Social and cultural history Books

Book Synopsis‘This incredible time capsule is full of insightful history, along with great imagery. A must-have for Hip Hop enthusiasts.’ – Jamel Shabazz, documentary photographer A visual and cultural history of hip hop, charting its meteoric rise from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker To tell the story of contemporary American culture is to tell the story of hip hop. From its humble, underground origins, hip hop transcended the confines of rap music and spread its influence across a broad spectrum of American life – fashion, film, art, sports, politics, language – to become a cultural movement of profound influence. Rapper’s Deluxe is a critical contribution to America’s cultural canon, shining a light on hip hop’s ability to redefine and influence culture, through: photographs; fine art; advertisements; book, magazine, and album covers; film stills; and more. Organized chronologically from the 1970s to the present, image-rich and dynamic layouts show the people, places, events, objects, outfits, and inspirations that redefined the world as we know it – from fur-coated fans lining up for a Muhammad Ali fight at Madison Square Garden to a legendary party in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, through the hoods of South Los Angeles and the trap houses of Atlanta to the extravagant red carpet looks of the Met Gala. Drawing on a broad range of curated examples, Dr. Todd Boyd re-examines hip hop’s legacy and how the genre remixes ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, past and present, to come up with a style that is uniquely its own. Filled with original insights and clever wordplay, Rapper’s Deluxe is a tale of transformation, following hip hop’s arduous, but always triumphant, journey as it rose up to dominate the game.Trade Review‘Informative and worth a read.’ – Library Journal‘Deeply researched and formidably composed... a sumptuous object and a museum of a book. It’s everything you think it is, and then some.’ – Art Spiel‘50 years of hip-hop history in one Phaidon book.’ – Wallpaper*‘[A] visual exploration of the history of hip hop and its influence on culture.’ – SHOWstudio'The new cultural history of rap and hip hop culture.' – The Orange County Register'Captivating ... a significant addition to [Phaidon's] illustrious collection.' – 92.5 The Beat'The story of the genre’s lasting and pervasive impact on our culture, with striking visuals and bold fonts that illustrate and speak to hip-hop’s truest nature.' – Hollywood.com

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Book SynopsisThe urge to censor is as old as the urge to speak. From the first Chinese emperor's wholesale elimination of books to the Vatican's suppression of pornography from its own collection, and on to the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the advent of Internet troll armies, words, images and ideas have always been hunted down by those trying to suppress them. In this compelling account, Eric Berkowitz reveals why and how humanity has, from the beginning, sought to silence itself. Ranging from the absurd - such as Henry VIII's decree of death for anyone who 'imagined' his demise - to claims by American slave owners that abolitionist literature should be supressed because it hurt their feelings, Berkowitz takes the reader on an unruly ride through history, highlighting the use of censorship to reinforce class, race and gender privilege and guard against offence. Elucidating phrases like 'fake news' and 'hate speech', Dangerous Ideas exposes the dangers of erasing history, how censorship has shaped our modern society and what forms it is taking today - and to what disturbing effects.Trade ReviewDangerous Ideas] always manages to surprise, especially with a lively flow of villains … [Berkowitz] is singularly focused on those heroes and heroines who refused to submit to the dictates and biases of their time. The fact that their works are still with us today hammers home the central thesis of Dangerous Ideas: censorship is ultimately futile and cannot permanently extinguish the thirst for freedom of expression. Berkowitz has assembled a stirring cast to demonstrate this.’Ariel Dorfman, NYRB; 'Free speech good! Censorship bad! Undeniable. Indisputable. Except that Eric Berkowitz denies and disputes with such intellectual agility as to induce cramping of the brain. Vivid, violent historical examples buttressing the case against censorship, while we citizens of the internet find ourselves drowning in crud for want of it. The point is you'll enjoy the ride, and the argument has never been more pressing.' Ted Koppel

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Book SynopsisAlix Olson and Alex Zamalin offer a clear-eyed critical account of how neoliberalism has redefined resistance to thwart social movements and consolidate power.Trade ReviewResistance is a word that has lost its critical edge, as this book demonstrates. Olson and Zamalin name 'restorative resistance' the idea that a return to a pre-Trump era is sufficient. Their critique challenges our coalitions, but this is a challenge that must be taken up to make the change the world needs. Essential reading. -- Linda Martín Alcoff, City University of New YorkHow did suburban lawn signs, social media photo frames, and voter mobilization campaigns for moderate Democrats become 'resistance'? Soberly diagnosing the rise of 'restorative resistance' as the outcome of a decades-long deliberate neoliberal narrowing of the political life of democracy, Olson and Zamalin echo Michel Foucault's fundamental insight that what is called 'resistance' illuminates how power is exercised. Rightfully alarming readers about a hegemonic horizon of reform that prizes channeling people's capacities to endure economic and social injustices they should resoundingly reject, the authors offer compelling guides to reigniting radical imagination and praxis by joining deeply democratic struggles through which we work to reawaken demands for liberation, actual popular sovereignty, and the state itself as ours—in solidarity with each other and the planet—to reimagine. -- Jane Anna Gordon, author of Statelessness and Contemporary EnslavementThe Ends of Resistance sheds an illuminating light on the shocking ways elite media and politicians have appropriated Black political resistance and the #MeToo movement for corporate and individualistic ends. Olson and Zamalin challenge the ways 'anti-racist' tactics have been appropriated to reinforce racial capitalism in a powerful indictment of the nation’s lackluster political will, even among so-called radicals. -- Terrence L. Johnson, author of We Testify with Our Lives: How Religion Transformed Radical Thought from Black Power to Black Lives MatterTable of ContentsAcknowledgments1. The End of Resistance: Reformation Over Transformation2. Neoliberal Resistance: Privatizing Rebellion3. Democracy Domesticated: Resistance as Restoration4. Making Suspicious Citizens: Racializing and Criminalizing Resistance5. Unruly World Building: Toward a Critical Infrastructure of Demanding HopeNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“No one masters so many primary and secondary sources. . . given character by the elegance and lightness of his literary touch. . . You will not read a work of wider interest on Thomas’s period.”—Blair Worden, Literary Review“This book is a fully realised successor to those classics by Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic and Man and the Natural World. . . The command of evidence is extraordinary, and the final result is of a huge poly-phony, as different voices disagree, conflict, reinforce each other and undermine another’s point of view. It is funny as well as heartbreaking, absurd as well as chilling. There is hardly a page without half a dozen extraordinary incidents, statements or facts — and the 100 pages of notes are a tour-de-force of learned command, intelligent investigation and compelling judgment. There can hardly be a more convincing statement of what civilisation means than Keith Thomas’s own work.”—Philip Hensher, Spectator“There is much scope for honest praise in this learned, humane and wide-ranging book, based on a lifetime’s reading in both early modern sources and recent scholarship on English social and cultural history.”—Ann Hughes, THES“Keith Thomas’s wonderful book, which is both erudite and energising, thoughtfully confirms that the way in which cultures deal with ethnic, religious and behavioural differences, as well as the often despised poor, is an index of its true civility. . . ought to be read and meditated upon by our increasingly boorish political classes.”—Brian Young, Daily Telegraph “Gloriously rich...an irresistible mosaic of 17th- and 18th-century life.” — Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times “The result is as entertaining as it is erudite.” — William Moore, Evening Standard“The author of the classic Religion and the Decline of Magic, Thomas is a national treasure who should be cloned so that future generations can benefit from his intelligence and urbane sensibility. . . His research is impressive, but even more so is his ability to bring the past alive by letting people such as Defoe and Swift tell their stories. This is a very civilised book.”—Gerard DeGroot, The Times “Thomas is one of Britain’s greatest living historians. . . In the final pages of his hugely rich and impressive book, [he] makes a strong case for the defence. What civility boiled down to, he says, was kindness, decency and cleanliness. And in some ways we have a lot to learn from our forebears.”—Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times“In Pursuit of Civility is a highly readable account of the ways in which the English have defined themselves and those around them, as well as of dissident voices who persistently criticised such fashioning. It also reminds us that we are part of a much older, global conversation about pluralism, difference and what it means to be members of the human species.”—Emily Jones, Financial Times“[A] fascinating but disquieting book about the history of English civility.”—Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Daily Mail“Reading [In Pursuit of Civility] is like listening to a continuous conversation between countless articulate voices from the past. . . A beautifully written and continuously stimulating tour-de-force.”—Fara Dabhoiwala, Guardian“Resting on an awesome foundation of scholarship, unobtrusively available in the endnotes, richly illustrated by contemporary quotations and produced in a handsome and remarkably affordable hardback, this is a book to ponder, to savour and to enjoy.”—Martin Wellings, Methodist Recorder“One of the most entertaining books imaginable.” —Philip Hensher, The Spectator (Books of the year 2018)"Our finest living historian gives a dismayingly entertaining survey of what was held to be civilised behaviour and what barbarous in England between 1500 and 1800.” —Claire Tomalin, New Statesman (Books of the Year)“Keith Thomas touches on the sentiment in his latest book on the history of early­modern England, in which he seeks, in his own words, ‘to demonstrate the importance of the ideals of civility and civilisation’ in England between the Reformation and the French Revolution.” — Serenhedd James, Church Times “Keith Thomas has produced a delightfully quirky book about how the English learnt to be nice.” —Gerard De Groot, The Times Ireland“A lively, engaging and perceptive book on the topic of civility in early modern England.” —Joan Redmond, Reviews in History “A thorough, lavishly illustrated account” —Karen Serres, The Burlington Magazine“A distinguished contribution to the "historical ethnography of early modern England" ” —Arnold Hunt, Times Literary Supplement“Brilliant study” —Bernard Richards, Oxford Magazine“A prodigious range of reference” — John Gallagher, LRB“In this magisterial study, Keith Thomas explores the history of socio-anthropological ideas about ‘manners’. They include not just conventional codes of politeness (such as behaviour at table) but the social customs which underpin all interpersonal relationships.”—Penelope J. Corfield, Cultural and Social History

