History Books

Book SynopsisThe cars, the stars, the thrills and the spills from 60 years of the Bathurst classic by Australia's premier motorsports journalist with a foreword by five-time winner Garth Tander The Bathurst 1000 is undoubtedly Australia's 'Great Race', forever part of the sporting fabric of the nation. The 1000-kilometre race, held on the world-famous Mount Panorama circuit, is both a legend-maker and a heartbreaker, all wrapped up in one thrilling ride. From its beginnings in the 1960s as a 500-mile race for standard production cars, the Bathurst 1000 has evolved into an annual multi-million dollar battle between purpose-built, millimetre-perfect V8-powered Supercars. After six decades of this extraordinary battle on the mountain, The Great Race takes a look back at the thrills, the spills, the legends and the losers of the race's history, from the legendary Ford and Holden battles to how the Mountain made household names of Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Dick Johnson, Craig Lowndes, Mark Skaife and s

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Book Synopsis**SOON TO BE A MINI-SERIES FROM PARAMOUNT+ IN SPRING 2024** From bestselling author and the producer of the hit cable series Masters of Sex, Thomas Maier, comes a true story of espionage and mobsters, based on the never-before-released JFK Files. From Vegas to Miami to Havana, the shocking connections between the CIA, the mob, and Sinatra’s Rat Pack—with new revelations and details. Mafia Spies is the definitive account of America’s most remarkable espionage plots ever—with CIA agents, mob hitmen, “kompromat” sex, presidential indiscretion, and James Bond-like killing devices together in a top-secret mystery full of surprise twists and deadly intrigue. In the early 1960s, two top gangsters, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, were hired by the CIA to kill Cuba’s Communist leader, Fidel Castro, only to wind up murdered themselves amidst Congressional hearings and a national debate about the JFK assassin

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Book SynopsisAnthropologist Bruce Albert captures the poetic voice of Davi Kopenawa, shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon, in this unique reading experience—a coming-of-age story, historical account, and shamanic philosophy, but most of all an impassioned plea to respect native rights and preserve the Amazon rainforest.Trade ReviewA perfectly grounded account of what it is like to live an indigenous life in communion with one’s personal spirits. We are losing worlds upon worlds. -- Louise Erdrich * New York Times Book Review *What does it mean when someone says they can understand the inner lives of animals, trees, or even forests? Bruce Albert and Davi Kopenawa provide a vivid sense of this in The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman. The Yanomami of the Amazon, like all the indigenous peoples of the Americas and Australia, have experienced the end of what was once their world. Yet they have survived and somehow succeeded in making sense of a wounded existence. They have a lot to teach us. -- Amitav Ghosh * The Guardian *One of the first and best autobiographical narratives by an indigenous lowland Amazonian…The book is a mix of autobiography, history, personal philosophy, and cultural criticism of whites for their destruction of the world, worship of the material, and lack of spirituality and vitality…The book is not only finely detailed and full of challenging philosophical points, it also contains much humor…Ultimately, it is Kopenawa’s voice that tells us who he is, who his people are, and who we are to them. It is complex and nuanced; I’d go so far as to call The Falling Sky a literary treasure: invaluable as academic reading, but also a must for anyone who wants to understand more of the diverse beauty and wonder of existence. -- Daniel L. Everett * New Scientist *I have just read your manuscript and am enormously impressed by this work of such powerful methodological interest and prodigious documentary richness. It wholly captivates the reader yet is simultaneously so complex, raising so many questions. -- Claude Lévi-Strauss, letter to Bruce Albert, July 10, 2006The words of the Yanomami shamans are powerful: they conjure up another world responsible for this one. Davi Kopenawa proves it for us. Not only do his words give us an unparalleled experience of the life of the Yanomami, but his moving description of their struggle to save the forest and themselves from destruction by the whites reveals the modern tragedy of indigenous peoples in ways we never imagined. -- Marshall Sahlins, University of ChicagoKopenawa provides a fascinating glimpse into his life as well as into Yanomami cultural beliefs and practices, setting his story against the various threats the Yanomami people and their forest have faced since the 1960s...Kopenawa's story is eloquent, engaging, and thought-provoking, exuding heartfelt wisdom. This extraordinary and richly detailed work is an outstanding explication of the Yanomami worldview as well as a plea to all people to respect and preserve the rain forest. -- Elizabeth Salt * Library Journal (starred review) *This engaging text, the autobiography of Yanomami shaman and activist Davi Kopenawa, translated with some prefatory remarks, appendixes, notes, and additional biographical comments by anthropologist Albert, offers a valuable insider perspective on a much-studied Amazonian society, with rich details on myth and religious practices, including shamanic initiation. Albert frames this story with a half-century-long history of exploitation by Westerners, ranging from anthropologists to government officials and developers. Kopenawa’s direct experiences with, and assessment of, his white interlocutors is often charged with a well-justified anger, but through the course of his personal history the need for mutual respect and, where appropriate, collaboration is likewise made evident. The text offers a trenchant critique of the characterization of the Yanomami as humanity’s primordial ‘fierce people,’ highlighting the beauty and virtues of these people while reminding readers of Western cultural and ecological destruction in the Amazon (an exceptionally virulent brand of fierceness). -- C. J. MacKenzie * Choice *Anthropologists and other specialists will find much to relish in this beautifully crafted evocation of Yanomami culture and philosophy. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews taped in native language, it is enriched by almost a hundred pages of footnotes, ethnobiological and geographic glossaries, bibliographical references, detailed indexes and, last but not least, an essay by Bruce Albert on how he wrote the book. While the book resonates with current Western metaphysical angst about finitude, it is written principally as a long shamanic chant that opens up a multitude of interior journeys and provides a new consciousness of the world as a whole… The Yanomami have suffered the effects of deadly epidemics, land dispossession and aggressive missionary evangelism. The resulting break in the flow of knowledge between older and younger generations, a lack of communication between indigenous and nonindigenous interlocutors, and a general loss of connection with the natural environment, are common problems. Despite remarkable political gains in the past thirty years, including the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2007, a health and social crisis is deepening within many indigenous communities. As The Falling Sky makes plain, this crisis is rooted in the symbolic violence exercised by the dominant society, which fails to recognize the value (rather than just the right) of being different and of living in a distinct human collectivity… It is, above all, a splendid story told by an exceptional man, who barely knows how to read and write. That the story was written down by an ethnographer who elected not to adjust his research to the canons of academia adds to its importance. The use of the first-person singular to tell the tale involves a fusion of authorial voices, a sign of mutual recognition and true friendship if ever there was one; it lends a musical quality to the resulting ‘heterobiography.’ Through their sonorous presence, the numerous beings evoked in the shamanic chant usher in the fertility of life as shamans see and feel it. What better way to entice readers away from everyday forgetfulness than to invite them to hear the forest’s vast and timeless symphony? -- Laura Rival * Times Literary Supplement *The Falling Sky is several things. It is the autobiography of Davi Kopenawa, one of Brazil’s most prominent and eloquent indigenous leaders. It is the most vivid and authentic account of shamanistic philosophy I have ever read. It is also a passionate appeal for the rights of indigenous people and a scathing condemnation of the damage wrought by missionaries, gold miners, and white people’s greed. The footnotes alone harbor monographs on Yanomami botany and zoology, mythology, ritual, and history. Most of all, The Falling Sky is an elegy to oral tradition and the power of the spoken word… Kopenawa’s elaboration of shamanic concepts goes beyond ethnography and becomes a new genre of native philosophical inquiry. When an indigenous narrator this articulate produces an original exegesis of his own worldview, anthropology and anthropologists have become almost obsolete… Like his ancestors, whose voices will continue to echo in shamans’ songs after his death, Davi Kopenawa has made sure that his own powerful words will be preserved. -- Glenn Shepard, Jr. * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisUsing first-hand accounts and rare and unpublished images, this highly illustrated title tells the full story of the German reconnaissance troops in World War II. When the Wehrmacht was first formed in 1935, tactical reconnaissance was carried out by motorcycle rifle units (Kradschützen). However, with the development and large-scale introduction of wheeled armoured vehicles in the late 1930s, motorized reconnaissance battalions (Aufklärungs-Abteilungen) were introduced. Equipped with a mixture of armoured cars and motorcycles, they often operated far ahead of battlefront to survey the terrain, observe enemy positions and identify enemy forces key information required ahead of any armoured assault. In the second half of the war, with Germany on the strategic defensive, armoured reconnaissance troops found themselves increasingly drawn into combat operations, and even holding sectors of the line. At thTrade ReviewIf you have any interest in WWII, this is an absolute must-read. * Wargames Soldiers & Strategy Magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Motor Reconnaissance 2. Armoured Cars 3. Motorized Battalion 4. 1939 – Poland 5. 1940 – France 6. North Africa 7. Soviet Union 8. 1943 – The Force Grows 9. Modern Reconnaissance 10. Captured Vehicles Index Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 • Internationalizing Struggle, 1977–1979 2 • Triumph and Consolidation, 1979–1980 3 • The Revolution under Attack, 1981–1982 4 • Creative Defense, 1983–1984 5 • Fundraising for the Revolution, 1985–1986 6 • Peace and Elections, 1987–1990 Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis complex, compelling tale is told with simplicity and grace'' - The TimesA story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.For millennia the location of the Nile River''s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the mid-19th century, Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for Britain. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs.From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardship, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, the two became sworn enemies.Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan's army, and eventually travelled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.

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Book SynopsisThe history of humankind has always been marked by natural catastrophes, migrations, discoveries, revolutions, and wars. But there have also been speeches that marked an era; instilling hope in crucial moments, reawakening the collective conscience of a population—or of all humanity. In homes throughout the world, millions of people watched these speeches on television or listened to them on the radio, fascinated by the charismatic words, by the moral integrity, by the tireless passion and sacrifice of the orators, by those who dedicated their entire existence to the causes they believed in. The thirty-eight speeches featured in this book were delivered over a period that ranges from immediately following World War II to today, and the authors include politicians and brilliant orators, as well as scientists, a writer, a missionary, a businesswoman, a talk-show host, and a young girl. From Charles de Gaulle’s announcement of the end of World War II in 1945, Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” in 1963 and Stephen Hawking’s 2022 speech at his 60th birthday symposium, to Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address in 2022, Speeches That Changed Our Times invites you to read these masterpieces of oratory without restraining the emotions they provoke, in the hope that learning from the past will help build a better world for the present and the future.

