Ranging from the mid-19th century to the present, and from Edinburgh to Plymouth, this powerful collection explores the significance of locality in queer space and experiences in modern British history. The chapters cover a broad range of themes from migration, movement and multiculturalism; the distinctive queer social and political scenes of different cities; and the ways in which places have been reimagined through locally led community history projects. The book challenges traditional LGBTQ histories which have tended to conceive of queer experience in the UK as a comprising a homogeneous, national narrative. Edited by leading historians, the book foregrounds the voices of LGBTQ-identified people by looking at a range of letters, diaries, TV interviews and oral testimonies. It provides a unique and fascinating account of queer experiences in Britain and how they have been shaped through different localities.

Sapiens showed us where we came from. In uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we’re going.

Yuval Noah Harari envisions a near future in which we face a new set of challenges. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond – from overcoming death to creating artificial life.

It asks the fundamental questions: how can we protect this fragile world from our own destructive power? And what does our future hold?

'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before’ Daniel Kahneman, bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow

Grass and its organisation into lawns is a particularly English obsession. If an Englishman's house is his castle, then his lawn is most certainly his estate. Occupying a place in the national psyche comparable to that of afternoon tea, the English concept of the ideal lawn has evolved and altered alomost beyond regognition since its first mention in the time of Henry III. Now Tom Fort traces its history, through famous lawns, to the present day. The English are universally acknowledged to be the lawn creators, coming up with most of the games played on grass, as well as the original grass-cutting machines. The lawn has aroused the wonder of the rest of the civilised world, and the Americans have fused to their conception of suburban bliss the ideal of the impeccably manicured lawn. This social history of grass is further enlivened by an introduction to the creator of the first lawnmower, Edwin Budding, by discussions with contemporary lawnsmen, and by witnessing the author's own attempt to create his perfect lawn.

An intriguing examination of the life and times of Josiah Wedgwood, potter to the Queen, and an Enlightenment pioneer. Brian Dolan combines the remarkable story of Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter whose works are among the finest examples of ceramic art, with the story of the 18th-century world of industry, fashion and connoisseurship. Born in 1730 in Staffordshire, into a family with a long tradition as potters, Wedgwood survived childhood smallpox (and later, the loss of his leg), to become one of the most prestigious potters in England; Queen Charlotte was sufficiently impressed to name him 'Royal Supplier of Dinnerware'. Depending on his business acumen, artistic sensibilities, and critically, his scientific innovations, he established a factory and village near Stoke-on-Trent named Etruria, where his revolutionary basalt and jasperware was developed. Dolan weaves into this tale intriguing social detail: the lives of the workers at Etruria, England at the beginning of the industrial revolution, the Court of Queen Charlotte and the worlds of the Royal Society and the Men of Science. He paints a wonderful picture of the man and of the fascinating Enlightenment period when he flourished.

Brazil's black population, one of the oldest and largest in the Americas, mobilized a vibrant antiracism movement from grassroots origins when the country transitioned from dictatorship to democracy in the 1980s. Campaigning for political equality after centuries of deeply engrained racial hierarchies, African-descended groups have been working to unlock democratic spaces that were previously closed to them. Using the city of Salvador as a case study, Kwame Dixon tracks the emergence of black civil society groups and their political projects: claiming new citizenship rights, testing new anti-discrimination and affirmative action measures, reclaiming rural and urban land, and increasing political representation. This book is one of the first to explore how Afro-Brazilians have influenced politics and democratic institutions in the contemporary period. Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.