History Books

Book SynopsisThe searing, must-read feminist essay from the author of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing 'Fearless ... A fierce and fascinating manifesto in McBride's persuasive prose' Sinéad Gleeson 'Formidable' Vogue In this galvanizing essay, Eimear McBride unpicks the contradictory forces of disgust and objectification that control and shame women. From playground taunts of 'only sluts do it' but 'virgins are frigid', to ladette culture, and the arrival of 'ironic' porn, via Debbie Harry, the Kardashians and the Catholic church - she looks at how this prejudicial messaging has played out in the past, and still surrounds us today. McBride asks - are women still damned if we do, damned if we don't? How can we give our daughters (and sons) the unbounded futures we want for them? And, in this moment of global crisis, might our gift for juggling contradiction help us to find a way forward? 'A satisfying feminist polemic' Susie Orbach 'Remarkable' Scotsman 'Eimear McBride is that old fashioned thing, a genius' GuardianTrade ReviewA fearless, interrogative work that speaks so much to structural inequality and misogyny. A fierce and fascinating manifesto in McBride's persuasive prose -- Sinéad GleesonA satisfying feminist polemic -- Susie Orbach * Guardian *A fierce, clear-eyed examination of the myriad ways in which women are objectified ... remarkable -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *Formidable -- Hayley Maitland * Vogue *An invigorating call to refuse the disgust directed at women * Herald *McBride is a very skilful prose stylist and is indubitably right to be incensed at the double standards and sheer prejudice of our culture * iPaper *Something Out of Place is an erudite contribution to that growing impulse in contemporary nonfiction: to cast one's testimony out into the void in the hopes that another will answer, and then another and another, and that each will be as exactingly executed, as deeply nuanced as the one preceding it * Irish Times *A brief and vivid polemic about disgust and shame and how they are used to such successful effect to disempower women ... There is something very exciting about contemplating a future for women where our disagreements about how best to live don't translate into weakness and division -- Megan Nolan * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'If you read one book about India, read this one.' Geeta Anand, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of The Cure 'Mountain Tales is a remarkable feat of immersive reporting and story-telling, a deeply-felt exploration of ideas, and a gripping chronicle of the fates of the garbage-pickers of Mumbai ... I loved this book.' Suzy Hansen, author of Notes on a Foreign Country All of Mumbai's memories and castaway possessions come to die at the Deonar garbage mountains. And among these vast, teetering piles of discarded things - medical waste, rotten food, old clothes, broken glass and twisted metal - a small, forgotten community lives and works. Scouring the dump for whatever can be resold or recycled, waste pickers also mark the familiar milestones of babies born, love found, illnesses suffered and recovered from. Like a mirror image, their stories are shaped by the influx of unwanted things from the world outside. But now, as Deonar's toxic halo becomes undeniable, a change is coming. And as officials try to close it, the lives that the pickers have built on the Mountain seem more fragile than ever.Trade ReviewA terrific and thrilling book about people who are trapped in the gravitational force of a garbage mountain in Mumbai. Delightful and powerful. * Manu Joseph, author of Serious Men *Roy has a journalist's unflinching eye, a poet's talent for detail, and a radical sense of empathy that illuminates this account of the people who live on the Deonar garbage mountains. Urgent as a thriller, yet lingering in its unforgettable portraits of life, love and death, Mountain Tales deserves every accolade. A stunning achievement. -- Kiran Desai, Booker Prize-winning author of The Inheritance of Loss'Roy writes ... with utmost care and empathy ... [a] powerful book * Times of India *It is rare that a book is a deeply moving love story with unforgettable characters while also illuminating a country and a culture. Saumya Roy's book is a riveting love story set in the harrowing world of life as a trash picker on Mumbai's garbage mountain. Read it for a most delicious story, read it to understand India, read it to know what it is like to grow up in extreme poverty in the shadow of enormous wealth. If you read one book about India, read this one. -- Geeta Anand, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of The CureSaumya Roy's gorgeous Mountain Tales is a remarkable feat of immersive reporting and story-telling, a deeply-felt exploration of ideas, and a gripping chronicle of the fates of the garbage-pickers of Mumbai; Roy immerses you so deeply in her characters' lives and physical environment that at times I felt I was experiencing them myself. I loved this book. -- Suzy Hansen, author of Notes on a Foreign CountryRoy unravels the truth about overconsumption, pollution, climate change and how the most vulnerable people bear the brunt of it all * Vogue India *A gut-wrenching story ... her lucid writing not only draws the reader but also helps to reflect upon how one person's trash impacts another's life -- Soma Basu * The Hindu *Gorgeous and heartbreaking ... Roy succeeds in humanizing her subjects while emphasizing the role that consumer culture plays in their degradation. ... Readers of Behind the Beautiful Forevers will be drawn to this harrowing portrait. * Publishers Weekly *A story of selflessness and sacrifice, of acceptance and renewal. The goodness in people, both in the streets where the Shaikh family lives and beyond comes to the fore ... A sense of mystery and wonderment gives Roy's tale a special edge -- Mustansir Delvi * Wire India *A revelation in the most shattering ways * GQ *Saumya Roy's Mountain Tales captures the unique story of Mumbai's garbage mountain at Deonar district and the people who survive around it ... a must-read * Telegraph India *This powerful real-life tale from India reads like fiction * Washington Independent Review of Books *

Read more less

Book Synopsis"Fascinating and vivid." New Statesman "Thoroughly researched." The Spectator "Intriguing." BBC History Magazine "Vividly told." BBC History Revealed "A timely warning against persecution." Morning Star "Astute and thoughtful." History Today "An important work." All About History "Well-researched." The Tablet On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches. Though ‘pretty much worn away’ the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined – was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common. In this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.Trade ReviewCallow’s intriguing book is both a case study of the Bideford witch trail and an examination of how superstition prevailed in a time of increasing rationality… Callow’s fascinating and vivid unpicking of the English Salem is also an account of the birth pangs of the modern age. -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman *Callow examines in detail the surviving evidence of the Bideford case, while also imaginatively reconstructing events to create a convincing picture of how superstition and belief in sorcery lay just beneath the surface of a mercantile society struggling to be born. -- Nigel Jones * The Spectator *One 17th-century pamphlet about the Bideford trial promised "many Wonderful Things, worth your Reading"; a line that could justifiably be slapped across the cover of [The Last Witches of England]. -- Tristram Saunders * The Telegraph Culture *A retelling of a 17th-century witchcraft trial that never loses sight of the women at its heart, nor the social and economic factors that contributed to their plight… There is no plain explanation for the witchcraft accusations of 1682, but then acts of evil never have a simple origin. The Last Witches of England faces that fact and marshals an intriguing story around new research on the case. -- Marion Gibson * BBC History Magazine *Carrow meticulously explores the haunting tale of the Bideford witches. -- Suzannah Lipscomb * UnHerd *An elegantly presented, well illustrated and readable book on how class conflict played out through witch hunting… A timely warning against persecution and intolerance. * The Morning Star *In The Last Witches of England John Callow painstakingly reconstructs the lines of three beggar women accused of witchcraft in Bideford, Devon in 1632 by trawling administrate records, parish registers and dole lists. It is a remarkable piece of scholarship…astute and thoughtful. * History Today *Vividly told, detailed and extremely moving. * BBC History Revealed *The Last Witches of England is an important work of social history that presents valuable insights into the workings of life, death, and belief in a cosmopolitan 17th-century town. * All About History *A well-researched and even-handed account of this landmark case, giving pen portraits of all the major players, and providing a comprehensive picture of life in seventeenth-century Britain. -- Chris Nancollas * The Tablet *[Written] with flair and colour… Excellent local studies such as [this] bring[s] us closer to understanding the reality of witchcraft beliefs and accusations in the early modern English world than we have ever seen before. -- Ronald Hutton * Fortean Times *I rarely feel deeply moved by academic publications but John Callow’s exploration of the ‘Bideford Witches’ had a profound effect on me… Callow’s work invites the reader to bear witness to the persecution of the poor and the marginalised… Callow’s work adds considerable weight to a strong moral argument. -- Julie Ward * Chartist *This riveting read is important albeit uncomfortable. In this book, Callow has allowed readers to look at their shared past unflinchingly so that we may go into a less tragic future. -- Hilary Wilson * The Folklore Podcast *A marvellous overview of not only the fate of three women but also of Bideford which was an important port in the 17th Century... with an in depth study of the social and political conditions surrounding the fate of ‘The last witches’ is extremely valuable for those who are interested in the historical background to Wicca, but also for understanding the recent interest in Witchcraft as a political tool. * Wiccan Rede *The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition offers a thoroughly engaging account of the lives and afterlives of Temperance Lloyd, Susanna Edwards, and Mary Trembles, three women who were executed for witchcraft in 1682. It is a well-told narrative that will be of interest to scholars of witchcraft, as well as those working more broadly in early modern British social history. * Canadian Journal of History / Annales canadiennes d'histoire *[Callow] brings to the Bideford episode a nuanced sense of how witches’ supposed powers were understood and experienced at different levels of early modern society. * Inside Higher Ed *The Bideford witches' story is an essential piece in England's witchcraft history. Callow has researched it properly and deeply for the first time, and his astonishing discoveries shed new light on this tragic and bizarre story. He draws the reader into the story, retelling it with vibrant characterisation. We come away with a thoughtful understanding of what it meant to be deemed a witch, tried as a witch, and to die as a witch. * Dr. Christina Oakley Harrington, Founder & Director, Treadwell's, UK *I read the book with considerable interest and enjoyment - others have written on the Bideford witches, but not in this sort of depth. John Callow has been remarkably successful in reconstructing the story of the three 'Bideford Witches' executed in 1682. He maintains an imaginative and accessible narrative grounded in the relevant documentation and the relevant historical context, which will immerse the modern reader in the tragedies and complexities of the early modern witch hunts. * James Sharpe, Professor Emeritus of Early Modern History, University of York, UK *This is a stirring and multilayered book. At its heart is a very sad story, but one that needs to be heard. The cautionary tale Callow spins here is not the war between superstition and reason, but in the ways in which we have historically vilified and marginalized those in poverty, especially women, and the lengths we go to in silencing their voices. * Dr Amy Hale, Anthropologist and Folklorist, writer of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully, USA *With 17th Century culture wars, conspiracy theories and non-science, it wasn’t just the people who spread deadly superstition. Political, religious, media, scientific and even legal establishments literally demonised vulnerable women. John Callow’s meticulous and gripping history of the Bideford Witches is unputdownable. * Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Politician, Barrister and Human Rights Activist, UK *Table of ContentsIllustrations Acknowledgements A Note on Dating & Terminology Prologue: The Magpie at the Window Chapter One: Fortune My Foe Chapter Two: England’s Golden Bay Chapter Three: An Underground Religion Chapter Four: The Cat, the Pig and the Poppet Chapter Five: The Stolen Apple & a Farthing’s Worth of Tobacco Chapter Six: A Fine Gentleman Dressed All in Black Chapter Seven: The Discourse of the Sleepy Chimney Chapter Eight: The Politics of Death Chapter Nine: At the House of the White Witch Chapter Ten: Where are the Witches? The Crafting of Memory and Survival Endnotes Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThere is no book in English about the wartime Berlin 'salon' run by Kitty Schmidt under the secret control of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the architects of the Final SolutionSalon Kitty was the most notorious brothel in the decadent Berlin of the Weimar Republic - the city of Cabaret. But after the Nazis took power, it became something more dangerous: a spying centre with every room wired for sound, staffed by women agents specially selected by the SS to coax secrets from their VIP clients. Masterminded by Reinhard Heydrich, the spymaster whom Hitler himself called 'the man with the iron heart', the exclusive establishment turned listening post was patronised by the Nazi leaders themselves, not knowing that hidden ears were listening.One of the last untold stories of the Second World War, Salon Kitty's sensational true history is now revealed by historians Nigel Jones, Urs Brunner and Dr Julia Schrammel. After years of painstaking research and investigation, the story they tell sheds new light on Nazi methods of control and coercion, and the way that they used and abused sex for their own perverse purposes.

