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Jonathan Cape Our age is obsessed with the idea of conspiracy. Bookshops are full of texts devoted to proving myriad conspiracy theories as accurate. In ‘Voodoo Histories’, an entertaining and enlightening book, Aaronovitch carefully probes and explodes a dozen of the major conspiracy theories, from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to New York’s 9/11, from the assassination of Kennedy to the death of Diana. In doing so, he looks at why people believe such theories and argues for a true scepticism, one based on a thorough knowledge of history and a strong dose of common sense.
Price: EUR 19.00
Chatto What does it mean to be English ? This book both answers this question and demonstrates that a quintessentially English quality can be found in all forms of the English culture dating from the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, roughly 500 to 1066 AD. Ackroyd engages the reader with stories and surprises, addressing cultural icons such as Beowolf and King Arthur (although Arthur was Welsh), Chaucer, Shakespeare and the Brönte sisters. Nothing of relevance is omitted - even the English passion for gardening is mentioned !
Price: EUR 29.00
By the bestselling author of ‘London: The Biography’, this marvellous new work traces the history of the Thames river, meandering from prehistoric times up to the present. Ackroyd explains facets of the river in great detail: its flora and fauna; its geology, smells and colour as well as describing paintings and photographs of it. The book also depicts the myths, magic and folklore which have given the Thames much of its numinous character. The reader not only learns about Toad of Toad Hall, Henry VIII and Shelley, but also about the locks, weirs, bridges and docks which make up the river’s 215 mile length of history and cultural heritage. Peter Ackroyd has a special and unique gift for imparting knowledge in an anecdotal and exciting way.
"Gulag" is the only major history in any language to draw together the mass of memoirs and writings on the Soviet camps that have been published in Russia and the West. Using these sources as well as her own original research, Ms. Applebaum offers a scrupulous and moving account of the camp system beginning with its development under the Tsars, its colossal expansion under Stalin's reign of terror and its eventual collapse under Glasnost. She brings the astonishing and tragic story of the gulags alive in a new way, combining a deep feeling and understanding for the victims with penetrating, historical insight into the mechanisms which led to their existence and eventual demise.
Price: EUR 16.90
Bloomsbury ‘Payback’ is an intelligent, acutely argued and prescient book that examines the metaphor of debt and the role it plays in our lives. This eclectic and wonderful mélange of personal reminiscences, literary walkabout, timely argument, economic history and theological query is bound together with her usual wry wit and careful, though casual-seeming research. Atwood does not write about high finance or managing money, but goes far deeper to explore debt as an ancient and central motif in religion, literature and the structure of human societies. In her final section, she addresses the notion of a debt to nature and the need to find new ways of interacting with the natural world before it is too late. Atwood is and remains a consistently captivating and astute writer.
Price: EUR 9.90
Penguin In this spellbinding account of one of the great symbols of European literature, Barber traces the history of the tales spun around the Holy Grail, beginning with Chretien deTroyes, who first imagined this as a mysterious gold vessel in the twelfth century to the 20th Century New Age. By a long series of imaginative transformations, the Grail has moved from the sphere of romance to religion and become an emblem of mysticism and man's highest aspiritions. The book conveys its extraordinary journey which involves theology, history, literature and art, ranging across most of Western Europe and the Near East.
Penguin Celebrated historian, Antony Beevor, focuses his attention on the life and times of charismatic Russian actress, Olga Chekhova, a favourite of Hitler and niece of the playwright Anton Chekhov. After fleeing Bolshevik Moscow for Berlin in 1920, Olga was recruited by her brother to work for Soviet intelligence. In return, her family were allowed to join her in Germany. Beevor paints a vivid picture of the conflict and suffering one talented woman and her family experience caught up in times of revolution, civil war, dictatorship, divided loyalty and world conflict. It is also a revealing story of compromise and survival in the shadowy, morally ambiguous worlds of Nazism and Communism.
Harper Collins Bergreen tells a well-rounded story of Ferdinand Magellan's unprecedented circumnavigaion of the globe, altering Europe's perception of the world by proving it to be a sphere. In 1519, the Portugese explorer embarked on this mission for Spain, with five ships and two hundred and sixty sailors, to find a water route to the fabled Spice Islands in Indonesia which led through the land mass of the Americas. They returned three years later with an abundance of spices, but just one ship containing eighteen emaciated men. This compelling tale of heroism, discovery and disaster is a gripping read, especially for history buffs.
George L. Bernstein, Pimlico After 1945, the British economy suffered greatly from the aftermath of the Second World War. Its legacy seemed to be one of decline: the dissolution of the Empire, the emergence of Celtic separatism and the inability of British industry to compete in world markets. But as Bernstein so lucidly points out, the post war period has, in fact, witnessed the gradual emergence of a more exciting, dynamic society. Women's liberation, youth culture, devolution and immigration all have contributed to a new energy which has touched every aspect of life and owes little to the influence of America on British culture.
Simon & Schuster Germany’s transition to a period of relative peace, prosperity and democracy is the pivotal point on which Europe’s twentieth century turned, according to history professor, Richard Bessel, in his newest book ‘Germany 1945’. Instead of concentrating on how Europe slid into tyranny, violence, war and genocide, Richard Bessel sets out to describe how the German people emerged from the trauma of war and total defeat, turned their backs on the Third Reich and its heinous crimes and began to rebuild their lives in most difficult circumstances. ‘Germany 1945’ is a well-written, extensively researched account of the re-emergence of humanity in post-war Germany. It is a story of life after death.
Allen Lane In the early nineteenth century China remained almost untouched by Britain and other European powers because ferocious laws forbade all trade with the West outside one tiny area of Canton. Anyone teaching a European to speak Chinese could be executed. But as new technology began to unbalance the relationship, foreigners gathered like wolves around the weakening Qing Empire. China should be opened, they believed, so they broke down its doors and built a new foreign world on Chinese soil. With China humiliated by military disasters, racked by rebellions that cost millions of lives and ultimately invaded during the Boxer Uprising by thousands of foreign soldiers, it looked as though the colonial ‘scramble for Africa’ was being accompanied by a scramble for China. Would the country suffer the fate of much of the rest of the world, carved into pieces by the Europeans? Or can the Chinese adapt rapidly enough to maintain their independence long enough for the ‘yang guizi’ (foreign devils) to fall out among themselves?
Price: EUR 39.00
David Blackbourn: The Conquest of Nature: Water, Landscape and the Making of Modern Germany, Cape The Rhine in which Goethe fished for salmon would have looked quite different to the river which we know today. It did not even flow in the same places. Unlike the familiar modern artery, engineered to flow swiftly in a single channel between embankments, the eighteenth-century river meandered over its flood plain, running fast or slow according to the season. Along the river for miles on either side lay wetland forests, which had not yet given way to farmland or industry. This book tells the story of how Germans have transformed their landscape over the last 250 years, shaping modern Germany in the process. 'The Conquest of Nature' is a groundbreaking study that opens new vistas on the history of Germany, weighing the efficiency it has gained against the landscape which has been lost.
Price: EUR 21.00
Sabine Melchior-Bonnet's book is a fascinating and multifaceted study of how technological developments in mirror making have profoundly affected the way we see ourselves. Beginning with early metal mirrors of the ancient world, the author describes how the production of glass mirrors evolved by trial and accident. She looks at each period in history, evoking the changes in attitude and sensibilities as reflected through the mirror. She describes Johannes Gutenberg plying his metallurgical skills to produce mirrors before turning to the printing press and Lewis Carroll's playful treatment of the mirror in his fiction for children. From the myth of Narcissus to Lacan's mirror stage, 'the Mirror' examines our enduring fascination with reflection, providing numerous revelations about the evolving nature of self-consciousness.
Anthony Brandt - The Man Who Ate His Boots: Sir John Franklin and the Tragic History of the Northwest Passage Jonathan Cape This rich, engaging work of history describes the enthralling often harrowing story of the adventurers who searched in vain for the Northwest Passage coined ‘the holy grail of nineteenth-century British exploration’. Brandt traces the complete history of this noble but tragic obsession which originated during the sixteenth century and brings vividly to life a record of courage, incompetence, privation, heroics and endurance. Many expeditions set out for the Arctic during the first half of the nineteenth century. All ended in failure as men starved to death, sometimes eating their dead companions. Brandt also introduces us to a wide array of characters from seamen, scientists, landlubbers, politicians to tireless optimists! A great read!
Price: EUR 25.00
The inveterate traveller, Bill Bryson, now embarks on a quest to understand everything that has happened in the world from the Big Bang to the rise of civilisation, leaving no stone unturned. As he boldly travels through space and time, he encounters a number of astonishingly eccentric scientists and shows us the world in a way most of us have never seen before. Bryson explores not so much what we know but how we know what we know. For example, how do we know what is at the centre of the earth or what a black hole is? These questions and others are asked and answered in such a thought provoking way that they engender further curiosity.
Price: EUR 13.90
Michael Burleigh - Blood & Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism, Harper In this fascinating study, award winning historian and commentator Michael Burleigh explores the nature of terrorism, beginning with its origins in the west to the present day global threat of jihadist violence. Moving from the first deadly acts committed by the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Russian Nihilists through to the violence that accompanied decolonisation and the brutal mutation of the Arab-Israeli conflict into international terrorism, Burleigh offers a compelling analysis of the terrorist mind. He explores not only backgrounds and mindsets of people engaged in careers of political violence, but also how terrorism could be effectively contained and its inner divisions and weaknesses exploited to end its globalised threat. An excellent exposé.
Price: EUR 11.90
The Missionary and the Libertine - Love and War in East and West, Ian Buruma, Faber. In this stunning collection of essays, Ian Buruma examines the relationship between Asia and the West. Through literary criticism, political commentary and biographical excursions into the lives of several eccentric colonialists, Buruma seeks to refute the notion that there are inseparable barriers between the two cultures. He addresses a diverse and intriguing range of topics, for example, the last days of Hong Kong as a British colony, the legacies of Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima and the nature of Japanese sexuality on screen. Witty, intelligent, never dull, this collection of essays is a marvellous source of information about the East, particularly for those who have not travelled there.
Buzbee, former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookshop – the smell and feel of books, the joy of getting lost in the depths of shelves and the silent community of readers. He shares with us his passion for books, which began at school. Woven throughout is a fascinating historical account of the bookseller trade – from the great Alexandria library with an estimated one million papyrus scrolls to Sylvia Beach’s famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., that led to the extraordinary effort to publish and sell James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’. Rich in anecdotes, ‘The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop’ is perfect for those of us who enjoy the enduring pleasures of spending an afternoon finding just the right book!
Price: EUR 17.90
Harper Press In ‘Chocolate Wars’ bestselling historian, Deborah Cadbury, tells the story of a uniquely alluring product and the evolution, for better or worse, of modern business. From its beginnings in the nineteenth century, Britain’s chocolate industry was driven by fierce rivalries. The major English chocolate manufacturers, Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree, were all Quaker family enterprises, and their business aims were infused with religious idealism. Puritanical hard work and sober austerity were their guiding principles; personal profiteering was considered as shameful as debt. Across the Atlantic, Milton Hershey and Forrest Mars took the confectionary business to a new, all-American scale. The values that inspired the original English pioneers were gradually eroded in the global chocolate wars that ensued. In the new millennium Cadbury, the sole independent survivor of England’s chocolate dynasties, became the world’s largest confectionary company. But it, too, faced a threat to its survival, culminating in a multi-billion-pound showdown that pitted independence and Quaker tradition against the cut-throat tactics of a corporate leviathan. ‘Chocolate Wars’ features a colourful cast of idealistic entrepreneurs, brilliant eccentrics and resourceful visionaries, making it an extremely witty and ‘delectable’ read.
Drawing on historical research and most recent scientific discoveries, Norman Cantor tells a fascinating, lively and intimate narrative of the greatest biomedical disaster in history, namely the Black Death which wiped out 40% of Europe's population. The author penetrates the haze of myths surrounding this catastrophe and illuminates how the plague deeply affected the sociological, commercial, cultural and religious foundations not only of medieval culture but of present times. He presents a social history, therefore, not only one of collapse but also of rebirth.
