(Paperback)

An insight into the mysterious world of the remarkable, but often underrated worm.

(Paperback)

In his radically new analysis of an extraordinary life, Damian Flanagan moves away from the stereotypical depiction of Mishima as a right-wing nationalist and aesthete and presents him as a man utterly obsessed with time - time-keeping devices and symbols - arguing that this compulsion was at the heart of the author's literature and life.

(Paperback)

Cairo is a 1,400-year-old metropolis whose streets are inscribed with sagas, a place where the pressures of life test people's equanimity to the very limit. Packed with incident and anecdote, this book explores Cairo's relationship with its 'others', from the French and British occupations to modern influences like tourism and consumerism.

(Paperback)

Examines the meaning of celebrity. Drawing on a wide gallery of celebrities, from O.J. Simpson, Marilyn Munroe, David Bowie and Kurt Cobain to such notorious figures as Timothy McVeigh, Ted Bundy and the Soho bomber, David Copeland, he explores the friction between the public face of the celebrity and the celebrity's actual self.

(Paperback)

Introduces readers to a fresh cultural category. This title traces Cool's ancient origins in European, Asian, and African cultures, its prominence in the African-American jazz scene of the 1940s, and its pivotal position within the radical subcultures of the 1950s and '60s.

(Paperback)

Traces the psychology, history and theory of the compulsion to collect, focusing on the normative collections of the Western canon. This title includes essays on the Neoclassical architect Sir John Soane, Sigmund Freud and Kurt Schwitters, one of the masters of collage.

(Paperback)

Based on letters, diaries and oral histories, this title explores the impact of the 'war to end all wars' on the male body. It argues that military experiences led to a greater sharing of gender identities between men of different classes and ages.

(Paperback)

A comparative analysis of cities in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, and in particular the rapid process of expansion and modernization they are currently experiencing.

(Paperback)

Rather than being absorbed into a uniform modernity, indigenous people are anticipating alternative futures and appropriating global resources for their own, culturally specific needs. This book argues, controversially, that far from disappearing in the face of global capitalism, indigenous cultures today are as diverse as they ever were.

(Paperback, 2nd edition)

Now in a revised and expanded Second Edition, Geopolitics and Globalization in the Twentieth Century looks at the struggle between the processes of globalization and geopolitical forces over the last 150 years.

(Paperback)

A wide-ranging reassessment of Renaissance art that examines the ways in which European culture came to define itself culturally and aesthetically in the years 1450 to 1550.

(Paperback)

The dream of a happy life has preoccupied thinkers since Plato, and in modern times it has become one of the signature tunes of our age - the rise of therapists, gurus, and the use of Prozac are familiar indicators of how ubiquitous the pursuit of happiness has become in Western culture. This book examines how this modern obsession has evolved.

(Paperback)

In their diverse expressions, maps and the representational processes of mapping have constructed the spaces of modernity since the early Renaissance. This title explores what mapping has meant in the past and how its meanings have altered.

(Paperback, New edition)

Mining in World History deals with the history of mining and smelting from the Renaissance to the present day, drawing out, in an engaging and fast-paced fashion, the interplay of personalities, politics and technology which have together shaped the metallurgical industries over the last 500 years.

(Paperback)

In all his films, Peter Greenaway shows obsessive attention to detail, exaggerating the archaic and fabricating his plots out of an artificial realm of caricature and pastiche. This book examines his vision from a number of perspectives and traces a shift of sensibility in his work.

(Paperback)

Explores how animal imagery has been used in modern and contemporary art and performance, and in postmodern philosophy and literature, to suggest and shape ideas about identity and creativity.

(Paperback)

Examines the development of Romania from the Middle Ages to modern times, delineating its culture, history, language, politics, ethnic identity, and international relations.

(Paperback)

Examines the history of military aerospace power, discussing technical developments between both World Wars and the use of air power in specific wars in the latter part of the twentieth century, including the recent conflict with Iraq. This book analyses the military and civil applications of airpower in the contemporary world.

(Paperback)

Considers the nature of photography, examining the language used in titles, captions and commentaries, particularly as they relate to documentary photography, photojournalism and fashion photography. This book addresses the question of how the photograph communicates its message, with or without the aid of language.

(Paperback)

An account of how Spanish painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries dealt with mystic visions in their art, and of how they attempted to 'represent the unrepresentable' that aims to establish a theory of visionary imagery in Western art in general, and one for the Spanish Counter-Reformation in particular.

(Paperback, New edition)

War has always been close to the centre of British culture, but never more so than in the period since 1850. This text explores the way in which images of battle, both literary and visual, have been constructed in British fiction and popular culture since this time.

(Paperback)

Written on the Body surveys the history of the tattoo in Europe and North America from Antiquity to the present. While the subject of tattooing has previously been approached from the viewpoints of anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, this book sets the practice into a historical perspective.

(Paperback)

In A History of Diplomacy Black shows how a form of courtly negotiation and information-gathering developed through increasing globalization into a world-shaping force and shows the ever-changing phenomenon of diplomacy: its aims, its achievements, its successes and failures.

(Hardback)