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Book SynopsisWhen he died suddenly in 1967, Isaac Deutscher had completed only the compelling first chapter of a long-anticipated biography of Lenin, published here. It covers Lenin's family background, birth and early years in the backwater town of Simbirsk up to the execution of his brother, a traumatic formative event. Drawing on a lifetime of background research, including access to the closed section of Trotsky's archives, Lenin's Childhood gives a novel interpretation of the earliest influences on Lenin's personality and thinking. Most of all, it is a glimpse into an unfinished work which would have striven to save Lenin from fanatical anti-revolutionary condemnation and, perhaps more important, from uncritical communist beatification.This anniversary edition includes an introduction by Deutscher's biographer, Gonzalo Pozo, which situates the Lenin project within Deutscher's oeuvre and discusses the sources, influences and evolution of his never completed life of Lenin.Table of ContentsIntroduction to the Anniversary Edition - Gonzalo PozoIntroduction - Tamara DeutscherLenin's Childhood

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Book SynopsisCommissioned by Oliver Stone in 2015 to commemorate the Russian Revolution, Tariq Ali's captivating screenplay of the life and times of Vladimir Lenin puts flesh on the bones of the historical record and gets its pulse racing. From the author of The Dilemmas of Lenin, the drama captures the enigma of its central character. Ali shows Lenin in his rush from Switzerland to Petrograd by train to grasp his moment in history and the force of his personality on the tumult he found there. He made a revolution and remade a nation. Interwoven with the politics is an exploration of Lenin's personal life, especially his love for Inessa Armand.In the introduction, Ali argues that, despite the difficulties, a serious cinematic assessment of Lenin is still needed. Unfortunately, two very different attempts to film one failed. This first draft provides the basis for something on a grander scale at some stage in the future. Praise for The Dilemmas of Lenin 'Aims to rescue Lenin from both liberal caricature and Soviet hag- iography by recovering the realism and dynamism of his political thought' David Sessions, Nation'An incredibly powerful, panoramic, and insightful study of the central revolutionary figure of the twentieth century' Paul LeBlanc, author of Lenin and the Revolutionary Party Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Lenin ScenarioChronology of Lenin's Life and WorksGlossary of Names

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Book SynopsisHistorian Kjell Östberg presents the first comprehensive study of one of the most influential political movements of our time. Swedish Social Democracy was an inspiration to young socialists around the world for generations. But little remains of the Swedish model today.For almost a century, Social Democracy prevailed in Sweden, which for many appeared to be on the verge of becoming a truly socialist country. What followed instead was a jarring adaptation to a rising neoliberal world order. Large parts of the public sector have now been privatised, social inequality is rapidly worsening, and right-wing populists have come to represent much of the working class.Östberg discusses the reformist strategy, class organizations and social mobilisation, women’s struggle, and the creation of the Swedish welfare society. It is a history emblematic of the transformations in global politics of the last half century.

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Book SynopsisTrees mirror in many ways the life cycle of human beings: they are born from seed, they breathe and drink, they grow to maturity, reproduce and eventually die from age or disease. Their branches, roots and the veins of their leaves resemble human blood vessels, and certain species even ooze a reddish, blood-like sap when damaged.From ancient times, people appreciated the spiritual value of trees, singling out individual trees for special veneration. In Ireland the roots of tree worship reach deep into pagan Celtic religion and spirituality. Christine Zucchelli looks at these trees, from Fairy Thorns to Rag Trees, from Mass Bushes to Monument Trees. This fascinating exploration of their stories and legends reveals their spiritual, social and historical functions from pagan times to the present.Trade Review'Beautiful arboreal studies, inspiring pleasure in trees' -- Michael Viney * The Irish Times *'Inestimable contribution to the knowledge and understanding of trees in Ireland' * Irish Examiner *

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Book SynopsisThe 1916 Rising is one of the most documented and analysed episodes in Ireland's turbulent history. Often overlooked, however, is its immediate aftermath. This significant window in the narrative of Irish revolutionary history, which saw the rebirth of the Volunteers and laid the foundations for the War of Independence, is usually covered as a footnote, or from the biographical standpoints of the leaders.Picking up where the authors' acclaimed account of the Rising, When the Clock Struck in 1916, left off, we join the men and women of the Rising in the dark abyss of defeat. The leaders' poignant final hours and violent ends are laid bare, but the perspective of those with the unpalatable task of carrying out the executions is also revealed, rectifying a historic disservice to those who reluctantly formed the firing squads. While the prisoners in Dublin awaited their grisly fates, others were deported in stinking cattle boats to camps in England and Wales. When they returned, it was to a jubilant welcome in a radically changed country. The gruesome death of Thomas Ashe in September 1917, after being force-fed in Mountjoy Prison, became a marshalling point for the republican movement, as his funeral saw Volunteers once again assembled in uniform on Dublin's streets. The next phase of the struggle was born, under new leaders who had 'graduated' from the internment camps known as 'Republican Universities', ready and eager to fill the void left by the executed visionaries.The authors sifted through thousands of first-hand accounts of the suffering endured when ordinary people set out to change history. Their stirring account will transport readers into life as it looked, sounded and even smelt to those taking part in this crucial juncture of our history.

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Book SynopsisLincolnshire is England's second-largest county—and one of the least well-known. Yet its understated chronicles, unfashionable towns and undervalued countryside conceal fascinating stories, and unique landscapes: its Wolds are lonely and beautiful, its towns characterful; its marshlands and dynamic coast are metaphors of constant change. From plesiosaurs to Puritans, medieval ghosts to eighteenth-century explorers, poets to politicians, and Vikings to Brexit, this marginal county is central to England's identity. Canute, Henry IV, John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford all called Lincolnshire home. So did saints, world-famed churchmen and reformers—Etheldreda, Gilbert, Guthlac and Hugh, Robert Grosseteste, John Wycliffe, John Cotton, John Foxe and John Wesley—as well as Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, John Harrison and George Boole. Lincolnshire explorers went everywhere: John Smith to Jamestown, George Bass and Matthew Flinders to Australia, and John Franklin to a bitter death in the Arctic. Artists and writers have been inspired—including Byrd, Taverner, Stukeley, Stubbs, Eliot and Tennyson—while Thatcher wrought neo-liberalism. Extraordinary architecture testifies to centuries of both settlement and unrest, from Saxon towers to sky-piercing spires; evocative ruined abbeys to the wonder of the Cathedral. And in between is always the little-known land itself—an epitome of England, awaiting discovery.Trade Review'A wonderfully rich mixture of nature writing, memoir, history and local lore.' -- The Guardian'A beguiling amalgam of travelogue and folk history, [Edge of England] traces a meandering loop from the Fens to the Humber and back again, while exploring the region’s geography, history and people.' -- TLS‘[A] remarkable new study of Lincolnshire…its scope is striking, its ambition impressive, and its creation to be much welcomed.’ -- Lincolnshire Past & Present‘I shall return to this book again and again and I warmly commend it to anyone who does not know what is, in so many ways, not just the edge of England but the embodiment of England.’ -- The House‘Painting in poetic and evocative words…[Turner] gives food for thought about the topics concerning Britain today such as climate change, Europe, the place of agriculture.’ -- The Jackdaw'The wonderful evocation of Lincoln and Lincolnshire in this book is a joy to read, even if you have never been there.' -- The Salisbury Review'Derek Turner has written a hauntingly beautiful and evocative portrayal of England's "forgotten county"... 'Edge of England' is much more than a mere guide, more a beautifully crafted and written love letter to "a county like no other."' -- Heckington Living'Painstakingly researched... Turner paints a portrait of the county that is quite different from a guide book. He captures what Lincolnshire is really like much more effectively than any Pevsner, Arthur Mee, local town guide, or 'White's Directory' and 'Gazetteer' can hope to do.' -- Journal of Historic Buildings & Places'[A] hauntingly beautiful and honest lament to a rural existence.' -- Central Bylines''Edge of England' is well worth reading. It is consistently well written, and the breadth of the project means that almost any reader will find things of interest.' -- H-Net'By some marvellous alchemic mirror, 'Edge of England' shows how one rather overlooked county impacted national history, and vice versa. If this were not enough, Turner must also be counted among the finest prose-smiths working the English language today.' -- John Lewis-Stempel, author of Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field'A mellifluous and rich account of Lincolnshire’s strange history, landscape and folklore.' -- Edward Parnell, author of Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country'A fascinating, insightful and wonderfully researched study of a much neglected county. It draws out the rich history and all that is distinctive about Lincolnshire. A must-read for all yellow bellies and those not blessed with being born in the county.' -- Professor Lord Norton of Louth'Full of evocative, and often elegiac, descriptions of our landscape and our wildlife, and full too of fascinating reflections on the history and people of Lincolnshire, this book should be on the shelves of everyone who knows and loves our perhaps unfashionable but wonderful county.' -- Lord Cormack of Enville

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Book SynopsisOver Britain’s first century of mass democracy, politics has lurched from crisis to crisis. How does this history of political agony illuminate our current age of upheaval? To find out, journalist Phil Tinline takes us back to two past eras when the ruling consensus broke down, and the future filled with ominous possibilities – until, finally, a new settlement was born. How did the Great Depression’s spectres of fascism, bombing and mass unemployment force politicians to think the unthinkable, and pave the way to post-war Britain? How was Thatcher’s road to victory made possible by a decade of nightmares: of hyperinflation, military coups and communist dictatorship? And why, since the Crash in 2008, have new political threats and divisions forced us to change course once again? Tinline brings to life those times, past and present, when the great compromise holding democracy together has come apart; when the political class has been forced to make a choice of nightmares. This lively, original account of panic and chaos reveals how apparent catastrophes can clear the path to a new era. The Death of Consensus will make you see British democracy differently.Trade ReviewThe Times Politics Book of The Year 2022A Morning Star Best Book of 2022'Stylishly written … In the age of Brexit and “post-liberalism”, The Death of Consensus has much to communicate about how Britain has successfully navigated past moments of unnerving shift.' -- The Church Times

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Book SynopsisWhy were both sides of the Civil War divide so evasive when it came to the death of Michael Collins? Why were they still trying to effect cover-ups as late as the 1960s? Determined to find the truth despite the trails of deception left by many of the key players, Gerard Murphy, a scientist, looked in detail at the evidence. Previous researchers have tended to concentrate on the reminiscences of survivors. Murphy instead focuses on information that appeared in the immediate wake of the ambush, before attempts could be made to conceal the truth. He also examines newly released material, and has carried out a forensic analysis of the ambush site based on photographic evidence of the aftermath recently discovered in a Dublin attic. These investigations have unearthed significant new evidence, overlooked for almost a century, that seriously questions the version of events currently accepted by historians.Trade Review'Well-written, well researched challenge to the consensus' -- Eoghan Harris * Sunday Independent *'A forensically persuasive argument' -- Damian Corless * independent.ie *

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Book SynopsisThis is an analytical history of the role Tigrinya-speakers have played and are still playing in the history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, from Tigray''s very ancient incipience to the origins of today''s tragically fratricidal war. Drawing from his huge corpus of publications on the Horn of Africa, Haggai Erlich sheds new light on major turning-points, as well as patterns of continuity. His history revolves around one key question: what was ''the mysterious magnetism'' that held (and still holds) Ethiopia together? Erlich argues that there is an ''Amhara thesis'' competing with a ''Tigrayan thesis'' on what Ethiopia''s political and administrative system should be, and that the region''s history has often rotated around the axis of struggle between these two visions. The Tigrayans, though a minority, have had their periods of domination, the last ending in 2018. In between these eras, Tigrayans have been marginalised and weakened, including as the victims of their own

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Book SynopsisWho was the real King Arthur? What do the historical documents tell us about the Knight of the Round Temple? It is just a chivalric fantasy? The story of Arthur has been handed down to us by Medieval poets and legends - but what if he actually existed and was in fact a great king in the early years of Britain's story. Mike Ashley visits the source material and uncovers unexpected new insights into the legend: there is clear evidence that the Arthurian legends arose from the exploits of not just one man, but at least three originating in Wales, Scotland and Brittany. The true historical Arthur really existed and is distantly related to the present royal family.

