This is an anthology of literature and graphic illustration that effectively defined a formative moment in the history of London.

This is an anthology of literature and graphic illustration that effectively defined a formative moment in the history of London.

This is an anthology of literature and graphic illustration that effectively defined a formative moment in the history of London.

This is an anthology of literature and graphic illustration that effectively defined a formative moment in the history of London.

This is an anthology of literature and graphic illustration that effectively defined a formative moment in the history of London.

This is an anthology of literature and graphic illustration that effectively defined a formative moment in the history of London.

London's Soho district underwent a spectacular transformation between the late Victorian era and the end of the Second World War: its fin-de-siècle buildings and dark streets infamous for sex, crime, political disloyalty, and ethnic diversity became a center of culinary and cultural tourism servicing patrons of nearby shops and theaters. Indulgences for the privileged and the upwardly mobile edged a dangerous, transgressive space imagined to be "outside" the nation.Treating Soho as ...

1914 dawned with Britain at peace, albeit troubled by faultlines within and threats without: Ireland trembled on the brink of civil war; suffragette agitation was assuming an ever more violent hue; and suspicions of Germany's ambitions bred a paranoia that was expressed in a rash of 'invasion scare' literature.Then when shots rang out in Sara-jevo on 28 June, they set in train a tumble of diplomatic dominos that led to Britain declaring war on Germany.Nigel Jones depicts ev...

In a country this diverse, 'culture' has different meanings. Vance tells a story from the wind-swept Arctic where a stranded Innu woman, fighting to survive, took the time to decorate her clothing with rich designs. A British explorer was amazed at her efforts, but Vance reminds us of the inseparable connection between life and art in Inuit culture (the Innu word for 'breathe' also means 'to make poetry,' and both derive from the word for 'the soul'). No surprise that Aboriginal culture began...

A delightful and fascinating social history of Victorians at leisure, told through the letters, diaries, journals and novels of nineteenth-century men and women, from the author of the bestselling ‘The Victorian House’.Imagine a world where only one in five people owns a book, where just one in ten has a knife or a fork – a world where five people out of every six do not own a cup to hold a hot drink. That was what England was like in the early eighteenth century. Yet by the close ...

National bestseller and a Globe and Mail Best BookA fascinating, larger-than-life character, Davies left a treasure trove of stories about him when he died in 1995 — expertly arranged here into a revealing portrait.From his student days onward, Robertson Davies made a huge impression on those around him. He was so clearly bound for a glorious future that some young friends even carefully preserved his letters. And everyone remembered their encounte...

In the nineteenth century, the word bohemians initially conjured the primitive, exotic and mysterious power of gypsies, but in a few short years would be used to describe any nomadic or vagabond character - with strong overtones of poverty and even criminality. In Australia, bohemians have been associated with subcultures, and movements across most creative arts and media for more than 150 years. Our cities spawned networks of poets, painters, novelists, journalists, philosophers, actors, ...