Books published by publisher Bloomsbury Academic

A central question in European history is how did a great power pre-eminent in 1918 lie defeated by the same enemy less than 20 years later. Until recently the explanation has been sought in fundamental weaknesses that could only leave the French of 1940 hamstrung and demoralized. Recent studies have challenged that view and now, for the first time, the revisionist approach is displayed in a single volume, both summarizing the research of others and drawing on the author's own work in the archives. The book is about as far from 'dry as dust' diplomatic history as it's possible to get. Its very readable and the author manages to show with the telling anecdote that even a serious subject has its comic side: that, for instance, the French High Command kept forces stationed in the Alps for seven years because no one in the foreign service had thought to pass on news about a secret treaty between Italy and France in 1902; or that after a particularly stressful meeting Andrew Bonar Law, the British prime minister, mouth to Poincaré, the French president, through the closed carriage window of his train 'and you go to hell', all the while smiling and exuding affability. Such episodes are not the substance of the book, but they oil its progress.

The World Crisis is considered by many to be Winston S. Churchill's literary masterpiece. Published across five volumes between 1923 and 1931, Churchill here tells the story of The Great War, from its origins to the long shadow it cast on the following decades. At once a history and a first-hand account of Churchill's own involvement in the war, The World Crisis remains a compelling account of the conflict and its importance.Volume I covers the origins and earliest days of the war from 1911-1914, as well as the longer history of the collapse of the Great Power system from the Franco Prussian war onwards. Churchill here explores the international tensions over the Balkan states that triggered the conflict as well as the arms race between the British and German navies.

This book marks the tenth anniversary of The Grey Album. The online release and circulation of what Danger Mouse called his 'art project' was an unexpected watershed in the turn-of-the-century brawls over digital creative practice. The album's suppression inspired widespread digital civil disobedience and brought a series of contests and conflicts over creative autonomy in the online world to mainstream awareness. The Grey Album highlighted, by its very form, the profound changes wrought by the new technology and represented the struggle over the tectonic shifts in the production, distribution and consumption of music. But this is not why it matters. The Grey Album matters because it is more than just a clever, if legally ambiguous, amalgam. It is an important and compelling case study about the status of the album as a cultural form in an era when the album appears to be losing its coherence and power. Perhaps most importantly, The Grey Album matters because it changes how we think about the traditions of musical practice of which it is a part. Danger Mouse created a broad, inventive commentary on forms of musical creativity that have defined all kinds of music for centuries: borrowing, appropriation, homage, derivation, allusion and quotation. The struggle over this album wasn't just about who gets to use new technology and how. The battle over The Grey Album struck at the heart of the very legitimacy of a long recognised and valued form of musical expression: the interpretation of the work of one artist by another.

The story moves between the 1920s and the 1770s, following two heroines: 20th century Jan Challard, a London girl, and 18th century Juliana Clare, the youngest daughter of an aristocratic Berkshire family. Jan is independent and spirited, but leads a humdrum life, working in an office, and walks out with a very suitable young man. Juliana, at 17 years of age, is getting the upbringing of a young lady in the enormous family mansion, Chidleigh, and her life is devoid of excitement and event.The two heroines can see one another from time to time, momentarily, through some rent in the fabric of time, but never manage to meet and interact. Their lives converge as Juliana's world is turned upside down; her father dies and her notoriously wicked and mysterious brother, Lucian Clare, returns to take his position as head of the family.Lucian recognizes a supernatural power in Juliana, and uses this to reach out to Jan through the ages.

Learning to write starts with learning to do one big thing: pay attention to the world around you, even though just about everything in modern life makes this more difficult than it needs to be. Developing habits and practices of observing, and writing down what you notice, can be the first step away from the anxieties and doubts that can hold you back from your ultimate goal as a writer: discovering something to say and a voice to say it in.The Writer's Eye is an inspiring guide for writers at all stages of their writing lives. Drawing on new research into creative writers and their relationship with the physical world, Amy E. Weldon shows us how to become more attentive observers of the world and find inspiration in any environment.Including exercises, writing prompts and sample texts and spanning multiple genres from novels to nonfiction to poetry, this is the ideal starting point for anyone beginning to write seriously and offers refreshing perspectives for experienced writers seeking new inspiration.

This book marks the tenth anniversary of The Grey Album. The online release and circulation of what Danger Mouse called his 'art project' was an unexpected watershed in the turn-of-the-century brawls over digital creative practice. The album's suppression inspired widespread digital civil disobedience and brought a series of contests and conflicts over creative autonomy in the online world to mainstream awareness. The Grey Album highlighted, by its very form, the profound changes wrought by the new technology and represented the struggle over the tectonic shifts in the production, distribution and consumption of music. But this is not why it matters. The Grey Album matters because it is more than just a clever, if legally ambiguous, amalgam. It is an important and compelling case study about the status of the album as a cultural form in an era when the album appears to be losing its coherence and power. Perhaps most importantly, The Grey Album matters because it changes how we think about the traditions of musical practice of which it is a part. Danger Mouse created a broad, inventive commentary on forms of musical creativity that have defined all kinds of music for centuries: borrowing, appropriation, homage, derivation, allusion and quotation. The struggle over this album wasn't just about who gets to use new technology and how. The battle over The Grey Album struck at the heart of the very legitimacy of a long recognised and valued form of musical expression: the interpretation of the work of one artist by another.

