Social and cultural history Books

Book SynopsisFor Rian Malan, the blessing of living in South Africa is that every day presents him with material whose richness astounds those who live in saner places. Twenty years after the publication of his bestseller My Traitor's Heart, he is still strongly committed to the struggle against suffocating political rectitude. Malan eviscerates politicians, provokes rabid fury in Aids activists, pursues justice in the music industry, and exults in the company of an extraordinary cast of characters from truckers to tycoons.Trade ReviewMalan is South Africa's Christopher Hitchens, similarly touched with genius. -- Justin Cartwright * Daily Telegraph *Cynical, lively and above all, opinionated.... Malan's writing remains relevant and provides a fascinating glimpse of post-apartheid South Africa. * The Sunday Times travel section *Hugely alive. Malan's writing is animated by anger and a savage irony, yet it is always controlled, clear and readable. * Sunday Herald *Bracing, cheeky, and a damn good read. * Spectator *The Lion Sleeps Tonight is an arresting collection. South Africa should treasure Malan, but it won't. One suspects he wouldn't have it any other way. * The Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisFor everything there is a season — and beer is no exception. Best-selling author Randy Mosher leads you on a delicious tour of beer-tasting opportunities throughout the year, guiding you through all the best seasonal beer releases and festivals. Discover which beers are best to drink on warm spring afternoons or icy winter nights, and learn to make the most out of Craft Beer Week and Oktoberfest. Fun, fresh, and full of insider information, Beer for All Seasons will have you enjoying the varied delights of your favorite beverage year-round.

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Book SynopsisUgaritic literary and ritual studies have often neglected or even ignored the Akkadian material from the same archives, which can be used as a frame of reference for the Ugaritic texts. The aim of this work is to offer a comprehensive study of the consonantal (Ugaritic) as well as the syllabic (Akkadian) incantation and anti-witchcraft texts from Ras Shamra as a unified corpus. These texts, dealing with impending dangers (mainly snakebites) and witchcraft attacks, are placed in the context of Ancient Near Eastern magic literature. A discussion of general topics, including magic and religion, the Ugaritic gods of magic, and the definition of incantation, is followed by a new collation and translation of the Akkadian texts, as well as new photographic material for both series. The main focus of this book is the close reading of the consonantal texts in the context of the much larger and better analyzed corpus of Akkadian magic literature.

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Book SynopsisThere's 'No Future' where punk is a crime.

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Book SynopsisInspiring stories of 10 urbanites who decided to ?the simple life? in the rural mountains of Japan?for anyone interested in sustainable living, Japanese culture, and Eastern spirituality. ?Subversive in the best possible way.? ?Bill McKibben, New York Times?bestselling author The Abundance of Less captures the texture of sustainable lives well lived in these 10 profiles of ordinary?yet exceptional?men and women who left behind mainstream existences in urban Japan to live surrounded by the luxuries of nature, art, friends, delicious food, and an abundance of time. Drawing on traditional Eastern spiritual wisdom and culture, these pioneers describe the profound personal transformations they underwent as they escaped the stress, consumerism, busyness, and dependence on technology of modern life. This intimate and evocative book tells of their fulfilling lives as artists, philosophers, and farmers who rely on themselves for happiness and sustenance. By inviting readers to enter into the essence of these individuals? days, Couturier shows us how we too can bring more meaning and richness to our own lives.

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Book SynopsisA pamphlet about what it means to be Jewish from British songwriter Leon Rosselson

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Book SynopsisExamines the origins and significance of several longstanding anti-black stories and the caricatures and stereotypes that undergird them

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Book SynopsisDozens of stories, poems, songs, stories, and articles produced by hoboes are brought together to create an insider history of the subculture's rise and fall.