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Archaeology and Ancient History, Association of American Publishers""One of the Evening Standard's Best Books of 2019""One of the Financial Times' Best Books of 2019: Economics"

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Book SynopsisExploring representations of Latinx people from Scarface to Narcos, this book examines how pop culture has framed Latin America as the villain in America’s long and ineffectual War on Drugs. If there is an enemy in the War on Drugs, it is people of color. That is the lesson of forty years of cultural production in the United States. Popular culture, from Scarface and Miami Vice to Narcos and Better Call Saul, has continually positioned Latinos as an alien people who threaten the US body politic with drugs. Jason Ruiz explores the creation and endurance of this trope, its effects on Latin Americans and Latinx people, and its role in the cultural politics of the War on Drugs. Even as the focus of drug anxiety has shifted over the years from cocaine to crack and from methamphetamines to opioids, and even as significant strides have been made in representational politics in many areas of pop culture, Latinx people remain an unshakeTable of Contents Introduction Chapter 1. “Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy”: South Florida, Cocaine, and the Many Faces of Scarface Chapter 2. Miami Vices: Whiteness and Otherness in Representing the Criminalized City Chapter 3. “The Most Alive Dead Man in the World”: Plotting the Death of Pablo Escobar Chapter 4. Dancing toward Revenge: Queer Representation and What It Means to Be Seen in Narcomedia Chapter 5. Dark Matters: Breaking Bad and the Suburban Crime Drama Chapter 6. Bad Hombres: Narcomedia at the US-Mexico Border Chapter 7. From Public Enemy to Global Media Commodity: Pablo Escobar Transformed Epilogue. “It’s Time for a White Man to Leave the Building”: Centering Latinidad in Narcomedia Acknowledgments Notes Selected Filmography Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSixty extraordinary years of Eurovision, from Céline Dion to Dustin the Turkey, from Abba to Conchita Wurst - the drag acts, the bad acts and all the nul points heroes.For 60 years the Eurovision Song Contest has existed in a parallel universe where a song about the construction of a hydro-electric power station is considered cutting-edge pop, where half a dozen warbling Russian grandmothers are considered Saturday night entertainment, where a tune repeating the word ''la'' 138 times is considered a winner, and where Australia is considered part of Europe During those sixty years we have witnessed scandals: in 1957, Denmark''s Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler enjoyed an outrageously long 13-second kiss because the stage manager forgot to say ''cut'' during the live broadcast. We have witnessed national outrage: the 1976 Greek entry was a savage indictment of Turkish foreign policy in Cyprus. But most have all we have witnessed silly costumes, terrible lyric

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Book SynopsisFrom acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory.Trade Review“Michael Harriot has done it. Written a book that evokes the full range of human emotions. Laughter. Rage. Sadness. Love (of Black resistance). Hate (of anti-Blackness). More laughter. Constant thinking and connecting and discovering. What an experience. But how can this book be anything less when it is Black AF History.” — Ibram X. Kendi, Award-winning author “This is history as it should be told: straight, no chaser; unvarnished and unembossed. Michael Harriot, the Samuel L. Jackson of the written word, strikes again, weaving fascinating facts, scathing humor and pieces of his own life story to detail the stony road we trod.” — Joy Reid, Host of The ReidOut on MSNBC “The story we've been told about America has always been redacted. With Black AF History, Michael Harriot removes the redacted parts and replaces them with griot-level storytelling. This is what everyone wishes their high school courses were actually like. Halfway through, you realize that this is not even a book about Black history, it's about how American history is Black AF.” — Pharrell Williams, Grammy Award-winning producer and musician “Michael Harriot tells the most shocking (not shocking) stories of Black History I've ever heard. Every story is unbelievable yet, unfortunately, completely believable. Black AF History should be taught in every school across America.” — Amber Ruffin, comedian and host of The Amber Ruffin Show “If I ever won an election for political office, I would have them swear me in on a copy of Black AF History. Michael Harriot is too funny to be this smart. Now, I have to go google how to ship a case of these to Ron DeSantis.” — W. Kamau Bell, Award-winning television host and stand-up comedian

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Book SynopsisThe third book in Chris Scullion's series of video game encyclopaedias, the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis Encyclopedia is dedicated to Sega's legendary 16-bit video game console. The book contains detailed information on every single game released for the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis in the west, as well as similarly thorough bonus sections covering every game released for its add-ons, the Mega CD and 32X. With nearly a thousand screenshots, generous helpings of bonus trivia and charmingly bad jokes, the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis Encyclopedia is the definitive guide to a legendary gaming system.

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Book SynopsisThe brand new book by Pen Vogler, Stuffed, is available now***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***A Book of the Year in the Daily Mail, Independent, Spectator and The Times & Sunday Times Finalist for the Guild of Food Writers Food Book Award 2021'Sharp, rich and superbly readable... Fascinating' Sunday Times'Utterly delicious' Observer'Superb' 'Book of the Week', The Times'Terrific' 'Book of the Week', Guardian'I loved it.' Monty Don'A brilliant romp of a book.' Jay RaynerAvocado or beans on toast? Gin or claret? Nut roast or game pie? Milk in first or milk in last? And do you have tea, dinner or supper in the evening?In this fascinating social history of food in Britain, Pen Vogler examines the origins of our eating habits and reveals how they are loaded with centuries of class prejudice. Covering such topics as fish and chips, roast beef, avocados, tripe, fish knives and the surprising origins of breakfast, Scoff reveals how in Britain we have become experts at using eating habits to make judgements about social background.Bringing together evidence from cookbooks, literature, artworks and social records from 1066 to the present, Vogler traces the changing fortunes of the food we encounter today, and unpicks the aspirations and prejudices of the people who have shaped our cuisine for better or worse.'With commendable appetite and immense attention to detail Pen Vogler skewers the enduring relationship between class and food in Britain. A brilliant romp of a book that gets to the very heart of who we think we are, one delicious dish at a time.' Jay RaynerTrade ReviewSharp, rich and superbly readable... Vogler is sensitive to language, and she wields it brilliantly herself. Bons mot jostle with the kind of truth-skewering opinions that win reputations for restaurant critics... Ultimately, Vogler reveals why we eat what we do today - and it is fascinating. * Sunday Times *Utterly delicious... I can't remember the last time I read a food book so interesting and so lively... The range of Vogler's reading is extraordinary... She has cooked up a banquet, and everything on the table is worth tasting at least once. * Observer *This excellent history is full of fascinating facts about the food we eat... More tellingly, it pricks the pomposity of many of our social conventions surrounding eating. * Daily Mail *A rich, persuasive diet of social friction, anecdotes and witty observation... It's a book to make the reader both think and salivate. * Financial Times *Pen Vogler's history of food in Britain is a feast of little dishes, all of them delicious... She has wise things to say about nation, health and, especially, class, and she even finds room for one or two recipes. -- Dominic Sandbrook * 'History Books of the Year', Sunday Times *Pen Vogler provides a fascinating social history of British food through the centuries and throws in a selection of enticing recipes from the past for good measure. * 'History Books of the Year', Daily Mail *Taste in food, as Pen Vogler shows in this erudite yet lively compendium, is not just about preferred flavour, but what items in your shopping basket say about who you are or, more precisely, who you aspire to be... Scoff is full of such fascinating, intelligent dissections of familiar foods and culinary practices... Superb. * 'Book of the Week', The Times *A terrific history, in bite-sized chunks, of how food and drink relates to social status. * 'Book of the Week', Guardian *A superbly researched romp through food, cooking and class in Britain, looking at everything from brown bread versus white to the dangers of the dinner party. Full of history, Scoff is never heavy, thanks to Vogler's writing style and wit. * 'Best Food Books of 2020', Independent *So utterly fascinating that I read it in great greedy gulps, like a novel. Vogler is incredibly good company as she dismantles pretty much every assumption we make about how we, and other people, eat. -- India Knight * Sunday Times *Always entertaining... Scoff shows how British people developed a very convoluted relationship to food. -- Sheila Dillon * Mail on Sunday *I loved it. It is a history and celebration of British food and eating habits and follows in the honourable tradition of Food in England by Dorothy Hartley, but is set in tone and content firmly in the 21st century. -- Monty DonWith commendable appetite and immense attention to detail Pen Vogler skewers the enduring relationship between class and food in Britain. A brilliant romp of a book that gets to the very heart of who we think we are, one delicious dish at a time. -- Jay RaynerIn Scoff, Pen shows us an insight into the background of our favourite British food traditions through the divide of class. How a poor man's food moved to the posh dinner table and how British a curry really is. Illustrated by the words of much-loved English cookery writers and novelists, and Pen's own witty style of writing, this book is an absolute gem to read. -- Regula YsewijnFascinating... This is a pleasurable compilation, scholarly but not dry, with sharp imagery, quiet wit and lively personal stories. -- Clarissa Hyman * TLS *Lively and detailed... Scoff is a pacy social history, exploring how foods have fallen in and out of favour and eating habits have moved between classes over centuries. * New Statesman *Sensational... An absolute feast. -- Tom HollandExcellent... A fun read... with some fabulous facts, tied together in an engaging and thought-provoking way. * BBC History *Vogler's book is a series of dazzling essays on subjects such as venison pasties, spices, Christmas pudding and Brussels sprouts. The learning and the range of references, from obscure Italian Renaissance texts to Bridget Jones, are astounding. * Literary Review *Has much to say about centuries of Britain's past and its place in the world, and the fact that it's peppered with historical recipes makes it all the more appealing. * History Revealed *Pen Vogler is a smart, waspish guide to our national cuisine and what it tells us about ourselves. In short, sharp essays, she looks at, among other things, the class status of avocados and the revolutionary status of vegetarianism. Her chapter on the social history of tea drinking is a particular delight. * The Herald *Scoff is an essential book about food. It unpacks the hamper of British food - not so much our spongy, milky puddings, our nursery food, our gut-busting breakfasts, but the meaning of what we eat... Astonishing to think that nobody has done this book before. -- Rachel Johnson * Air Mail *Scoff is entertaining and thought provoking in equal measure - a thoroughly engaging read... It certainly made me reassess how I have viewed certain foods in the past. -- Sam BiltonThe theme of this thoroughly enjoyable, lively and humorous book is how social class has influenced what, when and how we have eaten down the centuries... It is a story of constant change and a bewildering array of influences, inextricably woven into our national story. * 'The Best Books About Food', Country & Town House *Table of Contents1: Tea and Confusion 2: Brit.ish 3: Foreign Introductions 4: Rooms, Plates and Cutlery 5: Disappearances and reappearances 6: Fads, Fasts and Health 7: Country and Town 8: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe first 'bushrangers' or frontier outlaws were escaped or time-expired convicts, who took to the wilderness 'the bush' in New South Wales and on the island of Tasmania. Initially, the only Crown forces available were redcoats from the small, scattered garrisons, but by 1825 the problem of outlawry led to the formation of the first Mounted Police from these soldiers. The gold strikes of the 1860s attracted a new group of men who preferred to get rich by the gun rather than the shovel. The roads, and later railways, that linked the mines with the cities offered many tempting targets and were preyed upon by the bushrangers. This 1860s generation boasted many famous outlaws who passed into legend for their boldness. The last outbreak came in Victoria in 1880, when the notorious Kelly Gang staged several hold-ups and deliberately ambushed the pursuing police. Their last stand at Glenrowan has become a legendary episode in Australian history. Fully illustrated with some rare periTrade ReviewAn excellent read – Miniature Wargames Recommends Medal. * Miniature Wargames *Table of ContentsIntroduction * Origins of British penal settlement in Australia, and how its character shaped governance and policing. [In each following chronological chapter, emphasis will be given not just to events, personalities, and organized groups, but also to appearance and weapons.] * The first 'bushrangers': escaped prisoners in the 1810s-20s – e.g., Matthew Brady, Martin Cash ('The Robin Hood of Van Diemen's Land'), and 'Bold Jack' Donohoe (the original 'Wild Colonial Boy' immortalised in song) * The government response: British regular troops, and creation of first Mounted Police from military personnel * The 1860s Gold Rush: a new breed of robber gangleaders – e.g., Frank Lowry, 'Captain Moonlight', 'Mad Dog' Dan Morgan, Frank Gardiner, and Ben Hall – formation of new Mounted Police in Victoria and Queensland * The 1870s: robberies, raids and gunfights – hunting down of bushranger gangs * Final outbreak in 1880: the Kelly Gang – Springbark Creek ambush of police – last shoot-out at Glenrowan * Summary and conclusion * Plate Commentaries.

