Political oppression and persecution Books
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Migration and Nationalism: Theoretical and
Book SynopsiscThis cutting-edge book presents a unique focus on nationalism and migration, exploring the relationship between these two concepts in countries throughout the world. Combining theoretical and empirical discussions from a range of disciplinary perspectives, the book questions the rise of nationalism in the 21st century instead of simply assuming its ascendancy.Featuring contributions from leading scholars in the field, this book not only conceptualises ethno-nationalism, but also details its effects. From Islamophobia and racism in Europe and North America, to xenophobia in China and South Africa, the book critically examines the many forms of discursive and material exclusions that exist across the globe. Rejecting a simple framework that links the supposed rise of ethno-nationalism to the limits of neoliberalism, it instead argues that nationalism and neoliberalism may in fact be combined. It also considers how this leads to discourses, policies and practices of differential inclusion and exclusion, and vice versa.International and multidisciplinary in scope, Migration and Nationalism will be a beneficial read for academics, researchers and students in politics and public policy, geography, sociology and social policy, urban and regional studies, and development studies. It also will be of benefit to policymakers within these fields.Trade Review‘A particularly impressive contribution by this book is that not only does it greatly enhance understanding of the relationship between immigration and nationalism, but by doing so, it provides important insights into the contemporary condition of societies and politics in Europe and North America and the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion that they maintain and sustain.’ -- Andrew Geddes, European University Institute, Italy‘We cannot separate immigration from nationalism. This book offers fresh insights into this understudied relationship. It helps us understand how populism, right-wing politics, and neoliberalism affect migration policies. To me it shows why the dream of free movement for all seems so distant today.’ -- Harald Bauder, Toronto Metropolitan University, CanadaTable of ContentsContents: 1 Introduction: migration and nationalism 1 Michael Samers and Jens Rydgren PART I THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS 2 Immigration and nationalism in the neoliberal order 31 Christian Joppke 3 In the name of dignity and respect: international migration and the ethnopopulist backlash 51 Hans-Georg Betz PART II COUNTRY-SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS 4 Italy between and beyond geographical and racial divides 70 Marco Antonsich 5 Post-Soviet Russia: anti-immigrant sentiment and discourses of national identity 88 Inna Leykin and Anastasia Gorodzeisky 6 The politics of ethnic nationalism, nostalgia and anti-immigrant framing: the trajectory of the Sweden Democrats 1989–2022 114 Gabriella Elgenius and Jens Rydgren 7 Immigration and nationalism in Japan 134 Naoto Higuchi 8 The nation and its margins: the cultural politics of multiracialism and migration in Singapore 154 Brenda S.A. Yeoh and Theodora Lam 9 How sub-state nationalism and immigrant integration policies entwine over time: a spotlight on Flanders (Belgium) 172 Ilke Adam and Catherine Xhardez 10 Migration and right-wing mobilization in the Czech Republic 195 Lenka Bustikova and Petra Guasti
£99.75
Verso Books Police: A Field Guide
Book SynopsisThis book armed activists on the streets-as well as the many who have become concerned about police abuse-with a critical analysis and ultimately a redefinition of the very idea of policing. The book contends that when we talk about police and police reform, we speak the language of police legitimation through the art of euphemism. So state sexual assault become "body-cavity search," and ruthless beatings become "non-compliance deterrence."A Field Guide to the Police is a study of the indirect and taken-for granted language of policing, a language we're all forced to speak when we talk about law enforcement. In entries like "Police dog," "Stop and frisk," and "Rough ride," the authors expose the way "copspeak" suppresses the true meaning and history of policing. Like any other field guide, it reveals a world that is hidden in plain view. The book argues that a redefined language of policing might help chart a future free society.Now in an expanded and updated edition, including explanations of newsmaking new terms, like "dead names", "kettling", and "qualified immunity", as well as a new foreword by leading criminal justice advocate Craig GilmoreTrade Review“Seeing through police bluewashing at every turn, Correia and Wall have put together a comprehensive, rigorous and highly useful guide to understanding ‘copspeak.’ Unpacking the structural violence and racism of the police, and their functional role in capitalism, as well as in the historical continuity of slavery, Police: A Field Guide is a resolutely practical guide to thinking of a world beyond the police. Of value to activists and theorists alike, this text is a careful analysis of core concepts in policing of use to everyone committed to ending racist state violence and the tyranny of cops everywhere.”—Nina Power, author of One-Dimensional Woman “Police: A Field Guide is a dictionary of liberation, an antidote to the ‘copspeak’ that’s everywhere, even in our own heads. By dissecting and analyzing a vocabulary of power that has become dangerously ubiquitous, this book can help us dispel and loosen its grip.”—Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age “One of the angriest and saddest indictments of American policing I have ever read. The exposure of ‘copspeak’ is masterly and the analysis of the relationships between law and order, racism and capitalism, are explained with surgical precision.”—Clive Bloom, author of Riot City: Protest and Rebellion in the Capital
£12.34
Verso Books The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of
Book SynopsisIn July 2010, Wikileaks published Cablegate, one of the biggest leaks in the history of the US military, including evidence for war crimes and torture. In the aftermath Julian Assange, the founder and spokesman of Wikileaks, found himself at the centre of a media storm, accused of hacking and later sexual assault. He spent the next seven years in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearful that he would be extradited to Sweden to face the accusations of assault and then sent to US. In 2019, Assange was handed over to the British police and, on the same day, the U.S. demanded his extradition. They threatened him with up to 175 years in prison for alleged espionage and computer fraud. At this point, Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, started his investigation into how the US and UK governments were working together to ensure a conviction. His findings are explosive, revealing that Assange has faced grave and systematic due process violations, judicial bias, collusion and manipulated evidence. He has been the victim of constant surveillance, defamation and threats. Melzer also gathered together consolidated medical evidence that proves that the prison has suffered prolonged psychological torture. Melzer's compelling investigation puts the UK state into the dock, showing how, through secrecy, impunity and, crucially, public indifference, unchecked power reveals a deeply undemocratic system. Furthermore, the Assange case sets a dangerous precedent: once telling the truth becomes a crime, censorship and tyranny will inevitably follow.Trade ReviewThis is a landmark book, the first by a senior international official to call out the criminality of Western governments, and their craven media echoes, in the persecution of Julian Assange. Mark the