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Book SynopsisThe untold story of the D-Day scientists who changed special operations forever.

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Book SynopsisThe slogan that launched the tourist industry in the 1960s, Spain is different, has come to haunt historians. Much effort and energy have been expended ever since in endeavouring to show that Spain has not been different, but normal. Still, many of the defining features of the country's past -- the civil wars, the weak liberalism, the Franco dictatorship -- are taken as evidence of its distinctiveness. A related problem is that few historians have actually placed Spain's trajectory over the last two centuries within a truly comparative context. This book does so by tackling a number of key themes in modern Spanish history: liberalism, nationalism, anticlericalism, the Second Republic, the Franco dictatorship and the transition to democracy. Is Spain Different? thereby offers a fresh and stimulating perspective on Spain's recent past that is not only of interest to students of Spanish and European history alike, but also sheds new light on the current political debates regarding Spain's place in the world. Contributors to this volume include: José Álvarez Junco (Universidad Complutense, Madrid); María Cruz Romeo (University of Valencia); Edward Malefakis (Columbia University, New York); and Pamela Radcliff (University of California, San Diego).Trade Review"Analytically the most intelligent book to come out of Spain in recent years." -- Stanley Payne, University of Wisconsin-MadisonCompiled and edited by Nigel Townson this collection of essays is as good an introduction to thepast 200 years of Spanish history as could be hoped for. What is refreshing about this volume is that it scrapes away at ingrained mythologies and on the whole exhibits a genuinely balanced view ofevents, deeds and leading characters. Its comparative approach is intrinsic to this success,taking us out of local arguments and into a broader domain. Spain is different in many ways;this book is also different, in very many good ways. Volume XCIV, Issue no. 9, November 2017, of the Bulletin of Spanish Studies

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Book SynopsisA brilliant new interpretation of one of the most dramatic periods of British history.The Wars of the Roses didn't end at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Despite the death of Richard III and Henry VII's victory, it continued underground into the following century with plots, pretenders and subterfuge by the ousted white rose faction. In a brand new interpretation of this turning point in history, well known historian Desmond Seward reviews the story of the Tudors' seizure of the throne and shows that for many years they were far from secure. He challenges the way we look at the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, explaining why there were so many Yorkist pretenders and conspiracies, and why the new dynasty had such difficulty establishing itself.King Richard's nephews, the Earl of Warwick and the little known de la Pole brothers, all had the support of dangerous enemies overseas, while England was split when the lowly Perkin Warbeck skilfully impersonated one of the princes in the tower in order to claim the right to the throne. Warwick's surviving sister Margaret also became the desperate focus of hopes that the White Rose would be reborn. The book also offers a new perspective on why Henry VIII, constantly threatened by treachery, real or imagined, and desperate to secure his power with a male heir, became a tyrant.Praise for Desmond Seward's A Brief History of the War of the Roses:'It is hard to imagine a historian more in command of his subject... The result is history as compelling as any novel' Independent 'This is a splendidly and vividly written book.' Evening StandardA Brief History of the Hundred Years Wars:'A well-written narrative, beautifully illustrated, and which takes into account most recent scholarship. It is also a good read.' Richard Cobb, New StatesmanTrade ReviewThe Last White Rose is history as it should be written: without hindsight or embellishment, but with erudition and a sense of immediacy that makes it a gripping and original read. -- Jessie Childs, author of Henry VIII’s Last VictimA vivid and compelling account of a neglected aspect of Tudor history. -- Linda Porter, author of Katherine ParrGripping and enthralling . . . no writer of fiction, however imaginative, could dream up more spell binding plots than what actually happened, so skilfully recounted here. -- Robert Hutchinson, The Last Days of Henry VIIIAn entertaining and valuable exploration of the early Tudor period. * Literary Review *The best and richest modern narrative history of the fiercely complex War of the Roses. * Military Times *A fluent, well-researched book. * Catholic Herald *A worthwhile addition. * The Field *Fans of the period will love this investigation. * Family History Monthly *A well-written account of a fascinating period. * Contemporary Review *This is lively history from a colourful age, telling a gripping story all the more vital for it being true. * Herald *

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Book SynopsisFirst full-length study of the use and perception of deceit in medieval warfare.

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Book SynopsisFirst full survey of how transhumance operated in Ireland from the sixteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth.

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Book SynopsisLittle known in the English-speaking world, Burundi is Rwanda's twin, a small Central African country with a complex history of ethnic tension between its Hutu and Tutsi populations that has itself experienced traumatic events, including mass killings of over 200,000 people. The country remained in a state of simmering civil war until 2004, after which Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela took turns as mediators in a lengthy, and eventually successful, peace process which has endowed Burundi with new institutions, including a new constitution that led to the election of Pierre Nkurunziza as president in 2005.After some years of modest progress Burundi's peace was shattered again when the president decided to stand for a third term in 2015. The tensions today are more political than ethnic but the country faces many other problems, above all the entrenched poverty which has seen Burundi designated as one of the most deprived countries on earth.Nigel Watt's book discusses the troubled political fortunes of this beautiful yet disturbed country which is now part of the East African Community. He traces the origins of its political crises, sheds light on Burundi's recent history by means of interviews with leading participants and those whose lives have been affected by horrific events, helps demystify the country's 'ethnic' divisions and follows the fortunes of the Nkurunziza regime.Trade ReviewA very accessible, empathic, and yet accurate book. Nigel Watt puts people and their experiences and emotions at the middle of his story. * Filip Reyntjens, University of Antwerp *This is a book about reality, an item in very short supply when people write about African conflicts. [...] Hope based on nice feelings is a non-starter in the nasty world of Africa's small wars. Nigel Watt provides the only picture of hope which can be realistically contemplated, that which bases itself on informed and uncompromising local knowledge. This is a book which should be read by all humanitarian workers and members of the international community involved in what are today coyly called "complex emergencies. * Gerard Prunier, author, From Genocide to Continental War: The Congolese Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary Africa *Topical and action-oriented, can be read as an almost complete introduction for the newcomer to the subject. * Race and Class *

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Book SynopsisCopiously illustrated edition with translation of seminal texts on the joust in medieval Iberia.

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Book SynopsisGenoa has an incredible story to tell. It rose from an obscurity imposed by its harsh geography to become a merchant-pirate superpower that helped create the medieval world. It fought bitter battles with its great rival Venice and imprisoned Marco Polo, as the feuding city states connected Europe to the glories of the East. It introduced the Black Death to Europe, led the fight against the Barbary Corsairs, bankrolled Imperial Spain, and gave the world Christopher Columbus and a host of fearless explorers. Genoa and Liguria provided the brains and the heroism behind the Risorgimento, and was the last place emigrants saw before building new lives across the Atlantic. It played host to writers and Grand Tourists, gave football to the Italians, and helped build modern Italy. Today, along with the glorious Riviera coast of Liguria, Genoa provides some of the finest places on earth to sip wine, eat pesto and enjoy spectacular views. This book brings the past alive and paints a portrait of a modern port city and region that is only now coming to terms with a past that is as bloody, fascinating and influential as any in Europe.Trade Review'A journalist who lived in the city for some years, Walton illuminates the history with compelling episodes and human drama.' -- Times Literary Supplement'[Walton] goes on to show how much the place deserves to preen itself on achievements in everything from banking, shipbuilding and the Risorgimento (Mazzini was Genoese) to the green glories of pesto sauce and the foundation (with some help from an earlier English resident) of Italian football.' -- Literary Review'At last! An approachable and informative book about Genoa, one of the world's great cities, but sadly underrated and still one of Italy's best kept secrets. Read, explore, enjoy!' -- Andrew Graham-Dixon, art critic and broadcaster'Part lively history, part personal travelogue, Nicholas Walton writes with gusto of this quirkiest, least known and most authentic of Italian cities. He vividly conjures an extraordinary past populated by pirates, adventurers and eccentrics, its landscapes, its buildings, inhabitants, food and culture. This book's an invitation to go there straight away.' -- Roger Crowley, author of City of Fortune: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire'A spirited evocation of Genoa medieval and modern, a city of agile businessmen, talented navigators and citizens with their eyes open to the world, but also a port with its fair share of pirates, pimps and profiteers. Genoa, 'La Superba' is not just a very pleasurable read - it also uncovers a city of beguiling beauty and genuine importance in the history of Europe, the Mediterranean and the world whose role has far too long been overshadowed by that of its great rival, Venice.' -- David Abulafia, Professor of Mediterranean History, University of Cambridge'Walton presents a passionate, idiosyncratic history of the Genoan city-state, glorying in the medieval piratical enterprise that brought it both fame and notoriety. ... One of Walton's strengths is his depiction of the city itself, with its narrow alleyways and jumbled mixture of centuries of building, and like the local architecture, he slides easily from past to present and back again. This book is an unashamed celebration of Genoa, warts and all, a city that "does not get the credit its extraordinary history deserves".' -- Publishers Weekly'Genoa, "La Superba" is a swashbuckling ride through the history of the Republic of Genoa. ... Genoa was a city of adventurers ... and the 240 pages of the book are as crammed full of ... anecdotes as the centuries-old vicoli are full of tales ... [Walton's book] is a romantic letter to the people of a city who need to look beyond its shores again and rediscover who they once were...' -- Delicious Italy'[This is] an incredibly detailed, charming, and intriguing work that's part travel diary, and part thoughtfully researched history book about a captivating city that remains woefully underrated. If you were looking for a reason to visit Genoa, Walton just gave you a thousand in under 220 pages. ... This is far from a dusty, dry history text or simple travel guide. The lively Genoese stories, along with Walton's humorous modern day accounts are brilliantly woven together making this book an absolute pleasure to read. Historian and traveller alike will find remarkable information crammed within its 218 pages. Walton gives an outstanding account of centuries of Genoese life and sheds an important light on the contributions made by this fearless city to the annals of Italian history.' -- Medievalists

