Autumn 2015 - Reaktion Books

Transcription

Reaktion_Catalogue_Autumn 15_cover_Layout 1 copy 19/03/2015 18:09 Page 1
reaktion books
new titles • a utumn/winter 2015
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TRADE INFORMATION
This year at Reaktion Books we are happy to be celebrating 30 years as a vibrant,
independent publisher. Reaktion established its reputation as an innovative
publisher of art, architecture and design books. In recent years our list has grown
to encompass essential books in popular science, food history, natural history,
film, music, history, philosophy and politics. We now publish around 80 new titles
each year, while keeping available an outstanding backlist of about 600 titles for
readers to explore.
Reaktion has developed and published a number of groundbreaking book
series, including Animal, which are short natural and cultural histories of individual
animals; Edible, global histories of a particular food, drink or ingredient; and
Critical Lives, concise critical biographies of important cultural figures.
Recent books of note from Reaktion include Falcon, the debut book by
Costa Book Awards and Samuel Johnson Prize winner Helen Macdonald, Galaxy:
Mapping the Cosmos by James Geach, Kimono: A Modern History by Terry Satsuki
Milhaupt and The Modern Art Cookbook by Mary Ann Caws.
In 2015 we have a wealth of exciting new books in our programme: Gretchen
E. Henderson’s fascinating Ugliness: A Cultural History, On Photography by Walter
Benjamin, which features key works by this influential critic, freshly translated and
introduced by Esther Leslie, and Owen Hopkins’s superb new study of a master
architect, From the Shadows: The Architecture and Afterlife of Nicholas Hawksmoor,
among many others.
We are looking forward to meeting, developing and publishing outstanding
new authors and, most importantly, reaching many new readers over Reaktion’s
next 30 years.
Reaktion_Catalogue_Autumn 15_Reaktion catalogue Autumn 15 23/03/2015 11:48 Page 1
Ugliness
A Cultural History
GRETCHEN E. HENDERSON
‘Ugliness is in the eye of the beholder – or is it?
Gretchen Henderson’s book . . . asks this central
question and answers it in an engaging and
exciting way. Accessible and amusing, you need
to read it to find out whether ugliness is only a
cultural or a brain construct!’ – Sander L. Gilman,
Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and
Sciences and Professor of Psychiatry, Emory
University, and author of Illness and Image,
Sexuality: An Illustrated History and Smoke:
A Global History of Smoking
‘Ugly as sin’, ‘ugly duckling’, ‘rear its ugly
head’. The word ‘ugly’ is used freely, yet it
is a loaded term: from the simply plain and
unsightly to the repulsive and even offensive,
definitions slide all over the place. Hovering
around ‘feared and dreaded’, ugliness both
repels and fascinates. But the concept of
ugliness has a long lineage that has haunted
our cultural imagination.
In this riveting book, Gretchen E.
Henderson explores perceptions of ugliness
through history, from ancient Roman feasts
to medieval grotesque gargoyles, from Mary
Shelley’s monster cobbled from corpses to the
Nazi Exhibition of Degenerate Art. Covering
literature, art, music and even Uglydolls,
Henderson reveals how ugliness has long
posed a challenge to aesthetics and taste.
Henderson digs into the muck of ugliness,
moving beyond the mere opposition to
beauty, and emerges with more than a
selection of fascinating tidbits. Following
ugly bodies and dismantling ugly senses
across periods and continents, Ugliness:
A Cultural History draws on a wealth of
fields to cross cultures and times, delineating
the changing map of ugliness as it charges the
public imagination. Illustrated with a range
of artefacts, this book offers a refreshing
perspective that moves beyond the surface
to ask what ‘ugly’ truly is, even as its meaning
continues to shift. gretchen e. henderson is a Lecturer in
English at Georgetown University, Affiliated
Scholar in Art History at Kenyon College and
recipient of a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
in the Humanities from mit. She also is a
novelist and poet; her recent books include
The House Enters the Street (2012) and Galerie
de Difformité (2011).
October 2015
Hardback
Hardback/Paperback
60
illustrations
000 1
978
illustrations
78023 524 0
eBook 978 1 78023 560 8
Publication
History
Date
Book Shop
216 ×Category
138 mm
000 × 000
224mm
pp
£16.99
000 pp
1
Zombies
A Cultural History
ROGER LUCKHURST
‘Roger Luckhurst’s wide-ranging history of this cult
phenomenon is a richly detailed and eminently
readable story of the different shapes the complex,
colonially driven monster takes in its century-long
journey through the imperial American sub-zeitgeist
– including its surprising global resurrection in
the new millennium. Everyone from Zora Neale
Hurston and Frantz Fanon to 1950s pulp comics,
esoteric space scientists and Robert Kirkman had
a hand in fashioning the imaginary creature we
know today as the zombie.’
– Victoria Nelson, author of Gothicka and The Secret
Life of Puppets
The zombie has shuffled with dead-eyed,
remorseless menace from its beginnings in
obscure folklore and primitive superstition
to become the dominant image of the undead
today. In contemporary visions of global
apocalypse, such as the films 28 Days Later,
I Am Legend and World War Z and the phenomenally successful tv series The Walking
Dead, the zombie has reached its apotheosis.
Zombies have infected the cinema of nearly
every nation, from France to Australia,
Argentina and Brazil to China and Japan.
This absorbing history tracks zombies
from their emergence in nineteenth-century
writings about the Caribbean, through
their slow transmission and mutation into
the popular pulp fictions of America in the
1920s and ’30s, to the arrival of the cinematic
zombie, and reveals how after 1945 the
walking dead swarmed into comics, pulp
novels, B-movie cinema, horror fiction and
video games.
2
Roger Luckhurst sifts materials from
anthropology, folklore, travel writing,
colonial histories, long-forgotten pulp
literature, B-movies, medical history and
cultural theory to give a definitive short
introduction to the zombie, exploring the
manifold meanings of this compelling,
slow-moving yet relentless monster.
roger luckhurst is Professor of Modern
Literature at Birkbeck, University of London.
He has written and edited many books
on film, horror, science fiction and gothic
literature.
August 2015
Hardback
57 illustrations
978 1 78023 528 8
eBook 978 1 78023 564 6
History
216 × 138 mm
176 pp
£16
Ghosts
A Haunted History
LISA MORTON
Praise for Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween:
‘If you want to know anything at all about the
subject, you ought to find it in Trick or Treat.’
– Susan Hill, The Times
‘Well-written and illustrated, informative and
entertaining.’ – Fortean Times
In the supernatural history of the world there
are few things more common than the belief
in ghosts. From the earliest recorded writings
such as the Epic of Gilgamesh to twenty-firstcentury ghost-hunting tv shows, ghosts have
been part of almost every time and every
culture . . . and yet there’s very little evidence
to support their existence.
Ghosts: A Haunted History is a historical
and global exploration of these mysterious
apparitions. It asks: What exactly is a ghost?
Are poltergeists, wraiths and revenants
technically ghosts? How does ‘ghost’ relate to
‘soul’? And how many different kinds of ghost
are there? It visits the spirits of the classical
world, including the Egyptian five-part soul
and the first haunted-house comedy play,
Mostellaria by Plautus (254–184 bce). We
encounter the frightening phantoms of the
Middle Ages – which might incinerate priests
or devour children – and the nineteenthcentury rise of Spiritualism, essentially
a religion devoted to ghosts. Ghosts are
everywhere: from India’s bhūta to the Hungry
Ghost Festival in China and Mexico’s La
Llorona legend, as well as the Bell Witch of
the American South and ‘the most haunted
house in England’, Borley Rectory.
Ghosts also delves into the history of the
spirit on page and screen. How did Horace
Walpole’s pioneering Gothic novel The Castle
of Otranto of 1764 lead to the 2007 hit film
Paranormal Activity? Classic ghost tales, from
Ann Radcliffe’s works to the chilling short
stories of M. R. James and Stephen King’s
The Shining, reveal how the real meaning
of ghosts has shifted over the centuries.
Wide-ranging, informative and featuring
60 chilling, unearthly images, this book
will appeal to the very wide audience for
the supernatural.
lisa morton is the author of Trick or Treat:
A History of Halloween (Reaktion, 2012) and
winner of the Bram Stoker Award in 2012
for the same title.
September 2015
Hardback
59 illustrations, 32 in colour
978 1 78023 517 2
eBook 978 1 78023 537 0
History
216 × 138 mm
200 pp
£16
3
Lewis Carroll
Photography on the Move
LINDSAY SMITH
As Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland celebrates
its 150th birthday, Lewis Carroll remains one
of Victorian culture’s most prominent and
compelling figures. Few readers, however,
have had the chance to explore the extent
of Carroll’s passion for photography, a new
technology that was gaining popularity
during his lifetime. Lewis Carroll: Photography
on the Move follows the journey of Carroll’s
photography in tandem with his writing.
Beginning in the glass studio Carroll
had built above his college rooms at Christ
Church, Oxford, this book traces his
fascination for photographs through his
visits to London theatres, his annual trips
to the seaside town of Eastbourne and his
extraordinary excursion to Russia in 1867.
Many of the preoccupations that make
Carroll’s writing so remarkable are also
present in his photography, particularly his
interest in the boundless imaginations of
children. Carroll was also an avid collector of
photographs and, on occasion, commissioned
professional photographers to set up studio
sittings. Photography, a medium for which
Carroll is not primarily known, remained
a lifelong attachment for him.