word, persecution, says Nils Melzer, as well as "our" responsibility for the ravages inflicted on an heroic man for telling forbidden truths and on democracy itself. -- John PilgerMelzer, a brave and honest man, tells the whole truth about the brutality and illegality of what is being done to Julian Assange. Read this book. -- Brian EnoThis is a harrowing account of a corruption of justice that crosses not only borders, but the United Nations itself. Melzer's work is an urgent corrective to a false history - and an act of public service. -- Edward SnowdenPolitically motivated and unjustified, the prosecution of Julian Assange by a mature democracy threatens and undermines press freedom, the rule of law, and the prohibition of torture. By painstakingly and rigorously documenting the facts, Nilz Melzer reveals the full disturbing account of how the human rights of Julian Assange have been violated over years. It's a story that must be told and from which we all must learn. -- Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General, Amnesty International, former UN Rapporteur on TortureA stunning account on how official secrecy, corruption and impunity suffocate the truth and poison the rule of law. The present-day prosecution of Julian Assange aims to complete what Richard Nixon tried and failed to do in the Pentagon Papers case fifty years ago: rescind the foundation of our republic, the First Amendment protection of freedom of the press. As Melzer argues compellingly, nothing less than our continued status as a democracy is at stake in the need to block Assange's extradition, drop the unconstitutional charges against him, or if necessary, win his acquittal. It is the legal scandal of the century. -- Daniel Ellsberg, whistleblower, the Pentagon PapersIt is as if all the Anglo-American frustrations over the disasters of Iraq, Trump and a teetering Washington political system have become concentrated in official hatred of one man: Julian Assange. This dissident faces a 175 year sentence but the soldiers who shot dead innocent Iraqi civilians- the war crime he exposed and is facing extradition for- are escaping even an investigation. The ferocious cruelty summoned for pursuit of Assange is anatomised here by Nils Melzer who implies a question that should chill us: Assange now, who next? -- Bob Carr, former Australian foreign minister and longest serving Premier of New South WalesA powerful investigation into the heart of darkness of our legal and political systems. Once you read this breath-taking book by Nils Melzer, you will know why Julian Assange is being tortured so terribly and why he should be celebrated as a true hero of the 21st century -- Srecko Horvat, author of Poetry From the FutureThe most compelling case yet made for Assange's defence and a swingeing indictment of politicians, security services and judicial authorities ... [Melzer] marshal[s] a wealth of detail and legal evidence to make his case. -- Mary Dejevsky * Independent *The most methodical and detailed recounting of the long persecution by the United States and the British government of Assange -- Chris Hedges * New Age *Enlightening ... The material Melzer has gathered over his two-year investigation is riveting, and his motivation is clear. -- Andrew Hankinson * Spectator *A remarkable book by a remarkable man ... The research, knowledge and considered thought Melzer has given to Assange's case is powerful and unanswerable. * Morning Star *Nils Melzer has given us an invaluable record of the whole judicial witch-hunt. His evolution from sceptic to truth-seeker is particularly admirable. -- Peter Whittaker * New Internationalist *
£19.00
Transworld Publishers Ltd First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Soon to be a major film, co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie PittUntil the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and being cheeky to her parents.When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Loung's family fled their home and were eventually forced to disperse to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier while her brothers and sisters were sent to labour camps. The surviving siblings were only finally reunited after the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and started to destroy the Khmer Rouge.Bolstered by the bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and the gentle kindness of her sister, Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.First They Killed My Father is an unforgettable book told through the voice of the young and fearless Loung. It is a shocking and tragic tale of a girl who was determined to survive despite the odds.
£11.39
Vintage Publishing The Gulag Archipelago
Book SynopsisThe Gulag Archipelago is Solzhenitsyn's masterwork, a vast canvas of camps, prisons, transit centres and secret police, of informers and spies and interrogators and also of heroism, a Stalinist anti-world at the heart of the Soviet Union where the key to survival lay not in hope but in despair.The work is based on the testimony of some two hundred survivors, and on the recollection of Solzhenitsyn's own eleven years in labour camps and exile. It is both a thoroughly researched document and a feat of literary and imaginative power. This edition has been abridged into one volume at the author's wish and with his full co-operation.Trade ReviewTo live now and not to know this work is to be a kind of historical fool missing a crucial part of the consciousness of the age * Guardian *The ferocious testimony of a man of genius * London Magazine *What gives the book its value is the sound it gives out; the harsh roar give out by a wise and experienced animal as a warning that the herd is in danger * Sunday Telegraph *He is one of the towering figures of the age as a writer, as moralist, as hero... in The Gulag Archipelago he has acheived the impossible * Observer *It is impossible to name a book that had a greater effect on the political and moral consciousness of the late twentieth century * New Yorker *
£16.14
Liverpool University Press Skeletons in the Closet, Skeletons in the Ground:
Book SynopsisThis book examines the human consequences (individual, social, cultural, and economic) of civil war and political repression in Castilleja del Campo, a town in southern Spain with barely more than 600 inhabitants today. The narrow geographical focus allows for a coherent chronological narrative with relevance to current public issues such as the unequal distribution of wealth, political polarisation, the violation of human rights, government surveillance of civilian populations, and extra-legal detentions, torture and executions. The declarations of eyewitnesses are complemented by personal documents, contemporary newspaper accounts, and documents from the town's municipal archive and other archives in the province of Seville. The work presents the events from the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931 onward from multiple points of view and analyses the interactions among a gallery of characters: Republican and pro-Franco mayors and councilmen; union leaders and affiliates; members of the fascist-inspired Spanish Falange; the schoolteacher; the priest; widows and orphans of the men who were shot; administrators and managers of the estates of the nobles; shaved women paraded through the streets; combatants; day labourers; civil guards; black marketeers; prisoners. Placing these characters and events in their provincial, regional, and national context, the town becomes a microcosm that reflects the experience of Spain during those traumatic years. Published in association with the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies.Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction; A Review of the literature; The Model; Simulating the Entry of Multinationals without Profit Repatriation; Simulating the Entry of Multinationals with Profit Repatriation; Conclusions; Index.
