes washed by someone else. By 1800, things had improved marginally for the poorer classes and more so for the middle classes and the rich: more meat was eaten by most people, potatoes had arrived, more linen and cotton were worn and soap was more available. In terms of belief, Sabbath observance still reigned supreme though there was a shortage of places in kirk for the urban poor. Witches and fairies had been relegated from being the living imps of Satan to becoming mere superstitions in remote country places. Work was more controlled and onerous, but also more regular and better remunerated: the industrial workforce at this stage of factory development depended heavily on women and children, but so did rising household earnings. This is a book with ambitious coverage, with chapters on rural life, architecture, birth, death and marriage, illness, food and clothing, literacy and education, keeping order, belief, travel and work. One chapter by Elizabeth Foyster deals with smells, sound and touch. It is particularly full of unexpected insights, like the way in which a traveller could have been led blindfolded round a town and still known where he was by the smells and sounds of different quarters harbouring the tanners, dyers, butchers, bakers, brewers and hammermen, all concentrated in different quarters. Edinburgh, as a city, smelt vile, but Glasgow by contrast was commended, in 1669 famous for "sweetness of air" and a century later for the way its markets for fish and meat were "constantly kept sweet and neat" by channels of water. What was it like being ill in the past? Helen Dingwall has a particularly illuminating account of the impact and practice of medicine (both official and folk), covering most aspects except dentistry, at least sparing us that vicarious agony. Pain and illness were a social leveller, equally inflicted on rich and poor, without much relief that money could buy. Medicine in towns was more likely to attract professional doctors and pharmacists than in the country -- there was said to be only one "medical man" for 50 miles north of Aberdeen at the start of the 18th century. Remedies were mainly herbal everywhere, and directed at relieving symptoms rather than curing disease. There is much here that is fascinating. Some things irritate. It is sad to see the dreary modern use of "the 1600s" and "the 1700s" in place of the 17th and 18th centuries. If one is told that witch persecution flourished in the early 1660s, one knows it was between 1660 and 1665. If one is told, as here, of struggles between church and crown "during the 1600s" one has to know in advance if it means between 1600 and 1609 or in the wider 17th century. There are inevitably omissions as well. Little is said, in dealing with education, about school routines. How long were school days, what were the routines of learning, how and how frequently were children punished? It would have been interesting to learn about external horizons, too; was not Aberdeen, for example, closer culturally and commercially to the Netherlands than to Glasgow? But this is a book full of insights and genuinely pioneering. We can look forward to the following volumes. This is a book with ambitious coverage, with chapters on rural life, architecture, birth, death and marriage, illness, food and clothing, literacy and education, keeping order, belief, travel and work... There is much here that is fascinating... This is a book full of insights and genuinely pioneering. We can look forward to the following volumes The essays will be of interest to both casual and expert readers, and taken together they add up to an impressive and stimulating snapshot of early-modern Scottish society. Moreover, the reading experience is enhanced by the high quality of the production, the wide range of engaging and unusual illustrations, and the provision for each chapter of brief but useful guides to further reading... There can be no doubt about the importance of this publication. It offers a stimulating and authoritative overview of Scottish social history in the early-modern period, written by a group of historians whose expertise and formidable familiarity with the sources are obvious. As a synthesis of past and current research it provides a resource that will be especially cherished by historians and students. But equally importantly, its determination to look beyond the obvious, to interrogate the sources in innovative and imaginative ways, and to give a voice to the almost silent masses of history, is a welcome reminder of the richness of the historian's craft, not to mention a stirring battle-cry to expand horizons ever further. A vauluable addition to a growing historiography of ordinary, everyday life.Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; Chapter 1: Everyday Structures, Rhythms and Spaces of the Scottish Countryside, Robert A. Dodgshon; Chapter 2: Improvement and Modernisation in Everyday Enlightenment Scotland, Charles McKean; Chapter 3: Death, Birth and Marriage, Deborah A. Symonds; Chapter 4: Illness, Disease and Pain, Helen M. Dingwall; Chapter 5: Necessities: Food and Clothing in the Long Eighteenth Century, Stana Nenadic; Chapter 6: Communicating, Bob Harris; Chapter 7: Order and Disorder, Christopher A. Whatley; Chapter 8: Sensory Experiences: Smells, Sounds and Touch, Elizabeth Foyster; Chapter 9: Beliefs, Religions, Fears and Neuroses, Joyce Miller; Chapter 10: Movement, Transport and Travel, Alastair Durie; Chapter 11: Work, Time and Pastimes, Christopher A. Whatley.