Read more less

Book SynopsisChapters in the book challenge the traditional Biblical Archaeology approach. They present their ideas about Community Archaeology in Israel/Palestine, bringing different questions and treating different case studies, and also reaching different though not unrelated conclusions.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Wise and thorough' Spectator 'Brisk and readable ... very valuable' Financial Times 'He is an engaging guide ... and writes with the same flair demonstrated in his previous bestseller Afgantsy' Sunday Telegraph 'A scholarly yet highly readable gallop through the last 1000 years of Russian history ... To understand this tormented nation, you can do no better than read this illuminating portrait' Jonathan Dimbleby With its attack on Ukraine, Russia's future seems almost as uncertain as its past. The largest country in the world - with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons - has been known over the past thousand years as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago it was reinvented as the Russian Federation. Russia is not an enigma but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and certainly complicated. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their history. They too omit episodes of national disgrace in favour of patriotic anecdotes, sometimes more rooted in myth than reality. Expert and former ambassador Rodric Braithwaite unpicks fact from fiction to discover what lies at the root of the Russian story, more relevant to the rest of the world now than ever before.Trade ReviewRodric Braithwaite's Russia is a scholarly yet highly readable gallop through the last 1000 years of Russian history. As befits a distinguished former diplomat, Braithwaite is judiciously opinionated. To understand this tormented nation better - and thereby how Putin came to launch his catastrophic invasion of Ukraine - you can do no better than read this illuminating portrait -- Jonathan DimblebyCrucial ... readers seeking a more nuanced view [of Russia] will find Braithwaite's brisk and readable account very valuable -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times *Braithwaite tells us not to give up hope, at least for the post-Putin era * The Times *Braithwaite's narrative, from the origins of Kievan Rus to Putin's invasion of Ukraine, is wise and thorough. It's the work of a man with a deep inside knowledge of and sympathy for Russia's people and their culture * Spectator *As Britain's ambassador to Moscow between 1988-92, Braithwaite witnessed first-hand the Russian fall from greatness that Putin is now trying to resurrect. He is an engaging guide, though, to the entire past Russian millennium - and writes with the same flair demonstrated in his previous bestseller Afgantsy, about the disastrous Soviet Afghan campaign * Sunday Telegraph *Readers seeking a more nuanced view will find Braithwaite's brisk and readable account very valuable. The book covers more than 1,000 years of history, culminating in what Putin termed the "geopolitical catastrophe" of the collapse of the Soviet Union -- Gideon Rachman * FT *A valuable book that would set many pundits straight ... Putin might do well to read [it] -- Seamus Martin * Irish Times *Praise for Moscow 1941: 'A remarkable epic, vividly portrayed * Sunday Telegraph *A heartbreaking and thrilling story of peerless heroism and misery on a barely imaginable scale -- Simon Sebag MontefiorePraise for Afgantsy: 'This is the book every politician, every general, every diplomat contemplating getting into, or out of, Afghanistan should be made to read. [A] masterpiece -- Sherard Cowper-Coles * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA page-turning, laugh-out-loud historical adventure by comedian and broadcaster Iszi Lawrence, perfect for fans of Horrible Histories.Time flies when you're having fun. But what does it do when you're not?Sunil's next door neighbour Alex is trying to cheer him up after a tricky maths test sends his day pear-shaped. Originally searching for an American corn dog, Sunil and Alex are soon journeying through time to meet child versions of future leaders. From getting in a scrap defending a young Rosa Parks to fetching water with baby Genghis Khan and a close encounter with the Tudors, will Sunil and Alex want to come back home at all? And will Mr Shaykes and his pet kiwi ever keep it down?!_______________The Time Machine Next Door is an exciting new series of quirky historical chapter books for readers aged 7-9, to be enjoyed as a series or as standalone stories. Written by comedian, podcaster and children's author Iszi Lawrence, these books b

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautifully illustrated history of the Renaissance told through the lives of its most important and influential patrons. 'Exceptionally sumptuous... This vivid history brings to life the vices and virtues of the feuding ruling families of Italy.' Michael Prodger, The Times 'Full of treasures to be uncovered... A chance to visit a glittering, at times rather gory, world that is different and yet dreamily familiar to our own.' BBC History Revealed From the late Middle Ages, the independent Italian city-states were taken over by powerful families who installed themselves as dynastic rulers. Inspired by the humanists, the princes of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy immersed themselves in the culture of antiquity, commissioning palaces, villas and churches inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome, and offering patronage to artists and writers. Many of these princes were related by blood or marriage, creating a web of alliances that held society together but whose tensions sometimes threatened to tear it apart; thus were their lives dominated as much by the waging of war as the nurture of artistic talent. In a narrative that is as rigorous and closely researched as it is accessible and informative, Mary Hollingsworth sets the princes' aesthetic achievements in the context of the volatile, ever-shifting politics of a tumultuous period of history.Trade ReviewExceptionally sumptuous... This vivid history brings to life the vices and virtues of the feuding ruling families of Italy' -- Michael Prodger, The TimesFull of treasures to be uncovered... A glittering, at times rather gory, world that is different and yet dreamily familiar to our own' * BBC History Revealed *Dense politics relieved by dazzling art * Kirkus *An accessible and entertaining introduction to a groundbreaking period in world and art history * Publishers Weekly *A significant addition to Renaissance studies, and a delicious deep dive for those fascinated by the era * Foreword Reviews *[A] sweeping tour of Renaissance century Italy... Princes of the Renaissance [is] a celebration of this fascinating moment in Italian history that is both beautifully designed and bursting with incredible colour images' * Travels Through Time Podcast *This beautifully illustrated history tries to make sense of the many rulers and governing dynasties of Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, a squabbling, treacherous bunch who through their patronage and hunger for grandeur powered the artistic efflorescence of the Renaissance * The Times *A head-scrambling epoch that Mary Hollingsworth, the author of books on the Medici and the Borgias, has done wonders to make comprehensible * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisNow a major BBC TV series: a tour through the seedier side of Britain between the wars, and the moral panic that led to the criminalisation of drugs - reissued with added material.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRigged exposes a cover-up at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic, upending the official story of the biggest scandal since the global financial crisis. It picks up where The Big Short leaves off, as the dark clouds of the financial crisis gather. Banks? health is judged by an interest rate called Libor (the London Interbank Offered Rate). The higher the Libor, the worse off the bank; too high and it?s goodnight Vienna. Libor is heading skywards. To save themselves from collapse, nationalization and loss of bonuses, banks instruct traders to manipulate Libor down?a criminal practice known as lowballing. Outraged, traders turn whistleblowers, alerting the authorities. As Rigged reveals, their instructions come first from top bosses?then from central banks and governments. But when the scandal explodes into the news, prosecutors allow banks to cover up the evidence pointing to the top. Instead, they accuse 37 traders of another kind of interest rate ?rigging? that no-one had seen as a crime. In nine trials from 2015 to 2019, nineteen are convicted and sentenced. Rigged exclusively shows why all the defendants are innocent, and how any real culprits go unpunished. How could this happen? Turns out, it?s not just the market that?s rigged. It?s the entire system.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA major international bestseller.The little-known true story of a Nazi plot to kill Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the height of World War II, and how it was averted. In 1943 only three men stood in Hitler's way; Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. As the war against Nazi Germany raged, the Allied leaders desperately needed to meet face-to-face and discuss their strategy. Facing extreme danger, they travelled to Tehran to meet in secret. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own covert plan took shape-an assassination plot. A true story filled with daring rescues, body doubles, and political intrigue, The Nazi Conspiracy details this pivotal meeting of the Big Three and the deadly Nazi scheme that could've changed history. In page-turning detail, it shows the greatest political minds of the twentieth century at work and reveals how they strategized to defeat the enemy, all whilst com