£30.00
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Lessons on Leadership by Terror: Finding Shaka
Book SynopsisWhat makes despotic leaders tick? How do they become despots? On a lesser (but far more common) scale: why are some people ruthlessly abrasive in the workplace? Why do some business leaders appear to lose their sense of humanity? How and why do they create a culture of fear, uncertainty and doubt in their companies?Lessons on Leadership by Terror attempts to discover what happens to people when they acquire power, and whether the abuse of power is inevitable. Manfred Kets de Vries examines the life of the nineteenth-century Zulu king Shaka Zulu in order to help us understand the psychology of power and terror. During his short reign, Shaka Zulu established one of the most successful regimes based on terror that has ever existed, from which the traits of despotic leaders are illustrated. Shaka's life history is a study in the psychology of terror, and he can be a proxy for the behavior of any despot, be it from antiquity or modern times. From his leadership behavior fifteen cautionary lessons are derived, offering valuable principles for contemporary leaders.The book also explores the characteristics of totalitarian states, and discusses what can be done to prevent despotic leaders from coming to the fore. Clear parallels are drawn between Shaka's behavior and that of other, more contemporary, leaders including Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein.This fascinating and highly original book will be of enormous interest to a broad audience - from students and academics focusing on leadership, political science, and political psychology, to practitioners such as managers, executives, consultants, and leadership coaches.Trade Review'A serious, but readable, study that should be widely read by all concerned with leadership issues.' -- International Journal of Strategic Management'A serious but readable study that should be widely read by all concerned with leadership issues.' -- Long Range Planning'This book is the most up-to-date available investigation of the understanding of tyranny and terror that psychologists, psychoanalysts and experts on group and institutional behaviour can provide. Manfred Kets de Vries has produced a masterpiece. He draws on a wealth of published research in the field and relates it in an academically excellent, yet eminently readable, way to the premier problem of the beginning of the 21st century. I strongly recommend it.' -- Anton Obholzer, formerly Tavistock Centre London, Psychoanalyst and Organizational Consultant'From constructive narcissism to reactive narcissism, we are but one step away from megalomania and terror. Professor Kets de Vries traces the origin of leadership by terror to early childhood in this case study of Shaka Zulu. A gruesome story warns us that terror may be inherent in the human condition.' -- Abraham Zaleznik, Harvard Business School, USTable of ContentsContents: Preface Introduction Part I: The Historical Context 1. A School for Tyranny: Learning from Hardship, Betrayal and Humiliation 2. The Making of a Military State: Honing the Assegai 3. Ruling by Fear: Bringing Enemies and Allies Alike to Submission Part II: The Question of Character 4. The Inner Theatre of the King: Acting Out Personal Concerns on a Public Stage 5. Monte Cristo in Africa: Seeking Revenge for Past Wrongs 6. The Nature of Relationships: Being Unable to Establish Real Intimacy 7. Paranoia – The Disease of Kings: Exercising Caution Beyond the Bounds of Danger 8. The Terrorist Mind: Protecting the Self by Victimizing Others Part III: Leadership by Terror 9. Following the Leader: Colluding in Cruelty 10. Lessons in Leadership: Teaching by Example and Omission Part IV: Deconstructing Totalitarianism 11. A Throne of Blood: Deploying the Tools of Tyranny 12. Dancing with Vampires: Preventing Tyranny through Effective Governance Bibliography Index
£28.45
Vintage Publishing Under Two Dictators: Prisoner of Stalin and
Book SynopsisThis book is a unique account by a survivor of both the Soviet and Nazi concentration camps: its author, Margarete Buber-Neumann, was a loyal member of the German Communist party. From 1935 she and her second husband, Heinz Neumann, were political refugees in Moscow. In April 1937 Neumann was arrested by the secret police, and executed by the end of the year. She herself was arrested in 1938. In Under Two Dictators Buber-Neumann describes the two years of suffering she endured in the Soviet prisons and in the huge Central-Asian concentration and slave labour camp of Karaganda; her extradition to the Gestapo in 1940 at the time of the Stalin-Hitler Friendship Pact; and her five years of suffering in the Nazi concentration and death camp for women, Ravensbrück. Her story displays extraordinary powers of observation and of memory as she describes her own fate, as well as those of hundreds of fellow prisoners. She explores the behaviour of the guards, supervisors, police and secret police and compares and contrasts Stalin and Hitler's methods of dictatorship and terror. First published in Swedish, German and English and subsequently translated and published in a further nine languages, Under Two Dictators is harrowing in its depiction of life under the rule of two of the most brutal regimes the western world has ever seen but also an inspiring story of survival, of ideology and of strength and a clarion call for the protection of democracy.Trade ReviewMargarete Buber-Neumann's memoir, Under Two Dictators, is one of the great classics of the totalitarian age, but with a unique perspective, since she suffered as a prisoner of both Stalin and then Hitler. Moving, powerful and clear-sighted, it is an unforgettable book by a very courageous woman -- Antony BeevorAn extraordinary testament. Written in crisp, clear prose, without self-pity, it makes for an electrifying read * Daily Express *A dispassionate, even-handed account of totalitarian cruelty * Evening Standard *She describes clearly the paranoia of Russia during the 1930s and the brutality of the gulags. Her narrative of the last years of second world war in the German camps is horribly moving, in particular her portrayal of the women worked or gassed to death * Financial Times *A welcome memoir that still shocks. From this epic document comes a clear picture of violent, but conflicting, prison societies * Independent *
£17.09
Granta Books Cruel Britannia: A Secret History of Torture
Book SynopsisThe official line is clear: the UK does not 'participate in, solicit, encourage or condone' torture. And yet, the evidence is irrefutable: when faced with potential threats to our national security, the gloves always come off. Drawing on previously unseen official documents, and the accounts of witnesses, victims and experts, prize-winning investigative journalist Ian Cobain looks beyond the cover-ups and the equivocations, to get to the truth. From WWII to the War on Terror, via Kenya and Northern Ireland, Cruel Britannia shows how the British have repeatedly and systematically resorted to torture, bending the law where they can, and issuing categorical denials all the while. What emerges is a picture of Britain that challenges our complacency and exposes the lie behind our reputation for fair play.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Roma
Book SynopsisMadeline Potter was born in Romania in 1989 and grew up Romani in nineties post-Communist Romania. She now lives in Scotland and is a scholar of nineteenth-century literature at the University of Edinburgh, having earned her PhD from the University of York in 2020. Her academic monograph, THEOLOGICAL MONSTERS, will be published in 2024. THE ROMA: A TRAVELLING HISTORY is her first trade book.
£18.70
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Inside the Soviet Writers' Union
Book SynopsisThe USSR's Writer's Union, a form of cultural and political organization unknown in the West, has ruled every aspect of Russian writers' private and professional lives from the time of Stalin to the present day. This book shows how the union has operated over the last five decades.Table of ContentsOrganising Utopia; whip and gingerbread; party guidance; Soviet Parnassus; crimes and punishments; purity and profit; the threat of glasnost; the promise of perestroika. Appendix: facts and figures.
