Saga Publications
Independent Press
View Rights PortalEstablished by Alberto Mondadori in 1958, il Saggiatore is an independent publishing house focused on literary fiction and non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on science, history and economics. Our wide-ranging non-fiction list comprises the likes of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jean-Paul Sartre, Fernand Braudel, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Daron Acemoglu, Paul Mason, Jaron Lanier, Joseph Mazur, Mark Cousins and Piero Camporesi, among others. Our ever-growing literary fiction list includes Allen Ginsberg, Witold Gombrowicz, Joan Didion, Geoff Dyer, Olivia Laing, Esther Kinsky, Mircea Cărtărescu, László Darvasi, Akwaeke Emezi, Emma Glass, Mike McCormack and David Peace, to name just a few. Shortly after the birth of the publishing house, speaking to an Italian newspaper, Alberto Mondadori said: “I’m an explorer, I like to travel in time”. Sixty years later, his words and his vision live on, and il Saggiatore’s project is still the same: to publish books that can stand the test of time.
View Rights PortalFocusing particularly on historically oriented sagas, Saga emotions identifies and examines a range of emotions from across Old Norse-Icelandic saga literature. Each chapter begins with a discrete emotion term, such as reiði (anger), gleði (joy), or the peculiarly Old Norse víghugr (killing-mood), exploring its usages within the broad saga corpus, and focusing on its contextual meanings and narrative purposes. The contributions explore the specifics of the lexical terms used for different emotion states and offer in-depth case studies that consider how various emotions manifest within particular examples of saga literature. The book offers the emotional granularity lacking in current studies of Norse emotion and serves as an essential foundation for future research and study into emotional depiction in Old Norse-Icelandic saga literature.
A turbulent era. An impossible love affair. A moving saga. Hamburg 1886. Lily, whose father is a ship owner, dreams of becoming a writer. During a ship-naming ceremony, Lily gives a short speech during which her hat is blown off her head. One of the workers tries to get it back for her and is badly injured. Lily is shocked that no one sympathises with the young man’s fate. Then Johannes Bolten comes to the ship owner’s villa to demand compensation for his injured friend. Lily wants to help and allows herself to be drawn into a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. She begins a passionate affair with him. But Jo, who comes from the notorious gangland area, has a secret that Lily must never discover…
The eleventh-century papal reform transformed western European Church and society and permanently altered the relations of Church and State in the west. The reform was inaugurated by Pope Leo IX (1048-54) and given a controversial change of direction by Pope Gregory VII (1073-85). This book contains the earliest biographies of both popes, presented here for the first time in English translation with detailed commentaries. The biographers of Leo IX were inspired by his universally acknowledged sanctity, whereas the biographers of Gregory VII wrote to defend his reputation against the hostility generated by his reforming methods and his conflict with King Henry IV. Also included is a translation of Book to a Friend, written by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri soon after the death of Gregory VII, as well as an extract from the violently anti-Gregorian polemic of Bishop Benzo of Alba (1085) and the short biography of Leo IX composed in the papal curia in the 1090s by Bishop Bruno of Segni. These fascinating narrative sources bear witness to the startling impact of the papal reform and of the 'Investiture Contest', the conflict of empire and papacy that was one of its consequences. An essential collection of translated texts for students of medieval history.
Die Geschichte der lebenslangen Freundschaft zwischen Lila und Elena begeisterte Millionen. Als Kinder begegnen sich die beiden zum ersten Mal im Neapel der 50er Jahre. Sehr bald gehen sie getrennte Wege. Jede für sich erlebt Liebe, Arbeit, Ehe, Mutterschaft, die Umwälzungen im Land, das Vergehen der Jahre, und doch bleiben sie zeit ihres Lebens unmissverständlich aufeinander bezogen. Bis die eine spurlos verschwindet und der anderen nichts bleibt, als dagegen anzuschreiben: Die Neapolitanische Saga beginnt. Vier Bände, ein literarisches Ereignis, jetzt im Schuber zum großartigen Preis.
Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims (d. 882) is a crucial figure for all those interested in early medieval European history in general, and Carolingian history in particular. For forty years he was an advisor to kings and religious controversialist; his works are a key source for the political, religious and social history of the later ninth century, covering topics from papal politics to the abduction of women and the role of parish priests. For the first time since Jean Devisse's biography of Hincmar in the 1970s, this book offers a three-dimensional examination of a figure whose actions and writings in different fields are often studied in isolation. It brings together the latest international research across the spectrum of his varied activities, as history-writer, estate administrator, hagiographer, canonist, pastorally engaged bishop, and politically minded royal advisor. The introduction also provides the first substantial English-language survey of Hincmar's whole career.
In the mid-ninth century, Francia was rocked by the first royal divorce scandal of the Middle Ages: the attempt by King Lothar II of Lotharingia to rid himself of his queen, Theutberga and remarry. Even 'women in their weaving sheds' were allegedly gossiping about the lurid accusations made. Kings and bishops from neighbouring kingdoms, and several popes, were gradually drawn into a crisis affecting the fate of an entire kingdom. This is the first professionally published translation of a key source for this extraordinary episode: Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims's De divortio Lotharii regis et Theutbergae reginae. This text offers eye-opening insight both on the political wrangling of the time and on early medieval attitudes towards magic, penance, gender, the ordeal, marriage, sodomy, the role of bishops, and kingship.The translation includes a substantial introduction and annotations, putting the case into its early medieval context and explaining Hincmar's sometimes-dubious methods of argument.
This is a translation of the eleventh-century Latin Annals of Lampert, monk of Hersfeld, with detailed commentary and introduction. No translation has hitherto been published in English, despite the fact that it is one of the best known of all the narrative sources of the Middle Ages, constantly mentioned in the English secondary literature. Lampert produced the most detailed account of the events of 1056-77 (the minority of Henry IV of Germany and the first decade of his personal rule), a period of crisis and rebellion culminating in the conflict between the king and Pope Gregory VII. He is widely regarded as 'the unrivalled master among medieval historians' and 'a superb story-teller', noted for his vivid characterisation and narrative. An English translation of this work is of the greatest value to teachers and students of medieval history and also of interest to the general reader of European literature.
The Annals of St-Bertin, covering the years 830 to 882, are the main narrative source for the Carolingian world in the ninth century. This richly-annotated translation by a leading British specialist makes these Carolingian histories accessible in English for the first time, encouraging readers to reassess and evaluate a crucially formative period of European history. Produced in the 830s in the imperial palace of Louis the Pious, The Annals of St-Bertin were continued away from the Court, first by Bishop Prudentius of Troyes, then by the great scholar-politician Archbishop Hinemar of Rheims. The authors' distinctive voices and interests give the work a personal tone rarely found in medieval annals. They also contain uniquely detailed information on Carolingian politics, especially the reign of the West Frankish king, Charles the Bald (840-877). No other source offers so much evidence on the Continental activities of the Vikings. Janet L. Nelson offers in this volume both an entrée to a crucial Carolingian source and an introduction to the historical setting of teh Annals and possible ways of reading the evidence. The Annals of St-Bertin will be valuable reading for academics, research students and undergraduates in medieval history, archaeology and medieval languages. It will also fascinate any general reader with an interest in the development of European culture and society.
When Jenny von Sperber first met Fritz, the gorilla didn’t let her out of his sight. He was already over 50 years old then, but he was still extremely charismatic. One thing matters for the journalist: she wants to find out everything about Fritz’s life. Born in 1963, he was captured in the wild and came from Cameroon to Germany in 1966. At that time, apes were still regarded as a curiosity in zoos. When a ban was declared on the wild gorilla trade, Fritz was already a father of many youngsters. This fascinating gorilla-family saga not only recounts the eventful life of Fritz, but also shows the development in European zoos in handling wild animals. Nowadays, things have certainly improved. But there are still questions, for example, what does it do to us when we marvel at our closest relatives behind glass? And is it even still current to confine apes ... was it ever?