BookOdyssey

\'A persuasive and beautifully written take on how languages are constantly evolving... an enthralling read about human psychology and anthropology as well as linguistics.\' ALEX BELLOS___________________________________\'Language is mankind\'s greatest invention - except of course, that it was never invented\'. So begins Guy Deutscher\'s fascinating investigation into the evolution of language. No one believes that the Roman Senate sat down one day to design the complex system that is Latin grammar, and few believe, these days, in the literal truth of the story of the Tower of Babel. But then how did there come to be so many languages, and of such elaborate design? If we started off with rudimentary utterances on the level of \'man throw spear\', how did we end up with sophisticated grammars, enormous vocabularies, and intricately nuanced shades of meaning?Drawing on recent, groundbreaking discoveries in modern linguistics, Deutscher exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human communication. Along the way, we learn why German maidens are neuter while German turnips are female, why we have feet not foots, and how great changes in pronunciation may result from simple laziness..._____________________\'Powerful and thrilling\' SPECTATOR\'Really ought to be read by anyone who persists in complaining that the English language is going to the dogs\' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH\'I was enthralled\' A.S. Byatt, for GUARDIAN \'Books of the Year\'\'Highly original... clever and convincing... this book will stretch your mind\' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY\'Fascinating\' BOSTON GLOBE Σελίδες: 368, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Rise and Fall opens with the Akkadian Empire, which ruled over a vast expanse of the region of ancient Mesopotamia, then turns to the immense Roman Empire, where we trace back our western and eastern roots. Next Strathern describes how a great deal of western classical culture was developed in the Abbasid and Umayyid Caliphates. Then, while Europe was beginning to emerge from a period of cultural stagnation, it almost fell to a whirlwind invasion from the East, at which point we meet the Emperors of the Mongol Empire . . .Combining breathtaking scope with masterful concision, Paul Strathern traces connections across four millennia and sheds new light on these major civilizations - from the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty to the Aztec and Ottoman, through to the most recent and biggest Empires: the British, Russo-Soviet and American. Charting 5,000 years of global history in ten succinct chapters, Rise and Fall makes comprehensive and inspiring reading to anyone fascinated by the history of the world. Σελίδες: 272, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0709, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

\'My only complaint is that it was so fascinating I wish it had been longer. What a story!\' Philip Mansel BERLIN is Europe’s most fascinating and exciting city. The great movements that have shaken Europe, from the Reformation to Marxism, have their origins in Berlin’s streets. With its unique dialect, exceptional museums, experimental cultural scene, its liberated social life and its honest approach to its history, it is as challenging a city as it is absorbing. Too often Berlin is seen through the prism of Nazism and its role on the front line in the Cold War. Important, frightening and interesting as those periods are, its history starts much earlier. Telling the story of its people and its rulers, from its medieval origins to the present day, this is a fascinating and informative history of an extraordinary city.     Σελίδες: 528, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0805, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

Dian Fossey\'s classic account of four gorilla families - one of the most important books ever written about our connection to the natural worldFor thirteen years Dian Fossey lived and worked with Uncle Bert, Flossie, Beethoven, Pantsy and Digit in the remote rain forests of the volcanic Virunga Mountains in Africa, establishing an unprecedented relationship with these shy and affectionate beasts.In her base camp, 10,000 feet above sea-level, she struggled daily with rain, loneliness and the ever-constant threat of poachers who slaughtered her beloved gorillas with horrifying ferocity. African adventure, personal quest and scientific study, GORILLAS IN THE MIST is a unique and intimate glimpse into a vanishing world and a vanishing species. Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0801, Διαστάσεις: 13.3x13.3cm

