The 1960s saw the emergence in the Netherlands of a generation of avant-garde musicians (including figures such as Louis Andriessen, Willem Breuker, Reinbert de Leeuw and Misha Mengelberg) who were to gain international standing and influence as composers, performers and teachers, and who had a defining impact upon Dutch musical life. Fundamental to their activities in the sixties was a pronounced commitment to social and political engagement. The lively culture of activism and dissent on the streets of Amsterdam prompted an array of vigorous responses from these musicians, including collaborations with countercultural and protest groups, campaigns and direct action against established musical institutions, new grassroots performing associations, political concerts, polemicising within musical works, and the advocacy of new, more 'democratic' relationships with both performers and audiences. These activities laid the basis for the unique new music scene that emerged in the Netherlands in the 1970s and which has been influential upon performers and composers worldwide. This book is the first sustained scholarly examination of this subject. It presents the Dutch experience as an exemplary case study in the complex and conflictual encounter of the musical avant-garde with the decade's currents of social change. The narrative is structured around a number of the decade's defining topoi: modernisation and 'the new'; anarchy; participation; politics; self-management; and popular music. Dutch avant-garde musicians engaged actively with each of these themes, but in so doing they found themselves faced with distinct and sometimes intractable challenges, caused by the chafing of their political and aesthetic commitments. In charting a broad chronological progress from the commencement of work on Peter Schat's Labyrint in 1961 to the premiere of Louis Andriessen's Volkslied in 1971, this book traces the successive attempts of Dutch avant-garde musicians to reconcile the era's evolving social agendas with their own adventurous musical practice.

From the Occupy protests to the Black Lives Matter movement and school strikes for climate action, the twenty-first century has been rife with activism. Although very different from one another, each of these movements has created alliances across borders, with activists stressing that their concerns are not confined to individual nation states. In this book, Daniel Laqua shows that global efforts of this kind are not a recent phenomenon, and that as long as there have been borders, activists have sought to cross them. Activism Across Borders since 1870 explores how individuals, groups and organisations have fostered bonds in their quest for political and social change, and considers the impact of national and ideological boundaries on their efforts. Focusing on Europe but with a global outlook, the book acknowledges the importance of imperial and postcolonial settings for groups and individuals that expressed far-reaching ambitions. From feminism and socialism to anti-war campaigns and green politics, this book approaches transnational activism with an emphasis on four features: connectedness, ambivalence, transience and marginality. In doing so, it demonstrates the intertwined nature of different movements, problematizes transnational action, discusses the temporary nature of some alliances, and shows how transnationalism has been used by those marginalized at the national level. With a broad chronological perspective and thematic chapters, it provides historical context, clarifies terms and concepts, and offers an alternative history of modern Europe through the lens of activists, movements and campaigns.

The story of Horatio Nelson's life - his naval glory, public fame, charismatic leadership, scandalous romance, and untimely death as he led the British to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar - has ensured his enduring position as England's favourite hero. This engaging, full-length biography of Nelson (1758-1805) presents a gripping account of his climb to fame as well as the fascinating details of his personal and emotional life. A man of contradictions, Nelson emerges in this biography as a ruthless and aggressive leader, the epitome of a fighting commander; an ambitious attention-seeker capable of self-pity, self-delusion, and childish behaviour; yet to be admired for his transcendent courage, kindness and leadership skills, which inspired love and affection in those he led. "This is a splendid biography, not only because it is well written and well researched, but also because it neither seeks to demean the hero nor excuse the man. Heroism becomes the more remarkable when it is shown by people who in other ways are very like ourselves." L.G. Mitchell, Times Literary Supplement "A formidable addition to the already crowded Nelson canon ...Vincent's publishers have done him proud. There are excellent maps and battle diagrams; the illustrations are copious, and many have rarely been seen before." Paul Johnson, Literary Review "This full-blown biography offers a profusion of detail about Nelson's health and finances, his way with the welfare and discipline of his men and how his battles were fought and usually won ...A true portrait of an extraordinary man." Tom Pocock, Spectator "This is a wonderful book, the best modern biography of Britain's greatest admiral." John Keegan, Daily Telegraph "Edgar Vincent has written a robust, level-headed account of Nelson's life." Adam Preston, Financial Times "A stately literary battleship, bristling with truly terrifying military and biographical detail." Sunday Telegraph Shortlisted for the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize.

