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Misread Signals
''It is inspirational.’ – Helen Fry, author of Women in Intelligence''An important and exciting contribution to the history.’ – Clare Mulley, author of Agent ZoBletchley Park is remembered as a land of male intellectuals who were supported by a staff of women in menial roles, with figures such as Alan Turing, William Tutte and John Tiltman taking centre stage. These are the men who worked on the fearsome Enigma and Lorenz ciphering systems – the men who helped sway the course of the war in the Allies’ favour.But, as is often the case in the historical record, this is not the whole story. Women were not just secretaries and assistants: they had serious full-on codebreaking roles. And this was not just at Bletchley, or in the UK, or even only in the Second World War. These were women like Margaret Rock, who solved Enigma and other machine problems; Agnes Driscoll, the first US Navy codebreaker; and Asta Friedrichs, who postwar became a prime source for information on German Foreign Office codebreaking. Yet, when the histories were written, these women – and many more besides – somehow got left out.Who were they? What did they achieve? How did they ‘vanish’? In Misread Signals, expert codebreaking historian Dermot Turing turns his attention to these long-ignored women and puts their contributions back in the spotlight where they belong.
Codename SICILYWAR: Archaeology, Museums, and Social Networks under Threat in Sicily during World War II
Codename SICILYWAR is a multidisciplinary, innovative investigation into the impact of World War II on archaeological sites and museums in Sicily (1940–45). The island’s cultural and archaeological heritage was under major threat from Allied bombing, landing and military occupation. The book has three main aims. Firstly, it investigates how national, local civilian and military authorities dealt with discoveries of archaeological finds in the area from construction of military structures by the Italian and Allied forces to the protection of antiquities. Secondly, it looks to reconstruct contexts and social networks involving the national and military authorities, archaeologists and local communities, acting and ‘clashing’ in a state of war and emergency. Finally, it contextualises Sicilian archaeology on the wider European stage, comparing Sicily with other European contexts.The book benefits from a thorough analysis of hundreds of newly-discovered documents (dispatches, letters, reports, pictures, etc.) which are included in a substantial appendix. Social contexts are assessed by a four-level system to identify networks on a national, regional, local and supranational scale. Through the lens of archaeology, history, archival records, museum, social and military studies, the book will benefit a variety of scholars and experts who are jointly interested in the study of Sicilian antiquities, local communities and war contexts in the 1930s and 1940s.
Testimony and Historical Knowledge
This Element explores the relation between historiography and testimony as a question about what it means to know and understand the past historically. In contrast with the recent rapprochement between memory accounts and history in historical theory, the Element argues for the importance of attending to conceptually distinct relations to past actions and events in historical thinking compared with testimony. The conceptual distinctiveness of history is elucidated by placing historical theory in dialogue with the epistemology of testimony and classical philosophy of history. By clarifying the rejection of testimony inherent in the evidential paradigm of modern historical research, this Element provides a thoroughgoing account of the ways in which historical knowledge and understanding relates to testimony. The argument is that the role of testimony in historiography is fundamentally shaped by the questioning-activity at the core of critical historical research. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Knowledge Lost
A compelling alternative account of the history of knowledge from the Renaissance to the EnlightenmentUntil now the history of knowledge has largely been about formal and documented accumulation, concentrating on systems, collections, academies, and institutions. The central narrative has been one of advancement, refinement, and expansion. Martin Mulsow tells a different story. Knowledge can be lost: manuscripts are burned, oral learning dies with its bearers, new ideas are suppressed by censors. Knowledge Lost is a history of efforts, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, to counter such loss. It describes how critics of ruling political and religious regimes developed tactics to preserve their views; how they buried their ideas in footnotes and allusions; how they circulated their tracts and treatises in handwritten copies; and how they commissioned younger scholars to spread their writings after death. Filled with exciting stories, Knowledge Lost follows the trail of precarious knowledge through a series of richly detailed episodes. It deals not with the major themes of metaphysics and epistemology, but rather with interpretations of the Bible, Orientalism, and such marginal zones as magic. And it focuses not on the usual major thinkers, but rather on forgotten or half-forgotten members of the “knowledge underclass,” such as Pietro della Vecchia, a libertine painter and intellectual; Charles-César Baudelot, an antiquarian and numismatist; and Johann Christoph Wolf, a pastor, Hebrew scholar, and witness to the persecution of heretics. Offering a fascinating new approach to the intellectual history of early modern Europe, Knowledge Lost is also an ambitious attempt to rethink the very concept of knowledge.
