The issue of death has loomed large in Chinese cities in the modern era. Throughout the Republican period, Shanghai swallowed up lives by the thousands. Exposed bodies strewn around in public spaces were a threat to social order as well as to public health. In a place where every group had its own beliefs and set of death and funeral practices, how did they adapt to a modern, u...(展开全部)

From the Velvet Revolution to the disturbing world of Franz Kafka, from the devastation of the Thirty Years War to the musical elegance of Mozart and Dvorak, Prague is steeped in a wealth of history and culture. "Prague In Black And Gold" is a first class history of this unique city, allowing us to unravel layer upon layer of startlingly symbolic sites and buildings to reveal t...(展开全部)

A colorful account of the transformation of one of Europe's foremost Jewish cities, told through the stories of its geniuses and villains. Italian merchants, Greek freedom fighters, and Turkish seamen; a Russian empress and her favorite soldier-bureaucrats; Jewish tavern keepers, traders, and journalists—these and many others seeking fortune and adventure rubbed shoulders in Od...(展开全部)

Odessa was the Russian Empire's gateway to the Middle East, its greatest commercial seaport and home to one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in all of Europe. Created as a model of enlightenment by Catherine the Great, and developed by colourful adventurers such as Grigory Potemkin, Jose de Ribas and Armand de Richelieu, Odessa became a magnet for the artistic and the amb...(展开全部)

Shanghai's nightlife, from the mid-nineteenth century until the victory of the Communist Party in 1949, was dominated by the world of prostitution. Henriot portrays the Chinese sex trade, from the sophisticated life of the courtesan to the common life of street prostitution. He examines the extent to which these worlds were integral to Chinese social life, commercial trends, an...(展开全部)

Thou shalt kill. A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must m...(展开全部)

Stephen Moss's book is the first to trace the history and development of birdwatching on both sides of the Atlantic, from Gilbert White, the country parson who wroteThe Natural History of Selbornein the 18th century, through the British servicemen who studied black redstarts from their German prisoner-of-war camp, to today's driven "life-listers" and twisters who think nothing ...(展开全部)

One of the most visited places in the world, Rome attracts millions of tourists each year to walk its storied streets and see famous sites like the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Trevi Fountain. Yet this ancient city’s allure is due as much to its rich, unbroken history as to its extraordinary array of landmarks. Countless incarnations and eras merge in the Roman city...(展开全部)

One of the most visited places in the world, Rome attracts millions of tourists each year to walk its storied streets and see famous sites like the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Trevi Fountain. Yet this ancient city’s allure is due as much to its rich, unbroken history as to its extraordinary array of landmarks. Countless incarnations and eras merge in the Roman city...(展开全部)

The first contemporary enthnographic account of urban life in China, Sex, Death, and Hierarchy in a Chinese City studies both public and private life, including such aspects as religious belief, gender images, family life, and sexual attraction.