Aldus Manutius

Oren Margolis is Associate Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of East Anglia. A scholar of Renaissance humanism, he writes widely on the literary, intellectual and art history of Italy and Northern Europe. He is the author of The Politics of Culture in Quattrocento Europe: René of Anjou in Italy (2016).

• Note on Names and TranslationsIntroduction1 Carpi and Venice2 After Daedalus3 Divine Impressions4 The Printer as PrinceEpilogue: UtopiaChronologyReferencesSelect BibliographyAcknowledgementsPhoto AcknowledgementsIndex

"Winner of the 2025 Gladys Krieble Delmas Prize for the Best Book in Renaissance Venetian Studies." - Awarded by the Renaissance Society of America"This fascinating biography, by an author extremely well-versed in Parisian cultural life . . . traces the turbulent life of a difficult man, who survived the horrors of the Holocaust to become “a theoretician of utopia”, with all its follies and splendours. Isou and the Lettrists are still little known and barely translated in this country – an omission which Speaking East, successfully, seeks to redress." - Jon Savage, New Statesman"In Unearthing the Underworld, palaeontologist Ken McNamara finds incredible worlds preserved in stones we tend to ignore as he explores life's rocky roads." - New Scientist"Piero di Cosimo’s bizarre paintings inspired the Surrealists – and are celebrated in Sarah Blake McHam’s myth-busting new study . . . In her informative study Piero di Cosimo, the artist, less celebrated than his direct peers Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo, appears as an underappreciated figure in the history of Renaissance art . . . In Blake McHam’s hands, the full scope of Piero’s talent is explored . . . This book does a wonderful job of exploring Piero’s context . . . Without the facts required to write a biography, this is a delightful, diligent study of the most playful, surprising artist of the Renaissance." - Francesca Peacock, Daily Telegraph"The book contributes to our understanding of the interconnectedness of the medieval world, where ideas, goods, people and images regularly passed across geographical and cultural borders. The fashionable idea of a “global Middle Ages” is sometimes overstated, yet in the case of falconry itis clear that depictions of the practice, alongside equipment, techniques, birds and even falconers, travelled widely across medieval Eurasia and North Africa." - Sebastian Dows-Miller, Times Literary Supplement"Venus is well-written and illustrations of Venus from ancient times to the modern day make this visually appealing. The authors cover a huge amount of science . . . it's a worthy addition to Reaktion's science Kosmos series." - BBC Sky at Night Magazine"I love a book that tells me something I don't know. Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen's Freud's Patients: A Book of Lives – which digs up all that can be dug on the people who were personally treated by Freud – did that. I knew Freud's reputation was on the slide, but this pushes it right into the drink. Borch-Jacobsen shows how Freud sometimes outright falsified his results to fit his theories; and kept even hopeless cases on the couch as long as the fees rolled in. Scoundrel!" - Sam Leith, TLS 'Books of the Year'". . . a beautifully bound and presented little volume that is a pleasure to handle, and even the prints inside the covers are worthy of a pause to admire the swirls of flowers and butterflies. The pages are luxuriously thick and glossy, showing off the glorious photographs and illustrations within . . . the well-researched prose and outstanding pictures will be a delight to all readers of a more cultural inclination . . . In addition to the excellent list of references and index, there are sections on suggested further reading and a list of websites which may lead on to further explorations of all things rowan." - Stephen Tong, Scottish Forestry"Extraordinarily erudite, richly detailed, beautifully illustrated and deeply felt, Trees Ancient and Modern captures a lifetime of thinking with and through trees. On every page Charles Watkins challenges us to think of trees and woodland as central to our engagement with the world and our acts of world-making – and shows how our attitudes to, and management of, trees reveal a great deal about the human condition. If much of this wonderful book provides a salutary warning for our acts of exploitation and mismanagement, ultimately it proves genuinely hopeful. Our trees and woodlands are not only remarkably resilient, Watkins shows, but they are our homes, our places to learn, to play, to think, to heal." - Carl Griffin, Professor of Historical Geography, University of Sussex"The point of this brisk book, the latest addition to Reaktion’s Medieval Lives series, is not to give a comprehensive account of medieval people’s experiences of time or to propose any radical new theory. Rather, it offers a lively, insightful overview for the general reader, filled with wonderful nuggets." - Pablo Scheffer, Times Literary Supplement"2023 Outstanding Academic Title" - Choice"[a] wonderfully eloquent and informative new book . . . Robinson examines by chapter every aspect of this deliciously intriguing civilisation, from religion, society, art, trade, and agriculture, to their origins, disappearance and rediscovery . . . a comprehensive account of the Indus people, condensed into a highly accessible volume and a very good read indeed." - Current World Archaeology"Chris Caseldine has invested a career of scholarly expertise and enthusiasm for Iceland in the creation of a unique 324-page book on the many diverse landscapes of this small island nation. This passion project goes much further than providing a simple geological explanation, as it combines the humanities with historical and cultural geography to tell the story of Iceland’s environmental history. Consequently, the book reads more like a story, comprehensively communicating the essence of what Iceland is, and how it is perceived. Professor Caseldine exceptionally weaves together the physical, cultural, and historical geography of the island, providing a detailed interpretation of the regional geography of the country. He communicates the how, what, when, where, and why of the Icelandic landscape, adding to its fascination and ongoing awe, curiosity, novelty, and chaos . . . Stories of the Icelandic sagas compliment the landscapes where they took place, many of which are beautifully illustrated with more than 100 images, the majority of which are in color. The book invites the reader to travel across both time and space in an immersive manner, where body, mind, and spirit are simultaneously engaged." - Progress in Physical Geography"The originality of this study of Rus lies in its focus on specific families which dominated political life and deeply affected social, cultural, and religious life there . . . the book has many strengths. The authors show deep knowledge of primary sources and look critically at original narratives in them that have been too readily accepted by numerous later historians. They display a command of the secondary literature on their subject. They carefully examine such complex matters as interfamilial and interclan relationships and rivalries, the rise and decline of different regions within the lands of Rus, and shifts in the complex understandings and practices governing inheritance and succession. It should also be said that the book is attractively produced and generously illustrated." - Derek Offord, European History Quarterly"John Withington’s meticulous history of fireworks." - Malcolm Gaskill, London Review of Books"This book, at once readable and scholarly, shows how the fascinating historical figure of Richard the Lionheart metamorphosed into the character of myth and romance that we know today. An ideal introduction to England’s most legendary medieval king." - Jay Rubenstein, Professor of History and Religion, USC Dornsife"One of the strengths of art historian McClanan’s newest book is its intention: to provide a historical overview of the many modes in which the legendary creature known as "the griffin" appears in art and literary history. Griffinology: The Griffin’s Place in Myth, History and Art purposefully offers a range of distinct perspectives on various regions and eras to illustrate this mythical creature’s prevalence in the cultural history of ethnoreligious groups around the world." - Hyperallergic"This is a much-needed monographic work treating early Korean history in a comprehensive yet very readable manner. Covering mythic foundations as well as current understandings of the origins of the earliest states in Korean history, this narrative describes the rise and decline of polities, their societies and cultures and their relations with neighbouring polities, ending with the fall of the Silla kingdom in 935 and the rise of the state of Koryŏ. This book covers over a millennium of Korean history concisely and clearly and should be required reading for anyone interested in Korea’s early history and cultures." - Mark E. Byington, founder and director of the Early Korea Project at the Korea Institute, Harvard University"Duggan does not aim merely to supplement the narrative of males writers with a few women at the margins. Rather, she seeks to shift the mainstream . . . [she] shows that we should regard the conteuses not as incidental curiosities, exhumed then quickly forgotten, but as princesses of literary history who were never really lost at all." - TLS"Scientific botanical illustration flowered in the Renaissance, thrived in the eighteenth century and declined in the nineteenth century with the rise of photography. Today it is generally associated mostly with art. But it remains ‘art with a scientific purpose: to record, display and convey scientific data about plants’, argues Stephen Harris, curator of Oxford University Herbaria, UK. His history, colourfully illustrated with exquisite illustrations unfamiliar outside specialist literature, brilliantly unifies art and science." - Nature"Breakfast Cereal will reward readers with relatable stories and familiar images. It is worthy of a place at the Edible Series table and is the ideal starting point for your collection of the same: one down, 89 to go." - Culinary Historians of Canada, 'Digestible Bits and Bites""Williams gives us an account of the life and ideas of its protagonist that is sharply focused and wise." - Wall Street Journal"An excellent general introduction to Marco Polo . . . Kinoshita provides much-needed elegant and imaginative discussions of historical contexts, in terms of people, places and activities in different parts of the world in Marco Polo's time, as a way of bringing Polo and his work to life." - Margaret Kim, Professor, National Tsing Hua University"Mina Kim showcases the artistic themes and concepts inherent in Korean art, skilfully crafting a narrative that intertwines multiple threads. Her work serves as a comprehensive guide, leading readers through the avant-garde movements that emerged after the Korean War and illuminating Korean art's present standing in the global art scene. This resource is a must-read for those interested in Korean contemporary art, art history and Korean studies." - J.P. Park, June and Simon Li Professor in the History of Art, University of Oxford"Sporting a rich array of early modern images in paint and print, especially from Baroque artists working in Italy, Street Style delivers a lively cultural history of European clothing with a welcome, fresh focus on types of men and women from marginal social groups. The author smartly shows how genre art is no simple mirror of a past world but a broader cultural representation of ways of wearing and living." - Elizabeth S. Cohen, York University (Toronto)"The book is written in a straightforward manner, free of technical jargon, so I would happily recommend it to anyone interested in race, art or science . . . It would do a world of good if those who make art, as well as those who consume it, are more aware of the connections drawn in Bindman’s important book." - Metascience"Christopher Breward’s intelligent consideration of the suit is an antidote to all the bombastic how to guides written by fashion journalists and bloggers whose idea of cultural context is to speed read a Wikipedia page . . . a rich, deep and satisfying study." - World of Interiors"Andrew Spira’s Foreshadowed sets out to trace the various dark paths, cultural, philosophical and iconographic, that led to Malevich’s square. Some of these seem far-fetched, but turn out not to be." - TLS"The authors document campaigns of letter bombs by anarchists, fascists and national liberation movements . . . Roth and Cengiz have gone to great lengths to collect so many examples across several hundred years . . . Murder by Mail provides absorbing and grizzly insight into this centuries-old deadly tactic that has so rarely been examined." - Kieran McConaghy, Irish Times"Fasting is deeply embedded in most of the world's major faiths. This book makes a modern argument offering a new form of transformation and redemption." - Ken Albala, Tully Knoles Endowed Professor of History, University of the Pacific"Early human relationships with water were expressed through beliefs in serpentine aquatic deities. This looks into the vast human history of water worship and of our broken relationship with all things aquatic." - Outdoor Swimmer"David Ellis's intelligent and fair-minded new short Life for Reaktion." - Seamus Perry, The Times Literary Supplement"At last, we have a history of British Paganism written from the inside, by somebody who not only has a good knowledge of the sources, but explicitly understands how Pagans and magicians think." - Ronald Hutton"Through the life stories of 10 wandering women, Andrews explores “the previously unacknowledged breadth, depth and distinctiveness” of their writing, and reveals a rich “female tradition of walking” . . . For Linda Cracknell, who lives in the Tayside town of Aberfeldy, both writing and walking are empathetic activities. The paths she walks “ring with the voices of earlier women-walkers who passed there”. After writing this book, Andrews too finds her paths “companioned” (to use Nan Shepherd’s word) by other women-wanderers, part of a rich cultural heritage that her fascinating research has revealed." - The Guardian"It’s not only fearful fiction that is having a moment. With the world full of real-life terrors, nonfiction writers are also responding. Informational texts about horror have traditionally been limited to local ghost tales or explorations of horror in film. Now, authors are entering new territory that goes beyond the confines of the genre. Lisa Morton, the world’s eminent expert on Halloween, has a fascinating new book, Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances, a fun and thorough look at how humans have tried to communicate with the dead over time." - Library Journal"Descartes: The Renewal of Philosophy is a masterly account of one of the best-known figures of modern philosophy. Steven Nadler shows us the steps in the expressions of Descartes’ ideas as they emerged during a life itself in rapid motion: from the young gentleman’s French education, to his travels throughout Europe in the midst of the Thirty Years War, to his self-imposed exile in the Dutch Republic where he wrote and published, to his death at the court of Queen Christina in Sweden. Along the way, Nadler lets us see not only Descartes’ views but the nature of the threats he posed for Scholastically inclined theologians of his day. A clear, distinct, and lively guide." - Harold J. Cook, John F. Nickoll Professor of History, Brown University, and author of The Young Descartes"Paterson has published widely on Crusade subjects and on the troubadours. This senior scholar’s authoritative summing-up takes us across an array of standard Troubadour poets and will be a basic starting point for future researchers . . . A generous introduction covers the historical and cultural environment, the poets’ social circumstances, the courts, poetic genres and poetic craft, music, and performance. More than 40 color and black-and-white illustrations adorn the text . . . [an] indispensable reference work. Essential." - Choice"According to the space historian Colin Burgess’s richly detailed Soviets in Space: Russia’s Cosmonauts and the Space Frontier, the U.S.S.R. would almost certainly have landed humans on the moon before the U.S. had it not been for the untimely death in 1966 of its brilliant program architect, Sergei Korolev. His replacement, Vasily Mishin, ignored engineers’ warnings, precipitating disastrous crew losses, and failed to negotiate sufficient funding from the Kremlin. Still, the Soviets built the first space station (Salyut), and until recently Russia was a productive partner in the International Space Station. For a while, at least, space represented political rapprochement." - Steven Poole, Wall Street Journal"Svendsen writes for a popular audience, offering an engaging introduction to philosophical thought on the nature and ethics of lying . . . Svendsen’s examples are vivid and his writing is both animated and accessible – a credit to the translator, Matt Bagguley, as well. Some of the analysis is quite contentious, and readers may find that their intuitions about cases do not align with those of the author, but working out why is part of the fun of engaging with work in practical ethics such as this. We come to moral philosophy for guidance, but also, perhaps, stimulation: an opportunity for thought and friction." - TLS"As Peter Coates’s splendidly rich book demonstrates in deep cultural detail, the long ‘squirrel wars’ of 20th-century