£123.50
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd The Rules of Game: Detention, Deportation,
Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the suicide bombings on London's transport infrastructure in July 2005, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair said that 'the rules of the game have changed'. He referred to how his government planned to respond to the attacks, but few people at the time anticipated that counter-terrorism would become synonymous with circumventing time-honoured concepts such as the rule of law. It is associated now with words such as profiling, incommunicado detention, rendition and torture."Rules of the Game" investigates global counter terrorism through the perspective of those affected by such measures. Asim Qureshi's indefatigable research took him to East Africa, Pakistan, Sudan, the USA, Bosnia and Canada to record the testimonies of the victims of these detention policies. He analyses the effects of global counter-terrorism not as individual policies or pieces of legislation, but rather as parts of a larger phenomenon that has uniformly changed the way governments view justice and eroded fundamental norms in pursuit of often phantom terrorists. Among the issues he discusses are profiling of Muslims by security services and concurrent mass arrests; the use of detention without charge, control orders and incommunicado detention; rendition; domestic detention policies in North America; and how the establishment of Guantanamo Bay has affected global perceptions of justice and imprisonment.Trade Review'When we arrived after the plane journey, they untied my blindfold. I found there were womenand children on one side and men on the other side of the plane. They were saying, "they are taking us to Mogadishu". The Kenyans who bought me there were still here. I was crying and screaming and telling them to let me go as I had my passport and that I was from Dubai and they should send me back. One man tried me to keep me quiet by saying, "you are coming with us." ...In total there were 22 women and children. Apart from me and another lady, everyone else was 3-8months pregnant.'-statement by Kamilya Tuweil to Cageprisoners, Dubai, 2007
£18.99
Oneworld Publications Olya's Story: A Survivor's Personal and Dramatic Account of the Persecution of Baha'is in Revolutionary Iran
It was a time of house burnings, mob violence, kidnapping, mass imprisonment, torture, endless trials, summary executions and secret burials. This was Iran in the early 1980s, and everyday reality for the Baha'is, Iran's largest religious minority. Headlines across America screamed out the story, Congress passed motions, President Reagan appealed to Iran. This detailed, eye-witness account of the persecution of Iran's largest religious minority in the 1980s is the story of one woman's experiences at the hands of the Iranian Revolutionaries. Amid the escalating pogrom, Olya Roohizadegan witnessed friends, neighbours and relatives being imprisoned, tortured and executed. For months she visited the prisoners, comforted their relatives, found clothes and shelter for the homeless, and smuggled news and photographs out of Iran to the outside world. And then it was her turn. The book culminates in her dramatic escape from the hangman's rope in a hazardous overland journey to Pakistan and the West.
£10.44
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Liberationist Christianity in Argentina
Book SynopsisHow did liberationist Christianity develop in Argentina between the 1930s and early 1970s? And how did it respond to state terrorism during the Dirty War? Understanding the movement to be dynamic and highly diverse, this book reveals that ecclesial and political conflicts, especially over Peronism and celibacy, were at the heart of the construction of a liberationist Christian identity, which simultaneously internalised deep tensions over its relationship to the Catholic Church. It first situates the rise of a revolutionary Christian impulse in Argentina within changes in society, in Catholicism and Protestantism and in Marxism in the 1930s, before analysing how the phenomenon coalesced in the late sixties into a coherent social movement. Finally, the book examines the responses of liberationist Christians to the intense period of repression under the presidency of Isabel Perón and the rule of the military junta between 1974 and 1983. By exploring these distinct responses and uncovering the heterogeneity of liberationist Christianity, the book offers a fresh analysis of a movement that occupies a major role in the popular memory of the period of state terror, and provides a corrective to narratives that depict the movement as monolithic or as a passive victim of the dictatorship.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Towards a Liberationist Christianity 2. The Movement of Priests for the Third World 3. From Religious Conflict to Political Repression 4. Identity and Divergences 5. De-politicisation and Reconciliation 6. Revolutionary Intransigence and Clandestinity 7. The Option for Human Rights Conclusion Bibliography
£71.25
Carnegie Publishing Ltd Casualties of Peterloo
Book SynopsisOn a perfect summer’s day in August – as a faint breeze cooled the heat of the noonday sun and gently lifted the flags to display their mottoes and emblems – a huge crowd, mainly of working people, gathered on St Peter’s Field in Manchester to discuss the universal right to vote that we now all take for granted. Conspicuously present at the meeting were women, the breeze dishevelling their long hair as they enthusiastically doffed their hats to cheer. Suddenly, before the proceedings could begin, the peaceful crowd was savagely dispersed, the work of charging cavalrymen wielding recently sharpened sabres, backed up by the truncheons of the constabulary and the bayonets of the infantry. When the screams had subsided and the dust had settled on the blood-stained ground, the true horror of the attack started to become clear. Over 650 were injured and more than 17 died, many women and children among them Drawing on eight surviving casualty lists, full of information about the victims and their attackers, Professor Michael Bush gives us the first truly objective assessment of the day’s events. He shows that this was no mere act of dispersal. It was an act of terror and humiliation worthy of the epithet `massacre’, and unequalled in the history of Britain.Table of ContentsTables and maps vi Preface vii Abbreviations xv 1. Analysis of casualty 1 16 August 1819 1 The surviving casualty lists 4 A true mirror of the crowd at Peterloo? 13 Residence of casualties 17 Occupation of casualties 24 Casualties of Irish extraction 28 The judgment on Peterloo 29 Treatment of the women 30 Treatment of the men 33 Treatment of youth and age 35 Motives for attack 37 A massacre? 41 The perpetrators 50 Payment of compensation 55 Notes to Chapter I 57 II. The Peterloo casualty lists 63 Index 161
£19.00
Vintage Publishing Fire Under The Snow: Testimony of a Tibetan
Book SynopsisIn 1992 the Venerable Palden Gyatso was released after thirty-three years of imprisonment by Chinese forces in Tibet. He fled across the Himalayas to India, smuggling with him the instruments of his torture. This powerful text is the story of his life and irrefutable testimony to the appalling suffering of the Tibetan nation at the hands of the Chinese.Trade ReviewIn writing this enduring memoir of extraordinary suffering, resistance and endurance, he has testified not only to the pain of countless individuals but to the devastation of a nation -- Judith Shapiro * New York Times *Every household in Britain should have a copy of Fire Under the Snow -- Patrick French * Sunday Times *This is a book with glory and filth, innocence and murder, wisdom and madness, and at this moment the filth, murder and madness are taking over -- Bernard Levin * The Times *
£14.39
University of KwaZulu-Natal Press Real and imagined readers: Censorship, publishing and reading under apartheid
Book SynopsisReal and Imagined Readers looks at an important period in South African literary history, marked by apartheid censorship and the extensive banning of intellectual and creative voices. Returning to the archive, this book offers a reader-centric view of the successive censorship laws, and the consequences of publication control on the world of books. Books and print culture created intersectional spaces of solidarity where ideas and knowledge were contested, mediated and translated into the socio-political domain. By focusing on these marginalised readers, Matteau Matsha sheds light on the reading cultures and practices that developed in the shadow of apartheid censorship, creating alternative literary spaces. Real readers engaged in an elusive dialogue with the censors’ imagined readers, and definitions of literature and readerships emerged from this unusual connection, leading to the formation of literary conventions that inform reading politics to this day. By understanding reading as a complex and dynamic activity, this book stresses the importance of appreciating books in relation to the social context in which they are written and, most importantly, read.Trade Review“This is a fascinating account of the dynamics in the publishing industry of that time. It is a salutary reminder of what has gone before and what should not be lost in the muddle of the turmoil in the political sphere today.” — Christine Stilwell, emeritus professor, UKZN and former acting director of the Centre for African Literary Studies in Pietermaritzburg
£21.21
Encounter Books,USA Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag
Book Synopsis"Against All Hope" is Armando Valladares' account of over twenty years in Fidel Castro's tropical gulag as a result of his philosophical and religious opposition to communism. He gives a picture of the Cuba that he lived in and tells of how his deep Christian faith kept him from abandoning hope during the most evil treatment.