AI, Automation, and War
Why AI will not replace human strategic judgement in warIs AI about to automate war? Will autonomous drone swarms and killer robots controlled by AI dominate the battlespace and determine the winner? In AI, Automation, and War, Anthony King debunks this science fiction–tinged narrative of AI’s military potential, exploring instead the actual applications of AI by the armed forces over the last decade. He finds that AI is not going to replace human commanders and combatants; the machines are not about to take over. Rather, the military has used, and will continue to use, AI to process data at a scale and speed that exceeds the capacity of humans. AI will be used primarily to improve military understanding and intelligence. King explains that military commanders, enabled by the data processing power of AI, will be able to see the battlespace at a previously unattainable depth, fidelity, and speed. AI will help the armed forces plan, target, and conduct cyber operations faster and more effectively. In order to harness AI in this way, however, a radical organisational transformation is taking place. The armed forces are integrating civilian technologists into operational headquarters to work alongside military staff. This partnership between the armed forces and the technology sector signals the emergence of a military-tech complex that promises to be as powerful in this century as the military-industrial complex was in the last.
The Ancient Celts, Second Edition
Fierce warriors and skilled craftsmen, the Celts were famous throughout the Ancient Mediterranean World. They were the archetypal barbarians from the north and were feared by both Greeks and Romans. For two and a half thousand years they have continued to fascinate those who have come into contact with them, yet their origins have remained a mystery and even today are the subject of heated debate among historians and archaeologists.Barry Cunliffe''s classic study of the ancient Celtic world was first published in 1997. Since then huge advances have taken place in our knowledge: new finds, new ways of using DNA records to understand Celtic origins, new ideas about the proto-urban nature of early chieftains'' strongholds, All these developments are part of this fully updated , and completely redesigned edition.Cunliffe explores the archaeological reality of these bold warriors and skilled craftsmen of barbarian Europe who inspired fear in both the Greeks and the Romans. He investigates the texts of the classical writers and contrasts their view of the Celts with current archaeological findings. Tracing the emergence of chiefdoms and the fifth- to third-century migrations as far as Bosnia and the Czech Republic, he assesses the disparity between the traditional story and the most recent historical and archaeological evidence on the Celts.Other aspects of Celtic identity such as the cultural diversity of the tribes, their social and religious systems, art, language and law, are also examined. From the picture that emerges, we are -- crucially -- able to distinguish between the original Celts, and those tribes which were ''Celtized'', giving us an invaluable insight into the true identity of this ancient people.
Life of Bhagat Singh
Impacted by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a child, he was intimately familiar with the cruelty of the British Raj. He joined the Hindustan Republican Association while in college, where he met Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru and other revolutionaries who shared his beliefs. He challenged the nonviolence movement led by Gandhi and refused to be silent in the face of injustice. In the face of his death sentence, he used his words to rally the youth of India, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire.
Dr Chizhevsky's Chandelier
A work of experimental nonfiction that spotlights the so-called Undesirables of recent history, forced into martyrdom and infamy. Daniel Elkind's hybrid-genre debut, Chizhevsky's Chandelier is a nonfiction experiment that tells the story of A.L. Chizhevsky, the inventor and father of the field of heliobiology, who - like his hero Galileo - was punished for daring to suggest that human history revolved around the sun. This expansive narrative of historical reckoning stages a confrontation between factions of American anarchists, disciples of the Bab in 19th-century Persia, Jewish baseball players, and the quixotic quest to grow enormous chickens. Nested within is the story of the last Soviet generation (the "Tetris generation") and its dreams and illusions. In biographical chapters recalling his experience as a refugee from Soviet Russia, Elkind finds echoes of the exile of Emma Goldman and other political Undesirables from America to their "native" land in 1919, then in the throes of revolutionary fervor. The result of this literary experiment is an irreverent and deeply personal investigation into what it means to record and remember in today's oversaturated world, where all of the stories we tell ourselves have been turned inside-out.
The Fatimids
The Fatimids (909–1171), one of the most significant and intriguing Islamic dynasties, built an empire that included North Africa, Egypt and parts of Sicily, Syria, Palestine and Arabia. Theirs is the only pre-modern Shi‘i dynasty to have established an independent empire and the only one known by a female’s name, Fatima, the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter. The Fatimids promoted women to unprecedented positions of authority and visibility in Islamic history. From Cairo – which they founded in 969 – this dynasty fostered cultural and artistic excellence as well as overall tolerance and prosperity across the empire. By blending historical and material sources, personalities and events that defined the Fatimid era are brought to life in this book. Examining their impact within the context of medieval history across Europe, Africa and Asia, the book also tells of the Fatimids’ legacy and influence on contemporary culture worldwide.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124–1204), the legendary queen of France and later England, has captivated historians for centuries. Heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine, wife to King Henry II and mother to Richard the Lionheart and King John, her life was marked by power, influence and myth. This concise, accessible history sheds new light on Eleanor, cutting through the hearsay and slander with a close reading of primary sources. It highlights the family bonds that shaped her power and identity, tracing her roots to the Loire rather than the Occitan south. Lindy Grant demonstrates that Eleanor’s story is one of resilience: like Churchill, she saved England during a national crisis, though her political judgement could be equally erratic.
