Großbritannien

Sembrano ormai lontani i tempi della Cool Britannia, quegli anni 'ruggenti' a cavallo tra il XX e il XXI secolo in cui la stella di Londra brillava più che mai, rappresentando nell'immaginario collettivo un faro a cui guardare per capire dove stesse andando il mondo. Dalla musica delle Spice Girls all'arte di Damien Hirst, dal fenomeno David Beckham alla moda di Alexander McQueen e Vivienne Westwood fino al cinema di Danny Boyle, c'è stata un'epoca in cui la Gran Bretagna era il centro nevralgico di tendenze e rivoluzioni, all'avanguardia in tutti i campi, anche in quello politico, con l'elezione del suo nuovo, giovane primo ministro, Tony Blair. Ma oggi, quasi trent'anni dopo, cos'è rimasto di quel Paese delle meraviglie? Tra la Brexit e la clamorosa uscita dall'Unione europea, la crisi economica, la morte di Elisabetta, lo sfaldamento della famiglia reale e le gravi malattie che hanno colpito il nuovo re e la futura regina, un premier da dimenticare a cui sono seguiti altri dei quali a malapena si ricorda il nome, la luce del Regno Unito sembra farsi sempre più fioca. E allora chi meglio di Antonio Caprarica - narratore e testimone privilegiato che da anni 'spiega' la società britannica agli italiani - può aiutarci a comprendere le cause del declino e le prospettive di una nazione che, nonostante appaia sempre più distante, continuiamo a guardare con affetto? In questo nuovo saggio, il giornalista passa dal racconto delle ultime vicende della monarchia alla più stretta attualità e, con lo stile pungente che lo contraddistingue, fa chiarezza una volta per tutte sulle tappe che hanno segnato il tramonto di un impero.

BRITISH BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024<BR><BR>A searing insider's account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament, by the former Cabinet minister and co-presenter of hit podcast The Rest Is Politics<BR><BR>'The most exceptional political memoir I've ever read' ALAN JOHNSON<BR>'An instant classic' MARINA HYDE<BR>'At last a politician who can write' SEBASTIAN FAULKS<BR><BR>Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister - before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise.<BR><BR>Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow our democracy and government had become.<BR><BR>Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict.<BR><BR>Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, Politics On the Edge is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life and a remarkable portrait of our age.<BR><BR>**A FINANCIAL TIMES, GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, TIMES, OBSERVER, i NEWSPAPER, NEW STATESMAN, PROSPECT, CHURCH TIMES AND SCOTSMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023**<BR><BR>Politics on the Edge was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller from 09.09.23-16.09.23, and 09.12.23-16.12.23, and 30.12.23-06.01.24

Von legendären Fußballspielen und der richtigen Einstellung in Sport und AlltagEr ist ein Fußballer für die Ewigkeit, blieb dem 1. FC Köln auch nach seiner Karriere als aktiver Kicker erhalten und spielte bei drei Weltmeisterschaften für Deutschland: Wolfgang Overath ist einer der ganz Großen des Sports. Mit dem Sportjournalisten Sven Pistor verbindet ihn natürlich vor allem die Liebe zum Spiel. In diesem ausführlichen Gespräch über das Leben, Fußball und den Herrgott da oben zeigen sie, dass sie auch in Dingen abseits des Rasens übereinstimmen.- Vom Straßenfußball an die Weltspitze: Der Werdegang einer Fußball-Legende- Ein Stück Fußball-WM-Geschichte: Drei Mal dabei, ein Mal Weltmeister!- Familie, Freunde, Weggefährten: Wer die Fußballkarriere abseits des Felds beflügelte- Für Erfolg muss man kämpfen! Parallelen zwischen Erfolg im Sport und Privatleben- Fußball-Geschichte und Geschichten: Einer der ganz Großen erzähltZwei Fans kommen ins Plaudern: Gespräche über Karriere, Glück und das LebenFür Wolfgang Overath ist Fußball schon sein ganzes Leben lang eine bedeutende Konstante. Sein Weg vom Bolzplatz bis zum WM-Titel klingt dabei wie der wahrgewordene Traum jedes fußballverliebten Kindes. In der Unterhaltung mit Sven Pistor wird deutlich, wie wichtig der nötige Biss für diese Fußballerfolge war - und nicht nur dafür. Die deutsche Fußball-Legende zieht Parallelen zwischen Disziplin beim Spiel und in allen anderen Lebensbereichen. Auch der Glaube an Gott ist und war immer ein bedeutender Faktor für Wolfgang Overath. Ganz getreu dem Motto: Allein kannst du nicht gewinnen! Ein großartiges Fußballfan-Geschenk mit Einblicken in das Leben eines Fußballspielers, dessen legendäre Spiele bis heute ein Begriff sind!