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Book SynopsisThe battle of Bannockburn, fought on the fields south of Stirling at midsummer 1314, is the best known event in the history of Medieval Scotland. It was a unique event. The clash of two armies, each led by a king, followed a clear challenge to a battle to determine the status of Scotland and its survival as a separate realm. As a key point in the Anglo-Scottish wars of the fourteenth century, the battle has been extensively discussed, but Bannockburn was also a pivotal event in the history of the British Isles. This book analyses the road to Bannockburn, the campaign of 1314 and the aftermath of the fight. It demonstrates that in both its context and legacy the battle had a central significance in the shaping of nations and identities in the late Medieval British Isles.Trade ReviewAn important and well documented study, clearly written and readable. Northern History An important and well documented study, clearly written and readable.

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Book SynopsisEleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece 1910-1920 and 1928-1932, is regarded by many as the creator of contemporary Greece and one of the main actors in European diplomacy during his time in office.This book draws on considerable new research and places the study of Venizelos'' leadership in the broad setting of twentieth-century politics and diplomacy. The complex and often dramatic trajectory of Venizelos'' career from Cretan rebel to an admired European statesman is charted in a sequence of chapters that survey his meteoric rise and great achievements in Greek and European politics amidst violent passions and tragic conflicts. Further chapters appraise in depth some critical aspects of his policies, while a conclusion offers a glimpse into a great statesman''s personal and intellectual world.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Note on transliteration Introduction. Perspectives on a Leader I: SETTING THE STAGE 1. A Century of Revolutions. The Cretan Question between European and Near Eastern Politics 2. Venizelos' Early Life and Political Career in Crete (1864-1910) II: THE DRAMA OF HIGH POLITICS 3. Venizelos' Advent in Greek Politics, 1909-1912 4. Protagonist in Politics,1912-1920 5. Venizelos' Diplomacy 1910-1923: From Balkan Alliance to Greek-Turkish Settlement 6. Reconstructing Greece as a European State: Venizelos' Last Premiership, 1928-1932 7. I. S. Koliopoulos: The Last Years, 1933-1936 III: THE CONTENT OF POLITICAL ACTION 8. Eleftherios Venizelos and the Experiment of Inclusive Constitutionalism 9. Venizelos and Civil-Military Relations 10. Venizelos and Economic Policy 11. Modernisation and reaction in Greek education during the Venizelos era 12. Andreas Nanakis: Venizelos and Church-State Relations 351 IV: OFFSTAGE 13. Venizelos' Intellectual Projects and Cultural Interests Contributors

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Book SynopsisThis authoritative reference work examines literary and artistic responses to the war's upheavals across a wide range of media and genres, from poetry to pamphlets, sculpture to television documentary, and requiems to war reporting.

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Book SynopsisExplore Culzean Castle with this book!Culzean Castle on the Ayrshire coast is the most visited property of the National Trust for Scotland. This lavishly illustrated book tells the whole history of the castle. Michael Moss has carried out extensive research, drawing on estate records, original plans and family correspondence to create a major new history of the castle and a fascinating account of the running of a Scottish country estate. With new pictures, many of them in colour, and an accessible style, this is essential reading for anyone interested in Scottish history and Scottish architecture.Built in the late sixteenth century above a network of caves, the castle became a centre for smuggling during the eighteenth century. Sir Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassillis, went on an extended grand tour in the 1750s and returned full of ideas as to how to improve his vast estates and home. His brother and heir commissioned Robert Adam to create his masterpiece and became bankrupt as a result. The estatTrade ReviewA fascinating study ... well illustrated by numerous reproductions of paintings, watercolors, lithographs, engravings, architectural plans and photographs... Moss has presented an entertaining, well-researched and composed book. -- J. Craig Stirling Scotia A fascinating study ... well illustrated by numerous reproductions of paintings, watercolors, lithographs, engravings, architectural plans and photographs... Moss has presented an entertaining, well-researched and composed book.

