Social and cultural history Books

Book Synopsis'Alpha has become a global phenomenon and, in this well-researched and compelling account, it has now found its historian.' —Professor Timothy Larsen (Wheaton College) for the Times Literary Supplement Alpha is a global phenomenon,  one of the most famous and controversial brands in Christian evangelization. Launched internationally in 1993, it has attracted wide public commentary over the decades, not only among churches but also in mainstream television, radio and newspapers such as TheEconomist and TheNew York Times. Even Elle and Fabulous have covered Alpha. Over a million participants attend the course every year and it has been a powerful driver of Christian innovation and resurgence in a secular culture.   Alpha’s presiding genius, Nicky Gumbel, has won plaudits as a new Billy Graham for the modern age. As Alpha prepares to mark its thirtieth anniversary in 2023, RepackaTrade ReviewA tale of vision, determination and extraordinary marketing . . . It's a fascinating story * The Sunday Times *It is a sympathetic picture, but not sycophantic. Space is given to the critics ... a well-written account of the early years of this significant and encouraging Christian enterprise. * Church Times *A good read . . . Atherstone writes well. * Baptist Times *A riveting and well-written story * Premier Christianity *Accessible and lucid . . . a thoroughly theological history, weighing the full range of views on Alpha, positive and negative * English Churchman *Meticulously researched * Life and Work *Fascinating and informative * Prophecy Today *Alpha has become a global phenomenon and, in this well-researched and compelling account, it has now found its historian. * TLS *

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Book SynopsisA profusely illustrated guide to the world of Ghostbusters collectables.

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Book SynopsisA generation after the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia shows every sign of having overcome its history- the streets of Phnom Penh are paved skyscrapers dot the skyline. But under this façade lies a country still haunted by its years of terror. Joel Brinkley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Cambodia on the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime that killed one quarter of the nation's population during its years in power. In 1992, the world came together to help pull the small nation out of the mire. Cambodia became a United Nations protectorate- the first and only time the UN tried something so ambitious. What did the new, democratically-elected government do with this unprecedented gift? In 2008 and 2009, Brinkley returned to Cambodia to find out. He discovered a population in the grip of a venal government. He learned that one-third to one-half of Cambodians who lived through the Khmer Rouge era have P.T.S.D.- and its afflictions are being passed to the next generation. His extensive close-up reporting in Cambodia's Curse illuminates the country, its people, and the deep historical roots of its modern-day behaviour.Trade ReviewKirkus, February 15, 2011 "An excellent...account of a country whose historic poverty, exacerbated by the Vietnam War, remains remarkably unchanged." Publishers Weekly "A riveting piece of literary reportage." Booklist"A heartbreaking but vital status report on a people who deserve far better." Foreign Affairs, May/June 2011"Brinkley cuts a clear narrative path through the bewildering, cynical politics and violent social life of one of the worlds most brutalized and hard-up countries."

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE POLITICAL BOOK AWARDS POLITICAL HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014.Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Profumo scandal, An English Affair is a sharp-focused snapshot of a nation on the brink of social revolution.Britain in 1963 Harold Macmillan was the Prime Minister of a Conservative government, dedicated to tradition, hierarchy and, above all, old-fashioned morality. But a breakdown of social boundaries saw nightclub hostesses mixing with aristocrats, and middle-class professionals dabbling in criminality. Meanwhile, Cold War paranoia gripped the public imagination.The Profumo Affair was a perfect storm, and when it broke it rocked the Establishment. In An English Affair', the author of the critically-acclaimed Titainic Lives' Richard Davenport-Hines brings Swinging London to life. The cast of players includes the familiar louche doctor Stephen Ward, good-time girls Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, and Secretary for War John Profumo himself. BTrade ReviewIndependent on Sunday Books of the Year ‘Wonderful and exacting’ Mail on Sunday Books of the Year ‘A breakneck thriller and a brilliant dissection of the times’ Independent on Sunday Books of the Year ‘This is more than simply an overview of the affair…Davenport-Hines skewers an entire society’ ‘A wonderful evocation of the period; a Rolls-Royce ride, with that hugely enjoyable sense of a writer being op top of his material and perfectly attuned to his subject’ David Kynaston, author of ‘Austerity Britain’ ‘An outstandingly evocative portrait of a hinge moment in our recent history, as well as a treasure trove of anecdotes’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times ‘Fascinating … a meticulous and witty portrait of a society built on the shaky foundations of snobbery, suspicion, hypocrisy and sexual anxiety’ Mail on Sunday ‘Mesmerising. Brilliantly researched, irresistibly readable, fiercely polemical, ‘An English Affair’ ought to sit on the desk of everyone who voices a view on the entanglement of politics, media and celebrity … No book about the British past this year will cast a fiercer light on the British present’ Independent ‘His research is impeccable and the story told with lip-smacking relish’ Daily Express ‘A superb book’ Evening Standard ‘[The Profumo Affair] has found a marvellous chronicler in Davenport-Hines, an incisive writer with a terrific eye for detail’ Sunday Telegraph ‘[A] superb account of the scandal’ Mail on Sunday, ‘[This] livid, lurid but enthralling history of “sex, class and power in the age of Profumo” boasts a rare passion and bravado’ Independent ‘Davenport-Hines is superb on the English … His eye is as shrewd and telling as Anthony Powell’s’ Times ‘It is written in a wonderfully sharp and witty style, and packed with illuminating details’ Craig Brown, Books of the year, Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisThe opening of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 marked the beginning of the railways' vital role in changing the face of Britain. Fire and Steam celebrates the vision and determination of the ambitious Victorian pioneers who developed this revolutionary transport system and the navvies who cut through the land to enable a country-wide network to emerge. From the early days of steam to electrification, via the railways' magnificent contribution in two world wars, the chequered history of British Rail, and the buoyant future of the train, Fire and Steam examines the social and economical importance of the railway and how it helped to form the Britain of today.Trade ReviewA marvellously informative, entertaining and rightly partisan book... that has given me more pleasure than any I can remember in quite a while. -- Rod Liddle * Sunday Times *Expertly explored and explicated, Wolmar never forgets the human dimension... A beautifully written, detailed (but never anoraky) history of two centuries of life on the iron road. -- Judith Flanders * Daily Telegraph *From the prolific pen of the nation's most passionate and well-known advocate of rail transport and travel... rich in anecdotes without being anecdotal, firmly rooted and referenced in a broad knowledge of our railways yet still an entertaining read. -- Peter Lyth * BBC History Magazine *A wonderful account of how our railways came to be. -- Jon Snow

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive examination of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture explores its extreme diversity within the context of tremendous social, economic and political upheaval. Bergdolls offers a penetrating analysis of the very ways issues of style functioned to make architecture one of the most vitally experimental of art forms in a period of sweeping political, social, and economic change. Never before had the functional requirements and expressive capacities of architecture been tested so thoroughly and with such diversity of invention. Bergdoll traces this experimentation in a broad range of contexts, focusing in particular on the relation of architectural design to new theories of history, new categories of scientific inquiry, and the broadening audience for architecture in this period of transformation. Unlike traditional surveys with long lists of buildings and architects, the themes are elucidated by in-depth coverage of key buildings which in turn are situated in both their local and European context.Trade Reviewit has an unrivalled consistency of argument ... this book makes a substantial contribution to present knowledge and provides a clear window on the one art form you cannot ignore.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; 1. NEOCLASSICISM: SCIENCE, ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROGRESS; 2. WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT? THE CITY AND THE PUBLIC, 1750-1789; 3. SENSATIONALISM FROM LANDSCAPE GARDEN TO THE ARCHITECTURE OF REFORM, 1750-1800; 4. REVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE; 5. NATIONALISM AND DEBATES ON ARCHITECTURAL STYLE; 6. HISTORICISM AND NEW BUILDING TYPES; 7. NEW TECHNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURAL FORM; 8. THE CITY TRANSFORMED; 9. FIN-DE-SIECLE; BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY; TIMELINE; GLOSSARY; INDEX

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Book SynopsisFew people rode the popular wave of the sixties quite like Tara Browne. One of Swinging London's most popular faces, he lived fast, died young and was immortalized for ever in the opening lines of 'A Day in the Life', a song that many critics regard as The Beatles' finest. But who was John Lennon's lucky man who made the grade and then blew his mind out in a car?Author Paul Howard has pieced together the extraordinary story of a young Irishman who epitomized the spirit of the times: racing car driver, Vogue model, friend of The Rolling Stones, style icon, son of a peer, heir to a Guinness fortune and the man who turned Paul McCartney on to LSD.I Read the News Today, Oh Boy is the story of a child born into Ireland's dwindling aristocracy, who spent his early years in an ancient castle in County Mayo, and who arrived in London just as it was becoming the most exciting city on the planet. The Beatles and the Stones were about to conquer America, Carnaby Street was setting the style template for the world and rich and poor were rubbing shoulders in the West End in a new spirit of classlessness. Among young people, there was a growing sense that they could change the world. And no one embodied the ephemeral promise of London's sixties better than Tara Browne.Includes a sixteen-page plate section of stunning colour photographs.Trade ReviewTara Browne was the golden boy around whom, for a short while, the entire extraordinary world of Sixties London seemed to revolve. Tara knew everybody and they all loved him, not for his money, as he feared, but because he, above them all, embodied the spirit of the age. I absolutely loved this book. It's a brilliant, vivid portrait of extraordinary times -- Miranda Seymour, author of In My Father's House After all these years, we at last know about the real life of the lucky man who made the grade. I found it fascinating to discover the true story of Tara Browne, a legend in a lyric. -- Hunter Davies, author of The Beatles: The Authorised BiographyI loved it! Howard's skilful evocation of an extraordinary turning point in cultural history is an absolute joy to read. The life of Tara Browne offers the perfect conduit into a psychedelic world populated by a legendary cast of characters that you simply couldn't make up. While it's clear that Howard undertook years of rigorous original research, his prose is always gripping and never laboured. The deep but slightly exasperated affection Howard feels for Browne injects pathos into this highly entertaining account of an extraordinary, chaotic, high-octane life -- Eleanor Fitzsimons, author of Wilde’s Women: How Oscar Wilde Was Shaped by the Women He Knew Tara Browne held the rare quality of romance. A figure of intense but passive glamour, he stood at the epicentre of the bohemian Anglo-Irish aristocracy and 1960s London at its most swinging, yet somehow gave the air of merely passing through life. In a wonderfully readable book, gleaming with detail, Paul Howard evokes the splendid vanished worlds that Browne inhabited and - no easy thing to do - makes us believe in his elusive, imperishable enchantment -- Laura Thompson, author of Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford SistersI read - no, devoured - I Read the News Today, Oh Boy. It's an absolute gem. Great humour is balanced with the sadness, and the writing is so deft with all that research woven so lightly into the mix. I can only imagine how much labour is involved in making it all flow so effortlessly -- John Butler, writer and director of The StagThis is a wonderful book about the Swinging Sixties; it opens a door into an extraordinary world that we all clung to long ago, and dreamed of remotely, at the other end of our tiny transistor radios. Back then we only knew the sound track. But this is the real thing. Man -- Michael Harding, author of Staring at Lakes: A Memoir of Love, Melancholy and Magical ThinkingA vivid and immaculately researched account of a remarkable life. A fascinating journey through post-war Irish and English society, in the company of a cast of extraordinary characters. -- Antony Edmonds, author of Oscar Wilde's Scandalous SummerI was fascinated to read this beautifully written book, which gripped me on many different levels. Vividly telling the extraordinary story of Tara Browne, a mythical figure through the Beatles' song, showing how extremes of love with no rules combined with limitless funds, is as disastrous as it is glamorous. Paul Howard documents in detail through his exacting conversations with many of the people in Tara's life, the post war/pre 60s British aristocratic attitudes - illuminating a life that seems more like centuries ago, than decades. Having been to Luggala as a child, and remembering my meeting with Oonagh, Paul brought her to life for me, told me much I had absolutely no idea about, showing both her brilliance and originality - and also the tragic outcome of many of her choices. It is a compelling read and a story that is only possible to believe because it is actually true. I can only hope that Julian and Dorian live more peaceful, if less exciting lives. -- Julia Samuel, founder of Child Bereavement UK and author of Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving Dramatic and engrossing . . . the opening chapters read like an Irish Great Gatsby by way of Downton Abbey . . . "A lucky man who made the grade", as The Beatles have it in A Day in the Life? This book removes Browne from a song lyric and repositions him as an alluring figure of wonderment . . . This is a masterpiece -- Brian Boyd * Irish Times *A richly populated history traced along this spirited character's journey from Ireland to Swinging London, it is a fascinating piece of work * Daily Telegraph *A masterpiece -- Ian O'Riordan * Irish Times *A compelling, sympathetic and unusually poignant book about someone whose star may have burned briefly, but who has left an indelible impression on almost everybody he left behind * Daily Mail *The devastating crash that killed him has become near folkloric, not least because of the Beatles song that is the title of this book. But for many people who read the news that day, Tara is alive and golden, beautiful and poetic, somewhere deep in their hearts today * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisUsing previously unpublished letters and personal interviews, The British and Cyprus is told through the words of the people who served the British Crown on Cyprus – civil and military – and includes fascinating accounts of the dramatic fight against EOKA in the 1950s, who pressed for an end to British rule on the island.

