FROM THE WINNER OF THE BAILIE GIFFORD PRIZE After the Second World War, new international rules heralded an age of human rights and self-determination. Supported by Britain, these unprecedented changes sought to end the scourge of colonialism. But how committed was Britain? In the 1960s, its colonial instinct ignited once more: a secret decision was taken to offer the US a base at Diego Garcia, one of the islands of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, create a new colony (the 'British Indian Ocean Territory') and deport the entire local population. One of those inhabitants was Liseby Elysé, twenty years old, newly married, expecting her first child. One suitcase, no pets, the British ordered, expelling her from the only home she had ever known. For four decades the government of Mauritius fought for the return of Chagos, and the past decade Philippe Sands has been intimately involved in the cases. In 2018 Chagos and colonialism finally reached the World Court in The Hague. As Mauritius and the entire African continent challenged British and American lawlessness, fourteen international judges faced a landmark decision: would they rule that Britain illegally detached Chagos from Mauritius? Would they open the door to Liseby Elysé and her fellow Chagossians returning home - or exile them forever? Taking us on a disturbing journey across international law, THE LAST COLONY illuminates the continuing horrors of colonial rule, the devastating impact of Britain's racist grip on its last colony in Africa, and the struggle for justice in the face of a crime against humanity. It is a tale about the making of modern international law and one woman's fight for justice, a courtroom drama and a personal journey that ends with a historic ruling.

Winner of the Whitley Award for Best Natural History Book 2022 A compelling, funny, first-hand account of Australia's wonderfully unique mammals and how our perceptions impact their future. Think of a platypus: they lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), they produce milk without nipples and venom without fangs and they can detect electricity. Or a wombat: their teeth never stop growing, they poo cubes and they defend themselves with reinforced rears. Platypuses, possums, wombats, echidnas, devils, kangaroos, quolls, dibblers, dunnarts, kowaris: Australia has some truly astonishing mammals with incredible, unfamiliar features. But how does the world regard these creatures? And what does that mean for their conservation? In Platypus Matters, naturalist Jack Ashby shares his love for these often-misunderstood animals. Informed by his own experiences meeting living marsupials and egg-laying mammals on fieldwork in Tasmania and mainland Australia, as well as his work with thousands of zoological specimens collected for museums over the last 200-plus years, Ashby's tale not only explains the extraordinary lives of these animals, but the historical mysteries surrounding them and the myths that persist (especially about the platypus). He also reveals the toll these myths can take. Ashby makes it clear that calling these animals ‘weird’ or ‘primitive’ – or incorrectly implying that Australia is an ‘evolutionary backwater’ – a perception that can be traced back to the country's colonial history – has undermined conservation: Australia now has the worst mammal extinction rate of anywhere on Earth. Important, timely and written with humour and wisdom by a scientist and self-described platypus nerd, this celebration of Australian wildlife will open eyes and change minds about how we contemplate and interact with the natural world – everywhere.

For fans of Radium Girls and history and WWII buffs, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation, the women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII—in and out of uniform, for theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come. The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line are the heroes of the Greatest Generation that you hardly ever hear about. These women who did extraordinary things didn't expect thanks and shied away from medals and recognition. Despite their amazing accomplishments, they've gone mostly unheralded and unrewarded. No longer. These are the women of World War II who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen—in and out of uniform. Liane B. Russell fled Austria with nothing and later became a renowned U.S. scientist whose research on the effects of radiation on embryos made a difference to thousands of lives. Gena Turgel was a prisoner who worked in the hospital at Bergen-Belsen and cared for the young Anne Frank, who was dying of typhus. Gena survived and went on to write a memoir and spent her life educating children about the Holocaust. Ida and Louise Cook were British sisters who repeatedly smuggled out jewelry and furs and served as sponsors for refugees, and they also established temporary housing for immigrant families in London. Retired U.S. Army Major General Mari K. Eder wrote this book because she knew their stories needed to be told—and the sooner the better. For theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come.

