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Michael Katakis has spent his life travelling with a camera and writing a journal. This is the resulting book. For the past 25 years he has collaborated with the social anthropologist Kris Hardin in work spanning continents and cultures. Their initial project was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, photographing and interviewing veterans and civilians alike, the result of which was a moving portrait of America's strengths, sacrifices and errors during a profoundly divisive time in the nation's history. A different and disturbing portrait of the country emerges in 'Troubled Land: Twelve Days Across America' where Michael Katakis sought to have a dialogue with ordinary people right after September 11 2001. In between these projects were two periods of fieldwork in Sierra Leone documenting the people of a village before their bloody civil war began. His fine photographs were given an added, unintended significance by the awful events that followed. From Michael Palin's Introduction: 'Michael Katakis is an indefatigable traveller.Driven by a restless curiosity and a belief in the importance of the individual against the system he puts his humane and enquiring ear to the ground and picks up signals that are salutary, precise and stimulating. His thoughtful words and pictures confer dignity and provoke indignation in equal measure. He guides our eye and our conscience without ever having to resort to hustle or harangue. There is a peacefulness at the heart of his work which gives us time to think.'

This is a book of book lists. Not of the '1,001 Books You MUST Read Before You Die' variety but lists that tell stories. Lists that make you smile, make you wonder, and see titles together in entirely new ways. From Bin Laden's bookshelf to the books most frequently left in hotels, from prisoners' favourite books to MPs' most borrowed books, these lists are proof that a person's bookcase tells you everything you need to know about them, and sometimes more besides.

The second in a series of republished classic literature, The Ghost Stories of M. R. James collects the tales that best illustrate his quiet mastery of the ghost story form. Running through each of these stories is a slowly escalating sense of unease and dread, which ultimately shifts into the wildly uncanny. James' characters exist in a world of ancient objects whose atrocious histories begin to repeat when they are disturbed, and the blinkered repression common to James' narratives only amplifies the shock of the spectral appearance.

This seasonal compendium collects together poems, short stories, and prose extracts by some of the greatest poets and writers in the English language. Like Charles Dickens's ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, they are representative of times old and new--from John Donne's Elizabethan hymn over the baby Jesus to Benjamin Zephaniah's "Talking Turkeys," from Thomas Tusser counting the cost of a Tudor feast to P. G. Wodehouse's wry story about Christmas on a diet. Enjoy a Christmas Day as described by Samuel Pepys, Anthony Trollope, George Eliot, or Nancy Mitford. Venture out into the snow in the company of Jane Austen, Henry James, and Dickens's Mr. Pickwick. Entertain the children with the seasonal tales of Dylan Thomas, Kenneth Grahame, and Oscar Wilde.

Passed down in the oral tradition and sung traditionally as working songs, sea shanties tell the human stories of life at sea: hard graft, battling the elements, the loss of ships or pining for a lady on shore.Its pages decorated with hand-drawn or wood-cut illustrations from celebrated artist Jonny Hannah, Sailor Song addresses the current modern revival of sea shanties, and seeks to celebrate and to explore the historical, musical and social history of the traditional sea song through 40 beautiful, mournful, haunting and uplifting shanties.Acclaimed shanty devotee Gerry Smyth presents the background to each one alongside musical notation. The lyrics are elaborated with explanations of terminology, context including historical facts and accounts of life at sea, and the characters, both fictional and non-fictional, that appear in the songs from the great age of sail to the last days of square-rig. Where appropriate, a direct digital link is made to a shanty recording in the British Library Sound Archive.

Join Mike Ashley on a characterful tour of the most ingenious and often forgotten books from the rich history of classic British science fiction. From the enrapturing tales of H. G. Wells to the punishing dystopian visions of 1984 and beyond, the evolution of science fiction from the 1890s to the 1960s is a fascinating journey into the hopes and fears of those years. Establishing this period as what we can now appreciate as the 'classic' age of the genre, which for most of this time had no name, Mike Ashley takes us on a tour of the stars, utopian and post-apocalyptic futures, worlds of AI and techno-thriller masterpieces asking piercing questions of the present.Though not seeking to be exhaustive, this book offers an accessible view of the impressive spectrum of imaginative writing which the genre's classic period has to offer. Towering science fiction greats such as Ballard and Aldiss run alongside the, perhaps unexpected, likes of G. K. Chesterton and J. B. Priestley and celebrate a side of science fiction beyond the stereotypes of space opera and bug-eyed monsters; the side of science fiction which proves why it must continue to be written and read, so long as any of us remain in uncertain times.