Quirky Brighton
Brighton and Hove is one of England’s most recent cities and also one of its most colourful and eccentric. It developed as a fashionable resort in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, becoming inextricably linked with the extravagant behaviour of George IV and his fantastical Pavilion. In Quirky Brighton author Chris Horlock delves into lesser known but fascinating tales from Brighton’s past. Readers will find stories of the man who walked round the world wearing a medieval iron helmet, a shark attack straight out of the film Jaws, the time Brighton built its own version of Nelson''s Column, plus when the streets were full of hundreds of marauding zombies. And it also includes that notorious naked bike ride that takes place each year... Quirky Brighton celebrates the unusual and bizarre history of Brighton and its characters over the years. This fascinating insight into Brighton (and occasionally Hove) will interest all those who want to know more about its curious history.
The Roman Emperors
No easily accessible book which lists the emperors (of which there are very many, thanks to the vicissitudes of the empire itself) in alphabetical order for easy reference and in which a reasonably full biographical account of each, with references, has been available. Here it is.This biographical dictionary runs from Caesar’s seizure of power in 49BC to AD602, when the dynasty of Justinian and his successors ended (rather bloodily in a mutiny) and the true Byzantine, much more entirely Greek, character of the empire finally emerged. It includes an account of the way the empire evolved constitutionally. Up to the settlement of Augustus powerful men were almost sleepwalking into monarchy and trying to stretch the constitutional envelope to enable power to be wielded without a naked revival of the hated institution of kingship. From that time, Roman politics became highly fractured, and men bent on gaining control of the levers of government emerged with increasing frequency. Hereditary succession became the norm and then disappeared. In Rome, unlike Medieval Europe, the natural succession of son to father became a rarity and, when it did occur, was usually a disaster. It was only in its Byzantine mutation after 610 that dynastic succession became more standardized, but even then it was mediated by assassination. Of the 198 figures featured here, 101 were killed. Julius Caesar observed: ‘Which death is preferable to every other? The unexpected.’
Macclesfield in 50 Buildings
Medieval Macclesfield was a small market town in Cheshire but industries, particularly button manufacturing, started to develop in the Tudor era. The town’s later wealth and rapid expansion was built on the silk industry that followed, with its first mill being built in 1743. In the first half of the nineteenth century Macclesfield became one of the largest producers of silk in the world and the population quadrupled in the first fifty years, over half of whom were employed in the silk industry, there being nearly 100 mills in the town. Alongside the mills, large numbers of houses, schools, churches and other institutions were built to accommodate this growth, many of which remain today. Although silk manufacturing declined, other industries developed which have left their mark, including the bread maker Hovis. The town has continued to evolve, reflected in new buildings and repurposed old ones.Macclesfield in 50 Buildings explores the history of this town in Cheshire through a selection of its most interesting buildings and structures, showing the changes that have taken place over the years. The book will appeal to all those who live in Macclesfield or who have an interest in the area.
Henry's Roses
Henry VIII’s relationships with women in his adult life famously did not go well. He was the Tudor king who had six wives, two of which he murdered. But what of the three powerful Tudor women that surrounded Henry VIII in his early life? The ones that saw him before the marriages, before the beheadings, before the tyranny? One was Queen of England, one was Queen of Scotland and the other was Queen of France – but for Henry VIII these women were his mother and two sisters.Henry’s Roses explores the life of these three women, shining a spotlight and telling the story of how their fate was entwined with the most infamous monarch of them all.
The Campaign of 1812
The War of 1812 was born out of longstanding tensions between the United States and Great Britain. Centered on maritime disputes, the war arose from British policies that disregarded U.S. sovereignty, including the impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy and restrictions on American trade. These provocations, coupled with British support for Native American resistance on the western frontier, led President James Madison to advocate for military action.The book explores the United States'' ambitious yet flawed strategy of 1812 to invade Canada as a means to counter British aggression. Despite initial optimism, the U.S. Army faced significant challenges, including insufficient manpower, untrained militias, logistical failures, and inadequate leadership. Disjointed campaigns in Detroit, Queenston Heights, and other key theaters highlighted systemic issues within the War Department and military operations. Meanwhile, British control of waterways and superior coordination allowed their smaller forces to outmaneuver and frustrate American efforts.This fully illustrated volume examines the realities of early 19th-century warfare, from the fragile logistics of supplying armies to the political tensions shaping military decisions. It offers assessment of the challenges faced by the young republic, and highlights how early setbacks laid the groundwork for eventual reform and resilience in the war’s later stages.