£12.99
Encounter Books,USA Red Star Over Hollywood: The Film Colonys Long
Book SynopsisUntil now, Hollywood's political history has been dominated by a steady stream of films and memoirs decrying the nightmare of the Red Scare. But Ronald and Allis Radosh show that the real drama of that era lay in the story of the movie stars, directors and especially screenwriters who joined the Communist Party or traveled in its orbit, and made the Party the focus of their political and social lives. The authors' most controversial discovery is that during the investigations of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Hollywood Reds themselves were beset by doubts and disagreements about their disloyalty to America, and their own treatment by the Communist Party. Abandoned by their old CP allies, they faced the Blacklist alone.
£18.04
NeWest Press Where We Buried the Sun: One Woman's Gulag Story
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£14.88
University of London The Pinochet Case
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£25.64
Persephone Books Ltd Into the Whirlwind
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£15.20
Intellect Books Life is War: Surviving Dictatorship in Communist
Book SynopsisThe book reveals how everyday people survived political persecution and oppression, and champions human resilience in the face of unrelenting political terror. In Life in War, the reader accompanies Shannon Woodcock, the author and historian, through intimate interviews with six Albanian men and women. We hear how everyday people survived shocking living conditions, political persecution and oppression dependent on ethnicity, political status, gender and sexuality. This is a thorough and vivid history of lived communism in Albania, charting political and ideological shifts through the experiences of those who survived. Life is War stands as remarkable and profound testimony to the resilience of humanity in the face of unrelenting political terror. An accurate and precise historical work, engagingly rendered from life narratives, it plunges the reader into the difficult emotional truths that are at the core of remembering Albania’s communist past. Life is War is a valuable contribution to studies of everyday life under communism and dictatorship. Eloquently written and expertly researched, it will appeal to readers interested in life histories, war, communism, European history and trauma studies.Trade ReviewLife is War gives voice to the experiences of Albanians – men, women, Romani, Vlachs among them – who survived Enver Hoxha’s notoriously repressive and increasingly isolated regime. The stories Shannon Woodcock chronicles enrich our limited knowledge of everyday life in Albania, and are a welcome addition to social histories and collected memory studies of the communist period in Eastern Europe. -- Gail Kligman, co-author of the award-winning Peasants Under Siege: The Collectivization of Romanian Agriculture, 1949-1962.This book is one of those rare works that combines that best of two worlds, academia and literature. The book is rigorously academic in its investigation, analysis as well as the insights it offers. At the same time it reads like a novel that you cannot put down. Through moving individual life stories Woodcock allows the reader to peer into and understand everyday life in a totalitarian system. Hence, these are not the stories of some isolated and random individuals. They are carefully chosen and detailed accounts of individual struggles, suffering and survivals that sum up the life of a whole nation under an oppressive communist regime. Its combination of academic rigour and literary skill sets this book apart from other works on communist Albania in particular and communism in general. As an academic work the book throws a unique and penetrative gaze on everyday life in communist Albania. One of its many academic merits here is that it dispels socially held notions in Albania about the strong rule of law under communism, as opposed to a lawless transition period, by disclosing how in everyday life Albanians experienced state power as highly arbitrary and unpredictable. As a literary work the book is unparalleled in its redemptive character as far as the victims of Albanian communism are concerned. Through the act of narration this book redeems the stories and lives of its characters, which would have otherwise perished in oblivion. One can hardly ask more of a book. -- Blendi Kajsiu, author of A Discourse Analysis of Corruption: Instituting Neoliberalism Against Corruption in Albania, 1998-2005, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Antioquia, ColombiaIn this engaging and moving book, Shannon Woodcock provides English-language audiences with a rare and often brutal portrait of the Communist rule of Enver Hoxha (1944-1985), through her careful recording of the memories of ordinary Albanians who lived through 'that time'. From poor peasants and workers, to people with ‘bad biographies’, the book’s subjects recount, with often excruciating detail, the dreams and lives that were crushed, and also the small but significant ways some of them defied the regime. As one woman puts it: these are stories 'that could make you laugh and cry at the same time'. In the best tradition of oral histories of dictatorship, Woodcock highlights the ruthlessness of state repression, the intimacies brought about not just by solidarity, but also by mistrust and enmity. But she also conveys the importance of jokes and humour as modes of survival, the power of which endures through memory in the form of what the author aptly calls 'retrospective rebellion'. As well as a study of violence, trauma and remembering, this is a powerful book about the intensity, intimacy and imagination of story telling. The tales of twenty-first century Albanians blends with astute historical commentary and accounts of contemporary life in one of Europe’s poorest nations. Woodcock’s detailed descriptions of her impressions during two years traveling through the country leave the reader with a vivid picture of the Albanian landscape – and also of the enduring legacy of dictatorship and hardship in the lives and struggles of people today. -- Carrie Hamilton, Reader in History, University of RoehamptonTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One Thoma Çaraoshi joins the party and sells the sheep Chapter Two Life is war Chapter Three Stories to make you laugh and cry - Mevlude Dema Chapter Four Just one moment can break a soul - Diana Keçi Chapter Five Invisible barriers - Liljana Majko Chapter Six Every historian has their past - Professor Riza Hasa Chapter Seven Day trip to Dragot Chapter Eight Children of the lost generations - Jeras Naço Conclusion Acknowledgments References and further reading Index
£64.76
Transworld Publishers Ltd First They Killed My Father: Film tie-in
Book SynopsisA major film, co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and being cheeky to her parents.When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Loung's family fled their home and were eventually forced to disperse to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier while her brothers and sisters were sent to labour camps. The surviving siblings were only finally reunited after the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and started to destroy the Khmer Rouge.Bolstered by the bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and the gentle kindness of her sister, Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.First They Killed My Father is an unforgettable book told through the voice of the young and fearless Loung. It is a shocking and tragic tale of a girl who was determined to survive despite the odds.Trade ReviewSo sharp with pain that when I read it, the words plunged into me like a knife -- Jon Swain * Sunday Times *There can be absolutely no doubt about the innate power of [Ung's] story, the passion with which she tells it or its enduring importance * Washington Post Book World *Ung's memoir should serve as a reminder that some history is best not left just to historians but to those left behind when the terror ends * Booklist *I was deeply affected by Loung’s book. It deepened my understanding of how children experience war and are affected by the emotional memory of it * Angelina Jolie Pitt *
£10.44
Vor Press Complete book reviews by George Orwell: Annotated
Book Synopsis
£28.50
Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd Reverse sweep: A story of South African cricket
Book SynopsisIn this searing and revealing account of cricket in post-apartheid South Africa, Ashwin Desai deftly tells a story of promise and despair, the story of a new pitch; a quick start full of hope, followed by a steady erosion of the commitments needed to fulfil the promise of a level-playing field. Economic and political compromises contributed to holding back the pulling aside of the covers of race and class privilege. Alongside this, the hurried hollowing out of the ‘politics of cricket’, aided by black administrators assuming the accoutrements of office, saw very little internal challenge to the lack of transformation. In a book where the love of cricket shines through, Ashwin Desai makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the farce that was post-apartheid cricket administration and the characters that played such a role in the charade.
