Bodley Head Medieval Horizons. Why the Middle Ages Matter Mortimer Ian

Inflammation is the body's response to injury and foreign microbes. But as our environments and diets have changed, low-level inflammation, simmering quietly and undetected, has been identified behind everything from heart disease and cancer to mysterious autoimmune conditions • Shilpa Ravella is a doctor at the forefront of this field, specialising in gut transplants, nutrition and the microbiome. In A Silent Fire she interweaves the latest research with unusual case studies from her own practice to explain what we know about this elusive phenomenon. She debunks common myths about 'anti-inflammatory' lifestyles and explains the simple principles by which we can reform our relationship with food and our microbiomes to benefit our health

A glittering and gruesome history of the body in the Middle Ages, loved by critics and readers alike • Just like us, medieval men and women worried about growing old, got blisters and indigestion, fell in love and had children. And yet their lives were full of miraculous and richly metaphorical experiences radically different to our own, unfolding in a world where deadly wounds might be healed overnight by divine intervention, or the heart of a king, plucked from his corpse, could be held aloft as a powerful symbol of political rule • In this richly-illustrated and unusual history, Jack Hartnell uncovers the fascinating ways in which people thought about, explored and experienced their physical selves in the Middle Ages, from Constantinople to Cairo and Canterbury

As in ‘Britain B.C.’ and ‘Britain A.D.’ (also accompanied by Channel 4 series), eminent archaeologist Francis Pryor challenges familiar historical views of the Middle Ages by examining fresh evidence from the ground • The term 'Middle Ages' suggests a time between two other ages: a period when nothing much happened. In his radical reassessment, Francis Pryor shows that this is very far from the truth, and that the Middle Ages (approximately 800-1550) were actually the time when the modern world was born. This was when Britain moved from Late Antiquity into a world we can recognize as more or less familiar: roads and parishes became fixed; familiar institutions, such as the church and local government, came into being; industry became truly industrial; and international trade was now a routine process

An instant bestseller and one of the most celebrated history books of the year, Femina reveals the power and influence of medieval women who have been written out of our history. From royalty and religion to fame and fury, see the medieval world - and the women erased from it - with fresh eyes

When Kunstwerke und Gerathschaften des Mittelalters und der Renaissance (1852-1863) was published, what purchasers in fact bought was a small printed museum of unusual treasures. With 216 hand-colored copperplate engravings, the three-volume publication gives a comprehensive overview of applied arts in Europe from the 6th to the 16th centuries. The objects presented comprise furniture, metalwork, jewelry, tapestries, and works of bookbinding. Carefully selected masterpieces like the gilt Corvinus goblet, an enamelled saltcellar, and medieval ivory combs are depicted, along with a decorative sword, now lost. Carl Becker was head of the Royal Cabinet of Prints and Drawings in Munich and later director of the Bavarian National Museum. His work helped influence the creation of new museums of art and design - the South Kensington Museum in London (today the Victoria and Albert Museum), founded in 1852, being the very first - in which artists could study the hand-crafted masterpieces of earlier epochs

Прошлое - это чужая страна. Эта книга - ваш путеводитель • Если бы вы могли отправиться в прошлое, период с 1660 по 1700 год стал бы одним из самых захватывающих мест в истории. Это эпоха Сэмюэля Пеписа и Великого Лондонского пожара; непристойной комедии и распутного двора Карла II. Гражданские войны закончились, и началась великолепная новая эра • Но каково было бы на самом деле жить в Британии времен Реставрации? Где бы вы остановились и что бы ели? Сколько бы вам пришлось заплатить за один из этих замысловатых париков? Стоит ли доверять врачу, который советует вам пить свежую коровью мочу, чтобы вылечить вашу подагру? Почему мальчиков заставляют курить в школе? И почему вы вряд ли добьетесь справедливого судебного разбирательства в суде? • "Путеводитель путешественника во времени по Британии времен реставрации