Exquisite and sumptuous, immaculately tailored, dignified and, above all, practical. The wardrobe of Queen Elizabeth II was as distinctive in style as her position in the world was unique. This remarkable book is a fond reflection of the days when her Majesty led the field in fashion, showcasing some of the world's best designers. At every appearance, as the world looked on, the impeccable outfits of Queen Elizabeth II were at the centre of keen discussion and debate. This sartorial biography celebrates Her Majesty as a much-loved and timeless style icon. Showcasing the best of the world’s designers, including Norman Hartnell, Hardy Amies and Ian Thomas, it also tells us much about the many years in which she reigned. Journey through the decades to discover classic designs with nipped-in waists and full skirts, strong tailored silhouettes, as well rather more relaxed styles from the 70s, all worn by Her Majesty, who always dressed with poise and diplomacy for the world stage. Princess Elizabeth was the leading style influencer of her day. Young and beautiful (and a real princess), she represented postwar optimism and renewal, both personal and cultural. She had a wardrobe most could only dream of, custom-made in the finest fabrics. From practical clothes for her beloved outdoor pursuits to exquisite and sumptuous gowns, her personal style reflected cultural and social changes over nine decades and reveals a rare understanding of the value of impeccable dressing. In our current era of casual clothing for nearly every occasion, the Queen's formal attire signalled respect for those she was visiting. With stunning formal portraits and candid photography, discover the careful work that underpinned the royal wardrobe and celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s enduring legacy.

The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced some of the world’s greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, among others. And their deeds still resonate today. Indeed, these nomads built long-lasting empires, facilitated the first global trade of the Silk Road and disseminated religions, technology, knowledge and goods of every description that enriched and changed the lives of so many across Europe, China and the Middle East. From a single region emerged a great many peoples – the Huns, the Mongols, the Magyars, the Turks, the Xiongnu, the Scythians, the Goths – all of whom went on to profoundly and irrevocably shape the modern world. In this enthralling new history, Professor Kenneth W. Harl draws on a lifetime of scholarship to vividly recreate the lives and world of these often-forgotten peoples from their beginnings to the early modern age. Their brutal struggle to survive on the steppes bred a resilient, pragmatic people ever ready to learn from their more advanced neighbours. In warfare, they dominated the battlefield for over fifteen hundred years. Under charismatic rulers, they could topple empires and win their own.

Featuring a new introduction for this new edition, The Conjure Woman is probably Chesnutt's most powerful work, a collection of stories set in post-war North Carolina. The main character is Uncle Julius, a former slave, who entertains a white couple from the North with fantastic tales of antebellum plantation life. Julius tells of supernatural phenomenon, hauntings, transfiguration, and conjuring, which were typical of Southern African-American folk tales at the time. Uncle Julius tells the stories in a way that speaks beyond his immediate audience, offering stories of slavery and inequality that are, to the enlightened reader, obviously wrong. The tales are fabulistic, like those of Uncle Remus or Aesop, with carefully crafted allegories on the psychological and social effects of slavery and racial injustice. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and robots, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales, ancient and modern gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. The Foundations titles also explore the roots of modern fiction and brings together neglected works which deserve a wider readership as part of a series of classic, essential books.

This introductory text explores the gendered history of the modern Middle East, from the eighteenth century to the present, studying the various ways in which gender has defined the region and shaped relations in the modern era. The book captures three aspects of change simultaneously: the events that mark the “modern� Middle east, women’s encounters with the transition to modernity and gendered responses to modernity. It contains both new field work and a synthesis of secondary scholarship that highlight the role of gender in the modernization of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, the Levant and the Persian Gulf states. Chapters are organized chronologically to chart the rapid developments of the modern era, but each chapter also stands on its own, with coverage of masculinity and femininity, sexuality, marriage and the family, labor and women’s contributions to Arab Spring uprisings. Through this comprehensive account, the book pushes back on stereotypes that the Middle East is an ahistorical region and that women have not been vital actors in the process of change. Richly illustrated and accessible for a variety of readers, History, Women and Gender in the Modern Middle East is an ideal resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in gender studies and Middle Eastern history.

