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Книги издательства «I.B.Tauris»
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I.B.Tauris is delighted to announce the reissue in paperback in three volumes of the definitive, most comprehensive edition, in the finest translations and fully annotated, of the writings of this great filmmaker, theorist and teacher of film — and one of the most original aesthetic thinkers of the twentieth century. The name of Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) is synonymous with the idea of montage, as exemplified in his silent classics such as 'The Battleship Potemkin' (1925) and 'October' (1927). In the 1930s his style changed, partly to accommodate the arrival of sound, and his ideas on audio-visual counterpoint developed. Between 1937 and 1940 he elaborated his ideas on montage in a series of essays, most of which remained unpublished until after his death and which are published in English for the first time in this volume. They present the essence of Eisenstein's thinking on cinema and aesthetics more generally and reveal him as one of the most significant philosophers of art of the twentieth century. |
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Nigeria is a country where petroleum prices and polio are both booming, where small villages challenge giant oil companies, and scooter drivers run their own mini-state. The oil-rich Delta region at the heart of it all is, as Peel shows us, a troublespot as hot as the local pepper soup. Through a host of characters, from the prostitutes of Port Harcourt to the Area Boys of Lagos, from the militants in their swamp forest hideouts to the oil company executives in London, Peel tells the story of this extraordinary country, which grows ever more wild and lawless by the day as its crude oil pumps through our cities. |
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«Far from Moscow and St Petersburg, there lies another Russia. Overlooked by the new urban elites and almost unknown to the West, in the great provincial hinterlands of the Volga River and Siberia, Russians struggle to reconcile their old traditions with a new and unfamiliar world. Returning again and again, for over a decade, to the deep heartland of this rapidly-evolving country, Susan Richards has encountered extraordinary people and forged lasting friendships. Through their unforgettable stories and her own experiences she reveals how in Russia the past and the present cannot be separated. Illuminating a forgotten people and sweeping away traditional assumptions, «Lost and Found in Russia» is a compelling and essential portrait — poignant, yet full of hope for a new future.» |
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«In Rory MacLean's groundbreaking debut travel book, Winston the pig drops on to Uncle Peter's head and kills him dead. Unwilling to be left alone in her house Aunt Zita, a faded Austrian aristocrat and a vivacious eccentric, hijacks her nephew and, together with Winston, sets out on one last ride. The Berlin Wall has fallen only weeks before and Zita is determined to reach across the reopened borders and rediscover her remarkable east European family.In a rattling Trabant the unlikely trio puff and wheeze across the changing continent, following the threads of memory. Zita's relations — the angel of Prague, the Hungarian grave digger who buried Stalin's nose, a dying Romanian propagandist — help tie together the loose ends of her life. They picnic at Auschwitz. They meet Lenin's embalmer. They carry a long-lost corpse over the Carpathian mountains. Through war and revolution, decay and regeneration, «Stalin's Noseis» a surreal and darkly comic ride and a portrait of Europe like no other.» |
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«As the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq peters out in failure, the historical debate is just beginning. How were we so misled in to such a disastrous war? What were its real goals? What did it achieve? Former UN Weapons inspector Scott Ritter offers a rare first-hand account of the build up to the war, and how the CIA exploited weapons inspections in pursuit of its secret regime-change agenda. The CIA tried to silence him. But in this book, he speaks out. Operating in a fog of espionage and counter-espionage, Ritter and his team were determined to find out the truth about Saddam's WMD after the 1991 Gulf war. The CIA, and Saddam Hussein, were determined to stop them. For the truth, we now know, was that Iraq was playing a deadly game of double-bluff. «Iraq Confidential» charts the disillusionment of a true patriot, who came to realise that his own government was trying to undermine weapons control in the Middle East. A host of characters from MI6 to Qusay Hussein flesh out this powerful story, which is an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Iraq, the war on terror, and American power.» |
