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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2022

        Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan

        The cult of the Two Grand Elders

        by Fabian Graham

        In Singapore and Malaysia, the inversion of Chinese Underworld traditions has meant that Underworld demons are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities in statue form, channelled through their spirit mediums, tang-ki. The Chinese Underworld and its sub-hells are populated by a bureaucracy drawn from the Buddhist, Taoist and vernacular pantheons. Under the watchful eye of Hell's 'enforcers', the lower echelons of demon soldiers impose post-mortal punishments on the souls of the recently deceased for moral transgressions committed during their prior incarnations. Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan offers an ethnography of contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions, where night-time cemetery rituals assist the souls of the dead, exorcised spirits are imprisoned in Guinness bottles, and malicious foetus ghosts are enlisted to strengthen a temple's spirit army. Understanding the religious divergences between Singapore and Malaysia (and their counterparts in Taiwan) through an analysis of socio-political and historical events, Fabian Graham challenges common assumptions about the nature and scope of Chinese vernacular religious beliefs and practices. Graham's innovative approach to alterity allows the reader to listen to first-person dialogues between the author and channelled Underworld deities. Through its alternative methodological and narrative stance, the book intervenes in debates on the interrelation between sociocultural and spiritual worlds, and promotes the destigmatisation of spirit possession and discarnate phenomena in the future study of mystical and religious traditions.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2021

        The bonds of family

        Slavery, commerce and culture in the British Atlantic world

        by Katie Donington

        Moving between Britain and Jamaica The bonds of family reconstructs the world of commerce, consumption and cultivation sustained through an extended engagement with the business of slavery. Transatlantic slavery was both shaping of and shaped by the dynamic networks of family that established Britain's Caribbean empire. Tracing the activities of a single extended family - the Hibberts - this book explores how slavery impacted on the social, cultural, economic and political landscape of Britain. It is a history of trade, colonisation, enrichment and the tangled web of relations that gave meaning to the transatlantic world. The Hibberts's trans-generational story imbricates the personal and the political, the private and the public, the local and the global. It is both the intimate narrative of a family and an analytical frame through which to explore Britain's history and legacies of slavery.

      • Trusted Partner
        Family & health

        A Family with Autism

        When Autism is the Rule, not the Exception

        by Joyce van Maaren

        Four out of your five children have autism, and your husband too! This is what happened to Joyce van Maaren. Over the years four of her children and her husband are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. In A Family With Autism she talks openly about how her life gets turned upside down over and over again, and how the family had to regain their balance. In this inspiring and lovable book, Joyce van Maaren takes the reader on a journey – one with many ups and downs. Readers can find support in her story and discover what autism means for daily life. But most of all, they will be inspired to make the most of every day, even if they or their family has to deal with autism (or other psychological disorders). Target Group: people with autism and their relatives, families of which some members have autism.

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2025

        Faith, folk and the far right

        Racist and anti-racist Heathenry and Occultism in Britain

        by Dominic Alessio, Robert J. Wallis

        This book offers the first examination of extremist Heathenry and occultism in the UK and how anti-racist Heathens act to counter this discourse. It explores the spectrum of Heathen practice today and the historical origins of racist Heathenry in nineteenth century Germanic romanticism and twentieth century folkish nationalism. Treating each of the three main extremist Heathen organisations, the book extends the analysis to the neo-Nazi occult organization the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), and the wider racist Heathen cultural scene in Black Metal and Dark Folk music. The authors balance this with discussion of how inclusivist Heathens are countering this discourse, from visible protests at far-right rallies to inter-faith forums and an active presence on social media platforms. The book makes an important contribution to the intersecting fields of new religious movements, nationalist history and racist politics.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        June 2021

        Tales of magic, tales in print

        by Willem De Blecourt

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        July 2025

        The Fairy Tales of Jim Henson

        Keeping the best place by the fire

        by Andrea Wright

        The Fairy Tales of Jim Henson: The best place by the fire is the first book to specifically consider Henson, best known for the immensely popular The Muppet Show, as an important creator of screen fairy tales. In a chronological overview of Henson's career from the late 1950s to his death in 1990, it explores key themes, artistic practices and innovations that make his contribution to the genre unique. Drawing upon a range of fairy tale scholarship, it also situates Henson's work within the wider context of the genre, specifically its conventions, themes and inherent intertextuality.

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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2015

        The souls of white folk

        by Brett L. Shadle

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2020

        The British political elite and Europe, 1959-1984

        A higher loyalty

        by Bob Nicholls

        This book offers an original interpretation of Britain's relationship with Europe over a 25 year period: 1959-84 and advances the argument that the current problems over EU membership resulted from much earlier political machinations. This evidence based account of the seminal period analyses the applications for EEC membership, the 1975 referendum, and the role of the press. Was the British public misled over the true aims of the European project? How significant was the role of the press in changing public opinion from anti, to pro Common Market membership? Why, after over 40 years since Britain became a member of the European community, does the issue continue to deeply divide not only the political elite, but also the British public? These, and other pertinent questions are answered in this timely book on a subject that remains topical and highly controversial.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        November 2024

        Family Romance

        by Jean Strouse

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2019

        The bonds of family

        by Katie Donington, Alan Lester, Andrew Thompson

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        September 2017

        A Vision of Battlements

        by Anthony Burgess

        by Andrew Biswell, Paul Wake

        A Vision of Battlements is the first novel by the writer and composer Anthony Burgess, who was born in Manchester in 1917. Set in Gibraltar during the Second World War, the book follows the fortunes of Richard Ennis, an army sergeant and incipient composer who dreams of composing great music and building a new cultural world after the end of the war. Following the example of his literary hero, James Joyce, Burgess takes the structure of his book from Virgil's Aeneid. The result is, like Joyce's Ulysses, a comic rewriting of a classical epic, whose critique of the Army and the postwar settlement is sharp and assured. The Irwell Edition is the first publication of Burgess's forgotten masterpiece since 1965. This new edition includes an introduction and notes by Andrew Biswell, author of a prize-winning biography of Anthony Burgess.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2021

        Running the Family Firm

        by Laura Clancy

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2025

        Folklore

        A journey through the past and present

        by Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook

        A gripping guide to the weird yet everyday world of British folklore. In this ground-breaking book, two leading experts provide the definitive guide to British folklore past and present. Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook explore folklore in all its remarkable variations, from village rituals and fairy tales to UFO legends and internet fanfiction. Travelling through a landscape of witches, wizards and wicker men, they reveal how folklore has been researched and written about in the past and show how it continues to be lived in the present. At the same time, they provide the reader with a valuable toolkit for understanding how to interpret the diverse examples given. The book's key message is that folklore is much more than the fossilised remains of a distant, rural past. Folklore is and always has been ubiquitous, dynamic and political. It is a living tradition that draws from many sources, including migrant communities, and is forever being renewed and updated.

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