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Book SynopsisEverything you ever wanted to know about the workhouse in one richly illustrated volume

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Book SynopsisIn this blistering book, David Andress shows how the West has abandoned its history and lost its memory. The former great powers of the historic 'West' have abandoned themselves to senile daydreams of recovered youth. They have stirred up old hatreds given disturbing voice to destructive rage, and risked the collapse of their capacity for decisive, effective and just government. At the core of this is an abandonment of political attention to history, understood as a clear empirical grounding in how we reached our present condition. In Britain, France and the USA, historical stories are deployed in public debate as little more than dangerous fantasies.Trade ReviewTo understand our current political situation [...] this book is to be recommended as a handy primer - particularly on France's postwar political travails * Spectator *A stimulating look at the way in which history shapes events * History Revealed *[Andress] repudiates a collective failure to come to terms with the collapse of a historical bubble, when racist empire underwrote domestic achievement and granted international prestige * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''A scout must always be prepared at any moment to do his duty, and to face danger in order to help his fellow-men.''A startling amalgam of Zulu war-cry and imperial and urban myth, of borrowed tips on health and hygiene, and object lessons in woodcraft, Robert Baden-Powell''s Scouting for Boys (1908) is the original blueprint and ''self-instructor'' of the Boy Scout Movement. One of the all-time bestsellers in the English-speaking world, this primer of ''yarns and pictures'' constitutes probably the most influential manual for youth ever published. Yet the book is at the same time a roughly composed hodge-podge of jingoist lore and tracker legend, padded with lengthy quotations from adventure fiction and Baden-Powell''s own autobiography, and seamed through with the multiple anxieties of its time: fears of degeneration, concerns about masculinity and self-restraint, invasion paranoia. Elleke Boehmer''s edition of Scouting for Boys reprints the original text and illustrations, and her Trade Reviewvery good fun * Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph *the value of Elleke Boehmer's well-annotated text of the original edition is to show us the anxieties, contradictions and excitements of the Boy Scout movement at its inception * Alan Hollinghurst, Guardian *Elleke Boehmer's erudite introduction makes you wish she would get around to writing a full-length biogaphy of the first Chief Scout * William Cook, New Statesman *this fascinating volume tells us a lot about Baden-Powell, his movement and even to some extent the particular point in time when scouting was born' * Washington Times *Baden-Powell's work is well worth reading and re-reading, and that researchers with various interests and theoretical persuasions may find in its pages a great deal of interesting and rewarding material. * Thomas Kullman, Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen *a gripping read * The Oldie *

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Book SynopsisA work on the history of black dandyism. It examines the pivotal role that style has played in the politics and aesthetics of African diasporic identity formation.Trade Review“Miller’s study incites a much-needed dialogue between existing scholarship on the figure of the dandy—particularly its performative queering of modern narratives of masculinity and nationhood—and the legacies of imperialism and slavery that attest to the constant, if silent, presence of race and racializing discourse in those same narratives. . . . [A]n absorbing and timely study of the black dandy.” - Jaime Hanneken, Comparative Literature“Encompassing the genres of drama, fiction, photography, film, and sculpture, Miller's study highlights the ways in which diaspora can be located in the image and the imagination of the body and its garments. . . . The value of Miller's text is in its historical range.” - Alisa K. Braithwaite, Modern Fiction Studies“Monica L. Miller's book is the first of its kind: a lengthy written study of the history of black dandyism and the role that style has played in the politics and aesthetics of African and African American identity. She draws from literature, film, photography, print ads, and music to reveal the black dandy's underground cultural history and generate possibilities for the future. . . . [U]ncanny feats of scholarship that illustrate ways in which the figure of the black dandy has been an elephant-in-the-room — albeit a particularly well-dressed one.” - D. Scot Miller, San Francisco Bay Guardian“A model for cultural studies, Slaves to Fashion brings the rich,interdisciplinary scholarship of the black dandy into the twenty-first century, serving the fields of both black and American studies.” - Pamela J. Rader, MELUS“Miller has performed a cultural excavation, sifting through fragments of visual and literary culture to trace a history of black style and assemble the first history of black dandyism. Her work deserves a place among the finer recent contributions to black performance studies. . . .” - Kristin Moriah, Callaloo“Monica L. Miller’s close readings dazzle, and her historical reach—confident and unforced—is as long as the transnational arc of black dandyism here is wide. Arresting, discerning, responsible, and urgent, Slaves to Fashion is path-breaking. Literary criticism, visual history, and black Atlantic studies never looked so good.”—Maurice O. Wallace, author of Constructing the Black Masculine: Identity and Ideality in African American Men’s Literature and Culture, 1775–1995“Revising and augmenting scholarship on minstrelsy, literary representations of blackness, and black sartorial aesthetics and visual culture, Slaves to Fashion is an impressive and meticulously researched treatise on the history of the black dandy. It fills a gap in the scholarship on the cultural politics of black self-fashioning.”—E. Patrick Johnson, author of Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity“Encompassing the genres of drama, fiction, photography, film, and sculpture, Miller's study highlights the ways in which diaspora can be located in the image and the imagination of the body and its garments. . . . The value of Miller's text is in its historical range.” -- Alisa K. Braithwaite * Modern Fiction Studies *“Miller has performed a cultural excavation, sifting through fragments of visual and literary culture to trace a history of black style and assemble the first history of black dandyism. Her work deserves a place among the finer recent contributions to black performance studies. . . .” -- Kristin Moriah * Callaloo *“Miller’s study incites a much-needed dialogue between existing scholarship on the figure of the dandy—particularly its performative queering of modern narratives of masculinity and nationhood—and the legacies of imperialism and slavery that attest to the constant, if silent, presence of race and racializing discourse in those same narratives. . . . [A]n absorbing and timely study of the black dandy.” -- Jaime Hanneken * Comparative Literature *“Monica L. Miller's book is the first of its kind: a lengthy written study of the history of black dandyism and the role that style has played in the politics and aesthetics of African and African American identity. She draws from literature, film, photography, print ads, and music to reveal the black dandy's underground cultural history and generate possibilities for the future. . . . [U]ncanny feats of scholarship that illustrate ways in which the figure of the black dandy has been an elephant-in-the-room — albeit a particularly well-dressed one.” -- D. Scot Miller * San Francisco Bay Guardian *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction. Stylin' Out 1 1. Mungo Macaroni: The Slavish Swell 27 2. Crimes of Fashion: Dressing the Part from Slavery to Freedom 77 3. W. E. B. Du Bois's "Different Diasporic Race Man 137 4. "Passing Fancies": Dandyism, Harlem Modernism, and the Politics of Visuality 176 5. "You Look Beautiful Like That": Black Dandyism and the Histories of Black Cosmopolitanism 219 Notes 291 Bibliography 347 Index 371

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Book SynopsisIn 1254 the teenage heir to the English throne married a Spanish bride, the sister of the king of Castile, in Burgos, and their marriage of thirty-six years proved to be one of the great royal romances of the Middle Ages. Edward I of England and Leonor of Castile had at least fourteen children together, though only six survived into adulthood, five of them daughters. _Daughters of Edward I_ traces the lives of these five capable, independent women, including Joan of Acre, born in the Holy Land, who defied her father by marrying a second husband of her own choice, and Mary, who did not let her forced veiling as a nun stand in the way of the life she really wanted to live. The women's stories span the decades from the 1260s to the 1330s, through the long reign of their father, the turbulent reign of their brother Edward II, and into the reign of their nephew, the child-king Edward III.