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Book SynopsisWinner of a 2020-2021 New York City Book AwardIn a rapidly changing New York, two forces battled for the city's soul: the pro-slavery New Yorkers who kept the illegal slave trade alive and well, and the abolitionists fighting for freedom. We often think of slavery as a southern phenomenon, far removed from the booming cities of the North. But even though slavery had been outlawed in Gotham by the 1830s, Black New Yorkers were not safe. Not only was the city built on the backs of slaves; it was essential in keeping slavery and the slave trade alive. In The Kidnapping Club, historian Jonathan Daniel Wells tells the story of the powerful network of judges, lawyers, and police officers who circumvented anti-slavery laws by sanctioning the kidnapping of free and fugitive African Americans. Nicknamed 'The New York Kidnapping Club,' the group had the tacit support of institutions from Wall Street to Tammany Hall whose wealth depended on the Southern slave and cotton trade. But a small cohort of abolitionists, including Black journalist David Ruggles, organized tirelessly for the rights of Black New Yorkers, often risking their lives in the process. Taking readers into the bustling streets and ports of America's great Northern metropolis, The Kidnapping Club is a dramatic account of the ties between slavery and capitalism, the deeply corrupt roots of policing, and the strength of Black activism.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for theJ. Anthony Lukas PrizeThe story of art collective Gran Fury?which fought back during the AIDS crisisthrough direct action and community-made propaganda?offers lessons in love andgrief. In the late 1980s, the AIDS pandemic was annihilating queer people, intravenous drug users, and communities of color in America, and disinformation about the disease ran rampant. Out of the activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), an art collective that called itself Gran Fury formed to campaign against corporate greed, government inaction, stigma, and public indifference to the epidemic. Writer Jack Lowery examines Gran Fury?s art and activism from iconic images like the ?Kissing Doesn?t Kill? poster to the act of dropping piles of fake bills onto the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Lowery offers a complex, moving portrait of a collective and its members, who built essential solidarities with each other and whose lives evidenced the profound trauma of enduring the AIDS crisis. Gran Fury and ACT UP?s strategies are still used frequently by the activists leading contemporary movements. In an era when structural violence and the devastation of COVID-19 continue to target the most vulnerable, this belief in the power of public art and action persists.

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Book SynopsisThis singular history of a prison, and the queer women and trans people held there, is a window into the policing of queerness and radical politics in the twentieth century. The Women’s House of Detention, a landmark that ushered in the modern era of women’s imprisonment, is now largely forgotten. But when it stood in New York City’s Greenwich Village, from 1929 to 1974, it was a nexus for the tens of thousands of women, transgender men, and gender-nonconforming people who inhabited its crowded cells. Some of these inmates—Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Afeni Shakur—were famous, but the vast majority were incarcerated for the crimes of being poor and improperly feminine. Today, approximately 40 percent of the people in women’s prisons identify as queer; in earlier decades, that percentage was almost certainly higher. Historian Hugh Ryan explores the roots of this crisis and reconstructs the little-known lives of incarcerated New Yorkers, making a uniquely queer case for prison abolition—and demonstrating that by queering the Village, the House of D helped defined queerness for the rest of America. From the lesbian communities forged through the Women’s House of Detention to the turbulent prison riots that presaged Stonewall, this is the story of one building and much more: the people it caged, the neighborhood it changed, and the resistance it inspired. Winner, 2023 Stonewall Book Award—Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Book AwardCrimeReads, Best True Crime Books of the Year

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Book SynopsisA rollicking, myth-busting history of sex that moves from historical attempts at birth control to Hildegard von Bingen’s treatise on the female orgasm, demystifying plenty of urban legends along the way.Roman physicians told female patients they should sneeze out as much semen as possible after intercourse to avoid pregnancy. Historical treatments for erectile dysfunction included goat testicle transplants. In this kaleidoscopic compendium of centuries-old erotica, science writer Rachel Feltman shows how much sex has changed—and how much it hasn’t. With unstoppable curiosity, she debunks myths, breaks down stigma, and uses the long, outlandish history of sex to dissect present-day practices and taboos.Feltman’s mischievous humor dismantles fear and brings scientific literacy to a subject surrounded by misinformation, and indeed, as it gravitates toward the strange, Been There, Done That delivers some sorely needed sex ed. Explorations into age-old questions and bizarre trivia around birth control, aphrodisiacs, STIs, courtship rituals, and more establish that, when it comes to carnal pleasures and procreation, there’s never been a normal, and sex isn’t something to be scared of.