How could Nazi killers shoot Jewish women and children at close range? Why did Japanese soldiers rape and murder on such a horrendous scale? How was it possible to endure the torment of a Nazi death camp?Award-winning documentary maker and historian Laurence Rees has spent decades wrestling with such questions in the course of filming hundreds of interviews with people tested to the extreme during World War II. He has come face-to-face with rapists, mass murderers, even cannibals, but he has also met courageous individuals who are an inspiration to us all.In Their Darkest Hour he presents 35 of his most electrifying encounters.\'A remarkably powerful collection\' Antony Beevor, Daily Telegraph\'An incredible, well-written, must-read book\' Glasgow Evening Times\'A lasting contribution to our understanding of the Second World War and a powerful insight into the behaviour of human beings in crisis\' Independent Σελίδες: 320, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

\'History as you\'ve never seen it before.\' Dan SnowDid you know that the history of the beard is connected to the Crimean War; that the history of paperclips is all about the Stasi; and that the history of bubbles is all about the French Revolution? And who knew that Heinrich Himmler, Tutankhamun and the history of needlework are linked to napalm and Victorian orphans? In Histories of the Unexpected, Sam Willis and James Daybell lead us on a journey of discovery that tackles some of the greatest historical themes - from the Tudors to the Second World War, from the Roman Empire to the Victorians - but via entirely unexpected subjects. By taking this revolutionary approach, they not only present a new way of thinking about the past, but also reveal the everyday world around us as never before. Σελίδες: 480, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Lenin\'s originality and importance as a revolutionary leader is most often associated with the seizure of power in 1917. But, Zizek argues in his new study and collection of original texts, Lenin\'s true greatness can be better grasped in the very last couple of years of his political life. Russia had survived foreign invasion, embargo and a terrifying civil war, as well as internal revolts such as at Kronstadt in 1921. But the new state was exhausted, isolated and disorientated in the face of the world revolution that seemed to be receding. New paths had to be sought, almost from scratch, for the Soviet state to survive and imagine some alternative route to the future. With his characteristic brio and provocative insight, Zizek suggests that Lenin\'s courage as a thinker can be found in his willingness to face this reality of retreat lucidly and frontally. Σελίδες: 272, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0107, Διαστάσεις: 14x14cm

In the annals of espionage, one name towers above all others: that of H. A. R. \"Kim\" Philby, the ringleader of the legendary Cambridge spies. A member of the British establishment, Philby joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1940, rose to the head of Soviet counterintelligence, and, as M16\'s liaison with the CIA and the FBI, betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians, fatally compromising covert actions to roll back the Iron Curtain in the early years of the Cold War. Written from Moscow in 1967, My Silent War shook the world and introduced a new archetype in fiction: the unrepentant spy. It inspired John Le Carre\'s Smiley novels and the later espionage novels of Graham Greene. Kim Philby was history\'s most successful spy. He was also an exceptional writer who gave us the great iconic story of the Cold War and revolutionized, in the process, the art of espionage writing. Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Ferdinand Mount has been fascinated by the great thinkers and politicians who have shaped human history over the past two millennia In this fascinating, and provocative book, he examines the proposals for a political theory from a number of widely different historical figures. Twelve key people, from the great orator and statesman of Ancient Greece (Pericles) to the inspiration of the founding of the state of Pakistan (Muhammad Iqbal) we take a colourful and rip-roaring journey through the historical figures who have both inspired and provoked Mount in equal measure. The lives of men such as Jesus Christ, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, and Thomas Jefferson are discussed and comparisons are drawn between the various approaches each figure promoted in their works – whether philosophical, or political theories.   For those wishing to be guided by Mount’s choices and be swept along by his brilliantly erudite prose, this will be a particular enjoyable read. Lots of colour, humour and passion governed all these people careers and Mount brings them to life like no one else can.Praise for the international-bestselling Tears of the Rajas:-\'Mount is a skilled and fluent writer who does his subject justice\' --Literary Review\'Mount relates this remarkable story with a gentle wit, a lightness of touch, a boyish enthusiasm as well as a genius for the telling pen-portrait… It is a remarkable story, and cumulatively amounts to an epic panorama of British Indian history much more substantial than the \'collection of Indian tales, a human jungle book\', which Mount modestly describes as his aim in the introduction.\' --William Dalrymple, The Spectator\'What [Mount] provides instead is of far greater value: a perceptive antidote to nationalistic prejudicial thinking, and an opportunity for a greater understanding of the aftereffects of British imperialism in some of the world\'s most troubled regions.\' Sunday Times\'Although Tears of the Rajas is replete with stirring tales of adventure, it is a deeply humane book. Mount\'s heart is at all times with the people of India, whose lives are turned upside down by blundering attempts at modernisation.\' The Times Σελίδες: 448, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1003, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