£14.36
Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd A working life, cruel beyond belief
Book SynopsisIt is a great privilege to launch our series with A Working Life, Cruel Beyond Belief, by Alfred Temba Qabula, with a new Foreword by the original translator, BE Nzimande. Qabula was a central figure in the cultural movement among working people that emerged in and around Durban in the 1980s. It was an innovative attempt to draw on the oral poetry developed among the Nguni people over many centuries. Alfred Temba Qabula was a forklift driver in the Dunlop tyre factory in Durban at the time this book was developed. He used the art of telling stories to critique the exploitation of black workers and their oppression under apartheid.
£8.50
Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd Bonds of Justice: The Struggle for Oukasie
Book SynopsisThis fourth volume in the Hidden Voices Series is about Oukasie, a township in the Madibeng municipality. At various times in its history, its inhabitants have struggled against problems such as forced removals, terrible living conditions and corrupt officials. Bonds of Justice: The Struggle for Oukasie tells the story of a dedicated young group of people who were motivated by their belief that accountable and responsible leadership was needed to improve the situation of their community and its members. Before and after apartheid, they worked together to bring much-needed change to their community. This book tells the stories of those struggles in the 1980s and 1990s, and goes on to describe the problems faced by Oukasie and the wider community when the ethics of accountability were forgotten. The book has many lessons for South Africa today – the benefits that accountable governance can achieve, and what the costs are when a more selfish approach takes root.Trade Review“In this timely work, Kally Forrest expertly sheds light on apartheid South Africa’s last major forced urban removal. Her detailed research dissects the resistance to the removal, how the Oukasie community was torn apart by the machinations of the apartheid local and national state and the challenges of rebuilding, post-apartheid.” – Alan Morris, Professor of Sociology, University of Technology, Sydney “There was a remarkable leadership cadre that makes Oukasie and Brits distinctive, with a long history of organisation in a highly political struggle.” – Taffy Adler, former organiser for the National Automobile and Allied Workers Union
£7.99
Otago University Press See No Evil: New Zealand’s betrayal of the people
Book Synopsis
£23.40
Otago University Press Dead Letters: Censorship and subversion in New
Book Synopsis
£22.84
De Gruyter Death by a Thousand Cuts
Book Synopsis
£67.50
Bohlau Verlag Racism and Human Ecology: White Supremacy in
Book SynopsisEthnic categorization, territorial planning and "environmental protection measures" under the apartheid regime in South Africa
£59.39
Harrassowitz Kulturraum Lager: Politische Haft Und
Book Synopsis
£60.80
Dietrich Reimer Enge Zeit: Spuren Vertriebener Und Verfolgter Der
Book Synopsis
£79.41
Hirmer Verlag We Haven't Seen Each Other for So Long: Art of
Book SynopsisHeinz R. Böhme has been collecting artworks of the Lost Generation for more than twenty years. The main focus of his private collection in Salzburg is the recognition of more than eighty artists whose creative work was massively restricted under the National Socialist regime. Large-format illustrations, extensive biographies and a clearly structured list of the pictures in the collection, which currently contains over 350 works, document impressively the achievements of these artists, who were once ostracised and defamed as “degenerate”. Expanded by an interview with the collector, Heinz R. Böhme, and an art-historical and historical overview, the publication traces the fate and life’s work of an almost-forgotten generation of painters and thus permits the general public to rediscover these pioneering artistic positions. and tells a new, exciting history of the modern age Through her artworks.
£31.96
Schwabe Verlagsgruppe Hermann Hesse Und Theodor Heuss: Eine
Book Synopsis
£30.40
ibidem-Verlag, Jessica Haunschild u Christian Schon Journal of Soviet and Post–Soviet Politics and S
Book SynopsisThis special issue deals with the phenomenon of violence in the post-Soviet space. The central preoccupation is to examine both political and legal discourses and practices of internal and external violence, broadly conceived, in this space. Simultaneously the special issue aspires to situate these discourses and practices in the broader literature on political violence and ethnic and separatist conflict, and to examine these from political, legal, and security studies perspectives. The issue approaches the problem of violence in the post-Soviet space from three perspectives: The international-structural, inter-state, and domestic-political. The contributors focus on structural sources of violence: The relevance of the self-determination principle, the role of democratisation, and the relationship between violent behaviour inside and outside the state. They also analyse the role of the Russian Federation in generating, perpetuating, and mitigating political violence. Finally, they adopt a bottom-up approach, exploring how non-state actors contribute to political violence.
£26.09
ibidem The Press How Russia destroyed Media Freedom in
Book SynopsisThis book tells us about how Russia fought against journalists and the freedom of speech during the occupation of Crimea and thereafter.