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Book SynopsisDear Ailsa, Sometimes I wonder whether the friendship that has caught us both - a most unlikely friendship I must confess - might find an echo in a far off Irish village somewhere in the wild, windy hills of old Donegal. Or am I allowing that uncontrollable imagination of mine too much slack?This is the story of an unlikely friendship.When priest and Sydneysider Tony Doherty emailed Melbourne-based writer and performer Ailsa Piper to say how much he had enjoyed her latest book, he was met with a swift reply from a similarly enquiring mind. Soon emails were flying back and forth and back again. They exchanged stories of their experiences as sweaty pilgrims and dissected dinner party menus. They shared their delight in Mary Oliver's poetry and wrestled with what it means to love and to grieve. This energetic exchange of words, questions and ideas grew into an unexpected but treasured friendship.Collected here is that correspondence, brimming with empathy, humour and a fierce curiosity about each other and the worlds, shoes and histories that they inhabit. Described by one reader as 'a demonstration of how to have a conversation and a friendship', The Attachment is an intriguing, entertaining and moving celebration of family, faith, connection - even the correct time of day to enjoy rhubarb.Dear Tony, Funny how our ears tune in to things. How our priorities shift based on who and what we know. How we come to care about such abstract or remote things through the experience of another. Lovely, somehow, but so serendipitous. All the other things we might care about. All that we might have missed had we not stopped to care for this person. I'm glad we stopped for each other.Trade ReviewTo read this book is to be present at the unfurling of a tender friendship between two thoughtful, compassionate humans, and like all the best collections of letters it's also a discursive wander through life's big questions. It will make you grateful for what you have, while urging you to seize the day with the people you love... It will make you want to write letters: good ones. I will read this book again and again. * Charlotte Wood, Stella Prize-winning author of The Natural Way of Things *...captures the intoxication of being swept into a new and deeply nourishing friendship. It fizzes with joy and humour, wrestles with agonising questions, always anchored in compassion and wisdom. * Debra Oswald, author of Useful *The Attachment made me want to notice my world, love my world, shape it into words. It is a book about friendship but more than that, these two letter-writers - these unlikely friends - are mature enough to know the value of the moment, the value of friendship, how precious and fleeting life is... I was moved, and surprised, and completed the book in a veil of tears...The book enriched me, and inspired me. * Sofie Laguna, Miles Franklin award-winning author of The Eye of the Sheep *From the first seed of recognition, the feverish exchange of ideas and confidences to a deep and abiding appreciation,The Attachment is a candid, illuminating journey into the heart of a profound and unexpected friendship, and a testament to the art of correspondence. * Kat Stewart, actor *...the chronicle of an unlikely but beautiful friendship that will inspire you to value your own friendships more highly, and to nurture them more carefully. * Hugh Mackay, author of Beyond Belief *

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Book SynopsisFrench women seem inherently more confident in their bodies, able to embrace the sensuality of life and love. What's their secret?Lingerie.Yet, despite an insatiable curiosity for all things French, most women still find lingerie an enigma, a tangled mélange of silk and lace, and are confused about how, when, and where to wear it. (Hint: it's not just for special occasions.) Many aspire to having a drawer full of silky, lacy undergarments, but have no idea where to start: How should my bra fit? How exactly do I wear a garter belt? Do bras and knickers always have to match?With illustrations by French lingerie designer Paloma Casile, Paris Undressed: The Secrets of French Lingerie will help women feel at ease with their figures and show them how to integrate a lingerie lifestyle à la française to enhance their own femininity, confidence, and joie de vivre. It will transform the way women perceive their undergarments - and their bodies - and reveal how to co-ordinate a lingerie wardrobe to reflect personality and to meet lifestyle needs with the right dose of reverie. The book also includes a hand-selected guide to the most confidential addresses and lingerie boutiques in Paris, and discloses where to find the perfect bra, couture camisole or cheeky knicker.Paris Undressed goes behind the seams, combining cultural references, expertise, and practical advice to inspire every woman to reconsider her underwear drawer.Trade ReviewA dreamy resource of lingerie know-how. * Sewing World *An essential guide to every woman who wants to bring a little lace and a whole lot of Ooh La La! into her life. -- Jamie Cat Callan, author of FRENCH WOMEN DON'T SLEEP ALONEThe book is a surprisingly fun take on the 'us versus them' Paris expat experience, and demonstrates that good lingerie - don't ever call it underwear - is part of the cultivation of the sensual that is essential to the French art of living. * Elle Canada *

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Book SynopsisToronto's Poor reveals the long and too often forgotten history of poor people's resistance. This is a rebellious book that links past and present in an almost two-hundred year story of struggle and resistance. It is about men, women, and children relegated to lives of desperation by an uncaring system, and how they have refused to be defeated.

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Book SynopsisA collection of plays born from the great struggles of the Trade Union movement.