How were the hunter-gatherers of Göbekli Tepe able to build a series of stunning stone monuments six thousand years before Stonehenge?Was the so-called \'Wow!\' Signal a radio transmission from deep space, or the ambient resonating frequency of a passing comet?What happened mid-Atlantic to the passengers and crew of the Mary Celeste, leaving the abandoned ship to sail on by itself?Wonderful and weird, here are twenty incredible mysteries that continue to enthral and perplex. Each unexplained mystery, whether ancient or modern, presents the reader with its own unique challenge. Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1013, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

This is the story of the Anglo-American amphibious assault and subsequent battle on the Italian west coast at Anzio which was launched in January 1944 in a bold attempt to outflank the formidable German defences known as the \'Gustav Line\'. ANZIO - THE FRICTION OF WAR outlines the strategic background to the offensive before detailing the landing, the development of an Allied defensive position, the battles in and around the perimeter, the stalemate, the breakout and the capture of Rome on 4 June 1944. While assessing the events at Anzio with the eye of an experienced military historian, Lloyd Clark also examines in detail the human response to the battle from high command to foot soldier. He also emphasises the German story - the first time this has ever been done. Σελίδες: 416, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0906, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

On 1 May 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool. The passengers - including a record number of children and infants - were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, its submarines had brought terror to the North Atlantic.But the Lusitania\'s captain, William Thomas Turner, had faith in the gentlemanly terms of warfare that had, for a century, kept civilian ships safe from attack. He also knew that his ship - the fastest then in service - could outrun any threat. But Germany was intent on changing the rules, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit were tracking Schwieger\'s U-boat...but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way towards Liverpool, forces both grand and achingly small - hubris, a chance fog, a closely-guarded secret and more - converged to produce one of the great disasters of 20th century history.It is a story that many of us think we know but don\'t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted. Full of glamour, mystery, and real-life suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, including the US President Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster that helped place America on the road to war. Σελίδες: 448, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1231, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

He did not return to Morocco for another twenty-nine years, travelling instead through more than forty countries on the modern map, covering seventy-five thousand miles and getting as far north as the Volga, as far east as China and as far south as Tanzania. He wrote of his travels, and comes across as a superb ethnographer, biographer, anecdotal historian and occasional botanist and gastronome.With this edition by Mackintosh-Smith, Battuta\'s Travels takes its place alongside other indestructible masterpieces of the travel-writing genre. Σελίδες: 352, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0801, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

In 1322 Sir John Mandeville left England on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Thirty-four years later, he returned, claiming to have visited not only Jerusalem, but India, China, Java, Sumatra and Borneo as well.His book about that voyage, THE TRAVELS, was heralded as the most important book of the Middle Ages as Mandeville claimed his voyage proved it was possible to circumnavigate the globe.In the nineteenth century sceptics questioned his voyage, and even doubted he had left England.THE RIDDLE AND THE KNIGHT sets out to discover whether Mandeville really could have made his voyage or whether, as is claimed, THE TRAVELS was a work of imaginative fiction. Bestselling historian Giles Milton unearths clues about the journey and reveals that THE TRAVELS is built upon a series of riddles which have, until now, remained unsolved. Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

