by John Russell Brown (1995)
Reaching back in time and across the world, this authoritative and wide-ranging new history draws on the latest scholarly research to describe and celebrate theatre's greatest achievements over 4,500 years, from festival performances in ancient Egypt to international multi-cultural theatre in the late twentieth century. Beginning with the origins of theatre in Greece and Rome, and in the early civilizations of Africa and the Americas, the book then guides the reader through the full spectrum of dramatic representation in Europe - from medieval mystery cycles and miracle plays to the Renaissance in Italy, Spain, England, and France; from Lope de Vega and Calderon to Shakespeare, Corneille, Moliere, and Racine; the Golden Age in Spain to Restoration London. In Part Three the focus widens in four period surveys: the Eighteenth Century, the Nineteenth Century, Modern Theatre 1890-1920, and Theatre After Two World Wars. Finally, there are three stimulating essays on the main theatres of Asia and a concluding account of theatre since 1970. . Throughout the book, the chronological record is related to a number of general themes, including theatre's changing role within society, the reasons for popularity or failure, varieties of form and means of production, interactions with other art forms and with contemporary currents of thought. In addition, the text gives due weight to technical, practical, and organizational issues - backstage personnel and equipment; musicians; light and sound technicians; set designers; and financiers - and to the role of audiences and critics.
Angus Konstam
"This book covers the gunboats of all the major nations that stationed naval forces in China, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, and looks at such famous incidents as the Japanese bombing of the USS Panay and the dramatic escape of the HMS Amethyst from Communist forces in 1949, which marked the end of the gunboat era."--P. [4] of cover.
Harry A. Miskimin
A study of economic development and change in England, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Central Europe, Spain and Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Nicholas A. Lambert
For most of the twentieth century, historians thought that British naval policy was driven by the Anglo-German arms race. After examining a prodigious quantity of primary sources, Nicholas A. Lambert concludes that Admiralty decision-making was in fact driven by factors totally unrelated to the German building program. Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution explores the intrigue and negotiations between the Admiralty and leading domestic reformers of the day, such as Herbert H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill, and shows how the politicians regarded the issues of naval strategy and finance as central to the success of their proposed social reforms. Lambert also explains how Great Britain's naval leaders responded to these challenges under the direction of Admiral Sir John Fisher, the service head of the Admiralty from 1904 to 1910.
Jessica Kerwin Jenkins
"All the Time in the World proffers a miscellany of customs, traditions, and pleasures people have pursued throughout the ages. An antidote to the contemporary cult of Getting Things Done, the book takes its cue from the medieval books of hours, which prescribed certain readings and contemplations for various parts of the day and year. Full of witty bon mots, interesting etymologies, and arresting anecdotes, the book encompasses an array of cultures and eras including ancient Greece, Renaissance Florence, 1930s Shanghai, and the Hollywood Hills of the late 1960s, drifting through the worlds of fashion, beauty, art, food, or travel. Focusing on the glamorous, eccentric, unusual and sublime, subjects covered include: the daylong ceremony of laying a royal Elizabethan tablecloth; the radicalization of sartorial chic in 1890s Paris; Nostradamus' belief in the aphrodisiac power of jam (and the book of recipes he published the same year as his predictions); the sensuous practice of sniffing incense in 15th century Japan; the American fascination with flaming desserts; the short-lived artistic discipline of "lumia," or visual music; the Ottoman Empire's 17th century ban on coffee; the magnetic atmosphere that fueled Parisian highlife in the 1920s; Henriette d'Angeville's fearless ascent of Mont Blanc, armed with 13 guides, 24 roast chickens, and 18 bottles of wine; the elaborate treasure hunts concocted by London's Bright Young Things; and the musical revolution known as bebop. Entertaining, unexpected, and charming, All the Time in the World digs up the forgotten treasures of the past and inspires a passion for good living in the present"--