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, potters, sculptors, painters, poets, novelists, cartoonists, song-writers, photographers, and filmmakers have recorded and tried to make sense of boxing. From Daniel Mendoza to Mike Tyson, boxers have embodied and enacted our anxieties about race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. In her encyclopedic investigation of the shifting social, political, and cultural resonances of this most visceral of sports, Kasia Boddy throws new light on an elemental struggle for dominance whose weapons are nothing more than fists. Looking afresh at everything from neoclassical sculpture to hip-hop lyrics, Boddy explores the ways in which the history of boxing has intersected with the history of mass media. Boddy pulls no punches, looking to the work of such diverse figures as Henry Fielding and Spike Lee, Charlie Chaplin and Philip Roth, James Joyce and Mae West, Bertolt Brecht and Charles Dickens in an all-encompassing study that tells us just how and why boxing has mattered so much to so many.Trade Review"Boddy intelligently takes up--via art, literature, film, and the media--the many issues that have historically veined the sport: 'nationality, class, race, ethnicity, religion, politics, and different versions of masculinity, ' plus dialectics like 'brawn versus brains, boastfulness versus modesty, youth versus experience.' Her reach is considerable, but so is her grasp. The result is a sweeping critical history and a perfect power-to-weight ratio."--Atlantic "If one author deserves real praise for stamina, it is Kasia Boddy. The research she has put into this book, combined with her awesome understanding of Western culture, is staggering. She can write with authority about everything from classical Rome to the Dada movement of the 1920s, from the work of George Bernard Shaw to Samuel Pepys' diary. . . . Her book is a magnificent achievement."--Leo McKinstry "Sunday Telegraph " "A penetrating, sparky, and powerfully intelligent work of artistic, sporting, and cultural history. . . . When you get to its final page you will find that you have not merely been entertained but enlightened, too. A literary knockout."--Times, Sports Books of the Year "Boddy's book is a superb work of scholarship, spanning ancient Greece to Mike Tyson. Its reproduced lithographs and colour plates make the book, in its way, a handsome work of art in itself. . . . Boddy referees this heavyweight 15-rounder with elegance, aplomb, and rigor."--Jonathan Rendall "New Statesman " "Compendious, and thoroughly fascinating. . . . An excellent, well-written and beautifully illustrated book."--David Flusfeder "Daily Telegraph " "Future champs may well carry Boddy's book in their sports bags along with their gloves, gum shields, and genital protectors."--Reg Gadney "Literary Review " "Fascinating tome. . . . The breadth and rigour of her research is astonishing. A lecturer in English at the University College London, she is just as sure-footed on the intricacies of boxing as in their depiction in literature, painting, film, and television. . . . This is no dissertation dressed up in book form. Boddy seamlessly weaves together tales of fighting men with tales of the arts, placing them squarely within historical context. . . . She is a more reliable chronicler of boxing than the ringside hack."--Gavin Evans "Financial Times " "[Boddy] provides much merriment along the way as she explores the ways professional fighters excite the imagination of writers, artists and intellectuals."--Economist "The merit of Boddy's meticulously researched and deeply intelligent examination of boxing through the ages is that it refuses to take the pop historian's route of lazy simplification. The political and moral ambiguity of the fights that have played such a seminal role in shaping human consciousness are chronicled in all their rich and equivocal detail. . . . Her volume is one of the most intelligent sporting books of recent times."--Matthew Syed "Times " "Boddy's vivid and highly entertaining book traces the manner in which pugilism has been represented in Western culture from Homer's Iliad of the eighth century BC to the present. . . . A lavishly illustrated study of a contentious yet compelling sport."--John Strachan "History Today " "In this ambitious book, Boddy provides a fascinating account of the ways in which boxing has been represented in literature and the visual arts from ancient Greece to the present. . . . No other work attempts such an exhaustive investigation of boxing's cultural history in the Western world."--Choice "Boddy pursues a lively, wide-ranging critical survey of boxing in literature, film, and other media, a compendious engagement with a fantastically rich tradition. She attends to both the aesthetic and the signifying potential of boxing, which has attracted artists for three millennia not only because it inspires and challenges their creative impulses but because, as Boddy amply demonstrates, the ring has proven to be a lastingly useful venue for staging all manner of ideas about class, violence, history, gender, work, leisure, ideology, politics, race, and nation, among other topics."--Carlo Rotella, author of "Cut Time: An Education at the Fights" and "Good with Their Hands" "The first thing that must be admired is the incredible richness of its sources. Boddy moves from classical Greece to contemporary fine art and mass culture and provides a wonderful synthesis of the writing and visual imaging of boxing. She writes with great clarity and draws this huge variety of material together with great ease. The research is very impressive. The text offers both an historical survey of the culture of boxing and the points of contact and connection across different periods. This is a very accomplished piece of research and writing."--Lynda Nead, University of London Birkbeck "Almost everyone who matters in Western cultural history in the past century enters Boddy's ring. . . . such is the overall quality of the job here that she can be forgiven anything."--Peter Temple "Age " "For what seems like forever, writers have tried to make sense of man's attraction to the sport of pugilism. Precious few have succeeded in explaining the relationship, while many have failed. . . . Boddy is one of those who have successfully captured the essence of boxing's grip on us, and she has done so with flying colors. . . . A tour de force."--The Ring "If you trace man's first footsteps on the planet you'd see much about him has changed - and that some has not - such as his ability and even his need to fight. But not for survival alone--but for a reason for existence, an identity to pass on, to aspire towards. Boddy's Boxing: A Cultural History explores this journey and connects dots that explain why, how long, and who we've been fighting."--Teddy Atlas "I've had a sneak preview of Kasia Boddy's huge, lithe Boxing: A Cultural History, which is out in the spring from Reaktion. Boddy is the kind of writer whose intelligence can bring together and reveal the patterns and resonances between such unlikely contenders as Plato, Scorsese, Fielding, Dickens and Keith Haring. It's a beautifully illustrated, expert, readable and startling expression of the dualities of all things. Boddy is the champion!"--Ali Smith "Guardian " "Splendid and surprising. . . . The illustrations in Boxing alone are worth the price of the book. . . . The author's research is thorough, and her writing is sharp and crisp. 'Boxing' easily pierces the aforementioned haze that surrounds the sport and gets to the crooked heart of the allure."--Julia Keller "Chicago Tribune " "A treasure trove for boxing historians and aficionados. . . . At nearly five hundred densely packed pages . . . Boxing: A Cultural History would seem to include everything that has ever been written, depicted, or in any way recorded about boxing."--Joyce Carol Oates "New York Review of Books "

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Book SynopsisThis volume summarizes 30 years of fieldwork in Denmark, some of the evidence for the spread of agriculture and the Neolithic into Scandinavia and some opinions about the origins of agriculture. It is intended to be both academic and personal and to describe the actual process of research, because most projects involve elements of both. Each chapter will deal with one of the components of the project – survey, testing and excavations. Eight sites were excavated from the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic and these are discussed in this volume. The concluding chapter summarizes research in the area and proffers opinions on a variety of archaeological subjects, with visits to climate change, seasonality and sedentism, hunter-gatherer complexity, aDNA, inequality and the origins and spread of agriculture.Table of ContentsPreface 1. An Introduction – Setting the Table 2. Field Survey 3. Site Testing 4. Smakkerup Huse 5. Trustrup 6. Dragsholm and Bøgebjerg 7. Fårevejle 8. Asnæs Havnemark 9. Conclusions References

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Book SynopsisThis book begins in 1820 with the Portuguese attempt to create a third, African, empire after the virtual loss of Asia and America. In the nineteenth century the most valuable resource extracted from Angola was agricultural labour, first as privately owned slaves and later as conscript workers. The colony was managed by a few marine officers, by several hundred white political convicts, and by a couple of thousand black Angolans who had adopted Portuguese language and culture. The hub was the harbour city of Luanda which grew in the twentieth century to be a dynamic metropolis of several million people. The export of labour was gradually replaced when an agrarian revolution enabled white Portuguese immigrants to drive black Angolan labourers to produce sugar-cane, cotton, maize and above all coffee. During the twentieth century this wealth was supplemented by Congo copper, by gem-quality diamonds, and by off-shore oil. Although much of the countryside retained its dollar-a-day peasant economy, new wealth generated conflict which pitted white against black, north against south, coast against highland, American allies against Russian allies.The generation of warfare finally ended in 2002 when national reconstruction could begin on Portuguese colonial foundations.Trade Review'This is a fabulous book, an inspiring work of scholarship that reflects the author's deep engagement with Angola for over half a century. With humour and literary skill, Birmingham condenses several hundred years of compelling history without skipping detail. By the end, you begin to understand why contemporary Angola is like it is.' * Lara Pawson, author of In the Name of the People: Angola's Forgotten Massacre *'This is an exciting excursion through Angola's past conducted by its most authoritative historian. Already in colonial times as rich as French West Africa and today perhaps the most dynamic economy in Africa, Angola is described through the writings of travellers and the experiences of its people, with no attempt to disguise the traumas inflicted on them by colonial rulers, dictators and warlords.' * Malyn Newitt, Professor of History in the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, King's College London *'Angola is now a key player and power-broker across Africa, and so an understanding of the unique historical forces that have shaped it is more important than ever. There are few outsiders who know the country better than David Birmingham, and he has written a timely and incredibly readable book on this rising power. His great knowledge and insight shines through on every page with vignettes and description which tell the tortured story of Angola's rise to nationhood.' - * Toby Green, Lecturer in Lusophone African History and Culture, King's College London and editor of Guinea-Bissau: Micro-State to 'Narco-State' *

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Book SynopsisThis volume follows on from papers presented at the 13th International Cretan Congress in 2022 and covers the period from the 1st century BC to 4th5th centuries AD, with the articles in the volume set around the topic of upheavals and disruptions, and in particular those evidenced with the arrival of Rome, the creation of the Roman Province, along with those resulting from the dividing of the Roman Empire and the emergence of the Byzantine world. The volume is set against the background of the Roman conquest of Crete in 67 BC, which heralded the end of the power and control of the Greek city-states, which were themselves steeped in age-old traditions and governed by a variety of legal frameworks, some of which had their roots in Archaic times. The ensuing changes, when they arrived, took centuries to develop but resulted in the establishment of a Greco-Roman culture and society that was far removed from its Hellenistic predecessor. Roman Crete witnessed several significant periods of d

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Book SynopsisThis book offers a valuable contribution to the development of a methodology to address the study of archaeological quartz artifacts, combining various analytical tools to study these objects so that we might better understand the technological strategies of hunting societies who made use of this raw material. La meta de este libro es aportar al desarrollo de una metodología para abordar el estudio de artefactos arqueológicos de cuarzo, focalizándose en la combinación de diversas herramientas analíticas que permitan estudiar estos utensilios y contribuir así a una mejor comprensión de las estrategias tecnológicas de las sociedades cazadoras recolectoras que hicieron uso de esta materia prima. Ello implica, por un lado, evaluar el potencial de dicha roca para la producción de instrumentos líticos, considerando las distintas técnicas de talla, así como analizar las propiedades y cualidades de los filos para la realización de diversas actividades de incidencia sobre la materia en general, considerando a las de corte y raspado, en particular. Con el fin de someter a prueba esta propuesta, es que se abordarán como caso de estudio las estrategias tecnológicas implementadas por los grupos cazadores-recolectores que habitaron en el Valle de Calamuchita (provincia de Córdoba) durante el Holoceno medio y tardío, estudiando allí el rol cumplido por el cuarzo como materia prima, así como el uso y manufactura de artefactos de cuarzo en dicho contexto particular. Consta de tres partes principales: la primera de ellas aborda el enfoque metodológico y consta de cinco capítulos; la segunda parte comprende los resultados obtenidos luego de la aplicación de estos desarrollos metodológicos a través de programas experimentales tanto de manufactura como de uso de instrumentos sobre cuarzo ; por último, la tercer parte incluye la aplicación de los resultados obtenidos en el análisis de un caso de estudio en sitios arqueológicos de Calamuchita.Table of ContentsINTRODUCCIÓN; PARTE 1 - CONSIDERACIONES TEÓRICAS Y METODOLÓGICAS; CAPÍTULO 1 ANTECEDENTES Y PLANTEAMIENTO DEL PROBLEMA; CAPÍTULO 2 MARCO TEÓRICO METODOLÓGICO; CAPÍTULO 3 EL CUARZO; CAPÍTULO 4 LA TALLA DEL CUARZO, UNA APROXIMACIÓN EXPERIMENTAL; CAPÍTULO 5 MORFOLOGÍA MICROSCOPICA; PARTE 2 RESULTADOS; CAPÍTULO 6 RESULTADOS DEL ESTUDIO EXPERIMENTAL DE TALLA; CAPÍTULO 7 ANÁLISIS NO TIPOLÓGICO; CAPÍTULO 8 RESULTADOS DEL ESTUDIO EXPERIMENTAL DE USO DE ARTEFACTOS DE CUARZO; PARTE 3 CASO DE APLICACIÓN EL SITIO CENTRAL NUCLEAR 2; CAPÍTULO 9 SITIO CENTRAL NÚCLEAR 2 (CN2); CAPÍTULO 10 CENTRAL NUCLEAR 2 ANÁLISIS MANA Y NO TIPOLÓGICO; CAPÍTULO 11 CENTRAL NUCLEAR 2 ANÁLISIS FUNCIONAL; CAPÍTULO 12 TECNOLOGÍA DE CAZADORES-RECOLECTORES EN EL VALLE DECALAMUCHITA (Discusión); REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS

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Book SynopsisThe Maldives is a small and beautiful archipelago south of India, more renowned for luxury resorts than experiments in democracy. It is a country of contradictions, where tourists sip cocktails on the beach while on nearby islands local women are flogged for extramarital sex and blackmarket vodka costs $140 a bottle. Until 2008 the Maldives also hosted Asia's longest-serving dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. A former political prisoner, Mohamed Nasheed, an environmental activist, journalist, and politician, brought Gayoom's thirty-year autocracy to a sudden end, in the Maldives' first democratic elections. Young, progressive and charismatic, President Nasheed thrust the Maldives into the spotlight as a symbol of the fight against climate change and the struggle for democracy and human rights in one of the world's strictest Islamic societies. But dictatorships are hard to defeat, enduring in a country's institutions and the minds of people conditioned to autocracy over three decades. Democracy brought turmoil, protests, violence and intense political polarisation.The ousted dictatorship overthrew Nasheed's government in February 2012, supported by Islamic radicals and mutinying security forces. Amid Byzantine intrigue, the fight for democracy was just beginning.Trade Review'Little is published on the Maldives ... J.J. Robinson's new book is a rare, welcome contribution. A British-Australian who for several years edited Minivan News, easily the country's best newspaper, he reported close-up on matters to which few outsiders pay great attention.' * Economist *'It is putting it mildly to say that the real Maldives is nothing like the holiday paradise experienced by most of the beach tourists and scuba divers who visit the islands, and JJ Robinson's political history - one of very few to have been published on the Indian Ocean archipelago - tells us why.' * Financial Times *'Entertaining book, which is stuffed with heroes, villains, coups and countercoups, as well as plenty of sex, religion and corruption. It reads like a Carl Hiaasen novel.' * Literary Review *'Maldivians won't thank Robinson for this portrait, and yet it's horribly compelling...there's courage and defiance at the heart of this book...a sad and salutary tale, boldly told.' * The Spectator *'Too little attention has been paid to the Maldives as a country, rather than a luxury resort. As J.J. Robinson notes in this comprehensive, perceptive and readable account of it's recent politics, the island nation has been a bellwether of change, good and bad, across much of the Islamic World. Any one interested in south Asia, and the tensions in many other Muslim countries, should read this excellent book.' * Jason Burke, South Asia correspondent of the Guardian, and author of The New Threat From Islamic Militancy *'A compelling and frightening account of a young democracy betrayed by corruption and Islamic extremism - the Maldives may be a small country, but JJ Robinson's book has lessons that need to be learned worldwide.' * Mark Lynas, climate advisor to former President Nasheed *

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Book SynopsisThe occupation of the territories on both sides of the Rhine was an enormous logistical challenge for the Roman military administration. In the last two decades of the first century BC, several territories were conquered or partially occupied by the Roman legions, establishing a large number of military camps around the Rhine and its important eastern tributaries. Most of these camps were occupied for short periods, depending on the march of the legions and the course of military events. In a location with good natural defences and communications with the Belgian hinterland, Neuss was one of the earliest points on the Rhine where the Roman military was positioned. The area was occupied—with some intervals—from 16 BC onwards by different legions as well as smaller units. This book provides an in-depth study of one of the most important archaeological artefacts for understanding the military supply along the German frontier: the amphorae. Deliveries arrived at the different military camps established in the intersection between Erf and Rhine from 16 BC until the Claudian principate. The study of this material is essential not only for understanding Neuss, but for further understanding of the whole Rhine and the logistics of the Roman army and its supply from very distant areas.Trade Review'…they briefly tackle a very important issue: the logistics of Roman territories on the Rhine and the contribution of Neuss material to the economic and social development of the northwestern provinces of the Roman empire.' -- Kostas Filis * American Journal of Archaeology *Table of Contents1. Preface; 2. Acknowledgements; 3. Introduction; 4. The amphora material already published; 5. A general assessment of the Neuss material; 6. Imports from the Iberian Peninsula; 7. Imports from the Gallic provinces; 8. Imports from Gallia Belgica and the Rhineland; 9. Eastern Mediterranean Imports; 10. Italian imports; 11. African Imports; 12. Appendix: Epigraphy ; 13. Neuss amphorae and their significance for the understanding of Roman imports on the Rhine ; 14. Future questions and contributions of the Neuss material for the understanding of the economic and social development of the north-western provinces of the Roman empire; 15. Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Ironbridge Gorge is an iconic industrial landscape, presented as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and so part of a national narrative of heroic Protestant individualism. However this is not the full story. In fact this industrial landscape was created by an entrepreneurial Catholic dynasty over 200 years before the Iron Bridge was built. This book tells that story for the first time. Acquiring land at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Brooke family invested in coal mining and iron production – and introduced a radical new method of steelmaking which transformed that industry. Drawing together years of painstaking archaeological and historical research, this book looks in detail at the landscape, buildings and industrial installations created by the Brooke dynasty between the Dissolution and the English Civil War. It also explores the broader contexts – religious, economic and political – which shaped their mind-set and their actions. It considers medieval influences on these later developments, and looks at how the Brookes’ Catholicism was reflected in the way they created a new industrial landscape. In so doing it questions traditional narratives of English industrialisation, and calls for a more sophisticated understanding of this period by historical archaeologists.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Lines of Enquiry; Before the Revolution; Society and Religion; Visions of Landscape; Expressions in Architecture; Industry and Conformity; Innovation and Resistance; Industrialisation and Identity; Conclusion ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis volume offers a comprehensive and original analysis and reconceptualisation of the compendium of struggles that wracked the collapsing Tsarist empire and the emergent USSR, profoundly affecting the history of the twentieth century. Indeed, the reverberations of those decade-long wars echo to the present day -- not despite, but because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which re-opened many old wounds, from the Baltic to the Caucasus. Contemporary memorialising and 'de-memorialising' of these wars, therefore form part of the book's focus, but at its heart lie the struggles between various Russian political and military forces which sought to inherit and preserve, or even expand, the territory of the tsars, overlain with examinations of the attempts of many non- Russian national and religious groups to divide the former empire. The reasons why some of the latter were successful (Poland and Finland, for example), while others (Ukraine, Georgia and the Muslim Basmachi) were not, are as much the author's concern as are explanations as to why the chief victors of the 'Russian' Civil Wars were the Bolsheviks.Tellingly, the work begins and ends with battles in Central Asia - a theatre of the 'Russian' Civil Wars that was closer to Mumbai than it was to Moscow.Trade Review'Jonathan Smele’s authoritative The “Russian” Civil Wars emphasised the multinational and panoramic nature of the military conflict that overtook the Russian Empire in its dying years.' -- Financial TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction: A World War Condensed1. 1916-18: The Beginnings of the "Russian" Civil Wars2. 1918-19: The Triumphal March of Reaction3. 1919-20: White Thrusts, Red Ripostes4. 1920-1: Battles in the Marchlands5. 1917-21: On the Internal Fronts6. 1921-6: The Ends of the "Russian" Civil WarsConclusion: Red Victories, Red Defeat

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Book SynopsisHellenistic Alexandria: Celebrating 24 Centuries' presents the proceedings of a conference held at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, on December 13–15, 2017, and includes high-level dialogues and philosophical discussions between international experts on Hellenistic Alexandria. The goal was to celebrate the 24 centuries which have elapsed since its foundation and the beginning of the Library and the Museum of Alexandria. The conference was divided into two parts, to include in the first part archaeology, history, philosophy, literature, art, culture and legal issues and in the second part science, medicine, technology and environment. A total of 28 original and peer-reviewed articles point to the importance of the brilliantly-original ideas that emerged during the Hellenistic age and the curious modernity of the whole atmosphere of the time. The range of presented topics covers a variety of new data on the foundation of Alexandria to comparison between Ptolemaic Alexandria and Ptolemaic Greece through philosophy, culture and drama to the forgotten revolution of science, medicine and the prevailing climatological and geophysical conditions throughout the Hellenistic Period. The conference and its proceedings were co-sponsored by the Μarianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation, the Acropolis Museum, the Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies at Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences. The Publication also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies, a joint collaboration between the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Vardinoyannis Foundation and the University of Alexandria. Scholars from around the world follow the Center’s programme in various specialisations, ranging from historyliterature- art, to archaeology and architecture-philosophy, and science.Table of ContentsOpening of Hellenistic Alexandria Conference; Wednesday 13 December 2017; Address by Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis; Address by the Honorable Dr Mostafa El Feki; Address by Professor Ashraf Farrag; Address by Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis; Why Hellenistic Alexandria?; Address by Professor Christos Zerefos; Address by His Beatitude Theodoros II; Address by H.E. Prokopios Pavlopoulos; Part 1: Archaeology, History, Philosophy, Literature, Art, Cultural Heritage and Legal Issues; New data concerning the foundation of Alexandria – by Jean-Yves Empereur; The navy of Ptolemaic Alexandria – by Emad Khalil; Twenty years of underwater archaeological and geophysical surveys in Alexandria by the Greek Mission (1998-2017) – by Harry E. Tzalas; Macedonian elements in Alexandria – by Angeliki Kottaridi; The early Greek presence in Alexandria – by M. Abd El–Maksoud, A. Abd El–Fattah and M. Seif El–Din; Italian archaeology in Alexandria – by Mohamed Kenawi and Giorgia Marchiori; ‘Crumbs from the Table’— archaeological remains of Hellenistic Alexandria – by Grzegorz Majcherek; Believing in afterlife in Hellenistic and Roman Alexandria. A study of some funerary paintings – by Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets; Graeco-Egyptian elements in Alexandrian architectural mouldings – by Mona Haggag; Alexandria in the ‘Corpus of Ptolemaic inscriptions’ – by Kyriakos Savvopoulos; From Macedonia to Ptolemaic Alexandria: the cult of Dionysos Pseudanor – by Emmanuel Voutiras; Hellenistic drama and Alexandrian culture – by Georgia Xanthaki-Karamanou; The Alexandrian cradle of philological science – by Theodore D. Papanghelis; Egyptian and Egyptiote literature as a bridge between two cultures – by Shaker Moussa; From Alexandria to Venice: Remembrances of Alexandria in the cultural treasures of Venice – by Chryssa Maltezou; The destruction of libraries in the course of history and the international law on the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict – by Artemis Papathanassiou; Is the possession of the Parthenon Marbles lawful according to the contemporary English law? – by Christos Mylonopoulos; Part 2: Science, Medicine, Technology and Environment; A very brief introduction to Hellenistic Alexandrian technology – by T. P. Tassios; Royal catasterisms: Arsinoe II and Berenice II translated to the stars – by Dee Clayman; Antikythera Mechanism as evidence for Hellenistic technology excellence – by Xenophon Moussas; Gigantic and structurally sound: the lighthouse on the island of Pharos and the minarets of western Islam – by Paolo Vitti; Philon’s automatic servant. A reconstruction with a description of S. Economopoulos’ air-valve mechanism – by Manolis Korres; The Hellenistic mathematician Archimedes and his Renaissance admirer Kepler – by Eberhard Knobloch; Ancient Greek optical instruments and the Pharos of Alexandria: insights on its functions and technology – by Moussas, Vitti and Zerefos; Space – Time – Matter – Motion: John Philoponus: a prelude to Galileo, Descartes and Newton – by Emmanuel Floratos; Hellenistic medicine and the Library of Alexandria: its influence in the west and the east – by George P. Chrousos; Palaeoclimatic conditions during the Hellenistic period in the Eastern Mediterranean – by J. Luterbacher and E. Xoplaki; A tentative methodology of sea-level change based on fish tanks from Hellenistic Alexandria, vis-a-vis, the submerged el Hassan rock provide a new look for subsidence estimates – by N. Evelpidou, C. Repapis, H. Tzalas and C. Zerefos

