Essais & Culture

What do we mean when we claim affinity with an object or picture, or say affinities exist between such things?Affinities is a critical and personal study of a sensation that is not exactly taste, desire, or allyship, but has aspects of all. Approaching this subject via discrete examples, this book is first of all about images that have stayed with the author over many years, or grown in significance during months of pandemic isolation, when the visual field had shrunk. Some are historical works by artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Dora Maar, Claude Cahun, Samuel Beckett and Andy Warhol.

Others are scientific or vernacular images: sea creatures, migraine auras, astronomical illustrations derived from dreams. Also family photographs, film stills, records of atomic ruin. And contemporary art by Rinko Kawauchi, Susan Hiller and John Stezaker.

Written as a series of linked essays, interwoven with a reflection on affinity itself, Affinities is an extraordinary book about the intimate and abstract pleasures of reading and looking.

On the 25th January 2015 the Greek people voted in an election of historic importance - not just for Greece but potentially all of Europe. The radical party Syriza was elected and austerity and the neoliberal agenda is being challenged. Suddenly it seems as if there is an alternative. But what? Building on the economic analysis of two of Europe's leading thinkers, Heiner Flassbeck and Costas Lapavitsas (just elected to parliament as a member of Syriza), Against the Troika is the first book to propose a strategic left-wing plan for how peripheral countries could exit the euro. With a change in government in Greece, and looming political transformations in countries such as Spain, this major intervention lays out a radical, anti-capitalist programme at a critical juncture for Europe. The final three chapters offer a detailed postmortem of the Greek catastrophe, explain what can be learned from it - and provide a possible alternative. Against the Troika is a practical blueprint for real change in a continent wracked by crisis and austerity.

From the very first book publication in 1920 to the upcoming film release of Death on the Nile, this investigation into Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot celebrates a century of probably the world's favourite fictional detective. This book tells his story decade-by-decade, exploring his appearances not only in the original novels, short stories and plays but also across stage, screen and radio productions. Poirot has had near-permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. From character development, publication history and private discussion concerning the original stories themselves, to early forays on to the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring. Based on the author's original research, review excerpts and original Agatha Christie correspondence, Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World is a lively and accessible history of the character, offering new information and helpful pieces of context, that will delight all Agatha Christie fans, from a new generation of readers to those already highly familiar with the canon.

'I am a woman's rights. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? I am as strong as any man that is now'A former slave and one of the most powerful orators of her time, Sojourner Truth fought for the equal rights of black women throughout her life. This selection of her impassioned speeches is accompanied by the words of other inspiring African-American female campaigners from the nineteenth century. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

Accompanying the first ever exhibition on the storytelling around Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, this book charts the evolution of a legend that continues to captivate audiences today.

Alexander the Great acceded to the throne at the age of 20, as king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. By his death in 323 BC, he had created one of the largest empires in the world - but myth proved more powerful than historical truth, and Alexander's life remains lost in legend.

These stories permeate western and eastern cultures and religions, and have endured for more than 2,000 years. Even now, Alexander continues to appeal to new generations and his image persists today in film, theatre, literature and even video games.

This book explores the stories that began shortly after Alexander's mysterious death, and that by the Middle Ages had developed into a narrative of Alexander as the all-conquering hero who fought mythical beasts and explored the unknown using submarines and flying chariots. These incredible legends are brought to life here with exquisite original illustrations in books and manuscripts from around the globe.

The compelling story of the greatest warrior hero of ancient times, from award-winning writer, Jamila Gavin. Alexander the Great is hailed as the world’s greatest leaders of all time, renowned for his bravery, his loyalty and his generosity towards his enemies. Jamila Gavin’s vivid narrative brings the ancient world to life, as she follows Alexander’s campaign from Greece to India. From his taming of the wild horse Bucephalus, to the cutting of the Gordian Knot, through to his great battles and confrontations with Darius III, King of Persia, Alexander was a legend in his own lifetime. Alongside his campaigning feats, the legends from ancient Greece, Egypt, Persia and India told around the army campfires create a vivid and exciting picture of life under this great hero.

"He was a man like no other man has ever been" In twelve years that changed the world, Alexander the Great conquered a vast empire, extending from the Danube to the rivers of the Punjab, and from Egypt to Uzbekistan. Arrian, a Greek man of letters, military commander, and holder of the highest political offices in both Rome and Athens, wrote the definitive account of Alexander's life and campaigns, published as the Anabasis. A dramatic fast-moving story, told with great narrative skill, his work is now our prime and most detailed source for the history of Alexander--a compelling account of an exceptional leader, brilliant, ruthless, passionate, and complex. Martin Hammond's engaging translation-new for this volume--is fully alive to the literary qualities of Arrian's prose, making this the most readable and attractive modern version. This is also the only edition of the Anabasis to include Arrian's companion piece, the Indica, a fascinating account of the voyage of Alexander's fleet from south India to the Persian Gulf, with descriptions of the geography, customs, and natural curiosities of India. John Atkinson's Introduction sets Arrian in his historical context and describes the life of Alexander as it is reflected in his work. In addition. this volume includes extensive notes that identify historical references and allusions, and highlight the interplay of historical and literary issues. Lastly readers will also find three invaluable appendices, maps and site plans, and a comprehensive analytical index. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

"The word "love" is most often defined as a noun, yet...we would all love better if we used it as a verb," writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness. As bell hooks uses her incisive mind and razor-sharp pen to explore the question "What is love?" her answers strike at both the mind and heart. In thirteen concise chapters, hooks examines her own search for emotional connection and society's failure to provide a model for learning to love. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for the individuals and for a nation. The Utne Reader declared bell hooks one of the "100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life." All About Love is a powerful affirmation of just how profoundly she can.