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      • Trusted Partner
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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2021

        Photographic subjects

        Monarchy and visual culture in colonial Indonesia

        by Susie Protschky

        Winner of the ASAA mid-career book prize in Asian Studies 2020 and joint winner of the 2020 Royal Studies Journal Book Prize Photographic subjects examines photography at royal celebrations during the reign of Queens Wilhelmina (1898-1948) and Juliana (1948-80), a period spanning the zenith and fall of Dutch rule in Indonesia. It is the first monograph in English on the Dutch monarchy and the Netherlands' modern empire in the age of mass and amateur photography. Photographs forged imperial networks, negotiated relations of recognition and subjecthood between Indonesians and Dutch authorities, and informed cultural modes of citizenship at a time of accelerated colonial expansion and major social change in the East Indies/Indonesia. This book advances methods in the uses of photographs for social and cultural history and provides a new interpretation of Queens Wilhelmina and Juliana as imperial monarchs.

      • Trusted Partner
        Historical fiction
        2021

        Roksolana. Union with the Jagiellonians: a historical novel: book. 1

        by Oleksandra Shutko

        The novel covers the events in the life of the Ukrainian Roksolana (Hürrem Sultan) - the wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, which took place in 1540-1551, when she was at the zenith of glory and power. This woman had a significant influence on the policy of the Ottoman Empire. She mediated the Sultan's man to establish good neighborly relations with the Polish Jagiellonian dynasty, Queen Isabella of Hungary, her mother Bona Sforza, and her brother, King Sigismund II of Poland. The novel is based on Roksolana's love and diplomatic correspondence, archival documents, reports of European ambassadors in Istanbul, Ottoman chroniclers, and information from thorough investigations by Turkish, Polish, Ukrainian, German, Italian, and American historians. In the novel, not only the events and characters are real, but even their dialogues, which history has preserved to this day.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2010

        Representing the King's Splendour

        Communication and reception of symbolic forms of power in Viceregal Naples

        by Gabriel Guarino, Joseph Bergin, Penny Roberts, Bill Naphy

        Compensating for a general neglect of Iberian civilization in Southern Italy, this book seeks to shed light on the viceregal court of Spanish Naples in the seventeenth century, a time when this European metropolis reached the zenith of its splendour. It looks at the cultural projection of Spain and its values, either via the direct visual representations of power of the viceregal court, or the public policies and actions that fostered Spanish attitudes. It explores cultural and social manifestations as court ceremonial, state festivities, and fashion. Each of these issues also takes into account the social and political structure of the city, and the various pressure groups that interacted with the Spanish government. Aimed at students and scholars of early modern Europe, the Spanish Empire, and the princely courts of Europe, this study will also be of interest to scholars of communication and cultural studies, and to readers interested in cultural history during the Baroque era. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2018

        The Victorian soldier in Africa

        by Edward Spiers, Andrew Thompson, John M. MacKenzie

        The Victorian soldier in Africa re-examines the campaign experience of British soldiers in Africa during the period, 1874-1902 - the zenith of the Victorian imperial expansion - and does so from the perspective of the regimental soldier. The book utilises an unprecedented number of letters and diaries, written by regimental officers and other ranks, to allow soldiers to speak for themselves about their experience of colonial warfare. The sources demonstrate the adaptability of the British army in fighting in different climates, over demanding terrain and against a diverse array of enemies. They also uncover soldiers' responses to army reforms of the era as well as the response to the introduction of new technologies of war. Moreover, the book provides commentary on soldiers' views of commanding officers and politicians alongside assessment of war correspondents, colonial auxiliaries and African natives in their roles as bearers, allies and enemies. This book reveals new insights on imperial and racial attitudes within the army, on relations between soldiers and the media and the production of information and knowledge from frontline to homefront. It will make fascinating reading for students, academics and enthusiasts in imperial history, Victorian studies, military history and colonial warfare.

      • February 2020

        Nadir and Zenith in the World of Escher

        by Wouter van Reek

        Nadir and Zenith enter a new world where nothing is what it seems. High and low, inside and outside, big and small... Can they believe their eyes? Who is looking at whom? And who is the creator of this adventure-filled universe? Just when they think they have found the way out, they see the room where they came from... Graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) became world famous for his weird and wonderful pictures. He occupied a special place somewhere between art and science. Although he claimed not to know anything about mathematics, he used mathematical ideas to create his own world. He took this to the extreme with the lithograph Print Gallery. It’s so cleverly composed that you don’t know if you’re looking at it or inside it... Wouter van Reek has cleverly incorporated this concept in the intriguing picture book Nadir and Zenith in the World of Escher.