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Book Synopsis'Fizzes with clever vignettes and juicy tidbits... [a] joyous romp of a book.' Guardian'A fascinating, rollicking book in search of why, where and how fame strikes. Sit back and enjoy the ride.' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads'[An] engaging and well-researched book... Jenner brings his material to vivid life' ObserverCelebrity, with its neon glow and selfie pout, strikes us as hypermodern. But the famous and infamous have been thrilling, titillating, and outraging us for much longer than we might realise. Whether it was the scandalous Lord Byron, whose poetry sent female fans into an erotic frenzy; or the cheetah-owning, coffin-sleeping, one-legged French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who launched a violent feud with her former best friend; or Edmund Kean, the dazzling Shakespearean actor whose monstrous ego and terrible alcoholism saw him nearly murdered by his own audience - the list of stars whose careers burned bright before the Age of Television is extensive and thrillingly varied. In this ambitious history, that spans the Bronze Age to the coming of Hollywood's Golden Age, Greg Jenner assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity's historical roots. He reveals why celebrity burst into life in the early eighteenth century, how it differs to ancient ideas of fame, the techniques through which it was acquired, how it was maintained, the effect it had on public tastes, and the psychological burden stardom could place on those in the glaring limelight. DEAD FAMOUS is a surprising, funny, and fascinating exploration of both a bygone age and how we came to inhabit our modern, fame obsessed society.Trade ReviewFizzes with clever vignettes and juicy tidbits... [a] joyous romp of a book. * GUARDIAN *[An] engaging and well-researched book... Jenner brings his material to vivid life * OBSERVER *A fascinating, rollicking book in search of why, where and how fame strikes. Sit back and enjoy the ride. * Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads *With characteristic wit and curiosity, Jenner reveals the glamour and graft of celebrity lives in this rich, entertaining and original history. * Dr Hannah Greig, historical adviser to The Favourite and Poldark *A magical mystery tour through the history of celebrity - eye opening, provocative, triumphant. Greg Jenner is a suave and generous guide to the glittering, glamorous, often deadly world of celebrity. Dead Famous takes you deep into fabulous lives, tells all about price you pay for fame and explores why the world in which we live needs to make a few shining people into icons who thrill us, obsess us and then, finally, we want to tear apart. * Kate Williams, author and historian *Jenner is equal parts wide-eyed historical buff and sassy polemicist. Like some frisky, over-caffeinated lovechild of Dan Snow and Marina Hyde, he can't help but entertain you, even as he's pouring facts down your throat. * GUARDIAN - Book of the Day *This is a lively look at history's great and gawped at - and how they reshaped the world around them. * HISTORY REVEALED *There is an enjoyably wide range of cultural references... plenty of half-forgotten quirky treasures * SPECTATOR *Jenner is an engaging tour guide who smuggles some thought-provoking points about our culture into his zippy pen-portraits. * MAIL ON SUNDAY *As a tour guide through centuries of celebrity culture, Jenner acts as a kind of Oscar Wilde figure, dispensing wisdom and wit in equal measure, producing a fiendishly enjoyable and thoroughly engaging look at other people's lives. -- Becky Long * IRISH TIMES *Rollicking -- Roger Lewis * DAILY MAIL *Recommended read... entertaining and resonant stories of celebs from about 1700 to 1950. * READERS' DIGEST *Delivers a bounty of colourful anecdotes. * TLS *A fiendishly enjoyable and thoroughly engaging look at other people's lives. * Irish Times *Jenner pulls it off in a learned but entertaining book. * Who Do You Think You Are Magazine *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book' Sathnam SangheraBy thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.'In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.Travelling to the world's earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are.Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play women included in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present.Trade Review‘This is an impressive, breathtaking and thought-provoking book which unwraps the concept and history of patriarchy with clear intellectual precision’ Financial Times ‘An urgent and necessary wake-up call of a book, teeming with research without being taut . . . The Patriarchs is a hopeful, essential read, not just for feminists, but for anyone with a stake in existence’ Irish Times ‘I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book. And for such a serious topic, I was surprised to be greatly entertained too. Angela is the best possible guide’ Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland ‘The Patriarchs is an optimistic book, therefore. Not least, it shows that more equal societies are possible and do thrive – historically, now and everywhere. Seeing things from other cultural perspectives really does reveal the way we live in a very different light’ Guardian ‘A rigorous and illuminating read’ inews ‘A deep and incisive look at the historical origins of patriarchal structures we are still fighting today. A must-read for every feminist’ Rafia Zakaria, author of Against White Feminism ‘This is a truly excellent, important and insightful book’ Janina Ramirez, author of Femina ‘Bold, incisive, and beautifully told, The Patriarchs is a truly riveting investigation into the origins and consequences of structural power. The depth and originality of Angela Saini’s thought and research is breath-taking, and world-changing. A phenomenally important and deeply enjoyable book’ Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women ‘Saini brings sparkling intelligence to this debate. She is brilliant at ferreting out intriguing nuggets of information and synthesising them into a big but not over-simplified picture . . . How stirring it is to read such an optimistic view of our past and of our future’ Observer

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'A dystopian odyssey through the dark authoritarian landscape of the modern world’ The Times To be born American in the late twentieth century was to take the fact of a particular kind of American exceptionalism as granted – a state of nature arrived at after all else had failed. In the span of just thirty years, this assumption would come crashing down. After the fall, we must determine what it means to be American again. In 2017, as Ben Rhodes was helping Barack Obama begin his next chapter, the legacy they worked to build for eight years was being taken apart. To understand what was happening in America, Rhodes decided to look outwards. Over the next three years, he travelled to dozens of countries, meeting with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that was tearing America apart. Along the way, a Russian opposition leader he spends time with is poisoned, the Hong Kong protesters he comes to know see their movement snuffed out, and America itself reaches the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a second chance. After the Fall is a hugely ambitious and essential work of discovery. Throughout, Rhodes comes to realize how much America’s fingerprints are on a world it helped to shape: through the excesses of the post-Cold War embrace of unbridled capitalism, post-9/11 nationalism and militarism, mania for technology and social media, and the racism that shaped the backlash to the Obama presidency. At the same time, he learns from a diverse set of characters – from Obama to rebels to a rising generation of leaders – how looking squarely at where America has gone wrong only makes it more essential to fight for what America is supposed to be – for itself, and for the entire world.Trade ReviewA dystopian odyssey through the dark authoritarian landscape of the modern world * The Times *After the Fall takes the form of a quest . . . Rhodes’s travels, and his contemplation of the scene at home, lead him to an important conclusion: The United States, having exported to the world unleashed capitalism, ungoverned social media and a militarized foreign policy, has now seen its pathologies weaponized by its enemies and turned back upon itself * New York Times *Vital reading for Americans and people anywhere who seek to understand what is happening 'after the fall' of the global system created by the United States and shaped increasingly by China under Xi Jinping * New York Journal of Books *The story of an aftermath . . . Elegantly expressed * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''No one else makes history this fun'' AMANDA FOREMAN''All the Rage sits you at the dressing table of history: a place of dreams, doubts, self-harm and hopes'' SARAH DITUM, SUNDAY TIMES''Wonderfully engaging'' HARPER''S BAZAARAt the heart of this history is the female body.The century-span between the crinoline and the bikini witnessed more mutations in the ideal western woman''s body shape than at any other period. In this richly detailed account, Virginia Nicholson, described as ''one of the great social historians of our time...'' (Amanda Foreman) takes us to the Frontline of Beauty to reveal the power, the pain and the pleasure involved in adorning the female body.The PowerWho determines which shape is currently ''all the rage''? Looking at how custom, colour, class and sex fit into the picture, this book also charts how the advances made by feminism collided with the changing shap