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«Over the course of several months during 1931 and 1932, Robert Byron journeyed to three countries teetering on the brink of change. In Russia, which was stricken by famine, Lenin had just died, Stalin's dictatorship was in its infancy and the Great Terror was yet to begin. Having taken the first commercial flight to India, which took a week, Byron was thrown into the tumultuous last years of the British Raj. Gandhi was imprisoned while rioting and clashes between Hindus and Muslims had become commonplace. Finally Byron entered Tibet, the forbidden country. Exploring the Land of Snows, he saw Tibet as it was when the then Dalai Lama was still ensconced in the Potala Palace, twenty years before China's invasion. Blending classic travel writing with passionate observations on the deeper political and social issues of the time, Byron writes with uncanny prescience of the eventual horrors of the Soviet Union and the downfall of the Raj. As a piece of travel literature, «First Russia, Then Tibet» is compelling and beautifully-written. As a portrait of these countries in the 1930s, it is invaluable. Ultimately, it illuminates the constant quest for meaning that underscored Robert Byron's life and travels.» |
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As the dreadful reality of the Coalition's defeat in Iraq begins to sink in, one question dominates Washington and London: Why? In this controversial new book, award-winning journalist Jonathan Steele provides a stark and arresting answer: Bush and Blair were defeated from the day they decided to occupy the country. Iraq had enough of foreign armies. Steele describes the memories of centuries of humiliations that have scarred the Iraqi national psyche, creating a powerful and deeply felt nationalism. Drawing his unique access to senior Western policymakers, Steele shows how the key players in the occupying coalition totally failed to inform themselves about this smouldering back history of resentment and suspicion.Drawing on hundreds of interviews with ordinary Iraqis, Steele shows for the first time how the staging posts of the conflict so familiar to Western newspaper readers were seen by the Iraqis themselves. Blending vivid reportage, informed analysis and sweeping historical narrative, 'Defeat' is the definitive anatomy of an historic catastrophe. |
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«When Ahmadinejad was elected President in June 2005, anxiety replaced election fever amongst many Iranians. To let off steam they told jokes. Why did the new President part his hair so straight? To segregate the male and female lice. But while the laughter died down, the anxiety never went away... «As Iran's nuclear programme accelerates, all eyes are on the blacksmith's son who could have his finger on the trigger. Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? What drives him? What formed him? To whom, if anyone, does he answer? Internationally acclaimed journalist Kasra Naji, a native Persian speaker, has spent years in Iran interviewing friends, family and colleagues of the firebrand President to tell for the first time the true story of how he came to power. A picture emerges far more compelling than any of the caricatures offered up so far. While Naji documents the often strange behaviour of Ahmadinejad, with his visions of the Hidden Imam and diatribes against Israel, he also shows him to be full of contradictions: a strange and complex man, at once gripped by apocalyptic beliefs, yet capable of switching spiritual allegiance in the quest for power; a man tough enough to fight street battles in the name of Ayatollah Khomeini during the revolution, who was described by former army comrades as a «coward»; and a man crude enough to invite the German Chancellor to join him in an anti-Jewish alliance, yet sophisticated enough to win the political support of the all-powerful Revolutionary Guard. The unknown Ahmadinejad — revealed here by Naji — is much more of a force to be reckoned with than the bogeyman conjured up by Washington. Naji takes us inside the shadowy council chambers of Tehran, and shows us the plots, passions and personalities that will influence Ahmadinejad's next move, while the world waits with baited breath.» |
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Lytton Strachey's acclaimed portrayal of Queen Victoria revolutionized the art of biography by using elements of romantic fiction and melodrama to create a warm, humorous, and very human portrait of this iconic figure. We see Victoria as a strong-willed child with a famous temper, as the 18-year-old girl queen, as a monarch, wife, mother, and widow. Equally fascinating are the depictions of her relationships: with her governess precious Lehzen, with Peel, Gladstone, and Disraeli, with her beloved Albert, and, in later life, her legendary devotion to her Highland servant John Brown, all of which show a different side of the staid, pious image that is so often attached to her. |
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Albert: Prince Consort to Queen Victoria, social and cultural visionary in his own right, was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld but defined the culture and direction of 19th century Britain — a superpower at the zenith of its influence — more than any other British royal or politician. Although he pleaded with his wife that no monument to his memory should be left (a plea that was to go unheeded by his grieving widow) the role he played in shaping Victorian culture stands today as indisputable proof of the enduring legacy of a man who spent just two decades of his short life in England. Though overshadowed in history by his adoring wife, and at times even mocked by her subjects, it was arguably Albert that gave form and substance to the Victorian Age. From the outset, he strove to win 'the respect, the love and the confidence of the Queen and of the nation', pursuing an extraordinary social and cultural crusade that has become his greatest legacy. From the Great Exhibition and the construction of many of London's great museums to his social campaigns against slavery and the Corn Laws, Albert's achievements were truly remarkable — in fact, very few have made such a permanent mark on British society. This is the life story of Albert of Saxe-Coburg: Prince Consort and beloved husband of Queen Victoria — and one of the most influential figures of modern Europe. |