This engaging and beautifully illustrated
book reveals an unseen side of the renowned
writer. It examines nineteenth-century visual
and literary culture in accessible prose, giving
a valuable and cogent account of Carroll’s
visual and literary career.
lindsay smith is Professor of English at
the University of Sussex and co-director of
its Centre for the Visual. Her books include
Pre-Raphaelitism: Poetry and Painting (2013),
The Politics of Focus: Women, Children and
Nineteenth-century Photography (1998)
and Victorian Photography, Painting
and Poetry (1995).
October 2015
Hardback
978 1 78023 519 6
4
eBook 978 1 78023 545 5
Photography
234 × 168 mm
336 pp
£25
House Numbers
Pictures of a Forgotten History
ANTON TANTNER
‘Sherlock Holmes famously observed that small
details are often valuable clues to something larger.
In similar fashion Anton Tantner, a historical
sleuth, shows that the history of house numbers
sheds light on the Enlightenment as well as on
the rise of the surveillance state.’
– Peter Burke, Emeritus Professor of Cultural
History, University of Cambridge
House numbers are small things that appear
quietly on the walls, gates and porches of our
homes and places of work. They seem to have
come from nowhere and are now taken for
granted in everyday life. But house numbers
have their own history – one that is retrieved,
assembled and presented here, for the first
time, in vivid images from around the world. House numbers started their lives in a grey
area between the military, the tax authorities
and early police forces. Anton Tantner’s
engaging, intriguingly quirky book is a
chronicle of the house number, from its
introduction in European towns in the
eighteenth century through the spread of the
numbering system in the nineteenth century
to its global adoption today. It also reveals
that there was often opposition to this
convention – those living at their allotted
addresses have not always been too happy
about their houses being given numbers.
House Numbers is full of original research
and is extensively illustrated, with photographs showing historic house numbers
and addresses, from the low – Nought,
Strand-on-the-Green in London – to the
high: 1819 Ruston, Louisiana. Its narrative
will alter the way you walk around a city, as
these seemingly minor, insignificant aspects
of our houses and streets become links to
a broad and fascinating history.
anton tantner is a historian at the
University of Vienna and the author
of many books.
October 2015
Hardback
History
200 × 120 mm
128 colour illustrations
128 pp
978 1 78023 518 9
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 539 4
5
NEW IN PAPERBACK
Christmas
The Sacred to Santa
TARA MOORE
‘Christmas: The Sacred to Santa [is] vast in scale . . .
well referenced and providing plenty of fruitful
channels for further investigation.’ – The Tablet
‘An informative and intriguing page-turner. If there
is anything to be known about Christmas, you will
find it here.’ – Catholic San Francisco
6
Black Friday. The ‘War on Christmas’. Miracle
on 34th Street and Elf. From shopping malls to
bbc News and Hollywood film, Christmas no
longer solely celebrates the birth of Christ.
Christmas: The Sacred to Santa considers the
holiday in its global context, journeying from
its historical origins to its modern incarnation
as a global commercial event and stopping
along the way to look at the controversies
and traditions of the celebratory day.
Delving into the long story of this unifying
but also divisive holiday, Tara Moore describes
the evolution of Christmas and the deep
traditions that bind a culture to its version
of it. She probes the debates that have long
accompanied the season – from questions
of the actual date of Christ’s birth to frictions
between the sacred and the secular – and
discusses the characters associated with the
holiday’s celebration, including St Nicholas,
the Magi, Scrooge and Krampus. She also
explores how customs such as Christmas
trees, feasting and gift-giving first emerged
and became central facets of Christmas, while
also examining how it has been portrayed in
culture – from the literary works of Charles
Dickens to the yearly bout of holiday films,
television specials, traditional carols and pop
tracks. Ultimately, Moore reveals, Christmas’s
longevity has depended on its ability to evolve.
Packed with illustrations, Christmas is a
fascinating look at the holiday we only think
we know.
tara moore teaches on the writing
programme at Penn State York, Pennsylvania,
and celebrates Christmas in central
Pennsylvania.
September 2015
History
New in paperback
216 × 138 mm
264 pp
978 1 78023 514 1
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 387 1
NEW IN PAPERBACK
Galaxy
Mapping the Cosmos
JAMES GEACH
‘Book of the Month . . . Galaxy: Mapping the Cosmos
is a beautifully illustrated exploration of the
Universe beyond the Milky Way, and the mysteries
and wonders of extragalactic astronomy. Geach is
ideally placed to be our guide on this journey –
a researcher in the fast-changing field of galaxy
evolution, he displays both breadth and depth
of knowledge, happily matched by a talent for
engaging, nontechnical prose and an eye for a
simile. His work with some of the biggest and most
advanced of modern telescopes also provides the
vicarious pleasure of some armchair astronomical
tourism . . . An enthralling, detailed and beautiful
look at one of the most challenging and exciting
areas of modern astronomy, and a great addition
to any enthusiast’s library.’ – Sky at Night Magazine
‘Astrophysicist Geach goes an order of magnitude
further than the usual popular astronomy title –
those full of breathtaking images, but little in the
way of context – by giving readers the fascinating
stories revealed by those images: how galaxies are
created, how they evolve, and what they tell us
about our universe. The sheer variety is stunning
. . . A winner on every level.’ – Publishers Weekly
‘The night sky is a landscape that has captured
the imaginations of millions. Today, we’re learning
more about the Universe than ever, and James
Geach is at the forefront of the quest to find out
more . . . Geach explains complicated ideas in
modern astronomy so that they are understandable by anyone with a basic grasp of physics. An
excellent guide to a world many of us never get
to see, both on and off this planet.’ – Focus
‘Dr Geach brings his personal experience to the fore
in describing the latest discoveries in this rapidly
developing field of cosmology and galaxy evolution
. . . I highly recommend this book for those
wanting to share in the excitement of modern
astronomy.’ – Prof. Richard Ellis frs, California
Institute of Technology
james geach is a professional astronomer in
the field of galaxy formation and evolution
and a Royal Society University Research
Fellow at the Centre for Astrophysics
Research at the University of Hertfordshire.
September 2015
Popular Science
New in paperback
250 × 190 mm
978 1 78023 516 5
eBook 978 1 78023 396 3
272 pp
£15
7
REVERB
Neil Young
American Traveller
MARTIN HALLIWELL
8
When Neil Young left his native Canada
in 1966 to move to California, his journey
sparked a leap in musical artistry that would
come to resonate around North America. His
fascination with American locations – from
the Santa Monica Mountains to the Deep
South – profoundly influenced his eclectic
musical style and helped to shape the story
of his generation.
Neil Young: American Traveller shows
how place looms large in Young’s songs:
Los Angeles is portrayed as the home of
uptight business and lost innocence, while
San Francisco is seen as the retreat Young
needed from the excesses of the music
industry. These locations helped craft the
singer-songwriter’s distinct style, which led
to his popularity as a solo artist and as a
member of Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse
and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Moving from the Canadian prairies to
Young’s adopted Pacific home, Halliwell
explores how place and travel affected one of
North America’s most prolific recording artists
of all time. Alongside discussion of Bob Dylan,
Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, the Grateful
Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Devo, Pearl Jam
and other fellow travellers, he considers how
Young’s personal journeys are entwined with
a powerful feel for the American landscape.
The book spans Young’s career as a singersongwriter from his musical collaborations
to his film projects, recent memoirs and his
interest in technologies new and old.
Neil Young: American Traveller will appeal
to the many fans of this iconic, challenging
and constantly changing musician.
martin halliwell is Professor of American
Studies at the University of Leicester. He is
the author and editor of ten books, including
Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the
1960s (with Paul Hegarty, 2011) and American
Thought and Culture in the 21st Century (with
Catherine Morley, 2008).
September 2015
Paperback
Music
210 × 148 mm
26 illustrations
224 pp
978 1 78023 531 8
£14.95
eBook 978 1 78023 549 3
REVERB
Jimi Hendrix
Soundscapes
MARIE-PAULE MACDONALD
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes
Jimi Hendrix as ‘arguably the greatest
instrumentalist in the history of rock music’.
He played at a time when electric amplification
extended the scope of the instrument to
three-dimensional, urban space. Bob Dylan
theorized that Hendrix found new spaces
in his songs.
Jimi Hendrix: Soundscapes shows how
Hendrix created music in particular places
– from the California coast to New York
City, his beginnings in Seattle and his end
in London. Marie-Paule Macdonald shows
Hendrix to be a city-dweller, nighthawk
and wanderer who favoured the modest
surroundings of ordinary buildings and
public places and who loved to stumble
upon seedy basement bars and intimate
clubs – to both visit and perform in. She
explores how the rumble, uproar, babble
and discord of the city inspired and became
part of Hendrix’s powerful repertoire, and
how he commissioned an architect and a
sound engineer to create an urban recording
studio to capture reverberation, bounce,
sustain and echo.
Hendrix led a collective musical revolution
and performed in innovative, ad-hoc spaces:
open-air festivals, inexpensive under-used
music halls, dilapidated psychedelic ballrooms
and any other reverberant spaces he could find.
Jimi Hendrix: Soundscapes offers fascinating
new insight into Hendrix’s resounding talent
and the way he exploited the physical places
and noise around him to create his distinct,
innovative sound.
marie-paule macdonald is a professor
of architectural and urban design at the
University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Her previous books include Rockspaces
(2000) and Wild in the Streets: The Sixties (in
collaboration with Dan Graham, 1994).