The making of shadows is an act as old as architecture itself. From the gloom of the medieval hearth through to the masterworks of modernism, shadows have been an essential yet neglected presence in architectural history.Shadow-Makers tells for the first time the history of shadows in architecture. It weaves together a rich narrative – combining close readings of significant buildings both ancient and modern with architectural theory and art history – to reveal the key places and moments where shadows shaped architecture in distinctive and dynamic ways. It shows how shadows are used as an architectural instrument of form, composition, and visual effect, while also exploring the deeper cultural context – tracing differing conceptions of their meaning and symbolism, whether as places of refuge, devotion, terror, occult practice, sublime experience or as metaphors of the unconscious.Within a chronological framework encompassing medieval, baroque, enlightenment, sublime, picturesque, and modernist movements, a wide range of topics are explored, from Hawksmoor's London churches, Japanese temple complexes and the shade-patterns of Islamic cities, to Ruskin in Venice and Aldo Rossi and Louis Kahn in the 20th century. This beautifully-illustrated study seeks to understand the work of these shadow-makers through their drawings, their writings, and through the masterpieces they built.

In his remarks upon being named Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams spoke of “the Christian creed and Christian vision (that) have in them a life and a richness that can embrace and transfigure all the complexities of human life.” Confidence in that creed, he said, “saves us from being led by fashion.”Lost Icons: Reflections on Cultural Bereavement explores Williams’ concern that fashion dictates how we understand and respond to the world around us, rather than long-accepted behavioral and relational norms, or icons. Whereas fashion comes and goes, cultural icons arise from generations of conversation, and “represent some of the basic constraints on what human beings can reasonably do and say together if they are going to remain within a recognizably human conversation.” Specifically Williams explores images of childhood, our awkwardness at speaking about community, our unwillingness to think seriously about remorse, and our devastating lack of vocabulary for the growth and nurture of the self through time. “All have in common the presupposition that we cannot choose just any course of action in respect of our human and non-human environment,” he writes, “and still expect to ‘make sense.’”In Lost Icons, he explores how cultural norms have been discarded and how society will suffer without a sense of “soul.”“Those who are already familiar with the writings of Rowan Williams will know of his gift of taking the ordinary stuff of human experience and opening it up to show how it can carry us into the mystery of God incarnate. They will not be surprised to discover that in his new book he once again enlightens us.” –The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold“How rare it is to find someone who, simultaneously, is thoughtfully and constructively involved both with the main teachings of Christian theology and also with contemporary culture, politics, education, and spirituality. This is a rich book…” –David F. Ford, Theology Today“Rowan Williams is one of the deepest and most insightful theologians today. Here he reflects on crucial notions – childhood, charity, remorse, soul – that we depend upon but have allowed to atrophy.” –L. Gregory Jones, Dean and Professor of Theology, Duke Divinity School.Rowan Williams will be the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury. 5 ½ x 8 ½paperback200 pages0-8192-1948-7$15.95>

Celebrate 20 years of Harry Potter magic with four special editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw . Twenty years ago these magical words and many more flowed from a young writer's pen, an orphan called Harry Potter was freed from the cupboard under the stairs - and a global phenomenon started. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has been read and loved by every new generation since. To mark the 20th anniversary of first publication, Bloomsbury is publishing four House Editions of J.K. Rowling's modern classic. These stunning editions will each feature the individual house crest on the jacket and line illustrations exclusive to that house, by Kate Greenaway Medal winner Levi Pinfold. Exciting new extra content will include fact files and profiles of favourite characters, and each book will have sprayed edges in the house colours. Available for a limited period only, these highly collectable editions will be a must-have for

Enter the world of Septimus Heap, Wizard Apprentice. Magyk is his destiny. Evil necromancer DomDaniel is ruthlessly plotting his vengeance on the world. In his greed to seize control of all things magykal, he has killed the Queen and locked up the Extraordinary Wizard. With his Darke Magyk, he will create a world filled with Darke creatures. Just one small challenge remains. One boy who can stop him (although the boy doesn't know it yet). A lost child. An unlikely hero. A magykal boy called Septimus Heap! Step into Septimus's world of wizards, dragons and enchantment in this bestselling fantasy series - a must of for all lovers of intrigue, suspense and magyk. This pack contains 6 paperbacks: Magyk; Flyte; Physik; Queste; Syren; Darke.

This volume illustrates and exemplifies the variety of ways in which the mass media have been researched over the past fifty or more years. It provides extracts from seminal works and relates them to developments in the field as a whole and to later works. The volume identifies the major divisions within the field, including mass society theory, the media effects tradition, political economy, the public sphere, media occupations and professionals, cultural hegemony, feminism, and "new" audience research.