Read more less

Book SynopsisUncover the gripping narrative of Irish immigrants who transformed America in the aftermath of the Great Hunger. Tyler Anbinder's landmark work exposes the grit and resilience of the Famine Irish, defying hardship to redefine the American dream. From the bustling streets of New York to the heart of a nation in the middle of change, the compelling journey of these unrecognised heroes is unveiled, painting a vibrant scene of hope that echoes through the heart of America.A captivating testament to courage and perseverance, this book is a must-read, illuminating a pivotal chapter in the making of modern America, a testament to the enduring spirit that forged a new home in the land of opportunity. Drawing on previously unavailable records and a ten-year research initiative, stories of the refugees who settled in New York City are reclaimed. Plentiful Country is a compelling tribute to the resilience of these individuals.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe links between Cornwall, a county frequently considered remote and separate in the Middle Ages, and the wider realm of England are newly discussed. Winner of The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies (FOCS) Holyer an Gof Cup for non-fiction, 2020. Stretching out into the wild Atlantic, fourteenth-century Cornwall was a land at the very ends of the earth. Within itsboundaries many believed that King Arthur was a real-life historical Cornishman and that their natal shire had once been the home of mighty giants. Yet, if the county was both unusual and remarkable, it still held an integral place in the wider realm of England. Drawing on a wide range of published and archival material, this book seeks to show how Cornwall remained strikingly distinctive while still forming part of the kingdom. It argues that myths,saints, government, and lordship all endowed the name and notion of Cornwall with authority in the minds of its inhabitants, forging these people into a commonalty. At the same time, the earldom-duchy and the Crown together helped to link the county into the politics of England at large. With thousands of Cornishmen and women drawn east of the Tamar by the needs of the Crown, warfare, lordship, commerce, the law, the Church, and maritime interests, connectivity with the wider realm emerges as a potent integrative force. Supported by a cast of characters ranging from vicious pirates and gentlemen-criminals through to the Black Prince, the volume sets Cornwall in the latest debates about centralisation, devolution, and collective identity, about the nature of Cornishness and Englishness themselves. S.J. DRAKE is a Research Associate at the Institute of Historical Research. He was born and brought up in Cornwall.Trade ReviewDrake puts medieval Cornwall on the map... [this book] will be essential reading on its subject. It will be used for a hundred years or more. * MEDIEAVISTIK *Magisterial.... Thanks to the careful research and convincing argument presented in Cornwall, Connectivity and Identity, we should now regard Cornwall's distinctiveness not as separateness, but as holding an important place in the project of governing a heterogeneous polity, the history of which dates back to the fourteenth century and the Plantagenet project of creating an English kingdom * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *Sam Drake has produced a masterful and compelling work on Cornwall in the high medieval period, the first 'overarching study' in 60 years. [...] This book should be a must buy for all interested in medieval regional history and Cornwall. * THE LOCAL HISTORIAN *This fascinating study by Sam Drake is a welcome contribution not only to scholarship on late medieval Cornwall, it also represents an important and timely intervention in current approaches to history of regions in pre-modern Britain and Ireland. * PERITIA *An interesting and useful volume which offers a substantial amount of historical flesh to clothe the archaeological bones for this intriguing period of Cornwall's history. * CORNISH ARCHAEOLOGY *Dr Sam J. Drake's Cornwall, Connectivity and Identity in the Fourteenth Century is a most notable contribution [...] Drake offers a wide-ranging and richly researched portrait of life in fourteenth-century Cornwall which takes 'connectivity' as its theme. This allows Drake to make a scholarly contribution of great value not only for those primarily interested in Cornish history but also for those who work on the more general social and political history of England in the late middle ages: put simply, this is a book that will need to be added to a great many reading lists. * REVIEWS IN HISTORY *A well-written and engaging book. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *Table of ContentsPreface: a Little Understood Land Part I: Cornwall: Its Gentlemen, Government and Identity The Very Ends of the Earth: an Overview of Fourteenth-Century Cornwall Office-Holding in a Wild Spot Since the Time of King Arthur: Gentry Identity and the Commonalty of Cornwall An Extraordinary Folk: the Cornish People Part II: Distant Dominium: Comital, Ducal and Regnal Lordship The Final Tempestuous Years of the Earldom, 1300-1336 The Black Prince and his Duchy, 1337-1376 Richard of Bordeaux: Duke of Cornwall and King of England, 1376-1399 Part III: Connectivity: Cornwall and the Wider Realm Communication, Movement, and Exchange: Connectivity Frameworks Sovereign Kings and Loyal Subjects: Regnal Connectivity Pillagers with Long Knives: Military Connectivity Formidable Lords and True Tenants: Lordly Connectivity Gold, Tin, and Terrible Ale: Commercial Connectivity Lawless Judges and Litigious Cornishmen: Legal Connectivity God and Cornwall: Ecclesiastical Connectivity Of Shipmen, Smugglers, and Pirates: Maritime Connectivity Connecting Cornwall Conclusion: Cornish Otherness and English Hegemony? Epilogue: Contesting Cornwall Appendix I. Cornwall's Office-holders, c. 1300-c. 1400 Appendix II. Cornish Men-at-Arms and Mounted Archers who Served the King between c. 1298 and c. 1415 Appendix III. Cornish Ports that Sent Ships to Royal Fleets between c. 1297 and c. 1420 Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITINGIn this astonishing collection of essays, the award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller explores the silence in which so many important things are kept. He examines the experience of discrimination through this silence and what it means to breach it: to risk words, to risk truths. And he considers the histories our bodies inherit - the crimes that haunt them, and how meaning can shift as we move throughout the world, variously assuming privilege or victimhood. Through letters to James Baldwin, encounters with Liam Neeson, Soca, Carnival, family secrets, love affairs, white women's tears, questions of aesthetics and more, Miller powerfully and imaginatively recounts everyday acts of racism and prejudice. With both the epigrammatic concision and conversational cadence of his poetry and novels, Things I Have Withheld is a great artistic achievement: a work of beauty which challenges us to interrogate what seems unsayable and why - our actions, defence mechanisms, imaginations and interactions - and those of the world around us.Trade ReviewCaptivatingly elegant . . . It has a powerfully gripping intensity . . . An outstanding effort at tackling experiences we would rather not confront. The emotional pitch is well attuned, the words judiciously chosen. Baldwin would be proud * * Sunday Times * *A wonderfully challenging book that I will dip in and out of for years to come. Through brilliant storytelling it explores issues of gender, queerness, race and class. Miller's insights and his grace are hard won. As always, this Jamaican rock-star poet's writing is lyrical, original and engaging. I left it challenged but tanked up with a new vocabulary and an understanding of the extent to which so much is inscribed on the body -- INGRID PERSAUD * * Observer * *With searing honesty, Miller carries the reader with him through this challenging, insightful book thanks to the lyrical power of his storytelling * * Financial Times * *A subtle, intimate yet hard-hitting investigation of - ostensibly - racism, class prejudice and homophobia . . . it doesn't so much tackle as tease out - caress, even - the subject of things that are difficult to talk about * * The Times, Best Books of the Year * *Invaluable . . . an astounding collection, where Miller circles the question of how to put words to what is often silenced . . . In a lyrical, effortless style, Miller traverses questions of class and race, and how love, privilege and community exist within them * * Big Issue * *The powerful essays include [Miller's] own letters to the late American novelist James Baldwin and his reflections on the permanence of racism. He writes movingly * * Independent * *Miller promises a lyrical collection of essays . . . Drawing on his travels across the US, the UK, Jamaicaand other places, Miller's essays say something about the ways in which meaning, as well as our own positionality, can shift as we travel through the world and encounter systemic violence . . . Both Miller and Baldwin are known to be devastatingly concise and honest in their observations concerning race and racism * * Forbes, Most Anticipated Book of 2021 * *Miller's storytelling is impeccable, and his verse is arresting and beautiful. Things I Have Withheld is a remarkable contribution to literature -- DE'SHAWN WINSLOW * * author of In West Mills * *Perfectly encapsulates what it means to live in today's world as "the other" . . . Miller is a gifted writer; his silences furthering his craft as much as his words . . . Miller's writing is courageous and expansive. It seeks to educate its readers about inherent racism and racial bias and does so by tackling nuances head on * * Wee Review * *Searing . . . entrancing . . . Miller brings into devastating clarity the dangers confronting Black people in visualising the final moments of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Sharp as blades, Miller's words cut to the core * * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFergal Tobin was a freelance writer and historian. His career was in publishing and he was president of the Federation of European Publishers in Brussels from 2010 to 2012. Under the pen name Richard Killeen he wrote several acclaimed works of Irish history, including Ireland in Brick and Stone: The Island's History and Its Buildings, The Historic Atlas of Dublin and The Concise History of Modern Ireland. His previous book, The Irish Difference, was chosen as a Book of the Year by the Irish Times. Fergal died in February 2023, just after he finished writing A City Runs Through Them.