They don't make comedy like they used to . . .From the slapstick comedy of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, the surrealism of Spike Milligan and Monty Python, and the golden age of political incorrectness helmed by Benny Hill, to the alternative scene that burst forth following the punk movement, the hedonistic joy of Absolutely Fabulous, the lacerating scorn of Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, and Jo Brand and the meteoric rise of socially conscious stand up today: com...

West Germany following the Second World War was a country in shock: estranged from its recent history, and adrift from the rest of Europe. But this disorientating landscape proved fertile ground for a generation of musicians who, from the 1960s onwards, would develop the experimental and various sounds that became known as Krautrock.Eschewing the Anglo-American jazz/blues tradition, they took their inspiration from elsewhere: the mysticism of the East; the fractured classicism of St...

Electronic music is now ubiquitous, from mainstream pop hits to the furthest reaches of the avant garde. But how did we get here? In Mars by 1980, David Stubbs charts the evolution of synthesised tones, from the earliest mechanical experiments in the late nineteenth century, through the musique concrete of the Futurists and radical composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and Karl Stockhausen, to the gradual absorption of electronic instrumentation into the mainstream, be it through the...

1996 And The End of History examines the year as it panned out in the UK not just in politics but in music, light entertainment and sport. It was the zenith of a decade which will go down as remarkably untroubled bymodern standards; following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, prior to 9/11, in which political conditions of peace and apparent economic prosperity created an overall mood of frivolity, postmodern anti-seriousness and a desire to get back to sunnier times before the grim onset o...

In the summer of 2011, a mysterious gentleman sidled up to the reception of a London publishing house, deposited a memory stick on the desk then melted away. The stick was a revelation; it contained hundreds of letters, all seemingly written by Prince Charles.Dating back to his boyhood and addressed to a far wider range of recipients than hitherto suspected – including the Pope, Celine Dion and a recurring correspondence with former deputy prime minister John Prescott – the Prince ...

Explore how the roots of the ancient Christian tradition inform and shape faithfulness todayThe Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible enlists leading theologians to read and interpret scripture creedally for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places.A rich resource for preachers, teachers, students, and study groups, the BTC provides guidance for reading the Bible u...

In most modern discussions of the Eucharist, the Jewish temple and its services of worship do not play a large role. They are often mentioned in passing, but little work is done in grounding, organizing, or explicating the connections between these things and the Eucharistic celebration.In Table and Temple, David Stubbs sheds light on the reasons for this neglect and shows the important role the temple and its worship played in the imagination of Jesus and his disciples ab...

Rethinking Community Sanctions: Social Justice and Penal Control redresses the invisibility of community sanctions in a popular imaginary dominated by the prison, resulting in their being seen as ‘not prison’, ‘not punishment’, a ‘let off’, or expression of mercy.Based on insights from interviews with key participants in 3 Australian jurisdictions, case studies of selected programmes and policies, and the international literature, the authors focus on the effects of commun...

Together in one volume, THE ELDER ICE and BROKEN MEATS, the first two books of The Harry Stubbs AdventuresTHE ELDER ICEA classic 1920s science fiction novella — with a 2015 twist. Ex-boxer Harry Stubbs is on the trail of a mysterious legacy in South London. A polar explorer has died, leaving huge debts and hints of a priceless find. Harry's informants seem to be talking in riddles, he finds that isn't the only one on the trail — and what he's looking for is as lethal as it ...

Justice reinvestment was introduced as a response to mass incarceration and racial disparity in the United States in 2003. This book examines justice reinvestment from its origins, its potential as a mechanism for winding back imprisonment rates, and its portability to Australia, the United Kingdom and beyond. The authors analyze the principles and processes of justice reinvestment, including the early neighborhood focus on 'million dollar blocks'. They further scrutinize the claims of evi...

The Chronicle: BOOK ONE (January to March)This is history at its best and most entertaining! One moment Liselotte, the Duchess of Orleans (1678) is observing the Prince of Orange consummating his marriage in thick woollen drawers… and the next, Harold Nicolson (1936) is at the Savoy Grill dining with the Prince of Wales and Mrs Simpson who is, "bejewelled, eyebrow-plucked, virtuous and wise". There's the young medical student watching his ...

London, 1928: To the outside world, the Norwood Widows Society is a benevolent self-help group giving aid to the needy. Its secrecy and whispers of occult leanings hint at something darker. Harry Stubbs, heavyweight boxer turned paranormal investigator, is on the case.There is an unexplained death to examine, a German doctor carrying out very unorthodox procedures, mysterious radio messages, and a puzzling story left by a sixteenth-century alchemist. The members of the Society’s Co...