This book looks at visual images as an alternative & undervalued source of evidence for ideas about the Scottish Gaidhealtachd in the period 1700
- 1880. Illustrated with 100 plates it brings together many little known & previously unrelated images. Addressing the textual bias inherent in Scottish historical studies the book examines a broad range of maps plans paintings drawings sketches & printed images arguing that the concept of antiquity was the single most powerful influence driving the visual representation of the Highlands & Islands from 1700 to 1880 & indeed beyond. Successive chapters look at archaeological ethnological & geological motives for visualising the Highlands & at the bias in favour of antiquity which resulted from the spread of these intellectual influences into the fine arts. The book concludes that the shadow of time which hallmarked visual representations of the region resulted in a preservationist mentality which has had powerful repercussions for approaches to Highland issues down to the present day. The book will appeal to historians art historians cultural geographers & the general reader interested in Highland history & culture.
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Inspired by the revelation that the Sphinx had been weathered by water & not by wind-blown sand & was therefore thousands of years older than the oldest civilisation known to man Colin Wilson sets out to explore the remote depths of history. The compelling argument of this bestselling book is that thousands of years before Ancient Egypt & Greece held sway there was a great civilisation whose ships travelled the world & who possessed some knowledge system that offered a unified view of the universe alien to modern man. In this fascinating exploration of the world at a time when according to Plato the lost civilisation of Atlantis was destroyed the author makes a ground-breaking attempt to understand how these long-forgotten peoples thought felt & communicated on a universal plane. ...

Ensure your students have access to the authoritative & in-depth content of this popular & trusted A Level History series. For over twenty years Access to History has been providing students with reliable engaging & accessible content on a wide range of topics. Each title in the series provides comprehensive coverage of different history topics on current AS & A2 level history specifications alongside exam-style practice questions & tips to help students achieve their best. The series:
- Ensures students gain a good understanding of the AS & A2 level history topics through an engaging in-depth & up-to-date narrative presented in an accessible way.
- Aids revision of the key A level history topics & themes through frequent summary diagrams
- Gives support with assessment both through the books providing exam-style questions & tips for AQA Edexcel & OCR A level history specifications & through FREE model answers with supporting commentary at Access to History online (www.accesstohistory.co.uk) From Autocracy to Communism: Russia 1894-1941 This title draws on content from the bestselling titles ' Reaction & Revolution: Russia 1894-1924' & ' Bolshevik & Stalinist Russia 1918-56'. It focuses on the period from 1894-1941. It begins with the situation in Russia under Tsar Nicholas II & then goes on to examine the causes & effects of the 1905 & 1917 revolutions the Bolshevik struggle to gain power & the eventual rise of Stalin. The political economic & social developments through this period & the effects of these are explored & analysed throughout.


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A collection of short stories & activities that show students how authors: create powerful openings & endings; build up suspense & manipulate readers expectations; & introduce & develop character. These stories & activities should help students organize their own writing. ...

New York in the 1950s. On the stage at Birdland is the midget master of ceremonies 39 Pee Wee Marquette dressed in a zoot suit & loud tie smoking a huge cigar & screeching mispronounced introductions into the microphone. Pee Wee is just one of the many characters that have made Bill Crows forty years in jazz seem like an instant. In the same key as his acclaimed Jazz Anecdotes this collection of revealing hilarious & sometimes moving stories runs the full gamut of New Yorks nightspots introducing us along the way to the likes of Dizzy Gillespie Benny Goodman Stan Getz Judy Holliday Yul Brynner & Simon & Garfunkel." ...

This extensively illustrated volume offers fresh perspectives on the great eighteenth-century physician naturalist & collector Sir Hans Sloane (1660
- 1753) whose holdings formed the basis of the British Museum & ultimately of its dual offspring the Natural History Museum & the British Library. The colonial milieu within which Sloane operated is given prominence here & particularly the time he spent in Jamaica; attention is also paid to his social context & to the way his collecting activities permeated every aspect of his life. Some essays consider the museum specimens accumulated by Sloane both natural & man-made shedding new light on his aims in acquiring & organising them. Also included is the first complete publication of the earliest life of Sloane by Thomas Birch based on personal interviews.
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This absorbing & liberally illustrated book tells in a light-hearted way the story of the origins of Aston Fields & the Victorian development of the eastern side of Bromsgrove. It all started with the coming of the railway
- before then there was nothing but a narrow winding lane fields & half a dozen houses. The book tells the history of the new roads & some of the people who lived in them. It covers the wheeling & dealing over land the fierce controversies in Bromsgrove town over the new road to the station & the rows about gas lighting water & proper drains while also describing industries of importance to the towns economy
- the Wagon Works the clothing factory & Bromsgrove Guild.A member of the Victorian Society for many years Jennie Mc Gregor-Smith is Caseworker for the Bromsgrove District. Stimulated by the loss of the Almshouses in Stratford Road she was an instigator in the founding of The Bromsgrove Society in 1980. This is her second book on local history & she has also written a study of John Cotton the Victorian Bromsgrove architect. She has been involved for thirty years in the promotion of classical music in the town & was a prime mover in the campaign for Artrix Bromsgroves arts centre.