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Book Synopsis'Iceland's 1100 Years' recounts the history of a society on the margin of Europe as well as on the margin of reaching the size and wealth of a proper state. Iceland is unique among the European societies in being founded as late as the Viking Age, and in surviving for centuries without any central power after Christianity had introduced the art of writing. This was the age of the Sagas, which are not only literature but also a rare treasury of sources about a stateless society. In sharp contrast to the prosperous society portrayed by the Sagas, early modern Iceland appears to have been extremely poor and miserable. It is challenging to question whether the deterioration was due to foreign rule, to a colder climate, or to an unfortunate internal power structure. Or was the Golden Age perhaps the invention of 19th-century nationalists? Iceland adopted nationalism quickly and thoroughly. In the mid-nineteenth century about 60,000 inhabitants, mostly poor peasants, set out to gain independence from Denmark, which was finally achieved in 1944 with the foundation of a republic. In recent decades Iceland has caught up economically with its closest neighbours. This has come about mainly through the mechanisation of fishing, which gave rise to a second battle for sovereignty, this time over the country's fishing grounds.Trade ReviewFor the first time in many years, a history of Iceland has appeared in English which really does its multifaceted subject justice. Beginning with colonisation around the year 870, it concludes with the year 2000, having taken the reader through Iceland's period of foreign domination, by the Norwegians, then the English and finally the Danes, who ruled the country until 1944. Politics, religion, economics and technological innovation are covered in detail, while the role of women and literature, ancient and modern, including, of course, the sagas, are also discussed -- Neil Kent * Times Literary Supplement *This is a truly important book and there is nothing like it available. . . . I was enthralled reading this. . . . It will fill the needs of all types of readers interested in Iceland, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. It will . . . become the major work. -- Jesse Byock, Professor of Icelandic Studies, University of CaliforniaTable of ContentsPart 1: colonization and Commonwealth, 870-1260. Part 2: under the rule of foreign kings, 1264-1800; a primitive society struggles for independence, 1800-1918; a transformed society - the 20th century.

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Book SynopsisSilence is not simply the absence of noise. It is within us, in the inner citadel that great writers, thinkers, scholars and people of faith have cultivated over the centuries. It characterizes our most intimate and sacred spaces, from private bedrooms to grand cathedrals – those vast reservoirs of silence. Philosophers and novelists have long sought solitude and inspiration in mountains and forests. Yet despite the centrality of silence to some of our most intense experiences, the transformations of the twentieth century have gradually diminished its value. Today, raucous urban spaces and a continual bombardment from different media pressure us into constant activity. We are losing a sense of our inner selves, a process that is changing the very nature of the individual. This book rediscovers the wonder of silence and, with this, a richer experience of life. With his predilection for the elusive, Corbin calls us to listen to another history.Trade Review"Alain Corbin is one of the most imaginative historians writing anywhere. His series of brilliant studies of the senses includes his “auditory landscape” of the nineteenth century. Here, the search for silence, its sounds and meanings. This is a gem, beautiful and thought-provoking."John Merriman, Charles Seymour Professor of History, Yale University"Alain Corbin is renowned for pushing historical writing into new areas. In A History of Silence he goes further still: not only into the history of an elusive and many-sided concept, but into its philosophy, theology and literature too."Robert Tombs, University of Cambridge "The book brims with ideas: on painting as “silent speech”; writing as the interruption of silence; the cruel silence of God; and the gravid silence of forests, dead-calm seas and snowfall."Times Higher Education "Terrific. ... a mischievous historian of the senses, Alain Corbin dares to devote these eloquent pages to silence, a subject hitherto neglected by his colleagues. Far more than the 'mere absence of noise,' his book makes us feel the thousand and one precious qualities of silence that have enchanted writers and poets over the centuries."Le Point"Owing a clear debt to the Annales school of French historiography, with its focus on the byways of social life, Corbin’s writings have been especially inspired by practitioners of l’histoire des mentalités. He has been described as a master, in particular, of l’histoire du sensible — the history, we might say, of the senses and sensibility. […]Silence can now be added to the list of histories he has tackled.”David E. Cooper in Los Angeles Review of Books "A History of Silence is definitely beguiling, like an oasis of tranquility amid the maelstrom." The Independent "A quietly learned book for our loudly cacophonous age."Michael Dirda in The Washington PostTable of Contents Acknowledgements Prelude Chapter 1. Silence and the intimacy of places Chapter 2. The silences of nature Chapter 3. The search for silence Chapter 4. The educations and disciplines of silence Chapter 5. Interlude: Joseph and Nazareth, or absolute silence Chapter 6. The speech of silence Chapter 7. The tactics of silence Chapter 8. From the silences of love to the silence of hate Chapter 9. Postlude: The tragedy of silence Notes

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Book SynopsisAntoinette Burton is Professor of History at the University of Illinois, USA. Her recent publications include An ABC of Queen Victoria's Empire: Or a Primer of Conquest, Dissent and Disruption (Bloomsbury, 2017) and How Empire Shaped Us (Bloomsbury, 2016).Tony Ballantyne is Professor of History at the University of Otago, New Zealand. His recent publications include Entanglements of empire: Missionaries, Maori, and the question of the body (2014) and co-edited with Antoinette Burton Empires and the reach of the global: 1870-1945 (2009).Trade ReviewPraise for the first edition: 'Most of the chapters in this fine collection would work very well in the undergraduate classroom … Each chapter chooses a small group of examples or moments to focus on, with brief mention of others, so students won't get buried in a mass of names and dates. The book as a whole could be assigned in thematic upper-level or graduate courses, both for its content and for the examples that the chapters provide about how to write comparative and world/global history on a specific topic in a research-paper length format. Because many of its examples are not ones often discussed, more advanced scholars of world history would gain by reading the book as well.' * World History Connected *Antoinette Burton and Tony Ballantyne present a highly readable collection of essays that will challenge both scholars and students to rethink traditional approaches to world history ... Ambitious in scope but meticulous in detail, this collection functions equally well as a primer for undergraduate students or as a resource for advanced scholars seeking to draw wider transnational connections with their work ... The essays included in this volume present an impressively coherent narrative when read together but also function well as stand-alone pieces. * Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History *“This collection of essays goes a long way toward “localizing” global history and at the same time “de-nationalizing” the study of the past. Whereas globalization has tended to be understood in terms of transnational movements of people, goods, and ideas, the contributors here examine these phenomena in local contexts. At the same time, they analyze how seemingly disparate developments in various parts of the world have also been shared across national boundaries, thus fostering a world of hybridity in which we live. The volume should serve as an excellent starting point for the understanding of the closely interconnected and at the same time intensely localized world that exists today.” * Akira Iriye, Charles Warren Professor of American History, Emeritus, Harvard University, USA *“An essential introduction to the study of world/global history, this book builds upon the best of recent research to develop original and suggestive approaches that emphasize history from "the bottom up,” that is, the real-life struggles of ordinary people across the world to maintain and reshape their lives.” * Lynn Hunt, Distinguished Research Professor of History, University of California Los Angeles, USA *This revised collection of essays proposes ways of understanding world histories by focusing on how common people mobilized, challenged, and negotiated power across time and place. World Histories From Below is filled with innovative scholarship on the Global South that provides convincing alternatives to national-colonial and Western narratives. * Sharon Block, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine, USA *World Histories From Below charts new directions for students of world history. Its insistent focus on the perspective of the marginalized makes the narrative of world history newly available for the imagining of radical futures within and beyond the classroom. This is the book for teaching world history that we have been long awaiting. * Mrinalini Sinha, Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History, University of Michigan, USA *With welcome new material, the second edition of this superb essay collection offers an outstanding introduction to the approaches, challenges, and insights of World History. There's complementarity between the thematic chapters and contributors' analyses tease out the global patterns, complexities, and consequences of human interaction, from revolutionary protest to environmental change. * Martin Thomas, Professor of Imperial History, University of Exeter, UK *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Introduction: Keywords: "World History," "Below," and "Dissent and Disruption", Antoinette Burton and Tony Ballantyne 1. Modern Political Revolutions: Connecting Grassroots Political Dissent and Global Historical Transformations, M.J. Maynes and Ann Waltner 2. International and Global Anti-Colonial Movements, Heather Streets-Salter 3. Insurgent Citizenship: Armed Rebellions and Everyday Acts of Resistance in the Global South, Eileen M. Ford 4. Indigeneity, Movement, and Disrupting the Global Nineteenth Century, T. J. Tallie 5. Body Politics, Sexualities, and the "Modern Family" in Global History, Durba Ghosh 6. The Persistence of the Gods: Religion in the Modern World, Tony Ballantyne 7. Global Mobilities, Clare Anderson 8. The Anthropocene from Below, Nancy J. Jacobs, Danielle Johnstone and Christopher Kelly 9. The Anthropocene’s “Belows”: Nature and Power in Global History, Robert Rouphail

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Book SynopsisTea has a rich and well-documented past. The beverage originated in Asia long before making its way to seventeenth-century London, where it became an exotic, highly sought-after commodity. Over the subsequent two centuries, tea’s powerful psychoactive properties seduced British society, becoming popular across the nation from castle to cottage. Now the world’s most popular drink, tea was one of the first truly global products to find a mass market, with tea drinking now stereotypically associated with British identity. The delicate flavour profile and hot preparation of tea inspired poets, artists and satirists. Tea was embroiled in controversy, from the gossip of the domestic tea table to the civil disorder occasioned by smuggling and the political scandal of the Boston Tea Party. Based on extensive original research, and now available in paperback, Empire of Tea provides a rich cultural history that explores how the British `way of tea’ became the norm across the Anglophone world.Trade Review`A stimulating and attractively illustrated history’ – History Today; `For those tempted to begin the tale of British tea-drinking with the Opium Wars, or with the establishment of Indian tea plantations, this book offers a richly textured history of the “empire” that preceded, and long outgrew, those events.’ – Times Literary Supplement

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Book Synopsis“This book is as beguiling as a book can be … From the first glimpse of its most agreeable small format – so satisfying to hold and with a cover that positively sings of the delights to be found within – you are charmed out of your wits.” - Lucinda Lambton in The Oldie “This is at one level a book about a part of London and its buildings. At another, it’s a book about learning to savour our lives” – Alain de Botton Take a walk around a park trodden by many but known by few. From Lancaster House, venue of famous speeches and summits, to 100 Piccadilly, the stage of an ongoing Soviet-themed reality experience, The Buildings of Green Park captures the unseen history of these well-travelled streets. Green Park boasts a plethora of London landmarks, including Bridgewater House and the Canada Gates. The Buildings of Green Park gives each of these sites the attention they deserve, while also celebrating a multitude of overlooked buildings: those that are passed every day without comment from the guides. Local history, old photographs, paintings and floorplans offer a tantalising peek into the backstory behind these backdrops. Moving through the winter and into the spring, Andrew Jones’s crisp photography captures a London shaped by past, present and hopes for the future. Trade Review“This book is as beguiling as a book can be... From the first glimpse of its most agreeable small format – so satisfying to hold and with a cover that positively sings of the delights to be found within – you are charmed out of your wits.” - Lucinda Lambton, The Oldie“The result is a concise insight into a slice of the capital’s architecture that many of us walk past, but which few of us appreciate.” - Country Life"[Andrew] Jones, a local resident and self-proclaimed 'Green Parkie' is a passionate and informed cicerone. His observations are acute and amusing, and his book sits happily within the genre of strangers' guides to the metropolis." - Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, The Georgian

