History Books

Book SynopsisSwansea''s port and industries were key targets for the Nazis during WWII. This book is a testament to life in the town over the course of the conflict, including many personal experiences. A comprehensive overview of the experience of ordinary people, set out in a single volume for the first time.

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Book SynopsisAn Open Access edition is available on the LUP and OAPEN websites.Across Europe, the early medieval period saw the advent of new ways of cereal farming which fed the growth of towns, markets and populations, but also fuelled wealth disparities and the rise of lordship. These developments have sometimes been referred to as marking an ‘agricultural revolution’, yet the nature and timing of these critical changes remain subject to intense debate, despite more than a century of research. The papers in this volume demonstrate how the combined application of cutting-edge scientific analyses, along with new theoretical models and challenges to conventional understandings, can reveal trajectories of agricultural development which, while complementary overall, do not indicate a single period of change involving the extension of arable, the introduction of the mouldboard plough, and regular crop rotation. Rather, these phenomena become evident at different times and in different places across England throughout the period, and rarely in an unambiguously ‘progressive’ fashion.Presenting innovative bioarchaeological research from the ground-breaking Feeding Anglo-Saxon England project, along with fresh insights into ploughing technology, brewing, the nature of agricultural revolutions, and farming practices in Roman Britain and Carolingian Europe, this volume is a critical new contribution to environmental archaeology and medieval studies in England and beyond. Contributors: Amy Bogaard; Hannah Caroe; Neil Faulkner; Emily Forster; Helena Hamerow; Matilda Holmes; Claus Kropp; Lisa Lodwick; Mark McKerracher; Nicolas Schroeder; Elizabeth Stroud; Tom Williamson.Table of ContentsPart I: Unpacking the ‘mouldboard plough package’Chapter 1. The ‘FeedSax’ Project: Rural Settlements and Farming in Early Medieval England (Helena Hamerow)Chapter 2. Lessons from Laxton, Highgrove and Lorsch: Building arable weed-based models for the investigation of early medieval agriculture in England (Amy Bogaard)Chapter 3. Understanding early medieval crop and animal husbandry through isotopic analysis (Elizabeth Stroud)Chapter 4. Land use in Central, East and Southeast England: arable or pasture? (Emily Forster)Chapter 5. Innovation, technology, and social change: the adoption of the mouldboard plough and its impact on human-animal relationships (Matilda Holmes)Chapter 6. Cattle and tillage in early medieval Europe: first results from the Lauresham Laboratory for Experimental Archaeology, Germany (Claus Kropp)Part II: Revolutions revisitedChapter 7. Prospect and Protect: syntironomy and cereals in early medieval England (Mark McKerracher)Chapter 8. The precursor to the revolution? Current understandings of the Roman agrarian economy of Roman Britain (Lisa Lodwick)Chapter 9. An agro-social revolution in a Mid Saxon village: making sense of the Sedgeford excavations (Neil Faulkner)Chapter 10. Malting, brewing and beer in Anglo-Saxon England: Mid Saxon Sedgeford – a case study (Hannah Caroe)Chapter 11. The ‘cerealization’ of continental North-West Europe, c. 800-1200 (Nicolas Schroeder)Chapter 12. Agriculture, Lords and Landscape in Medieval England (Tom Williamson)Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Roman frontier with Persia in north-eastern Mesopotamia investigates the Roman city of Singara and the fortifications and roads in the surrounding area. The physical frontier between Rome and Persia has been little studied, in part because of the difficulty of access for scholars. In comparison with other parts of the Roman ‘limes’, this frontier was of great importance because it separated the two major civilisations of the early first millennium CE. Although the frontier stretched north to Armenia and the Black Sea, north-east Mesopotamia was for long periods the major area of confrontation. After a brief review of the history of north-east Mesopotamia and its role as the setting for repeated clashes between the two empires, the book focuses on Singara, its fortifications and the surrounding frontier zone. This town was one of the strongpoints on the Roman frontier as it existed up to 363 CE. The volume then addresses the ancient road network around Singara and the links to Nisibis and to the Khabur valley to the west. It makes use of old aerial photographs and satellite imagery to illustrate fortifications, roads and associated sites, in particular those mentioned in the Peutinger Table. A final chapter addresses the nature of the frontier in this region.Trade Review'In conclusion, this is a valuable and well executed book. Already with his similar article, ‘Fortresses of the Tur Abdin and the confrontation between Rome and Persia’, Anatolian Studies 67 (2017), 181-229, he had covered the region immediately to the north of that covered here. We may hope that the author continues his investigations in the coming years.' – Geoffrey Greatrex (2023): Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction ; Aerial photography, satellite imagery and maps ; Geographical and historical background ; Forts and fortresses ; Dating the fortifications ; The city of Singara ; The forts at Ain Sinu ; Alaina ; Thebeta ; Qohbol/Ghobal ; Towards the Khabur ; al-Han ; al-Hol ; Batitas ; Amostae ; Thannouris (Tell Tuneynir) ; Touloul Mougayir and Hirbet Hassan Aga ; The wall of Jebel Cembe ; The Khabur valley ; North of Circesium ; Tell Ajaja/Arban/Horoba ; Tell Brak and the Jaghjagh ; Tell Brak ; Cizre and Bezabde ; Castra Maurorum ; Eski Mosul and the Tigris ; The roads ; Roads north of Singara ; Roads east of Singara ; Roads to the west of Singara and to the Khabur valley ; Roads south-east of Singara ; The northern road from Nisibis east to the Tigris ; The frontier in north-eastern Mesopotamia ; Conclusions ; Bibliography ; Placename index

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Book Synopsis______________________________The huge word-of-mouth bestseller – completely updated for 2019THE LONDON THAT TOURISTS DON’T SEELook beyond Big Ben and past the skyscrapers of the Square Mile, and you will find another London. This is the land of long-forgotten tube stations, burnt-out mansions and gently decaying factories. Welcome to DERELICT LONDON: a realm whose secrets are all around us, visible to anyone who cares to look . . . Paul Talling – our best-loved investigator of London’s underbelly – has spent over fifteen years uncovering the stories of this hidden world. Now, he brings together 100 of his favourite abandoned places from across the capital: many of them more magnificent, more beautiful and more evocative than you can imagine.Covering everything from the overgrown stands of Leyton Stadium to the windswept alleys of the Aylesbury Estate, DERELICT LONDON reveals a side of the city you never knew existed. It will change the way you see London. ______________________________PRAISE FOR THE DERELICT LONDON PROJECT‘Fascinating images showing some of London’s eeriest derelict sites show another side to the busy, built-up capital.’ Daily Mail‘Talling has managed to show another side to the capital, one of abandoned buildings that somehow retain a sense of beauty.’ Metro‘Excellent . . . As much as it is an inadvertent vision of how London might look after a catastrophe, DERELICT LONDON is valuable as a document of the one going on right in front of us.’ New Statesman‘From the iconic empty shell of Battersea Power Station to the buried ‘ghost’ stations of the London Underground, the city is peppered with decaying buildings. Paul Talling knows these places better than anyone in the capital.’ Daily Express‘[London has an] unusual (and deplorable) number of abandoned buildings. Paul Talling’s surprise bestseller, DERELICT LONDON, is their shabby Pevsner.’ Daily Telegraph______________________________Trade ReviewThe stories behind some of London's most neglected buildings have been revealed in a fascinating new book...[that] will take people on a journey to long-forgotten tube stations, burnt-out mansions, gently decaying football stadiums around London. * Daily Mail *Beyond London's glimmering skyscrapers and grand institutions, there is a twilight zone of burnt-out factories and decaying mansions. Few people know this world as well as Paul Talling. * The Londonist *

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Book SynopsisBetween Roman Culture and Local Tradition presents a detailed analysis of the Roman provincial coinage of Bithynia and Pontus during the reign of Trajan (98-117), when 14 cities struck coins. The book characterises individual mints, the rhythm of monetary production, iconography and legends, and considers the attribution and dating of individual issues. Context is provided by studies on other categories of artefacts discovered in the local area, including epigraphic and material ones, such as fine art, sculptures and architectural remains. The extent of circulation is also analysed, as well as the coinage of the border centres of neighbouring provinces such as Thrace, Asia and Galatia-Cappadocia. Reference is made to historical sources, principally the correspondence of Pliny the Younger with the emperor, which can help to show the realities of life for the inhabitants of individual centres, including ongoing construction projects or local problems. Overall the book aims to reconstruct the coinage policy of individual cities and culture and religion in various centres during this period, as well as contacts and relationships among the local communities. In turn, the studies of individual cities allow for the creation of a general picture of coinage in the province.Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; The Roman Empire and Bithynia and Pontus during the reign of Trajan ; Mints in the province of Bithynia and Pontus ; Chronology ; Metrology and denominations ; Iconography and legends of coins of Bithynia and Pontus during the reign of Trajan ; Coins without an ethnic with uncertain attributions ; Pseudo-autonomous coins of Bithynia and Pontus ; Production in the provincial centres ; Circulation ; The coinage of Bithynia and Pontus and issues of the neighbouring Roman provinces ; Summary ; Plates ; References ; Appendix 1: Legends on the coins of Bithynia and Pontus during the reign of Trajan ; Index of Mythological Characters ; Index of Names ; Topographical and Geographical Index