September 2015
Paperback
Music
210 × 148 mm
35 illustrations
224 pp
978 1 78023 530 1
£14.95
eBook 978 1 78023 542 4
9
REVERB
Easy Riders, Rolling Stones
On the Road in America,
from Delta Blues to ’70s Rock
JOHN SCANLAN
Praise for Van Halen: Exuberant California,
Zen Rock’n’roll:
‘Scanlan takes you through the journey of Van
Halen, via various in-depth musings of a social
and historical persuasion that, the author suggests,
uncover more potent truths than their regularly
touted musical inspirations. It’s an engaging way
of reading up on the ins and outs of “California
Zen”, romanticism, and the evolving ’60s–’80s
Hollywood music scene . . . a refreshing history
lesson [by] a very articulate and knowledgeable
writer.’ – Classic Rock
10
Easy Riders, Rolling Stones delves into the
history of twentieth-century American
popular music to explore the emergence of
‘road music’. This music – blues, R&B and
rock – took shape at pivotal moments in this
history, made by artists and performers who
were, in various ways, seekers of freedom.
Whether journeying across the country,
breaking free from real or imaginary confines
or in the throes of self-invention, they incorporated their experiences into scores of songs
about travel and movement, and created a
new kind of road culture.
Starting with the Mississippi Delta blues
and tracking the emblematic highways of road
music and the life of movement it represented,
John Scanlan identifies ‘the road’ as the key
to an uncompromising existence and an
inspiration for musicians such as Jim Morrison
and Bob Dylan. These artists also drew
stimulus from the Beat movement, which
was equally enthralled with the possibilities
of travel. Quintessentially American ideas
about freedom and travel would also greatly
influence a generation of English bands,
spearheaded by The Rolling Stones and Led
Zeppelin, who found their spiritual home in
the u.s. and glimpsed the possibility of a new
kind of existence: on the road.
This rich account will appeal to both road
music fans and scholars who want to ‘head
out on the highway’.
john scanlan is Senior Lecturer in
Sociology and Cultural Studies at
Manchester Metropolitan University
and author of Memory: Encounters with
the Strange and the Familiar (2013), Van Halen:
Exuberant California, Zen Rock’n’roll (2012)
and On Garbage (2004), all published by
Reaktion.
September 2015
Paperback
Music
210 × 148 mm
48 illustrations
224 pp
978 1 78023 529 5
£14.95
eBook 978 1 78023 551 6
Yosemite
KATE NEARPASS OGDEN
In 1851 a small militia trekked through
California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains and
discovered a site so spectacular that, over
the succeeding century and a half, many
millions followed in order to experience the
splendour of Yosemite. October 2015 will see
the 125th anniversary of the establishment
of Yosemite National Park. In Yosemite, Kate
Nearpass Ogden provides a comprehensive
and unique scientific and cultural history
of this remarkable area of natural beauty,
exploring everything from its geological
origins to its nineteenth-century discovery
and the creation of the magnificent park that
it is today.
Known for its unusual rock formations,
breath-taking vistas and variety of waterfalls,
Yosemite is visited by nearly 4 million people
each year. The area was actually named due
to a misunderstanding: although the valley
was known to its native Miwok inhabitants
as Ahwahnee (‘place like a gaping mouth’),
Anglo-American visitors mistook another
Miwok phrase, yosemite (‘there are killers
among them’), for the great valley’s name.
Its history features a cohort of colourful
characters, including Scottish-born naturalist
John Muir, early inn-keeper James Mason
Hutchings and mountain man and park
guardian Galen Rowell. Today, however,
the valley most commonly hosts an array
of painters, photographers, hikers, campers
and tourists from across America and around
the world.
Yosemite traces the park’s formation,
exploration, exploitation and preservation.
Ranging through the natural and human
forces that have sculpted the valley itself,
the book also takes in the art it has inspired.
Rich in detail as well as intriguing anecdotes,
Ogden’s history of California’s ‘incomparable
valley’ is beautifully illustrated with more than
100 fine images, from nineteenth-century
artworks and engravings to historical and
modern colour photographs.
kate nearpass ogden is Professor of Art
History at Richard Stockton College of New
Jersey. Her essays on the artists of Yosemite
Valley have appeared in Yosemite: Art of an
American Icon (2006) and Yosemite and
Sequoia: A Century of California National
Parks (1993).
October 2015
Hardback
978 1 78023 527 1
eBook 978 1 78023 563 9
Travel
210 × 148 mm
200 pp
£20
11
From the Shadows
The Architecture and Afterlife
of Nicholas Hawksmoor
OWEN HOPKINS
‘A valuable new chart of Hawksmoor’s potent and
mysterious creations. Its originality lies in the way
Owen Hopkins traces the influence of the great
Baroque architect on our present moment. Written
with the verve of an enthusiast and the rigour of a
scholar.’ – Iain Sinclair, author of London Orbital,
Lights Out for the Territory, American Smoke and
Lud Heat.
12
Nicholas Hawksmoor (1662–1736) is
considered one of Britain’s greatest architects.
He was involved in the grandest architectural
projects of his age and today is best known for
his London churches – six idiosyncratic edifices
of white Portland stone that remain standing
today, proud and tall in the otherwise radically
changed cityscape. Until comparatively
recently, however, Hawksmoor was thought
to be, at best, a second-rate talent: merely Sir
Christopher Wren’s slightly odd apprentice,
or the practically minded assistant to Sir
John Vanbrugh. This book brings to life the
dramatic story of Hawksmoor’s resurrection
from the margins of history.
Charting Hawksmoor’s career and the
decline of his reputation, Owen Hopkins offers
fresh interpretations of many of his famous
works – notably his three East End churches –
and shows how over their history Hawksmoor’s
buildings have been ignored, abused, altered,
recovered and celebrated. Hopkins also charts
how, as Hawksmoor returned to prominence
during the twentieth century, his work caught
the eye of observers as diverse as T. S. Eliot,
James Stirling, Robert Venturi and, most
famously, Peter Ackroyd, whose novel
Hawksmoor (1985) popularized the mythical
association of his work with the occult.
Meanwhile, passionate campaigns were
mounted to save and restore Hawksmoor’s
churches, reflecting the strange hold his architecture can have over observers. There is surely
no other body of work in British architectural
history with the same capacity to intrigue and
inspire, perplex and provoke as Hawksmoor’s
has done for nearly three centuries.
owen hopkins is a writer, historian and
curator of architecture at the Royal Academy
of Arts where he is manager of the Architecture Programme. He is the author of
Reading Architecture: A Visual Lexicon (2012)
and Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide (2014)
and regularly leads a variety of walking tours
of London architecture.
November 2015
Hardback
978 1 78023 515 8
eBook 978 1 78023 536 3
Architecture
220 × 171 mm
304 pp
£25
The Last of the Light
About Twilight
PETER DAVIDSON
‘What an astonishing book this is: a cartography of
dusk, an illumination of twilight as it has found its
ways into the art, literature, dreams, moods and
metaphors of Europe and beyond. Beautiful and
subtle in its tracings, it combines memoir, memory,
place-writing and cultural history by degrees so
fine as to be imperceptible.’
– Robert Macfarlane, author of Landmarks, The Old
Ways: A Journey on Foot and Mountains of the Mind.
The Last of the Light is a meditation on twilight
in the Western arts and imagination, in
thought, painting and literature. We enter
a multifaceted twilight world, filled with
the gloom haunted by Romantic poets and
painters and the twilight lives of minority and
‘overshadowed’ communities. The melancholy
of smoky English autumn evenings is balanced
by the midnight sun of northern European
summers; the oppressive heat of August in
mid-twentieth-century Spain is ranged against
the shadowy grandeur of winter in London.
Peter Davidson touches on diverse literary
and artistic traditions as he considers the
borderlands of the light and the dark: the
‘invention of evening’ in Roman antiquity;
the science of the Victorian evening sky;
the urban twilights of Whistler, Poussin
and Tiepolo.
A meditative account of the atmospheric
and shadowy in art, literature and thought
by the author of The Idea of North, this
will appeal to all those who are interested
in ambiguous, penumbral zones in art,
philosophy and writing.
peter davidson has taught at the universities
of Aberdeen, Leiden and Warwick. He is the
author of a book of essays about northern
culture, Distance and Memory (2013),
a collection of verse, The Palace of Oblivion
(2008), and the cultural and aesthetic
history The Idea of North (Reaktion, 2005).
October 2015
Hardback
978 1 78023 510 3
eBook 978 1 78023 544 8
History
234 × 156 mm
208 pp
£20
13
NEW IN PAPERBACK
The Rise of the Vampire
ERIK BUTLER
‘Just to say the word “vampire” now is to make
some readers shudder, and not for the right
reasons. But reading a new study – Erik Butler’s
The Rise of the Vampire – we realise that what is
interesting isn’t just the vampires themselves
but why they appear in the first place . . . Butler
believes, amusingly, that if Twilight’s dark heart
was properly understood, it would be banned from
homes and schools everywhere. And he’s right. In
many unintended ways, the bloodless vampires on
offer to teenagers right now are the scariest of all;
maybe not in themselves but in what they say
about a world that sucks them up.’ – The Times
‘For those with a taste for the supernatural, this is
an excellent guidebook. Dracula probably would
have enjoyed it.’ – Washington Times
‘A masterful compendium of ideas.’ – New York
Journal of Books
14
Before Bella and Edward there were The Lost
Boys and the gang in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Before True Blood came Dark Shadows and
Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Before them
all there was the most famous vampire of all
time: Count Dracula, immortalized by Bram
Stoker in 1897. Whether characterized as
urbane aristocrats, animalistic monsters or
brooding teenagers, as creatures of the day
or of the night, vampires have captured the
popular imagination for centuries. Today
they are a worldwide phenomenon, featured
in everything from Jamaican reggae songs
to Japanese and Korean horror films.