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Book SynopsisA radical explication of the ways anti-Black racial oppression has infused the US government's anti-communist repression. In the early twentieth century, two panics emerged in the United States. The Black Scare was rooted in white Americans' fear of Black Nationalism and dread at what social, economic, and political equality of Black people might entail. The Red Scare, sparked by communist uprisings abroad and subversion at home, established anticapitalism as a force capable of infiltrating and disrupting the American order. In Black Scare / Red Scare, Charisse Burden-Stelly meticulously outlines the conjoined nature of these state-sanctioned panics, revealing how they unfolded together as the United States pursued capitalist domination. Antiradical repression, she shows, is inseparable from anti-Black oppression, and vice versa. Beginning her account in 1917the year of the Bolshevik Revolution, the East St. Louis Race Riot, and the Espionage ActBurden-Stelly traces the long duTrade Review“Burden-Stelly is not content with simply contributing to existing scholarship. She shakes things up. And Black Scare / Red Scare hits with volcanic force, sweeping away the prevailing tendency to underestimate the Black Marxist threat to racial capitalism and the embedded anti-Blackness driving state repression. Burden-Stelly details precisely how the ‘political economy of capitalist racism’ played a decisive role in the super-exploitation and subjugation of the Black working class, resulting in a protracted war on Black radical movements. A powerful, pathbreaking work that not only reorients the long history of anticommunism on Black liberation but moves the theory of racial capitalism to an entirely new level.” -- Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination“Burden-Stelly is one of our most brilliant radical thinkers and scholars. In Black Scare / Red Scare she recounts, reassesses, and reframes the historical relationship between white supremacy and anti-communism. In light of growing racist authoritarian movements today, the book could not be more timely. Powerful and powerfully relevant.” -- Barbara Ransby, historian, activist, and author of the award-winning Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement“Engaging various disciplines including Black studies and political theory, Black Scare / Red Scare is a highly sophisticated and timely book. Beginning with the Bolshevik Revolution and ending with contemporary federal campaigns aimed at surveilling and quelling radical Black thought and activism, Burden-Stelly’s deeply researched study presents the long history of two overlapping panics: the Black Scare and Red Scare. A major contribution to the field of African American history, Burden-Stelly brilliantly illuminates how anti-Black and anticommunist sentiments unfolded as the United States pursued capitalist and global dominance. Black Scare / Red Scare is certain to transform our understanding of the origins of anti-Black radicalism and histories of Black activists’ collective fight for liberation and struggle against ‘US Capitalist Racist Society.’” -- LaShawn D. Harris, Michigan State University“This book is truly one of a kind. The subject matter is timely, and its analysis could not be more original. Black Scare / Red Scare will spark widespread debate and continue to be read for many years to come.” -- Jonathan Fenderson, Washington University in St. Louis“Black Scare / Red Scare is a historical and theoretical tour de force. Burden-Stelly explains how the development of anti-Communism and the suppression of Black radicalism became intertwined central governing priorities that bolstered US capitalism from the First World War to the Cold War and beyond. The eventual construction by government officials of what Burden-Stelly calls ‘True Americanism’ legitimized business interests’ racialized profiteering by condemning its critics as radical alien outsiders. These trends reshaped all branches and levels of government. No previous book has analyzed the dizzying array of committees and organizations whose purpose was to quash democratic opponents to US capitalism: the FBI and its Dies Committee, paid informants and infiltrators, and the courts all dedicated untold resources to smashing threats to US racial hierarchy and the economic inequality it fostered. Black Scare / Red Scare ultimately reveals a countersubversive political tradition, developed over the past century, that connects to current attacks on ‘Black Identity Extremism’ and ‘wokeism’ as distractions from actual fascist developments in American society. All scholars and activists interested in antiracism and democracy in America need to engage with this pathbreaking book.” -- Erik Gellman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill“With Black Scare / Red Scare, Burden-Stelly enters the pantheon of Black radical thinkers, past and present. Analyzing phenomena ranging from the structural location of Blackness to the resurgence of fascism, Black Scare / Red Scare demystifies the processes that subjugate Black lives and sustain economic domination. Do not miss this meticulous and uncompromising study.” -- Vaughn Rasberry, Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I. Black Scare / Red Scare Foundation: Political Economy and the Threat of Radical Blackness 1. Theorizing US Capitalist Racist Society 2. The Black Scare, the Red Scare, and the Threat of Radical Blackness 3. Genres of Radical Blackness 4. The Negro Question as a National Question, the Structural Location of Blackness, and the Problem of Black Self-Determination 5. Wall Street Imperialism and Expropriation Abroad 6. War, Wall Street Imperialism, (Inter-)National Accumulation Part II. Black Scare / Red Scare Codification: Governance and Legitimating Architecture 7. Theorizing Anticommunism as a Mode of Governance 8. Loyalty, Criminality, and “Clear and Present Danger”: The Anticommunist Governance of the Executive and Judicial Branches 9. Sedition, Subversion, and National Security: The Anticommunist Governance of the Legislative Branch 10. The Countersubversive Political Tradition and the Threat of US Fascism 11. True Americanism: The Legitimating Architecture of US Capitalist Racist Society Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFormed of dramatic volcanic scenery and home to marvellous beasts, it is little wonder that the first name for the Galápagos archipelago was Las Encantadas: the enchanted islands. In this captivating natural history, Henry Nicholls builds up the ecology of these famous islands, from their explosive origins to the arrival of the archipelago's celebrated reptiles and ultimately humans. It's a story of change, as the islands are transformed from lava-strewn wilderness into a vital scientific resource and a sought-after destination for eco-enthusiasts. Charles Darwin's five-week visit to the Galápagos in 1835 played a pivotal role in this transformation. At the time, he was more interested in rocks than finches, took the opportunity to ride on the backs of tortoises and fling iguanas into the sea. Yet the Galápagos experience can be an inspiration and it certainly was for Darwin, pointing him towards one of the most important and influential ideas in the history of humankind: evolution by natural selection. And with the Darwin connection, the Galápagos found itself propelled onto a global stage. But worldwide fame has brought with it nearly 200,000 tourists a year and a human population now estimated at around 30,000. If Darwin learned from the Galápagos, so we must too. For what happens here in years to come foreshadows the fate of threatened ecosystems everywhere on earth.Trade ReviewThis is the perfect book to take with you if you are planning a trip to the Galapagos. Even if you are not, this is an enchanting and enlightening account of the most scientifically significant islands in the world. -- Tim BirkheadThe tale of the Galapagos's solitary giant tortoise and conservation icon was told to great effect by Henry Nicholls in Lonesome George. Sadly, George died in 2012, but happily Nicholls is back with an account that shows why the archipelago that shaped Darwin's ideas still matters to us. * New Scientist *If you read one book about the Galapagos, make sure it is this. Thoroughly researched, highly informative, lively and enjoyable, each page is a real pleasure to read. Whether a first time visitor or an old Galapagos 'hand' Henry Nicholls' The Galapagos should accompany you on any physical or virtual trip to these Enchanted Islands -- Ian Dunn, Chief Executive Officer, Galapagos Conservation TrustThe Galápagos is an engaging, informative introduction to the natural history of the archipelago. Charles Darwin's observations and insights on the Galápagos are effectively used to highlight key aspects of the archipelago's terrestrial and marine environments, the unique plants and animals they support, and how our understanding of them has evolved since his historic visit. The book also gives an accurate account of the current challenges facing Galápagos, and how they are being addressed. A surprising amount of information is packed into this concise and entertaining overview. An inspiring pre-travel read for anyone considering a visit to 'Darwin's Islands'. -- K. Thalia Grant and Gregory B. Estes * Darwin in Galapagos *Henry Nicholls has turned his most observant eye on the remarkable, but less often described human history of Galápagos. The future of the islands and their distinctive biota will be in the hands of the national lawmakers and growing number of Galápagos residents as the isolation enjoyed by Galápagos becomes a distant memory. In his lively prose, Henry lauds the unsung scientists and conservation managers who work doggedly and successfully on persistent wildlife management challenges wrought by human accident or design. His persistent focus on stewardship-man's absolute responsibility to nature-is refreshing and important in the world of natural history literature. A thoughtfully executed and excellent read. -- Johannah Barry, president of the Galapagos ConservancyTourists should read this book before they visit the Galápagos. In a relaxed and conversational style, Henry Nicholls introduces many of the animals and plants that live there, explains why so many are strange and unusual, and shows how natural history has been first shaped by geological history and then influenced by human history. The book is an inspiring call to visit the islands, to experience the animals and plants in the sea and on land, and to join in conserving them. -- Peter Grant, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University, and coauthor of * 40 Years of Evolution: Darwin's Finches on Daphne Major Island *From the fiery volcanoes that forged the islands to the invasive species that threaten them, this is a brilliantly clear and enthusiastic guide to all that matters about the Galapagos. Henry Nicholls manages to combine detail with passion as he takes the reader through everything from Charles Darwin's inspiration for evolution to the sad demise of the last giant tortoise of his kind, Lonesome George. I only wish the book had been written in time for my visit to the islands five years ago. -- David ShukmanIn his new natural history, Henry Nicholls transforms the Galápagos archipelago from perennial example to subject. Chapters devoted to geology, plants, animals, and insects finally provide a landscape framework for some of biology's most famous stories-from Darwin's finches to the giant tortoises that give the islands their name. Nicholls also includes a welcome and thoughtful discussion of the archipelago's most recent and transformative arrivals, its people -- Thor Hanson, author of Feathers and The Impenetrable ForestI have been to the Galápagos five times, including an extended private expedition retracing Darwin's footsteps in these magnificent islands that so inspired his insights into the evolutionary process. I thought I knew everything about the islands until I read Henry Nicholls's The Galápagos, the best single-volume work I've found and the perfect guide for travelers. Every visitor to the islands should be given a copy of this marvelous natural history to read in order to fully appreciate the richness of one of the most important pieces of real estate on the planet. A captivating book. -- Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of Why Darwin MattersHenry Nicholls has added an informative, fun and up-to-date read to the Galapagos literature. By sprinkling his discussion of the geology, biology and history of the islands with quotes from historical figures, including Darwin, the Bishop of Panama, Herman Melville, and many others, he takes the reader on a unique journey of discovery of the wonders of Galapagos. He merges historical information with up-to-date science and conservation, then brings the reader back to the sites and species they will see when visiting the islands. Most importantly he discusses why Galapagos matters and the challenge to all of us to ensure its long-term protection. -- Linda J. Cayot, Science Advisor, Galapagos ConservancyIn an enticingly structured, thoroughly enjoyable, rolling narrative, [Nicholls] discusses the islands' volcanic origins, native flora and fauna, and human explorers and residents. He also describes with firsthand excitement and surprising detail what it's like to be in the presence of the islands' remarkably tame wildlife, from the playful red-footed boobies to Pacific green turtles and the enormous tortoises for which the archipelago is named and which were slaughtered to the brink of extinction.... There is no question, as Nicholls eloquently reveals, that we all have a stake in protecting the Galápagos. * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisThis is the remarkable story of Donald Caskie, minister of the Scots Kirk in Paris at the time of the German invasion of France in 1940. Although he had several opportunities to flee, Caskie stayed behind to help establish a network of safe houses and escape routes for Allied soldiers and airmen trapped in occupied territory. This was dangerous work, and despite the constant threat of capture and execution, Caskie showed enormous resourcefulness and courage as he aided thousands of servicemen to freedom. Finally arrested and interrogated, he was sentenced to death at a Nazi show-trial, and it was only through the intervention of a German pastor that he was saved. After the war, Caskie returned to the Scots Kirk, where he served as minister until 1960. This inspiring story of selfless commitment to others in the face of extreme adversity is the legacy of a truly brave man.Trade Review'More thrilling than any adventure story' - The Scotsman

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“An engrossing account of a leader who, by converting despair into strength, gave an exiled people both political purpose and the means to attain it.”—Benjamin Balint, Wall Street JournalWinner of the 2020 Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the history category, sponsored by the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies“Derek Penslar, the most original scholar on the history of Zionism today, has written a masterful book, which may indeed become the definitive Herzl biography of our age.”—Michael Brenner, author of A Short History of the Jews“Theodor Herzl was the indispensable catalyst of the Zionist movement that began before him, developed independently of him, and prevailed on its own decades after his death. Penslar’s book unlocks this paradox, and in richly providing the historical context of his leadership, magnifies its achievement.”—Ruth R. Wisse, author of Jews and Power “Derek Penslar has found in Theodor Herzl an amazingly complex character and tells his story with deep insight and great fairness. This biography is innovative, carefully balanced, and engrossing.”—Tom Segev, author of A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion“In his pitch-perfect biography for a new century, accomplished historian Derek Penslar portrays the psychic traits that allowed Theodor Herzl to be elevated by the longings of a fledgling Zionist movement, which he in turn elevated into a political cause that has redefined Jewish and world history down to our present. An elegant masterpiece.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University