      • April 2019

        Live Without Plastic

        by Patricia Reina Toresano & Fernando Gómez Soria

        Look around you. You must be surrounded by plastic. This material is omnipresent in our life because it has many advantages: it’s moldable, resistant, and cheap. So resistant that it will take years to biodegrade and so cheap that we manufacture objects with it meant to be used only one time. This has made plastic spread to all corners of the planet. In this book, Patri y Fer of vivirsinplastico.com retrace the history of this material and the dangers that its unlimited consumption represent for the environment. Through their own story, with lots of humor thrown in, they outline creative ways to get rid of plastic and live a fuller life. It seems impossible, but it isn’t. The first step is agreeing to try. What do you say?

      • Lifestyle, Sport & Leisure
        November 2017

        Idiotized

        by Moderna de pueblo

        Moderna de pueblo grew up hearing phrases like “that’s not ladylike,” “she’s a nasty one,” and “your wedding day will be the happiest day of your life.” But when she moves to the city and meets Sluterella, Snow Fat, and the Brittle Mermaid, she wakes up from her “idiotization” and sets off on the long road to unlearning all the things she should never have been taught. She feels that all the things she saw in movies about little princesses, all the advice she received from her parents, grandparents, and friends to turn her into “a proper girl in the eyes of God” have poisoned her, and she realizes how much time she’s lost trying to please men and looking for the love of her life. So when she finally does find him, she’s afraid she’ll lose everything for him and will go back to being lulled by her “idiotization,” just like the sleeping beauty. If love is the opiate of women, will she have to detox from this drug and leave her relationship behind to become the woman of her dreams?

      • Fiction

        The Merchant of Bullshit

        by J.D.B.

        A rotting gene has infiltrated mankind’s cognitive process at an advanced level and turned it into gibberish.  Moreover, the Dronzyme, an integral part of the Detox Unorthodox advocated by major forces in the Consultancy Sector, actively stimulates the production of this gene via a benign mucous in the larynx. Soon, under the auspices of the Catallus Group, a new language and functionality possesses the mindset, and no one is considered immune. The Capital itself becomes a repository for degenerate ideas and concepts, whose terror becomes flesh with the birth of a quasi-physical oaf. Herein is the awful truth of the Schnimp, and the Corporate Giants now forced to obey its commands... in a unprecedented wave of NONSENSE. The explanation: The Merchant of Bullshit is a satire on the City of London, and its all-pervading, meaningless jargon, part of the global war against intelligence, as documented by someone who worked nights for over 15 years immersed in it. The author: (location unknown) lives in a shed in Myrddin’s Precinct where he communes with drunken spirits and entities, and launches vitriolic assaults against the Satanic Inertias of the Capital, soon to be revisited in The Gnat.  A series of endless night-shifts in the Ancient City of London drives him to the terrifying conclusion that its entire existence is a Hoax – a bankrupt Government, media and economy imprisoned in a Tower of Babble.  But can a man certified as insane – twice – complete his mission to rescue the intellectual heritage of his Nation?  Who knows.  For now, he sleeps amid the empty quarts and flasks, waiting to spring forth from his chrysalis...

      • July 2021

        The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream

        The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer

        by Dean Jobb

        “When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals, he has the nerve and he has the knowledge,” Sherlock Holmes observed. At the time the words of the fictional detective appeared in The Strand Magazine, a real-life Canadian doctor was murdering women in London’s downtrodden Lambeth neighbourhood. Dr. Thomas Cream had been a suspect in two deaths in Canada, and killed four people in Chicago before arriving in London in 1891 and using pills laced with strychnine to kill prostitutes. The "Lambeth Poisoner" became one of the most prolific serial killers in history.   Dean Jobb reveals how bungled investigations, corrupt officials, and failed prosecutions allowed Cream to evade detection and kill again. Alongside an inside account of Scotland Yard’s desperate search for a brazen killer, Jobb explores how the morality and hypocrisy of the Victorian era enabled Cream to poison the vulnerable and desperate women who had turned tohim for help.

      • Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2023

        PERISCOPING WAR AND PEACE ON THE DIPLOMATIC CHESS BOARD

        by Korieocha Emmanuel Uwaozuruonye

        This compendium strives to confront the teething problems faced by students of international politics in respect of the complex issues of war and peace. This exercise is a deliberate attempt designed to unravel the tremor and illusion associated with the subject matter, to the benefit of the student. The target readerships of this book are students of history, international and diplomatic studies, political science, military science, strategic studies and sociology.

      • Literary Fiction
        June 2020

        Pureland

        by Zarrar Said

        An assassin, accused of heinous acts of terror, begins his testimony by claiming responsibility for the murder of the Nobel Prize winning physicist, Salim Agha. To explain his motive, he begins by telling Salim’s story and the tragic relationship he had with his beloved nation, Pureland. Full of fascinating mysticism, Salim’s life commences with a prophecy from a levitating saint: he was destined for greatness from the start. But he is born into poverty in a feudal village and the prophecy begins to fade, but his life takes a turn when his landlord, General Khan, sees something special in the boy and promises to enroll him in a prestigious school in the city. Salim’s journey is never an easy one as he is hindered by conniving servants, General Khan’s evil mother, and his internal struggle with identity. He also falls in love with Khan’s daughter, Laila, who becomes his muse as well as his curse. A beloved so powerful that he vows to do anything to win her heart. She becomes the embodiment of everything he is destined to achieve. But everything starts to crumble. In an accidental act to impress his landlord, Salim inadvertently contributes to a coup d’état that derails his nation. He manages to leave for New York in order to stand on equal footing with his landlord and win over his beloved. But over the years in exile, Pureland is taken over by the Caliphate and remorse leads Salim to try and undo this wrong – and in doing so he creates vicious enemies who vie to slay him. One such enemy is the narrator himself. Inspired by the true tragic story of Pakistan’s only Nobel Prize winning physicist, Zarrar Said’s novel Pureland is a tour-de-force debut about a nation that has lost its way, its people who suffer from unspeakable tyranny, and a remorseful hero whose legacy has been wiped out by hatred.

      • Humanities & Social Sciences

        The Ukrainian Icon

        by Liudmila Miliayeva

        Icon painting, the ultimate expression of Othodox Christian art, reachedrits zenith in the Ukraine between the 11th and 18th centuries.This book spans the entire period, showing the developpement of the style.The Ukrainian icon is a surprising synthesis of the traditions of eastern Byzantine art and the stylistic characteristics of Russian icon-painting.The introduction of this book explains the stages of developpement of icon-painting over five centuries in the Ukraine’s major Centers of art - Kiev, Chernigov, Transcarpathia, Galicia, and Volhynia - and discusses the life and work of the masters of icon-painting.Despite the strict stylistic considerations imposed by the genre, Ukrainian icons display a striking range and variety of background and context. The author has been awarded the Ukrainian Medal of Arts, the Order of Princess Olga.

      • The Story of Greece and Rome

        by Anthony Spawforth

        The extraordinary story of the intermingled civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome, spanning more than six millennia from the late Bronze Age to the seventh century The magnificent civilization created by the ancient Greeks and Romans is the greatest legacy of the classical world. However, narratives about the “civilized” Greek and Roman empires resisting the barbarians at the gate are far from accurate. Tony Spawforth, an esteemed scholar, author, and media contributor, follows the thread of civilization through more than six millennia of history. His story reveals that Greek and Roman civilization, to varying degrees, was supremely and surprisingly receptive to external influences, particularly from the East. From the rise of the Mycenaean world of the sixteenth century B.C., Spawforth traces a path through the ancient Aegean to the zenith of the Hellenic state and the rise of the Roman empire, the coming of Christianity and the consequences of the first caliphate. Deeply informed, provocative, and entirely fresh, this is the first and only accessible work that tells the extraordinary story of the classical world in its entirety.

      • Fiction
        February 2020

        The Church

        by Avgust Demšar

        The Church is a typical whodunnit crime novel. The crimes once again take place in native Slovenian surroundings, mostly in the fictitious village of Vodnjaki, where it seems that a special type of evil resides. The tenth, jubilee novel by Demšar is more extensive, the story is more complex and the side stories are even more surprising. The author lures us into a whirlwind of events and holds the reader in suspense even when he delves into the relationships between his mainstay characters known from his previous novels and their characterisation. The rising action that triggers further events is the murder of a high-level church dignitary. Even before the criminal investigators can get down to work, new murders and crimes are reported. In addition to the main storyline, Demšar touches on many different current social issues. This intensely suspenseful read full of intellectual challenges leads the reader on a path to solving an exceptionally complex case.

