History Books
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Convoy
Book SynopsisThe Convoy represents a fresh approach to the story of the Battle of the Atlantic. It is also the first to deal with the more spectacular story of HG-76, a major turning point in the naval war.HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941 and was specially targeted by the Germans. A wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed too in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine. Despite this the convoy fought its way through. Improved radar and sonar gave the convoy''s escorts a slight edge over their opponents, while the escort group was led by Commander Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. Previous Gibraltar convoys had been mauled by Luftwaffe bombers opTrade ReviewThis gripping story of a vitally important wartime convoy battle is long overdue. * Dan Snow, historian and broadcaster *Brilliant – one of the most dramatic stories of the Second World War at sea brought meticulously to life. * Dr. Sam Willis, historian and broadcaster *With his detailed research from many sources, Angus Konstam brings to life the story of the battle around convoy HG76, escorted by the brilliant Commander Johnnie Walker RN. * Vice Admiral Mike Gretton CB CVO, son of escort commander Sir Peter Gretton *Angus Konstam brings a multi-perspective approach to this highly readable and engrossing account of Convoy HG76. * Captain Patrick Walker CBE RN, grandson of Johnnie Walker RN *A work of real integrity, his portrayal of this epic struggle brilliantly captures the intensity and drama of this key episode in the Battle of the Atlantic. Simply gripping! * Captain Bill Oliphant RN, CEO Royal Naval Association *Table of Contents(Subject to confirmation) Prologue Introduction Chapter 1: A Dark Time Chapter 2: The Gibraltar Run Chapter 3: Assembling the Convoy Chapter 4: The Audacity Chapter 5: Wolfpack Seeräuber Chapter 6: Leaving the Rock Chapter 7: First Blood to Nestor Chapter 8: Home for Christmas Chapter 9: Good Hunting Chapter 10: Red, Black and Yellow Flights Chapter 11: Gengelbach’s Revenge Chapter 12: Operation Buttercup Chapter 13: Winkle’s First Kill Chapter 14: Lit up by Snowflakes Chapter 15: The Loss of Audacity Chapter 16: The Western Approaches Chapter 17: Home Run Chapter 18: Taking Stock Epilogue Notes Bibliography Appendix I: The Merchant Ships of Convoy HG-76 Appendix II: The Convoy Escorts Appendix III. U-boats Involved Index
£21.25
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC German Soldier vs British Soldier
Book SynopsisThis illustrated study pits the Kaiser''s troops against their British opponents during the climactic year of 1918 on the Western Front.Launched on 21 March 1918, the Spring Offensive saw Germany use veteran, highly trained assault troops and innovative assault tactics to encircle and outflank the British and Empire forces manning the front line, hoping to force the French to seek terms and hand victory to Germany. After this attempt stalled, the Allied armies mounted a series of offensives during the so-called ''Hundred Days'', actions that pushed the Kaiser''s forces back and prompted the demoralized German High Command to sue for peace. In this book, Stephen Bull shows how the British Army on the Western Front fared as it survived the Spring Offensive and then went on the attack during the Hundred Days. While the picked units spearheading the German offensive were well-trained and -armed but short of supplies, the regular divisions following in their wake w
£14.39
John Murray Press Under the Knife
Book Synopsis''This is history with a surgeon''s touch: deft, incisive and sometimes excruciatingly bloody'' The Sunday Times''Utterly eccentric and riveting'' Mail on Sunday ''Eye-opening and, frequently, eye-watering . . . a book that invites readers to peer up the bottoms of kings, into the souls of rock stars and down the ear canals of astronauts'' The Daily TelegraphHow did a decision made in the operating theatre spark hundreds of conspiracy theories about JFK? How did a backstage joke prove fatal to world-famous escape artist Harry Houdini? How did Queen Victoria change the course of surgical history?Through dark centuries of bloodletting and of amputations without anaesthetic to today''s sterile, high-tech operating theatres, surgeon Arnold van de Laar uses his experience and expertise to tell an incisive history of the past, present and future of surgery.From the dark centuries of bloodletting and of aTrade ReviewThis is history with a surgeon's touch: deft, incisive and sometimes excruciatingly bloody . . . A fascinating combination of art, medical science and - still - daring butchery * The Sunday Times *Utterly eccentric and riveting * Mail on Sunday *Irresistible . . . Van de Laar renders complex surgical procedures not only understandable, but also immensely entertaining . . . A lot of fun * The Times *[A] fascinating history of surgery . . . eye-opening and, frequently, eye-watering . . . a book that invites readers to peer up the bottoms of kings, into the souls of rock stars and down the ear canals of astronauts -- Helen Brown * The Daily Telegraph, 5* review *Fascinating . . . a brisk but revealing tour of the human body. Each story shines a light on the wonders and weaknesses of our biology, and on the science we have used to treat it * Irish Independent *Fascinating . . . The author's sense of humour is as sharp as his scapel * Spectator *In this witty chronicle, surgeon Arnold van de Laar dissects thousands of years' worth of remarkably gruesome stories. From anaesthetic-free amputations and bloodletting to Albert Einstein's aneurysm, these are key insights into the cut and thrust of medicine * Nature *
£12.34
Duke University Press Jezebel Unhinged
Book SynopsisIn Jezebel Unhinged Tamura Lomax traces the use of the jezebel trope in the black church and in black popular culture, showing how it is pivotal to reinforcing men''s cultural and institutional power to discipline and define black girlhood and womanhood. Drawing on writing by medieval thinkers and travelers, Enlightenment theories of race, the commodification of women''s bodies under slavery, and the work of Tyler Perry and Bishop T. D. Jakes, Lomax shows how black women are written into religious and cultural history as sites of sexual deviation. She identifies a contemporary black church culture where figures such as Jakes use the jezebel stereotype to suggest a divine approval of the “lady” while condemning girls and women seen as 'hos.' The stereotype preserves gender hierarchy, black patriarchy, and heteronormativity in black communities, cultures, and institutions. In response, black women and girls resist, appropriate, and play with the stereotype''s meanTrade Review"An amazing pick for book clubs, reading discussion groups, or faith study groups, Jezebel Unhinged offers a fresh, exciting perspective on blackness, black female bodies, African American culture, and contemporary Christian teachings." -- Claire Foster * Foreword Reviews *"A book for black women who want freedom." -- Mariam Williams * Women's Review of Books *"Jezebel Unhinged is an insightful text that not only bridges the gap between Black feminist studies, Black pop culture studies, and womanist thought in religion, but also brings fresh and innovative analyses to longstanding discourses about black womanhood." -- Ahmad Greene-Hayes * Reading Religion *"Lomax has written a thoughtful, passionate piece, one deeply concerned about the well-being of black women and girls and, by extension, the well-being of a larger social fabric." -- Nan Kathy Lin * Studies in Religion *“Jezebel Unhinged is an exciting and provocative scholarly work. … For those interested in a thorough and systematic study of black women and girls and their relationship with the Black Church and black popular culture, this book is one that must be read.” -- Angela M. Nelson * Asian Journal of Social Science *“A passionate, closely argued, energetically written and illuminating text….” -- John Clammer * Ethnic and Racial Studies *“The arrow of Dr. Lomax’s words bullseyed into my soul…. Lomax brilliantly argues for critical black feminist religious engagement with how Black womanhood and girlhood are constructed and disseminated in connection with Black religion and Black popular culture. She focuses on the Black Church as a physical and psychic site of particular interest because it holds messy grey spaces outside of the social binaries we’ve been conditioned to accept.” -- B. J. McDaniel * The Lion and the Unicorn *Table of ContentsProlegomenon. "Hoeism or Whatever": Black Girls and the Sable Letter "B" vii Acknowledgments xix Introduction. "A Thousand Details, Anecdotes, Stories": Mining the Discourse on Black Womanhood 1 1. Black Venus and Jezebel Sluts: Writing Race, Sex, and Gender in Religion and Culture 13 2. "These Hos Ain't Loyal": White Perversions, Black Possessions 34 3. Theologizing Jezebel: Womanist Central Criticism, a Divine Intervention 59 4. "Changing the Letter": Toward a Black Feminist Study of Religion 82 5. The Black Church, the Black Lady, and Jezebel: The Cultural Production of Feminine-ism 108 6. Whose "Woman" Is This?: Reading Bishop T. D. Jakes's Woman, Thou Art Loosed! 130 7. Tyler Perry's New Revival: Black Sexual Politics, Black Popular Religion, and an American Icon 169 Epilogue. Dangerous Machinations: Black Feminists Taught Us 201 Notes 211 Bibliography 243 Index 251
£19.79
Duke University Press A Time of Youth
Book SynopsisA Time of Youth brings together 89 of the more than 2000 photographs William Gedney took in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood between October, 1966 and January, 1967, documenting the restless and intertwined lives of the disenchanted youth who flocked to what became the epicenter of 1960s counterculture.Trade Review“William Gedney was a great photographer, and the work he made in San Francisco is among his best. It amounts to a kind of visual archaeology whereby the documentary record is unearthed from the psychedelic aesthetic and glow in which it has been preserved. Here is the shuffle and trudge of life, the gray dawn that precedes the cosmic awakening of the Summer of Love. And yet: ‘Bliss was it in that dawn . . .’” -- Geoff Dyer“William Gedney had the great insight to be in San Francisco at the height of the hippie culture of the 1960s. His elegant photographs document their lives and circumstances with sympathy and grace. They are important pictures, made by an artist whose work deserves to be more widely known.” -- Sandra Phillips, Curator Emerita of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art"The impulse to capture the ephemerality of youth and beauty is what gives this collection its melancholy sweetness. It’s also a reflection of Gedney’s own San Francisco story. . . . [H]is critical, empathic gaze helps complete a more human picture of the most tumultuous and most stereotyped moment in San Francisco history." -- Benjamin Schneider * SF Weekly *"A Time of Youth is a love letter–as ardent as it is conflicted . . . full of telling moments. . . ." -- Vince Aletti * Vogue Italia *"The sequence of 89 photographs Gedney presents an unvarnished look at the strangely bitter seeds of hippie life before they blossomed into 'flower power.' Without the benefit of rose-colored glasses or psychedelic acid trips promulgated by Hollywood, we witness a group of radicals who made the choice to 'turn on, tune in, drop out' as writer Timothy Leary would later exhort at the 'Human Be-In.'” -- Miss Rosen * Blind *"A marvelous piece of archival retrieval and reconstruction." -- Richard B. Woodward * Collector Daily *"The overdue arrival of this Gedney book is also a testament to the artist’s faith in the longevity of his work and the degree of sacrifice he undertook to protect it. . . . A Time of Youth offers the first opportunity to see his long-form work close to the way he conceived of it—as a dramatic narrative formed almost entirely by the pictures." -- Rebecca Bengal * Aperture *"A Time of Youth offers another glimpse into Gedney’s work, and a unique window into the counterculture of San Francisco in the late 1960s." -- Brian Arnold * C4 Journal *"William Gedney was a terrific photographer whose documentary work always felt personal–more revelation than reportage. This body of work, made early in his career is, typically, the product of empathy and longing. Anticipating the Summer of Love, it’s not exactly celebratory; more often than not, Gedney’s subjects appear aimless, alone in a crowd. But his queer eye never misses the shaggy-haired beauties and the tender, erotic undercurrent here is Gedney’s signature." -- Vince Aletti * International Center for Photography blog *Table of ContentsIntroduction / Lisa McCarty A Time of Youth (Photographs) Bill Gedney: A Time of Youth / Philip Gefter Afterword / Lisa McCarty Chronology of William Gedney's Work in San Francisco / Lisa McCarty Acknowledgments Appendix: List of Images and Selected Reflections Index
£31.50
Duke University Press The Jamaica Reader
Book SynopsisFrom Miss Lou to Bob Marley and Usain Bolt to Kamala Harris, Jamaica has had an outsized reach in global mainstream culture. Yet many of its most important historical, cultural, and political events and aspects are largely unknown beyond the island. The Jamaica Reader presents a panoramic history of the country, from its precontact indigenous origins to the present. Combining more than one hundred classic and lesser-known texts that include journalism, lyrics, memoir, and poetry, the Reader showcases myriad voices from over the centuries: the earliest published black writer in the English-speaking world; contemporary dancehall artists; Marcus Garvey; and anonymous migrant workers. It illuminates the complexities of Jamaica's past, addressing topics such as resistance to slavery, the modern tourist industry, the realities of urban life, and the struggle to find a national identity following independence in 1962. Throughout, it sketches how its residents and visitors have experienced and shaped its place in the world. Providing an unparalleled look at Jamaica's history, culture, and politics, this volume is an ideal companion for anyone interested in learning about this magnetic and dynamic nation.Trade Review“Jamaica is an endless paradox, virtually impossible to summarize neatly in any single document. In The Jamaica Reader, Diana Paton and Matthew Smith extend an invitation to us to reflect on this paradox, its histories, and its cultural-political implications. In their thoughtful and diverse selection of texts (some expressive, some analytical, some narrative), framed by an engaging introduction, they offer a searching panorama of sometimes competing perspectives on the very idea of Jamaica.” -- David Scott, Columbia University“This is a bird's-eye view of the island shaped like a swimming turtle. It is a learned and joyful compendium of everything anyone needs to know about the place Columbus called the fairest isle that eyes ever beheld. Diana Paton and Matthew J. Smith have done a brilliant job of curating what is surely the most complete and all-encompassing gathering of writing about Jamaica ever assembled.” -- Lorna Goodison, Poet Laureate of Jamaica"This is an essential text for students of Jamaican history, society, culture and politics, and I am confident it will be a standard reader in Caribbean studies for many years to come.… It is impossible to see this book as anything other than the best introduction to the history of Jamaica, and the lives of the Jamaican people." -- F.S.J. Ledgister * Caribbean Quarterly *"The Jamaica Reader will prove highly useful to students and scholars alike. Indeed, such is the nature and layout of the excerpts that have been included that it appeals simultaneously to those looking for a general introduction to the history, politics and culture of Jamaica, and to those who may be already familiar with the island, but wish to explore further and in greater depth. Additionally, the generally short nature of each of the extracts actually makes the book an ideal teaching resource, whether as an introduction to engaging with the historiography of Jamaica, or as a way of exploring a wider variety of contemporary sources and accounts." -- Ben Markham * History *"It’s hard to think of a better introductory resource on the island, replete with bibliography, illustrations, and excellent brief introductions to each chapter." -- Richard Price and Sally Price * New West Indian Guide *"The cultural selections on visual arts—enhanced by color illustrations—and the worldwide influence of reggae are welcome additions to the more familiar material. Best for courses on Caribbean and Latin American studies in general. Recommended. General readers through graduate students." -- R. M. Delson * Choice *Table of ContentsNote on Abridgment xvii Acknowledgments xix Introduction 1 I. Becoming Jamaica 7 II. From English Conquest to Slave Society 49 III. Enlightenment Slavery 109 IV. Colonial Freedom 159 V. Jamaica Arise 209 VI. Independence and After 289 VII. Jamaica in the Age of Neoliberalism 363 VIII. Jamaicans in the World 435 Suggestions for Further Reading 487 Acknowledgments of Copyrights and Sources 493 Index 503
£22.79
Duke University Press Hawaii Is My Haven