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Book Synopsis'Beautifully written, acutely observed This is a wonderful memoir of an exotic childhood and a striking portrait of one of the world's most beguiling countries. A gem of a book.' ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITHTrade Review'The nearest thing you will get to Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals in Africa and it is just as enchanting' Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller 'Beautifully written and lovingly told, Scott's book has the makings to be Out of Africa meets Running with Scissors' New York Times Book Review 'A fabulous read, rollicking, good-humoured and intensely sane' Alexandra Fuller 'Scott does more than simply record her African adventures. She tackles the difficult issue of race, revealing a shift in white attitudes across the generations [and] remind[s] us that southern Africa has many different histories' Independent

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Book Synopsis'Totally absorbing and highly readable account of a remarkable life . . . genuinely revelatory' The Times'A colossal book about a colossal life, a spectacular journey across the entire twentieth century' Daily MailWritten with complete access to the Queen Mother’s personal letters and diaries, William Shawcross's riveting biography is the truly definitive account of this remarkable woman, whose life spanned the twentieth century. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August 1900. Drawing on her private correspondence and other unpublished material from the Royal Archives, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother vividly reveals the witty girl who endeared herself to soldiers convalescing at Glamis in the First World War; the assured young Duchess of York; the Queen, at last feeling able to look the East End in the face at the height of the Blitz; the QueeTrade ReviewThis splendid biograpy captures something of the warm glow that she brought to every event and encounter. It also reveals a deeper and more interesting character, forged by good sense, love of country, duty, humour and an instinct for what is right. This is a wonderful book, authoritative, frank and entertaining * Daily Telegraph *A totally absorbing and highly readable account of a remarkable life . . . Shawcross's book is genuinely revelatory -- The TimesA colossal book about a colossal life, a spectacular journey across the entire twentieth century through the eyes of a thoughtful woman who took the hand of a shy royal understudy and was propelled through modern history -- Daily MailLively and elegantly written . . . A rich portrait -- The EconomistImpressively researched . . . Shawcross avoids the traps [of] hagiography . . . He succeeds in the difficult task of keeping his subject resolutely centre-stage in an elegant account -- Independent

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Book SynopsisLight in the Dark is the culmination of Gloria E. Anzaldua's mature thought and the most comprehensive presentation of her philosophy. Focusing on aesthetics, ontology, epistemology, and ethics, it contains several developments in her many important theoretical contributions.Trade Review"Published more than a decade after Anzaldúa’s death, the collection of essays is a welcomed resource for scholars and students of Anzaldúa, Chicana/o and Latina/o studies, and American studies. Overall, Anzaldúa’s chapters and Keating’s editorial work are of the highest caliber and great additions to the body of Anzaldúa’s work." -- Monica Montelongo Flores * Southwestern American Literature *"[T]he publication of a new book of [Anzaldua's] writing provides a glorious new opportunity to revel in her brilliant mind.... In our contemporary world of intense binary thinking and wall building, Gloria Anzaldúa’s insights provide an inspiring way forward." -- Susan Noyes Platt * Raven Chronicles *"The publication of Gloría Anzaldúa's Light in the Dark/ Luz en lo oscuro: Rewriting Identity, Spirituality, Reality eleven years after her death in 2004 is a highly anticipated—and enormously important—event in feminist scholarship, one that takes both philosophy and activism in new directions. The manuscript ... makes significant philosophical contributions to feminism, epistemology, aesthetics, ontology, critical philosophy of race, and social and political thought at the same time that it calls into question how we conceive of and organize these areas of study to begin with." -- Natalie Cisneros * Hypatia Reviews online *"Moving from the intricate Tex-Mex-rootedness of Borderlands to the more spiritual, historical-mythical, liminal negotiation zone of Light in the Darkness, Anzaldúa continues her examination of in-between spaces. Her concept of nepantla enables multiple thematic and stylistic lines to intersect, defining possible spaces of cultural transformation." -- Romana Radlwimmer * Women's Review of Books *"Throughout Light, Anzaldúa courageously offers up her lived experiences to argue for the importance of spirituality, theories in the flesh, and the female body.... Scholars invested in intellectual praxis will find a powerful guide to social justice inquiry within this publication." -- Robert Gutierrez-Perez * Women's Studies in Communication *"Perhaps the book’s greatest strength is Keating’s vast editorial knowledge.... Under Keating’s care, Light in the Dark continues Anzaldúa’s metaphysical philosophies, reiterating, expanding, and inspiring consciousness building and setting innovative directions for future Chicana/o studies.... The text offers a new way of decolonizing the mind, transforming the world, and reaching out into the universe." -- Iracema M. Quintero * Aztlán *"Light in the Dark is not only a previously missing piece of Anzaldúa’s oeuvre, important to the growing field of scholarship on Anzaldúa, but also a text that speaks broadly across disciplines and will surely influence scholarship in women’s studies, philosophy, politics, Chicana/o and Latina/o studies, border studies, native studies, sexuality studies and beyond." -- Michelle R. Martin-Baron * International Feminist Journal of Politics *"This text would serve as an excellent book in a literature course, and could be used as the capstone of Anzaldúa’s other writings. Keating has done an excellent job of editing this piece—she has made it easy to forget that the work was published after Anzaldúa’s death." -- Fawn-Amber Montoya * The Americas *Table of ContentsEditor's Introduction. Re-envisioning Coyolxauhqui, Decolonizing Reality: Anzaldúa's Twenty-First-Century Imperative ix Preface. Gestures of the Body—Escribiendo para idear 1 1. Let us be the healing of the wound: The Coyolxauhqui imperative—la sombra y el sueño 9 2. Flights of the Imagination: Rereading/Rewriting Realities 23 3. Border Arte: Nepantla, el lugar de la frontera 47 4. Geographies of Selves—Reimagining Identity: Nos/Otras (Us/Other), las Nepantleras, and the New Tribalism 65 5. Putting Coyolxauhqui Together: A Creative Process 95 6. now let us shift . . . conocimiento . . . inner work, public acts 117 Agradecimientos | Acknowledgements 161 Appendix 1. Lloronas Dissertation Material (Proposal, Table of Contents, and Chapter Outline) 165 Appendix 2. Anzaldúa's Health 171 Appendix 3. Unfinished Sections and Additional Notes from Chapter 2 176 Appendix 4. Alternative Opening, Chapter 4 180 Appendix 5. Historical Notes on the Chapters' Development 190 Appendix 6. Invitation and Call for Papers, Testimonios Volume 200 Notes 205 Glossary 241 References 247 Index 257

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of Tyler Cowen's Best Non-Fiction Books of 2020""Lucid and scrupulously researched history."---Henry Hitchings, The Spectator"A comedy about preposterous or earnest characters at work in an essentially virtuous institution."---Matthew Sweet, History Today"I’ve greatly enjoyed reading Arts and Minds. . . . The book is clearly a labour of love, and is packed with interesting bits of information. . . . Anybody interested in the process of invention, diffusion and changing tastes will greatly enjoy reading this."---Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist"[Arts and Minds] is simply a very good read. Anton avoids the trap of writing as if for a dissertation and laying on the jargon, and simply tells a rattling good story, full of eccentric characters and colourful detail."---Mike Paterson, London Historians' Blog"This enjoyable and interesting book tells the story of the Royal Society of Arts from its founding in 1754 to the present day. . . . Howes is to be thanked for a story so very well told."---Peter Stansky, Journal of Interdisciplinary History"[An] interesting, detailed history of the RSA, whose broad mission was and is hard to define. . . . Historians of different interests will find this book fascinating, and Benjamin Franklin, an early member, would be pleased by it." * Choice Reviews *"Well-researched. . . . a generally entertaining and illuminating story."---Susan Bennett, Journal of British Studies"[An] original and important contribution. It will inform any subsequent historiographical efforts to understand the precise ways in which liberal industrial capitalist values and practices came to achieve their hegemonic position within modern Britain’s wider social order."---Theodore Koditschek, Journal of Modern History"Howes is to be thanked for a story so very well told.—Peter Stanksy, Journal of Interdisciplinary History"

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Book SynopsisThroughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman''s Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe''s most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions -- some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion''s nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her sins.From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman''s trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women''s history that has remained unwritten -- until now.Trade Review"Sexy, Dishy and Funny" -- New York Times "An irreproachably researched and amusingly written history of European monarchs' jezebels." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Sex With Kings is...a lot more fun than Danielle Steel or Dan Brown." -- Washington Post Book World "Addictively Good Dish" -- Entertainment Weekly An enlightening social history that is great fun to read" -- New York Times Book Review "With all the suspense of a thriller... this book is simply ideal for a historical bestseller!" -- Barbara Wegmann, Amazon Germany in-house critic "Herman's spirited history of royal "mistresshood" is certainly a catchy read... History made as buoyant as fiction." -- Booklist "An irresistible book... Deliciously bawdy, outrageously entertaining... Herman's writing sparkles off the pages." -- Boston Globe "A smart, keenly researched history written with wry wisdom." -- Dallas Morning News

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Book SynopsisCaitlin Robson has a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications, majoring in Film and German Studies, and a Master of Creative Writing, both from the University of Sydney. For the last few years, she has worked with social media and brand marketing for different companies and her freelance articles have been published widely in print and online. Her first book was a self-published poetry collection, Underwater Musings, and she has been a Swiftie since she was 13 so it makes sense that this unauthorised biography is her second printed work. Originally from the beaches near Sydney, Australia, she now lives in London.