Nightfall, 6 June 1944. D-Day is over and the Allies have carved a tenuous foothold in \'Fortress Europe\'. The future of Europe hangs in the balance as Hitler\'s formidable SS Panzer troops threaten to drive them back into the sea. D-Day to Berlin is the remarkable story of the Allied struggle for survival - the battle from the beaches of Normandy to the heart of Hitler\'s Reich and ultimate victory just eleven months later. The campaign to free Europe from Nazi oppression through the collective operations from D-Day to Berlin mark one of the greatest ever military offensives. The Allies overcame initial setbacks to inflict a devastating defeat on Hitler\'s crack divisions in France - a victory that was threatened just months later in the bitter winter fighting of the Battle of the Bulge. The final crossing of the Rhine and the advance into Germany changed the course of European history forever. In D-Day to Berlin we meet men and women from both sides - British, American and German soldiers - whose bravery and endurance made the final push through Europe the defining drama of the Second World War. Σελίδες: 400, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0512, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

\'A thrilling blow-by-blow account\' The Times\'A first-rate popular history of a fascinating and neglected battle... a veritable page-turner\' BBC HistoryIn February 1944, a rag-tag collection of clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers, and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews managed to hold out against some of the finest infantry in the Japanese Army, and then defeat them in what was one of the most astonishing battles of the Second World War.What became know as The Defence of the Admin Box, fought amongst the paddy fields and jungle of Northern Arakan over a fifteen-day period, turned the battle for Burma. Not only was it the first decisive victory for British troops against the Japanese, more significantly, it demonstrated how the Japanese could be defeated. The lessons learned in this tiny and otherwise insignificant corner of the Far East, set up the campaign in Burma that would follow, as General Slim\'s Fourteenth Army finally turned defeat into victory.Burma \'44 is a tale of incredible drama. As gripping as the story of Rorke\'s drift, as momentous as the battle for the Ardennes, the Admin Box was a triumph of human grit and heroism and remains one of the most significant yet undervalued conflicts of World War Two.The new, sweeping World War II book from James Holland, THE SAVAGE STORM, is available now. Σελίδες: 448, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

In summer 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth. It was the summer that saw the birth of talking pictures, the invention of television, the peak of Al Capone’s reign of terror, the horrifying bombing of a school in Michigan, the thrillingly improbable return to greatness of over-the-hill baseball player Babe Ruth, and an almost impossible amount more. In this hugely entertaining book, Bill Bryson spins a tale of brawling adventure, reckless optimism and delirious energy. With the trademark brio, wit and authority that make him Britain’s favourite writer of narrative non-fiction, he brings to life a forgotten summer when America came of age, took centre stage, and changed the world. Σελίδες: 672, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0522, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller\'Vital testimony for those who wish to understand the stark reality of running up a beach with the Wehrmacht trying to kill you\' – The TelegraphBased on over 150 audio interviews with those who fought, this is a moving and powerful oral history that marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and battle for Normandy. Published alongside a groundbreaking BBC2 documentary series D-Day: The Unheard Tapes.D-Day was a critical turning point in the Second World War, but for the tens of thousands of young men who took part it was bloody, chaotic and terrifying. For those who survived the beaches, months of bitter fighting lay ahead, often against some of Germany\'s most elite divisions.Drawing primarily on the extraordinary archives of the Imperial War Museums and National World War II Museum, this immersive book describes what it was actually like to take part in the landings on 6 June 1944 and the weeks of ferocious fighting in Normandy that followed. British, American, Canadian and German veterans, as well as French civilians, speak of experiences they could never forget.Here is the forward observer hiding alone on Omaha beach, thinking of his wife as he waits for the invasion to begin. The commando racing to the besieged airborne forces at Pegasus Bridge. The Typhoon pilot about to be executed by the SS when he is saved by a Luftwaffe officer. The teenage GI surrounded and under fire for six days. The German soldier haunted by the memory of abandoning his dying friend. Their words reach across the decades as they share their experiences with us.In D-Day The Unheard Tapes Geraint Jones, author of Brothers in Arms and a former infantry soldier, has skilfully brought the battle for Normandy to life in a vivid narrative that allows the voices of those who fought to shine through, authentic and unforgettable.Number 1 in the Sunday Times Bestseller chart, UK, as of 18/06/24. Σελίδες: 400, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0513, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

