'There are few historical developments more significant than the realisation that those in power should not be free to torture and abuse those who are not.' - Amal Clooney On 10 December 1948, in Paris, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an extraordinarily ground-breaking and important proclamation: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This milestone document, made up of thirty Articles, sets out, for the first time, the fundamental human rights that must be protected by all nations. The full text of the document is reproduced in this book following a foreword by human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and a general introduction which explores its origins in the 'Four Freedoms' described by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the role his wife Eleanor Roosevelt took on as chair of the Human Rights Commission and of the drafting committee, and the parts played by other key international members of the Commission. It was a pioneering achievement in the wake of the Second World War and continues to provide a basis for international human rights law, making this document's aims 'as relevant today as when they were first adopted a lifetime ago.'

'It's damned hard lines asking for bread and only getting a bullet!' The dramatic and chaotic events surrounding the Russian Revolution have been studied and written about extensively for the last hundred years, by historians and journalists alike. However, some of the most compelling and valuable accounts are those recorded by eyewitnesses, many of whom were foreign nationals caught in Petrograd at the time. Drawing from the Bodleian Library's rich collections, this book features extracts from letters, journals, diaries and memoirs written by a diverse cast of onlookers. Primarily British, the authors include Sydney Gibbes, English tutor to the royal children, Bertie Stopford, an antiques dealer who smuggled the Vladimir tiara and other Romanov jewels into the UK, and the private secretary to Lord Milner in the British War Cabinet. Contrasting with these are a memoir by Stinton Jones, an engineer who found himself sharing a train compartment with Rasputin, a newspaper report by governess Janet Jeffrey who survived a violent confrontation with the Red Army, and letters home from Labour politician, Arthur Henderson. Accompanied by seventy contemporary illustrations, these first-hand accounts are put into context with introductory notes, giving a fascinating insight into the tumultuous year of 1917.

At the height of the debate about the slave trade and its abolition in the 1780s and '90s, each side issued pamphlets in support of its position. This publication reproduces a selection of representative pamphlets encompassing the arguments put forward by each side. The pamphlets discuss many of the issues including humanitarianism and the Rights of Man, the economic well-being of Britain's colonial territories in the aftermath of the loss of the American colonies, the state of the British merchant marine and the Royal Navy, the condition of the poor in England, and, not least, the economic and moral condition of the slaves themselves, not only in the West Indies but also in Africa. Both sides drew freely on scriptural sources to support their case, thus providing a fascinating sidelight on theological debate of the time. The book includes pamphlets written by the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, and by Sir John Gladstone (father of the Prime Minister) in support of the trade, and sets these against the leading abolitionists such as Wilberforce. It also includes a transcript of part of the unpublished journal of James Ramsay, a well-known abolitionist, in which he provides model answers for abolitionists asked to testify before a committee of enquiry. The introduction explains the background to each pamphlet and sets them in their collective historical and social context. Illustrated by the well-known engraving of the slaver Brookes, and by plans of Cape Coast slave castles, this book is a culturally fascinating read and will become a valuable source-book for students and scholars alike.

Numerous documents attest to the horrific conditions endured by African slaves during the centuries of the Atlantic slave trade. Less well known is the perspective of those who wielded power during this dark time in human history. The Bodleian Library fills that gap here with the memoirs of a principal figure in the slave trade, Captain Hugh Crow.The first-hand account of a man who commanded one of the last legal slave vessels to cross the Atlantic, "Life and Times of a Slave Trade Captain" offers a revealing if frequently troubling look into the psyche of a slave trader. His chronicle leaves nothing to the imagination, as he recounts the harsh routine of daily life on a slave vessel, where on average a fifth of the crew--let alone the human cargo--never survived the crossing. Crow portrays himself as an "enlightened" slaver, a claim he justifies through the link between his close attention to his "negroes" and his financial success, and the songs composed for him by the slaves. His account also includes commentary on the social propriety of the slave trade and notes about the conditions on West Indian and Caribbean plantations as well as on slave ships. John Pinfold's illuminating introduction recounts the life of Hugh Crow and sets him in the rich historical context of eighteenth-century mercantilism and its battle with the abolitionist movement. An eye-opening read, "Life and Times of a Slave Trade Captain" reveals an often overlooked facet in the complicated history of transatlantic slavery.