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Book Synopsis'A glorious green adventure story.' Ann Treneman, The Times 'Books of the Year''The most enthralling historical book I’ve read this year.' Claire Tomalin, New Statesman 'Books of the year' Daringly innovative when it opened in 1848, the Palm House in Kew Gardens remains one of the most beautiful glass buildings in the world today. Seemingly weightless, vast and yet light, the Palm House floats free from architectural convention, at once monumental and ethereal. From a distance, the crowns of the palms within are silhouetted in the central dome; close to, banana leaves thrust themselves against the glass. To enter it is to enter a tropical fantasy. The body is assaulted by heat, light and the smell of damp vegetation. In Palace of Palms, Kate Teltscher tells the extraordinary story of its creation and of the Victorians’ obsession with the palms that filled it. It is a story of breathtaking ambition, of scientific discovery and, crucially, of the remarkable men whose vision it was. The Palm House was commissioned by the charismatic first Director of Kew, Sir William Hooker, designed by the audacious Irish engineer, Richard Turner, and managed by Kew’s forthright curator, John Smith, who battled with boilers and floods to ensure the survival of the rare and wondrous plants it housed.Trade ReviewThe most enthralling historical book I’ve read this year. -- Claire Tomalin * New Statesman 'Books of the year' *Teltscher skilfully brings to life the human story behind the growth of Kew and the creation of its extraordinary centrepiece. What's more remarkable, however, is her command of the details of the new technology that went into the construction of the Palm House . . . she makes such matters unexpectedly fascinating. * Literary Review *A fascinating and rip-roaring account of the building of one of the great – and experimental – glass buildings of the Victorian age. * Daily Telegraph *A glorious green adventure story. -- Ann Treneman * The Times 'Books of the Year' *Stories of botanical exploration are combined with biographies of the characters behind the famous building, transporting the reader to 19th-century London and the countries that supplied the palms for the glasshouse. One can only marvel at the scale of the achievement and feel humbled by how much we owe to the enslaved peoples who enabled countless plants to be brought to our shores from the colonies. -- Rachel de Thame * Sunday Times *The fascinating story of one of the greatest showpieces of Victorian Britain: the Palm House in Kew Gardens. -- Sam Leith * Spectator *The story of the creation of the Palm House and the men whose vision it was, are engrossingly told. * Choice Magazine 'Hardback Book of Month' *I stand corrected by this exhilarating book - but also delighted, astounded and vastly entertained . . . This is gardening history at its best - a sparkling window on the colourful and contradictory Victorian era. -- Ambra Edwards * The Garden *This beautifully crafted book invokes a world of breathtaking Victorian engineering, glass houses and lush tropical vegetation to tell a tale of exploration, botanical science and the making of new imaginaries. -- Vinita Damodaran, Professor of South Asian History and Director, Centre for World Environmental History, University of SussexLively . . . vividly drawn . . . Wearing her research lightly, Teltscher tells her tale of politicking and financial wrangles, domestic tragedies and epic plant hunting expeditions with a pace and vibrancy more commonly found in novels than in academic study. * Gardens Illustrated *Kate Teltscher skilfully distils the historical facts of the creation of the Palm House into a piece of storytelling that is difficult to put down. * English Garden *Truly, this is a work of which all interested in the history of natural history and the history of botany should immediately take note. -- Johannes E. Riutta * The Well-read Naturalist *The story of its [the Palm House's] creation and the plant collections in it encompass all the qualities that make a great story: personal ambition, disagreements, eccentricity, struggles, fashions, fights and ultimately a building that triumphs. * This England *Not since Anna Pavord's The Tulip has a book so brilliantly captured the spirit of its subject. Kate Teltscher's Palace of Palms is a glorious headrush into Victorian history via one of the most iconic and beautiful glasshouses in the world. This is a bright, shining jewel of a book, a hedonists' delight and an escapists' antidote to the humdrum. -- Amanda ForemanIn this fascinating book, Kate Teltscher introduces us not just to the Palm House at Kew, but to the world of the palm. In so doing, she roams from botany and horticulture, through plant hunting expeditions and literary traditions, to engineering and architecture. Some of the people met on this journey are the privileged members of society, some technical geniuses, others working men who toiled in gruelling conditions to transport a tropical world to Victorian London. -- Margaret Willes, author of The Gardens of the British Working ClassTeltscher is a remarkable new historian . . . wholly original -- William DalrympleThis book gives a marvelous glimpse into a lost and luscious Victorian world, peopled not only with plants but with energetic, ambitious - and sometimes frankly bonkers - characters. -- Lucy WorsleyKate Teltscher’s highly readable account breathes life into the key characters and events that shaped the remarkable evolution of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew during the 19th century, and its most iconic building, the Palm House. -- Toby MusgraveThe Palm House is unarguably the iconic building at Kew Gardens, and in my opinion, the most beautiful glasshouse in the world. The Victorians created this glorious temple to house their precious palms and today, 170 years later, it continues to delight and awe millions of visitors every year. This book tells its story. -- Richard Deverell, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewThe Palm House at Kew has been a world attraction since it was opened in 1848 - and Kate Teltscher's brilliantly researched account of the botanists and architects responsible is as thrilling as a novel. -- Claire TomalinThe establishment of Kew Gardens and the building of the great Palm House is a most remarkable story, that touches on every aspect of 19th century life. Kate Teltscher knows it all – the politics, the science, the engineering – and writes about it with effortless elegance to weave the most wonderfully compelling narrative. -- Michael Frayn

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Book SynopsisAn evocative symbol of the 1960s was its youth counterculture. This study reveals that the youthful revolutionaries were augmented by such unlikely allies as the advertising industry and the men's clothing business. The ad industry celebrated irrepressible youth and promoted defiance and revolt.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A study in power.… The parallels with the present are eerie." -- David Treuer - Foreign Affairs"Unworthy Republic is a powerful and lucid account.… Saunt has written an unflinching book that reckons with this history and its legacy." -- Jennifer Szalai - New York Times"Claudio Saunt sets a bold, new, and urgently needed standard for the way we should understand the history of Indian Removal.… Sweeping and astute." -- Tiya Miles, professor of history, Harvard University, and author of The Dawn of Detroit"Claudio Saunt has written the definitive history of this widely remembered but seldom understood central episode in American history. In his subtle and exceedingly well documented account, Saunt shows how planters eager for land, southern politicians consolidating their power, and New York bankers launched one of the largest mass deportations in U.S. history. They encountered resourceful Native Americans who deployed all means at their disposal to retain their land. This harrowing account of theft, dispossession, novel bureaucratic capacities, and unimaginable violence drew me in in ways that few history books do. Unworthy Republic will make you think in new ways about the history of the United States and will help you understand the roots of some of today’s inequalities. It is one of the most important books published on U.S. history in recent years and should be required reading for all Americans." -- Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University, author of Empire of Cotton"Claudio Saunt… offers a damning synthesis of the federal betrayals, mass deportations, and exterminatory violence that defined the 1830s.… Lining up his own calculations alongside recent studies of slavery, Saunt casts indigenous expulsion and the domestic slave trade as twinned trails of tears, economic successes rooted in profound moral failures." -- Caitlin Fitz - Atlantic"A major achievement.… [Saunt] manages to do something truly rare: destroy the illusion that history’s course is inevitable and recover the reality of the multiple possibilities that confronted contemporaries." -- Nick Romeo - Washington Post"There has been insufficient ‘reckoning with the conquest of the continent,’ Claudio Saunt relays in this excellent new book. In many accounts of U.S. history, the discussion of the mass deportation of Native nations during the 1830s remains far too brief. Deportation’s legacies in law, culture, and community continue to this day and find powerful exploration in this important addition to the field." -- Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), professor of history and American studies, Yale University"A much-needed rendering of a disgraceful episode in American history that has been too long misunderstood." -- Peter Cozzens - Wall Street Journal"Unworthy Republic offers a much-needed corrective to the American canon, showing how a heavy-handed president, a deadlocked Congress, and a lust for profit combined to construct a shameful national legacy.… A riveting story that invites us all to reflect on how we got where we are today." -- Elizabeth Fenn, Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Boulder, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Encounters at the Heart of the World"Thoroughly researched and quietly outraged." -- Chris Hewitt - Star Tribune

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary real stories that inspired the major BBC series Have you ever illegally downloaded a DVD? Taken drugs? Fallen for a phishing scam?Organised crime is part of all our worlds - often without us even knowing. McMafia is a journey through the new world of international organised crime, from gunrunners in Ukraine to money launderers in Dubai, by way of drug syndicates in Canada and cyber criminals in Brazil.This edition comes with a new introduction and epilogue from author Misha Glenny.Trade ReviewLike a journalistic Indiana Jones he has travelled the world in search of his prey, displaying impressive stamina, intellectual chutzpah and physical bravery on the way.... This is the most important non-fiction book of the year so far - organised crime's version of Fast Food Nation * Mail on Sunday *To be regarded as one of the essential non-fiction works of our time. Exhaustively researched and reported, it's sobering in the extreme, but also riveting, filled with exotic locations, staggering facts, acts of incredible brutality and colourful, if deadly, characters.... Anyone with even the smallest interest in how the world really works should read this book * GQ *The great merit of Glenny's book is that it does not just chronicle the foul deeds of international crime syndicates. It probes the imbalances and injustices that propel people and nations towards criminal behaviour... This, racy, well-researched and highly entertaining book should be essential reading for law reformers everywhere * Irish Times *His message is that the global marketplace has empowered criminals on a huge and terrifying scale.... He tells a grisly story very well... A pacey, riveting, eye-opening account * Sunday Times *This is a big, noble book by a proper reporter who travels the world and gives the Mr Bigs of global crime a poke in the eye... uncomfortable but compelling reading... You must read it * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisA highly entertaining read for anyone with even a passing interest in art and art history. This myth-busting book takes you on a great ride through the lives of starving (and not so starving) artists, unusual exhibitions and painting blunders throughout history. In the intriguing, outrageous and often provoking world of the visual arts, nothing is quite as it seems. From the world’s first intance of photobombing in 1843 to the Damien Hirst spot painting that landed on Mars, the destruction of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers during World War II and the £3,500 sheet of paper crumpled into a ball, Everything You Know About Art is Wrong will confound your assumptions about the world of art – and perhaps even the place of art in the world.