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Book SynopsisThe concept of a Northern European ‘Renaissance’ in the arts, in thought, and in more general culture north of the Alps often evokes the idea of a cultural transplant which was not indigenous to, or rooted in, the society from which it emerged. Classic definitions of the European ‘Renaissance’ during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries have often seen it as an Italian import of, for example, humanism and classical learning into the Gothic North. There were certainly differences between North and South which have to be addressed, not least in the development of the visual arts. In this book, Malcolm Vale argues for a Northern Renaissance which, while cognisant of Italian developments, had a life of its own, expressed through such innovations as a rediscovery of pictorial space and representational realism, and which displayed strong continuities with the indigenous cultures of northern Europe. But it also contributed new movements and tendencies in thought, the visual arts, literature, religious beliefs and the dissemination of knowledge which often stemmed from, and built upon, those continuities. A Short History of the Renaissance in Northern Europe – while in no way ignoring or diminishing the importance of the Greek and Roman legacy – seeks other sources, and different uses of classical antiquity, for a rather different kind of ‘Renaissance’ in the North.Trade ReviewA must-read book for all those interested in the history of culture, and [it] would be great news [for it] to be translated in [other] languages ... so that it could be accessible to a greater number of readers * Medievalia (Bloomsbury Translation) *Table of ContentsTimeline List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter 1: What was the 'Northern Renaissance'? Chapter 2: Realism and the Visual Arts Chapter 3: Humanism in the North Chapter 4: The Old and the New Devotion Chapter 5: The Impact of Print Chapter 6: Wisdom, Folly and the Darker Vision Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn feudal and early modern society, the nobility was a force of major importance. Yet despite its undeniable influence on the course of history, there has been a noticeable lack of published material covering the ways in which nobility was (and sometimes still is) defined in public law, as opposed to its political and economic influence, or the legal privileges which noble status guaranteed. In this major new three-volume work, Michael Sayer provides an extensive survey of all the most significant primary sources relating to the status of nobility in Europe from Roman times through the Medieval period and beyond, setting them within the broader historical context of the time. He also examines separately the many juridical aspects of nobility - titles, arms, heraldry, chivalric orders, and offices - providing a thorough methodological basis for the study of nobility. As a comprehensive survey of nobles and nobility in European society over 2000 years, this book will be an invaluable reference tool for scholars and students.Table of ContentsVOLUME I: Chapter 1. Nobility in Roman Antiquity Chapter 2. Nobles and Nobility in Early Medieval Europe Chapter 3. Feudalism, Tenure and Jurisdiction VOLUME II: Chapter 4. Knighthood and Orders of Chivalry Chapter 5. Arms, Heraldry and Nobility Chapter 6. Civic Nobility VOLUME III: Chapter 7. Nobility and Office Chapter 8. Titled Nobility Chapter 9. The Rights of Nobility VOLUME IV Chapter 10. Proofs of Nobility and Reciprocity Chapter 11. Epilogue Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Strand is one of London's most iconic streets - today the bustling and thriving home of West End theatres and the luxurious Savoy hotel; in the Victorian era, the Strand was a much more seedy and destitute part of the city. Barry Anthony here explores the criminal and socially subversive behaviour which abounded in and around the Victorian Strand. He introduces us to a vast range of personalities - from prostitutes, confidence tricksters, vagrants and cadgers to the actors, comedians and music hall stars who trod the boards of the Strand's early theatres.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Timeline 1. Where's Troy? 2. The Disappearance of Love 3. The Dark Arches 4. The Lord Chief Baron of the Coal Hole 5. Old Stock and Fancy Goods 6. The Importance of Being Ernest...and Frederick 7. Sam and Maud 8. Kicking over the Traces 9. A Peep into the Unknown 10. Looking for Mugs in the Strand 11. The Casebook of Maurice Moser 12. Alias Jack the Ripper 13. Crystals of Morphine 14. An Adelphi Drama 15. Madame St John 16. The Backside of St Clement's Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisYoga in Britain reveals how yoga came to be an accepted, mainstream activity. In mid-twentieth century Britain, yoga transformed from an esoteric concept into a something that could be taught in to middle-class women in adult education classes. Much of the popularization of yoga in this context was seen in terms of being a source of potential public benefit in promoting physical health and wellbeing. Yoga was also widely acknowledged to offer an opportunity for spiritual exploration, but largely as a private, highly individual concern. Using extensive archival evidence and oral history interviews, the book stresses the importance of adult educational structures in how yoga was popularized in twentieth century Britain. It argues that this context is crucial in understanding the contemporary popularity of yoga globally.

