History Books
Westland Books AmrutThe Great Churn
Book Synopsis
£26.59
Pentagon Press China Bloodies Bulletless Borders
Book SynopsisAfter the shock of the conflict against the Indian Army in Sikkim in 1967 and the loss of almost 400 soldiers, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) pressed for resolving all territorial disputes by discussion only, without using force or firearms against one another.This book analyses the process of bulletless border management by the Indian Army against the PLA, presenting the history of this process over the course of half a century.
£26.25
University of Illinois Press Making the MexiRican City Migration Placemaking
Book SynopsisTrade Review“This is an original, indispensable, and beautifully poetic book that weaves together stories of migration, placemaking, and activism to show how Mexicans and Puerto Ricans made a home in Grand Rapids. With rich oral histories and archival research in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S., Delia Fernández-Jones has written an insightful and inspiring book that makes a vital contribution to fields of Latino and Midwestern history.”--Felipe Hinojosa, author of Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio"Fernández-Jones draws upon both classic texts of Latina/o history and primary sources to develop this passionate, in-depth historical analysis, which contributes significantly to the scholarly literature on Latino communities in the Midwest and is sure to inspire future research in this area. Anyone interested in Chicana/o or ethnic histories of the US will enjoy this book, which should also become a staple in library collections on Chicana/o studies and ethnic studies. Highly recommended." --ChoiceTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: “TRAINED AND TRACTABLE LABOR” CHAPTER 2: “FAMILIES HELPED EACH OTHER” CHAPTER 3: “A GATHERING PLACE” CHAPTER 4: “LATINS WANT PARITY” CHAPTER 5: “NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY” CHAPTER 6: “TANGLED WITH THE POLICE” CHAPTER 7: "JUSTICE FOR OUR KIDS” EPILOGUE BIBLIOGRAPHY
£87.55
Sidestone Press Mensch-Tier-Verhältnisse in Monjukli Depe: Eine
Book SynopsisWie gestaltete sich das soziale Zusammenleben zwischen Menschen und nichtmenschlichen Arten als eine eng verwobene Gemeinschaft in prähistorischer Zeit? In verschiedensten Disziplinen der Geistes-, Sozial- und Lebenswissenschaften werden verstärkt gesellschaftliche Grundannahmen über nichtmenschliche Arten hinterfragt. Die aus dieser Wende entstandenen neuen Fragestellungen verbreiten sich auch in der Archäologie. Archäolog*innen haben begonnen, traditionelle Ansätze zu überdenken, um Beziehungen zwischen Menschen und (anderen) Tieren in all ihrer Diversität zu erforschen. Im Zuge dieses Perspektivwechsels in der Erforschung von Mensch-Tier-Verhältnissen intensiviert sich auch die Auseinandersetzung mit sozialen, politischen und ideologischen Dimensionen verschiedener Lebensweisen in frühen Gesellschaften. Wir erkennen zunehmend, welche zentrale Rolle Mensch-Tier-Beziehungen bei der Gestaltung und Konstruktion auch prähistorischer Gesellschaften eingenommen haben.In diesem Band wird das gängige archäologische Narrativ von Tieren als passiver, ausbeutbarer Nahrungsressource in Frage gestellt. Damit zeichnet das Buch ein komplexes Bild prähistorischer Mensch-Tier-Verhältnisse. Es legt eine multiperspektivische Studie zu soziokulturellen Praktiken und Vorstellungen damaliger Menschen anhand der spätneolithischen (ca. 6200-5600 v.u.Z) und frühäneolithischen (ca. 4800-4350 v.u.Z.) Siedlung Monjukli Depe im heutigen Turkmenistan vor, die sich von gegenwärtigen westlichen Kategorisierungsformen der Beziehungen zwischen Menschen und Tieren deutlich unterscheiden. Auf Basis einer umfangreichen Sammlung von rund 53.000 Tierknochen aus den Ausgrabungen in Monjukli Depe verfolge ich als analytischen Untersuchungsrahmen einen integrativen Ansatz, der 1.) die archäozoologische Untersuchung der faunalen Überreste, 2.) die Analyse der zoomorphen Repräsentationen als miniaturisierte Tonobjekte sowie 3.) Multi-Isotopenanalysen am ausgewählten Skelettmaterial kombiniert.Das Werk zeigt Wege auf, natur- und kulturwissenschaftliche Sichtweisen in einem analytischen Spektrum an Methoden so zu integrieren, dass Interspezies-Relationen in vergangenen Gemeinschaften holistischer und damit realistischer als bislang rekonstruiert werden können. Die Neubetrachtung der Gemeinschaft als Interspezies-Gebilde stellt den innovativen Ansatz schließlich in einen gesellschaftspolitischen Rahmen. Der Band bietet damit auch einen Referenzrahmen für multiperspektivisch ausgerichtete Untersuchungen von Interspezies-Relationen.English AbstractHow did the social coexistence of humans and non-human species contribute to the formation of interwoven communities in prehistoric times? In various disciplines in the humanities, social and life sciences, assumptions regarding non-human species in societal contexts are coming increasingly under scrutiny. The new questions arising therefrom are spreading into archaeology, where scholars have started to rethink traditional approaches and explore practices, interactions, and relationships between humans and (other) animals. As part of this shift in perspective, more attention is being paid to social, political, and ideological dimensions of lifeways in early societies. With it comes a growing recognition that human-animal relationships occupied a central place in shaping and constructing societies throughout human history.This book presents a multi-perspectival study of socio-cultural practices and conceptions of the people who lived in the prehistoric settlement of Monjukli Depe (Turkmenistan). These differ significantly from contemporary Western categorizations of human-animal relations. Based on a collection of over 50,000 animal remains from the excavations at Monjukli Depe, I pursue an integrative approach that includes 1) zooarchaeological studies of faunal remains, 2) analyses of zoomorphic representations in the form of miniaturized clay objects, and 3) multi-isotopic analyses of selected skeletal material.I suggest ways to integrate scientific and socio-cultural perspectives into an analytical spectrum of methods, enabling interspecies relations in past communities to be reconstructed more holistically and thereby more realistically than has previously been the case. The volume provides a work for future investigations of interspecies relations in other geographic and temporal contexts.Table of ContentsDanksagung Abbildungsverzeichnis Tabellenverzeichnis 1. Einleitung 2. Theoretischer Rahmen 3. Forschungsüberblick 4. Monjukli Depe und die Tiere 5. Monjukli Depe und die figürliche Darstellung von Tieren 6. Monjukli Depe und die Lebensweise von Schafen/Ziegen 7. Diskussion: Mensch-Tier-Dynamiken in Monjukli Depe 8. Literaturverzeichnis 9. Anhang
£38.00
Indiana University Press Night without End
