It is well known to astronomers that every eleven years, the Sun goes through a period called the Solar Maximum, during which sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections become frequent. When this solar energy hits the Earth, it disrupts the Earth’s magnetic fields and can interfere with electronic transmissions, damage satellites and cause power outages.In 2024, the Solar Maximum was the strongest ever recorded, with very large ejections of plasma occurring several times a d...

Geopolitics and Development examines the historical emergence of development as a form of governmentality, from the end of empire to the Cold War and the War on Terror. It illustrates the various ways in which the meanings and relations of development as a discourse, an apparatus and an aspiration, have been geopolitically imagined and enframed.The book traces some of the multiple historical associations between development and diplomacy and seeks to underline the centrali...

Development as a concept is notoriously imprecise, vague and presumptuous. Struggles over the meaning of this fiercely contested term have had profound implications on the destinies of people and places across the globe. Rethinking Development Geographies offers a stimulating and critical introduction to the study of geography and development. In doing so, it sets out to explore the spatiality of development thinking and practices.The book highlights the geopolitical natur...

With a detailed range of approaches, this new collection investigates how cinematic narratives can and have been used to portray different political 'threats' and 'dangers'.Including a range of chapters with a contemporary focus, it studies issues such as:how the geopolitical world has been constructed through filmhow cinema can provide explanatory narratives in periods of cultural and political anxiety, uneasiness and uncertainty.Examining th...

Contemporary fiction is a wide and diverse field, now global in dimension, with an enormous range of novels and writers that continues to grow at a fantastic speed. In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Eaglestone provides a clear and engaging exploration of the major themes, patterns, and debates of contemporary fiction. From genre, form, and experimentalism to the legacies of modernism and postmodernism, the relationship between globalization and terrorism, and the impact of t...

'In this excellent and provocative book, Matthew Ricketson lays bare the challenges of modern storytelling. I have found myself thinking about it every day, long after I put it down.' - William Powers, author of Hamlet's BlackBerry'An essential guide for the true storyteller.' - Chloe Hooper, award-winning author of fiction and non-fictionIt's etched into our neurological pathways; we can't live without it. Telling true stories is one of the things that makes us hu...

'The Documentary Handbook is mandatory reading for those who want a critical understanding of the place of factual formats in today’s exploding television and media industry, as well as expert guidance in complex craft skills in order to fully participate. The practical advice and wisdom here is second to none.' – Tony Steyger, Principal Lecturer, Southampton Solent University, UKThe Documentary Handbook is a critical introductio...

Noam Chomsky has become the acknowledged supreme anti-authoritarian figure of our age. A prolific writer, researcher and critical thinker, he has shaped contemporary linguistics, philosophy and liberal thought like no other. Volumes on Chomsky abound, yet an approachable and up-to-date introduction to the man and his life has until now been lacking, due perhaps to the sometimes dense and technical nature of Chomsky’s writing, and also the sheer volume of his work. Noam Chomsky presents jus...

The widespread use of electronic communication at the dawn of the twenty-first century has created a global context for our interactions, transforming the ways we relate to the world and to one another. This critical introduction reads the fiction of the past decade as a response to our contemporary predicament – one that draws on new cultural and technological developments to challenge established notions of democracy, humanity, and national and global sovereignty. Peter Boxall traces for...

After the FallA common refrain heard since the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001 is that “everything has changed.” After the Fall presents a timely and provocative examination of the impact and implications of 9/11 and the war on terror on American culture and literature. Author Richard Gray – widely regarded as the leading European scholar in American literature – reveals the widespread belief among novelists, dramatists, and...

The identity of European cinema, like the identity of Europe itself, is multiple, complex, and fascinating. Providing both a general survey of contemporary European cinema production, distribution and exhibition and detailed critical analysis of specific films, directors, and national cinemas, this volume offers a stimulating and thought-provoking contribution to current film debate.While the book’s critical essays offer keen insight into the complex identities of European cinema, ...

Postmodernism Literature and Race explores the question of how dramatic shifts in conceptions of race in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been addressed by writers at the cutting edge of equally dramatic transformations of literary form. An opening section engages with the broad question of how the geographical and political positioning of experimental writing informs its contribution to racial discourses, while later segments focus on central critical domains withi...