Product information not available.

Americans call the Second World War "the Good War." But before it even began, America's ally Stalin had killed millions of his own citizens-and kept killing them during and after the war. Before Hitler was defeated, he had murdered six million Jews and nearly as many other Europeans. At war's end, German and Soviet killing sites fell behind the Iron Curtain, leaving the history of mass killing in darkness. ? Assiduously researched, deeply humane, and utterly definitive, Bloodlands is a new kind of European history, presenting the mass murders committed by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes as two aspects of a single story. With a new afterword addressing the relevance of these events to the contemporary decline of democracy, Bloodlands is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the central tragedy of modern history and its meaning today.

The innovative city culture of Florence was the crucible within which Renaissance ideas first caught fire. With its soaring cathedral dome and its classically-inspired palaces and piazzas, it is perhaps the finest single expression of a society that is still at its heart an urban one. For, as Brian Jeffrey Maxson reveals, it is above all the city-state - the walled commune which became the chief driver of European commerce, culture, banking and art - that is medieval Italy's enduring legacy to the present. Charting the transition of Florence from an obscure Guelph republic to a regional superpower in which the glittering court of Lorenzo the Magnificent became the pride and envy of the continent, the author authoritatively discusses a city that looked to the past for ideas even as it articulated a novel creativity. Uncovering passionate dispute and intrigue, Maxson sheds fresh light too on seminal events like the fiery end of oratorical firebrand Savonarola and Giuliano de' Medici's brutal murder by the rival Pazzi family. This book shows why Florence, harbinger and heartland of the Renaissance, is and has always been unique.

Exam board: AQA Level: AS/A-level Subject: History First teaching: September 2015 First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level) Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years. Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period. - Develop strong historical knowledge: in-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible - Build historical skills and understanding: downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework - Learn, remember and connect important events and people: an introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework - Achieve exam success: practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams - Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians

Riche de ses editeurs scolaires et de ses collections enfantines, le dix-neuvieme siecle a-t-il invente le marche du livre pour enfants? Dans la France du dix-huitieme siecle, de nombreux acteurs s'efforcent deja de separer, au sein de la librairie, les lectures adaptees aux enfants et aux jeunes gens. Les rituels pedagogiques des colleges et des petites ecoles, les strategies commerciales des libraires, les preoccupations des Eglises, les projets et les politiques de reforme scolaire, tous pousses par la fievre educative de la noblesse et de la bourgeoisie, produisent alors d'innombrables bibliotheques enfantines, plurielles et plastiques, avec ou sans murs. Cet ouvrage montre comment, a un ordre des livres domine par les logiques des institutions scolaires et des metiers du livre, se surimpose a partir des annees 1760 une nouvelle categorie, celle du " livre d'education ", qui ne s'identifie plus a un lieu, mais a un projet de lecture, et s'accompagne de l'emergence de nouvelles figures d'auteurs. Alors que les etudes sur la litterature de jeunesse poursuivent partout leur developpement et leur structuration, ce livre dialogue avec les dernieres recherches europeennes sur la question. A l'inverse des travaux litteraires, il part, non des auteurs et des textes, mais des objets et de leurs manipulations. Son originalite est d'apporter un regard historien sur ces questions, en articulant histoire du livre et de la librairie, histoire de l'education, histoire des milieux litteraires et de la condition d'auteur. --- With its wealth of educational publishers and children's collections, did the nineteenth century invent the children's book market? In eighteenth-century France, many people were already trying to separate the literature suitable for children and young people within the bookstore. The pedagogical rituals of colleges and small schools, the commercial strategies of booksellers, the concerns of the churches, the projects and policies of school reform, all driven by the educational fever of the nobility and the bourgeoisie, produced countless children's libraries, plural and plastic, with or without walls. At the beginning of the century, the ordering of books was dominated by the rationale of educational institutions and the book trade: this book shows how a new category emerged from the 1760s onwards, that of the "educational book", which was no longer identified with a place, but with a literacy project, and which was accompanied by the emergence of new authors. As studies on children's literature continue to be developed and shaped in many areas, this book is in dialogue with the latest European research on the subject. In contrast to literary studies, this research does not start from authors and texts, but from objects and their uses. Its originality lies in the fact that it provides a historical perspective on these issues, articulating the history of books and bookshops, the history of education, the history of literary circles and the status of the author.