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Professors Grabowski and Engelking belong to the small group of founders of the New Polish School of Research on the Holocaust. Their work has revolutionized historiography of the Holocaust in Poland and beyond. Night without End shows well the meticulous quality of their scholarship and the openness with which they confront the subject of complicity of the local population in the persecution of Jews during the German occupation of Poland."—Jan T Gross, Princeton University (Emeritus)"Night Without End marks a turning point in scholarship on the Holocaust in Poland. Drilling down on the role of the local population in the Judeocide, Night Without End sheds bright light on key questions long taboo in Polish society and elided by historians. Bold and innovative, it opens our lens on Jews' struggle for survival through the trajectories of individuals, showing how their Polish, Ukrainian, and Belorussian neighbors greatly increased or substantially diminished their chances of survival."—Debórah Dwork, The Graduate Center—City University of New York"This remarkable volume includes a series of detailed local studies of the Holocaust in German-occupied Poland by a group of outstanding scholars. Altogether, Night without End provides an unprecedented reconstruction of the daily reality of genocide, meticulously demonstrating the extent of local Polish participation in hunting down and murdering their Jewish neighbors. No amount of apologetic arguments will be able to dispel the well-documented findings of this volume or dispute the general conclusion that numerous victims might have survived but for the greed and callousness of the surrounding Polish society. This shocking book is an indispensable addition to the scholarship on the Holocaust and to our understanding of the social dynamic of genocide."—Omer Bartov, author of Anatomy of a Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town Called Buczacz
£28.80
Oxbow Books Limited Tutankhamun and Carter
Book Synopsis
£35.33
Oxbow Books Limited The Beaker People
Book Synopsis
£37.80
Yale University Press A Past of Possibilities
Book SynopsisAn exploration of hypothetical turning points in history from Ancient Greece to September 11Trade Review“Our political activities are based on the presumption that choices matter. But historians rarely consider roads not taken and the chain of consequences that a different direction at a crucial turning point could have had. Quentin Deluermoz and Pierre Singaravélou push us to pose such questions, and hence to reconsider how we think about history.”—Frederick Cooper, author of Citizenship, Inequality, and Difference: Historical Perspectives “In this wonderful book, Quentin Deluermoz and Pierre Singaravelou show "counterfactual history" has itself a long and rich history. Ever since Tite-Live, Edward Gibbon, Louis Geoffroy and Niall Ferguson, social actors and intellectuals have been describing some of the many historical paths and bifurcations which did not happen. The book offers a fascinating analysis of this body of discourse, its uses and misuses. A must-read by two of the most innovative historians of their generation.”—Thomas Piketty, author of Capital and Ideology “Impeccably documented, A Past of Possibilities provides an impressively broad survey of the usages of counterfactual reasoning in various disciplines, weaves epistemological reflections with critical assessments, spells out methodological recommendations, and outlines how these can inform the teaching of history in various settings: a remarkable and multi-faceted achievement.”— Ivan Ermakoff, author of Ruling Oneself Out: A Theory of Collective Abdications
£30.88
Overcup Press Wilderness and the American Spirit
Book SynopsisThe idea of the American spirit has always been rooted in expansion and abundanceat great cost to the environment. Americans now find themselves at the edge of consequence: entering an age of scarcity, less ready to thrive than ever before, and in need of a new relationship with the natural world. Wilderness and the American Spirit retells the story of the American West putting our national mythology in context with our current environmental crisis. Ruby McConnell is a geologist who uses the Applegate Trailthe lesser known southern alternative to the Oregon Trailas a vehicle to tell stories in the same way that Rachel Carson used birds and Edward Abbey used Arches. The trail begins in the deserts of Nevada, home of today's Burning Man Festival. She follows the route westward through time and place exploring map-making, land use policies, the establishment of utopian communities (both faith-based and not), and the creation of resource based economies, connecting the dots and showing h
£13.56
Art Institute of Chicago Lygia Pape
Book SynopsisAn engaging investigation of contemporary Brazilian artist Lygia Pape’s early body of woodblock prints, which profoundly influenced the trajectory of her oeuvre
£38.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Knossos
Book SynopsisJames Whitley is Professor in Mediterranean Archaeology at Cardiff University, UK. Between 2002 and 2007 he was Director of the British School at Athens, Greece.Trade ReviewThis is a very readable and stimulating book on one of the most visited archaeological sites in Greece, which does not focus exclusively on its Minoan (Bronze Age) palace, but explores its fascinating history in its entirety, from its humble beginnings in the Neolithic period to the present day. -- Nicoletta Momigliano, Professor of Aegean Studies, University of Bristol, UKTable of ContentsList of Tables and Figures Preface and Acknowledgements A Note on Chronology and Terminology On the spelling of and transliteration of ancient Greek names List of Abbreviations with Explanatory Note Chapter 1. Legends and Labyrinths Chapter 2. Inventing the Minoans: Arthur Evans and After Chapter 3. From Village to Palace: Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Knossos Chapter 4. Palatial Knossos: The Palace of Minos? Chapter 5. After the Palace: From the Iron Age to the Romans Chapter 6. Knossos Yesterday and Today Bibliography General Index Topographical Index
£20.89
Destinworld Publishing Ltd Haworth Timelines
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Yale University Press Battleground
Book Synopsis
£11.99
Springer International Publishing AG Timbuktu Unbound: Islamic Texts, Textual
Book SynopsisTimbuktu Unbound: Islamic Texts, Textual Traditions and Heritage in West Africa is a cutting edge collection offering a reconsideration of manuscripts in Muslim West Africa. The contributors give voice to the dynamic ways in which textuality operates through technological innovations, ongoing habituated practices, and how the workings of power and authority within these communities inform these texts and their roles. To that end this book explores a number of interrelated themes: the social value of texts as objects; personal libraries as forms of investment/legacy; social practices involved in the exchange, movement and gifting of certain kinds of manuscripts; hierarchies and evaluative treatments of manuscripts, and quasi-market forces. The recent destruction and subsequent salvage operations to protect the Timbuktu manuscript libraries has highlighted their role as the quintessential exemplar of manuscript heritage in newly historicized Africa. Yet these events also underscore the prevalent narrative about Muslim West African cultural heritage - embodied in the form of manuscripts, archives and documents - as under dramatic and existential threat. This volume seeks to diverge from this dominant salvific starting point of heritage discourse - namely, that such objects are things of intrinsic value to be saved - in order to examine the more nuanced activities of diverse actors engaged in the study, preservation, acquisition, movement and, in some cases, destruction and disposal of the wide range of materials that constitutes the textual heritage of these societies.Table of ContentsTimbuktu Unbound: Islamic Texts, Textual Traditions and Heritage in West Africa.Colonialism and Book Culture: The Resistance of the Muslim Scholarly Communities in Northern Nigeria.A Treasure in Disarray: Reflections on the Institute of African Studies Arabic Manuscripts Collections.Efficacious Texts: Unraveling Nineteenth-Century Islamic Talismans in Asante (Ghana).Building Family and Community Ties Through Manuscripts.Flecks of Timbuktu on the Skin: Excavating the Unbound Aspects of a Manuscript Collection.
