That there was an influx of silver dirhams from the Muslim world into eastern and northern Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries is well known, as is the fact that the largest concentration of hoards is on the Baltic island of Gotland. Recent discoveries have shown that dirhams were reaching the British Isles, too. What brought the dirhams to northern Europe in such large numbers? The fur trade has been proposed as one driver for transactions, but the slave trade offers another - complementary - explanation. This volume does not offer a comprehensive delineation of the hoard finds, or a full answer to the question of what brought the silver north. But it highlights the trade in slaves as driving exchanges on a trans-continental scale. By their very nature, the nexuses were complex, mutable and unclear even to contemporaries, and they have eluded modern scholarship. Contributions to this volume shed light on processes and key places: the mints of Central Asia; the chronology of the inflows of dirhams to Rus and northern Europe; the reasons why silver was deposited in the ground and why so much ended up on Gotland; the functioning of networks - perhaps comparable to the twenty-first-century drug trade; slave-trading in the British Isles; and the stimulus and additional networks that the Vikings brought into play. This combination of general surveys, presentations of fresh evidence and regional case studies sets Gotland and the early medieval slave trade in a firmer framework than has been available before.

Breitling. One watch has made this name famous worldwide, the Navitimer. In 1952 this watch was a real sensation, the chronograph along with the calculator made it possible for the pilot to carry out all necessary calculations during the flight. This made the Navitimer a valuable on-board instrument at that time, and a valuable collectible today.This newly revised book shows the whole spectrum of the firm's products since its founding in 1884, and gives the reader an informed insight into more than 100 years of the firm's history. Many photos, old catalogs, and advertising material support the informative text. With the help of reference numbers, the collector can also locate individual watches chronologically. This fascinating portrait of the Breitling firm will enthrall all who appreciate fine mechanical precision.

A stylish and beautifully crafted celebration of LV's Tambour watch, a masterpiece of modern design and technical innovation. Published to mark the twentieth anniversary of Louis Vuitton's entrance into the field of luxury watchmaking, this landmark volume tells the audacious tale of the Maison's renowned Tambour watches. With the goal of creating uniquely stylish timepieces, yet not succumbing to ephemeral fashion, the Maison brought together the most skilled craftspeople in the Swiss tradition of fine watchmaking to work at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the Geneva watchmakers behind the brand's reputation for excellence. In a display of creative freedom matched only by the Maison's own glamour and dynamic drive, Louis Vuitton launched the Tambour watch in 2002, which became the triumphant result of this distinctive approach. Essays by journalist and luxury watch expert Fabienne Reybaud explore the creative origins of the Tambour design and the history of Louis Vuitton watches, along with the precision work of La Fabrique du Temps. A catalogue of major models and exclusive insights from watch specialists make this a useful resource for collectors and connoisseurs. With more than 350 illustrations and a lavish design, this book is a beautiful object in its own right, for all lovers of luxury accessories and the Louis Vuitton lifestyle.

First published in 1814, Werner's Nomenclature of Colours is a taxonomic guide to colour which been cherished by naturalists and anthropologists for over two centuries - not least by Charles Darwin who found it an indispensable tool during his voyage on the HMS Beagle. Now these charming, handmade colour swatches have been recreated as a box of 50 postcards. Each card reproduces a colour swatch alongside its original poetic description and is matched with an animal, plant, and mineral example according to Werner's unique scheme. These curious keepsakes will be treasured by artists and scientists alike.

A magnificent catalogue of the V&A's collection of twentieth-century and contemporary British ceramics. Contemporary ceramicists working in Britain, including Rachel Kneebone, Grayson Perry and Edmund de Waal, are part of a broader international group of artists experimenting with clay, considering how it intersects and works in dialogue with other artforms and culture at large. Recent experimentation with the medium owes much to the rapid evolution of ceramics into an expanded field, and to the work of mid to late twentieth-century potters and their liberation from the legacy of groups such as the Arts and Crafts movement. The experimental techniques and rethinking of form in the work of exponents such as Lucie Rie, Bernard Leach, and Hans Coper - whose reference points were drawn from Asia, Africa, India and the Middle East as much as from their own heritage - continue to influence and inspire contemporary makers. In his introductory essay, Alun Graves, Senior Curator of Ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, provides all lovers of ceramics - collectors, practitioners, historians and those interested in modern and contemporary art and crafts - with the historical context, documenting this shift in the medium into an expressive, and sometimes interventionist, art form.

This is the absorbing story of the handguns credited to Nambu Kijiro, the principal personal-defence weapons of the Imperial forces. Featuring full-color artwork and carefully chosen photographs, this book charts the origins, development, combat use, and legacy of the Nambu pistols. Cutaway artwork reveals the inner workings of these important handguns, while specially commissioned battlescenes depict them in use in action. Influenced by the German C 96 and other semi-automatic pistols, the first Nambu model was never accepted for universal issue, being confined largely to purchase by Japanese officers. Adopted in 1925, the 14th Year Type was to become the best-known of these handguns, serving in every campaign undertaken by the Japanese in the 1930s and then throughout World War II. It served alongside the bizarrely conceived Type 94, intended as the weapon of airmen, tank crew, and anyone to whom its compact dimensions were useful. When World War II ended, thousands of Nambu pistols arrived in America with US veterans of World War II, while others were carried by insurgents and other armed groups across South East Asia for decades after 1945. Fully illustrated, this is the engrossing story of these distinctive pistols, from their origins to their legacy.

This book attempts to make accessible to students, scholars, and the lay public annotated, up-to-date information regarding the major coinages of the Greco-Roman world. An international group of experts has been asked to treat their areas of expertise, and the result is a broadly illustrated introduction to the subject.

The 2017 winner of the Robert and Vineta Colby Scholarly Book Prize Providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of scholarship on nineteenth-century British periodicals, this volume surveys the current state of research and offers researchers an in-depth examination of contemporary methodologies. The impact of digital media and archives on the field informs all discussions of the print archive. Contributors illustrate their arguments with examples and contextualize their topics within broader areas of study, while also reflecting on how the study of periodicals may evolve in the future. The Handbook will serve as a valuable resource for scholars and students of nineteenth-century culture who are interested in issues of cultural formation, transformation, and transmission in a developing industrial and globalizing age, as well as those whose research focuses on the bibliographical and the micro case study. In addition to rendering a comprehensive review and critique of current research on nineteenth-century British periodicals, the Handbook suggests new avenues for research in the twenty-first century. "This volume's 30 chapters deal with practically every aspect of periodical research and with the specific topics and audiences the 19th-century periodical press addressed. It also covers matters such as digitization that did not exist or were in early development a generation ago. In addition to the essays, readers will find 50 illustrations, 54 pages of bibliography, and a chronology of the periodical press. This book gives seemingly endless insights into the ways periodicals and newspapers influenced and reflected 19th-century culture. It not only makes readers aware of problems involved in interpreting the history of the press but also offers suggestions for ways of untangling them and points the direction for future research. It will be a valuable resource for readers with interests in almost any aspect of 19th-century Britain. Summing Up: Highly recommended" - J. D. Vann, University of North Texas in CHOICE