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Book Synopsis(Not) All Roads Lead to Rome is the result of the highly engaging debate within the “Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient History”, a yearly congress of young graduates and researchers held in April 2022 in the University of Barcelona. In this volume, the issue of mobility in Antiquity in its broadest sense is approached from a multidisciplinary perspective. One of the main objectives is, also, to give promising young scholars (postgraduates and PHD students) the opportunity to publish their early research on mobility and build a cohesive but thematically broad work. Although mobility is always present in studies of exchange and cultural diffusion, in this case it becomes the main subject of this collective research effort. We aim to encourage academic discussion around mobility as a key feature of societies, inherent to their functioning and where cultural, social and economic processes meet. The Mediterranean, and the Roman Empire by extension, is a dynamic area, and thus, it allows us to study mobility from many perspectives. In this volume, the movement of ideas, be they ideological or religious, is explored as it relates to underlying social and economic patterns. Likewise, the physical mobility of people across empires or within settlements is treated as a consequence of and a way to ease social relations. Social mobility too is discussed in the broader framework of socioeconomic dynamics, with case studies ranging from Egypt to Rome. Finally, the movement of goods (trade) is also part of this volume, as it was essential at bolstering interconnectivity in the Mediterranean. In that regard, archaeology holds the largest potential to provide new data regarding mobility of products, and thus long-distance contact and exchange.Table of ContentsIntroduction – Arnau Lario Devesa, Joan Campmany Jiménez, Marc Marzo Pallàs, Oriol Morillas Samaniego ; I. Migration and human mobility ; Female mobility in diplomatic and military practice during the Roman expansion in the West (III-II c. BC) – Borja Vertedor Ballesteros, Hatin Boumehache Erjali ; Understanding late antique mobility and “migrants” in modern thought – Teifion Gambold ; II. Social mobility ; Archaeological and spatial analysis of the Egyptian city of Lahun (Middle Kingdom, Fayum) – Laura Hernando Folch ; The game of land: authority and adversary from a Ptolemaic land survey (P.HAUN. IV 70) – Chenqing An ; Power and control: understanding prostitution in ancient times – Carina Mkrtchiyan ; III. Moving identities and cultural/religious interactions ; Mobility at the crossroads: careers and progression during the transition from Domitian to Trajan – Antonio Romano ; Travelling mythologies: the movement of the divine throughout the Mediterranean and beyond – Zeren Deniz Ataçocuğu ; The cult of Arsinoe II Philadelphus. The ‘international’ success of a Greek-Egyptian goddess – Anita Malagrinò Mustica ; Fashioning a sense of belonging. Place in the commemorative epigrams of Gregory of Nazianzus & Ausonius of Bordeaux – Mathijs Clement ; La dispersión del culto martirial de santos y santas locales por el territorio de Hispania entre los siglos IV-VI – Víctor Gómez Guinovart ; IV. Political trends and practices ; Whistles, applause and the welcoming of politicians by the Italic people: non-verbal expression of the crowd in the Late Ancient Republic – Agata Otranto ; Rhetoric and mobility: an innovative vision of mobility in the post-Diocletian era – Antonio Avilio ; Changes in late-antique Gaul: Gregory of Tours as an exceptional witness of social, economic and political mobility – Davide Vago ; Episcopal correspondence in fifth-century Gaul. Leadership in times of crisis – Àngel Rodríguez García ; V. Trade and movement of goods ; The journey of a ceramic shape: trading black-figure amphorae to Iberia – Alejandro Garés-Molero, Guiomar Pulido-González, Garés-Molero and Pulido-González ; Marmora and commerce: the case of the mortars in public spaces of Baetulo – Andrea Collado Padilla ; Greek amphoric epigraphy and Mediterranean trade through the study of Rhodian amphora stamps in the CEIPAC database – Oriol Morillas Samaniego ; Amphora typology and commercial mobility. Thoughts on the Tarraconensis case – Carlos Palacín Copado ; The regulation of maritime transport in the Edict on Maximum Prices, a major cause of its failure – Antoni Nieva

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Book SynopsisNikolaus Pevsner described Berwick-upon-Tweed as ‘one of the most exciting towns in England’ [Nikolaus Pevsner, Buildings of England: Northumberland (1957), 88] – a place where an absorbing historical tale can still be read in the dense fabric of its old streets and buildings. It attracts not only day-trippers and holidaymakers but also new residents who have learnt to appreciate the spirit of the place. But outsiders all too easily confine their attention to the space within the impressive Elizabethan ramparts, while local people are sometimes unaware or dismissive of the wider significance of the very things that they know so intimately. Berwick deserves to be known better, and to be celebrated not just as a vivid reminder of what many other towns were once like, but more especially as something unique and distinctive, shaped by a peculiar combination of historical and geographical circumstances. This distinctiveness is acutely apparent as one passes between Berwick and the contrasting, but historically intertwined, settlements of Tweedmouth and Spittal. This book presents something of the wealth of historic interest encapsulated in Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal, and explains how these places came to assume such varied and distinctive forms. Above all, it urges that a town anxious for stability and prosperity in the future must know where it has come from as well as where it is going.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword 1. Introduction: a border town on the borders of change 2. A town takes shape The landscape beneath The Liberty of Berwick Fruits of the earth Communications The buildings of the early town 3. Political, social and spiritual order Defence of the realm Competing faiths Berwick corporation and local government 4. Commercial growth: Berwick looks abroad The salmon fishery The herring fishery The Greenland whale fishery The grain trade The rebuilding of Berwick 5. Industry and housing: the 19th and 20th centuries The rise of industry Housing the poor 6. Leisurely pursuits The growth of the resort 7. Safeguarding Berwick's past for the future Notes References and further reading

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Book SynopsisRushen Abbey, now owned and managed by Manx National Heritage, was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1134 and suppressed in 1540. It was the most important religious institution on the Isle of Man wielding significant secular power as well as ecclesiastical authority. Its location in the middle of the Irish Sea and its political connections made it one of the most influential houses in western Britain and Ireland.The first known excavations were carried out in the late 1890s by Deemster Gill, one of the most senior law officers on the island. They were followed in 1912 and again in 1926 by more extensive investigations of parts of the east range the north transept of the church by William Cubbon then owner of the site. The modern study of the site began in 1978 and 1979 with excavations of the presbytery and both transepts by Dr Lawrence Butler, who followed them in 1988 and 1989 with a complete exploration of the east range. In between these two programmes of work Dr Larch Garrad of the Manx Museum carried out an important rescue excavation to the east of the church in 1984, locating a new chapel, part of the monastic cemetery and a charnel pit.Under threat of development for a hotel complex the site was purchased by the Manx Government in 1998 and the Centre for Manx Studies, University of Liverpool was asked to carry out exploratory excavations in the first place, followed by more extensive investigations of a number of areas of the site. These were carried out each year from 1998 to 2008 and succeeded in defining the plan of the church and claustral buildings together with parts of the western courtyard. In addition, to the south of the Cistercian complex an already disturbed early medieval cemetery was investigated. Alongside the excavations, medieval documentary sources were reviewed, and extensive fieldwork was carried out on the abbey's lands throughout the island.This book aims to provide a synthesis of all the available evidence for Rushen Abbey under one cover. Given the numbers of excavations, their complexity and the richness of finds, the detailed evidence on which this overview text is based is provided by a set of 20 online reports.