£33.24
WW Norton & Co The Hemingses of Monticello
Book SynopsisWinner of the Pulitzer Prize Winner of the National Book Award New York Times Bestseller #1 on Esquire's List of the 50 Best Biographies of All Time "[A] commanding and important book." —Jill Lepore, The New YorkerTrade Review"A sweeping, prodigiously researched biography." -- Motoko Rich - New York Times"A monumental and original book." -- Fergus Bordewich - Washington Post"A brilliant book…It marks the author as one of the most astute, insightful, and forthright historians of this generation." -- Edmund S. Morgan and Marie Morgan - New York Review of Books"[A] very important and powerfully argued history of the Hemings family…[Gordon-Reed] has the imagination and talent of an expert historian." -- Gordon S. Wood - The New Republic"This comprehensive biography of Hemings’s family before, during, and after their lives at Monticello belongs on the biography genre’s Mount Rushmore thanks to Gordon-Reed’s revelatory investigation and her stellar narration of history from a previously hidden perspective." -- Adam Morgan - Esquire"A riveting and compassionate family portrait that deserves to endure as a model of historical inquiry…stands dramatically apart for its searching intelligence and breadth of humane vision…We owe Annette Gordon-Reed tremendous thanks." -- Kirk Davis Swinehart - Chicago Tribune"The Hemingses of Monticello makes a powerful argument for the historical significance of the Hemings family not only for its engagement with a principal architect of the early Republic, but also for the ways the family embodies the complexities and contradictions of slavery in the United States. " -- James Smethurst - The Boston Globe"The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed, a historian and law professor, is a doorstop corrective to early American history, painting a composite portrait of a family that stood at the wellspring of the Jefferson, slave Sally Hemings, their children and kin fascinate and surprise. " -- Cleveland Plain Dealer"Because of Gordon-Reed, Hemings and her ancestors and descendants achieve full personhood. For that, the author deserves praise and lots of readers. " -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune"An epic saga of the Hemings family, whose bloodline has been mixed with that of Thomas Jefferson since our third president took slave Sally Hemings as a mistress. " -- Dallas Morning News"Gordon-Reed has pulled off an astonishing feat of historical re-creation, involving equal measures of painstaking archival detective work, creative historical imagination, and balanced judgment." -- François Furstenberg - Slate"As the title suggests, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family brings an entire family out of the historic shadows that have been cast across Jefferson’s famous Virginia home. The book succeeds on this score by showing how generations of Hemingses labored at Monticello. It offers a stunning illustration of the tragedy that slavery could wreak. " -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution"Hemings and her extended family receive a worthy biography. " -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch"The Hemingses of Monticello explores a thorny but important chapter in American history with distinction and clarity, offering a poignant, if also often ugly, chronicle of slavery, secrecy and family tension. " -- Ron Wynn - Bookpage
£16.14
Sharada Publishing House Probings into Indias Distant Past
Book SynopsisThis book covers the history of human civilisation as revealed in ancient Indian classical texts. In fact the author delineates the theory of Vishnu's dashavatara in this background. Moreover, it is the emergence of land and later life vegetation to animal kingdom to human beings from water which is analysed from the mythological churning of the Sea (Caspian Sea in this case) or Samudramanthan and how Kumbha has historical basis and the how the Kalpwas at Sangam of Prayag helps us understand the transition of history from the hoary past of mythology! It is thus a study of ancient Indian realm of knowledge and wisdom. The chapter on Mahabharata paradigm gives us an example how to use ancient Indian history writing as F.E. Pargiter had done and understand how ancient historians did know about historicism and the concept of causation which the Euro-centric historians thought were their contribution in giving history a modern touch and scientific temper.
£81.22
Sidestone Press Alternative Egyptology
Book SynopsisFrom a mummy on board the Titanic to the pyramids' alignment with the stars, from psychoactive mushrooms to the lost realm of Atlantis: alternative Egyptology has always focused on subjects that others shunned. Ever since the birth of mainstream Egyptology with the decipherment of the hieroglyphic script two hundred years ago, alternative interpretations and imaginative theories have flourished alongside it. They intertwined with egalitarian and spiritual tendencies in society during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when ancient Egypt inspired countless mediums, artists, and movements from freemasonry to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. More recently alternative Egyptology has inspired comic-book authors and nationalist Chinese bloggers.It would be a mistake, however, for academics to simply view these alternative theories as fantasies that are best ignored. Their lasting popular impact needs to be assessed and (publicly) addressed by mainstream Egyptology, but they may in fact also open up fresh perspectives for research. The contributors to this volume explore various aspects of alternative Egyptology, assessing its impact on society and scholarship, and finding ways for mainstream Egyptology to relate to its alternative cousin.
£35.00
University of California Press The Adventures of Ibn Battuta
Book SynopsisRecounts the great traveler Ibn Battuta's remarkable career, interpreting it within the cultural and social context of Islamic society and giving the reader both a biography of an extraordinary personality and a study of the hemispheric dimensions of human interchange in medieval times.Trade Review"In 1325, at the age of twenty-one, Ibn Battuta set off from his native Tangier on the hajj to Mecca. He did not return to Morocco until 1349, by which time he had visited not only Mecca, but also Egypt, Syria, Persia, Iraq, East Africa, the Yemen, Anatolia, the steppelands of southern Russia, Constantinople, India, the Maldives, Sumatra, and China. . . . An excellent synoptic introduction to the Muslim world in the Middle Ages." * Times Literary Supplement *"Dunn has produced an attractive, intelligent, and useful book, and one that is a pleasure to read." * International History Review *"Dunn has succeeded splendidly in his aim of bringing the Moroccan judge alive for a general audience and of presenting an analysis of his travels which is both descriptive and critical." * Journal of Islamic Studies *"Written in an engaging style that should easily appeal to the non-historian, this book is very probably unprecedented in concept and execution––placing it in a class apart and above the majority of books from Western scholars that deal with Islamic subjects." * Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society *"A remarkable achievement: [Dunn's] book is more than he set out to write; it is not simply a retelling of the Ibn Battuta story for a general audience, as he rather modestly puts it, but an introduction to the Islamic world in particular, and the late medieval world in general." * British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin *"Professor Dunn's book is based on Ibn Battuta's own writings. . . . and provides a commentary on the society and places which he visited, making admirable use of the great increase of our knowledge over the last generation. The result is fascinating." * Asian Affairs *Table of ContentsList of Maps Preface to the 2012 Edition Preface to the Revised Edition Preface to the First Edition Acknowledgments The Muslim Calendar A Note on Money List of Abbreviations Used in Notes Introduction 1. Tangier 2. The Maghrib 3. The Mamluks 4. Mecca 5. Persia and Iraq 6. The Arabian Sea 7. Anatolia 8. The Steppe 9. Delhi 10. Malabar and the Maldives 11. China 12. Home 13. Mali 14. The Rihla Glossary Bibliography Index
£27.00
Yale University Press The Modem World
Book SynopsisThe untold story about how the internet became social, and why this matters for its futureTrade ReviewWinner of the 2023 Nancy Baym Annual Book Award, sponsored by the Association of Internet ResearchersWinner of the 2023 Computer History Museum prize, sponsored from SIGCIS. “Whether you’re reading this for a nostalgic romp or to understand the dawn of the internet, The Modem World will delight you with tales of BBS culture and shed light on how the decisions of the past shape our current networked world.”—danah boyd, author of It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens“The Modem World brings back to life a lost world of electronic communications, in the effervescent years before the Internet, World Wide Web, and the duopoly of Facebook and Google. Fascinating reading.”—Paul E. Ceruzzi, curator emeritus, Smithsonian Institution“Everyone loves a good origin story, especially a forgotten one. The Modem World offers an overlooked history of the Internet—it’s full of insights into how we got here, and where we could have gone instead. Deeply empathetic and gently brilliant.”—Tarleton Gillespie, author of Custodians of the Internet