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Book Synopsis'Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman' - Ian Thomson, IndependentThe penultimate volume of Peter Ackroyd’s masterful History of England series, Dominion begins in 1815 as national glory following the Battle of Waterloo gives way to post-war depression, spanning the last years of the Regency to the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901.In it, Ackroyd takes us from the accession of the profligate George IV whose government was steered by Lord Liverpool, who was firmly set against reform, to the reign of his brother, William IV, the 'Sailor King', whose reign saw the modernization of the political system and the abolition of slavery. But it was the accession of Queen Victoria, aged only eighteen, that sparked an era of enormous innovation. Technological progress – from steam railways to the first telegram – swept the nation and the finest inventions were showcased at the first Great Exhibition in 1851. The emergence of the middle classes changed the shape of society and scientific advances changed the old pieties of the Church of England, and spread secular ideas across the nation. But though intense industrialization brought boom times for the factory owners, the working classes were still subjected to poor housing, long working hours and dire poverty.It was a time that saw a flowering of great literature, too. As the Georgian era gave way to that of Victoria, readers could delight not only in the work of Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth but also the great nineteenth-century novelists: the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Mrs Gaskell, Thackeray, and, of course, Dickens, whose work has become synonymous with Victorian England.Nor was Victorian expansionism confined to Britain alone. By the end of Victoria’s reign, the Queen was also an Empress and the British Empire dominated much of the globe. And, as Ackroyd shows in this richly populated, vividly told account, Britannia really did seem to rule the waves.Trade ReviewA masterful assessment of a period that saw change in every area of life * History Revealed *It is Ackroyd’s depiction of an anxious society in the grip of rapid change – industrialisation, fast urbanisation, the impact of the railway and the electric telegraph – that is the most riveting … fascinating * The Times *Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman -- Ian Thomson * Independent *Ackroyd is a fascinating mix of a nineteenth-century narrative historian and modern social analyst -- Gerard de Groot * The Times *Ackroyd’s trademark insight and wit, and the glorious interconnectedness of all things, permeate each page * Observer *Ackroyd writes with such lightly worn erudition and a deceptive ease that he never fails to engage * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThis book describes how liberalization, deregulation, and privatization had catastrophic effects on former Soviet Bloc countries from the period of 1989 to the present.Trade Review"Winner of the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2015""Finalist for the 2017 Prix du Livre Européen, Esprit d’Europe"

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Book Synopsis"An intoxicating read. You'll want to consume it twice." —A.J. Baime, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental President and Dewey Defeats TrumanA fun little book packed with historic Churchill information, drinking companions, locations, and preferences, as well as plenty of cocktail recipes! Churchill was seldom short of a witty remark, and made his views on drinking quite well-known: “I have taken far more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” When feeling down he said he felt like “a bottle of champagne . . . left uncorked for the night.” And when encouraging a young government minister to indulge in another drink, he promised, “Go ahead, I won’t write it in my diary.”Divided into four sections—Drink Choices, Drinking Companions, Drinking Spots, and Drink Recipes—this book will keep readers turning the pages of fresh and fun material as they lift a drink along with Winston. The book will also focus on the various eras—from the 1910s through the 1960s—the times in which he was drinking alone and with others. Working with the historic companies that kept him refreshed, it will include vintage advertisements and marketing material from their closely guarded archives.Winston certainly drank with a colorful cast of characters, and you’ll glimpse those such as FDR, Stalin, Coco Chanel, Charlie Chaplin, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and various other kings, queens, dukes, and duchesses. Among the elegant settings we will pop in and out of for a drink include Hearst Castle, Chanel’s house in the South of France, the Ritz Hotel in Paris, the Dorchester in London, Monaco, the Savoy, the Biltmore, and of course the bars and first-class cabins of the famed ocean liners the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary. So raise a glass and join us in toasting Churchill’s life and unique abilities!Trade Review"An intoxicating read. You'll want to consume it twice. . . . We've all been asked the question: If you could have a drink with anyone, who would it be? Churchill should be high on anyone's list, and that's what this book is: a round of your favorite with the man himself, a deep dive into the life of the man where other biographies don't go." —A.J. Baime, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental President and Dewey Defeats Truman "When Winston Churchill was fighting them on the beaches, he only surrendered to his favorite Champagne (and other punchy libations). Churchill’s fave drinks and lots of fun anecdotes are yours in Churchill: A Drinking Life. This entertaining and, dare I say, bubbly book won’t give you a hangover. Cheers to Churchill!" —Jack Ohman, Pulitzer Prizewinning Editorial Cartoonist, The Sacramento Bee "A breezy informal fun recounting of Winston Churchill’s favorite drinks as well as where and with whom he liked to have a glass. It is nicely presented with several photographs and many illustrations. In terms of what Churchill liked to drink the authors cover Champagne, Whisky, Brandy, Cognac, Gin, Wine, and Port; drinking companions include Lord Beaverbrook, Franklin Roosevelt, and Aristotle Onassis; and where he liked to drink include Claridge’s, Chartwell, and The Savoy. . . . Churchill, A Drinking Life is an enjoyable light-hearted “wander through Winston’s liquor cabinet.” —Bradley P. Tolppanen, Winston Churchill Bllog

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Book SynopsisThe Isle of Skye offers a magical combination of wild land and breath-taking natural beauty. Skye's geological history involves some of the most ancient rocks on the planet; a grandstand view as the Highlands of Scotland were formed over 400 million years ago and the development of one of the mightiest volcanoes ever to blow its top. Skye is also known as Scotland's 'dinosaur island', yielding the remains of many species of plant and meat-eating creatures that stalked land some 140 million years ago. Finally, the rocks forged in earlier times were shaped into the familiar hills and glens of today by the passage of ice as a great freeze gripped the land. This book provides key information about the formation of the island and the on-going processes of natural landscape evolution that continue to leave their mark on these spectacular vistas.Trade Review'Not only are they a wealth of information on Scotland's past, they offer valuable insight as Scotland’s future becomes increasingly uncertain due to climate change' * Dundee Courier *Table of ContentsAlan McKirdy has written many popular books and book chapters on geology and related topics and has helped to promote the study of environmental geology in schools. Before his recent retirement he was Head of Information Management at Scottish Natural Heritage.

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Book SynopsisA riveting study of Africa's demographics – its youth and growth – and what they mean for the continent, today and into the future. 'Essential reading' Guardian 'Intensely researched – and very important!' The Week 'The research in Youthquake is meticulous' Tim Marshall, Reaction 'Attempts to end the hysteria and ignorance surrounding demographic trends' New Statesman 'Meticulously researched, nuanced and brilliant' Mary Harper Africa's population growth in the last 50 years has been unprecedented. By mid-century, the continent will make up a quarter of the global population, compared to one-tenth in 1980. Africa's youth is the most striking aspect of its demography. As the rest of the world ages, almost 60 per cent of Africa's population is younger than 25 years old. This 'youthquake' will have immense consequences for the social, economic and political reality in Africa. Edward Paice presents a detailed, nuanced analysis of the varied demography of Africa. He rejects the fanciful over-optimism of some commentators and doom-laden prophecies of others, while scrutinising received wisdom, and carefully considering the ramifications of the youthquake for Africa and the world.Trade ReviewEssential reading for anyone who wants to understand Africa and its place in the world * Guardian *Paice's attempt to end the hysteria and ignorance surrounding demographic trends, and to remind us that how we respond to them is above all a political question, will increase understanding of the possibilities and challenges facing the world * New Statesman *The research in Youthquake is meticulous – there are more than 70 graphs and hundreds of facts -- Tim Marshall, ReactionAn in-depth look at Africa's population data, while calling for a sense of humility in discussions around this topic * Irish Times *One of the great qualities of this fascinating book is even-handedness... Very sober, very fact-based, non-ideological – cool, calm and collected -- Mark Steyn, GB NewsThe youth bulge heading Africa's way is real, and in the next 30 years it will throw up economic, social and political problems for African states the like of which the world has never before witnessed. This demographic surge is neither a catastrophe nor a boon, but it is a wicked problem: one for which there is no easy or satisfactory solution. In this utterly compelling and important book, Edward Paice disentangles the facts from the fictions, the truths from the falsehoods, and tells us why Africa's future will shape the futures of us all. This is a book none of us should ignore -- David M. Anderson, Professor of African History, University of WarwickThis meticulously researched, nuanced and brilliant book takes apart simplistic, hysterical myths about Africa's population growth and what it means for the continent and the rest of the world. It presents a powerful case for Africa to be viewed as central, not peripheral, to the future, making up a quarter of the world's population by 2050 and providing about one-third of its working-age population -- Mary Harper, Africa Editor, BBC World Service NewsIf there is one book to choose that dissects the demography of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, then this is it. Edward Paice has achieved the feat of assembling the data and examining the trends by country to show the possibilities and challenges that come with fertility trends moving at different speeds. Required reading for those interested in Africa's development -- Kwame Owino, CEO, The Institute of Economic Affairs (Kenya)I greatly admired the author's command of Africa's demography and particularly appreciated his demolition of the demographic dividend -- John Cleland, former Professor of Medical Demography at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Fellow of the British AcademyPaice's text is heavy on statistics, but the goulash of arithmetic is easy to digest, as well as spiced with plenty of numerical eye-poppers * Spectator *Intensely researched – and very important! * The Week *Paice's excellent book [...] convincingly makes the point that African demography is a matter of truly universal importance -- Adam Tooze, Director of the European Institute at Columbia UniversityPaice's book is a monument of industry, a mine of information and invaluable reading for anyone who wants to understand the scale and implications of Africa's demographic growth -- Nick Westcott, African Affairs

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Book SynopsisHitler gave voice to a cry that came from the heart of a nation. Originally published in 1943, Darkness over Germany is a poignant and timely reminder of how high youth unemployment and the disenfranchised working class gave Hitler a savage worship. Between 1934 and 1938 Buller interviewed hundreds of men and women in Germany. This book is the result as Buller explores the deep sense of injustice felt by hundreds of German men and women which led to the ensuing Nazi ideology, and which could have been written today.