Book SynopsisNitasha Tamar Sharma maps the context and contours of Black life in Hawai?i, showing how despite the presence of anti-Black racism, the state's Black residents consider it to be their haven from racism.Trade Review“Highlighting the place of Hawai‘i as a site for analyzing the most pressing cultural, political, and economic currents facing our world, Nitasha Tamar Sharma provides a unique and nuanced view into the complex flows of Islander life while creating new spaces for Black and multiracial voices that are all too frequently silenced. This much-needed work makes an important contribution to theorizing race and indigeneity together in American studies, ethnic studies, African American studies, and Native and Indigenous studies.” -- Ty P. Kawika Tengan, author of * Native Men Remade: Gender and Nation in Contemporary Hawai‘i *“This is an elegantly written, trenchantly argued, and persuasively rendered ethnography of African Americans in Hawai‘i. It is simultaneously a landmark pointing the way to how the United States itself may evolve in the twenty-first century as it comes to resemble, racially and ethnically, the vibrant fiftieth state.” -- Gerald Horne, author of * The White Pacific: U.S. Imperialism and Black Slavery in the South Seas After the Civil War *"Hawaiʻi Is My Haven is an ambitious and original work of scholarship. By focusing on an oft-overlooked demographic, it creates a fuller, more accurate picture of Hawaii’s history." -- Eric Stinton * Honolulu Civil Beat *"This book will be of interest to scholars of Pacific settlement histories, transnational and ethnocultural identities, colonialism, and indigenous activism. For those teaching Pacific studies courses, this volume adds a new dimension to Hawaiian histories of migration, settler colonization, and multiculturalism, as well as current alignments in social justice movements." -- Michelle Ladwig Williams * Pacific Affairs *"This is an interesting and important work for scholars in the fields [of Native and Indigenous studies, mixed-race studies, African American studies, American studies, and ethnic studies.] But for Hawaiian scholars and/or activists invested in a more pono future for Hawai‘i, this book is required reading." -- Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada * Native American and Indigenous Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Introduction: Hawaiʻi Is My Haven 1 1. Over Two Centuries: The History of Black People in Hawaiʻi 37 2. "Saltwater Negroes": Black Locals, Multiracialism, and Expansive Blackness 71 3. "Less Pressure": Black Transplants, Settler Colonialism, and a Racial Lens 120 4. Racism in Paradise: AntiBlack Racism and Resistance in Hawaiʻi 166 5. Embodying Kuleana: Negotiating Black and Native Positionality in Hawaiʻi 217 Conclusion: Identity↔Politics↔Knowledge 261 Notes 279 Bibliography 305 Index 331
£20.39
Duke University Press Fragments of Truth
Book SynopsisNaomi Angel analyzes the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that Canada established in 2008 to review the history of the Indian Residential School system, a brutal colonial project that killed and injured many Indigenous children.Table of ContentsPreface. Tracing Memory in Naomi Angel’s Archive / Jamie Berthe and Eugenia Kisin ix Acknowledgments / Marita Sturken and Faye Ginsburg xix Introduction. Reconciliation and Remembrance 1 1. Reconciliation as a Way of Seeing: The History and Context of the Indian Residential School System 19 2. Images of Contact: Archival Photographs and the Work of Reconciliation in Canada 54 3. Nations Gather: Public Testimony and the Politics of Affect 90 4. Reconciliation as a Ghostly Encounter: Discourses of Haunting and Indian Residential Schools 125 Conclusion. Fragments of Truth: Concluding Gestures 160 Notes 167 Bibliography 189 Index 207
£62.25
Duke University Press Dreadful Desires
Book SynopsisIn Dreadful Desires Charlie Yi Zhang examines how the Chinese state deploys affective notions of love to regulate the population and secure China’s place in the global economy. Zhang shows how the state frames love as a set of desires that encompass heteronormative intimacy, familial and communal attachment, upward mobility, and private property ownership. These desires—as circulated in performance in the nationalistic ceremony, same-sex romantic fan fiction, the wildly popular reality television dating show If You Are the One, and the cult of patriarchal personality around Xi Jinping—are explicitly based in oppressive systems of gender, class, and sexuality. Zhang contends that such desires connect love to economic survival and gender normativity in ways that underwrite Chinese neoliberalism at the expense of individual flourishing. By outlining how state-framed forms of love create desires that cannot be fulfilled, Zhang places China at the forefront oTrade Review“This fantastic book is an examination of the undoing of the Chinese worker under neoliberal reform through self-defeating acts of love in the name of family and sacrifice for the sake of children. With great critical insight, Zhang unpacks how the affective renunciations of disenfranchised workers shore up the interests of transnational capital and socialism with Chinese characteristics, resulting in a vertiginous race to the bottom.” -- David L. Eng, coauthor of * Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans *“Charlie Yi Zhang offers to do for love in China what Lauren Berlant, in Cruel Optimism, does for hope. He brilliantly shows how the idea of love has been sold as a means of reinforcing power dynamics that structure the lives of so many people, especially women, laborers, and rural people. Deploying a unique, interdisciplinary combination of ethnographic inquiry and media analysis, Zhang complicates the ways in which we take desire, affective worlds, and class aspirations for granted.” -- Ari Larissa Heinrich, author of * Chinese Surplus: Biopolitical Aesthetics and the Medically Commodified Body *"... this book with the author’s rich, interesting recounting of China’s political–economic traumas and ironies and his piercing critique of the party-state’s neoliberal mentality and capitalist exploitation, is of great significance and can spark further critical inspections of discourses on love and intimacy in post-2020 neoliberal China." -- William JanKowiak * China Quarterly *"Dreadful Desires paints a grim picture. After reading, one feels immersed in an atmosphere of scarred landscapes, ruined bodies, aspirations cynically manipulated and carelessly crushed by the machinery of a corrupted power. It is an immensely important book for our times." -- Fran Martin * Cultural Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part I. Mapping the Edgeless Landscape of Love 1. Love of the Zeitgeist: Temporalized Desire in the PRC's Sixtieth-Anniversary Ceremony 35 2. Only If You Are the One! The Expansive Neoliberal Universe through Love Competitors' Eyes 60 Part II. Tracing the Machinery That Both Integrates China into and Separates It From the World 3. The Woeful Landscape of Love: Work Hard, Dream Big, and Die Slowly 97 4. Lessons from the Polarizing Love: Mapping Contradictions for Social Change 127 5. Love with an Unspeakable Name: The Exceptional Danmei World as the Escape Route 155 Conclusion. Envisioning a Love-Enabled Future 177 Notes 187 Bibliography 227 Index 255
£17.59
New York University Press The Opportunity Trap
Book SynopsisWinner, 2024 Global Sociology Book Award, given by the Canadian Sociological Association Winner of the 2024 Silver Medal for the Canada West Non-Fiction category, given by The Independent Publisher Book AwardWinner of the ASA Section on Asia and Asian America's Book Award on Asian AmericaHonorable Mention, 2024 Social Science Category Book Awards, given by the Association for Asian American StudiesHonorable Mention, 2022 Betty and McClung Lee Book Award, given by the Association for Humanist SociologyUnravels how US visa laws fail Indian professional workers and their legally dependent spouses and familiesThe Opportunity Trap is the first book to look at the impact of the H-4 dependent visa programs on women and men visa holders in Indian families in America. Comparing two distinct groups of Indian immigrant families families of male high-tech workers and female nursesPallavi Banerjee reveals how visa policies that are legally gender and race neutral in fact have gendered and racializeTrade Review"Powerful and vivid, The Opportunity Trap tells us of the pains wrought by legal dependency on temporary visa workers and their spouses. Both are suspended and indentured by law. This gender comparative study of hi-tech workers and nurses is a must read as it advances our understanding of immigration, the family, and law in the United States. " -- Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, author of Unfree: Migrant Domestic Work in Arab States"Through her insightful analyses of how dependent visas reflect a gendered and racialized regime that controls immigrant families, Banerjee brilliantly identifies the many contradictions faced by Indian migrant workers and their families in the U.S. The Opportunity Trap beautifully captures how the visa regime devalues and makes invisible those on dependent visas, reworks gender relations and parenting within the household, while also making families excessively beholden to migrant workers' employers. This is an important book that should be widely read. " -- Joya Misra, co-author of Walking Mannequins: How Race and Gender Inequalities Shape Retail Clothing Work"Pallavi Banerjee’s The Opportunity Trap offers a fascinating window into the intimate relationship between migration visas and the work/family lives of skilled migrants and their spousal dependents." * Social Forces *"The Opportunity Trap presents a meticulous sketch of the poignant and constrained lives of high-skilled Indian migrants and their families in the United States. Banerjee skillfully illustrates how forced dependency intersects with the social, cultural, and economic perceptions of masculinity. [The Opportunity Trap] opens several new directions for policymakers, scholars, and activists working on gender, labor, and migration." * Gender & Society *"Coherent and persuasive. The Opportunity Trap contributes heavily to the scholarship of intersectionality entailing gender, race, ethnicity, class, immigration, and work, as well as to the study of work and family issues. I highly recommend this book for any undergraduate or graduate course on gender or work, or anyone interested in teaching immigration and work from an intersectional perspective." * Work and Occupations *"A thoughtful, compassionate, and richly detailed study of the lived experiences of racialized, high-skilled migrant families in the United States. Banerjee vividly describes everyday people’s struggles and failures to affirm their personal dignity and build a good life under such conditions. Rigorous, heartfelt, and intersectional, The Opportunity Trap is an important contribution." -- Neda Maghbouleh * Labour / Le Travail *
£19.99
New York University Press Stuck
Book SynopsisWinner, 2022 Max Weber Award for Distinguished Scholarship, given by the American Sociological Association's Section on Organizations, Occupations, and WorkWinner, 2021 PROSE Award in the Business, Finance & Management CategoryA behind-the-scenes examination of Asian Americans in the workplaceIn the classroom, Asian Americans, often singled out as so-called model minorities, are expected to be top of the class. Often they are, getting straight As and gaining admission to elite colleges and universities. But the corporate world is a different story. As Margaret M. Chin reveals in this important new book, many Asian Americans get stuck on the corporate ladder, never reaching the top. In Stuck, Chin shows that there is a bamboo ceiling in the workplace, describing a corporate world where racial and ethnic inequalities prevent upward mobility. Drawing on interviews with second-generation Asian Americans, she examines why they fail to advance as fast or as high as their colleagues, showinTrade Review"In this brilliant and compelling study, Margaret Chin offers a rarely told account of how the Asian American second generation fares in the elite corporate workforce. Stuck is an eye-opening study on the continuing significance of race in shaping the professional lives of the new Asian American elite." -- Van Tran, Deputy Director for the Center for Urban Research at The Graduate Center, CUNY"Stuck lays bare the ways both subtle and overt racial discrimination keeps Asian Americans from reaching the highest levels of professional life. Margaret Chin’s extensive interviews with professional second generation Asian Americans shows how Ivy League credentials and hard work cannot overcome the ‘bamboo ceiling.’ This sensitive, insightful and ground-breaking work lays bare the impediments that keep second-generation Asian Americans from the very top jobs, and shows that America is not the meritocracy many believe it to be." -- Mary Waters, John L. Loeb Professor of Sociology, Harvard University"Stuck reveals the disappointment—and danger—of buying into a meritocratic version of the American Dream. Chin shows that Ivy League degrees and a willingness to work twice as hard are not magical antidotes to racism within the professional ranks. In holding up a mirror to corporate America, Stuck provides the understanding necessary to begin unraveling the structural inequalities faced by Asian Americans in the workplace." -- Anthony Ocampo, author of The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race"Does race continue to matter even for Ivy-league educated, highly assimilated, and well-qualified minorities? Yes, and it limits opportunities that end up costing us all. Stuck offers a timely and highly readable ‘playbook’ on the fallacy of American meritocracy and how Asian Americans respond." -- Pawan Dhingra, author of Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough"Margaret Chin compellingly paints a complex picture of the 'stuck' ivy league-educated Asian American professional. She pushes corporations to expand their own understandings of racism, and to broaden conversations about how discrimination can manifest differently and uniquely for Asian Americans. She also encourages investment in diversity programs as mentorships prove useful for advancement." * Social Forces *"Chin interviewed 103 Asian Americans who employed in corporate America between 2016 and 2018 and who were born in the US (second generation) or came to the US by age 13 (the 1.5 generation). This is an important innovation as most studies divide Asian Americans into those born in the US (second generation) and not born here (immigrants), ignoring the 1.5 generation. Chin also examined national data sets: the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and the Public Use Microdata Series." * CHOICE *
£13.59
Rowman & Littlefield Columbia Pictures
Book SynopsisColumbia Pictures will reach a major milestone in 2024 by celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Columbia's incorporation. In the same vein of recent Hollywood movie studio titles such as Warner Bros.: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot, Paramount: City of Dreams, and MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, this new book documents the studio history of Columbia Pictures Corporation in Hollywood, as well as Columbia's back lot in Burbank, California. This book reveals how Columbia came to be founded by Joe Brandt, and Brothers Harry and Jack Cohn in 1924, and uses the studio tour concept to describe its history of filmmaking, which includes the making if such movies as Lost Horizon, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,From Here to Eternity, The Bridge on River Kwai as well as many serials and television programs. The book has approximately 550 photos, including studio documents, vintage publicity stills and candid's, along with aerial views and maps. The majority of the photos have never been publish
£45.00
Stanford University Press Brand New Nation: Capitalist Dreams and
Book SynopsisA Financial Times Best Book of the Year The first book that examines India's mega-publicity campaigns to theorize the global transformation of the nation-state into an attractive investment destination. The early twenty-first century was an optimistic moment of global futures-making. The chief narrative was the emergence of the BRICS nations—leading stars in the great spectacle of capitalist growth stories, branded afresh as resource-rich hubs of untapped talent and potential, and newly opened up for foreign investments. The old third-world nations were rapidly embracing the script of unbridled capitalism in the hope of arriving on the world stage. If the tantalizing promise of economic growth invited entrepreneurs to invest in the nation's exciting futures, it offered utopian visions of "good times," and even restoration of lost national glory, to the nation's citizens. Brand New Nation reaches into the past and, inevitably, the future of this phenomenon as well as the fundamental shifts it has wrought in our understanding of the nation-state. It reveals the on-the-ground experience of the relentless transformation of the nation-state into an "attractive investment destination" for global capital. As Ravinder Kaur provocatively argues, the brand new nation is not a mere nineteenth century re-run. It has come alive as a unified enclosure of capitalist growth and nationalist desire in the twenty-first century. Today, to be deemed an attractive nation-brand in the global economy is to be affirmed as a proper nation. The infusion of capital not only rejuvenates the nation; it also produces investment-fueled nationalism, a populist energy that can be turned into a powerful instrument of coercion. Grounded in the history of modern India, the book reveals the close kinship among identity economy and identity politics, publicity and populism, and violence and economic growth rapidly rearranging the liberal political order the world over.Trade Review"A hugely thoughtful and innovative analysis of the phenomenon known as 'India Inc.'. Skillfully written—with a good measure of irony, humor, and bite—this book will set the standard for our understanding of this topic and period." -- Sumathi Ramaswamy, James B. Duke Professor of History and International Comparative Studies * Duke University *"Brand New Nation takes us on a tour—a tour de force, really—of the changing trajectory of the nation-state: specifically, its transformation from a liberal democratic polity into a business enterprise, underpinned by the neoliberal faith in the capacity of markets to produce utopic futures. Ravinder Kaur has a wonderfully acute eye for the telling example, the revealing case, the moment of historical rupture that opens a window onto the process of nation branding and the corporatization of the state. As a result, Brand New Nation is a riveting read—in addition to being a pathbreaking piece of work." -- John Comaroff * Harvard University *"Ravinder Kaur convincingly argues that the era of 'happy globalization' is over in India and that it is largely responsible for the dominant repertoire of national-populism under Modi. It is not only the new middle class that has asserted itself after the 1991 liberalization that is very supportive of Hindu nationalism, but the aspiring categories coming from the plebeians are also finding a sense of belonging in Hindutva politics. Kaur's book is a truly remarkable exploration of the unintended political consequences of economic developments, as in India capitalism and religious national-populism have clear affinities." -- Christophe Jaffrelot, Research Director * Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique *"[Brand New Nation] offers a new, enriching, and also, counter-intuitive perspective....This important book is a must-read." -- Roshan Kishore * Hindustan Times *"This book addresses...[many] questions with clarity and insight, and is an important read for all interested in contemporary India, media and cultural studies, and the making of a hegemonic imaginary." -- Aparna Gopalan * New Books Network *"This is an original and highly provocative book." -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *"[Kaur] peels off layers and layers of contemporary Indian history to prove, on her own terms, that the 'manifestation of Hindu cultural nationalism and market liberalisation' owe their dominance to each other....Following the course of Kaur's arguments is a sheer treat." -- Ullekh NP * Open Magazine *"Ravinder Kaur has written a perceptive, compelling, and very engaging book. This is the first systematic treatment of the remaking of politics and ideology in the wake of the economic resurgence in India and offers a radical rethinking of nationalism." -- Tirthankar Roy * H-Asia *"Kaur's work is a lyrical tale of pitching India to the world as an 'attractive destination for investment capital.'... She shines in every page of Brand New Nation, and every page is a treat of elegant writing, sharp insights, and nuanced analysis." -- Tarique Niazi * Global Policy *"Brand New Nationis atour de forcethat sheds light on how post-colonial India has changed and is changing rapidly. Kaur's book opens our eyes to those changes." -- Karthik Nachiappan * The Wire *