The Face of Battle is military history from the battlefield: an imperishable account of the direct experience of individuals at 'the point of maximum danger' • It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away • In this stunningly vivid reassessment of three battles, John Keegan conveys their reality for the participants, whether facing the arrow cloud of Agincourt, the levelled muskets of Waterloo or the steel rain of the Somme

World-renowned psychologist Paul Bloom presents a captivating scientific account of why a rich and meaningful life is rarely an easy one - and why we should embrace that fact • Why do we seek out painful experiences? From horror movies and roller-coaster rides to mountain-climbing, religious abstinence and - most painful of all - parenthood, humans are drawn irresistibly to activities that they know are going to hurt. Many people have something missing in their lives, and a whole 'happiness' business has grown up in response. In The Sweet Spot, psychologist Paul Bloom takes a different approach • Drawing on studies of the evolutionary value of play and the science of morality, he presents an alternative account of human behaviour in which our desire for meaning is far greater than our desire for happiness, and shows not only that chosen suffering - including pain, fear and sadness - can be a source of pleasure, but that suffering is an essential part of achieving a complete and fulfilling life

A grand unifying theory of human flourishing and inequality from one of the world's pre-eminent thinkers • In a captivating journey from the dawn of human existence to the present and back again, world-renowned thinker Oded Galor offers a captivating solution to the two seminal and interrelated mysteries of human flourishing and inequality. Why are humans the only species on the planet to have escaped - only very recently - the subsistence trap, allowing us to enjoy a standard of living that vastly exceeds all others? And why have we progressed so unequally around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today? • Immense in scope and packed with astounding connections, Galor's gripping narrative explains how biology, technology, population size and natural selection led to a stunning 'phase change' in the human story a mere two hundred years ago

A solution to one of the most profound questions in physics - what is time? - with ground-breaking implications for the origin of the universe • In The Janus Point renowned physicist Julian Barbour presents a major new solution to one of the most profound questions in physics - what is time? - with ground-breaking implications for the origin and destiny of our universe • 'Both a work of literature and a masterpiece of scientific thought' Lee Smolin • Time is perhaps the greatest mystery in physics. Despite the fact that the fundamental laws of physics don't distinguish between past and future, we do. And so, for over a century, the greatest minds have sought to understand why time seems to flow in one direction, ever forward. In The Janus Point, Julian Barbour, author of the classic The End of Time, offers a radically new answer: it doesn't

A critical but fair political biography that tells the story of the life and the equally fascinating one of his legacy. This is Churchill for those who believe that the country has lost its way and who try to understand why - and Churchill and his legacy have a lot to answer for • A critical but fair political biography of Churchill that zooms in on crucial moments in his life and career that help us understand the man in his many contradictions • While in A.J.P. Taylor's words, Churchill was 'the saviour of his country', he was also a deeply flawed character, whose personal ambition would cloud his political judgement - and as a result he was often plain wrong. But the book's central argument goes beyond biography: argues that Churchill has cast a dark shadow over post-war British history and contemporary politics - from the 'Churchillian stance' of Tony Blair taking the country to war in Iraq to the delusion of a special relationship with the United States to the fateful belief in British exceptionalism: that the nation can once again stand alone in Europe

Venice, 1522. Sensitive intelligence arrives from the east confirming the European powers' greatest fear: the vastly rich Ottoman Sultan has amassed all he needs to wage total war - and his sights are set on Rome. With Christendom divided, Suleyman the Magnificent has his hand on their entrails • From the palace cloisters of Istanbul to the blood-soaked fields of central Europe to the sun-scorched coast of north Africa, The Lion House pioneers a bold new style of eye-witness history to tell a true story of power at its most glittering, personal and deadly: Suleyman's rise to become the most powerful man of the sixteenth century • Narrated through the eyes and actions of Suleyman's intimates, it animates with stunning immediacy the fears and stratagems of those brought into orbit around him: the Greek slave who becomes his Grand Vizier, the Venetian jewel-dealer who acts as his go-between, the Russian consort who becomes his most beloved wife