Why have vampires gone viral? In The
Rise of the Vampire, Erik Butler explains our
enduring fascination with the undead by
examining folklore, literature, film, television,
journalism and music. Although vampires
evoke an age-old mystery, they also embody
the uncertainties of the modern world: the
superficial fulfilment of desires in a digital
age and the anonymity of life in the global
metropolis.
Whether you’re a fan of classic vampire
tales or prefer the recent additions to the canon,
The Rise of the Vampire is a fascinating look at
our collective obsession with the undead.
erik butler has written extensively on
European culture and film and taught
at Emory University. His books include
Metamorphoses of the Vampire in Literature
and Film (2011).
July 2015
New in paperback
17 illustrations
978 1 78023 532 5
eBook 978 1 78023 139 6
History
216 × 138 mm
178 pp
£10
NEW IN PAPERBACK
Trolls
An Unnatural History
JOHN LINDOW
‘Lindow writes with wit and warmth, but this is
also a learned and sometimes unsettling study
which brings to light some unexpected facets
of the troll phenomenon more generally.’
– Times Literary Supplement
‘[An] excellent overview of the history of trolls
. . . Trolls: An Unnatural History weighs in at only
144 pages, but never feels too brief . . . a coherent,
insightful and informed exploration of a fascinating subject that deserves a wider audience.’
– Fortean Times
Trolls lurk under bridges waiting to eat
children, threaten hobbits in Middle-earth
and invade the dungeons of Hogwarts. Often
they are depicted as stupid, slow and ugly
creatures, but they also appear as comforting
characters in some children’s stories and as
plastic dolls with bright, fuzzy hair. Today, the
name of this fantastic being from Scandinavia
has found a wider reach: it is the word used
for homeless people in California and slang
for the antagonizing and sometimes cruel
individuals on the Internet. But how did trolls
travel from folktales to the World Wide Web?
To explain why trolls still hold our interest,
John Lindow goes back to their first appearances in Scandinavian folklore, where they
were beings in nature living beside a preindustrial society of small-scale farming
and fishing. He explores reports of actual
encounters with trolls – meetings others found
plausible in spite of their better judgement
– and follows trolls’ natural transition from
legends to other domains in popular culture.
Trolls, Lindow argues, would not continue to
appeal to our imaginations today if they had
not made the jump to illustrations in Nordic
books and characters in Scandinavian
literature and drama. Lindow considers the
panoply of trolls that surround us – from the
Moomins, the Brothers Grimm and Three Billy
Goats Gruff to cartoons, fantasy novels and
social media – and their sometimes troubling
connotations in the contemporary world.
Covering Norwegian music and film and
even Yahoo Finance chat rooms, Trolls is a
fun and fascinating book about these strange
creatures.
john lindow is Professor of Scandinavian
at the University of California, Berkeley. His
books include Norse Mythology: A Guide to
Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs (2002).
August 2015
New in paperback
27 illustrations
978 1 78023 565 3
eBook 978 1 78023 330 7
History
216 × 138 mm
160 pp
£10
15
NEW IN PAPERBACK
A Brief History of Death
W. M. SPELLMAN
‘A Brief History of Death has a great deal to offer:
a historian-magpie’s collection of hundreds
of engaging topics that readers can dip into.’
– The Guardian
‘After the spate of near-death and out-of-the-body
experience books comes this refreshing step back
to examine the nature of the death experience
culturally, historically, psychologically and
personally . . . Recommended reading as an
antidote to modern life.’ – Fortean Times
16
As humans, death – its certainty, its
inevitability – consumes us. We make
it the subject of our literature, our art, our
philosophy and our religion. Our feelings
and attitudes towards our mortality and its
possible afterlives have evolved greatly from
the early days of mankind. Collecting these
views in this topical and instructive book,
W. M. Spellman considers death and dying
from every angle in the Western tradition,
exploring how humans understand and
come to terms with the end of life.
Using the work of archaeologists and
palaeoanthropologists, Spellman examines
how the interpretation of physical remains
gives us insight into prehistoric perspectives
on death. He traces how humans have died
over the centuries, both in the causes of
death and in the views of actions that lead to
death. He spotlights the great philosophical
and scientific traditions of the West, which
did not believe in an afterlife or see the
purpose in bereavement, while also casting
new light on the major religious beliefs that
emerged in the ancient world, particularly
the centuries-long development of Christianity.
He delves into three approaches to the meaning
of death – the negation of life, continuity in
another form, and agnosticism – from both
religious and secular-scientific perspectives.
Providing a deeper context for contemporary debates over end-of-life issues and the
tension between longevity and quality of life,
A Brief History of Death is an illuminating
look at the complex ways humans face death
and the dying.
w. m. spellman is Professor of History at
the University of North Carolina at Asheville
and author of Uncertain Identity: International
Migration since 1945 (2008) and Monarchies,
1000–2000 (2001), both published by
Reaktion.
July 2015
New in paperback
History
216 × 138 mm
256 pp
978 1 78023 504 2
eBook 978 1 78023 305 5
£12.95
NEW IN PAPERBACK
The Story of Black
JOHN HARVEY
‘A richly informative treat, with curiosities culled
from a very wide range of sources, and written with
unostentatious elegance . . . [Harvey] casts his net
wide, taking his story as far back as prehistory and
across areas of interest that seldom come together
within the same covers: art history, religion
(particularly Christianity and Islam), anthropology,
literature, fashion, heraldry, geology and politics
. . . This is a book to instruct and delight.’
– Literary Review
‘A pacey tour de force for any reader with little or
no previous knowledge of colour, fashion, religion,
anthropology or art . . . an extremely readable work,
which is no mean feat in view of the scope and
density of the subject matter and the wealth
of information provided . . . The Story of Black
serves as an excellent, readable and even joyful
general introduction to a complex topic.’
– Journal of Visual Studies
‘With 100 fine illustrations, this is an enlightening
(literally!) book.’ – Diplomat
As a colour, black comes in no other shades:
it is a single hue with no variation. But what
it symbolizes envelops the entire spectrum
of meaning – good and bad. The Story of Black
explores the ambiguous relationship the
world’s cultures have had with this colour,
examining how black has been used as
a tool and a metaphor in a plethora of
startling ways.
John Harvey looks at the figurative
meanings of black, its problematic association
with race, its innate austerity and its
popularity in clothing for everyone from
monarchs to goths, showing how a single
colour at once embodies death, evil and
glamour. He also looks at how artists and
designers have applied the colour, from cave
paintings to Caravaggio to Rothko. The Story
of Black unearths the secret behind black’s
continuing power to compel and divide us.
john harvey is a novelist and critic. He
taught in the English Faculty at the University
of Cambridge from 1974 and in 2000 became
University Reader in Literature and Visual
Culture. He is a Doctor of Letters of
Cambridge University, a Life Fellow of
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the
author of Men in Black (Reaktion, 1997).
July 2015
New in paperback
978 1 78023 511 0
eBook 978 1 78023 143 3
Art/History
234 × 156 mm
336 pp
£15
17
The Great American Speech
Words and Monuments
STEPHEN FENDER
Praise for 50 Facts You Need to Know: usa:
A Tour through the Real America:
‘This thoughtful tour is a rich catalogue of what
makes up the “world’s most powerful but least
understood nation”.’ – New Statesman
18
Everyone knows the great American Dream:
that America is the land of free enterprise,
offering men and women without inherited
advantages the chance to get ahead through
hard work and self-reliance. Yet The Great
American Speech offers an alternative vision,
one enshrined in the country’s most
memorable speeches, which have become
monuments in its national memory and
literally in the nation’s capital. This other
American dream is not about competition
or getting ahead, but instead argues for
equality and cooperation, echoing the
country’s founding documents.
Beginning with two contrasting visions
set out by early settlers in the New World,
Stephen Fender goes on to explore how this
other dream has been kept alive in public
speeches to live audiences, from inaugural
addresses by early presidents such as John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson, through
Abraham Lincoln’s arguments – both logical
and passionate – for the Union, and on to
mass appeals for wider understanding by John
F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Fender
suggests that these opposing visions of the
country’s moral purpose are fundamentally
two free-standing visions of national identity.
He considers the ‘great American speech’
in popular culture, illustrating how it pops up
not just where you might expect it, such as
in cinema’s courtrooms, but in adventure
films, thrillers and political melodramas as
well, where in the midst of conflict someone
often speaks up for the relative normality
of a more egalitarian, sharing society. The
Great American Speech is a contemplative
and fascinating look at a hidden strand
of American national identity.
stephen fender is Honorary Professor of
English at University College London. His
previous books include 50 Facts that should
Change the usa and 50 Facts You Need to
Know: usa: A Tour through the Real America
(both 2008).
July 2015
History
Hardback
200 × 120 mm
160 pp
978 1 78023 521 9
eBook 978 1 78023 548 6
£15
On Photography
WALTER BENJAMIN
Edited and translated by Esther Leslie
Praise for Walter Benjamin, Critical Lives series:
‘A brilliant digest of Benjamin’s life . . . It draws
on a mass of texts, including his accounts of a
privileged Berlin upbringing and travel diaries.
[Leslie] presents a definitive portrait of Benjamin
the materialist, lingers on his obsession with
children’s books, and makes excellent use of
German sources to detail his movements and
finances.’ – The Independent
Walter Benjamin’s essay ‘A Short History of
Photography’ (1931) made bold statements
about photographic pioneers such as David
Octavius Hill and Nicéphore Niépce, and the
social and historical context of their work.
This first selection of Benjamin’s writings
on photography includes a new translation
of this influential essay as well as a range of
Benjamin’s other writings, both published
and unpublished, some of which are
translated into English for the first time here.