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERA SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, ECONOMIST, DAILY TELEGRAPH, EVENING STANDARD, OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR'Undoubtedly the best single-volume life of Churchill ever written' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday TimesA magnificently fresh and unexpected biography of Churchill, by one of Britain's most acclaimed historiansWinston Churchill towers over every other figure in twentieth-century British history. By the time of his death at the age of 90 in 1965, many thought him to be the greatest man in the world.There have been over a thousand previous biographies of Churchill. Andrew Roberts now draws on over forty new sources, including the private diaries of King George VI, used in no previous Churchill biography to depict him more intimately and persuasively than any of its predecessors. The book in no way conceals Churchill's faults and it allows the reader to appreciate his virtues and character in full: his titanic capacity for work (and drink), his ability see the big picture, his willingness to take risks and insistence on being where the action was, his good humour even in the most desperate circumstances, the breadth and strength of his friendships and his extraordinary propensity to burst into tears at unexpected moments. Above all, it shows us the wellsprings of his personality - his lifelong desire to please his father (even long after his father's death) but aristocratic disdain for the opinions of almost everyone else, his love of the British Empire, his sense of history and its connection to the present.During the Second World War, Churchill summoned a particular scientist to see him several times for technical advice. 'It was the same whenever we met', wrote the young man, 'I had a feeling of being recharged by a source of living power.' Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's emissary, wrote 'Wherever he was, there was a battlefront.' Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Churchill's essential partner in strategy and most severe critic in private, wrote in his diary, 'I thank God I was given such an opportunity of working alongside such a man, and of having my eyes opened to the fact that occasionally such supermen exist on this earth.'

Related Party Transactions sind Transaktionen zwischen einer Kapitalgesellschaft und Gesellschaftern, Vorstands- oder Aufsichtsratsmitgliedern. Derartige Geschäfte werden im Ausland bereits seit geraumer Zeit speziellen Regelungen unterworfen, die die (Minderheits-)Gesellschafter schützen sollen. Ausgehend von der Frage, warum es in Deutschland noch keine speziellen Vorschriften zu Related Party Transactions gibt, unternimmt der Autor einen Rechtsvergleich australischen und englischen Rechts. Er deckt den Regelungsbedarf im deutschen Recht auf und diskutiert mögliche Regelungsansätze.

Being British: Our Once & Future Selves is a journey into British culture and identity today, outlining a welcome new story for ourselves in these times of lack of belonging. It's a book for the liberally minded, and those who feel themselves to be post-traditional, not defined by nationality. The book takes a thought-provoking angle, which is neither Left nor Right, but instead brings the novel lens of a developmental view. It connects the dots between past, present and future, integrating the shadow side, and draws on many unusual examples. This is a fresh story of what it means to be British, where the author is included in the narrative. Without being nostalgic, it restores a sense of rootedness and helps us appreciate our British qualities, incrementally built over a millennium and a half. It celebrates being British as elective and not based on race, and demonstrates how to have pride in our nationality in a post-traditional way.