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Book SynopsisTios/Tieion was intended to be a publication of the proceedings of a conference held at Filyos (ancient Tios/Tieion) in 2020. The conference had to be cancelled in common with other events due to Covid 19, though with the hope that it might take place eventually, a hope undermined by the sudden and premature death of Gocha Tsetskhladze, the co-organiser. Instead, we have a volume of ‘Precedings’, written when thoughts of the conference had not yet been abandoned. Several of the papers focus on aspects of Tios itself (the Acropolis, the Lower City and Coin Finds, written by scholars involved in the excavation). Its place in ancient geography and cartography is considered before we move on to the indigenous inhabitants of the surrounding area, the immediate and greater region (Paphlagonian Hadrianopolis, Hadrian’s visit to the region, the nature of the Phrygian kingdom), then the Turkish Black Sea region (rock-cut tunnels, Roman Heraclea Pontica, St John Chrysostom’s Monastery), and outwards to the western, northern and eastern shoreb /nb /nbs of the Black Sea, their inhabitants and hinterlands (monumental architecture in the temenos of Apollonbbn/ ia Pontica; Archaic Greek transport amphorae in the Getic hinterland; early Greek pottery in settlements and burials of the northern Black Sea region; the house of Pythes at Berezan; the Sindoi; religious customs at Tarasova Balka; the Mordvinovskii Barrow; and finally Greeks and locals in Pichvnari in Colchis). Overall, there are 21 chapters and 27 authors, drawn from Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria and beyond.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Tios (Tieion) in the Context of Black Sea Colonisation – Gocha R. Tsetskhladze (†) (with Şahin Yıldırım) Tios in Ancient Geography and Cartography – Alexander V. Podossinov The Acropolis Temple of Tios (Tieion) – Şahin Yıldırım The Lower City of Tios: Finds in the Firebrick Factory Area – Sümer Atasoy Coin Finds and a Partial Tetrarchic Coin Hoard from Tios (2015–16) – Edward Dandrow Remarks on the Indigenous People that Inhabited the Region around Tieion/Tios – Manolis Manoledakis A First Consideration of Roman Traces in Paphlagonian Hadrianopolis according to the Data of 2018–2021 – Ersin Çelikbaş Restitutori Bithynia et Paphlagonia: Chasing Hadrian in the North Anatolian Fault Zone. An Overview – Ali Bora and Yasemin Bora The Phrygian Kingdom: A Local Power or a Regional State? – Şevket Dönmez Some Thoughts on Coarse-Ware Pottery of the Early Iron Age found in the Inönü Cave – F. Gülden Ekmen Revisiting the Rock-Cut Tunnels in the Black Sea Region of Turkey – Emine Sökmen Adalı Some Aspects of the Socio-Cultural Life of Roman Heraclea Pontica in the Light of the Epigraphic, Numismatic and Literary Evidence – Bülent Öztürk Local Memory and Archaeological Surveys in Turkey’s Black Sea Region: The Case of St John Chrysostom’s Monastery in Bizeri near Comana Pontica – D. Burcu Erciyas and Polina Ivanova New Evidence about the Monumental Architecture in the Temenos of Apollonia Pontica in the Archaic and Classical Periods – Daniela Stoyanova and Margarit Damyanov A Breakthrough of Archaic Greek Transport Amphorae within the Getic Hinterland: The Case of Beidaud – Vasilica Lungu, Pierre Dupont and Sorin-Cristian Ailincăi Early Greek Pottery in the Context of Settlements and Burials: The Northern Black Sea Region – Stanislav Zadnikov and Iryna Shramko The House of Pythes, son of Pericles, in the North-Eastern Area of the Archaic Berezan Settlement – Dmitry Chistov Sindoi: Written Tradition and Archaeological Data – Vladimir A. Goroncharovsky Tarasova Balka in the Trans-Kuban Region as a Nomadic Sanctuary – Tatyana V. Ryabkova New Material about an Old Archaeological Discovery: The First Mordvinovskii Barrow – Yuriy A. Vinogradov Classical-Period Greeks and Locals at Pichvnari, Eastern Black Sea Area – Emzar Kakhidze

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Book SynopsisTwo men came to personify British and German generalship in the Second World War: Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel. They fought a series of extraordinary duels across several theatres of war which established them as two of the greatest captains of their age. Our understanding of leadership in battle was altered for ever by their electrifying personal qualities. Ever since, historians have assessed their outstanding leadership, personalities and skill.The careers of both began on the periphery of the military establishment and represent the first time military commanders proactively and systematically used (and were used by) the media as they came to prominence, first in North Africa, then in Normandy. Dynamic and forward-thinking, their lives also represent a study of pride, propaganda and nostalgia. Caddick-Adams tracks and compares their military talents and personalities in battle. Each brought something special to their commands. Rommel's breathtaking advance in May-June 1940 was nothing less than inspired. Montgomery is a gift for leadership gurus in the way he took over a demoralised Eighth Army in August 1942 and led it to victory just two months later. This compelling work is both scholarly and entertaining and marks the debut of a major new talent in historical biography.Trade ReviewA quite brilliant piece of writing. Here in a single volume we have a first-rate expose of two of the war's best known commanders... if Caddick-Adams were a landscape painter his book would be the equivalent of Monet, full of rich intriguing colours and patterns. The resultant effect is spectacular, and Caddick-Adams is to be congratulated on his achievement ... a brilliant book written with passion and verve. * Robert Lyman for BBC History Magazine Book of the Month *A compelling study of two of the Second World War's best known commanders. Peter Caddick-Adams writes with authority and a deep knowledge of both his subjects and the two world wars in which they fought. He has produced an utterly absorbing and hugely entertaining book that will provide a new benchmark on how we view these two divisive generals. * James Holland *Peter Caddick-Adam's comparison of two entwined careers is full of penetrating new insights, illuminated by a clear understanding of the world wars. This impressive book will undoubtedly prove one of the best military histories of the year * Richard Holmes *Intriguing study of General Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel ... discursive ... highly rewarding book. * Spectator *Distinguished military historian Caddick-Adams has achieved a first by entwining biographies of two WW2 adversaries, field marshals Montgomery and Rommel ... Caddick-Adams makes good use of personal memoirs to make his book an exciting character-driven read and it an excellent example of how the personal experience of war can create great and yet humane generals. First class history * Military Illustrated *

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Book SynopsisThe twenty-four contributions in Look at the Coins! reflect the vast scope of Joe Cribb's interests, including Asian numismatics, museology, poetry and art. The papers are arranged geographically, then chronologically or thematically. The first seven papers look at coins, charms and silver currencies in or from China: Chinese coin-shaped charms, Han dynasty gold unearthed in the Tomb of the Marquis of Haihun, Jiangxi, silver in the history of Chinese currency, a metallurgical and historical study of Song dynasty coins, the Department of Iron Coins at Dongtangzi Hutong in Beijing and the only known annotated plan of a Chinese mint, the six million dollars in silver of the Canton Ransom, and a hoard of Chinese coins found in Turkey. One paper focuses on the coins and medals of the two Pahlavi Shahs of Iran. Nine papers look at finds from ancient Central Asia and Afghanistan: coins of South Soghd in the first two centuries AD, the identity of the rider on Indo-Greek coins, the phonology of Greek names in Kharo??hi script, questions of identity and interpretation in Gandharan reliefs, first-century AD coins in stupa deposits and the beginning of the Buddhist relic cult in Afghanistan, a hoard of Kushan gold coins from Swabi, Gandharan Jatakas, Avadanas and Purvayogas, Indian imitations of Kushan coins, and a new gold coin of Vasudeva I. Four papers relate to India: Roman coins found in India, Hera?ika' in the inscriptions of the Western Deccan (c. 200 BC300), the peck and shroff marks of sixteenth-century North India, andHenry Ernest Stapleton and the coin collection in the Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Two papers relate to South East Asia: one revisits the Stamford Raffles' Collections, and the other discusses a hybrid pendant found in Thailand.The last contribution celebrates some of Joe's less well-known interests: poetry, art medals and art photography.

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Book SynopsisFrom Photography to 3D Models and Beyond: visualizations in archaeology explores the history of visual technology and archaeology and outlines how the introduction of interactive 3D computer modelling to the discipline parallels very closely the earlier integration of photography into archaeological fieldwork. The incredible potential of interactive 3D computer graphics to provide new insight into cultural change, ancient settlement development, building function, and behavior make virtual heritage a must-use approach, but one that has not been fully grasped. This volume brings together for the first time several key aspects of the history of archaeology: how and where photographs became an indispensable part of excavations; when and for what purposes virtual reality began a similar journey into the field team's arsenal of documentation, publication, and visualization tools; how the common trajectory of both technologies provides clues for why virtual reality has not yet become as commonplace as photography for archaeological research, teaching, and data dissemination; and how new methods and technologies are poised to revolutionize our understanding of the past.

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Book Synopsis2012 marks the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba - the most traumatic catastrophe that ever befell Palestinians. This book explores new ways of remembering and commemorating the Nakba. In the context of Palestinian oral history, it explores 'social history from below', subaltern narratives of memory and the formation of collective identity. Masalha argues that to write more truthfully about the Nakba is not just to practise a professional historiography but an ethical imperative. The struggles of ordinary refugees to recover and publicly assert the truth about the Nakba is a vital way of protecting their rights and keeping the hope for peace with justice alive. This book is essential for understanding the place of the Palestine Nakba at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the vital role of memory in narratives of truth and reconciliation.Trade ReviewNur Masalha has a distiguished and deserved reputation for scholarship on the Nakba and Palestinian refugees. Now, with his latest book, his searching analysis of past and present makes for a powerful combination of remembrance and resistance. * Ben White, journalist and author of Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide *As a meticulous scholar, historian and above all Palestinian, Nur Masalha is eminently suited to write this excellent book. He has produced a marvellous history of the Nakba which should be essential reading for all those concerned with the origins of the conflict over Palestine. * Ghada Karmi, author of Married to Another Man: Israel's Dilemma in Palestine *This book is the most comprehensive and penetrating analysis available of the catastophe that befell Arab Palestine and its people in 1948, known as the Nakba. It shows how the expulsion and physical obliteration of the material traces of a people was followed by what Masalha calls 'memoricide': the effacement of their history, their archives, and their place-names, and a denial that they had ever existed. * Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies Department of History, Columbia University *Nur Masalha's 'The Palestinian Nakba' is a tour de force examining the process of transformation of Palestine over the last century. One outstanding feature of this study is the systematic manner in which it investigates the accumulated scholarship on the erasure of Palestinian society and culture, including a critical assessment of the work of the new historians. In what he calls 'reclaiming the memory' he goes on to survey and build on a an emergent narrative. Masalha's work is essential and crucial for any scholar seeking this alternate narrative. * Salim Tamari, Visiting Professor of History, Georgetown University *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Zionism and European Settler-Colonialism 2. The Memoricide of the Nakba: Zionist-Hebrew Toponymy and the De-Arabisation of Palestine 3. Fashioning a European Landscape, Erasure and Amnesia: The Jewish National Fund, Afforestation, and Green-washing the Nakba 4. Appropriating History: The Looting of Palestinian Records, Archives and Library Collections (1948-2011) 5. New History, Post-Zionism, the Liberal Coloniser and Hegemonic Narratives: A Critique of the Israeli 'New Historians' 6. Decolonising History and Narrating the Subaltern: Palestinian Oral History, Indigenous and Gendered Memories 7. Resisting Memoricide and Reclaiming Memory: The Politics of Nakba Commemoration among Palestinians inside Israel Epilogue: The Continuity of Trauma