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The princes are nothing but tyrants who flay the people; they fritter away our blood and sweat on their pomp and whoring and knavery.' These were the words of Thomas Müntzer at the head of the massed ranks of a peasant army in the year 1525. Ranged against him were the might of the princes of the German Nation. How did Müntzer, the son of a coin maker from central Germany, rise in just a few short years to become one of the most feared revolutionaries in early modern Europe?In this brilliant work of historical excavation, Andrew Drummond charts the life and times of the man Martin Luther denounced as a 'Ravening Wolf' and 'False Prophet'. Drummond shows us Müntzer as a human being. Far from the bloodthirsty devil of legend, he was a man of considerable learning and principle, deeply sympathetic to the misery of the peasantry and the poor. In his short life - he was beheaded at thirty-five - Müntzer promised to fundamentally upend German society.Seeking to save Müntzer from the condescension of history, Drummond guides us through the religious and political disputes of the Reformation, placing his life and thought in the context of those turbulent years. The result is a portrait of an often contradictory but always radical figure, one who continues to inspire movements of the poor across the globe.Trade ReviewAt last - a new account for our times of Thomas Müntzer, theologian and revolutionary. Drummond brings Müntzer and his world vividly to life. He shows us just why Müntzer hated Luther, and how he came to take up arms. What did it mean to be a revolutionary in sixteenth-century Germany? - Drummond shows us. You will be gripped and inspired by this exciting story - I couldn't put it down. -- Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford, and author of Martin Luther: Renegade and ProphetPosterity has endorsed not just Luther's victory but also his determined character assassination of his rival. Andrew Drummond's scholarly but eminently readable, thoughtful, thorough and at times witty biography of Müntzer redresses the balance for English-speaking audiences -- Professor Michael Russell, University of GlasgowAmong the famous figures associated with 16th century Germany, that of religious thinker and social revolutionary Thomas Müntzer deserves to be far better known. Andy Drummond's excellent, brilliantly written and entertaining, new biography delves deep into the archival material to draw out the history of a radical whose life is often obscured by propaganda and myth. As we approach the 500th anniversary of Müntzer's execution, this book is the definitive account of his life. -- Martin Empson, author of 'Kill all the Gentlemen': Class Struggle and Change in the English CountrysideA blisteringly good book about personal enmity, and the difference between revolution and reform. -- Daniel Brooks * Telegraph *Drummond's marvellous romp of a biography - part jolly Simon Winder-like deep dive into 16th-century Germania, part sagacious reflection on the Reformation in the manner of Diarmaid MacCulloch - aims to free Müntzer from his detractors. -- Stuart Jeffries * Spectator *Table of ContentsWettin Family Tree Map Acknowledgements Notes on the Text and Some Helpful Remarks1. A Most Useful Lesson An introduction2. The End of the World Historical and religious background to the German Reformation3. The Devil Sowed His Seed Müntzer's early years4. Murder and Riot and Bloodshed Preacher in Zwickau (1520-1521)5. He Ran Away like an Arch-Villain A visit to Prague (1521)6. Satan Wandered in the Wilderness Erfurt, Nordhausen and Halle (1522-1523)7. Satan Made Himself a Nest in Allstedt A fruitful year of activity in Allstedt (1523-1524)8. His Face Was as Yellow as a Corpse's Rebellion in Allstedt (1524)9. Using God's Name, He Spoke and Acted for the Devil Müntzer's theology 10. The Devil Never Let Him Rest Mühlhausen and Nürnberg (1524)11. His Poisonous Seed In south-west Germany at the time of the peasant uprising (1524-1525)12. The Time Was Come The Thuringian uprising (1525)13. Thomas Would Catch All the Bullets in His Sleeves The Battle of Frankenhausen (May 1525)14. How God Punishes Disobedience The aftermath of defeat at Frankenhausen15. Rebellious Violent Preachers The early Anabaptists16. The Devil in Person HistoriographyConclusion Chronology Bibliography Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn January of 1788 the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales and a thousand British men and women encountered the people who will be their new neighbours; the beach nomads of Australia. "These people mixed with ours," wrote a British observer soon after the landfall, "and all hands danced together." What followed would determine relations between the peoples for the next two hundred years.Drawing skilfully on first-hand accounts and historical records, Inga Clendinnen reconstructs the complex dance of curiosity, attraction and mistrust performed by the protagonists of either side. She brings this key chapter in British colonial history brilliantly alive. Then we discover why the dancing stopped . . .Trade ReviewIn a voice that is always careful, thoughtful, deliberate, she teases out the story from what is not said, from ironic or obtuse turns of phrases in sentences constrained by professional formality or egotistical defensiveness . . . (Clendinnen) is above all a skilled interpreter of human behaviour. It is this psychologically astute . . . approach that sets her apart as a thoroughly 21st-century historian. -- Susan Elderkin * * Guardian * *Clendinnen revitalises out interest . . . Her glimpses are less conclusive but more truthful. They leave us with the feeling that we have not got it right, and that in itself is a spring-board back into investigation. -- Nicholas Shakespeare * * Daily Telegraph * *The story evoked is one of mystery, excitement and tension. Clendinnen's obvious passion for the subject transfers brilliantly onto the page as people and places are brought vividly to life. * * Big Issue * *A moving, often surprising story. * * Scotsman * *Clendinnen writes so well, with an eye for detail and character that make her a pleasure to read . . . Her words dance across the page. * * New York Times * *An extraordinary achievement. -- Robert MainFascinating. Transforms our understanding of history from something static into something lived. -- James Bredley * * Sydney Morning Herald * *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Viktor Frankl gives us the gift of looking at everything in life as an opportunity' Edith Eger, bestselling author of The Choice'Offers a path to finding hope even in these dark times' The New York Times A rediscovered masterpiece by the 16 million copy bestselling author of Man’s Search For MeaningJust months after his liberation from Auschwitz renowned psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl delivered a series of talks revealing the foundations of his life-affirming philosophy. The psychologist, who would soon become world famous, explained his central thoughts on meaning, resilience and his conviction that every crisis contains opportunity. Published here for the very first time in English, Frankl's words resonate as strongly today as they did in 1946. Despite the unspeakable horrors in the camp, Frankl learnt from his fellow inmates that it is always possible to say ‘yes to life’ – a profound and timeless lesson for us all.With an introduction by Daniel Goleman.'Frankl’s is a voice that seems as necessary now as it was in the shadow of the Holocaust' Guardian Trade ReviewOffers a path to finding hope even in these dark times * The New York Times *Frankl’s is a voice that seems as necessary now as it was in the shadow of the Holocaust * Guardian *An unmissable opportunity to understand the man and his work more deeply * The Jewish Chronicle *The case studies are relatable and the overall viewpoint convincing. More than 70 years later, Frankl’s philosophy still inspires * Kirkus *This slim, powerful collection from Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning) attests to life’s meaning, even in desperate circumstances. . . . This lovely work transcends its original context, offering wisdom and guidance * Publishers Weekly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the late 1630s, Andrea Stuart's earliest known maternal ancestor set sail from England, lured by the promise of the New World, to settle in Barbados where he fell by chance into the lucrative life of a sugar plantation owner. With George Ashby's first crop, the cane revolution was underway and would go on to transform the Caribbean into an archipelago of riches, establishing a thriving worldwide industry that bound together ambitious white entrepreneurs and enslaved black workers. As it grew, this sweet colonial trade fuelled the Enlightenment and financed the Industrial Revolution, but it also had more direct, less palatable consequences for the individuals caught up in it, consequences that still haunt the author's past. In this unique personal history, Andrea Stuart follows the thread of her own family's involvement with sugar through successive generations, telling a story of insatiable greed and forbidden love, of abuse and liberation.