Esther Leslie’s introduction covers
Benjamin’s writing on early photographic
methods and aesthetics; his analysis of
the commercial studio photography of
the ‘decadent’ bourgeoisie; the use of
photographs in scientific research; and
other innovative photographic methods
such as the ‘auraless’ images of Eugène
Atget and the ‘new visions’ of August
Sander and Germaine Krull. Leslie discusses
Benjamin’s take on the evolution of photography into a modern form, the universal
fascination with the seemingly simple
postcard – an interest dating back to
Benjamin’s own childhood – as well as
the special relationship he found between
Paris and the photographic method.
As a notable philosopher, critic and
uniquely imaginative thinker, Benjamin’s
essays offer a fascinating critique of early
photography. With a substantial introduction,
contextualizing prefaces and comprehensive
glossaries, Esther Leslie guides the reader
through Benjamin’s multifaceted engagement
with the significance of photography.
esther leslie is Professor of Political
Aesthetics at Birkbeck, University of London.
She is the author of Synthetic Worlds: Nature,
Art and the Chemical Industry (Reaktion,
2005), Walter Benjamin (Reaktion, 2007)
and Hollywood Flatlands: Animation, Critical
Theory and the Avant-garde (2002).
September 2015
Paperback
Photography
200 × 120 mm
28 illustrations
128 pp
978 1 78023 525 7
£14.95
eBook 978 1 78023 561 5
19
CRITICAL LIVES
Albert Camus
EDWARD J. HUGHES
edward j. hughes is Professor of French at
Queen Mary University of London.
August 2015
Paperback
Biography
200 × 130 mm
29 illustrations
224 pp
978 1 78023 493 9
£11.99
One of France’s most high-profile writers
and a Nobel Prize-winner, Albert Camus
experienced both public adulation and
acrimonious rejection during his career,
which was cut short by a fatal car accident
in 1960. His novels The Outsider and The
Plague earned him a reputation as a writer
who captured the mood of the age.
Edward J. Hughes unravels the life of a
complex personality whose work and stance
were the subjects of intense interest. ‘I do
not guide anyone’, Camus pleaded in his
last interview, reinforcing the paradox of a
leading figure who in private wrestled with
the challenge of pursuing his craft as a writer
in an age of pressing ideological conflict.
eBook 978 1 78023 533 2
Igor Stravinsky
JONATHAN CROSS
jonathan cross is Professor of Musicology
at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Christ
Church, Oxford.
September 2015
Paperback
20
Biography
200 × 130 mm
30 illustrations
224 pp
978 1 78023 494 6
£11.99
eBook 978 1 78023 540 0
Igor Stravinsky was a celebrity composer
in an increasingly celebrity-obsessed age.
He was a true modern, a man of his time.
Born in Russia, Stravinsky spent most of
his long life in exile. While he swiftly became
a cosmopolitan figure, the exile’s sense of
distance, loss and nostalgia left a powerful
mark on his work.
Igor Stravinsky tells of a colourful life
lived against the backdrop of the twentieth
century’s wars and revolutions. Stravinsky’s
extraordinary music reflected and shaped
his own times, and resonates with audiences
even today.
CRITICAL LIVES
Roland Barthes
ANDY STAFFORD
‘Andy Stafford’s engaging biography sheds new
light on the complex interrelation of Barthes’
life and work, proposing striking and subtle
interpretations of a multifarious intellectual and
personal trajectory. Stafford succeeds excellently
in loosening Barthes from the grip of theoretical
ideologies . . . A major contribution to the
understanding of Barthes as a theorist and
as a writer.’ – Patrick Ffrench, Professor of
French Language and Literature, King’s College
London, and author of The Time of Theory:
A History of ‘Tel Quel’ (1960–1983), The Cut:
Reading Bataille’s ‘Histoire de l’oeil’ and
After Bataille: Sacrifice, Exposure, Community
Roland Barthes (1915–1980) is one of France’s
most important writers and theorists of the
second half of the twentieth century. His
volumes of essays have been translated
into many languages. His work is hugely
influential in the fields of semiotics,
structuralism and numerous areas of the
humanities. Yet Barthes’ career, hampered
by illness in early adulthood, was beset by a
large number of false starts. After the Second
World War, he started a career in the French
Diplomatic Corps, tried to become a sociologist and lexicologist and worked briefly
as a popular theatre activist; he was also a
keen amateur musician, painter, reluctant
Marxist, dilettante philosopher and editor.
Yet none of these activities defines Barthes;
even his academic career was highly
unorthodox and he has not always been
taken seriously. So how do we classify him?
Andy Stafford offers a clear-sighted,
readable account of Barthes’ work and life.
While he argues that Barthes may best be
categorized as a journalist, essayist and critic,
he emphasizes the social preoccupations in
Barthes’ writing: how Barthes continually
analysed the self and society. In doing so,
Stafford also provides a fascinating account
of the intellectual scene of post-war France.
This cogent introduction to a vital figure
will interest students and specialists alike.
andy stafford is Senior Lecturer in French
Studies at the University of Leeds. His books
include Roland Barthes, Phenomenon and
Myth: An Intellectual Biography (1998) and
Photo-texts: Contemporary French Writing
of the Photographic Image (2010).
August 2015
Paperback
Biography
200 × 130 mm
20 illustrations
224 pp
978 1 78023 495 3
£11.99
eBook 978 1 78023 553 0
21
EDIBLE
Doughnut
A Global History
HEATHER DELANCEY HUNWICK
heather delancey hunwick is a food
consultant and researcher. Born in Canada,
she now lives in Sydney, Australia.
September 2015
Hardback
Food and Drink
197 × 120 mm
176 pp
978 1 78023 498 4
£10.99
Doughnuts evoke many fond memories, yet
they also bear conflicting messages about
today’s consumer culture: beloved comfort
food for many, the devil’s fare for others.
Heather Delancey Hunwick’s Doughnut takes
the reader on a fascinating journey from
prehistory through the ancient world and
medieval Europe and into the New World,
following the food’s evolution from open
hearth to today’s branded favourites and
delectable artisanal creations. Meticulously
researched, full of intriguing perspectives
on its social impacts and complemented
by appealing recipes, this is a must-read
for lovers of food history everywhere.
eBook 978 1 78023 535 6
Water
A Global History
IAN MILLER
ian miller is a Wellcome Trust Research
Fellow at the Centre for the History of
Medicine, University of Ulster.
September 2015
Hardback
22
Food and Drink
197 × 120 mm
144 pp
978 1 78023 501 1
£10.99
eBook 978 1 78023 562 2
An informative and original exploration of
how we have consumed water throughout
history and our efforts to make it safe and
palatable. Ian Miller describes how water
was used for medicinal purposes and how
it became commercialized over the past
two centuries, leading to the bottled mineral
water widely available today. He also reminds
us how people still encounter problems
accessing clean drinking water.
Water is a valuable new account of a
substance that seems prosaic while you have
it, but the most precious thing in the world
when you do not.
EDIBLE
Sausage
A Global History
GARY ALLEN
A tasty, informative and witty account of
bangers and bratwurst from all cultures
and periods, easing our fears about ‘mystery
meats’ and introducing the reader to a host
of unusual treats from around the world.
This lively history includes many recipes,
both historic and original, and is superbly
illustrated with a wide range of international
examples, as well as antique posters and
advertisements, artworks and cartoons.
A virtual alphabet of sausages, from andouilles
to zampone, Sausage is sure to whet the
appetite of chorizo and bologna aficionados
and food scholars alike.
gary allen’s previous books include
Herbs: A Global History (Reaktion, 2012).
He lives in Kingston, New York.
September 2015
Hardback
Food and Drink
197 × 120 mm
160 pp
978 1 78023 500 4
£10.99
eBook 978 1 78023 555 4
Lamb
A Global History
BRIAN YARVIN
Lamb takes readers into the world of lamb
and is perfect for home cooks and food
enthusiasts alike. This global history ranges
from the first lamb meals in the Zagros
Mountains of Iraq and Iran, through the
banquets of Renaissance Italy, to the locavore
urban farmers of today. Lamb also explores
uses of the meat in dishes from China, India
and the Navajo Nation of North America, as
well as modern lamb and sheep husbandry.
Richly illustrated with images from around
the world, Lamb will appeal to all those who
appreciate the rich, luxurious taste of this
highly popular meat.
brian yarvin is a food photographer
and author who lives in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania.
September 2015
Hardback
Food and Drink
197 × 120 mm
128 pp
978 1 78023 499 1
£10.99
eBook 978 1 78023 543 1
23
ANIMAL
Beetle
ADAM DODD
adam dodd is contributing co-editor
of Animals on Display (2013). He lives
in Birkdale, Queensland, Australia.
November 2015
Paperback
Natural History
190 × 135 mm
224 pp
978 1 78023 488 5
£12.95
From ancient Egyptian deities to Nazi
automobiles, beetles have left an indelible
mark on human cultures around the world.
Comprising more than 350,000 species,
beetles are among the most prolific animals
on Earth, even if we rarely give them a second
thought. This book explores the world of the
beetle and its sometimes astounding and
bizarre connections with human beings.
Thoroughly illustrated and bursting with
historical detail, this cultural and natural
history of the beetle is sure to change the way
readers think about their relationship with
these ancient, enduringly captivating animals.
eBook 978 1 78023 534 9
Skunk
ALYCE L. MILLER
alyce l. miller is an award-winning author,
Professor of English at Indiana University, and
a family and animal rights pro bono lawyer.