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Book SynopsisThe recorded history of gypsy communities in Europe begins with the arrival of the Roma in the fourteenth century, although genetic and linguistic evidence demonstrates that this group left northwest India sometime before the seventh. Remarkably, this leaves a 700-year unexplored void as the communities migrated across the Middle East. The main problem facing historians studying so-called gypsies and gypsy-like communities is a linguistic one – namely not knowing how to identify or recognise them in the medieval Arabic and Persian sources. Drawing on ground-breaking linguistic research, Kristina Richardson here demonstrates that the Banû Sâsân – literally `from the tribe of Sâsân’ and commonly identified in scholarship as a fringe criminal gang or underworld brotherhood – should be less creatively imagined and viewed as an ordinary tribal confederation: the `missing’ gypsy community. Having established this, Richardson fleshes out the existence of these communities across the medieval Middle East, touching on topics as diverse as their professions, their migration patterns, the art they left behind, the urban spaces they lived in and influenced, their daily life and their literature. Richardson’s ground-breaking book will provide the foundation for future studies of the Romani in the period, in addition to revealing a great deal about the cities, communities, religions and cultures that they lived within as they moved and settled across the medieval Islamic world.Trade ReviewThis book is nothing short of a radical remapping of the Global Middle Ages that decenters sedentary peoples and refuses territorial partition. Kristina Richardson brilliantly illuminates the sophisticated literary, technological, and intellectual cultures of the Ghuraba' (Strangers), the Roma, and other traveling communities as they moved along the margins of Afro-Eurasian societies between the eighth and the sixteenth centuries. Methodologically wide-ranging and analytically bold, Roma in the Medieval Islamic World will change the way we write medieval history. * Professor of History and International Studies, Zayde Antrim, Trinity College, USA *Fascinating! Like watching a wonderful and unexpected landscape emerge as a master jigsaw puzzler fits the pieces together. * Richard Bulliet, Emeritus Professor of History, Columbia University, USA *"In this brilliant work, Dr. Kristina Richardson illustrates the fundamental importance of studying peoples that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. Attention to the 'marginal' Ghuraba' across time and space shows them to be anything one of the major groups responsible for facilitating Afro-Eurasian cultural exchange. Of the many notable contributions of this work, her intervention in the history of the printed book is a stunning contribution to the field. Through meticulous linguistic and material analysis, she shows that the Ghuraba' are the most likely candidates for the transmission of 'print culture' from East Asia to the West. Her findings are sure to win many converts and provide a new methodological approach for exploring the vital importance of minority groups to the emergence of Afro-Eurasian material cultures." * Devin Fitzgerald, Curator of Rare Books and History of Printing, UCLA, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Reimagining the Ban? S?s?n and Their Language Chapter 2: Professional Niches, Migrations and Diaspora Chapter 3: Material Culture Chapter 4: Urban Spaces Chapter 5: A Gypsy Littérateur from B?b al-L?q, Cairo Chapter Six: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn 1981 a young semi-professional footballer - known as `Imam Beckenbauer' for his piety and his dominant style of play - has his career cut short after a confrontation with Turkey's military junta. His name was Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and three decades later he is Turkey's most powerful ruler since Ataturk....' Turkey is a nation obsessed with football. From the flares which cover the stadium with multi-coloured smoke and often bring play to a halt, to the `conductors' - ultras who lead the `walls of sound' at matches, Turkish football has always been an awesome spectacle. And yet, in this politically fraught country, caught between the Middle East and the West, football has also always been so much more. From the fan groups resisting the government in the streets and stands, to ambitious politicians embroiling clubs in Machiavellian shenanigans, football in Turkey is a site of power, anger, and resistance. Journalist and football obsessive Patrick Keddie takes us on a wild journey through Turkey's role in the world's most popular game. He travels from the streets of Istanbul, where fans dodge tear gas and water cannons, to the plains of Anatolia, where women are fighting for their rights to wear shorts and play sports. He meets a gay referee facing death threats, Syrian footballers trying to piece together their shattered dreams, and Kurdish teams struggling to play football amid war. `The Passion' also tells the story of the biggest match-fixing scandal in European football, and sketches its murky connections to the country's leadership. In doing so he lifts the lid on a rarely glimpsed side of modern Turkey. Funny, touching and beautifully observed, this is the story of Turkey as we have never seen it before.Trade Review“Patrick Keddie takes us inside the unceasing Turkish football conversation. The game turns out to be a great device to explain this little understood, football-mad country and its football-mad ruler (who recently banned the foreign word “arena”, forcing many Turkish stadiums to be renamed). The Passion is an energetically researched history of Turkey through football.” * Simon Kuper, Financial Times columnist and author of Football Against the Enemy *“I found The Passion a captivating account of modern Turkey, its passions and frustrations; perhaps it won’t make you fall in love with Turkish football, but it will help you see why it is so central in understanding Turkey’s soul.” * Kaya Genc, author of Under the Shadow: Rage and Revolution in Modern Turkey *the writer’s own passion for his subject is obvious throughout a highly readable and impressively far-reaching work that deserves attention from followers of football and Turkey alike. -- Michael Mackenzie * Ahval News *The depth of research undertaken by Keddie is laudable and what could have easily have turned out to be a dry, academic, turgid tome is thankfully anything but. The book is well thought out and structured and commendably offers a voice to parties who would otherwise struggle to be heard outside of the country. -- Paul McParlan * The Football Pink *Turkish football is an exemplar of a world where football is ever more reflective of our social conditions, and ever more politicised. It now has an exemplary chronicler and interpreter in Patrick Keddie whose The Passion is a fabulous guide to everything from President Erdogan's football obsession to Kurdish resistance through the game. * David Goldblatt, author of The Ball is round: A Global History of Football and The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football *

