Your Search Results

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        The Arctic in the British imagination 1818–1914

        by Andrew Thompson, John M. MacKenzie, Rob David

        The Arctic region has been the subject of much popular writing. This book considers nineteenth-century representations of the Arctic, and draws upon an extensive range of evidence that will allow the 'widest connections' to emerge from a 'cross-disciplinary analysis' using different methodologies and subject matter. It positions the Arctic alongside more thoroughly investigated theatres of Victorian enterprise. In the nineteenth century, most images were in the form of paintings, travel narratives, lectures given by the explorers themselves and photographs. The book explores key themes in Arctic images which impacted on subsequent representations through text, painting and photography. For much of the nineteenth century, national and regional geographical societies promoted exploration, and rewarded heroic endeavor. The book discusses images of the Arctic which originated in the activities of the geographical societies. The Times provided very low-key reporting of Arctic expeditions, as evidenced by its coverage of the missions of Sir John Franklin and James Clark Ross. However, the illustrated weekly became one of the main sources of popular representations of the Arctic. The book looks at the exhibitions of Arctic peoples, Arctic exploration and Arctic fauna in Britain. Late nineteenth-century exhibitions which featured the Arctic were essentially nostalgic in tone. The Golliwogg's Polar Adventures, published in 1900, drew on adult representations of the Arctic and will have confirmed and reinforced children's perceptions of the region. Text books, board games and novels helped to keep the subject alive among the young.

      • Trusted Partner
        October 2020

        Die Mühlen der Zivilisation

        Eine Tiefengeschichte der frühesten Staaten

        by James C. Scott, Horst Brühmann

        Wie selbstverständlich gehen wir davon aus, dass die neolithische Revolution, in deren Verlauf Nomaden zu Ackerbauern und Viehzüchtern wurden, ein bedeutender zivilisatorischer Fortschritt war. James C. Scott entwickelt in seinem provokanten Buch eine ganz andere These: Die ersten Staaten entstanden aus der Kontrolle über die Reproduktion und errichteten ein hartes Regime der Domestizierung und Unterwerfung, das Epidemien, Ungleichheiten und Kriege mit sich brachte. Einzig die »Barbaren« – die heimlichen Helden dieses Buches – haben sich der Sesshaftigkeit sowie den neuen Besteuerungssystemen verweigert und sich damit gegen die Mühlen der Zivilisation gestemmt.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        May 2026

        Caroline Aherne

        Rebel in disguise

        by David Scott

        A thoughtful exploration of the work of this unique comedian and writer. Caroline Aherne was one of the most influential and beloved of British comedians. In this book David Scott explores Aherne's comedic artistry and creative legacy, focusing on her iconic characters and ground-breaking TV shows. Scott dives into Aherne's most beloved creations, from the sharp-tongued Mrs Merton to the quietly revolutionary The Royle Family. Drawing on the tales of collaborators and telling behind-the-scenes stories, he provides an intimate glimpse into the creative processes that brought these iconic works to life. At the same time, he examines the social and cultural influences that shaped Aherne's work, from the rich traditions of Northern working-class humour to the experiences of Irish migrants. Aherne's work is celebrated for its sharp wit, warmth and ability to find comedy in adversity. This book offers an exploration and celebration of one of comedy's most inventive minds, revealing how she reshaped the British comedy landscape.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2024

        Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 100/2

        Higher Learning and Civic Cultures of Knowledge: Manchester 1824–2024

        by Stuart Jones

        The John Rylands Library houses one of the finest collections of rare books, manuscripts and archives in the world. The collections span five millennia, have a global reach and cover a wide range of subjects, including art and archaeology; economic, social, political, religious and military history; literature, drama and music; science and medicine; theology and philosophy; travel and exploration. For over a century, the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library has published research that complements the Library's special collections.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        May 2026

        Translating hell

        Vernacular theology and apocrypha in the medieval North Sea

        by Stephen C. E. Hopkins

        In the Middle Ages, hell was useful because it was vaguely defined. Canonical scriptures scarcely mention hell, leaving much to the imaginations of early Christians, who used it to sort out who belonged within the faith. This book explores how hell became a place for literary experiments with local challenges in theology and identity. Following the reception and transformations of two popular hell apocrypha, it argues that they served as this role because of their liminal textual authority. As noncanonical scriptures, apocrypha afforded medieval writers space to revise their hells (since they were not actually scripture), while also encouraging readers to revere those experiments as valid (since they seemed like scripture). The book brings together adaptations from early medieval England, Iceland, Ireland, and Wales, placing the early vernacular theologies of the North Sea in comparative conversation.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        January 2019

