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Philosophers (People You Need To Know #1)
by Susanna WrightThink outside of the box with 20 of the world's brilliant thinkers. Discover the lives of ten female and ten male philosophers from throughout history and from around the world. Philosophers is a perfect introduction to philosophy and some of the most dramatic and world-changing lives that challenged the thinking around reason, race, gender, politics, difference and diversity. Which philosopher felt that thinking proved he existed? Which philosopher wants us to abolish all governments? Who set the groundwork for the feminist movement? Who should we blame for anxiety? Meet Gargi Vachaknavi in India, the Greeks, such as Socrates and Aristotle, then Descartes, Kant, Wollstonecraft, Nietzsche, Arendt, de Beauvoir, Fanon and Piper - just to name a few! Beautiful and characterful portraits help bring to life these important thinkers and their contributions to our world. Clear, concise text presents key philosophical concepts alongside the stand-out biographical information from fascinating thinkers.
Philosophers Behaving Badly
by Mel Thompson Nigel RodgersAn engaging and often hilarious survey of the far-from-fusty extra-curricular activities of some of philosophy's finest practitioners Philosophers Behaving Badly examines the lives of eight great philosophers--Rousseau, whose views on education and the social order seem curiously at odds with his own outrageous life; Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, two giants of the 19th century whose words seem ever more relevant today; and five immensely influential philosophers of the 20th century, Russell, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Sartre, and Foucault.
Philosophers Who Changed History (DK History Changers)
by DKThis visual celebration of the world's most celebrated thinkers tells the fascinating stories of their lives and pioneering ideas.This book would be great if you are interested in philosophy, politics, history, and literature or would like to broaden your understanding of philosophy. Philosophers Who Changed History places well-known philosophers in their historical and cultural context, allowing you to see how they came to influence philosophy. In this edition, you can find: -An overview of the lives and works of around 80 of the world's most influential philosophers - from the Classical era to the present-Eight pages of brand-new content with 12 new entries, including Frederick Douglass and Luce Irigaray-Lavishly illustrated portraits of each philosopher, alongside photographs of their homes, studies, and personal artefactsEach philosopher is introduced with a realistic portrait and biographical entries which trace the friendships, loves, and rivalries that inspired and influenced them. Entries explore the key ideas and working methods of each individual and set their ideas in context, conveying a powerful sense of the place and the period of history in which they lived. Philosophers Who Changed History provides revealing insights into what drove each individual to develop new ways of understanding the world.
Philosophers: Their Lives and Works (DK History Changers)
by DKFrom Confucius and Plato to Karl Marx and Noam Chomsky, this book brings together more than 100 illustrated biographies of the world's great philosophers.Introduced with a stunning portrait of each featured philosopher, the biographies trace the ideas, friendships, loves, and rivalries that inspired the great thinkers and influenced their work, providing revealing insights into what drove them to question the meaning of life and come up with new ways of understanding the world and the history of ideas.Lavishly illustrated with photographs and paintings of philosophers, their homes, friends, studies, and their personal belongings, together with pages from original manuscripts, first editions, and correspondence, this book introduces the key ideas, themes, and working methods of each featured individual, setting their ideas within a wider historical and cultural context. Charting the development of ideas across the centuries in both the East and West, from ancient Chinese philosophy to the work of contemporary thinkers, Philosophers provides a compelling glimpse into the personal lives, loves, and influences of the great philosophers as they probed into life's big ideas.
Philosophical Explorations of the Legacy of Alan Turing: Turing 100 (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science #324)
by Alisa Bokulich Juliet FloydThis volume presents an historical and philosophical revisiting of the foundational character of Turing's conceptual contributions and assesses the impact of the work of Alan Turing on the history and philosophy of science. Written by experts from a variety of disciplines, the book draws out the continuing significance of Turing's work. The centennial of Turing's birth in 2012 led to the highly celebrated "Alan Turing Year", which stimulated a world-wide cooperative, interdisciplinary revisiting of his life and work. Turing is widely regarded as one of the most important scientists of the twentieth century: He is the father of artificial intelligence, resolver of Hilbert's famous Entscheidungsproblem, and a code breaker who helped solve the Enigma code. His work revolutionized the very architecture of science by way of the results he obtained in logic, probability and recursion theory, morphogenesis, the foundations of cognitive psychology, mathematics, and cryptography. Many of Turing's breakthroughs were stimulated by his deep reflections on fundamental philosophical issues. Hence it is fitting that there be a volume dedicated to the philosophical impact of his work. One important strand of Turing's work is his analysis of the concept of computability, which has unquestionably come to play a central conceptual role in nearly every branch of knowledge and engineering.
