The fraught tension between science and religion has loomed large in scholarship about the nineteenth century in Spain, especially given the prominence of the Catholic Church and the discoveries made by Wallace and Darwin. The struggle for epistemological superiority between these two discourses (science and religion) has served to overshadow certain corners of the cultural landscape that, though prominent sites of intellectual exploration in their day, have received comparatively less scholarly attention until recently. Fringe Discourses brings together a group of essays that seeks to restore a sense of the epistemological richness of nineteenth-century Spain. By exploring the relationship between epistemology, modernity, and subjectivity, these essays recover significant efforts by Spanish authors and intellectuals to explain human nature and their world, which seemed to be changing so radically before their eyes. In doing so the essays also reveal just how elastic the relationship was between science and pseudoscience, genius and quackery. Offering a veritable Wunderkammer, the authors collected here train their sights both on curious fields of study (from pogonolgy, the science of beards, to Spiritualism) and curiouser people (from a government spy on undercover assignment in Morocco dressed as a Moorish prince to a hypnotic huckster who dupes the queen regent). With other authors focusing on science fiction dystopias, mystical journeys, and anatomical symbology, Fringe Discourses reveals the Spanish nineteenth century for the intellectual Wild West it was.

"The Friendly Invasion of Leominster" relates the activities of a number of American units based in Leominster during World War II. During its history the Herefordshire market town had been no stranger to invasions from across the Welsh border, but in 1943 it was to encounter an incursion of another type. The invasion of U.S. soldiers was a friendly one, although not all of Leominster's residents recognised it as such at the time. On the outskirts of Leominster, Barons Cross became home to the doctors and nurses of the 76th and 135th U.S. Army General Hospitals and patients from the hostilities on the Continent. In the build up to D. Day, American units occupied camps in the grounds of Berrington Hall and in the town. Some of these units, such as the 5th Ranger Battalion and the 90th Infantry Division were to play a major part in the D. Day landings. Others, such as the 7th Armored Division and the 736th Field Artillery Battalion landed after D. Day and took part in the liberation of France. This book describes each unit's time in Leominster, using eyewitness accounts and photographs, and then follows the unit across the English Channel and through Europe.

U.S. Army Hospital Center 804’ tells the story of five U.S. Army hospitals located on the Shropshire/Flintshire border during World War II: Llanerch Panna, Penley, Iscoyd Park, Oteley Deer Park and Halston Hall. They were built by British contractors during 1942-44 and used by American hospital units until the end of the war in Europe. When the American units left the area some of the hospital sites were used by displaced Poles. For a few months at the end of 1944/beginning of 1945 the hospital at Iscoyd Park treated German Prisoners of War. The headquarters of the 5 hospitals - Hospital Center 804 was first located in Gwemheylod (Flintshire) and later moved to Whitchurch (Shropshire). U.S. ARMY HOSPITAL CENTER 804 An AawMolltis U& Military Hospitals in lb. This book looks at the day to day activities at the hospitals using archive material and accounts and previously unpublished photos from those who were there at the time and their relatives. It also looks in depth at the stories of some of the patient-soldiers who passed through the hospitals. It touches on the impact the occupants of the camps and other U.S. camps in the area, had on the surrounding towns, with particular regard to Wrexham in Flintshire.

'They Also Serve Who Stand And Wait' tells the story of the U.S. Replacement Depot at Pheasey Farms Estate in Great Barr, Birmingham during World War II. Part of the half-built housing estate was requisitioned by the British forces at the outbreak of the war and in 1942 the first group of American soldiers moved in. The book is a fascinating insight into the day to day activity on the base, with many moving accounts from those involved, and also deals with the impact that the American soldiers had on the surrounding area of Walsall and Birmingham.

Camp Foxley tells the history of the military camp built in the grounds of Foxley Manor House, Herefordshire, from the outbreak of the Second World War until the late 1960s when it was demolished. During the war the camp saw the arrival and departure of several Canadian and American military units. From 1944 to 1945 two American hospitals based there received casualties from the European Theatre of Operations. After the war the camp was used to house Polish refugees who were later joined by homeless English families. In the late 1960s the temporary camp, which had been built only to last for the duration of the war, was finally closed and the last remaining occupants were found homes in Hereford. The book tells of the day to day activities on the base, using accounts and previously unpublished photos from those involved. It also deals with the impact that the occupants had on the surrounding area of Herefordshire.

Army Force Station 522, at Beakes Road, Smethwick, Staffordshire, was created on 25th August 1943 in order to meet the increasing demands of the United States Army Air Force in the European Theatre of Operations. Situated at least 50 miles from the nearest USA Air Force base, its Midlands location was appropriate for the movement of equipment throughout the country. Also, its distance from the airfields gave the depot a degree of security and it was not bombed during its American occupation. The base was in use until October 1945 as a storage, supply, and repair depot for Air Force equipment. It was responsible for supplying all the radio and radar equipment for the American air bases around the country. After D-Day a contingent of men from Smethwick was sent to the continent where they carried out similar duties. This title chronicles the day-to-day running of USAAF Station 522, and recounts the experiences of the men of the 879th, 892nd and 908th Signal Depot Companies that were based there. It also looks at the sociological effects that the American unit had on the locality of Smethwick and Bearwood, one of these being the numerous Anglo-American weddings.