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Book SynopsisIn 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492 the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? TheTrade ReviewWinner of the 2012 National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship One of Jewish Ideas Daily.com's 40 Best Jewish Books of 2012 "[A]mbitious ... systematically dismantle much of the conventional wisdom about medieval Jewish history."--Jonathan B. Krasner, Forward "[W]here so many have simply taken as a given universal literacy among Jews, [Botticini and Eckstein] find that a majority of Jews actually weren't willing to invest in Jewish education, with the shocking result that more than two-thirds of the Jewish community disappeared toward the end of the first millennium... The astonishing theory presented here has great implications for both the Jewish community and the broader world today."--Steven Weiss, Slate "[E]ventually, The Chosen Few will have changed the course of history in the Middle East ... as part of a broad reinterpretation of the history of the peopling of the world, underway for a century and a half, that has begun gathering force since the 1990s... This may be the first you have heard about The Chosen Few, but I pretty much guarantee you that it will not be the last."--David Warsh, Economic Principals "[P]rovocative."--Choice "Botticini and Eckstein's simple yet sophisticated human capital analysis provides new insights into Jewish history for the fourteen centuries covered in this book... [Their] methodology yields a very convincing Cliometric analysis that we can expect to inform all future economic histories of the Jews between 70 and 1492."--Carmel U. Chiswick, EH.net "I found The Chosen Few, a book on Jewish economic history by Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, enormously enlightening and relevant to the draft-the-Haredim debate."--Shlomo Maital, Jerusalem Report "If you've ever wondered how the Chosen People survived the vagaries of history, reading The Chosen Few will give you answers you cannot find anywhere else."--Huffington Post "This is a trailblazing, original, illuminating and horizon-broadening book."--Manuel Trajtenberg, HaaretzTable of ContentsList of Illustrations xi List of Tables xiii Preface xv Introduction 1 Chapter 1 70 CE-1492: How Many Jews Were There, and Where and How Did They Live? 11 From Jesus to Muhammad (1 CE-622): A World of Farmers 15 From Muhammad to Hulagu Khan (622-1258): Farmers to Merchants 31 From Hulagu Khan to Tomas de Torquemada (1258-1492): The End of the Golden Age 44 Jewish History, 70 CE-1492: Puzzles 51 Chapter 2 Were the Jews a Persecuted Minority? 52 Restrictions on Jewish Economic Activities 52 Taxation Discrimination 58 Physical versus Portable Human Capital 59 Self-Segregated Religious Minority 61 The Economics of Small Minorities 62 Summary 65 Chapter 3 The People of the Book, 200 BCE-200 CE 66 The Two Pillars of Judaism from Ezra to Hillel (500-50 BCE): The Temple and the Torah 66 The Lever of Judaism: Education as a Religious Norm 69 The Destruction of the Second Temple: From Ritual Sacrifices to Torah Reading and Study 73 The Legacy of Rabbinic Judaism: The Mishna and Universal Primary Education, 10 CE-200 74 Judaism and Education: The Unique Link in the World of the Mishna 78 Chapter 4 The Economics of Hebrew Literacy in a World of Farmers 80 Heterogeneity and the Choices Facing Jewish Farmers circa 200 82 The Economic Theory: Basic Setup 84 The Economic Theory: Predictions 87 Life in a Village in the Galilee circa 200 through the Lens of the Theory 88 Annex 4.A: Formal Model of Education and Conversion of Farmers 89 Chapter 5 Jews in the Talmud Era, 200-650: The Chosen Few 95 An Increasingly Literate Farming Society 96 Conversions of Jewish Farmers 111 Summary 122 Chapter 6 From Farmers to Merchants, 750-1150 124 The Economics of Hebrew Literacy in a World of Merchants 125 The Golden Age of Literate Jews in the Muslim Caliphates 130 Summary 150 Annex 6.A: Formal Model of Education and Conversion of Merchants 150 Chapter 7 Educated Wandering Jews, 800-1250 153 Wandering Jews before Marco Polo 154 Jewish Migration within the Muslim Caliphates 163 Migration of Byzantine Jewry 172 Jewish Migration to and within Christian Europe 173 Migration of the Jewish Religious Center 195 Summary 200 Chapter 8 Segregation or Choice? From Merchants to Moneylenders, 1000-1500 201 The Economics of Money and Credit in Medieval Europe 202 Jewish Prominence in Moneylending: Hypotheses 209 The Dynamics of Jewish Moneylending in Medieval Europe 212 Jewish Moneylending in Medieval Italy: A Detailed Analysis 219 Attitudes toward Moneylending 232 Facts and Competing Hypotheses 237 From Merchants to Moneylenders: Comparative Advantage in Complex Intermediation 241 Annex 8.A: The Charter to the Jews of Vienna 244 Chapter 9 The Mongol Shock: Can Judaism Survive When Trade and Urban Economies Collapse? 248 The Mongol Conquest of the Muslim Middle East 249 Socioeconomic Conditions in the Middle East under the Mongols 252 Jewish Demography under Mongol and Mamluk Rule: An Experiment 254 Why Judaism Cannot Survive When Trade and Urban Economies Collapse 258 Summary 259 Chapter 10 1492 to Today: Open Questions 261 Portrait of World Jewry circa 1492 261 Jewish History, 70 CE-1492: Epilogue 264 Trajectory of the Jewish People over the Past 500 Years 266 Persistence of Jewish Occupational Structure 268 Appendix 274 Bibliography 287 Index 317

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Book SynopsisSyria has long been one of the most trouble-prone and politically volatile regions of the Near and Middle Eastern world. This book looks back beyond the troubles of the present to tell the 3000-year story of what happened many centuries before. Trevor Bryce reveals the peoples, cities, and kingdoms that arose, flourished, declined, and disappeared in the lands that now constitute Syria, from the time of it''s earliest written records in the third millennium BC until the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the 3-4th century AD.Across the centuries, from the Bronze Age to the Rome Era, we encounter a vast array of characters and civilizations, enlivening, enriching, and besmirching the annals of Syrian history: Hittite and Assyrian Great Kings; Egyptian pharaohs; Amorite robber-barons; the biblically notorious Nebuchadnezzar; Persia''s Cyrus the Great and Macedon''s Alexander the Great; the rulers of the Seleucid empire; and an assortment of Rome''s most distinguished and most infamous emperors. All swept across the plains of Syria at some point in her long history. All contributed, in one way or another, to Syria''s special, distinctive character, as they imposed themselves upon it, fought one another within it, or pillaged their way through it. But this is not just a history of invasion and oppression. Syria had great rulers of her own, native-born Syrian luminaries, sometimes appearing as local champions who sought to liberate their lands from foreign despots, sometimes as cunning, self-seeking manipulators of squabbles between their overlords. They culminate with Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, whose life provides a fitting grand finale to the first three millennia of Syria''s recorded history. The conclusion looks forward to the Muslim conquest in the 7th century AD: in many ways the opening chapter in the equally complex and often troubled history of modern Syria.Trade ReviewA must read for anyone interested in this wonderful country. * Timeless Travels *[An] absorbing book ... This is essential bed-time reading for anyone wanting to know more about the history of one of the ancient world's most significant civilizations. * Ancient Egypt Magazine *Ancient Syria should be read, studied or consulted by those who want to deepen their knowledge about an amazing country, cradles of cultures and civilizations. I really appreciated Bryces effort to convey in a single book such a vast material. It has not been done before in such a comprehensive way. One must be grateful that the multiple fascinating (hi)stories of ancient Syria are now accessible to a wider audience. * Matteo Vigo, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *This book can be thoroughly recommended for anyone wishing to gain a broad overview of the history of ancient Syria. * Adam John Fraser, Palestine Exploration Quaterly *Bryce has outdone himself; a marvellous achievement. Reads as smoothly as a novel, but packed as full of facts as an encyclopedia. Bryce weaves together the threads of disparate cultures and centuries of civilization, creating the very fabric of history itself... * Eric H. Cline, The George Washington University, and author of Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction *sketches the history of Syria in a lively and fluid style. * Bibliotheca Orientalis *The author is an engaging writer and one quickly gets the impression that he has enjoyed researching and writing this book ... Professor Trevor Bryce's publication provides a lucid account that assists our understanding of Syria's historical importance and continuing strategic location. * Andrew Jamieson, Ancient Near Eastern Studies *Table of ContentsThe Tale to be ToldPart I: The Bronze Ages1: The First Kingdoms2: The International Intruders3: The Amorite Warrior-Chiefs4: The Empires Collide5: The End of an EraPart II: From the Iron Age to the Macedonian Conquest6: The Age of Iron7: The Wolf upon the Fold: The Neo-Assyrian Invasions8: From Nebuchadnezzar to AlexanderPart III: Syria under Seleucid Rule9: The Rise of the Seleucid Empire10: The Seleucid Empire in its Prime11: The Maccabean Rebellion12: The Decline and Fall of the SeleucidsPart IV: Syria under Roman Rule13: The Coming of the Romans14: Nabataean Excursus15: The Syrian Emperors16: The Crisis YearsPart V: The Rise and Fall of Palmyra17: From Desert Oasis to Royal Capital: The Story of Palmyra18: Syria's 'King of Kings': The Life and Death of Odenathus19: Zenobia, Queen of the EastThe Last FarewellAppendix I: ChronologyAppendix II: King-ListsAppendix III: Literary SourcesNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA highly entertaining read for anyone interested in English history and culture, this great myth-busting book takes you on a great ride through history and the national character. Think we're the land of Punch and Judy and Morris Dancing? Think again as both traditions started in southern Europe. Love Winston Churchill's wartime speeches? Well, they were recorded by an actor. Packed with details on real English history, the book explodes a range of national myths from bluebirds in Dover (they are not indigenous European birds) to the origin of the Cornish pasty (they might have been invented in London), from our stiff upper lip (an Americanism) to where you can spend a Scottish bank note. English arts, entertainment, food, drink, kings and queens, traditions as well as politics are all covered to give you a fascinating insight into the true England. Includes an additional chapter on Scottish, Welsh and Irish myths that we've been peddling in England for decades and need to be laid to rest. Trade Review‘Certain to raise eyebrows and (hopefully) make you smile' * The Lady *'A fun look at our customs and curiosities' * Evergreen *

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Book SynopsisFestivals is a must-have guide to the world’s best and most memorable music festivals – a list of all those you need to know and those you should experience.   Discover the compelling stories behind the most significant and exciting events around the world which shape music and festival culture. This inspirational global guide showcases 50 bucket list festivals with photographs, posters, facts and figures, and draws attention to hundreds more to explore.   Highlighting festival giants and jazz classics, pop powerhouses and indie favourites to dance scene darlings and punk rock adventures, we travel from Woodstock, Glastonbury, Coachella and Roskilde to Fuji Rock, Tomorrowland, Burning Man and Afro Punk. Here, the unique experience of a music festival is evocatively captured and an overview of the rise of the wonderful world of festival culture asTable of ContentsIntroduction Montreux Jazz Festival Isle of Wight Festival Woodstock Glastonbury Roskilde Reading Festival North Sea Jazz Festival WOMAD Rock am Ring Rock in Rio Burning Man Love Parade Lollapalooza Electric Daisy Carnival KaZantip Big Day Out Sziget Sonar Fuji Rock Lillith Fair Melt Tuska Creamfields Iceland Airwaves Coachella Splendour in the Grass Primavera Sound AfrikaBurn Lovebox Nuits Sonores Bang Face Weekender Rock en Seine Download Secret Garden Party Bestival Flow Festival Lake of Stars Afropunk Tomorrowland Way Out West Kappa FuturFestival Strawberry Fields Dimensions Dekmantel Nyege Nyege The Crave Magnetic Fields Secret Solstice Oasis Festival Mighty Hoopla Mad Cool Index Index of festivals by country Index of festivals by month Index of festivals by musical genre Acknowledgements Picture credits