Britain are a microcosm of wider arguments about biological belonging and what he nicely terms ‘the emotional ecology of home’." - Steven Poole, The Guardian"Not only does Karl Bell’s new book provide a colourful compendium of the “merfolk, ghosts, phantom ships and sea monsters” that have populated the seafaring folklore of the Atlantic nations for centuries, he also looks at how and why these tales came into being, and how they evolved and mutated as they were transmitted from place to place over time." - Roger Cox, The Scotsman"When it comes to polling, size doesn't matter – it's how you use it . . . We learn about this golden rule and many more in Polling Unpacked, a comprehensive yet surprisingly fun overview of modern opinion polling . . . His book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand modern politics . . . Pack's book is a timely manual for those wanting to spot good polls from bad ones." - Tom Calver, The Sunday Times"2023 Outstanding Academic Title" - Choice"Attfield analyzes the indie Sub Pop record label, which helped launch Northwest grunge music. He begins with Bruce Pavitt’s 1980 Subterranean Pop fanzine and moves to the origins of the label with the compilations of the 1986 Sub Pop 100 and the 1988 Sub Pop 200. Viewing the label as both a brilliant marketing tool and a crass, misogynistic, and unabashedly commercial venture, the author chronicles the selling of Sub Pop’s regional punk/metal by using the antihero, anti-corporate, tongue-in-cheek caricature of the bands as primitive losers. The label reinforced this with album inserts, Charles Peterson’s blurry photos, Lame Fest concerts, the limited-edition, colored-vinyl Singles Club, and even "secret" messages hand-etched in records. He critically discusses songs by the fuzzy Mudhoney, the sludgy, pile-driven Tad, and the punk/pop sound of early Nirvana. The book ends with Sub Pop’s 25th-anniversary celebrations. . . . A solid analysis." - Library Journal"Gray tunnels deeper into one particularly rich seam, London’s police courts . . . the author throws light on the full caseload of police court dealings – the drunks, the thieves, the sex attackers, the thugs, the beggars, the penny capitalists, whose means of subsistence rubbed them against the forces of law and order daily, and more . . . he shows us the Victorian police court as a kaleidoscopic theatre of real life: he is an invaluable compere." - Jerry White, Times Literary Supplement"Lucid, clear-eyed, warmly personable and peppered with deliciously wry commentary, it is a detailed, incisive background to the Act and the ideological and party politics from which it germinated, revealing how the press fanned the flames, what precisely politicians said during debates, and how protestors fought back to bring about the repeal of the law in the 2000s . . . Fascinating, engaging, inspiring." - Attitude Magazine"[Richard Owen] was a scientific colossus . . . Readers may not leave with feelings of admiration for the man himself, but they will surely come to appreciate his central role in the vibrant enterprise of natural history in the 1800s." - Natural History"A comprehensive, clear, and strikingly insightful overview of important trends of our day: resurgent economic nationalism, new forms of exploitation and imperialism, the mainstreaming of the far-right, the continuing failure to address ever-worsening environmental threats, a metastasizing shadow financial sphere, and so on. Merchant argues compellingly that these social pathologies are rooted in the stagnation of the global capitalist economy. A brilliant book." - Tony Smith, author of Technology and Capital in the Age of Lean Production and Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism"Christina Guillaumier takes us on an exciting musical journey sharing the highs and lows of this well-known beloved master of the twentieth century. The tragedy of Prokofiev's life plus his indomitable spirit and joyous music-making create a poignant tale that needs to be heard." - Barbara Nissman"This comprehensive history of Pakistan sets as its tragic and acute frame the tension between democracy and religious ideology in the country . . . the best recent political history of the country, with a well-judged narrative of its crisis of legitimacy and sharp portraits of its major actors." - Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Foreign Affairs"2023 Outstanding Academic Title" - Choice"Dr. Rosina Buckland has already penned several books on Japanese art history . . . While juggling her current role as curator of the British Museum’s Japanese collections, she has written another, this time examining art made during the Meiji era . . . Buckland’s study looks at how these turbulent changes, along with the adoption of Western cultural ideas, shaped Japanese painting, calligraphy, sculpture, printing, textiles, metalwork and lacquerware. She refutes any idea of artistic decline, or that foreign influence diluted the 'authenticity' of Japanese art, instead highlighting how local practices innovated by incorporating new ideas from overseas." - Christie’s ‘Best Art Books 2024’"A broader interpretation of the subject, going back to the Greek historian Herodotus and forward to Cecil B. DeMille and Tutankhamen . . . Fritze reminds us that what fascinated later artists and their public was not what Egyptologists considered important. Largely self-nourishing, Egyptomania was often detached from its original sources, and the stream of dime novels and films about mummies and their curses have, according to scholars, more to do with Western guilt over imperialism than with the supernatural. Even the artifacts exhumed from Tutankhamens tomb with great fanfare beginning in 1922 did not, in fact, add much to our knowledge of ancient Egypt, although they were responsible for the museum world’s first blockbuster traveling exhibition . . . Document[s] an enduring fascination with its subject, based, as the author points out, on the fact that it is both comfortably familiar and intriguingly exotic." - The New York Times"Wilson’s extensive research yields many inventive get-ups . . . [it] takes the reader on an entertaining journey . . . [and] does not shy away from the murkier reaches of Britain’s fancy-dress history." - Apollo Magazine"Lara Vetter’s engaging and well-paced H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), part of Reaktion Books’ series of concise biographies." - Hilary Holladay, The Gay and Lesbian Review"[An] authoritative account . . . if you’re intrigued with writing’s past, Fischer’s book is well worth a read . . . a brilliant book." - New Scientist"Brown takes an integrated view of Bede’s life and work as a historian, scientist, scribe, poet and translator." - Eleanor Parker, History Today, ‘Books of the Year’"This is a marvellously rich yet concise account of the life and work of one of the most idiosyncratic figures of the French Renaissance. Quiviger makes palpable the distinctive philosophy that animated Palissy’s experiments in the ceramic arts and that conditioned his unique contributions to the lavish court entertainments of his epoch." - Andrea Frisch, Professor of French and Core Faculty in Comparative Literature, University of Maryland"This book has the basis of more than 35 years of scientific research by the author into earthworm ecology but is much more than that. As the title suggests, it covers all things worm-related . . . The whole book is an insight into the mysterious world of the remarkable but often underrated worm." - Earth Society of Britain newsletter"House Plants explores the economics, science, and cultural significance of houseplants. The author shares the stories behind the plants we bring home and how they were transformed from wild plants into members of our households. With many illustrations, the book covers both botanical history and cultural impact, from song, literature, and cinema to fashion, design, and painting." - Michigan Gardener"An epic account of the House of Orange-Nassau over one hundred and fifty years of European history . . . The House of Orange in Revolution and War relates one and a half centuries of House of Orange history in a gripping narrative, leading the reader from the last stadholders of the Dutch Republic to the modern monarchy of the early twentieth century, from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars to World War I and the European Revolutions that came after it." - New Books Network"A new biography of Mina Loy shows that the roving modernist saw artistic genius as a means to self-reinvention." - Francesca Wade, The New York Review of Books"Benjamin Franklin provides the reader with a solid chronology of Franklin’s life that makes for a good read in a relatively few pages. Hayes offers the origins of Franklin’s intellect but also how Franklin grew from his experiences and so gained courage and self-confidence . . . Hayes writes of Franklin in an honest and humanizing account not unlike how Franklin wrote of himself . . . a credible summary of its subject’s life." - New York Journal of Books"a short cultural vignette" - Canberra Times"Lottie Whalen reveals that [New York’s] transformation in the early decades of the 20th Century was largely thanks to a bold, taboo-busting cohort of women who pushed boundaries both creatively and socially. As artists, writers, salon hosts and patrons they passionately embraced new forms of living, loving and creating." - Cath Pound, BBC Culture"Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann convincingly strips away the calumnious legends of the mad emperor. His marvelous, contextualized portrait of Rudolf II reveals a complex personality grappling with political and religious upheavals. His greatest legacies are as a discerning connoisseur and the active patron of some of the finest early modern European scientists and artists." - Jeffrey Chipps Smith, Professor Emeritus of Art History, The University of Texas at Austin, and author of Kunstkammer"Jamieson provides an overview of shipwrecks around the globe that were lost at sea between the early beginnings of ocean navigation and the present day. Organized chronologically by date of loss of the respective vessels, the book provides a plethora of information." - Northern Mariner"a brief but useful overview of the fascinating Hittite civilization . . . Written in a popular style and including several helpful illustrations (many in color), this book will be of interest and value to any readers interested in ancient history. Recommended." - Choice"Thomas Nashe and Late Elizabethan Writing gives us a clear, accessible summary of all the surviving works and places them in relation to the various worlds that Nashe inhabited. Such overviews require considerable knowledge and judgement, which Hadfield possesses as one of the general editors of the forthcoming Oxford Complete Works edition." - Bart van Es, Times Literary Supplement"The Medieval Horse is a comprehensive and readable exploration of the many meanings of horses in the Middle Ages. The book is a feast not just for history and literature scholars but for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the period without getting lost in buzzwords and theory." - Susanna Forrest, author of The Age of the Horse: An Equine Journey through Human History"2023 Outstanding Academic Title" - Choice"Art historian Taylor McCall dismantles the common belief that Renaissance figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius founded the field of human anatomy. Assisted by vivid medieval illustrations, she argues that the earliest anatomical images date from the twelfth century, in monasteries and then early universities. Her scholarly book, the first in this field, aims to show that such imagery is "its own visual language", by exploring anatomy in religious contexts, medical teaching and practice, and the work of professional artists." - Andrew Robinson, Nature"Through the life stories of 10 wandering women, Andrews explores “the previously unacknowledged breadth, depth and distinctiveness” of their writing, and reveals a rich “female tradition of walking” . . . For Linda Cracknell, who lives in the Tayside town of Aberfeldy, both writing and walking are empathetic activities. The paths she walks “ring with the voices of earlier women-walkers who passed there”. After writing this book, Andrews too finds her paths “companioned” (to use Nan Shepherd’s word) by other women-wanderers, part of a rich cultural heritage that her fascinating research has revealed." - The Guardian"Hannam gives us context and biography, when available . . . The virtue of Hannam’s writing style is that it is almost invisible. The reader does not have to untangle sentences, as often in academic prose, nor does the author plant the meadows of his pages with rare and distracting lexicographic blooms. As for the arc of his history, it swept me along, especially when I found I was learning a thing or two . . . Bede called Pliny’s Natural History - “that delightful book” - and the same could be said of Hannam’s own lively historical journey.”" - Christopher Howse, The Daily Telegraph"Morton's book is both worthy of merit and surprising . . . carefully researched. It is rich in examples of experiments with paranormal phenomena. The author shows clearly how even sceptical scientists devoted their efforts to study spiritualism and seances." - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"In Andrey Rublev: The Artist and His World, Robin Milner-Gulland takes on the formidable task of synthesising centuries of debate around an artist who is a household name in Russia, yet about whom almost nothing is known. He richly illustrates his subject’s innovative process . . . [and] after a thorough exploration of Rublev’s most famous icon, the book devotes two chapters to the painter’s cultural context before diving into a discussion of other artworks variably attributed to him . . . Vibrant illustrations of his paintings and other medieval masterpieces appear throughout." - Nick Mayhew, Times Literary Supplement"Part biography, part literary criticism, the work is an excellent introduction to Hurston and her writings . . . Hopson argues that her works are as relevant as ever." - Library Journal"A lively and fascinating tour through the underbelly of Egyptian antiquities . . . Golia’s book, although it does not condone the activity, tries to understand the urge for tomb raiding . . . A Short History of Tomb-Raiding tells a story that began millennia ago, but the best moments relate to more recent times. Golia, a long-term resident of Cairo, has done extensive research into contemporary treasure hunters in Egypt, even interviewing people who have spent time behind bars for the crime. The majority of them do not come across as devious villains. They are largely poor Egyptians intoxicated by the possibility of finding a massive fortune – more Del Boy than Ronnie Kray." - Literary Review"[Friedrich Nietzche’s] unclubbable character emerges amply from Ritchie Robertson’s lucid, balanced biography, a study that responds to both parts of its remit as a “critical life”." - Ben Hutchinson, Times Literary Supplement"It is this era that forms the narrative core of Australian space historian Colin Burgess’s book, with each and every Nasa mission in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programmes described in detail loving enough to thrill space nerds of all ages . . . Burgess tells the subsequent tales of crewed spaceflight on both sides of the iron curtain with great verve, and a suspenseful narration of unheralded near-disasters. Gagarin’s spacecraft, for instance, only just avoided burning up on re-entry, as did John Glenn’s Friendship 7 craft on an early Mercury mission. There’s a nail-biting story of one cosmonaut whose suit ballooned and nearly prevented him from getting back through the airlock." - The Guardian 'Book of the Week'"We start with geology, with the formation of the earth’s crust and its cooling and shifting over aeons . . . The account moves from the use of stones as weapons and tools to their use in cooking and building . . . There is so much in this book, as a compendium of stony lore . . . The finest chapter is the last, and shortest, about people who collect stones . . . Stones is packed with lapidary detail." - Jason Goodwin, Country Life"Counter-Texts is a necessary and compelling examination of how words and language can disrupt the status-quo and challenge power through dynamic artistic media. It’s a thorough look at altering public space and discourse through crucial diverse perspectives, particularly revolutionary anti-colonial artistic practices that educate and empower to create space for the voices that need to be heard." - Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon of the Crusted Snow"A beautifully presented account of Herzog’s work, Hegnsvad’s book finds its purpose in both its design and in its sense of affiliation. Hegnsvad is a documentary filmmaker as well as a writer, and so that even if much of what Hegnsvad says will seem familiar to those who know well Herzog’s films and the various things the great director has to say about them, Hegnsvad brings to the material an experiential wonder, a sense that Herzog so consistently goes where most documentary filmmakers fear to tread. By giving us a feeling of following in a master’s footsteps, he reveals how original Herzog happens to be; how often he would venture into the previously unknown and make it familiar through strength of personality and constitution." - Senses of Cinema"Journalist Eaude delivers an energetic survey of the life and work of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí . . . a worthy tribute to one of history’s great iconoclasts." - Publishers