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Book SynopsisDouble-Sided Antler and Bone Combs in Late Roman Britain offers the first detailed study and catalogue of a comb type that represents a new technology introduced into Britain towards the end of the 4th century AD and a major signifier of the late fourth- to fifth-century transition. Their end-plates were worked into a variety of decorative profiles, some clearly zoomorphic. Over time this decorative styling passed from elaborate to rudimentary, adding to the dating evidence for individual combs. As many combs survive only as small fragments, data collection has not been absolute but has concentrated on combs from burials, or with stylistically relevant end-plates, or those providing good dating or contextual evidence, the main aim of the study being to answer questions of typology, chronology and social distribution. A particularly distinctive feature within the assemblage from funerary contexts is the substantial number of these combs from Winchester, which together make u

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Book SynopsisThis is the first book to address the long art history of dynastic marriage exchange between Denmark and Britain between 1600 and 1900. It explores an intersection of three themes trending in early modern studies: portraiture, gender and the court as a centre of cultural exchange. This work re-evaluates the construction and staging of gender in Northern consort portraiture over a span of three hundred years, examining the development of the scientific and social paradigms inflecting consort portraiture and representation, with a view to excavating portrait images' agency at the early modern moment of their conception and making. The consort's liminal position between royal houses, territories, languages and sometimes religion, has often been equated with political weakness, but this new work argues that this position endowed the consort with a unique space for innovation in the representation of elite identity. As such, consort imagery drew upon gender as a generative resource of motifs and ideas. Each chapter is informed by new archival research and introduces the reader to little known, yet astonishing works of art. Collectively, they seek to trace a shift in practices of identity formation over time; the transition from an emphasis on rank to an increasingly binary emphasis on gender.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Figure List; Introduction; 1 Anna of Denmark (1574—1619); 2 Prince George of Denmark (1653—1708); 3 Louisa of Great Britain (1724—1751); 4 Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751—1775); 5 Alexandra of Denmark (1844—1925); Bibliography; Endnotes

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Book SynopsisExploring the Sacred Landscape of the Ancient Peloponnese traces the origins of the religious system of the Peloponnese to identify the factors behind its subsequent development from the Geometric to the Classical period. Which deities found favour in the Peloponnese? What factors lay behind local religious manifestations? What were their special attributes? How were the Olympian gods adapted within the context of previous religious systems and deities?Through a presentation of cult places, the deities worshipped, and the epithets used, the book explores preferences for particular deities and the reasons for this. The chthonian attributes of the deities are an important factor, and such attributes are further elucidated by the myths that accompany them. Reconstructing the ancient religious landscape and the political, economic and social context sheds light on how the cult places played their role and demonstrates how the primitive chthon

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Book SynopsisThis vivid selection, compiled and introduced by Tamara Deutscher, written by Lenin and those who knew him, brings us the revolution in his everyday life - the man who lived by politics but not by politics alone.Here, we see the Lenin of leisure as well as work, geared to his life's purpose and yet enjoying to the full all the pleasures of a healthy human existence - neither the humourless, monolithic cult hero of Soviet mythology nor the bogeyman of official anti-communism. What did Lenin read? How did he relax? What did he think and feel? This surprising collection, covering everything from his passionate baritone singing voice to his love of hunting wild game and beyond, reveals the man beyond the myth.

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Book SynopsisThe Front Room: Diaspora Migrant Aesthetics in the Home, originally published in 2009, has become a beloved and much-praised source, providing fascinating revelations into the post-war British experience of immigrants, the decoration of their living spaces and their position in society in relation to decolonisation. The 'front room' (emanating from the Victorian parlour) provides an outlet to respond to the feelings of displacement, exile and alienation and the rebuilding of a home in a strange land. Primarily concerned with Caribbean homes, The Front Room also looks at Moroccan, Surinamese, Antillean and Indonesian migrant groups in Holland—encompassing, through texts, archival documents and artistic photographs, the important cultural markers that are expressed through the domestic interiors of migrants. The author examines how this intimate space within the home raises issues of class, race, migration, aspiration, religion, family, gender, identity and alienation. He also looks at the transition from the colonial post-colonial modernity by placing the book in the context of his own family’s migrant experience. While this revised edition includes updates of the original essays from leading social commentators Stuart Hall, Denise Noble, Carol Tulloch and Dave Lewis, as well as poems by Khadijah Ibrahiim and Dorothea Smartt, and paintings by Sonia Boyce, Kimathi Donkor and Njideka Akunyili Crosby. It also examines the iteration of the 'front room' in post apartheid South Africa and discusses how sound system culture emerged from the front room, as well as adding to the rich oral histories from different generations reflecting on their personal experiences of the front room and discussing the artefacts and objects found in them in terms of their cultural significance. The Front Room documents how the 'Windrush' generation's settlement in Britain contributed to the making of multicultural society, and raises questions about our lived experience and notions of the ‘home’, as many more people globally look for a roof over their heads in the 21st century. The book is richly illustrated with intriguing photographs of installations based on front rooms of the time and the contemporary living room and their associated objects.Trade ReviewSelected as one of FAD Magazine's 'Top Art Books To Read This Summer', 2023: 'This is an interesting look at how the front room of a household of first generation immigrants reflects their values, culture and the history of colonialism – a fascinating topic. It’s largely focused on Caribbean households, but the display cabinets and doilies also reminded me of my own parent’s household.' – Tabish Khan, FAD MagazineTable of ContentsGrandad's Home Brew by Khadijah Ibrahiim; Diaspora Migrant Aesthetics in the Front Room; The 'West Indian' Front Room by Stuart Hall; The Arrivants; The Pardner Hand, Green Shield Stamps and Mr Sheen; The top ten things in the Front Room; Front Room Angel by Dorothea Smartt; Children ... in the Front Room!; Dressed by Women and Used by Men - 'A Room of her own' by Denise Noble; Familial Dress Relations and the West Indian Front Room by Carol Tulloch; Saturday Night, Sunday Morning; Rebellion, Revolts and Resistence; Van Huis Uit: The Living Room of Migrants in the Netherlands; the Front Room 'Inna Joburg'; Returnees and Remittances; A Time Has Passed.

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Book SynopsisDuring the 1948 War, Israeli fighters and residents alike plundered Palestinian homes, shops, businesses, and farms. This bitter truth was then suppressed or forgotten over the coming years.Tens of thousands took part in the pillage of Palestinian property, stealing the belongings of their former neighbours. The implications of this mass looting go far beyond the personality or moral fibre of those who took part. Plundering served a political agenda by helping to empty the country of its Palestinian residents. In this context, it was part of the prevailing policy during the war - one designed to crush the Palestinian economy, destroy villages, and to confiscate and sometimes destroy crops and harvests remaining in the depopulated zones.The participating Jewish public became a stakeholder, motivated to prevent Palestinian residents from returning to the villages and cities they had left. These ordinary people were mobilized in the push for the segregation of Jews and Ara

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Book SynopsisHMS Victory is probably the best-known historic ship in the world. A symbol of the Royal Navy's achievements during the great age of sail, she is based in Portsmouth and seen by tens of thousands of visitors each year.As is the case for many historic ships, however, there is a surprising shortage of informative and well illustrated guides, for reference during a visit or for research by enthusiasts - ship modellers, naval buffs, historians or students. This new series redresses the gap. Written by experts and containing more than 200 specially commissioned photographs, each title will take the reader on a superbly illustrated tour of the ship, from bow to stern and deck by deck. Significant parts of the vessel - for example, the capstan, steering gear, armament, brody stove, cockpit, stern cabins - are given detailed coverage both in words and pictures, so that the reader has at hand the most complete visual record and explanation of the ship that exists.In addition, the importance of the ship, both in her own time and now as a museum vessel, is explained, while her design and build, her fighting career and her life prior to restoration and exhibition are all described. No other books offer such superb visual impact and detailed information as the Seaforth Historic Ship Series - a truly groundbreaking concept bringing the ships of our past vividly to life.Nominated for the 2011 Mountbatten awards.

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Book SynopsisNew and affordable edition of this major naval history of the First World War Five volumes to be published in time for the centenary of the War Specially commissioned introductions

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Book SynopsisLocal Experiences of Connectivity and Mobility in the Ancient West-Central Mediterranean brings together a series of papers that explore theoretical and material approaches to connectivity and mobility in the ancient Central and Western Mediterranean. The diverse contributions span the period of the Late Bronze Age through the Late Roman period and focus on locales across the central-western Mediterranean region, specifically Iberia, Southern France, North Africa, Italy, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Corsica. Case studies are grouped around the themes of people, things, and landscapes. Focusing on the small-scale picture, they illuminate local experiences of connectivity and mobility that run "against the grain" of more usual large-scale narratives of Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman contact and colonization in the west. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate the value of dialogue across regional and national divides that have traditionally fragmented research in these regions. Further, they bring out the common themes that emerge when approaching connectivity and mobility from a broad diachronic perspective when not confined by traditional divisions between prehistory and the classical period. The book highlights the work of emerging scholars, framed by discussions by prominent scholars in the field, combining deep expertise with fresh perspectives and new approaches to connectivity and mobility in the ancient world.

