Category: From Idea to Book

Lanes of Trade and Belonging in London

Though their significance in London society is not much discussed in historical study, German merchants had a major impact on social and commercial life in England from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. Author Margrit Schulte Beerbühl explores this topic in The Forgotten Majority: German Merchants in London, Naturalization, and Global Trade 1660-1815. Following, the author gives a bit more insight into her love of subject and the work to turn this enthusiasm into a book.

 

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What drew you to the study of German merchants in London during this specific time frame (1660-1815)?

 

That period was a black hole in historical research. Academic studies on Germans in London ended with the closure of the Hanseatic Steelyard about 1600 and did not set in again before the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

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Investing in the Environment

As consumers, are we changing the world with our buying power? This question, which has garnered much attention in recent years, is merely the tip of the iceberg of issues discussed in Ethical Consumption: Social Value and Economic Practice, which is now available in paperback. Following, editors James Carrier and Peter Luetchford explain the purpose behind their volume and delve deeper into the mentality behind “ethical consumption.”

 

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This volume arose from our common interest in the ways that ethical consumption is understood, both those seeking to analyse it and by those seeking to pursue it.

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Origins, ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’

A look through history at gender roles in Ottoman cities from Sofia to Istanbul, Women and the City, Women in the City: A Gendered Perspective on Ottoman Urban History will be published later this month. Editor Nazan Maksudyan has a deep-seated interest in the topic, which is connected to her relationship with her grandmother. Below is an excerpt from the book about life in Turkey and the women’s relationship. The text is followed by a photo collection of the editor’s family, namely, her grandmother Maryam Maksudyan.

 

 

While working on putting together this volume, my intent was to have a range of essays that covered a wide array of subjects, and the final product proudly bears witness to this initial hope. Yet, when trying to prepare the introductory section and reflecting on the two keywords in the title of the book, “women” and “city,” I could not help but remember Edward Hopper’s famous painting, Chop Suey from 1929.

 

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Medical Care as a Matter of Life and Faith

During the Holocaust, Jewish physicians were faced with mounting challenges to providing care, but, amazingly, were still able to maintain many of the conventional standards of medical care. Written based on accounts of these physicians and, in some cases, their children, Jewish Medical Resistance in the Holocaust tells the stories of these doctors and their incredible work in a “dark hour of recent history.” Following, editor Michael A. Grodin explains how he happened on the fascinating subject that became the heart of this soon-to-be-released volume.

 

 

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What drew you to the study of medical practices during the Holocaust?

 

I began the project on medicine and the Holocaust over 25 years ago. As a psychiatrist, I specialized in the care of Holocaust survivors and their families and worked with several twin survivors researched on by Dr. Joseph Mengele.

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The Road to Belonging is Paved with Charity

Catherine Trundle’s recently published volume Americans in Tuscany: Charity, Compassion, and Belonging explores the lives of American female migrants to Italy, and follows a collection of women as they navigate Tuscan society in an attempt to integrate. The author discovered that these women have used charitable acts as a road map to guide their quest to belong. Following, the author provides more information about her background and how it led her to share the stories of this migrant group.

 

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What drew you to the study of American female migrants in Italy and their quest for inclusion?

 

I had conducted previous ethnographic work on American migrants to rural New Zealand, and was fascinated with what it meant to be an American abroad – how one’s sense of nationality and citizenship gets transforms through engagements with the stereotypes that others have of the migrant self, and how ‘culture’ gets characterized and sometimes essentialized in the process.

 

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Cinematic Gazing ‘Beyond the Looking Glass’

Ana Salzberg’s newly published monograph, Beyond the Looking Glass: Narcissism and Female Stardom in Studio-Era Hollywood, takes a closer look into the private and public personas of classic Hollywood’s female stars. Following, the authors shares more about her subject and offers a fresh glimpse of the “narcissism” of the female star.

 

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What drew you to the study of the female star in classic cinema? And what inspired you to research and write on this topic?

 

One of the remarkable things about golden-age stars is that you meet them virtually everywhere these days: Turner Classic Movies, DVD box-sets, biographies, bio-pics – not to mention their digitally animated counterparts in commercials. On a very immediate level that we all – not just researchers – experience, old Hollywood has new life.

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Giving a Voice: Sharing Work of the Late Willem Assies

Renowned Dutch anthropologist Willem Assies’ lifework was a study of Latin American politics. Up to his unexpected death in 2010, Assies had made strides in bringing awareness to the situations of the downtrodden, those considered “voiceless.” In Dignity for the Voiceless: Willem Assies’s Anthropological Work in Context, editors Ton Salman, Salvador Marti i Puig, and Gemma van der Haar have given the political anthropologist his own voice once again. Following, the editors provide further insight into their recently published volume.

 

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In 2010, Willem Assies, an astute and prolific Latin Americanist and political anthropologist, died unexpectedly, at the age of 55. The book launched today brings together some of his finest writing. Assies would always gave central stage to the collective and multi-layered actor and not the system — but he would constantly do so within the context of restrictions, pressures, conditioning factors and contradictions, to provide the actor with a real setting of operation.

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The Wounds of our Warriors

Just because one cannot see wounds does not mean they are not there. Pamela Moss and Michael J. Prince analyze war-derived psychological trauma in their co-authored volume, Weary Warriors: Power, Knowledge, and the Invisible Wounds of Soldiers. Following, the authors share their personal backgrounds and further insight into their volume.

 

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How were you drawn to the topic of invisible wounds of combatants?

 

Michael J. Prince: In a personal way, my interest in the subject of weary warriors comes from being the son of a Second World War veteran. My father served in the Royal Canadian Air Force overseas as flying officer, wireless operator and air gunner, so I grew up in a family in which these topics were, at times, discussed. In a professional way, my work on developments in welfare states highlighted the significant place of wars, soldiers, and veterans in the struggles around the formation of social programs.

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Connecting Germany and Asia: A History

The relationship between the people of Germany and Asia strengthened in the second half of the twentieth century, resulting in the burgeoning of the academic field of Asian German studies in recent years. Beyond Alterity: German Encounters with Modern East Asia is a collection of this scholarship. Following, editors Qinna Shen and Martin Rosenstock discuss their love of subject, the collection and how the field will grow in the future.

 

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What drew you to study the relationship between Germany and Asia? What inspired your love of your subject? When?

 

Qinna Shen: I’m a Chinese Germanist. I started to learn German in Beijing, then attended Heidelberg University before coming to the States for my doctoral degree.

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Photographed History: Exposing the Holocaust

 

 

 

In an earlier post (which can be read here), author Tomas Sniegon shared the events that led him to study the Holocaust in a post-World War II context, a course of study which has led to a publication of Vanished History: The Holocaust in Czech and Slovak Historical Culture. Following is a selection of his photographs from his travels during his study to illuminate this hidden Holocaust history. 

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