It is not often that an author and his editor strike up a relationship which survives forty years of epistolary exchanges and intellectual sparring. The strangely enduring and occasionally fractious friendship which developed between the famously outspoken historian Ramachandra Guha and his reticent editor Rukun Advani is the subject of this quite eccentric and thoroughly compelling literary memoir. It started in Delhi in the early 1980s, when Guha was an unpublished PhD scholar, and Advani a greenhorn editor with Oxford University Press. It blossomed through the 1990s, when Guha grew into a pioneering historian of the environment and of cricket, while also writing his pathbreaking biography of Verrier Elwin. Over these years Advani was Guha’s most constant confidant, his most reliable reader. He encouraged him to craft and refine the literary style for which Guha became internationally known – narrative histories which have made vast areas of scholarship popular and accessible. Four decades later, though he no longer publishes his books, Advani remains Guha’s most trusted literary adviser. Yet they also disagree ferociously on politics, human nature, and the shape of their commitment to India. They usually make up – because it just wouldn’t do to allow such an odd relationship to die. Built around letters and emails between an outgoing and occasionally combative scholar and a reclusive editor prone to private outbursts of savage sarcasm, this book is never short of the kind of wit, humour, and drollery that has been strangled by contemporary political correctness. Σελίδες: 272, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0729, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A fresh, informative and entertaining pop history of the world told through the biographies of eighty fascinating women you may not have heard of (but should have).From the earliest human civilizations through to the present day, this book has curated the 80 stories of countless influential women – leaders, artists, warriors, scientists and more – have been ignored, forgotten or actively suppressed. In A History of the World in 80 Lost Women, Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson restore women’s stories to their rightful place in world history. Based on the acclaimed podcast What’sHerName, this is a truly global history that weaves together the biographies of incredible women spanning six continents and thousands of years, from Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire to imperial China, the Americas and post-war Europe. This book tells a captivating and funny, thought-provoking and deeply researched historical narrative. Drawing on years of study and interviews with dozens of experts, this is an insightful and enthralling look at the trailblazing women you may not have heard of (but should have). Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Written from a consciously anti-enthnocentric approach, this fascinating work is a survey of the civilizations of the modern world in terms of the broad sweep and continuities of history, rather than the \"event-based\" technique of most other texts. Σελίδες: 640, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

FROM THE AUTHOR OF NOTHING IS TRUE AND EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE\'History at its most urgent.\' BEN JUDAH\'Esential reading for the new dark age of disinformation.\' JONATHAN FREEDLANDSummer 1941, Hitler and his allies rule Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. But inside Germany, there is a notable voice of dissent, Der Chef, whose radio broadcasts skilfully question Nazi doctrine. What listeners don\'t know is that Der Chef is a fiction, a character created by the British propagandist Sefton Delmer.As Peter Pomerantsev uncovers Delmer\'s fascinating lost story, he is called into a wartime propaganda effort of his own: the global response to Putin\'s invasion of Ukraine.From one of our leading experts on disinformation, the incredible true story of the complex and largely forgotten WWII propagandist Sefton Delmer - and what we can learn from him today. Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

The internationally bestselling guide to the extraordinary human story, for the curious of all ages   The world has existed for over 4 billion years, but humanity arrived much more recently. Here E. H. Gombrich brings to life the full story of human experience on Earth. He paints a colourful picture of remarkable people and events, from Confucius to Catherine the Great, from the invention of art to the destruction of the Berlin Wall.   This is a book dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of mankind’s experience across the centuries. It is both a guide to humanity’s achievements and an acute witness to its frailties. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this is a timeless account of our shared history.  Little Histories – Inspiring Guides for Curious Minds Σελίδες: 304, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0506, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