In this revised version of a ground-breaking global history of women and the First World War, Susan Grayzel shows the multiple ways in which women faced the enormous challenges the war presented, both the losses as well as the opportunities that the war provided. The First World War was a total war requiring the mobilisation of millions of both civilians and combatants. It decisively shaped the modern world. A century since the signing of the last peace treaty to end this conflict, its experiences and legacies for women continue to inspire debate and interest. With new evidence from the tremendous outpouring of scholarship on women in all participant states, including those in occupied territories, Europe and its overseas empires, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States over the last twenty years, this edition greatly expands the coverage of the war geographically while continuing to showcase diverse women’s voices. Topical in its approach, it allows for a thorough exploration of the intersectional experiences of women. Including new documents highlighting the ways in which women wrote their wars and that detail the impact of this conflict on women of different statuses and geographies, this book opens the door to further inquiry on the women of the First World War. With documents providing first-hand accounts, a chronology, and glossary, the book is an ideal text for students studying the First World War or the history of women.

A unique take on women's history from the bestselling author of British Summer Time Begins Drawn from real life, from interviews with women from all sections of society who have ever had a job, this book is a portrait of British women's working lives from 1950, through cardigans and pearls, via mini-skirts and bottom-pinching, to shoulder pads and the ping of the first emails (early 1990s), never forgetting overalls, aprons and uniforms. Graham conveys the full range of experience: to convey the flavour and atmosphere of workplaces in all their character: the jollities as well as the drudgeries, the good men as well as the vile ones, the nasty women as well as the heroines, the office crushes and romances, the daily drudgery, the lunch hours, the parties, the great piles of paper all over the place, the family-feel of workplaces, the daily burden of trying to run a household and family as well: in short, to look at all facets of this rich slice of British life.

From the colonial through the antebellum era, enslaved women in the US used lethal force as the ultimate form of resistance. By amplifying their voices and experiences, Brooding over Bloody Revenge strongly challenges assumptions that enslaved women only participated in covert, non-violent forms of resistance, when in fact they consistently seized justice for themselves and organized toward revolt. Nikki M. Taylor expertly reveals how women killed for deeply personal instances of injustice committed by their owners. The stories presented, which span centuries and legal contexts, demonstrate that these acts of lethal force were carefully pre-meditated. Enslaved women planned how and when their enslavers would die, what weapons and accomplices were necessary, and how to evade capture in the aftermath. Original and compelling, Brooding Over Bloody Revenge presents a window into the lives and philosophies of enslaved women who had their own ideas about justice and how to achieve it.

A fun and fascinating compendium of LGBTQ+ icons, one for every day of the year, and a celebration of queer history – or as RuPaul would say; Herstory!  Discover your queer hero and learn something new every day with 365 Gays of the Year, an accessible and fun introduction to LGBTQ+ history through the people that made it. Carefully curated and thoughtfully researched, author Lewis Laney assigns a person or group of note to each day of the year to form the ultimate LGBTQ+ hall of fame. Legendary queer icons such as Marsha P Johnson and Freddie Mercury sit alongside lesser known but equally important names such as activist Renée Cafiero, blood donor Barbara Vick, and Sappho the lesbian poet (who was doing her thing in 570BC). All have contributed amazing achievements to the LGBTQ+ story.  Each month also features one ally - inspiring heterosexual people who have all contributed something significant to the lives of the LGBTQ+ community. People like Elizabeth Taylor who “brought AIDS out of the closet and into the ballroom ­– where there was money to be raised�. Each entry comprises a short biography plus a brief explanation about why that celebratory date represents an important milestone. Lewis brings international figures to life (famous and lesser-known) with his witty and uplifting prose which are peppered with little-known facts and accompanied by bright illustrative portraits from the hugely talented Charlotte MacMillan-Scott. This witty, unique celebration of queer history promises to inspire and empower readers with its wealth of bright stars.

The story of us - without hesitation, repetition or deviation. Join national treasure and Just a Minute regular Gyles Brandreth on a hilariously addictive romp through British history. This isn't just another history book - there's a catch! From Stonehenge and Boudicca to Megxit and Brexit, each topic is written in 60-second installments, without hesitation, repetition, or deviation. A History of Britain in Just a Minute celebrates key moments, people and places from our past: kings and queens, heroes and villains, triumphs and disasters, inventions and events, battles and bonnets, art, science, literature, entertainment, sport, gossip, and more. Some entries are uninterrupted minutes, while others feature challenges for repetition and even, er...hesitation. You'll even find other Just a Minute panellists occasionally grabbing the pen to regale us with their witty takes on history. You've never heard the history of Britain told quite like this. You'll enjoy every uproarious minute of it.