£19.80
£22.33
Bloomsbury India Democratic Accommodations: Minorities in
Book Synopsis
£80.75
Simon & Schuster Publishers India Pvt Ltd The Hijab: Islam, Women and the Politics of
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Academic Studies Press Roy and Zhores Medvedev: Loyal Dissent in the
Book SynopsisRoy and Zhores Medvedev, two identical twins with a unique fate, not only lived through a whole century of history, from Stalin to Putin, they wrote and made history. Their research on Stalinism, the first to come out of the Soviet Union in the 1960s-1970s, turned them into famous dissidents overnight, but their criticism of the regime always remained loyal to Soviet power. The story of their lives provides a snapshot into the history of Soviet dissent, from psychiatric hospitalization to forced exile, and from KGB interrogations to collaboration with Western news correspondents. Yet their trajectory was also marred by controversy with fellow dissidents, and in the post-Soviet era active support of authoritarian rulers, including Vladimir Putin. Trade Review“Yet even when Martin gives the brothers full voice, it is to her credit that they don't always appear noble, ethical or as smart as they seem to think. Roy comes across as brave, conspiratorial, vainglorious and ethically compromised. Zhores was less political and ideological, but then again, he lived primarily abroad until his death in 2018. … For those who remember the brothers' publications from the 1970s and 1980s, Roy and Zhores Medvedev will provide much new detail and nuance. It may be tempting from afar to disparage their ‘loyal dissent’, but Barbara Martin reminds us that they carved out this position at great personal risk to their family and themselves. For those who have not followed their more recent story, however, the book will provide a sobering perspective on the value of a loyal Russian opposition.”— Ethan Pollock, Times Literary Supplement“Roy and Zhores Medvedev are amongst the most fascinating and important figures in the history of Soviet dissent, but much about them has remained unknown or poorly understood until now. Barbara Martin’s account offers a meticulously researched and richly detailed history of the brothers’ parallel, but very different, lives in the Soviet Union, Western Europe, and the USA. Drawing on a huge amount of new archival and interview material, Martin traces their lives and activities across many fields, including history, science, and political activism, and through the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. The first joint biography in English, this landmark study is likely to remain the standard work for many years to come. More than just a biography, though, this new study also casts new light on the diverse practices and politics of dissidence, representing a major contribution to the new wave of scholarship on Soviet dissent.” — Polly Jones, Professor of Russian, University of Oxford“If we want to understand today's Russia, we need to know the biographies of its people and their winding lives, which are almost unimaginable in the West. Barbara Martin presents two such keys to Putin's Russia in the form of the ‘loyal dissidents,’ the Medvedev twins, one the famous author of Let History Judge, the other a recalcitrant biologist forced into exile in Britain in 1973. One can have been persecuted, arrested, and harassed by the Soviet state himself and still conclude that Russia must be led by a ‘strong hand.’ An important book!”— Susanne Schattenberg, author of Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman (2022)“Historian Barbara Martin has written a compelling dual biography of brothers Zhores and Roy Medvedev, who gained fame for their ‘dissident’ writings in the late Soviet period even as they advocated for the reform of socialism not its abandonment. Martin traces their respective careers, deftly summarizes their prolific writings, and shows how they navigated pressure from the state and rebutted critiques from the regime’s more radical opponents. This study is particularly valuable for its meticulous and judicious delineation of differences among Soviet era non-conformists. Martin also analyzes Roy Medvedev’s turn toward writing laudatory biographies of Nazarbaev, Lukashenko, and Putin.”— Dr. Kathleen Smith, Professor of Teaching, Georgetown UniversityTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsList of AbbreviationsNote on ArchivesIntroductionChapter 1. A Youth in Stalin’s Shadow Chapter 2. A Crusade in Soviet BiologyChapter 3. Stalin Is No MoreChapter 4. Making Sense of StalinismChapter 5. Rebellious IntelligentsiaChapter 6. A Question of MadnessChapter 7. New ThreatsChapter 8. Into ExileChapter 9. Carving a “Third Way” in the Cold WarChapter 10. Solzhenitsyn: The End of a FriendshipChapter 11. Finding and Losing Political AlliesChapter 12. Under the KGB’s WatchChapter 13. Andropov’s ProtectionChapter 14. The Nuclear ThreatChapter 15. The Rise and Fall of Gorbachev’s Socialist DemocracyChapter 16. The End of the Soviet OrderChapter 17. Praising the Strong Rulers
£95.39
Academic Studies Press Roy and Zhores Medvedev: Loyal Dissent in the
Book SynopsisRoy and Zhores Medvedev, two identical twins with a unique fate, not only lived through a whole century of history, from Stalin to Putin, they wrote and made history. Their research on Stalinism, the first to come out of the Soviet Union in the 1960s-1970s, turned them into famous dissidents overnight, but their criticism of the regime always remained loyal to Soviet power. The story of their lives provides a snapshot into the history of Soviet dissent, from psychiatric hospitalization to forced exile, and from KGB interrogations to collaboration with Western news correspondents. Yet their trajectory was also marred by controversy with fellow dissidents, and in the post-Soviet era active support of authoritarian rulers, including Vladimir Putin. Trade Review“Yet even when Martin gives the brothers full voice, it is to her credit that they don't always appear noble, ethical or as smart as they seem to think. Roy comes across as brave, conspiratorial, vainglorious and ethically compromised. Zhores was less political and ideological, but then again, he lived primarily abroad until his death in 2018. … For those who remember the brothers' publications from the 1970s and 1980s, Roy and Zhores Medvedev will provide much new detail and nuance. It may be tempting from afar to disparage their ‘loyal dissent’, but Barbara Martin reminds us that they carved out this position at great personal risk to their family and themselves. For those who have not followed their more recent story, however, the book will provide a sobering perspective on the value of a loyal Russian opposition.”— Ethan Pollock, Times Literary Supplement“Historian Barbara Martin has written a compelling dual biography of brothers Zhores and Roy Medvedev, who gained fame for their ‘dissident’ writings in the late Soviet period even as they advocated for the reform of socialism not its abandonment. Martin traces their respective careers, deftly summarizes their prolific writings, and shows how they navigated pressure from the state and rebutted critiques from the regime’s more radical opponents. This study is particularly valuable for its meticulous and judicious delineation of differences among Soviet era non-conformists. Martin also analyzes Roy Medvedev’s turn toward writing laudatory biographies of Nazarbaev, Lukashenko, and Putin.”