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In 1928, Winston Churchill was at the height of his career. Chancellor of the Exchequer and a powerful and popular orator, leadership of the Conservative Party seemed within his grasp. A year later, all had changed. The Conservatives were defeated and, when a National Government was formed in 1931, Churchill was not asked to join it. Though he was a lone figure from this point, his acute political sense, foresight and courage were undiminished. Fed with secret inside information, Churchill consistently warned of the Nazi danger, even before the rise of Hitler. The British government, led by Stanley Baldwin and later Neville Chamberlain, fought him at every turn, even refusing him the right to broadcast. But he never gave up. It was as a direct result of his dogged perseverance that the British public came to realise the truth of his warnings — and a bond was formed that would be so vital in the years to come. |
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I.B.Tauris is delighted to announce the reissue in paperback in three volumes of the definitive, most comprehensive edition, in the finest translations and fully annotated, of the writings of this great filmmaker, theorist and teacher of film -- and one of the most original aesthetic thinkers of the twentieth century. Now in paperback for the first time, Volume 1 documents from the definitive Russian texts the complex course of Sergei Eisenstein's writings during the revolutionary years in the Soviet Union. It presents Eisenstein the innovative aesthetic thinker, socialist artist and humourist, passionately engaged in the debates over the art forms of the future. Importantly, this was also the period of Eisenstein’s great silent masterpieces, The Strike, The Battleship Potemkin, October and The General Line, and of his controversial sojourns in Hollywood and Mexico. |
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Seeks to uncover the historical figure of Jesus, and explore what it was about his teaching that created a dedicated following that propagated a religion in his name. This book suggests that there may have been a conspiracy between Paul and Peter to disseminate a distorted image of Christ. |
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This is a new, revised edition of the universally acclaimed and best-selling account of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement — the most radical and extreme Islamic movement the world has seen. |
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Peter Fleming, brother of James Bond author Ian Fleming, was one of the greatest adventurers and travel writers of the 20th century and author of several classic and bestselling books. This is the first paperback edition. It presents an exciting adventure that could never be made today — it will appeal to all interested in the region. When in 1934 at the age of twenty-seven, Peter Fleming set out for the Far East, his ultimate goal was to return from China to India overland — a journey he later described in the classic News from Tartary. On his outward journey Fleming travelled through regions which remain some of the most remote and least-visited in Asia and which, soon after his journey, became closed entirely to westerners. From Moscow, through the Caucasus to the Caspian, on to Samarkand and Tashkent, skirting the edge of Outer Mongolia to Vladivostok and winding his way down to Peking, Fleming tells of people encountered, places explored and of ways of life that have since been lost through revolution, war and the passage of time. Along the way he kept a diary that he never intended to publish and that lay forgotten 'in the box-room' of his mind for fifteen years. To Peking is an unassuming classic of travel literature. Subtle yet sparkling with intelligence and humour, simple yet beautifully told, it illuminates a world that travellers — armchair or otherwise — can only dream of today. |
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Alexander Sokurov's 'Russian Ark' is generally acclaimed as a milestone in cinematography. In this film Sokurov reversed the idea of montage, creating instead the sensation of an uninterrupted flow of time encompassing three centuries of Russia's cultural history through a single, 90-minute take. Yet this film is but one milestone in the work of this versatile director. Since the 1990s, Sokurov's films have had international recognition at film festivals and through foreign distribution. In this, the first English-language book to cover Sokurov's full oeuvre, leading scholars on Sokurov unravel his work on documentaries; his early films and literary adaptations; his trilogy on leaders focussing on the decaying body; his films on passing youth and approaching age; and, of course, 'Russian Ark'. The book also provides samples of the major Russian-language studies of Sokurov's films to provide the reader with an insight into Russian approaches to Sokurov. |