Price: EUR 12.90
Penguin In the years before the First World War three great European powers, Britain, Germany and Russia were ruled by three cousins: George V of Britain, Wilhelm II, the last German Kaiser and Nicholas II, the last Russian Tsar. Between them, they presided over the last years of dynastic Europe. Ms Carter uses the cousins’ correspondence to tell their colourful tragi-comic story: damaged, egotistical Wilhelm; quiet, stubborn Nicholas and anxious, dutiful George, exposing their lives, passions, foibles, tantrums and obsessions, from uniforms to stamp-collecting. Queen Victoria comes alive behind the scenes as the obsessive, family ‘bully’ whose conservatism left its own dangerous legacy. Ms Carter succeeds in her colourful rendering of the cousins to show how personal relationships interact with the political.
Atria Books In ‘Flushed’, Hodding Carter, a history and natural history writer, investigates how the plumber saved civilization, which is not usually part of our daily concern as long as everything ‘runs’ smoothly. Only when pipes start clogging up, do we appreciate this invisible but crucible part of our daily comfort. Carter gives us a tour of the world of plumbing (plumber coming from the Latin word for lead – plumbum!) – from the sophisticated ancient techniques of the water-delivery and sewage systems of the Romans to the sewers of London up to the latest state-of-the-art Japanese futuristic comfort stations. Carter combines anecdotes from metropolitan sewers around the world through history and technical explanation with his own fascination and adventures with the maze of pipes behind his own walls. That is what makes this book so enjoyable – the enthusiastic and highly personal tone of his writing as well as loads of intriguing facts.
Bloomsbury Amy Chua’s controversial new book is about her experience as a ‘Tiger Mother’, a ferocious species that push their cubs (children) to the brink of madness to ensure success. Tiger mothers hide their ambitions and methods from lax Western parents whose children they plan to outdo in every exam. How do Chinese mothers produce so many maths whizzes and music prodigies? Chau makes it clear that the Eastern and Western approaches to parenting are diametrically different. She suggests that mixing the two traditions results in friction and a fusion of both is better. The story of Chua’s family trials is not only entertaining, it also raises questions about issues that trouble all parents of whether, indeed, there is a best route to balance guidance with freedom of choice.
Price: EUR 16.95
Christopher Clark: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947, Penguin With Berlin as its capital, Prussia evolved from a small, poor, disregarded medieval state into one of the most powerful European countries. Among other things, it was the motor behind the creation of the German Empire in 1871. After the Second World War, the Allies, in their eagerness to erase all traces of the Third Reich, blamed Prussia for the extreme militarism which had led to complete disaster in Europe. In this compelling, comprehensive history of the rise and fall of Prussia, Christopher Clark tells a surprisingly refreshing and far more complex story of Prussia, enriching classical scholarship with the most recent findings and offering the reader a remarkable glimpse into the incalculable role Prussia has played in western civilisation’s fortunes. Clarke attributes to Prussia much that was socially and intellectually progressive. This is a well-researched and definitive account of Prussia’s fascinating, influential and critical role in modern history.
Price: EUR 24.00
Simon & Schuster In the grand tradition of the scholar-adventurer, Cohen takes us on a fascinating journey around the sun, illuminating our complex relationship with that star. Both as a sweeping history of world civilizations and an irresistible chronicle of the role the sun as played in shaping its events, Cohen blends myth, history, science, literature, poetry and art in an epic synthesis about the sun that excites our imagination even further! Packed with interesting facts, extraordinary myths which include the genesis of the sun god, the role of the sun in medicine is portrayed complete with references and anecdotes. Cohen reports from locations in eighteen different countries, from the coldest to the sunniest, where he welcomes the sunrise on the longest day of the year. This illustrated work is both erudite and entertaining, sparkling with knowledge and humour about the star that gives us life.
Price: EUR 10.90
This concise yet lively, well informed history of Germany is perfect reading for the traveller, student and historian alike, as it gives a good in-depth analysis of critical periods in German history without bogging the reader down with too much superfluous information. Chapter One starts with 'The Germans and Germany up to 800 BC' and we are lead through the salient events in German history up to the present time. Chapter 12 concludes with 'After 1945: The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes'. Cole makes sure that his research is well documented, readable and pithy throughout! His depiction of important events and assessment of the people who influenced them, such as Luther, Bismarck and Wilhelm II, are refreshingly bold and free of intellectual jargon.
Allen Lane In this outstanding account of the role played by food during the Second World War, Lizzie Collingham adds new understanding about the way war was fought as well as describing the gruelling consequences for tens of millions of non-combatants world-wide when the food chain collapsed. Finding connections between food and strategy, on both the military and home fronts, this wide-ranging, original history demonstrates, for example, how the issue of access to food was a driving force within Nazi policy and contributed to the decision to murder the ‘useless eaters’ in Europe. Collingham also attributes American dominance of the global food chain both during and after the war to its immense industrial production as well as its abundance of crops. This thought-provoking book links the broad sweep of history to the intimate impact of food.
Kate Colquhoun - Taste: The Story of Britain through its Cooking Bloomsbury If your idea of British cuisine is limited to fish and chips and Jamie Oliver, you should be prepared to be re-educated by this fascinating and often surprising social history of Britain. Beginning in the pre-Roman era, this chronological account of Britain’s eating takes us up to the present day era of celebrity chefs, showing how politics, religion and economics all affect what happens in the kitchen. On the first page we learn that well before the Roman invasion ‘bread formed the cornerstone of ‘companionship’ (literally ‘with bread’)’. Colquhoun illustrates how through the ages waves of invaders, the British Empire, the Industrial revolution and World War II rationing all affected the lives of both the rich and poor. Peppering her information-packed culinary journey with the origins of phrases like ‘done to a turn’ or ‘making ends meet’, she delights in confounding expectations and provides a meaty and spicy history to savour.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Although Connery is indubitably an international superstar, he still knows Edinburgh like the back of his hand. ‘Being a Scot’ is a vivid and highly personal portrait of Scotland, of its achievements and heroic failures, which seeks to answer some perplexing questions, such as, for example, how did the Scots come to devise so many new sports and games? Why have so many creatively inventive and influential architects been Scots? Where did Scotland’s surreal blend of ‘psychotic humour’ originate? Sean Connery also offers a correction to misconceptions about the Scots as well as revealing his own vibrant personal history. Beautifully illustrated, this book is a perfect mix of Scottish history, biography, literature, myth and culture.
Robert Conquest, The Dragons of Expectation: Reality and Delusion in the Course of History Duckworth From the bestselling author of 'The Great Terror' and 'The Harvest of Sorrow' comes this long awaited work of history and philosophy. It is an urgent call for society to examine the 'brain-blindfolds' that have stifled real debate and prevented painful self-examination. Whether Conquest is describing what he believes to be the corrosive effect of ideological socialism or the inanities of the European Union, he assesses each aspect with penetrating accuracy. The ravages of our past, the absurdities of our present and the pitfalls that await us in the future are all examined. Although Conquest paints a sometimes unnecessarily negative picture of our current world, he is, nevertheless, very illuminative on the political degradations and intellectual fetishisms.
Price: EUR 14.90
In 1798, James Achilles Kirkpatrick, British representative at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, caught sight of a beautiful Mughal princess, Khair-un-Nissa, calling her "most excellent among women." They fell in love; he converted to Islam and they married despite deep opposition from all sides. Kirkpatrick also agreed to become a double agent working for Nizam against his own employer, the East India company. His story is not unique for that time; other men like him lived with Indian women, adopted Indian customs, religion and attire, becoming known as "White Mughals." Dalrymple brings to vivid life the atmosphere of romance and tragedy evoked in this exotic mix of court intrigue, harem politics and espionage.
Adrian Desmond & James Moore, Darwin’s Sacred Cause: Race, Slavery & the Quest for Human Origins Allen Lane In this remarkable book, the authors give a completely new explanation of how Darwin came to his famous view of evolution. Darwin was committed to the abolition of slavery and claimed that both white and black people were created from animals, going against the belief that ‘man’ particularly the white man, was superior. For Darwin, evolution meant emancipation from creationist shackles. The author argues that only by appreciating Darwin’s abolitionist inheritance, can we appreciate the stand he made against the arrogance of white supremacy and his belief in human racial unity. Published to coincide with the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of ‘On the Origin of Species’, this book recovers the lost historical context of Darwin’s work and timely re-instates and underpins its moral code.
Guy Deutscher dazzles the reader with this brilliant and very original study of the evolution of language. He attempts to unravel the paradox of how regular and complex languages come to exist, despite their constant and universal decay and simplification. How did such a diversity of languages, each with sophisticated grammars, enormous vocabularies and intricately nuanced shades of meaning come to be, if we began with only rudimentary utterances? This thought-provoking investigation into language development is a particularly fascinating and essential read, especially for anyone who insists that the English language is going into decline.
Price: EUR 15.90
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, Penguin This visionary new book by the author and thinker, Jared Diamond, examines the mysterious collapse of past civilizations and what it means for our future. He asks why some societies flourish while others flounder. What happened to the people on Easter or Pitcairn Islands and will our own sky scrapers, one day standing derelict and overgrown, be a source of mystery for future civilization? Can we learn from our past mistakes quickly enough, particularly in gauging climatic changes, before it is too late? Diamond brings together new evidence from a startlingly wide range of sources to show how, unlike our ancestors, we can benefit from knowledge of the past.
BBC In this timely and revealing portrait, distinguished author and broadcaster, Jonathan Dimbleby, crosses eight time zones and covers 10,000 miles from Murmansk in the Arctic Circle to Vladivostok to get beneath the skin of modern Russia. Since interviewing President Gorbachev during the Cold War, he discovers a land transformed with huge polarisations. He encounters urban intellectuals and the new class of entrepreneurs on the one side and impoverished peasants and ethnic minorities struggling on the other. Filled with a dazzling array of historical and literary references plus colour photographs to illustrate his journey, Dimbleby achieves an in-depth, atmospheric account of modern Russia, unsurpassed in his spontaneous, emotional reaction to this vast terrain.
David Dimbleby - Seven Ages of Britain: A Story of Our Nation Revealed by its Treasures Hodder & Stoughton From the Iron Age onwards, art has been a mirror to the nation, capturing who we are and heralding the major events of each era. In this superbly illustrated book, Dimbleby chronicles the fascinating story of how Britain’s art has reflected its history. Beginning with Pictish carvings and Roman mosaics, he journeys through the Middle Ages, the revolutionary fervour of the Cromwellian Age, the innovations of the Restoration and the exotica of the British Empire to finally explore twentieth century British modernism. The result is a unique celebration of Britain through its inspiring and influential works of art.
Tate This beautifully illustrated book evokes the soul of the British countryside. The well known journalist and political commentator, David Dimbleby, takes us on a tour of Britain, firstly to the Romantic North, then the Home Front, Highlands and Glens of Scotland, Mid- England, the Flatlands and the Mystical West of Wales and Cornwall. Each region is described lovingly with a firm grasp of its individual history and countryside, celebrating the poets, painters and writers who sought and still seek inspiration through each unique contribution to British heritage, both factual and symbolic. It draws a map of Britain seen through the eyes of its artists, for example, L.S. Lowry in the industrial north, Constable in East Anglia and Richard Wilson in Wales, where we can also participate in the vision which makes Britain special.
In this erudite and entertaining study, Maureen Duffy surveys three thousand years of British and English history, illuminating the myths that have become such an important part of English national identity. She is particularly good at separating the Britons from the English to show how many cultural icons, for example Queen Boudicca or Britannia, were, in fact, pagan Celts having really no Anglo Saxon or English origin. Her humorous, irreverent but accurate approach to history and present day culture makes a refreshing change.
Drawing on extensive knowledge, Terry Eagleton sets out to trace a 'genealogy' of terrorism, depicting its role in societies throughout history. He falls back on a wide assortment of myths, fictions and religious texts, asserting that through their examination, we can begin to comprehend the terrorists mind. From its earliest manifestation in rite and ritual, to its rebirth as a political idea with the French Revolution, through to the current 'War on Terror', terrorism has been perceived with both horror and fascination. An insightful, penetrating and provocative examination of one of the most urgent issues of our day!