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Book SynopsisRead this book and the world''s most famous image will never look the same again. For the world''s greatest cultural icon still has secrets to reveal - not the silly secrets that the ''Leonardo loonies'' continue to advance, but previously unknown facts about the lives of Leonardo, his father, Lisa Gherardini, the subject of the portrait, and her husband Francesco del Giocondo. From this factual beginning we see how the painting metamorphosed into a ''universal picture'' that became the prime vehicle for Leonardo''s prodigious knowledge of the human and natural worlds. We learn about the new money of the ambitious merchant who married into the old gentry of Lisa''s family. We discover Lisa''s life as a wife and mother, her association with sexual scandals, and her later life in a convent. We meet, for the first time, previously undiscovered members of Leonardo''s immediate family and discover new information about his early life. The tiny hill town of Vinci is placed before us, with itTrade ReviewKemp analyses the painting as a key to all of Leonardos thinking and works, describing it as the 'window of the soul', in which is reflected all the knowledge acquired by the artist-scientist in the course of his life spent in the study of anatomy, optics, perspective, geology, atmosphere, hydrology and the science of painting. * Pietro C. Marani, The Burlington Magazine *Elegantly-produced study. * Richard Owen, The Tablet *This well-researched book is also highly readable: after so many bunkum theories, the sober truth about the Mona Lisa's origins comes across as surprisingly radical and refreshing. * Alastair Smart, Prospect *Riveting reading... This book is a veritable mine of information. Beautifully written, it reaches out in an engaging and fluid way to those who know relatively little about the subject, whilst still imparting fascinating new evidence to the more experienced on the origins of the painting, and also about Mona Lisa herself. It is not just a further paean to 'the most famous painting in the world', it also offers to the reader a rich and tantalising picture of the world in which Leonardo da Vinci inhabited, and the huge part that an insignificant bourgeois woman, Mona Lisa del Gioconda, played in history. * Sandra Callard, On: Yorkshire Magazine *This book is state of-the-art informative and will be mightily useful for students. * James Hall, Literary Review *A model of clear-headed rationality, succinct, intriguing and marvellously readable. * Michael Bird, Daily Telegraph *[Kemp & Pallanti] marshal meticulous research into the family histories of painter, patron and subject; deep knowledge of the traditions and allusions of Renaissance art; and scientific analyses of the venerated object. * Philip Ball, Nature *Brings the portrait of the enigmatic Lisa into a sharper focus than ever before. * Ross King, Woodstock and Bladon News *Fascinating... revelatory... with their scholarly and fluent book Kemp and Pallanti have given Lisa Gherardini, mother and silk merchants wife, a new lease of authentic life and re-established the Mona Lisa as an extraordinary painting with ordinary origins. * Michael Prodger, The Sunday Times *[A] stimulating study grounded in documentary and literary sources, not to mention the painting itself.Readable and informative, this book is invaluable for offering a better understanding of the painting.Essential * na, CHOICE *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction 1: Old Gentry and New Money: Lisa and Francesco 2: Leonardo from Vinci 3: Ser Piero and Francesco 4: An intermittent History 1: Renaissance Records 5: An intermittent History 2: The Rise to Fame 6: From Portrait to Poetry 1: Dolce still nuovo 7: From Portrait to Poetry 2: Painter and Poets 8: The Universal Picture 9: Close Observation: Science Intervenes Conclusion Index Further Reading

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Book SynopsisThe `Dutch Golden Age'', the age of Grotius, Spinoza, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and a host of other renowned artists and writers was also remarkable for its immense impact in the spheres of commerce, finance, shipping, and technology. It was in fact one of the most spectacularly creative episodes in the history of the world. In this book, Jonathan Israel gives the definitive account of the emergence of the United Provinces as a great power, and explains the subsequent decline in the eighteenth century. He places the thought, politics, religion, and social developments of the Golden Age in their broad context, and examines the changing relationship between the northern Netherlands and the south, which was to develop into modern Belgium.One of the principal aims of the book is to counter the oversimplification which characterizes so much history writing today, and to provide a new type of integrated history which draws the different dimensions of the discipline firmly together in strictly non-technical language. The result is a comprehensive and lucid account as useful to the reader primarily interested in artistic and cultural history as to the student who needs a survey of the Republic''s institutions, class structure, and economic development. At the same time it will provide an invaluable aid to scholars interested in new research and new interpretations.Trade ReviewThis is a magnificent doorstop of a book ... As an account of what made possible one of the most dazzling "Golden Ages" in European history it is unlikely to be bettered. * Sunday Telegraph *Israel has produced a classic ... Any scholar would be delighted to write a book of such learning, vigour and confidence. Very few indeed have done so, and no other has matched Israel on his topic. * THES *Table of ContentsPART 1: THE MAKING OF THE REPUBLIC, 1477-1588 ; PART 2: THE EARLY GOLDEN AGE, 1588-1647 ; PART III: THE LATER GOLDEN AGE, 1647-1702 ; PART IV: THE AGE OF DECLINE, 1702-1806

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Book SynopsisIan Stewart (Author) Professor Ian Stewart is the author of many popular science books. He is the mathematics consultant for New Scientist and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. He was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize for furthering the public understanding of science, and in 2001 became a Fellow of the Royal Society.Terry Pratchett (Author) Terry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any. www.terrypratchettbooks.comJack Cohen (Author) Dr Jack Cohen is an internationally-known reproductive biologist, and lives in Newent, Gloucestershire. Jack has a laboratory in his kitchen, helps couples get pregnant by referring them to colleagues, invents biologically realistic aliens for science fiction writers and, in his spare time, throws boomerangs. Jack, who has more letters to his name than can be repeated here, writes, lectures, talks and campaigns to promote public awareness of science, particularly biology. He is mostly retired.Trade ReviewSuperb, neatly fulfilling its goal of introducing science without being boring or didactic. This is a genuinely mind-expanding and very funny book. * Good Book Guide *Entertaining, instructive and illuminating * New Scientist *

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Book SynopsisAn enthralling account of day-to-day life in a medieval French village. Using records gathered by the Catholic Church in its pursuit of heretics, the book recreates the lives of a rich cast of village characters.Table of ContentsPart 1 The ecology of Montaillou - the house and the shepherd: environment and authority; the domus; a dominant house - the Clergue family; the shepherds; the great migrations; the life of the shepherds in the Pyrenees; the shepherd's mental outlook. Part 2 An archaeology of Montaillou - from body language to myth: body language and sex; the libido of the Clergues; temporary unions; marriage and love; marriage and the condition of women; childhood and other ages in life; death in Montaillou; cultural exchanges; social relationships; concepts of time and space; fate, magic and salvation; religion in practice; morality, wealth and labour; magic and the other world.

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Book SynopsisA TIMES POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEARA LONGMAN/HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEARThe award-winning history of the British Welfare State now fully revised and updated for the 21st Century.A masterpiece' Sunday TimesGiant Want. Giant Disease. Giant Ignorance. Giant Squalor. Giant Idleness.These were the Five Giants that loomed over the post-war reconstruction of Britain. The battle against them was fought by five gargantuan programmes that made up the core of the Welfare State: social security, health, education, housing and a policy of full employment.This book brilliantly captures the high hopes of the period in which the Welfare State was created and the cranky zeal of its inventor, William Beveridge, telling the story of how his vision inspired an entire country. The pages of this modern classic hum with the energies and passions of activists, dreamers and ordinary Britons, and seethe with personal vendettas, forced compromises, awkward contradictions, and the noisy rows of the succeeding seventy years. The Five Giants is a testament to a concept of government that is intertwined with so many of our personal histories, and a stark reminder of what we might stand to lose.Trade Review‘Why make a book that was first published in 1995 one of the political books of the year? Because this third edition of the classic history of the welfare state adds 16 years to the previous account. Anyone who hasn’t read Five Giants will want to start at the beginning, particularly for the excellent account of the founding of the NHS. But those with previous editions will find, for instance, the explanation of how the Lansley health reforms went wrong riveting’ Danny Finkelstein, The Times ‘For years now, old copies of The Five Giants have been changing hands in Westminster for dizzying sums – and for a simple reason. Other books just offer fragments of the story of British government, only this gives you the full picture. I lend my copy to new recruits at The Spectator not as history but as a guide to what they will encounter – and how the same problems keep surfacing again and again. The facts and the figures, the jokes and one-liners, the power and the personality – The Five Giants has it all. It's possible to understand modern Britain without reading this book, but it's just a lot harder (and a lot less fun)’ Fraser Nelson, Spectator ‘Nicholas Timmins has done something extraordinary: he has made a masterpiece of contemporary history even better. Updated, extended and more relevant than ever, this book is quite simply indispensable’ Matthew d'Ancona ‘A tour de force – thoroughly researched and vividly written’ Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisOne of the world's foremost authorities on the Italian Renaissance, Lauro Martines was born in Chicago, has a Ph.D. from Harvard University, but has been living in London since 1970. Until recently he communted to Los Angeles, where he was Professor of European History at the University of California. He and his wife, the novelist Julia O'Faolain, lived for some years in Florence. His best known books include Lawyers and Statecraft in Renaissance Florence (1968), Society and History in English Renaissance Verse (1985), An Italian Renaissance Sextet: Six Tales in Historical Context (1994), Strong Words: Writing and Social Strain in the Italian Renaissance (2001), and Power and Imagination, now available in Pimlico.Trade ReviewA spine-chilling political drama of conspiracy, murder and bloody revenge * The Times *A riveting tale in which we can recognise analogies with our own world * Financial Times *Sheds light on the whole apparatus of political powering Renaissance Florence * Week *Captivating * Times Literary Supplement *Elegant and incisive...a masterful reconstruction * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisMeet the girl from MI5 who had the gravy browning licked from her legs by Dylan Thomas; the barman who was appointed the keeper of Winston Churchill's private bottle of whisky; the East End Communist who marched with his comrades into the air-raid shelter of the Savoy; the throneless prince born in a suite at Claridge's declared...