£20.90
University of California Press Lavender and Red
Book SynopsisLGBT activism is often imagined as a self-contained struggle, inspired by but set apart from other social movements. This book recounts a far different story: a history of queer radicals who understood their sexual liberation as intertwined with solidarity against imperialism, war, and racism.Trade Review"Hobson succeeds in painting a rich portrait of a vibrant gay and lesbian left that flourished in the Bay Area in the 1970s and 1980s and saw itself as connected to the international left... the book has certainly made me rethink the way I write and teach LGBT history and has added some very necessary complications to that standard narrative." Daily Kos "Hobson analyzes these tensions and recovers varying forms of political critique, strategy, and community. Through drawing on oral histories and archival documents, including striking photographs, flyers, and political artwork, Lavender and Red lifts up a strain of gay and lesbian activism that had been all but lost to memory for most activists and scholars of today." New Books NetworkTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. Beyond the Gay Ghetto: Founding Debates in Gay Liberation 2. A More Powerful Weapon: Lesbian Feminism and Collective Defense 3. Limp Wrists and Clenched Fists: Defining a Politics and Hitting the Streets 4. 24th and Mission: Building Lesbian and Gay Solidarity with Nicaragua 5. Talk About Loving in the War Years: Nicaragua, Transnational Feminism, and AIDS 6. Money for AIDS, Not War: Anti-militarism, Direct Action against the Epidemic, and Movement History Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index
£22.50
Yale University Press Resisters
Book SynopsisA highly original and compelling account of individual Jews who resisted Nazi persecution, challenging the traditional portrayal of Jewish passivity during the HolocaustTrade ReviewFinalist for the 73rd National Jewish Book Award, Holocaust category, sponsored by the Jewish Book Council“This important book shows in great detail, on the basis of numerous moving and often heartwrenching individual stories, that German and Austrian Jews often rebelled against and resisted their oppressors in a variety of ways. Gruner has given us a crucial corrective to the historiography of the Holocaust.”—Omer Bartov, author of Tales from the Borderlands: Making and Unmaking the Galician Past“This deeply researched and highly original study highlights multiple forms and cases of courageous recalcitrance on the part of German Jews subjected to Nazi persecution. A welcome book as both a tribute to the tormented protagonists and a corrective to the historical record.”—Peter Hayes, author of Why?: Explaining the Holocaust“Sensitized to the complexities of living as a non-conformist in a persecutory dictatorship by his own upbringing in East Germany, Gruner is ideally suited to teasing out from fragmentary evidence the historical reality behind the Nazi caricature of the ‘impudent Jew.’ He compiles impressive evidence and argumentation against the widespread assumption of Holocaust victim passivity.”—Christopher R. Browning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill“Wolf Gruner has developed a unique perspective in Holocaust history, uncovering countless examples of individual Jews who protested Nazi policies. While devastating, these poignant stories are also hopeful, demonstrating that even in the worst dictatorships, individuals can and do defy discriminatory and even exterminatory policies.”—Marion Kaplan, author of Hitler’s Jewish Refugees: Hope and Anxiety in Portugal, 1940–1945
£23.75
Dover Publications Inc. Book of the Dead
Book Synopsis The Egyptian Book of the Dead is unquestionably one of the most influential books in all history. Embodying a ritual to be performed for the dead, with detailed instructions for the behaviors of the disembodied spirit in the Land of the Gods, it served as the most important repository of religious authority for some three thousand years. Chapters were carved on the pyramids of the ancient 5th Dynasty, texts were written in papyrus, and selections were painted on mummy cases well into the Christian Era. In a certain sense it stood behind all Egyptian civilization. In the year 1888, Dr. E. Wallis Budge, then purchasing agent for the British Museum, followed rumors he heard of a spectacular archeological find in Upper Egypt, and found in an 18th Dynasty tomb near Luxor the largest roll of papyrus I had ever seen, tied with a thick band of papyrus, and in a perfect state of preservation. It was a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written around 1500 B.C. for Ani, Royal Scribe of Thebes, Overseer of the Granaries of the Lords of Abydos, and Scribe of the Offerings of the Lord of Thebes. This Papyrus of Ani, a full version of the Theban recension, is presented here by Dr. Budge, who later became perhaps the world''s most renowned Egyptologist. Reproduced in full are a clear copy of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, an interlinear transliteration of their sounds (as reconstructed), a word-for-word translation, and separately a complete smooth translation. All this is preceded by an introduction of more than 150 pages. As a result of this multiple apparatus the reader has a unique opportunity to savor all aspects of the Book of the Dead, or as it is otherwise known, The Book of the Great Awakening.
£16.14
University of California Press Caligula
Book SynopsisThe infamous emperor Caligula ruled Rome as a tyrant who ultimately became a monster. An exceptionally smart and cruelly witty man, Caligula made his contemporaries worship him as a god. He drank pearls dissolved in vinegar and ate food covered in gold leaf. This book deals with his life and work.Trade Review"Seeks to rehabilitate one of the most infamous Roman emperors, commonly believed to have been deranged." New Yorker "A persuasive new Caligula emerges from this elegant revision: not mad at all, but just as bad and dangerous to know." Maclean's "In this lively biography of Rome's infamous third emperor, readers will not find the wild-eyed dictator ... but a thoughtful argument for his sanity." Publishers Weekly "A revisionist take on the man." Library Journal "An eloquent and compelling study of Roman imperial history, and especially of the difficult relations between the imperial monarch and the traditional aristocracy." London Review Of Books "Presents Roman emperor Caligula in a new light." Booklist "No Roman emperor cries out more obviously for redemption, but Aloys Winterling's Caligula, a calm reassessment of his reign, avoids revisionist whitewashing and takes the residue of hatred as inescapable." Cathnews Perspectives "Makes it clear that the behavior of the third emperor were the acts of a diffident, slightly paranoid youth, who lacked the patience that the most quarrelsome and important of his subjects required." The New Criterion "A worthy study, which covers significant aspects of Caligula's reign and provides some new interpretations on this fascinating subject." -- Geoff W. Adams Ancient History Bulletin "Winterling has produced an innovative biography which takes a novel approach to interpreting the historiography of Caligula's reign." Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR) "[Winterling] gives us a biography that brings the man and his times to life." History "Accessible and graceful... Highly recommended." ChoiceTable of ContentsList of Abbreviations Introduction: A Mad Emperor? 1. Childhood and Youth 2. Two Years as Princeps 3. The Conflicts Escalate 4. Five Months of Monarchy 5. Murder on the Palatine Conclusion: Inventing the Mad Emperor Epilogue to the English Edition Notes Bibliography Index
£19.95
Quarto Publishing PLC RHS Garden Bridgewater
Book SynopsisFollowing the popular BBC series, this book is the comprehensive guide to one of Europe's largest and most ambitious gardening projects, the magnificent RHS Bridgewater. RHS Garden Bridgewater has a rich history, deeply entrenched personal connections with the local community, and now a dazzling and exciting future, all of which is brought to life in this sumptuous book. Set on the site of the former Worsley New Hall stately home in Manchester, bordering the Bridgewater canal, the Bridgewater garden is one of the most exciting public garden projects undertaken anywhere in the world in recent years. Guided by a masterplan from the renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, it is a showpiece of horticultural excellence with a rich array of attractions, from walled gardens and Chinese streamside features to aromatic kitchen gardens and verdant wooded areas, all placed at the heart of the community.RHTable of Contents1 Introduction 2 Rise and Fall of the New Hall 3 A New Beginning 4 Iconic Buildings 5 The Gardens 6 Bridgewater in the Round 7 The Future Timeline Index References and Project Acknowledgements
£25.60
Ivy Press Escape The Titanic
Book Synopsis
£9.49
University of California Press Suburban Empire