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Book SynopsisThis new history of the British Paratrooper, from 1940 to 1945, details the unique training, weapons and equipment used by these elite troops. Inspired by the exploits of the German Fallschirmjäger in the blitzkrieg campaigns, Winston Churchill called for the formation of a 5,000-strong Airborne Force in June 1940. From these beginnings the Parachute Regiment became one of the foremost units of the British Army both in World War II and up to the present day. A wealth of first-hand and until now unpublished materials brings the history of the ordinary Para to life, drawing on the author''s position as a curator of the Regimental Museum. Illustrations and photographs illuminate the equipment and combat performance of the elite ''paras'' in the context of some of the most significant campaigns of World War II, including D-Day and Operation market-garden.Table of ContentsIntroduction /Chronology /Recruitment and Enlistment /Training /Appearance and Equipment /Belief and Belonging /Conditions of Service /Experience of Battle /After the Battle /Collections and Museums/Glossary

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Book SynopsisTrade Review[A] monumental history…Pandora’s Box is a major contribution to the historiography of the war, the best large-scale synthesis in any language of what we currently know and understand about this multidimensional, cataclysmic conflict…Leonhard has a rare gift for critical, intelligent narrative…A detailed, judicious and virtually comprehensive account of the war, its origins, its history and its consequences. -- Richard J. Evans * Times Literary Supplement *[An] epic and magnificent work—unquestionably, for me, the best single-volume history of the war I have ever read…It is the most formidable attempt to make the war to end all wars comprehensible as a whole. -- Simon Heffer * The Spectator *Extremely readable, lucidly structured, focused, and dynamic, Pandora’s Box shows that the world that emerges from the First World War is utterly transformed by the experience. Leonhard’s analysis is enlivened by a sharp eye for concrete situations and an ear for the voices that best convey the meaning of change for the people and societies undergoing it. -- Christopher Clark, University of Cambridge, author of The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914A library of books were published to mark the centenary of the Great War, but none of them are as good as Jörn Leonhard’s gracefully written, deeply researched, and constantly illuminating account. This is a wonderful book, filled with new information and fresh insights. -- James Sheehan, Stanford University, author of Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? The Transformation of Modern Europe[A] great book on the Great War… Leonhard succeeds in being comprehensive without falling prey to the temptation of being encyclopedic. He writes fluently and judiciously. Footnotes are limited to the essentials. This is, one is tempted to say, a German history in the British style. -- Adam Tooze * Die Zeit *This is probably the meatiest and most comprehensive WWI book yet published… It is consistently intelligent and thoughtful. -- Tyler Cowen * Marginal Revolution *What makes it so compelling is the analysis of events after the peace agreement of 1918, complete with a political map of the world and a stark look at the intense violence that persisted in Europe. -- Shelby Blackley * Globe and Mail *Pandora’s Box stands out as the most comprehensive recent book on the First World War in any language. Leonhard provides us with a narrative analysis that combines intellectual precision and thematic focus with multiple perspectives. From the microcosm of the trenches to the home fronts, from the big battles in the East and the West to violent upheavals after 1918, Leonhard’s treatment of the war is wide-ranging while also giving ample space to the different layers of war experiences. -- Robert Gerwarth, University College Dublin, author of The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to EndA brilliant history of what people thought about the First World War—before, during and after. -- Beatrice Heuser * Times Higher Education *[A] very readable history of the war; thankfully, it is far more than a list of battles, but a thoughtful consideration of the epic destructive event in all its varied ramifications…There are more books on the First World War than anyone (even enthusiasts) could read, but Leonhard’s is an honorable addition, a large and weighty volume, literally and metaphorically, that is well worth the time dipping into. Well researched and detailed, Pandora’s Box never tosses the reader into a roiling overload of facts and figures, but looks at the horrors of WWI from many different, illuminating angles. -- Thomas Filbin * Arts Fuse *[Leonhard] presents a stunningly broad and detailed survey of the cataclysm that began the 20th century by first tracing its deep roots in the 19th century and searching out the conflict’s furthest ripples… The reading experience is…thrilling, particularly as the facts accumulate and gradually create a crushing realization of how fundamentally the war changed the world… [Leonhard] puts the whole conflict in a broader context than any historian has managed in a single volume in well over a generation… [An] enormously impressive undertaking… Readers…will be richly rewarded. -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Review *Leonhard sets out not simply to write a history of events, but to help his reader understand the greater meaning of the war for the participants…and to us in the twenty-first century…Far more comprehensive in its discussion of national attitudes than virtually all of the recent avalanche of studies on this the centennial of the Great War. * The Bridge *Provides a sweeping account of the war, one that incorporates its political, social, and cultural dimensions into a description of the campaigns on the various battlefields…The best single-volume history of the war yet written. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisBuilding on the earlier volume dealing with British armor of the First World War, this is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armor expert David Fletcher MBE. This volume traces the story of the British use of the tank through the early years of World War II, when Britain relied on its own tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war. Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, these were years of struggle against an opponent well versed in the arts of armored warfare. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 194445. It also looks at Britain''s super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to battle thr

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Book SynopsisEurope where the sun dares scarce appear For freezing meteors and congealed cold.' - Christopher Marlowe In this innovative and compelling work of environmental history, Philipp Blom chronicles the great climate crisis of the 1600s, a crisis that would transform the entire social and political fabric of Europe. While hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, by the end of the sixteenth century the temperature plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbours were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and ‘frost fairs’ were erected on a frozen Thames – with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city. Recounting the deep legacy and sweeping consequences of this ‘Little Ice Age’, acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had ineradicably changed by the mid-seventeenth century. While apocalyptic weather patterns destroyed entire harvests and incited mass migrations, Blom brilliantly shows how they also gave rise to the growth of European cities, the appearance of early capitalism, and the vigorous stirrings of the Enlightenment. A sweeping examination of how a society responds to profound and unexpected change, Nature’s Mutiny will transform the way we think about climate change in the twenty-first century and beyond.Trade ReviewA book that skilfully creates a historical panorama, in such a gripping and thrillingly informative way that it’s a joy. * Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung *An exciting history book, and an educational one. * Stern *A case study that connects the birth of the modern world with the climate change of the time. A fascinating panorama of a whole era. * Freie Presse *An imposing panorama of politics, economics and intellectual history ... [Blom] has written an informative history of the early modern age, which also prompts us to think about the connections between climate and innovation. * Deutschlandfunk Andruck *“Drawing on rich sources, including diaries, letters, account ledgers, paintings, and religious sermons as well as data gleaned by climate historians and scientists, journalist and translator Blom creates a vivid picture of the European landscape during the Little Ice Age and of social, political, and cultural changes that may have been accelerated by climate change ... An absorbing and revealing portrait of profound natural disaster. * Kirkus Reviews *A sweeping story, embracing developments in economics and science, philosophy and exploration, religion and politics. Blom delivers much of his argument through compressed, beautifully clear life sketches of prominent men. […] Blom’s hypothesis is forceful, and has the potential to be both frightening and, if you hold it up to the light at just the right angle, a little optimistic. The idea can be put like this: climate change changes everything -- John Lanchester * New Yorker *Lively . . . an eye-catchingly grand thesis * Sunday Times *Provocative . . . lively and intelligent * Literary Review *Table of ContentsUnit - 1: PROLOGUE: Winter Landscape Chapter - 1: Life without Money Chapter - 2: The Great Experiment Unit - 2: "GOD HAS ABANDONED US": Europe, 1570-1600 Chapter - 3: A Monk on the Run Chapter - 4: God’s Wind and Waves Chapter - 5: Harsh Frosts and Burning Sun Chapter - 6: A Time of Confusion and a Fiery Mountain Chapter - 7: Pilgrims and Their Hunger Chapter - 8: Truth and Wine Chapter - 9: Wine in Vienna Chapter - 10: The Lights Go Out Chapter - 11: Witches and Spoiled Harvests Chapter - 12: The Truth in the Stars Chapter - 13: Doctor Faustus Chapter - 14: Infinite Worlds Chapter - 15: The Tower of Books Unit - 3: THE AGE OF IRON Chapter - 16: Hortus Botanicus Chapter - 17: Revolutionary Places Chapter - 18: The City Devours Its Children Chapter - 19: The Magic of Green Cheese Chapter - 20: The Great Transformation Chapter - 21: A Picture of the World Chapter - 22: Idle Talk and Fabrications Chapter - 23: A Warning and a Call to Repent Chapter - 24: Tears Too Plentiful to Count Chapter - 25: The Revolution of the Barrel of a Musket Chapter - 26: Sell More to Strangers Chapter - 27: The State as Machine Chapter - 28: A Profitable Trade Chapter - 29: The Curse of Silver Chapter - 30: Officer, Retired Chapter - 31: The Subversive Republic of Letters Chapter - 32: Germanus incredibilis Chapter - 33: Virtue in the Drowning Cell Chapter - 34: Leviathan Chapter - 35: An Inventory of Morality Unit - 4: ON COMETS AND OTHER CELESTIAL LIGHTS Chapter - 36: The Madness of Crowds Chapter - 37: The Antichrist Chapter - 38: The Messiah and the Whore Chapter - 39: The Fair on the Ice Chapter - 40: The Face of Change Chapter - 41: The Price of Change Chapter - 42: Tapissier du roi Chapter - 43: The Public Sphere and the Vices of Bees Chapter - 44: The Floating Reverend Unit - 5: EPILOGUE: Supplement to The Fable of the Bees Chapter - 45: Songbirds, Wood Lice, and Corals Chapter - 46: Freedom and Luxury Chapter - 47: Inherited Compromises Chapter - 48: New Metaphors Chapter - 49: The Theology of the Market Chapter - 50: The Market and the Fortress Acknowledgements - i: Acknowledgments Section - ii: Notes Section - iii: Bibliography Section - iiii: Illustration Credits Index - v: Index

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Book SynopsisIn the late 19th and early 20th century, a combination of coastal defence for the homeland and fleet defence for the East Indies became the established naval strategy for the Royal Dutch Navy and set the template for the world wars. Battleships were too expensive to build and maintain, so after World War I, there was significant investment in submarine development and construction. A handful of modern light cruisers and a new class of destroyers were also constructed during the interwar years to serve as a small Fleet-in-Being in the East Indies, as well as to support the actions of the navy's submarines. The light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter and the Java-class light cruisers were the most powerful units of the new fleet whilst the backbone of the destroyer fleet was the Admiralen-class and the Tromp-class of destroyer leaders. Beginning in December 1941, the Dutch Navy played a very active role in the defence of the East Indies against the Japanese during World War II. The Battle oTable of ContentsIntroduction Major Surface Vessels of the Koninklijke Marine Submarines of the Koninklijke Marine Risk Theory and its Impact on the Operations of Koninklijke Marine Warships, 1941-42 Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA National Bestseller!A new collection of the best Canadian trivia in honour of Canada's 150th birthday.Just in time for Canada's 150th birthday comes this collection of the best in Canadian questions and answers, covering history, famous Canadians, sports, word origins, geography, and everything in between. In these pages, you'll learn the answers to questions like: Where did the word Canuck come from? How did an aristocratic French girl become a Canadian Robinson Crusoe? What famous explorer played hockey in the Arctic? Who was the first black woman elected to Canada's Parliament? What unlikely team beat Canada for the gold medal for hockey in the 1936 Winter Olympics? How did the Halifax Explosion occur? Table of Contents1. O CANADA 2. POLICY-MAKERS and GROUND-BREAKERS3. REBELLIONS4. CANADA AT WAR5. HEROES AND LEGENDS6. PRODIGIES OF SCIENCE, INVENTION, AND MEDICINE7. CANADIAN DISASTERS8. INTREPID EXPLORERS9. ENTERTAIN ME10. THE OLD BALL GAME11. GRIDIRON HISTORY12. CANADA‘S GAME13. THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, NOW IN CANADA14. SCOOPS ON CANADIAN HOOPS15. CANADA‘S OTHER NATIONAL GAME16. ROCKS AND ROLLS17. MAKING A SPLASH18. OLYMPIC FEATS19. MORE CHAMPIONS OF CANADIAN SPORT