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Book SynopsisAfter the Second World War, with much of Europe in ruins, the victorious Winston Churchill swore to build a peace across Europe that would last a generation.Fighting against the new 'Iron Curtain' which had fallen across the world, and battling the personal disappointment of losing the 1945 election in Britain, Churchill dedicated the rest of his life to forging a united Europe. This book, based in part on new evidence, reveals his vision: Britain as a leading member of the European family. Through Churchill's own private papers, Felix Klos unveils Churchill's personal battle to regain his place in world affairs, his confidential conversations with European leaders and the thinking and preparation behind some of his most powerful speeches. A beautifully written history of Europe after the war, and a new glimpse at one of its greatest statesmen.Trade Review'An exceptionally well crafted work of history. Politically, what is particularly important about it is the way that Churchill's argument was not about economics, but about the political need for collaboration between European states as a way of avoiding the return of small nation protectionism and the political antagonisms to which it gave rise.' - Professor Gareth Stedman Jones, King's College, University of Cambridge, "This accessible and thoroughly researched study explores Churchill's extraordinary contribution to the original emergence of the European 'project', and will challenge muddled explanations of his thinking on Europe. An important book which could not have come at a better time.' - Dr Sue Onslow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 'All historical writing speaks to the present through the past, but it is rare, very rare, to find a work of scholarship that is as decisively relevant as Felix Klos's portrait of Winston Churchill in his later career as a champion of Europeanism. This scrupulous, elegant book rejuvenates for the twenty-first century the prophetic vision of one of the towering figures of the twentieth.' - Vijay Seshadri, Author, Essayist and Winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize, 'All politicians suffer from having their words misquoted or taken out of context, but the posthumous conflicts over the precise nature of Churchill's views on European integration are probably in a class of their own. Timely, erudite and absorbing.' - Professor Peter Catterall, editor of The Macmillan Diaries

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Book SynopsisWhittlesea Mere – one of the wonders of Huntingdonshire! The historic county of Huntingdonshire has much to recommend it, and one of its lost treasures is brought back to life in this welcome updated and substantially expanded edition of a study first published in 1987. The Mere was the largest body of inland water in lowland England before its drainage in the 1850s, an action which brought to an end a long, rich and thriving history of fishing, reed-cutting and boating, control of which excited the interest of kings, and was fought over by medieval abbots and monks, 17th century drainers, local communities and rival landowners. Once drained, the Mere continued to influence farming practice, hindered the smooth running of the main railway line to the north and bequeathed to the nation in its surroundings two important nature reserves at Holme Fen and Woodwalton Fen. Now, in the 21st century, recognition of the area’s unique ecological and educational potential has seen the creation of a major environmental restoration project, the Great Fen Project.

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Book SynopsisThe illustrated biography of a Scottish country house, set beside the River Clyde, and of the people who made it their home over the past 850 years Written by four brothers, their sister and the eldest member of the next generation, Finlaystone offers an insiders’ view of the house, its beautiful gardens and the surrounding estate. They tell about the lives of its former owners, many of whom played prominent roles in Scottish military, political, religious and cultural affairs. As Scotland moved forward from centuries of feuds between large feudal landowners to the reformation, the age of enlightenment and the industrial revolution, the building evolved from a fortress to a modest but attractive family home in 1746. Its present form as an imposing late Victorian mansion dates from when it was modernised and extended in 1900 by George Jardine Kidston, the great-grandfather of the older authors, who had grown wealthy from running one of the world’s earliest steamship companies. In its hey-day, Finlaystone was managed for the comfort and leisure of its owners by a bevy of household servants living in a wing of the house, and by an army of workers, including gardeners, foresters, game-keepers, joiners and a laundry-maid. The prosperity that had made such a lavish life possible, however, soon started to decline, with George Kidston’s death in 1909, followed just 5 years later by war, the economic depression in the 1930s, and then World War II. Unlike many other large country houses, Finlaystone remains a family home, kept afloat largely by the hard work and adaptability of the members of the family who reflect in this book on the joys and travails that this implied.