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 264 BC, a Roman army was poised to cross from southern Italy into Sicily. They couldn't know that this crossing would be Rome's first step on its journey from local republic to vast and powerful empire. At the beginning of the three dramatic centuries that make up this book's narrative, Rome had no emperor and limited global influence; by the book's end, Hadrian was set to pass into history as one of the greatest emperors, whose territories stretched from England to Turkey. In David Potter's masterful history of this period, we trace the process of cultural, political and civic transformation which led to the creation of a monarchy and the acquisition of territory, via wars with Hannibal, the destruction of Carthage, Augustan Empire-building and Hadrian's famous wall, all of which contributed to the most successful multi-cultural state in the history of Europe. This is a lively, scholarly approach to an essential era.Trade ReviewA highly readable history of a fascinating period * BBC History Magazine *Potter has written a characteristically crisp, vibrant, and provocative new account of a turbulent and fascinating period in Roman history. Highly recommended. -- Carlos Noreña, author * Imperial Ideals in the Roman West *Combines a sweeping narrative with impressively detailed analysis of the factors behind Rome's imperial conquests and internal turbulence. An invaluable resource. -- Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics, University of GlasgowAs a portrait of an old and vast representative republic deteriorating into an autocracy, Potter's book is easily, even alarmingly, lucid. * Open Letters Review *Potter presents this epic tale afresh with insight, erudition and remarkable detail. His approach stands out for its clear-eyed exposure of the bloodshed, suffering and persistent strife that led eventually to the Republic's self-destruction and the unexpected emergence of Pax Romana. Here is a book that should jolt generous admirers of ancient Rome to rethink their viewpoint. -- Richard Talbert, Kenan Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1187, nearly a century after the victorious First Crusade, Saladin captured Jerusalem. The Templars, headquartered on the Temple Mount, were driven from the city along with the Frankish population.The fall of Jerusalem was a turning point, the start of a narrative of desperate struggle and relentless loss. In little more than a century Acre would be destroyed, the Franks driven from Outremer, and the Templars themselves, reviled and disgraced, would face their final immolation. Michael Haag's new book explores the rise and fall of the Templars against the backdrop of the Crusader ideal and their settlement venture in Outremer. Haag argues that the Crusader States were a rare period when the population of Palestine had something approaching local rule, representing local interests - and the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin was a disaster. He contends that the Templars, as defenders of the Crusader States, were made scapegoats for a Europe whose newfound nationalism caused it to withdraw support for the Crusader venture. Throughout, he charts the Templars' rise and fall in gripping narrative, with their beliefs and actions set in the context of their time.Trade ReviewEnjoyable and informative...Haag...is a romantic pluralist...his clever coverage of the most abstruse Muslim schemes...is a pleasure to read -- Minoo Dinshaw * TLS *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMadeleine Bunting is one of the most high-profile commentators in Britain. Her father was deeply conservative, with romantic, old-fashioned views about England. After his death, and wanting to understand him better, Bunting began to explore his passionate, lifelong attachment to a small plot of land in North Yorkshire. Delving deep into the rich history of this acre, she uncovers traces of its Neolithic inhabitants and of the Cistercian monks; she learns of the medieval battles and considers the changing face of agriculture and leisure. The result sheds a fascinating light on what a contested, layered place England is, and on what belonging to a place might mean to all of us. The Plot is an original, heartfelt and deeply political book.Trade ReviewAn intriguing and elegant chronicle of a wild and woolly patch of England ... Bunting is on finest form dealing with recent history, particularly when she exposes the modern "cultural myth of the rural idyll" and the very English idiocy of preserving this view while the environment dies. Her scholarship ultimately produces a persuasive argument for a more potent sense of place in rootless, mobile Britain * Sunday Times *Bunting's exploration of the relationships between place and people is wide-ranging, researched with great intelligence and richly supported by detail * Guardian *A startling, willed, one-off book ... What she sets out to do is to look at the acre of land "in the middle of nowhere", with scholarly zest, until it becomes no longer a nowhere but a somewhere, known and minutely understood. She is an exemplary guide ... Her greatest achievement is to work a single acre to produce a more general portrait of England ... Above all, she questions what belonging is and discovers that it is about "commitment rather than possession" * Observer *Madeleine Bunting's multidimensional chronicle is among the very best pieces of non-fiction to have been published in a long while about what it is like to be English -- Simon Schama * Financial Times *Madeleine Bunting writes angelically about a place that embraces so much history -- Nicolas Bagnall * Sunday Telegraph *Delightful and fascinating, it also includes a particularly excellent chapter on the many unexpected medieval uses of sheep * Metro *Well researched and beautifully written, Bunting's story builds, stone by stone, to offer a historical narrative about England, an environmental analysis of the effects of industrial agriculture, and a meditation on belonging -- Jo Littler * Guardian *Madeleine Bunting in her haunting and supple book The Plot offered what she called a biography of an English acre" ... Bunting sought to discover its significance in her family history and, inseparably, the cross-winds of English history that have shaped it * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA remarkable and eccentric insight into the south east of England in the pre-war period. Richard Wyndham's 'last look round' was a tour taken immediately before the Second World War in 1939 and was originally published in the following year as South-Eastern Survey. Wyndham is a very agreeable companion as he travels in his self-confessed 'haphazard' way around the counties of Sussex, Kent and Surrey. Often eccentric but always good fun, he drives 'for the most part on side roads only, and through villages and lesser towns.' A selection of Wyndham's own black and white photographs taken on his expedition are included. Sussex, Kent and Surrey 1939 is a wonderful insight into south east of England before the outbreak of the Second World War, which brought so much change to the country. Wyndham is a superb travel companion who completed the writing as he was called up for active service.Trade Review‘Wyndham’s tone is that of a warm, eccentric uncle.' * Discover Britain *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Dunbars of Ackergill and Hempriggs emerged in the late 1600s as one of the largest landowners in Caithness. As such they played a major part in the history of the county, a role revealed in the family papers with their wide variety of documents, including personal letters and legal missives. Readers will learn about the Dunbars selling Caithness grain in the Lowlands, coping with the effects of the last Jacobite rising, handling disputes with their neighbours, arranging elections, dealing with debt - and that is just in the 18th century. During the Napoleonic wars the Dunbars recruited a fencible regiment called the Caithness Legion that saw action in Ireland. At the same time the British Fisheries Society acquired land from the family and began to develop Pulteneytown as a major herring fishing port. An agricultural revolution swept over the estates, leading to the enclosing of fields, disputes over common land, evictions and refurbishment of farms. In the mid-19th century, when the family home at Ackergill Tower was refashioned by the architect David Bryce, the Dunbars adopted the lifestyle of the Victorian country gentry as well as finding careers in the Empire. With family trees, photographs, maps and documents, the book presents an absorbing, intriguing and, at times, amusing account of the social and economic life of the Dunbars over more than three hundred years, using unique messages from the past, never before made public. A fascinating insight into life in northern Scotland during centuries of change.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince its relaunch in 1979, Granta magazine has championed the art and craft of reportage - journalism marked by vivid description, a novelist's eye to form and eyewitness reporting that reveals hidden truths about people and events that have shaped the world we know. This new edition of The Granta Book of Reportage collects a dozen of the finest and most lasting pieces Granta has published. Featuring distinguished writers and reporters - John Simpson, James Fenton, Martha Gellhorn, Germaine Greer, Ryszard Kapuscinski, John le Carre, as well as new talents Elana Lappin, Suketu Mehta and Wendell Steavenson - the book covers some of the signal events of our time: the fall of Saigon, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the massacre in Tiananmen Square and the aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq.Trade Review"* 'Some of the most powerful journalism of [recent] years, transmitting excitement and intelligence that would be hard to match' John Carey, Sunday Times * 'Killer stuff' Guardian * 'Excellent... Old-fashioned journalism at its best-authoritative, interesting, passionate and honest' Philip Knightley, Mail on Sunday * 'Writings to cherish... A good bedside read' Birmingham Post * 'Essential journalism-in the broadest sense of the word-from a host of justly famous names displaying the classiest form of the reporter's art' Nottingham Evening Post"