Harvill A fascinating follow-up to his previous volume ‘On Beauty’, ‘On Ugliness’ looks at the various manifestations of ugliness over the centuries to reveal a complex, interesting and unpredictable pattern. Eco leads us on a surprising journey through the nightmares, terrors and loves of almost three thousand years as he links acts of rejection with touching gestures of compassion towards the ugly, monstrous and deformed. Included in this beautifully illustrated compendium are not just ‘repellent’ forms such as demons, witches, vampires and hunchbacks but also descriptions of spiritual ugliness represented by acts of cruelty and physical torture. Indeed every ugly form, idea or act which negates our idea of symmetry, goodness and perfection are found here. Strangely enough, though, after reading this book, we come to love those aspects we have despised, perhaps as manifestations of ourselves we have cast out over time in our search for perfection. This wonderful book redresses that balance!
Oxford The fall of the Berlin Wall sent shockwaves around the world, initiating a momentous power shift which brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the wall also gave rise to the development of new separatist democracies in Eastern Europe signaling the end of the Cold War Superpower conflict. Engel takes a fresh look at how world leaders (the U.S., Soviet Union, Europe and China) interpreted politics in the aftermath of this event. He explores such vital questions as why communism failed in Europe and why China took a different route after the turmoil of Tiananmen Square. For general readers, scholars and students alike, this study will serve as a profoundly illuminating interpretation of this transformative period.
Silvia Evangelisti, Nuns: A History of Convent Life, Oxford University Press Ranging from the fifteenth century to the present day, ‘Nuns’ reveals the fascinating, unique tales of women who have lived in religious communities – their ideals, achievements, frustrations, failures and their attempts to reach out to society around them. Drawing, in particular, on the nuns’ own words, Silvia Evangelisti explores how and why they came to the cloister, how they have responded to monastic discipline and pursued their spiritual, intellectual and missionary lives. The wider picture of convent life and what it symbolised to contemporary women, it’s meaning in today’s world, is also wonderfully illuminated.
Allen Lane What was it about the civilization of Western Europe that allowed it to triumph over outwardly superior better organized empires of the Orient? Niall Ferguson pinpoints six ‘killer applications’ that the Rest lacked: competition, science, democracy, medicine, consumerism and the work ethic. The key question today is whether or not the West has lost its monopoly on these six points and if so, Ferguson warns, it may be living at the end of Western ascendancy. ‘Civilization’ takes us on a remarkable journey around the world from the Grand Canal at Nanjing to the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, from the proud towers of Prague to the secret churches of Wenzhou as well as relating anecdotes about sailboats, missiles, vaccines and Chinese bibles, blue jeans and British clocks!
Penguin Figes new and powerful book describes what life was like in Stalinist Russia. He depicts a society where everyone spoke in whispers, whether to protect their families or to inform on them, illuminating the inner world of ordinary Soviet citizens as they struggled to survive in an atmosphere of mistrust, fear, moral compromise and betrayals. He asks how people could preserve their sense of personal identity and integrity when the dictatorship controlled every aspect of their lives and every conversation could be practically overheard and reported through the thin walls of overcrowded, cramped communal apartments. Drawing on hundreds of family archives concealed under mattresses and secret drawers, Figes recreates the moral maze in which the average Russian found himself trapped, living a double life where one wrong turn could destroy an entire family. This landmark work of history allows Stalin’s silent victims speak for the first time and be heard.
This unique book, full of glittering anecdotes and packed with fascinating information, is a ‘must read’ for all lovers of precious stones. Ms. Finlay characterises nine types of specific gem: amber, jet, pearl, opal, peridot, emerald, sapphire, ruby and diamond with its own personal history, location, folklore and irresistible beauty. This remarkable compilation is not only an interesting glimpse at the jewels themselves but also an exhaustive travelogue offering us the opportunity to view each gem in its unique setting. Brilliant!
This irresistable account of Victorian domestic life is itself laid down like a house, following the story of domestic life during that time from room to room. We are led from childbirth in the master bedroom through to the scullery, kitchen and dining room, then upstairs ending in the sickroom and deathbed! Through the collection of diaries, letters, magazines and paintings from that period, Ms Flanders brilliantly shows us how social history is constructed through scrutinising tiny domestic details, all of which illuminate the desires, motivations and thoughts of the Victorians.
In March 1016, Earl Uhtred of Northumbria was ambushed and brutally murdered by a rival magnate under the full collusion of England's ruthless new ruler, King Canute. This incident set in motion a sixty year feud of violence, treachery, slaughter and revenge. In this compelling work of historical detection and forensic reconstruction, Richard Fletcher sheds new light on the brutal but sophisticated world of the Anglo Saxons before the Norman invasion in 1066. He brings to vivid life historical figures such as Ethelred the Unready, Eric Bloodaxe and William the Conqueror highlighting one of the most bloodthirtsty periods in British history.
Harper Collins The face of the earth, criss-crossed by chains of mountains like the scars of old wounds, has repeatedly changed over billions of years. In this fascinating and informative book, Richard Fortey teaches us how to read its character, showing how everything on earth - culture, history, even the shapes of cities - roots back to a deeper geological truth. Starting on the slopes of Vesuvius, he tracks the history of the area through its volcanic eruptions, connecting recent history with the long forgotten past. In fact, nothing in this book seems to be at rest! Fortey's description of the movements of plates, the development of ancient continents and seas gives the reader a scenic ride on the earth's wobbling face. Its surface dilates and collapses; seas and mountains rise and fall; continents are forever moving. We climb the Alps, bathe in Icelandic hot springs, dive down to the ocean floor, all the while sitting comfortably in our chairs!
Price: EUR 19.90
Cape This interesting, vivid history focuses on legendary women who were born or married into the imperial homes of Rome beginning with the rise of Livia, the first ‘First Lady’ and follows Roman history through six dynasties. Like their modern counterparts, each ‘first lady’ was moulded to fit political requirements and proved as much a liability as an obvious asset. Freisenbruch delves into each of their lives whether, virtuous, scheming, bluestocking or romantic and casts a spotlight into every detail of their daily routine, from education, sex, marriage and children to slaves and death.
Berlin, Winter 1996 and the city has the feel of a place where something once happened or is about to happen. Although on the threshold of a new life as the reinstated capital of reunified Germany, Berlin, is caught in a holding pattern of its own making. Its attempts to reconcile its two halves with all the new, yet eerily familiar questions of guilt, how to remember, and when to move on, seem to have further entrenched Berlin into a post-Cold War no man's land. Anna Funder gets in touch with a world lost overnight and finds the ordinary citizens who give back this mythical city its voices of pain, yet spirited endurance. Her investigative analysis of the Stasi and wonderful eye for Berlin's details and shadows open up an understanding of this unique and burgeoning responsibility of new freedom. "Stasiland" is a gripping search for identity, an epic history, depicting an absurdly cruel regime and yet represents a people's love for their home - all the elements for a good Berlin story.
Many People remember what it was like living under the shadow of the Cold War and the never-ending anxiety about finding ourselves in the middle of a nuclear holocaust. Only now, some fifteen years later, can we begin to find a convincing perspective to the events of that period. Gaddis asks some pertinent questions, such as, how did the terrible conflict develop in the first place and why did wartime allies become such deadly foes so soon as after the 1945 victory? He shows the underlying dynamics of the conflict and how changing needs in modern society amongst ordinary people were as important and influential as changes at the top in government. Gaddis is also excellent on detail and describes, for example, the confrontation between J.F. Kennedy and Khrushchev over the Cuban Missile Crisis with both insight and accuracy.
Yale The relationship between Jews and Muslims has affected global stability. Gilbert challenges the accepted media portrayal of the 1400 years of their intertwined history by shedding light on instances of prosperity and opportunity for Jews in Muslim lands, stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan. Beginning with biblical times, Gilbert explains the origins of their tense relationship, exploring the impact of Zionism in the first half of the twentieth century, the clash of nationalism during the Second World War, the mass expulsion of 800,000 Jews from Muslim lands following the birth of Israel, the Six Day War and the present political instability in the Middle East. By emphasising aspects of mutual tolerance, Gilbert provides a template for the future.
Marianne in Chains is an image offered as an emblem of life in France during the Second World War. For the last fifty years, the German occupation of France has been regarded as a period characterised by hardship, hunger, absence of freedom and - above all - fear. It was a time when the French were cruelly oppressed by the Germans. Gildea argues that the extremes of overt collaboration and strenuous resistance were the exception and the truth, as so often, lies somewhere in between. What emerges is a country in a state of shock where its people were forced to become imaginative and resourceful in order to survive. This is an intelligently written and thought provoking book, not only describing how the war affected France then, but how it still continues to do so.
Aurum Press The real lives of POWs saw them respond to the tedium of a German stalag or the brutality of a Japanese camp with the most amazing ingenuity and creativity. They staged glittering shows, concerts and elaborate sporting fixtures, made exquisite ornaments – even, amid the terrible privations of the Thailand-Burma railway, improvised daring surgical techniques to save their fellow men’s lives. They took up crafts and pastimes using materials they found around them. Often the years in captivity proved a turning-point in their lives, as the new interests and skills they took out from the camp enabled them to embark on a post-war career. Men studied, attended lectures, learned languages, sat for qualifications and exams on such a scale that one camp was nicknamed ‘The Barbed-Wire University’ hence the title of Midge Gillies well-written and researched work of social history. Drawing on letters home, diaries and interviews with redoubtable survivors now into their nineties, the author recreates the daily lives of a truly remarkable group of men. It is a story by turns thrilling, funny, desperate and moving, but never less than inspirational.
Price: EUR 32.00
The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox, Stephen Jay Gould, Jonathan Cape In his last book, Stephen Jay Gould, the well-known paleontologist, unearths complex and revealing information regarding the relationship between science and the humanities. Challenging the myth that these different approaches are irreconcilable opposites, he envisions them operating as mutually beneficial, where each area is separate but at the same time related, each having its merit and limitation. This perceptive analysis of such a controversial issue reveals the author's conviction that human understanding derives from all types of endeavour.
The Goldstones give us a fascinating glimpse of the turbulent 1500's and of Michael Servetus, a brilliant Spanish lay theologian and physician who was burned at the stake for his polemical writings. His heretical desire for the rebirth of Christianity resulted in his being condemned by the church and the destruction of all but three copies of his book, the anonymously published "Christianismi Restitutio". This is a compelling portrayal of a forgotten Renaissance humanist and a reaffirming of the power of books to shape both heart and mind.
Few relationships fire our imagination like that of Elizabeth I and her ‘bonnie sweet Robin’, the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley. They both grew up among the palaces, plots and intrigues of Henry VIII’s court; they were both imprisoned by Elizabeth’s sister, Mary. Soon after Elizabeth became queen herself, speculation followed about her seeming infatuation with Dudley and the suspicious death of his wife, Amy. But the two turned their obviously passionate relationship into a working partnership based on a bond of mutual dependence and affection. This book follows their turbulent tie and portrays a relationship where, unusually, the woman holds all the power and the man dances to her tune.
Oxford University Press Glamour is one of the most tantalizing aspects of any culture but also one of the most elusive. The aura of celebrity, the vanities of the rich and beautiful, film stars and royal dynasties all fascinate the public with their undeniable allure. Stephen Gundle penetrates behind the glamour to look at its substance and origins in this first ever history of the phenomena. He takes us from eighteenth century Paris through to present day Hollywood, New York and Monte Carlo, featuring such past and present celebrities as Beau Brummel, Paris Hilton and Gianni Versace. Gundle also explores glamour’s sleazy and often tragic underside, pointing out that its magic and sex appeal is ultimately illusionary and only partially ever fulfilled.
Helen Hackett - Shakespeare and Elizabeth: The Meeting of Two Myths Princeton Did William Shakespeare ever meet Queen Elizabeth I? There is no evidence of their meeting and yet three centuries of British and American writers and artists have imagined this ‘would be’ relationship through various invented encounters. Ms. Hackett follows these imaginary meetings between Shakespeare and Elizabeth through historical novels, plays, paintings and films ranging from Scott’s ‘Kenilworth’ to the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and lesser known possibly more intriguing examples. There have been claims, for example, that Shakespeare was Elizabeth’s secret son or lover (or both!) and that Elizabeth, herself, wrote his plays. Ms. Hackett locates the enduring fascination of their possible relationship to their enigmatic sexual identities and the way they both personify political tensions and national aspirations.
