The story of a communist Scotland'Reid in Braid' is a series of short stories taking a look at a world where the UK was on the losing side of the Great War and dissolved; leading to an independent Scotland almost a century before it became a serious possibility. That independent Scotland eventually fell to socialist revolution in the lead up to an alternate second world war, and remains an isolationist one-party state for the rest of the century. Each of the shorts takes place at a...

What will the end of the world be like?Plague or nuclear fire? Asteroids or floods?Divine wrath or people meddling with what should have been left alone?The apocalypse may come in the future, but what apocalypses might have occurred if history had played out differently? What if nukes had flown during the Cuban Missile Crisis? What if an asteroid had been on a collision course with Earth before the first person could set foot on the Moon? What if humanity destroyed it...

You're sitting around the campfire; it's dark, the moon is high in the sky, the wind is whistling through the trees, and the sense of isolation is pervasive. You hear a twig snap in the darkness, everyone is tense. What's the story you tell your friends to terrify them? What's in the dark, stalking the camp: an ax murderer, a werewolf, or something so far beyond our mortal understanding that just the sight of it will drive each of us insane?

In "The Scottish Reformation," Alexander F. Mitchell offers a comprehensive examination of the religious transformation that swept through Scotland in the sixteenth century, marked by the emergence of Protestantism and the decline of Catholic hegemony. Mitchell meticulously investigates the complex interplay between political, social, and theological factors that contributed to this pivotal historical moment. His engaging prose and scholarly rigor provide readers with an in-depth understan...

**From the Thurber Prize-winning author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker comes a pioneering collection of Black humor from some of the most acclaimed writers and performers at work today“Crackling, hilarious. . . . You won’t want to miss it.” —People“Completely absorbing.”—Amy Sedaris**A critic explores the paradox of finding community in “the dozens” while grieving. A violent town ritual causes an all-too-familiar moral panic. An email t...

THE writings of St. Francis may, as is obvious, be considered from more than one point of view. Premising this, we are afforded a clue to the difficulty which has led students of Franciscan sources to divide themselves into two camps as to the objective value of these writings. Indeed, one writer 1 goes so far as to compare the attitude of modern scholars toward them to that of the "Spiritual" and Conventual Friars respectively in the first century of Franciscan history. For while one part...

In "Life in the Medieval University," Robert S. Rait meticulously examines the intricate social and intellectual fabric of medieval academia. Utilizing a blend of narrative history and scholarly analysis, Rait delves into the structure of medieval universities, from the hierarchical organization of faculties to the daily lives of students and professors. The text is rich in primary sources, providing an authentic window into the customs, challenges, and triumphs characteristic of scholarly...

This prize-winning account of the pre-Reformation church recreates lay people’s experience of religion, showing that late-medieval Catholicism was neither decadent nor decayed, but a strong and vigorous tradition. For this edition, Duffy has written a new introduction reflecting on recent developments in our understanding of the period.“A mighty and momentous book: a book to be read and re-read, pondered and revered; a subtle, profound book written with passion and eloquence, and w...

In "The Age of Erasmus," P. S. Allen offers a profound exploration of the intellectual landscape during the Renaissance, particularly focusing on the insights and works of Desiderius Erasmus. Through a meticulous blend of historical narrative and critical analysis, Allen examines the interplay between humanism, religious thought, and socio-political changes of the period. His scholarly approach is underscored by eloquent prose and a nuanced understanding of the era's literary milieu, situa...

A period will, sooner or later, arrive, at which the disciplining and flagellating practices even now in use and which have been so for so many centuries, will have been laid aside, and succeeded by others equally whimsical. And while the men of those days will overlook the defects of their own extravagant customs, or perhaps even admire the rationality of them, they will refuse to believe that the practices of which accounts are given in this work, ever were in use among mankind, and even...

In "English Travellers of the Renaissance," Clare Howard meticulously examines the journeys and narratives of English explorers, diplomats, and tourists during the transformative period of the Renaissance. Through her engaging prose, Howard combines vivid descriptions and historical analysis, offering readers a rich tapestry of experiences that reflect the era's burgeoning curiosity about the wider world. The book expertly situates these travels within the broader context of European explo...

Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, mother of Elizabeth of York and the Princes in the Tower, and grandmother of Henry VIII, has been vilified and defended in turn. Was she a cunning enchantress, an ambitious advancer of her family’s fortunes, or a courageous and tragic figure who lost husbands, brothers and sons during this turbulent period? Discover the real story of the ‘White Queen’. Born into a family of Lancastrians, the exceptionally beautiful Elizabeth captured the heart of the...