£23.39
Stanford University Press Say What Your Longing Heart Desires: Women,
Book SynopsisFollowing the 1979 revolution, the Iranian government set out to Islamize society. Muslim piety had to be visible, in personal appearance and in action. Iranians were told to pray, fast, and attend mosques to be true Muslims. The revolution turned questions of what it means to be a true Muslim into a matter of public debate, taken up widely outside the exclusive realm of male clerics and intellectuals. Say What Your Longing Heart Desires offers an elegant ethnography of these debates among a group of educated, middle-class women whose voices are often muted in studies of Islam. Niloofar Haeri follows them in their daily lives as they engage with the classical poetry of Rumi, Hafez, and Saadi, illuminating a long-standing mutual inspiration between prayer and poetry. She recounts how different forms of prayer may transform into dialogues with God, and, in turn, Haeri illuminates the ways in which believers draw on prayer and ritual acts as the emotional and intellectual material through which they think, deliberate, and debate.Trade Review"This is one of the best books on prayer in all of anthropology. Niloofar Haeri shows that prayer is not an empty ritual, but that it becomes a relationship that changes people—and allows the secular reader to understand how poetry enables women to feel spiritual presence. A beautifully written work."—Tanya Luhrmann, Stanford University, author of When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God"Say What Your Longing Heart Desires is a work that deserves to be widely read by all who are interested in understanding the different approaches to 'authentic' religion that exist in the Muslim world. A rich and detailed account, and a valuable contribution to our knowledge of religious practice."—Talal Asad, author of Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam"Say What Your Longing Heart Desires establishes itself immediately as an essential work in the anthropology of prayer and a major contribution to the study of religious practice and experience. A subtle and compelling work."—Robert A. Orsi, Northwestern University, author of Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them"Say What Your Longing Heart Desires will change common perceptions about women's experiences in Iran. Niloofar Haeri examines competing claims of Muslimhood and offers novel readings of theological conversations on spirituality and religious conviction in the Islamic Republic. An empirically rich and theoretically nuanced book."—Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Princeton University, author of Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution after the Enlightenment"Niloofar Haeri's deeply researched and elegantly written book brings readers into the most intimate and exigent spaces of a religious world. Haeri examines the everyday prayer practices of Iranian women as the basis for reflecting on the relationship between prayer and poetry and on how ideas about religiosity debated in classical Persian poetry inform the world of prayer. Haeri's ethnographic study of Muslim women at prayer, a practice that is at once deeply personal and utterly social, underscores the diversity of Muslim religious practices and challenges conceptions of what constitutes 'authentic' religion, complicating the distinction between ritual and non-ritual forms of worship. This beautiful book is a signal contribution to the study of women and Islam, with implications for the study of religion itself."—Jury for the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Constructive-Reflective Studies"Using beautiful, limpid prose, Haeri weaves together poetry, religion, and ethnography to show how a group of middle-class, educated Iranian women counter the state's version of Islam. They regularly revisit and reconsider Islamic theology by drawing on the vast body of mystic poetry that is so central to Iranian culture. In the process, Haeri blurs lines thrown up between the secular and the religious in recent scholarship and invites us to consider the deeper, political, and public meaning of ritualistic religious practices."—Committee for the Fatema Mernissi Book Award, sponsored by the Middle East Studies Association"As one of the best examples of works on 'lived Islam,' [Say What Your Longing Heart Desires] showcases how much analysis, critical thinking, and self-reflection is involved in the construction and performance of 'religious' acts and will be helpful to both students and experts in the fields of religion, ritual, and literature."—Ahoo Najafian, International Journal of Middle East Studies"Students and teachers of comparative religion will appreciate this fresh and unusual way to learn about how Iranians practice Islam... Readers get the rare gift of hearing the women's words and reading about events in their lives. As Haeri points out, we in the West don't often get that intimacy with Muslims in general or Iranians in particular."—Karie Firoozmand, Friends JournalTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Where Do Ideas Come from? An Education in Classical Poetry Chapter 2: Fixed Forms and the Play of Imagination: Everyday Ritual Prayers Chapter 3: What Are We up to When We Pray? Spontaneous Conversations with God Chapter 4: Movable Mosques: Prayer Books, Women, and Youth Conclusion
£19.79
Stanford University Press Korea: A History
Book SynopsisWhile popular trends, cuisine, and long-standing political tension have made Korea familiar in some ways to a vast English-speaking world, its recorded history of some two millennia remains unfamiliar to most. Korea: A History addresses general readers, providing an up-to-date, accessible overview of Korean history from antiquity to the present. Eugene Y. Park draws on original-language sources and the up-to-date synthesis of East Asian and Western-language scholarship to provide an insightful account. This book expands still-limited English-language discussions on pre-modern Korea, offering rigorous and compelling analyses of Korea's modernization while discussing daily life, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ history, and North Korean history not always included in Korea surveys. Overall, Park is able to break new ground on questions and debates that have been central to the field of Korean studies since its inception.Trade Review"This long-awaited book demonstrates the author's broad expertise, and incorporates recent discoveries of Korean history. Strongly recommended both for readers interested in an introduction to Korean history and for specialists who want to update their knowledge."—Yumi Moon, Stanford University"This book offers a sweeping yet detailed overview of the Korean past. Park's periodization (classical, post-classical, early modern, and late modern) is an innovative interpretation and succeeds in making the Korean narrative relevant to comparative world history."—James B. Lewis, University of Oxford"With discussions on numerous aspects of cultural and economic history—including religion, education, gender, architecture, food, and popular culture—this comprehensive but accessible book is a welcome corrective to earlier work that tended to focus on institutional, intellectual, and political history of Korea as a 'tributary state' in the sinocentric order."—Ross King, University of British Columbia"Korea... is full of details and the writing flows and provides a sweeping overview of Korea from prehistoric times to the modern era, enabling readers to understand and appreciate Korea as a civilization in its own right with admirable cultural, economic and political achievements, rather than as an obscure entity nestled between and fought over by bigger neighbors."—Hilton Yip, Asian Review of Books"Park is one of the few experts in premodern Korean history in the West, and he gives the long premodern past the attention it fully deserves.... The writing is accessible, and the book is an excellent reference for lay readers, college students, and professional historians. Highly recommended."—M. J. Wert, CHOICE"Korea: A History is another essential interdisciplinary work not only for the Korean Studies community but also for wider audiences, transferring a clear-cut and detailed account of the peninsula's history. It is an excellent historical textbook about Korea's political, economic, and social background from its own unique historiographical point of view."—Gabor Sebo, Pacific Affairs"Park has succeeded in writing an innovative and informative overview of Korean history. He has done so by drawing from 'original-language sources and the up-to-date synthesis of East Asian and Western-language scholarship.'"—Jaymin Kim, Acta Koreana
£26.99
Stanford University Press The Paradoxes of Ignorance in Early Modern
Book SynopsisIn the early modern period, ignorance was commonly perceived as a sin, a flaw, a defect, and even a threat to religion and the social order. Yet praises of ignorance were also expressed in the same context. Reclaiming the long-lasting legacy of medieval doctrines of ignorance and taking a comparative perspective, Sandrine Parageau tells the history of the apparently counter-intuitive moral, cognitive and epistemological virtues attributed to ignorance in the long seventeenth century (1580s-1700) in England and in France. With close textual analysis of hitherto neglected sources and a reassessment of canonical philosophical works by Montaigne, Bacon, Descartes, Locke, and others, Parageau specifically examines the role of ignorance in the production of knowledge, identifying three common virtues of ignorance as a mode of wisdom, a principle of knowledge, and an epistemological instrument, in philosophical and theological works. How could an essentially negative notion be turned into something profitable and even desirable? Taken in the context of Renaissance humanism, the Reformation and the "Scientific Revolution"—which all called for a redefinition and reaffirmation of knowledge—ignorance, Parageau finds, was not dismissed in the early modern quest for renewed ways of thinking and knowing. On the contrary, it was assimilated into the philosophical and scientific discourses of the time. The rehabilitation of ignorance emerged as a paradoxical cornerstone of the nascent modern science.Trade Review"Parageau has assembled a rich set of texts, and she reads them with care and nuance, establishing 'ignorance' as a key word in early modern Europe."—Paula Findlen, Stanford University"Was a heightened appreciation of ignorance crucial to the new science of the seventeenth century? That is Parageau's insightful claim, based on new attention to the legacy of medieval negative theology among other sources."—Ann Blair, Harvard University"This is a wonderful history of the humans who went deepest into understanding that we cannot always understand. Philosophy, religion, and science wouldn't have progressed as it has without them. Perhaps we should take time, with Rumsfeld and with Locke, to consider the known unknowns."—Michael M. Rosen, Washington Examiner"Bacon, Boyle, Gassendi, Descartes, Locke, Baxter, and Bunyan, among others, provide multiple examples of paradoxical nuance for Parageau to explicate, which she does gallantly and persuasively.... Recommended."—S. Young, CHOICE"Parageau... contributes a valuable work to our understanding of how English and French theologians and philosophers developed and refashioned ignorance and its many meanings.... A comparison of the two countries' intellectual histories of ignorance is much needed, and her book identifies and illuminates the debates about ignorance that echoed across the Channel."—Catherine Abou-Nemeh, H-AlbionTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Fortunes of Docta ignorantia in Early Modern England and France 2. English Experimental Philosophy and Doctrines of Ignorance 3. Ignorance and the Internal Light 4. Ignorance, Inspiration, and Religious Knowledge 5. Fictions of Ignorance 6. Ignorance and Chance Discovery 7. John Locke's Anthropology of Ignorance Conclusion
£60.75
Pan Macmillan A History of Modern Britain
Book SynopsisA History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. This edition also includes an extra chapter charting the course from Blair to Brexit.It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification. In each decade, political leaders think they know what they are doing, but find themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turn out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. Throughout, Britain is a country on the edge – first of invasion, then of bankruptcy, then on the vulnerable front line of the Cold War and later in the forefront of the great opening up of capital and migration now reshaping the world. This history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with comedy, cars, the war against homosexuals, Sixties anarchists, oil-men and punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, political lies and the true heroes of British theatre.Trade ReviewSuperb, colourful, outspoken, fresh and richly entertaining. Don't miss * The Times *Lively, full of rich anecdotes and sparkling pen portraits. He has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences * Sunday Telegraph *Table of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction to the Paperback Edition Section - ii: Prologue Unit - 1: Part One - Hunger and Pride: Britain After The War Unit - 2: Part Two - The Land of Lost Content Unit - 3: Part Three - Harold, Ted and Jim: When The Modern Failed Unit - 4: Part Four - The British Revolution Unit - 5: Part Five - Nippy Metro People: Britain From 1990 Unit - 6: Part Six - From Gordon To Teresa: The Defeat Of Britain's Liberal Pro-European Consensus Acknowledgements - iii: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes Index - v: Index
£15.29
Pan Macmillan The Glass Wall: Lives on the Baltic Frontier
Book SynopsisThis journey to the edge of Europe mixes history, travelogue and oral testimony to spellbinding and revelatory effect.Few countries have suffered more from the convulsions and bloodshed of twentieth-century Europe than those in the eastern Baltic. Small nations such as the Baltic States of Latvia and Estonia found themselves caught between the giants of Germany and Russia, on a route across which armies surged or retreated. Subjected to foreign domination and conquest since the Northern crusades in the twelfth century, these lands faced frequent devastation as Germans, Russians and Swedish colonisers asserted control of the territory, religion, government, culture and inhabitants. The Glass Wall features an extraordinary cast of characters – contemporary and historical, foreign and indigenous – who have lived and fought in the Baltic and made the atmosphere of what was often thought to be western Europe’s furthest redoubt. Too often it has seemed to be the destiny of this region to be the front line of other people’s wars. By telling the stories of warriors and victims, of philosophers and Baltic Barons, of poets and artists, of rebels and emperors, and others who lived through years of turmoil and violence, Max Egremont reveals a fascinating part of Europe, on a frontier whose limits may still be in doubt.'Fascinating . . . a rich, nuanced account of life on "the Baltic frontier"' - The Times'Excellent' - Daily Mail'Extraordinary' - Literary Review'Exemplary' - EconomistTrade ReviewFascinating . . . a rich, nuanced account of life on “the Baltic frontier” * The Times *Excellent . . . Boasting a fascinating cast of characters, it is a book which reveals a part of Europe with a complex history and an intriguing present -- Nick Rennison * Daily Mail *Extraordinary . . . a brilliant exploration of how the past infuses the landscape, buildings, art, literature, traditions, food, conversations and lived experience of the Baltic people * Literary Review *Confidently written, featuring reportage interwoven with his own and other writers’ literary and genealogical insights . . . The author also writes sympathetically about the trauma of the second world war . . . Exemplary, bringing together a grand historical narrative, local details, accounts of lives shaped and shattered, and architectural and literary insights * Economist *A restlessly enquiring guide . . . With rare narrative, Egremont offers an elegy for a forgotten land * Financial Times *