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'Even the smallest person can change the course of the future'. The prophetic words of Galadriel, addressed to Frodo as he prepared to travel from Lothlorien to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, are just as pertinent to J R R Tolkien's own fiction. For decades, hobbits and the other fantastical creatures of Middle-earth have captured the imaginations of a fiercely loyal tribe of readers, all enhanced by the immense success of Peter Jackson's films: first The Lord of the Rings, and now his new The Hobbit. But for all Tolkien's global fame and the familiarity of modern culture with Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo and Sam, the sources of the great mythmaker's own myth-making have been neglected. Mark Atherton here explores the chief influences on Tolkien's work: his boyhood in the West Midlands; the landscapes and seascapes which shaped his mythologies; his experiences in World War I; his interest in Scandinavian myth; his friendships, especially with the other Oxford-based Inklings; and the relevance of his themes, especially ecological themes, to the present-day. There and Back Again offers a unique guide to the varied inspirations behind Tolkien's life and work, and sheds new light on how a legend is born. |
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Russia's rich and varied tradition of enameling can be placed within the context of one of the earliest and most widely practiced forms of decoration. In the 11th century, Kiev closely adhered to the Byzantine traditions in producing the first Russian enamels. Progress was interrupted by the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. There was, however, a revival of the arts in the 16th century, and during the 17th century the Kremlin Armory in Moscow and various northern trading centers emerged as major bases for the manufacture of liturgical and secular enamels, while the program of westernization initiated by Peter the Great in the early 18th century attracted foreign artisans who brought their own techniques to the capital, St Petersburg. The 19th century closed with a dichotomy of styles: classicizing, courtly traditions flourished in St Petersburg, as demonstrated in the art of pre-eminent master Carl Faberge. However, Moscow served as the heart of the Russian Revival movement, and the vibrantly colored and exotic-looking revival enamels are also prized by collectors today. The enamels illustrated are from three sources: The Walters Art Gallery established in Baltimore by Henry Walters who patronized the Faberge firm in St Petersburg in 1900, the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C., housing Mrs Marjorie Merriweather Post's superb holdings of Russian and French 18th — and 19th-century decorative arts, and a private collector who has explored every aspect of the Russian Revival movement. |
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Winston Churchill (1874-1965) is often proclaimed as the greatest Briton in history and one of the world's eminent leaders. Born into a dazzling political family, Churchill was awkward and eccentric as a young man but flourished in the army, where he served in the North West Frontier, Sudan and during the Second Boer War as a successful war correspondent. As a politician he was brash and petulant, but succeeded in holding most of the major offices of state, acting as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for War.On the resignation of Neville Chamberlain in 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister and led Britain through one of its darkest moments. Charismatic and adventurous, egotistical, visionary and unconventional, Churchill was an enigma, his life one of paradox. A child of his time, the years of his life spanned two world wars and the rise and fall of the Victorian British Empire. His death marked the end of a British era which gave way to the American century. In this, the definitive biography, Norman Rose brilliantly illuminates the man behind the myth, producing a fresh, balanced and incisive portrait of an extraordinary life and of the legacy that remains undimmed to this day. |
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This is an account of Soviet documentary output during the years between the Great October Socialist Revolution and the Great Patriotic War. Graeme Roberts re-views the examples of Soviet, and world, non-fiction cinema, like The Man With the Movie Camera and The Fall of the Romanovs, and uncovers many intriguing films. He discusses the careers of the men and women who made them, including Vertov, Shub, Medvedkin and Karmen, and investigates the problems of analysis and context, offering insights into that context. The text demonstrates how, through looking as the history of Soviet non-fiction film, it becomes possible to gain insight into the agencies that shaped Soviet culture and history under Stalinist regime into and beyond the 1930s. |
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