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Book Synopsis‘Profane Death in Burial Practices of a Pre-Industrial Society: A study from Silesia’ discusses phenomena characteristic of the funeral practices of the pre-industrial society of Silesia (Poland). The author explores specific groups of people: unbaptised children, women who died in childbirth, suicides, convicts and those who perished in epidemics, who were refused an honorary burial in consecrated land or had ceremonies conducted on special terms. Also discussed are the places where the bodies of these excluded individuals were interred. The study is supplemented by an analysis of the results of archaeological research, which mainly involved fieldwork carried out at former execution sites. The skeletal remains of numerous convicts were discovered during these investigations, together with the remnants of stonebuilt gallows. This analysis is especially relevant for interpreting selected funeral finds, socalled ‘vampire burials’, and the general question of atypical treatment of bodies perceived as unworthy, badly-deceased or ‘unclean’. The research subject is novel, as no similar synthetic studies on unusual funerary practices have yet been conducted in Polish archaeology for this particular era and territory. The author is primarily concerned with cases mentioned in historical and archaeological sources from the region of Silesia, but evidence from beyond this area is also presented. Chronologically the study covers the period between the 15th and early 19th centuries.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Valorization of cemetery space; 2.1. Cemetery boundaries; 2.2. Functions of cemeteries; 2.3. Hierarchy of cemeteries; 2.4. Hierarchy within cemeteries; 2. Suicide; 2.1. Differences in religious denominations and legal bases for punishment of suicides; 2.2. Place of death - profane space; 2.3. Suicides in cities; 2.4. Significance of crossroads and boundaries for burials; 2.5. Executions of suicides — prevention or punishment?; 2.6. Beliefs and magical practices associated with suicide death; 3. Executed bodies and execution sites; 3.1. Superstitions and magic practices associated with execution sites; 3.1.1. Magical properties of criminal body parts; 3.1.2. Magical properties of the hanging rope and other items from the gallows; 3.1.3. Hanged men’s clothes; 3.1.4. Magical properties of plants growing on the execution site; 3.1.5. The role played by the hangman in perpetuating these superstitions; 3.1.6. Archaeological evidences of the popular beliefs and superstitions; 3.2. The location of execution sites; 3.3. Burials of the executed and false cemeteries’; 3.3.1. Uses of the gallows structure interior; 3.3.2. Different uses of the area outside the gallows; 3.4. Gallows remains variation; 3.5. Analysis of small finds; 4. Women who died in childbirth; 5. Unbaptized children; 5.1 Status of children who died before being baptized; 5.2. Changelings and other superstitious beliefs about new born children; 5.3. Magic properties of body parts of unbaptized infants; 5.3.1. Infant burials in vessels; 5.3.2. The pot burial of an infant from Wrocław; 6. Other groups in breach of the established order; 6.1. Drunkards; 6.2. Non-practicing Christians; 6.3. Other groups denied standard burial; 7. The ‘living dead’ and related apotropaics; 7.1. Categories of the harmful dead; 7.2. Preventive measures; 7.3. Executions of the harmful dead; 7.4. Rationalization and possible natural explanation of deviant burials; 7.5. Grave goods and the belief in ‘living dead’; 7.6. Archaeological finds; 8. Time of the plague — abnormal situation; 8.1. Finding and punishing those ‘guilty of the plague’; 8.2. Plague burial sites and commemoration of plague victims; 8.3. Archaeological record of epidemics; Conclusion; References; Figures; Index

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Book SynopsisOne of the outstanding mysteries of the twentieth century, and one with huge political resonance, is the death of Dag Hammarskjold and his UN team in a plane crash in central Africa in 1961. Just minutes after midnight, his aircraft plunged into thick forest in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), abruptly ending his mission to bring peace to the Congo. Across the world, many suspected sabotage, accusing the multi-nationals and the governments of Britain, Belgium, the USA and South Africa of involvement in the disaster. These suspicions have never gone away.British High Commissioner Lord Alport was waiting at the airport when the aircraft crashed nearby. He bizarrely insisted to the airport management that Hammarskjold had flown elsewhere - even though his aircraft was reported overhead. This postponed a search for so long that the wreckage of the plane was not found for fifteen hours. White mercenaries were at the airport that night too, including the South African pilot Jerry Puren, whose bombing of Congolese villages led, in his own words, to 'flaming huts ...destruction and death'. These soldiers of fortune were backed by Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of the Rhodesian Federation, who was ready to stop at nothing to maintain white rule and thought the United Nations was synonymous with the Nazis. The Rhodesian government conducted an official inquiry, which blamed pilot error. But as this book will show, it was a massive cover-up that suppressed and dismissed a mass of crucial evidence, especially that of African eye-witnesses. A subsequent UN inquiry was unable to rule out foul play - but had no access to the evidence to show how and why. Now, for the first time, this story can be told. Who Killed Hammarskjold follows the author on her intriguing and often frightening journey of research to Zambia, South Africa, the USA, Sweden, Norway, Britain, France and Belgium, where she unearthed a mass of new and hitherto secret documentary and photographic evidence.Trade Review'[Williams] has done a fine job of marshalling new evidence and painting a vivid picture of a past era of Rhodesian colonists in long socks and white shorts, and of cold war politics played out through vicious proxy wars in Africa.' * Sunday Times *'Part detective, part archivist, part journalist, Williams schmoozed spies, befriended diplomats and mercenaries and won the trust of Hammarskjold's still grieving relatives and UN colleagues to get her tale. She unwinds each thread of the narrative with infinite patience, leading us carefully down the tortuous paths of Cold War intrigue.' * The Spectator *'A startling, meticulous, convincing book, written in the understated prose of a Scandinavian crime thriller.' * Simon Kuper, The Financial Times *'Susan Williams' fascinating book explores the unresolved issues surrounding his death in a plane crash in central Africa. With the help of her engaging and no-nonsense style - part Miss Marple, part No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - we are led through the messy, ugly and secretive dark arts of decolonisation in a world of white supremacists and Cold War lunatics. Kids: don't try this at home.' * Times Higher Education *'This welcome, and highly readable, historical detective story sheds yet more mystery on the sad fate of Dag Hammarskjold, arguably the most significant and influential UN secretary general. ... What the book does very well, through extremely thorough research of an international nature, is to highlight the controversies surrounding the crash and the numerous investigations into it. ... this is an important piece of research. It should be read by all those concerned with the activities of right-wing politicians and businessmen and their links to mercenaries, intelligence operations and European economic dominance in the post-independence Congo; and by those concerned with whoever may have been responsible for Hammarskjold's death and the weakening of the UN.' * International Affairs *'This engaging book marks a concerted effort to explore the historical mysteries that shroud the UN Secretary-General's death. ... This is a fascinating, meticulously researched, and easy-to-read study of the events surrounding the episode.' * African Affairs *'Susan Williams' impressive probing draws together previously secret archived material and witness statements never before aired. The book is rigorously academic, with intensive referencing and quotes from expert informants, but it is also an intriguing whodunnit, albeit one with particularly sombre connotations,' * The Canberra Times *'Susan Williams has produced a compelling account from a monumental amount of historical detective work and encounters with an extraordinary range of personalities, some of them extremely shady.' * The Witness (South Africa) *'Fascinating book...' * New Internationalist *'Immensely impressive … Williams writes with clarity and knowledge, demonstrating a depth of understanding of this crucial period in the history of the UN.' * Irish Examiner *'Susan Williams' fascinating book explores the unresolved issues surrounding his death in a plane crash in central Africa. With the help of her engaging and no-nonsense style – part Miss Marple, part No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency – we are led through the messy, ugly and secretive dark arts of decolonisation in a world of white supremacists and Cold War lunatics. Kids: don't try this at home.' * Times Higher Education *'This welcome, and highly readable, historical detective story sheds yet more mystery on the sad fate of Dag Hammarskjöld, arguably the most significant and influential UN secretary general. … What the book does very well, through extremely thorough research of an international nature, is to highlight the controversies surrounding the crash and the numerous investigations into it. … this is an important piece of research. It should be read by all those concerned with the activities of right-wing politicians and businessmen and their links to mercenaries, intelligence operations and European economic dominance in the post-independence Congo; and by those concerned with whoever may have been responsible for Hammarskjöld's death and the weakening of the UN.' * International Affairs *'This engaging book marks a concerted effort to explore the historical mysteries that shroud the UN Secretary-General's death. … This is a fascinating, meticulously researched, and easy-to-read study of the events surrounding the episode.' * African Affairs *'This is an extraordinary story, narrated with clarity and devastating effect. Susan Williams is to be congratulated for shining a light onto a very strange and disturbing incident. The result is a gripping and astonishing read.' * Alexander McCall Smith, novelist, author of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series *'Susan Williams' impressive probing draws together previously secret archived material and witness statements never before aired. The book is rigorously academic, with intensive referencing and quotes from expert informants, but it is also an intriguing whodunnit, albeit one with particularly sombre connotations,' * The Canberra Times *'Susan Williams has produced a compelling account from a monumental amount of historical detective work and encounters with an extraordinary range of personalities, some of them extremely shady.' * The Witness (South Africa) *'Williams has done remarkable research … to gallantly demonstrate that the UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa, directly or indirectly, caused Hammarskjold's crash. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Congo and decolonization; it is very well researched, lucidly written and provides an alternative point of view to a subject that Europe refuses to claim responsibility for.' * African Studies Bulletin *'The author's scrupulous research shines through this book's carefully argued narrative. … All the evidence she uncovers points to the Hammarskjöld plane crash being the culmination of an assassination plot—and put into current context, with Congo peace talks breaking down at the AU in Addis Ababa … it is a story that continues to unfold.' * Stephen Williams, African Business *

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first comprehensive work focusing on lived ancient religious communication in Roman Dacia. Testing for the first time the ‘Lived Ancient Religion’ approach in terms of a peripheral province from the Danubian area, this work looks at the role of ‘sacralised’ spaces, known commonly as sanctuaries in the religious communication of the province. The author analyses the role of space sacralisation, religious appropriation, embodiment and the social impact of religious communication in urban contexts (Apulum), military contexts (Porolissum and Mehadia), and numerous examples from rural (non-urban) environments (Ampelum, Germisara, Ad Mediam, and many others). The book concentrates not only on the creation and maintenance of sacralised spaces in public and secondary locations, but also on their role at the micro-level of objects, semi-micro level of spaces (settlements), and the macro-level of the province and the Danubian region as a whole. Innovatively as regards provincial archaeological research, this book emphasises the spatial aspects of lived ancient religion by analysing for the first time the sanctuaries as spaces of religious communication in Dacia. The work also contains a significant chapter on the so-called ‘small-group’ religions (the Bacchic, Mithraic and Dolichenian groups of the province), which are approached for the first time in detail. The study also gives the first comprehensive list of archaeologicallyepigraphically- attested, and presumed sacralised spaces within Dacia.Trade Review‘This is a valuable book, offering knowledge of Dacia and the religious life of the province and will certainly be useful to all those who are interested in the history of Dacia and Roman religion.’ [translated] – Ljubica Perinić (2019): HRČAK ‘Based on an in-depth knowledge of the historiography specific to Roman Dacia and its pitfalls and taking into account very recent discoveries, the work will render valuable services to researchers interested in the history of Dacia or the Roman religion.’ [translated] – Françoise Van Haeperen (2020): Bryn Mawr Classical Review ‘The paper aims to create a dialogue between several disciplines, and in particular, the study of religious cults using as a case study different settlements in Dacia. It is one of the first steps of this kind and is a relevant study in this field. It offers a multitude of clear examples and explanations, which makes it possible to use this methodology on other sites in the Roman Empire.’ [translated] – Bianca Olteanu (2020): Cercetări Arheologice ‘…Sanctuaries in Roman Dacia opens a fresh insight into the materiality of religious practices in Roman Dacia and, on a more general level, highlights the value of sacral monuments as sources for the social and economic history of the Roman provinces.’ – Damjan Donev (2020): American Journal of Archaeology ‘Szabó’s book is an important contribution to the religious history of Roman Dacia. Readers interested in provincial religion will find here a wealth of relevant source material and a number of valuable observations. The book also shows how the detailed analysis of archaeological and epigraphic remains from a Roman province can be combined with the theoretically informed study of the history of ancient polytheism. It is to be hoped that many further studies will follow Szabó’s lead.' – Péter Kató (2021): Historical Studies on Central EuropeTable of ContentsI. Introduction; II. Sacralising the space in urban context; III. Sanctuaries and networks in military settlements: Porolissum and Praetorium; IV. sacralised spaces in the countryside; V. Beyond Lived Ancient Religion in Dacia; VI. Annexes: Sanctuaries of Roman Dacia; VII. Összefoglaló; VIII. Bibliography