Guadalcanal's Longest Fight
The Matanikau battles proved to be the critical turning points in the land campaign for Guadalcanal—the campaign's longest and bloodiest ground fight. A five-month conflict raged along the river and its basin. The real importance of this area has long remained unrecognized, yet the American and Japanese forces that fought over it knew that it was the key to the ultimate prize of Henderson Airfield. In this mile-long bloody tug-of-war from the river across to the hills and ravines were fought seven major battles and countless smaller skirmishes. While countless books have been published on the Guadalcanal Campaign; none have concentrated on the pivotal battles of the Matanikau basin. Extensively researched, this first indepth study of these important battles, objectively showing all sides, fills in this crucial missing piece of the history of the Guadalcanal campaign. The wellknown Guadalcanal battlefield guide Dave Holland spent three years walking the battlefields, researching, and documenting what he found. His unparalleled knowledge of the ground enables him to take the reader along with the men on the ground. Using his investigative skills and military background, he provides a fresh, detailed, and often completely new view of the land campaign, establishing previously unknown facts and specifically illustrating their significance as the campaign’s land turning points.
Ethnoarchaeology of Rock-cut Tombs
Rock-cut tombs, i.e. chambered tombs hewn out from the bedrock, were a common type of monumental burial among many past societies around the world, from the Neolithic Mediterranean, to the Classical Near East, and Protohistoric Japan and Korea. Around the globe they have attracted the attention of generations of archaeologists, historians and art historians. The island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, is the only place where rock-cut tombs are still being created today, and in a traditional (small scale, animist) society context. The Toraja people of Central Sulawesi have built and used rock-cut chambered tombs (locally called liang pa’) as kinship communal burials for at least 300 years. This living tradition represents a unique opportunity to study rock-cut monuments from an ethnoarchaeological perspective, with a focus on their material, temporal, social, ritual and landscape dimensions. This book is the first ever dedicated to the Toraja tombs and is the outcome of comprehensive literature-based research (ethnographic literature from the 19th century to present) and original fieldwork carried out by the authors in June 2017. The aim of the book is twofold: first, to provide an overview of liang pa’ rock-cut tombs and, second, to address specific issues that had never been investigated before. These issues include the architectural style and decoration of the tombs, the technical steps and ritual activities associated with the process of cutting the tombs into the rock, their landscape setting, and their relationship to local kinship groups. The authors place the liang pa’ within the context of historical developments pertaining to other funerary traditions of the Toraja people over the past several centuries, and present an overview of burial practices associated with these monuments. The research provides a unique synthesis and offers methodological and theoretical insights that are relevant to any reader interested in rock-cut architectures of the past and present, monuments and rituals, and the anthropological study of human–environment interactions. Overall, the book offers a series of fresh insights on long-debated archaeological issues that will inform discussion and theoretical models for the study and interpretation of ritual monuments from prehistory to present.
West: Tales of the Lost Lands
Part personal memoir, part cultural history, West is a compendium of ‘tales’, telling the story of a unique geographical and literary landscape – the western Midlands of England. It is a magpie’s nest, a melange of anecdotes, folk legends, ghost stories and fairy tales. But more than this, it is a record of a land and its people, told over 2,000 years of history – a land that birthed both industrial and cultural revolutions.A native of the area, Martin Wall takes us on a search for lost time in the Lost Lands of the west, charting the liminal energies which have so influenced our literature – and himself. Shamelessly nostalgic, sometimes tender, sometimes brutal, these tales invite us to immerse ourselves in the past, present and future, to become ‘unstuck in time’.How were the lands ‘lost’? The author laments the decline and fall of a succession of cultures, from the Celtic principality of Pengwern and the mighty kingdom of Mercia to the end of heavy industry in the late twentieth century. With a thoughtful foreword by Robert Plant, West takes history to a new imaginative edge.
Churches of County Durham
Pennine hills, unspoilt moorland, dramatic dales, picturesque villages, market towns and a magnificent coastline are all part of the scenery of County Durham. The history is equally rich, from early farming settlement, conquests, rebellion and mining to industrial development, and always present through these times have been the churches. The earliest churches in the county date from the Anglo-Saxon era and the Norman Prince Bishops of Durham instituted a new building programme, including several churches dedicated to the local saint, Cuthbert. Later events all left their mark on the county’s churches, from the Reformation and Civil War to the rise of dissenting groups such as Quakers and Methodists. Industrial development and the growth of densely populated urban areas required a new church building programme by the Victorians and in the last century the story of County Durham’s churches has continued.In Churches of County Durham, author Colin Wilkinson explores a cross-section of historical churches throughout the county, both the well known and those waiting to be discovered by a wider audience. This fascinating picture of an important part of the history of the county over the centuries will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting this splendid area of England.
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