£11.69
Pan Macmillan Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of
Book SynopsisAccording to the great diarist, John Evelyn, Charles II was ‘addicted to women’, and throughout his long reign a great many succumbed to his charms. Clever, urbane and handsome, Charles presided over a hedonistic court, in which licence and licentiousness prevailed.Mistresses is the story of the women who shared Charles’s bed, each of whom wielded influence on both the politics and cultural life of the country. From the young king-in-exile’s first mistress and mother to his first child, Lucy Walter, to the promiscuous and ill-tempered courtier, Barbara Villiers. From Frances Teresa Stuart, ‘the prettiest girl in the world’ to history’s most famous orange-seller, ‘pretty, witty’ Nell Gwynn and to her fellow-actress, Moll Davis, who bore the last of the king’s fifteen illegitimate children. From Louise de Kéroualle, the French aristocrat – and spy for Louis XIV – to the sexually ambiguous Hortense Mancini. Here, too, is the forlorn and humiliated Queen Catherine, the Portuguese princess who was Charles’s childless queen. Drawing on a wide variety of original sources, including material in private archives, Linda Porter paints a vivid picture of these women and of Restoration England, an era that was both glamorous and sordid.Trade ReviewIn telling the story of Charles's mistresses, Porter skillfully interweaves the politics with the passion . . . an enlightening read. -- Tracy Borman * The Sunday Times *The lives of these seven women make a terrific story and Porter tells it well. -- Andrew Taylor * The Times *A fresh look at Charles' reign through the many women who shared his bed. * The Herald *In her [Linda Porter's] hands the lives and characters of the women who shaped the reputation of the Restoration court emerge as far more discrete and individual than the identikit line-up of Lely beauties whose portraits are one of the most recognizable identifiers of the period . . . It is testament to Porter's skill as a historian that by the end of Mistresses the darkness at the heart of the brilliant Restoration court is so bleakly exposed. -- Lisa Hilton * Spectator *Engaging and well-researched . . . One of the book's strengths is Porter's uncompromisingly impartial treatment of the king while discussing the lives of the key women in his life. * Literary Review *A stunning romp through the sexual court politics of the Restoration! Linda Porter's pacy book offers a balanced and revealing account of the mistresses of Charles II, and of his long-suffering wife. It's a vivid historical page-turner with the enigmatic figure of the King at its core, in turns funny, tragic and eye-popping, and a seamless blend of state affairs and scandal. Linda Porter's grasp of the period is masterful. -- Alison WeirTable of ContentsSection - i: Author's Note Section - ii: The Illegitimate Children of Charles II Section - iii: Prologue Unit - 1: Companions in Exile – Lucy Walter, 1630–58 Chapter - 1: 'Mrs Barlow' Chapter - 2: The Trouble with Lucy Chapter - 3: Marking Time Unit - 2: The Lady – Barbara Villiers, 1640–1709 Chapter - 4: ‘That blooming beauty’ Chapter - 5: The Royal Whore Chapter - 6: The Duchess Unit - 3: The Queen – Catherine of Braganza, 1638–1705 Chapter - 7: A Wealthy Wife Chapter - 8: ‘Full of sweetness and goodness’ Unit - 4: ‘His Coy Mistress’ – Frances Teresa Stuart, 1647–1702 Chapter - 9: La Belle Stuart Chapter - 10: The One Who Got Away Unit - 5: The Stage and the Throne – Nell Gwyn, 1651(?)–87 Chapter - 11: From Bawdy House to the King’s Bed Chapter - 12: The Protestant Whore Unit - 6: Baby Face – Louise de Kéroualle, 1649–1734 Chapter - 13: La Bretonne Chapter - 14: Mrs Carwell Chapter - 15: The Exclusion Crisis Unit - The Cardinal’s Niece – Hortense Mancini, 1646–99: 7 Chapter - 16: An Italian Girl in Paris Chapter - 17: The Last Mistress Section - iv: Epilogue Unit - v: Notes Section - vi: Select Bibliography Section - vii: Picture Acknowledgements Index - viii: Index
£11.69
Pan Macmillan Innovation: The History of England Volume VI
Book Synopsis‘Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman’ – Ian Thomson, Independent Innovation brings Peter Ackroyd’s History of England to a triumphant close. In it, Ackroyd takes readers from the end of the Boer War and the accession of Edward VII to the end of the twentieth century, when his great-granddaughter Elizabeth II had been on the throne for almost five decades. A century of enormous change, encompassing two world wars, four monarchs (Edward VII, George V, George VI and the Queen), the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of the Labour Party, women’s suffrage, the birth of the NHS, the march of suburbia and the clearance of the slums. It was a period that saw the work of the Bloomsbury Group and T. S. Eliot, of Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin, of the end of the post-war slump to the technicolour explosion of the 1960s, to free love and punk rock and from Thatcher to Blair. A vividly readable, richly peopled tour de force, it is Peter Ackroyd writing at his considerable best.Trade ReviewAckroyd makes history accessible to the layman -- Ian Thomson * Independent *Ackroyd’s prose is, as usual, sublime. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *
£15.29
Hodder Education Access to History for the IB Diploma Rights and
Book SynopsisExam board: International BaccalaureateLevel: IB DiplomaSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2017Reinforce knowledge and develop exam skills with revision of key historical content, exam-focussed activities and guidance from experts as part of the Access to History Series. · Take control of revision with helpful revision tools and techniques, and content broken into easy-to-revise chunks.· Revise key historical content and practise exam technique in context with related exam-focussed activities. · Build exam skills with Exam Focus at the end of each chapter, containing exam questions with sample answers and examiner commentary, to show you what is required in the exam.
£27.96
Hodder Education Access to History for Cambridge International AS
Book SynopsisThis title is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education to support the International History 1870-1945 Option from the Cambridge AS History syllabus for first examination from 2021. Develop knowledge and analytical skills with engaging comprehensive coverage of the International History 1870-1945 Option from the Cambridge AS History syllabus for first examination from 2021. - Trust in the clear and authoritative content written by topic experts- Develop source skills through questions on a wide range of sources- Stay focused on the key issues you need to understand with questions throughout each chapter - Improve study and understanding through detailed chapter summary diagrams- Build confidence with applying your knowledge through exam guidance and exam-style questions
£31.92
Hodder Education Access to History: Democracy and Nazism: Germany
Book SynopsisExam board: AQALevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years.Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period.- Develop strong historical knowledge: in-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible- Build historical skills and understanding: downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework- Learn, remember and connect important events and people: an introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework- Achieve exam success: practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams- Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians
£26.97
Hodder Education Access to History: Britain 1783-1885
Book SynopsisExam board: AQA; Pearson Edexcel; OCRLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years.Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period.- Develop strong historical knowledge: in-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible- Build historical skills and understanding: downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework- Learn, remember and connect important events and people: an introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework- Achieve exam success: practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams- Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians
£26.97
Hodder Education Access to History: Revolution and dictatorship:
Book SynopsisExam board: AQALevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years.Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period.- Develop strong historical knowledge: In-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible- Build historical skills and understanding: Downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework- Learn, remember and connect important events and people: An introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework- Achieve exam success: Practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams- Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: Students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians
£26.97
University of Minnesota Press Shaving the Beasts: Wild Horses and Ritual in
Book SynopsisA vivid first-person study of a notorious equine ritual—from the perspective of the wild horses who are its targets Wild horses still roam the mountains of Galicia, Spain. But each year, in a ritual dating to the 1500s called rapa das bestas, villagers herd these “beasts” together and shave their manes and tails. Shaving the Beasts is a firsthand account of how the horses experience this traumatic rite, producing a profound revelation about the durability of sociality in the face of violent domination. John Hartigan Jr. constructs an engrossing, day-by-day narrative chronicling the complex, nuanced social lives of wild horses and the impact of their traumatic ritual shearing every summer. His story generates intimate, individual portraits of these creatures while analyzing the social practices—like grazing and grooming—that are the building blocks of equine society. Shaving the Beasts culminates in a searing portrayal of the inspiring resilience these creatures display as they endure and recover from rapa das bestas. Turning away from “thick” description to “thin,” Hartigan moves toward a more observational form of study, focusing on behaviors over interpretations. This vivid approach provides new and important contributions to the study of animal behavior. Ultimately, he comes away with profound, penetrating insights into multispecies interactions and a strong alternative to humancentric ethnographic practices.Trade Review"Deftly pushing against three-quarters of a century of ethnographic tradition, John Hartigan Jr. creates an earnest multispecies anthropology rich with methodological and theoretical promise. He decenters the human, entangles ethological and ethnographic method and first-person narrative, and invites us to imagine a truly multispecies social theory. The horses remain the focus amid the enticing and challenging assertions about how we could (should) be ‘doing’ anthropology with other-than-humans in the Anthropocene."—Agustín Fuentes, Princeton University "In this sympathetic account of Galician wild horses and cultural rituals, John Hartigan Jr. offers an important multispecies intervention into how we conceptualize sociality and subjectivity. His clear and lively prose captures the nuance of horse interactions and relationships, making this book a pleasure to read and teach."—Laura A. Ogden, author of Swamplife: People, Gators, and Mangroves Entangled in the Everglades "Shavings the Beasts makes its fascinating and creative subject matter highly approachable and teachable. Hartigan renders rich philosophical and theoretical considerations in a clear and compelling voice that can support diverse readers to engaging these ideas."—General Anthropology
£19.79
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Come to This Court and Cry: Secrets and Survival
Book SynopsisA TABLET AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE YEAR Shortlisted for the Wingate Literary Prize ‘A tremendous feat of storytelling, propelled by numerous twists and revelations, yet anchored by a deep moral seriousness . . . Enthralling‘ Guardian Across the world the last Nazi trials are winding their way through the courts. Nearly a century on from the Holocaust, survivors are still asked to give proof – and, in an era of rising revisionism and denialism, have their stories questioned. In this spellbinding debut, Linda Kinstler investigates both her family story and the archives of ten nations to ask: what does it take to prove history in our uncertain century? 'Reminds us of the dangerous instability of truth and testimony' Anne Applebaum 'Such a brilliant book – I couldn't put it down‘ Lea Ypi, author of Free 'Outstanding' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street ‘Astonishing‘ Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of PainTrade ReviewVictims and perpetrators meet in Kinstler’s bloodline, but family history is only one strand of a remarkable book that braids together her own rigorously reported investigations in 10 countries with the survivors’ eight-decade quest for justice and poetic meditations on such subjects as history, law, Latvian identity, Franz Kafka and the politics of remembrance. This is a tremendous feat of storytelling, propelled by numerous twists and revelations, yet anchored by a deep moral seriousness * Guardian *Combines meticulous historical research with philosophical inquiries into nationalism, holocaust denial, guilt and the burden of proof. This is an invaluable and highly readable account of not only one family’s story, but also of a period on the cusp of passing from living memory * New Internationalist *[A] remarkable new book . . . There is a complex and powerful family story here . . . Asks large questions about the capacity of historical and legal practice to encompass the moral horror of the Holocaust, and about what justice is, or has ever been, possible * The Critic *Linda Kinstler has achieved something truly unusual: a book that captures the paradoxes and nuances of memory politics in contemporary Eastern Europe, while at the same time invoking the trauma that past tragedies leave on individuals and families. Using rigorous, evocative prose, she reminds us of the dangerous instability of truth and testimony, and the urgent need, in the 21st century, to keep telling the history of the 20th -- Anne ApplebaumObviously a masterpiece. A book that makes the Holocaust fresh, slipping seamlessly between story, thinking, politics, poetry and the personal -- Peter Pomerantsev, author of THIS IS NOT PROPAGANDABefore reading (devouring) Come to This Court and Cry, I wouldn't have thought a book like this was even possible. A moving family portrait on top of a sensational whodunit murder on top of a brilliant mediation on memory, the law, and identity? And yet here it is. Linda Kinstler has threaded the needle. This book is many things, and yet it fits together perfectly . . . It's a marvel -- Menachem Kaiser, author of PLUNDERFirst I was moved, then I was gripped and now I am haunted by Linda Kinstler's astonishing new book -- Ben Judah, author of THIS IS LONDONThe atrocities of the twentieth century have still not passed, still less the effects of the period’s most pernicious secrets. Now a new generation is reckoning with the crimes of the Holocaust and the dark shadows of the Cold War. In this brilliant and compelling book, Linda Kinstler takes us back to Latvia, to her family history, and to a question which – in our new age of fascist-tolerance – is more urgent still: what is justice? -- Lyndsey StonebridgeImplicit in Kinstler’s heart-breaking narrative is a key question. How, when the victims of these hideous crimes are all gone, can we uphold the truth and deny the deniers? -- Julia Boyd, author of TRAVELLERS IN THE THIRD REICHIn this searching and powerful book, Linda Kinstler sets out to solve the mystery of her grandfather's role in the genocide of Latvia’s Jews during World War II. But the questions she ends up confronting – about national pride, the need for heroes and the elusiveness of the past – couldn't be more relevant in the 21st century. Come to the Court and Cry is an exemplary work of investigative journalism and historical research, showing why writers like Kinstler are needed now more than ever -- Adam KirschIn her completely absorbing and profound debut, Linda Kinstler sets out to solve a mystery – journeying from a murder scene in Uruguay to the former killing fields of Europe to unravel a family secret about her late grandfather – and in the process unearths vexing questions about the past and how we understand it. Part detective story, part family history, part probing inquiry into how best to reckon with the horrors of a previous century, Come To This Court and Cry is bracingly original, beautifully written, and haunting. An astonishing book -- Patrick Radden KeefeA powerful and very moving account of the aftermath of the Holocaust in Latvia, & the value and meaning of different kinds of evidence, by [Linda Kinstler]. Highly recommended. -- Richard OvendenCome to This Court and Cry is a reminder that memory is fallible, that the desire for forgetting is strong and that, when it comes to a subject so bitterly contested for so long, truth is all the more unstable -- Caroline Moorehead * Literary Review *Exploring the tension between the justice of the courtroom and the retribution of assassination, the logic of the law and the frailty of memory, Linda Kinstler’s intelligent and thoughtful study Come to This Court and Cry utilises the story of Latvia’s wartime experience to meditate on the limits of the postwar reckoning with the Final Solution -- Mark Mazower * Times Literary Supplement *The book, Ms. Kinstler’s first, is an exquisite exploration into ‘how the memory of the Holocaust extends into the present and acts upon it’ -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *In this gripping book, author Kinstler asks: was my grandfather a war criminal? … Kinstler chronicles her tireless investigation into anything she can glean about the life (and death) of grandfather Boris. At times, it acquires the qualities of an Agatha Christie spy novel. But she also raises fundamental philosophical issues … the gripping volume ends with more questions than answers -- Daniel Snowman * Jewish Chronicle *There has never been a better time to read a book such as this…As a historian, she is engaged in neither flight nor fight. She skillfully invites readers into the complexity of her craft * Sydney Morning Herald *Avoiding any simplistic or definitive conclusions, Kinstler provides a model of deep historical research and fluid, engaging narrative * New York Journal of Books *[A]n exquisite exploration * Wall Street Journal *She traces its twists and turns with patience, care, and a burning sense of integrity, bringing the reader into an answerless place between conflicting witness testimonies, between history and literary narratives, and between what is recorded as evidence and what is otherwise passed down or felt * Jewish Currents *[A] gripping debut … a deeply researched, engrossing and important look at how Holocaust stories have been passed down and altered * Washington Post *