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Book SynopsisDogs Who Changed the World is a beautifully illustrated, heart-warming book that celebrates all dogs and proves that every single one of them is absolute magic. Dogs have trotted at our collective side for tens of thousands of years, bound up in the story of humanity. They have inspired great works of art, caught spies, reconnected lost lovers, dragged the drowning to safety... or have just haplessly and happily ruined everything.These 50 tales acknowledge our unbreakable relationship with the dog, the first-ever domesticated animal, and their dedication, heroism and unending sense of fun. Along the way we'll meet big-boned Barry, the hefty St Bernard credited with saving the lives of more than 40 lost souls in the Swiss Alps in the 1800s. We'll discover Sigmund Freud's calm-inducing chow chow, Jofi, who would sit in on his psychotherapy sessions (and never spilled a secret), and feel the frustration of Sir Isaac Newton, whose little terror Diamond apparently knocked over a candle and destroyed the physicist's most important manuscripts.

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Book SynopsisVienna is unique amongst world capitals in its consistent international importance over the centuries. From the ascent of the Habsburgs as Europe's leading dynasty to the Congress of Vienna, which reordered Europe after Napoleon, to bridge- building summits during the Cold War, it is the Austrian capital that has been the scene of key moments in European and world affairs. History has been shaped by scores of figures influenced by their time in Vienna, including: Empress Maria Theresa, Count Metternich, Bertha von Suttner, Theodore Herzl, Gustav Mahler, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, John F. Kennedy and many others. In a city of great composers and thinkers it is here that both the most positive and destructive ideas of recent history have developed. From its time as the capital of an imperial superpower, through war, dissolution, dictatorship to democracy Vienna has reinvented itself and its relevance to the rest of the world. Trade Review'From the Congress of Vienna to the Austria World Summit the city of Vienna has hosted key meetings on peace to climate action. This is a first-class book about Vienna as the crossroads of civilization and as the international capital' -- Arnold Schwarzenegger'Your book is not just a declaration of love for Vienna, it is a pleasure to read and a journey of discovery even for those who know this city well' -- Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria'Angus Robertson with his intimate knowledge of the city has brilliantly chronicled Vienna's history through the centuries and illustrated it with innumerable vignettes from contemporary observers. He has succeeded in painting a thoroughly enjoyable portrait of a great international capital' -- Hella Pick, Author and Foreign Correspondent'"At the heart of Europe" is how the Viennese describe their city geographically. Thanks to Angus Robertson they now have a rollicking historical tribute to Vienna’s pivotal role through the ages as an international city - from Roman times to the modern day, via the Habsburgs and Hitler. Clearly smitten with his adopted city, Robertson carefully selects colourful contemporary accounts to bring the past to life, while importantly not shying away from Vienna’s darker moments' -- Katya Adler, BBC Europe Editor'What an enjoyable cosmopolitan and exuberant celebration of Vienna by a someone who really knows and loves that great city' -- Simon Sebag Montefiore'It offers a fresh perspective on the city in which Robertson worked as a journalist for nearly a decade and involved extensive original research' * Glasgow Herald *'An astonishingly comprehensive survey of the history of Vienna' -- Yorkshire Post * Joyce MacMillan *'Tells the story of Vienna’s diplomatic and historical significance in a new, complete history of the city' * Edinburgh Life *'Hopefully you will all read the book by Angus Robertson…this is a really serious book about Vienna' -- Ambassador Emil Brix, Director of Vienna Diplomatic Academy'Vienna: The International Capital - To my knowledge it’s the first and only book on that topic. Angus Robertson did fantastic research ... I think there is no peer for this book' -- Michael Zimmerman, Austrian Ambassador to UK'Tremendously good book, with tremendous narrative energy which powers the story forward on every page. It’s beautifully written. I thought I knew about this region of Europe having worked there for many, many years. I learnt something on every page. I think it is a very, very serious achievement and congratulations, I cannot praise it too highly' -- Allan Little, Director Edinburgh Book Festival and former BBC Special Correspondent'Robertson’s enthusiasm for his subject carries across in the breadth of accounts and the fine detail throughout. An impressive work of research, the book is a comprehensive history that in its best moments, manages to find fresh nuance in an already storied city' -- Sam Jackson * Metropole *'[Robertson] has an eye for the telling detail and illustrative anecdote… [with] well-chosen vignettes by contemporary observers through the ages' -- Lord Tugendhat * House Magazine *'A useful historical introduction to Vienna, with a focus on high politics' -- Stefan Wagstyl * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisAngel in the Forest is Marguerite Young's fascinating chronicle of two attempts to establish utopian communities in nineteenth-century America.In it, she recounts the strange tale of New Harmony, Indiana, a community originally founded in 1814 by the German mystic Father George Rapp, who wanted to apply Scriptural communism to daily life in order to bring about the New Jerusalem. It was sold in 1825 to Robert Owen, the father of British socialism who, with a group of English immigrants, implemented his own theories for a perfect community, this time based on rationalism.Both experiments failed, but Young finds in both a distinctively American yearning for utopia, which continues to characterize the American spirit to this day: a tradition of faith and folly can be traced from Owen's New Moral World to George Bush's New World Order.Written with the same elegance, wit, and lyric beauty that distinguishes her fiction, Angel in the Forest was widely praised upon its first publication in 1945. This edition includes Mark Van Doren's introduction to Scribner's 1966 reprint.Trade Review“When a poet chooses to write history facts gain in power and in dimension. Young is a meticulous scholar, but she illumines every description and every character with her laser light of significance. Her facts radiate wit and irony and are incarnated in human beings.” —Anaïs Nin, Los Angeles Times”One of my very treasured books . . . the best book I know on the subject of the early primitive religious cults. I hope it will get the attention it deserves.” —Katherine Anne PorterTable of ContentsContentsNew Harmony Today—A Glimpse in Summer, 1940Backward into Old Harmony—A Dissolving VistaThe Children of the Ozarks, 1940The Children of IsraelA Journey to the WabashA Machine Like ClockworkA City Whose Ten Gates Are of GoldFrederick Rapp, the Lord TemporalThe Exodus of the Rappites from HarmonyThe Coming of OneThe Fading of the Golden RoseAnother Coming, Another DispensationA Pilgrim's ProgressDearest CarolineAn Eden of ChildrenParadise Was LostJehovah and RousseauInterviews with Emperors and KingsNew Harmony, the Goal of ManAmerica, the Promised LandThe Pears FamilyThe Fool of NatureNoah's Ark, the Maid of Mist, the Boatload of KnowledgeNew Harmony, the Golden RoseAn Adult ViewSerpents in the GardenThe Declaration of Mental IndependenceExodus from New HarmonyGlaucas, 1940The Third Age of New HarmonyRobert Owen's Ideal Made Real to Dwell Among UsBuilder of Old HarmonyUtopia in BedlamFarewell to New Harmony

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Book SynopsisThe topics covered in this book can be divided into four broad groups: studies of labour conditions up to the middle of the nineteenth century; studies in the ''new trade unionism'' of 1889 to 1914; studies in the late nineteenth-century revival of Socialism in Britain; and more general topics covering a wider chronological span. The common factor in this wide-ranging work is that, unlike much other work of labour history, it concentrates on the working classes as such, and on the economic and technical conditions which allowed labour movements to be effective or which prevented their effectiveness.This work is notable not only for its clarity and incisiveness, but also for the richness and variety of the material, which ranges from Marx to Methodism and from labour traditions to the machine breakers.

