Liveright Publishing Corporati – The Bell Bookshop

Mr. Churchill in the White House

Emma — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Scores of biographies have been written about Winston Churchill, yet none examine his frequent, sometimes furtive, trips to the White House, where he resided for weeks on end-the (often unclothed) visitor who “dropped out of the sky.” These extended visits during his two terms as prime minister were spirited, even entertaining, occasions. Yet, in retrospect, they take on a new level of diplomatic significance, demonstrating just how influential a foreign leader can become in shaping American foreign policy. Drawing on years of research, Robert Schmuhl not only contextualises the days Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower spent together, but also vividly portrays the individual characters, from Churchill himself-a devoted fisherman who never stopped “angling”-to a resentful Eleanor Roosevelt. Evoking an era far different from today, Mr. Churchill in the White House becomes an insightful work for our own fractious times.

Swimming pretty

Emma — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers-none more so than synchronised swimmers. In this deeply researched history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance for the first time, from Victorian variety theatre and carnival shows to the 1984 elevation of synchronised swimming to Olympic status. Writing in eloquent prose, Valosik shows how early starlets like Lurline the Water Queen and Annette Kellerman boldly challenged restrictive codes set for women in water; more than just bathing beauties, they influenced lifesaving and physical-education programmes, dropped drowning rates and paved the way for new generations of female swimming athletes. Brimming with reverence and mesmerising detail, Swimming Pretty finally foregrounds an essential sport.

Paris and her cathedrals

Emma — Tue, 21 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Over the years, R. Howard Bloch has become renowned for the insider tours of Paris that he gives to students abroad. Long sought after by travellers and history buffs for his near-encyclopaedic knowledge of French cathedrals, the eminent French literature scholar finally shares his expertise with a wider audience.

In Paris and Her Cathedrals, six of the most sublime cathedrals in the penumbra of Paris-Saint-Denis, Notre-Dame, Chartres, Sainte-Chapelle, Amiens, Reims-are illumined in magnificent detail as Bloch, taking us from the High Middle Ages to the devastating fire that set Notre-Dame ablaze in 2019, traces the evolution of each in turn. Written from the premise that “seeing is enhanced by knowing”, each chapter is organised along the lines of a walk around and then through the space of the cathedral, such that the actual or virtual visitor feels the rich sweep of the church, “the essence of these architectural wonders” (Antonia Felix).

Animating the past with lush evocations of architectural splendour-from flying buttresses and jewel-encrusted shrines to hidden burial grounds and secret chambers-Bloch then contextualises the cathedrals within the annals of French history. Here thrilling tales of kingly intrigue-as in Saint-Chapelle, where the pious King Louis IX amassed relics, including Christ’s crown of thorns-and audacious abbots are interspersed with anecdotes about the meeting of aristocratic and everyday life, culminating in “a rich, colourful narrative that clearly but expertly explains the history and symbolism of some of the world’s most magnificent buildings” (Ross King).

To be read in preparation for an enlightened visit or merely to open a window upon the High Middle Ages in France, Paris and Her Cathedrals is a “revelation,” an “indispensable guide” (Garry Wills) to these awe-inspiring structures. Complete with the author’s own photographs, this beautifully illustrated volume vitally enhances our understanding of the history of Paris and its environs.

The Metaverse

Emma — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The term “metaverse” is suddenly everywhere, from debates over Fortnite to the pages of The New York Times to the speeches of Mark Zuckerberg, who proclaimed in June 2021 that “the overarching goal” of Facebook is to “bring the metaverse to life.”

But what, exactly, is the metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is the successor to the mobile internet that has defined the last two decades. The metaverse is a persistent, 3D, virtual world-a network of interconnected experiences and devices, tools and infrastructure, far beyond mere virtual reality. And it is poised to revolutionise every industry and function, from finance and healthcare to payments, consumer products and even sex work. The internet will no longer be at arm’s length; instead, it will surround us, with our lives, labour and leisure taking place inside the metaverse. With sweeping authority, The Metaverse predicts trillions in new value-and the radical reshaping of society.

Mudlark

Emma — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Long heralded as a city treasure herself, expert “mudlarker” Lara Maiklem is uniquely trained in the art of seeking. Tirelessly trekking across miles of the Thames’ muddy shores, where others only see the detritus of city life, Maiklem unearths evidence of England’s captivating, if sometimes murky, history-with some objects dating back to 43 AD, when London was but an outpost of the Roman Empire. From medieval mail worn by warriors on English battlefields to nineteenth-century glass marbles mass-produced for the nation’s first soda bottles, Maiklem deduces the historical significance of these artifacts with the quirky enthusiasm and sharp-sightedness of a twenty-first century Sherlock Holmes.

Seamlessly interweaving reflections from her own life with meditations on the art of wandering, Maiklem ultimately delivers-for Anglophiles and history lovers alike-a memorable treatise on the objects we leave in our wake, and the stories they can reveal if only we take a moment to look.