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Book SynopsisAliens, nuclear war and talking dolphins; this book is a study of the weird and wonderful world of the PosadistsTrade Review'Under the grim pressures of 20th century history, and now climate change, Gittlitz shows how explosions of black political humour also contain utopian hopes very necessary to keep alive. As an advocate of Partially Automated Adequate Socialism I can only agree, and applaud this fine addition to leftist history' -- Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of the Mars Trilogy'While Posadism is often treated as a political curiosity, quickly set aside, Gittlitz skillfully paints J. Posadas and his followers in all their depth and complexity: paranoid, idealistic, cultish, fractious, bizarre, proud, far-reaching dreamers. In their bizarre, sometimes revolutionary own ways, they fought for a more just world, one that could finally join the ranks of a far more advanced fraternity awaiting them in the galaxy' -- Anna Merlan, author of 'Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power''An absolute treat. As well as a brilliantly researched biography of Posadas, and a very witty one, it does far more than lampoon him. Rather, it uses his story (and its legendarisation in meme culture) to provide really valuable reflection on revolutionary hope, cults, and the role of irony and despair in the millennial-left milieu' -- David Broder, author of 'First They Took Rome: How the Populist Right Conquered Italy''This book has it all: Trotskyist drama, South American revolutions and aliens from inner and outer space. What's not to like?' -- McKenzie Wark, author of 'Capital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse?''A provocative and clear-eyed account of communist lunacy, its costs, and why we might need it anyway' -- Malcolm Harris, author of 'Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials''I Want to Believe is most compelling in its consideration of how Posadist ideals live on today, beyond the meme-centric irony and vaporwave aesthetics of the extremely online left' -- Baffler'Gittlitz has recovered an unlikely left-wing hero for these febrile times... and is an able navigator through the ensuing alphabet soup of Trotskyist organisations he travels through' -- Morning Star'Gittlitz does so well in weaving the life of Posadas with the enclosed parallel universe of Trotskyism he created' -- Socialist Resistance'If you find yourself afflicted by capitalist realism, a dip into I Want to Believe and the world of Posadism might be just the thing for you' -- Social Review'There is no reason the left shouldn’t engage in the occasional indulgence of UFOwatching alongside the hard work of organising' -- Dawn Foster‘A cautionary political tale of a radical post-war tendency marked by zealous fanaticism, an enigmatic insurgent horizon caught between utopia and annihilation and the cruellest of gaps separating sincere revolutionary desire and delusional irrelevance’ -- ‘ROAR’Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: THE TRAGIC CENTURY 1. Commentaries on the Infancy of Comrade Posadas 2. Revolutionary Youth or Patriotic Youth? 3. The Death Throes of Capitalism 4. The Origins of Posadism 5. Where are we Going? PART II: THE POSADIST FOURTH INTERNATIONAL 6. The Flying International 7. The Role of Anti-Imperialist and Revolutionary Militants, the Role of Trotskyists, the Program, and Tasks During and After the Atomic War 8. The Macabre Farce of the Supposed Death of Guevara 9. Flying Saucers, the Process of Matter and Energy, Science, the Revolutionary and Working-Class Struggle, and the Socialist Future of Mankind 10. The Accident 11. Hombrecitos 12. Volver 13. What Exists Cannot Be True 14. Arrival of Comrade Homerita to the House PART III: NEO-POSADISM 15. Historical Sincerity 16. Why Don’t Extraterrestrials Make Public Contact? 17. UFOs to the People 18. On the Function of the Joke and Irony in History Timeline Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe destruction of the HMS Hood by the Bismarck in 1941 was one of the most shocking episodes in the history of the Royal Navy. Built during World War I, the Hood was the largest, fastest and one of the most handsome capital ships in the world. For the first time, this volume in the renowned Anatomy of a Ship series is available in paperback, and features a detailed description of every aspect of the beloved battlecruiser. In addition to analysing the genesis of its design and contemporary significance, this exceptional study provides the finest documentation of the Hood, with a complete set of superb line drawings, supported by technical details and a record of the ship''s service history.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION Design Construction Service history The loss of Hood General arrangements and hull structure Machinery Armament Control systems Ground tackle Aircraft Modifications The PHOTOGRAPHS The DRAWINGS General arrangements Hull construction Machinery Accommodation Superstructure Rig Armament Fire-control Fittings Ground tackle Ship’s boats Aircraft arrangements

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Book SynopsisOperation Overlord, the codename given to the Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe in 1944, was arguably the most challenging, complicated and risky military operation in history. It began on 6 June with Operation Neptune, the largest seaborne invasion ever seen, when 150,000 troops crossed the Channel and attempted to land on the beaches at Normandy. This assault would lay the foundation for the Allied victory on the Western Front, and is now commonly known as D-Day. This highly illustrated book, first published to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019, will reconstruct the historic landings and the resultant battle for Normandy using artefacts, documents, interviews, film, art and photographs from the archives at IWM. Importantly, it will feature first-hand accounts of the action from the vast documents and sound collection, allowing the reader to follow a personal narrative throughout and experience what it was like to live through what was one of the most significant campaigns of the Second World War.Trade Review"Incredible photos reveal how D-Day unfolded hour-by-hour 75 years ago . . . . astonishing colour photographs . . . . The collected snaps vividly show the timeline of one of the most crucial military victories for the Allies in the Second World War."-- "The Sun" "Rare photos and historians' painstaking detective work map out [the] reality of how the Allies launched the world's biggest ever military op. . . . The shots, published chronologically for the first time ever, have brought to life one of the key turning points of the Second World War."-- "Daily Mail (UK)" "These images offer a rare insight into this decisive victory."-- "CNN Style"

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Book SynopsisComposed in a prison cell in 1298 by Venetian merchant Marco Polo and Arthurian romance writer Rustichello of Pisa, The Description of the World relates Polo's experiences in Asia and at the court of Qubilai, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. In addition to a new translation based on the Franco-Italian "F" manuscript of Polo's text, this edition includes genealogies of the Mongol rulers and nine maps of Polo's journey, as well as thorough annotation and an extensive bibliography.Trade Review"Marco Polo's account provided both what was thought to be a reliable guide to East Asia—Columbus carried with him a heavily annotated copy of Marco Polo's work during his own expedition to the Americas—and an intriguingly fantastical account that for centuries has continued to fuel the imagination of poets and artists. Kinoshita's superb, groundbreaking translation brilliantly renders into modern English this crucial text of the Middle Ages. Indispensable in the undergraduate and graduate classroom, The Description of the World will also appeal to a wide range of readers curious about the medieval encounter of East and West." —Suzanne Conklin Akbari, University of Toronto"This excellent and lucid translation is comprehensible to 21st-century students, yet retains the medieval flair of the original text. Kinoshita's footnotes, which support a reading of the text without overwhelming the reader, properly address and consider the latest scholarship. This will undoubtedly become the standard translation of Marco Polo for classroom use." —Timothy May, University of North Georgia"Ever since Marco Polo and Rustichello's creation first piqued the interests of the reading public, it has been shaped and reshaped, reformed and deformed to meet the desires of the medieval and modern readers. With this new translation, Kinoshita gives English-speakers for the first time something like the original 'Description of the World' that electrified medieval Europe. Racy and readable, this translation is the only one that actually aims to recreate the type of language that Polo and Rustichello used to reach their public." —Christopher Atwood, Indiana University"An excellent book, both an accessible edition of Polo’s text and a scholarly one. The translation reads well, following the oddities of the Franco-Italian without compromising readability in English. Kinoshita's introduction is brief but highly informative and offers much to scholars as well as students in different disciplines; the notes are likewise informative and to the point. This is the Polo that students and scholars alike will want to read if they are not going to read the original(s)." —Iain Macleod Higgins, University of Victoria"An excellent new translation of the earliest known version of the text. . . . Kinoshita synthesizes a vast body of scholarship in her admirably concise but rich introduction, her notes, and her critical apparatus. . . . Kinoshita has also used to good effect medieval Asian sources that were not so comprehensively available to most earlier scholars; her notes at every stage offer supplementary information about the places, peoples, and customs the Devisement describes, contextualizing much of the information more helpfully and succinctly than other translations into English. Six genealogical tables and nine maps also direct the reader's attention firmly towards Asia. . . . Kinoshita embraces the stylistic quirkiness and rough edges of her source. Furthermore, whereas previous translators (including the recent Penguin Classics translation) conflate different versions of the text and, like many medieval transmitters, manicure stylistic imperfections and inconsistencies, Kinoshita's translation gives English readers better access, if not to the authentic version of the text, certainly to a particularly challenging and interesting medieval iteration of it. This gives us a much better sense of contact with the different narrative voices of the first Devisement (which was supposedly co-written by Marco Polo with a fellow Italian, Rustichello da Pisa). . . . Kinoshita's translation . . . amply deserves to become the standard text for teaching in the anglophone world." —Simon Gaunt, King's College London, in Speculum"This excellent edition and translation will be a standard course text. It is simply superb." —Theresa Earenfight, Seattle University"There is much to appreciate in this volume. Kinoshita, a specialist in medieval French literature, is also a leading scholar in the burgeoning field of global medieval studies, and her knowledge of the many fields that illuminate Polo's text is on display throughout. Her translation is true to a single edition of a single authoritative source, not the product of fanciful--and questionable--compilation. She thereby gives us a particular Marco Polo text, not the "definitive" text other translators have concocted, and in so doing is true to the work's history. Polo's text is not a major work of literary art, and the translation challenges it poses relate more to idiom and accuracy than to the aesthetics of tone or imagery. Perhaps the biggest challenge, as Kinoshita recognizes, is deciding how to handle the text's medieval features: its repetition, parataxis, euphemism, etc. Here again, one can only respect Kinoshita's decision to retain many of these features, which are constant reminders of this text's complicated genesis and of the ways it shows its author(s) devising how to represent the new and the strange. As advertised, the introduction and annotations are written for non-specialists and deliver facts and arguments concisely and clearly. The footnote annotations are particularly helpful: short yet informative, inserted when needed, and based on current research, they render the text accessible and provide useful context. The bibliography is current, thorough, varied, and will be of use to anyone interested in learning more about Polo and his era. In addition to the introduction, annotated translation, and bibliography, the book also includes genealogies of Mongol rulers, a map of Eurasia, seven maps of regions discussed by Polo, maps of medieval Beijing and Xian, and an index. This volume is an excellent resource for the curious reader, for high school and university courses, and for specialists alike." —Mark Cruse, in The Medieval Review