This study examines how Irish artistic production engages the wider debate concerning masculine identity. It includes 40 color reproductions of paintings by Brian Maguire, Patrick Graham, and Michael Mulcahy. Post-modern artistic representations of male subjectivity are examined through the works of the Irish painters Brian Maguire, Patrick Graham, and Michael Mulcahy. They become the main focus for a cultural critique and reassessment of perceptions of masculinity as it emerges within a particular culture and time. The resonances of this examination carry implications for how men are recognised beyond the boundaries of nation and culture. The debate generated is that the cultural, social, and political changes experienced by Ireland through the course of the twentieth century have had direct impact upon how individual male subjects present, and represent, themselves. Artistic production known as 'neo-expressionism' has allowed such representations to have global impact, and for the questions that are raised to enter different cultural scenarios. This book operates within a sexual political arena where patriarchal attitudes and assumptions are questioned and redefined by its own nominees; the men who speak for any given culture. The feet that these men speak through the fluid and difficult to control medium of paint allows for the messages they carry to be variously and differently interpreted. They record and represent a male consciousness that is in transition, and it is this which is analysed.

For over one hundred years the name Topham was inextricably linked to the Grand National, even though not a single runner in it ever carried their colours, and no member of the family ever rode over Aintree's famous fences. Yet their contribution to Grand National history was equally as important as all the heroes and heroines, both human and equine, who have thrilled successive generations of racegoers as they have done battle each spring to win the world's greatest steeplechase. For the Tophams were the promoters of the race, responsible for drawing up the race conditions, developing and maintaining the course itself, and, for much of the period, compiling the handicap as well. Without them, there simply would have been no Grand National.
Edward William Topham, known as 'The Wizard' was the founder of the dynasty. He was the first handicapper of the Grand National, and in 1848 he took over the management of Aintree racecourse and became the sole promoter of the Grand National. So successful was he that the family dynasty he established remained in control of Aintree through three generations for one hundred and twenty-five years until his grand-daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mirabel Topham, sold the course in 1973. So long an association of one family with a premier sporting event is unusual if not quite unparalleled. Yet although many books have been written about the Grand National, few of them have made more than a cursory reference to the family who promoted and maintained it - at least until Mirabel Topham began to hit the headlines in the 1950s and '60s. This neglect is undeserved, for the story of the Tophams is as colourful as any of the horses or jockeys who have taken part in therace they were responsible for staging.
Each generation of Tophams who ran Aintree faced major challenges, including sustained criticisms of the course and the race conditions. How they faced up to these challenges and fought to maintain the prestige and the appeal of the National is a major theme of this book. In some respects the story of Tophams follows that of many family firms, being created by the first generation, consolidated by the second, and dissipated by the third. Yet in other respects it does not conform to this pattern, and had the fierce boardroom battle that broke out in the 1930s gone the other way, then the outcome could have been very different. For the last forty years of Tophams' control of Aintree the larger than life character of Mirabel Topham played a crucial role in determining the destiny of the course and its most famous race. This book attempts to strike a balance between those who have sought to blame all Aintree's problems on her dictatorial and confrontational style, and those who will not hear a word said against her.
This is the first book to offer a full account of the Topham family's long association with Aintree. Written largely from contemporary sources it provides much new information on Aintree's colourful and often controversial past, as seen through the eyes of those who were responsible for staging the world's most famous steeplechase.

The first history of the colourful and controversial Topham family who owned and managed Aintree racecourse and the Grand National for over a hundred and fifty years.

Each year, for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in April, Aintree Racecourse becomes the focus of the sporting world and the stage of the world's greatest steeplechase, the Grand National. More than 70,000 spectators at the course along with a global live broadcast audience of millions thrill to the spectacle of 40 horses and their riders racing over the world's most famous steeplechase course.There have been many accounts of the Grand National, but this book, Aintree, tells the story of the iconic racecourse from its early days as a flat racing venue, through William Lynn's inspired inauguration of the first Liverpool Grand Steeple-Chase in 1836, the redesign of fences in the 1880s, and subsequently the impact of wartime occupations, followed by dramatic postwar decline to the more recent and welcome renaissance as a three-day festival of jumping. Aintree also reveals previously unexplored aspects of the racecourse's colourful history: its spectators, buildings, animal welfare issues, and some unexpected, remarkable stories such as the early history of women's football and development of powered flight.After years of dedicated research, John Pinfold, a leading historian of the Grand National, exposes some of Aintree's tales as myths, while adding many a new one to the rich tapestry of the annals. Aintree, The History of the Racecourse is lavishly illustrated with numerous pictures never before reproduced. The author draws on previously untapped sources, including the Topham family archives, to weave a fascinating story that spans three centuries.This book will appeal to both the horse racing enthusiast and the general reader.