In 1939 a girl was born in the wild Aspromonte mountains of Calabria, a land haunted by history and suffused with tradition but weighed down by poverty and the 'Ndrangheta-Calabria's answer to Sicily'
Andalucia is the quintessence of Spain and yet, historically and culturally, it is surprisingly unlike the rest of the country. Its literary history began to develop with the Romans and reached an ear
Legend has it that the Ionian Islands were created as Zeus’ beautiful lover, Io, raced through the Ionian Sea escaping Hera’s wrath. Rising from the waters between Greece and Italy, the I
Troy: one of the most captivating and mysterious stories of antiquity… But was Troy an actual place or just a legend of Homer's epic? It took the most unlikely of people, Heinrich Schliemann—a grocer'
"Berlin is a city forever in the process of becoming, never being, and so it lives more powerfully in the imagination." Rory Maclean, 'Berlin—Imagine a City'. Located at the epicentre of som
To walk through Florence is to step into one of the most remarkable histories of any European city. From its establishment by Julius Caesar in the 6th century BC, through its Golden Age at the epicent
All national identities are somewhat fluid, held together by collective beliefs and practices as much as official territory and borders. In the context of the Palestinians, whose national status in so many instances remains unresolved, the articulation and ‘imagination’ of national identity is particularly urgent. This book explores the ways that Palestinian intellectuals, artists, activists and ordinary citizens ‘imagine’ their homeland, examining the works of key Palestinian thinkers and writers such as Edward Said, Mahmoud Darwish, Mourid Barghouti, Ghassan Kanafani and Naji Al Ali. Deploying Benedict Anderson’s notion of ‘Imagined Communities’ and Edward Soja’s theory of ‘Third Space’, Tahrir Hamdi argues that the imaginative construction of Palestine is a key element in the Palestinians’ ongoing struggle. An interdisciplinary work drawing upon critical theory, postcolonial studies and literary analysis, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Palestine and Middl
'a thoroughly impressive piece of work u authoritative, reliable and perceptive...This is rightly billed as a "political biography" and in the realm of politics it is remarkably sure-footed'-Anthony H
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in support of a Marxist-Leninist government, and the subsequent nine-year conflict with the indigenous Afghan Mujahedeen was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Cold War. Key details of the circumstances surrounding the invasion and its ultimate conclusion only months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 have long remained unclear; it is a confidential narrative of clandestine correspondence, covert operations and failed intelligence. The Secret War in Afghanistan undertakes a full analysis of recently declassified intelligence archives in order to asses Anglo-American secret intelligence and diplomacy relating to the invasion of Afghanistan and unveil the Cold War realities behind the rhetoric. Rooted at every turn in close examination of the primary evidence, it outlines the secret operations of the CIA, MI6 and the KGB, and the full extent of the aid and intelligence from the West which armed and trained the Afghan fighters.Drawin
When, in October 1517, Martin Luther pinned his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg he shattered the foundations of western Christendom. The Reformation of doctrine and
New Edition of the Leading Work on Modern Turkey* In a world of rising tensions between Russia and the United States, the Middle East and Europe, Sunnis and Shiites, Islamism and liberalism, Turkey is
HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED? On 23 June 2016, UK voters elected to leave the European Union. The result was perhaps the biggest bombshell in modern British political history. In this new and updated
Afghanistan in the 20th century was virtually unknown in Europe and America. At peace until the 1970s, the country was seen as a remote and exotic land, visited only by adventurous tourists or researc
The American Civil War (1861-65) remains a searing event in the collective consciousness of the United States. It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern history, claiming the lives of at least 6
Shakespeare is a towering presence in English and indeed global culture. Most readers in the English-speaking world, and many beyond, know his name and have at least a passing familiarity with his wor
Isaiah Berlin was one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century – and a man who set ideas on fire. His defence of individual liberty and cultural variety was passionate and persuasive, and ins
Miletus: one of the wealthiest and most important towns in ancient Greece. It was here, on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, in the 6th century BC, that the great traditions of Greek science and philoso
In 1917 revolutionary fervour swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and instigating political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. Arising out of
It is impossible to fully appreciate Jane Austen without experiencing the landscapes which inspired her. Jane Austen's England - the first book of its kind - takes the reader on a series of walking to
Madrid has now overtaken Barcelona to become Spain's most visited and popular city. Its literary tradition has always been deeply ingrained in the city's history and poets and writers continue to hold
