Global Identities in Transit: The Ethics and Politics of Representation in World Literatures and Cultures explores the myriad aspects of identity formation and identity representation in an increasingly globalized world. Covering a variety of cultural and historical experiences in addition to several texts of world literatures, the contributors discuss the configurations of transnationality and transculturality in our postcolonial and globalized world. Acknowledging that nationality, ethni...

Joining the emergent interdisciplinary investment in bridging the social sciences and the humanities, Childhood, Agency, and Fantasy: Walking in Other Worlds explores linkages between children’s agency and fantasy. Fantasy as an integral aspect of childhood and as a genre allows for children’s spectacular dreams and hopeful realities. Friendship, family, identity, loyalty, belongingness, citizenry, and emotionality are central concepts explored in chapters that are anchored by hum...

Christmas falls on 25 December with faithful inevitability. Indeed, our entire Western system of time is based upon it. It may seem as though it has always been this way, but like many facts of the holiday’s history, the date of Christ’s birth contains a complex story wrapped in controversy. Despite the deep traditions that bind a culture to its version of Christmas – the pageantry, food and folklore – its longevity has always depended on its ability to evolve.Christmas: The Sa...

Consuming Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century aims to bring together detailed analyses of the cultural myths, or fictions, of consumption that have shaped discourses on consumer practices from the eighteenth century onwards. Individual essays provide an excitingly diverse range of perspectives, including musicology, philosophy, history, and art history, cultural and postcolonial studies as well as the study of literature in English, French, and German. The broad scope of this c...

BLUE-EYED GIRL is a powerful, compelling family drama telling the story of a family torn apart by secrets.Anya Keating loves her job as PA to Macdara Fitzgerald, owner of the stunning Lismore estate and its string of racehorses. Macdara is an indulgent and generous employer and Anya has grown very fond of him. But when he rashly proposes marriage, their friendship - and her position - is threatened, and Anya is torn between her loyalty to Macdara and her feelings f...

RSVP is a sumptuous family saga, packed with sex, love and betrayal.The Granville Midsummer Ball is always an affair to remember. The who's who of Irish society gather at Carrickcross House - the rural family estate - for a night of revelry. But this year's soiree is extra-special: matriarch Honoria is announcing her grandson Rossa's engagement to Ashling Morrison.Ashling has been swept off her feet. Tall, dark and handsome, Rossa's the perfect catch, but i...

Perfect to curl up with this Christmas, The Proposal by Tasmina Perry is a spellbinding tale of second chances that looks back to the year of the last debutantes. With a haunting love story at its heart, the novel sweeps you away to Fifties London and modern Manhattan. If you love Kate Morton, Rachel Hore and Santa Montefiore, you will adore this multi-layered, moving read. 'A story of long-buried secrets...Perry expertly weaves a delicate web of love and betrayal' Dai...

Welcome to Tilly Bagshawe’s Swell Valley, where the scandal is in a class of its own.Tatiana Flint-Hamilton’s gilded cage is torn away when her estranged father dies. As the beloved family estate slips through Tati’s fingers, the portraits of her ancestors look down disapprovingly.The new Lord of the Manor is just as ruthless as Tati. The old-world status of Furlings is everything the wealthy, self-made Brett Cranley has ever wanted. Luckily his wife Angela is the perfect h...

Spies, Sadists and Sorcerers unveils the history you were never taught at school. With a breath-taking sweep spanning Rome to the modern day, popular historian and author Dominic Selwood challenges the traditional version of some of the best-known events of the past. From ancient Christianity to the voyages of Columbus, and from the medieval Crusades to ISIS and the modern Middle East, this book debunks dozens of historical myths.You will learn that:– Magna Carta was an inf...

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERFrom one of our greatest voices in modern philosophy, author of The Course of Love, The Consolations of Philosophy, Religion for Atheists and The School of Life - Alain de Botton sets out to understand our universal fear of failure - and how we might change it'De Botton's gift is to prompt us to think about how we live and how we might change things' The Times...

The second novel, and first quick read title, from Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Cathy Glass.My Dad's a Policeman is a dramatic and engaging story of a young boy with an alcoholic mother. Lonely, bullied and desperate for a life of happiness and security he tells everyone he meets his dad's a policeman.Fast-paced and compelling, this short story from Cathy Glass follows the experiences of a Ryan, a small and lonely 12-year-old boy who struggles to fit i...

'Standard kit for anyone visiting the city' Guardian'Rich and eventful ... a book that easily fuses large cultural trends with intimately personal stories' New York Times'The story of a great city that has shaped the soul of the world. Masterful reporting, vivid history' James GleickIn this ever-surprising and effortlessly erudite portrait, Russell Shorto traces the idiosyncratic evolution of Amste...