Read more less

Book SynopsisA facsimile edition of Bradshaw's Handbook of 1863, the book that inspired the BBC television series 'Great British Railway Journeys'. When Michael Portillo began the series 'Great British Railway Journeys', a well-thumbed 150-year-old book shot back to fame. The original Bradshaw's guides had been well known to Victorian travellers and were produced when the British railway network was at its peak and as tourism by rail became essential. It was the first national tourist guide specifically organized around railway journeys, and this beautifully illustrated facsimile edition offers a glimpse through the carriage window at a Britain long past.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThere is no shortage of books on how to look after houseplants but no one has shown us how and when and why these plants came to be in our homes. Catherine Horwood’s combination of social history, plant history and the history of interior design explains why, as Flanders and Swann sung in the 1950s, ‘the garden’s full of furniture / and the house is full of plants.’ In this fascinating book we learned how potted plants are as much subject to fashion as pieces of furniture. For the Victorians, it was the aspidistra in the front parlour, the Edwardians loved a palm, and, for today’s millennials, no home is complete without the ubiquitous fiddle-leaf fig. This book show that there is little new when it comes to plants in the home. In the mid-18th century, Wedgwood created a market for special bulb pots and in the 1950s, some of Terence Conran’s earliest designs were for houseplant containers. Across the ages, the choice of potted plants has been influenced by the layout of houses, the levels of dirt and pollution and the equipment to hand. Now, with so much choice, we seem happy to treat houseplants as disposables. This book gives a better understanding of the miracles that were once achieved with indoor plant displays, inspired by Sir Hugh Platt’s 1608 vision of a garden ‘within doores’. This new edition has been revised with new material added to bring the history of the houseplant and its massive explosion in popularity right up to date.Trade Review"Before Instagram loved houseplants, Catherine was telling the story of them. Potted History is the essential tome for tracing the fascinating history of our obsession with indoor jungles. A must-read for any fan of bringing the outdoors in." -- Alice Vincent, author of Rootbound, Rewilding a Life"One of my favourite books on gardening. It's a story of potted plants from the bustle of Covent Garden in the 17th century to the Instagram age...Horwood's cleverness is to use the story to give wider insights into how we live, and indeed, how cities have changed over time." -- Christopher Woodward, Director, Garden Museum, London"Catherine Horwood... has found that rare thing: a genuinely new subject in interior design." -- Ros Byam Shaw * World of Interiors *"Dr Horwood’s remarkable research into the ‘flowerpot room; in Josiah Wedgwood’s Soho shop...There is also wonderful detail, too, on the Victorian obsession with indoor plants - all those ferneries and winter gardens." * Telegraph Gardening Books of the Year *"This book embarks on a journey through 400 years of changing fashions...well researched...and an enjoyable read." * The Professional Gardener *“A fascinating history of the houseplant that looks at how plants have been used inside the home through the centuries from as early as the 1600s…a thought-provoking read.” * Gardens Illustrated *“Anyone who is interested in houseplants will find this book fascinating. Anyone interested in social history will find this book equally impelling. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” * www.blackberrygarden.co.uk *"The author is a consummate garden historian with a talent for storytellling. This work reflects her considerable skill." -- The English Garden"Full of excellent detail and has taught me much." -- Financial Times * Robin Lane Fox *"Readers seeking an academic but accessible take on the relationship between houseplants and social history will enjoy this book." * Library Journal (US) *"Highly recommended." * The Horticulturist *"Writing with flair and just a bit of tongue in cheek...social historian and plant and garden enthusiast Horwood updates this book, first published in 2007, with renewed vigor." -- Booklist

Read more less

Book SynopsisParis Then and Now captures the changes that have taken place in the French capital from the heady days of the Belle Époque through to the 1940s. Matching classic archive images with the same viewpoint taken today the book provides a stunning visual history to Europe’s most beautiful and romantic city. Paris d’hier et d’aujourd’hui retrace les changements opérés dans la capitale entre les jours insouciants de la Belle Époque et les années 1940. Par la confrontation d’images photographiques d’archives avec des photos d’aujourd’hui prises sous le même angle de vue, ce livre propose une histoire visuelle de la plus belle et de la plus romantique des villes d’Europe. Inclus: Arc de Triomphe, Grand Palais, Champs Élysées, Place de la Concorde, Statue de Strasbourg, Ministère de la Marine, Cour du Louvre, Comédie Française, Rue de Rivoli, Place Vendôme, Église de la Madeleine, Opéra de Paris, Galeries Lafayette, Boulevard des Capucines, Gare St. Lazare, Fontaine des Innocents, Théâtre du Châtelet, Hôtel de Ville, Centre George Pompidou, Place de la Bastille, Pont Marie, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Pont Neuf, Pont St. Michel, Rue de Bièvre, Shakespeare and Company, La Sorbonne, Station de Métro Odéon, Cour de Rohan, Carrefour de Buci, Rue de Constantine / Rue de Lutèce, Panthéon, Palais du Luxembourg, Café de Floré, Place Saint Médard, La Ruche, Usine Citroën / Parc André Citroën, Rue Berton, Tour Eiffel, Place du Trocadéro / Palais de Chaillot. Pont de L’Alma, Gare d’Orsay, Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Place de la République, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Canal Saint-Martin, Gare de L’Est et Gare du Nord.

Read more less

Book SynopsisErected in 1759 on the Eastern shore of Virginia, the remarkable Eyre Hall is still occupied by descendants of its builder, Littleton Eyre. Since construction, Eyre’s succeeding generations have acquired and preserved a rich variety of objects reflecting the tastes and aspirations of the many different families that lived there. Featuring extensively researched text from 22 contributors, this volume comprises four main sections that examine the historical, sociological, anthropological and architectural significance of the house, from the first generation through to the current owner, Furlong Baldwin. A catalogue raisonné of the material culture of Eyre Hall includes furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, paintings, prints, books, musical instruments, bound sheet music, textiles and miscellaneous objects. This volume also presents two family trees—one of the Eyre family; the other of people who worked at the house in the early 20th century—and four major maps, alongside stunning new colour photography of the building, grounds and catalogue pieces.Trade Review"Some readers will see this book as a companion to The Chesapeake House, the magisterial account of early Tidewater architecture. It is that and more. With its focus on a single house and its remarkably preserved collection, it sets a new standard for scholarship on house museums, though its subject is a private home. Thanks to this beautiful book, Eyre Hall finally has the wider audience that it deserves. “—Jeffrey E. Klee, vice president and senior director of Architecture, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust; “The Material World of Eyre Hall goes far beyond chronicling four centuries at a well preserved private residence on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Baldwin and Lounsbury bring together a who’s who of American material-culture historians to offer a compelling portrait of life in the Chesapeake. The eloquent introduction and history of the Eyre family coupled with first-hand accounts of those who lived and worked at Eyre Hall provide a valuable context for understanding the extraordinary buildings, landscape, and household objects that survive to tell its story. “—Carol B. Cadou, Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library; “This work is a rare confluence of a historic place, objects, and people captivating readers with a compelling historical narrative that spans over 350 years. In addition to the remarkable objects passed down from one generation to the next, it is also a legacy that entwines landowners, enslaved people, freedmen, and servants. Their stories are here, too—and rightfully so. The richness found in these pages surpasses much of what we see and hear at public historic house museums and sites." —Christy S. Coleman, Executive Director, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments by Carl R. Lounsbury; A Note from Henry Furlong Baldwin; Foreword by J Thomas Savage; Eyreloom: An Introduction by Cary Carson; I The Changing Fortunes of the Eyre Family through Four Centuries: Chapter 1 Golden Quarter by Carl R. Lounsbury; Eyreville: Archaeology of the Late Seventeenth Century by Haley Hoffman; Chapter 2 Eyre Hall: Power House by Carl R. Lounsbury; Working the Land by Sam Florer; Chapter 3 The Bounty of Eyre Hall: From Working Plantation to Summer Retreat in the Long Nineteenth Century by Carl R. Lounsbury; Escaping Enslavement by Whaleboat, 1832 by Alexandra Rosenberg; Health Retreats and Pleasure Grounds by Robert Watkins; Hoofprints by Elizabeth Palms; Chapter 4 Eyre Hall in the Twentieth Century: “I’m Home” by George W. McDaniel; A Scrapbook of Recollections by Those Who Called Eyre Hall “Home” by George W. McDaniel; II Architecture: The Architecture of the House by Carl R. Lounsbury; Architectural Hardware by Edward A. Chappell; Wallpaper by Margaret Pritchard; Domestic Service Buildings by Carl R. Lounsbury; Home Farm by Carl R. Lounsbury; III Landscape: Garden and Grounds by Will Rieley; Green -house by Will Rieley; Graveyard by Carl R. Lounsbury; IV Catalogue: Furniture by Sumpter Priddy; Silver by Mark B. Letzer; Ceramics by Robert Hunter and Angelika R. Kuettner; Glass by Angelika R. Kuettner; Paintings by Laura Pass Barry; Maps by Katie McKinney; Prints by Katie McKinney; Books by Bennie Brown; Musical Instruments by John Watson; Sheet Music by Gary Stanton; Costume and Textiles by Neal T. Hurst; Ironwork and Arms by Erik Goldstein; Index; Photo credits.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA vital document in the history of the Indigenous peoples of North America