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Book SynopsisThe delightful tale of a young couple who in the late 1970s, on impulse, became the new landlords of the most remote, bleak and lonely pub - The Tan Hill Inn - located in the desolate landscape of the Yorkshire Dales. Having seen an article in the newspaper about the pub's search for a new manager, they arrived just three weeks later as the new landlords of the The Tan Hill Inn. It is a wild, wind-swept place, set alone in a sea of peat bog and heather moorland that stretches unbroken as far as the eye can see. With only sheep and grouse for company, their closest neighbour was four miles away and the nearest town twelve. They had no experience of licensed trade or running a pub, no knowledge of farming and a complete inability to understand the dialect of the sheep farmers who were their local customers. Eager, well-meaning, but in over their heads, our two heroes embarked on a disaster-strewn career that somehow also turned into a lifelong love affair with the Dales.The Inn at the Top is an entertaining ramble around the Inn, the breath-taking Dales countryside and a remarkable array of local characters, giving an insight into life in a very different different time and place.Trade ReviewA tribute to a way of life which is long gone and a celebration of the Dales * Yorkshire Post *Neil Hanson's anecdote-laden memoir is reminiscent of James Herriot * The Dalesman *One of the funniest, most entertaining and life-affirming books of the year... A warm and often hilarious account of tenacity and survival, The Inn at the Top is packed with true Yorkshire-style anecdotes, brushes with the law, late night lock-ins, adventures with colourful locals and weather stories to make your hair curl. Sit back and enjoy... * Lancashire Evening Post *Richly entertaining... a wonderful history lesson * Ilkley Gazette *Engaging and entertaining... warm memories to last a lifetime -- Jeff Evans * Inside Beer *A warm, amusing and at times sad book... it's also beautifully written -- Roger Protz * Protz on Beer *Happy holiday reading.. highly diverting -- Mike Amos * The Northern Echo *One of the most funniest, most entertaining and life-affirming books of the year * Lancaster Guardian *A delightful Christmas present, especially for lovers of community pubs * The London Drinker Mag *Wonderfully readable and often very funny * Waterstones Bradford Blog *A heartwarming and hilarious tale * Darlington & Stockton Times *

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Book SynopsisThis career-spanning anthology from prominent Jewish historian David Biale brings over a dozen of his key essays together for the first time. These pieces, written between 1974 and 2016, are all representative of a method Biale calls "counter-history": "the discovery of vital forces precisely in what others considered marginal, disreputable and irrational." The themes that have preoccupied Biale throughout the course of his distinguished career—in particular power, sexuality, blood, and secular Jewish thought—span the periods of the Bible, late antiquity, and the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Exemplary essays in this volume argue for the dialectical relationship between modernity and its precursors in the older tradition, working together to "brush history against the grain" in order to provide a sweeping look at the history of the Jewish people. This volume of work by one of the boldest and most intellectually omnivorous Jewish thinkers of our time will be essential reading for scholars and students of Jewish studies.Trade Review"Over the course of his career, David Biale has distinguished himself for both his critical acumen and his capacious interests. Written in the contrarian spirit of "counter-history," these essays exemplify his singular passion for unsettling conventional ideas concerning the norms and boundaries of the Jewish past. A superb, thought-provoking collection."—Peter E. Gordon, author of Migrants in the Profane: Critical Theory and the Question of Secularization"David Biale has always been a trailblazer. This collection highlights the many ingenious roads he has opened for scholars of the Jewish past. Rigorous in method, delicate in touch, Biale sheds light on corners of history that others deemed marginal or taboo, inviting us to engage in an exploration of "counter-history" that remains directly at the field's heart."—Sarah Abrevaya Stein, co-editor of Wartime North Africa: A Documentary History 1934-1950"Intellectually exciting and apleasure to read, the essays in this collection are a fine introduction to many important thinkers in the Jewish tradition."—Bob Goldfarb, Jewish Book Council"Taking a constructivist approach, Biale'sexamination of historical contexts includes the Tanakh, the midrash, myth, politics, and more to arrive at a complex exploration of radicalism embedded within Jewish traditions. His genealogical methodology traces critical topics from their historical or textual origins to present understandings, exploring and connecting diverging exegeses along the way.... Recommended."—A. Lieberman, CHOICE"Throughout the essays in this compilation, Biale traces diverse voices that some might call counter-canonical or even 'heretical,' or as Biale puts it, 'feature inversions of convention or hidden traditions that challenge the canon.' ...For those familiar with Jewish history, these essays provide interesting perspectives and alternative views."—David Tesler, Association of Jewish Libraries ReviewsTable of ContentsIntroduction: Between Canon and Counterhistory 1. The God with Breasts: El Shaddai in the Bible 2. Korah in the Midrash: The Hairless Heretic as Hero 3. Counterhistory and Jewish Polemics against Christianity: The Sefer Toldot Yeshu and the Sefer Zerubavel 4. "The Torah Speaks the Language of Human Beings": Abraham Ibn Ezra's Radical Interpretation of the Bible 5. Between Melancholy and a Broken Heart: A Note on Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav's Depression 6. The Kabbalah in Nachman Krochmal's Philosophy of History 7. Masochism and Philosemitism: The Strange Case of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch 8. Historical Heresies and Modern Jewish Identity 9. Shabbtai Zvi and the Seductions of Jewish Orientalism 10. Leo Strauss: The Philosopher as Weimar Jew 11. Arendt in Jerusalem: Hannah Arendt on the Eichmann Trial 12. Gershom Scholem's "Ten Unhistorical Aphorisms on the Kabbalah": Text and Commentary 13. The Threat of Messianism: An Interview with Gershom Scholem (August 14, 1980) 14. Mysticism and Politics in Modern Israel: The Messianic Ideology of Abraham Isaac Ha-Cohen Kook 15. The End of Enlightenment? Epilogue: By the Waters of San Francisco: A Partial Autobiography

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Book SynopsisIn this kaleidoscopic portrait, John Geraint captures with a filmmaker''s eye the exuberant life of this former mining community in changing times. Comic and evocative, the book shows how the values the valley has lived by could guide the Rhondda - and the wider world - towards a better future.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award A fascinating, lyrical account of an east-west walk across Britain's westernmost and most mysterious region. A distant and exotic Celtic land, domain of tin-miners, pirates, smugglers and evocatively named saints, somehow separate from the rest of our island... Few regions of Britain are as holidayed in, as well-loved or as mythologized as Cornwall. From the woodlands of the Tamar Valley to the remote peninsula of Penwith – via the wilderness of Bodmin Moor and coastal villages where tourism and fishing find an uneasy coexistence – Tim Hannigan undertakes a zigzagging journey on foot across Britain's westernmost region to discover how the real Cornwall, its landscapes, histories, communities and sense of identity, intersect with the many projections and tropes that writers, artists and others have placed upon it. Combining landscape and nature writing with deep cultural inquiry, The Granite Kingdom is a probing but highly accessible tour of one of Britain's most popular regions, juxtaposing history, myth, folklore and literary representation with the geographical and social reality of contemporary Cornwall.Trade ReviewA magnificent work of travel and historical deconstruction – deeply personal, meticulously researched and hugely enjoyable. * Philip Marsden *Tim Hannigan writes with an authentic Cornish voice and a true internationalist’s breadth of understanding. * Patrick Gale *Anyone – tourist or resident – who has been seduced by the beauty and strangeness of Cornwall will find Tim Hannigan a congenial guide and companion. * Tom Fort, author of A303: Highway to the Sun *Beautifully researched and written with care. * Wyl Menmuir, author of The Draw of the Sea *Hannigan roams the country on foot, stitching together not only its geography but its histories and communities, while disentangling fact from myth, folk from folklore' * BBC Countryfile *Absorbing and insightful... skilfully interweaves geography, geology, travel memoir and history with an overview of the ways in which Cornwall has been portrayed in art and literature. There’s a lot to explore. * The TLS *The best kind of traveller, Hannigan is brimful of boundless curiosity... a beguiling book that throbs with passion, Hannigan has captured a portrait of a hidden and often mysterious Cornwall, conveying it with style, ternderness and passion * The Irish Times *PRAISE FOR TIM HANNIGAN: 'An excellent and thought-provoking book... What could have been a scholarly theoretical discourse is thoroughly enlivened by Tim Hannigan's decision to turn it into a travel odyssey' TLS. 'Travel writing used to be dominated by Old Etonians with colonialist tendencies; but [Tim Hannigan's] well-researched critique shows that the "travellees" are writing back' Guardian. 'A highly readable and entertaining narrative' Lonely Planet. 'A deft piece of genre-hopping' Telegraph. 'A timely look at the genre – why we travel, and why and how we write about it' * Irish Independent *

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Book SynopsisBy the end of the notorious 1984/85 miners’ strike many wanted to forget their painful experiences. Many years on people are ready to look back and talk about what happened in Britain during this defining moment of industrial action.In this new and updated edition, Beverley Trounce, who worked in a pit village and whose father was a miner, delivers a candid account of this heroic struggle through the voices of people directly affected by the strike. Her research and contributions from ex-striking miners and activists cover the pickets, the collieries, the matter of simple survival through the extreme and grinding poverty of the time, the effects on the women and children involved and the wider community, as well as the aftermath and what its legacy means to people today.From a Rock to a Hard Place is a powerful and moving record of a divisive moment in history.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1914 and 1918, military, press and amateur photographers produced thousands of pictures. Either classified in military archives specially created with this purpose in 1915, collected in personal albums or circulated in illustrated magazines, photographs were supposed to tell the story of the war. Picturing the Western Front argues that photographic practices also shaped combatants and civilians’ war experiences. Doing photography (taking pictures, posing for them, exhibiting, cataloguing and looking at them) allowed combatants and civilians to make sense of what they were living through. Photography mattered because it enabled combatants and civilians to record events, establish or reinforce bonds with one another, represent bodies, place people and events in imaginative geographies and making things visible, while making others, such as suicide, invisible. Photographic practices became, thus, frames of experience.Trade Review'Likely to mark a significant turning point in how photographs are used and viewed as historical sources. [...] Dr Pichel has opened up a new dynamic way of thinking about photography in terms of emotion, relationships and the rituals of photographic practices.'James Downs, Photographica World Magazine (April 2022) -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Recording. The photographic archive of the war2. Feeling. Private, Official and Press Photography as Emotional Practices3. Embodying. The multiple meanings of the body of the combatant, the mutilated and the dead4. Placing. Imaginative geographies, photography and the sense of place5. Making visible and invisibleConclusionsBibliographyList of primary sourcesIndex

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Book SynopsisLondon's old buildings hold a wealth of clues to the city’s rich and vibrant past. The histories of some, such as the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, are well documented. However, these magnificent, world-renowned attractions are not the only places with fascinating tales to tell. Down a narrow, medieval lane on the outskirts of Smithfield stands 41–42 Cloth Fair – the oldest house in the City of London.Fiona Rule uncovers the fascinating survival story of this extraordinary property and the people who owned it and lived in it, set against the backdrop of an ever-changing city that has prevailed over war, disease, fire and economic crises.