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Book SynopsisA Daily Mail Book of the Year and a The Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2021'Monumental.. Authoritative and highly readable.' Ben Macintyre, The Times'A fascinating history of royal espionage.' Sunday Times'Excellent... Compelling' GuardianFor the first time, Spying and the Crown uncovers the remarkable relationship between the Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Princess Diana. In an enthralling narrative, Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac show how the British secret services grew out of persistent attempts to assassinate Victoria and then operated on a private and informal basis, drawing on close personal relationships between senior spies, the aristocracy, and the monarchy. Based on original research and new evidence, Spying and the Crown presents the British monarchy in an entirely new light and reveals how far their majesties still call the shots in a hidden world.Previously published as The Secret Royals.Trade ReviewThis monumental book is really a history of the British secret services, focusing on the fascinating moments when this intersects with royal history... Authoritative and highly readable... As every page of this book attests, the royals have always been involved in secretly directing the affairs not just of this country but of many others. -- Ben Macintyre * The Times, 'Book of the Week' *Bizarre and disturbing episodes are revealed in this excellent history of the royal family's relationship with espionage... Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac's fascinating history argues that modern intelligence evolved out of efforts to prevent Queen Victoria being assassinated... Through unbelievably thorough research - all of it fully referenced for grateful future scholars - they have compiled something comprehensive and compelling. * Guardian *A fascinating history of royal espionage... The book, which stretches back to Elizabeth I and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, has something of interest on pretty much every page. -- Rowland White * Sunday Times *Gripping * Daily Mail, 'Books of the Year' *Authoritative and gripping. * Observer *Their mastery of a subject that is extensive both chronologically and in its geographical scope is assured and impressive... An intriguing alternative narrative of British royal history. -- Matthew Dennison * Sunday Telegraph *Aldrich and Cormac have written an important book. Packed with new material and fresh insights, it offers an original way of looking at royal history. It's also a very good read. -- Jane Ridley * Literary Review *[A] thorough and informed survey of how matters of high state have really worked - and work. -- Alan Judd * Spectator *Intricate, ingenious and determined... Intelligent, fair-minded and a pleasure to read. * Times Literary Supplement *A valuable and unmissable read. -- Alexander Larman * The Chap *Outstanding research that shines a light into the very darkest corners of the British establishment. Filled with royal revelations - our monarchs are viewed through an entirely new lens - as keepers of the secrets and even as spy chiefs. Were Victoria and Elizabeth II more like 007's mysterious "M"? This is the royals as we have never seen them before and each story is supported with startling new evidence. -- Kate Vigurs, author of Mission France, on The Secret RoyalsTable of Contents1: Elizabeth I and Modern Espionage 2: Popish Plots and Public Paranoia 3: Queen Victoria: Assassins and Revolutionaries 4: Queen Victoria's Secrets: War and the Rise of Germany 5: Queen Victoria's Great Game: Empire and Intrigue 6: Queen Victoria's Security: Fenians and Anarchists 7: Edward VII and the Modernization of Intelligence 8: King George V and the Great War 9: King George V and the Bolsheviks 10: Abdication: Spying on Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson 11: Outbreak of the Second World War 12: War in the Americas 13: Th e End of the Second World War 14: Raiding Missions: Fighting for the Secret Files 15: Princess Elizabeth: Codename 2519 16: Queen Elizabeth II: Coronation and Cold War 17: Nuclear Secrets 18: Queen Elizabeth's Empire: Intrigue and the Middle East 19: Discreet Diplomacy: Th e Royals in Africa 20: Discreet Diplomacy: Th e Global Queen 21: Terrorists and Lunatics, 1969-1977 22: Terrorists and Lunatics, 1979-1984 23: Going Public 24: Bugs and Bugging 25: The Diana Conspiracy

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Book SynopsisWith this third volume John Gill brings to a close his magisterial study of the war between Napoleonic France and Habsburg Austria. The account begins with both armies recuperating on the banks of the Danube. As they rest, important action was taking place elsewhere: Eugene won a crucial victory over Johann on the anniversary of Marengo, Prince Poniatowski's Poles outflanked another Austrian archduke along the Vistula, and Marmont drove an Austrian force out of Dalmatia to join Napoleon at Vienna. These campaigns set the stage for the titanic Battle of Wagram. Second only in scale to the slaughter at Leipzig in 1813, Wagram saw more than 320,000 men and 900 guns locked in two days of fury that ended with an Austrian retreat. The defeat, however, was not complete: Napoleon had to force another engagement before Charles would accept a ceasefire. The battle at Znaim, its true importance often not acknowledged, brought an extended armistice that ended with a peace treaty signed in Vienna. Gill uses an impressive array of sources in an engaging narrative covering both the politics of emperors and the privations and hardship common soldiers suffered in battle. Enriched with unique illustrations, forty maps, and extraordinary order-of-battle detail, this work concludes an unrivalled English-language study of Napoleon's last victory.

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Book SynopsisIn The Pattern in the Carpet the award-winning and beloved writer Margaret Drabble explores her own family story alongside the history of her favourite childhood pastime - the jigsaw. The result is an original and moving personal history about remembrance, growing older, the importance of play and the ways in which we make sense of our past by ornamenting our present.Trade ReviewEngrossing . . . Blends family history and reflection with social and cultural history to reveal the novelist's passion for jigsaws . . . Moving and candid . . . Fascinating * * Observer * *A mature overview of a lifetime spent fitting objects together in various ways before breaking them up and beginning all over again * * Guardian * *Touchingly human and often wise . . . a book with such enthusiasm for its subject matter that it makes you long to embark on your own jigsaw * * Telegraph * *Throws poignant light on the difficult jigsaw of human life - and on how to shed harmful thought patterns and reassemble them into something less destructive -- Anita Sethi * * Independent * *Part memoir, part rigorously researched historical perspective, Drabble's book is a multi-layered look at jigsaw puzzles and their role through the ages for society, individuals and herself; it's also a charming homage to Drabble's beloved Auntie Phyl, who passed her lifelong love of jigsaws on to Drabble * * Publishers Weekly * *Gently illuminating . . . An evocative study in memory and the techniques used to reconstruct it . . . A dab hand at fiction and editorship comes through once more, this time with a chockablock memoir fitted under the rubric of pastimes * * Kirkus Reviews * *

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Book SynopsisThe history of the Middle Ages [in Ireland] is so neglected that the only figure of renown is Strongbow, the man who led the Norman Invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century … There is little written about the lives of majority of men, who held no title or land, and even less about women … Indeed, so neglected are these people in history that many of the stories and people recounted … haven’t been heard of in centuries. In a society born of conquest, beset with famines and plagues, and where the staples of life were everything from spies and corruption to witch trials and warfare, life in medieval Ireland was seldom dull. In Life in Medieval Ireland, Finbar Dwyer offers a unique portrait of life as it was lived in medieval Ireland. Against the backdrop of what was often a violent and chaotic period of history, Dwyer explores the personal stories of those whose recollections have been preserved, finding in them continual relevance and human interest.

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Book SynopsisJordan’s diverse socioeconomic make-up encapsulates, like no other Middle Eastern state, both the array of pressing short-term problems facing the region, and the underlying challenges that Arab states will need to face once the current spate of civil conflicts is over: meaningful youth employment, female participation in politics, and integration of refugees into society. This book tells the story of Jordan through the lives of ordinary people, including a political cartoonist, a Syrian refugee, a Jihadist and a female parliamentarian. The raw voices and everyday struggles of these people shine a fresh light on the politics, religion, and society of a culture coming to terms with the harsh reality of modernisation and urbanisation at a time of regional upheaval. With her deep knowledge of Jordan’s landscape, language and culture, Rana Sweis sketches an intimate portrait of the intricacies and complexities of life in the Middle East. Rather than focusing on how individuals are affected by events in the region, she reveals a cast of characters shaping their own lives and times. Voices of Jordan shares those stories in all of their rich detail, offering a living, breathing social and political history.Trade Review'A delight to read because of the sensitivity, sincerity and pure grace with which Sweis describes the character, lifestyle, dreams and disappointments of those she interviewed.''An exquisite mosaic of personal lives, social commentary, political insight, and historical context. Sweis has brought Jordan to life with deep sensitivity and a world-class journalist's penchant for nuance. The result is a true masterpiece of story-telling.' -- Wendy Pearlman, author of 'We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria''With the Arab world in turmoil, the testimonies of ordinary men and women are rarely heard. In this beautifully written book, Sweis has given a powerful voice to those people who really matter.' -- Fabian Hamilton MP'In a sea of books on the Middle East, Voices of Jordan is a rare gem. Sweis builds on a formidable reputation as one of the best international reporters in the Middle East, with the sharpest eye for detail and an instinct for the human stories that really count.' -- Tim Sebastian, television journalist'To understand a society as rich, complex and important as Jordan's means understanding its people. This enlightening book allows a range of Jordanian voices to express themselves clearly, so that we can truly hear them.' -- Sir Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive of the British Council'A vivid, varied and revealing portrait of a country often ignored by Western media. All of the Arab world's pressures are here: unemployed youth, religious extremists, Syrian refugees, and a restive population competing to shape the future of Jordan.' -- Deborah Amos, international correspondent for NPR News