Great stories ignite a child's imagination and can fill a childhood with unforgettable characters, wondrous places and superb illustrations. They also allow young readers to explore, and to understand, their different feelings and experiences.In her second compilation for the British Library, children's author and commentator Anna James delves deep into the collections to present stories for comfort, inspiration and adventure as well as touching tales to make you laugh or sometimes cry. We will meet mischievous characters from across the globe, sample classic stories from the likes of E. Nesbit, J. M. Barrie and Louisa May Alcott, as well as more recent favourites from some of our best-loved and prize-winning authors. Superbly illustrated throughout with both beloved illustrations and new archive finds, this spectacular volume belongs on every family bookshelf.

Journey through magical fairy tales, chivalric adventures, mystical events and celebrated foundation myths. Trace how folk traditions and the manners of courtly love have developed through generations and across continents and how the most celebrated of ancient stories have become even more fantastical with age.Chantry Westwell has used her profound knowledge of the Library's illuminated manuscript collections to explore some of literature's most enduring and multi-layered stories, together with the deep history of the books and chronicles in which they were first preserved. These powerful tales are presented alongside some of the most exquisite examples of art to survive from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries as medieval artists responded to the inspiring storylines with their own works of supreme beauty.

The sea is beautiful and alluring, but it is also dangerous and deadly. Above all, it is unknowable and untameable. Storytelling offered our ancestors a means to understand and interact with the natural world, and in time these stories coalesced into the mythological systems of the world. And the ocean features in every mythological system in history.To reflect and explore this, Gerry Smyth has gathered together myths and folktales from cultures around the world – Native American, Caribbean, Polynesian, Persian, Indian, Scandinavian and European. Just as these stories have been passed down through generations, he brings his own narrative interpretation with additional discussion on their meaning.Stories are divided into seven sections: Origin Stories; Gods and Humans; Voyages; Lost Places, Imagined Spaces; Weather and Nature; Down to the Sea in Ships; Fabulous Beasts; and embellished with illustrations from the wide-ranging collections of the Library.

The idea of the book was central throughout the western European and the eastern Mediterranean world in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. From the beginning, the word for 'book'-sefer in Hebrew, biblia in Greek, and liber in Latin-was identified with sacred writings--the Holy Scriptures of Jews and Christians, who were known as 'people of the book'.The centrality of the book to medieval thought is reflected materially in the countless images of books that appear in the manuscripts of the era, be they in the most treasured, highly decorated, sacred texts or in devotional and secular works as well. In Penned & Painted, Lucy Freeman Sandler, one of one of the world's most respected authorities on medieval art, takes us on a personal but highly insightful exploration of some of the British Library's most precious manuscript holdings and describes the many uses and meanings of these 'books in books'. Through the fascinating face-to-face discovery of 60 manuscripts, she investigates the various types and forms of books as depicted in the era. How were they produced and what did they look like? What do they tell us of the lives and skills of the scribes and illuminators? What did these books record and signify? How were they displayed, consumed and how did some of these objects of supreme beauty even come to be wantonly destroyed? Penned & Painted is presented in full-colour throughout and includes a high number of images specially photographed for this volume.

Test your knowledge of kings and queens by attempting to answer some 300 questions across 25 topics, from early kingdoms to the realms of England, Scotland and Wales and the British Royal Family of the modern era.The topics range from Coronations to Sports and Pastimes – from the first English queen crowned in her own right to the only royal to have won an Olympic Medal. Do you know which country’s national anthem uses the same music as ‘God Save the King’? Whose corpse is said to have exploded in its coffin? What was Queen Victoria’s first name? These hundreds of puzzles are accompanied by a wealth of illustrations from the collections of the British Library. Accept the challenge and see how much more you can learn.

In A History of Britain in 100 Maps Jeremy Black takes readers deep into the unparalleled collections of the British Library Map Room to tell a new story of the British Isles through acknowledged treasures and previously undiscovered and unpublished items.Presenting in detail 100 important maps Black explores major themes in British history, from settlement, environmental change, state formation and ecclesiastical development to industrialisation, urbanisation, and modern socio-political developments. In doing so he also tells the story of how a rich mapmaking tradition developed from the medieval Mappa Mundi to the work of pioneering cartographers including Matthew Paris, John Speed and Christopher Saxton and on through institutions such as the Ordnance Survey and the A-Z Company. Cartographic records of the Civil War and Great Fire, or curiosities including Emil Reich's 'Map of British Genius', are contrasted with infographic maps of recent elections and the COVID-19 epidemic. The book also considers the growing field of fine and digital artists using delineated images of Britain as their subject matter.

