|
Showing 1 - 25 of
28 matches in All Departments
Throughout its turbulent history, South Africa has frequently been the focus of worldwide attention – usually hostile. Yet prejudice and ignorance about the country are widespread. The evolution of the present-day 'Rainbow Nation' has taken place under conditions of sometimes extreme pressure. Since long before the arrival of the first European settlers in the seventeenth century, the country has been home to a complex and uneasily co-existing blend of races and cultures, and successive waves of immigrants have added to the already volatile mixture. Despite the optimism and euphoria which greeted the final dismantling of the apartheid system and the election as President of Nelson Mandela in April 1994, South Africa's history, racial mix and recent political upheavals suggest it will not easily free itself from the legacy of its tumultuous past. Newly revised and updated to include the retirement of Mandela, Frank Welsh's vividly written, even-handed and authoritative history casts new light on many of South Africa's most cherished myths. Like his 'A History of Hong Kong', it will surely come to be regarded as definitive. 'Sweeping, exhaustive and masterly' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'Excellent … a balanced account of a very complex story' STEPHEN FLEMING, 'Irish Independent' 'Vital to an understanding of modern South Africa PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'His assessments are judicious, his opinions fair … Welsh maintains a clear narrative thread through this hugely complex story' STEPHEN TAYLOR, 'New York Times Book Review'
By comparison with the United States, the history of the United Kingdom as an undivided entity has been quite short. This book describes the history of each constituent part, their interaction, and the effect of external events. As soon as British history is seen as an integral part of world (especially European) history, the perspective alters drastically. Until 1803 France was optimistically assumed to be part of the realm. Less than a century elapsed between 1829, when the grant of a very restricted franchise to Catholics made the inclusion of Ireland more than a political fiction, to 1922, when the Irish Free State emerged. Scotland, with England the main constituent of the UK since 1707, has retained its own legal system, administration and established church (the Queen changes her religion each time she passes Berwick). Wales retains a distinctive culture and language, albeit one on an expensive life-support machine.
Comprehensive guide to the Lake District, fully revised and
updated. Unimprovably good JOHN LANCHESTER, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
There is hardly a stone in the Lake District that Frank Welsh
leaves unturned. From the particular delights of the places with
which the Lake Poets are associated - Dove Cottage, Grasmere,
Buttermere, Cockermouth - to the remoter parts of the Eden Valley
and Furness, over the fells, beside the lakes, through history,
topography, archaeology, literature, geology and even bakery, Frank
Welsh is the consummate guide and companion, writing with wit,
intelligence and true skill. He covers both the less visited, and,
in the author's view, unappreciated, parts of the Lake District, as
well as those which no visitor will want to miss.
Even by comparison to the United States, the United Kingdom has had
a brief and fractious history. Its existence as an undivided entity
lasted only for a disputatious 125 years, and its future remains
precarious.In The Four Nations, Frank Welsh offers a lively
narrative history of the four component parts of the British
Isles-England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Moving from the Roman
period, which first defined many of the current internal
boundaries, through the present day, Welsh describes the history of
each nation, their interactions, and the impacts of crises ranging
from the Norman Invasion to the Protestant Reformation to the two
world wars of the twentieth century. Along the way, Welsh questions
many cherished illusions and poses some awkward questions: To what
extent were Scotland, Ireland, and Wales victims of predatory
English aggression? How serious is the frequently invoked specter
of national fragmentation?Filled with illuminating vignettes and
provocative insights, The Four Nations is an accessible and
comprehensive introduction to the troubled histories of the British
Isles.
|
|