Philosophical Temperaments: From Plato to Foucault (Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture)
by Peter SloterdijkPeter Sloterdijk turns his keen eye to the history of western thought, conducting colorful readings of the lives and ideas of the world's most influential intellectuals. Featuring nineteen vignettes rich in personal characterizations and theoretical analysis, Sloterdijk's companionable volume casts the development of philosophical thinking not as a buildup of compelling books and arguments but as a lifelong, intimate struggle with intellectual and spiritual movements, filled with as many pitfalls and derailments as transcendent breakthroughs.Sloterdijk delves into the work and times of Aristotle, Augustine, Bruno, Descartes, Foucault, Fichte, Hegel, Husserl, Kant, Kierkegaard, Leibniz, Marx, Nietzsche, Pascal, Plato, Sartre, Schelling, Schopenhauer, and Wittgenstein. He provocatively juxtaposes Plato against shamanism and Marx against Gnosticism, revealing both the vital external influences shaping these intellectuals' thought and the excitement and wonder generated by the application of their thinking in the real world. The philosophical "temperament" as conceived by Sloterdijk represents the uniquely creative encounter between the mind and a diverse array of cultures. It marks these philosophers' singular achievements and the special dynamic at play in philosophy as a whole. Creston Davis's introduction details Sloterdijk's own temperament, surveying the celebrated thinker's intellectual context, rhetorical style, and philosophical persona.
Philosophy as Stranger Wisdom: A Leo Strauss Intellectual Biography (SUNY series in the Thought and Legacy of Leo Strauss)
by Carlo AltiniWhat is philosophy and who is the philosopher? What should be the relationship between the philosopher and the city? And what should be the attitude that the philosopher must have with respect to tradition, religion and politics? These questions, which have spanned the entire history of Western philosophical thought, from ancient Greece onwards, found original answers in one of the greatest figures of twentieth-century culture, Leo Strauss. Philosophy as Stranger Wisdom, thanks to a scrupulous study of his entire bibliography, represents the first truly comprehensive and complete intellectual biography of Strauss. The reader will find in these pages a Strauss who is not an American neoconservative theorist nor an orthodox Jew, but rather an original reader and interpreter of classical authors: from Thucydides and Plato to Machiavelli and Hobbes. Carlo Altini presents us with a philosopher who escapes any attempt at classification, who lived constantly in exile between theory and practice, philosophy and politics, immanence and transcendence, and who considered philosophy the most important critical exercise of human reason, always "out of date" and always "out of place."
Philosophy for Everyman
by Dagobert D. RunesPhilosopher Dagobert D. Runes introduces readers to the philosophical movements throughout the ages--traveling back to the time of the ancient Greeks all the way up to the twentieth-century with philosophies such as Existentialism--in this groundbreaking guide, Philosophy for Everyman from Socrates to Sartre. Readers will appreciate Runes's careful breakdown of concepts and his historical approach to philosophy. His engaging prose, written for the general reader, makes philosophy enjoyable and accessible. Dagobert D. Runes was a philosopher and author. He was the founding publisher of The Philosophical Library, where he worked to bring philosophical texts to a general audience. Runes was a colleague and friend of Albert Einstein and many other influential philosophers and scientists. Runes is responsible for publishing an English translation of Marx's On the Jewish Question, which he published under the title A World without Jews, and for editing The Dictionary of Philosophy, published in 1942.