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Book SynopsisWhy Are We Always Indoors? (...unless we're off to Barnard Castle) is a personal chronicle of the strangest and darkest football close season in modern history. Having studied politics at university, Paul Armstrong spent much of his career running BBC TV's Match of the Day, then wrote the memoir Why Are We Always On Last? which was published in 2019. In March 2020, he embarked on a journal of London lockdown life against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. This eventually spanned the 105 days between MOTD's Premier League highlights being removed from the schedules and returning in June. Musings and anecdotes about sport, TV, music and life under lockdown became increasingly overshadowed by the mounting tragedy, and a sense of despair and anger at how the crisis was handled at the highest level. This was informed by a lifetime of studying and following politics and by a network of contacts from television and sport, and in various other affected walks of life. A first-hand account of a slice of living history, conveyed with dark humour and a sense of urgency and immediacy.

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Book SynopsisThe Library of Trinity College Dublin dates back to the establishment of the College in 1592 and is the largest library in Ireland. Its extensive collection of journals, manuscripts, maps and music reflects over 400 years of academic development and amounts to over 6 million volumes. A Legal Deposit Library since 1801, it receives copies of all material published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The most famous of its treasures is the Book of Kells, whose rich illuminations are one of the finest examples of medieval art. Together with the Book of Durrow, also in the collection, they represent Ireland's greatest cultural treasure. The Library also bears testament to more recent history, counting letters from Irish WWI soldiers and various artefacts from the Easter Rising - including a bullet fired through the Library roof - among its collection. This selection of objects highlights the diversity of the holdings and illuminates their fascinating history.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive guide for those seeking to understand the rich cultural heritage of Central Asia, this book is the most authoritative single-volume treatment of the region’s long history. This newly translated volume investigates the civilisations and states which emerged in Central Asia from the Bronze Age up to the 5th century AD. It examines their differing religions and cultures and explores their changing relationships over time. With all new colour plates in a beautiful hardback edition, this book seeks to bring Central Asia’s illustrious history to life for a new international audience.

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Book SynopsisThis new official history of St Catharine’s College has been published in celebration of its 550th anniversary on the Feast of St Catharine, 25 November 2023. How did the College endure through periods of upheaval, financial insecurity and social change? How has the experience of studying, living and working at St Catharine’s changed over the centuries? Beautifully illustrated, this account chronicles the College’s foundation in 1473 and subsequent development as a welcoming, thriving and vibrant academic community of approximately 1,000 students, Fellows and staff located in the heart of Cambridge, supported by a network of 10,000 alumni around the world. This history – the first to be published by the College since 1997 – shines a light on moments and individuals overlooked by existing accounts, and celebrates the most recent achievements of the St Catharine’s community.Table of ContentsIntroduction Early years Humble beginnings Woodlark’s character and motivations Theology and philosophy alone The Barnardiston benefactions Saint and symbol The first College buildings Reformation and Renaissance Imprisonment, exile and execution Venerable verses John Gostlin Puritan protégés Civil War and Restoration The rebuilding The completion of the Chapel Science on the syllabus The Bangorian Controversy ‘The Decline’ The Ramsden Bequest Legacies of enslavement The Victorian age The Robinson Vote Merger with King’s? Rhythm and Blues To enclose or not to enclose The First World War and after The global impact of St Catharine’s alumni Hobson’s The 1930s The Second World War Post-war recovery A growing community Welcoming women – and a queen St Chad’s New heights New faces in Chapel Supporting current and future generations The College today Notes Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisA Victorian Murder. A Victorian Madman. A Modern Judgement.Gateshead, April 1866The Apprentice of Split Crow Lane takes the forgotten case of a child murder in 1866 as a springboard to delve deeply into the pysche of the Victorians. What Jane Housham finds, in this exploration of guilt, sexual deviance and madness, is a diagnosis that is still ripe for the challenging and a sentence that provokes even our liberal modern judgement. Set around Gateshead, it is a revelatory social history of the North - an area growing in industry and swelling with immigration, where factory workers are tinged blue and yellow by chemicals, the first tabloids are printed, children are left alone by working parents and haystack fires sweep the county in rebellion against the introduction of the police force. Into this landscape, a five-year-old Irish girl named Sarah Melvin sets out over the fell to look for her father, and a troubled young man makes a frightening leap of logic to save his own skin.Told here for the first time, this is an extraordinary story of sexual deviance and murder. In lively, empathic prose, Jane Housham explores psychiatry, the justice system and the media in mid-Victorian England to reveal a surprisingly modern state of affairs.Trade ReviewGripping - reveals a society in moral turmoil * William Shaw *Well-written and excellently researched, this chilling tale of a Victorian sex murder opens out into an investigation into the workings of the lunatic mind and the asylums which treat it * Julie Peakman *This was a fascinating read, particularly for those who are interested in Victorian provision of the criminally insane . . . She also gives us a flavour of the population of the time, of the haves and the have-nots and really conjures up details of the place where the crime was committed in astonishing detail . . . enlightening and clear-sighted * Cleopatra Loves Books *Housham is a dogged researcher and evocative writer. She sheds a powerful light on the era, skilfully describing the febrile, lawless atmosphere of 1860s Gateshead -- Jenny McCartney * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisA celebration of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, showing us that the Queen's qualities of duty, self-sacrifice and love of country were present in her from an early age.'The moments in life of "knowing". On Bognor Beach, with Grandpa England, she had "known" that he, and Papa, and she, would carry something on, something given, something bigger than themselves.'Lilibet: a carefree child, a lover of horses and dogs, devoted to her family. And the girl who would be Queen.A.N. Wilson, one of England's most beloved writers, imagines the Queen reflecting on her early life. We watch as she discovers, at the tender age of ten, that she is heir to the throne. We witness her meet the dashing Prince Phillip of Greece, who she loved steadfastly from the age of fifteen, and see their friendship blossom into passionate love. Above all, we learn of her astonishing sense of vocation and public duty, which grew during the dark years of WWII and her father's subsequent years of ill health.Honouring the life of Her Majesty the Queen and her illustrious reign, Lilibet: The Girl Who Would be Queen is by turns funny, tender and heartfelt.'Superb... captures our Queen better than any biography' - Sunday Telegraph'It's packed with detail and conversations that bring to life all those who have been most important to her.' - Daily MailTrade ReviewWilson, our supreme literary operator, is to be praised for this superb distillation, which is much more perceptive than the lumpy official biographies. -- Roger Lewis * Sunday Telegraph *It's packed with detail and conversations that bring to life all those who have been most important to her. -- Sally Morris * Daily Mail *Much to learn and admire... [A] right royal curiosity -- Alex O'Connell * The Times *