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe life and art of the 18th-century naturalist Mark Catesby, and his pioneering work depicting the flora and fauna of North America, are explored in vibrant detail This book explores the life and work of the celebrated eighteenth-century English naturalist, explorer, artist and author Mark Catesby (1683–1749). During Catesby’s lifetime, science was poised to shift from a world of amateur virtuosi to one of professional experts. Working against a backdrop of global travel that incorporated collecting and direct observation of nature, Catesby spent two prolonged periods in the New World – in Virginia (1712–19) and South Carolina and the Bahamas (1722–6). In his majestic two-volume Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731–43), esteemed by his contemporary John Bartram as ‘an ornament for the finest library in the world’, he reflected the excitement, drama and beauty of the natural world. Interweaving elements of art history, history of science, natural history illustration, painting materials, book history, paper studies, garden history and colonial history, this meticulously researched volume brings together a wealth of unpublished images as well as newly discovered letters by Catesby, which, with their first-hand accounts of his collecting and encounters in the wild, bring the story of this extraordinary pioneer naturalist vividly to life.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British ArtTrade Review“In the early eighteenth century, Mark Catesby, an amateur naturalist from East Anglia, vividly documented the flora and fauna of America from the tiniest ‘tumble-turd’ beetle to the flowering umbrella tree. His watercolours, beautifully reproduced (often in full-size plates) speak of an early modern world in which distinctions between amateur and professional, art and science were decidedly blurry.”—Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times, “Books of the Year: Art” “[The] definitive study of Catesby’s life and art. . . . Gorgeous. . . . Accessible. . . . Ms. McBurney’s book perfectly matches its multifaceted subject, offering us nothing less than a natural history of Catesby’s remarkable imagination.”—Christoph Irmscher, Wall Street Journal “Interweaving elements of art history, history of science, natural history illustration, painting materials, book history, paper studies, garden history and colonial history, Henrietta's meticulously researched volume shines new light on the role of art and the artist in the exploration of the natural world.”—Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter “This is an exemplary monograph in every sense, adding both personal insight and a discerning eye to the growing body of works on Catesby . . . including many individual contributions, all carefully referenced. It forms a fitting monument to a major figure in eighteenth-century natural history, now very firmly delineated.”—Arthur MacGregor, Journal of the History of Collections “Shedding new light on the role of art and the artist in exploring the natural world, this richly illustrated book explores the life and work of the celebrated eighteenth-century English artist, naturalist and author who travelled the world collecting specimens and observing nature.”—Artmag “This celebration of the life and work of Mark Catesby, an eighteenth-century artist, explorer and naturalist, is packed full of stunning watercolours that bring the natural world to life.”—The Arts Society “McBurney’s book is a tribute to Catesby’s determination and endurance. Taking the reader on a journey through Catesby’s identity in chapters titled ‘Naturalist’, ‘Artist’ and ‘Horticulturalist,’ McBurney offers a multifaceted examination of an extraordinary man filled with perennial wonder at the world, continually discovering the beauties it has to offer.”—Almanac “A joy to read and a visual delight. Perhaps the most exciting chapter, helped by the superb reproductions, concerns Catesby’s development as an artist.”—Jenny Uglow, Times Literary Supplement “A beautiful new book.”—House & Garden “It is precisely this mixture of art and science, anthropology and personal experience, and documentation and commentary that makes this book—just like Catesby’s own publication—such a treasure.”—Anna McNay, Art Quarterly “[B]eautifully designed and laid out. . . . Burney’s meticulously researched volume brings together a wealth of unpublished images as well as newly discovered letters by Catesby, which, with their first-hand accounts of his collecting and encounters in the wild, bring the story of this extraordinary pioneer naturalist vividly to life.”—Peter Bower, The Quarterly “This well-researched book by a historian is a fascinating read, and it reproduces well many of Catesby’s paintings and other illustrations about his life. I’m sure that it will turn out to be the definitive study of this great and versatile naturalist and artist Mark Catesby.”—Ghillean Prance PPLS, The Linnean “Meticulously researched and sumptuously illustrated. . . . McBurney wears her scholarship lightly, but it shines through on every page. Far from the shadowy figure of earlier biographies, Catesby emerges as a multifaceted man of his times. This account of his life and achievements is unlikely to be equalled.”—John Edgington, Garden History Winner of the 2023 SHNH Natural History Book Prize

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘A compelling real-life thriller, full of passion, free of writerly fuss, woven from the most intractable archival cat’s cradle imaginable.’ Simon Ings, The Telegraph The true story of a decade-long investigation that opens a new window onto Cold War espionage, CIA secrets, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Independent filmmaker Mary Haverstick thought she’d stumbled onto the project of a lifetime — a biopic of a little-known aviation legend whose story seemed to embody the hopeful spirit of the dawn of the space age. But after she received a mysterious warning from a government agent, Haverstick began to suspect that all was not as it seemed. What she found as she dug deeper was a darker story — a story of double identities and female spies, a tangle of intrigue that stretched from the fields of the Congo to the shores of Cuba, from the streets of Mexico City to the dark heart of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas. As Haverstick attempted to learn the truth directly from her subject in a cat-and-mouse game that stretched across a decade, she plunged deep into the CIA files of the 1950s and 60s. A Woman I Know brings vividly to life the duplicities of the Cold War intelligence game, a world where code names and doubletalk are the lingua franca of spies bent on seeking advantage by any means necessary. As Haverstick sheds light on a remarkable set of women whose high-stakes intelligence work has left its only traces in redacted files, she also discovers disturbing and shocking new clues about what really happened at Dealey Plaza in 1963. Offering new clues to the assassination and a vivid picture of women in mid-century intelligence, A Woman I Know is a gripping real-life thriller.Trade Review‘A cat-and-mouse search for a woman’s identity opens onto a shadowy corner of the assassination of John F. Kennedy … Jerrie Cobb’s fascinating life reveals her to be “a spy, an explorer, a gambler, an astronaut, an illusionist, a narcissist, and a con” — and, to say the least, a puzzle. Assassination buffs and students of spycraft will find this intriguing and endlessly enigmatic.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Mary Haverstick’s tale is troubling. It is made up of stories that fit together, but that end up making the whole a little opaque by dint of concealment and lies. However, the author spares no effort to unravel the truth from the lies throughout the many interviews she had with this fascinating woman … In any case, the personality of Jerrie Cobb is surprising, whimsical and romantic … We’ll leave it to the readers to discover this skein of intrigues that leads to Dallas. But anyway, this incredible lady deserved to be revealed with so much mastery and unexpected twists.’ * Livres Hebdo *‘An anxious, furious, forensic contribution to the study of the assassination of US president John F Kennedy … Haverstick is in earnest here, and has a memory like a filing system and a filing system like a vice. The least this book could possibly be is a compelling real-life thriller, full of passion, free of writerly fuss, woven from the most intractable archival cat’s cradle imaginable. That’s what you’ve got, even before you think to take it seriously — and I’ll bet the farm that you will. -- Simon Ings * The Telegraph *‘Fascinating … [Haverstick] distills a prodigious amount of research into a fast-moving story … As a fresh history of US espionage, A Woman I Know is an absorbing read.’ * The New York Times *‘Mary Haverstick … seems to have broken new ground … The seductive thing about her argument is that it ties together all the loose pieces and vexing puzzles to do with Oswald, the CIA, and Mexico City. She has avoided the many pitfalls of earlier conspiracy theories and brought forth abundant new evidence. And she did not set out to generate a conspiracy theory … She was driven unsuspecting to her conclusion.’ -- Paul Monk * The Australian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSixteen French explorers embark readers on their voyages around the world, to witness the trials and tribulations encountered as they charted new routes to remote territories.Set sail to Tahiti with Louis-Antoine de Bougainville or to Antarctica with Jules Dumont d’Urville. Learn about Russian domination of Alaska in the eighteenth century, or how the Dutch traded Manhattan to the British for the precious nutmeg plantations on a tiny Indonesian island. Beautifully illustrated with some 300 documents—including previously unpublished or rare texts, unfiltered extracts from travel journals, maps, and illustrations from centuries-old sketchbooks—readers discover these intrepid travelers and their extraordinary scientific, military, or commercial voyages, which have significantly marked the history of world exploration and contributed to our modern understanding of geography, cartography, climate change, and global cultures. Unfiltered extracts from tra

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘Free as they want to be’: Artists Committed to Memory is the companion publication to the FotoFocus biennial exhibition that is scheduled for Fall 2022 and will run at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center until Spring 2023. This project considers the historic and contemporary role that photography and film have played in remembering legacies of slavery and its aftermath while examining the social lives of Black Americans within various places including the land, at home, in photographic albums, at historic sites, and in public memory. This exhibition acknowledges artists’ constant involvement with efforts to explore the possibilities of freedom and their relationship to it. Their quest to be ‘as free as they want to be’ is envisioned in the subject matter they explore as well as in their persistent drive to innovate aesthetic practices in photographic media. The publication presents some 20 artists working in photography, video, silkscreen, projection, and mixed media installation. Free as they want to be is inspired by the words of James Baldwin and the timely theme of FotoFocus, World Record, as well as events of late that have shaped the world as we know it. The artists selected for this publication are on the frontlines, creating, documenting, and writing. The works they have conceived reflect defining moments in the struggle for racial justice and equality. Free as they want to be presents an occasion to reflect upon the past, to mark significant defining moments – both triumphs and tragedies – that characterize a people and their experiences in the present – and to propose future possibilities. The artists offer images that advance a different sense of empowerment. Their images thus play an integral part in casting resilient narratives as they commemorate endurance, longevity, and accomplishment. The timing of a publication like this could not be more urgent given the human toll of the pandemic, widening economic disparities, the threat of war, voting rights, global migration crises, and quotidian violence. Proposed Artists: Terry Adkins; Radcliffe Bailey; J.P. Ball Studio; Sadie Barnett; Dawoud Bey; Sheila Pree Bright; Bisa Butler; Omar Victor Diop; Nona Faustine; Adama Delphine Fawundu; Daesha Devon Harris; Isaac Julien; Cathy Opie; Hank Willis Thomas; Lava Thomas; Carrie Mae Weems; Wendel White; William Earle Williams; anonymous tintype photographer – photo album

