For the last few weeks, billions of locusts have been swarming in east Africa, putting crops and pastureland at risk in a region that has already been tackling droughts and floods. According to the FAO, Kenya is facing its biggest infestation in 70 years, while Ethiopia and Somalia face its largest for 25. How can … Continue reading
“Papers are accused of saying things they didn’t. Their articles are misrepresented, distorted and denounced… These are the tactics of the status quo today, designed to confuse the common people…” – Sabiha Sertel December, 2019? No. December, 1945. “Fake news” smear attacks are nothing new. It’s an old game aimed at bullying journalists into submission. … Continue reading
On the centenary of Evita’s birth, Jill Hedges revisits the remarkable life of the most controversial woman in Argentinean history. From theatre stages to Casa Rosada, Evita contributed enormously to shaping women’s political and public roles, becoming a figure still widely esteemed by the current generation of female politicians and activists. Read on for a timely … Continue reading
Xu Zhen is a pivotal figure in the Chinese art scene, straddling the divide between the older generation of artists that emerged in the early 1990s and the younger generation, many of whom were born after 1980. Born in 1977, Xu Zhen is still quite young himself, buthe has been showing so long and with such potency that he is … Continue reading
Ezgi Başaran, coordinator of the Programme on Contemporary Turkey at Oxford University’s St Anthony’s College, on “Frontline Turkey: The Conflict at the Heart of the Middle East.” The book is a breezy 200-page summary of the country’s current impasse, addressing how the long-running conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the rise and fall … Continue reading
Set in Alexandria, Out of Egypt chronicles the exploits of André Aciman (author of Call Me By Your Name, now an Oscar-nominated film adaptation) and his colourful Sephardic Jewish family from its arrival in Egypt at the turn of the century to its forced departure three generations later. Aciman tells a story of childhood innocence, of intricate … Continue reading
We thought you might like a little more insight into the editorial minds involved in our publishing process, so here’s a peek into the world of our Visual Culture team! Editor Lisa Goodrum has been been a part of the I.B.Tauris cohort for five fantastic years, moving from production through to editorial. With a background … Continue reading
In warzones, ordinary commercially-available drones are used for extraordinary reconnaissance and information gathering. They can also be used for bombings a drone carrying an explosive charge is potentially a powerful weapon. At the same time asymmetric warfare has become the norm with large states increasingly fighting marginal terrorist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere. … Continue reading
Today marks 100 years since women were granted the vote in Britain. To commemorate this centenary, we’ve put together an essential reading list of I.B.Tauris books covering the evolution of women’s position in British society. Continue reading
The Winchester Rifle, the iconic gun made in New Haven, Connecticut, and sold in its hundreds of thousands around the world, mirrors American expansion at a key period in the young country’s history. The lethal repeating rifle became the defining image of America’s frontier – and was known amongst Native Americans as “the spirit gun”. … Continue reading
As 2017 draws to a close, the I.B.Tauris staff have again taken the chance to reflect on their favourite books, from our own (strong) stable – and from further afield. As usual, there’s a wonderfully eclectic range, so dive in! Madeleine Hamey-Thomas; Visual Culture Editor I.B.Tauris Book of the Year: China’s Forgotten People: Xinjiang, … Continue reading
The 1943 battle to free the Soviet Black Sea port of Novorossiisk from German occupation was fought from the beach head of Malaia zemlia, where the young Colonel Leonid Brezhnev saw action. Despite widespread scepticism of the state’s appropriation and inflation of this historical event, the heroes of the campaign are still commemorated in Novorossiisk … Continue reading
Video games are a defining part of mass visual culture. Today over half of all American households own a dedicated game console and gaming industry profits trump those of the film industry worldwide. In this book, Soraya Murray moves past the technical discussions of games and offers a fresh and incisive look at their cultural … Continue reading
