Over the course of her career, Elizabeth Robertson has pursued innovative scholarship that investigates the overlapping domains of medieval philosophy, literature, and gender studies. This collection of essays, dedicated to her work, examines gender as a construct of language, a mode of embodiment, and a critical framework for thinking about the past. Its eleven contributors approach the figure of the gendered body in medieval English writing along several axes: poetic, philosophical, mate...

New Authors and collections. Following the great success of our Gothic Fantasy, deluxe edition short story compilations, Ghosts, Horror, Science Fiction, Murder Mayhem and Crime & Mystery this latest title is packed with dark valleys, high mountain passes, dinosaurs and endless dark creations. Contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with authors from the US, Canada, and the UK.New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Rachel Verkade, Thomas Canfield, Kev...

In 2003, Methodists celebrated the 300th anniversary of the birth of their founder, John Wesley. Today, there are more than 300 Methodist denominations in 140 nations. Covering the activities of this group that plays an important role in the ecumenical movement through its many social and charitable activities in world affairs, this book offers more than 400 entries that describe important events, doctrines, and the church founders, leaders, and other prominent figures who have made notabl...

This book examines how European farmers responded to the economic and political challenges created by the First World War and the Great Depression. The difficulties of interwar Europe have been frequently explored, but rarely from the perspective of the agricultural sector, where two-fifths of the population earned their livelihood, mostly as small, family farmers.The traditional literature argues that the landed elites conspired to undermine many of Europe's young democracies afte...

Great Britain, the 1980s. VHS is rapidly becoming popular, and the more gory and violent the movies, the better. One company has latched on to this trend quickly – selling and renting controversial films to the public. It is called the Video Instant Picture Company, a.k.a. VIPCO.Founded and run by Michael Lee – Mike to his friends – this small independent video distributor would swiftly grow into a money-making machine and become synonymous with the so-called 'Video Nasties' scanda...

Amid present-day conflagrations, this illuminating book reminds us of the sources, and profound consequences, of Christian fundamentalism in the sixteenth century. Simpson focuses on the cultural transformation in early modern England that allowed common people to read the Bible for the first time. The last wave of fundamentalist reading in the West provoked 150 years of violent upheaval; as we approach a second wave, this powerful book alerts us to our peril.

"This book traces the history of a complex sexual fantasy which features recurrently in Goethe's writings from his days as a student in Leipzig to the final years as Europe's most celebrated living poet. Simpson shows how the young man's fantasy of innocent sexuality became an increasingly troubled one during the poet's first decade in Weimar. Goethe began to recognize in it a submerged element: the incestuous roots of desire. Triggered by this discovery, Goethe's imagination becomes incre...

Few could have imagined ten years ago where we'd be in America today: We are confronted on all sides by interminable crises that threaten the very fabric of our nation—from a border flooded with millions of migrants from all over the world, to a fentanyl crisis killing more American youths every year than the past three wars combined. Radical transgender activism and other cultural insanity has pushed more youths to commit suicide than at any other time in history. It seems as though the w...

How did the Reformation, which initially promoted decidedly illiberal positions, end up laying the groundwork for Western liberalism?The English Reformation began as an evangelical movement driven by an unyielding belief in predestination, intolerance, stringent literalism, political quietism, and destructive iconoclasm. Yet by 1688, this illiberal early modern upheaval would deliver the foundations of liberalism: free will, liberty of conscience, religious tolerat...

In this distinctive new history of the origins of the Spanish Civil War, James Simpson and Juan Carmona tackle the highly-debated issue of why it was that Spain's democratic Second Republic failed. They explore the interconnections between economic growth, state capacity, rural social mobility and the creation of mass competitive political parties, and how these limited the effectiveness of the new republican governments, and especially their attempts to tackle economic and social problems...

All you need to know about directing an independent film. James Simpson has over thirty films experience, with films starring actors including Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Charlize Theron to name a few. This book details useful tips in directing a film, whether this is your first film or you are an experienced director. Techniques for getting the most from your actors and crew and avoiding the pitfalls that can give you avoidable problems. It covers all the stages and includes a breakdown of ...

The Japanese Cattle industry has been undergoing major changes for the past three decades. During the 1950's and 1960's mechanized power rapidly. The process of beef industry structure change accelerated in the 1970's as medium scale feedlots came into being, regional packing plants were established, and the beef marketing system matured. Economic forces, both within and external to the industry. A major objective of this book is to test the authors’ hypothesis that beef production by Japa...