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Book SynopsisPulitzer-prize winning author David Halberstam''s eyewitness account provides a riveting narrative of how the United States created a major foreign policy disaster for itself in a faraway land it knew little about. In the introduction to this edition, historian Daniel J. Singal supplies crucial background information that was unavailable in the mid-1960s when the book was written. With its numerous firsthand recollections of life in the war zone, The Making of a Quagmire penetrates to the essence of what went wrong in Vietnam. Although its focus is the Kennedy era, its analysis of the blunders and misconceptions of American military and political leaders holds true for the entire war.Trade ReviewFor all the legions of books published on the Vietnam War, none surpasses one of the earliest and most prescient—David Halberstam's The Making of a Quagmire. Halberstam's shrewd observations of the complexities of Vietnamese politics and the obstacles the U.S. faced early in achieving its goals deeply inform the entire book. A brilliant study that has lost none of its power despite the history that unfolded after its publication, Halberstam's book deserves to be read again and again. -- Ellen Fitzpatrick, Carpenter Professor of History, University of New HampshireFew journalists did more to educate Americans about the harsh realities of the Vietnam war than David Halberstam. The Making of a Quagmire offers numerous insights into the conflict between the American press and the U.S. government that began in those years and ultimately played a major role in the war. The book is a valuable introduction to Vietnam in the era of John F. Kennedy and Ngo Dinh Diem. -- George C. Herring, University of KentuckyAs it did in 1965, Halberstam's book will provoke vigorous discussion. Readers will marvel at how the United States allowed itself to be so misled in South Vietnam and will use the book to make connections to more recent events in the Middle East. -- Robert DallekHalberstam's wartime work will last not just because of its quality and its importance but because it established a new mode of journalism, one with which Americans are now so familiar that it's difficult to remember that someone had to invent it. -- George Packer * The New Yorker *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Edging Toward Calamity: Vietnam in the Early 1960s Chapter 1: Coming into a Troubled Land Chapter 2: Latter-Day Mandarins: The Ngo Family Chapter 3: A Strange Alliance: The Americans and Diem Part II: The War in the Delta Chapter 4: In the Field with the ARVN Chapter 5: Finding an Elusive Foe Chapter 6: Disaster: The Battle of Ap Bac Chapter 7: Collapse in the Delta Part III: The Fall of the Diem Regime Chapter 8: The Buddhist Revolt Begins Chapter 9: The Raid on the Pagodas Chapter 10: A Slow Change in American Policy Chapter 11: The Saigon Press Controversy Chapter 12: The Final Days of Ngo Dinh Diem Chapter 13: What Should Be Done in Vietnam? Epilogue: Return to Vietnam