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Book SynopsisThe 90s were an exciting time to be a gamer as most of the hard work had already been done by the pioneering developers during the 70s and 80s, meaning talented coders were able to take these existing themes and ideas and build upon them. As a result some of the greatest games of all time came from this halcyon period including Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Streetfighter II: The World Warrior. That being said the 90s were a transitional period as well, as 3-D gaming started to become the norm and many systems moved over to formats like CD-ROM. The 90s were also a time when home computer gaming was on the wane as more and more gamers were turning towards exciting new consoles that were coming out, including Sony PlayStation which would not only shake up the industry but help shape it into what we enjoy today. With that in mind this new book is dedicated to the greatest games that were available to play during this amazing decade, from the aforementioned of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to Super Mario World, Tomb Raider and the excellent Ridge Racer so...get ready for a serious nostalgia hit.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Financial Times Best Summer Book""A Financial Times Best Book of the Year- History""A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year""A Seminary Co-Op Notable Book of the Year""An impressively evocative look at material life in the USSR, from gulags and the planned economy to Red Moscow perfume and the Soviet toilet — a “lost civilisation” of utopian fantasy and unbridled terror." * Financial Times *"Who else could have a whole chapter on Soviet-era doorknobs? This is a fascinating book about the material loose ends, the pamphlets, the clothes, the non-existent phone books, the shop signs, the chest medals, and the bric-a-brac — among many other items — of the Soviet Union. . . . This is in my view one of the better books for understanding the Soviet Union."---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution"The Soviet Century . . . presents history in a novel way, showcasing customs and traditions, values and artefacts, that offer many poignant insights and helps readers understand the Russian psyche today. . . . It’s a fascinating, multi-faceted read that both takes historical stock and zooms in on miniature details."---Jana Bakunina, Financial Times"His focus is not on the foreign relations or domestic crises of Soviet rule but on outward appearances: the look, the smell, the sounds of everyday life. Based on decades of research and an intimate knowledge of history and culture, ‘The Soviet Century’ is a fascinating chronicle of a not-so-distant era."---Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal"A detailed examination of the relics of ordinary communist life. Perfect for dipping into."---Fred Studemann, Financial Times"In a work of remarkable range and quality, Karl Schlögel explores the everyday life and material culture of the Soviet Union in ways that show the communist experiment in a compellingly fresh light. One of the most innovative books on Soviet history to appear since the state’s collapse in 1991."---Tony Barber, Financial Times"Schlögel – assisted by his excellent translator, Rodney Livingstone – is an eloquent writer and a captivating travel guide around this Soviet “lost world”."---Stephen Lovell, Times Literary Supplement"Karl Schlögel . . . and his wonderful noticing of things and how they sit in space is on full display in the 900-plus pages of The Soviet Century. Schlögel variously calls his book an archaeology, an exhibition, and a museum of the Soviet “'ifeworld.' Its focus on the things of everyday life makes it, in his view, not an 'encyclopedia of banalities”'(a phrase used by the Russian historian Natalia Lebina about her own history of everyday life) but rather 'an encyclopedia of fundamentals.' Just about everything memorable and (to a Westerner) odd about Soviet everyday life is there."---Sheila Fitzpatrick, Foreign Policy"Extremely timely and utterly indispensable."---Vitali Vitaliev, Engineering and Technology"[A] magnum opus. . . . This invaluable study casts a lost world in a new light." * Publishers Weekly (Starred review) *"Who knew that, apart from his experiments with dogs, Ivan Pavlov wrote a preface concerning nutrition for a bestselling Soviet cookbook? That’s one of just many oddments Schlögel assembles in this utterly absorbing tour through the material goods that defined the Soviet era, from pulpy wrapping paper to the medals veterans wore, from canned goods to perfume and tchotchkes and everything in between. . . . A superb blend of social history and material culture, essential for students of 20th-century geopolitics." * Kirkus Reviews (Starred review) *"A pinnacle in Soviet studies. . . . A splendid book." * Library Journal (Starred review) *"Formidable. . . . The emergence of this book in our intellectual landscape is timely, as we seek to better understand Russia in an era when systematic political, economic, social, and even cultural approaches have failed to explain or predict the current resurrection of the 'Soviet Leviathan.' Indeed, perhaps 'the devil is hidden in the details,' and by diving yet again into these minute but culturally rich details of Soviet banal routine, spiritual life, and rituals, we can make a step forward in our comprehension of why the dark side of 'Soviet civilization' keeps reemerging again and again."---Oksana Ermolaeva, EuropeNow (Editor's pick)"Nine hundred pages in length and wonderfully illustrated throughout. . . .It is a welcome and unique contribution to Soviet studies."---Steven Andrew, Morning Star"Fascinating. . . . The scholarship of the work is evident throughout, but 'The Soviet Century' is both more powerful and more subtle than a typical work of scholarship. At its heart, it’s a gigantic, heartfelt elegy, one of the most stunning tributes ever paid to the Soviet Union."---Steve Donoghue, Big Canoe News"A work of deep scholarship and significant breadth about a relatively brief period of recent history when it seemed that there might be an alternative economic system to capitalism."---Joseph Brady, Society"The wealth of this book cannot be sufficiently explored within the limits of a review. Gibbonian in scale, it is a veritable cornucopia of jewels. “In Russia, radical changes and catastrophic experiences occur in their pure form,” Schlögel states. Reading his chronicle of this massive churn in all its sensory whimsies, we gain fresh insights into the lost world of the Soviet Union."---Prasenjit Chowdhury, Hindustan Times"A terrific book – eye opening, captivating and wholly revealing."---David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews"Schlögel’s book is ingenious – thrilling, even – introducing readers to a [sic] extraordinary array of things that rarely find a place in history books: tattoos, wrapping paper, the place of pianos, and nameplates on apartments and houses."---Peter Frankopan, BBC History Magazine

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking exploration of a debilitating disorder that's underdiagnosed and misunderstood.Most days, Shalene Gupta was the person she'd always aspired to be. She was hardworking, excelled at work, and had a long-term boyfriend who she desperately loved.Then, every month like clockwork, it all came crashing down in fits of rage and inconsolable sorrow. Work became meaningless, and she struggled to get through the day. The lows were subterranean.After years of struggling to get an answer from doctors, Shalene learned she was one of millions who live with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of PMS. The physical and mental effects of this disorder are undeniable, but for decades some doctors didn't even consider PMDD a real condition. How could so many people be suffering at the hands of a chronic condition that doesn't even exist?The Cycle uncovers a hidden epidemic, delivering the definitive portrait of a widespread

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Book Synopsis"A remarkable life story. . . Angela Sterritt is a formidable storyteller and a passionate advocate."—Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves"Sterritt''s story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are."—Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our RelationsUnbroken is an extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds.As a Gitxsan teenager navigating life on the streets, Angela Sterritt wrote in her journal to help her survive and find her place in the world. Now an acclaimed journalist, she writes for major news outlets to push for justice and to light a path for Indigenous women, girls, and survivors. In her brilliant debut, Sterritt shares her memoir alongside investigative reportin

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Book SynopsisHow did beer become one of the central commodities associated with the German nation? How did a little-known provincial production standard the Reinheitsgebot, or Beer Purity Law become a pillar of national consumer sentiments? How did the jovial, beer-drinking German become a fixture in the global imagination?While the connection between beer and Germany seems self-evident, A Nation Fermented reveals how it was produced through a strange brew of regional commercial and political pressures. Spanning from the late nineteenth century to the last decades of the twentieth, A Nation Fermented argues that the economic, regulatory, and cultural weight of Bavaria shaped the German nation in profound ways. Drawing on sources from over a dozen archives and repositories, Terrell weaves together subjects ranging from tax law to advertising, public health to European integration, and agriculture to global stereotypes. Offering a history of the Germany that Bavaria made over the twentieth century,Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Timeline Map Introduction 1: Integration and Its Discontents: Lager, Tax, and Temperance, c. 1900 to the 1930s 2: The People's Drink in the Racial State: Debating the Interests of the Volk 3: Liquid Bread: The New Politics of Bavaria from the Postwar Occupation to the Federal Republic 4: Brewing up a New Old Germany: Production, Consumption, and Social Order in the Miracle Years 5: Making a National Icon: A Political Economy of the Reinheitsgebot, 1953-1975 6: The Munich Effect: Löwenbräu, Bavarian Beer, and the Global Imaginary 7: Gone Flat?: Reconfigurations from the Recession to the Wende Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAll they wanted was land: land for crofting and land on which to build a house. In 1908, ten desperate men from the islands of Barra and Mingulay in the Western Isles were imprisoned in Edinburgh for refusing to leave the island of Vatersay, where they had built huts and planted potatoes without permission. The case caused an outcry throughout Scotland, and led eventually to the purchase of the island by the government for crofting. This book, the first about Vatersay, tells the remarkable story of the raiders and their struggle to escape from the poverty which the policies of an absentee landowner forced them to endure. The Vatersay Raiders documents not only these events, which had enormous significance in the history of crofting, but also the fascinating earlier history of Vatersay and its now-deserted neighbour Sandray. An outline of more recent developments brings the account up to date.