Written in 1939 during Haffner's exile in England, this brief autobiography offers one of the most succinct and well written accounts of how the Nazis came to power and how they so easily exploited Germany's psychological weaknesses at that time. Haffner handles his personal material with great sensitivity, honesty and insight. On reading this book, one is immediately drawn into the presence of a truly lived, personal history with all its attendant emotions. Haffner expresses the tragic memories of his family and friends, especially his father, with integrity and a lightness of touch, making him even more effective as witness.
Bodley Head In view of the USA’s rise to superpower status, the twentieth century has been called ‘the American Century’. Nigel Hamilton now gives us the lives of the twelve men who presided over America’s imperial fortunes – the good, the bad and the truly awful! How did these American Caesars reach the White House? What were their challenges, how did they meet them and who were they in their private lives? Hamilton’s concise, candid and critical portraits of these twelve presidents are compulsively readable, packed with revelations and unforgettable minor characters, reminiscent of Suetonius’ unforgettable account of classical Rome. Fascinating stuff!
Price: EUR 16.60
Icon Books In ‘God’s Philosophers,’ James Hannam traces the neglected roots of modern science in the medieval world, his thesis being that scientific progress was often made thanks to, rather than in spite of, the influence of Christianity. Charting an epic journey through six centuries of history, the book debunks many of the myths about the Middle Ages, arguing that the adjective ‘medieval’ is now mistakenly held to be a synonym with superstition and ignorance. Without medieval scholars, ‘god’s philosophers,’ there could have been no Galileo, Newton or the Scientific Revolution.
Price: EUR 24.80
Henry Hitchings - Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary - The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World, John Murray Hitchings’ account of Dr. Johnson’s amazing endeavour to compile the first great dictionary of the English language is a masterpiece in itself. Not only does he offer us a guided tour of Johnson’s personal und professional life, we also gain an insight into 18th century society, illustrated with colourful anecdotes, local and historical reference and details on moral attitudes and everyday life. When Johnson took on the project in 1746, he did not expect it to take almost ten years to complete. He and his team collected thousands of definitions, and over twice as many supporting quotations illustrating how the words are used. The Dictionary of the English Language is not simply a reference book: Johnson also used his work to promote his own traditional values and, thanks to his unique style, the dictionary was often superb literature. Within a short time, it influenced how every other dictionary has been written since. Dr. Johnson would have approved!
Little Brown In the 163 years since Karl Marx’s ‘Das Kapital’ was published, Marx’s name has been embraced by millions in the name of equality, but just as dramatically fallen from grace with the retreat of communism. As the free market in the western world reaches its extreme limits due to the lack of regulatory mechanisms, a reassessment of capitalism’s most vigorous and eloquent opponent has never been better timed. Hobsbawm provides a fascinating and balanced overview of Marxism; he examines Marxist thinkers and key texts and analyses specific reasons behind the spectacular reversal of Marxism over the past thirty years. Incisive and energetic, this book leaves us in no doubt that Marx will continue to be as much of a thinker for this century as he was for the preceding two.
Harper Press In this mesmerising account, Richard Holmes relates the fascinating story of a complete era that brought together science, poetry, rationalism and emotion. Justly renowned as Britain's greatest literary historian of the Romantic period, Holmes gives a compelling account of the scientific research that inspired a sense of wonder in poets and scientific experimenters alike. He calls for a new approach to science's history, one that focuses on scientists as unique individuals rather than as impersonal agents of discovery. Holmes rejects the still existing rigid distinctions between science and the arts or between science and religion. This beautifully crafted, well-researched and vividly written book will fascinate scientists and poets alike, by revealing so evocatively the Romantic past they all hold in common.
Price: EUR 12.25
Granta For over four hundred years, ballet has captivated the world with its unique combination of grace, storytelling and artistry. Dating back to the sixteenth century, ballet has evolved and been shaped by the intervening years of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Modernism and the Cold War. From the codification of its basic steps and positions under Louis XVI, ballet wound its way to St. Petersburg where it developed its most recognised form. However, other countries, such as Britain and America, have also developed and contributed to its art form, often in response to social and political upheaval. Homans, once a professional dancer herself, brings to life the artists and innovators who have shaped this fascinating art form. Writing with passion and insider authority, Homans has created a definitive history of ballet told with an elegance befitting its subject. The perfect present for all ballet lovers!
Price: EUR 35.00
Goya is as important to art as Beethoven to music or Dickens to literature. This biography charts the Spanish master's career, describing his entire painted and graphic oeuvre within its historical context. Sensitive, engaging and opinionated, 'Goya' is a multi-faceted picture of an artist deeply engaged, like Hughes himself, with all aspects of life and committed to documenting his world with an unflinching and compassionate eye for the truth. At its heart this book is a labour of love, a devoted offering to the spirit of Goya.
Price: EUR 26.00
Roland Huntford - Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing Continuum The author explains how skiing has evolved into a modern recreational sport from a pre-historic transport vehicle in the struggle for survival, beginning around 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. Huntford puts this history into its social and political context, illustrating the spread of skiing across the globe and its importance in all facets of life. He uses original Old Norse and Russian sources as well as ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese and Arabic texts to give real substance to his analysis. Huntford’s equally vast knowledge of Scandinavian history and politics, as well as his insight into polar expeditions, past and present, altogether provide a unique blend of erudition and folklore to produce this definitive, fascinating and illuminating history of skiing.
Faber A mystery unsolved for thousands of years, it had confounded the ancient Greeks and baffled the most influential minds of the Victorian era. In 1856 the final search began to solve one of the great geographical unknowns of the age - the source of the Nile. Six men and one woman risked their lives in the name of this quest. Showing extraordinary endurance and resilience, Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, Florence and Samuel Baker, James F Grant, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley journeyed through East and Central Africa into unmapped territory and discovered the great lakes Tangany, Ka and Victoria, navigated the Upper Nile and the Congo, suffering the ravages of flesh eating ulcers, malaria and spear wounds. Using new research, Tim Jeal, author of the bestselling ‘Stanley’ tells of these epic expeditions as an absorbing feat of biographical exploration as well as examining the tragic consequences the Nile search has had on Uganda and Sudan to date.
Price: EUR 23.70
As former Home Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and President of the European Commission, Roy Jenkins is especially qualified to write a biography of the most celebrated prime minister of the twentieth century. In this brilliant account, he analyses Churchill's exceptional character in all its strengths and attendant weaknesses, coming closer than previous writers to the essence of the man and the workings of the politician's mind. As a fascinating perspective on the last century, this work is both compelling and instructive, but as a portrait of one of the greatest Englishmen, it is unlikely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future.
Price: EUR 19.95
Keith Jeffery - MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949 Bloomsbury Here for the first time is the extraordinary history of the Secret Intelligence Service laid bare. This groundbreaking study, based on unprecedented access to hitherto closed archives, reveals the SIS’s inner organisation and developments and covers a wide range of topics from countering twentieth century German challenges in Europe, the global spectre of Soviet Communism after 1917 to Axis interests in Europe, the Middle East and Asia before and during the Second World War. Among the host of vivid accounts are agent ‘TR/16’ in First World War Intelligence and the ‘Ace of Spies’ working undercover in post-revolutionary Russia. Jeffery also explores the complex international liaisons between the SIS and other foreign intelligence agencies which have influenced the SIS’s work in both war and peace at home and abroad.
Leif Jerram - Street Life: The Untold History of Europe’s Twentieth Century Oxford Jerram argues that the great dramas of Europe’s twentieth century did not happen because of towering speeches, grand ideologies or bloody battlefields; nor were they confined to social change. Instead the real focus of change took place where these things actually meet: in homes, factories, street corners, bars and clubs. Digging beneath the surface of Europe’s last one hundred years, Jerram traces five stories: the rise of new politics, women’s changed worlds, the revolution in culture, sexual transformation and the utopian ideal. For example, Jerram argues that the most transformative factor for women was not the vote but the arrival of personal privacy in homes of their own. This innovative take on history puts the ‘where’ into the century’s ‘why’ and ‘what’ and understands history from a street level that is messy, human, invigorating and palpably real.
Price: EUR 22.95
Fourth Estate For fifteen months, Junger followed a single platoon based in a remote outpost in east Afghanistan. From that experience, he gives us unique insight into the truths about combat. He describes the fear, the anticipation before battles, the unquestioned risks the soldiers take and their trust in each other. Junger also draws on biology, psychology and military history to explain how decisions are made, regaling, simultaneously, the physical toil, suffocating heat, noise of gunshots and the agonising loss of lives. ‘War’ is an intense and illuminating read, showing us life at the extremes: the fear of dying, the trauma of killing and the love and honour between the soldiers, themselves, who would rather die than let each other down.
Price: EUR 20.30
In this highly provocative book, Efraim Karsch argues that the story of the Middle East starting from the first Arabic-Islamic Empire of the mid-17th century to the Ottomans, the last great Muslim Empire, has been the rise and fall of universal empires and imperialist dreams. Karsch contends that Middle Eastern politics are a culmination of long existing indigenous trends, passions and patterns of behaviour, particularly Islam’s millenarian imperial tradition. He sees 9/11 in America and 7/7 in Britain as latest expressions of this dream which have little to do with U.S. or British international behaviour or policies in the Middle East. The House of Islam’s War for world mastery is a traditional goal and frighteningly, one far from over.
From the Napoleonic Wars to the sophisticated electronic warfare of the twenty-first century,eminent military historian John Keegan, explains the vital role intelligence plays in winning wars. His narrative sweep is enthralling, whether he is portraying the dilemmas of Nelson seeking Napoleon's fleet, the role of the code breakers at Bletchly Park during the Second World War, or elucidating the polymorphous issues of the contemporary fight against terrorism. A must read!
Ian Kershaw's new book is a revelatory account of Britain's ambiguous relations with Germany before the Second World War. Britain, Kershaw argues, as one of the most powerful victors of the First World War, had a unique responsibility to maintain peace in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles, yet by 1939, Europe was at war again. Could more have been done on the part of the British to stem the rise of Nazism or was there never really any possibility of preventing Hitler's ambitions? Kershaw examines this controversial topic, focusing on the figure of Lord Londonderry, whose reaction to Hitler was to befriend him at all costs. But befriending Hitler and embracing his ferocious world view was out of the question for a country committed to democratic and humane values. So there was, Kershaw maintains, little chance of Britain ever being able to realistically contain or deter the rise of Hitler, and by 1939, the only option was to oppose him.
Askold, Krushelnycky, An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukranian History, Harvill Secker 'An Orange Revolution' is a gripping account of the most significant event for Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In December 2004, hundreds of thousands of Ukranians gathered to defy the results of a rigged presidential election. As Victor Yushenko, the charismatic popular candidate was disfigured after being poisoned by his opponent, the demonstrators persisted and international pressure mounted until the corrupt old regime which had been supported by Putin's Kremlin was deposed. Based on firsthand observation and interviews with major players and anonymous demonstrators alike, this is about a people who have forced lasting change. It also traces the story of the author's family, who paid a high price for speaking out. This is a captivating book about a defining moment in European History.
Jonathan Cape The celebrated author of ‘Cod’, ‘Salt’ and ‘The Big Oyster’ enthrals us again with his incisive blend of culinary, cultural and social history. This time he turns his attention to our most ancient coastal enterprise, namely, fishing. Using the fishing history of America’s oldest fishing port, Gloucester, as one of his examples, he travels back in history and depicts how it has become the most productive fishery in New England. He brilliantly illuminates how it has prospered from its seemingly unending supply of cod and halibut and compellingly updates us on the current state of the fishing industry and its imperilled future. ‘The Last Fish Tale’ is Kurlansky’s most urgent and heartfelt story, that warns us of the consequences overfishing, climate change and pollution can have for the entire fishing industry and for the world in general.
Vintage The conventional history of nations, even continents, is a history of warfare. According to this view, all the important ideas and significant developments of humankind occurred as part of an effort to win one violent, bloody conflict or another. In contrast, there have always been a few who have refused to fight and this minority has been perceived by governments as a danger to society, which has led to their imprisonment, abuse or persecution. In this brilliant exploration of pacifism throughout history, he illuminates the viewpoints of nonviolence theorists such as Tolstoy, Shelley, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Aldous Huxley, Erasmus, Confucius and Lao Tse and shows how many modern ideas such as a united Europe, the United Nations and the abolition of slavery originated in such movements.