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Book SynopsisIn the cataclysmic decade that is the focus of this book, Nigeria was subject to several near-death experiences. These began when the country nearly tore itself apart after the northern-led military government annulled the results of a 1993 presidential election won by the southerner Moshood Abiola, and ended with former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo being the unlikely conduit of democracy. This mini-history of a nation’s life also reflects on three mesmerising protagonists who personified that era. First up is Abiola: the multi-billionaire businessman who had his election victory voided by the generals who made him rich, and who was later assassinated. General Sani Abacha was the mysterious, reclusive ruler under whose watch Abiola was arrested and pro-democracy activists (including Abiola’s wife) were murdered. He also oversaw a terrifying Orwellian state security operation. Although Abacha is today reviled as a tyrant, the author eschews selective amnesia, reminding Nigerians that they goaded him into seizing power. The third protagonist is Obasanjo, who emerged from prison to return to power as an elected civilian leader. The penumbra of military rule still looms over Nigeria nearly twenty years after the soldiers departed, and key personalities featured in this book remain in government, including the current president.Trade Review‘Sharply written and well-informed.’ -- Foreign Affairs‘Riveting, [with] crisp, disciplined sentences and an engaging pace plus expert descriptions of colourful characters. This is how history should be written. [Each chapter] is virtually a stand-alone booklet offering entertaining and informative insights.’ -- Ikhide R. Ikheloa in Brittle Paper'Writing on Nigerian politics is treacherous: rumours replace data, anecdotes are treated as history, and personal beliefs are stronger than reality. Siollun’s fascinating stories overcome this, revealing a dynamic country full of surprises. This book is a great accomplishment, and millions of Nigerians will connect with it.' -- Toyin Falola, Professor of African Studies and Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin'Rich in biographical details and elegantly written, Siollun brings to life the key political actors in this transformational period of Nigerian history. He reveals the complex web of civil-military relations in Nigeria and vividly demonstrates the immediate and long-term consequences of military rule.' -- Maggie Dwyer, Lecturer in Africa and International Development, Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh'In Nigeria’s Soldiers of Fortune, Max Siollun has succeeded remarkably in accomplishing what many have failed to achieve. Disentangles, in a lively yet dispassionate style, the web of intrigue, brinkmanship, patriotism, nepotism, ethno-regionalism, courage, and flamboyance associated with post-colonial Nigeria.' -- Gloria Emeagwali, Professor of History and African Studies, Central Connecticut State University

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Book SynopsisIn early 2018, Erin Darcy created an online art project, In Her Shoes – Women of the Eighth, to safely and anonymously share private stories of the real and devastating impact of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. In the five months leading up to the referendum on abortion, the project asked a simple question of undecided voters: put yourself in her shoes. Within weeks, Erin was receiving hundreds of stories from a broad spectrum of experiences of planned and unplanned terminations. By the time Ireland historically voted Yes to Repeal the Eighth on 25 May 2018, the page had gathered over 100,000 followers, was reaching over four million readers each week and had been featured by international news outlets. What began as a solo act of grassroots activism by a mother and an artist had unleashed a national conversation on human rights that would change Ireland forever. Where once there had been silence and shame, now there was honesty and empathy. For 43 per cent of voters, it was ‘stories in the media’ that influenced their decision to vote Yes. But for Erin Darcy, In Her Shoes was also a distraction from her own heartbreaking loss, loneliness and depression as she grieved her mother’s death and sought a community of her own. In time, it became an act of healing, as she connected with other women, mothers and campaigners who felt the same overwhelming need to do something. Here, In Her Shoes: Women of the Eighth reproduces thirty-two of those anonymous stories, representing the entire island of Ireland. Published with their authors’ consent and illustrated by Erin, they are powerful testimonies to storytelling as salvation from heartache, stigma and threat. Together, they record lived truths previously omitted from history and signal a monumental change in the social landscape of our country.

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Book Synopsis"Eurasian Crossroads" is the first comprehensive history of Xinjiang, the vast central Eurasian region bordering India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia. Forming one-sixth of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Xinjiang stands at the crossroads between China, India, the Mediterranean, and Russia and has, since the Bronze Age, played a pivotal role in the social, cultural, and political development of Asia and the world. Xinjiang's population comprises Kazakhs, Kirghiz, and Uighurs, all Turkic Muslim peoples, as well as Han Chinese, and competing Chinese and Turkic nationalist visions boiled over into insurrection in 2009. This book provides the essential historical and cultural background to this fascinating part of the world. This new edition brings the story of the Uighurs up to date.Trade Review'[An] excellent ... and invaluable book.' -- Jonathan Mirsky, New York Review of Books'[A] very accessible, well written history of Xinjiang.' -- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, ‘Best China Books of 2020’, Five Books'The scope and depth of Mr. Millward's latest text is unmatched.' -- Ilaria Maria Sala, Far Eastern Economic Review'The requisite scholarly reading on the region.' -- Nicolas Becquelin, China Quarterly'Well written, well documented, analytical, detailed and stimulating. I recommend it strongly.' -- Colin MacKerras, American Historical Review'The first successful attempt to grapple with the entire history of Xinjiang ... Recommended.' -- Choice'Eurasian Crossroads is a highly readable history of this vast and crucial region, where China's high-speed development drive collides with the aspirations of Muslim communities for national identity and cultural preservation. James Millward skillfully weaves all the different strands of Xinjiang's complex history into the colorful tapestry of his book, which is set to become the definitive reference on Xinjiang for laymen and scholars alike.' -- Rob Gifford, former China correspondent for National Public Radio'Eurasian Crossroads is a superbly written history of a region little known to American readers. James Millward introduces many fascinating, diverse actors into the story of Xinjiang and makes excellent use of existing monographs and primary source material. There is no comparable study in the field.' -- Peter C. Perdue, T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology'A masterful and insightful piece of integrative scholarship, unique in the literature in its scope and execution, and a pleasure to read.' -- Morgan Liu, H-Soyuz

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Book SynopsisIt's in our instant noodles and chocolate bars, our lipsticks and fuel tanks. But what even is palm oil, and how has it come to dominate our lives so completely? Jocelyn C. Zuckerman travels across four continents and back two centuries to find answers about the most widely used vegetable oil on Earth. The little oil palm fruit has played an outsized role in world history and economic development. But the multi-billion-dollar palm oil business has been built on stolen land and slave labour; it spurred colonisation and swept away lives and cultures. Today, its fires and mass deforestation generate carbon emissions to rival those of entire industrialized nations, and they've pushed animals like the orangutan to the brink of extinction. Combining history, travelogue and investigative reporting, Planet Palm offers an unsettling, urgent look at a global industry that has become an environmental, public health, and human rights disaster.Trade Review‘Planet Palm will and should enrage you. […] Troubling, thoroughly researched and thrilling from beginning to end, [Jocelyn Zuckerman’s] book traverses four continents in a broad sweep of the history, power and politics behind palm oil.’'Planet Palm is an illuminating read, as engrossing as it is informative. Those who take some time with it will understand palm oil as a force of modern history and see just how much of the world map has been stained in red oil.' -- Mongabay

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Book SynopsisThe Noncooperation Movement of 1920-22, led by Mahatma Gandhi, challenged every aspect of British rule in India. It was supported by people from all levels of the social hierarchy and united Hindus and Muslims in a way never again achieved by Indian nationalists. It was remarkably nonviolent. In all, it was one of the major mass protests of modern times. Yet there are almost no accounts of the entire movement, although many aspects of it have been covered by local-level studies. This volume both brings together and builds on these studies, looking at fractious all-India debates over strategy; the major grievances that drove local-level campaigns; the ways leaders braided together these streams of protest within a nationalist agenda; and the distinctive features of popular nonviolence for a righteous cause. David Hardiman's previous volume, The Nonviolent Struggle for Indian Freedom, examined the history of nonviolent resistance in the Indian nationalist movement. The present volume takes his study forward to examine the culmination of this first surge of struggle. While the campaign of 1920-22 did not achieve its desired objective of immediate self-rule, it did succeed in shaking to the core the authority of the British in India.Trade Review'Hardiman is among the foremost scholars of modern South Asian history. This work is highly original--a careful, and thoroughly fair, assessment of nonviolent politics. Much more than a new summation of existing research, it significantly expands the scope of what is usually understood as the Noncooperation movement.' -- Partha Chatterjee, Senior Research Scholar in Anthropology and Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, University of Columbia, and author of 'A Possible India: Essays in Political Criticism''The most detailed and sophisticated study of Noncooperation yet. More than just an historical narrative timed for its centenary, Hardiman addresses the most important intellectual and political problems raised by the movement. Lucid, gripping, and wholly original.' -- Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History and Director of the Asian Studies Centre, University of Oxford'A vital, in-depth treatment of Noncooperation. Hardiman illuminates the politics of solidarity among Hindus, Muslims, and workers, the forging of unity and nonviolent discipline, and the tensions between ethical and strategic approaches to satyagraha. An important read for students of nonviolent resistance.' -- Erica Chenoweth, Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University'Examining the range of movements drawn into Non-Cooperation under Gandhi’s leadership, Hardiman shows how tensions among elite leaders, and between them and popular movements, made it impossible to transform the upheaval into a coherent national movement. A welcome analysis illuminating "non-violence" and the dynamics of Indian politics.' -- Judith M. Brown, Beit Professor Emeritus of Commonwealth History, University of Oxford

