Vast Expanses

""A timely and useful oceancentric natural history of the ocean–human relationship. Human understanding of the oceans, which cover much of the surface of the earth, is historically weak . . . Until recently, it was assumed that ocean resources were inexhaustible, especially the bounty of fish and marine mammals, and that garbage and chemical waste dumped into oceans would just disappear. The idea that burning fossil fuels could raise ocean temperatures was unthinkable . . . [and] bad science continued to support uncontrolled exploitation of the seas, even after the rise of the ecological movement of the latter half of the twentieth century. Rozwadowski thoroughly brings readers up-to-date on these essential issues of marine exploration, research and the environment."" - Booklist ""We live amid alarming fractures in the public understanding of our identities, our collective needs and our perils. Alec Ryrie’s little book of contemporary history manages to be both exhilarating and comforting, based on his rare skill in bringing an historian’s cool gaze on our anxious world to assess its ills, and with due modesty to offer some remedial ways forward."" - Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford ""Horror Writers Association: Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction"" - Finalist ""A highly readable, fully authoritative account of all aspects of the ways of life of the Sumerians, one of the most important peoples of the ancient world. Paul Collins also covers the issue of the discovery and rediscovery of the Sumerians very effectively, bringing to life not just the Sumerians themselves but also the early travellers and antiquarians who first engaged with them. The book, too, is superbly illustrated."" - Roger Matthews, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Reading ""Unpacking science fiction alongside real exoplanet discoveries, Keith Cooper’s Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact is a captivating, cutting-edge view of worlds beyond our Solar System that explores the intersection of fiction and fact. An essential read for anyone fascinated by the cosmos."" - Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science, Physics and Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of The Smallest Lights in the Universe ""We live amid alarming fractures in the public understanding of our identities, our collective needs and our perils. Alec Ryrie’s little book of contemporary history manages to be both exhilarating and comforting, based on his rare skill in bringing an historian’s cool gaze on our anxious world to assess its ills, and with due modesty to offer some remedial ways forward."" - Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford ""Helen M. Rozwadowski offers a sweeping account of the ocean's past and a model for an engaged “ocean history” that places the sea in the heart of our human past . . . Vast Expanses not only challenges the notion of the ocean as a timeless place immune to human action, but it also situates that conception in the evolution of people’s dynamic relationship with the sea . . . More significantly, Vast Expanses makes an impassioned, compelling case that a humanistic understanding of the ocean “can form the foundation for positive change” . . . This book deserves wide readership."" - The Mariner's Mirror ""‘John Kachuba has written a terrifically entertaining exploration of shapeshifting, from ancient folklore and fairy tales to Transformers and Twilight. I loved learning about skinwalkers, French werewolves, and where in Romania to buy a bottle of Dracula Merlot. This book offers fascinating insight into the origins of the stories we continue to tell about our desire “to be someone or something other than what we are.”’ – Becky Hagenston, author of Scavengers: Stories (2016)"" - Becky Hagenston ""[a] stimulating new book, The Sumerians, the latest contribution to the Lost Civilizations series. . . The Sumerians, for all their doubtful status as a formal society, have a remarkable list of achievements to their credit. Besides being the world’s earliest attested civilization in the fourth millennium BCE, they invented cuneiform – the world’s earliest writing – and the sexagesimal system of mathematics. Their cities, such as Uruk and Ur, were the headquarters of the world’s earliest city-states, with bureaucracies, legal codes, divisions of labor, and a money economy . . . a civilization made vivid by Collins’s clear and expert text."" - Science ""Horror Writers Association: Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction"" - Finalist ""An essential work for the study of the Mongol Empire and for Eastern Europe. Roman Hautala does a masterful job of untangling the complicated knots of the history of the Golden Horde and then weaves it into an expansive, but lucid, narrative covering 300 years. For the size and duration of the empire, this volume