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA TIMES BEST PAPERBACK OF 2022 ------------------ 'Glorious ... It's rare to read anything so teeming with life' SPECTATOR, Books of the Year 'This is Kynaston at his best ... A rich and vivid picture of a nation in all its human complexity' IAN JACK 'A compulsive read ... Generous as well as sharp' MARGARET DRABBLE 'I was captivated by its brilliance' D. J. TAYLOR __________________ The ‘real’ Sixties began on 5 October 1962. On that remarkable Friday, the Beatles hit the world with their first single, ‘Love Me Do’, and the first James Bond film, Dr No, had its world premiere in London: two icons of the future heralding a social and cultural revolution. On the Cusp, continuing David Kynaston’s groundbreaking history of post-war Britain, takes place during the summer and early autumn of 1962, in the charged months leading up to the moment that a country changed. The Rolling Stones’ debut at the Marquee Club, the last Gentlemen versus Players match at Lord’s, the issue of Britain’s relationship with Europe starting to divide the country, Telstar the satellite beaming live TV pictures across the world, ‘Telstar’ the record a siren call to a techno future – these were months thick with incident, all woven together here with an array of fresh contemporary sources, including diarists both famous and obscure. Britain would never be the same again after these months. Sometimes indignant, sometimes admiring, always empathetic, On the Cusp evokes a world of seaside holidays, of church fetes, of Steptoe and Son – a world still of seemingly settled social and economic certainties, but in fact on the edge of fundamental change. ___________________ 'Sparkles with voices from a vanished world ... An entrancing representation, full of exquisite detail' KATE WILLIAMS 'What a joy it has been to find myself wholly immersed in the richness of Kynaston's account ... Thrilling' JULIET NICOLSONTrade ReviewFor me the best book this year was David Kynaston's glorious On the Cusp ... It’s rare to read anything so teeming with life - so many diverse voices offering their own glimpse of a world which, as Kynaston convincingly argues, was changing more dramatically than ever before or since. Many people have written about this period between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles’ first LP, but few have given such a rich sense of living through it -- Philip Hensher * Spectator, Books of the Year *This is Kynaston at his best. A thousand glimpses of British life in 1962 produce a rich and vivid picture of a nation in all its human complexity, standing at the edge of great change. Beautifully woven, it yields surprises and fresh insights on every page – and in my case a blizzard of memories -- Ian JackA compulsive read. He is such a fine historian and sociologist, with an eye and ear for the unexpected, and a sharp sense of humour that makes the reader laugh aloud. It’s generous as well as sharp. For me, it was like reliving some of the most exciting and hopeful months of my life, an illuminating exploration of an important stretch of time. -- Margaret Drabble'Tales of a New Jerusalem' has already established itself as the definitive history of post-war Britain. This latest instalment has all the eye-catching detail and informed synthesis that Kynaston's admirers have come to expect. I was captivated by its brilliance -- D. J. TaylorA fascinating crystal of time, Kynaston's superb evocation of Britain ... sparkles with voices from a vanished world ... An entrancing representation, full of exquisite detail and unforgettable voices, On the Cusp invites us in, to the real lives behind historical trends, a door to Britain on the brink of great change -- Kate WilliamsWhat a joy it has been to find myself wholly immersed in the richness of Kynaston’s account of those few amazing, ground-shifting months, just before we were all tipped into the drama of the 1960s proper. There is something hugely, hindsightingly thrilling in reading about the early seed-sowing of a story whose outcome we know so well * Juliet Nicolson *With his eagle eye, Kynaston selects details and incidents that serve as emblems of larger shifts in the zeitgeist ... He is a wonderfully diligent chronicler of the changing face of popular culture at the time ... Kynaston is a master at mixing key political and social movements with the more humdrum details of everyday life -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *David Kynaston continues his magnificent series on postwar British society with On the Cusp, a riveting study of four pivotal summer months ... Kynaston is a master of popular culture ... But what Kynaston captures again and again - and this is what gives his book such importance - is the conscious, almost fanatical desire by those in authority at the time to dismantle, literally, evidence of the past -- Simon Heffer * Sunday Telegraph *Kynaston skilfully uses private diaries, archives, memoirs, social surveys, newspapers and magazines to give the flavour of the period and what people were thinking not just in Westminster and Whitehall but in, for example, Birmingham, Manchester, Barrow-in-Furness, Keighley, Bournemouth and Llanfrothen in north Wales ... Absorbing * New Statesman *It has all the characteristic hallmarks of [Kynaston's] writing: vivid pointillist detail, an extraordinary range of sources and penetrating analysis of evidence ... Kynaston is a master of minutiae and the great joy of his book is to be found in fragments, anecdotes and vignettes -- Piers Brendon * Literary Review *Excellent * Choice Magazine *Kynaston’s impressive history of Britain comes to the year 1962 … His ongoing achievement – aside from managing the prodigious quantities of material – is to convince his readers, who know well what comes next, of real lives being lived in near real time, and of a future as unwritten then as ours is today * Guardian *

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Moon: Coffin Texts Spells 154–160’ argues that Coffin Texts spells 154–160, recorded at around the beginning of the 2nd millennium bce, form the oldest composition about the moon in ancient Egypt and in the whole world. The detailed analysis of these spells, based on a new translation, reveals that the spells provide a chronologically ordered account of the phenomena that happen during a lunar month. It is argued that through a wide variety of mythological allusions, the separate texts – after an introduction which explains the origins of the month (spell 154) – describe the successive stages of the monthly cycle: the period of invisibility (spell 155), waxing (spell 156), events around the full moon (spell 157), waning (spell 158), the arrival of the last crescent at the eastern horizon (spell 159), and again the conjunction of the sun and the moon when a solar eclipse can occur (spell 160). After highlighting the possible lunar connotations of each spell, further chapters in the book investigate the origins of the composition, its different manuscripts preserved on coffins coming from Hermopolis and Asyut, and the survival of the spells in the later mortuary collection known as the Book of Going Forth by Day.Table of Contents1 – Introduction; 2 – The spells; 2.1 – Spell 154: the origins of the month; 2.2 – Spell 155: lunar invisibility; 2.3 – Spell 156: the waxing moon; 2.4 – Spell 157: the full moon; 2.5 – Spell 158: the waning moon; 2.6 – Spell 159: the moon at the eastern horizon; 2.7 – Spell 160: a solar eclipse; 3 – General Commentary; 3.1 – The major themes of the spells; 3.2 – Textual layers in the Book of the Moon; 3.3 – The text variants from Deir el-Bersha and Asyut; 3.4 – The survival of the spells in the Book of Going Forth by Day; 4 – Conclusion; Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisTales of Two Cities tells the story of Old Sarum and Salisbury, from the middle of the tenth century to the beginning of the twentieth. The volume brings together the most up-to-date thinking on the archaeological evidence for both medieval cities, and through analysis of the rich documentary record, charts the developments in the city settlements and their dependent suburbs. For the first time, the archaeological evidence for Old Sarum and its suburbs is brought together in synthesis to explore its rise in the eleventh century, its hey-day in the twelfth, and the rapid decline from the thirteenth century onwards. The ceramic, zooarchaeological and environmental evidence is assessed for both cities, alongside a comprehensive overview of the archaeological evidence for medieval Salisbury. How this new and visionary city took shape in the thirteenth century is analysed through chapters that examine its churches, its mills, its majestic marketplace and its innovative watercour

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Jake S. Friedman has done an impressive job of research, to put it mildly. Without knowing the sequence of events it’s impossible to understand how this bitter strike came about. Add to that the perceived insults, slights, and resentments and you have the stuff of great drama.” —Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian, author of Of Mice and Magic “Author Jake S. Friedman takes us on a deep dive into Hollywood history delivered in a style that reads like a film noir page turner. I could not put this book down.” —Don Hahn, producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King “Gangsters, backroom deals, murder, and . . . cartoons? I’ve long been interested in the 1941 Disney strike, and Jake S. Friedman’s book does not disappoint. Well written and thoroughly researched—a great read!” —Pete Docter, director of Monsters Inc., Up, Inside Out, and SoulTable of ContentsAuthor’s Note Prologue Part I: Innovation 1. My Father Was a Socialist 2. Poor and Starving 3. The Value of Loyalty 4. Arthur Babbitt: Hell-Raiser 5. Fighting for His Salary 6. You Can’t Draw Your Ass 7. The Disney Art School 8. Three Little Pigs 9. Enter Bioffsky 10. The Cult of Personality 11. A Feature-Length Cartoon 12. Bioff Stakes His Claim 13. A Drunken Mouse 14. Disney’s Folly 15. Defense Against the Enemy Part II: Turmoil 16. A Growing Divide 17. The Norconian 18. A Wooden Boy and a World War 19. Dreams Shattered 20. Hilberman, Sorrell, and Bioff 21. The Federation Versus the Guild 22. The Guild and Babbitt 23. Disney Versus the Labor Board 24. The Final Strike Vote 25. Strike! 26. The Big Stick 27. The 21 Club 28. Willie Bioff and Walt Disney 29. The Guild and the CIO 30. Not the Drawing 31. The Final Goodbye 32. And They Lived Epilogue Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA guided tour of the historic city of Ripon, showing how the areas you know and love have changed over the centuries.

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis ground-breaking title, publishing to mark the centenary of the tragic 1924 British Everest expedition, reveals the hidden histories of the world's highest mountain. -- .

Read more less

Book SynopsisLooking beyond the London-centric narratives of British LGBTQ life, this exciting book explores the queer dimensions of four English cities Manchester, Leeds, Plymouth and Brighton. -- .

Read more less