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIt takes a special kind of historian to turn an old story on its head. Eye-opening, provocative, this is the great rivalry re-imagined for the #MeToo generation. -- Lucy WorsleyThe perfect combination of scholarship and storytelling, meticulous research and emotional insight, Kate Williams brings Mary vividly to life in all her complexities and contradictions. -- Kate Mosse, author of The Burning ChambersBrings us a fresh Mary, set in a gloriously rich context, a tragic heroine - irresistibly real and relevant... There isn’t a line wasted in this taut, dramatic and utterly beguiling biography. -- Charles Spencer * author of Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I *Scintillating, provocative... An elegant synthesis of royal biography and political thriller. * Daily Telegraph *What makes [Rival Queens] special is William’s understanding of how gender shaped Mary’s life. This is a feminist history. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisNaval operations and warfare were (and remain) a key element for mapping. This beautiful book looks at a series of key conflicts from the sixteenth century to the present day and explains how they were represented through mapping and how the maps produced helped naval commanders to plan their strategy. There are plentiful maps and a good story to tell, both about naval history and about mapping at sea. Conflicts covered include the the American Revolution, Spanish Armada, the Napoleonic Wars, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewExamine[s] how slavery laid the foundation of American capitalism, including the invention of financial instruments, such as bonds that used enslaved people as collateral. -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *Slavery in the United States was a business. A morally reprehensible—and very profitable business. Much of the research around the business history of slavery focuses on the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the business interests that fueled it. The common narrative is that today’s modern management techniques were developed in the factories in England and the industrialized North of the United States, not the plantations of the Caribbean and the American South. According to a new book by historian Caitlin Rosenthal, that narrative is wrong… Rosenthal argues that slaveholders in the American South and Caribbean were using advanced management and accounting techniques long before their northern counterparts. Techniques that are still used by businesses today. * Marketplace *Absolutely compelling. -- Diane Coyle * Five Books *[This] history of the accounting and management of slave plantations in the Americas goes a long way towards puncturing common-sense narratives of free market economics. -- Martin Myers * Times Higher Education *Valuable…Rosenthal proves that precise calculation of labor productivity took root in the slave economy. The irony is that it was more aggressively calculated there than among many Northern manufacturers of the time. -- Jeremy Ray Jewell * Arts Fuse *Looks at how sugar and cotton plantations organised and tracked production. It is a fascinating yet horrifying history of how planters saw the slaves they profited from—and how they drove up production…Challenges many dominant ideas about capitalism, class and progress. -- Sadie Robinson * Socialist Worker *Full of insights into the history of Atlantic slavery, Accounting for Slavery will force its readers to look with fresh eyes at the many freedoms and unfreedoms of the modern American workplace. This is an original book, which uniquely draws from and speaks to many disciplines, while written compellingly for a wide audience. -- Jonathan Levy, University of ChicagoBy paying close attention to slaveholders’ methods of keeping accounts, Caitlin Rosenthal shows how and why they tried to reduce human beings to marks on a ledger. Anyone concerned with the sometimes dark history of management, data, and modern accounting practices needs to read this brilliant, carefully argued book. -- W. Caleb McDaniel, Rice University

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Book Synopsis'A remarkable and deeply moving book' Henry Marsh, bestselling author of Do No Harm'A breathtaking, extraordinary work of non-fiction' Times Literary SupplementOn 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake sent a 120-foot-high tsunami smashing into the coast of north-east Japan. It was Japan's greatest single loss of life since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.Richard Lloyd Parry, an award-winning foreign correspondent, lived through the earthquake in Tokyo, and spent six years reporting from the epicentre. Learning about the lives of those affected through their own personal accounts, he paints a rich picture of the impact the tsunami had on day to day Japanese life.Heart-breaking and hopeful, this intimate account of a tragedy unveils the unique nuances of Japanese culture, the tsunami's impact on Japan's stunning and majestic landscape and the psychology of its people.Ghosts of the Tsunami is an award-winning classic of literary non-fiction. It tells the moving, evocative story of how a nation faced an unimaginable catastrophe and rebuilt to look towards the future.**WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE**Trade ReviewThe definitive book on the quake which killed more than 15,000 people and led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. * Mail Online *Every time I think of it, I’m filled with wonderment... This book is a future classic of disaster journalism, up there with John Hersey’s Hiroshima. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Mr Lloyd Parry offers a voice to the grieving who, too often, found it hard to be heard. It is a thoughtful lesson to all societies whose first reaction in the face of adversity is to shut down inquiry and cover up the facts. You will not read a finer work of narrative non-fiction this year. * Economist *A stunning book from the man who has a strong claim to be the most compelling non-fiction writer in the world. -- Johann HariA book of absolute, harrowing truth and beauty. I'd give up four of my novels to have written this book. -- Jim Crace * Guardian *A breathtaking, extraordinary work… Parry writes with great fluency and timing, like a novelist alternating cadences and withholding information from the reader so as to create moments of tension and surprise. And there is something of the folklorist in the way he discusses the tradition of ghost stories in places such as Tohoku and Sendai. -- Gavin Jacobson * Times Literary Supplement *Compassionate and piercing... giving it the character of a finely conceived crime fiction or a psychological drama… Tragic, engrossing. -- Eri Hotta * Guardian *Parry, a journalist and long-time Tokyo resident, is able to draw something meaningful, even lovely, from the well of misery… Overall, the strength of the book lies in its stories, its observations and its language… The language is daring throughout. -- David Pilling * Financial Times *Ghosts of the Tsunami is alert to the social and political ramifications and transfixed by the spectral quality of the post-disaster landscape… These twin streams – one universal, the other intensely particular – come together in the mystery that is at this book’s core… Some of his most fascinating chapters take in the disaster’s psychological aftermath… It is full of stories of human endeavor, of individual and collective triumph over well-nigh insuperable odds… As well as being full of ghosts, Lloyd Parry’s A-grade reportage is also full of metaphors. -- D. J. Taylor * The Times *A remarkable and deeply moving book – describing in plain and perfect prose the almost unimaginable devastation and tragedy of the Japanese tsunami. -- Henry MarshGhosts of the Tsunami is enthralling and deeply moving, fully conveying and involving the reader in the sheer horror and tragedy of all that happened yet with such beauty, honesty and sincerity. Richard Lloyd Parry has returned the trust and done justice to the victims and their families a hundredfold. -- David PeaceWhen Lloyd Parry wrote Ghosts of the Tsunami, he was seeking “the gift of imagination… the paradoxical capacity to feel tragedy on the surface of the skin, in all its cruelty and dread, but also to understand it… with calm and penetration”. It is to his great credit that, once he attained this gift, he so generously shared it with us here. -- Yo Zushi * New Statesman *Ghosts of the Tsunami is a deeply moving and powerfully intimate work about the enduring strength of community and family in the face of unimaginable destruction and loss. This is a haunting, beautiful, and unforgettable book. -- Héctor Tobar, author of DEEP DOWN DARKA well-researched, polyphonic narrative of what happened on the day 133-ft waves swept in — and how the story continued long after the news cameras left… Lloyd Parry offers a rare glimpse into the history and culture of a region where entire villages were wiped out… By gaining the trust of those on the ground, the author has created an unrivalled account of how Tohoku grieved, and is still grieving. -- Emily Finch * Prospect *The character sketches are colourful; the chapters end on cliffhangers. Lloyd Parry’s prose is fast-flowing, occasionally stopped short by a blunt sentence… His treatment evokes John Hersey’s Hiroshima, published a year after the dropping of the bomb… He has done a fine job of fashioning a focused story, and some powerful arguments, from the tsunami’s wreckage. But his book gives vivid expression to what should be obvious: there is nothing neat or aesthetic about a natural disaster like this. -- Alex Dudok de Wit * Daily Telegraph *Extraordinary… Lloyd Parry writes movingly about the emotional chasm that now separates the parents who saved their children and those who assumed the authorities knew best… God isn’t very popular in the West these days, so it’s striking to read a book written in civilized, elegant prose that doesn’t rip apart Buddhist priests and Christian pastors at the first mention. -- John Sweeney * Literary Review *Ghosts of the Tsunami is a brilliant chronicle of one of the modern world's worst disasters, but it's also a necessary act of witness. The stories Parry tells are wrenching, and he refuses to mitigate the enormity of the tsunami with false optimism or saccharine feel-good anecdotes. Above all, it's a beautiful meditation on grief. * NPR *Parry studs the story with gems of language and detail... The result is a spellbinding book that is well worth contemplating in an era marked by climate change and natural disaster. -- Kathleen Rooney * Chicago Tribune *Parry spoke to the parents and friends of the children and staff involved, and his relating of first-hand accounts of the tragedy is almost unbearable to read at times… Not an easy read, but a rewarding one all the same. -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *The human cost of the deadly Japanese tsunami is examined in this powerful and absorbing work that exposes the emotional trauma the mountain of water left in its wake… Parry, who has worked in Japan for years, documents with great closeness and insight the impact of such staggering loss on people living in a society not noted for its emotionality. -- David Wilcock * Belfast Telegraph Morning *His central narrative swirls around the black hole formed in those 45 critical minutes between quake and tsunami. He knows that its awful gravity may pull some readers in, and push others away. -- Stephen Phelan * Herald Scotland *Natural disaster is given a jarringly human constitution in Ghosts Of The Tsunami… This is "literary non-fiction", full of gilded language and sensations as Parry recounts the scene he was met with when he travelled up the coast of Japan to where the giant waves had hit. A transcendental reading experience. -- Hilary A White * Irish Independent *Ghosts of the Tsunami deals mainly with the aftermath of the tragedy – days, weeks and months in which parents continued doggedly looking in the mud for their children, knowing full well that there was no chance of finding them alive. Their testimonies are unbearably moving. -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *This is a haunting account of Okawa’s loss and it is almost unbearably sad. Parry rarely speaks of his own reactions but he is the most compassionate of writers, allowing the voices of those he encounters to be heard… Exceptional. * Lady *Powerful and absorbing. * i *A sobering and compelling narrative of calamity. * Kirkus *This is a piercing look at the communities ravaged by the tsunami -- Eri Hotta * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSince the end of their involvement in the Vietnam War, the Australian Army has been modernized in every respect. After peacekeeping duties in South-East Asia, Africa and the Middle East in the 1980s90s, ''Diggers'' were sent to safeguard the newly independent East Timor from Indonesian harassment in 1999, and to provide long-term protection and mentoring since 2006. Australian Army units have served in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Australian Special Forces are currently operating alongside US and British elements against ISIS in northern Iraq. During these campaigns the Australian SAS Regiment and Commandos have fully matured into ''Tier 1'' assets, internationally recognized for their wide range of capabilities. The book, written by an Australian author who has written extensively about modern warfare, traces the development of the Army''s organization, combat uniforms, load-bearing equipment, small arms and major weapon systems using specially commissionedTable of ContentsIntroduction: the 'Diggers' – history and character – recent organization; British and US influence/ The lean years, 1970s/ Modernization, 1980s/ Peace-keeping, 1980s–90s: Rwanda, Cambodia, Lebanon, Somalia/ East Timor: Op 'Stabilise', 1999; Op 'Astute', 2006/ Afghanistan: Special Forces Task Group, 2001–2002/ Iraq: Special Operations Forces, 2003; Battle Group, 2005–2008/ Back to Afghanistan: Special Forces/Special Operations Task Group, 2005–2013; Reconstruction Task Force, 2006–2012. * Evolution of Australian Special Ops Forces; return to Iraq/ The future: 2016 Defence White Paper/ Weapons, equipment and vehicles; uniforms, load-bearing equipment and body armor/ Select Bibliography/ Plate Commentaries