is concise, yet still remains comprehensive."" - Timothy May, University of North Georgia, author of The Mongol Empire and The Mongol Art of War ""This book is a tour de force: based on exhaustive, rigorous research, it is a highly readable, ambitious, and thought-provoking cultural history of the Spanish war, including its lead-up, international dimensions, and long-term consequences in both Spain and elsewhere."" - Sebastiaan Faber, Professor of Hispanic Studies at Oberlin College and author of Memory Battles of the Spanish Civil War ""Given its technical subject, it’s hard to imagine a more seductive presentation, accessible at multiple levels to readers fascinated by all manner of aspects of Russian culture and politics."" - Simon Dixon, Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History, University College London ""This is a bold and interesting thesis, and it is presented with a wealth of comments on contentious topics confronting politicians and church leaders alike. It also sketches a vision of how secularists and religious traditionalists might learn from one another and together shape a less divided society."" - Canon Robin Gill, Church Times ""How well do we look after people who are seriously sick? Astonishingly, research is scant – which makes Neil Vickers and Derek Bolton's ambitious new book very welcome . . . Being Ill stands out not only for its original perspective but for the non-judgemental tone of its authors."" - Elle Hunt, New Scientist ""This is a remarkable book. It recounts, from the perspective of a single oak tree, the history and diversity of the many species which make up the genus Quercus . . . [With] splendid illustrations."" - Charles Watkins, University of Nottingham, author of Trees Ancient and Modern: Woodland Cultures and Conservation ""The title of Cooper’s Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact echoes that of Amazing Stories, a magazine founded in the 1920s that was the first to be devoted to “science fiction” – a term coined by its editor, Hugo Gernsback . . . In 1928 the writer Jack Williamson recounted Gernsback’s view: Science fiction “takes the basis of science . . . and then adds a thing that is alien to science – imagination. It lights the way.” . . . Cooper’s informed, engaging account of the ways that science-fiction planets correspond to their real counterparts provides a lucid primer on exoplanets, while also demonstrating that Gernsback’s hopes for science fiction have been fulfilled."" - Wall Street Journal ""Unpacking science fiction alongside real exoplanet discoveries, Keith Cooper’s Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact is a captivating, cutting-edge view of worlds beyond our Solar System that explores the intersection of fiction and fact. An essential read for anyone fascinated by the cosmos."" - Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science, Physics and Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of The Smallest Lights in the Universe ""Where do we stand? We might usefully take this question not as a metaphor but as a direct plea to think about the story of the ground on which we stand (and live, and play, and work, and be). Camilla Cassidy's wonderful book forces us to do just that: to think critically about how rural England came to be closed off from the vast majority of the population. This, then is no ordinary, dry history of enclosure, lost in debates to which there is no answer, but a creative, often profoundly personal, yet also deeply read and archivally rich, telling of a set of ongoing stories about the making private of our land. At turns profoundly disturbing yet always attuned to how we might live better, The Ground Beneath Our Feet is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how our green(ish) and (often deeply un)pleasant land came to be – and how we challenge enclosures past and present."" - Carl Griffin, author of Protest, Politics and Work in Rural England, 1700-1850 ""[A] fascinating book . . . Despite dealing with some cutting-edge science, this isn’t a technical book, focusing instead on the wonder and excitement of the subject. Keith Cooper draws heavily on his own conversations with exoplanet scientists, discussing the techniques they use, the discoveries they’ve made and their plans for the future. Comparisons with fictional planets run like a thread through the book – and it’s fair to say they bear out the old saying that the truth is stranger than fiction."" - Andrew May, How It Works magazine ""Keith Cooper’s book summarizes recent advances in our understanding of exoplanets and compares them to fictional planets in books and films, in an attempt to determine to what extent science fiction has been influenced by actual science, and whether these fictional worlds are based on real observations and scientifically plausible . . . This book shows how science and science fiction play leapfrog with each