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Book Synopsis‘Performing the Sacra: Priestly roles and their organisation in Roman Britain’ addresses a range of cultural responses to the Roman conquest of Britain with regard to priestly roles. The approach is based on current theoretical trends focussing on dynamics of adaptation, multiculturalism, and appropriation and discarding a sharp distinction between local and Roman cults. The perspective is shifted from a centre-periphery model towards a spectrum of cultural responses. The book investigates a wide range of published and unpublished evidence to examine three main themes: a model of priesthood organisation, the embodiment of priestly authorities in a provincial environment, and how the different depositional contexts of priestly regalia contribute to our understanding of these roles. Previous accounts of this type of evidence from Britain has often linked the objects to local cults, for being somehow specific to the province. This was based on a limited search for comparisons among the evidence from other areas of the Roman world, both in terms of the individual objects and of the overall priestly organisation. Here, a methodical investigation of objects identifiable as priestly regalia and ceremonial tools was integrated into an assessment of historical, epigraphic, and iconographic sources. Mapped via the creation of a Geographic Information System and highlighting regional distributions, this work contributes to our understanding of the fluid provincial culture behind the religious organisation of the ritual landscape of Britain.Trade ReviewMaking sense of the usually fragmented and ambiguous material is no small task, and presenting such a comprehensive dataset is achievement enough. But the author goes further, highlighting remarkable continuity between the Iron Age and Roman period, and assessing the pattern of deposition as well as use. -- Edward Biddulph * Current Archaeology *'The large quantity of objects from Roman Britain associated with people performing priestly functions is apparent to anyone who has written about religion in the province. Esposito’s book, based on a London thesis, brings most of these together... and is consequently very much to be welcomed.' -- Martin Henig * Britannia, Cambridge University Press *Table of ContentsPreface; Chapter 1: Introduction to the study, assessment of the sources, and research questions; Chapter 2: Terminology, methodological framework, and data sources; Chapter 3: Priestly regalia from Britain. The material evidence for priestly roles; Chapter 4: Contextual analysis and distribution of priestly regalia; Chapter 5: Iconographic representations of ritual performers from Britain; Chapter 6: Epigraphic evidence of priestly titles in Britain; Chapter 7: Religious performers and their activities in Roman Britain; Appendix 1: Primary Sources; Appendix 2: Database; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive overview traces the evolution of modern Mozambique, from its early modern origins in the Indian Ocean trading system and the Portuguese maritime empire to the fifteen-year civil war that followed independence and its continued after-effects. Though peace was achieved in 1992 through international mediation, Mozambique's remarkable recovery has shown signs of stalling. Malyn Newitt explores the historical roots of Mozambican disunity and hampered development, beginning with the divisive effects of the slave trade, the drawing of colonial frontiers in the 1890s and the lasting particularities of the north, centre and south, inherited from the compartmentalised approach of concession companies. Following the nationalist guerrillas' victory against the Portuguese in 1975, these regional divisions resurfaced in a civil war pitting the south against the north and centre, over attempts at far-reaching socioeconomic change. The settlement of the early 1990s is now under threat from a revived insurgency, and the ghosts of the past remain. This book seeks to distill this complex history, and to understand why, twenty-five years after the Peace Accord, Mozambicans still remain among the poorest people in the world.Trade Review'This concise book provides a brief though richly detailed account of this important former Portuguese colony in Africa . . . the writing is lively and provides some fascinating details'.

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Book SynopsisThis volume - in Italian, with an English summary - presents the 1930s archaeological photo-albums of John Alfred Spranger (1889-1968). Engineer, topographer, mountain climber, archaeologist, art collector and photographer, Spranger traveled extensively - in the Balkans, Greece, Egypt and the Near East, Canada, Central Asia - and left several photo albums detailing archaeological explorations as well as travel memories. In the 1920s-1930s, he took part in a number of Etruscan excavations in Tuscany, together with Harry Burton, the photographer of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. With a pioneering approach, they used the photo-camera to document the excavation work in progress. The albums are dedicated to a trip to Egypt in 1929, a trip to Mesopotamia (Iraq) in 1936 and some surveys and excavations carried out in Etruria (Tuscany, Italy) in 1929-1935. Spranger's photos are particularly meaningful, especially because he combined his skills in using the camera with a great expertise in archaeology and topography. His photos make it possible to understand, after almost a century, how many Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Etruscan sites appeared at the time of their first excavations Il volume - in italiano con riassunto in inglese - e dedicato agli album fotografici realizzati negli anni Trenta del Novecento da John Alfred Spranger (1889-1968): fu ingegnere, topografo, alpinista, archeologo, collezionista e fotografo. Viaggio molto - nei Balcani, in Grecia, in Egitto e nel Vicino Oriente, in Canda e in Asia centrale - lasciandoci molti album fotografici dedicati ai suoi viaggi e alle sue ricerche archeologiche. Negli anni Venti e Trenta partecipo a ricognizioni e scavi archeologici in Toscana, assieme a Harry Burton, il fotografo della Tomba di Tutankhamun. Con un approccio pionieristico, ambedue sperimentarono l'uso della macchina fotografica per documentare lo scavo archeologico. Gli album presentati sono dedicati a due viaggi, uno in Egitto nel 1929 e l'altro in Mesopotamia (Iraq) nel 1936, e a ricognizioni e scavi condotti in siti etruschi della Toscana tra 1929 e 1935. Le fotografie di Spranger sono particolarmente significative perche riflettono sia la competenza del fotografo che quella del topografo e dell'archeologo, e ci permettono di capire, a quasi un secolo di distanza, quale fosse l'aspetto di numerosi siti egizi, mesopotamici ed etruschi, al momento della loro prima indagine archeologica.Table of ContentsIntroduzione, di Stefano Anastasio e Barbara Arbeid; John Alfred Spranger, di Stefano Anastasio e Barbara Arbeid; Gli album, di Stefano Anastasio e Barbara Arbeid: Egitto/Iraq/Etruria; English Summary; Bibliografia; Appendice: digitalizzazione e archiviazione delle immagini

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Book SynopsisStalin's Secret Weapon is a gripping account of the early history of the globally significant Soviet biological weapons programme, including its key scientists, its secret experimental bases and the role of intelligence specialists, establishing beyond doubt that the infrastructure created by Stalin continues to form the core of Russia's current biological defence network. Anthony Rimmington has enjoyed privileged access to an array of newly available sources and materials, including declassified British Secret Intelligence Service reports. The evidence contained therein has led him to conclude that the programme, with its network of dedicated facilities and proving grounds, was far more extensive than previously considered, easily outstripping those of the major Western powers. As Rimmington reveals, many of the USSR's leading infectious disease scientists, including those focused on pneumonic plague, were recruited by the Soviet military and intelligence services. At the dark heart of this bacteriological archipelago lay Stalin, and his involvement is everywhere to be seen, from the promotion of favoured researchers to the political repression and execution of the lead biological warfare specialist, Ivan Mikhailovich Velikanov.Trade Review'Eye-opening . . . [Rimmington's] remarkable findings . . . [and] painstaking analysis of the Russian archives is [a] real achievement . . . an important book.'‘Thorough and well researched, this book presents a detailed overview of early Soviet BW activities, as well as the chaotic and harsh environment in which these activities developed.’ -- Cold War Studies Journal‘Rimmington’s book is a fascinating and at times horrifying read that is highly recommended to anybody interested in arms control or the excesses of totalitarian regimes.’ -- The Russian Review'In this pathbreaking book, Anthony Rimmington peels back successive layers to reveal the inner workings of a secret state. The efforts of Soviet scientists and various intelligence agencies to discover what was going on are outlined in remarkable detail. Original and fascinating.' -- Michael Goodman'Under Stalin the Soviet Union aimed to be at the forefront of every branch of weapons development. Soviet tanks and planes became world-famous; Soviet anthrax, plague, and other pathogens remained a closely guarded secret. Rimmington's careful study has mapped the surprising dimensions of this little-known branch of Soviet military industry.' -- Mark Harrison'A fascinating account of Stalin's multi-pronged, well-resourced and ambitious biological weapons programmes. Rimmington expertly synthesises intelligence assessments and academic publications, concluding that much of the structure created by Stalin is still in place.' -- Jonathan Brewer

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Book Synopsis‘Atlas of Ceramic Fabrics 2. Italy: Southern Tyrrhenian. Neolithic – Bronze Age’ presents and interprets the petrographic composition of pre-protohistoric pottery (6th-1st millennia BCE) found in southwestern part of Italy. This is the second in a Atlas series organised according to geographical areas, chronology and types of wares. In this book 890 samples from 29 sites are discussed, encompassing results of more than 50 years of interdisciplinary archaeological, technological and archaeometric research by the authors’ team. Ninety petrographic fabrics (the potters’ ‘recipes’) are defined and presented based on their lithological character – a tool that can be used to compare different components of the ceramic pastes and to check possible provenance of non-local pots. The volume is organized in chapters focused on methodology, fabric description and distribution, followed by the archaeological implications and the database, with contribution by Andrea Di Renzoni (CNR-ISMA, Roma). Illustrations and descriptions of the fabrics and a list of samples provide a rigorous and transparent presentation of the data. The archaeological implications are discussed through cross-correlatios between origin and technology, variability, standardisation, chronology, function, social organization, circulation, style, typology and cultural identity. We hope that this work will be considered an another stepping-stone in demonstrating that technological variability is as important as stylistic distinctions.

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Book SynopsisDhofar, the southern governorate of Oman, lies within a distinctive ecological zone due to the summer Southwest Monsoon. It is home to numerous indigenous succulent plants, the most famous of which is frankincense (Boswellia sacra). The region, tied in the past to both Oman and Yemen, has a long and distinguished archaeological past stretching back to the Lower Paleolithic ca. 1.5 my BP. Dhofar is also home to a distinctive people, the Modern South Arabian Languages speakers (MSAL) since at least the last 15,000 years. Ancient Zafar (Al-Habudi), now called Al-Baleed, and its successor Salalah was and is the province’s largest city. From the seventh century onwards until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1504 AD Al-Baleed dominated the central southern Arabian coastline politically and economically. Archaeological surveys and excavations in the governorate, beginning in 1954, have brought to light Dhofar’s ancient past.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1 The geomorphology and ecology of Dhofar and its larger ecological environs; 2 Prehistoric archaeological chronology in Dhofar prior to the Islamic period; 3 Late Antiquity and Early Islamic trade in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf; 4 The Medieval city of Zafar. Periods II-IV; 5 Archaeology of Zafar, Periods II-V (950-1700 AD); 6 Al-Baleed ceramic typology; 7 Al-Baleed and the international Indian Ocean trade; 8 The inland trade to the Hadhramaut and East Arabia; The historical chronology of Al-Baleed/Zafar; Suggested readings; Index

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Book SynopsisAustralian deserts remain dotted with the ruins of old mosques. Beginning with a Bengali poetry collection discovered in a nineteenth-century mosque in the town of Broken Hill, Samia Khatun weaves together the stories of various peoples colonised by the British Empire to chart a history of South Asian diaspora. Australia has long been an outpost of Anglo empires in the Indian Ocean world, today the site of military infrastructure central to the surveillance of `Muslim-majority' countries across the region. Imperial knowledges from Australian territories contribute significantly to the Islamic-Western binary of the post- Cold War era. In narrating a history of Indian Ocean connections from the perspectives of those colonised by the British, Khatun highlights alternative contexts against which to consider accounts of non-white people. Australianama challenges a central idea that powerfully shapes history books across the Anglophone world: the colonial myth that European knowledge traditions are superior to the epistemologies of the colonised. Arguing that Aboriginal and South Asian language sources are keys to the vast, complex libraries that belie colonised geographies, Khatun shows that stories in colonised tongues can transform the very ground from which we view past, present and future.Trade Review'Khatun’s achievement in Australianama… is not simply the unearthing of new histories of South Asian and Muslim diasporas in Australia, but the posing of a new set of questions about the implications of seeing, reading, hearing and thinking otherwise, and about how these practices might rework our understanding of a national past.' -- Australian Historical Studies