Book SynopsisSuburban Empire takes readers to the US missile base at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, at the matrix of postwar US imperial expansion, the Cold War nuclear arms race, and the tide of anti-colonial struggles rippling across the world. Hirshberg shows that the displacement of indigenous Marshallese within Kwajalein Atoll mirrors the segregation and spatial politics of the mainland US as local and global iterations of US empire took hold. Tracing how Marshall Islanders navigated US military control over their lands, Suburban Empire reveals that Cold Warera suburbanization was perfectly congruent with US colonization, military testing, and nuclear fallout. The structures of suburban segregation cloaked the destructive history of control and militarism under a veil of small-town innocence. Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations A Note on Language Introduction—Home on the Range: US Empire and Innocence in the Cold War Pacific 1. From Wartime Victory to Cold War Containment in the Pacific: Building the Postwar US Security State on Marshallese Insecurity 2. New Homes for New Workers: Colonialism, Contract, and Construction 3. Domestic Containment in the Pacific: Segregation and Surveillance on Kwajalein 4. “Mayberry by the Sea”: Americans Find Home in the Marshall Islands 5. Reclaiming Home: Operation Homecoming and the Path toward Marshallese Self-Determination 6. US Empire and the Shape of Marshallese Sovereignty in the “Postcolonial” Era Conclusion: Kwajalein and Ebeye in a New Era of Insecurity Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index
£22.50
Prentice Hall Press Enemy of All Mankind
Book Synopsis
£14.44
University of California Press Ithaca Forever Penelope Speaks A Novel
Book Synopsis
£16.14
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Beyond Brexit
Book SynopsisVernon Bogdanor was, until 2010, Professor of Government at Oxford University. He is now a Research Professor at King's College, London, Gresham Professor of Law, a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.Trade ReviewWhether Brexit will finally provide our "constitutional moment" is impossible to say. But you will not find a better account of why it should. Bogdanor's knowledge is second to none. * Prospect *Table of ContentsIntroduction. Chapter 1. Britain and Europe: The Poisoned Chalice. Chapter 2. Europe and the Sovereignty of Parliament. Chapter 3. Europe and the Referendum. Chapter 4. Europe and The Collective Responsibility of Ministers. Chapter 5. Europe and The Rights of the Citizen. Chapter 6. Brexit and Devolution: The Future of the United Kingdom. Chapter 7. Brexit: A Constitutional Moment?
£14.24
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC A Short History of the Tudors
Book SynopsisCombining an expertise on the Tudor dynasty with an authoritative understanding of its religious and political make-up, A Short History of the Tudors provides a fresh and accessible perspective of one of the most formative periods of British history. Rex considers the ways in which the Tudors shaped the beginnings of modern England through the momentous break with Rome in a comprehensive yet balanced way. Close attention is also paid to the dismantling of the baronial system and centralisation of secular power, as well as an exploration of the break with Rome, the two pillars on which the author's argument will rest. The book is organised chronologically and divided up into time periods, making it the ultimate companion for anyone keen to delve into the history of Britain's most notorious dynasty. The famous and infamous key players in the Tudor age have long endured in text books and are, brought to life here by Rex. Lively portraits of John Fisher, Thomas Moore and Thomas Wolse
£14.24
University of California Press Are We Rich Yet
Book SynopsisAn in-depth history of how finance remade everyday life in Thatcher's Britain. Are We Rich Yet? tells the story of the financialization of British society. During the 1980s and 1990s, financial markets became part of daily life for many Britons as the practice of investing moved away from the offices of the City of London, onto Britain's high streets, and into people's homes. The Conservative Party claimed this shift as evidence that capital ownership was in the process of being democratized. In practice, investing became more institutionalized than ever in late-twentieth-century Britain: inclusion frequently meant tying one's fortunes to the credit, insurance, pension, and mortgage industries to maintain independence from state-run support systems. In tracing the rise of a consumer-oriented mass investment culture, historian Amy Edwards explains how the financial became such a central part of British society, not only economically and politically, but socially and culturally, toTrade Review"One consequence of depicting neoliberalism as the product of a multifaceted process involving many actors and causal factors is that the prospect of undertaking meaningful reform starts to look daunting. But Edwards shows us that the central difficulty is a cultural one: we have been taught for many years to live our lives as consumers rather than citizens." * London Review of Books *"Taken as a whole, Edwards’ reconnaissance into this area is a masterly mix of disciplines, approaches and sources that will reward many re-readings. The revolution of habits and outlooks that was the hallmark of the 1980s do require those sensitive cross-disciplinary approaches: Edwards shows others how it should be done." * Contemporary British History *"This book is an excellent addition to the history of stock market investment in the UK during the past 50 or so years. It gives needed coverage to important but overlooked topics such as shareholder perks and OTC traders." * EH.net *Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. “A Wonderful Growth”: Investment Culture from 1840 to 1980 2. Over the Counter: Speculation and the Small Investor 3. Shopping for Shares: The Rise of Financial Consumerism 4. “The Moneymen’s Sunday Sermon”: The Making of a Mass-Market Financial Advice Industry 5. Yuppies: Finance and Investment in Popular Culture 6. Are We Rich Yet? Investment Clubs and Investor Activism Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
£22.50
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Life Unseen
Book SynopsisImagine a world without sight. Is it dark and gloomy? Is it terrifying and isolating? Or is it simply a state of not seeing, which we have demonised and sentimentalized over the centuries? And why is blindness so frightening? In this fascinating historical adventure, Broadcaster and author Selina Mills takes us on a journey through the history of blindness in Western Culture to discover that blindness is not so dark after all. Inspired by her own experience of losing her sight as she forged a successful journalistic career, Life Unseen takes us through a personal and unsentimental historical quest through the lives, stories and achievements of blind people - as well as those sighted people who sought to patronize, demonize and fix them. From the blind poet Homer, through the myths and moralising of early medieval culture to the scientific and medical discoveries of the Enlightenment and modern times, the story of blindness turns out to be a story of our
£14.24
University of California Press Black Lives White Lives
Book SynopsisNow with a new foreword, this timely reissuefeatures aremarkable collection of oral histories that trace three decades of turbulent race relations and social change in the United States for a new generation of activists. One evening in 1955, Howard Spence, a Mississippi field representative for the NAACP investigating the Emmett Till murder, was confronted by Klansmen who burned an eight-foot cross on his front lawn. I felt my life wasn't worth a penny with a hole in it. Twenty-four years later, Spence had become a respected pillar of that same Mississippi town, serving as its first Black alderman. The story of Howard Spence is just one of the remarkable personal dramas recounted inBlack Lives, White Lives. Beginning in 1968, Bob Blauner and a team of interviewers recorded the words of those caught up in the crucible of rapid racial, social, and political change. Unlike most retrospective oral histories, these interviews capture the intense racial tension of 1968 in real time, as peopTrade Review"A compelling window into American race relations in the second half of the 20th century. But more than that, thanks to Blauner’s vision and the skill of his team of researchers, the book has the feel of a sociological classic." * Society for US Intellectual History *Table of ContentsContents Foreword by Gerald Early Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE 1968 Surviving the Sixties Integration or Black Power? The Great Debate 1. The Politics of Manhood and the Southern Black Experience Florence Grier “My father was from Alabama” Len Davis “Promised Land is just like the old plantation” Howard Spence “I wouldn’t want to treat anybody like I’ve been treated in Mississippi” 2. Whites on the Front Lines of Racial Conflict Joe Rypins “Stokely Carmichael ain’t no better than me” Gladys Hunt “You break your neck to do something, and they give you a hard time” Joan Keres “Sometimes you wish you were black” Virginia Lawrence “I was the wrong color in my black man’s eyes” 3. Four Black Women and the Consciousness of the Sixties Florence Grier “I’m tired of being scared” Millie Harding “This is no dream world, baby” Vera Brooke “Those that came from a different social experience I feared” Elena Albert “Something happened in my childhood I’ve never forgotten” 4. White Backlash: The Fear of a Black Majority and Other Nightmares Maude Wiley “They’re afraid the colored people are gonna move in and take over” George Hendrickson “We’ve got the lowest, poorest type” William Singer “We didn’t have a great sense of racial awareness” Bill Harcliff “It’s just a strong apartheid on the street” Diane Harcliff “The whole racial thing makes me burst with sadness” 5. Black Youth and the Ghetto Streets Richard Simmons “White boys, they’re always innocent” Larry Dillard “I would like to kill a white man, just to put it on the books” Sarah Williams “The marching and demonstrations is stupid” Harold Sampson “Denying you the right to be a man” 6. The Paradox of Working-Class Racism Lawrence Adams “They’ve got the right to have every human dignity that I have” Jim Corey “If I can help a colored man without hurting myself, I haven’t got anything to lose” Dick Cunningham “My oldest daughter married a black man” 7. Black Workers: New Options and Old Problems Richard Holmes “The Negro don’t want to work” Len Davis “The postal system has become a Negro-type job” Mark Anthony Holder “Being a man is being part of the world” Jim Pettit “These people had been treating me bad all my life, and I didn’t know it” Frank Casey “They call me an instigator” Carleta Reeves “I’d come home bitching and yelling” Henry Smith “This was my means of retaliating” PART TWO 1978–1987 Growing Older in the Seventies and Eighties The Ambiguities of Racial Change 8. “Still in the Struggle”: Black Activists Ten Years Later Howard Spence “I’m going to protect this land” Millie Harding “Dealing with the human issues” Florence Grier “I haven’t changed that much” 9. White Lives and the Limits of Integration George Hendrickson “The man is a damn fool who won’t change his mind” Maude Wiley “That was such a strong time of change” Virginia Lawrence “The world changed exactly the way I was going” William Singer “We’ve turned life itself into a quota business” Bill Harcliff “What I really do is live in a white neighborhood” 10. Black Youth: The Worsening Crisis Richard Simmons “The American black man is a dying species” Larry Dillard “Without [the Black Panthers], my generation would be a different generation” Sarah Williams “I had him and everything just changed” Jim Pettit “Two counts against me: I’m black and I’m gay” 11. Blue-Collar Men in a Tight Economy Jim Corey “He’s just a boy, Daddy” Dick Cunningham “Even Walnut Creek, it’s integrating” Lawrence Adams “The federal government and AT&T screwed up” Joe Rypins “Smelling like a rose” Mark Anthony Holder “Peoples of forty, they’re no longer thinking about a race thing” 12. Men, Women, and Opportunity Harold Sampson “I have not been able to achieve selfhood through the civil rights movement” Frank Casey “If they had gave me the green light” Carleta Reeves “To grow and develop with the times” Henry Smith “If I were a white guy . . .” 13. Keeping the Spirit of the Sixties Alive Vera Brooke “The caring factor” Joan Keres “The way that you view humanity and the earth, those are the main things” Len Davis “My whole damn culture’s gone” Elena Albert “I as an individual will continue to resist” Conclusion Appendix: Methodology Notes Bibliographic Essay
£18.90
Hodder Education Access to History for the IB Diploma The Cold War
Book SynopsisA new book for Paper 2, World History Topic 12: The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries (20th Century)Readable and rigorous coverage that gives you the depth of knowledge and skills development required for the Diploma. Provides:- Reliable, clear and in-depth narrative from topic experts - Analysis of the historiography surrounding key debates - Dedicated exam practice with model answers and practice questions - TOK support activities and Historical Investigation questions to help with all aspects of the Diploma Tailored exactly to the Diploma, it also helps you develop analytical skills through the widest variety of sources at this level. Other titles in the series:- The Move to Global War- Rights and Protest- Authoritarian States
£26.60
Quarto Publishing PLC Rejoice! Rejoice!: Britain in the 1980s
Book Synopsis'A masterly mix of shrewd analysis, historical detail and telling quotes... Indispensable’ Mail on Sunday 'Among a host of recent books on the 1980s, Turner's stands out as comfortably the most entertaining’ Sunday Times When Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979 she promised to bring harmony where once there had been discord. But Britain entered the 1980s bitterly divided over its future. At stake were the souls of the great population boom of the 1960s. Would they buy into the free-market, patriotic agenda of Thatcherism? Or the anti-racist, anti-sexist liberalism of the new left? From the miners’ strike, the Falklands War and the spectre of AIDS, to Yes Minister, championship snooker and Boy George, Rejoice! Rejoice! steps back in time to relive the decade when the Iron Lady sought to remake Britain. What it discovers is a thoroughly foreign country.Trade Review'Terrifically entertaining'‘Turner does an excellent job in synthesising the culture and art of the day into the wider political discourse. The result is resolutely entertaining’'Excellent ... this trilogy is about the most authoritative account of the late 20th century as you are likely to get'‘Put[s] into cold perspective what at the time we were too befuddled with emotion to understand... Turner has produced a masterly mix of shrewd analysis, historical detail and telling quotes... Indispensable’'Dazzling... Turner’s account of the 1980s is as wide-ranging as that fractured, multi-faceted decade demands ... deft at picking out devilish details and damning quotes from history that is less recent than you think’‘Among a host of recent books on the 1980s, Turner's stands out as comfortably the most entertaining’ - Books of the Year‘One of the pleasures of Alwyn Turner’s breathless romp through the 1980s is that it overflows with unusual juxtapositions and surprising insights... The tone is that of a wildly enthusiastic guide leading us on a breakneck tour through politics, sport and culture’‘This kaleidoscopic history ... provides a vivid and enjoyable guide to these turbulent years. Ranging broadly across popular culture as well as high politics ... Turner brings the period alive and offers insights into both sides of a polarised nation’‘Turner does an excellent job in synthesising the culture and art of the day into the wider political discourse. The result is resolutely entertaining’'Terrifically entertaining''Excellent ... this trilogy is about the most authoritative account of the late 20th century as you are likely to get'
£17.00
University of California Press Revolutionary Nonviolence
Book SynopsisA persuasive account of the philosophy and power of nonviolence organizing, and a resource for building and sustaining effective social movements. Despite the rich history of nonviolent philosophy, many people today are unfamiliar with the basic principles and practices of nonviolenceeven as these concepts have guided so many direct-action movements to overturn forms of racial apartheid, military and police violence, and dictatorships around the world.Revolutionary Nonviolence is a crucial resource on the long history of nonviolent philosophy through the teachings of Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., one of the great practitioners of revolution through deliberate and sustained nonviolence. His ongoing work demonstrates how we can overcome violence and oppression through organized direct action, presenting a powerful roadmap for a new generation of activists. Rev. Lawson's work as a theologian, pastor, and social-change activist has inspired hope and liberation for more than sixty years.Trade Review"A ‘how to’ guide for the next generation." * Christian Science Monitor *"This book is both easy to read and deeply inspiring. It is among the best introductions to the philosophy of the nonviolent movement. . . . Highly recommended." * CHOICE *"Rev. Lawson wants us to think big. . . .What he offers...is a huge helping of wisdom. Lawson also offers a method, derived from Gandhi, King, and his own experience in movements for freedom, peace and economic justice." * Fellowship Magazine *Table of ContentsForeword by Angela Davis Preface Introduction to James M. Lawson's Talks, Dialogues, and Interviews Michael K. Honey 1 The Power of Nonviolence in the Fight for Racial Justice 2 Understanding Violence and Nonviolence 3 Steps of a Nonviolent Protest or Movement 4 Examples of Social Change through Nonviolence 5 Where Do We Go from Here? 6 You Have to Do the Truth Part First: A Dialogue between Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. and Bryan Stevenson 7 A Brief Biography of James M. Lawson Jr. Kent Wong Notes Contributing Authors
£15.29
Collective Ink Lady Katherine Knollys: The Unacknowledged
Book SynopsisKatherine Knollys was Mary Boleyn's first child, born in 1524 when Mary was having an affair with King Henry VIII. Katherine spent her life unacknowledged as the king's daughter, yet she was given prime appointments at court as maid of honour to both Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. She married Francis Knollys when she was 16 and went on to become mother to many successful men and women at court including Lettice Knollys who created a scandal when she married Sir Robert Dudley, the queen's favourite. This fascinating book studies Katherine's life and times, including her intriguing relationship with Elizabeth I.