Price: EUR 13.95
Salt is vital to life. Since the beginning of history, salt has been searched for, traded and fought over. Until the advent of canning and refrigeration, it was the only means of preserving food. When armies could not march or navies sail without a supply of salt-preserved food, control of the salt trade was the key to power. Etymology reveals that we talk about salt all the time without realising it. 'Salary' is from the Latin 'sal' because legionnaires were paid partly in salt. French 'solde' from which we get 'soldier' has the same root: soldiers are salt-men. In this rich and entertaining book, Kurlansky reveals the momentous, mysterious and poetic moments in the history of this strange white treasure.
Toby Lester - The Fourth Part of the World: The Epic Story of History’s Greatest Map Free Press For thousands of years, humans believed that the world consisted of three parts – Europe, Africa and Asia – but occasionally talked about the existence of a ‘fourth part of the world’, a mysterious place separated form the rest by a vast expanse of ocean, a land of myth. After reading about the Atlantic discoveries of Amerigo Vespucci, two obscure scholars, Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann, printed a huge map showing for the first time the new world as distinct from Asia and named it ‘America’. This fascinating study of geographical and intellectual exploration reveals strands of ancient legend, classical learning and imperial ambitions which all contributed to this map’s extraordinary history. Toby Lester brings to life the map’s profound influence which has been neglected for centuries.
Price: EUR 17.30
Jeffrey A. Lockwood - Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War Oxford University Press The author provides a grim but fascinating account of how remarkably insects have been used by humans to inflict pain on their enemies in times of conflict. For example, the Emir of Bukhara used assassin bugs to eat away the flesh of his prisoners while General Ishü Shiro released millions of infected insects across China in World War II, ultimately causing more deaths than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Lockwood begins with pre-historic times describing the development in the ancient world of ‘bee bombs’ and explores how insect-borne disease has changed the course of major battles, from Napoleon’s military campaigns to the trenches of World War I and the Cold War. He reveals how easy it would be today to use insects in warfare and terrorism. This explosive study of human brutality and cruelty against others exposes for the first time how insects have been used as extremely effective weapons of devastation.
Glass is one of the greatest accidents in the history of mankind. In this fascinating and erudite book, the authors chart the history of glass technology and show the remarkable effect glass has had on almost every aspect of western and eastern culture. For example, glass windows made the cold north of Europe habitable and civilised. Without glass we would know little about the movement of the stars, our ships would steer without proper navigation and there would be no planes, cars and probably no electricity. The authors also explain why so many Japanese and Chinese wear glasses. In fact, the book brings the world into sharper focus and changes the way we see both the past and the present.
Granta When Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492, his journey prompted the exchange of not only information, but also food, animals, insects, plants and viruses between continents which had been totally separate for more than two hundred million years. According to Mann, this tremendous ecological convulsion was the greatest event in the history of life since the death of the dinosaurs. Presenting the latest generation of research by scientists, Mann shows how the creation of the world’s first globalised economy fostered the rise of Europe, devastated imperial China, convulsed Africa, and for two centuries made Manila and Mexico City - where Asia, Europe, and the new frontier of the Americas dynamically interacted - the centre of the world. This highly readable blend of narrative history, economics and cutting-edge science brilliantly assembles colourful details into big-picture insights into the ‘Columbian Exchange’ which transformed virtually every aspect of human history.
Price: EUR 18.20
Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Granta, € 15,90 1491 is not so much the story of a year, rather that of a long-debated question concerning the nature human civilisation in the Americas before the invasion of Europeans. Charles C. Mann brings together more recent archaeological, anthropological, scientific and literary evidence, which questions much of what we had been taught about pre-Columbian America. For example, that the first Americans may not have arrived over the Bering land bridge around 12,000BC, but by boat along the Pacific coast 10-20,000 years earlier and that the Americas were far more urban, populated and technologically advanced than previously believed. This book spans an impressive breadth of material and gives the lay reader a clear, well-balanced and compelling introduction to a fascinating period of pre-history.
The Philosopher's Stone - A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy The Philosopher's Stone is the Holy Grail of alchemy, the ancient art of turning base metal into gold. Its magical powers have inspired occultists and scientists throughout history. Marshall sets out to unearth the secrets of alchemy in the countries where it was traditionally practised. Exploring the beliefs and initiations, myths and symbols, the author takes us on a fascinating journey deep into arcane and profound sources in an attempt to rediscover the elusive stone's ultimate meaning for mankind.
Paul Mason, Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global, Harvill, €19,00 Paul Mason tells the incredible story of the emergence of a new working class alongside the epic history of the global labour movement, from its formation in the factories of the 1890’s to its near destruction by fascism in the 1930’s. Blending historical narrative with reports from today’s current events, he links the lives of nineteenth century factory girls with the lives of present day teenagers in a giant Chinese mobile phone factory. His stories also come to life through the voices of remarkable individuals such as child labourers in Dickensian England, gun-toting strikers in America’s Wild West and beer-swilling German metalworkers who tried to stop World War I. Mason depicts a history of self-help co-operatives, choirs and self-education groups at night after work, celebrating a common history of defiance, idealism and sacrifice, at once alive and active today as it was two hundred years’ ago.
Robert McCrum, Globish, How the English Language Became the World’s Language Penguin McCrum brilliantly argues that although the British Empire may be gone, the English language, itself, continues to rule! Go anywhere in the world today and you will hear English spoken in one form or another. It may not be the Queen’s English but nevertheless a form of universally recognised English, McCrum calls Globish! In his wonderfully witty, erudite and informative way, McCrum explores the curious history, vivacity and endurance of English and wonders why this particular language, freed from its original moorings, has steadfastly taken over the world. Traversing one discipline to another in pursuit of his arguments, McCrum covers such diverse terrain such as lexicography, history, demography and linguistics at a brisk pace, while illustrating his points with interesting historical details and humorous anecdotes.
Price: EUR 12.30
Simon & Shuster ‘Face of Britain’, which ties in to a Channel Four series, is based on a ground-breaking new research project that tests DNA to produce a genetic map of our history. Oxford geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer has taken samples from hundreds of volunteers throughout Britain to find tell-tale fragments that reveal the biological traces of ancient peoples such as the Celts, Saxons and Vikings. In addition, he investigates many new strands of research such as reconstruction of ancient faces and looks at how our surnames reveal a broad picture of our identities. ‘Face of Britain’ thus combines science, history and personal biographies to uncover who we are and how we got here. It is, in short, a comprehensive and fascinating autobiography of the British people.
A History of Fifty Years of Independence The Free Press Focusing on the key personalities, events and themes of the independence era, Meredith's study seeks to explore and explain the myriad problems which Africa has faced and still faces in the modern world. As Europe's colonial powers withdrew some fifty years ago, dozens of new hopeful African states were launched amid much jubilation but this initial optimism has not brought fruit: few states have managed to escape the downward spiral, except possibly Botswana and South Africa. Others are effectively bankrupt, subject to dictatorial rule and heavily dependent on western aid for survival. So what has happened to this vast continent, so rich in resources, to bring it so close to destruction and despair? Mark Meredith successfully attempts the daunting task to find the answers. A 'must read'.
Mernissi asks the question why democracy has generally failed to take root in the Middle East. She takes her answer from various sources - current affairs, Islamic mythology and childhood recollections - and weaves a thoughtful, provocative and erudite argument illuminating both the Muslim psyche and its fear of personal freedom and responsibility. This is a courageous book and essential reading for those interested in human rights, women's issues, religion and the Middle East policies of the United States.
Sceptre Giles Milton, author of the highly acclaimed 'Nathaniel's Nutmeg', returns with the harrowing story of white captives in eighteenth century Morocco. In 1716, Thomas Pellow, a Cornish cabin boy along with fifty-one of his comrades, was captured at sea by a crew of brutal Islamic slave traders in a war against Christendom. At the same time, thousands of European Christians had been captured and sold in the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Salé in Morocco. Resourceful, resilient and quick thinking, Pellow was selected by Moulay Ismail for special treatment and thus managed to survive to tell the tale when he escaped for home twenty years later. Drawn from unpublished letters and manuscripts written by slaves and the padres and ambassadors sent to free them, this story is a well researched, thrilling account of a disturbing and long forgotten episode in history and an excellent holiday read!
No period in Britain's past is more compelling than the late Middle Ages. Being one of the leading medieval scholars, Miri Rubin's superbly accessible recreation of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is an outstanding addition to the acclaimed Penguin History of Britain series. Nine kings ruled Britain in the 200 years described by this book and there was often bitter rivalry over who could rightly wear the crown. The extraordinary world so vividly recaptured here was a turbulent and dangerous one, racked by famine, rebellion, civil war and plague. The events that define this age include the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Agincourt, the Hundred Years War and the Crusades. And yet, despite this turmoil, the age left a magnificent artistic and literary legacy. The reader is shown how lives were lived across Britain, from peasant to king, from field to fortress. Brilliantly capturing the spirit of a Catholic rural country of monks, knights and merchants, almost perpetually in conflict, this masterly study provides an exceptional introduction to this subject. As Rubin has put it: 'The Hollow Crown' aims to share historical reflection, discovery and enthusiasm with those who love and cherish history.
Peter Molloy - The Lost World of Communism: An Oral History of Daily Life Behind the Iron Curtain BBC Books 1989 was the year of revolution: it marked the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe. In this ground-breaking book, Molloy collects first-hand testimony of the people who lived under communist rule in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania during the Cold War era. He reveals an astonishingly rich tapestry of experiences that went beyond the headlines of spies, secret police and political repression. Molloy is surprised to find that many of these people found communism quite acceptable and even missed the security it offered when it vanished almost overnight. This thought-provoking book questions the importance of the political freedom of democracy versus security in the lives of ordinary people in these regions.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson How did a small, remote town become the Holy City as the ‘centre of the world’ and now key to the Middle East peace process? In this fascinating narrative Montefiore reveals this ever changing city, the shrine of three faiths, in its many incarnations bringing each epoch and character vividly to life. Jerusalem’s biography is told through wars, love affairs and the revelation of men and women – kings, prophets and prostitutes – who created, destroyed and chronicled its destiny through time. Drawing on new archives and current scholarship Montefiore illuminates the essence of a tormented and divided city some still believe will be the setting for the Apocalypse. A multifaceted, explorative read!
In this fascinating book, Lucy Moore brilliantly recreates the lives of four Indian princesses: two grandmothers, a daughter and granddaughter of the royal court in India. Each princess has a different story to tell spanning a hundred and fifty years of India's history. Chimnabai, Maharani of Baroda, was a proud nationalist and founder of the women's movement in India. Sunity was the first Maharani to visit Britain for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in1887. Indira, Chimnabai's daughter, became Regent of Cooch Behar; Ayesha, her daughter, entered politics after Independence and made her name as an impassioned critic of the corrupt government of Indira Gandhi. Full of spirit and courage, each Maharani changed the world she lived in, shaping the way modern Indian women define themselves today.
Bodley Head In this social history of Berlin during the Second World War, historian Roger Moorhouse combines comprehensive research with compelling narrative to recount an incredible story of the city of Berlin and its people, who witnessed the war from the capital of Hitler’s Reich. While there has been much written about the Holocaust, little is known about the wider challenges posed to the ordinary German people living under Nazi dictatorship in wartime. In this vivid and important study, Moorhouse portrays the experience of the conflict not through an examination of grand politics, but from the personal viewpoint of the capital’s streets and homes. Making use of diaries, memoirs and interviews, Moorhouse provides a searing first-hand account of life and death in the Nazi capital, for example, the compromises demanded of Berliners and the hardships they endured. Above all, it charts the violent humbling of a once-proud metropolis, revealing its fears, cruelties and tragedies.