An important aspect of the Russian Civil War were the several Allied expeditions immediately following World War I in support of the disunited Russian \'White\' armies resisting the Bolshevik Revolution. Although they ended in failure, these ventures were long resented, and were the origin of the 70-year-long Soviet suspicion of the Western Allies. British and US expeditionary forces operated in North Russia and Siberia in support of General Yudenich and Admiral Kolchak respectively, and a French and Greek expeditionary force (plus Romanian and Polish elements) operated in Crimea and south-western Ukraine, in support of General Denikin. The situation was further complicated by the presence of strong Imperial German elements still under arms, and by war between various factions in the Ukraine. This Southern theatre of the Allied interventions is far less well known than that of the British and Americans in the North and East.Featuring rare photos and new colour plates, this fascinating new book describes this major Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Dr Phoebus Athanassiou writes a compelling account of how the French and Greeks alongside White Russians were greatly outnumbered by pro-Bolshevik forces and were relentlessly pushed back by the Ukrainian forces. In just over 4 months, on 28 April 1919, the last of their forces were evacuated by Allied navies from Sevastopol in Crimea. Σελίδες: 48, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0831, Διαστάσεις: 18.4x18.4cm

Dan Jones narrates in his inimitably vivid and authoritative fashion the remarkable story of the Knights Templar. \'Exhilarating, epic, sword-swinging history\' TLS\'Jones is certainly an entertainer, but also a fine historian who knows how to render serious scholarship into accessible prose\' The Times\'Another triumphant tale from a historian who writes as addictively as any page-turning novelist\' Observer‘When it comes to rip-roaring medieval narratives, Jones has few peers, and in the Templars he finds the perfect subject\' Sunday TimesThe Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful – and most secretive – of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era.Their story – encompassing as it does the greatest international conflict of the Middle Ages, a network of international finance, a swift rise in wealth and influence followed by a bloody and humiliating fall – has left a comet\'s tail of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire historians, novelists and conspiracy theorists. Σελίδες: 512, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0401, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Most things you ‘know’ about science and religion are myths or half-truths that grew up in the last years of the nineteenth century and remain widespread today. ‘A deeply researched history of the interplay between the two ways of understanding the world.’ ECONOMIST, BEST BOOKS OF 2023 The true history of science and religion is a human one. It’s about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It’s about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history – Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it’s about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say – a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before. From eighth-century Baghdad to the frontiers of AI today, via medieval Europe, nineteenth-century India and Soviet Russia, Magisteria sheds new light on this complex historical landscape. Rejecting the thesis that science and religion are inevitably at war, Nicholas Spencer illuminates a compelling and troubled relationship that has definitively shaped human history. Σελίδες: 480, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0604, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

The complete history of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to Brexit “A wonderful book, beautifully written. . . . Informative and incisive.”—Irish Times   After two decades of relative peace following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the Brexit referendum in 2016 reopened the Northern Ireland question. In this thoughtful and engaging book, Feargal Cochrane considers the region’s troubled history from the struggle for Irish independence in the nineteenth century to the present. New chapters explain the reasons for the suspension of devolved government at Stormont in 2017 and its restoration in 2020 as well as the consequences for Northern Ireland of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Providing a complete account of the province’s hundred-year history, this book is essential reading to understand the present dimensions of the Northern Irish conflict. Σελίδες: 384, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0309, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

A lighthearted and informative narrative about the history of herring and our love affair with the silver darlings.Scots like to smoke or salt them. The Dutch love them raw. Swedes look on with relish as they open bulging, foul-smelling cans to find them curdling within. Jamaicans prefer them with a dash of chilli pepper. Germans and the English enjoy their taste best when accompanied by pickle\'s bite and brine.Throughout the long centuries men have fished around their coastlines and beyond, the herring has done much to shape both human taste and history. Men have co-operated and come into conflict over its shoals, setting out in boats to catch them, straying, too, from their home ports to bring full nets to shore. Women have also often been at the centre of the industry, gutting and salting the catch when the annual harvest had taken place, knitting, too, the garments fishermen wore to protect them from the ocean\'s chill.Following a journey from the western edge of Norway to the east of England, from Shetland and the Outer Hebrides to the fishing ports of the Baltic coast of Germany and the Netherlands, culminating in a visit to Iceland\'s Herring Era Museum, Donald S. Murray has stitched together tales of the fish that was of central importance to the lives of our ancestors, noting how both it - and those involved in their capture - were celebrated in the art, literature, craft, music and folklore of life in northern Europe.Blending together politics, science, history, religious and commercial life, Donald contemplates, too, the possibility of restoring the silver darlings of legend to these shores. Σελίδες: 272, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1208, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