Phineas Finn: The Irish Member, Volume 3 (The Palliser Novels #2)
by Anthony TrollopeAn adventurous Irishman sets out to find his fortune among proper English society in this classic novel from Anthony Trollope. Sent to London to become a lawyer, young Phineas Finn proves himself to be a disappointing student but truly gifted in the ways of charm, culture, and fine appearance. It is the discovery of these talents that ultimately leads him to what he believes is his true calling: English Parliament. Through sheer luck and pluck, dashing, innocent Phineas is able to win a seat on the bench, but the real journey begins as he tours the labyrinthine halls of those who hold sway over their fellow men—and the practical and romantic quandaries he must navigate if he is to advance himself. Finding both victory and defeat, love and loneliness, the path Phineas strides is one of confidence and humanity as he seeks to fulfill his wants and desires while holding true to his convictions both in his own life and in the ever-changing arena of political expediency. In Phineas Finn, Anthony Trollope invites readers to follow an irrepressible, good-minded protagonist in a comical, exciting, heartbreaking tale that resonates as much today as it did upon its first publication. Phineas Finn is the 2nd book in the Palliser Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
by John FleischmanPhineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science.At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident. He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed. Gage "was no longer Gage," said his Vermont doctor, meaning that the old Phineas was dependable and well liked, and the new Phineas was crude and unpredictable.His case astonished doctors in his day and still fascinates doctors today. What happened and what didn&’t happen inside the brain of Phineas Gage will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human.
Phish: The Biography
by Parke PuterbaughDrawing upon nearly fifteen years of exclusive interviews with the members of Phish, veteran music journalist Parke Puterbaugh examines the colorful chemistry that inspired the wildly popular rock group to push their four-man experiment to the limit. An intimate and fascinating portrait,Phish: The Biographyis the definitive story of these Vermont jam-band legends.
Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens
by Valerie Lester'Phiz' - Hablot Knight Browne - was the great illustrator of Dickens' fiction. For over twenty-three years they worked together, and Phiz's drawings brought to life a galaxy of much-loved characters, from Mr Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby and Mr Micawber, to Little Nell and David Copperfield. But, from the mystery of his birth onwards, Phiz himself led a life as rich as any novel. In this vivid, lively memoir - the first full biography, long-awaited by Victorian scholars - his great-great-granddaughter Valerie Browne Lester tracks the struggles of the abandoned Browne family and follows Phiz's path to marriage and fame, his travels around England and Ireland and work with Dickens, Lever, Trollope and others, and his colourful private life. Based on a mass of unpublished material, this enchanting book, packed with surprising and delicious illustrations, is a perfect present for all who love Dickens and enjoy the hidden byways of Victorian life.
Phocion: Good Citizen in a Divided Democracy (Ancient Lives)
by Thomas R. MartinThomas R. Martin recounts the unmatched political and military career of Phocion of Athens, and his tragic downfall Phocion (402–318 BCE) won Athens&’s highest public office by direct democratic election an unmatched forty-five times and was officially honored as a &“Useful Citizen.&” A student at Plato&’s Academy, Phocion gained influence and power during a time when Athens faced multiple crises stemming from Macedonia&’s emergence as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Following Athens&’s defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought mild terms of surrender. Oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and more than twelve thousand &“undesirable&” Athenians were exiled. When the oligarchic regime was overthrown and the exiles returned, dispossessed Athenians took out their volcanic anger on Phocion, who throughout his career had often been a harsh critic of the citizens&’ political decisions. His inflammatory rhetoric contributed to the popular conclusion that he lacked a genuine sense of belonging to the community he wished so desperately to preserve. When he was eighty-four, the Athenians convicted him of treason and condemned him to die by hemlock. In this fresh biography, Thomas R. Martin explores how and why Phocion ultimately failed as a citizen and as a leader. His story offers unsetting lessons for citizens in democracies today.
Phoebe Apperson Hearst: A Life of Power and Politics
by Alexandra M. NicklissIn Phoebe Apperson Hearst: A Life in Power and Politics Alexandra M. Nickliss offers the first biography of one of the Gilded Age’s most prominent and powerful women. A financial manager, businesswoman, and reformer, Phoebe Apperson Hearst was one of the wealthiest and most influential women of the era and a philanthropist, almost without rival, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hearst was born into a humble middle-class family in rural Missouri in 1842, yet she died a powerful member of society’s urban elite in 1919. Most people know her as the mother of William Randolph Hearst, the famed newspaper mogul, and as the wife of George Hearst, a mining tycoon and U.S. senator. By age forty-eight, however, Hearst had come to control her husband’s extravagant wealth after his death. She shepherded the fortune of the family estate until her own death, demonstrating her intelligence and skill as a financial manager. Hearst supported a number of significant urban reforms in the Bay Area, across the country, and around the world, giving much of her wealth to organizations supporting children, health reform, women’s rights and well-being, higher education, municipal policy formation, progressive voluntary associations, and urban architecture and design, among other endeavors. She worked to exert her ideas and implement plans regarding the burgeoning Progressive movement and was the first female regent of the University of California, which later became one of the world’s leading research institutions. Hearst held other prominent positions as the first president of the Century Club of San Francisco, first treasurer of the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs, first vice president of the National Congress of Mothers, president of the Columbian Kindergarten Association, and head of the Woman’s Board of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.Phoebe Apperson Hearst tells the story of Hearst’s world and examines the opportunities and challenges that she faced as she navigated local, national, and international corridors of influence, rendering a penetrating portrait of a powerful and often contradictory woman.