Price: EUR 31.90
Profile Books In this ingenious study, Joe Moran investigates the British road system, condensing social observation in a peculiarly interesting way. He presents roads ‘as cultural artifacts as much as concrete ones’, psychoanalysing post-war Britain through its road-network. Along the way he takes numerous turn-offs and diversions into subjects that really should not be noteworthy, but which he makes fascinating, for example, the development of the road atlas or the history of the roadside verge. He mixes history, analysis and entertaining anecdote as he muses on the secret language of lorry drivers, evokes the surreal emptiness of the M1 as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, made its flower-strewn way north, and traces changes in recent transport policy in the light of environmental protest. This remarkably informative and entertaining exploration, written with warmth and wit, shows that there is much to philosophise about even on well-travelled roads!
Profile Books With flair and authority, eminent archaeologist and historian, Ian Morris, examines the patterns of human history and analyses the latest interdisciplinary research ranging from ancient history to neuroscience. The intention of answering the question ‘How long will power in the West last?’ is first attended to by highlighting the reasons why the West has been so dominant for the past two hundred years. Neither the inevitability of race or culture, nor even the strivings of great individuals, explains western dominance. Nor was the West simply lucky when the Industrial Revolution began. Instead, Morris points to the crucial effects of geography on the everyday efforts of ordinary people as they deal with crises of resources, disease, migration and climate. Studying the patterns of history, the interaction of geography with human resources and ingenuity, we learn strategies for future challenges and possibilities.
Vintage The past is a foreign country and this is your guide. In this fresh approach to history, Ian Mortimer illuminates what life was like in the medieval England in a surprisingly immediate way. He takes the reader through the middle ages and shows them everything from the horrors of leprosy and war to the ridiculous excesses of roasted larks and haute couture. He presents answers to many questions which you would never find in traditional history books, such as how to greet people in the street, what was used for toilet paper, why a physician might want to taste your blood and how to tell if you are coming down with the plague. This is most likely the most astonishing social history book you have ever encountered. It is lively, fun and informative. Monty Python and the Holy Grail with footnotes!
Simon & Schuster In a sweeping narrative Sylvia Nasar, the author of ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and ‘Professor of Journalism’ takes us on a journey through modern history depicting the men and women who changed the lives of others and their world view. It is the account of the making of modern economics, and of how economics rescued society from squalor and deprivation by replacing ‘Fate’ with individual economic free will. Nasar’s account begins with Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew who observed and published the plight of the poor in mid-nineteenth-century London, then the richest capital in the world. This was a new pursuit. Nasar describes the heroic efforts of Marx, Engels, Marschall, Beatrice and Sydney Webb and Irving Fisher, who put those insights into action with revolutionary consequences. Throughout this narrative, we witness men and women responding to personal crises, world wars, revolutions, economic upheavals with inspirational ideas that transformed economics and science into a triumph over society’s hitherto fixed view of poverty and early demise. This triumph, unimaginable 200 years ago, is a story of trial and error, ultimately transcendent, as is rendered here in this stunning, still pertinent and moving story.
Price: EUR 27.90
Adam Nicolson - Earls of Paradise: England and the Dream of Perfection, Harper Was Britain once a better place? Did we have an Arcadian vision which has somehow vanished? To answer these questions Adam Nicolson takes the history of a single great family, the Earls of Pembroke, from 1520 to the 1640’s, looking at their wives, children, estates, tenants and allies across three generations. It was at their estate, Wilton, that Philip Wilson wrote his ‘Arcadia’ dedicating it to his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, a writer and thinker in her own right. She maintained an illustrious order of poets and thinkers including Walter Raleigh, Ben Johnson, John Donne and George Herbert where philosophy and political ideals dominated their discussions and depicted surprisingly modern and relevant themes.
Allen Lane English is the world’s lingua franca the most widely spoken language in human history – but as Ostler now persuasively argues is about to be displaced on the world stage. Ostler maintains that the rising wealth of states like Brazil, Russia, India and China will ultimately overtake the dominance of native English speaking nations thereby shrinking the international preference for English. Simultaneously, new technologies allow instant translation among major languages enhancing the status of the mother tongue and lessening the need for a lingua franca. Ostler presents a provocative and stimulating examination of the use of English and provides a fascinating lens through which history can be observed through its language.
A Mighty Fortress : A New History of the German People, Granta This sweeping, original and provocative history boldly examines Germany's tumultuous twentieth century in light of its earliest achievements as a prosperous, civil and moral society from 100 B.C. to the present time. Beginning with the Goths and including the contributions of musicians and philosophers as well as kings and politicians, Ozment holds a mirror up to an entire civilization, one that has been alternately Western Europe's most successful and most perilous. He argues that historical experience has left Germans more fearful of anarchy than tyranny, inclining them to favour discipline over freedom. 'A Mighty Fortress' is a triumph of clarity and compression, an intriguing attempt to capture the soul of a nation.
John Murray ‘Maritime Dominion’ is a history of the naval campaigns from 1852-2001 that shaped the Modern World. In this third volume of his maritime trilogy, Padfield explains how individual enterprise and democratic values have distinguished countries exercising maritime power. He analyses the effect trade and naval supremacy had on the British Empire up to the Cold War and beyond. He also gives us insight into the American Civil War and Hitler’s U-boat offensives during the Second World War. This book is not only a fascinating and well researched naval history, it also takes the reader on a journey through the most tragic and controversial wars of the last century, introducing her/him to the various naval commanders as they battled it out on the world’s oceans.
In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians, Jake Page, Simon & Schuster Page, former Smithsonian and Natural History editor, long time student of American Indian history and culture, has distilled two generations of scholarship into one smooth and engaging narrative. His story begins much earlier than the usual 500 year tragedy and the final, recent chapter adds a new twist, thanks to the latest scholarship, recent archeological findings and an exploration of Indian legends. The popular image of a peaceful and idyllic Eden is dismantled here, depicting Indian society as fluid, constantly transforming through internal fighting, population growth and shifting climate. The complex story of contact with Europeans is explored in depth, also from the American Indian point of view. Our perspective of Indian history is broadened by this fascinating account, revealing a more sweeping and meaningful history about a people who have suffered enormously, yet still endure and enrich the American experience.
In the Blink of an Eye: The Cause of the Most Dramatic Event in the History of Life, Andrew Parker, Free Press In this ground breaking book, Andrew Parker explores and describes the theory of the "Cambrian Explosion", an extraordinary event which, he claims, kick-started the process of evolution. Primitive life forms swimming in the Cambrian seas literally had their eyes opened for the first time. The animal kingdom exploded into life and the country of the blind became a teeming mass of hunters and hunted, all scrambling for their place on the evolutionary tree. Reading like a scientific detective story, this book encompasses such diverse disciplines as biology, history, geology and art.
Mirror / Mirror: A History of the Human Love affair with Reflection, Mark Pendergrast, Basic Books Of all human inventions, the mirror is the one most closely connected to consciousness. This book is a fascinating study of the mirror's invention, refinement and use in an astonishingly wide range of human activities. The author spins tales of two thousand years of mystery, asking whether Archimedes' burning mirror really set fire to Roman ships and describing Isaac Newton's intense experiments with sunlight on mirrors which left him blind for three days. However, a reflective surface means nothing without the observer. Like the mirror, itself, this book both reflects and illuminates the reader in its revealing provocative glance.
Allen Lane Eclipsed by his infamous son, Henry VIII, not so much is known about Henry VII and the contribution he undoubtedly made to the stability and centralization of the monarchy during sixteenth century Tudor Britain. The first of the Tudors, Henry VII effectively put an end to turbulence of fifteenth century ‘War of the Roses,’ whereby two competing houses, the Lancastrians and the Yorks, fought for the English crown. Henry succeeded to the throne through his mother’s ancestry thereby uniting Britain under the Welsh Tudor rose and used his wife and children as further assets to consolidate his claim. In this remarkable debut, Penn re-creates the darker side of Henry VII, illuminating his controlling, avaricious, paranoid traits as well as pointing out his intelligence, financial acumen, sense of justice, Machiavellian charm, will power and sheer luck that propelled him to power, despite his ‘usurper’ origins. Rich with incident and drama, ‘Winter King’ is an enthralling mix of pageantry, treachery, and the secret conspiracies that underline the hidden nature of monarchical claims.
Price: EUR 28.00
In this novel about the fast-paced world of hip-hop, Heru Ptah, Jamaican-born writer, poet and philosopher, has successfully captured the voice of a generation and of the hip-hop scene. In this world, the thin line between art and life is blurred for two ambitious MCs, who fight a battle with weapons and words to be number one. Rappers Flawless and Hannibal are two talented young men moving toward the same dream: to be the best, to take over the world, to see the big picture and to each become the most respected rap artist of his generation. This vivid journey through the underworld of urban music resembles "West Side Story" remixed to the movement of hip-hop. This book will appeal to hip-hop lovers and anyone seeking to understand what the rage is all about.
In 1789, two hundred and thirty-seven women convicts left England for Botany Bay, in New South Wales, Australia, on board a ship called the Lady Julian. These women were destined to provide sexual services and a breeding bank for the men already there. Based on exhaustive and painstaking research into this extraordinary group of women, Ms Rees bring alive the atmosphere of late eighteenth century England, its penal code, often extremely harsh to the poor and the vibrant, bawdy life of the London taverns. Life on board ship and the relationships that developed during the long passage to Australia are also vividly described - the sights, sounds and smalls conjuring up both the pleasures and the hardships incurred. The women emerge realistic, brave, fun loving and philosophical - no small feat considering their options!
Allen Lane It was Thomas Jefferson who envisioned the United States as a great ‘empire of liberty’. In this first new one-volume history in two decades, David Reynolds, an award-winning Professor of International History at Cambridge University, takes Jefferson’s phrase as a key to the saga of America as a help to unlock both its grandeur and its paradoxes. He examines how the anti-empire of 1776 became the greatest superpower the world has seen, how the country that offered liberty and opportunity on a scale unmatched in Europe but, nevertheless, founded its prosperity on the labour of black slaves and the dispossession of the Native Americans. Reynolds depicts a country that has derived much of its energy, its identity even, from a perpetual struggle against enemies, real or imagined. Written with verve, insight and, yes, humour, ‘America, Empire of Liberty’ is a new history for a new presidency.
The discovery of the previously lost Gospels of Judas Iscariot has electrified the Christian world. It seems that the official accounts in the New Testament, for example from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, give us information about Judas that is inconsistent and biased. The revelation of an ancient gospel that portrays Judas as someone who saw his role in the crucifixion as integral to a larger divine plan, brings new clarity to an old story. Without Judas’s betrayal with the consent of Christ, the Eastern Miracle could not have happened. In this meticulously researched book, the author, himself an expert on early Christianity, examines what we can and cannot know about the life of the historical Judas and whether the church should re-evaluate its position on his possible innocence.
Barnaby Rogerson: The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad and the Roots of the Sunni-Shia Schism, Little Brown This swaggering saga of ambition, achievement, self-sacrificing nobility and blood rivalry sheds some welcome light on the complexities and problems of the modern Muslim world. Rogerson deftly identifies the seeds of discord that has destroyed the unity of Islam and threatens world stability. He traces the schism between the Sunni and the Shia Muslims to the rivalry of the two people who knew and loved the prophet, Muhammad, best, namely his cousin and son in law, Ali, and his wife, Aisha. The author also recounts the fascinating lives and intrigues of individuals who influenced the outcome of the battle for legitimacy: the first four caliphs, the Prophet's own widows and the conquering generals who subsequently let and influenced Islam after his death.
Price: EUR 18.00
Steve Roud, Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain & Ireland Is it good or bad luck to encounter a black cat? Since when do people believe that Friday the thirteenth is unlucky? If a woman's second toe is longer than her big toe does it mean she will be the boss at home? In which part of the British Isles is it considered lucky to find a pin? This fascinating and informative survey, the first for over a generation, looks at what people have believed in and why. It also explores when particular superstitions arose, which areas of the country adopted them and how they have evolved over time. Roud shows how people, as far back as two thousand years, have sought to control the present and predict the future by examining such diverse items as pins and plums, cabbage stalks and cigarette cartons! He stresses both the inventiveness and the ubiquity of superstitions and the important psychological role they play in human lives.