In his iconoclastic and controversial study, Norman G. Finkelstein moves from an interrogation of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in global culture to a disturbing examination of Holocaust compensation settlements. It was not until the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel\'s evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began to acquire the exceptional prominence it has today.Recalling Holocaust fraudsters such as Jerzy Kosinski and Binjamin Wilkomirski, as well as the demagogic constructions of writers like Daniel Goldhagen, Finkelstein contends that the main danger posed to the memory of Nazism\'s victims comes from some of the very people who profess most passionately to defend it. Drawing on a wealth of untapped sources, he exposes the double shakedown of European countries and legitimate Jewish claimants, and concludes that the Holocaust industry has become an outright extortion racket Σελίδες: 304, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0903, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A timely look at the impact of China’s booming emergence on the countries of Southeast Asia“An expert and lucid synthesis of the historical context and recent developments of Southeast Asia’s rich and complex relations with Beijing.”—John Reed, Financial Times Today, Southeast Asia stands uniquely exposed to the waxing power of the new China. Three of its nations border China and five are directly impacted by its claims over the South China Sea. All dwell in the lengthening shadow of its influence: economic, political, military, and cultural. As China seeks to restore its former status as Asia’s preeminent power, the countries of Southeast Asia face an increasingly stark choice: flourish within Beijing’s orbit or languish outside of it. Meanwhile, as rival powers including the United States take concerted action to curb Chinese ambitions, the region has emerged as an arena of heated strategic competition.   Drawing on more than a decade of on-the-ground experience, Sebastian Strangio explores the impacts of China’s rise on Southeast Asia, the varied ways in which the countries of the region are responding, and what it might mean for the future balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Σελίδες: 372, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0628, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

Eyewitnessing evaluates the place and potency of images among other kinds of historical evidence. By reviewing the many varieties of images across region, period, and medium, and by looking at the pragmatic uses of images (from the Bayeux Tapestry to an engraving of a printing press or a reconstruction of a building), Peter Burke illuminates the damaging consequences of our assumption that these practical uses are reflections of specific historical meanings and influences. Traditionally art historians have depended on two types of analysis when dealing with visual imagery: iconography and iconology. Burke describes and evaluates these approaches, concluding that they are insufficient. Focusing instead on the medium as message and on the social contexts and uses of images, he discusses both religious images and political ones, images in advertising and as commodities. Ultimately, Burke shows how iconographic as well as post-iconographic methods--the latter including psychoanalysis, semiotics, viewer response, and deconstruction--are both useful and problematic to contemporary historians. Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

The first English-language account of Ivan Morozov and his ambition to build one of the world’s greatest collections of modern art“A century of Russian culture distilled in the story of the life, family and collection of the lavish, lazy, kindly, eccentric grandson of a serf who brought Monet and Matisse to Moscow, waited three years for the right \'Blue Gauguin\'—and survived the first years of Bolshevik rule.”—Jackie Wullschläger, Financial Times \"Best Books of 2020: Visual Arts\" A wealthy Moscow textile merchant, Morozov started buying art in a modest way in 1900 until, on a trip to Paris, he developed a taste for the avant-garde. Meticulous and highly discerning, he acquired works by the likes of Monet, Pissarro, and Cezanne. Unlike his friendly rival Sergei Shchukin, he collected Russian as well as European art. Altogether he spent 1.5 million francs on 486 paintings and 30 sculptures—more than any other collector of the age.   Natalya Semenova traces Morozov’s life, family, and achievements and sheds light on the interconnected worlds of European and Russian art at the turn of the twentieth century. Morozov always intended to leave his art to the state—but with the Revolution in 1917 he found himself appointed “assistant curator” to his own collection. He fled Russia and his collection was later divided between Moscow and St. Petersburg, only to languish in storage for decades.Morozov: The Story of a Family and a Lost Collection was published to coincide with \"The Morozov Collection\" exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris,  May 2021.Exhibition Schedule:Paris Fondation Louis Vuitton May 12 - October 10, 2021   Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1201, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