      • Fiction
        August 2012

        Off Balance

        by Roy Chadwick

        Roy Chadwick has been a writer and analyst of aspects of society for most of his working life. He has edited internal marketing publications and written newsletters and books, for among others, industrial and commercial energy buyers and landlords.He has run a multiracial youth club in Paddington and a community centre on a Labour housing estate in a Conservative constituency. He has travelled extensively in the USA, the Caribbean, North Africa and Asia. He has volunteered for the CAB and worked on behalf of asylum seekers and other disadvantaged people in Salford. He has tried to keep vocal jazz alive as an unsuccessful promoter. He has coauthored a children’s book on the history of tunnels with a civil engineer. He is a Sociology B.Sc. from LSE.In the 1970s and 1980s he was involved in the creation and consolidation of the financial services sector, a scenario that helped him understand better than most, the process of energy and utility privatization in the 1990s and the relationship between markets and government.In 2006, following his divorce and with his children safely grown up, he sold his house in Salford to bring his dream, of owning a restaurant specialising in vocal jazz, to reality. He chose Blackpool where he could afford property, a town buzzing with the prospect of renewal through a super casino, a town with a long season and a shortage of entertainment venues and interesting restaurants. Then there were problems with building and finance and the dream died before the premises could open. Blackpool lost its bid and super casinos disappeared from the political agenda without explanation. Property values collapsed and Roy was bankrupted. Off Balance is his first completed novel. It draws on his understanding of the dangers of the private provision of public services, and his research into the history and influence of Las Vegas to present a frightening picture of what might have happened behind the scenes when Blackpool bid for its super casino.