The Lindisfarne Gospels is an extraordinary book and one of the British Library's greatest treasures. It was hand-written and decorated over 1,300 years ago by a single supremely gifted scribe-artist. It inspires awe both as a pinnacle of book design and for the fascinating story of how it came down to us in almost pristine condition. Every aspect of its design displays meticulous care, keen responsiveness to a wide range of cultural contacts, and the workings of an immense and brilliant imagination.This brand-new, accessible volume explores the latest research and thinking on the Lindisfarne Gospels and is published as the manuscript goes on loan to the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle for an exhibition exploring its meaning in today's world. This magnificent guide presents a detailed introduction and commentary alongside the highest quality, detailed illustrations which celebrate the intricate, interlaced geometrical precision of one of the finest early medieval craftsmen.

Following the success of The Book Lover's Bucket List, Caroline Taggart sets off on a tour of Europe to select 100 literary landmarks across the continent to describe and provide practical advice for visiting. Discover the inspirations in Austria for Mary Shelly and in Sweden for Astrid Lindgren; visit Cervantes' statue in Madrid dating back to 1835 and explore the French Riviera through the eyes of F. Scott Fitzgerald.The entries stretch from Homer in the eighth century BCE all the way to modern-day Scandi Noir, Sally Rooney's Dublin and Elena Ferrante's Naples.Accompanied by colour destination photographs and illustrations, mainly from the British Library Collections, this book is sure to inspire real travel and vicarious vacations alike. Lose yourself in the Venice of Thomas Mann, Edith Wharton and Donna Leon, then retreat by train to the romantic streets of Verona in search of Romeo and Juliet.

Continuing the thematic strand of the successful and proven British Library ‘100 Maps’ series, this new volume traces the fully international history of railways from their beginnings in the north-west of England through to the inter-continental lines of today.Arranged chronologically, and with some 140 newly photographed maps and ephemera from the British Library’s cartographic holdings, A History of Railways in 100 Maps explores both the progress of the railways and railway infrastructure across the globe, and through mountains, deserts, cities and even under oceans. The volume also charts the development of how railways were surveyed and presented in two- and three-dimensional forms for the purposes of engineering and construction, politics, economics and indeed war.A dedicated chapter looks at fantasy and literary railway maps, while the book concludes with a presentation of recent breakthroughs in railway infrastructure, design and mapping and also looks ahead to future developments in this most lasting of transport inventions.

Chantry Westwell has used herprofound knowledge of the Library's unrivalled Medieval and Renaissanceilluminated manuscript collections to explore some of literature's mostenduring and multi-layered stories, together with the deep history of thebooks and chronicles in which they were first preserved. A follow-up to theauthor's highly successful Dragons, Heroes, Myths & Magic (2021), thisnew volume builds on ongoing trends for re-telling classical and medievalstories from the perspective of female characters as well as exploring howfemale reputations are exalted or ruined to suit the particular ideals ofdifferent eras and cultures. Maidens or Monsters includes dedicated sectionson warrior women, women of virtue, power, tragedy, as well as enigmatic andallegorical women.These powerful tales arepresented alongside some of the most exquisite examples of art to survivefrom the eighth to the sixteenth centuries as medieval artists responded tothe inspiring storylines with their own works of supreme beauty.

The story of Black British music is a five-hundred-year journey from the court of King Henry VIII to the ‘Ends’ of South London; from Africa to the Caribbean to the UK and back; from subterranean shebeens and church halls to royal command performances and sold-out stadiums; and from outsider influence to domestic chart domination. It is a story that grapples with the slave trade, the prejudice of unwelcoming institutions and the bias of ignorance while ultimately celebrating the creativity and perseverance of the pioneers and today’s digital age innovators. Published alongside the major British Library exhibition, Beyond the Bassline is a landmark volume of essays, features and interviews which traces a new timeline underpinned by the Black artists and musicians who, over centuries, have shaped Britain’s unique and globally significant musical culture. Illustrating this vibrant history which traverses musical genres from classical, gospel and jazz through to reggae, jungle and Afrobeats are more than three hundred images including contemporary and classic photographs, paintings, posters and record sleeves. Introduced by the exhibition’s curators, Dr. Aleema Gray and Mykaell Riley, and edited by Paul Bradshaw, music journalist and publisher of Straight No Chaser magazine, Beyond the Bassline tells its essential story through specially commissioned pieces from musicians, composers, DJs, writers and photographers, as well as important voices in politics and history. Authors/Contributors include: Tej Adeleye • Christian Adofo • Ishmahil Blagrove, Jr. • Stephen Bourne • Garth Cartwright • Monique Charles • Dalia Al-Dujaili • Tracy Durrant • Juliet Fletcher • Vivien Goldman • Julian Grant • Linton Kwesi Johnson • Anthony Joseph • Julian Joseph • Cassie Kinoshi • Kevin Le Gendre • Charis McGowan • Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm • Tony Montague • Malik Al Nasir • Sharon O’Brien • Michael I. Ohajuru • Lisa Amanda Palmer • Amar Patel • Ade Egun Crispin Robinson • Angus Taylor • Chardine Taylor-Stone • Andy Thomas • Julia Toppin • Ayanna van der Maten McCalman • Derek Walcott • Richard Williams • Val Wilmer • Anthony Wright • Benjamin Zephaniah