£9.49
University of California Press Parting Gifts of Empire
£22.50
Profile Books Ltd Dante
Book Synopsis"A vital guide ... It is difficult to imagine anyone seriously interested in Dante who will not want to own this book" AN Wilson, The Times Since Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy it has defined how people imagine and depict not only heaven and hell, but romantic love and the human condition. However, while Dante's works are widely celebrated outside Italy, the circumstances of his extraordinary life are less well known. Born in 1265, Dante's adolescence was characterised by literary genius, but his political activism in one of the medieval world's wealthiest cities led to his death in exile. Pre-eminent Dante scholar Alessandro Barbero and celebrated translator Allan Cameron bring the poet vividly to life. Animating the political intrigue, violence, civil war, exile and cities that shaped Dante's poetic and political life, this is a remarkable portrait of one of the creators of European literature and a towering medieval figure in time for the 700th anniversary of his death.Trade ReviewBarbero ... richly contextualizes the life of a middle-class man of letters in medieval Italy -- Heather Webb * TLS *A vital guide ... It is difficult to imagine anyone seriously interested in Dante who will not want to own this book -- AN Wilson * The Times *Impeccably written and researched ... In all cases, [Barbero's] reasoning is cogent, his research impressive and his answers set in earnest dialogue with the historical record -- Joseph Luzzi * NY Times *
£10.44
Birlinn General Historic South Edinburgh
Book SynopsisFirst published in four volumes in the early 1980s, Charles Smith’s Historic South Edinburgh has become a much sought-after and extremely rare classic. This completely new edition combines all four volumes into one, and has been completely revised and updated with much new research and information. The opening of North Bridge in 1772 was followed by an exodus, not simply to the spacious elegance of Craig’s New Town, but to the rural seclusion and open spaces of the South Side. Over the next hundred and fifty years the city grew steadily southwards. As much as the more familiar stories of the Old Town and the New Town, the story of the South Side lies at the heart of Edinburgh and to this day it is full of fascinating incident, extraordinary people and great historic resonance. For any native of the city, Historic South Edinburgh is an essential book. With many new illustrations, it is a mine of information and anecdote for all who love Edinburgh. Areas of Edinburgh covered are: The Meadows, Marchmont, Sciennes, The Grange, Bruntsfield, Morningside, Braid, Blackford, Merchiston, Craiglockhart, Swanston.
£18.04
University of California Press Hella Town
Book SynopsisHella Town reveals the profound impact of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland's built environment. Often overshadowed by San Francisco, its larger and more glamorous twin, Oakland has a fascinating history of its own. From serving as a major transportation hub to forging a dynamic manufacturing sector, by the mid-twentieth century Oakland had become the urban center of the East Bay. Hella Town focuses on how political deals, economic schemes, and technological innovations fueled this emergence but also seeded the city's postwar struggles. Toward the turn of the millennium, as immigration from Latin America and East Asia increased, Oakland became one of the most diverse cities in the country. The city still grapples with the consequences of uneven class- and race-based development-amid-disruption. How do past decisions about where to locate highways or public transit, urban renewal districts or civic venues, parks or shopping centersTrade Review“Schwarzer’s biography of Oakland is a big book, an important book, a powerful book and an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to reform the city by any means necessary.” * CounterPunch *"Noteworthy for several reasons, but one is its timeliness. Though Hella Town tells a familiar story — Oakland’s rise as an industrial hub, its fall to the failings of racism, its still-troubled resurgence — the lens through which it makes sense of that story provides insights about how cities come to be (and why they fail) that prove eerily relevant to those writing Oakland’s next act right now. . . . All who want Oakland’s story to read, ultimately, as something other than tragic — more a celebration of all that makes this place uniquely great — should be aware of what building big things (or not building them) can do. Among other things, Hella Town is an excellent education to that end." * San Francisco Chronicle *"A sparkling new history filled with lessons for our present." * SF Weekly *"A model history of urban development, laying out the stages of ‘Oakland’s built environment' from its take-off in the last decade of the nineteenth century to the early years of the current century." * Geography Realm *"From malls to shipyards to housing in the hills, Mitchell Schwarzer’s book is a sweeping history of development and power." * Oaklandside *"The book will likely stir interest among faculty, students, and practitioners in urban planning and design, architecture, and urban history. Readers longing for a heavily descriptive account of Oakland’s urbanization will admire the extent to which the narrative offers a factual extravaganza of the components of the city’s built environment." * Journal of Urban Affairs *"Maintains a delicate balance between analyzing how Oakland’s history represents attributes common to many US cities while preserving distinctive characteristics. . . . Hella Town is an urban history well worth the attention of scholars concerned with the 20th-century American city and of a wider audience interested in the San Francisco Bay Area." * CHOICE *"Thoroughly documenting Oakland’s struggles over the past 130 years, the book frames each issue or struggle within its political context. The writing is clear, accessible, and rich, and the maps and photos, some of them by the author, are outstanding." * California History *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I 1. Streetcar Stratification 2. Industrial Powerhouse Part II 3. Space for Automobiles 4. The Politics of Parks 5. Major League Venue Part III 6. The Promise and the Reality of Freeways and BART 7. In the Wake of Deindustrialization 8. Housing Injustice 9. Downtown Renewal and Ruin 10. Shopping Centers and Storefront Streets Coda Acknowledgments Notes Select Bibliography of Books about Oakland Index
£18.90
John Donald Publishers Ltd Somerled: And the Emergence of Gaelic Scotland
Book SynopsisThrough most of eight hundred years, Somerled of Argyll has been variously denounced as an intractable rebel against his rightful king and esteemed as the honoured ancestor of the later medieval Lord of the Isles, but he can be recognised now as a much more complex figure of major prominence in twelfth-century Scotland and of truly landmark significance in the long history of the Gael. In this book individual chapters investigate his emergence in the forefront of the Gaelic-Norse aristocracy of the western seaboard, his part in Gaeldom's challenge to the Canmore kings of Scots, his war on the Manx king of the Isles, his importance for the church on Iona, and his extraordinary invasion of the Clyde which was cut short by his violent death at Renfrew in 1164. Perhaps most impressive is the book's demonstration of how almost everything that is known of or has been claimed for Somerled reflects the same characteristic fusion of Norse and Celt which binds the cultural roots of Gaeldom. It is this recognition which has led its author to his proposal of Somerled's wider historical importance as the personality who most represents the first fully-fledged emergence of the medieval Celtic-Scandinavian cultural province from which is directly descended the Gaelic Scotland of today.