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Book SynopsisWomen today are more equal than at any other time in American history. The #MeToo movement has transformed American workplaces. Christian power is weakening as the US grows increasingly secular. Democrats currently control Washington. And yet in this moment of growing equality and diminishing religiosity, women have lost one of the cornerstone achievements of liberal politics: the right to access an abortion. It's easy to characterise abortion politics as a familiar, decades-long battle- evangelicals against feminists, Republican states versus Democratic states, grassroots fighting elites. That kind of political thinking misunderstands the current moment. Abortion is, of course, about a right to terminate a pregnancy. But it's also the stage where the United States works through some of its most fundamental cultural and moral debates. In THE FALL OF ROE, two top New York Times journalists, Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer, have written the definitive book

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Book Synopsis“Could you put your white best friend on stage and remind them that they’re part of the problem? Even if you love them? Even if you never want anyone to feel for even a moment how you feel living in this world every day? Would - could - a white person finally hear what you have to say?” Originally commissioned by The Bunker Theatre as a critically-acclaimed festival that ran in 2019, My White Best Friend collects 23 letters that engage with a range of topics, from racial tensions, microaggressions and emotional labour, to queer desire, prejudice and otherness. Expressing feelings and thoughts often stifled or ignored, the pieces here transform letter writing into a provocative act of candour. Funny, heartfelt, wry and heart-breaking, whether a letter to their younger self or an ode to the writer's tongue, this anthology of exceptional writing is always engaging and thought-provoking. Featuring different letters from some of the most exciting voices in the UK and beyond, My White Best Friend (And Other Letters Left Unsaid) includes work from: Zia Ahmed, Travis Alabanza, Fatimah Asghar, Nathan Bryon, Matilda Ibini, Jammz, Iman Qureshi, Anya Reiss, Somalia Seaton, Nina Segal, Tolani Shoneye, Lena Dunham, Inua Ellams, Rabiah Hussain, Mika Johnson, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, Shireen Mula, Ash Sarkar, Jack Thorne and Joel Tan.Trade ReviewThis extremely topical compilation of thought-provoking letters speaks to us all … A carefully designed anthology of heartfelt and emotional writing … It leaves the reader with the lasting feeling that more communication from every side would only help to achieve more understanding and cohesion. This compilation is a great start. * Broadway World *The various writers’ anecdotes and Rachel De-Lahay’s purple prose and the unique idea to twinkle out some connections with the present make the book – bravura! * Ethnic and Racial Studies *

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