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Book SynopsisRACTA (Ricerche di Archeologia Cristiana, Tardantichità e Altomedioevo) was the first international conference for PhD students of Christian Archaeology. It took place in Rome in February 2018, hosted by Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana and gathered more than 50 multidisciplinary talks and posters from PhD students from Europe, America and Russia. The engagement shown at the well-attended event, and the interest of several institutions, proved that Christian archaeology continues to be important to new generations of archaeologists, art historians, and researchers of the ancient world.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; Giovanna Assunta Lanzetta: An introduction to RACTA 2018, the first International Conference of PhD students in Christian Archaeology; Chiara Cecalupo: Standing on the shoulders of giants: the doctoral school of Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana; Priscilla Ralli: Contemporary PhD studies in Post Classical fields; PROCEEDINGS; Riccardo Consoli: Nuove Considerazioni sulla Chiesa e la Cripta di S. Ponziano a Spoleto; Davide Bianchi: Una Rivalutazione Architettonica del Memoriale di Mosè sul Monte Nebo; Lucia Orlandi: Note sull’utilizzo delle vasche accessorie ai fonti battesimali del Mediterraneo tardoantico (IV-VII sec.); Bianca Hermanin: De Templi custodibus unus: la figura di Tiberio Alfarano nella Basilica di San Pietro sotto il pontificato di Gregorio XIII; Aleksandra Medennikova: The Representation of Architecture and Space in Early Christian Art; Noé Conejo Delgado: La moneda en el mundo rural lusitano: reflexiones sobre su uso en el siglo IV d.C.; Cristina Cumbo: Vetri dorati e lastre incise: alcuni casi interessati dalle c.d. gammadiae; Aneta Gil: Die mittelalterlichen Malereien von S. Aspreno in Neapel: Eine Rekonstruktion; Alessandra Avagliano: Alcune considerazioni sulla produzione scultorea d’età altomedievale a Salerno; Claudia di Bello: La scultura postgiustinianea oltre Costantinopoli: le lastre; Elsa Roux: Modalités du démantèlement et de remploi des décors marmoréens à Vaison-la-Romaine, Vaucluse, France (IIIe-Ve siècle); Jessica Dello Russo: A Higher Distinction: The Tombs of Jews in Ancient Rome in their Broader Topographical Settings; Marco Ciliberti: L’ipogeo B della collina della Maddalena a Venosa (PZ); Begoña Fernández Rojo: The Role of Christianity as an Element of Identity Building in the Lusitania of the 6th and 7th centuries; Nicolò Pini: Organizzazione spaziale e strutture sociali nel medio-oriente tardo bizantino e primo islamico (V-VIII sec.); Roberta Ruotolo: Ostia tardoantica e altomedievale. Topografia cristiana della città e del suburbio; Alessandro Melega: Le ultime fasi di vita del mitraismo ostiense: nuove indagini archeologiche; Alessandra Cicogna: Continuità di vita e trasformazioni di un sistema difensivo tra l’età tardoantica e l’altomedioevo: il caso di Tivoli; Davide Mastroianni: Dinamiche territoriali e trasformazioni insediative tra l’età tardoantica e l’età altomedievale in Abruzzo. Il caso di Campli (TE); Antonio Tagliente: Fortificazioni e controllo del territorio nel Principato longobardo di Salerno. I castelli di Monte e de Alegisio (secc. X-XI); Alessia Frisetti: Christianity in the Middle Volturno Valley: Written sources, Buildings and Masonry Techniques (5th-10th centuries); Marco Campese: La Puglia centrale in età tardoantica: archeologia globale dei paesaggi nel territorio di Terlizzi (BA); Axel Alt: Le reliquie da contatto in Occidente tra IV e VII secolo: per una rivalutazione della testimonianza di Gregorio Magno; Lucrezia Campagna: Studi quantitativi su alcuni contesti ceramici di Roma (IX-XIV secolo): potenzialità e vantaggi; Consuelo Capolupo: Il Codice Diplomatico Verginiano e gli edifici di culto di X secolo; Andrea Guaglianone: Il limite orientale dell’area sacra di largo Argentina tra V e IX secolo: aggiornamenti e nuove osservazioni; Dino Lombardo: Murature paleocristiane a Ravenna. Nuove riflessioni; Lester Lonardo: Dinamiche insediative tra tarda Antichità ed Altomedioevo nella bassa valle del Calore (Benevento); Leonardo Radicioni: Interventi tardoantichi alle arcuazioni dell'Aqua Claudia e Anio Novus: il caso del tratto presso Porta Furba

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Book Synopsis‘TephroArchaeology’ is a translation of the Japanese word kazanbai kōkogaku (lit. volcanic ash archaeology), referring to a sub-discipline of archaeology that has developed in Japan in the last few decades. The first book compilation using the term, edited by the doyen of tephroarchaeology, geologist ARAI Fusao, appeared in 1993; chapters were written by 5 geologists, 3 archaeologists, 3 geographers, an engineer, and a historian. From its beginning, this subdiscipline has been interdisciplinary in approach and applied to all time periods throughout the Japanese Islands. Honouring this tradition, a panel on TephroArchaeology was organized by Barnes & Soda at the World Archaeology Congress 8 meetings in Kyoto (August–September 2016). The scope of concern was broadened to include other parts of the world and further disciplines. Several of the papers presented at WAC8 are included here together with other invited papers that complete the North Pacific focus. Most of the chapters are case-studies written by their excavators in Japan, Canada, and the United States, but a historian and a behavioural psychologist contribute important perspectives and add world-wide content. The volume is rounded out by an extensive Preface, Introduction and Appendices by co-editor Barnes, and a historic contextualization of TephroArchaeology by co-editor Soda. A final appendix consists of a translation of the techniques of tephra identification by MACHIDA Hiroshi & ARAI Fusao, to whom the volume is dedicated. The strengths of this book are many. It was primarily designed to bring into the English-speaking world the work being done by local archaeologists in Japan whose results are usually only accessible in Japanese. In addition to the meticulous excavation methodologies, innovative analytical techniques and interpretive analyses represented herein by all the authors are the variety of problems in human history that can be addressed through tephroarchaeological investigation. This subdiscipline may spawn a more general Volcanic Archaeology or Archaeological Volcanology as adherents grow and as volcanologists themselves take heed of the archaeological record to inform on eruption processes and products.Trade ReviewThis excellent book provides an incredibly valuable introduction to the field of tephroarchaeology, particularly as practiced in Japan... For me, then, this book was a very much unexpected pleasure to read and a real inspiration for future research. -- Christian A. Tryon * Asian Perspectives, Volume 60 *Table of ContentsPreface; Chapter 1. Gina L. BARNES, “Introduction to TephroArchaeology”; Chapter 2. SODA Tsutomu, “Tephroarchaeology and its history in Japan”; Chapter 3. KUWAHATA Mitsuhiro, “Volcanic disaster archaeology: comments on methodological prospects and issues”; Chapter 4. Gerald OETELAAR, “Volcanic ash and landscape evolution: reconstruction of a 7000-year old landscape on the northwestern Great Plains of North America”; Chapter 5. Ben FITZHUGH, Caroline FUNK & Jody BOURGEOIS, “Volcanoes and settlement in the North Pacific: late Holocene settlement patterns in the Western Aleutian and Kuril Islands”; Chapter 6. MURAKAMI Yoshinao, “Katakai-Ienoshita Site, Akita, buried by the Mt Towada lahar in the 10th century”; Chapter 7. Keith PRATT, “Portrait of a volcano: the paradox of Paektu (Changbaishan)”; Chapter 8. MARUYAMA Kōji, “Volcanic disaster research using archaeological methods: 10th-century eruptions and population movements in northern Tōhoku, Japan”; Chapter 9. HORAGUCHI Masashi, “TephroArchaeology in the Gunma region”; Chapter 10. SUGIYAMA Hidehiro, “Disasters at Kanai, Gunma, by Mt Haruna eruptions in the Kofun Period”; Chapter 11. SAKAGUCHI Hajime, “Archaeological investigation of the seasonality and duration of the 6th-century eruptions from Mt Haruna”; Chapter 12. KUWAHATA Mitsuhiro, “Restoration of agricultural assets after volcanic disasters in southwest Japan”; Chapter 13. Gina L. BARNES, “Tephra-derived soils of Japan in comparative context”; Chapter 14. NOTO Takeshi & Gina L. BARNES, “Farming tephrogenic soils in Gunma: before and after volcanic eruptions”; Chapter 15. Torill Christine LINDSTRØM, “TephroArchaeology: past, present, and future”; Appendix A. Gina L. BARNES, “A Map and Chronological Charts”; Appendix B. Gina L. BARNES, “Volcanic Geology”; Appendix C. Gina L. BARNES, “Tectonic Setting of North Pacific Volcanoes”; Appendix D. Gina L. BARNES, “Volcanic Soils Geochemistry”; Appendix E. MACHIDA Hiroshi & ARAI Fusao, “The History of Tephra Characterization in Japan”; Glossary and Character Index by Chapter; Index I: Archaeological Sites; Index II: Volcanoes and Related Geological Terms

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Book SynopsisWhen the Romans occupied the southern half of Britain in AD 43, the Iceni tribe quickly allied themselves with the invaders. Having paid tribute to Rome, they continued to be ruled by their own kings. But 17 years later when Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, died the Romans decided to incorporate his kingdom into the new province. When his widow Boudicca protested, she 'was flogged and their daughters raped', sparking one of the most famous rebellions in history. This book tells how Boudicca raised her people and other tribes in revolt, overran the provincial towns of Camulodunum (Colchester), Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans), destroyed the IX Legion, and nearly took control of the fledgling Roman province, before being finally brought to heel in a pitched battle at Mancetter.Table of ContentsIntroduction /Chronology /Opposing commanders /Opposing armies /Opposing plans /The campaign /Aftermath /The Battlefield today /Bibliography /Glossary /Index

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Book SynopsisThe purpose of this study is to analyze the soliform figures in schematic cave paintings. The author presents research on all the global factors relevant to the study of these figures (technological, typological, stylistic, semiotic, astronomical, anthropological and landscape) and their relationship with the whole of schematic rock paintings and the societies that produced them. The geographical scope of the study is the area of Laguna de la Janda and Campo de Gibraltar (Cadiz). One of the arguments the author maintains in this research is the shortage of studies conducted in the territory of Cadiz in relation to these figures – and to rock art in general, which has been a central motif in almost all primitive religions or mythologies since the birth of agricultural societies. The recurrence of abstract motifs within the rock art of this area, and its durability over time, could be an indication of common cultural patterns among the different populations that inhabited the province. But these same signs are also repeated in different parts of the world – could it therefore suggest universal aspects of our species? The interpretation of these symbols has been – and continues to be – subject to intangible or subjective issues; therefore, it is not exempt from possible projections of our own culture. We think that we are able to approach, in a scientific way, the ritual and symbolic aspects of those who elaborated these paintings. In this book, the author proposes an alternative according to the theoretical framework of disciplines such as ethnography, anthropology, landscape archaeology, archaeoastronomy and semiotics.Table of Contents1. INTRODUCCIÓN 2. BALANCE HISTORIOGRÁFICO DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE LA FIGURA SOLIFORME EN EL ARTE POSTPALEOLÍTICO DE LA PENÍNSULA IBÉRICA 3. CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL MEDIO NATURAL DE LA ZONA DE ESTUDIO Y CONTEXTO HISTÓRICO-ARQUEOLÓGICO 4. DESCRIPCIÓN DE LOS ABRIGOS 5. ANÁLISIS TECNOLÓGICO DE LAS FIGURAS SOLIFORMES, LOS PANELES Y EL ESTILO 6. CRONOLOGÍA Y CONTEXTO CULTURAL 7. LOS ANÁLOGOS DEL MOTIVO SOLIFORME EN OTRAS MANIFESTACIONES GRÁFICAS DE LA PREHISTORIA RECIENTE 8. EL TERRITORIO Y LAS PINTURAS: UNA INTERPRETACIÓN DESDE LA SEMIÓTICA 9. LOS ABRIGOS: UNA INTERPRETACIÓN DESDE LA ARQUEOASTRONOMÍA 10. CONSIDERACIONES FINALES Y CONCLUSIONES BIBLIOGRAFÍA