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Book SynopsisThe history of the Second World War in Yugoslavia was for a long time the preserve of the Communist regime led by Marshal Tito. It was written by those who had battled hard to come out on top of the many-sided war fought across the territory of that Balkan state after the Axis Powers had destroyed it in 1941, just before Hitler's invasion of the USSR. It was an ideological and ethnic war under occupation by rival enemy powers and armies, between many insurgents, armed bands and militias, for the survival of one group, for the elimination of another, for belief in this or that ideology, for a return to an imagined past within the Nazi New Order, or for the reconstruction of a new Yugoslavia on the side of the Allies. In fact, many wars were fought alongside, and under cover of, the Great War waged by the Allies against Hitler's New Order which, in Yugoslavia at least, turned out to be a 'new disorder'. Most surviving participants have since told their stories; most archival sources are now available. Pavlowitch uses them, as well as the works of historians in several languages, to understand what actually happened on the ground. He poses more questions than he provides answers, as he attempts a synoptic and chronological analysis of the confused yet interrelated struggles fought in 1941-5, during the short but tragic period of Hitler's failed 'New Order', over the territory that was no longer the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and not yet the Federal Peoples' Republic of Yugoslavia, but that is now definitely 'former Yugoslavia'.Trade ReviewPavlowitch has brought fresh interest to the study of the Second World War in Yugoslavia, in an elegantly written history. -- Professor James Gow, King’s College University of Londonreading your manuscript has provided me with many new insights and has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience -- Dr Klaus Schmider, Royal Military Academy, SandhurstHighly recommended. * Choice *'Hitler's New Disorder' promises to become essential reading . . . Pavlowitch has made an outstanding contribution. -- Christof N. Morrissey, H-GermanAn indispensable addition to the library of every Balkan historian or student. -- Marcus Tanner, Balkan InsightPresents the clearest analyses that this reviewer has seen of the complicated interactions of the various political and military forces engaged . . . this is detailed, fine-grained history . . . a major achievement. -- Robert M. Hayden, International History ReviewA very solid 'synthetic treatment' that has long been needed. It must have been a herculean effort to keep track of various events, let alone make sense of all of the interweaving elements. * Historian *

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Book SynopsisDuine de shárscéalaithe na Gaeilge In Eanáir 1952, sé bliana sula bhfuair Peig Sayers bás, thionscain Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann agallaimh léi agus í in ospidéal Naomh Anna, Baile Átha Cliath. Bhí Peig thar a bheith sásta labhairt lena cuairteoirí a raibh Gaeilge Chiarraí ar a dtoil acu agus seanaithne aici orthu. Foilsítear den chéad uair in Níl Deireadh Ráite na hagallaimh sin mar aon le réamhrá tathagach, tráchtaireacht agus aistriúchán Béarla ar an iomlán. Cuireann Peig i láthair anseo seanscéalta idirnáisiúnta, scéal Fiannaíochta, finscéalta taistealacha, seanchas stairiúil agus sísheanchas, roinnt paidreacha, agus tá cúpla léaráid óna mac, Mícheál Ó Gaoithín, mar anlann leo. Léiríonn na taifeadtaí a bua mar scéalaí oilte, a hacmhainn grinn, a móreolas ar scéalta traidisiúnta agus a cumas máistriúil á gcur i láthair trí shúile mná. Buanaíonn an saothar seo ionad Pheig mar dhuine de shárscéalaithe na Gaeilge agus cinntíonn sé go bhfuil a cuid scéalaíochta le háireamh ar scoth na healaíne béil sa tír seo. Among the first rank of Irish storytellers In January 1952, six years before she died, Peig Sayers was interviewed by a team from the Irish Folklore Commission in St Anne’s Hospital, Dublin. She was more than happy to be recorded, and pleased to be visited by old friends, all of whom spoke fluent Kerry Irish. In Not the Final Word these interviews are published for the first time, in both Irish and English, along with a substantial introduction and detailed annotation. Here Peig tells her versions of international folktales, a Fenian tale, some prayers, migratory legends and historical and supernatural lore, illustrated in paintings by her son, Mícheál Ó Gaoithín. She emerges as a warm and authentic storyteller, with a ready sense of humour, a deep knowledge of traditional narrative and highly skilled in its presentation. This collection reaffirms Peig Sayers’s position in the first rank of Irish storytellers and firmly establishes her tales in the canon of Irish oral literature.Trade ReviewThe rescuing of the great storyteller Peig Sayers from the bored contempt of generations of school students is one of the noblest causes in Irish letters. Any remaining doubts about her status as an artist are banished by Bo Almqvist and Pádraig Ó Héalaí[s] wonderful bilingual edition of interviews she gave in 1952, complete with two CDs of the recordings, Níl Deireadh Ráite/Not the Final Word. -- Fintan O'Toole * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisA Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2022 In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded the sovereign state of Ethiopia--a war of conquest that triggered a chain of events culminating in the Second World War. In this stunning and highly original tale of two Churches, historian Ian Campbell brings a whole new perspective to the story, revealing that bishops of the Italian Catholic Church facilitated the invasion by sanctifying it as a crusade against the world's second-oldest national Church. Cardinals and archbishops rallied the support of Catholic Italy for Il Duce's invading armies by denouncing Ethiopian Christians as heretics and schismatics, and announcing that the onslaught was an assignment from God. Campbell marshalls evidence from three decades of research to expose the martyrdom of thousands of clergy of the venerable Ethiopian Church, the burning and looting of hundreds of Ethiopia's ancient monasteries and churches, and the instigation and arming of a jihad against Ethiopian Christendom, the likes of which had not been seen since the Middle Ages. Finally, Holy War traces how, after Italy's surrender to the Allies, the horrors of this pogrom were swept under the carpet of history, and the leading culprits put on the road to sainthood.Trade Review'Three cheers for Holy War [which] has turned the caring Italian Army myth upside down and inside out in what is the perfect antidote to Louis de Bernieres’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. […] Holy War is the ‘go for’ book if you want to learn as much as you need to know about an invasion that helped shape the rest of the 1930s, a paving stone towards World War in 1939.' -- ColdType

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Book SynopsisIf not for the famous Indian mutiny-rebellion of 1857, the Santal 'Hul' (rebellion) of 1855 would today be remembered as the most serious uprising that the East India Company ever faced. Instead, this rebellion-to which 10 per cent of the Bengal Army's infantry was committed and in which at least 10,000 Santals died-has been forgotten. While its memory lived among Santals, British officers published little about it, and most of the sepoys involved died in 1857. In the words of one British officer, the Hul was 'not war ... but execution', and perhaps thus was dismissed as unworthy of attention by military historians. Drawing for the first time on the Bengal officers' voluminous reports on its suppression, Peter Stanley has produced the first comprehensive interpretation of the Hul, investigating why it occurred, how it was fought and why it ended as it did. Despite the Bengal Army virtually inventing counterinsurgency operations in the field (and the Santals improvising their first war), the Hul came to an end amid starvation and disease. But between its bloody outbreak, its protracted suppression and its far-reaching effects, Stanley demonstrates that the Hul was more than just 'execution'-it was indeed a war.Trade Review‘Hul! Hul! provides a unique insight into the oft-overlooked Santal rebellion of 1855… For the first time, the rebellion… has been explored largely through the military records of the East India Company and has thrown new light upon the nature of the tribal uprising.’ -- Frontline'A gripping account of an important episode in India’s colonial history seen from a nuanced military-social perspective. The Hul was overshadowed by the events of the great uprising of 1857 but has finally been resurrected by the chronicler that it deserves.' -- Rana Chhina MBE, Editor, United Service Institution of India (USI) Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research'That Santals stood to be shot every time their drums beat for a Santal is both poignant and chilling, as is this book—the most comprehensive, riveting retelling of the rebellion—a history that continues to inform and define the Santals.' -- Ruby Hembrom, founder and Director of adivaani, and author of Disaibon Hul'A thorough study of the 1855 Santal Rebellion which rocked the Bengal Presidency. Stanley portrays the origin, course and consequences of the Adivasi insurgency and British counterinsurgency based on the British military records. Incisive and thought-provoking.' -- Kaushik Roy, Guru Nanak Chair Professor, Jadavpur University, and Global Fellow, Peace Research Institute Oslo'Lucidly written, imaginatively structured, and richly documented. This fascinating account of the Santal rebellion, which lies at the unusual intersection of Adivasi history and military history, is a must-read for scholars of both these fields.' -- Sangeeta Dasgupta, Associate Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University'Anchored in painstaking research undertaken in archives across several continents, Hul! Hul! is a thoughtful, judiciously balanced and richly textured account of the origins, events and legacies of one of the largest yet hitherto overlooked uprisings against colonial rule in India. A compelling narrative from which students of military history, Indian history and imperial history will all stand to profit.' -- Douglas Peers, Professor of History, University of Waterloo