— Dr. Kathleen Smith, Professor of Teaching, Georgetown University“If we want to understand today's Russia, we need to know the biographies of its people and their winding lives, which are almost unimaginable in the West. Barbara Martin presents two such keys to Putin's Russia in the form of the ‘loyal dissidents,’ the Medvedev twins, one the famous author of Let History Judge, the other a recalcitrant biologist forced into exile in Britain in 1973. One can have been persecuted, arrested, and harassed by the Soviet state himself and still conclude that Russia must be led by a ‘strong hand.’ An important book!”— Susanne Schattenberg, author of Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman (2022)“Roy and Zhores Medvedev are amongst the most fascinating and important figures in the history of Soviet dissent, but much about them has remained unknown or poorly understood until now. Barbara Martin’s account offers a meticulously researched and richly detailed history of the brothers’ parallel, but very different, lives in the Soviet Union, Western Europe, and the USA. Drawing on a huge amount of new archival and interview material, Martin traces their lives and activities across many fields, including history, science, and political activism, and through the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. The first joint biography in English, this landmark study is likely to remain the standard work for many years to come. More than just a biography, though, this new study also casts new light on the diverse practices and politics of dissidence, representing a major contribution to the new wave of scholarship on Soviet dissent.” — Polly Jones, Professor of Russian, University of OxfordTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsList of AbbreviationsNote on ArchivesIntroductionChapter 1. A Youth in Stalin’s Shadow Chapter 2. A Crusade in Soviet BiologyChapter 3. Stalin Is No MoreChapter 4. Making Sense of StalinismChapter 5. Rebellious IntelligentsiaChapter 6. A Question of MadnessChapter 7. New ThreatsChapter 8. Into ExileChapter 9. Carving a “Third Way” in the Cold WarChapter 10. Solzhenitsyn: The End of a FriendshipChapter 11. Finding and Losing Political AlliesChapter 12. Under the KGB’s WatchChapter 13. Andropov’s ProtectionChapter 14. The Nuclear ThreatChapter 15. The Rise and Fall of Gorbachev’s Socialist DemocracyChapter 16. The End of the Soviet OrderChapter 17. Praising the Strong Rulers
£17.09
Academic Studies Press The Dream of Social Justice and Bad Moral Luck:
Book SynopsisThe Dream of Social Justice and Bad Moral Luck examines the intertwined lives of five women and three men, Russian Jews in the first half of the twentieth century, as their belief in social transformation unraveled. The book looks at why these eight people bought into the dream, and what they did when things went bad. Under what circumstances did they bow to political pressures antithetical to the ideas they professed, and under what circumstances did they resist, even heroically? Political cowardice is a constant theme, but so is moral resistance that had no point beyond an individual’s conscience.Trade Review“If you were arrested and interrogated by the NKVD in Lubyanka, how would you act? In telling not only the WHAT but also exploring the crucial WHY, award-winning author Alice Stone Nakhimovsky brings posthumous justice and dignity to the martyrs of socialism. In eight dramatic story-biographies, she fixes on truth in the face of humanity’s most painful cruelties.”— Brian (Yossi) Horowitz, Sizeler Family Chair Professor, Tulane University“The Dream of Social Justice and Bad Moral Luck provides parallel stories of eight men and women—all of them Jews—who lived and died under catastrophic historical circumstances, the 1917 revolution, World War II, the Holocaust, and several waves of Stalin’s terror, forced to make difficult moral choices. The results were out of their control.A historical study, carefully researched, this book will fascinate diverse readers who wonder how people lived and acted in ‘dark times.’ Superbly written, enhanced by the author’s gentle irony, it speaks to those who negotiate the political and cultural landscape we inhabit today.”— Irina Paperno, author of Stories of the Soviet Experience: Memoirs, Diaries, Dreams“This book by Alice Nakhimovsky makes a superb new addition to the growing library of studies of Soviet Jewry, which is not surprising, considering Nakhimovsky's status as one of the founders of the field of Russian-Jewish literary studies. The stories Nakhimovsky tells—from the poet Leyb Kvitko to the writer Vasily Grossman—illuminate the hopes and tragedies of the lives of Soviet Jewish intellectuals under Stalin, enriching immensely the readers' understanding of this complex and pivotal epoch.”— Marat Grinberg, Professor of Russian and Humanities, Reed College “Alice Nakhimovsky's new book writes new history of Soviet Jewish culture by focusing on individuals who both created it and fell victims to Soviet policies towards it. Focusing on eight people, three men and five women, including writers Vassily Grossman and Leyb Kvitko, scientist Lina Shtern, translator Lilianna Lungina and others, the book offers insights on career trajectories, difficult choices and dilemmas of these talented individuals. By avoiding the old-fashioned lenses of suppression or totalitarian ideologies, or imposing measures of identity, the book is an excellent example of what happens to a historical writing when people are placed front and center, rather than as illustrations to broader phenomenon. Nakhimovsky’s study is deeply researched, extraordinarily insightful, and beautifully written. I cannot recommend it highly enough!”— Anna Shternshis, Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish Studies, University of TorontoTable of ContentsA Note on TranscriptionPrefaceIntroduction: The Soviet-Jewish Historical Calendar and Moral Decision-Making, 1890 to 19531. OriginsDoba-Mera Medvedeva: A Working Girl Seeks a FutureLeyb Kvitko: Shtetl, Poetry, ViolenceSolomon Lozovsky: Blacksmith, Autodidact, Orator2. Communist Romance and Border Crossings, 1917 through the 1930s: Part ILeyb Kvitko: TransformationsSolomon Lozovsky: Fighter, Compromiser, Fiction WriterLina Shtern: A Career in Science and a Fateful ChoiceDoba-Mera Medvedeva: Two Borders, Poor Choices3. Communist Romance and Border Crossings, 1917 through the 1930s: Part INadezhda and Alexander Ulanovsky: Anarchism to EspionageMary Leder: Santa Monica, Birobidzhan, MoscowLilianna Lungina: A German Child, a French Child, a Soviet Adolescent4. Negotiating the Late 1930s: Terror and CareerKvitko: Prosperity and CompromiseMary Leder: Close EncountersNadezhda Ulanovskaya: Communications and Failed CommunicationsVasily Grossman: Jews vs Bolsheviks, and Jewish Bolsheviks5. War: 1941–1945Kvitko: Despair and FaithShtern: IconoclasmLeder: Evacuation and TraumaMedvedeva: Evacuation without Privilege, Grief beyond ResentmentGrossman: A Personal Quest6. Jews, Scientists, and the Trial of the Jewish Antifascist Committee, 1944–1952Kvitko: “I don’t value my life. I want to leave here with a pure heart”Lozovsky: “I can’t look Academician Shtern in the eyes”Shtern: “I always tell the truth”Grossman: Scientists and Old Bolsheviks7. Jews, Doctors, and AliensNadezhda Ulanovskaya: Foreign ConnectionsMary Leder: EndgameLilianna Lungina: Reality and RumorVasily Grossman: A Novel and a Letter8. What Happened NextBibliography
£82.79