Allen Lane ‘Mother of God’ is an exuberant exposition into the life and times of the Mary, mother of Christ. After a brief introduction outlining the earliest references to Mary, Rubin describes how Mary became one of the most forceful, symbolic figures to evolve out of Christianity. She is portrayed by Rubin not only as Christ’s mother but also as one of the most venerated, powerful and loved woman throughout history. In the Gospels, Mary was depicted as a relatively obscure figure with little personal detail. Yet from these inauspicious beginnings, Mary has become a profound, spiritual icon, chaste yet fertile, chosen but modest. She has been endlessly imagined and reinvented to fit the changing spiritual landscapes of her diverse believers, thus giving believers of all colour and creed, unconditional solace and hope.
Dominic Sandbrook - Never Had it So Good: A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles, Abacus Using a vast array of sources, Sandbrook tells a story of British society caught between cultural nostalgia and economic optimism of the late fifties and early sixties. He brings to life the post-war experience of the Suez crisis and the Profumo scandal leading up to the more uplifting period of Beatlemania in the early sixties. This richly detailed and deeply atmospheric book is a treasure chest of brightly coloured historical gems. Sandbrook has a winning style, moving effortlessly from the particular to the general and back again, offering tart and insightful vignettes of the politicians and cultural standard bearers of that time.
Bodley Head This imaginative history of America written by an author who has spent half his life there, takes a long, reflective look at its history and the pivotal developments which have shaped ‘American exceptionalism.’ Schama argues that one of these qualities has been the capacity to renew and rebuild the nation at times when it seemed overwhelmed by disaster, for example, in 1932, 1976, 9/11 and now in 2008. He also examines America’s chequered history of human rights and racism and applauds the election of a new president in November 2008 who will, hopefully, unite all the disparate elements and vested interests in America and polish America’s tarnished reputation abroad.
Price: EUR 13.50
With his usual gripping and powerfully vivid storytelling, Simon Schama recounts the astonishing story of the struggle to freedom of thousands of Afro-American slaves who fled the plantations to fight behind British lines in the American War of Independence. He follows them through the fires of war and into icy, inhospitable Nova Scotia, where many were betrayed in their promises to receive land after the war. Their fate became entwined with British abolitionists, such as Granville Sharp and John Clarkson, who assisted them in their final rough crossing to establish a supposed utopian colony in Sierra Leone. This brilliant and informative book will delight historians and the general reading public alike!
History may be written by its victors, but as Wolfgang Schivelbusch argues, it is the losers who often have the last say. In this brilliant and provocative study, the author reveals the complex psychological and cultural responses of conquered nations to the experience of military defeat. He focuses on three case studies - the American South after the Civil War, France after defeat by the Prussians in 1871, and Germany after the First World War. He shows how defeated societies come to question their identity and rewrite their history, often generating myths of cultural superiority as compensation. The author draws evidence not just from these examples but also from current events such as the collapse of the Twin Towers.
For millennia, humans have revered, adored and exploited the elephant. In a kaleidoscopic account, rich in historic lore, surprising scientific fact and exotic tales of adventure, Scigliano traces the enduring and extraordinary relationship between elephant and mankind and shows how it still haunts and inspires us today. For example, in Thailand, pregnant women duck under the belly of an elephant to ensure an easy delivery; in India, elephant worshippers dance adorned with gilded tusks at ecstatic temple festivals. Young readers have delighted in the elephant tales of Babar, Nellie and Dumbo. One reason is that elephants are like humans in many ways: the same longevity, a richly folded and convoluted brain and a liking for alcohol! They also mourn their dead in a similar fashion to humans. This beautifully written and absorbing testimony to the elephant does justice to a magnificent, sensitive, patient and intelligent animal.
Love, War & Circuses: The Age Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans, Eric Scigliano, Bloomsbury The elephant is one of those few great creatures who can take us back in time, across cultures and through countless myths and tales just by the sheer sight and size of them! This fresh and insightful book opens up all those facets so that even the most tepid of animal lovers will revel in how much we share with these gentle giants. The elephant's delicate balance between destructive force and caretaker makes it one of the most human of the animal kingdom and sadly one of the most endangered. Taking us on a journey encompassing prehistoric mammoths, Royal Thailand, Victorian England as well as Barnum and Bailey in Florida, the author provides a delicious, modern tale of love, respect, exploitation, and reconciliation. You'll forget sometimes you're reading about elephants!
India is a highly diverse country with many distinct pursuits, vastly different conditions, widely divergent customs and a feast of viewpoints. In this much needed, landmark book, Sen argues that only by exploring India’s long pioneering tradition of sceptical argument and cultural achievement can we truly appreciate and understand contemporary India’s place in the world. Sen is a probing reader of India’s past, not just because of the depth of his knowledge but because of his appreciation of the rules of a ‘good’ argument and his refusal to oversimplify the complex nature of his heritage. Rather than just a dry narrative about dead kings, this inspiring book offers essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the complexities of India, both past and present.
Gitta Sereny's new book is about Germany and her experiences of that country during and after the Second World War. Her first encounter with Germany and the Nazis came when she was 11 years old and was taken by chance to a Nuremberg rally. Later she became a nurse in occupied France and, after the war, worked in Displaced Persons camps for the United Nations Relief in occupied Germany. Because of Ms Sereny's personal, first hand and on-going involvement with the German people, her book has an authenticity and depth often missing in simple, factual accounts. She explores uncomfortable terrain, looking at the guilt, denials and deceptions which have become the Nazi legacy. She writes about people who, by refusing to obey orders during the Nazi period often under extreme pressure, can be seen as moral beacons, making the conduct of others more deplorable. She feels that this 'open wound' has changed the German character for the better, as it acts as a constant reminder of the past and of how easy it was then for a nation to view the intense suffering of others with apparent indifference.
The Island at the Centre of the World: The Untold Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Founding of New York, Russell Shorto, Doubleday Russell Shorto creates a fresh and eloquent narrative of Manhattan's history and the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today. He draws heavily on 17th century Dutch records of New Netherlands and its capital, Manhattan, which scholar Charles Ghering has translated over the past thirty years. Shorto insists that the English settlers were not accountable for the foundations of America alone, and that Amsterdam, Europe's most liberal city with its unusual policy of tolerance and its polyglot society, dedicated to free trade, also had a large impact. He shows how the clashing and intermingling of these two 17th century powers brought about the unique formation of New Amsterdam on Manhattan. This graceful, elegantly written historical account is a "must" for anyone interested in the origins of America.
BBC Books Russia is a country of cultural refinement, yet a country that rules by ‘the iron fist’, with an ingrained readiness to sacrifice the individual for a collectivist cause. In this penetrating history, Martin Sixsmith, BBC correspondent in Moscow from 1980 to 1997, shows how Russia’s complex identity has been formed over a thousand years and how understanding its history can help us cope with its often baffling behaviour both home and abroad. Covering politics, music, literature and art, Sixsmith explores the myths Russians have created from their history. He tracks the origins of Russia’s split personality to the influences that have divided it for centuries and carefully guides us through a history that is far more complex than it first appears. Given the nature of the subject, Sixsmith keeps the narrative remarkably taut and clear, making the book an informative and enjoyable read, leading us to a better understanding.
Atlantic Books From opera’s beginnings in the courts of northern Italy to its spread across Europe and beyond, this illustrated history explores the world of opera house, impresarios, monarchs and money makers, artists and audiences. On a grand tour, Daniel Snowman leads us through Renaissance Florence and Mantua, Louis XIV’s Paris, Handel’s London and the Vienna of Emperor Joseph II and Mozart. By the end of the nineteenth century, opera had extended its borders so that New York’s Metropolitan Opera goers could enjoy a French work sung by a Czech and Polish and Italian casts under a German conductor. Yet the art form is still widely seen as ‘elitist’ even though parts of the classical recording industry are close to bankruptcy. The history of opera’s struggle to survive seems every bit as dramatic as those portrayed on stage.
Price: EUR 49.00
4th Estate The story of the scientist Galileo's relationship with his illegitimate daughter, Virginia, reveals a toouching understanding between two highly intelligent people, both constrained by their circumstances and the mores of the time. Despite having a relationship almost solely reliant on letters - Virginia was ensconced in a convent, Galileo hampered and jailed by the vatican - they were a constant source of comfort to one another and were eventually buried side by side.
This is history at his best - lively, intimate, provocative and compelling. Elizabeth I was a woman in a man's world but confident of her ability to rule. She was intensely intelligent and passionate by nature. By finding her way through the labyrinthine plots at court, she learned to live by her wits and instincts, both of which held her in good stead. David Starkey's recreation of Elizabeth's life concentrates on her early life, which he believes shaped many of her ideals and honed the extraordinary skills she possessed in handling her subjects. Described as her 'father's daughter' but in many ways more astute and successful, there is much in this unique portrayal which makes her both contemporary and accessible.
This is a concise and reliable explanation of how Auschwitz evolved into the epicentre of Nazi mass-killing. Sybille Steinbacher powerfully reconstructs the process by which Auschwitz mutated into a sprawling industrial nightmare during the course of the Second World War. In complete contradiction to earlier aspirations of improving, extending and protecting human life through science and technology, it depicts how Auschwitz manipulated these same systems to completely different ends. How such a thing was possible, is something everyone still needs to understand!
John Lewis Stemple, England- The Autobiography- 2000 Years of English History by Those Who Saw it Happen, Penguin This volume presents history in a unique form hand through the words of those who saw it and those who made it. All the great events are here: The Norman Conquest, Magna Carta, the Peasants' Revolt, Henry VIII's break from Rome; the Great Fire of London, Nelson at Trafalgar, and the Two World Wars of the Twentieth Century. Alongside these major events, less obvious happenings are documented which give a revealing picture of the nation's social history, such as court records on criminals during Elizabeth England and child labour in a 1815 factory. Presented chronologically and packed with rich detail, 'The Autobiography' offers an intimate vivid portrait of England and the English.
Bloomsbury This dramatic, page-turning detective whodunnit tells of the gruesome, true-life murder of a three year old boy. Celebrated detective, Jack Whicher, is called to investigate the crime when no leads to the murderer can be traced. When Whicher arrives at the scene, the murder of such a young child has provoked national hysteria. The public wants to know what might be festering behind the closed doors of a respectable, middle class family and who is to blame. Is it the scheming servants, unruly children, insanity, loneliness or loathing that cause the crime? A terrific read in the best detective tradition of Wilkie Collins, this factual book is written with lucidity, restraint and respect for the reader’s sensibilities as well as offering excitement and finely detailed, sleuthing documentation.
Bloomsbury In this subtle exploration of post-war Germany, Taylor explains how Germany reinvented itself after its crushing, demoralising defeat in 1945, he terms Germany’s ‘Year Zero.’ Drawing on contemporary documents and eyewitness accounts, he describes the bloody, drawn out final Allied campaign, the hunting down of Nazi resistance and the terrifying displacement of millions of people in central and Eastern Europe, the hunger and destitution. Taylor also investigates the mixed attitude of the allied forces, describing it in the main as a mixture of conservatism, enterprise and pragmatism that enable Germany to prosper in the 1950’s. ‘Exorcising Hitler’ provides a blue print for how a war-torn country can resurrect itself to become a viable, respected world force after such defeat.
An old house stands across the River Thames just across from St. Paul’s Cathedral, built in the days of Queen Anne. Over a span of almost 450 years, this dwelling has witnessed changes on the river and in the city on the opposite bank. Rich with anecdote, colourful, empathetic, scholarly and textured, ‘The House by the Thames’ is social history at its most enjoyable. Gillian Tindall has researched the lives of those who have lived there, from the most famous to the most obscure, through archives, old newspapers, contemporary accounts and the memories of descendants. She breathes life into the forgotten names of these individuals and, in so doing, makes them represent legions of others and whole experiences we have lost through hundreds of years of London’s history.
In this fascinating and powerful combination of history and travel, Colin Thubron has written a superbly researched book which explores the very heart of Russia. Through his eyes, we become acquainted with the awesome, wasteland region known as Siberia. For many Russians, this word spells Gulag, prisoner work camps, deprivation and terror. We pass through the ice fields to visit the remains of such death camps as Butugychag. On the way, we meet shamans, Buddhists and Old Believers still practising their beliefs. Siberia is a land full of shadows where the past and the present intertwine. To quote one of the many Russians mentioned in the book: 'We are not the same as you in the West....with us, time still goes in circles.' Thubron captures this spirit with an acute perception. His sensitivity and warmth acts as a blanket against the history he unravels, with its failures and broken dreams littering the landscape, often so moving and sad, and yet he makes it all somehow bearable. Although the history and the harsh climate have obviously influenced the character of its inhabitants, Thubron leaves their dignity intact.