        Carol Reed

        by Peter William Evans

        Carol Reed is one of the truly outstanding directors of British cinema, and one whose work is long overdue for reconsideration. This major study ranges over Reed's entire career, combining observation of general trends and patterns with detailed analysis of twenty films, both acknowledged masterpieces and lesser-known works. Evans avoids a simplistic auteurist approach, placing the films in their autobiographical, socio-political and cultural contexts and relating these to the analysis of Reed's art. The critical approach combines psychoanalysis, gender theory, and the analysis of form. Archival research is also relied on to clarify Reed's relations with his creative team, financial backers and others. Films examined include Bank Holiday, A Girl Must Live, Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, The Third Man, Night Train to Munich, The Way Ahead, Outcast of the Islands, Trapeze and Oliver!.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2025

        Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 101/2

        Imaging Heritage Science Initiatives at The John Rylands Research Institute and Library

        by Stefan Hanß, James Robinson

        The John Rylands Library houses one of the finest collections of rare books, manuscripts and archives in the world. The collections span five millennia, have a global reach and cover a wide range of subjects, including art and archaeology; economic, social, political, religious and military history; literature, drama and music; science and medicine; theology and philosophy; travel and exploration. For over a century, the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library has published research that complements the Library's special collections. An electronic edition of this issue is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        January 2014

        Court and civic society in the Burgundian Low Countries c.1420–1530

        by Andrew Brown, Graeme Small

        This volume is the first ever attempt to unite and translate some of the key texts which informed Johan Huizinga's famous study of the Burgundian court, The Waning of the Middle Ages, a work which has never gone out of print. It combines these texts with sources that Huizinga did not consider, those that illuminate the wider civic world that the Burgundian court inhabited and the dynamic interaction between court and city. Through these sources, and an introduction offering new perspectives on recent historiography, the book tests whether Huizinga's controversial vision of the period still stands. Covering subjects including ceremonial events, such as the spectacles and gargantuan banquets that made the Burgundian dukes the talk of Europe, the workings of the court, and jousting, archery and rhetoric competitions, the book will appeal to students of late medieval and early modern Europe and to those with wider interests in court culture, ritual and ceremony.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        March 2003

        Strategeme I Lebens- und Überlebenslisten aus drei Jahrhunderten

        Die berühmten 36 Strategeme der Chinesen - lange als Geheimwissen gehütet, erstmals im Westen vorgestellt. Strategeme 1-18.

        by Senger, Harro von

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2026

        A queer scrapbook

        Britain and Ireland since 1945

        by Justin Bengry, Matt Cook, Rebecca Jennings, E-J Scott

        A beautifully illustrated compendium of LGBTIQ+ life. A queer scrapbook offers a treasure trove of LGBTIQ+ histories from across Britain and Ireland. Packed with materials, from interviews and newspaper articles to photographs and flyers, the book explores urban, rural and regional queer life since 1945. Commentaries and short essays introduce a changing queer landscape, spotlighting four broad themes: home and family, sex and socialising, arts and culture and politics and activism. The book delves into the meaning and experiences of domesticity and parenting and explores the sometimes unexpected places LGBTIQ+ people met to have fun. It examines the importance of creative work in forming community and identity and shows how people fought injustice and advocated for equal rights. Collecting has been a way for the marginalised to explore and assert identity and community. A queer scrapbook vividly illustrates the diversity of queer and trans lives across the British and Irish isles since the Second World War.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2025

        Taking travel home

        The souvenir culture of British women tourists, 1750–1830

        by Emma Gleadhill

        In the late eighteenth-century, elite British women had an unprecedented opportunity to travel. Taking travel home uncovers the souvenir culture these women developed around the texts and objects they brought back with them to realise their ambitions in the arenas of connoisseurship, friendship and science. Key characters include forty-three-year-old Hester Piozzi (Thrale), who honeymooned in Italy; thirty-one-year-old Anna Miller, who accompanied her husband on a Grand Tour; Dorothy Richardson, who undertook various tours of England from the ages of twelve to fifty-two; and the sisters Katherine and Martha Wilmot, who travelled to Russia in their late twenties. The supreme tourist of the book, the political salon hostess Lady Elizabeth Holland, travelled to many countries with her husband, including Paris, where she met Napoleon, and Spain during the Peninsular War. Using a methodology informed by literary and design theory, art history, material culture studies and tourism studies, the book examines a wide range of objects, from painted fans "of the ruins of Rome for a sequin apiece" and the Pope's "bless'd beads", to lava from Vesuvius and pieces of Stonehenge. It argues that the rise of the souvenir is representative of female agency, as women used their souvenirs to form spaces in which they could create and control their own travel narratives.

      • Trusted Partner

      Subscribe to our

      newsletter