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Book SynopsisExam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS), Summer 2017 (A-level)Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and accessibility. Access to History is the most popular, trusted and wide-ranging series for A-level History students.This title:- Supports the content and assessment requirements of the 2015 A-level History specifications- Contains authoritative and engaging content- Includes thought-provoking key debates that examine the opposing views and approaches of historians- Provides exam-style questions and guidance for each relevant specification to help students understand how to apply what they have learntThis title is suitable for a variety of courses including:- Edexcel: Option 2F.2: South Africa, 1948-94: From apartheid state to 'rainbow nation'

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Book SynopsisThe town of Bethlehem carries so many layers of meaning--some ancient, some mythical, some religious--that it feels like an unreal city, even to the people who call it home. Today, the city is hemmed in by a wall and surrounded by forty-one Israeli settlements and hostile settlers and soldiers. The population is undergoing such enormous strains it is close to falling apart. Any town with an eleven-thousand-year history has to be robust, but Bethlehem may soon go the way of Salonica or Constantinople: the physical site might survive, but the long thread winding back to the ancient past will have snapped, and the city risks losing everything that makes it unique.Still, for many, Bethlehem remains the little town of the Christmas song. Nicholas Blincoe will tell the history of the famous little town, through the visceral experience of living there, taking readers through its stone streets and desert wadis, its monasteries, aqueducts and orchards, showing the city from every angTrade ReviewA lovely personal adventure through the history of Bethlehem from its origins up to the present day. Blincoe captures the continuities and contradictions, the myths and the history of one of the world's most famous towns with real flair * PETER FRANKOPAN, author of Silk Roads *[Bethlehem] brings within reach 11,000 years of history, centering on the beloved town's unique place in the world. Blincoe's love of Bethlehem is compelling, even as he does not shy away from the complexities of its chronicle * PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER *[Bethlehem] illuminates both the past and the present of the Middle East with countless instances of fantastic achievement and equally terrible human folly * YOTAM OTTOLENGHI, co-author of Jerusalem *A book by a talented chronicler who lovingly paints the city's many contradictions and bewildering complexity. Highly readable and informative, it leaves the reader not only with a profound admiration for this city of extremes and its resilient inhabitants who have endured such hardships, but also with a deep lament at the current suffering of the people of Bethlehem * RAJA SHEHADEH , author of Where the Line Is Drawn *An exuberant and erudite journey into the real Bethlehem. Each page leads the reader down new and fascinating tangents of history, cuisine, and personal anecdote, each time somehow finding its way back to Bethlehem and its habit of standing at the centre of world affairs * JACOB NORRIS, author of Land of Progress: Palestine in the Age of Colonial *Majestic . . . [a] book of many marvellous things -- John Lewis-Stempel * S magazine *A thorough and entertaining account -- Tibor Fischer * Standpoint *Masterful -- Emma Williams * Spectator *Blincoe's thoroughness is nothing short of impressive . . . Blincoe offers a biography so vividly imagined that I jumped when my phone buzzed, interrupting my reverie of Nabatean temples . . . The reward is in the lush prose and personal accounts. Blincoe is a joyful writer, well suited to the task of evoking place with passages . . . transporting the reader with mouthwatering specificity. Blincoe handles his own narratives of Bethlehem delicately, like a horticulturist pruning beloved orchids, following its many iterations through the rise and fall of civilizations . . . More than anything, his love for the place leaps off the page; for all its chronicling of incursions and defeat, this is ultimately a book about hope -- Hala Alyan * The New York Times Book Review *Part history, part travelogue and memoir, it reads like an extended love letter to a place on the brink . . . a highly discursive, frequently amusing, often tragic but always accessible history * Guardian *Blincoe proves an erudite and evocative guide to a city whose place in biblical history has proved to be more of a curse than a blessing -- John Preston * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisINCLUDES HUNDREDS OF NEW AND EXPANDED ENTRIES From ‘Aald Rock’ to ‘Zeenty-teenty’, A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable is an unputdownable gallimaufry of curious items embracing sayings, put-downs, insults, mottos, traditions, legends, folklore, customs, festivals, games, songs, dances, nicknames – and much, much more. This new edition features many expanded entries, as well as completely new ones – including Big Tam, the Third Forth Bridge, the Loony Dook and the War of the One-eyed Woman. The result is a kaleidoscopic snapshot of the Scottish nation, both past and present, from the mythical origins of the Scots in ancient Scythia to the foibles of modern Follyrood, from Sawney Bean to Oor Wullie, from ‘The end of an old song’ to ‘Aw fur coat and nae knickers’, from The Heart of Midlothian to ‘Ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus’. In more than 4,500 such entries, A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable weaves an endlessly entertaining tapestry incorporating the texture and fabric of a nation’s ever-shifting sense of itself.Trade Review'Wilfully idiosyncratic yet curiously useful . . . A lightly erudite and well-informed work of eclectic scholarship' * Times Literary Supplement *'Compelling and quirky . . . under Ian Crofton’s eye, the rollicking spirit of Scotland, old and modern, comes proudly alive . . . A lifesaver for those in need of diversion and enlightenment' * Sunday Herald *'This is such a linguistic and etymological treasure trove that once picked up it is virtually impossible to put down' * Scottish Field *'A book that will provide many happy hours of dipping into . . . A sheer joy' * Scottish Life *'It is nigh impossible to reach the item you first set out to read without being sidetracked by other beguiling morsels' * The Herald *'A fascinating collection of words, phrases and stories' * Dundee Courier *

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Book SynopsisAn accessible illustrated introduction to the brutal conflict in the former Yugoslavia, one of the greatest yet least understood tragedies of the 20th century.In 1991, an ethnically diverse and peaceful region of Europe descended into violence, lawlessness, bitter hatred and chaos, almost overnight to the bewilderment of international observers. Communities fractured along lines of ethnic and religious affiliation, and the ensuing fighting was deeply personal, resulting in horrific brutality, rape, torture and genocide, causing the deaths of thousands of people. Drawing on the latest research for this new edition, Alastair Finlan examines the internal upheavals of the former Yugoslavia and their international implications, including the failure of the Vance-Owen plan; the first use of NATO in a combat role and in peace enforcement; and the war in Kosovo, unsanctioned by the UN but prosecuted by NATO forces to prevent the ethnic cleansing of the region.Updated and revised, with Table of ContentsIntroduction Background to War Warring Sides Outbreak The Fighting The World Around War How the War Ended Conclusion and Consequences Chronology Further Reading List of Abbreviations Glossary of Names Index

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Book SynopsisWe often think of the Balkans as a region beset by turmoil and backwardness, but from late antiquity to the present it has been a dynamic meeting place of cultures and religions. Marie-Janine Calic invites us to reconsider the history of this intriguing, diverse region as essential to the story of global Europe.Trade ReviewPanoramic and convincingly presented history of the region…Calic is an authoritative guide. Her book is a work of ambitious chronological and thematic scope, taking the story from Alexander the Great to the present day. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *Since the early twentieth century, southeastern Europe has been disparaged as ‘the Balkans,’ a term that often connotes tribalism and violence. In this detailed and comprehensive history, Calic nimbly seeks to broaden the way the region is understood. The book ranges from the advent of Ottoman dominion to the collapse of Yugoslavia. -- Larry Wolff * Foreign Affairs *Calic provides a sweeping overview of the history of this region and its people, from the late antiquity to the present day… Informed, comprehensive, and methodical, The Great Cauldron provides valuable insight into southeastern Europe and its turbulent past. -- Iva Glisic * Australian Book Review *Covers in detail the history of a geographical region that currently comprises more than a dozen nations, from its earliest recorded tribes through to modernity…An impressive work. -- Andrea Tallarita * PopMatters *An outstanding book…An original and thought-provoking history of Southeastern Europe that should be read by both specialists and scholars whose expertise lies elsewhere, but who seek to understand the region. This is a fascinating story of how global ideas—transcontinental, transborder, and translocal contacts, exchanges, and movements of peoples and goods—shaped Europe’s southeast, the region also known, frequently pejoratively, as the Balkans…A monumental work. -- Dejan Djokić * Journal of Modern History *An indispensable new history of southeastern Europe…It stands out for its integration of economic and demographic data with political and cultural history. * Choice *The best text by far on the history of the Balkans yet written, and I suspect it will remain the standard for a long time. -- Nick Miller * Slavonic and East European Review *On rare but memorable occasions, a book comes along that fills a vacuum one did not know existed. In an era when nationalist stereotypes and conflicts dominate, Calic tells a totally absorbing, transformative story of the far more significant role of transborder, and even global exchanges of people, ideas, and things that have defined the Balkan Peninsula—from Romania to Albania to Greece—over two thousand years. So much for the myth of a peripheral backwater! Her eloquent narrative tells us much more than the story of southeastern Europe; it also sheds light on our interpretations of contemporary history and our assumptions even beyond Europe. -- Susan L. Woodward, author of Balkan TragedyCalic convincingly and thoroughly shows the Balkans to be a quintessential ‘world region,’ one whose historical character has been decidedly cosmopolitan, diverse, and dynamic. She successfully challenges and overturns the usual assumptions that uncritically reproduce stereotypes of Balkan parochialism and isolationism. -- Edin Hajdarpasic, author of Whose Bosnia?There has long been a need for a comprehensive, new history of Europe’s controversial quadrant. Calic’s lucid, authoritative account, from ancient times and ethnic origins to warfare and recovery since 1989, is a stellar example of the new global history. She sees southeastern Europe as a cauldron in which its peoples and polities are stirred together with Europe’s longest and largest set of transnational and transcultural influences. Throughout, she shows how these interrelations belied any separate Balkan definition of this all-too-accessible corner of the continent. -- John R. Lampe, author of Yugoslavia as History

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Book SynopsisThe confrontation between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was a titanic clash of armies on an unprecedented scale - a campaign that was both a turning point in WWII and a lasting symbol of that war's power and devastation. This book provides an account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign.Trade ReviewFifteen years ago the late John Erickson wrote that the research of Glantz and house reflected an 'encyclopaedic knowledge' of the Nazi-Soviet war and constituted a benchmark for excellence in the field. The Stalingrad trilogy reflects the fact that they maintain that standard, while bringing to light a new understanding of many old questions.""- War in History;""Glantz is the world's top scholar of the Soviet-German War.""- Journal of Military History;""No previous work matches, or even approaches, the accuracy, detail, and fresh interpretation offered in this book. The trilogy is an essential addition to the library of any institution whose students study World War II. It is indeed a monumental work.""- Slavic Review;""I strongly recommend this book to serious World War II students; it certainly provides readers with a far greater understanding of this phase of history's greatest land war.""- Armor;""A very important addition to all World War II collections. Highly recommended.""- Choice;""The combination of David Glantz's accrued knowledge of the war on the Eastern Front during World War II and the rich source material in the extensive notes makes this book arguably the most authoritative operational study of the initial phases of the Stalingrad campaign ever published in English, or any language for that matter.""- Parameters;""Although he offers a deeply detailed, comprehensive operational history, Glantz nonetheless steps back just enough to offer cogent analysis and interpretation. . . . Glantz has made good use of the most recent Soviet and German sources and historiography to craft a nitty-gritty of the key 1942 summer campaign in Russia. As always, his information is substantial and his judgments are sound.""- H-Net Reviews;""A magisterial new survey that draws on a wealth of previously inaccessible Red Army records and will be indispensable reading for all serious students of the battle.""- Michael K. Jones, author of Stalingrad: How the Red Army Triumphed;""In a way never before attempted, Glantz reveals how the battle proceeded through the step-by-step, day-by-day efforts of leaders to plan, supervise, and conduct combat operations amidst the fog of war.""- Roger R. Reese, author of Red Commanders""Glantz is the world's top scholar of the Soviet-German War.""- Journal of Military History

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Book SynopsisArguably the greatest of all published memoirs of the Great War, Old Soldiers Never Die is Private Frank Richards' classic account of the war from the standpoint of the regular soldier, and a moving tribute to the army that died on the Western Front in 1914.Trade Review'...the greatest account of trench warfare...' --Phil Carradice, BBC

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Book SynopsisLibrary of History is in three parts: mythical history to the Trojan War; history to Alexander's death (323 BC); history to 54 BC. Books 15 and 1120 survive complete, the rest in fragments.