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Book SynopsisFidel Castro is one of the most interesting and controversial personalities of our time he has become a myth and an icon. He was the first Cuban Caudillo the man who freed his country from dependence on the USA and who lead his people to rediscover their national identity and pride. Castro has outlived generations of American presidents and Soviet leaders. He has survived countless assassination attempts by the CIA, the Mafia, and Cubans living in exile. He has become one of the greatest politicians of the 20th Century. His biography, and the history of his country exemplify the tensions between East and West, North and South, rich and poor. As Castro''s life draws to a close, the question as to what will become of Cuba is more important that ever. Will Castro open Cuba to economic reform and democratization, or stick to his old slogan socialism or death? In this remarkable, up-to-date reconstruction of Castro''s life, Volker Skierka addresses these queTrade Review"A comprehensive and highly readable biography written in a remarkably even-handed tone." The Guardian "Volker Skierka has written the book that those wanting to understand the present-day politics of Cuba and its ruler have been awaiting for a long time. He has done so with a freshness, simplicity and elegance that makes it a pleasure to read ... accessible and fascinating to the casual reader and the specialist alike." BBC History Magazine "An exceptional, evenhanded portrait of an undeniably strong leader's strengths and weaknesses." Midwest Book Review "A fascinatingly good read and a treasure trove of information." Morning Star "Volker Skierka's study of Castro stands out for its admirable clarity and accessibility. Synthesizing a wealth of literature, and casting a cool eye on the official pieties of both Havana and Washington, Skierka has drawn a critical but far from unsympathetic portrait of this extraordinary figure of the Cold War world whose personal tenacity ensured that Cuban Communism survived with him into the new millennium." James Dunkerley, Queen Mary UniversityTable of ContentsList of plates. A Note of Thanks. Acknowledgements. Preface to the English Edition. 1. The Heroic Myth. 2. The Young Fidel. Among Jesuits. Among gangsters. 3. The Young Revolutionary. Storm and stress: Moncada. “Che”, the Argentinean. Stormy crossing on the Granma. A guerillero in the Sierra Maestra. 321 against 10,000. 4. The Young Victor. Communists and “barbudos”. 1,500 revolutionary laws. 5. Old Enemies, New Friends. The great powers at the gates. The CIA, the Mafia and the Bay of Pigs. Fidelismo. “Mongoose” and “Anadyr”. Thirteen days on the brink of a third world war. Three gamblers. 6. The Long March with Che. Moscow, Beijing, and Havana. The new man. The demise of Che. 7. Bad Times, Good Times. War and peace with Moscow. Ten million tons. Into the Third World. The revolution devours its children. 8. Alone Against All. Exodus to Florida. Rectificacion and perestroika. The Soviet imperium collapses. The brother’s power. War economy in peacetime. 9. The Eternal Revolutionary. Class Struggle on a dollar basis. Cuba and the global policeman. Castro, God and the Pope. Freedom or “socialismo tropical”. 10. Don Quixote and History. Notes. Bibliography. Index

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Book SynopsisAfter more than eight years of research, shipwreck hunter Jennifer N. Sellitti has delivered the first and definitive account of the sinking of Le Lyonnais and the hunt for Jonathan Durham.

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Book SynopsisThis book is about the reinvention of the Roman Empire during the eighty years between the accession of Diocletian and the death of Julian. How had it changed? The emperors were still warriors and expected to take the field. Rome was still the capital, at least symbolically. There was still a Roman senate, though with new rules brought in by Constantine. There were still provincial governors, but more now and with fewer duties in smaller areas; and military command was increasingly separated from civil jurisdiction and administration. The neighbours in Persia, Germania and on the Danube were more assertive and better organised, which had a knock-on effect on Roman institutions. The achievement of Diocletian and his successors down to Julian was to create a viable apparatus of control which allowed a large and at times unstable area to be policed, defended and exploited. The book offers a different perspective on the development often taken to be the distinctive feature of these years, namely the rise of Christianity. Imperial endorsement and patronage of the Christian god and the expanded social role of the Church are a significant prelude to the Byzantine state. The author argues that the reigns of the Christian-supporting Constantine and his sons were a foretaste of what was to come, but not a complete or coherent statement of how Church and State were to react with each other.Trade ReviewThis elegant and exciting book offers a fresh approach to understanding "early" late Antiquity. The breadth of vision is impressive. Jill Harries' triumph is to place Constantine and his promotion of Christianity in the context of a fully-rounded history of the Roman Empire from Diocletian to Julian. -- Dr Christopher Kelly, University of CambridgeTable of ContentsMaps and illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; Chapter 1, The Long Third Century; Chapter 2, Four lords of the world, AD 284-311; Chapter 3, The Empire renewed; Chapter 4, The Return of the Old Gods; Chapter 5, The victory of Constantine; Chapter 6, Towards the sunrise: Constantine Augustus; Chapter 7, Constructing the Christian emperor; Chapter 8, The sons of Constantine; Chapter 9, Warfare and Imperial Security AD 337-361; Chapter 10, Church and Empire; Chapter 11, Images of women; Chapter 12, Rome and Antioch; Chapter 13, Julian Augustus; Chapter 14, The funeral director; Chronology; Guide to Further Reading; Bibliography of Modern Works Cited; Index.

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