Phoenix
by Sharon Stewart Roderick StewartIn Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune Roderick and Sharon Stewart provide the intriguing details of Bethune's controversial career as a surgeon, his turbulent personal life, his passionate crusade to eradicate tuberculosis, and his pioneering commitment to the establishment of medicare in Canada. They also examine the reasoning that led Bethune to embrace Marxism and show the depth of his faith in the triumph of communism over fascism - a commitment that drove him to take risk after risk and ultimately led to his death from an infection caught while performing battlefield surgery in remote northern China. Based on extensive research in Canada, Spain, and China, and in-depth interviews with Bethune's family, friends, colleagues, and patients, Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune is the definitive Bethune biography for our time.
Phoenix 13: Americal Division Artillery Air Section Helicopters in Vietnam
by Darryl James“An informative and colorful memoir about the role that observation helicopters played during the Vietnam War . . . Phoenix 13 delivers.” —The VVA VeteranA collection of war stories closely based on the author’s experiences flying scout/observation helicopters in Vietnam. Storytelling was a daily evening occurrence for the solo scout pilots. These stories, called “TINS,” an irreverent pilot acronym for “this is no shit,” allowed the solo pilots to learn from each other’s experiences and mistakes. The TINS within this collection reveal the brotherhood that developed between pilots and their crew chiefs in combat. The solo pilots relied on their courage, swapping stories and a bit of luck to survive.“A compelling collection of Vietnam helicopter true stories about the aviators in Americal Division’s Artillery Aviation Section in ’68 and ’69. Flying alone, the scout pilots told their exploits to each other daily to learn and to survive from their collective experiences. Hazardous missions are intermixed with occasional humorous details of their off-duty shenanigans. The stories describe the brotherhood that develops between soldiers during combat. From these stories, the author, a decorated former Army aviator, describes his journey through Armor school, flight school and Vietnam.” —General Tommy Franks (Ret), Former Commander in Chief, United States Central Command “A very enjoyable read. Those of us who were there will thoroughly enjoy it, and those who weren’t will learn more about what we did in Vietnam.” —The VHPA Aviator
Phoenix Rising: Stories of Remarkable Women Walking Through Fire
by Kristen Moeller Leslie Alpin WhartonHow do you go on after you&’ve lost everything? True stories of surviving the Colorado wildfires and finding hope for the future. Over several terrifying summers, deadly wildfires raged across Colorado. Lives were lost, and the flames destroyed thousands of homes. When the smoke cleared and only rubble remained, survivors were left trying to find a way forward against devastating loss. The aftermath of that destruction would span many years, and its effects are still felt today. In Phoenix Rising, twenty women share their stories of fire, the terror they felt as flames engulfed their communities, and the dark desperation that followed. And how—in the ensuing weeks and months—they worked to recreate a life from the ashes. Their tales of fear and bravery, of deep compassion and heart-rending grief, offer an uplifting chronicle of human courage and resilience. &“[A] gem of a book . . . When it comes to withstanding and making meaning of the most painful twists of this mysterious life, or enjoying its surprising rewards, nothing compares to the company of other women and their stories.&” —Megan Feldman Bettencourt, author of Triumph of the Heart: Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World
Phoenix in a Bottle: How We Overcame Alcoholism, and are Able to Drink Responsibly Again (Second Edition)
by Lilian Macdonald Murdoch MacdonaldIn this book, the authors tell their story - often harrowing, but also comical - which they believe will be of help not only to sufferers from the disorder which blighted more than half of their expected lifetime, but also to those with bulimia, anorexia and other so-called addictions conventionally treated with the 12-Step Programme, which is believed as all branches of the same tree, with its roots in childhood.