      • The Arts

        Incredible Treasures

        UNESCO World Heritage Sites of india

        by Editors: Shikha Jain & Vinaysheel Oberoi

        The World Heritage Sites listing by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) aims to promote awareness and preservation of heritage sites considered to have outstanding value for all humanity. There are 38 such sites in India, as of the year 2021, which include 30 cultural sites, seven natural sites and one mixed site. This volume presents them all together for the first time, with informative, accessible commentary and stunning photographs. This treasure trail begins deep in the jungles of central India, with the spirited figures that shimmer on the prehistoric cave walls of Bhimbetka. Caves of another kind draw us westwards, to the radiant artistry of the rock-cut sanctuaries of Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta Caves. Further north and east are monuments materially associated with the birth and spread of Buddhism across the subcontinent, all urgent testimonies to India’s tolerant past. Elsewhere in the south, mighty stone temples rise in the air, from the Chola temples to the ruins of Hampi, and, in the east, from the Sun Temple to Khajuraho, presenting sacred and profane visions of faith. Other masterpieces of pluralism borrow from Hindu, Jain and Islamic traditions to fashion a distinct identity, like the Taj Mahal or Rani-ki-Vav, both expressions of grief turned into beauty. Finally, even very old cultures must come into the new, finding novel vocabularies from colonial masters and Christian Europe, as in the railways chugging up snowy Darjeeling, or Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh. India’s natural odyssey takes us through forested glades that dot the country, harbouring flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world. From the gelid slopes of the Himalayas and their associated spiritual manifestations to the many wildlife sanctuaries, the natural and mixed properties include biospheres of exceptional beauty and sites of long interaction between people and the landscape. Incredible Treasures is an eloquent homage to India’s long, layered history, bearing witness to its rich biodiversity and the creativity and influence of multiple communities, crafts and religious traditions.   Dr. Shikha Jain has worked on several nomination dossiers for India and other Asian countries. She was Member Secretary of the Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters to the Ministry of Culture, India, from 2011–15, during its elected term in the World Heritage Committee. She has worked as a consultant to UNESCO New Delhi on specific missions. She is currently Asia-Pacific Coordinator for ICOFORT, ICOMOS; UNESCO Visiting Fellow at Category 2 Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; Haryana State Convener of INTACH and Founder Director, DRONAH. She has a post-graduate degree in Community Design and Preservation from Kansas University, USA and a doctorate in architectural history from De Montfort University, UK. Vinay Sheel Oberoi was an IAS officer of the 1979 batch of the Assam- Meghalaya cadre. He held a post-graduate degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. During his long career of nearly four decades, he served as a consultant with the World Bank, as the Chief (Industry and Technology) of UNDP in India, and the Director of the National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA), among other assignments. From 2010 to 2014, he was the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of India to UNESCO, in Paris. On his return to India, Oberoi served as Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India and Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. After his retirement he continued to work in an advisory capacity with various institutions, including several governmental  bodies in the fields of education and culture. He passed away in 2020. Eric Falt has worked in the field of diplomacy and international affairs for three decades, focusing initially on communications and moving to political affairs and the management of large teams. He has been Assistant Director-General of UNESCO in charge of external relations and public information, with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the UN. Previous assignments have included: attendance of UN Security Council negotiations in New York; participation in the Cambodia peace process; involvement in human rights and peacekeeping activities in Haiti; responsibilities in a humanitarian program in Iraq; and overall promotion of development activities for the United Nations in Pakistan. He also led the global communications effort of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and then the global outreach activities of the United Nations Secretariat in New York. He is currently Director, UNESCO India Cluster Office. Rohit Chawla is one of India’s leading contemporary photographers. ​As the erstwhile Group Creative Director for the India Today Group and Open magazine, he has conceptualised and photographed over 300 magazine covers. He has had several solo exhibitions across the world and has also done three coffee table books. Amareswar Galla is currently Professor of inclusive cultural leadership and Director of the International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership at Anant National University in Ahmedabad. He is the founding Executive Director of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum. He has previously held the posts of Professor of Museum Studies, the University of Queensland and Professor of Sustainable Heritage Development at the Australian National University. He is co-founder of the global movement for the inclusive museum and intangible heritage studies and has an extensive publication record. He was the producer and editor of World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders, published by Cambridge University Press and UNESCO in 2012. Janhwij Sharma is Joint Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, overseeing all World Heritage Sites for ASI as the nodal agency for India. He is a conservation architect, graduating from Chandigarh College of Architecture with post-graduation in conservation from York, UK. Amita Baig is a heritage management consultant with nearly three decades of experience in heritage preservation as well as sustainable tourism in India and the Asian region. She worked for many years in Agra with the Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative. Baig represents the World Monuments Fund in India and has been a member of Government of India’s Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters and served as a member of the Council of the National Culture Fund. Dr. Jyoti Pandey Sharma is a Professor in Architecture at Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal (Haryana), India. She engages with issues pertaining to built heritage and cultural landscapes, particularly those concerning the Indian subcontinent’s legacy of Islamic and colonial urbanism. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and in edited volumes. She has been an invited speaker at a number of international symposia and conferences. Her research has received awards and fellowships including a Summer Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Harvard University and a UGC Associate at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, India. Dr. V B Mathur is Chairman of the National Biodiversity Authority and former Director of UNESCO Category 2 Centre on World Natural Heritage Management and Training for Asia and the Pacific Region (UNESCO-C2C) at the Wildlife Institute of India. A former Indian Forest Service officer, he has made over 35 years of outstanding contribution towards a better understanding of Protected Areas and natural heritage management in India. He also serves as an expert member on various inter-governmental forums.   Dr Rohit Jigyasu is a distinguished conservation architect and risk management professional, and the project manager on urban heritage, climate change and disaster risk management at ICCROM, Italy. He serves as Vice President of ICOMOS International for the period 2017–2020. From 2010–2018, he was UNESCO Chair at the Institute for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University, Japan. He was the President of ICOMOS India from 2014–2018 and of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP) from 2010–2019. He has also been a member of ICOMOS International’s Executive Board since 2011. Kiran Joshi has been researching lesser-known 19th- and 20th-century Indian heritage for over 25 years, and exploring the diverse meanings and manifestations of Indian modernity and shared heritage. Her seminal work on Chandigarh helped to introduce the notion of ‘Modern Heritage’ in India. She has been associated with ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on 20th-century heritage (ISC20C) since 2004, and she founded ICOMOS India’s National Committee on the subject (NSC20C) in 2013. She is a founder member of DOCMOMO India and served as President of ICOMOS India during 2019–2020. Dr. Sonali Ghosh is an Indian Forest Service Officer. She has served as a site manager in the Kaziranga and Manas World Heritage Sites, and as a founding faculty at the UNESCO-Category 2 Centre at the Wildlife Institute of India. She is a certified IUCN World Heritage Site evaluation expert and has co-edited books on cultural landscapes in Asia as well as an anthology on natural heritage writing. Her current interests lie in exploring nature-culture linkages in heritage and Protected Area management.

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