November 2015
Paperback
24
Natural History
190 × 135 mm
224 pp
978 1 78023 490 8
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 557 8
Although the skunk generally waddles
through life in a peaceful and solitary way,
the animal is feared by humans because of
the pungent odour it emits when threatened,
and has been both demonized and venerated
throughout history. Skunk provides the first
cultural and natural history of this misfit
creature, from its importance in agriculture
and the ecosystem to its distinct role in
popular culture and myth.
An accessible and occasionally humorous
history, Skunk has much to say to both
specialists and admirers of these beautiful,
intriguing and distinctive animals.
ANIMAL
Swallow
ANGELA TURNER
The swallow is both a neighbour and a
traveller, known for nesting in outbuildings
and under the eaves of houses, migrating long
distances when winter comes and returning
to towns and villages as the harbinger of
spring. Swallows often seem to seek out
human company: barn swallows have taken
advantage of our buildings to make new
nesting sites and purple martins use garden
nest boxes. Swallow explores these familiar
and beloved birds with expert information
and analysis. Bringing together an intriguing
mixture of biology, mythology and legend,
this is a cultural and natural history that
will delight admirers of these popular birds.
angela turner is Managing Editor
of the journal Animal Behaviour.
She lives in Nottingham.
November 2015
Paperback
Natural History
190 × 135 mm
224 pp
978 1 78023 491 5
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 559 2
Seal
VICTORIA DICKENSON
Swimming alongside our boats and lolling
on sandy shores, seals have long interacted
with humans. Seal explores the history of
this creature that has piqued our interest
since ancient times and continues to haunt
our imagination. For centuries we have
hunted seals for their skin, oil and meat.
The seal hunt has become a focus of global
protest, and the white-furred baby seal
has evolved into one of the most powerful
symbols of animal welfare. Richly illustrated and accessibly written,
Seal offers an immersive view of a much-loved
creature that has been both our prey and our
companion.
victoria dickenson is a historian and
curator based in Toronto, Canada. She
is the author of Rabbit (Reaktion, 2013).
November 2015
Paperback
Natural History
190 × 135 mm
224 pp
978 1 78023 489 2
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 556 1
25
EARTH
Meteorite
Nature and Culture
MARIA GOLIA
maria golia is the author of Cairo: City of
Sand (2004) and Photography and Egypt (2009),
both published by Reaktion. She lives in Cairo.
October 2015
Paperback with flaps
Popular Science
210 × 148 mm
216 pp
978 1 78023 497 7
£14.95
Meteorite is a unique, richly illustrated cultural
history that surveys the place of meteoritic
phenomena in art, literature, myth, science
and popular culture. Scientists, scholars
and aficionados have scoured the skies and
combed the Earth’s most unforgiving reaches
for meteorites, contributing to a body of work
that situates our planet and ourselves within
the vastness of the universe.
Appealing to anyone interested in
interplanetary space, in the uncanny and
the marvellous, Maria Golia’s book offers
an accessible overview of what science has
learned from meteorites and explores their
power to reawaken that precious, yet nearforgotten human trait: the capacity for awe.
eBook 978 1 78023 547 9
Lightning
Nature and Culture
DEREK M. ELSOM
derek m. elsom is the author of Earth:
The Making, Shaping and Workings of a Planet
(2000) and Weather Explained (1997).
October 2015
Paperback with flaps
26
Popular Science
210 × 148 mm
240 pp
978 1 78023 496 0
£14.95
eBook 978 1 78023 546 2
Lightning explores the history of humanity’s
relationship with this natural phenomenon,
from the myths and legends of storm deities
and the magical charms used to protect
against lightning to in-depth studies of its
artistic representations and the state-of-theart lightning protection systems on aircraft,
ships and buildings. It looks at the stories of
those struck by lightning and asks the vital
question of what we can we do to lessen the
risk of being struck.
Illustrated with stunning images of
lightning displays, storm gods and goddesses
and depictions of lightning in art, this book
will appeal to all those interested in weather,
the environment and earth’s most extreme
forces of nature.
LOST CIVILIZATIONS
The Indus
Lost Civilizations
ANDREW ROBINSON
Praise for Earthquake: Nature and Culture:
‘An immensely readable book, packed with
scientific and literary detail.’ – Current World
Archaeology
‘Andrew Robinson tells an excellent and compelling
story . . . this is the sort of material that appeals to
all, including the layman.’ – Geography
When Alexander the Great’s army invaded
the valley of the Indus River in the fourth
century bc, it was wholly unaware that this
region of northwest India had once been the
centre of a civilization worthy of comparison
with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The
Indus civilization flourished for half a
millennium from about 2600 bce to 1900 bce,
when it mysteriously declined and eventually
vanished. It remained invisible for almost
4,000 years, until its ruins were discovered in
the 1920s by British and Indian archaeologists.
Today, after almost a century of excavation, it is
regarded as the beginning of Indian civilization
and possibly the origin of Hinduism.
More than 1,000 Indus settlements covered
at least 800,000 square kilometres of what is
now Pakistan and India: the most extensive
urban culture of its age, with a vigorous
maritime export trade to the Persian Gulf
and cities such as Ur. The two largest Indus
cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro – a unesco
World Heritage Site – boasted sophisticated
street planning and house drainage, including
the world’s first toilets, along with finely
crafted gemstone jewellery and an exquisite,
part-pictographic writing system carved on
seal stones that has defied numerous attempts
at deciphering. Astonishingly, there is no
evidence for armies or warfare.
The Indus is a fascinating look at the vital
legacy of the Indus within modern India and
an accessible introduction to this tantalizing
‘lost’ civilization.
andrew robinson is the author of 25
books on the arts and sciences, including
Earthquake: Nature and Culture (Reaktion,
2012), and writes for the science journals
The Lancet, Nature and New Scientist. He
has been a Visiting Fellow at the University
of Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal
Asiatic Society. He lives in London.
October 2015
Hardback
50 illustrations
978 1 78023 502 8
eBook 978 1 78023 541 7
History/Archaeology
216 × 138 mm
192 pp
£15
27
MODERN ARCHITECTURES IN HISTORY
28
Russia
Modern Architectures in History
RICHARD ANDERSON
From one of the largest empires in world
history to the dominant republic of the
Soviet Union and ultimately to the Russian
Federation as we know it today, this book
offers a comprehensive account of Russia’s
architectural production from the late
nineteenth century to the present, explaining
how architecture was both shaped by, and
a material manifestation of, Russia’s rapid
cultural, economic and social revolutions.
This book attends to the country’s complex
relationship to global architectural culture,
exploring Russia’s role as an epicentre of
architectural creativity in the 1920s with the
advent of Rationalism and Constructivism,
and as a key protagonist in the Cold War.
Challenging received interpretations of
modern architecture in Russia, Richard
Anderson shows how Russian architectural
institutions departed from the course of
modernism being developed in capitalist
nations, and how Russia made a lasting
yet little-known impact on territories
extending from the Middle East to Central
Asia and China.
Soviet Russia is at the core of this book.
Anderson brings the relationship between
architecture and socialism into focus through
detailed case studies that situate buildings
and concepts in the specific milieu of Soviet
society, politics and ideology. Drawing on
extensive research, Anderson provides a
reappraisal of the architecture of the Stalin
era and the final decades of the ussr. He
accounts for the many ways in which Soviet
conventions continue to shape Russian
architecture today, but also acknowledges and
explores the heterogeneous mix of attitudes
and style among Russia’s architects. This
book is essential reading for anyone who
wants to understand the origins of the
country’s contemporary architectural culture.
richard anderson is Lecturer in
Architectural History at the University of
Edinburgh. He is the editor and principal
translator of Ludwig Hilberseimer’s
Metropolisarchitecture and Selected Essays
(2012) and co-author, with Kristin Romberg,
of Architecture in Print: Design and Debate in
the Soviet Union, 1919–1935 (2005).
October 2015
Hardback
227 illustrations
978 1 78023 503 5
eBook 978 1 78023 554 7
Architecture
220 × 171 mm
352 pp
£20
The Making of Place
Modern and Contemporary Gardens
JOHN DIXON HUNT
Modern gardens and those parks that also
draw on garden traditions seek to forge new,
innovative spaces. Sometimes this means
invoking or manipulating earlier genres and
methods of place-making, but new ones –
and new materials – are also invented.
The garden and landscaping ‘types’
explored in The Making of Place include
domestic gardens, gardens and parks created
by famous landscape architects and
vernacular and festival gardens as well
as the many variations that have emerged
in contemporary botanical and sculpture
gardens, on campuses and on toxic sites
revived for parks, gardens and memorials.
The range of types takes in many countries,
including the uk, France, Germany, Australia,
China and the usa, while the book also looks
at various forms of historical conservation
and at gardens that remain ‘on paper’.
The Making of Place provides an accessible
tour of modern garden landscapes that gives
non-designers as well as specialists a new view
of the created outdoor world around them.
The book will appeal to all those interested
in the long history and significance of the
modern garden and landscape, as well as
specialists in the fields of garden history
and landscape architecture.
john dixon hunt is Emeritus Professor of
the History and Theory of Landscape at the
University of Pennsylvania; he has been a
visiting professor at the Universities of
Western Australia, Penn State and Harvard.
He edits the journal Studies in the History of
Gardens and Designed Landscapes and is also
the author of A World of Gardens (Reaktion,
2012; new in paperback 2015).
November 2015
Hardback
978 1 78023 520 2
eBook 978 1 78023 566 0
Architecture
250 × 190 mm
288 pp
£25
29
A Philosophy of Pessimism
STUART SIM
30
There are many reasons to despair at the
state of the world today: climate change and
global warming; widespread ‘humanitarian
disasters’ caused by war, famine and political
corruption; religious intolerance and the
growing influence of fundamentalist belief;
political terrorism; racism and discrimination
against ethnic minorities; the list could go
on and on. Reflect on such phenomena at
any length and it can be very difficult not
to become deeply pessimistic about human
existence.