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Book SynopsisIn a period when, particularly in the West, the study of archaeological remains is enriched through new methods derived from the natural sciences and when there is general agreement on the need for more investment in the study, restoration and conservation of the tangible cultural heritage, this book presents contributions to these fields from South-Eastern Europe. This region is characterised by a contrast between the rather limited development of the above scientific methods and the particularly rich and diverse material remains of its past societies, as well as by an obvious need to bring closer together traditionally-trained archaeologists with specialists in natural sciences interested in the research and conservation of ancient material remains. The title ‘Bridging Science and Heritage in the Balkans’ intends to show that the volume is part of this effort. The departing point of this volume is the 5th Balkan Symposium of Archaeometry (25–29 September 2016, Sinaia, Romania), where most of the papers published here were presented in preliminary form. The contributors are specialists from South-Eastern Europe as well as from other European countries working there. Some chapters focus on methods (in the research of glass, restoration of stone monuments affected by contemporary graffiti, conservation by irradiation of organic materials such as wood and human and animal body remains); most chapters present case studies (analyses of ceramics, metals, soils, wood anatomy, isotope-based reconstruction of human diet, ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating, technology assisted field survey, as well as restoration of paper and pigments); sometimes several methods are combined. The volume covers nearly all aspects of heritage sciences employed in this part of Europe.Table of ContentsForeword – Livius Trache ; Multiple Investigation Methods Combined ; Micro-and Macroarchaeology – How Can the Two Be Combined? – by Ulrike Sommer, Silvia Amicone, Elena Chernysheva ; Archaeometry and Individual Biographies: Evidence from Radiocarbon Dating, Isotope-Based Diet Reconstruction and Metal Composition from the 14th-17th-Century Cemetery in Bărăşti (Southern Romania) – by Nona Palincaş, Corina Anca Simion, Gabriela Odilia Sava, Oana Gâza, Tiberiu Bogdan Sava, Bogdan Constantinescu, Daniela Stan and Maria Mihaela Manea) ; Radiocarbon Dating ; Case Studies on the Dating of Bronze Age Cremation Burials in Hungary – by János Dani, Kitti Köhler, Gabriella Kulcsár, István Major, Eszter Melis, Róbert Patay, Géza Szabó, Tamás Hajdu, István Futó, Róbert Huszánk and Viktória Kiss) ; Revisiting the Radiocarbon-Based Chronology of the Wietenberg Culture (Middle Bronze Age Transylvania): A Debate of Supra-Regional Relevance – by Nona Palincaş, Mihai Rotea, Tiberiu Bogdan Sava, Gabriela Odilia Sava, Oana Gâza, Monica Bodea and Constantin David) ; Archaeological-Historical Information and Radiocarbon Dating: Problems of the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age Chronology of the Carpathian-Danubian-Balkan Region – by Attila László ; Radiocarbon Dating of the Wooden Church in Borovineşti (Southern Romania, 19th Century): An Attempt to Elucidate the History of the Church – by Corina Anca Simion, Nona Palincaş, Gabriela Odilia Sava, Oana Gâza, Iuliana Mădălina Stanciu, Tiberiu Bogdan Sava, Doru Gheorghe Păceşilă, Iulia Anania and Laurenţiu Dragomir ; Archaeometallurgy ; Compositional Analysis of the Agighiol Hoard: Provenance and Possible Links to Pieces in the Detroit Institute of Arts and the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art – by Bogdan Constantinescu, Daniela Stan, Angela Vasilescu and Mircea Babeş ; Ceramics ; Compositional Analysis of the White and Red Colours in the Chalcolithic ‘Sanctuary’ at Căscioarele-‘Ostrovel’ tell (Southern Romania, c. 4800-4550 cal BC) – by Radu-Alexandru Dragoman, Maria-Mihaela Manea, Radu Florin Andrei, Dragoş Alexandru Mirea, Mădălina Răvar, Corina Anca Simion and Mihai Straticiuc ; Archaeometric Studies of Boian Pottery from Nanov-‘Vistireasa 3’ (Teleorman County, Romania, c. 4800-4500 cal BC) – by Vasile Opriş, Dragoş Alexandru Mirea, Radu Florin Andrei, Mihai Straticiuc, Corina Anca Simion, Ioana Stănculescu, Lucreţia Miu and Laurenţiu Dincă ; Glass ; Glass Analysis in Relation to Historical Questions – by Žiga Šmit ; Pigments ; A Decorated Islamic Manuscript from the Ottoman Turkish Period: Paper Characterization, Dating and Conservation – by Maja Kostadinovska, Irena Naumovska, Zorica Jakovleska Spirovska and Tatijana Kančevska Smičkovska ; The Micro-Chemical and Spectroscopic Study of Component Materials in 18th- and 19th- Century Printed Holy Books – by Maja Kostadinovska, Orhideja Grupče, Zorica Jakovleska-Spirovska and Biljana Minčeva-Šukarova ; DNA Analysis ; DNA Analysis of the Human Remains Found in a Cucuteni Ritual Pit in Eastern Romania (4100-3800 cal BC) – by Neculai Bolohan, Florica Măţău, Mitică Ciorpac and Dragoş Lucian Gorgan ; Archaeometric Field Research Methods ; The Boyadzhik Concession Area: the Use of GIS Technology in the Protection of Cultural Heritage – by Todor Valchev and Stefan Bakardzhiev ; Heritage Conservation Methods ; Laser-Assisted Removal of Graffiti Paint on Stone: Potential Use in the Restoration of Cultural Heritage Monuments – by Viktoria Atanassova, Ivan Kostadinov, Peter Zahariev and Margarita Grozeva ; Cultural Heritage Disinfection by Irradiation – Corneliu C. Ponta ; Nuclear Techniques in Preservation Treatments of Archaeological Organic Materials and How to Take Archaeological Studies into Account When Applying Them – by Laurent Cortella

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Book SynopsisAfter the fall of the Western Roman Empire there was a decline in 'professional' cavalry forces, and infantry dominated in the Germanic successor 'barbarian' kingdoms. In the Carolingian and Norman periods from the 9th to the 11th centuries, the cavalry arm gradually expanded from the small remaining aristocratic elite. Even so, the supposedly complete dominance of the 'knight' in the 12th and 13th centuries is grossly exaggerated, as integrated cavalry and infantry tactics were nearly always the key to success. This is a two-part treatment of medieval tactics. Throughout the period there was a steady evolution of training in both individual and unit skills, of armour and weapons, and thus of tactics on the battlefield. This book covers Hastings in 1066 to Legnano in 1176. It also details the two key set piece battles of Bouvines in 1214 and Pelagonia in 1259, the former an example of abject failure of cavalry tactics and the latter a stunning success.Table of ContentsIntroduction /Background – tactical impact of fall of Western Roman Empire /Barbarian tactics – cavalry survives as ultimate reserve and battle-decider –the new stirrups and saddles – battle of Lech, 955 /Carolingians and Normans – a revival of cavalry and mounted infantry – development of new armour and tactics – Hastings 1066 /Combination of cavalry and infantry tactics – importance of northern Italian militia armies – Legnano 1176 /’The Knight Dominant’ – cavalry vs. cavalry tactics – successes and failures analysed

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Book SynopsisMediterranean Landscapes in Post Antiquity: New frontiers and new perspectives highlights the fact that the study of landscape has in recent years been a field for considerable analytical archaeological experimentation. This new situation has made it possible to rethink the orientation of some theoretical approaches to the subject; equally these methods have been profitably used for the formation of a new theoretical and conceptual framework. These analytical trends have also featured in the Mediterranean area. Although the Mediterranean is the home of classicism (which also defines a particular archaeological methodology), it has seen the implementation of projects of this new kind, and in regions of Spain and Italy, after some delay, the proliferation of landscape archaeology studies. There are examples of more-or-less sophisticated postcolonial archaeological work, albeit conducted at the same time as examples of unreconstructed colonial archaeology. It is not easy to resolve a situation like this which requires the full integration of the different national archaeological cultures into a truly global forum. But some reflection on the cultural differences between the various landscape archaeologies, at least in the West is required. These considerations have given rise to the idea of this book which examines these themes in the framework of the Mediterranean area.Table of ContentsMediterranean landscapes in post antiquity: new frontier and new perspectives - by Sauro Gelichi and Lauro Olmo-Enciso The transformation of Medieval and Post-Medieval archaeology in Greece - by John Bintliff Post-antique settlement patterns in the central Balkans: use of Justinianic landscape in the early middle ages - by Vujadin Ivanišević and Ivan Bugarski Time travelling: multidisciplinary solutions reveal historical landscape and settlements (a case study of Sant’Ilario, Mira, VE) - by Elisa Corrò, Cecilia Moine and Sandra Primon Settlement dynamics in the rural Bolognese area between the late middle ages and the modern era - by Mauro Librenti ‘Emptyscapes’ and medieval landscapes: is a new wave of research changing content and understanding of the rural archaeological record? - by Stefano Campana Human-environmental interactions in the upper Ebro Valley (Spain): plant and animal husbandry in La Noguera (La Rioja) during the Roman and medieval periods - by Carlos López de Calle, Juan Manuel Tudanca, Leonor Peña-Chocarro, Guillem Pérez Jordà and Marta Moreno-García The construction and dynamics of Early Medieval landscapes in central Iberia - by Lauro Olmo-Enciso, Manuel Castro Priego, Blanca Ruiz Zapata, Mª José Gil García, Marian Galindo Pellicena, Joaquín Checa-Herráiz and Amaya de la Torre-Verdejo Archaeology of medieval peasantry in northwestern Iberia - by Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo and Alfonso Vigil-Escalera Guirado The rural and suburban landscape of Eio-Iyyuh (Tolmo de Minateda, Hellín, Spain): new methodological approaches to detect and interpret its main generating elements - by Julia Sarabia Bautista, Sonia Gutiérrez Lloret, and Victoria Amorós Ruiz Animal husbandry and saltworks in the Kingdom of Granada (13th-15th centuries): The dynamics of landscapes in a Mediterranean territory - by Antonio Malpica Cuello, Sonia Villar Mañas, Marcos García García and Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz A Mediterranean mountain landscape: the transformation of the Frailes–Velillos Vall - by Alberto García Porras, Luca Mattei and Moisés Alonso Valladares Urban foundation and irrigated landscape construction in the medieval western Maghreb. Aġmāt (Morocco) - by Patrice Cressier and Ricardo González Villaescusa

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Book SynopsisThe small town of Buckley, in Flintshire, was the focus for a regional pottery industry for at least 600 years, from the medieval period to the mid-20th century. However, despite Buckley’s impressive industrial past, a visit to the town today reveals little evidence to suggest the extent and importance of what was once a major industry supplying traditional earthenware. This book is based on the results of recent research and excavation which has enhanced our understanding of the Buckley potteries, identifying over 30 individual production sites from documentary and cartographic sources. It considers the factors which influenced the siting and development of the industry, how it changed through time and the reasons for its eventual demise. Few of the potteries have been the subject of archaeological excavation, and of those none have previously been published in detail. The book presents the results from excavations on the sites of four potteries, and includes a review of the evidence for others, including a gazetteer detailing the evidence for all of the potteries currently known. This volume contains contributions from Peter Davey, Leigh Dodd, Richard Hankinson, Bob Silvester and Sophie Watson.Trade ReviewNigel Jones and the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust are to be congratulated on drawing together the resultant information on this important industry and for laying the basis for informed decisions on the recovery of more in the future. - Peter Webster (2020), Archaeologia Cambrensis, Vol. 169Table of ContentsIntroduction Geology of the Buckley Area (Richard Hankinson) Buckley Potteries and their relationship with Buckley Mountain Common – cartographic evidence (Bob Silvester) History and Significance of the Buckley Potteries (Peter Davey) Recent Excavations: Brookhill Pottery (Site 1), 2016 (Richard Hankinson) Taylor’s Pottery (Site 3), 2005 (Leigh Dodd) Lewis’s Pottery (Site 5), 2000 (Leigh Dodd) Price’s Pottery (Site 11), 2014-15 (Sophie Watson) A Gazetteer of Buckley Potteries Bibliography Appendix 1: Glossary

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