A common- sense understanding of the ‘longue durée’ might be that it simply refers to the long term, a long period of chronological time. This notion of clock or objective chronological time is ultimately uninteresting and helps us to explain and understand nothing. It is empty time, time as a container segmented by dates and events, befores and afters.The Annales approach to t…
ooking back upon the operations of 1916, and in anticipation of the battles to come, the French prime minister, Aristide Briand, remarked that military offensives had become ‘really like a great industrial undertaking. There were so many miles of front, so many troops, and so many guns required; all had to be calculated to a nicety, and all kinds of preparations made’.1 In the…
The contributors to Made in Asia/America explore the historical entanglements of video games, Asia, and America, showing how examining games offer new ways of imagining empire, race, and coalition.
Postmodernism has become the buzzword of contemporary society over the last decade. But how can it be defined? In this highly readable introduction the mysteries of this most elusive of concepts are unraveled, casting a critical light upon the way we live now, from the politicizing of museum culture to the cult of the politically correct. The key postmodernist ideas are explored and challenged,…
The Roman Empire was a remarkable achievement. It had a population of sixty million people spread across lands encircling the Mediterranean and stretching from northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates, and from the Rhine to the North African coast. It was, above all else, an empire of force--employing a mixture of violence, suppression, order, and tactical use of power to develo…
Japan is arguably today's most successful industrial economy, combining almost unprecedented affluence with social stability and apparent harmony. Japanese goods and cultural products--from animated movies and computer games to cars, semiconductors, and management techniques--are consumed around the world. In many ways, Japan is an icon of the modern world, and yet it remains something of an en…
The jewel of the Veneto, Venice is a dreamlike city filled with architectural wonders and incredible collections of art. But this region offers far more than this watery oasis. Lake Garda boasts beautiful scenery, Verona features the world's third-largest Roman Arena, and the Dolomites are rich with alpine forests and verdant hills.
A perusal of academic books in fashion studies over the last decade reveals that the term “fad” itself may have fallen out of style. Even Arthur Berger’s text Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture includes little mention of fads. Still, popular media feature lists of “what’s hot” versus “what’s not.” Why aren’t these called fads? Perhaps the timespace nexus associated with contemp…
When the guards came over, they made us line up against the wall. The guy who was hit they made sit at the table while they waited for another guard to bring them rubber gloves. When the gloves came, the guards put them on, handcuffed the guy, and then took him to the dispensary. He was still bleeding pretty bad. They say you get used to being in jail, but I don’t see how. Every morning I wak…
Not Yet Imagined documents Hubble history from the telescope’s launch through its first 30 years, focusing on the interactions between astronomers, engineers, government officials, and public during that time. It chronicles the telescope’s tumultuous beginnings, the decision-making behind the servicing missions, Hubble’s contributions to our understanding of the universe, and how the tele…