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BOOK LAUNCH (June 10, 6:30 PM): Join Derek Sayer, Michael Beckerman, Jindřich Toman, and Peter Zusi for a discussion on Prague – the dark capital of the twentieth century

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Derek Sayer‘s book Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century: A Surrealist History, will be released June 10, 2013 at 6:30 PM in The Masaryk Room at University College London. Dialogue with Sayer, Michael Beckerman (New York University), Jindrich Toman (University of Michigan Ann-Arbor), and Peter Zusi (University College London) celebrates the release of the book. Conversation will center around topics that stem from the controversial history of the Czech Republic’s capital and largest city.

Sayer has received praise for his analysis of Prague’s history, bringing to life not only the art and design of the city, but also a vivid account of Prague’s entire cultural background:

“This is a fascinating and brilliantly written narrative that combines elements of literary guide, biography, cultural history, and essay. Writing with warm engagement, and drawing on his detailed knowledge of Czech literature, art, architecture, music, and other fields, Derek Sayer provides a rich picture of a dynamic cultural landscape.“–Jindrich Toman, University of Michigan

“[A] captivating portrait of 20th-century Prague. . . . The breadth of Sayer’s knowledge is encyclopedic, and those willing to stay the course will be rewarded.“–Publishers Weekly

“Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century is an erudite, comprehensive, well-illustrated and witty account of Czech art, design, architecture, literature and music in an era–stretching roughly from Czechoslovakia’s creation in 1918 to the end of the second world war–when few in Paris, Berlin, London or even New York would have thought of the Czechs as not being part of western civilisation. . . . [I]n this book [Sayer] has succeeded in bringing back to life a golden avant-garde era that not long ago was in danger of being written out of history altogether.“–Tony Barber, Financial Times

EVENT INFO:
Book launch and conversation: Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century?

Setting out to recover the dreamworlds of modernity in the boulevards, interiors, and arcades of the “city of light,” Walter Benjamin dubbed Paris “the capital of the nineteenth century.” With Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century: A Surrealist History (Princeton University Press) Derek Sayer christens a new global capital for a darker century. Michael Beckerman, Jindřich Toman, and Peter Zusi join him in conversation to celebrate the publication of the book.

A Conversation

Michael Beckerman (New York University)
Jindrich Toman (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)
Derek Sayer (Lancaster University)
Peter Zusi (University College London)

All welcome – this event is free, no registration needed.
More info: p.zusi@ucl.ac.uk

Venue:

The Masaryk Room, 4th Floor, The School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 16 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW

Date:

10 Jun 2013 18:30

Organizer:

Czech Center is a co-organizer of the event.

For more information on this event, please visit the following page:
http://london.czechcentres.cz/programme/travel-events/derek-sayer-book-launch/

Filed Under: Art and Architecture, Comparative History, European History, Events, Twitter, World History

Ayesha Jalal author of ‘The Pity of Partition’ Speaks at Lahore Literary Festival

March 25, 2013 by


Ayesha Jalal discusses the influential literary figure Saadat Hasan Manto and her upcoming book about him at the Lahore Literary Festival. Her book, The Pity of Partition: Manto’s Life, Times, and Work across the India-Pakistan Divide, presents an in-depth history of Manto and is available soon.

 

Filed Under: Comparative History, Literature, Twitter

The Great Rebalancing Review in The Wall Street Journal

February 28, 2013 by

The Wall Street Journal published a book review of The Great Rebalancing: Trade, Conflict, and the Perilous Road Ahead for the World Economy by Michael Pettis. The reviewer calls Pettis a “brilliant economic thinker” and gives a good background of the financial situation in China and why it needs to be rebalanced. If you are not quite sure what the book is about or what exactly is going on with the Chinese economy and why it is important at all, this book review is a great place to start.

A Banking Paper Tiger

China Development Bank underwrote a massive stadium in Loudi, Hunan Province—a city that lacks a professional sports team.

China’s econoPettis_GreatRebalancing_S13my sometimes seems the work of miracles: three decades of economic growth, with GDP compounding at an annual rate of around 10%; the world’s highest levels of savings and investment; vast trade surpluses, which feed the largest foreign-exchange reserves in history. The financial system has played a key role in delivering these economic feats, and no single institution within it has been more important than China Development Bank. “Understand CDB,” Henry Sanderson and Michael Forsythe write in “China’s Superbank,” “and you understand the core of China’s state capitalism.”

This so-called policy bank, founded less than two decades ago, boasts a larger loan book than J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM +3.41% . Over the past 15 years, CDB has lent trillions of dollars to finance China’s urbanization policy. More recently, it has dished out vast sums across the globe to secure China’s long-term energy supplies. Hugo Chávez, whose country has been the largest single foreign recipient of CDB’s loans, proclaims his financial benefactor as the bank “with the most money in the world.”

Read the FULL review at The Wall Street Journal online.

Filed Under: Comparative History, Economics, Finance, World History

The Inner Life of Empires Comprehensive Web Resource Now Available

February 20, 2013 by

Inner Life of EmpiresEmma Rothschild, author of The Inner Life of Empires:An Eighteenth-Century History, has created a website featuring resources and additional information that complement her 2011 book. The Inner Life of Empires, which is newly available in paperback, features a unique look at the political, economical, and social landscape of the 18th century world through the Johnstone family’s rich history. The family’s widespread reach across the globe and relationships to the people and institutions that structured the time period create a comprehensive look at both the microcosm that is their family history and the macrocosm of the history of the 18th century. The website delves further into the content covered in Rothschild’s book by including interactive maps of the Johnstone family’s social and geographical networks, profiles of members of the Johnstone family, and some of the resources that Rothschild used while writing the book.

Used in conjunction with The Inner Life of Empires, the website serves as a helpful guide to illustrate a tremendous time in history all through the lives of the people who lived through it.

Visit the website: http://www.innerlifeofempires.org/

The Inner Life of Empires is the winner of the 2011 Scottish History Book of the Year Award, Saltire Society, one of The New Yorker‘s “Reviewer’s Favorites” of 2011, and was shortlisted for the 2012 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards (Non-Fiction category). It has been hailed by critics and consumers alike for its unique perspective on a pivotal time period in history.

Filed Under: Comparative History, European History, World History

Daniel Stedman Jones on Masters of the Universe

January 18, 2013 by

Stedman-Jones-at-LSE-3[3]Princeton author Daniel Stedman Jones had a busy day on 16th January promoting his recently published ‘Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics’. In the afternoon he appeared on BBC Radio 4′s ‘Thinking Allowed’ and that evening he was the lead speaker at a public lecture based around the book at the London School of Economics where his respondents were Professor Lord Skidelsky and Professor Mark Pennington. Please follow the links to catch up with both events.

Filed Under: American History, Comparative History, Economic History, Economics, European History, Events, History, International Studies, Political Science, Political Theory, Twitter

Princeton University Press books in Standpoint Magazine (U.K.)

September 27, 2012 by

The current issue of Standpoint Magazine (U.K) has two wonderful interviews of Princeton University Press books:

“[Through the Eye of a Needle] should be daunting but it is not; for while the book is heavy to lift, it is even harder to put down. It makes utterly compelling reading.”–Eric Ormsby, Standpoint

bookjacket

Through the Eye of a Needle:
Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD
Peter Brown

“Stedman Jones…describes the scene with remarkable accuracy, including its financial underpinning and its ties with conservatism.”–Karen Horn, Standpoint

 

bookjacket

Masters of the Universe:
Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics
Daniel Stedman Jones
Filed Under: Comparative History, Economics, International Relations, Political Science, Twitter, World History