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Shots in the Dark: A Diary of Saturday Dreams and
Book Synopsis'I loved every page, and ended up admiring David Kynaston, our greatest social historian, even more than I already did' Nick Hornby Brimming with wisdom and humour, David Kynaston’s diaries written over one football season offer up his most personal take on social history to date. David Kynaston was seven and a half years old when he attended his first Aldershot match in the early months of 1959. So began a deep attachment to the game and a lifelong loyalty to an obscure, small-town football club. Though as he sits down to write his diaries almost sixty years on, he reflects that life might have been simpler if his father had never taken him to that first match at the Rec… Shots in the Dark is the diary David Kynaston kept in the football season of 2016/17, detailing the ups and downs of the ‘Shots’ in the year that saw a divisive referendum in the UK and the impending ascension of Donald Trump. Here Kynaston presents a social history of modern Britain with a difference – all through the prism of the beautiful game. A testament to the ways in which fandom gives solidity and security to our lives, particularly in these bewildering and rapidly changing times, Shots in the Dark gets to the heart of what it means to be a devoted follower of a sports team. This is a diary of the macro and the micro, as questions of loyalty, of identity, of liberalism and of nationalism all rub uncomfortably up against each other during nine charged months. ____________________ 'A master socioeconomic craftsman' Guardian '[A] delightful book … This is a book about football but, like all the best books, it is about a thousand other things as well … This thrilling, intimate, sometimes poignant, often wonderfully funny book shows the workings in real time of a deeply civilised, humane and tolerant mind in an age when those virtues are in short supply. Here is a man with whom you would want to go to a match, and even share a beer afterwards. David Kynaston is one of the good guys, and this is one of the very good books' Daily Mail 'A charming diary ... He’s the sort of fan I want to sit next to: partisan yet civil, eyes on the match but aware there are bigger things to worry about' Financial TimesTrade Review[A] delightful book … This is a book about football but, like all the best books, it is about a thousand other things as well … This thrilling, intimate, sometimes poignant, often wonderfully funny book shows the workings in real time of a deeply civilised, humane and tolerant mind in an age when those virtues are in short supply. Here is a man with whom you would want to go to a match, and even share a beer afterwards. David Kynaston is one of the good guys, and this is one of the very good books -- Roger Alton * Daily Mail *Kynaston strikes a distinctive voice that is in turns warm and sharp and heavy-hearted and dismayed … The pages are filled with entries like this: easily absorbed and entertaining but deceptively thought-provoking … This fascinating book of opinion and reflection offers a wistful snapshot of the rewards of staying the course with the team -- Keith Duggan * Irish Times *A charming diary ... He’s the sort of fan I want to sit next to: partisan yet civil, eyes on the match but aware there are bigger things to worry about -- Murad Ahmed * Financial Times *David Kynaston is one of the great chroniclers of our modern story * Sunday Times *A master socioeconomic craftsman * Guardian *A historian of peerless sensitivity and curiosity about the lives of individuals * Financial Times *A surprising book about life as a fan of a non-league club – surprising in that it finds room for HG Wells’ argument with Henry James and the calamitous state of liberal democracy, as well as the 2016/17 National League playoffs. I loved every page, and ended up admiring David Kynaston, our greatest social historian, even more than I already did -- Nick Hornby
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC England
Book SynopsisChallenging, forensic, compelling'' SATHNAM SANGHERAPure centrist erotica. A myth-busting chronicle of bad-tempered, Brexit-riven England'' SUNDAY TIMESWonderfully evocative. Too honest, too nuanced and too deep for any party manifesto'' MATTHEW PARRISAfter an election where people voted for a politics that our new Prime Minister describes as ''treading more lightly on people's lives'', this must-read book charts a gentler course for a country that has suffered the ructions of profound change in recent decades.Some politicians will still talk of restoring an English birthright of liberty and the swashbuckling self-confidence to rule the waves. Others yearn for the old-fashioned morality which they claim once civilised a savage world or want to look inwards to a story of an enchanted island that can stand alone and isolated against the world. But England, by Tom Baldwin, the bestselling biographer of Kei
£18.70
Vintage Publishing Lesbian Love Story: A Queer History of Sapphic
Book SynopsisCharting the stories of Olympic athletes and lesbian memoirists, via Sappho, Lesbian Love Story is a genre-defying respository of sapphic romance like no other.On her quest to discovering lesbian role models overlooked by history, Amelia Possanza uncovers seven incredible love stories in the archives. Expertly blending her subjects' own words with richly imagined and vigorously researched moments from their lives to tell their stories in an intimate, vivid and immediate way, Possanza weaves these narratives together with her own memories of uncovering the past, yearning and longing alongside her subjects and growing into her queerness.This is a celebration of sapphics - of women who love women - but also of people who have always existed outside of traditional definitions of gender and bravely lived beyond the confines of heteronormativity. Each of the lesbians in this memoir moved through the world in their own way and helped the world. Their stories illuminate a forgotten history, as well as showing us all a new way to understand what love means when there is nothing material to be gained.Trade ReviewPossanza is refreshingly frank about how her biography influences her writing, and what she wants from the lives she conjures up, however different they may be from hers. Lesbian Love Story is full of warmth and hope - readable, inventive and scholarly ... Attraction, love, compassion, hope: all are brought to life by the author's sharp, lively observation. These remarkable figures deserve to have their stories told - and listened to. -- Erica Wagner * Sunday Times *Lesbian Love Story is a rare treat - empathetic, generous and utterly fascinating. I was left in awe of the breadth of Possanza's research and the seamless way in which she weaves together so many different stories of radical lives and loves. * Julia Armfield, author of 'Our Wives Under the Sea' *Gorgeously, quintessentially lesbian, in its very form ... I was struck by how unfamiliar these names and histories were to me. Yet it also struck me how familiar these lesbians feel to the modern-day lesbian. From Sappho to Rusty Brown, Possanza is sensitive both to the similarities and idiosyncrasies of their different stories - how they forged and belonged to this timeless, mutable community. I hope generations of lesbians buy this for their lovers - and continue to add to the archives. * Lily Lindon, author of Double Booked *I loved this passionate archive of lesbian lives and loves, a glowing mosaic of shared experience and immediacy, which transcends historical time. * Kate Charlesworth, author of 'Sensible Footwear' *By blending deep and evocative research, memoir and tender speculations, Amelia Possanza has crafted a novel every bit as essential and subversive as the women she's writing about. I loved this book. * Alim Kheraj, author of 'Queer London' *As bold, tender, thoughtful and defiant as the lesbians to whom it pays such passionate homage * Nat Reeve, author of 'Nettleblack' *A thoroughly enjoyable and accessible read * Paula Akpan, journalist and author of 'When We Ruled' *A loving and scrappy history which deftly weaves the social and the personal into sensitive portraits of figures the world had almost forgotten. Possanza looks into the contradictions and tides of lesbian identity, locating it in a desire to live authentically and the joy of metamorphosis. Earnest, fun and deeply caring, this book is an ode to a resilient and riotous community. * Cleo Henry, author of 'The Last Lesbian Bar in the Midlands' *Lesbian Love Story is more than a book: it's a radical act of love for queer folk around the world. A set of gripping narratives take us not just through time, but through the hearts and lives of people just like us. These stories are magic, and in an age where there is so much fear and oppression, supports us all in seeing the hope and promise of a better world. Lesbian Love Story is a treasure trove of queer history, living and breathing in a way no museum could manage. * Kestral Gaian, author of 'Hidden Lives and Counterweights *In this warmhearted and sexy memoir Possanza combs through Bushwick bars and Hadrian's library for stories of queer love. * Vanity Fair *An archive of queer love and community by a talented storyteller . . . Part personal memoir, part archival research, Lesbian Love Story expertly weaves together stories of lesbians across time with a historian's precision and a novelist's pacing. Bringing together seven epic love stories across eras, ranging from the classical Greek poet Sappho and her lover Anactoria to lesbian caretakers in the AIDS crisis extending beyond romantic boundaries, Possanza cultivates a worthy collection of lesbian love stories . . . Throughout, the prose is warm, personal, and accessible. Detailed and immensely readable, this is a generous history of lesbian love. * Kirkus Reviews *Lesbian Love Story cracks open a vault of queer lives that were so meaningful to dig into - sporty girls, masc forbears, illicit loves. These juicy stories are filled with pathos and inspiration, and Ameila Possanza's thrill at excavating them is personal, palpable and contagious. * Michelle Tea, author of 'Knocking Myself Up' and 'Against Memoir' *Lesbian Love Story has all the vivid detail of a great novel and all the intelligence of a great study ... I was continually fascinated, frequently moved, and completely in awe of Possanza's wit, intelligence, and empathy. I can't wait to reread this outstanding, unforgettable book. * Stephen McCauley, author of 'My Ex-Life' *Amelia Possanza celebrates the greatest lesbian love stories never told in her delightful debut that has her taking a deep dive into the queer archives searching for role models for her own love life. What the Brooklyn book publicist-turned-author finds is Bushwick drag kings and activists in Harlem who prove there is no one way to love-and there never has been. -- Most Anticipated Books of 2023 * Time Magazine *Intimate and voracious and utterly magnetic. * Autostraddle *A manifesto of love: of erotic love and platonic love, of familial and communal love, and maybe most importantly, self-love. * Electric Literature *Intimate and sexy, voraciously researched and vibrantly imagined, Amelia Possanza has given us the romantic history all lesbians deserve. * Nina LaCour, author of 'Yerba Buena' *Amelia Possanza's Lesbian Love Story is a tender and sensual swim through lesbian history - thoroughly researched and brought to dazzling life by Possanza's imaginative prose. * Hugh Ryan, author of 'When Brooklyn Was Queer' *A creative, joyful approach to the queer past. Lesbian Love Story weaves together history, memoir, and theory in this refreshing work of historical imagination. A very smart love letter to lesbians across time. * Jen Manion, author of 'Female Husbands: A Trans History' *A stunning love letter to lesbian history and an incredible, affirming book * Lois Shearing, founder of the Bi Survivor's Network, and author of ‘Bi The Way’ *A delightful book that's part memoir, part historical investigation -- Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books Of 2023 * Buzzfeed *Seven epic love stories across eras. Detailed and immensely readable, this is a generous history of lesbian love * Kirkus Reviews *Writing with empathy, wit, and imagination, Possanza constructs a personal, political, and romantic history of lesbian life and love. * The Millions *Possanza uses Lesbian Love Story to recover the personal histories of lesbians in the 20th century and muse about replacing our contemporary misogynistic society with something markedly lesbian. * Library Journal *In her impressive debut, Possanza stitches together personal memoir, painstaking research, and fictional imaginings with a fluid style and a sure hand . . . This is an outstanding work of literary scholarship that also delivers a vulnerable, intimate portrait of its author. * Publisher's Weekly *
£17.00
Fordham University Press Moroccan Other-Archives: History and Citizenship
Book SynopsisMoroccan Other-Archives investigates how histories of exclusion and silencing are written and rewritten in a postcolonial context that lacks organized and accessible archives. The book draws on cultural production concerning the “years of lead”—a period of authoritarianism and political violence between Morocco’s independence in 1956 and the death of King Hassan II in 1999—to examine the transformative roles memory and trauma play in reconstructing stories of three historically marginalized groups in Moroccan history: Berbers/Imazighen, Jews, and political prisoners. The book shows how Moroccan cultural production has become an other-archive: a set of textual, sonic, embodied, and visual sites that recover real or reimagined voices of these formerly suppressed and silenced constituencies of Moroccan society. Combining theoretical discussions with close reading of literary works, the book reenvisions both archives and the nation in postcolonial Morocco. By producing other-archives, Moroccan cultural creators transform the losses state violence inflicted on society during the years of lead into a source of civic engagement and historiographical agency, enabling the writing of histories about those Moroccans who have been excluded from official documentation and state-sanctioned histories. The book is multilingual and interdisciplinary, examining primary sources in Amazigh/Berber, Arabic, Darija, and French, and drawing on memory studies, literary theory, archival studies, anthropology, and historiography. In addition to showing how other-archives are created and operate, El Guabli elaborates how language, gender, class, race, and geographical distribution are co-constitutive of a historical and archival unsilencing that is foundational to citizenship in Morocco today.Table of ContentsPreface | ix Note on Transliteration | xiii List of Abbreviations | xv Introduction | 1 1. (Re)Invented Tradition and the Performance of Amazigh Other- Archives in Public Life | 26 2. Emplaced Memories of Jewish- Muslim Morocco | 63 3. Jewish- Muslim Intimacy and the History of a Lost Citizenship | 89 4. Making Tazmamart a Transnational Other- Archive | 115 5. Other- Archives Transform Moroccan Historiography | 150 Conclusion | 177 Acknowledgments | 189 Notes | 193 Bibliography | 253 Index | 281
£84.00
St Augustine's Press Smollett`s Britain
Book SynopsisAcclaimed British historian examines the layers of craft and insight in Tobias Smollett, and discusses the particular nature of his genius and influence on British culture. Once again, Black acquaints the reader with the full range of a prolific writer's works and offers a backstage tour of the meaning and context of Britain's most beloved stories and story-tellers.