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A landmark now classic study of the rich cinematic history of the Weimar Republic From Caligari to Hitler" was first published by Princeton University Press in 1947. Siegfried Kracauer
- a prominent German film critic & member of Walter Benjamins & Theodor Adornos intellectual circle
- broke new ground in exploring the connections between film aesthetics the prevailing psychological state of Germans in the Weimar era & the evolving social & political reality of the time. Kracauers pioneering book which examines German history from 1921 to 1933 in light of such movies as " The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" "M" " Metropolis" & " The Blue Angel" has never gone out of print. Now over half a century after its first appearance this beautifully designed & entirely new edition reintroduces Kracauer for the twenty-first century. Film scholar Leonardo Quaresima places Kracauer in context in a critical introduction & updates the book further with a new bibliography index & list of inaccuracies that crept into the first edition. This volume is a must-have for the film historian film theorist or cinema enthusiast. In " From Caligari to Hitler" Siegfried Kracauer
- the German-born writer & film critic who shared many ideas & interests with his friend Walter Benjamin
- made a startling (and still controversial) claim: films as a popular art provide insight into the unconscious motivations & fantasies of a nation. In films of the 1920s such as " The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" "M" " Metropolis" & " The Blue Angel" he traced recurring visual & narrative tropes that expressed he argued a fear of chaos & a desire for order even at the price of authoritarian rule. The book has become an undisputed classic of film historiography laying the foundations for the serious study of film. In " From Caligari to Hitler" Siegfried Kracauer made a startling (and still controversial) claim: films as a popular art provide insight into the unconscious motivations & fantasies of a nation. In films of the 1920s he traced recurring visual & narrative tropes that expressed he argued a fear of chaos & a desire for order even at the price of authoritarian rule. The book has become an undisputed classic of film historiography laying the foundations for the serious study of film. Kracauer was an important film critic in Weimar Germany. A Jew he escaped the rise of Nazism fleeing to Paris in 1933. Later in anguish after Benjamins suicide he made his way to New York where he remained until his death in 1966. He wrote From Caligari to Hitler while working as a "special assistant" to the curator of the Museum of Modern Arts film division. He was also on the editorial board of " Bollingen Series". Despite many critiques of its attempt to link movies to historical outcomes " From Caligari to Hitler" remains Kracauers best-known & most influential book & a seminal work in the study of film. Princeton published a revised edition of his " Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality" in 1997."



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From Christmas to Eternity When consultant Andy Gallagher temporarily loses his ability to speak it puts even more strain on his marriage to GP Lucy. But as the first snowflakes fall Andy realises whats important: winning back his wife. Only hes lost without words
- & he will need a Christmas miracle to convince Lucy of how he really feels... Her Little Spanish Secret Kat Richardson has never forgotten sexy Spanish surgeon Miguel or the night they had four years ago after which he left without trace. How could she when their little son is his mirror image? Now in Seville they meet again. Passion simmers...but Kat has news for Miguel that will shift their relationship to a whole new level!
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As Britains most successful & high profile make-up artist for the past 15 years Gary Cockerill has glossed the lips curled the lashes & shared the secrets of the famous & fabulous. With his unique style of super-sexy uber-glamorous make-up Gary has been responsible for helping to launch the careers & keep the secrets of a host of famous names including his best friend Katie Price. But behind the glitz & glamour is a heart-warming & at times hilarious story of how a former Yorkshire coal miner with no training or contacts fought his way up to become the celebrity worlds make-up artist of choice. In From Coal Dust to Stardust Gary reveals how a job spray-painting the faces of shop mannequins in a grimy West London factory led him to America & a hair-raising stint working with the superstars of the adult film industry. He explains how he landed his first celebrity client & within a few years was back in Los Angeles again only this time working with true Hollywood movie legends. Today with a star-studded client list that reads like a copy of Vanity Fair magazine Gary has become a loyal friend & confidante to many of his regular clients. In his role at the heart of the celebrity circus he reveals what it was like to have a ringside seat for some of the most notorious tabloid scandals of the Noughties. Running alongside Garys rise to fame is his candid & moving account of coming to terms with his sexuality & meeting his first boyfriend
- now husband Phil Turner
- while in the middle of planning a wedding to his glamour model fiancee Tracey. He also lays bare his own struggles with shopping addiction his dabbles with drugs & how his newfound celebrity lifestyle threatened to spiral out of control & destroy everything he had worked for. Garys fairytale journey from the mines of Doncaster to the VIP rooms of London & LA is a moving & funny tale in the mould of Billy Elliot
- if that is Billy ended up pole-dancing in a strip joint at the start of Act Two. Entertainingly gossipy but never bitchy or cruel Coal Dust to Stardust will be a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary celebrity culture.


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