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Book SynopsisIt was a massive, yet little-known landmark in modern history: in 1923, after a long war over the future of the Ottoman world, nearly 2 million citizens of Turkey or Greece were moved across the Aegean, expelled from their homes because they were of the 'wrong' religion. Orthodox Christians were deported from Turkey to Greece, Muslims from Greece to Turkey. At the time, world statesmen hailed the transfer as a solution to the problem of minorities who could not coexist. Both governments saw the exchange as a chance to create societies where a single culture prevailed. But how did the people who crossed the Aegean feel about this exercise in ethnic engineering? Bruce Clark's fascinating account of these turbulent events draws on new archival research in Greece and Turkey and interviews with some of the surviving refugees, allowing them to speak for themselves for the first time.Trade ReviewTwice a Stranger is a book that needed to be written, and Bruce Clark has achieved it superbly. Anyone with an interest in Greece or Turkey ought to read it * Daily Telegraph *[A] wise new book ... fascinating * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Great Famine is possibly the most pivotal event/experience in modern Irish history. Its global reach and implications cannot be underestimated. In terms of mortality, it is now widely accepted that over a million people perished between the years 1845-1852 and at least one million and a quarter fled the country, the great majority to North America, some to Australia and a significant minority ((0.3 million) to British cities. Ireland had been afflicted by famine before the events of the 1840s; however the Great Famine is marked by both its absolute scale and its longevity. It is also better remembered because it was the most recent and best documented famine. This atlas comprising over fifty individual chapters and case studies will provide readers with a broad range of perspectives and relevant insights into this tragic event. The atlas begins by acknowledging the impossibility of adequately representing the Great Famine or any major world famine. Yet by exploring a number of themes from a reconstruction of pre-Famine Ireland onwards to an exploration of present-day modes of remembering; by the use of over 150 highly original computer generated parish maps of population decline, social transformation and other key themes between the census years 1841 and 1851: and through the use of poetry, contemporary paintings and accounts, illustrations and modern photography, what this atlas seeks to a achieve is a greater understanding of the event and its impact and legacy. This atlas seeks to try and bear witness to the thousands and thousands of people who died and are buried in mass Famine pits or in fields and ditches, with little or nothing to remind us of their going. The centrality of the Famine workhouse as a place of destitution is also examined in depth. Likewise the atlas seeks to represent and understand the conditions and experiences of the many thousands who emigrated from Ireland in those desperate years. Included are case studies of famine emigrants in cities such as Liverpool, Glasgow, New York and Toronto. A central concern of the atlas is to seek to understand why a famine of this scale should occur in a nineteenth-century European country, albeit a country which was subject to imperial rule. In addition, it seeks to reveal in detail the working-out and varying consequences of the Famine across the island. To this end, apart from presenting an overall island-wide picture, Famine experiences and patterns will be presented separately for the four provinces. These provincial explorations will be accompanied by intimate case studies of conditions in particular localities across the provinces. The atlas also seeks to situate the Great Irish Famine in the context of a number of world famines. To achieve these goals and understandings, the atlas includes contributions from a wide range of scholars who are experts in their fields - from the arts, folklore, geography, history, archaeology, Irish and English languages and literatures.Trade ReviewCork University Press has established an enviably high reputation in producing atlases. The latest - of the Great Irish Famine - maintains and enhances this record. Not only are the maps themselves innovative and attractive to look at, but they communicate clearly an abundance of information, often unfamiliar. The cartography is accompanied by a wealth of other images, sometimes strikingly beautiful, and also hauntingly distressful. In addition, a starry cast of experts provides incisive and illuminating commentary on all aspects of the disaster. All in all, this is likely to prove one of the most original and enduring studies of the grievous famine. Toby Barnard, History, Oxford University This monumental work is far more than an Atlas, it is the definitive summary of all aspects of the Great Irish Famine. The many maps are accompanied by accessible yet scientifically sound texts. The demographics and geography are surveyed with unequaled detail and care, yet the historical background, the politics, and the economics of the Famine are discussed at an equally high scholarly level. Lavishly illustrated and scholarly immaculate, written by the best scholars in the field, this volume belongs in the library of everyone interested in the greatest natural disaster of the modern age - Joel Mokyr, Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics, Northwestern University, USA This Atlas offers a powerful, unflinching and coherent understanding of the Irish Famine as the defining event in Irish history. It balances sweeping survey with minute details, while always attending to the surprising diversity of this small island in the mid nineteenth century. Its unparalleled assemblage of new maps, old images and extensive documentation offers a brilliant teaching aid for the history of Ireland and of the Irish diaspora. Firmly rooted in recent research, saturated in meticulous scholarship, and interdisciplinary in the best sense, it is unafraid to draw the necessary trenchant conclusions. Its broad synthesis offers the best overview we have ever had of this traumatic and defining episode-Professor Kevin Whelan, Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre, Dublin.Table of ContentsAtlas of the Great Irish Famine 1845-52 Editors: John Crowley, William J. Smyth, Mike Murphy Preface President Mary McAleese* Poem by Eavan Boland Introduction: John Crowley ,William J. Smyth, Mike Murphy Section 1 Ireland before and after the Great Famine (Double page spread) Chapter 1The tragedy of the Great Famine (W. J. Smyth) * Chapter 2 Mapping the people: the growth and distribution of the population (W. J. Smyth)* Case study: 1741 Famine (David Dickson)* Chapter 3 The failure of the potato and the Famine (John Feehan)* Case study: The Failure of the potato: Baunreagh, Co. Laois (John Feehan)* Case study - Pre-Famine diet (Regina Sexton)* Section II The Great Hunger Chapter 4 The longue duree - imperial Britain and colonial Ireland (W. J. Smyth)* Chapter 5 The colonial dimensions of the Great Irish Famine (David Nally)* Chapter 6 British relief measures (Peter Gray)* Box: Sir Charles Trevelyan (Peter Gray)* Chapter 7 The Operation of the Poor Law during the Famine (Christine Kinealy)* Case study: Queen Victoria and the Famine (Christine Kinealy)* Box: Burying and resurrecting the Past (John Crowley)* Chapter 8: 'The largest amount of good': Quaker relief efforts (Helen Hatton)* Chapter 9 'Born astride a grave': the geography of the dead (W. J. Smyth)* Section III The Workhouse Chapter 10 The creation of the workhouse system (W. J. Smyth) Chapter 11 Classify, Confine, Discipline and Punish - the Roscrea Union: A Microgeography of the Workhouse System during the Famine (W. J. Smyth)* Case Study: Famine and workhouse clothing (Hilary O'Kelly)* Case study: The Cork workhouse (Michelle O'Mahony)* Chapter : 12 Ulster workhouses-ideological geometry and conflict (Liz Thomas)* Case study: Lurgan/Portadown workhouse during the Famine (Gerard Mac Atasney)* Section IV Population Decline and Social Transformation Chapter 13 Mortality (Cormac O Grada)* Chapter 14 'Variations in vulnerability': understanding where and why people died (W. J. Smyth)* Chapter 15 Medical relief and the Great Famine (Laurence Geary)* Case study: Report upon the recent epidemic fever in Ireland': the evidence from Co. Cork (Laurence Geary)* Chapter 16 Emigration in the Era of the Great Famine, 1845-1855(Kerby Miller)* Chapter 17 The cities and towns of Ireland 1841-1851 (Kevin Hourihan)* Chapter 18 The roles of cities and towns before and during the Great Famine (William J. Smyth) Chapter 19 Women and the Great Irish Famine (Dympna McLoughlin)* Chapter 20 Their 'Undoubted and Most Sacred Right': The behaviour of the landed classes during the Great Irish Famine (David Butler)* Box: 'Turned out...thrown down': Evictions in the townlands of Bunkilla and Monavanshare, Donoughmore, Co. Cork (John O'Connell)* Connacht Introduction Case study: Clifden Union, Connemara, Co. Galway (Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill)* Case study: In the shadow of Sliabh an Iarann, Co. Leitrim (Gerard Mac Atasney)* Case study: The Famine in Co. Roscommon (Mary Kelly)* Case study: Ballykilcline, Co. Roscommon (Charles Orser)* Leinster Introduction Case study: Co. Meath during the Famine (Peter Connell)* Case study: Burying the Famine dead: Kilkenny Workhouse (Jonny Geber)* Case study: Co. Offaly during the Famine (Ciaran Reilly) Munster Introduction Case study: The Mizen Peninsula (Patrick Hickey)* Case study: The Famine in the County Tipperary parish of Shanrahan (William J. Smyth)* Case study: The Dingle Peninsula (Kieran Foley)* Case study: Cobh/Queenstown (Marita Foster)* Box: Visit of Queen Victoria to Cove, August 1849 (Marita Foster)* Ulster Introduction Case study The Great Famine and Religious Demography in mid-nineteenth century Ulster (Kerby A. Miller, Brian Gurrin and Liam Kennedy)* Case study: Belfast's hidden famine (Christine Kinealy* and Gerard Mac Tasney*) Case study: Mapping the Famine in Monaghan (Paddy Duffy)* Case study: The management of Famine in Donegal in the hungry forties (Jim MacLaughlin)* Section V Witnessing the Famine Chapter 21 The Famine in Gaelic manuscripts (Neil Buttimer)* Case study: James Mahony (c.1816-c.1859) (Julian Campbell)* Chapter 22 Asenath Nicholson's Famine narrative (Lorraine Chadwick)* Chapter 23 Carlyle's journey through Famine Ireland (John Crowley)* Case study: French response to the Great Famine (Grace Neville)* Section VI The Scattering Chapter 24 Exodus from Ireland - patterns of emigration (William J. Smyth) Chapter 25 Black 47' in Liverpool (Patrick Nugent and Carmen Tunney)* Box: The Fidelia (Patrick Nugent and Carmen Tunney)* Chapter 26: Glasgow, the Famine and the emergence of Glasgow Celtic (John Reid)* Case study: London's Famine burial site (Natasha Powers)* Chapter 27 Toronto and the Irish Famine Migration (Mark McGowan)* Box: Gross Ile (Mark McGowan)* Chapter 28 The Famine and New York (Anelise H. Shrout)* Box: New York's Famine memorial (Joe Lee)* Chapter 29 The Famine and Australia (Thomas Keneally)* Chapter 30 'Week after week, the eviction and the Exodus: Ireland and Moreton Bay, 1848-51 (Jennifer Harrison)* Section VII Legacy Chapter 31 The Irish Diaspora (Piaras MacEinri)* Chapter 32 Post-Famine Ireland (Willie Nolan)* Chapter 33 The Irish language (Mairead Nic Craith) Section VIII Remembering the Famine Chapter: 34 Folklore and memory (Cathal Poirteir)* Box: Na Pratai Dubha Case study: Tadhg O Murchu (1842-1928) (Cathal Poirteir)* Chapter: 35 New Sites of memory (J Crowley)* Box: Memory and Music (M. Ingoldsby)* Chapter 36 'Strokestown Park House and the National Famine Museum as a site of memory'(Terence Dooley)* Box: A Great Famine Discovery of Viking Gold: Vesnoy, Strokestown, Co. Roscommon (John Sheehan)* Chapter 37 Art and the Famine (Catherine Marshall)* Box: Remembering (Anet Hennessey)* Chapter 38 Literature and the Famine (Chris Morash)* Section IX Hunger and Famine Today Chapter 39 The Great Famine and today's Famines (Cormac O Grada)* Chapter 40 Famine, food security or food sovereignty? (Colin Sage)* Case study: Imaging Famine: Whose Hunger? (Luke Dodd)* Chapter 41 Fighting Hunger: Ireland's role (Connell Foley, Policy Director, Concern)* ENDNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisA terrific, lavishly illustrated look at the fascinating world of American roadside signs.

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Book SynopsisAn award-winning pastry chef’s foolproof recipes and fresh take on the history of American desserts, from chocolate chip cookies to toaster pastries.Trade Review"This is not everyday baking – nor does it celebrate an everyday occasion – but the whisking of egg whites to make the marshmallow icing (inspiration for which I thank the ever-illuminating, ever-inspiring American baker-sleuth Stella Parks, author of the compendious BraveTart)..." -- Nigella Lawson - Observer Food Monthly"Fans of American desserts need look no further than this book." -- Choice

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