Weekly"This is the sort of book you’d prefer didn’t have so many pages – the more there are, the less full our world is of great species. Those that have sadly gone from our lives should, and do, make us think harder about saving the rest, though – the book covers well known species like Dodo and Great Auk, as well as the likes of Spectacled Cormorant, with only seven stuffed specimens and two incomplete skeletons left on the planet. Other losses covered here include Heath Hen, Arabian Ostrich and Ivory-billed Woodpecker. There are many more lost species in here which we should never forget." - Bird Watching magazine"Shortlisted" - The Berger Prize For British Art History 2023"Jean Baudrillard, as this new biography is titled, is brief. This is in part because the man revealed little about his life. At a 2005 talk at Tilton Gallery, he said he was simply “the simulacrum of myself.” What makes the book so fun to read is that you can see him living out his own pronouncements with his signature wry humor, making his abstract ideas into concrete behaviors, not unlike a performance artist. Quite literally, the book makes his ideas come alive." - Art in America"One of the most enjoyable books on the subject this year was Paul Baker’s Fabulosa!, an excavation of the now pretty well lost gay language of Polari, richly evocative and entertaining." - Philip Hensher, The Guardian"How landscapes and their histories are depicted matters profoundly and it matters politically . . . In this wonderfully wide-ranging critique, John Beck challenges the easy packaging of landscape and its history as tourist 'heritage' sites, film locations, edgy ruins or icons of national identity. Exploring pastoral landscapes, industrial sprawl, abandoned ruins, bunkers and much more, Landscape as Weapon is an essential reminder that how we think of places and their pasts is pivotal to how we live now. Essential reading." - Stephen Graham, author of Vertical: The City from Satellites to Bunkers"This book explores everything that is interesting about crabs; from their weird and wonderful behaviours, their evolution, whether they experience pain, how they are depicted in literature, and even how fights have broken out over the last crab legs at the buffet. This is no dry scientific text. It is the ‘story’ of crabs; gripping, fascinating, beautiful. Cynthia Chris is part detective, part scientist and always an exceptionally good writer. She has dug through the literature, spoken to the scientists and watched crabs in action. Her magnificent book will enthrall scientists and beginners alike. I cannot recommend this superb book too highly." - Patricia Backwell, Professor of Biology, Australian National University"Julia Kristeva has said that “colour is not zero meaning: it is excess meaning”. Art historian Carol Mavor’s evocative and eclectic collection of essays demonstrates how true this is . . . Drawing on the history of art, photography, literature and her own memories, Mavor dives deep into an ocean of blueness . . . Sumptuously illustrated throughout, Mavor’s writing – inspired by Roland Barthes’s Mythologies – is rich with insights, both theoretical and persona . . . To quote Colette, Mavor is without doubt a true “connoisseur of blue”." - The Guardian"Extinct takes the long and often absurdist view. There are mad things we don’t miss – arsenic wallpaper (vivid but deadly) – and things we miss every twenty minutes: ashtrays (deadly but vivid). … I miss memos. I crave the Polaroid SX-70 … and I wish I had a serving hatch in my sitting room because then I’d feel properly middle class." - Andrew O'Hagan, LRB"[a] stimulating new book, The Sumerians, the latest contribution to the Lost Civilizations series. . . The Sumerians, for all their doubtful status as a formal society, have a remarkable list of achievements to their credit. Besides being the world’s earliest attested civilization in the fourth millennium BCE, they invented cuneiform – the world’s earliest writing – and the sexagesimal system of mathematics. Their cities, such as Uruk and Ur, were the headquarters of the world’s earliest city-states, with bureaucracies, legal codes, divisions of labor, and a money economy . . . a civilization made vivid by Collins’s clear and expert text." - Science"This superb volume . . . A Band with Built-in Hate feels fresh and without precedent, a scholarly yet thrilling studyof the paradoxes that made The Who the most vital band of the '60s, and the cultural backdrop against which their initial impact was played out." - Shindig!"A well-illustrated study of this extraordinary man through several different aspects of his life . . . His great achievement was to integrate fashion into the wider aspects of culture . . . in short, he turned himself into a brand." - The Spectator"In Yoghurt: A Global History, June teaches yoghurt lovers how one of the world’s oldest and healthiest foods has evolved from an exotic ingredient to a valuable staple in kitchens from East to West!" - Jennifer Abadi, author of Too Good to Passover"A brief, thoughtful biography that should prove engaging to scholar and novice alike . . . Jean Sibelius: Life, Music, Silence is a welcome addition to the literature on a creative master who continues to stand apart." - Tim Page, The Wall Street Journal"Everyone's favourite garden bird is celebrated and explored in this wide-ranging, superbly illustrated volume. Taking in both natural and cultural histoies, Robin addresses questions including why the bird's name has travelled around the world and why it has a reputation for melancholy." - BBC Wildlife Magazine"Andrew Hadfield’s John Donne: In the shadow of religion is not a biography, but a portrait of Donne through his works and times. It is gorgeously produced, with glossy pages and ample colour images of portraits, manuscripts, maps, monuments and frescoes . . . Its six themed chapters, elegantly and clearly written, will appeal to those immersed in Donne as well as those who know only a handful of lyrics." - TLS"Birds can go wherever they want, muses Boria Sax in Avian Illuminations, his wide-ranging, wistful history of human connections with the bird world, from the first drawings on cave walls to Rachel Carson’s dire warnings. Some birds may beat their wings, some might just prefer to let themselves be carried by the wind. It is almost impossible, writes Mr. Sax, “to imagine this sort of freedom.”" - Wall Street Journal"Asteroids is an insightful read, providing an overview of the field in an engaging format that is testament to both the skill and authority of the author." - BBC Sky at Night Magazine"London-based art historian Langdon has been studying baroque painter Salvator Rosa (1615–73) for almost fifty years and yet maintains a critical distance from her subject, for whom at times she implies a soupçon of distaste. She intends her well-illustrated introduction to the painter, etcher, and poet – a reluctant outsider in Rome, disgruntled and boastful, a thorn in the side of Bernini, and an aspirant to intellectual status along the lines of Poussin – to appeal to an audience that includes beginners. At the same time, because of her deep and thorough engagement with the subject, scholars will not want to ignore this summary with its glinting insights . . . Recommended." - Choice"The story of Simon the goat-lover is just one of hundreds of weird and wonderful anecdotes that rub together in Katherine Harvey’s jaunty study of late-medieval sex . . . Her book is an enjoyable romp, smart as well as funny. It left me fully satisfied, with a big smile on my face." - Dan Jones, Sunday Times"For readers investigating Mars for the first time, the impressive collection of photographs taken by rovers and orbiters will astonish, and may even make you question if what you are seeing is real. If you've ever wondered about life on Mars or what Martian blueberries look like, O'Meara will provide you with the answers . . . Mars will appeal to historians, planetary geologists and anyone with an interest in space and exploration." - BBC Sky at Night Magazine"an unexpectedly rollicking read about our passion for cut flowers . . . a bouquet of a book . . . fun and thought-provoking." - Sydney Morning Herald"Explores the intriguing and multifaceted natural, cultural and social history of the orchid, which makes up around 8 per cent of all the Earth’s flowering species." - Gardens Illustrated"It has been a wonderful reading year for innovative, intelligent and passionate nonfiction. Four books in particular were outstanding . . . [including] Lars Svendsen’s Understanding Animals." - Simon Caterson, The Australian 'Books of the Year'"There have been many Waits-related books, but Harvey's mission to recount and explain the resonance of his 10-year method-style immersion in LA's seedy underbelly is a winner thanks to his detailed research, noir-conscious writing style and fan's perspective on this uniquely complex artist. After meeting lifelong partner Kathleen Brennan changed his life, Waits left the city of his dreams to start his next phase with Swordfishtrombones. Those first wild years come to vivid life in this thorougly worthwhile addition to the Waits library." - Kris Needs, Classic Rock"From today’s perspective, it is not unreasonable to suggest – as Dana Mills does in Rosa Luxemburg, a compact and admiring biography – that she is a potential role model to the woke generation, an icon to the feminist, environmental, equality and anticolonialist rebellions. Luxemburg is alive and well and speaking at a street meeting near you . . . [Mills] sees “the energy, resilience and humanism of Rosa Luxemburg re-emerging as a counter-force” in our times . . . Luxemburg deserves better than past categorizations. She was a unique revolutionary, self-made and self-critical, seductive and humane. You will meet the real Rosa here, and it’s a pleasure." - Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal"[An] excellent, brief chronicle of foie gras . . . Kolpas argues that overfeeding geese mimics what pre-migratory birds do naturally, and our disapproval betrays an ignorance of bird physiology." - The Spectator"Immensely readable, thought-provoking and entertaining, this book is a splendid introduction to the thought-world of the early English." - Carolyne Larrington, BBC History Magazine"As a compendium of leap-off points, Electric Wizards is a mind-riot . . . Heavy music has deserved its own tome but the only thing heavy about his book is its weight – its tone and style are illuminatingly light and wonderfully convivial throughout. Someone get Electric Wizards on the national music curriculum now." - Neil Kulkarni, The Wire"Shortlisted for Best Music Book" - The Penderyn Music Book Prize 2023"[Written] with style and verve . . . Berdan’s Aztecs is more of a general survey, but one based on a lifetime of research and study." - New York Review of Books"Hummus: A Global History is a must-read for anyone interested in food culture. Readers will find Nussbaum’s little book on hummus to be a delicious treasure trove of facts and figures." - New York Journal of Books"Various studies are showing how this pandemic, so disruptive of our usual lives and leaving so many of us locked down, languishing and anxious, has had some peculiar impacts on our perceptions of time. And so with time on our minds it was with pricked-up ears that one listened to ABC Radio National Science Friction interview with brilliant and lyrical biologist Nicholas Money. His new book is Nature Fast Nature Slow: How life works from Fractions of a Second to Billions of Years and this week's column is written under the influence of Money's meditations on the expansiveness and weirdness of time. Strikingly, unforgettably, Money invites us to measure our lifespans in seconds." - Ian Warden, Canberra Times"In this playful (and playfully illustrated) little book, a French anthropologist expounds on his love of cycling. On a bicycle, he asserts, “you become someone else, and yet you are yourself as never before.” . . . Augé grounds his velophilia in nostalgia for the immediate post-World War II years, when the bike was a means of escape from devastated cities and the great champions Bartali and Coppi were performing mythic feats in the Tour de France. Since then, Augé’s argument goes, a crisis in cycling has developed, stemming from the sullying of professional cycling (through doping and corporate sponsorship) and from the way globalization “decenters” cities, prioritizing transit into and out of the megalopolis rather than within it. Yet his description of this crisis is just a prelude to Augé’s imaginings of a utopian future in which cars have been banished from the streets of Paris and bicycles have taken their place. The bicycle, he wants to assert, is a tool for the realization of humanism . . . Seeking portents of such a future, Augé cites Paris’s Vélib’ bike-share program. One might expect the man who coined the idea of “nonplaces” to be wary of bike-shares — alert to the partial inclusivity of such projects or suspicious of the corporate advertising that often finances them — but skepticism isn’t Augé’s project. His argument is fast and incautious; he’s freewheeling and having great fun." - New York Times"The writing is easy to read, knowledgeable without being painfully esoteric. A remarkable Recommended Listening appendix should keep us all busy for at least a decade to come . . . We are merely passengers on this intellectually stimulating and frequently entertaining ride . . . This is a wonderful guide through a still-evolving phenomenon and one that now, more than ever, deserves our attention." - Spectrum Culture"Book of the Month . . . Galaxy is a beautifully illustrated exploration of the Universe beyond the MilkyWay, and the mysteries and wonders of extragalactic astronomy. Geach is ideally placed to be our guide on this journey a researcher in the fast-changing field of galaxy evolution, he displays both breadth and depth of knowledge, happily matched by a talent for engaging, nontechnical prose and an eye for a simile. His work with some of the biggest and most advanced of modern telescopes also provides the vicarious pleasure of some armchair astronomical tourism . . . All in all, the book is an enthralling, detailed and beautiful look at one of the most challenging and exciting areas of modern astronomy, and a great addition to any enthusiasts library." - Sky at Night Magazine"Rosa Abreu-Runkel’s Vanilla is anything but – if that word is taken to mean bland or predictable . . . [she] comes from theDominican Republic and certainly doesn’t shy away from some of the uncomfortable truths associated with the product and its cultivation . . . this is a lovely little book – something to comfort the reader during the cold winter evenings ahead." - Morning Star"A valuable contribution . . . Chaney insightfully highlights the gender biases that have pervaded the discourse from the start: the way self-harmers were caricatured in gendered terms as deceitful and devious; the habit among some researchers of excluding men or older women from sample groups (on grounds of being “atypical”) in order to reinforce the assumption that the typical cutter was a young woman; and the tendency of practitioners to overlook sexual abuse – marginalized under the euphemistic purview of “family troubles” if mentioned at all – as a possible causative factor when considering a patient’s motives for self-harming . . . Chaney’s emphasis on the importance of communities and mutual support groups is especially apposite in the wake of last year’s closures of a number of state-funded Crisis Recovery Unit centres across the UK, in the name of fiscal austerity. The human cost of this penny-pinching will be impossible to quantify; but we can say with some certainty that it will prove a false economy." - TLS"[a] beautifully illustrated history . . . A perfect read for ailurophiles." - The Guardian"Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Non-Fiction 2012" - Award"Next time your pet pooch rolls over to have his tummy tickled, you might pause to consider whether he could really have wolf relatives. This is just one of the debates that Susan McHugh unravels in her enchanting book Dog, which draws on mythology, religion and dog-cults to show how we and our best animal buddies have shaped each other over centuries." - You Magazine"[an] engrossing new book" - Seattle Times"This concise biography of Charles Darwin narrates the major events in the great naturalist's life . . . Archibald focuses on Darwin's strenuous effort as he worked on his evolution book and the influential role Alfred Russel Wallace played in prompting Darwin to publish his ideas on the subject. Archibald also discusses Darwin's health problems, such as heart palpitations, nervous exhaustion, and digestive difficulties without indulging in speculation about possible psychological causes of these afflictions as some authors have done . . . The text is well documented and includes excellent illustrations . . . Highly recommended." - Choice"On the night Russia invaded Ukraine, I was reading a new book, The Worst Military Leaders in History, edited by John M Jennings and Chuck Steele. The monumental failings of leadership described range from the well-known death of General Custer and all his men to the less remembered Athenian leader, Nikias, whose disastrous attempt to capture Syracuse led to the collapse of the entire Athenian empire. Three weeks on, it seems like a second edition might have to include the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoygu, and his top brass." - William Hague, The Times"Occupying a modest middle ground between cookbook and essay collection Rath's writing is light, unhampered by the weight of