£19.00
University of California Press The Lure of the Beach
Book SynopsisA human and global take on a beloved vacation spot. The crash of surf, smell of salted air, wet whorls of sand underfoot. These are the sensations of the beach, that environment that has drawn humans to its life-sustaining shores for millennia. And while the gull's cry and the cove's splendor have remained constant throughout time, our relationship with the beach has been as fluid as the runnels left behind by the tide's turning. The Lure of the Beach is a chronicle of humanity's history with the coast, taking us from the seaside pleasure palaces of Roman elites and the aquatic rituals of medieval pilgrims, to the venues of modern resort towns and beyond. Robert C. Ritchie traces the contours of the material and social economies of the beach throughout time, covering changes in the social status of beach goers, the technology of transport, and the development of fashion (from nudity to Victorianism and back again), as well as the geographic spread of modern beach-going from EnglanTrade Review"Ritchie's book is both engagingly written and thoroughly scholarly." * Geography Realm *"The Lure of the Beach is a thoroughly researched, interesting social history. . . .a landmark text." * Technology & Culture *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Lure of the Sea 2. The Rise of the Resorts 3. Leisure Comes to America 4. The Industrial Revolution Finds the Beach 5. Can a Proper Victorian be Nude? 6. Entertainment Comes Front and Center 7. The Modern World Intrudes 8. Beach Resorts Become a Cultural Phenomenon 9. Who Owns the Beach? 10. The Relentless Sea Notes Bibliography Index
£18.90
Leapfrog Press Pelham Grenville Wodehouse - Volume 1: This Is
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Cameron & Company Inc Japanese Prints in Transition: From the Floating
Book SynopsisA stunning introduction to the history of Japanese printmaking, with highlights from the de Young museum's vast collection In 1868, Japan underwent a dramatic transformation following the overthrow of the shogun by supporters of Emperor Meiji, marking the end of feudal military rule and ushering in a new era of government that promoted modernizing the country and interacting with other nations. Japanese print culture, which had flourished for more than a century with the production of color woodcuts (the so-called ukiyo-e, or “floating world” images), also changed course during the Meiji era (1868–1912), as societal changes and the once-isolationist country’s new global engagement provided a wealth of new subjects for artists to capture. Featuring selections from the renowned Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts’ permanent collection, Japanese Prints in Transition: From the Floating World to the Modern World documents the shift from delicately colored ukiyo-e depictions of actors, courtesans, and scenic views to brightly colored images of Western architecture, modern military warfare, technology (railroad trains, steam-powered ships, telegraph lines), and Victorian fashions and customs.
£24.64
University of California Press Savage Journey
Book SynopsisA superbly crafted studyof Hunter S. Thompson's literary formation, achievement, and continuing relevance. Savage Journeyis a supremely crafted study of Hunter S. Thompson's literary formation and achievement. Focusing on Thompson's influences, development, and unique model of authorship,Savage Journeyargues that his literary formation was largely a San Francisco story. During the 1960s, Thompson rode with the Hell's Angels, explored the San Francisco counterculture, and met talented editors who shared his dissatisfaction with mainstream journalism. Peter Richardson traces Thompson's transition during this time from New Journalist to cofounder of Gonzo journalism. He also endorses Thompson's later claim that he was one of the best writers using the English language as both a musical instrument and a political weapon. Although Thompson's political commentary was often hyperbolic, Richardson shows that much of it was also prophetic. Fifty years after the publication ofFear and LoathiTrade Review"Richardson has a superb grasp of 1960s Bay Area culture. . . . This valuable study suggests that San Francisco, where Thompson took an assignment to write about a motorcycle gang, would prove his greatest touchstone." * Wall Street Journal *"A lively, loping study of Hunter S. Thompson as litterateur." * Kirkus Reviews *"Richardson successfully captures Thompson’s lasting impact, positing him as the intellectual face of Rolling Stone and a thinker who anticipated Donald Trump’s politics. Literature lovers will find much to consider, as will readers interested in an artist’s struggle to develop a voice." * Publishers Weekly *"Richardson presents a thoughtful examination of Thompson’s best work, his impact on journalism, and the price that he paid for those years when he burned the candle at both ends and in the middle." * Houston Press *"Well documented and smoothly written, the book is a pleasure. . . . Highly recommended." * CHOICE *“Richardson makes an unassailable case for Thompson as one of the great media critics of his time.” * Alta: Journal of California *“Richardson’s decision to look at Thompson through a literary lens not only works, it truly succeeds in adding a new level of comprehension and context to Thompson’s writing.” * CounterPunch *"Some call Thompson the founder of 'gonzo,' a subset of New Journalism that shed objectivity and thrust the writer to the center of the story. As Richardson explains, the truth is more complex." * Washington Independent Review of Books *"Artfully crafted and dutifully researched. . . . It is a solid bridge between the writings of Hunter S. Thompson and the persona that was created to embody the spirit of Gonzo journalism." * S-USIH: Society for U.S. Intellectual History *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Brooding 2. The Storm of Life 3. Roughing It 4. Observer 5. New Journalist 6. Hashbury 7. Totally Gonzo 8. Rolling Stone 9. Las Vegas 10. Campaign Trail 11. After Nixon 12. Legacy Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
£18.90
Penguin Adult The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our
Book Synopsis
£16.19
University of California Press License to Travel
Book SynopsisTrade Review"In License to Travel, Bixby explores the passport’s linguistic journey and much else. . . . An impressive survey." * Wall Street Journal *"A comprehensive, insightful history. . . . Bixby offers up a formidable survey of this everyday artifact and how it defines individuals and affords varying degrees of privilege and freedom, depending on one’s place of birth." * New York Times *"Neatly lays out the mighty power of the passport and the pains of passport inequality. . . . With License to Travel, Bixby also makes the argument that applying and carrying a passport is not just an administrative hoop that travelers must jump through: Having a passport gives us the freedom to travel—and the freedom to thrive." * AFAR Magazine *"Read this book and you’ll never again treat your passport so casually." * Geography Realm *"Bixby offers a new cultural history of the passport, exploring its pre-history, emergence and its current status today. This beautifully written and accessible book will be a great introduction for people wanting to learn more about passports and their politics of inclusion and exclusion." * LSE Review of Books *"This readable narrative history will interest all who travel abroad as well as those denied the opportunity." * CHOICE *"Charmingly written. . . . An appealing, accessible, and enlightening choice of reading on this subject." * International Migration Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: "The Most Precious Book I Possess" Part One: A Prehistory of the Passport as We Know It 1 • Ancient Bodies, Ancient Citizens 2 • Great Sovereigns, Grand Tourists 3 • Modern Bodies, Modern Citizens Part Two: The Advent of the Passport as We Know It 4 • Modernists and Militants Part Three: The Passport as We Know It 5 • Expelled and Stateless 6 • Migrants and Marxists 7 • Alien and Indigenous Epilogue: Good Passports Bad Passports Notes Index
£15.29