Yet for some, pessimists are simply refusing
to acknowledge the progress that humankind
has made over the centuries, especially with
regard to the technological advances of the
modern era. To these people, it is almost
wilfully contrary not to be uncompromisingly
optimistic about our prospects for the future.
The glass, for some, is always half-full, but
perhaps pessimists have the more realistic
world view. To counter the optimists and their
rosy outlook, it is necessary to keep the dark
side of human affairs at the forefront of our
consciousness; perhaps, after all, it is more
rational to adopt an essentially pessimistic
attitude. Throughout history a significant
proportion of the world’s thinkers have taken
this view, insisting that we face up to the more
desperate aspects of the human condition.
Philosophers, theologians, authors, creative
artists and even scientists have collectively
contributed to a discourse of pessimism,
and they have found a ready audience for
their message across all cultures.
How pessimism has developed, and its
multifaceted nature, forms the subject of this
book. Pessimism deserves to be cultivated,
and it is in the public interest that its cause
is defended vigorously: it is as relevant today
as it has ever been.
stuart sim is retired Professor of Critical
Theory at Northumbria University,
Newcastle, and a Fellow of the English
Association. Recent publications include
The End of Modernity: What the Financial
and Environmental Crisis is Really Telling
Us (2010), Addicted to Profit: Reclaiming
Our Lives from the Free Market (2012) and
Fifty Key Thinkers in Postmodernism (2013).
July 2015
Paperback
Philosophy
200 × 120 mm
208 pp
978 1 78023 505 9
eBook 978 1 78023 550 9
£14.95
NEW IN PAPERBACK
The Encyclopaedia of Liars
and Deceivers
ROELF BOLT
‘Strangely addictive. A reader is apt to feel repelled
by a hoaxster’s audacity and heartlessness yet
intensely curious about how and why the deed
was done.’ – Boston Globe
‘A cornucopia of curiosities, Bolt’s A to Z of
150 case studies is a raconteur’s dream. Brimming
with tales of forgeries, fakers, the faithless and the
facile, it pays homage to the weird and sometimes
wonderful . . . Bolt, as ringmaster of this menagerie
of malcontents and mischiefs, allows us to glimpse
outside the confines of the everyday. It is utterly
diverting.’ – The Field
George Washington may have never told a
lie, but he may be a unique case – our history
is littered with liars, deceivers and counterfeiters. The Encyclopaedia of Liars and Deceivers
gathers 150 of them, each entry telling the
intriguing tale of the liar’s motives and the
people who fell for their lies.
Roelf Bolt travels from ancient times
to the present day, documenting a huge
assortment of legerdemain: infamous quacks,
fraudulent scientists, crooks who committed
‘pseudocides’ by faking their own deaths,
and forgers of artworks, design objects and
archaeological finds. From false royal claims,
fake dragon’s eggs and bogus perpetual
motion machines, to rare books, mermaid
skeletons and Stradivari violins, Bolt reveals
that almost everything has been forged or
faked by someone at some point in history.
The short, accessible narratives offer biographies and general observations on specific
categories of deceit, and Bolt captures an
impressive number of famous figures –
including Albert Einstein, Cicero, Ptolemy,
Ernest Hemingway, François Mitterrand and
Marco Polo – as well as people who would
have remained anonymous had their duplicity
not been discovered.
Funny, shocking and even awe-inspiring,
the stories of deception in this catalogue of
shame make The Encyclopaedia of Liars and
Deceivers the perfect gift for all those who
enjoy a good tall tale – and those people
who like to tell them.
A legal scholar and philosopher, roelf bolt
(1970–2012) taught at university level. A lover
of the weird and wonderful, his bookshelves
were full of works on medical oddities and
other curiosa, deluded visionaries and
pseudoscientists.
July 2015
New in paperback
History
234 × 156 mm
25 illustrations
280 pp
978 1 78023 508 0
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 312 3
31
Another Minimalism
Art After California
Light and Space
MELISSA E. FELDMAN
32
Made under the hot sun and blue skies of
California, ‘Light and Space’ art serves as an
early model for some of the most radical and
ground-breaking art forms of the last century:
immateriality and the site-specific installation
as well as Situationist and participatory art.
The movement’s fascination with colour and
with its manipulation in space serves as a very
different kind of minimalism – a movement
often thought of as simply the embodiment
of austere, mathematical abstractions.
Another Minimalism is the first book to
recognize and examine the influence of this
regional subset of minimalism on leading
artists of the current generation, including
Carol Bove, Tacita Dean, Olafur Eliasson and
Spencer Finch. The book seeks to reorient
and refine received ideas about minimalism’s
impact on subsequent generations, wherein
the dominant New York and European
paradigm has overshadowed that of the more
experiential West Coast strain, developed by
artists such as Robert Irwin, James Turrell
and Maria Nordman around the same time.
As curator and writer Melissa E. Feldman
notes, the now prevalent use of glass, mirror,
natural and electrical light, fog and other
optical materials in geometric sculpture
and room-sized installations (or congruous
effects in photography, video and film)
build on the phenomenological terrain
first explored by California Light and
Space artists of the 1970s.
This fascinating and original study will
appeal to all those interested in contemporary
art, and especially to those interested in new
ways of conceptualizing its history.
melissa e. feldman is a Seattle-based
independent curator and writer who has
contributed to Art in America, Frieze, Third
Text and Aperture, among other publications.
She is currently Distinguished Visiting Faculty
for Critical and Contextual Studies at Cornish
College of the Arts, Seattle.
Distributed for the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh.
October 2015
Paperback
Art
220 × 160 mm
148 pp
978 1 90861 234 2
£16.95
Robert Altman
In the American Grain
FRANK CASO
‘Iconoclast’ and ‘maverick’ are perhaps the
two epithets most commonly attached to
Robert Altman, a director who constantly
resisted boundaries and genres. Throughout
his career Altman tested the limits of what
can and should be done in film, refashioning
film noir in The Long Goodbye, the western in
McCabe & Mrs Miller, psychological drama
in Images, science fiction in Quintet and
romantic comedy in A Perfect Couple.
Frank Caso examines the development
of Altman’s artistic method, from his earliest
days in industrial film to his work as a tv
director, feature film-maker and later return
to television work. Altman is a director whose
films people ‘recognize’, but what exactly are
the distinctive elements of an Altman film?
Caso identifies and analyses more than twenty
stylistic features that Altman favoured, some
of which can be observed at the beginning of
his career – the movable camera and the use
of Christian imagery. The book also examines
another aspect of Altman’s films that counterpoints the offbeat comedy: the predominance
of violence, murder and death. These elements
not only contributed to the naturalism and
ironic outlook of his work but provided a
mythic, otherworldly undertone to many
of his films. These elements, combined
with his masterful technique, created the
‘Altmanesque’ style.
Featuring 75 illustrations, Robert Altman
will appeal to fans of this distinctive and
ground-breaking American auteur.
frank caso is the author of Freshwater Supply
(2010), A Brief History of Iraq (co-author with
Hala Fattah, 2009) and Censorship (2008).
He lives in Hartford, Connecticut.
September 2015
Paperback
75 illustrations
978 1 78023 522 6
eBook 978 1 78023 552 3
Film
200 × 150 mm
320 pp
£18
33
NEW IN PAPERBACK
A World of Gardens
JOHN DIXON HUNT
‘A comprehensive work of great value; a giant
distillation of the author’s knowledge; a reference
book that makes many earlier histories almost
irrelevant.’ – Garden
john dixon hunt is Emeritus Professor
of the History and Theory of Landscape
at the University of Pennsylvania.
July 2015
New in paperback
978 1 78023 506 6
Architecture
250 × 190 mm
368 pp
£18
‘In this fascinating series of illustrated essays, John
Dixon Hunt explores the influences behind the
design of gardens around the globe . . . Ideal for
both garden visitors and students of design.’
– The English Garden
A World of Gardens celebrates the gardens
of different times and places, including sacred
landscapes and scientific, urban, secluded
and symbolic gardens. A treasure trove
of images, ideas and inspiration.
eBook 978 1 78023 378 9
The Breakfast Book
ANDREW DALBY
‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,
so they say – and it will seem even more so after
reading The Breakfast Book. Part cultural history,
part recipe book, it traces the origins of the meal
in Neolithic times and explores different traditions
around the world today.’ – Elle Decoration
andrew dalby is a linguist, translator and
historian based in France and the author of
Cheese: A Global History (Reaktion, 2009).
July 2015
New in paperback
34
Food and Drink
200 × 150 mm
232 pp
978 1 78023 507 3
£12.95
eBook 978 1 78023 121 1
‘To dip into this compendium is to be forcefully
and happily reminded that breakfast, the full
English or otherwise, should be the best meal
of the day . . . the art is handsomely reproduced
. . . a marvellously toothsome compendium.’
– Literary Review
NEW IN PAPERBACK
Artists’ Postcards
A Compendium
JEREMY COOPER
‘The first critical guide to artists’ postcards . . .
for someone already interested, it’s an excellent
resource and for someone new it’s a great
introduction. Well produced and accessible,
this publication is probably the key text so
far in this rich niche of the art world.’
– Cassone Art Review
‘The past 20 years or so has seen a range of artists
utilising the postcard, including Rachel Whiteread,
Ellsworth Kelly, Gilbert and George and many
others. Jeremy Cooper traces this history from the
1900s through to Surrealism and conceptual art
and up to the present. This is not a tenuous theme,
but a fascinating one, that takes in many important
artists on the way.’ – The Bookseller
jeremy cooper is a novelist who has also
written and broadcast on art and antiques.
