Bøger udgivet af Reaktion Books

A beautifully illustrated celebration of the hat, a stylish, practical and important accessory.

Dogs in Art presents humanity's best friend like never before.

Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a celebration of the bicycle by French anthropologist Marc Auge.

Georgia is the most Western-looking state in today's Near or Middle East. This book begins with the first intimations of the existence of Georgians in ancient Anatolia and ends with today's volatile President Saakashvili. It also deals with the country's struggles with the empires which have tried to control, fragment or even exterminate it.

In the history of food, the tomato is a relative newcomer outside its ancestral home in Mesoamerica. And yet, as we devour pizza by the slice, dip French fries in ketchup, delight in a beautiful Bolognese sauce, or savor tomato curries, it would now be impossible to imagine the food cultures of many nations without the tomato. The journey taken by the tomato from its ancestral home in the southern Americas to Europe and back is a riveting story full of culinary discovery, innovation, drama, and dispute. Today, the tomato is at the forefront of scientific advances in cultivation and the study of taste, as well as a popular subject of heritage conservation (heirloom tomato salad, anyone?). But the tomato has also faced challenges every step of the way into our gardens and kitchens--including that eternal question: is it a fruit or a vegetable? In this book, Clarissa Hyman charts the eventful history of this ubiquitous everyday edible that is so often taken for granted. Hyman discusses tomato soup and ketchup, heritage tomatoes, tomato varieties, breeding and genetics, nutrition, tomatoes in Italy, tomatoes in art, and tomatoes for the future. Featuring delicious modern and historical recipes, such as the infamous "man-winning tomato salad" once featured in Good Housekeeping, this is a juicy and informative history of one of our most beloved foods.

Mexico City has always been a seat of empire. With its grandiose pretensions, sheer swagger, and staggering proportions, it gives the impression of power exercised over great time and distances. And yet this power has frequently been contested, lending the city a tough, battle-hardened look. At the same time, life in the Mexican capital can be carefree and intoxicating, and the city continues to offer any visitor not only glimpses of past grandeur, but of the fascinating wealth of the culture of Mexico today. This book explores how the city has grown and evolved from the Tenochtitlan city-state of the Aztecs to the capital of the Spanish empire's "New Spain," French intervention, revolution, and the newly branded CDMX. Nick Caistor leads us through centuries of history and into the material city of today: from recently constructed museums and shopping malls, to neighborhoods where age-old traditions still appear to be the norm. Whether sampling ice cream at Xochimilco, watching freestyle wrestling at the Arena Mexico, or savoring long Mexican breakfasts, Nick Caistor reveals why Mexico City continues to fascinate and beguile us.

Vast Expanses is a cultural, environmental and geopolitical history that examines the relationship between humans and oceans, reaching back across geological and evolutionary time and exploring different cultures around the globe.

Tracing poles and polarity back to their sacred ancient civilizations, this book explores how the idea of a North Pole has given rise to utopias, satires, fantasies, paradoxes and nationalist ideologies, from the Renaissance to the Third Reich.

Drawing on the author's deep knowledge of the history and ecology of trees, Trees in Art shows that we can learn much about ourselves from the art of trees.

Extensively illustrated with images of the lunar surface, The Moon is an accessible introduction that will appeal to both amateur and professional astronomers and all those fascinated by Earth's natural satellite

Beautifully illustrated and written with authority, Suit offers new perspectives on this most mundane, and at the same time poetic and beautiful, product of modern culture.

A thoroughly researched, balanced new biography of author, journalist and adventurer Ernest Hemingway.

Trolls are everywhere. They lurk on the internet; they fill the pages of popular fantasy literature; they are hunted in Norwegian film. From the Vikings to the Moomins, the Brothers Grimm and the Three Billy Goats Gruff, this book explores the panoply of trolls and their history and their continuing presence today.

Igor Stravinsky was a celebrity composer in an increasingly celebrity-obsessed age. He was a true modern, a man of his time. Stravinsky's extraordinary music reflected and shaped his own times, and resonates with audiences even today. Stravinsky tells of a colourful life lived against the backdrop of the twentieth century's wars and revolutions.

A natural and cultural history of the 'perfect predator' - the leopard - and its depiction in literature, art, film, advertising and popular culture.

From the spirit's most recognized examples to often overlooked varieties such as Armagnac, this book delves into the fascinating history of this globally consumed beverage.

From farming, cooking and feasting scenes depicted in the Middle Ages in books of hours to the fish and fruit of ancient frescoes and mosaics, Food in Art gives fresh insights into how food items were cultivated, hunted, trapped, stored, traded, prepared and served throughout the ages.

Nuts is a gastronomic, botanical and cultural tour of the history and contemporary usage of the most staple of foodstuff, the nut.

This title looks at the ways people interact because of the sea, navigate their course across it, and live on and around it. The book also considers the characteristics of different seas and oceans and investigates how the sea is conceptualized in cultures around the world.

In this book, David Leeming analyses the Medusa in myth, history, philosophy, modern psychoanalysis, art, literature, feminism and the advertising industry

Arthur Schopenhauer devoted his adult life to the articulation of a philosophy for the world, a philosophy that would benefit mankind by providing a solution to the riddle of existence. This biography provides an introduction to the life and work of the nineteenth-century German philosopher.

Gin: A Global History features many enticing recipes and images from the past and present of gin. The book will entice both cocktail aficionados and students of socio-political change, as it chronicles gin's evolution from humble berry to modern alcoholic marvel.

In The Medieval Kitchen, Hannele Klemettila presents a richly illustrated history of medieval food and cookery in Western Europe and Scandinavia. The book is also a practical cookbook, with a collection of more than 60 originally sourced recipes that can easily be prepared in today's modern home.

Originally a food for the poor in eighteenth-century Naples, pizza is a source of national and regional pride in Italy as well as of cultural identity. This title documents the history and cultural life of this chameleon-like food.

A musical composer who dabbled in the Dada movement, a Bohemian gymnopediste of fin-de-siecle Montmartre, and a legendary dresser known as The Velvet Gentleman for his sartorial choices, Erik Satie was nearly unprecedented in technique, style and philosophy among European composers in the early twentieth century. This book tells his story.

An original, comprehensive account of influential European director Andrei Tarkovsky, which examines his entire film output, as well as works for radio, theatre and opera .

Analyses the origins, history and logic of 'still life', one of the most enduring forms of Western painting. This work surveys a major segment in the history of still life, from 17th-century Spanish painting to Cubism. It tackles the controversial field of 17th-century Dutch still life.

A global history of dance music since the 1950s. Transatlantic Drift explores the emergence and evolution of nightclubs and electronic dance music from the 1950s onward, tracing its rhythmic journey across Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. Katie Milestone and Simon A. Morrison show how the sounds and vibes of nightclubs emerge from shared cultural experiences. This book uncovers the global story of dance music at venues in New York, Detroit, London, Manchester, Chicago, Düsseldorf, and Ibiza. Transatlantic Drift offers an engaging exploration of how people have come together to share melodies and rhythms, forming a global conversation through electronic music.

A life of England's most famous martyr, rooted in the currents of twelfth-century Europe. This book explores the turbulent life and violent death of Thomas Becket, one of the most controversial figures in the Middle Ages: a London merchant's son turned royal chancellor, an archbishop of Canterbury turned martyred saint. Michael Staunton looks at Becket's complex and contested legacy, drawing from the bishop's writings as well as those of his contemporaries. Based on extensive research, this account offers a fresh perspective on Thomas Becket's life and places him within the broader landscape of twelfth-century England and Europe--a time of rapid change and conflict. The book is perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about a pivotal figure in medieval history.