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Book SynopsisEnriched by anecdotes, gossip, and details of character and personal appearance, Lives of the Caesars by Suetonius (born ca. AD 70) is a valuable and colorful source of information about the first twelve Roman emperors, contemporary politics, and imperial society. Part of Suetonius' Lives of Illustrious Men also survives.

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Book SynopsisHuntington examines the persistent gap between the promise of American ideals and the performance of American politics. He shows how Americans have always been united by the democratic creed of liberty, equality, and hostility to authority, but how these ideals have been frustrated through institutions and hierarchies needed to govern a democracy.Trade ReviewHuntington’s underappreciated 1981 masterpiece…Describes an ineradicable tension between America’s ideals and the actual practice of our politics…Offers insights about our own moment. -- Yuval Levin * New York Times *More than his famous ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis of the 1990s, it is this lesser-known 1981 work that most clearly speaks to our time. Huntington points to the gap between the values of the American creed (liberty, equality, individualism, constitutionalism) and the government’s efforts to live up to those values as the central tension of national life. -- Carlos Lozada * Washington Post *[A] brilliant book… [Huntington addresses] contemporary concerns with a masterly command of theory and history which will ensure his book an enduring place as a work of scholarship. * The New Republic *An illuminating book, ambitious in range and ingenious in analysis… Filled with imaginative insights. * New York Times Book Review *An exceptional book, combining political theory with American history and contemporary policy analysis in a fashion that will challenge and inform any reader interested in the American experience. * Boston Globe *[Huntington] squarely confronts the problem of legitimating American power at home and abroad and argues persuasively…for his exceptionalist political vision. Few have the courage—fewer the talent—to pose and systematically answer the critical questions that Huntington raises. * American Political Science Review *Professor Huntington has brilliantly set forth the persisting conflict between American ideals and American institutions which can energize our society or paralyze it, depending on whether it is understood for what it is. A liberating insight; a brilliant book. -- Senator Daniel Patrick MoynihanThis controversial book will spark considerable debate about American values, the origins and meaning of reform, and foreign policy. It will influence current discussions of the United States, and it will change the way we think about American political and social behavior. -- Seymour Martin Lipset, Stanford UniversitySamuel Huntington is not only a preeminent scholar of modern governing institutions and their underlying ideas, democratic and otherwise; he has also often served as adviser to policymakers in several nations, including our own. His book should be read by everyone who is concerned with the capacity of our institutions to meet the fearful challenges they now face. -- Austin Ranney, American Enterprise InstituteTable of Contents1. The Disharmonic Polity "Our Practice of Your Principles" The One, the Two, and the Many: Structural Paradigms of American Politics Ideals versus Institutions 2. The American Creed and National Identity Political Thought in America Sources, Scope, and Stability of the Creed Political Ideas and National Identity 3. The Gap: The American Creed versus Political Authority Consensus and Instability The Gap in Comparative Perspective 4. Coping with the Gap The American Case of Cognitive Dissonance Patterns of Response The Gap and American Political Style 5. The Politics of Creedal Passion Creedal Passion Periods in American History The Climate of Creedal Passion Creedal Conflict: The Movement and the Establishment Reform and its Limits Political Earthquakes and Realignment 6. The Sources of Creedal Passion Why Creedal Passion Periods? General Sources: Comparable Phenomena in Other Societies Specific Sources: The Timing of Creedal Passion Periods Original Sources: The Roots of It All in the English Revolution The Protestantism of American Politics 7. The S&S Years, 1960-1975 From the Fifties to the Seventies: The Changing Pattern of Response Complacency and the End(?) of Ideology Interlude of Hypocrisy, Surge of Moralism The Mobilization of Protest The Dynamics of Exposure The Legacies Reform and the IvI Gap Institutional Realignment The Misuse and Erosion of Authority Cynicism and the Restoration of Authority 8. The Viability of American Ideals and Institutions The Future of the Gap History versus Progress? America versus the World? Power and Liberty: The Myth of American Repression The Promise of Disappointment Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThis book offers a radical new understanding of the context-dependent nature of female sexuality. Diamond argues that for some women, love and desire are not rigidly heterosexual or homosexual but fluid, changing as women move through the stages of life, various social groups, and, most important, different love relationships.Trade ReviewSexual Fluidity is the most important book on sexuality in many years. The scholarship is impeccable and the writing lucid. Exploring issues that have political, scientific, and personal ramifications, Diamond answers the tough questions: Do women have a sexual orientation? Do women choose their sexuality? Can a heterosexual woman fall in love with a woman? Can a lesbian fall in love with a man? Are women really sexually changeable? Are men? Diamond challenges both traditionalists and radicals—if you want to understand female sexuality, listen to what women say. -- Ritch C. Savin-Williams, author of The New Gay TeenagerThe book raises fundamental questions about women's sexuality. Lisa Diamond's comprehensive analysis of the scientific evidence illuminates the interconnections of love, sex and sexual identity in women's lives. Her analysis of sexual fluidity is both original and compelling. -- Anne Peplau, University of California, Los AngelesFascinating and certain to be controversial… Diamond says traditional labels for sexual desire are inadequate; for some women even 'bisexual' does not truly express the protean nature of their sexuality. Diamond details in accessible and nuanced language her own study of 100 young women (by her own admission not 'fully representative') over a period of 10 years. She says that she is 'calling for an expanded understanding of same-sex sexuality' that could radically affect both LGBT activists who hold that sexual identity is fixed and antigay groups who believe sexuality is chosen. * Publishers Weekly *Freud once asked: 'What do women want?' He did not really know. In this beautiful and scholarly book, Diamond has attempted to answer his question. In her study of 100 young women growing up in the postmodern era, she has found that what women want is far more complex than was previously thought and cannot easily be answered with a simple theory. This book will be read by students and scholars across the social and biological sciences. It is a gift to be cherished. -- Ken Zucker, University of TorontoCaptivating, nuanced, and rigorous… Diamond's work is vital precisely because sexual fluidity is not a new concept—Freud called his version 'polymorphous perversity'—but merely one that is typically dismissed. Nor is it news to women, particularly not to a generation for whom a nonspecific 'queer' affiliation, or no affiliation at all, is increasingly common. What is so important is not that this fluidity exists, but that someone has finally paid it systematic attention and found that it is in fact not the exception, but may well be the rule. -- Hanne Blank * Ms. *Traditionally, female sexuality has been presumed to work in the same way and by the same rules as male sexual identity, but Diamond argues that for women, sexual identity isn't fixed in the same categories. -- Temma Ehrenfeld * Psychologies *Setting out to prove the theory that, for some women, love is truly blind where gender is concerned, Diamond presents her evidence in a fascinating, anecdotal fashion—by tracking over the span of a decade the relationships of nearly 100 women who at one point or another had experienced 'same-sex attractions.' The women move from men to women and back again (or vice-versa), their sexual identity as changeable as their desires. Additionally, she delves into the brain science behind lust, love and infatuation, revealing that what draws women toward a particular partner is as much a function of biology as it is anything else. To her credit, Diamond avoids scripting her arguments in obtuse academese. With her compassionate, understated approach, she has stepped up the business of gender research. -- Lily Burana * Washington Post Book World *A fascinating read. * Times Higher Education *The book has many riveting accounts by women of their own experiences of sexual attraction and distraction… Diamond has written a fascinating book. -- Adam Phillips * London Review of Books *[Diamond] did something unique, following 100 female subjects with same-sex attractions for 10 years… Her book is worth reading. -- Sheela Lambert * Examiner.com *Diamond's study has the potential to lead to more acceptance of variety within sexual orientation. With young women leading the way, everyone will become less fearful of diverse sexual experiences. Sexual Fluidity can take us beyond the divisive language of 'phases' and 'denial' as we speak the truth of our lives to each other. -- Ellyn Ruthstrom * Women's Review of Books *Table of Contents1. Will the Real Lesbians Please Stand Up? 2. Gender Differences in Same-Sex Sexuality 3. Sexual Fluidity in Action 4. Nonexclusive Attractions and Behaviors 5. Change in Sexual Attractions 6. Attractions to "the Person, Not the Gender" 7. How Does Fluidity Work? 8. Implications of Female Sexual Fluidity References Notes Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisFrom antiquity to the Middle Ages, the bear’s centrality in cults and mythologies left traces in European languages, literatures, and legends. Michel Pastoureau considers how this once venerated creature was deposed by Christianity and continued to sink lower in the symbolic bestiary before rising again in Pyrrhic triumph as the teddy bear.Trade ReviewPastoureau brings erudition and expertise to his subject as he traces how the bear was a venerated figure in pagan Europe, but dethroned as king of beasts by Christianity. He makes an important contribution by providing a long history of the bear, an animal whose symbolic importance is unknown by many. Readers will be treated to an elegant review of medieval history and theology, as well as informed discussions about the art on cave walls, the boundary between humans and animals in Greek myth, the philosophical foundations of natural history from Aristotle to Buffon, and a wealth of information about popular culture during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. -- Matthew Senior, Oberlin CollegeThe scholarship displayed in this groundbreaking study is the best kind: deep, broad, imaginative. Medievalist Pastoureau takes on the history of the bear, that exceptional animal once said to most resemble man. Once king of the beasts in the West, at times even god, the bear was hunted down in Europe from the time of Charlemagne (d. 814) and its image systematically degraded. By the end of the 12th century, the bear's place as king of the beasts had been usurped by the lion. Henceforth the bear was largely a figure of ridicule. How did this happen? What purposes did the change serve? Pastoureau uses evidence from history, textual analysis, heraldry, anthropology, and iconography to produce an eclectic study that not only reads like a dream but opens avenues for future research. -- David Keymer * Library Journal *William Kotzwinkle (The Bear Went Over the Mountain) and Bella Pollen (The Summer of the Bear) have already demonstrated the appeal of ursine protagonists. But their treatment of our bruinish cousins is nowhere near as encyclopedic as that of Michel Pastoureau, who starts his survey in prehistory and rambles down to the present, tracing the biology, allure, and legends of bears right up to the cuddly teddy bear that represents a hearthside version of the former king of beasts. * Barnes & Noble Review *The animal that dominated the forests of prehistoric and early medieval Europe--and the collective unconscious of Europeans--was, naturally, the largest and strongest creature there, the brown bear...Uncannily human-like in its diet, supposed sexual tastes and ability to stand upright, the bear was seen as an intermediary creature dwelling between the human and animal worlds. It appears in countless myths: Paris, who stole away Helen and sparked the Trojan War, was raised by a she-bear whose milk gave him a taste for abduction. And it has always provided personal names in various European languages, from the epic hero Beowulf (meaning bee-wolf, meaning honey-loving bear) to tennis ace Bjorn (Bear) Borg. What drove Europe's king of beasts from his throne and demoted him to the pitiful dancing entertainer of the late Middle Ages is the core of Pastoureau's engrossing book. And the short answer is Christianity. -- Brian Bethune * Maclean's *The chief subject of Pastoureau's fascinating book...is not the prominent place bears once held in the human imagination but the manner in which they fell from that place. -- Christopher R. Beha * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThe fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 has become the commemorative symbol of the French Revolution. But this violent and random act was unrepresentative of the real work of the early revolution, which was taking place ten miles west of Paris, in Versailles. There, the nobles, clergy and commoners of France had just declared themselves a republic, toppling a rotten system of aristocratic privilege and altering the course of history forever. The Revolution was led not by angry mobs, but by the best and brightest of France's growing bourgeoisie: young, educated, ambitious. Their aim was not to destroy, but to build a better state. In just three months they drew up a Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was to become the archetype of all subsequent Declarations worldwide, and they instituted a system of locally elected administration for France which still survives today. They were determined to create an entirely new system of government, based on rights, equality and the rule of law. In the first three years of the Revolution they went a long way toward doing so. Then came Robespierre, the Terror and unspeakable acts of barbarism. In a clear, dispassionate and fast-moving narrative, Ian Davidson shows how and why the Revolutionaries, in just five years, spiralled from the best of the Enlightenment to tyranny and the Terror. The book reminds us that the Revolution was both an inspiration of the finest principles of a new democracy and an awful warning of what can happen when idealism goes wrong.Trade ReviewExemplary ... enough blood on the pages to make sure that we are kept enthralled * Prospect *Marvellous stuff and an indication of the perennially absorbing nature of the revolution. Davidson's book is a worthy addition to the canon. * Spectator *Terse, tightly written ... allows certain critical aspects of the Revolution to stand out in a way that doesn't usually happen. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *On page after page, there are jolts and surprises, reminders and revelations. ... Lively, engaging ... a compelling single-volume history for the general reader. Recommended. * Irish Examiner *Written with authority, clarity and journalistic immediacy * The Catholic Herald *Praise for Voltaire: A Life A compelling read ... an insightful and entertaining picture of the man * Guardian *Davidson is a fastidious debunker of myths and restorer of balance. He tells his story from beginning to end, one year after the next, with an elegant lucidity -- Sam Leith * Spectator *There is no shortage of biographies of Voltaire ... but this is one of the best of them. -- Andrew Hussey * Financial Times *Written in the crisp, incisive prose of a practised journalist... his research is impressive ... [a] refreshing book which isn't afraid, occasionally, to draw its own conclusions against the grain of what has been written before * Independent on Sunday *Splendidly readable ... This is an entertaining and enlightening account of why Voltaire still matters -- Bee Wilson * Sunday Times *Voltaire can be a rather daunting figure, but emerges in very human colours in this excellent biography, which makes splendid use of the philosopher's letters * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisMany beautiful illuminated manuscripts survive from the Middle Ages and can be seen in libraries and museums throughout Europe. But who were the skilled craftsmen who made these exquisite books? What precisely is parchment? How were medieval manuscripts designed and executed? What were the inks and pigments, and how were they applied? This book looks at the work of scribes, illuminators and book binders. Based principally on examples in the Bodleian Library, this lavishly illustrated account tells the story of manuscript production from the early Middle Ages through to the high Renaissance. Each stage of production is described in detail, from the preparation of the parchment, pens, paints and inks to the writing of the scripts and the final decoration and illumination of the manuscript. This book also explains the role of the stationer or bookshop, often to be found near cathedral and market squares, in the commissioning of manuscripts, and it cites examples of specific scribes and illuminators who can be identified through their work as professional lay artisans. Christopher de Hamel’s engaging text is accompanied by a glossary of key technical terms relating to manuscripts and illumination, providing an invaluable introduction for anyone interested in studying medieval manuscripts today.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE PAPER AND PARCHMENT CHAPTER TWO INK AND SCRIPT CHAPTER THREE ILLUMINATION AND BINDING GLOSSARY SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PICTURE CREDITS INDEX

