History Recent Picks

September 2009

The title-underlined links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Tout sweet: hanging up my high heels for a new life in rural France, by Karen Wheeler.
"In her mid-thirties Karen has it all: a career as a fashion editor, a handsome boyfriend, a fab flat in west London and an array of gorgeous shoes. But when her 'plus one' leaves, she wonders if there is more to life than high fashion. So, she hangs up her Manolos and waves goodbye to her city lifestyle, deciding to go it alone in a run-down house in rural Poitou-Charentes, western France. Once there, she encounters a host of new friends and unsuitable suitors, soon learning that true happiness can be found in the simplest of things - a bike ride through the countryside on a summer evening, or six glasses of Pinot in a neighbour’s garden. If you've ever dreamed of chucking away your BlackBerry and down shifting, "Tout Sweet" is perfect summer reading." (Amazon)

The last days of old Beijing: life in the vanishing backstreets of a city transformed, by Michael Meyer.
"A fascinating, intimate portrait of Beijing through the lens of its oldest neighbourhood, Dazhalan. Meyer examines how the bonds that hold the neighbourhood together are being torn by forced evictions as century-old houses and ways of life are increasingly destroyed to make way for shopping malls, the capital's first Wal-Mart, high-rise buildings, and widened streets for cars replacing bicycles. Beijing has gone through this cycle many times, as Meyer reveals, but never with the kind of dislocation and overturning of its storied culture now occurring as the city prepares to host the 2008 Summer Olympics." (From publisher description)

Thailand condensed: 2000 years of history and culture, by Ellen London.
"The only Southeast Asian nation never to have been colonized by a European power, Thailand is a country rich with history. Thailand Condensed provides readers with an overview of key events in the nation's past as well as the cultural touchstones of its present. From elephants, tuks tuks, and silk to the realities of modern life, Thailand Condensed is loaded with nuggets of information, all presented in one volume for the reader’s ease of reference." (Amazon)

Dublin 1916: the siege of the GPO, by Clair Wills.
"Dublin’s General Post Office is the most famous building in Ireland. This book tells the story of the events in and around the GPO in Easter Week, using participant and eye-witness accounts, diaries and newspaper reports.
Taken over by the Irish Volunteers on Easter Monday 1916 and held for nearly a week, the rebels finally surrendered the GPO to the Crown forces after heavy gun bombardment, and the ensuing conflagration reduced it to an empty shell and destroyed much of the centre of the city. Clair Wills’ fascinating book also explores the twists and turns that the myth of the GPO has undergone in the last century. It has stood for sacrifice and treachery, national unity and divisive violence, for the future and the past." (Amazon)

The crisis of Islamic civilization, by Ali A. Allawi.
"Islam as a religion is central to the lives of over a billion people, but its outer expression as a distinctive civilization has been undergoing a monumental crisis. Buffeted by powerful adverse currents, Islamic civilization today is a shadow of its former self. The most disturbing and possibly fatal of these currents - the imperial expansion of the West into Muslim lands and the blast of modernity that accompanied it - are now compounded by a third giant wave, globalization. These forces have increasingly tested Islam and Islamic civilization for validity, adaptability, and the ability to hold on to the loyalty of Muslims, says Ali A. Allawi in his provocative new book. While the faith has proved resilient in the face of these challenges, other aspects of Islamic civilization have atrophied or died, Allawi contends, and Islamic civilization is now undergoing its last crisis. The book explores how Islamic civilization began to unravel under colonial rule, as its institutions, laws, and economies were often replaced by inadequate modern equivalents. Allawi also examines the backlash expressed through the increasing religiosity of Muslim societies and the spectacular rise of political Islam and its terrorist offshoots. Assessing the status of each of the building blocks of Islamic civilization, the author concludes that Islamic civilization cannot survive without the vital spirituality that underpinned it in the past. He identifies a key set of principles for moving forward, principles that will surprise some and anger others, yet clearly must be considered." (www.yalepress.yale.edu)

