Essays on literature, culture, philosophy and current affairs

Understanding Anti-Americanism, Its Origin and Impact

Understanding Anti AmericanismEdited by Paul Hollander
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Paul Hollander is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA and author of the classic Anti-Americanism as well as Political Will and Personal Belief, Decline and Discontent, The Many Faces of Socialism and Political Pilgrims.

"America is hardly perfect, but what accounts for the gush of virulent criticism, known as anti-Americanism, emanating from America's friends or America itself as well as its enemies? Paul Hollander leads a distinguished team of scholars in an examination, both vigorous and detached, from all aspects of the problem. A serious, comprehensive book, relevant for today."
Harvey Mansfield, Professor of Government, Harvard University

"A fascinating collection of essays on a complex but important topic by some of America's foremost scholars and thinkers."
Robert Kagan, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

"What the 18 assembled authors conclude is both fascinating and depressing. Hollander has performed a great service with this volume."
National Review

Title Price ISBN Availability
Understanding Anti-Americanism £10.99 0-9549625-7-5 September 2005

Shakespeare: The Director's Cut volume 2 - The Histories

Shakespears : The Directors Cut vol2By Michael Bogdanov.
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Michael Bogdanov, the internationally renowned Shakespearian Director turns his attention to Shakespeare's histories, drawing comparisons with current political intrigues, infighting and lust for power. An introduction by the author and essays on Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3 and Richard III, revealing why Shakespeare's take on politics and power is still relevant today.

"In Act Two of The Director's Cut, Michael Bogdanov puts the Bardathon behind him and cuts to the chase by placing Shakespeare's history plays at the heart of the here-and-now, both as theatrical productions and as political interventions, profoundly pertinent to our present predicament. This is the four hundred year hurdle, and Bogdanov is going for gold. The sequel surpasses the original. The second cut is the deepest. Claiming Shakespeare as "our contemporary" can be a means of domesticating drama, denying history, and cultivating the amnesia of empire, by conveniently closing down the distance between the first Elizabethan reign and the second. No such complacency or complicity characterises Bogdanov's hardy enterprise. His purpose in regarding Henry and looking for Richard is to shake us out of our torpor. If September the 11th was a wake-up call for Tony Blair then he must have slept through Shakespeare. The stage direction for this book should read: Alarum. Enter Bogdanov."
Willy Maley, Professor of Renaissance Studies, Glasgow University

Title Price ISBN Availability
Shakespeare:
The Director's Cut Vol 2
HB: £16.99 0-9545206-8-8 October 2005
PB: £10.99 0-9549625-9-1 October 2005

Leibniz Variations - The End of Materialism

Leibniz VariationsBy Lafcadio Weluiski
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A lively philosophical essay on the advances in physics, maths and biology and how some of the enduring conundrums and enigmas can be unravelled by a more Leibnizian view of the universe.

 

Title Price ISBN Availability
Leibniz Variations -
The End of Materialism
HB: £12.99 0-9549625-6-7 October 2005
PB: £9.99 0-9549625-8-3 October 2005

Shakespeare: The Director's Cut

Shakespeare: The Directors CutBy Michael Bogdanov
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World renowned Shakespearian Director Michael Bogdanov's provocative and witty essays on Shakespeare's plays. Volume I covers Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice and The Winter's Tale.

"For 30 years Michael Bogdanov has been the most consistently interesting and provocative of British directors of Shakespeare. Now he has written a series of incisive essays on the plays--not comments on his many productions, but introductions to the works that show the result of his long acquaintance with them. The essays, based in social thought and theatrical savvy, make Shakespeare accessible and immediate and will be of interest to a wide range of readers."
Dennis Kennedy, Beckett Professor of Drama, Trinity College Dublin, author of Looking at Shakespeare, Foreign Shakespeare, and editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance

"Michael Bogdanov is the Tyrone Guthrie of our day, and his signature is all over the work of many younger directors. He is at once scholar, provocateur, puritan and Lord of Misrule."
Michael Pennington

"This collection of cutting-edge essays is a valuable addition to Shakespeare studies, and to theatre studies more generally. Michael Bogdanov's cuts are always incisive, razor-sharp, and applied with an unerring hand. Never dogmatic or programmatic, Bogdanov approaches each play attentive to its novelty and its nuances, alive to its urgency and impact, attuned to its language and its lore. As a director acutely aware of critical conventions - enough to want to overturn them - Bogdanov is uniquely positioned to combine theoretical acuity with a practitioner's knowledge of what works on the page and in performance, while never losing sight of what is most politically resonant and socially engaged. The meat is moist closest to the bone, and these are choice cuts from a master butcher."
Willy Maley, Professor of Renaissance Studies, University of Glasgow

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Michael Bogdanov videoDownload a video of Michael Bogdanov at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2004

Quicktime file, length approx 4 mins, file size 5.3mb

 

Title Price ISBN Availability
Shakespeare: The Director's Cut £8.99 0-9545206-0-2 December 2003