£17.10
PublicAffairs,U.S. Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United
Book SynopsisThe relationship between America and Pakistan is based on mutual incomprehension and always has been. Pakistan,to American eyes,has gone from being a quirky irrelevance, to a stabilizing friend, to an essential military ally, to a seedbed of terror. America,to Pakistani eyes,has been a guarantee of security, a coldly distant scold, an enthusiastic military enabler, and is now a threat to national security and a source of humiliation.The countries are not merely at odds. Each believes it can play the other,with sometimes absurd, sometimes tragic, results. The conventional narrative about the war in Afghanistan, for instance, has revolved around the Soviet invasion in 1979. But President Jimmy Carter signed the first authorization to help the Pakistani-backed mujahedeen covertly on July 3,almost six months before the Soviets invaded. Americans were told, and like to believe, that what followed was Charlie Wilson's war of Afghani liberation, with which they remain embroiled to this day. It was not. It was General Zia-ul-Haq's vicious regional power play.Husain Haqqani has a unique insight into Pakistan, his homeland, and America, where he was ambassador and is now a professor at Boston University. His life has mapped the relationship of the two countries and he has found himself often close to the heart of it, sometimes in very confrontational circumstances, and this has allowed him to write the story of a misbegotten diplomatic love affair, here memorably laid bare.Trade ReviewLibrary Journal "Haqqani uses his wealth of personal experience to present a detailed account of the genesis and evolution of U.S.-Pakistani relations over the last 60 years... The book is a useful resource for academics, journalists, and policymakers at all levels." Publishers Weekly "Insightful if disturbing... Making it clear why he is persona non grata in his homeland, Haqqani concludes that military aid has undermined Pakistan's democracy, converting it into a rentier state living off American money rather than its people's productivity." Asian Age "The book is part memoir, part searing indictment of Pakistan's flawed strategy of using jihadis to secure its strategic space... [Haqqani proves] himself to be a diligent and tireless researcher who backs up almost every stinging commentary on Pakistan's journey since independence to the present day, with fact." Mark Moyer, Wall Street Journal "[Haqqani's] purpose isn't to narrate his service as ambassador or score political points but to outline the contours of American relations with Pakistan over time, with a final chapter depicting the 2011 collapse as a new instance of historical trends. While one might desire a fuller accounting of his ambassadorship, the book covers its chosen ground superbly." Richard Leiby, Washington Post "A solid synthesis of history, political analysis and social critique." Lisa Curtis, National Interest "If you want a better understanding of why U.S. policy has failed so miserably in Pakistan, you should read Husain Haqqani's latest book... Fast-paced and highly readable... Haqqani has provided a well-documented and interesting account of the policy disconnects between the United States and Pakistan. His book should make a tremendous contribution toward grounding U.S. policy toward Pakistan in more realistic assumptions that will help avoid future crises between the two countries." Kirkus Reviews, starred review "[An] insightful, painful history of Pakistani-American relations... Demonstrating no mercy to either party, Haqqani admits that Pakistan verges on failed-state status but shows little patience with America's persistently shortsighted, fruitless policies."
£13.29
Drawn and Quarterly Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan
Book SynopsisThe final, Eisner Award-winning chapter of a legendary cartoonist s history of Japan. Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan concludes award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's stunning historical and autobiographical series about Japanese life in the twentieth century. The final volume picks up in the wake of utter defeat in World War II, covering the United States shift from enemy to ally. Jobs, money, and opportunity are funneled along in a bid to establish the country as a bulwark against Communist expansion. Japan thus reinvents itself, emerging as an economic powerhouse. Events like the Tokyo Olympiad and the World's Fair reintroduce the world to a much friendlier Japan, but this period of peace and plenty conceals a populace still struggling to come to terms with the devastation of their all-too-recent past. Mizuki's own struggles mirror those of the nation during this period of recovery and reconciliation. He fights his way back from poverty, rising to the rank of cartoon celebrity beloved by millions of manga-reading children. However, prosperity cannot bring the happiness Mizuki craves, as he struggles to find meaning in the sacrifices made during the war. This visionary series, told by a true man of his time, is a magnum opus fully representative of the graphic novel as world literature.
£21.25
Birlinn General The Unremembered Places: Exploring Scotland's
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the The Great Outdoors Awards – Outdoor Book of the Year 2020 Shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature 2020 There are strange relics hidden across Scotland’s landscape: forgotten places that are touchstones to incredible stories and past lives which still resonate today. Yet why are so many of these ‘wild histories’ unnoticed and overlooked? And what can they tell us about our own modern identity? From the high mountain passes of an ancient droving route to a desolate moorland graveyard, from uninhabited post-industrial islands and Clearance villages to caves explored by early climbers and the mysterious strongholds of Christian missionaries, Patrick Baker makes a series of journeys on foot and by paddle. Along the way, he encounters Neolithic settlements, bizarre World War Two structures, evidence of illicit whisky production, sacred wells and Viking burial grounds. Combining a rich fusion of travelogue and historical narrative, he threads themes of geology, natural and social history, literature, and industry from the places he visits, discovering connections between people and place more powerful than can be imagined.Trade Review'An evocative tome detailing his adventures in tracking down some of Scotland's most remote monuments to history ... the lost relics and secret places of Scotland's wild, wild past' * Sunday Post *'Grippingly told…each of his journeys fills with atmosphere and emotion' * BBC Countryfile Magazine *'Good nature writers can create such strong images that we almost feel that we are standing on the same windswept moors, gazing out over the same landscapes. Patrick Baker is such a writer, and this book is perfect for armchair travel' * Sorted *'A lyrical exploration of Scotland's regions of "rumour and folklore," of hidden places and often-forgotten tales, that makes a compelling argument for a greater examination of "wild histories" beyond the most well-trodden narratives of adventure' * Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Writing, Shortlisted 2020 *'The Unremembered Places breaks [the] mould. It describes Patrick Baker’s refreshingly quirky explorations on foot or kayak, often with his children, of remote and obscure locations' * Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal *'The Unremembered Places is packed with stories and reflections that dovetail into explanations of our relations with the land… For those with any inclination to adventure, natural beauty, or forgotten histories this will be a treasured read' * Geographical Magazine *'Wandering and kayaking through some of the UK’s wildest places, Baker reveals an area tantalisingly layered through with history and mystery in this fascinating exploration of the area. Along the way as he navigates Scotland’s peaks, creeks and cracks, he charts the labyrinth of ancient and modern history as well as the connections between the two, enriching any visit to the area' * Wanderlust Magazine *'Patrick Baker explores far-flung ruins and relics – from a cemetery for dam-builders to the remains of illicit stills – that serve as archives for Scotland's "wild histories". It's a haunting little book' * Telegraph - One of the Telegraph’s ‘best travel books to take you far away’, today *'The stories are well told, entertaining and informative, and the author's adventures, which don't always go smoothly, bring reality to the situations in which the historical events took place ... For anyone interested in the Scottish outdoors and the history of its wild places this is a great read. I thoroughly recommend it' -- Chris Townsend * Outdoors *'We are taken on a series of journeys, into areas of Scotland's history and geography of which most readers are likely to be ignorant. So the nine chapters of the book, each dealing with a different place, discovery and journey are educational and enlightening. They are also enjoyable. ... in short, anyone reading this engaging book will learn much and have pleasure in doing so' -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *'The stories in this compact book are the stuff of campfire nights... a book of great interest and insight. The effort of reaching these outposts is impressive in itself, but when he arrives at his destination, Baker brings a sensitivity to history, landscape, and the lingering spirit of those who once lived there that raises The Unremembered Places far above reportage. It is a reclaiming of remoteness, and a reminder that, no matter how far off the map, for those who lived here these locations were the centre of the world' -- Rosemary Goring * Herald *'Baker’s prose is so vivid that you see, hear, smell and feel his journeys with him. When writers often fall back on damaging divisions between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, this book is a crucial reminder that there’s no contradiction in the term ‘wild histories’' -- David Gange'Baker draws on boyhood fascinations to unravel the draw that many adventurers feel for the Scottish Highlands. On this journey, Baker treads the same path as the shadowy figures of Scottish history: merchants, journeymen, vagrants who each made their way through an unforgiving countryside. For Baker, the landscape is a passageway through time, connecting modern backpackers with the forgotten folk of history' -- Jacob Dykes * Geographical magazine, Best Books of 2020 Nature, History of Place *'One of the few places that storytelling still exists is round a bothy fire. There's a very real sense that Patrick Baker's writing is bringing people back into connection with the landscape' -- John Burns'Baker is an excellent guide to the places he explores, curious, honest, informative, and charming in equal measure (the chickens of Inchkeith will not easily be forgotten) ... It's an excellent book whose relevance goes far beyond the Scottish landscape it explores, and which I strongly recommend' * Desperatereader.blogspot.com *'Baker brings to life Scotland's unnoticed and overlooked wild histories' * Waterstones Recommends *
£9.49
Profile Books Ltd Imperial Tragedy: From Constantine’s Empire to
Book SynopsisFor centuries, Rome was one of the world's largest imperial powers, its influence spread across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle-East, its military force successfully fighting off attacks by the Parthians, Germans, Persians and Goths. Then came the definitive split, the Vandal sack of Rome, and the crumbling of the West from Empire into kingdoms first nominally under Imperial rule and then, one by one, beyond it. Imperial Tragedy tells the story of Rome's gradual collapse. Full of palace intrigue, religious conflicts and military history, as well as details of the shifts in social, religious and political structures, Imperial Tragedy contests the idea that Rome fell due to external invasions. Instead, it focuses on how the choices and conditions of those living within the empire led to its fall. For it was not a single catastrophic moment that broke the Empire but a creeping process; by the time people understood that Rome had fallen, the west of the Empire had long since broken the Imperial yoke.Trade ReviewA fascinating account showing just what it was like to be a Roman emperor - the endless court politics, the shock of outside events, the need to bring in reforms, and, above all, the constant struggle to stay alive and keep your place on the throne. -- Jerry Toner, Fellow of Churchill College, CambridgeA tour de force history of the inner workings of the late Roman Empire. Kulikowski tells a vivid, compelling story of the humans who fought to control the machinery of the empire until the entire system could no longer hold. -- Kyle Harper, author * The Fate of Rome *Kulikowski pairs his comprehensive understanding of late Roman politics with an uncanny eye for spatial and material details as he reconstructs an empire in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Roman emperors and barbarian kings, pagan aristocrats and Christian bishops, loyal soldiers and self-serving condottieri are woven into the brilliantly dramatized story of The Tragedy of Empire. -- Noel Lenski, author * Constantine and the Cities *Michael Kulikowski tells the story of the Roman Empire from the fourth to the sixth century. He writes boldly and fluently about imperial politics, incorporating the latest scholarship yet avoiding getting bogged down in academic controversies. Highly recommended as an introduction to the political history of this period. -- Hugh Elton, author * The Roman Empire in Late Antiquity *Praise for Imperial Triumph 'This is a wonderfully broad sweep of Roman history ... fascinating -- Mary BeardA genuinely bracing and innovative history of Rome for a general audience. * TLS *This was an era of great change, and Mr. Kulikowski is an excellent and insightful guide to the process -- Adrian Goldsworthy * Wall Street Journal *Kulikowski's lively and engaging account brings clarity to the murky world of the late Roman Empire. It lets us understand the endless in-fighting between imperial hopefuls, the profound reforms of Diocletian, and the social transformation that expressed itself in Christianity. It explains the many forces which led to the western empire's disintegration and expertly guides us through a post-Roman world which was eventually to give rise to modern Europe. -- Jerry TonerKulikowski pairs his comprehensive understanding of late Roman politics with an uncanny eye for spatial and material details as he reconstructs an empire in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Roman emperors and barbarian kings, pagan aristocrats and Christian bishops, loyal soldiers and self-serving condottieri are woven into the brilliantly dramatized story of Imperial Tragedy. -- Noel Lenski, author * Constantine and the Cities *Insightful, coherent and articulate. * BBC History Magazine *Demonstrates impressive mastery of a vast and complex field -- Australian Book ReviewA breezy and animated, yet authorative look at this remarkable time ... sure to be of interest to anybody with a taste in character-driven history. * Military History Review *
£12.34
Profile Books Ltd Geography Is Destiny: Britain and the World, a