academia. He interjects personal asides, recalling tastes and experiences that add sparkle to his chronology of sushi. Ultimately, however it's the lesser-known sushi knowledge that singles out Oishii as a must-own for hungry minds and sushi fanatics alike." - Japan Times"Folklore is the study of oral narratives, often called myths, legends, or tales to distinguish them from written historical accounts, assumed to be based on reality. These highly complex narratives include cultural explanations about the origin and development of the world, beliefs, and philosophies. From these texts, folklorists study cultural beliefs, norms, traditions, and behaviors. In the past, practitioners who worked from a literary paradigm, as opposed to anthropologists interested in studying cultures as complex systems, concentrated on identifying and classifying specific motifs and then searching for commonalities and variations within or across geographic regions. In this volume, Leeming takes this taxonomic approach. Designed as an introductory folklore text for a popular audience, this book identifies four character types in creation narratives: the male Great Spirit, the trickster, the goddess, and the hero." - Choice"Originating from the French word for madness – also translating to extravagance or stupidity – defining follies is, according to art historian Celia Fisher, ‘almost as tricky as defining art’. She explores their wonder in this beautifully illustrated and captivating book." - The Daily Mail"Like every Venetian, cultural geographer Veronica della Dora has an intuitive understanding of the symbiosis between architecture and the sea, which is why Where Light in Darkness Lies: The Story of the Lighthouse is infused with a uniquely spiritual fervour . . . perfectly captures the surrealistic impact of these structures on the human heart and imagination." - The Weekend Australian"[Andrews] offers a rich and readable account that draws not only on a wide variety of literature – Austen’s Emma is the source of the “sweet view” of the title – but also on an extensive social and political context, one that encompasses industrialization, urbanization and the agricultural changes that shaped both the landscape itself and ideas about it . . . In a final chapter of this illuminating and beautifully illustrated book, Andrews takes his critical scalpel to the “haunt[s] of ancient Peace” imagined by these and other artists and writers of the period, eruditely anatomizing individual elements of the Victorian ideal. The cottage, the church, the village green, pathways, gates and hedgerows are examined in turn to discover the ways in which each was considered to express ideas of Englishness – a subject as relevant today as it was when these beguiling illusions were created." - TLS"In this engaging and lively study, Charlotte Cooper-Davis sees de Pizan as an "entrepreneur", a widow who turned to writing to support her family and maintain its status following the deaths of her father and husband, and who involved herself not only in the composition but also the production and circulation of her works." - History Today"Among the smallest terrestrial photosynthetic organisms, mosses and lichens play pivotal ecological roles. And yet they are often, if not typically, overlooked. Elizabeth Lawson’s book succeeds in elevating these diminutive creatures by drawing our attention to their charm and importance. Beautifully written and illustrated, Moss and Lichen should be read by anyone who loves nature and appreciates its manifold complexity and splendour." - Karl J. Niklas, Cornell University, author of Plant Evolution: An Introduction to the History of Life"“[In] Peter Dale and Brandon C. Yen’s new book, Versed in Living Nature: Wordsworth’s Trees . . . different trees take turns in complementing the poet at the centre. Here we find not only the living yews of Borrowdale and the birches at Dove Cottage, but also the symbolic Royal Oaks, Liberty Trees and Trees of Corruption that sprang up in the graphic satire of the 1790s . . . Dale and Yen’s previous project, the beautifully illustrated Wordsworth’s Gardens and Flowers, opened the way to this similarly attractive study . . . With the focus now on trees, those gardens are revisited for different reasons, with arboreal planting choices considered aesthetically, imaginatively, practically, politically . . . This book is a mine of information about trees, their origins, the growth of their cultural meanings. It also brings unexpected details into focus, transforming familiar poems into something new . . . Serious thoughts on the politics of tree-planting may be the best legacy of Peter Dale and Brandon C. Yen’s splendid book." - Fiona Stafford, TLS"Cotton’s short but thorough explication of Ashbery’s life and work does a fine job of placing him both as a 20th-century poet and as a leading figure among gay writers. The book is part of a series that includes scores of biographies focused on the writer’s work, including well-known gay writers such as Jean Genet, Allen Ginsberg, Yukio Mishima, Marcel Proust, Susan Sontag, and Tennessee Williams." - Alan Contreras, The Gay and Lesbian Review"Delia Cortese’s book on the origin and history of the Fatimids sheds fresh light on such special aspects as the court life, culture, arts and the role of women and tells the story of the strange regime and sudden disappearance of the enigmatic caliph al-Hakim. A fascinating new view on one of the most dramatic epochs in the history of the Near East." - Heinz Halm, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Tübingen and author of The Shiʿites: A Short History"The story of one of the most influential historians of art and culture of the 20th century reveals a man of many identities – public intellectual, ethnographer, shrewd academic administrator and founder of a library – who still struggled to assert his place in the world." - Financial Times, ‘The Books to Read in 2024’"William Sheehan and Clifford J. Cunningham brilliantly capture the essence of a multifaceted and fast-evolving field. With insights from space probes, observations with ground-based and space telescopes, as well as theoretical work, computer simulations and exoplanet studies, The Solar System offers a vivid, engaging and accessible survey of our current knowledge and views. A stunning tour of our cosmic neighbourhood!" - Paul Gabor, Vice Director of the Vatican Observatory"Illustrations in this book bear out the high quality of Savoldo's painting. For that reason alone, we have cause to be grateful to Fried and his publisher . . . Fried's forthrightness and inquisitiveness are to our benefit. This stimulating book is sure to ignite debate." - The Jackdaw"This book offers a fascinating opportunity to see art and science reflect off each other in a richly illustrated tour of artwork about the ocean, starting at its coastlines and ending at its abysses." - Liz Else, New Scientist: Best Popular Science Books of 2025"Butler's book is a scholarly tour-de-force citing the widest range of thinkers. From St Augustine to Nietzsche, Freud and Foucault. And from the world of literature and the arts come Byron, Shelley, Mann, Blake and Mozart; even Hannibal Lecter gets a mention. Notwithstanding the heavy duty material, the book remains a hellish good read." - Fortean Times"Bucklow offers a deeply humane poetics of the life-cycle and artistic creativity that is enchanting and original. This beautifully written book is an enormously rewarding read for anyone interested in art history." - Ulinka Rublack, FBA, Professor of Early Modern European History, University of Cambridge"Written by the leading Ghirlandaio scholar, Domenico Ghirlandaio: An Elite Artisan and His World presents a fresh interpretation of the renowned painter within the dynamic social and artistic networks of Renaissance Florence. Jean K. Cadogan vividly identifies his contributions to narrative, portraiture, and technique, confirming his importance to Italian art." - Diane Cole Ahl, Arthur J. ’55 and Barbara S. Rothkopf Professor Emerita of Art History at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania"Robert Sholl’s new biography of Messiaen eschews a day-by-day, what-happened-next approach to chronicling the composer’s life. Instead, Sholl takes a more selective approach, focusing on key people, events and influences in the composer’s world . . . Much of Sholl’s succinct, penetrating commentary is immediately accessible to the general reader . . . Read Sholl to drill down further into the music, where he is undoubtedly an authoritative guide." - Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine"Arc of Feelingoffers a global history of the swing. . . [Moscoso’s] oscillation between scholarly learning, editorial intrusion, deadpan revelation and esoteric conclusion creates dramatic, if occasionally overwhelming, results . . . Arc of Feeling can be praised for its ambition and daring, which helps to justify the global scope." - Hunter Dukes, Times Literary Supplement"A heart-warmer for the coming winter . . . [and] we could do worse than choose Ms. Parker's book for a wintry companion." - Tom Shippey, Wall Street Journal"Nubia is the complex subject of art historian Sarah Schellinger's wide-ranging addition to the series Lost Civilisations. She brings Nubia 'out of the shadow of Egypt' and reveals it as an ancient world power, entangled with Egyptian culture as 'frenemies' for three millennia." - Andrew Robinson, Nature"Hill notes that working on Augustine led Arendt to one of her central concepts – love of the world, or amor mundi . . . Arendt’s legacy is not a doctrine or a philosophical system. It is a bracing induction into thinking about the political and facing up to its promises as well as its failures." - New York Review of Books"If you wonder how we got to the point of so many new artist-designer collaborations, Natasha Degen’s recent history is a great place to start. As the professor and chair of art market studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Degen examines fashion and art through a business lens, and suggests that Andy Warhol and the advent of Pop art are what led to contemporary art’s unabashed union with commerce. In the introduction, Merchants of Style traces the rise of couturiers whose genius was likened to that of artists, as well as those in Surrealist circles who collaborated across disciplines. It moves from there to a post-Warhol age in which elite consumption forever changed, and luxury conglomerates are inclined to open their own art museums and foundations." - Art News, ‘One of The Five Most Essential Books About Art and Fashion’"Kirby offers a factual but rip-roaring narrative of press barons, booming circulations and bloody-minded journalists." - Conrad Landin, Times Literary Supplement"Dexter Hoyos captivates the reader not only with a narration of the military achievements of an outstanding general, but with the intricate world of Roman republican politics at a crossroads period of its history. This fascinating history, written with erudition and profound skill, covers such themes as aristocratic faction fighting, dubious family affairs, religious controversies and even corruption." - Toni Ñaco del Hoyo, ICREA Research Professor in Ancient History, University of Girona, Spain, and co-editor of War, Warlords, and Interstate Relations in the Ancient Mediterranean"This deft primer by astrophysicist James Geach captures the elusive electromagnetic wave in five processes. His meditation on ‘old’ light takes us back to the singularity: the ‘cosmic seed’ that expanded into the Big Bang. A study of starlight plunges us into the seething stellar surface. We peruse dark energy, radio waves and quasars — beacon-like galaxies in which supermassive black holes feed off interstellar gas and release vast amounts of energy. A masterclass in elucidating hard science with elegance and brevity." - Nature"the thirteen economists represent what is essential knowing in economics by all cognisant readers, who are stimulated to reflect on what makes for“great economic thinking”. It is evident that, for all their diversities, the authors here celebrated showed a strong tendency to defy disciplinary boundaries – albeit without the imperialistic intent of today’s economics – in observance of the Keynesian rule that a good economist is never only an economist . . . Readers of different kinds will profit from this book and enjoy it. Though it eschews the technicalities of the specialist literature and is a pleasant read, the stories told are never oversimplified, even when complex theoretical constructs are tackled." - European Journal of the History of Economic Thought"By offering [a] new approach to the constructions of identity, to the roles of gender, sexuality and celebrity in the Edo period, Davis here makes a significant contribution to the field in showing us the constructed nature of the spectacle of beauty . . . her publishers have done her proud. Reaktion Books are always beautifully designed and this one, with its full-colour illustrations from all the Utamaro series, its art paper and its elegant binding is one of the best." - The Japan Times"[A] wonderful book. [Porter] says in his introduction that he turned his eye from text to illustration and saw a new story to tell. There are 137 illustrations in this book, 32 in colour, and every one is an exultation in the fleshly horrors of the era." - Tim Radford, The Guardian"Did you know that the otter is J K Rowling’s favourite animal? Or that the earliest evidence of its existence dates back 20 million years? Or that the fur of the sea otter is the densest in the animal kingdom? All these and numerous other intriguing snippets of otter lore are contained within a beautifully presented volume as charming and captivating as its subject matter . . . gorgeous illustrations on nearly every page . . . you will love this one." - Daily Mail"Tom Shippey’s magnificent Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings explores the adventures and mind-set of these heroes and heroines, many of whom were actual historical figures who flourished during the Viking heyday of roughly 750 to 1100 AD. Their exploits were passed down orally and given literary form only as prose narratives in the 13th and 14th centuries . . . Writing for a popular audience has clearly punched up Shippey’s prose, which is lively, friendly and occasionally barbed (mostly when alluding to academic stodginess) . . . Shippey’s magnum opus provides not only an exhilarating, mind-expanding appraisal and retelling of Viking history but also an invitation to discover the cold-iron poetry and prose of the medieval North. Take up that invitation." - Michael Dirda, Washington Post"With a passion for the magic and importance of early childhood drawing and painting, Marilyn JS Goodman successfully demystifies this complex activity, essential to children’s development. Goodman’s wisdom and knowledge offers a concise and refreshing look into the history and meaning of children’s art making, tracking important age-appropriate developments through abundant illustrations and insightful observations. Children Draw is an essential guide for parents and caregivers seeking to support this vital component in their child’s creative learning." - Philip Matsikas, fine arts teacher, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Chicago"[a] radiant art book about the intersection of art and revolution. Organized by region, the book examines the political and visual cultures of communist or formerly communist countries around the world, showcasing their similarities and differences through comparative analysis of their poster art . . . Colorful, provocative imagery fills almost every page, with many posters given full-page spreads. This is both a visual feast and an illuminating global study." - Publishers’ Weekly"There are few things that are as integral to the human experience as time. But how can we understand time itself? Truls Wyller ventures to answer this question by looking at philosophy, science, religion, literature and human psychology. It is clear that time can be defined in spectacularly different ways, from the most rigorous (time as the fourth dimension in Einstein’s general theory of relativity) to the most abstract (time as a literary construct in the retelling of a story). Interestingly, the author uses the concept of ‘now’ to demonstrate the relational nature of time to humans, which, in a very real way, sets human and scientific time apart." - Nature Astronomy"This welcome translation makes Jacques Le Goff’s Heros et merveilles du Moyen Age, originally published in 2005, available to an Anglophone audience. The work of this French historian emphasized the multi-layered nature of history and the importance of social and economic trends alongside political or diplomatic themes. Le Goff’s contributions to the reassessment of medieval civilization continued throughout his life, and his influence has been far-reaching." - Folklore"Anthony Bale’s biographical study of Margery Kempe is among the first volumes in Reaktion’s new Medieval Lives series. Rich in detail about Kempe’s life and times, Bale’s book includes maps and photographs that enable the reader to follow her progress around the medieval world and even through the streets of modern-day King’s Lynn, where a number of later medieval sites can still be seen today . . . Capturing Kempe’s complexity in engaging terms, this book is sure to become a staple for all those interested in the literature and culture of medieval England." - TLS"Irven Resnick and Kenneth Kitchell, who have long toiled on the Albertian corpus, provide a lively, accessible introduction to his life and thought." - Barbara Newman, London Review of Books"When William Viney writes about twins, he knows whereof he speaks. The author is himself a twin and his meticulously researched narrative of superstitions, fantasies and experiments reveals the way in which twins have long fascinated us and played a part in shaping our world." - Geographical Magazine"Life Itself is likely to be the most important book ever published on the history of South African photography. Simon A. Clarke’s text is elucidating and the well-chosen photographs for the book are aesthetic and documentary at the same time." - Roger Ballen, artist/photographer"Part autobiography, part confessional and part bibliotherapy . . . an animating series of conversations with a rich company of authors . . . Hutchinson has deployed his questing, querying, imaginative mind to further his own growth, and in doing so he has given us all a welcome nudge to do likewise." - Literary Review"The Decembrist Revolt of 1825 has come to be overlooked by the subsequent greater upheavals and revolutions that convulsed Russia. Rabow-Edling, a historian of 19th-century Russia who teaches at Uppsala University, has written an accessible reappraisal of the country’s “first revolutionaries”, many of whom were young nobles pushing for a more liberal regime, the harsh repression they suffered, and the lasting impact they had on Russia." - Frederick Studemann, Financial Times: Best Books of 2025"In this book, Ellen Adams has provided a very readable, lively, informative and thought-provoking overview of the Minoans. I highly recommend it to anybody seeking a brief introduction to this great civilization of Bronze Age Crete." - Nicoletta Momigliano, Professor of Aegean Studies, University of Bristol, and co-editor of Hellenomania"I really liked this, the cultural history of wind is a wide-ranging subject that Pryke has managed to condense into this fascinating book. The prose feels authoritative without reading like an academic book. It is really nicely produced with high-quality pictures making it a fine addition to the Earth series of books." - Paul Cheney, Half-Man, Half-Book"The strength of Michael Gehler’s Three Germanies is that it tells the stories of East and West Germany in parallel . . . His description of how the two republics contributed to the division of Germany during the fluid early phase of the cold war that ended with the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 is especially perceptive." - New Statesman"What will the weather be like tomorrow, next week, next year? Will there be another war, famine, global pandemic? Will the stock market rise or fall? In Seeing into the Future, military historian and theorist Martin van Creveld provides an overview of some of the myriad methods humans have devised over the millennia to foretell what is to come, from the ancients’ use of prophecy and astrology to today’s mathematical algorithms. In addition to delving into when, where, why, and how those techniques originated, he discusses such questions as why prediction is so difficult, whether modern humans are any better at making predictions than our ancestors were, and whether knowing the future is a good thing." - Physics Today"In The Idea of Waste, John Scanlan has produced yet another valuable think piece about ‘what waste is and what it has been’. ‘It is about how we have lived with waste,’ he asserts, ‘made use of it as a thing or idea, and dreamt of escaping or conquering its negative effects once and for all.’ As usual, Scanlan offers a lot to chew on in this new book in a field that has seen amazing growth in recent years." - Martin V. Melosi, author of the award-winning Fresh Kills: A History of Consuming and Discarding in New York City"In this non-linear, retrospective study, Duve addresses the postmodernist pronouncement of the end of modernity, using the trope that Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (a porcelain urinal), created in 1917, was a telegram to the art world and that, as a message, it has received a warm reception since the 1960s. Duve complicates the sender-receiver model by rejecting the author-function and tracing the impact of the work so far in the future. Duve challenges the opinion the urinal, which garnered increasing fame after it was submitted unsuccessfully to an open exhibition, meant anything can be art. He notes that the controversy surrounding the readymade brought to the fore contrary notions about the universality and nonuniversality of art. With the latter, one is asked to distinguish between ideas: Anything can be art; anti-art; and art as embodied in the “art-in-general” system, a term which Duve coins for what seems prescient. The rigorous explication of the historical context for the Fountain and its later critical reception prefaces a nuanced discussion of the careers of Bernar Venet, Nahum Tevet, and Marcel Broodthaer – and other artists. Duve is successful in showing that these artists' work achieved effects complementary to those achieved by the Fountain. Recommended." - Choice"[Explores] the wig’s silly, sexy, and serious strains in a collection of fanciful short essays . . . It’s clear that for Amara, the wig is an excuse to ponder, wander, and lose himself to flights of fancy." - Hyperallergic"an insightful guide to the artistry of William Blake. . . Focusing on how political and religious currents affected Blake’s art, Whittaker shows, in particular, how the idealistic hopes raised by the French Revolution among Blake and his contemporaries led him to imagine how his own society could be liberated from oppressive political structures and social strictures . . . Whittaker also exhibits how Blake’s work as an engraver and printmaker illuminated his poetry . . . Whittaker makes a strong case for why Blake remains “one of the greatest poets and artists ever to have lived in the British Isles.”" - Publishers Weekly"This is the Christopher Isherwood biography we have been missing: informative, readable, and concise. Jake Poller covers both Isherwood’s “monumental life” and his considerable work without producing a doorstop. Poller understands and appreciates both the English and the American Isherwood. He provides enough analysis of the major works to inspire readers to go to (or go back to) the source, without overwhelming them or imposing his interpretation on the audience. Poller provides fresh insight without being dogmatic, offering alternate readings of events and works. This is a book Isherwood fans will learn from and enjoy reading." - James J. Berg, editor of Isherwood on Writing"Delightful: a work full of insight, mischief, wisdom and, most pleasing of all, illustrations . . . [The] book traces the path of the turban into Western iconography and is a study of how this most Eastern form of headwear captured the Occidental imagination, coming to feature in art, literature, fashion, festivity and, in the 20th century, Hollywood movies." - Wall Street Journal"Plato: A Civic Life traces Plato’s philosophy back to his biography . . . Atack's vividly human Plato." - Wall Street Journal"German historiography has for a long time made Frederick Barbarossa into a national political figure of power. G. A. Loud releases the image of the Hohenstaufen ruler from this anachronistic portrayal and takes a confident view of the personage of the Emperor, the context of his political actions and his historical significance." - Knut Görich, Emeritus Professor of Early and High Medieval History, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich"What an enthralling voyage this book affords, with its vivid style and sequences of fascinating detail. Richard Thomas has created something unusually readable." - David Frith, founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly"If Roger Daltry's 2018 autobiography was a prosaic foot soldier's telling of the Who story, here is a view from the high plains . . . . The best parts of the book mirror the best of The Who, fizzing with ideas and connections . . . This book vividly reanimates the nasty, transgressive, scene-shaping thrill of their beginnings." - Mail on Sunday"In The Full-Length Mirror, Wu Hung recounts how reflective glass did more than cater to vanity over the millenniums. As the book suggests, there was anxiety over reflections, too, which long predated vampire novels and starlets." - Eve M. Kahn, The New York Times"Hamlett and Strange state that their aim is to chart 200 years of pet-keeping in order to ‘understand how pets became so integral to the British and their homes’. In this richly detailed and enjoyable history, they have achieved their purpose." - Nick Rennison, The Daily Mail"This is the best history yet written of a British institution, alive to the cosmopolitan origins of food through global migration . . . a rewarding read for anyone interested in the history of Britain so good in fact that it made me venture out on a windy night to buy a fish supper at my traditional local chippie." - History Today"Welcoming us into the afterlife of the happy accident, Carol Mavor’s poetic ruminations reveal a cavalcade of surprising connections between a diverse array of images and objects. In the process, Serendipity reflects on the magical power of writing itself, on the capacity of the learned essayist to take us on dizzying flights of fancy and into profound depths of understanding." - Geoffrey Batchen, Professor of History of Art, University of Oxford"Olson deftly sketches a lively portrait of the man, hard at work procuring specimens to depict; sketching birds from life and death; working late into the night by oil lamplight. She gives us his rich inner life as well, as he exults at praise and crashes when critics try to douse his flame. . . . Olson’s refreshing observations on possible influences on Audubon’s art are a special delight." - Wall St Journal"In Mushrooms, one gets an introduction into this fascinating world of fungi and a few highlights of the personalities of those who study them. The text is well organized for readers with little or no biology background, and it is also well written . . . Overall, it is a how-to guide for the beginner studying mushrooms, and presents basic information on the biology and construction of fungi. This is enhanced by good illustrations using both modern photographs and also those derived from classic works . . . Recommended." - Choice"Varriano’s beautifully illustrated and detailed study shows how wine has inspired us in art, literature and religion. It is the perfect drinking companion." - The Guardian"Berridge intends to lead us through the thickets and secrets of the history of the embassy, showing us the impact this institution has had on the world’s history . . . Berridge makes it clear that in many cases attempts to influence other powers were not quite a pastoral project. There were assassinations and violations and rivalries; ambassadors could also test the boundaries of their privilege . . . There is a compelling history to be told of these machinations, and those mining for such detail can find much in Berridge’s account." - Wall Street Journal"Mango-lovers contend that to enjoy this tropical fruit you have to embrace its drippy, sticky essence. The scholars Constance L. Kirker and Mary Newman embrace this perspective in Mango: A Global History, arguing that ‘the total experience of smell, touch, taste and texture is the very point of a mango’ . . . Those looking to enjoy Mango fully might be advised to treat the history like the fruit itself: Sink your teeth in and embrace the mess." - Jennifer Bortner, Wall Street Journal"Cooke elucidates the value of the traditional restaurant menu. More than a list of dishes, it is a medium that can amuse, flatter, educate and tantalize diners, elevating the restaurant experience. Cooke’s copiously illustrated book is filled with color images of menus both ancient and modern, including a bill of fare made up solely of emojis (from a boundary-pushing “immersive dining” restaurant in Bangkok) . . . Tastes and Traditions shows us how menus, unlike the transitory attractions of the QR code, became imbued with human meaning." - Wall Street Journal"Timely, nutty, inspiring, subversive, maddening, secretive – that's the cuckoo in life and in lore. Cynthia Chris's book is as rangy as is the common cuckoo, who travels as much as 15,000 miles in migration each year of their short lives. More commonly known for their habit of laying eggs in another bird's nest then shirking parental duties, cuckoos have spawned a wealth of jokes about cuckoldry in Shakespeare, Joyce, 1950s sci-fi and Musk-on-Zuckerberg insults. But it's not all bad being cuckoo, nor are all cuckoos alike in their nesting habits, and Chris gives a thoughtful nod to all members of the Cuculiformes. However, when a bird inspires not only Aristophanes, but a clock, the two-tone sound of a doorbell, a breakfast cereal, fables in China and Bhutan, Ken Kesey and notes of Vivaldi and Lena Horne's music, it's worth mapping the threads they weave through the cultures they fly through as well as the dangers they face as climate change shifts the world around them. What would spring be without the cuckoo's call? Achingly silent. I'm grateful to Cynthia Chris for her evocative study of fascinating and charismatic bird." - Elizabeth Bradfield, naturalist, author of Toward Antarctica and editor of Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry"Masterful. There is no better guide to what occurs betwixt the sheets of the medieval bedroom than Katherine Harvey. The Fires of Lust – an absolute triumph." - Kate Lister, author of A Curious History of Sex and Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts"Complexities of interpretation are food and drink to Petrarchan scholars, and Christopher Celenza tucks into them with quiet determination in his short life-and-works overview . . . Celenza’s book introduces us to the breadth of Petrarch’s intellectual world." - Charles Nicholl, London Review of Books"Simultaneously hilarious, provocative and sensitive; wildly entertaining while always getting to the heart of the matter . . . Just take my goddamned bitcoin already." - John Doran, The Quietus"As enchanting as it is fascinating: Andreas Viestad has a calm gift for evocative scene-setting, story-telling and, crucially, for making and exploring connections that bring everything illuminatingly to life." - Nigella Lawson"Real history, so much more exciting than any pirate legend." - Dan Snow"In The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living, Katherine Harvey offers a clearly written, lively exposé of medieval ideas about, and practices for, health and wellness that challenge our modern misconceptions of the era. At times serious but often infused with humour, Harvey’s work reminds us that concern for our health, and taking action to protect it, is part of what makes us human, even if our understanding of how the body works has changed over the centuries." - Lori Jones, Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa, and author of Patterns of Plague: Changing Ideas about Plague in England and France, 1348–1750"A book that will upend our view of the past, this time disabusing us of the Medieval reputation of dirt and lack of hygiene . . . Harvey's revisionist history uncovers a time when people strove to live a healthy and balanced life." - Sue Baker, The Bookseller: Health and Diet Spotlight 'Expert Pick'"Moores argues with wit and passion that the sheer breadth of [McCartney’s] work suggests an artist re-energised and reframing the narrative around his career . . . As The McCartney Legacy has raised the bar for solo years–specific reference books, Off the Ground sets a new standard in criticism of the great man’s post-Beatles career, a must-read for serious Beatles fans." - Jamie Atkins, Record Collector"The Tottenham Outrage, the Houndsditch Murders and the Siege of Sidney Street rank among the most extraordinary events in modern London history. In this new and wonderfully readable account, Andrew Whitehead combines unrivalled knowledge with meticulous scholarship to reveal for the first time the full story behind these spectacular but mysterious crimes." - Jerry White, author of London in the Twentieth Century: A City and Its People"This is a sharply critical view of what England’s green and pleasant land has undergone . . . a brilliant environmental kaleidoscope . . . The book’s publication could not be timelier, in a world whose naturalness seems increasingly pressured." - Timothy Mowl, Country Life"Ackroyd’s history of Christianity in England is a lively and detailed book. . . . In The English Soul, Ackroyd sets himself the task of capturing the “spirit and nature” of English Christianity." - Daily Telegraph"A lively and well-informed account of traditional British popular customs, with a novel and valuable pair of twists: showing the close relationship of those customs with subversion and disorder, and following their observance up into the current time. It is thus a revealing commentary on both past and present." - Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol, and author of Pagan Britain"Both quacks and a level of distrust in medical practices from the public have pervaded in medicine since its origins. As medical historian Gilman observes, several governments backed their COVID-19-related decisions with the phrase “following the science.” But “following science” makes more sense – because science is constantly developing. Gilman’s nuanced book, focused on stomachs, eyes and backs, concludes that “the line between the quack and the doc is amorphous but always present." - Nature"Succinct, lucid, never prurient, Kilpatrick’s biography of Maurice Ravel is surely the kind of which the composer himself might have approved. This most private of men presented an elegant and meticulous persona in his music and Kilpatrick has responded with an account of his life that is comparably discerning." - Richard Fairman, Financial Times: Best Books of 2025"Karl Schlögel excels at bringing 20th century history to life through urban space, to which he is a guide with wit, subtlety, humanity and restraint. His skills lie in his assiduous research, scouring through phonebooks, minutes, memoirs and maps, brought to life through a vivid eye for the look and feel of a city's architecture, streets and vistas. Here, Schlögel leaves his usual territory - Soviet and post-Soviet Moscow - to take us on a tour of the cities of Ukraine, revealing the diversity, complexity and importance of a country too often seen through a reductive East/West binary. Here, we have great cosmopolitan cities like Odessa and Kiev, and cities that were once great cosmopolitan cities forced into provinciality by the Holocaust, like Lviv and Chernowitz; the crushing of the diverse histories of Crimea into a shrill Russian nationalism; the stories and streets of Soviet industrial behemoths like Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk; and the outward-looking capital of the Soviet avant-garde of the '20s, Kharkov. All these cities suffered from Russian nationalism, from Stalin's great famine, and from a horrific German occupation, that Schlögel describes with a restrained rage. They have carved out from these terrible experiences distinctive identities and unique spaces, and here they've finally found a sympathetic western interpreter." - Owen Hatherley"A masterful examination of humanity’s millennia-long relationship with the plant, exploring how the world’s growing taste for pot led to the commercial revolution in cannabis edibles we see today. A unique and necessary new contribution to the field." - Emily Dufton, author of Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America"Focused on fifteenth-century Italy, this book boldly reassesses the cliched notion of a unified and cohesive prototype of the Renaissance man. McCall examines this concept through a series of well-selected examples and a refreshingly interdisciplinary method of analysis to understand how different models of masculinity and multiple signifiers of manhood have emerged throughout the Quattrocento. These contributed to consolidating a gendered, elite-based network of social prominence and political control . . . the volume delves into the material culture of the period, verifying the ways in which a wide range of items – paintings, medals, architecture, clothes, jewels, and even animals – have functioned as "markers of manhood," helping to fashion and validate tangible ideals of lordly masculinity. With artfully interwoven arguments, this illustrated book's five chapters address different aspects of this intricate process of symbolic construction, persuasively suggesting that masculine authority was sanctioned not only in opposition to femininity, but also through the articulation of homosocial spaces and courtly venues in which men could compete with and dominate other men in performative displays of power. Recommended." - Choice"Do you pick your holiday destination based on the local food? Discover how the phenomenon evolved over the last 200 years in this thoughtful book. From the golden age of steamships to the glamorous era of aeroplane travel, Professor Daniel E. Bender recounts the birth of modern food tourism through the meals eaten by the first people to travel for pleasure and write about it." - Delicious"Eric Marshall White’s Johannes Gutenberg: A Biography in Books brings us as close to Gutenberg as the evidence allows: stripping away myth and guesswork, this book is invigorating and hard to put down." - Erik Kwakkel, Professor at the University of British Columbia School of Information, and author of Books Before Print"In this elegantly written and illustrated book, Elizabeth Alice Honig explores the discursive nature of Pieter Bruegel’s art . . . the book offers an encyclopaedic investigation of the myriad human conditions Bruegel masterfully captured in his oeuvre and the cultural and social concerns to which they spoke . . . a thorough work of scholarship that argues that Bruegel conceived of his works as pieces to provoke and promote contemplation and discussion – whether that be with oneself or between others – about the idea of human nature . . . An enjoyable read, Honig’s book encourages us not only to reflect on the many conversations that Bruegel’s art could have engendered, but also to use his work to explore our own ways of understanding human nature." - Renaissance and Reformation"In Virginia Chieffo Raguin’s The Illuminated Window . . . rather than present an encyclopaedic look at stained glass through the ages, she focuses on examples from churches to universities and domestic settings, and from Gothic designs, through the Renaissance, to the work of contemporary artists . . . The chapters themselves are as varied as their subjects." - Gemma Tipton, The Irish Times"Bätschmann’s enriching commentary on art, culture, and who it “belongs” to is bolstered by lucid historical detail and analysis. It’s a boon to artists and museumgoers." - Publishers Weekly"The title of Elisa Brilli and Giuliano Milani’s new biography of Dante points back to the Vita nova, but also suggests that their book brings something new . . . In practice this means much political, social and cultural history, juxtaposed with discussions of the roles Dante envisaged for his work and for himself . . . Dante’s New Lives makes it plain that it wants the reader to take an active part in the process of reconstruction, and offers impressive examples of what can be done in this respect. It also tries to reach out to a broad readership by quoting Italian and Latin texts solely in English, while affirming its scholarly credentials with 100 pages of notes and an up-to-date bibliography." - Peter Hainsworth, Times Literary Supplement"This fascinating book explores the medieval process of bookmaking and reproduction that was often arduous, back-breaking, eye-straining work for the scribes and copyists involved. We learn how colours were made and calfskin prepared to create parchment and how these beautiful and enduring objects developed. Illuminating." - Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times 'Best Books of 2024'"Acting is like sculpting in snow. All the more splendid that Peter Ackroyd has written a book which gives so much life to performances long melted away." - Sir Richard Eyre"Way Makers offers a wonderful array of excerpts from prose and poetry spanning 400 years, assembled by Kerri Andrews. Women walk for necessity as well as fun, to see the world, rejoice in nature and experience the awe of new vistas. Overall these pieces conjure an exhilarating sense of the freedom conferred on women by walking, despite the dangers and challenges." - Mary Blanche Ridge, The Tablet"What a difference a half-century can make: The Monkees were one of the most successful pop acts of the 1960s but were viciously maligned as a prefabricated Beatles knockoff created purely to populate a weekly sitcom — all of which was true. But in the process the group made some of the most memorable pop songs of a vibrant era . . . Now, in an era where such qualities are an unequivocal benefit if not a virtue, it’s hard to imagine the extent of puritanism the group faced, but Kemper places it all in refreshingly contemporary and judgment-free context, viewing the group’s history through a clear-eyed artistic angle as well as a business one." - Variety, 'Best Music Books of 2023'"Written with energy, humour and an eye for telling detail, Glenn Richardson’s book tells of a remarkable king who exerted considerable power but is all too often overlooked. Much more than simply a study of a particular monarch, Francis I draws the reader into a world not only of courtly grandeur, artistic patronage and architectural innovation, but political and religious upheaval, constant diplomatic manoeuvring, and military action resulting in moments of triumph or, more often, expensive disappointment." - Janet Dickinson, Departmental Lecturer in Lifelong Learning (History), University of Oxford"Nina Edwards points out that white pulls in every direction, at times modest and virginal, resonant of the convent, at others sumptuous and conspicuous, conveying the ‘pazazz’ of her title. There is a timeless quality to white that puts it beyond fashion . . . Edwards writes with elegance and authority." - Thomas Blaikie, Literary Review"Nina Edwards points out that white pulls in every direction, at times modest and virginal, resonant of the convent, at others sumptuous and conspicuous, conveying the ‘pazazz’ of her title. There is a timeless quality to white that puts it beyond fashion . . . Edwards writes with elegance and authority." - Thomas Blaikie, Literary Review"There are some books that should not have to be written. In our deeply flawed world, though, they are often the ones that are most urgently needed. So it is with Joanna Bourke's new book, Disgrace, exploring the global history of sexual violence. The disgrace is, clearly, not the victims' but belongs to the ideologies, institutions, legal frameworks and power structures that have allowed this type of harm to be inflicted on so many people for so long . . . This book is compelling, engaging and important. Bourke closes her book with some suggestions for ways to create a rape free world. We should heed them." - BBC History magazine"Japan’s national beverage has achieved global renown, but its origins and practices are still shrouded in mystery. For those who want to learn more about sake, there can be no better guide than Eric C. Rath. This authoritative and entertaining book leads us from the drinking games of medieval samurai to the rope curtains of modern izakaya." - Jeffrey M. Pilcher, University of Toronto"On the cover of Alex Coles’ Crooner is a picture of Sammy Davis Jr, eyes closed, mouth half open, microphone in hand, midway through a number . . . When it comes to Sinatra, Coles’ taste is impeccable . . . Crooner [has] the virtue of sending you back to the songs and albums Coles discusses." - Christopher Bray, The Mail on Sunday"Winner - Best Book, Publication or Recording" - Falstaff Awards 2022 (PlayShakespeare.com)"An epic achievement: at once a model of clarity, accuracy and balance and a testament to Jonathan Lee's learning and life-long erudition in Afghan primary sources. Authoritative and remarkably comprehensive, it deserves to become the standard English-language history of Afghanistan." - William Dalrymple"2018 Outstanding Academic Title" - Choice"Cultural geographer Duggan works in partnership with the UK national mapping agency, OrdnanceSurvey, to study everyday digital-mapping practices. Important as it is, digital mapping is not supersedinganalogue maps, he observes in his global history of cartography, which begins with Palaeolithic carvings.Sales of Ordnance Survey paper maps are rising, perhaps because of their convenience. “Although digitalmaps are improving constantly in accuracy and design, they do not always live up to those promises.”" - Nature Magazine"Incisive and humane, Sarah Colvin’s engrossing study of the German prison system since 1945 allows the voices of prisoners to illuminate the differences between penal practice in West and East before 1989 and developments since reunification. The book both offers a unique perspective on modern German history and raises questions of wider relevance concerning punishments and incarceration." - Joachim Whaley, Emeritus Professor of German History and Thought, University of Cambridge"Pearl is a book that takes you on a journey of discovery, amazement and reflection, with the lustrous pearl as your guide . . . a must-have book for pearl and jewellery lovers . . . that looks at pearls, not only as a precious gem, but as a historical and cultural icon that has shaped world events . . . Shen’s crisp and succinct writing has a lyricism that makes you want to mark certain passages and read them again and again . . . Additionally, the book features beautiful illustrations that bring alive the text. If you plan to read just one jewellery book this year, let it be Pearl." - Reema Farooqui, The Culture of Pearls"An epic achievement: at once a model of clarity, accuracy and balance and a testament to Jonathan Lee's learning and life-long erudition in Afghan primary sources. Authoritative and remarkably comprehensive, it deserves to become the standard English-language history of Afghanistan." - William Dalrymple"William Doyle’s study is at once succinct and scholarly, and it is as much about the effects of the Revolution as about the measures taken by the Consulate. It analyses a short but critical period when Napoleon deployed his considerable strategic skills to destroy a different enemy, the division and discord that he had inherited from the republic." - Times Literary Supplement"[In] her scintillating book, Voices of Thunder . . . Baker’s talent (apparent throughout this book) for presenting apparently arcane—maybe even outlandish-seeming—beliefs with sympathy, seriousness and clarity becomes most emphatically apparent . . . The history of radical religious women has occupied something of a niche position. As a counter to this relative neglect, and with a combination of extraordinary lucidity and precision, Baker puts these women into the spotlight, powerfully demonstrating their importance." - Professor Elspeth Graham, Literature & Theology"A fine new book . . . it shows how the ubiquity of the surburban garden has had to be achieved in the face of planning opposition and how gardening managed to grow into an obsession for millions of people." - Laurie Taylor, BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed"A concise but never superficial account of the fascinating world of ancient Assyria. Beautifully illustrated, accessible and lively, this is a great introduction to an empire that left a lasting impact on the history of the Middle East and the cultural memory of the West." - Eckart Frahm, Professor of Assyriology, Yale University, and author of Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire"[A] fascinating study . . . In Cloven Country, Harte sets out to discover why the 'Devil' appears in so many of our place names, and so many of the accompanying tales and folklore. Along the way it becomes an invaluable guide to some of our more puzzling local oddities . . . It all makes for a highly evocative and original guide to our ever-fascinating, multilayered landscape, so full of shadowy mysteries and stories." - The Sunday Times"A beautifully definitive account, both a history and an essential social document of the UK's punk and post-punk fanzine scene." - Mike Scott, The Waterboys"This book is arresting from the very first page. A distillation of fifty years of research on Scottish Jacobitism, Conflict and Loyalty is full of insights into the impact of Jacobitism on Scotland and – just as importantly – the wider world, to say nothing of glorious vignettes illustrating Allan I. Macinnes’s argument. The net result is a mortal blow to any vision of Scots Jacobitism and Scots patriotism (yes, the two were inextricably intertwined) that fails to understand its global ramifications." - Daniel Szechi, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History, University of Manchester"A spirited chronicle of the Roaring Twenties in New York City . . . A combination of immigration, energy, speculation and an effective system of backhanders meant that now, after the dreary years of the war and the Spanish flu, almost anything could get done. Strike Up the Band tells the story of those years, roaming over the city then dropping down to the streets, through the doors of hotels, nightclubs, shady restaurants and civil institutions to examine, in chapters themed by activity, all the novelties of the day. The buildings were new and so were the drinks, the dances, the entertainments and the people, as millions of Jewish, Irish and European immigrants, in addition to black Americans coming from southern states, fled the limitations of their birthplaces to make lives where you could at least hope for better." - Daily Telegraph"This is an outstanding, sharply observed biography written by one of the UK’s foremost specialists in the history of medieval France and its queens. A tour de force combining profound critical analysis with engaging writing, this is the best biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine to date." - Elisabeth van Houts, Honorary Professor of Medieval European History, University of Cambridge"Bringing together meticulously researched material from the media of the time the book covers the rise and demise of Marc Bolan, the culture shock of The Stooges and the all-pervading influence of The Velvet Underground and Bowie among an abundance of other inter-related artists . . . The unpredictability of success is underlined whilst future punks stand ready, absorbing their influences, in this fascinating and thoughtful look at a turbulent period in popular music." - Shindig!"The storied French writers Charles Baudelaire and Gustave Flaubert join artists including Manet, Degas, Géricault, Daubigny, and Corot as subjects in this collection of musings about "the relationship between painting and the beholder" by art historian Michael Fried, previously the author of many influential texts ranging from his classic essay "Art and Objecthood" to his pioneering book on Diderot's art criticism." - Art in America"Boria Sax argues that monsters help us by giving concrete form to our fears, while wonders incarnate our hopes. Enlisting cultural support, whether from Hieronymus Bosch or PT Barnum, this teacher at Sing Sing prison shows how mermaids and dragons, even superheroes and Tamagochis, help us measure what it means to be human. A well illustrated and philosophically sophisticated book." - World of Interiors"Although this is clearly a work of history rather than film commentary, Bartlett offers a fair amount of informed criticism where these films inevitably fall factually short . . . His knowledge of the Middle Ages is beyond reproach. He focuses on one film at a time, though deftly interlacing and comparing them when it reinforces his point. An intriguing and detailed discussion." - Library Journal"Fittingly unconventional . . . Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure is an atlas in prose, a guide to the territories of varied sorts – social, racial, aesthetic, economic and even geographic – that Coleman came out of, traveled through, lived near, occupied, left behind or transformed . . . Golia covers a lot of territory in tight, direct language that illuminates Ornette Coleman’s life and work . . . Most impressively, perhaps, she devotes a sizable section to Coleman’s cryptic and elliptical philosophy of music, which he called Harmolodics, without straining to defend it with academic triple-talk or dismissing it." - David Hajdu, New York Times Book Review"Here we meet Hans Memling and his art fully within the world that made them: the affluent, highly cosmopolitan Bruges of the later fifteenth century. Mitzi Kirkland-Ives has written a vivid, deeply informed account of the strategies, striving and acumen – of artist and patrons alike – that enabled an immigrant painter to build a sterling career serving eager clients from across Europe." - Alfred Acres, Wright Family Term Professor of Art History, Georgetown University, and author of Jan van Eyck within His Art"[John Dixon Hunt] has . . . produced a miscellany of thoughtful reflections called Genius Loci. We are . . . offered a potpourri of essays. Among the book’s successes are treatments of the High Line in New York and the reimagining of dead industrial spaces in the architecture of Peter and Anneliese Latz." - Jonathan Bate, Times Literary Supplement"In an astonishing statement Dylan Thomas declared “So many modern poets take the living flesh as their object, and, by their clever dissection, turn it into a carcass. I prefer to take the dead flesh, and . . . build up a living flesh from it.” This describes exactly the achievement of Thomas’s revivalist biographers: they have conjured away the dead heritage body and the caricature of Thomas’s life and poetry as coagulated emissions, quickening both life and poems to track actively their intelligent and nervous response to their environments, social, intellectual and literary. This book is the latest stage in Thomas’s restoration as a serious writer, whose work is shown newly as vital in our time." - John Wilkinson, Emeritus Professor, Department of English, University of Chicago"[A] fascinating meander through the rich woodlands of literature and visual art. Sax shows that forest tales reveal how we imagine time . . . [and] highlights the contradictory nature of mythic forests: places of both Edenic innocence and terrifying chaos." - David Haskell, Scientific American"The questions of where [Covid] came from, and just who is responsible for all this devastation and loss, have assumed outsize importance. This is perhaps why blame has become central to many discussions, with all the problems that brings. People want to know whose fault Covid-19 is. Professors Zhou Xun and Sander Gilman explore this territory in their book 'I Know Who Caused Covid-19’: Pandemics and Xenophobia. The authors examine the experiences of, and attitudes towards, a number of groups that have found themselves in the spotlight at various points: Chinese people, ultra-Orthodox Jews, black and brown people and, finally, Donald Trump-supporting white Americans." - 'Book of the Day', The Guardian". . . scholarly and readable, a crisp and concise addition to the long line of Chaucer biographies . . . Mary Flannery's book is a brisk, elegant work that will serve as a great introduction for students and general readers alike." - Mary Wellesley, Times Literary Supplement"This is a refreshing contribution to the literature on St. Francis of Assisi. Michael F. Cusato brings Francis and his friends to life in an account relying both closely and realistically on the surviving early evidence . . . This attractive telling of his life brings Francis’s companions into the foreground alongside him, and the use of quotation helps to bring the sources into close-up view. The very readable account is also well illustrated, mainly in colour, adding visual sources to the verbal ones." - Dr. G. R. Evans, Church Times"Max Saunders probably knows more about his subject than anyone . . . A model for what a short biography can be: well-paced, sure-footed at the task of navigating the writer’s vast corpus to concentrate on high points." - William H. Pritchard, Wall Street Journal"Judging by the satirical cartoons Georgian England was one never-ending sexual playground . . . This fascinating book . . . reveals another, darker, side to this erotic Eden." - Mail on Sunday"Steven Kaplan’s The Ethiopians is a masterly display of the historian’s art of truth. Respectful of the vivid legendary history of Ethiopia, he shows how state of the art modern research has further added to our knowledge of a remarkably resilient and diverse medieval polity in the Horn of Africa." - Peter Brown, Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History Emeritus, Princeton University"Wide-ranging, richly detailed and deeply thoughtful, this is also a very readable and enjoyable book. Downes doesn’t just relate the familiar stories, he questions them and asks what we should make today of the idea that Mahler’s music tells the story of his life." - Julian Johnson, author of Mahler’s Voices"a fascinating history of vaccination and its troubles" - Times Higher Education"Medhurst offers a comprehensive look at submarine culture from multiple perspectives . . . In sum, anyone with even the mildest interest in submarines will find Medhurst’s Sub Culture a worthwhile read." - Naval War College Review"Whether we want to share our dwelling spaces with animals or whether – as in the case of rats, mice, spiders, mosquitos and the rest – we do not, we have to acknowledge that we are never alone in our homes. Dobraszczyk’s thoughtful book looks at this network of relationships and how we might learn from the way in which other species build and inhabit space." - Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times 'Best Books of 2023'"Belasco plumbs publicity material, photographs, correspondence, and reviews to dive deeply into each show and its art-world reverberations. Belasco’s presentation is academic but accessible, and his scholarship is rewardingly thorough . . . He pays close attention to the frequent exclusion of the art of women of color from these shows . . . and points to Black, Asian, Native, and Latina artists of the time." - Library Journal"What is undoubtedly valuable about the book is the way that it carefully arranges, in a beautifully printed hardback, a selection of concrete poetry’s keystones. The first half of Perloff’s selection triangulates Brazil, Austria and Scotland through the work of three key figures: Augusto de Campos, Gerhard Rühm and Ian Hamilton Finlay. For the anglophone reader, she glosses the foreign words involved, prising apart the heavy punning that sparked the concrete imagination." - Jeremy Noel-Tod , TLS"Games People Played is the culmination of a life spent working on the history of sports, and it ranges far and wide . . . Vamplew is as informative and comprehensive as one could want . . . An outstanding guide to [sport's] role in history." - David Papineau, Wall Street Journal"On the night Russia invaded Ukraine, I was reading a new book, The Worst Military Leaders in History, edited by John M Jennings and Chuck Steele. The monumental failings of leadership described range from the well-known death of General Custer and all his men to the less remembered Athenian leader, Nikias, whose disastrous attempt to capture Syracuse led to the collapse of the entire Athenian empire. Three weeks on, it seems like a second edition might have to include the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoygu, and his top brass." - William Hague, The Times"In this wonderfully poetic journey through the Anglo-Saxon year, Eleanor Parker offers a profound meditation on time and the world, nature and its seasons. Plunging the reader into the glorious cadences of Old English poetry with her supple translations, Parker brings to vivid life the terrors of winter, spring’s promise, the joyful warmth of summer and the melancholy of autumn, powerfully connecting us with a rich and vital past that we have not quite lost." - Carolyne Larrington, Professor of Medieval European Literature, University of Oxford"Immensely readable, thought-provoking and entertaining, this book is a splendid introduction to the thought-world of the early English." - Carolyne Larrington, BBC History Magazine"The story telling is exemplary, and complex concepts are explained simply and without fuss. The combination of factual detail and entertaining cultural references works well for me. Dan Torre takes you from Ed Wood to Pokémon, from surrealistic art to synergistic relationships between bats and plants, all without missing a beat. This is one of those books that takes an already fascinating topic – animal-eating plants – and makes it even more exciting, more weird and endlessly fascinating." - Tim Entwisle, Director and Chief Executive, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Australia"An attractive little hardbound book with good color illustrations providing an inviting, judicious overview of Bosch in his historical environment." - New York Review of Books"Mary D. Garrard’s return to the great Artemisia Gentileschi is uniquely rich in knowledge and reflection. It is not only an authoritative study of the historical Artemisia and the ways – whether openly brutal, subtly injurious or beneficial – in which her art and life were affected by her sex. It also places her in the “transhistorical community of women” that Garrard brings to life. The book is moreover a heartfelt appeal to writers and readers of art history to account for their own attitudes and experiences. And with all that, it is a pleasure to read." - Gary Schwartz, art historian"Andreas Viestad has written a fascinating, thought-provoking and funny book about the importance of food in history. He zips seamlessly between the smells and flavors of a meal in a restaurant in Rome and the long lines of history." - Alice Waters"This is a splendid little book, which brings the Etruscans up to date and does much to strip away the mystery that surrounds this lost civilization." - Current World Archaeology"Harte – a curator at Bourne Hall Museum in Surrey – has an encyclopedic knowledge of the diverse sources of England’s traditional tales and proves himself to be an authoritative guide . . . From the demon who appears as a fearsome figure hurling stones, gouging out valleys and heaping up hills, or as a sinister black-clad huntsman with his fiery-eyed hounds howling across Bodmin Moor, to ideas about how a woman’s wit is better than a man’s when it comes to besting the lord of darkness, Harte takes his reader on a devilishly entertaining tour of England and its richly storied landscape." - The Guardian"Culture Preview 2026: The best non-fiction to read this year" - New Statesman"In the Service of the Shogun . . . is an exhaustively researched work based on a wide collection of primary sources, including letters written by Adams, as well as official journals, diaries and documents – among them Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. Students of Japanese history and culture owe Mr. Cryns a debt of gratitude for this impressive achievement." - Robert Whiting, Wall Street Journal"At last, a simple, reader-friendly book on the cause-effect relationship between the CRIMES of the UPPER classes (documented in court and prison records, history books, the lives lost via law, scaffolds, transportation, et al) and the ‘crimes’ of the ‘lower’ classes (as documented in folk songs and ballads). The savagery of our toxic system of governance, the endless, pitiless theft of the property and rights of the public are kept in the public memory in the only unassailable form: the oral tradition. A trustworthy, authoritative, edifying and highly enjoyable read. Put it into school curricula." - Peggy Seeger, songwriter, performer and activist, author of 'First Time Ever'"Stanfield’s takes are entertaining, erudite without being abstruse, and often amusingly contrarian. They have the feel of an academic version of Quentin Tarantino riffing on the hidden themes of his favorite obscure movies, pausing from time to time to sample from critical opinion and toss in some behind-the-scenes gossip . . . Stanfield is splendid in his exegeses." - Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal"What separates English actors from their rivals? Peter Ackroyd’s starstruck history celebrates a thousand years of strutting thesps. In this admiring tome, the English actor, incarnated by [Laurence] Olivier, was and remains a breed apart. He belongs to “a tradition that has lasted more than a thousand years”; and, by fairly strong implication, he is quite superior to his cousins abroad. Across 26 chapters [Ackroyd] gives a running history of English theatre from the medieval mysteries to the present day." - Tim Smith-Laing, The Daily Telegraph"All the volumes [in the Botanical series] combine scholarship with lively anecdote and are beautifully and generously illustrated . . . who would have thought conifers could be so interesting? Laura Mason’s Pine starts with a solid and enlightening description of the botanical structure, evolution and habitat of the Pinus genus. It then goes on to show how the pine and its derivatives from timber to Stockholm Tar have been used throughout history, how the tree has been depicted in art, its place in mythology, and its culinary uses (not limited to pinenuts) . . . Part of the appeal of these books is the unexpected facts and stories they throw up." - The Spectator"This thoughtfully written book examines the plant’s botanical and cultural significance: why it has long been revered as the iconic flower of midwinter and how it is deeply entwined with art, literature and music . . . This is an absorbing book for winter fireside reading." - House and Garden"A savvy, succinct overview. Silver relates larger issues in politics and religion to specific works by Rembrandt. He is not afraid to go out on a limb, making his text all the more interesting. His sensitive descriptions of art works add depth to his account." - Gary Schwartz, art historian"Winner of the Felicia A. Holton Book Award 2020" - Archaeological Institute of America"This clear, up-to-date introduction by Iron Age Near-Eastern scholar Jigoulov aims to intrigue nonspecialists . . . Highly recommended." - Choice"This is a remarkable and searching account of the meaning of attention. Gay Watson looks deeply into the practices of artists, writers and musicians and reveals the correspondences with spiritual disciplines. This is a provocative book in replacing attention at the heart of what we should care about." - Edmund de Waal"an invaluable resource for even the most laissez-faire of fans." - Seven Magazine, Sunday Telegraph"Real history, so much more exciting than any pirate legend." - Dan Snow"this is a smooth and enjoyable traverse of significant shipwrecks, and draws out interesting comparisons between eras by taking on so many in one volume. In the course of a readable and well-illustrated re-telling of some of the best shipwreck stories, it also touches on questions as disparate as who should escape a sinking ship first and whether it is ever right to bring up artefacts from a shipwreck which is a grave site." - Naval Review"Readers for Life, edited by Sander L. Gilman and Heta Pyrhöhnen, is a superb and dazzling collection of unusual and insightful memoirs concerning the value of reading by notable writers such as Salman Rushdie, Peter Brooks, Cristina Sandu and others. At a time when illiteracy is mounting throughout the world, this book urgently recalls how reading still opens the minds of young people to deal with the conflicts they face, not with guns but with imagination. What a joy to read how these writers have profited from reading!" - Jack Zipes, author of Speaking Out"Debenedetti presents in compact format a capsule survey of Botticelli’s entire career, from his first paintings in the 1460s to the intense and highly inventive late works of the 1490s and early 1500s . . . The study covers the shop’s practices in depth, including the use of drawings, replication of motifs and compositions, and collaboration between members of the shop on individual paintings. Contemporaneous Florentine philosophical debates are brought into play in the treatment of the artist’s famous series of mythological paintings." - Choice"The book’s perspective on bamboo is very wide-ranging, from its botany to its uses, history and cultural associations . . . What comes across is how widespread bamboo is and I am glad to see much discussion about the New World bamboos. Particularly exciting is the discussion of the vast range of contemporary technical uses we may know about bamboo socks, but there is much more, with many new applications linked to sustainability . . . Bamboo is the latest in a series exploring plant groups in a rounded way, concentrating on human interaction with each plant. The production values are high and the books are set to become a collector’s series." - Gardens Illustrated"What is a weed? Now I’ve read this charming little book, I feel confident that I could have a solid debate about this with the best of them. Who’d have thought the topic of weeds could be so interesting and thought-provoking? Even non-gardeners would enjoy this book, as weeds are presented as part of everyday life, from cookery to medicine to art . . . This is an unexpectedly great read, which leaves you with the thought – What would the world be without weeds?" - The English Garden"In this beguiling and splendidly illustrated volume, Screech brings to the page an array of fascinating narrative insights that not only tell the story of the shogun’s capital but also set it in the broader context of Japanese cultural history, with its extensive ties to the Chinese world, and even beyond, to Europe." - Dr Paul Waley, University of Leeds, co-editor of Japanese Capitals in Historical Perspective: Place, Power and Memory in Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo"In his hallmark lucid style, Warwick Ball sets out a magisterial sweep of the cultures that thrived across Afghanistan. He provides a fascinating exposition of how Buddhism and then Islam emerged and merged as a continuum in Afghanistan’s cultural evolution across the centuries." - Diana Darke, author of Islamesque: The Forgotten Craftsmen Who Built Europe’s Medieval Monuments and The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy"Larry Silver’s Old Age in Art is a beautiful, richly illustrated meditation on ageing. Spanning classical antiquity to the present day, Silver picks out European paintings and sculpture that range from the melancholic to the comedic. Weaving this selection together, he tells a story that is both familiar and challenging to our own approach to growing old today. Highly recommended." - Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies, University of Bristol"How well do we look after people who are seriously sick? Astonishingly, research is scant – which makes Neil Vickers and Derek Bolton's ambitious new book very welcome . . . Being Ill stands out not only for its original perspective but for the non-judgemental tone of its authors." - Elle Hunt, New Scientist"The thought of parasites usually evokes a powerful reaction of repugnance. Yet Hall puts a positive spin on this group of biological freeloaders that comprises more than half of all species of life on Earth. Acknowledging that many parasites are pathogens (causing disease in humans, wildlife, plants, and crops), he points out that numerous others function as collaborators or benefactors to their hosts in relationships known as mutualism." - Booklist"Work has done a fine job directing the spotlight toward an object that seems to beg for inattention. Although much diminished from their peak a century ago, coopers are today thriving again with American bourbon makers clamoring for new casks. (Federal regulations require that anything labeled bourbon be aged in new oak casks). The number of craft spirits producers has also surged in the past decade, and barrels are suddenly in short supply. Among vintners, high-quality barrels also remain in high demand, although makers of cheaper wines have embraced workarounds, including the use of oak chips and short planks placed in stainless steel tanks. Work offers a breezy tour through all this and more. When you reach the end of this book, I can pretty much guarantee you wont think of barrels the same way again. Next time you pass a geranium planter made from an old whiskey barrel cleaved in two, take a moment to pause and pay your respects. This was the container that built America." - Wall Street Journal"This book is by far the best biography of Van Leeuwenhoek to date. It is thoroughly documented, very well written (at times very funny), and [strikes] the right balance between academic discourse and the common-sense approach so cherished by Van Leeuwenhoek . . . A must-read for anyone interested in Van Leeuwenhoek and, more generally, the cultural world of the Dutch seventeenth century." - Eric Jorink, Professor at Leiden University and co-editor of Newton and the Netherlands"“Is there an obligation to hope?” asks Lars Svendsen in his latest book, A Philosophy of Hope. His measured answer is yes, because it’s a condition for living a life that’s genuinely worth living. In this warm and compelling argument, Svendsen, a “renegade pessimist”, offers us an optimistic but cautious understanding of this emotional state. He persuades me that hope is more than just a comfort. Hope fires the imagination and, if you can’t imagine something, you won’t be able to act on it. A Philosophy of Hope convincingly explains how hope offers us the capacity for both imagination and for action. It’s a powerful antidote for a wildly pessimistic era such as ours." - Peter Toohey, Professor of Classics, University of Calgary, and author of Hold On: The Life, Science, and Art of Waiting"In his new thematic overview of ancient Greek culture, the classicist Furley notes that his subjects never "thought of writing just for themselves, as a meditation or perhaps a kind of self-expression or therapy." Since so many scholars today write only for themselves, Myths, Muses and Mortals comes as a double delight: free of academic jargon, to be sure, but also underpinned by frequent and ample citations from major poems, plays, philosophical tracts, and other writings of the ancient Greek world. Divided into chapters on love, social status, sailing, warfare, and more, the volume is an ideal primer for the fledgling Hellenophile." - New Criterion"A fresh, wide-ranging, and accessible account of one of the most fascinating and under-studied aspects of Greco-Roman religion, drawing on both literary and material evidence. Richly illustrated and thoroughly up to date, this engaging study offers readers a compelling glimpse beyond the well-known aspects of official Greek and Roman religion, revealing a more personal dimension of how the ancient Greeks and Romans encountered the supernatural." - Julia Kindt, Professor of Ancient History, The University of Sydney, and author of The Trojan Horse and Other Stories"A riveting account of the group’s ascent and fall." - Joshua Hammer, New York Review of Books"In his thoughtful study of the polarisation in the United States that led to the attack on Congress, Short offers a damning account of the impulse for Trump’s alleged incitement of insurrection." - The Independent"An articulate and convincing case that the segregation of women’s sports functions less as a benefit to women than a means of propping up patriarchal systems. It’s a trenchant, provocative take on a hot-button issue." - Publishers Weekly"A forceful and concise statement on the artist’s innovations . . . offers daring interpretations on almost every page . . . underlines both Thomas’s skill as a historian and Caravaggio’s towering genius." - Popmatters"The go-to biography going forward . . . Stephens’ achievement is outstanding. All students of Stoicism, or of Roman imperial history, and the readers, by now in their hundreds of thousands, who find the life and work of Marcus Aurelius to be an inspiration, are very much in his debt." - Stoicism Today"An impressive, compendious book with a great deal to offer the architecture lover and the plant lover alike, including much that will surprise." - Literary Review"Much of the book dwells not on Cellini’s artwork but the provocative details of his life - his fetishes, insecurities, absurdities . . . a raucous account, and it’s in keeping with Cellini’s style. His handiwork is typically Mannerist - it takes realistic anatomical proportions and stretches them, exaggerating them into something exquisite and otherworldly." - Luke Lyman, Wall Street Journal"Many of the legends assembled in Ghosts, Trolls and the Hidden People blend the otherworldly with the everyday . . . Dagrún provides helpful context for these charming stories, which deserve a readership far beyond those murky Icelandic farms." - Pablo Scheffer, TLS"Death is existential, instrumental and emotional. In revealing the stories of ceremonies and practicalities from near and far, across space and time, the Viestads offer us an account that’s deadly serious as well as driven by a curiosity about rituals and feelings. A beautifully written, highly informative and surprisingly entertaining book." - Thomas Hylland Eriksen, anthropologist and author of What is Anthropology? and Overheating: An Anthropology of Accelerated Change"The twentieth century and after has seen more than its share of tyrants who have shattered and remade worlds, but here’s the daddy of them all. Pithy, engagingly written and full of sharp insights, Stephen Harrison’s book sees Alexander in the light of modern wars, conquests and genocides. Harrison tells a tale of terrifying violence and war, a psychodrama of massacres, plots and betrayals, driven by visions, dreams and oracles. The Great Man school of history is well and truly dead and buried here: in its place is a despot for our time. Harrison steers deftly through the ruler cult, the paranoia and conspiracies, searching for the real Alexander under the centuries of adulation in western historiography. An Alexander for our time." - Michael Wood, broadcaster and author of In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great"The scope of this book is very wide-ranging, including chapters on ancient observations of Jupiter, the origin and structure of the planet, features in its atmosphere, its satellites and the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts. It also features results from spacecraft – including some initial results from the current Juno mission . . . well written and easy to follow. It is also well illustrated, with numerous colour and blackand-white illustrations. There are a number of spacecraft images, plus amateur images and drawings . . . I enjoyed reading the book and it provides a good overview of the Jovian system for a general reader." - Journal of the British Astronomical Association"Engrossing . . . It takes a book such as Simon’s, vividly written and richly illustrated to give us some inkling of what Emily Dickinson felt when she wrote "Friday I tasted life. It was a vast morsel. A Circus passed the house still I feel the red in my mind."" - John Carey, Sunday Times"Simply the most wide-ranging and up-to-date exploration of the impact of Pan on the Western imagination yet written." - Ronald Hutton, author of The Triumph of the Moon"This book is a real treasure trove of information about why the British yew is so important to nature, as well as socially, politically and culturally. Hageneder divulges the latest scientific discoveries about this fascinating and longest-lived of our country's trees some individuals are estimated to be over 3,000 years old and discusses its regenerative powers." - BBC Wildlife Magazine"I loved Baker's previous book, Fabulosa!. Now he has written this engaging history of Section 28, the act that forbade local authorities from teaching "the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretend family relationship". Interweaving elements of memoir, it charts how the press fanned the flames around the act, and how protestors fought to bring about the repeal of the law in the 2000s." - The Bookseller"Scholars of Cahun will appreciate Shaw’s survey as a well-organized and well-researched biographical resource, as well as a compendium of Cahun’s extensive oeuvre. Exist Otherwise is a valuable contribution to the scant body of English-language scholarship on Cahun, one that hopefully opens the door to further excavations and analyses toward an “otherwise” history in the face of more dominant accounts of the era." - Erin Silver, CAA Reviews"The Return of Inflation distinguishes itself by placing contemporary events within the broader context of capitalism’s history. Mattick skillfully entwines the past and the present, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the economic forces at play . . . Mattick’s insightful exploration provides a nuanced perspective on the current economic challenges and offers a valuable resource for those seeking clarity on the defining economic concern of our time." - Politics Today"Jeremy Harte’s Travellers Through Time focuses on Romanies in England . . . Harte has spent many years in close conversation with Romani families, in the position of both participant observer and, more importantly, old friend. As such, he is an excellent guide to the history of Britain’s Gypsies. His knowledge of the Anglo-Romani language and its connection to both continental and older British forms of Romani is sound." - Damian Le Bas, Literary Review"The artistic and expressive value of fan practices has been increasingly analysed, and Cosplay and the Dressing of Identity is a highly relevant contribution to this growing field of fandom and media studies. This book offers a compelling account about fan costuming and what this hobby offers fans in terms of identity. Vivian Asimos looks at cosplay as an art form, showing a deep understanding and appreciation for using characters and bodies as a medium for self-expression, and gains deeper insights into the practice through her qualitative research and dialogue with other fans. This is a book about how we each use bodies, fashion and characters to tell our own, unique stories in today’s media culture." - Nicolle Lamerichs, Senior Lecturer in Creative Business, HU University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, cosplay scholar and author of Productive Fandom"Thomas’s encyclopedic culinary history reveals a history and archeology of meaning that stretches back millennia, well before tofu became the imagined domain of eco-warriors and hippie co-ops . . . Far from leaving me sated, the enticing descriptions of tofu, chilled, stewed, fermented, fried, and made into everything from ice cream to mozzarella shreds, launched me on a tofu-eating bender that has yet to subside. Tofu skeptics, consider yourselves warned." - Petits Propos Culinaires"With Becket martyred, then canonized, and chosen as a subject by at least thirteen contemporary biographers, Henry never was rid of that turbulent priest. Michael Staunton has made a latter-day entry into the veritable library of Saint Thomas of Canterbury biographies with his Thomas Becket and His World." - New Criterion"In Plunder? How Museums Got Their Treasures, the historian Justin M. Jacobs sets out to upend this view . . . The strength of Mr. Jacobs’s [polemic] is to remind us that the origins of great museum collections cannot be reduced to any one story." - Hugh Eakin, Wall Street Journal"Daniel Schreiber's beautifully written Alone: Reflections on Solitary Living." - Jonathan Self, Country Life: Best Books of 2023"The Persians is a compact, concise history of a whole civilisation – from its nomadic origins in the 1st and 2nd millennia BC to its new role as a tourist destination as modern-day Iran . . . Tellingly, the book’s useful chronology ends in 2001 with the destruction of the Twin Towers. Today, Iran’s power and influence is far from waning" - Minerva Magazine"David Ellis has put a lifetime’s thinking into this concise work. Artfully combining details of Lawrence’s biography with acute comments on his writings, it will prove essential reading both for students and for all those already familiar with Lawrence’s work." - John Worthen, Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham, and author of D. H. Lawrence: The Life of an Outsider"[A] rummage through the knicker drawer of history . . . loaded with memorable details and thought-provoking observations." - Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times"Nicholas Nicastro offers a lively biography of Archimedes . . . Driven by a desire both to make Archimedes an exception in ancient science and to link him to the modern era, Nicastro celebrates this “epochal figure” for his “historical precognition” and “stunning stroke[s] of insight”." - Alice König, Times Literary Supplement"Depicting old age in all its complexity and diversity, this compassionate and engaging book offers both historical insights and lessons for the present." - Katherine Harvey, Church Times"Michael Seth traces the life of North Korea's famous leader from the Japanese colonial period to his final days. This concise and highly readable volume avoids excessive moralizing while helping readers to understand how Kim Il Sung gained and retained power. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Kim Dynasty and how North Korea became the totalitarian state that it is today." - Gregg A Brazinsky, Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University"An expert on Surrealism and the author of biographies of Proust, Woolf and James, Caws is renowned as a lively and insightful writer on art and literature. This collection brings together a selection of her articles on figures from Marcel Duchamp to Mina Loy." - Apollo"Jaś Elsner’s Amarāvatī: Art and Buddhism in Ancient India marks a revolutionary approach to “visual Buddhology” that triangulates a hermeneutics of iconic objects with texts and practice traditions. In doing so, it breaks down disciplinary barriers, restores the Indian cultural element in Indian Buddhist studies and revises arguments about the rise of Mahayana in early India." - Deven M. Patel, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Text to Tradition: The Naiṣadhīyacarita and Literary Community in South Asia"Philip Carr-Gomm has an idea: Stop reading and take off your clothes" - Chronicle of Higher Education