Even before its budget crisis and recall election, California held a unique position in the United States. Often lauded as having the fifth largest economy in the world, California leads the nation in other measures as well, particularly cultural and political trends. But were it an independent state, it would have one of the world's most unusual democracies. In The California Republic Brian P. Janiskee and Ken Masugi bring together a diverse group of contributors to shed light on the Prog...

This enlightening edited collection shows how migration shapes the lives of faith communities - and vice versa - through diverse prisms including diaspora, generational change, cultural conflict, conceptions of 'ministry' and artistic response. The contributors comprise writers, poets and artists from the three largest Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and beyond. They show how issues of migration are addressed through a variety of different media such as theological debate a...

A Spectator Best Book of the Year; An Aspects of History Best Book of the Year; An Engelsberg Ideas Best Book of the YearFive hundred years ago, Thomas Wolsey endowed in Oxford a foundation he called Cardinal‘s College. Henry VIII, the monarch who dismissed and ruined him, re-established it as Christ Church later in his reign as an institution rich, spacious and imposing beyond any other. It would help young men of Tudor England and beyond...

'The twenty-first century’s counterpart to Hobbes’s Leviathan.’ EMMANUELE COCCIAWhat has happened to the nation-state? From a prizewinning writer, After Nations offers a sweeping history of this most unquestioned of modern structures and a bold speculation about its future.Until recently, the system of nation-states appeared settled and eternal. Not anymore. As American hegemony unwinds and Western countries slide into anx...

Asa Briggs’s energy fuelled him to write more than fifty books, including five formidable volumes on the history of broadcasting. At the zenith of his fame he was one of the best-known historians of his generation, his name on a cover a guarantee of substantial sales.From humble beginnings in the back streets of Keighley, he rose to become a peer of the realm, one of the Great and the Good. He was Vice-Chancellor of Sussex, the most fashionable of the new universit...

‘A gripping new collection from Max Hastings that puts you at the heart of the battle … Compelling’ Daily Mail ‘An unmissable read’ Sunday TimesSoldiers is a very personal gathering of sparkling, gripping tales by many writers, about men and women who have borne arms, reflecting bestselling historian Max Hastings’s lifetime of studying war. It rings the changes through the centuries, between the heroic, tragic and comic; the famous and the humble. The nea...

‘James Crowden is Britain’s best cider writer … Cider Country is the book we’ve all been waiting for.’ Oz ClarkeJoin James Crowden as he embarks on a journey to distil the ancient origins of cider, uncovering a rich culture and philosophy that has united farmer, maker and drinker for millennia.LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 ANDRE SIMON FOOD AND DRINK AWARDCidermaking has been at the heart of country life for hundreds of years. But...

BBC Radio dramatisations and readings of the great Welsh writer's worksA novelist, playwright, broadcaster and raconteur, Gwyn Thomas was celebrated as one of Wales’s finest writers in the English language. He wrote countless novels, short stories and plays for stage, radio, and television, and he frequently contributed to Punch magazine. This BBC collection features a selection of his finest works, showcasing his engaging storytelling, dark humour and abi...