Books and knowledge

Lima boasts a Nobel Prize-winning author (Mario Vargas Llosa) and a wealth of lesser known poets and novelists, who have created its rich literary history. Higgins, an academic specialist in Peruvian literature, quotes extensively from these writers as he chronicles Lima's history from its founding by conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535 to the political gyrations of recent decades. Most of all, Higgins encourages readers to linger in Lima instead of rushing through en route to Machu Picchu. Both works will reward the traveler in search of a city's character. Gilbert TaylorCopyright ...

What are the ingredients of a hard-boiled detective story? "Savagery, style, sophistication, sleuthing and sex," said Ellery Queen. Often a desperate blond, a jealous husband, and, of course, a tough-but-tender P.I. the likes of Sam Spade or Philop Marlowe. Perhaps Raymond Chandler summed it up best in his description of Dashiell Hammett's style: "Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it....He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes." Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime ...

British historian Cameron, author of The European Reformation (Oxford Univ., 1991), joins ten prominent British and American historians in surveying the three centuries of European history from 1500 to 1800. Perhaps the most momentous period of European development, these years saw the fragmentation of the Christian Church, the European exploration and settlement of North and South America, the emergence of new forms of governance, and the rise of the nation state. While considering the broad cultural, religious, and political trends over the course of these three centuries, the authors ...

Using newspapers and radio broadcasts of the day as evidence, Gellately (The Gestapo and German Society), Strassler Professor in Holocaust History at Clark University, effectively demonstrates how "ordinary Germans" evolved into a powerful base of support for the Nazi regime. Although Hitler and the National Socialists had never garnered an outright majority in elections before 1933, the author convincingly shows that "the great majority of the German people soon became devoted to Hitler and they supported him to the bitter end in 1945." The Nazis achieved this political miracle by ...

The era in which faith and reason conflicted in a profound manner seems far away, and perhaps even a bit incomprehensible, to citizens of the modern world. Most of us take for granted our right to choose the life of the mind over that of the spirit without feeling remorse. At the very least, we've learned that the two need not be mutually exclusive. But this is hard-won ease, born of a conflict that began with the Victorians. Edmund Gosse's Father and Son (1907) traces his own reckoning--as well as that of his father, the eminent British zoologist Philip Gosse--with the ...

"This survey of 1200 years of Western medieval architecture will become a standard introductory text. Calkin's concise descriptions of individual monuments will expand students' understanding and appreciation of the subject. The book offers a remarkable overview of the diversity of building in the period. The photographs and ground plans provide superb visual documentation."--Deborah Kahn, Boston University"Fills a gap that has existed for quite some time. The monuments are judiciously selected, and the material is up to date for a survey. The CD is great for our electronic ...

"Convincingly demonstrates an extraordinary range of cultural, social, political, and economic influences that increasing 'automobility' had on Brazilian society." --American Historical Review"Autos and Progress casts new light on an old subject--Brazil's struggle to become a modern nation. Joel Wolfe wonderfully blends the history of technology, business, consumer culture, and politics to show how the automobile and trucks played a central role in the integration and creation of the Brazilian nation. His book is a major contribution to Brazilian and Latin American history."--Marshall C. ...

`A powerful defence of the idea of parliamentary sovereignty ... Goldsworthy is able to inflict serious damage on the arguments advanced by recent critics of parliamentary sovereignty.' History of Political Thought`an immensely learned book, old-fashioned legal scholarship at its best but with obvious contemporary relevance.' (2000) 71 Political Quarterly 260`timely evaluation of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty Goldsworthy has produced a stimulating and thoughtful book that ought to be required reading for both the judiciary and those infatuated with the prospect of ...

"Flying Tiger is a truly extraordinary book, which will soon be considered a classic and essential to the canons of international relations theory and European politics. It is a model for combining brilliant, insightful theorizing with painstaking, detailed empirical narration. While many see high politics as contributing to the uncertain future or even outright failure of the European project, Krotz uncovers, theorizes, and explains a successful effort at bilateral development and production of advanced weaponry. This is, as Krotz puts it, 'a different sort of European integration,' but ...

Spalding's approach, sifting through and collating a vast quantity of material, has produced a valuable and deeply researched account of the Piper's life together... Ruth Guilding, Times Literary Supplement Frances Spalding recounts the histories of John and Myfanwy Piper, a couple at the centre of post-war art. Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph A remarkable achievement and ... an invaluable source book for Piper Enthusiasts for years to come. Andrew Lambirth, The Art Newspaper Commendably thorough. William Feaver, London Review of Books A valuable and deeply researched account of the ...