Phoenix: A Father, a Son, and the Rise of Athens
by David StuttardA vivid, novelistic history of the rise of Athens from relative obscurity to the edge of its golden age, told through the lives of Miltiades and Cimon, the father and son whose defiance of Persia vaulted Athens to a leading place in the Greek world. When we think of ancient Greece we think first of Athens: its power, prestige, and revolutionary impact on art, philosophy, and politics. But on the verge of the fifth century BCE, only fifty years before its zenith, Athens was just another Greek city-state in the shadow of Sparta. It would take a catastrophe, the Persian invasions, to push Athens to the fore. In Phoenix, David Stuttard traces Athens’s rise through the lives of two men who spearheaded resistance to Persia: Miltiades, hero of the Battle of Marathon, and his son Cimon, Athens’s dominant leader before Pericles. Miltiades’s career was checkered. An Athenian provincial overlord forced into Persian vassalage, he joined a rebellion against the Persians then fled Great King Darius’s retaliation. Miltiades would later die in prison. But before that, he led Athens to victory over the invading Persians at Marathon. Cimon entered history when the Persians returned; he responded by encouraging a tactical evacuation of Athens as a prelude to decisive victory at sea. Over the next decades, while Greek city-states squabbled, Athens revitalized under Cimon’s inspired leadership. The city vaulted to the head of a powerful empire and the threshold of a golden age. Cimon proved not only an able strategist and administrator but also a peacemaker, whose policies stabilized Athens’s relationship with Sparta. The period preceding Athens’s golden age is rarely described in detail. Stuttard tells the tale with narrative power and historical acumen, recreating vividly the turbulent world of the Eastern Mediterranean in one of its most decisive periods.
Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune
by Sharon Stewart Roderick StewartRestless, dynamic, conflicted, a surgeon, an artist, and a writer, Norman Bethune was an extraordinary Canadian. Brilliant, yet erratic, Bethune's life was characterized by cycles of achievement and self-destruction and his adventurous spirit led him from the operating rooms of Montreal to the battlegrounds of Spain and China. In Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune Roderick and Sharon Stewart provide the intriguing details of Bethune's controversial career as a surgeon, his turbulent personal life, his passionate crusade to eradicate tuberculosis, and his pioneering commitment to the establishment of medicare in Canada. They also examine the reasoning that led Bethune to embrace Marxism and show the depth of his faith in the triumph of communism over fascism - a commitment that drove him to take risk after risk and ultimately led to his death from an infection caught while performing battlefield surgery in remote northern China. Based on extensive research in Canada, Spain, and China, and in-depth interviews with Bethune's family, friends, colleagues, and patients, Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune is the definitive Bethune biography for our time.
Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball
by Scott Morrow Johnson Judy Allen MorrisRemembered in name but underappreciated in legacy, Forrest “Phog” Allen arguably influenced the game of basketball more than anyone else. In the first half of the twentieth century Allen took basketball from a gentlemanly, indoor recreation to the competitive game that would become a worldwide sport. Succeeding James Naismith as the University of Kansas’s basketball coach in 1907, Allen led the Jayhawks for thirty-nine seasons and holds the record for most wins at that school, with 590. He also helped create the NCAA tournament and brought basketball to the Olympics. Allen changed the way the game is played, coached, marketed, and presented. Scott Morrow Johnson reveals Allen as a master recruiter, a transformative coach, and a visionary basketball mind. Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Wilt Chamberlain, and many others benefited from Allen’s knowledge of and passion for the game. But Johnson also delves into Allen’s occasionally tumultuous relationships with Naismith, the NCAA, and University of Kansas administrators.Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball chronicles this complex man’s life, telling for the first time the full story of the man whose name is synonymous with Kansas basketball and with the game itself.
Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark
by Julia Baird&“Both timeless and timely, this is a book of wisdom and wonder&” (Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March), a deeply personal exploration of what can sustain us through our darkest moments.&“What has fascinated and sustained me over these last few years has been the notion that we have the ability to find, nurture, and carry our own inner, living light—a light to ward off the darkness. This is not about burning brightly; it&’s about yielding a more simple phosphorescence—being luminous, having stored light for later use. Staying alive, remaining upright, even when lashed by doubt.&” After surviving a difficult heartbreak and battle with cancer, acclaimed author and columnist Julia Baird began thinking deeply about how we, as people, persevere through the most challenging circumstances. She started to wonder, when we are overwhelmed by illness, loss or pain, or a tragedy outside our control: How can we keep putting one foot in front of the other? Baird went in search of the magic that fuels the light within—our own phosphorescence. In this stunning book, she reflects on the things that lit her way through the darkness, especially the surprising strength found in connecting with nature and not just experiencing awe and wonder about the world around her, but deliberately hunting it, daily. Baird also writes about crossbeams of resilience: nurturing friendships and a quiet faith, pursuing silence, fighting for what she believes in, the importance of feeling small, learning from her mother's example of stoic grace. She also explores how others nurture their inner light, interviewing the founder of the modern forest therapy movement in Tokyo, a jellyfish scientist in Tasmania, and a tattooed priest from Colorado, among others. Weaving together candid and moving memoir with deep research and reflections on nature and the world around her, Baird inspires readers to embrace new habits and to adopt a phosphorescent outlook on life, to illuminate ourselves and our days—even in the darkest times.
Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr.
by Burt BoyarSammy Davis, Jr. will forever be remembered as one of America's finest entertainers. An all–around performer who could sing, dance, and act, Davis broke racial barriers in the entertainment world and became the only non–white member of the Rat Pack. Only now, however, is Davis's talent as a photographer finally being recognized. In this previously unpublished collection of black and white photography, readers will be fascinated by Davis's portrayals of A–list performers, iconic world leaders, and scenes from everyday life. Davis's subjects include dozens of classic celebrities–such as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and James Dean–who are often photographed at their most casual and revealing moments.Accompanying the pictures is an assortment of remembrances by Burt Boyar, a longtime friend and traveling companion of Davis who collaborated with the entertainer on both of his autobiographies. Through a series of memorable anecdotes, Boyar reflects on Davis's many achievements as well as the private moments they shared as friends. Along with Davis's candid shots of ordinary life–from a group of children laughing to a baseball game at the Washington Monument–these stories reveal a side of the performer far removed from his Rat Pack persona.The release of this book will also coincide with the release of Burt Boyar's upcoming documentary, Sammy Speaks, created from his extensive archive of taped conversations with the star.
Photo-Attractions: An Indian Dancer, an American Photographer, and a German Camera
by Ajay SinhaIn Spring 1938, an Indian dancer named Ram Gopal and an American writer-photographer named Carl Van Vechten came together for a photoshoot in New York City. Ram Gopal was a pioneer of classical Indian dance and Van Vechten was reputed as a prominent white patron of the African-American movement called the Harlem Renaissance. Photo-Attractions describes the interpersonal desires and expectations of the two men that took shape when the dancer took pose in exotic costumes in front of Van Vechten’s Leica camera. The spectacular images provide a rare and compelling record of an underrepresented history of transcultural exchanges during the interwar years of early-20th century, made briefly visible through photography. Art historian Ajay Sinha uses these hitherto unpublished photographs and archival research to raise provocative and important questions about photographic technology, colonial histories, race, sexuality and transcultural desires. Challenging the assumption that Gopal was merely objectified by Van Vechten’s Orientalist gaze, he explores the ways in which the Indian dancer co-authored the photos. In Sinha’s reading, Van Vechten’s New York studio becomes a promiscuous contact zone between world cultures, where a “photo-erotic” triangle is formed between the American photographer, Indian dancer, and German camera. A groundbreaking study of global modernity, Photo-Attractions brings scholarship on American photography, literature, race and sexual economies into conversation with work on South Asian visual culture, dance, and gender. In these remarkable historical documents, it locates the pleasure taken in cultural difference that still resonates today.
Photographing Fairies: A Novel
by Steve SzilagyiIn 1920s England, an American photographer is out to capture proof that fairies are real—despite the opposition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the 1920s, a country policeman, Constable Michael Walsmear, pushes his way into the London studio of Charles Castle, the world‑famous American photographer, to show him some pictures. What Castle sees in Walsmear&’s pictures is incredible. When he goes to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for verification of the faerie images found on the negatives, Doyle tries to bribe Castle to destroy the pictures. But Castle will not be bought; he is out to discover the truth. And it is truth he finds in the small village of Burkinwell, a village built upon secrets, strange sexual practices, beautiful gardens, and true human nature.