9 Dieser Ansatz ist im Kontext der europäischen Gemeinschaftsbil­ dung in doppelter Hinsicht unzureichend. Zunächst gab er bisher keine hinlänglich konkreten Antworten auf Fragen nach bestimmten Sachpolitiken, etwa nach sozio-ökonomischen Gestaltungsvorstellun­ gen für die Europäische Gemeinschaft, nach der Einstellung gegenüber dem Nordatlantischen Verteidigungsbündnis, über Richtung und Aus­ maß der westeuropäischen Integration schlechthin. Vor allen DiJ;lgen aber drohte er die Analyse der macht- und d. h. der koalitionspoliti­ schen Möglichkeiten der KP's und darüber hinaus auch jener der sozialistischen Parteien zu verschütten. Denn weder die Kommunisten noch die Sozialisten werden in Westeuropa in absehbarer Zeit irgend­ wo allein mehrheits- und regierungsfähig werden. Sie sind notwendig auf Bündnispartner angewiesen. Ihr machtpolitischer und damit letztlich auch ihr ideologisch-programmatischer Stellenwert kann sich folglich erst aus einer zusammenschauenden Gesamtanalyse ihrer potentiellen und zum Teil erklärten Bündnispartner ergeben. In den gegenwärtigen Parteienkonstellationen in Westeuropa ergibt sich daraus - sieht man von wenigen Sonderfällen, wie Italien, ab - die Forderung nach einer kombinierten Analyse der Entwicklung und aktuellen Lage aller Linksparteien in den westeuropäischen Staaten, um Aufschlüsse über die Chancen, Bedingtheiten und Grenzen ihrer möglicherweise gemeinsamen Politik in einzelnen Staaten und in der Europäischen Gemeinschaft zu erhalten.

Mit schweren Gitarrenriffs, dystopischen Texten und einem 'teuflischen' Image heben Black Sabbath den Heavy Metal aus der Taufe.Bei einem Arbeitsunfall in einem Birminghamer Stahlwerk verliert der Gitarrist Tony Iommi zwei Fingerkuppen. Um die Schmerzen beim Spielen zu verringern, stimmt er seine Gitarre tiefer und beeinflusst damit nicht nur maßgeblich den Sound seiner Band Black Sabbath, sondern erschafft auch eine neue Stilrichtung: Mit schweren Riffs, dystopischen Texten und einem 'teuflischen' Image begründen sie den Heavy Metal.Der Musikjournalist und -kritiker Frank Schäfer erzählt in seiner Bandbiographie erstmals die gesamte wechselvolle Geschichte der Band von der Gründung 1968 bis zum Tod Ozzy Osbournes im Juli 2025 und würdigt ihr einflussreiches und traditionsbildendes musikalisches Werk.

Welche politische Funktion hatten Nachdrucke im England des 17. Jahrhunderts? Die Studie geht der Frage nach, wie ältere Texte im Kontext des Bürgerkriegs und der Republik (1640-1660) gezielt erneut in Umlauf gebracht wurden. Im Zentrum steht das Phänomen des Textrecyclings: Die Wiederverwendung früherer Schriften diente nicht nur ökonomischen Zwecken, sondern war ein strategisches Mittel, um vergangene Autoritäten, Ideen und Debatten in die politischen, religiösen und gesellschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen der Gegenwart einzuschleusen.<BR>Analysiert werden Form, Inhalt und Kontext dieser Nachdrucke ebenso wie die Rolle der Akteure, die sie verantworteten - von Druckern über Herausgeber bis hin zu anonymen Initiatoren. Die Arbeit verbindet ideen- und mediengeschichtliche Perspektiven mit Ansätzen der politischen Kulturgeschichte und bietet eine dichte Rekonstruktion der Kommunikations- und Deutungskämpfe im England des 17. Jahrhunderts.<BR>Die Studie erschließt ein bislang unbeachtetes Feld frühneuzeitlicher Öffentlichkeit und richtet sich an Historiker*innen, Theolog*innen sowie Literatur- und Medienwissenschaftler*innen - und an alle, die sich für politische Kommunikation, Repräsentation und Autorität in der Vormoderne interessieren.

How, for just over a century, Britain ensured it would not face another Napoleon Bonaparte—manipulating European powers while building a global maritime empire<BR>  <BR> At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, a fragile peace emerged in Europe. The continent’s borders were redrawn, and the French Empire, once a significant threat to British security, was for now cut down to size. But after decades of ceaseless conflict, Britain’s economy was beset by a crippling debt. How could this small, insular seapower state secure order across the Channel?<BR>  <BR> Andrew Lambert argues for a dynamic new understanding of the nineteenth century, showing how British policymakers shaped a stable European system that it could balance from offshore. Through judicious deployment of naval power against continental forces, and the defence strategy of statesmen such as the Duke of Wellington, Britain ensured that no single European state could rise to pose a threat, rebuilt its economy, and established naval and trade dominance across the globe.<BR>  <BR> This is the remarkable story of how Britain kept a whole continent in check—until the final collapse of this delicately balanced order at the outset of World War One.

At the core of nationalism, the nation has always been defined and celebrated as a fundamentally cultural community. This pioneering cultural history shows how artists and intellectuals since the days of Napoleon have celebrated and taken inspiration from an idealized nationality, and how this in turn has informed and influenced social and political nationalism. The book brings together tell-tale examples from across the entire European continent, from Dublin and Barcelona to Istanbul and Helsinki, and from cultural fields that include literature, painting, music, sports, world fairs and cinema as well as intellectual history. Charismatic Nations offers unique insights into how the unobtrusive soft power of nationally-inspired culture interacts with nationalism as a hard-edged political agenda. It demonstrates how, thanks to its pervasive cultural and 'unpolitical' presence, nationalism can shape-shift between romantic insurgency and nativist populism. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

England und das Britische Empire von den Anfängen bis heute <BR> <BR> "This lady is not for turning", sagte Margaret Thatcher einst über sich - und irgendwie gilt das auch für England. Hannes Ziegler erzählt die englische Geschichte vom Mittelalter bis in die Post-Brexit-Gegenwart und zeigt, wie sehr sich diese Geschichte durch die frühe Ausbildung eines Verfassungsrechts, die Entwicklung zur modernen Staatlichkeit und ein Empire, in dem zeitweise die Sonne nie unterging, von der Kontinentaleuropas abhebt. England steht für große parlamentarische und monarchische Traditionen, für risikobereiten Erfindergeist, rigiden Kapitalismus und einen klammen NHS. Ein feiner Überblick über ein kleines Land, das die Welt politisch und kulturell geprägt hat.

THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLERA Book of the Year in The Times and Financial Times'The biographer who brought down Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor'THE OBSERVER'This isn't a book; it's a case for revolution'SUNDAY TIMES'Undoubtedly the most important book of the last year, if not the century'MAIL ON SUNDAY'This book has changed the way its readers think. Possibly the most important book that touches on the British monarchy since the days of Thomas Payne'WILL LLOYD'As represented in the book's pages, the royal family, with its appendages and penumbra, can be seen as an impossible entity, toxic to those in it and attached to it, and subtly contaminating the rest of us.'DAVID AARONOVICH'Surely has a claim to the title of book of the year, for its seismic impact'FINANCIAL TIMESDrawing on four years of research, numerous FOI requests and interviews with over a hundred people who have never spoken out before, the book traces the lives of the late Queen's second son and his ex-wife through their childhoods, courtship, marriage, divorce, careers, and royal and charitable activities.Having still lived together until their departure from Royal Lodge in 2025, they claimed to be "the happiest divorced couple in the world". The book investigates the reality of their relationship and their love lives. It charts Andrew's record in the Falklands, his business activities and reveals details of how the couple have been able financially to sustain their extravagant lifestyles. It also recounts the full story of their links with Jeffrey Epstein.Chronicling their lives in parallel, the picture that emerges is of a spoilt former prince unable to connect and a former duchess pushed by her insecurities into a desperate need to maintain the attention her 'royal' status brought. Rigorously researched and packed full of revelations, this is eye-watering biography at its best.'This isn't just a royal biography. It's a study in reputational collapse and the danger of unchecked power inside Britain's most protected institution'THE STANDARD'A catalyst for Andrew's de-princing' THE TIMES

Während sich die Grenzen vieler Staaten schließen und Regierungen auf Abschottung setzen, sind weltweit immer mehr Menschen durch Kriege, Umweltzerstörung und staatliche Willkür zur Flucht gezwungen. Auch eine rigorose Grenzpolitik unterbindet Migration nie völlig - aber wo können flüchtende Menschen noch ankommen, wenn der Staat sie zum Problem erklärt?Eine Antwort findet sich in jenen Städten, die die praktische Unterstützung Geflüchteter und das solidarische Zusammenleben mit Migrant:innen zu ihrem Selbstverständnis gemacht haben - und sich damit aktiv gegen die nationale Politik ihrer Länder stellen. Sie helfen unabhängig von Herkunft oder Aufenthaltsstatus, entwickeln Ausweise für alle, die sich in der Stadt aufhalten wollen, unterstützen in juristischen Fragen, schützen vor polizeilicher Willkür. Städte dieser Art finden sich auf fast allen Kontinenten, sie heißen Sichere Häfen, Sanctuary Cities oder Città dell'accoglienza.Volker Heins hat in Chicago, Kampala, Sheffield und Palermo, in Bremen, Berlin und Zürich recherchiert: Wie wirkt sich das Schutzversprechen für Menschen ohne Aufenthaltsstatus konkret aus? Ist das Selbstverständnis der Städte von Dauer oder bloße moralische Aufwallung, entsteht hier gar ein neuer Begriff urbaner Freiheit? Und was passiert, wenn Städte direkt vom Staat angegriffen werden - wie man zuletzt in den USA beobachten konnte, wo Donald Trump den Kampf gegen Sanctuary Cities zur Priorität erklärte?'Volker Heins macht aus der Fluchtfrage eine präzise Diagnose unserer Gegenwart: Was, wenn immer mehr fliehen und immer weniger wissen, wohin? Pointiert, klug und erzählerisch verdichtet schildert er die sozialen Kämpfe für Sichere Häfen und warum es sich lohnt, eine pessimistische Zeitdiagnose mit einem neuen, radikalen Begriff von Hoffnung zu verbinden.' Naika Foroutan

A fairer, healthier, more caring and sustainable society is entirely within our grasp. The renowned co-author of The Spirit Level shows us the way.<BR><BR>'Just what these times are crying out for' KATE RAWORTH, author of Doughnut Economics<BR><BR>'Poverty and inequality are at the heart of all our problems. Kate Pickett's book shows how tackling them must be at the heart of our solutions too' ZACK POLANSKI<BR><BR>'An uplifting vision for solving inequality that benefits everyone' ANDY BURNHAM<BR><BR>¿ How do we ensure that everyone has good health and receives the care they need?<BR>¿ How do we provide education that allows every child to flourish?<BR>¿ How do we ensure safety, justice and a sustainable environment for all?<BR><BR>Kate Pickett is a world-leading social scientist whose life's work has been to identify the underlying causes of society's most important problems - and the long-term solutions that will actually work.<BR><BR>In this inspiring book, she shows that to make a good society - in which everyone has what they need to be well, and everyone would be better off - we must prioritise the health, care, education and rehabilitation of those who have the least and suffer the most. This means confronting once and for all the fundamental problems of poverty and inequality that lie behind all the others.<BR><BR>Drawing on over three decades of evidence, and an array of proven solutions and real-world success stories from across the globe, The Good Society cuts to the essence of the challenges we face and presents us with a practical, galvanising, perspective-shifting vision for how to tackle them.

Ein faszinierender Einblick in die Geschichte und das Leben der Roma'Auf jedem Schritt meiner Reise bin ich den kraftvollen Geschichten derjenigen begegnet, die sich ihrer Ausgrenzung widersetzten und deren Leben uns bis heute inspirieren.' Madeline Potter verwebt ihre eigene Biografie als Romni mit Recherchen in Archiven zu einer mitreißenden Erzählung. Dem alten Klischee vom "fahrenden Volk" setzt sie konkrete Schicksale entgegen: etwa das des Boxers Johann Rukeli Trollmann, dem deutschen Meister im Halbschwergewicht, dem die Nazis seinen Titel aberkannten. Oder das von Carmen Amaya, einer spanischen Romni, die Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts als beste Flamencotänzerin der Welt bekannt war.Vom England der Tudorzeit bis ins Rumänien der Gegenwart, vom NS-Deutschland bis ins Frankreich des 21. Jahrhunderts lernen wir die Roma-Gemeinschaften und ihre Kämpfe kennen. Madeline Potter zeigt, wie der tief verwurzelte Hass auf die Minderheit jahrhundertelang überdauern konnte. Vor allem aber feiert sie die Stärke und Ausdauer der Roma, ihre Fähigkeit zum Widerstand und zum Überleben.

An engaging, beautifully illustrated history of London told through twenty-five lost buildingsLondon has been rebuilt and reshaped perhaps more than any other city over its two-millennia history. From the construction of the Underground to slum clearance and the Blitz, buildings have long been damaged or demolished to pave way for the new. Today, demolition is big business, and around 3500 buildings are destroyed each year, most of which are social housing.Paul Knox traces the history of London from the Great Fire to the present day through twenty-five lost buildings. Knox explores surprising and unusual locations in the city's history, like the Necropolis Station in Waterloo used by funeral parties traveling to a burial ground in Surrey. We see historic landmarks, like Christ Church Greyfriars and the Crystal Palace, as well as everyday places like the White Horse pub in Poplar and a housing estate in Hackney. This is a fascinating study of London's restless landscape, showing how conservation has changed over 400 years.

This book examines London’s eighteenth–century upholding trade. Primarily providing household furniture and upholstery goods and services at the beginning of the century, by mid-century upholders provided stylish and fashionable residential interior furnishings, funeral undertaking, and a secondary market for used household goods. Upholders were at the forefront of the development of Britain’s material culture, and were important contributors to London’s economic and social fabric. Providing context to the social and business lives of upholders, the author surveys key themes including apprenticeship, livery companies, empire, material culture, consumerism, taste and fashion, advertising, and credit. The book also explores how upholders came to dominate the funeral undertaking business, and integrated brokering, appraising, and auctioneering into their businesses.Adapting to the economic changes and interior furnishing trends that took place in the first half of the eighteenth century, many upholders expanded their business lines. While consumer demand increased for household goods, so too did the widespread use of personal credit, which ultimately led to an increase in upholder bankruptcies after 1760. Through two case studies of financially successful upholders, the book sheds light on diverse topics such as the East India Company, banking, royal household tradesmen, and military contracting, to create an intricate understanding of their experiences. Offering new insights into the business, social, and personal lives of London’s upholders, this book demonstrates how they were instrumental in creating a new domestic commerce in eighteenth-century Britain.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty! Die Queen, wie Sie sie noch nie gesehen haben <BR> <BR> Andy Warhol beneidete sie um ihren Ruhm, Anne Frank klebte ein Bild von ihr an ihre Wand, und E. M. Forster bekannte, er hätte sie geheiratet, wenn sie nur ein Junge gewesen wäre. Queen Elizabeth II. war 96 Jahre lang einer der berühmtesten Menschen des Planeten. Ihr Leben fand im gleißenden Licht der Öffentlichkeit statt, und zugleich hielt sie ihr Privatleben so privat wie kein anderer Monarch. Wer also war sie? Craig Brown, preisgekrönter Bestseller-Autor, kommt dem Geheimnis dieser Königin und ihrer überragenden Bedeutung so nahe wie kein Biograf vor ihm. <BR> <BR>Craig Brown erzählt das Leben der Queen in einer rasanten Mischung aus kaum bekannten Anekdoten und hintergründigen Betrachtungen. Wir erleben Elizabeth im Chaos ihrer Corgis und bei Staatsbesuchen von Diktatoren - und erfahren, was sie über Donald Trump zu lästern hatte. Hinter dem strikten Protokoll, das ihr ganzes Leben regierte, macht Craig Brown ihren unschlagbaren Humor, ihre Fähigkeit zum Mitgefühl, aber auch ihre kalten Züge sichtbar. Er schildert, wie vor dieser zurückhaltenden Frau selbst Präsidenten und Rockstars in Angst und Schrecken verfielen. Vor allem aber ergründet er in diesem hochkomischen und tiefernsten Buch, wie es der Queen gelang, eine Königin für alle Briten, für alle Bürgerinnen und Bürger des Commonwealth und letztlich für alle Menschen zu sein.

'Extensive and intelligent . . . a guide to the nature of British intellectual curiosity' SpectatorThe reign of Queen Elizabeth I ushered in an unprecedented age of exploration and discovery. Over 500 years that saw  'the greatest expansion of ideas and knowledge the world has ever seen', a small island nation, for centuries a cultural backwater, asserted itself as a world power. Breathtaking in scope, embracing literature, science, art, religion, philosophy and politics, The British Imagination brings to life those centuries between Elizabeth I and II, and asks the provocative question - are we still living in a British 'metaphysical empire'?From the acclaimed author of The German Genius and The French Mind, this is a lively and deeply researched history of the most influential personalities and ideas that made modern Britain. 'Intriguing insights about the contemporary Anglosphere . . . nuanced and appreciative' Financial Times'Peter Watson has form when it comes to probing a nation's psyche . . . Ambitious and stimulating' Country Life<BR> <BR> <BR><BR> 

This book encounters the figure of the royal woman in the early modern period and explores how she enables and complicates the key moment at which England was emerging as an ideology, a nation, and an empire. Queens and queens consort, historical and fictional, played crucial roles in Renaissance England’s shifting ideologies of nationalist identity. This collection considers how a series of royal women particularly embodied and complicated these many self-constructions of England and complex renditions of "the other."The period’s influential female monarchs certainly made the queen’s political body more visibly politicized, repatriated, and racialized; these same historical royals were represented as icons of nationalism in many forms and functions. In fictional incarnations, royal women created by the English imagination symbolized and structured those same nation-building narratives. This volume studies royal women’s writings alongside such depictions of royal women, especially as such works collectively enable emergent English ideologies of nationalism and racialization.

A stunning memoir that transforms our understanding of a generation born at a key turning point in world history<BR><BR>'Very moving, very powerful . . . an extraordinarily interesting life' AMOL RAJAN<BR>'A rough Zimbabwean equivalent of Jung Chang's Wild Swans' Financial Times<BR>'Beautifully written . . . a truly compelling read' Spectator<BR>'Intimate and epic' SATHNAM SANGHERA<BR><BR>In my home country, they call me a 'bornfree'.<BR><BR>Simukai Chigudu was one of the first generation to be born after the end of colonial rule in Zimbabwe. Growing up he heard stories about his grandfather's murder by the Rhodesian regime, how his father had been imprisoned and tortured as a student before joining the war of independence, and how his mother had thrown off the strictures of the past to build a successful career helping other women do the same. Yet Simukai's early life was also steeped in British tradition. With his classmates he sang English folk songs, read Shakespeare, played cricket.<BR><BR>Then, in 2002, he was one of thousands to leave the country as it descended into political violence and economic collapse. His new home: a boarding school in the north of England. What followed was a culture shock that unravelled his understanding of the world, his family and himself.<BR><BR>Chasing Freedom is his profound and remarkably moving story - that of a boy shaped through his parents' buried trauma by the great currents of late-twentieth century history. It is the story of a family haunted by the cause of liberation, and of a new generation, still searching for their promised freedom.<BR><BR>'A work of real power and beauty as well as disarming truthfulness' AMIA SRINIVASAN, author of The Right to Sex<BR><BR>'Utterly captivating . . . told with such clarity and precision that I forgot I was reading' DINA NAYERI, author of The Ungrateful Refugee<BR><BR>'Will teach you more about the legacies of colonialism than a hundred op-eds or a dozen textbooks' SATHNAM SANGHERA, author of Empireland<BR><BR>'Simukai Chigudu writes compellingly, lucidly and beautifully . . . an eye-opener' ZEINAB BADAWI, author of An African History of Africa

Victorian Architecture presents a new and refreshing overview of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Britain and the wider British world.The Victorian period witnessed the beginnings of what today would be described as the global architectural practice. Architects inhabiting this world, or designing for it, were creating new and hybrid forms of Victorian architecture, continuously, in multiple locations. New efficiencies brought by technological advancements such as steam-powered locomotion enabled the Victorian building industry to revolutionise in terms of scale, precision, and variety. As many of the buildings examined here reveal, at the foundation of this revolution was a significant transformation in the supply and conversion of energy. Materials used in construction often come from far away and were procured under increasingly mechanised conditions, entailing the consumption of fossil-fuels in huge, unprecedented quantities. Markets for these materials also multiplied during the period, with companies producing and exporting products as diverse as cast-iron, encaustic tiles, and stained glass in large quantities. Even whole buildings were packed and shipped abroad.Victorian Architecture presents a new and refreshing overview of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Britain and the wider British world. Thematically structured, it highlights concerns fundamental to how Victorians experienced their world, including urbanism, industry, government, faith, empire, modernity, social order, family, collecting, and consumerism. In emphasising important concepts in building design and culture, it thus connects the understanding of architecture to its wider social, political, and economic contexts. A key feature of the book is the way it situates British architecture in its extended global geographies, with the Victorian built environment seen as encompassing Britain's colonial expansion. As people and ideas were increasingly mobile during this period, themes such as speed and movement are brought to the fore. British architects were designing buildings not just in the British Isles, but much farther afield, in lands as far apart as Barbados and Bombay, Newfoundland and New South Wales. Concise and visually attractive, Victorian Architecture is aimed at a student and general-reader audience, as well as providing a useful reference point for professional scholars.