John Blair

Killing the Dead provides the first in-depth, global account of one of the world's most widespread yet misunderstood forms of mass hysteria-the vampire epidemic. In a spellbinding narrative, John Blair takes readers from ancient Mesopotamia to present-day Haiti to explore a macabre frontier of life and death where corpses are believed to wander or do harm from the grave, and where the vampire is a physical expression of society's inexplicable terrors and anxieties. In 1732, the British public opened their morning papers to read of lurid happenings in eastern Europe. Serbian villagers had dug up several corpses and had found them to be undecayed and bloated with blood. Recognizing the marks of vampirism, they mutilated and burned them. Centuries earlier, the English themselves engaged in the same behavior. In fact, vampire epidemics have flared up throughout history-in ancient Assyria, China, and Rome, medieval and early modern Europe, and the Americas. Blair blends the latest findings in archaeology, anthropology, and psychology with vampire lore from literature and popular culture to show how these episodes occur at traumatic moments in societies that upend all sense of security, and how the European vampire is just one species in a larger family of predatory supernatural entities that includes the female flying demons of Southeast Asia and the lustful yoginis of India. Richly illustrated, Killing the Dead provocatively argues that corpse-killing, far from being pathological or unhealthy, served as a therapeutic and largely harmless outlet for fear, hatred, and paranoia that would otherwise result in violence against marginalized groups and individuals.

A fascinating and beautifully illustrated account of the glorious decade of 1992–2002, when Italian football reigned supreme on the world footballing stage.Follow-up to the William Hill Sports Book of the Year-nominated A Culture of Kits: The Definitive Guide to Classic Shirt Collecting.From the catalyst of World Cup Italia 90 and Paul Gascoigne’s arrival in Italy in 1992, Serie A became the number-one league in the world, with the British public gaining a ringside seat via Channel 4’s legendary weekly coverage.Inside you will find:The captivating stories of the players, clubs and kits that defined one of the most iconic periods in football history and changed the landscape of modern sports programmingA comprehensive chronicle covering everything from Signori to Batistuta, Kappa to Diadora and Fiorentina to JuventusContributions from a diverse set of key television and football-industry figures from the periodFifty eye-catching photos of the greatest Serie A shirts from 1992–2002This stunning book will whisk those who were there straight back to the days of Football Italia – and give those who weren’t a tantalising taste of what they missed.