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Book SynopsisEason Favourite Book of the Year 2022 ‘she is no small town, and this is no small story . . .’ BASED ON THE POPULAR DUBLIN HISTORY PODCAST A companion to the hugely successful podcast of the same name by Donal Fallon, THREE CASTLES BURNING is an enjoyable wander through some of Dublin's less obvious but more interesting streets and roads such as Henrietta Street, Watling Street, Fownes Street and Kildare Road. On the Dublin streets we walk every day, there are hidden reminders of the lesser-known heroes and events that have contributed to the evolving story of our capital. The city’s motto, ‘the obedience of the citizens produces a happy city’, may feel outdated and loaded today but the three burning castles of its ancient coat of arms have come to represent the indomitable spirit, creativity and vision that define this big town. Inspired by the No. 1 podcast, Three Castles Burning: A History of Dublin in Twelve Streets champions the activists, workers, architects, poets, migrants, artists and merchants who have made and remade the city we know and love by going beneath the many layers of twelve key streets where they lived and worked. Because, in the city Joyce called the ‘Hibernian Metropolis’, the disobedience of its citizens is the cornerstone of its past, present and future. This combination of social, cultural, industrial and commercial, and political history, through the prism of the places where revolutions great and small were sparked, offers the reader a fresh and unexpected take on Ireland's capital city.Trade Review'Readers will enjoy learning about hidden architectural details or unassuming plaques marking important events that might otherwise escape notice throughout the city. Archived and present-day photographs accent interesting facts and historical vignettes, pairing nicely with Fallon’s accessible writing. Well-researched and full of interesting facts, this book is sure to surprise even Dubliners and makes a perfect companion for any walking—or armchair—tour around the city.’ -- Grace Rosean * Booklist *‘A delightful potted history of Dublin . . . that refrain, “who knew?” is one the reader might find themselves repeating on every page, such is the mine of information contained in each chapter of this little book.’ -- Anne Cunningham * Irish Independent *‘Entertaining stories from Dublin’s past allows hidden gems to shine.’ -- John Walshe * Sunday Business Post *‘If Los Angeles feels like it was designed for the driver, and New York City for the subway passenger, Dublin, one could say, was made for the pedestrian. Its reputation as a city best experienced on foot was secured a century ago with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, a novel with an emphasis on perambulation. It remains true today; few places better suit a weekend of wandering. And you’ll find few better guides than historian Donal Fallon, author of the new book Three Castles Burning: A History of Dublin in Twelve Streets, and host of a popular social history podcast. On a recent stroll, Mr. Fallon was repeatedly stopped by denizens, eager to share discoveries and pose for selfies. That a historian can be a local celebrity testifies to the degree to which the past remains present here.’ -- Matt Kronsberg * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisA scintillating history of one of Europe’s most alluring cities. Granada is a deceptive city, concealing a layered past and a complex character. The last Muslim capital in Western Europe, over the centuries it has captured hearts and imaginations, inspiring countless myths and legends. Yet its history reveals even more fascinating tales: secrets and follies, victory and failure, poetry and art. City of Illusions brings together Granada’s many stories—the archaeological forger, the renegade French general, the garrotted liberal heroine, the Jewish poet who served two Muslim rulers. This colourful cast of characters takes us from the founding eleventh-century dynasty and the building of the Alhambra, through the Reconquista, French occupation and Spanish Civil War, right up to the present day. Granada’s history has long been fought over, rewritten, idealised or buried. This rich, elegant book sets the record straight on a beautiful, elusive city, with all its quirks, mysteries, intrigues and triumphs.Trade Review'City of Illusions vividly describes the light and shade of Granada’s history.' -- The Critic

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Book SynopsisHow did Norway become a highly successful liberal democracy? Will its prosperity and stability last, or has modern history been an exception? Is the Norwegian experience based on luck, or has a part been played by clever politicians and sound institutions, including a well-functioning rule of law? How does Norway combine social democracy with a market economy, and extensive foreign trade? Since the 1970s, Norway has become an oil-producing giant in Northern Europe--how can that role be reconciled with the realities of climate change, and increasing awareness of that crisis? This highly engaging book introduces Norwegian political and economic history to a broad audience, offering a deeper understanding of a country always looked upon with great interest, but perhaps not profoundly understood. The Norwegian Exception? takes the reader back through 200 years of state-building to explain Norway's current position as a top-ranking nation, and to consider its chances of keeping that status in the twenty-first century. In particular, it unpacks how Norwegian politics and governance have shaped the country's world-famous oil fund and unique relationship with the European Union. Leading historians Mathilde Fasting and Øystein Sørensen skilfully draw back the curtain on the inner workings of the Norwegian 'utopia'.Trade Review'When I used the phrase "Getting to Denmark" as the aspiration of many societies, I might as well have said "Getting to Norway"--the Norwegian modernisation story is equally remarkable. This book provides great historical insight into how this lucky country came to be, and reveals its future challenges.' -- Francis Fukuyama, author of 'The End of History and the Last Man' and 'Trust: Social Virtues and Creation of Prosperity''In this unique, enjoyable book, two experts reveal the secrets of Norwegian success in creating a country both envied and criticised. Essential reading for understanding Norway's culture, society and politics, and its challenges—past, present and future.' -- John Gilmour, Honorary Fellow in Scandinavian Studies, University of Edinburgh'A greatly interesting book, covering in detail the history of Norway and suggesting possible futures for the exceptional Norwegians.' -- Christine Ingebritsen, Professor of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington'Focusing on the societal and political history of Norway from its 1814 constitutional birth to the present day, this book provides a long-overdue introduction to non-Norwegian readers, and contributes to discussions of Nordic exceptionalism.' -- Ruth Hemstad, Associate Professor II of History, University of Oslo

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Book SynopsisSimms and his team's meticulous work are proof positive that well-built social housing can add immensely to the tone and style of a city. His work remains a touchstone and an inspiration.

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Book SynopsisKaroline Kan was born in 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre: her generation has always been caught between China's authoritarian politics and its hyper-modern technology and economic boom. In her quest to understand the shifting sands of global, connected China, Karoline turns to her family, who have survived Maoism and its legacy by breaking with tradition. Navigating a society beset by poverty and often violent political unrest, the Kans swapped rural villages for crowded city streets in search of a better way of life. Now a journalist, Kan recounts gripping tales of her grandmother, who struggled to help her family through the Great Famine; of her mother, who defied the One-Child Policy by giving birth to Karoline; and of her cousin, a factory worker scraping by on less than £1 per hour. An ambitious millennial pursuing her career and personal life in a time of dizzyingly rapid social change, Kan discovers her own story's roots in the China of previous generations.Trade Review'If you’re looking to understand the female millennial experience in China, Under Red Skies is your best bet.' -- The Mistress of the House of Books blog

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Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive account of how the Northern Ireland government responded to Jewish appeals for help on the eve of the Holocaust.

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Book SynopsisIn a world dominated by the British Empire, and at a time when many Europeans considered black people inferior, Sierra Leonean writer A. B. C. Merriman-Labor claimed his right to describe the world as he found it. He looked at the Empire's great capital and laughed. In this first biography of Merriman-Labor, Danell Jones describes the tragic spiral that pulled him down the social ladder from writer and barrister to munitions worker, from witty observer of the social order to patient in a state-run hospital for the poor. In restoring this extraordinary man to the pantheon of African observers of colonialism, she opens a window onto racial attitudes in Edwardian London. An African in Imperial London is a rich portrait of a great metropolis, writhing its way into a new century of appalling social inequity, world-transforming inventions, and unprecedented demands for civil rights. WINNER OF THE HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTIONTrade Review'A must read.' ‘A brilliant biography . . . [Jones] has given a vivid picture of London one hundred years ago.’ 'An engaging, worthwhile biography. … Jones uncovers the life of a historical ghost, nearly lost to the world' -- Choice‘The richness and wider implications of Merriman-Labor’s life and sojourn in England come out vividly in [this] book because of Jones’ careful research, analytical rigor, and lively writing.’ -- Journal of African History'Written with great verve, An African in Imperial London reconstructs the life of A.B.C. Merriman-Labor... Both he and his biographer provide a rich picture of London, particularly in his most important work... an enlightening account of what it meant to be black in the most powerful country in the world'. -- Peter Stansky'Historical rigour, literary skill and a deep sense of humanity pervades this splendid biography which recovers from the condescension of the past the world of Augustus Merriman-Labor.' -- David Killingray'The moving and surprising story of A.B.C. Merriman-Labor, both insider and outsider in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Africa and England, is also a compelling contemporary parable about the interaction between individuals and society.' -- Edward MendelsonElegantly written and meticulously researched for over seven years, An African in Imperial London presents the life and times of Augustus Merriman-Labor: Sierra Leonean writer, barrister, munitions worker during the First World War, and much more besides. This is an important addition to the history of Africans in Britain.' -- Hakim Adi

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