\'A gripping and illuminating picture of how strongmen have deployed violence, seduction, and corruption\' Daniel Ziblatt, co-author of How Democracies Die \'A timely analysis of how a certain kind of charisma delivers political disaster\' Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny Ours is the age of the strongman. Countries from Russia to India, Turkey to America are ruled by men who combine populist appeal with authoritarian policy. They have reshaped their countries around them, creating cults of personality which earn the loyalty of millions. And they do so by drawing on a playbook of behaviour established by figures such as Benito Mussolini, Muammar Gaddafi and Adolf Hitler. So why - despite the evidence of history - do strongmen still hold such appeal for us? Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat draws on analysis of everything from gender to corruption and propaganda to explain who these political figures are - and how they manipulate our own history, fears and desires in search of power at any cost. Strongmen is a fierce and perceptive history, and a vital step in understanding how to combat the forces which seek to derail democracy and seize our rights. Σελίδες: 400, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1007, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

A unique chronicle of the hundred-year period when the Jewish people changed the world – and it changed them Marx, Freud, Proust, Einstein, Bernhardt and Kafka. Between the middle of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a few dozen men and women changed the way we see the world. But many have vanished from our collective memory despite their enduring importance in our daily lives. Without Karl Landsteiner, for instance, there would be no blood transfusions or major surgery. Without Paul Ehrlich no chemotherapy. Without Siegfried Marcus no motor car. Without Rosalind Franklin genetic science would look very different. Without Fritz Haber there would not be enough food to sustain life on earth. These visionaries all have something in common – their Jewish origins and a gift for thinking outside the box. In 1847 the Jewish people made up less than 0.25% of the world’s population, and yet they saw what others could not. How? Σελίδες: 448, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0105, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Bill Hayton tells the story of how “China” came to think of itself as China—and what it means for our world today “[A] smart take on modern Chinese nationalism.”—Foreign Policy In this compelling and highly-readable account, Hayton shows how China’s present-day geopolitical problems—the fates of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea—were born in the struggle to create a modern nation-state. He brings alive the fevered debates of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when reformers and revolutionaries adopted foreign ideas to “invent’ a new vision of China. Ranging across history, nationhood, language, and territory, Hayton shows how a few radicals, often living in exile, adopted European beliefs about race and nation to rethink China’s past and create a new future. He weaves together political and personal stories to show how Chinese nationalism emerged from the connections between east and west. These ideas continue to motivate and direct the country’s policies into the twenty first century. By asserting a particular version of the past Chinese governments have bolstered their claims to a vast territory stretching from the Pacific to Central Asia. Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0624, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

A comprehensive and revelatory history of modern Belarus—from independence to Lukashenka\'s contested 2020 re-election\"Andrew Wilson has done all students of European politics a great service by making the history of Belarus comprehensible, and by showing how the future of Belarus might be different than its present.\"—Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands Protests continue in Belarus in the aftermath of 2020\'s fraught presidential election. In this updated edition of his exploration of Belarus\'s complicated road to nationhood since it gained independence in 1991, Andrew Wilson has added two new chapters that reveal the extent of Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s grip on power, the growth of the opposition movement and the violent crackdown that followed the vote. Wilson also examines the prospects for Europe as a whole of either Lukashenka’s downfall or his survival with Russian support.     Σελίδες: 384, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0309, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm