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American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress
By Wesley Lowery. 2021
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn NPR Best Book of the Year • Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the YearLonglisted for the…
2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence“American Whitelash is indispensable. Really. It is.” – Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an AntiracistPulitzer Prize–winning journalist Wesley Lowery confronts the sickness at the heart of American society: the cyclical pattern of violence that has marred every moment of racial progress in this country, and whose bloodshed began anew following Obama’s 2008 election.In 2008, Barack Obama’s historic victory was heralded as a turning point for the country. And so it would be—just not in the way that most Americans hoped. The election of the nation’s first Black president fanned long-burning embers of white supremacy, igniting a new and frightening phase in a historical American cycle of racial progress and white backlash.In American Whitelash, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and best-selling author Wesley Lowery charts the return of this blood-stained trend, showing how the forces of white power retaliated against Obama’s victory—and both profited from, and helped to propel, the rise of Donald Trump. Interweaving deep historical analysis with gripping firsthand reporting on both victims and perpetrators of violence, Lowery uncovers how this vicious cycle is carrying us into ever more perilous territory, how the federal government has failed to intervene, and how we still might find a route of escape.The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
By Bettany Hughes. 2024
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning historian and broadcaster comes an immersive, awe-inspiring tour of the ancient sites that kindle our imagination…
and afford us a glimpse into our shared history&“This fascinating book is brimming with stories of people and places, all told with Bettany&’s natural sense of wonder and adventure.&” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestselling author of The WorldFor millennia, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World have been known for their aesthetic sublimity, ingenious engineering, and sheer, audacious magnitude: The Great Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse at Alexandria. Echoing down time, each of these persists in our imagination as an emblem of the glory of antiquity, but beneath the familiar images is a surprising, revelatory history. Guiding us through it is historian Bettany Hughes, who has traveled to each of the sites to uncover the latest archaeological discoveries and bring these monuments and the distinct cultures that built them back to breathtaking life. Spellbinding, richly illustrated, and full of insight, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a journey into the indomitable ambition and creativity of the human spirit.Beauty and Monstrosity in Art and Culture (Routledge Research in Art History)
By Chara Kokkiou, Angeliki Malakasioti. 2024
This edited volume takes a new look at an old question: what is the relationship between beauty and monstrosity? How…
has the notion of beauty transformed through the years and how does it coincide with monstrous ontologies? Contributors offer an interdisciplinary approach to how these two concepts are interlinked and emphasize the ways the beautiful and the monstrous pervade human experience.The two notions are explored through the axis of human transformation, focusing on body, identity, and gender, while questioning both how humans transform their body and space as well as how humans themselves are gradually transformed in different contexts. The pandemic, gender crisis, moral crisis, sociocultural instability, and environmental issues have redefined beauty and the relationship we have with it. Exploring these concepts through the lens of human transformation can yield valuable insights into what it means to be human in a world of constant change.The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, archaeology, philosophy, architecture, and cultural studies.Dolia: The Containers That Made Rome an Empire of Wine
By Caroline Cheung. 2024
The story of the Roman Empire’s enormous wine industry told through the remarkable ceramic storage and shipping containers that made…
it possibleThe average resident of ancient Rome drank two-hundred-and-fifty liters of wine a year, almost a bottle a day, and the total annual volume of wine consumed in the imperial capital would have overflowed the Pantheon. But Rome was too densely developed and populated to produce its own food, let alone wine. How were the Romans able to get so much wine? The key was the dolium—the ancient world’s largest type of ceramic wine and food storage and shipping container, some of which could hold as much as two-thousand liters. In Dolia, classicist and archaeologist Caroline Cheung tells the story of these vessels—from their emergence and evolution to their major impact on trade and their eventual disappearance.Drawing on new archaeological discoveries and unpublished material, Dolia uncovers the industrial and technological developments, the wide variety of workers and skills, and the investments behind the Roman wine trade. As the trade expanded, potters developed new techniques to build large, standardized dolia for bulk fermentation, storage, and shipment. Dolia not only determined the quantity of wine produced but also influenced its quality, becoming the backbone of the trade. As dolia swept across the Mediterranean and brought wine from the far reaches of the empire to the capital’s doorstep, these vessels also drove economic growth—from rural vineyards and ceramic workshops to the wine shops of Rome.Placing these unique containers at the center of the story, Dolia is a groundbreaking account of the Roman Empire’s Mediterranean-wide wine industry.The unsung and remarkable stories of the women who held London's East End together during not one, but two world…
wars. 'Inspiring tales of courage in the face of hardship' Mail on Sunday'Inspiring . . . Takes you back to a time of community and helping one another' 5***** Reader Review'It made me laugh and gasp in equal measure' 5***** Reader Review______ Meet Minksy, Gladys, Beatty, Joan and Girl Walker . . . While the men were at war, these women ruled the streets of the East End. Struggling against poverty to survive, and fighting for their community in our country's darkest hours. But there was also joy to be found. Across the East End the streets were alive - you need only walk a few steps for a smile from a neighbour or a strong cup of tea. From taking over the London Underground, standing up to the Kray twins and crawling out of bombsites, The Stepney Doorstep Society tells the vivid and moving stories of the matriarchs who remain the backbone of the East End to this day. ______ 'Kate Thompson's study of five working-class women who lived through the blitz shows how informal collectives can provide lasting support and inspiration . . . [a] fascinating account' Guardian 'An important glimpse into a vanishing world' Sunday Express'One of the best books I have read in recent years' 5***** Reader Review 'Crammed full of fascinating stories' BBC 2 Steve Wright'Fascinating . . . It was fascinating to hear how these women kept going' 5***** Reader Review 'Astonishing' Radio 5 LiveThe Step Child: A true story of a broken childhood
By Donna Ford, Linda Watson-Brown. 2006
The true story of Donna Ford, who between the ages of five and eleven was abused by her stepmother Helen.…
Labelled 'the bastard', the 'little witch' and 'the evil one'; beaten, isolated and afraid to even look at her own reflection, this beautiful little child was told she was lucky to be the victim of abuse - abuse which began as physical and mental, but progressed to the most appalling sexual attacks. Despite an horrendous early life, Donna is now a successful artist and mother of three with an enormous enthusiasm and an optimism which completely belies her experiences.In 2003, Donna watched as her stepmother was found guilty of 'procuring a minor' for sexual abuse and sentenced to two years in prison. Beautifully written and savagely honest, The Step Child is Donna's story. It is an inspiring tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.Someone To Watch Over Me: The True Tale of a Survivor Haunted by the Demons of Abuse
By Izzy Hammond, Robert Potter. 2007
'It is my dearest hope that this book will allow me to reach out to others in pain and give…
them hope, for they too can choose to be a survivor.'Izzy Hammond's deaf and partially blind parents attracted sympathy from the outside world, but no one knew of the horrific abuse their daughter was subjected to inside the family home.In Someone To Watch Over Me, Izzy is now able to reveal how the vicious childhood abuse she suffered, first at the hands of her father and then by subsequent predators, cast a shadow over three generations of her family and led to a violent assault upon Izzy by her eldest daughter. Finally able to break the cycle, she has at last reclaimed a life free from the demons that have haunted her for so long.The Social Distance Between Us: How Remote Politics Wrecked Britain
By Darren McGarvey. 2022
*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK**SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION**LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE*'An Orwell…
for today's poor' - The Times'The standout, authentic voice of a generation' Herald'McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say' Nick Cohen, GuardianWhy are the rich getting richer while the poor only get poorer? How is it possible that in a wealthy, civilised democracy cruelty and inequality are perpetuated by our own public services? And how come, if all the best people are in all the top jobs, Britain is such an unmitigated bin fire?Join Darren McGarvey on a journey through a divided Britain in search of answers. Here, our latter-day Orwell exposes the true scale of Britain's social ills and reveals why our current political class, those tasked with bringing solutions, are so distanced from our lived experience that they are the last people you'd want fighting your corner.Praise for Darren McGarvey:'Utterly compelling' Ian Rankin, New Statesman'Brilliant' Russell Brand'An absolutely fascinating individual' Owen Jones'Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right... articulate and emotional' Financial TimesSnakes with Wings and Gold-digging Ants
By Herodotus. 2007
So much of what we know of the Ancient World comes from Herodotus (c.490 BC - c.420 BC) that he…
will always remain the greatest of historians. But in addition such a large part of the entertainment value of the Ancient World comes from his enormous, omnivorous, sometimes credulous appetite for stories of distant lands and strange creatures.Great Journeys allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries – but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: Great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.Shoes Were For Sunday
By Molly Weir. 1970
'Poverty is a very exacting teacher and I had been taught well'The post-war urban jungle of the Glasgow tenements was…
the setting for Molly Weir's childhood. From sharing a pull-out bed in her mother's tiny kitchen to running in terror from the fever van, it was an upbringing that was cemented in hardship. Hunger, cold and sickness was an everyday reality and complaining was not an option. Despite the crippling poverty, there was a vivacity to the tenements that kept spirits high. Whether Molly was brushing the hair of her wizened neighbour Mrs MacKay, running to Jimmy's chip shop for a ha'penny of crimps or dancing at the annual fair, there wasn't a moment to spare for self-pity. Molly never let it get her down as she and the other urchins knew how to make do with nothing.And at the centre of her world was her fearsome but loving Grannie, whose tough, independent spirit taught Molly to rise above her pitiful surroundings and achieve her dreams.Who's Afraid of Gender?
By Judith Butler. 2024
Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures, the "anti-gender ideology movement" has sought to nullify reproductive justice, undermine protections against…
sexual and gender violence, and strip trans and queer people of their right to pursue a life without fear of violence. Here, Judith Butler, the groundbreaking thinker whose iconic Gender Trouble redefined how we understand gender and sexuality, confronts the attacks on "gender" that have become central to right-wing movements today. Who's Afraid of Gender? examines how "gender" has become a phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes, fascist formations, and trans-exclusionary feminists. In this vital, courageous book, Butler illuminates the concrete ways in which this phantasm of gender collects and displaces anxieties and fears of destruction, resulting in a movement that demonizes struggles for equality, fuels aggressive nationalism, and leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation. An essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment, Who's Afraid of Gender? is a bold call to refuse the alliance with authoritarian movements and to make a broad coalition with all those who fight against injustice. Imagining new possibilities for freedom and solidarity, Butler offers us a hopeful work of social and political analysis that is both timely and timeless—a book whose verve and rigor only they could deliver.Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur's Journey through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse
By Denise Chong. 2024
From the bestselling author of The Concubine’s Children and The Girl in the Picture, a gripping story of a domestic…
assault that shocked the world, of the exercise of power and political influence, and of the Bangladeshi woman whose irrepressible spirit found light in sudden darkness.From the outside, Rumana seemed an unlikely victim of domestic abuse: married to a man of her own choosing and progressing in her career as a professor of international relations at Dhaka University. But in 2011, on return from graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, her husband attacked and blinded her in front of their young daughter. As Rumana's horrifying story garnered international headlines, and connections brought her to Vancouver in an attempt—ultimately futile—to restore her sight, her plight underscored the fact that there are no typical victims of intimate-partner violence. Denise Chong goes behind the headlines to reveal the devolution of a love story into a tale of tyranny behind closed doors, and the pursuit of justice that proved all the more elusive during the rise of social media. Out of Darkness tells a globe-spanning narrative of loyalty, perseverance and a woman’s determination to face the future and rebuild a life with meaning.After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations (Turning Points in Ancient History #12)
By Eric H. Cline. 2024
In this gripping sequel to his bestselling 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the story of what happened after the Bronze…
Age collapsed—why some civilizations endured, why some gave way to new ones, and why some disappeared forever&“A landmark book: lucid, deep, and insightful. . . . You cannot understand human civilization and self-organization without studying what happened on, before, and after 1177 B.C.&”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author of The Black SwanAt the end of the acclaimed history 1177 B.C., many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean lay in ruins, undone by invasion, revolt, natural disasters, famine, and the demise of international trade. An interconnected world that had boasted major empires and societies, relative peace, robust commerce, and monumental architecture was lost and the so-called First Dark Age had begun. Now, in After 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the compelling story of what happened next, over four centuries, across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean world. It is a story of resilience, transformation, and success, as well as failures, in an age of chaos and reconfiguration.After 1177 B.C. tells how the collapse of powerful Late Bronze Age civilizations created new circumstances to which people and societies had to adapt. Those that failed to adjust disappeared from the world stage, while others transformed themselves, resulting in a new world order that included Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, Neo-Hittites, Neo-Assyrians, and Neo-Babylonians. Taking the story up to the resurgence of Greece marked by the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., the book also describes how world-changing innovations such as the use of iron and the alphabet emerged amid the chaos.Filled with lessons for today's world about why some societies survive massive shocks while others do not, After 1177 B.C. reveals why this period, far from being the First Dark Age, was a new age with new inventions and new opportunities.The Serial Killers: A Study in the Psychology of Violence
By Colin Wilson, Donald Seaman. 2007
As the number of serial killers worldwide has risen steadily - from the emergence of Jack the Ripper in 1888…
to Harold Shipman and Ivan Milat, the backpacker killer of the Australian outback - the need to understand mass murder is becoming more urgent. Using privileged access to the world's first National Centre for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman bring you this incisive study of the psychology of serial killers and the motives behind their crimes. From childhood traumas to issues of frustration, fear and fantasy, discover what turns an ordinary human being into a compulsive killer.Selected Political Speeches
By Cicero. 1973
Amid the corruption and power struggles of the collapse of the Roman Republic, Cicero (106-43BC) produced some of the most…
stirring and eloquent speeches in history. A statesman and lawyer, he was one of the only outsiders to penetrate the aristocratic circles that controlled the Roman state, and became renowned for his speaking to the Assembly, Senate and courtrooms. Whether fighting corruption, quashing the Catiline conspiracy, defending the poet Archias or railing against Mark Antony in the Philippics - the magnificent arguments in defence of liberty which led to his banishment and death - Cicero's speeches are oratory masterpieces, vividly evocative of the cut and thrust of Roman political life.Selected Letters
By Cicero. 2005
The greatest orator in Roman history, Marcus Tullius Cicero remained one of the republic's chief supporters throughout his life, guided…
by profound political beliefs that illuminated his correspondence with both close friends and powerful aristocrats. A chronicle of a crumbling civilization during the era when the republic disintegrated and was replaced by despotism, his Letters portray a world dominated by characters who have since acquired almost mythic status - including Pompey, Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony. Whether describing the vagaries of war, the collapse of Roman society, his beloved republic, or his own personal domestic dramas, all compellingly reflect the complex personality of an honourable and selfless man whose refusal to compromise ultimately cost him his life.The Secret History
By Procopius. 1966
A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius was the Empire's official chronicler, and his History of the Wars of…
Justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor's reign. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different - and dangerous - history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave. The Secret History portrays the 'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress and whore, and the brilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife Antonina. Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated, The Secret History is a work of explosive energy, depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.Secret Evil
By Zara Gill. 2012
'If you say anything to your mother, I'll tell her it was your brother. And then he'll be locked away…
in prison forever because of you.' Zara's stepfather, Hassan, mercilessly bullied her brother and sister. But at just seven years old Zara knew she could never tell anyone about what Hassan was doing to her.For the next nine years, she kept the terrible secret, until eventually she found the courage to fight back. But was she too late to save the people she loved?Secret Evil is the moving and inspirational true story of a little girl who tried to protect her family against the evil that pervaded their lives.Scars that Run Deep: Sometimes the Nightmares Don't End
By Patrick Touher. 2008
Leaving his abusive Irish boarding school after eight long years, Patrick Touher thought his troubles were over. But the adult…
world was a dangerous place for a naïve adolescent. From the Dublin Catholic boys' home to arriving alone in London, again Patrick is seen as easy prey. Yet Patrick's strength, honesty and sense of humour never left him. The boy they couldn't break fought back and eventually found love and a family. But the shadow of his early years was always with him. With the encouragement of his wife - a constant witness to his traumatic nightmares - Patrick set about taking the Christian Brother to task.The eagerly awaited sequel to bestseller Fear of the Collar that doesn't disappoint, Scars that Run Deep is a deeply moving and ultimately triumphant true story.Say Nothing: The Harrowing Truth About Auntie's Children
By Josephine Duthie. 2012
Say Nothing is the moving true story of four neglected siblings who were taken into care following the breakdown of…
their parents' marriage. Sent to a small croft in the north-east of Scotland, they endured an onslaught of physical and mental abuse at the hands of an elderly, inexperienced foster mother. For ten years the children's cries for help were ignored and misunderstood in the naive social-work climate of the late 1950s, and this heartbreaking personal account of cruelty and neglect reveals the effect this maltreatment had on their ability to adjust to a normal adult life.Say Nothing was written as a voice of support for all abused children who are afraid or were never given the chance to tell their story.