Robert & Isabelle Tombs, That Sweet Enemy: The French & the British from the Sun King to the Present, Heinemann This fascinating and stimulating history tells the rich and complex story of the love-hate relationship between the French and the British from the time of Louis XIV to the present. Their rivalry, both in peace and war has shaped the modern world, from North America to India in the eighteenth century, in Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and is still shaping Europe today. 'It was', the authors maintain, 'the French Revolution that repudiated the modern emphasis on individual liberty in favour of an idealized vision of the citizenship of the ancient world' - two centuries later this arguably still marks France off from the Anglophone world. 'That Sweet Enemy' is a magisterial work, full of sharp insight couched in deceptively light asides.
Perseus Books Group From the Mona Lisa to the Cheshire Cat, the various meanings of the human smile have changed over time. In this eclectic and erudite history, Trumble challenges most of our deeply held assumptions about smiling to include its more ambivalent relative such as the leer, smirk, snarl and lewd grin. He explores the nuances of smiling and involuntary giggling in various cultures and compares them to our own commercially preferred ideally flawless, wide, white smile. Trumble also researches the fascinating evolution of the open smile as opposed to the lascivious or enigmatic one, marking the rise of enhancements such as lipstick, tooth dye and corrective dentistry.
Price: EUR 16.00
As this celebration shows, trees are our countryside. Our ancestors evolved in them; they gave us air to breathe, food to eat and shelter. Yet while stories about trees are plentiful as their leaves, they are seldom told. In this enchanting book, Tudge travels from his own back garden around the world to explore the beauty, ingenuity, communication skills and longevity of the trees he introduces us to. Lyrical, richly detailed and evocative, this beguiling book is essential reading for all tree lovers, young and old.
Vintage Some years ago, de Waal inherited 264 netsuke, tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, from his Jewish great uncle, which included a curled snake, a snarling tiger and a hare with amber eyes. De Waal became curious about these objects, to whom they had previously belonged and what they might have witnessed. The story begins in 1870’s Paris when the netsuke was bought by Charles Ephrussi, a wealthy cousin of the author’s great grandfather. De Waal traces the netsuke through to Vienna and the Third Reich when the collection was abandoned as the owner and family fled persecution. This exquisitely crafted book is an analogy of the netsuke themselves: their touch, exile and loss, plus a meditation on the responsibility of inheritance which is captured in these soft-hard, displaced objects, both of and in the world, as they pass between the generations.
Price: EUR 11.35
Maureen Waller - Sovereign Ladies:The Six Reigning Queens of England In this fascinating, erudite and detailed biography of six, very individual queens: Mary I r.1553-1558; Elizabeth I r.1558-1603; Mary II r.1689-1694; Anne r.1702-1714; Victoria r.1837-1901 and Elizabeth II r.1952- , we are drawn into each of their compelling reigns to find out how they managed in patriarchal political systems. All six queens have left far reaching legacies, each have faced personal sacrifice and emotional conflict in order to be sovereign. For example, how do you as Queen earn the respect of your court and subjects when the female sex is considered inferior? If a queen takes a husband, how does she manage their role reversal without losing his love and support? All these questions and many more are addressed in this scrupulously observed and fair book. Mr Waller deals with each queen’s intimate life in meticulous detail, assessing their achievements from an essentially feminine perspective, but one equally fascinating for male readers as well!
Alexander Waugh's "God" is a book about the God of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Drawing from a wide range of sources such as the sacred books of the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Testament, the Islamic Qur'an, the Greek Apocrypha, the ancient texts of Nag Hammadi and the Dead Sea Scrolls, he successfully illuminates many absurd contradictions in their depictions of God. Waugh has compiled an erudite, complex and entertaining biographical portrait of God, revealing many startling characteristics of the divine being.
Well known historian, Stanley Weintraub, recounts the most unlikely and touching events of Christmas in 1914, when soldiers from both English and German sides acted on their desire for peace and reconciliation in their first year of conflict by laying down their arms and celebrating a few days together. Compiled from secondary sources and extensive archival research, Weintraub displays his skill as a researcher and narrator, conveying the mood and importance of this episode, when goodwill and humanity all too briefly prevailed over the madness of World War I. An inspiring Christmas story!
Cape The unprecedented imprisonment and execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, in May 1536 has been the subject of much speculation and fascination for historians, novelists, poets, filmmakers and dramatists alike. Anne was accused of high treason on the fifteenth of May, for the crimes of adultery with five men, including incest with her brother and plotting Henry’s death. Much mystery, however, surrounds the evidence for these allegations. Did Henry purposely fabricate the charges so he could be free to marry Jane Seymour or did Cromwell, for reasons of his own, present compelling evidence of Anne’s guilt before the King? In this book devoted entirely to Anne’ s fall from grace, Alison Weir reassesses the evidence, demolishes many myths and misconceptions by creating a richly researched and detailed portrait of one of the most charismatic and influential women in British history.
Cape Today, according to popular legend, Isabella's angry ghost can still be glimpsed among the ruins of an old church in Newgate, London, clutching the beating heart of her murdered husband. Vacariously called 'Unnatural Queen,' 'False Isabella,' 'She Wolf of France,' how did Isabella, born in 1292, acquire such an exaggerated and damning reputation? For centuries, she has been much maligned by male historians for her adultery, including an affair with William Wallace. But the facts show a different picture. At the age of twelve, she married Edward II of England, a vicious, cruel monarch, who preferred his male favourites to her. Later, after bearing him four children, she successfully led a revolution to depose him, bringing about the first constitutional deposition of Parliament of an inept English monarch. This act set a precedent for the later depositions of such kings as Richard II, Edward V and Charles I. Isabella's contribution can be interpreted as pivotal in bringing about the gradual decline of monarchical power, thus making possible the growth of democracy and human rights.
Harvill Secker Mount Ararat in Turkey is now a geographical, political and cultural crossroads bound up with a centuries-old history of warfare between the different cultures in the region. Westerman takes a pilgrimage to Mount Ararat where, as biblical tradition states, Noah’s Ark ran aground and God made his covenant with mankind. He meets geologists, priests and a Russian astronaut as he embarks on an expedition in search of the Ark’s remains. ‘Ararat’ is a dazzling, informative and highly personal odyssey about science, religion and all that lies in between. Westerman writes non-fiction with all the bravado and imagination of a great novelist which makes his research into the lost ark all the more intriguing!
Westwood & Simpson, The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, Penguin Stop off at any English village or town or wander through the countryside and you will almost certainly brush up against some deep-rooted local legend, whether it is the legend of Dick Turpin or the last resting place of Robin Hood. This magnificent new survey looks at all these stories, many of them hundreds of years old and passed down by one generation to the next, explaining where they date from, how they arose and what historical events, if any, underlie them. It also sets out to explain why similar stories crop up so frequently in different places, for example, accounts of supposedly bottomless lakes, phantom coaches or mysterious subterranean passages. Legends that surround Oliver Cromwell and King Arthur are also explored. The result is an endlessly fascinating journey through England's legendary past and the tales and beliefs that from such an integral part of our heritage.
Oxford The second half of the nineteenth century was haunted by a phenomenon which hardly anyone is aware of today - an entire nation was in danger of being snuffed out by an odourless, tasteless powder - arsenic. This highly toxic substance, which was an inexpensive by-product of the mining industry, affected every imaginable area of Victorian daily life. Obviously, it was also your first choice should you wish to get rid of some unwanted relative - there was the case of one woman who murdered her mother, three husbands, a lodger and most of her fifteen children and stepchildren. Arsenic was an inescapable household hazard found in cosmetics, paper, candles, medicine, baby powder and especially in green dyes for clothing, curtains and wallpaper. Queen Victoria was so shocked by its lethal effects that she ordered every room in Buckingham Palace to be stripped of green wallpaper. Whorton has written an illuminating, clever book - a perfect blend of science, history and gripping storytelling.
Price: EUR 22.00
Atlantic Books In "Scandal", Roger Wilkes gives us a behind the scenes look at the mechanisms that disseminate gossip and the power and influence it never ceases to exert. This is the first book to illuminate the history of gossip in both British and American press, covering the last three centuries. Wilkes takes us on a roller-coaster ride from Regency London, where muckracking scandal sheets were hawked in the streets, to Blair's Britain, where red-top tabloids promote gossip to satisfy the appetites of the masses. This is a very entertaining, eye-opening and sometimes deliciously sensational history of one of man's favourite pastimes.
In the political ferment of the sixteenth century, the Dudley family was frequently involved in controversy and condemned as scheming, ruthless and over-ambitious. Three were excecuted for treason. Yet Edmund Dudley was instrumental in establishing the financial basis of the Tudor dynasty; John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, laid the foundations of the Royal Navy and ruled as uncrowned King, almost succeeding in replacing Lady Jane Grey on the throne. The most notorious, Robert Dudley, Earl Leicester, came closest to marrying Elizabeth I, and governed the Netherlands in her name, while his successor, Sir Robert Dudley, scholar, adventurer and courtier, was one of the Queen's most audacious seafarers in the last years of her reign. Thus, in this first full account of this politically significant family, leading Tudor historian, Derek Wilson, shows how the fortunes of these astonishing men rose and fell with those of the royal line they faithfully served throughout.
The Meaning of Everything, Simon Winchester, Oxford University Press This fascinating story traces the origins of the English language and the first attempts to catalogue it, through to the triumphant publication of the Oxford dictionary in 1928. In witty and absorbing prose, Winchester paints lively portraits of the people involved in this huge undertaking, bringing to life such diverse personalities as Herbert Coleridge and Frederick Furnivall. The book is also richly detailed, particularly describing the often random criterion by which certain words were included or omitted. All in all, Winchester has brought one of the most fascinating of forgotten histories exuberantly to life.
Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain, Robert Winder, Little Brown Robert Winder's erudite and compelling book shows that, although "bloody foreigners" have often been cold-shouldered, Britain owes far more to immigration than hitherto acknowledged. In this wide-reaching exploration, Winder traces the way in which Britain has been settled and influenced by new-comers. He begins his story with the hunter-gatherers during the last Ice Age and traces a thousand years of subsequent invasions, for example, the Romans in 55 BC, and the Normans, in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He describes how an elite group of Dutch clockmakers, goldsmiths and artists crossed the channel with William II and also chronicles the impact of Irish immigrants. Victorian Britain hummed with human traffic from all over Europe from scientists to sailors, dissidents to engineers, each new wave influencing British life as we know it. Our language, financial institutions, our food have all benefited from this added diversity and colour but, more importantly, given Britain its quintessential qualities of tolerance and humanity.
Simon Winder - Germania: A Personal history of Germans Ancient & Modern Picador Simon Winder is passionate about Germany: its cuisine, its architecture, its folklore and changing borders. He explains with delightfully dry, self-depreciating wit how this crazed love affair developed and how it has influenced his perceptions. Winder even suggests that England and Germany are the mad twins of Europe - both Protestant, aggressive, committed to eating rather peculiar sausages - with superiority complexes that have, for good and for ill, reshaped the modern world. This good humoured, rather eclectic, generalised account of German history is, nevertheless, an entertaining and illuminating, good beginner’s guide to the hidden facets of German culture.
Price: EUR 25.50
Bloomsbury In this magnificent history, Wilkinson brings detailed knowledge of hieroglyphs and the iconography of power to life through his narrative skills. For most of us, the story of Ancient Egypt and its 3000 years of civilisation conjure up associations such as the building of the great pyramids, the religious revolution of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the life and death of Tutankhamun or Cleopatra’s fatal entanglement with Rome. Wilkinson looks beyond the glittering courts, dynastic intrigues and epic battles, revealing a history that is more surprising. Most of all, this book is the story of an attempt to unite a disparate realm and defend it against hostilities within and without. Wilkinson shows Ancient Egypt in all its complexity: the cutthroat politics, the brutality and repression behind the appearance of unchanging monarchy, as well as the extraordinary architecture and cultural achievements for which it is justly famous.