Middle Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 as a two-year training school for teachers and has since evolved through myriad changesain name, in size, in administration, and in academic and athletic resources. Change has also swept through the campus with the ebb and tide of the American climate during some of the twentieth centuryas most turbulent eras, including World Wars I and II, the New Deal period, and the Civil Rights Movement. What has remained steadfast through the years at this revered Tennessee institution is a commitment to excellence, and a faculty, staff, and student body in constant pursuit of the rewards of higher education. Located on a 500-acre campus in Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee State University boasts a wide array of opportunities for a student population of nearly 20,000. Courses in everything from agriscience to aerospace, from criminal justice to the recording industry offer budding scholars a chance to explore a wide variety of disciplines, while they also enjoy participating in team sports, academic societies, and social organizations. Within
these pages, students, alumni, and friends of the university will travel down memory lane through a unique photographic tribute to the Blue Raiders. Images of dormitories in the 1920s, World War II campus drills, the first Greek organizations, General MacArthuras visit, homecoming floats, band performances, and early sports teams illuminate the schoolas colorful history.

Sweden, as many other prosperous nations, is presently reassessing its national goals, political culture and collective identity. Newer groups in society are demanding equal treatment, and others whose struggles for recognition are older and unwon, are successfully mobilizing support for political change. Social democratic political hegemony has been eroded and other new political forces are now reinterpreting past political ideas and methods of action and a need for historical perspective. This book analyses the history of Swedish civil society. Social movements and interest organizations have played crucial roles in Sweden. Their history is also Swedish history and concerns struggles for political recognition and welfare state development and cutbacks. Theoretical developments within sociology, social psychology, public choice and political science are combined to enrich the analysis. Some of the theoretical elements used in this book are organizational waves of development, organizational life cycles, political opportunity structure, and topologies of collective action organizations. The book analyzes Swedish civil society history from the Midas to the 1990s. Swedish civil society history is divided into six periods. The role played by collective action organizations in the important developments in politics, society and economy in this one hundred and fifty year period are described, compared and analyzed. The primary focus is the impact of change brought about by these developments on collective action organizations.

A visually stunning and beautifully written celebration of park life around the world. The pandemic brought into sharp relief what city dwellers already realised: parks are an absolutely essential part of modern life. From the author who brought you Lido, here are 50 of the world's greatest parks – but not just a list of the examples we already know. Yes, we'll tell you about those storied greats such as Central Park in New York and Phoenix Park in Dublin, but we'll also take you to the Philippines, to Australia, to provincial Britain and around the world to show you the most historic and the most interesting, the newest and most cutting-edge that mix the best of nature and architecture. We'll explore what you can find there, who goes there, why they are important, and how parks respond to their environments, including ones over a road, on old rail lines or in Berlin's former airport. Examples include: • Freeway Park, Seattle, USA: a bizarre and brilliant brutalist park over a motorway. • Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil: this one contains amazing galleries and theatres. • Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, UK: mountains within a city. • Adelaide's parks, Australia: unique in that the entire city centre is enclosed by parks. and many, many more. Illustrated with glorious photographs throughout, this book is a fascinating record of the world's most interesting and innovative parks, and the people who use them – you'll want to visit them all.

Who taught Catherine of Aragon English, helped Anne Boleyn get dressed in the morning, discussed sex with Anne of Cleves, or pushed religious revolution with Kathryn Parr? Every queen had ladies-in-waiting. Her confidantes and chaperones, they are the forgotten agents of the Tudor court. Ever present and yet hidden behind the scenes, these women held the secrets and the hearts of some of the Tudor period's most powerful men and women. Experts at survival, negotiating the competing demands of their families and their queen, the ladies-in-waiting of Henry VIII's wives were far more than decorative 'extras': they were serious political players who changed the course of history, and four of them became queen themselves. The Waiting Game is the first to tell their story.