Book Synopsis'Ian Morris has established himself as a leader in making big history interesting and understandable' Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel 'Morris succeeds triumphantly at cramming 10,000 years of history into a single book' Robert Colvile, The Times For hundreds of years, Britannia ruled the waves and an empire on which the sun never set - but for thousands of years before that, Britain had been no more than a cluster of unimportant islands off Europe's north-west shore. Drawing on the latest archaeological and historical evidence, Ian Morris shows how much the meaning of Britain's geography has changed in the 10,000 years since rising seas began separating the Isles from the Continent, and how these changing meanings have determined Britons' destinies. From being merely Europe's fractious, feuding periphery - divided by customs, language and landscape, and always at the mercy of more powerful continental neighbours - the British turned themselves into a United Kingdom and put it at the centre of global politics, commerce and culture. But as power and wealth now shift from the West towards China, what fate awaits Britain in the twenty-first century?Trade ReviewA 'big ideas' gallop ... Morris succeeds triumphantly at cramming 10,000 years of history into a single book -- Robert Colvile * The Times *Morris is a jaunty, accessible writer, especially strong on his home field of archaeology, and this is a book brimming with neat slogans and ideas -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *Morris writes with great knowledge and wisdom and a certain panache ... I can't think of a better, more thought-provoking and generally wise introduction to the 'long' history of Britain's changing relations with continental Europe and the wider world than Geography is Destiny, or one that is such a terrific read -- Bernard Porter * Literary Review *Praise for Ian Morris: 'A great work of synthesis and argument, drawing together an awesome range of materials and authorities -- Andrew MarrA fresh perspective ... Ian Morris has established himself as a leader in making big history interesting and understandable -- Jared Diamond, author * Guns, Germs, and Steel *Clever, acute and counterintuitive ... a pleasure to read -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Brilliantly argued across a huge sweep, combining history with human geography, human and natural sciences. It is a magnificent and stimulating read, and should be given to anyone involved in the business of war and peace, or the human fate in any respect - and already a book of the year -- Robert Fox * Evening Standard *A provocative and extraordinary contribution to wide-screen comparative history ... a true banquet of ideas -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *This is an astonishing book, full of controversy, brilliantly researched and thoughtfully argued ... one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking histories I've read in years * Daily Telegraph *One doffs one's hat to Morris's breadth, ambition and erudition * Sunday Times *An astonishing work -- David S. Landes, author * The Wealth and Poverty of Nations *An exuberant and wonderfully entertaining tour de force of history, archaeology, anthropology, geography, evolutionary biology and technological and military speculation... a terrific book -- David Crane * The Spectator *It is the book's elegantly succinct prose that will most captivate readers ... filled with lucid explanations of the most recondite questions, with many revealing quotations and witty asides -- Edward Luttwak * Prospect *Remarkable ... historian Morris argues not only that war is a source of technological advance but that it brings peace ... the thesis is disturbingly persuasive -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *Gleefully provocative yet alarmingly persuasive... one of the most original history books in years * Mail on Sunday *
£11.69
Profile Books Ltd The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal
Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021 A TIME Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020 Shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Award 2020 'Deirdre Mask's book was just up my Strasse, alley, avenue and boulevard.' -Simon Garfield, author of Just My Type 'Fascinating ... intelligent but thoroughly accessible ... full of surprises' - Sunday Times When most people think about street addresses they think of parcel deliveries, or visitors finding their way. But who numbered the first house, and where, and why? What can addresses tell us about who we are and how we live together? Deirdre Mask looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr., how ancient Romans found their way, and why Bobby Sands is memorialised in Tehran. She explores why it matters if, like millions of people today, you don't have an address. From cholera epidemics to tax hungry monarchs, Mask discovers the different ways street names are created, celebrated, and in some cases, banned. Full of eye-opening facts, fascinating people and hidden history, this book shows how addresses are about identity, class and race. But most of all they are about power: the power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn't, and why. 'A must read for urbanists and all those interested in cities and modern economic and social life.' - Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative ClassTrade ReviewDeirdre Mask's book was just up my Strasse, alley, avenue and boulevard. A classic history of nomenclature - loaded, complex and absorbing. -- Simon Garfield, author * Just My Type *Fascinating ... intelligent but thoroughly accessible ... full of surprises * Sunday Times *Mask's fascinating study is filled with insights into how addresses affect ordinary people around the world. * Guardian *I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much. Thought-provoking and entertaining ... The Address Book is a delight from beginning to end. -- Adrian Tinniswood * Literary Review *Illuminating, impressively researched * iPaper *[The Address Book] has pretty much everything: a fascinating topic, excellent breadth and depth of research, logical compilations of the facts into topic and an enthusiastic and chatty narrator. * Scotsman *Deirdre Mask's The Address Book has pretty much everything you want in discursive non-fiction: a fascinating topic, excellent breadth and depth of research across multiple countries and communities, logical compilations of the facts into topic areas and an enthusiastic and chatty narrator. Uncovering what the humble address reveals about us in a multitude of ways - from how we perceive and make sense of our world, through to what constitutes a social legacy, and on to the very timely usefulness of the address in helping us deal with epidemics - Mask has done an excellent job of collating an impressive array of fact, fable and experience. * Irish Examiner *Deirdre Mask reveals how the tales secreted within a street name can be as mesmerizing and mystifying as the city itself-and the people who call that place home. -- Janette Sadik-Khan, former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner * Bloomberg Associates *A must read for urbanists and all those interested in cities and modern economic and social life. -- Richard Florida, author * The Rise of the Creative Class *Lively and eye-opening ... Deirdre Mask unearths the many layers of meaning hiding just below the surface of the ways we place ourselves and others in our communities. -- Jeff Speck, urban planner and author * Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time *Mask's fluid narration and impressive research uncover the importance of an aspect of daily life that most people take for granted, and she profiles a remarkable array of activists, historians, and artists whose work intersects with the evolution and meaning of street addresses. This evocative history casts its subject in a whole new light. * Publishers Weekly *An impressive examination of the origins of street names around the world ... tied together through Mask's absorbing and thoughtful voice * TIME *
£10.44
Poetry Wales Press The Golden Valley
Book Synopsis
£13.50
Canongate Books Island People: The Caribbean and the World
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing AwardsIn this fascinating travelogue, the product of almost a decade of travel and intense study, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro strips away the fantasy and myth to expose the real islands, and the real people, that make up the Caribbean.Trade ReviewA heartfelt Caribbean journey . . . through the places, literature and music of the region to beautifully illuminate the histories of people and continents . . . Terrific * * Observer * *Delves into the brutal history and unique allure of the Caribbean . . . Island People, written by a careful and compassionate author, is a worthy travel and history book, a fresh study * * Guardian * *A travelogue of love and scholarship . . . does the region splendid justice * * New York Times * *A pleasingly broad study of the Caribbean and its vital, indecipherable blend of peoples * * Financial Times * *Allows the Caribbean to stand on its own and shine . . . A celebration of culture, music and literature . . . shows the magic of the people of the Caribbean . . . infused with passion, love and vibrancy -- Sharmaine Lovegrove * * Monocle Arts Review * *A creative hybrid of travel writing and in-depth reportage . . . Its balance of skepticism and enthusiasm is driven by both wide knowledge and a bracing sympathy for the oppressed . . . He has a journalist's flair for interviews and is as deft with chance encounters as with pop idols. Above all he finds dignity as well as excitement in this beautiful archipelago -- Colin Thubron * * New York Review of Books * *This book illuminates, like no other I've read, the startling history and the complex present of the nations of the Caribbean. Written with passion and joyful music in the prose, Island People will become an indispensable companion for anybody travelling to the Caribbean - or dreaming of doing so -- SUKETU MEHTAMany have tried this before - to get hold of, in its entirety, the volatile, beautiful, relentlessly shifting Caribbean. Nobody has succeeded as dazzlingly as Joshua Jelly-Schapiro -- MARLON JAMESOne of those rare writers who bridges worlds - between deep scholarship and lively and accessible writing, between islands and mainlands, between big ideas and precise details, between history and possibility -- REBECCA SOLNITJoshua Jelly-Schapiro possesses both a humanist's irrepressible empathy and a journalist's necessary skepticism. He reports carefully, researches exhaustively, cares deeply, and writes beautifully -- DAVE EGGERSJoshua Jelly-Schapiro's grand book on the Caribbean is so striking in form and vision that it amounts to something new - a constant surprise . . . An important book filled with many truths -- HILTON ALSA marvel of a book . . . Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a superb young writer who brings to this sea of dreams a scholar's authority, a novelist's way with character, and a top reporter's talent for stumbling into exactly that tale, however improbable and fantastic, that most needs telling -- MARK DANNERSensitive to the power of place to anchor or disturb identity, Josh Jelly-Schapiro maps the Caribbean through its myth and its music, its history and its intellectual tradition. Erudite, reflective and savvy, Island People is as much a pleasure to read as it is an education -- GAIUTRA BAHADUR
£11.69
Canongate Books A Notable Woman: The Romantic Journals of Jean
Book Synopsis'Timeless, funny and utterly absorbing' HILARY MANTELIn April 1925 at the age of fifteen, Jean Lucey Pratt started a journal that she kept until just a few days before her death in 1986, producing over a million words in 45 exercise books. What emerges is a portrait of a truly unique, spirited woman and writer. Never before has an account so fully, so honestly and so vividly captured a single woman's journey through the twentieth century.Trade ReviewDelightful . . . an extraordinary woman with a dry, wicked sense of humour and such a longing for love and recognition. I inhaled the 700 pages and still wanted more * * Red * *The most moving and important book I read this year by a mile: funny, tender and gripping -- RACHEL COOKE * * New Statesman * *It's not only that Jean is a good writer: observant, funny and rather lyrical. Nor is it that she is so honest . . . Rather, it's that her journals, unfettered and intimate, offer up a whole life * * Observer * *The sort of reading that will have you grip the arm of your chair in joy -- ALEXANDRA HEMINSLEY * * The Debrief * *Spend Christmas with Jean Lucey Pratt, the siren of Slough: you will not regret or forget it . . . wholly absorbing and deeply entertaining -- HILARY MANTEL * * New Statesman * *One of my favourite books of the year . . . the little details are fascinating and the overall portrait of one woman's life in the twentieth century is a must read. I can't recommend this highly enough -- CATHY RENTZENBRINK * * Stylist * *What a find! Jean's voice sings across the decades, fresh, vivid and desperate for love - a woman with so much to offer, who kicks against the stuffy society in which she finds herself. I grew to love her sharp observation, her vulnerability and her passion -- DEBORAH MOGGACHA Notable Woman shows us, in close up, how extraordinary the business of an 'ordinary' life can be - how much complexity and feeling and humour it can contain * * Guardian * *Miss Pratt hoped for an audience, which she will now find, even in the most intimate act of documenting her private life. Her entries read novelistically at times. There is beauty and humour and a fantastic, page-turning narrative, even as a teenager, when, Adrian Mole-like, she writes about her girl-crushes and first kiss. Too often we dismiss the value of ordinary life. Miss Pratt reminds us that it makes for its own kind of literature * * Independent * *Immensely poignant . . . On the face of it, Pratt's life appears unexceptional. Yet her diaries are utterly enthralling: intimate, occasionally barbed, frequently funny and filled with her hopes and dreams, friendships and love affairs, as well as her observations on Britain's rapidly changing society in the 20th century. It is a life laid bare in all its passion and anger, love and longing, sadness and acceptance. Pratt herself wrote: "Ordinary living isn't humdrum...there is so much pleasure to be had from apparently trivial things." It's a sentiment that could encapsulate this entire extraordinary project * * The Sunday Times * *Engrossing, spiked with wit and charm, keenly observant and consistently humane . . . Shows us, in closeup, how extraordinary the business of an "ordinary" life can be - how much complexity and feeling and humour it can contain -- ANTHONY QUINN * * Guardian * *Deliciously frank and funny * * Daily Mail * *What makes these diaries such pleasurable reading is one's sense of the diarist herself: her vibrancy and humour, her idea of life as a battle to overcome and, most of all, her endless supply of hope and her refusal to be beaten * * Literary Review * *You root for Jean, so wanting her to find love, and you feel her heartbreaks and embarrassments acutely. Her diaries are a record of the quiet stoicism and loneliness of the women who were left behind by the war. She may never have met her man, her overpowering, tall, divine dancer, but what a victory to see her diaries in print * * Mail on Sunday * *There is no doubting the cumulative interest of this troubled record of a lonely life . . . In her private diary, Pratt swung between regret and resolution in her search for poise * * Daily Telegraph * *Her longings to be elsewhere or to be someone else are utterly recognisable; her frustrations and disappointments poignant . . . These journals are a priceless find -- ALISON LIGHT * * London Review of Books * *Jean's honesty and unpretentiousness is very striking, and at times very moving too. I'm so pleased to see that an edition of her diaries, in which her full story can emerge, is at last seeing the light of day. She is unquestionably worthy of this, and A Notable Woman will find a valued place on my bookshelf -- VIRGINIA NICHOLSONWhat makes Jean's journals special is the intimacy and frankness of her account of a life seen from the inside, and the way she draws the reader into a relationship with her. As a record of the individual's dreams set against the cramped reality, Jean's journals are timeless. She leaps out of her own pages, free as she never was in life: you want to protect her, and simultaneously to slap her and cheer her on. It's very funny, occasionally sobering, and shot through with acute insights. Who would have imagined that the life of a Buckinghamshire bookseller would make you want to turn the pages so fast? I wanted to know how she got through the war, but I was even more interested in when she would lose her virginity -- HILARY MANTELGossipy, funny and spirited, Jean's diaries are fresh and wonderfully frank * * Psychologies * *A glorious gut-wrenching read . . . A Notable Woman makes my heart sing. Jean's diaries are a life in its entirety, in all its glorious mess * * The Pool * *[Jean's] writing is so vivid, her confessions so frank and her character so attractive. You root for her again and again, then you shake a fist at the world for letting her down . . . unbearably moving * * Big Issue * *A Bridget Jones of the 1920s . . . What Garfield is really good at is distilling meaning from a time that we don't really know about . . . extraordinary * * Monocle Arts Review * *Throughout this wonderful book, Pratt demonstrates acute descriptive powers and a piercing intelligence * * Observer * *What makes Pratt a great diarist is her honesty. The true diarist must never avoid looking bad * * Spectator * *
£11.69
Pushkin Press Dreamers: When the Writers Took Power, Germany