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Book SynopsisThe Medici are famous as the rulers of Florence at the high point of the Renaissance. Their power derived from the family bank, and this book tells the fascinating, frequently bloody story of the family and the dramatic development and collapse of their bank (from Cosimo who took it over in 1419 to his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent who presided over its precipitous decline). The Medici faced two apparently insuperable problems: how did a banker deal with the fact that the Church regarded interest as a sin and had made it illegal? How in a small republic like Florence could he avoid having his wealth taken away by taxation? But the bank became indispensable to the Church. And the family completely subverted Florence's claims to being democratic. They ran the city. Medici Money explores a crucial moment in the passage from the Middle Ages to the Modern world, a moment when our own attitudes to money and morals were being formed.To read this book is to understand how much the Renaissance has to tell us about our own world. Medici Money is one of the launch titles in a new series, Atlas Books, edited by James Atlas. Atlas Books pairs fine writers with stories of the economic forces that have shaped the world, in a new genre - the business book as literature.Trade ReviewTim Parks proves a delightful guide to both the Florentine Renaissance and the family history of one of Europe's greatest dynasties. In Medici Money he wears his considerable learning with refreshing lightness, giving us a wise and witty meditation on money, art and power, Renaissance-style -- Ross King - author of Brunelleschi’s DomeParks brings a novelist's flair to his task and comes out as a hip and snappy narrator. * Independent on Sunday *A straightforward, readable, interesting and witty account of the rise and fall of one of the world's first banks ... A fasinating tale. * Glasgow Evening Times *Successfully captures the spirit of the age and brings alive the characters of Cosimo and Lorenzo, two men whose story remains as fascinating now as it was to their comtemporary friends and enemies. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *Tim Parks retells the story with a hugely readable breadth and insight. -- Mark Archer * Spectator *Straight-forward, readable, interesting and witty account of the rise and fall of one of the world's first banks ... A fascinating tale. * Birmingham Post *Highlights the excesses and successes of the Florentine Renaissance and charts the glittering ascendancy of one entrepreneurial family against the backdrop of a unique Italian bank. * Good Book Guide *Successfully captures the spirit of the age, and brings alive the characters of Cosimo and Lorenzo, two men whose story remains as fascinating now as it was to their contemporary friends and enemies. * Financial Times *Parks, who is sceptical about bankers, writes about them with pace, wit and some passion. * Economist *A book which is as lively as it is learned. * Scotsman *Witty and penetrating ... Parks deftly unravels these complexities, illustrating both their benefits and the pitfalls with illuminating detail ... Tim Parks recounts the Medicis' story with an infectious enthusiasm. His own conjuring trick is to tell this grand saga, with all its chicanery, in a clear and lucid style. * Sunday Telegraph *Lucky for Italy that Tim Parks decided to live there and write about his new home. His books instruct and entertain. His acute sense of people and history now comes to grand fruition in his tome on the Medici, a gift to anyone who has been dazzled by Florence. Splendid reading -- Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan SunAn erudite and profound examination of the Renaissance banking family. * BBC History Magazine *The fabulous banking boys...fascinating and intricate. * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe name of Giacomo Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt (1725-1798), in now synonymous with amorous exploits, and there are plenty of these, vividly narrated, in him memoirs. But Casanova was not just an energetic lover. In his time he was diplomat, business man, trainee priest, traveller, prisoner, magician, confidence trickster, gambler, professional entertainer and chalatan. He financed business projects, organised lotteries, wrote opera libretti and dabbled in high politics. Above all he was an autobiographer of enduring brilliance and subtlety who left behind him what is probably the most remarkable confession ever written. Casanova was a Venetian who explored to the full all the possibilities 18th century Venice offered by way of love and profit before being imprisoned, escaping from gaol, and fleeing from the city to begin travels which took him across Europe. In Moscow and London, Berlin and Constantinople, he met the famous men and women of the time - Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Louis XV, Rousseau - and recorded his encounters for the memoirs he wrote in retirement at the end of his life. These memoirs are by turns subtle, touching, thrilling, wonderfully comic and quite irresistible. Although the present edition includes one third of Casanova's enormous (though unfinished) book, it contains all his major adventures and all is greatest affairs of the heart. 'Casanova is unsurpassed as the recreator of the daily talking interests of 18th century Europe. he ranges from slut to patrician, from closet to cabinet, waterfront to palace.' - V S PRITCHETT

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Book SynopsisIn southeastern Morocco, around the oasis of Tafilalet, the Ait Khabbash people weave brightly colored carpets, embroider indigo head coverings, paint their faces with saffron, and wear ornate jewelry. Their extraordinarily detailed arts are rich in cultural symbolism; they are always breathtakingly beautiful—and they are typically made by women. Like other Amazigh (Berber) groups (but in contrast to the Arab societies of North Africa), the Ait Khabbash have entrusted their artistic responsibilities to women. Cynthia Becker spent years in Morocco living among these women and, through family connections and female fellowship, achieved unprecedented access to the artistic rituals of the Ait Khabbash. The result is more than a stunning examination of the arts themselves, it is also an illumination of women''s roles in Islamic North Africa and the many ways in which women negotiate complex social and religious issues.One of the reasons Amazigh women are artists is that the Table of Contents A Note on Transcription and Transliteration Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One. Ait Khabbash Textiles: Weaving Metaphors of Identity Chapter Two. The Art of Dressing the Body Chapter Three. Dance Performances: Negotiating Gender and Social Change Chapter Four. Women as Public Symbols of Identity: The Adornment of the Bride and Groom Chapter Five. Performing Amazigh Gender Roles: Wedding Ceremonies Chapter Six. Oh, My Sudanese Mother: The Legacy of Slavery in Ait Khabbash Art Chapter Seven. Contemporary Amazigh Arts: Giving Material Form to Amazigh Consciousness Appendix 1. Selected Songs from Ait Khabbash Weddings Notes References Index

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Book Synopsis'Through thick and thin, never separate. Stick together, guard each other, and live for one another.' As Hitler's war intensified, the Ovitz family would have good reason to stand by their mother's mantra. Descending from the cattle train into the death camp of Auschwitz, all twelve emerged in 1945 as survivors - the largest family to survive intact. What saved them? Ironically, the fact that they were sought out by the 'Angel of Death' himself - Dr Joseph Mengele. For seven of the Ovitzes were dwarfs - and not just any dwarfs, but a beloved and highly successful vaudeville act known as the Lilliput Troupe. Together, they were the only all-dwarf ensemble with a full show of their own in the history of entertainment. The Ovitzes intrigued Mengele, and amongst the thousands on whom he performed his loathsome experiments, they became his prize 'patients': 'You're something special, not like the rest of them.' It was this disturbing affection that saved their lives. After being plunged into the darkest moments in modern history, this remarkable troupe emerged with spirits undimmed, and went on to light up Europe and Israel, which offered them a new home, with their unique performances. Giants reveals their moving and inspirational story.Trade Review"An astonishing story: both wretchedly sad and oddly uplifting - Giants can scarcely fail to stay with you." Mail on Sunday '[An] amazing story sympathetically and eloquently told ... The authors show great respect and affection for the Ovitzes ... Theirs was a life worth living and a story very worth telling.' New York Review of Books "Their remarkable story, extensively researched, is so beautifully and sympathetically written that it fully deserves to appeal far beyond its core audience." BBC History Magazine

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