A biography of the remarkable, and in her time scandalous, seventeenth-century writer Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. ‘My ambition is not only to be Empress, but Authoress of a whole world.’ Margaret Cavendish, then Lucas, was born in 1623 to a wealthy family. In 1644, as England descended into civil war, she joined the court of the formidable Queen Henrietta Maria at Oxford, before following the court into exile in France. It was there that she met her much older lifelong partner, William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle- upon-Tyne. Cavendish was a revolutionary writer. At a time when literature was dominated by men, she wrote passionately on gender, science and philosophy, defied convention by publishing under her own name, and advocated for women in work that predates the feminist movement. In 1666, she published The Blazing World, a brilliant, trail- blazing proto-novel thought to be one of the earliest works of science fiction. But her legacy divides opinion. And history has largely forgotten her. In Pure Wit, Francesca Peacock shines a spotlight on the fascinating, pioneering, yet often complex and controversial life of Margaret Cavendish.

We all know about giving and receiving gifts: they can be touching or puzzling, either strengthening bonds of friendship or becoming a burden. Gifts are an integral part of human societies and this volume explores how, over the centuries, books and writing describe gifts in all their complexity, but also become precious gifts themselves. In a series of thought-provoking essays, richly illustrated from the Bodleian Library’s collections and beyond, the contributors illuminate some of the striking ways in which writing interacts with those fundamental impulses to give, receive and reciprocate. Each chapter draws on a particular perspective, including archaeology and religion, history, literature and anthropology. From an ancient Sumerian tablet recording the founding of a temple to contemporary children’s literature that highlights the pleasures and troubling histories of exchange and inheritance, the dynamics of the gift are at work across space and time. This book features gorgeous medieval manuscripts, gifts made by and for Queen Elizabeth I, Victorian Christmas tales and a mysterious Scottish book sculpture. Stories of sacrifice, love, loyalty and friendship are woven into these books and objects, showing the ongoing power of the gift to shape the stories we tell about ourselves.

'THOUGHT-PROVOKING' Bernardine Evaristo | 'IMPORTANT' Melissa Hemsley | 'RAZOR-SHARP' Nels Abbey | 'ESSENTIAL' Jaspreet Kaur | 'INSPIRATIONAL' Sophie Williams | 'REVEALING' Tineka Smith | 'NECESSARY' Natalie Alexis Lee What does it mean to be mixed race in today's society? In this powerful book, Natalie and Naomi Evans, founders of anti-racist advocacy and platform Everyday Racism, explore the complexities of mixed-race identities - from the discrimination endured by the 1.2 million mixed people in Britain and millions more elsewhere, to the privileges it can afford. Sharing their own personal experiences of growing up in Britain to illuminate the nuances of racial identity, the book also weaves in: - Interviews with people from mixed backgrounds and in mixed relationships - Research to dispel common myths and stereotypes - Practical advice for mixed-race families and friendships The Mixed-Race Experience will help you to recognise and confront the racism within your own family and communities, helping us all to deepen our intersectional awareness and commitment to allyship.

'Lively and intriguing ... You'll never look at Renaissance portraits in the same way' Maggie O'Farrell Plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics, and discover how, for centuries, women have turned to make up as a rich source of creativity, community and resistance The Renaissance was an era obsessed with appearances. And beauty culture from the time has left traces that give us a window into an overlooked realm of history - revealing everything from sixteenth-century women's body anxieties to their sophisticated botanical and chemical knowledge. How to be a Renaissance Woman allows us to glimpse the world of the female artists, artisans and businesswomen carving out space for themselves, as well as those who gained power and influence in the cut-throat world of the court. In a vivid exploration of women's lives, Professor Jill Burke invites us to rediscover historical cosmetic recipes and unpack the origins of the beauty ideals that are still with us today.

Throughout the world there exists an enduring fascination with our ancestry - who we are and where we come from. Nowhere is this more evident than with the generations of Scots who over the centuries have left their native Scotland to create a new life in the New World - North America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The Scots are a remarkable race with a justifiably proud history and culture which they have successfully passed on through generations. This compact book sets out to identify the larger Scottish clan and family names, their tartans, septs (dependent family names), heraldic crests, mottos, ancestral lands and allegiances. This book features full colour photographs of each tartan as opposed to digital reproductions, allowing readers to see both the textures and patterns.