With the inquisitive heart of an adventurer and the rigor of a scholar, this spellbinding work leads listeners through centuries of dark folklore, lost legends, and the wild inspirations behind Bram Stoker's immortal classic.Volcanic cataclysms, secret aristocratic scandals, mysterious societies, and ominous landscapes all converge to cast their spell. Historian Steven J. Rolfes skillfully untangles a web of real events, eccentric creators, and uncanny myths that s...

Art Deco, daring and almost defiant in its optimism, reflected the spirit of a restless time. Bursting forth in the midst of the Roaring Twenties, an age when there seemed to be no limits, this new art form was both elegant and modern. Cincinnati is fortunate to have three stunning examples of this unique style: the sophisticated Hilton Netherland Plaza hotel, the overwhelming Cincinnati Times-Star Building, and the Union Terminal. Beyond these giants, the Greater Cincinnati region is stud...

Step into a Captivating Labyrinth Where History Collides with Myth and Dracula's Origins Are RevealedWith the inquisitive heart of an adventurer and the rigor of a scholar, Steven J. Rolfes leads you through centuries of dark folklore, lost legends, and the wild inspirations behind Bram Stoker's immortal classic. Rolfes's lively, immersive, and unfailingly engaging prose helps you make sense of what is fact, what is fable, and how ...

Theaters have always been the places where memories are made. There, on Saturday afternoons, children could escape the pressures of growing up to live for two hours in a fantasy world of daring heroes, dastardly villains, and dazzling magic. They were the places where awkward teenage boys could nervously, and often clumsily, put their arms around equally nervous girls. In years past, every neighborhood had its own local theater. Downtown was home to the great movie palaces, ornate portals ...

An unflinching look at the darker side of Western thought, arguing for an acceptance of responsibility as opposed to an apportionment of blame.Calls for a decolonization of thought and the sciences have become increasingly urgent in recent years and have now reached European universities. Decolonizing Philosophy attempts to clarify why philosophy must also undergo a process of decolonization and what such a process means for research and teaching in philos...

This book is both an analysis of the Bastille as cultural paradigm and a case study on the history of French political culture. It examines in particular the storming and subsequent fall of the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789 and how it came to represent the cornerstone of the French Revolution, becoming a symbol of the repression of the Old Regime. Lüsebrink and Reichardt use this semiotic reading of the Bastille to reveal how historical symbols are generated; what these symbols’ funct...

This book mobilises the theory of uneven and combined development to uncover the geopolitical economic drivers of China’s rise. The purpose is to explain the formation and trajectory of its economic ‘accumulation system’ — which remains a confounding hybrid of statist and neoliberal forms of capitalism — as the outcome of China’s geopolitical engagement of the USA during the late stages of the Cold War, and its participation in manufacturing global production networks (GPNs). Fear of geopo...

Unveil the mystery of the banshee and other entities that bridge the gap between life and death with this book's extensive Celtic folklore and historic cases. From deities like the Morrigan to death-related beings such as the Doppelgänger, Steven J. Rolfes examines what banshees are and how they have captivated humanity for centuries.This book presents numerous examples of banshees, such as the omens connected to President Abraham Lincoln's murder and modern encounters with the her...

Gaze with Trembling Breath Upon the Dreaded BansheeJourney to the Emerald Isle and beyond as you explore the history and mystery of banshees. These beings bridge the gap between life and death, myth and reality. From the Morrigan to the Doppelgänger, Steven J. Rolfes examines what messengers of death are and how they have captivated humanity for centuries.Rolfes presents numerous examples of banshees, such as the ghostly maiden who appeared at Lady Fanshawe...

A rich vein of bizarre and uncanny tales snakes through Ohio's cornfields and cityscapes. In the earliest days of statehood, dark reports spoke of witches causing feathers to form a deadly ring in one's bed, magically strangling its sleeping victims. For years, the ghost of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train rolled through Urbana, a small town in the center of the state, and caused clocks and watches to stop in its wake. A vampiric entity was said to haunt a strange cabin in the Black Swamp, ...

Gaze with Trembling Breath Upon the Dreaded BansheeJourney to the Emerald Isle and beyond as you explore the history and mystery of banshees. These beings bridge the gap between life and death, myth and reality. From the Morrigan to the Doppelgänger, Steven J. Rolfes examines what messengers of death are and how they have captivated humanity for centuries.Rolfes presents numerous examples of banshees, such as the ghostly maiden who appeared at Lady Fanshawe...

Tensions between the US and China have escalated as both powers seek to draw countries into their respective political and economic orbits by financing and constructing infrastructure.Wide-ranging and even-handed, this book offers a fresh interpretation of the territorial logic of US–China rivalry, and explores what it means for countries across Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America. The chapters demonstrate that many countries navigate the global infrastructure boom by articulating n...