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2022'Well-researched and readable' - Financial Times'An absorbing, pacy read' - New Statesman'The story of lycra-clad feminism' Stylist'Canny and informative' - The New YorkerThe untold history of women's exercise culture, from jogging and Jazzercise to Jane Fonda.Author of The Cut's viral article shared thousands of times unearthing the little-known origins of barre workouts, Danielle Friedman explores the history of women's exercise, and how physical strength has been converted into other forms of power.Only in the 60s, thanks to a few forward-thinking fitness pioneers, did women begin to move en masse. In doing so, they were pursuing not only physical strength, but personal autonomy.Exploring barre, jogging, aerobics, weight training and yoga, Danielle Friedman tells the story of how, with the rise of late-20th century feminism, women discovered the joy of physical competence - and how, going forward, we can work to transform fitness from a privilege into a right.Trade ReviewA well-researched and readable account of how female pioneers broke the taboos that stopped most women exercising until at least the 1960s. Friedman, a journalist, emphasises that fitness has remained accessible primarily to white women with time and resources. Now some pioneers are trying to break those exclusionary barriers too. * Financial Times, best summer books of 2022 *An absorbing, pacy read - and her enthusiasm for exercise is contagious. * New Statesman *Fact-packed but bouncy ... Most enjoyable is when Friedman shines light on less hallowed figures, like Judi Sheppard Missett, the relentlessly upbeat founder of Jazzercise, whose classes "changed the rhythm of women's days"; and Bonnie Prudden, "the lady in the leotite" and a descendant of Davy Crockett...[Friedman's] book is very much "pro" exercise, but for the right reasons: not slimming down but mood management, community, spirituality in the corporal. * The New York Times *Astute and entertaining ... With an emphasis on barrier breakers, business dynamos, and exceptional athletes, Friedman explores how physical training can be a means of personal liberation ... This zippy history is bursting with energy. * Publishers Weekly *Canny and informative. * The New Yorker *The story of Lycra-clad feminism and how women went from being banned at races to dominating fitness. * Stylist, the best non-fiction health and fitness books for women to read *There are few areas of American culture as complicated-and as understudied-as women's exercise. Which is why I feel like I've been waiting for a book like Let's Get Physical for decades: something that takes the history and importance of fitness seriously, but is also incisive and curious and readable and fun. -- Anne Helen Petersen, author of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly WomanFriedman's study of modern fitness culture is as illuminating as it is enthralling. She reveals the wild characters, political agendas, and social movements that changed not only our exercise behaviors but our understanding of exercise itself. Behind every workout there is a story, and it's usually a good one. -- Kelsey Miller, author of I’ll Be There for You: The One About FriendsA fascinating and complicated history, masterfully shared. Let's Get Physical made me grateful to the women of the past and hopeful about the future of fitness. My favorite read of the year! -- Kelly McGonigal, author of The Joy of MovementIt's easy to critique the class, race, and gender stereotypes perpetuated by many fitness industry advertising campaigns, but Friedman reminds us how revolutionary it was, not so long ago, to encourage women to do strenuous physical exercise. An engaging account of the complicated, unconventional individuals who pioneered today's fitness culture for women. -- Stephanie Coontz, author of A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960sDon't read this book because it's 'good for you.' Read it because it's an eye-opening cultural history of the fitness pioneers who put the 'move' into the feminist movement. Let's Get Physical reminded me of why feeling strong feels so good. -- Brooke Hauser, author of Enter Helen: The Invention of Helen Gurley Brown and the Rise of the Modern Single WomanHow did we get from the notion that exercise was unladylike, even dangerous for women, to the 1980s fitness craze and beyond that has totally transformed women's lives? In this lively book, Danielle Friedman uses fitness pioneers and icons, from Bonnie Prudden to Jane Fonda to Lilias Folan, to trace how regular exercise became central to millions of women's pursuit of vitality, confidence, and happiness. Full of fun and inspiring stories, Let's Get Physical reminds us that this is not just a history of sports bras or leg warmers, but also of how feminism itself enabled and drew from women finding empowerment in the strength of their own bodies. -- Susan J. Douglas, author of In Our Prime: How Older Women are Reinventing the Road AheadDanielle Friedman's wildly engaging Let's Get Physical answered the questions I didn't even know I had about the origins of women's fitness (Jane Fonda sold how many copies of her Workout?!), and left me with a huge debt of gratitude to the trailblazing women who had the foresight to do things like sneak into the Boston Marathon and invent the sports bra so that we could swan into the gym without a second thought. A fascinating, meticulously researched read that left me with a much greater appreciation for the burn of barre class. -- Doree Shafrir, author of Thanks for Waiting and Startup: A NovelWith lively writing and compelling storytelling-tales of bamboo swords, spandex, and a sexy gerbil included-Danielle Friedman teases out the complicated relationship between exercise culture and feminism in this engaging exploration of modern fitness history. You'll want to hit the barre afterward. -- Haley Shipley, author of Strong Like Her: A Celebration of Rule Breakers, History Makers, and Unstoppable AthletesIt is all too easy to look at the history of women's fitness as an unconnected timeline of fads and celebrities. In Let's Get Physical, Danielle Friedman weaves together the cultural history of a movement that is nothing less than the story of the modern American woman-and she does it with fascinating and fun storytelling that will appeal to anyone who has ever wondered why thighs need to be mastered or buns should be made of steel. -- Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World and Every Minute Is a Day: A Doctor, an Emergency Room, and a City Under SiegeLet's Get Physical is a delicious deep dive into fitness culture that features an eclectic cast of women who deviously ran men-only marathons in the 1960s, turned Jazzercise, aerobics, and barre into mainstream mega fads, and who power-lifted notions of femininity until they included muscles and strength. Author Danielle Friedman tracks exercise culture into the 21st century, debunking myths and delighting readers with diamond-sharp prose, wry humor and rigorous research. -- Sarah Everts, author of The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of PerspirationFriedman's engaging stories of the women who created and transformed the fitness industry illustrate an evolution built upon strong female shoulders. * The Washington Post *

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Book Synopsis** A FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN AND GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR **''A must read'' - Janina Ramirez, bestselling author of Femina''An eye-opening history of Britain''s enduring fixation with its own past'' - Jeremy Paxman''Rule, Nostalgia announces Woods as one of the most interesting new historians of her generation'' - Dan SnowLonging to go back to the ''good old days'' is nothing new. For hundreds of years, the British have mourned the loss of tradition and called for a revival of ''simpler'', ''better'' ways of life, from modern politicians indulging in fantasies of an imperial past, to Victorian artists yearning to retreat into a medieval dream of Merry England. But were the ''good old days'' ever quite how we remember them?Rule, Nostalgia is a surprising, timely new history of Britain that separates the history from the fantasy and tracTrade ReviewIndispensible and fascinating * The Guardian (A 2022 Book of the Year) *A sharp new history of longing for the good old days. Hannah Rose Woods pens a rich account of all that has been lost to chauvinism and conservatism over the past decade * Tristram Hunt, Financial Times *Rule, Nostalgia announces Woods as one of the most interesting new historians of her generation * Dan Jones, Sunday Times *An impressive book that ranges from the 16th-century Reformation to Brexit * Financial Times (A 2022 Book of the Year) *Hannah Rose Woods explores how illusory and contested golden ages have haunted Britain since medieval times... [An] intelligent and eminently readable book * Richard Evans, New Statesman (Book of the Day) *A dark history of nostalgia... a timely book... Woods selects and deploys her material well, persuading the reader, in the course of an enjoyable book, that a feeling full of sweetness and sadness is also a dark and dangerous force * The Times *Woods is a sharp, iconoclastic writer... A great book * John Harris, The Guardian, Politics Weekly UK’s summer reading list *Eye-opening and thoughtful... Woods has a bright future ahead of her * The Telegraph *A must read for anyone wanting to see current events and ideologies in light of the past, and understand where the roots of our sense of a nation originated * Janina Ramirez, bestselling author of Femina *Fascinating and timely, Rule, Nostalgia is an eye-opening history of Britain's enduring fixation with its own past * Jeremy Paxman *I heartily recommend Rule, Nostalgia. [It] helps explain where we are, as well as where we came from * Dan Jones, bestselling author of Powers and Thrones *I love this book, a witty, acerbic but warm look at how our national character is built on yearning for a glorious past that is just gone, and actually probably never existed. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be * Adam Rutherford, bestselling author of How to Argue With a Racist *Our national story is so much stranger than we think: this book brilliantly insists that we look at it afresh * James Hawes, bestselling author of The Shortest History of England *Well-argued, timely and hugely entertaining. A great piece of popular history * Jonathan Coe, bestselling author of Middle England *A great, scholarly history, and so searingly relevant * Dan Snow, author of On This Day in History *An utterly eye-opening and enthralling debut, clearly laying out our uniquely British obsession with nostalgia. Required reading for anyone who wants to use the term 'culture war'... I absolutely loved it * Fern Riddell, author of Death in Ten Minutes: The forgotten life of radical suffragette Kitty Marion *A smart, entertaining and meticulously researched backwards look (quite literally) at Britain's history of looking over its shoulder. Deconstructs the lure of the fictitious 'good old days' and how they have been weaponised throughout history. Excellent * Otto English, author of Fake History *Outstanding. A thrilling, elegant and highly original interrogation of how we use our pasts * Musa Okwonga, author of One of Them: An Eton College Memoir *Nostalgia was once considered a terminal condition. Hannah Woods suggests that the culture needs to book itself in for a check-up. Provocative and well-argued, Rule, Nostalgia offers the diagnosis that might lead us to a cure * Matthew Sweet, author of Inventing the Victorians *A triumphal backwards tour through the history of Britain's relationship with its own past. This funny, sad, wise and brilliantly informative book is a crash course in the many pasts that have made our presents * Peter Mitchell, author of Imperial Nostalgia: How the British Conquered Themselves *Rule, Nostalgia is radiant with an enthusiast's passion for their subject, and makes a convincing case that Britain's history is sufficiently weird, fascinating and marvellous, without rewriting it into comforting fables * The New Humanist *Rule, Nostalgia is a triumphal backwards tour through the history of Britain's relationship with its own past, a chronicle of our state of perpetual longing for a paradise just gone. Woods' eye is ironic, but never without sympathy as she teases apart the nested structures of mourning and nostalgia on which out national identity is built. This funny, sad, wise and brilliantly informative book is both a plea for historiographical literacy and a crash course in the many pasts that have made our presents * Peter Mitchell, author of Imperial Nostalgia: How the British Conquered Themselves *

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Book SynopsisJade E. Davis contests the value of empathy as an affective or critical tool, proposing mutual recognition as a way to create a more meaningful affective engagement with the world.Trade Review“In this deeply original and thoughtful book, Jade E. Davis takes affect theory into new territory. Her writing makes the reader uncomfortable and curious at the same time, which is rare and wonderful. Dispelling many myths about empathy while executing an innovative stylistic and theoretical model, Davis has written a radical book that will spark conversation, debate, and new directions for research.” -- Zizi Papacharissi, author of * Affective Publics: Sentiment, Technology, and Politics *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xiii By way of an introduction 1 1. The other side of human zoos? 15 2. We have names 35 3. New media and emerging technology will kill us all, though 65 Some end thoughts 93 Notes 99 Bibliography 109 Me, myself, and you: A biography 117 Index

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Book SynopsisThe story behind one of the most important football matches in history - a match both nations were desperate to win for a whole host of reasons beyond simply football

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