In this specially commissioned anthology, 60 accomplished authors share secrets and insights into their writing lives: on their inspirations, methods, wild ideas and daily routines; on the pleasure and the pain in achieving their literary goals; on how they started out and how they hope to continue. They outline some golden rules for staying on track and talk candidly about what goes wrong as well as right.Emerging talents sit alongside much-loved authors whose books have sold in their millions. Each reflects in their own way on the creative process and the compulsion to write. How to find inspiration? How to get the words right? How to cope with writer's block? And where do the good ideas really come from?Includes contributions from Cressida Cowell, Matt Haig, Joanne Harris, David Mitchell, Jan Morris, Onjali Q Raf, Raynor Winn, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh, Tracy Chevalier, Thomas Keneally, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Tom Gauld and Benjamin Myers.

Most people think of fairy tales as stories intended for children, but this is a relatively recent idea. For thousands of years, such tales were enjoyed by listeners young and old alike; and the earliest printed fairy tales in Europe were published for adult readers. These older versions of fairy tales were sensual, bawdy, unflinchingly violent, and morally complex.It was largely during the Victorian era that tales were turned into children's stories, a trend reinforced by Walt Disney's animation. The banishment of the tales to the nursery abruptly changed in the 1970s for two primary reasons: Feminist fairy tale scholars began digging into the history of the stories and Angela Carter published her ground-breaking collection: The Bloody Chamber (1979). This set off a whole literary movement of writers re-working classic tales in wild, witty and wonderful ways. The Modern Revival of Adult Fairy Tales is still going strong almost fifty years later.In this anthology, Terri Windling gathers together some of the best of the adult fairy tales published in the last five decades: stories in a range of moods and styles, dark and bright; horrific and funny; sensual, stark and startling.

The literary lifeisn't just about curling up with a good book and a cuppa, it's also a worldwhere Lord Byron calls John Keats' work "p**s-a-bed poetry", spanielseat the first drafts of masterpieces and gung-ho Ben Jonson shows he's more than happy to prove the swordis mightier than the pen. The Book of LiteraryScandalsshows that behind the jaunty covers and feelgood memoirs is a dingier worldof personal insults, physical blows, and publishing errors. It's one wherebooks suffer bad endings and libraries impose bizarre sanctions. It's a storyof writers behaving badly since Sophocles clashed quills with Euripedes,defacing books, abandoning spouses, and regretting choosing Dylan Thomas tobe the Best Man at their wedding. Elsewhere it looksat hot take reviews, sniffy dedications, publishers' rejection letters,literary friendships gone sour and why you should never lick a bookwith a green cover.

Railway diagrams have been at the forefront of mapping Britain’s railways since they first began operating 200 years ago – a journey from A to B has always needed to be easily and quickly understood.This book reveals the surprising history of how British railway cartographers have led the way in designing clear passenger information, even predating the iconic London Underground diagram, which itself has expanded to encompass overground routes around the capital and beyond.Written and designed by bestselling author Mark Ovenden and National Rail mapmaker Andrew Smithers, this intriguing and lively history is illustrated with over 300 colourful maps from around the country, showing the evolution of schematics from simple line drawings to complex diagrams that incorporate ever more information.

The sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps, whether swimming vigorously, gambolling amid the waves, attacking ships, or simply displaying themselves for our appreciation, are one of the most visually engaging elements on these maps, and yet they have never been carefully studied. The subject is important not only in the history of cartography, art, and zoological illustration, but also in the history of the geography of the 'marvellous' and of western conceptions of the ocean. Moreover, the sea monsters depicted on maps can supply important insights into the sources, influences, and methods of the cartographers who drew or painted them. In this highly-illustrated book the author analyzes the most important examples of sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps produced in Europe, beginning with the earliest mappaemundi on which they appear in the tenth century and continuing to the end of the sixteenth century.

The Magna Carta is one of the most celebrated documents in English history and one of the British Library's greatest treasures. But despite this, the reinterpretations of it since 1215 have tended to obscure its real meaning for King John and his baronial opponents. Magna Carta was not intended to be a lasting declaration of legal principle, still less an embryonic code of human rights. It was a practical solution to a political crisis and it served the interests of the highest ranks of feudal society by reasserting the power of custom to limit arbitrary behaviour by the king. This work explores the context in which Magna Carta was issued to discover what it really meant to its creators and how it came to be an iconic historical document. This updated edition includes full colour illustrations.

As well as holding some of the world's most prized cultural treasures, the British Library is the repository of the nation's collective memory. Owing its origin to the generosity and far-sightedness of a handful of eighteenth-century scholars and booklovers, and built up over 250 years, the Library's very extensive collections - of books, manuscripts, maps, music, newspapers, photographs, sound recordings, stamps, and digital media - offer keys to the understanding of human achievement in literature, art, music, politics, journalism, exploration and much else, from ancient times to the present day. In this highly illustrated book Michael Leapman tells the Library's story, highlighting the most significant and beautiful items in its care, as well as exploring some of the lesser known, more surprising artifacts housed in its iconic building in the heart of London.

Over the past 2000 years London has developed from a small town, fitting snugly within its walls, into one of the world's largest and most dynamic cities. This book illustrates and helps to explain the transformation. Side-by-side with the great, semi-official but sanitised images of the whole city, there are the more utilitarian maps and plans of the parts - actual and envisaged - which perhaps present a more truthful picture. But the maps and panoramas are far more than topographical records. They all have something unique to say about them concerns, assumptions, ambitions and prejudices of Londoners at the time when they were created. The book reveals the 'inside story' behind one of the world's greatest cities.

Have you ever lent a bedpresser (a heavy lazy fellow) a muckender (handkerchief)? Or felt your mind skimbleskamble (wander) in the company of an abecedarian (one who teaches the alphabet)?With the publication of all 2,300 pages of Samuel Johnson's dictionary in 1755, the English language irrevocably changed. Suddenly words were standardised: listed with fixed grammar, spelling, and neat applications. But hidden inside these two colossal volumes is a smaller, forgotten dictionary of words that have since fallen out of vogue. From the hilarious to the arcane, Liz Drury has compiled the best words from Johnson's dictionary that have (justly or unjustly) been forgotten.Inspired by the British Library's first edition of Johnson's dictionary, this playful and engaging lexicon in the perfect gift for any wordsmith looking to play the Dictionary Game or simply expand their vocabulary with a touch of Enlightenment.

You may know your Marple from your Maigret, your Christie from your Chandler and your Wimsey from your Wexford, but just how much of a real classic crime expert are you?This beautifully illustrated and painstakingly researched book will tax your grey cells to the limit with 50 quizzes made up of questions all about the writers, detectives and - of course - the victims from over 100 years of literature and on big and small screens. Rounds include Unusual Murder Methods (boiling, jellyfish, ice!), Agatha Christie's Deadliest Rooms (you'll be dying to find out) and European Crime Fiction (featuring Wallander, Wahloeoe and Warsaw). There are multiple-choice quizzes, picture rounds and enough bonus questions to keep even the most rabid reader and sofa sleuth challenged and entertained.

This brand-new guide is a much-expanded, revised and updated edition of The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books - winner of the Macavity award from Mystery Readers International for best book about the crime genre and shortlisted for four other awards in Britain and the US. Now drawing on 125 works of vintage crime, acclaimed author and editor Martin Edwards tells the story of how crime developed as a literary genre in Britain during the first half of the 20th century.Over the past ten years, there has been a massive increase in enthusiasm for vintage crime fiction and a corresponding desire to learn more about it. And as the Crime Classics series demonstrates, the scope of vintage mysteries is incredibly diverse. The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast a light on human behaviour and display literary accomplishment as well as ambition. And there is another reason why millions of modern readers appreciate classic crime fiction. Even unpretentious detective stories, written for unashamedly commercial reasons, can give us clues to the lives that people lived in the past, and help us to better understand a long-vanished world.