Book SynopsisAt the end of the First World War in Germany, the journalist and theatre critic Kurt Eisner organised a revolution which overthrew the monarchy, and declared a Free State of Bavaria. In February 1919, he was assassinated, and the revolution failed. But while the dream lived, it was the writers, the poets, the playwrights and the intellectuals who led the way. As well as Eisner, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and many other prominent figures in German cultural history were involved. In his characteristically lucid, sharp prose, Volker Weidermann presents us with a slice of history - November 1918 to April 1919 - and shows how a small group of people could have altered the course of the twentieth century.Trade Review • "Vivid, full of sardonic humour, moral nuance and personal drama, this book takes the reader into the heart of the revolutionary crowd, and shows how exhilarating and terrifying it is to be there"--New Statesman • "A superb account... a remarkable cast of characters... [Weidermann] brings to life long forgotten and seemingly insignificant and quirky episodes in history"--Guardian • "An absolutely gripping tale... great pace, action and character... the characters are unforgettable"--The Times • "Dramatic... a compact and colourful account, with the breathless pace of war reporting"--Spectator • "A gripping account... Volker Weidermann's blend of engrossing, urgent reportage and gentle, dissociative musing will be familiar to readers of his previous work, the bestselling Summer Before the Dark... deceptively extravagant and endlessly interesting book"--Financial Times
£11.69
Granta Books The Way to the Sea: The Forgotten Histories of
Book SynopsisRaised on its banks and an avid sailor, Caroline Crampton sets out to rediscover the enigmatic pull of the Thames by following its course from the river's source in a small village in Gloucestershire, through the short central stretch beloved of Londoners and tourists alike, to the point where it merges with the North Sea. As she navigates the river's ever-shifting tidal waters, she seeks out the stories behind its unique landmarks, from the vast Victorian pumping stations that carried away the capital's waste and the shiny barrier that holds the sea at bay, to the Napoleonic-era forts that stand on marshy ground as eerie relics of past invasions. In spellbinding prose, she reveals the histories of its empty warehouses and arsenals; its riverbanks layered with Anglo-Saxon treasures; and its shipwrecks, still inhabited by the ghosts of the drowned. The Way to the Sea is at once a fascinating portrait of an iconic stretch of water and a captivating introduction to a new voice in British non-fiction.Trade Review[A] praise-hymn to the muddy, marshy far reaches of the river... captivating -- Rose George * New Statesman *Short but rich... [Crampton] writes movingly, sometimes with flecks of nostalgia or melancholy, but ultimately her book is a rallying call for greater appreciation of the maligned and overlooked * Evening Standard *Like the Thames itself, this book carries you along on a journey full of rich detail and fascinating insight -- Madeleine BuntingAn affectionate portrait of an often neglected landscape... rich and fascinating... Crampton writes beautifully of the area's charms. Her first-hand knowledge of navigating the river gives the book the descriptive power that brings the whole area superbly to life * Sunday Times *Atmospheric and movingly written...rich and haunting * Spectator *In The Way to the Sea, the Thames - from its indistinct origins in a muddy Gloucestershire field, all the way east to the Nore sandbank in the estuary - runs through a lush landscape of personal memories of family sailing trips and Oxonian dunkings, of histories of cities and suburbs that rose and fell on its banks, populated by poets and painters singing the Thames' 'sweet song'. A memorial to Joseph Bazalgette, architect of the Thames' central London embankments, claimed he had 'put the river in chains', but in this tender, often startling, blend of memoir, nature-writing and social and cultural history, Caroline Crampton reveals instead how the river shapes us -- Rachel HewittThis is a remarkable, superbly researched book, and I was swept along by it from source to mouth. The Thames Estuary has found its chronicler, a young writer who opens a reader's eyes to its mystery, moodiness and downbeat beauty -- Christopher SomervilleCaroline Crampton's The Way to the Sea is a re-enchantment of the overlooked, everyday world of the Thames Estuary. A love letter to a place too changeable to define, this seductive journey is both beautifully written and highly recommended -- John HiggsA fascinating, brilliant book that carries you downstream on its quick-flowing current' -- Cal FlynnFascinating * Bookseller *Lyrically written... this book was a treat * Practical Boat Owner *A beautiful book * Five Books *Deeply literary and well researched... A thoughtful, beautifully-written appreciation * Yachting Monthly *[A] lyrical meditation on the meaning of the Thames...you won't find a more elegantly written guide * Literary Review *[A] wonderful account... [Crampton] writes with the quiet confidence and terminology of someone who has spent plenty of time aboard... captivating * I Paper *What makes [Crampton] a remarkable guide to the story of the Thames is that she sees it in an unexpected way. Instinctively, she writes of the river not from the shore, but from the water. She knows it, and loves it, from the inside * In the Moment *Fascinating . . . Ms Crampton's account of her lifelong relationship with this storied waterway is as elegant and sinuous as the river she loves * Economist *A consistently interesting and lyrical narrative, which seamlessly weaves historical anecdote, personal memoir and gentle warnings about the frailty of the environment into an enjoyable whole * Mail on Sunday *Engaging . . . A rich, resonant history * Sunday Express *Engaging, well researched and beautifully written * William Morris Society Journal *
£9.49
Bonnier Books Ltd The Colour of Ireland 2: Bringing Ireland's Past
Book SynopsisBreathing new life into Ireland's history once again, this carefully restored and colourised collection of wonderful black and white images captures the beauty of the nation's fascinating past. This sequel to the bestselling The Colour of Ireland presents a huge variety of captivating images from the 32 counties, from Dublin to Galway and Antrim to Cork, and inspires a new vision of Ireland's heritage.With incredible attention to detail, author Rob Cross has gained a worldwide following by using cutting-edge technology and careful historical research to accurately depict the colours of Ireland's history and tell the stories within these rich images. It's a collection to treasure, enjoy and reflect on for years to come.Trade ReviewNo matter where you hail from, regardless of your own interests, I guarantee this book will rest with you for many a long day. * Joe Duffy *
£18.70
Quercus Publishing Photography Fifth Edition: A Cultural History
Book SynopsisThe fifth edition of this indispensable history of photography spans the history of the medium, from its early development to current practice, and providing a focused understanding of the cultural contexts in which photographers have lived and worked throughout, this remains an all-encompassing survey.Mary Warner Marien discusses photography from around the world and through the lenses of art, science, travel, war, fashion, the mass media and individual photographers. Professional, amateur and art photographers are all represented, with 'Portrait' boxes devoted to highlighting important individuals and 'Focus' boxes charting particular cultural debates. Mary Warner Marien is also the author of 100 Ideas that Changed Photography and Photography Visionaries.New additions to this ground-breaking global survey of photography includes 20 new images and sections on advances in technology and the influence of social media platforms. An essential text for anyone studying photography.Trade ReviewIt is extremely comprehensive and a wide view of the history of photography. ELIZABETH CALVI - UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVENExcellent history of photography that discussed key issues clearly and succinctly. -- Bibiana Obler * George Washington University *It takes a broad, updated, thoughtful approach to the field. -- Ash Anderson * Boston College *The book covers the best material in a way that is useful, and has excellent reproductions of the works. -- ERIC ZEIGLER * UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO *The book maintains a good balance between history and theory and has a nice selection of images. * HAYAN KIM – AUGUSTANA COLLEGE *
£36.00
Canongate Books Beastly
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATIONA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES, WATERSTONES AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST READBeastly is the 40,000-year story of our changing kinship with the animal world - from the smallest microbe to the largest creature that ever lived. Exploring this relationship through history, culture, science and inspiring examples, Carew makes the passionate case that animals are the key to the planet''s future health, but only if we can save them.
£10.44
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd Biafra in the News: The Nigerian Civil War Seen
Book SynopsisFifty years ago, Nigeria endured a period of violent disturbance leading to the breakaway of the Eastern Region under the name Biafra. The resulting conflict (1967-70) aroused shock and protests around the world because of mass starvation in the war zone. While Britain supplied arms to the federal Nigerian government, and France to the Biafrans, relief agencies with contributions from countless individuals organised a memorable airlift of food and medicine to the Biafrans' Uli airstrip. Jonathan Derrick, then a journalist for the London weekly West Africa, followed these events closely and recorded the war in the magazine's news pages, right up to the federal forces' final victory and the remarkable reconciliation between supporters of Biafra--predominantly Igbo--and other Nigerians. He later worked for some years in Nigeria, and has studied much of the material published on the war since 1970. Here, he recounts the history of the conflict as documented in West Africa, referring to later literature on and analysis of the events, which inspired passion at the time and have provoked debate ever since. His account deals with myths, misapprehensions and controversies surrounding the conflict, while recalling the tragic facts of a grim episode in African history.Trade Review'Invaluable to scholars investigating different aspects of the Nigerian Civil War. This is a good read; readers will find it rewarding.' -- H-Net'Those who want to understand the nature of Biafran agitation today would do well to get a copy of 'Biafra in the News' to draw from the raw material of history to help them along the way.' -- Desmond Davies, Africa Briefing Magazine'A striking despatch from the epistemological coalface, providing a truly fascinating insight into the nuts and bolts of how the "first draft of history" is prepared. Compelling and immediate, this is a priceless addition to the story of Nigeria.' -- Paddy Docherty, author of Blood and Bronze'A timely account of the civil war, whose shadow still falls on a dysfunctional Nigeria, and another Federal commander's term in the presidency is ending. Derrick's vantage point at West Africa, then the authoritative London weekly, is strengthened by research since, and detailed, argued analysis.' -- Richard Bourne, author of Nigeria: A New History of a Turbulent Century'Derrick offers a unique perspective on the Biafra war, reflecting on both the successes and short-comings of contemporary British news coverage. His even-handed account, based on personal experience and subsequent research, is an impressive addition to the literature on this often-forgotten war.' -- S. Elizabeth Bird, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, University of South Florida, and co-author of Surviving Biafra'With this clear-eyed and timely examination of what the international media got wrong, and what they got right, Derrick has fashioned an engaging history of the war for Biafra, a conflict many still struggle to understand.' -- Andrew Walker, journalist and author of 'Eat the Heart of the Infidel''The Biafra war is still a deep wound in the hearts of many Nigerians. This careful, balanced exploration of the events that led to this tragedy may provide some relief for those in the Igbo community still struggling with the memories of the atrocities committed against them.' -- Martin Plaut, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London'Combines the immediacy and detail of great journalism with the thoughtful analysis and broad perspectives of great historical writing. Perhaps uniquely for books about this war, it is neither dominated by re-visited obsessions of the past nor filtered through the selective vision of the present; I found so much here that other accounts have ignored or forgotten.' -- Oliver Owen, Departmental Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of Oxford
£18.99
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd Edge of England: Landfall in Lincolnshire
Book SynopsisLincolnshire is England's second-largest county—and one of the least well-known. Yet its understated chronicles, unfashionable towns and undervalued countryside conceal fascinating stories, and unique landscapes: its Wolds are lonely and beautiful, its towns characterful; its marshlands and dynamic coast are metaphors of constant change. From plesiosaurs to Puritans, medieval ghosts to eighteenth-century explorers, poets to politicians, and Vikings to Brexit, this marginal county is central to England's identity. Canute, Henry IV, John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford all called Lincolnshire home. So did saints, world-famed churchmen and reformers—Etheldreda, Gilbert, Guthlac and Hugh, Robert Grosseteste, John Wycliffe, John Cotton, John Foxe and John Wesley—as well as Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, John Harrison and George Boole. Lincolnshire explorers went everywhere: John Smith to Jamestown, George Bass and Matthew Flinders to Australia, and John Franklin to a bitter death in the Arctic. Artists and writers have been inspired—including Byrd, Taverner, Stukeley, Stubbs, Eliot and Tennyson—while Thatcher wrought neo-liberalism. Extraordinary architecture testifies to centuries of both settlement and unrest, from Saxon towers to sky-piercing spires; evocative ruined abbeys to the wonder of the Cathedral. And in between is always the little-known land itself—an epitome of England, awaiting discovery.Trade Review'A wonderfully rich mixture of nature writing, memoir, history and local lore.' -- The Guardian‘[A] remarkable new study of Lincolnshire…its scope is striking, its ambition impressive, and its creation to be much welcomed.’ -- Lincolnshire Past & Present‘I shall return to this book again and again and I warmly commend it to anyone who does not know what is, in so many ways, not just the edge of England but the embodiment of England.’ -- The House‘Painting in poetic and evocative words…[Turner] gives food for thought about the topics concerning Britain today such as climate change, Europe, the place of agriculture.’ -- The Jackdaw'The wonderful evocation of Lincoln and Lincolnshire in this book is a joy to read, even if you have never been there.' -- The Salisbury Review'Derek Turner has written a hauntingly beautiful and evocative portrayal of England's "forgotten county"... 'Edge of England' is much more than a mere guide, more a beautifully crafted and written love letter to "a county like no other."' -- Heckington Living'Painstakingly researched... Turner paints a portrait of the county that is quite different from a guide book. He captures what Lincolnshire is really like much more effectively than any Pevsner, Arthur Mee, local town guide, or 'White's Directory' and 'Gazetteer' can hope to do.' -- Journal of Historic Buildings & Places'[A] hauntingly beautiful and honest lament to a rural existence.' -- Central Bylines''Edge of England' is well worth reading. It is consistently well written, and the breadth of the project means that almost any reader will find things of interest.' -- H-Net'By some marvellous alchemic mirror, 'Edge of England' shows how one rather overlooked county impacted national history, and vice versa. If this were not enough, Turner must also be counted among the finest prose-smiths working the English language today.' -- John Lewis-Stempel, author of Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field'A mellifluous and rich account of Lincolnshire’s strange history, landscape and folklore.' -- Edward Parnell, author of Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country'A fascinating, insightful and wonderfully researched study of a much neglected county. It draws out the rich history and all that is distinctive about Lincolnshire. A must-read for all yellow bellies and those not blessed with being born in the county.' -- Professor Lord Norton of Louth'Full of evocative, and often elegiac, descriptions of our landscape and our wildlife, and full too of fascinating reflections on the history and people of Lincolnshire, this book should be on the shelves of everyone who knows and loves our perhaps unfashionable but wonderful county.' -- Lord Cormack of Enville
£19.00