The Wolf, by Richard Guilliatt & Peter Hohnen.
"In the years 1916-1918, the Wolf, an ordinary freighter fitted-out with a hidden arsenal of weapons, was sent by Germany on one of the most daring clandestine naval missions of modern times. Under the command of Kapitan Karl Nerger, the ship undertook a continuous fifteen-month cruise in which she traversed three of the world's major oceans, destroyed more than thirty Allied vessels and captured over 400 men, women and children. During this time the Wolf maintained radio silence and never pulled into port, surviving on fuel and food plundered from captured ships. Equipped with the era's newest technological marvels the Wolf was an instrument of terror in a new age of mechanised warfare. In "The Wolf", Richard Guilliatt & Peter Hohnen bring this little-known story to life by drawing on dozens of eyewitness accounts, unpublished memoirs, declassified government files, newspaper reports and family archives unearthed during three years of intensive research in several countries. What emerges from these accounts is a richly-detailed picture of the world through which the Wolf moved, with all its social divisions and naked xenophobia, its spirit of bravery and stoicism, its paradoxical combination of old-world social mores and rapid technological change. This extraordinary adventure story exhibits the tremendous impact that one lone, audacious German warship made on the people of many nations during the final two years of the First World War." (Amazon)

Osman's dream: the story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923, by Caroline Finkel.
"The Ottoman chronicles recount that the first sultan, Osman, dreamt of the dynasty he would found – a tree, fully-formed, emerged from his navel, symbolising the vigour of his successors and the extent of their domains.
This is the first book to tell the full story of the Ottoman dynasty that for six centuries held sway over territories stretching, at their greatest, from Hungary to the Persian Gulf, and from North Africa to the Caucasus.
Understanding the realization of Osman's vision is essential for anyone who seeks to understand the modern world.
Caroline Finkel has lived in Istanbul for many years and travelled widely in Turkey and the former Ottoman lands. She has a doctorate in Ottoman history from the School of Oriental and African Studies, has published numerous articles and learnt Hungarian, Arabic and Persian in addition to Ottoman and modern Turkish. This is Caroline Finkel's third book." (Amazon)

Ainu: spirit of a northern people, edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Dubreuil.
"As soon as the Ainu became known outside Japan in the early 1800s, scholars recognized that their history was different from that of surrounding Japanese, Korean, and Siberian peoples. This book presents a broad range of contemporary scholarship on Ainu studies by leading European, American, and Japanese scholars, and by native Ainu artists and cultural leaders. Using materials from early, unpublished Ainu collections in North America, supplemented by archaeological, archival, and modern Ainu art from Japan, Ainu culture is presented here as a rich blend of traditional and modern belief. Like other extant native cultures, the Ainu have survived by resisting political and economic pressure to assimilate. Although they have lost their northern lands and are confined largely to Hokkaido, their culture and language have recently received official recognition, in Japan and internationally. This book, jointly planned with scholars and the Ainu people, helps bring Ainu history, culture, and art into focus as a rich living tradition. William Fitzhugh is director of the Arctic Studies Center and curator of anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Chisato O. Dubreuil, of native Ainu descent, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Victoria in British Columbia." (Amazon)

In search of the Friendly Islands, by Kalafi Moala.
"In Search of the Friendly Islands is a thought-provoking examination of how tradition and modernity co-exist in Tongan society, not only in Tonga but also in the diasporic Tongan communities in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Tongan publisher and broadcaster Kalafi Moala's explores the dilemmas, paradoxes and challenges of modern Tonga in this, his second book. Is the Kingdom of Tonga losing its way? What is Tongan culture, and how will it determine the path of Tonga s future? How will Tonga respond to changing circumstances? These and other questions are examined, with the goal of looking towards a dynamic and positive future for modern Tonga. Moala examines myriad issues including domestic violence, the culture of domination and hierarchy, traditional and modern leadership, the 16/11 riots, economic development, globalization and spirituality. As major changes are currently taking place in the structure of Tongan government, Moala believes that simply reforming the government will not, in and of itself, achieve the hoped-for results. Tongan communities and individuals must, he urges, look within for the deeper transformations that will lead to true reform." (Amazon)

The life and times of Auckland: the colourful story of a city, by Gordon McLauchlan.
"Gordon McLauchlan presents a biography of Auckland city that reflects his passion for the place. This is a colourful history, filled with anecdotes and asides. Gordon traces the history of settlement in the Auckland region, and illustrates the huge differences in the way the town began and the way it has continued to exist as spontaneous, commercial city from diverse cultural sources. Gordon argues that Auckland is, and always has been, different to the rest of the country: 'more cosmopolitan, more mercantile, more susceptible to change and modernity'. In this book he explores why. His willingness to express his opinion about other New Zealand towns and cities is likely to raise provincial passions, but his fascination for the development of New Zealand's largest city, and his advocacy for the city's future, will draw in readers from around the country." (Amazon)

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