July 2015
New in paperback
978 1 78023 513 4
Art
280 × 225 mm
344 pp
£25
Art in Ireland since 1910
FIONNA BARBER
‘Easily the best history of modernity and Irish art
to date.’ – Irish Arts Review
‘That rare thing: a book that is needed . . . This
richly illustrated and critically engaged book offers
a very welcome attempt to outline the story of Irish
art from 1910 to the present . . . An engaging
overview for the common reader, as well as a
starting point for further critical debate.’ – Apollo
‘With a cunning eye for precise detail, Barber not
only writes the story of art in Ireland, North and
South: she opens up the contested and unfinished
labour of formulating country, time and identity
in Irish art.’ – Sean Cubitt, Goldsmiths College,
University of London
fionna barber is Reader in Art History
and Principal Lecturer for Contextual
Studies in the Manchester School of Art.
July 2015
New in paperback
978 1 78023 512 7
Art
250 × 190 mm
320 pp
£20
35
RECENT AND RECOMMENDED
RUINS AND FRAGMENTS
Tales of Loss and Rediscovery
Robert Harbison
216 × 138 mm 208 pp £20
60 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 447 2
eBook 978 1 78023 476 2
JOHN RUSKIN
Andrew Ballantyne
200 × 130 mm 256 pp £10.95
36 illus.
paperback 978 1 78023 429 8
eBook 978 1 78023 470 0
DUMPLINGS
A Global History
Barbara Gallani
197 × 120 mm 144 pp £10.99
60 illus., 51 in colour
hardback 978 1 78023 433 5
eBook 978 1 78023 463 2
BISON
Desmond Morris
190 × 135 mm 200 pp £9.99
paperback 978 1 78023 424 3
eBook 978 1 78023 457 1
WEEDS
Nina Edwards
216 × 138 mm 240 pp £16
hardback 978 1 78023 427 4
eBook 978 1 78023 484 7
ANIMAL
BOTANICAL
TINTORETTO
Tradition and Identity, Second
Revised and Expanded Edition
Tom Nichols
216 × 138 mm 408 pp £19.95
paperback 978 1 78023 450 2
eBook 978 1 78023 481 6
JIM JARMUSCH
Music, Words and Noise
Sara Piazza
200 × 150 mm 416 pp £18
paperback 978 1 78023 441 0
eBook 978 1 78023 469 4
DRESS CODE
The Naked Truth About Fashion
Mari Grinde Arntzen
200 × 120 mm 128 pp £14.95
paperback 978 1 78023 439 7
eBook 978 1 78023 462 5
CRITICAL LIVES
EDIBLE
36
A REMARKABLE JOURNEY
The Story of Evolution
R. Paul Thompson
216 × 138 mm 160 pp £20
50 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 446 5
eBook 978 1 78023 475 5
EMPIRE OF TEA
The Asian Leaf that
Conquered the World
Markman Ellis, Richard Coulton,
Matthew Mauger
234 × 156 mm 328 pp £25
hardback 978 1 78023 440 3
eBook 978 1 78023 464 9
THE TEMPLE OF PERFECTION
A History of the Gym
Eric Chaline
216 × 138 mm 272 pp £20
29 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 449 6
eBook 978 1 78023 479 3
APPETITES FOR THOUGHT
Philosophers and Food
Michel Onfray
200 × 120 mm 136 pp £14.95
paperback 978 1 78023 445 8
eBook 978 1 78023 455 7
THE MAFIA
A Cultural History
Roberto M. Dainotto
216 × 138 mm 240 pp £20
32 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 443 4
eBook 978 1 78023 472 4
THE MAKING OF A MAN
Notes on Transsexuality
Maxim Februari
200 × 120 mm 128 pp £15
hardback 978 1 78023 444 1
eBook 978 1 78023 473 1
CONSCIENCE
A Biography
Martin van Creveld
216 × 138 mm 288 pp £20
hardback 978 1 78023 454 0
eBook 978 1 78023 461 8
WISDOM
A History
Trevor Curnow
216 × 138 mm 240 pp £20
hardback 978 1 78023 451 9
eBook 978 1 78023 485 4
THE BLAME BUSINESS
The Uses and Misuses
of Accountability
Stephen Fineman
200 × 120 mm 160 pp £14.99
paperback 978 1 78023 438 0
eBook 978 1 78023 458 8
RECENT AND RECOMMENDED
ST GEORGE
A Saint for All
Samantha Riches
216 × 138 mm 160 pp £14.95
34 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 448 9
eBook 978 1 78023 477 9
37
BESTSELLING BACKLIST
LILY
Marcia Reiss
216 × 138 mm 224 pp £16
hardback 978 1 78023 093 1
eBook 978 1 78023 130 3
HEDGEHOG
Hugh Warwick
190 × 135 mm 216 pp £9.99
paperback 978 1 78023 275 1
eBook 978 1 78023 315 4
LEOPARD
Desmond Morris
190 × 135 mm 224 pp £9.99
paperback 978 1 78023 279 9
eBook 978 1 78023 318 5
BOTANICAL
ANIMAL
ANIMAL
A PHILOSOPHY OF EMPTINESS
Gay Watson
200 × 120 mm 176 pp £14.95
paperback 978 1 78023 285 0
eBook 978 1 78023 325 3
TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY
OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Vilém Flusser
200 × 120 mm 96 pp £11.95
paperback 978 1 86189 076 4
eBook 978 1 78023 244 7
CARL JUNG
Paul Bishop
200 × 130 mm 272 pp £10.95
33 illus.
paperback 978 1 78023 267 6
eBook 978 1 78023 307 9
CRITICAL LIVES
38
WHAT MAKES A GREAT EXHIBITION?
Edited by Paula Marincola
234 × 165 mm 184 pp £12.95
56 illus.
paperback 978 0 97083 461 4
eBook 978 1 78023 486 1
CHROMOPHOBIA
David Batchelor
210 × 148 mm 128 pp £12.95
paperback 978 1 86189 074 0
eBook 978 1 86189 547 9
FOCI
THE LUMINOUS AND THE GREY
David Batchelor
210 × 148 mm 128 pp £12.95
5 colour illus.
paperback 978 1 78023 280 5
eBook 978 1 78023 319 2
BESTSELLING BACKLIST
VOLCANO
Nature and Culture
James Hamilton
210 × 148 mm 208 pp £14.95
paperback 978 1 86189 917 0
eBook 978 1 86189 955 2
KIMONO
A Modern History
Terry Satsuki Milhaupt
250 × 190 mm 272 pp £22
paperback 978 1 78023 278 2
eBook 978 1 78023 317 8
BEYOND BRATWURST
A History of Food in Germany
Ursula Heinzelmann
234 × 156 mm 384 pp £25
hardback 978 1 78023 272 0
eBook 978 1 78023 302 4
FOODS AND NATIONS
EARTH
GIN
A Global History
Lesley Jacobs Solmonson
197 × 120 mm 168 pp £9.99
hardback 978 1 86189 924 8
eBook 978 1 86189 936 1
BEER
A Global History
Gavin D. Smith
197 × 120 mm 128 pp £9.99
hardback 978 1 78023 260 7
eBook 978 1 78023 299 7
HEROES
David Bowie and Berlin
Tobias Rüther
210 × 148 mm 184 pp £14.95
17 illus.
paperback 978 1 78023 377 2
eBook 978 1 78023 400 7
EDIBLE
EDIBLE
REVERB
FISH AND CHIPS
A History
Panikos Panayi
216 × 138 mm 176 pp £18
42 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 361 1
eBook 978 1 78023 393 2
WOOD, WHISKEY AND WINE
A History of Barrels
Henry H. Work
216 × 138 mm 240 pp £20
57 illus.
hardback 978 1 78023 356 7
eBook 978 1 78023 417 5
THE MODERN ART COOKBOOK
Mary Ann Caws
200 × 150 mm 256 pp £25
hardback 978 1 78023 174 7
39
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TRADE INFORMATION
This year at Reaktion Books we are happy to be celebrating 30 years as a vibrant,
independent publisher. Reaktion established its reputation as an innovative
publisher of art, architecture and design books. In recent years our list has grown
to encompass essential books in popular science, food history, natural history,
film, music, history, philosophy and politics. We now publish around 80 new titles
each year, while keeping available an outstanding backlist of about 600 titles for
readers to explore.
Reaktion has developed and published a number of groundbreaking book
series, including Animal, which are short natural and cultural histories of individual
animals; Edible, global histories of a particular food, drink or ingredient; and
Critical Lives, concise critical biographies of important cultural figures.
Recent books of note from Reaktion include Falcon, the debut book by
Costa Book Awards and Samuel Johnson Prize winner Helen Macdonald, Galaxy:
Mapping the Cosmos by James Geach, Kimono: A Modern History by Terry Satsuki
Milhaupt and The Modern Art Cookbook by Mary Ann Caws.
In 2015 we have a wealth of exciting new books in our programme: Gretchen
E. Henderson’s fascinating Ugliness: A Cultural History, On Photography by Walter
Benjamin, which features key works by this influential critic, freshly translated and
introduced by Esther Leslie, and Owen Hopkins’s superb new study of a master
architect, From the Shadows: The Architecture and Afterlife of Nicholas Hawksmoor,
among many others.
We are looking forward to meeting, developing and publishing outstanding
new authors and, most importantly, reaching many new readers over Reaktion’s
next 30 years.

Autumn 2015 - Reaktion Books

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