Bøger udgivet af Reaktion Books

One of France's most high-profile writers and a Nobel Prize-winner, Albert Camus experienced both public adulation and acrimonious rejection during his career, which was cut short by a fatal car accident in 1960. Edward J. Hughes unravels the life of a complex personality whose work and stance were the subjects of intense interest and scrutiny.

Walter Benjamin's essay 'A Short History of Photography' (1931) made bold statements about photographic pioneers such as David Octavius Hill and Nicéphore Niépce, and the social and historical context of their work. This first selection of Benjamin's writings on photography includes a new translation of this influential essay as well as a range of Benjamin's other writings, both published and unpublished, some of which are translated into English for the first time here.

We might think the Egyptians were the masters of building tombs, but no other civilization has devoted more time and resources to underground burial structures than the Chinese. For at least five thousand years, from the fourth millennium B.C.E. to the early twentieth century, the Chinese have been building some of the world's most elaborate tombs and furnishing them with exquisite objects. It is these objects and the concept of the tomb as a "treasure-trove" that The Art of the Yellow Springs seeks to critique, drawing on recent scholarship to examine memorial sites the way they were meant to be experienced: not as a mere store of individual works, but as a work of art itself. Wu Hung bolsters some of the new trends in Chinese art history that have been challenging the conventional ways of studying funerary art. Examining the interpretative methods themselves that guide the study of memorials, he argues that in order to understand Chinese tombs, one must not necessarily forget the individual works present in them--as the beautiful color plates here will prove--but consider them along with a host of other art-historical concepts. These include notions of visuality, viewership, space, analysis, function, and context. The result is a ground-breaking new assessment that demonstrates the amazing richness of one of the longest-running traditions in the whole of art history.

St George: A Saint for All is a compelling account of the myth of St George, one of the most significant mythic figures in Christian culture, as well as many other religions world-wide. The book describes St George's lively and diverse following today, and shows how the saint has inspired artists, poets and painters.

Ruins and Fragments is a wide-ranging, elliptical, engaging view of the history of modernity through the lens of the ruined and fragmentary. It explores literary fragments such as the plays of Aeschylus, as well as how writers - Joyce, Coleridge, Pound, T. S. Elliot - exploit fragmentary techniques and forms.

The first book to examine the films of Jim Jarmusch from a sound-oriented perspective. The three essential acoustic elements that structure a film - music, words and noise - propel this book's fascinating journey through his work, including Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down By Law (1986), Dead Man (1995), and Only Lovers Left Alive (2013).

A lively history of tequila, an unusual liquor that can only be produced in Mexico. This book relates the beginnings of tequila and how it was introduced into the global market, and contains many recipes for tequila-based cocktails, as well as advice on buying, storing, tasting and serving tequila.

Exploring sugar's reputation as one of the most beloved yet reviled substances that we consume, this compelling history of the infamous ingredient is peopled with determined adventurers, relentless sugar barons and greedy plantation owners.

The first in-depth account of the storied history of guinea pig and human interaction, this book shows how guinea pigs have influenced humans since earliest times, including scientists such as William Harvey, and painters from Jan Brueghel to Beatrix Potter.

A new title by best-selling author, zoologist, and former television presenter Desmond Morris, Bison is a natural and cultural history of the bison, an iconic animal of the Great Plains of America.

Beaver explores the fascinating history of this small, often-overlooked, yet important animal and examines why the beaver has been hunted throughout the years, as well as looks at the unique way in which beavers form their societies.

The book traces Malevich's development from his beginnings in Ukraine and early years in Moscow - where he was closely involved in the Futurist circle - through to the late 1920s and beyond.

James Watt: Making the World Anew is a craft history of Britain's early industrial transformation as well as a prehistory of the engineering profession itself.

A natural and cultural history of the hedgehog that explores the symbolism of the animal, from Romans who regarded it as a weather prophet to Sonic the Hedgehog and children's books today.

Rice: A Global History presents in detail the historical journey that rice has taken, from its early origin as a staple food in Asian and West African countries to its ubiquitous place in meals across the world today.

Proposing that the 'forbidden fruit' eaten by Adam and Eve was in fact a fig rather than an apple, this book explores the history of the fruit in fascinating detail, from the Crusaders to the wonderful fig festivals of the modern world.

Introducing the major works and currents of Joseon painting, Pathways to Korean Culture explores the various social, cultural and political perspectives of this dynamic, dynastic era (1392-1910), uncovering the fascinating history of more than 500 years of Korean art and visual culture.

Feasts and Fasts: A History of Indian Food is an exploration of Indian cuisine in the context of the country's religious, moral, social and philosophical development.

In Cannabis Chris Duvall explores the cultural history and geography of humanity's most widely distributed crop, which supplies both hemp and marijuana.

This book traces the history of the animal, moving from their evolution through their domestication and global spread to the role of goats in the modern world.

In this book Gay Watson offers an alternative view of emptiness via a tour of early and non-Western philosophy, taking us from Buddhism, Taoism and religious mysticism to the contemporary world of philosophy, science and art practice.

Carl Jung is a clear and compelling critical assessment of one of the controversial and highly influential pioneers of psychology.

The first single volume history of prisons in Britain from the time of the Norman Conquest to the present day

Another Darkness, Another Dawn is a new study into some of the most marginalised and villified members of society - Gypsies, Roma and Travellers - and how their treatment throughout history explains mainstream society's attitude toward outsiders.

This is an illuminating new critical biography of Yves Klein, which will appeal to students and scholars alike interested in the fascinating life of the radical and iconoclastic twentieth-century French artist.

A colourful history of Italian food, Al Dente showcases the dazzling assortment of wines, cheeses, breads, vegetables and salamis that have pushed Italy's cuisine to the forefront of global popularity, from ice-cream parlour and pizza shop to Michelin-starred restaurants today.

One of the first books in a new Food Histories series from Reaktion, Beyond Bratwurst takes a close look at food culture in Germany, illuminating the surprisingly exciting and diverse culinary history and contemporary appetite of the European Nation.

This book is the first contemporary study of its kind since the 1979 Revolution in Iran, a fascinating and comprehensive account of subversive and mainstream Iranian art and visual culture.

Informative and highly entertaining, Beer explores a legion of brews from Mexico to Milwaukee, Beijing to Bruges, in this superb study of the origins and contemporary consumption habits of one of the world's most popular drinks.