other."" - Times Literary Supplement ""Being Ill is a carefully argued and scholarly work that demands close attention and careful reading . . . illuminating and pioneering"" - The Lancet ""If an oak could speak, what would it say? I revelled in this vital, epic story, wittily told by one tree. Tim Entwisle charmingly animates the history and biology of the oak and brings to life its uneasy relationships with fungi."" - Jonathan Drori, author of Around the World in 80 Trees ""[The Age of Hitler] offers a wealth of reflections on the topics of historical periodization, historical memory, and the historical foundations of postwar Western morality. It also offers a thoughtful analysis of why those foundations are crumbling and what the consequences might be for Western cultural and spiritual life in the coming years . . . Ryrie is to be commended for encouraging dialogue between progressive secularists and conservative traditionalists."" - Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, Los Angeles Review of Books ""Rapidly, provocatively, this book shakes the history of the last few decades into a new and persuasive shape, and asks the question we all need to answer: how shall we orient ourselves, how shall we understand good and evil, when the old taboos are breaking down, and the horrors of the past are losing their strength as guard-rails?"" - Francis Spufford, author of Red Plenty and the Booker Prize-longlisted Light Perpetual ""‘What Have You Done for Victory?’ is excellent, rigorous and well-written. While it doesn’t claim to be comprehensive, it will open doors to a wide area of cultural research in a manner that belies this claim – it is admirably wide-ranging yet precise in the materials it analyses."" - Alison Ribeiro de Menezes, Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Warwick and author of Embodying Memory in Contemporary Spain ""In this fascinating monograph, Collins provides a thought-provoking study of the Sumerians as representing the most ancient of all civilizations. Instead of presenting a traditional descriptive account, Collins explores how archaeological and textual sources were used over the past 150 years to construct multiple and often-conflicting notions of the ancient land called Sumer and the people who became known as the Sumerians . . . Well-written, well-illustrated, and well-documented, this volume will be of great interest to both scholars and students. Highly recommended."" - Choice ""This engagingly written, meticulously researched, and carefully reasoned examination of the significance of Earth's oceans provides a valuable introduction not only to their geologic past but also to the role humans have played in discovering them, understanding them, and politicizing them. Intimately familiar with every dimension of this topic and the current literature, Rozwadowski places the subject in its appropriate geological, biological, historical, and environmental context. The diverse paths by which the human community began to find its way upon the seas and explore their depths is succinctly delineated. The discovery and exploitation of new lands, in particular the Trans-Mississippi West, is used as a historical counterpoint to examine and challenge many assumptions about the role the seas may play in helping humanity confront the challenges of feeding an ever-increasing global population by depending on its ability to farm the oceans for their (supposedly) inexhaustible marine resources."" - Choice ""[Kachuba] delivers a series of interesting . . . accounts of transformations of human to animal; something that appears . . . to be a widespread myth. Kachuba muses that this theme — beginning with Lyacon, the king of Arcadia whom Zeus changed into a wolf — may fulfil a universal desire to be what we are not . . . Were you to want a primer on were-anything, this is a fine start."" - The Spectator ""[Kachuba] delivers a series of interesting . . . accounts of transformations of human to animal; something that appears . . . to be a widespread myth. Kachuba muses that this theme — beginning with Lyacon, the king of Arcadia whom Zeus changed into a wolf — may fulfil a universal desire to be what we are not . . . Were you to want a primer on were-anything, this is a fine start."" - The Spectator ""[A] fascinating book . . . Despite dealing with some cutting-edge science, this isn’t a technical book, focusing instead on the wonder and excitement of the subject. Keith Cooper draws heavily on his own conversations with exoplanet scientists, discussing the techniques they use, the discoveries they’ve made and their plans for the future. Comparisons with fictional planets run like a thread through the book – and it’s fair to say they bear out the old saying that the truth is stranger than fiction."" - Andrew May, How It Works magazine ""[A] stimulating new book, The Sumerians, the latest contribution to the Lost Civilizations series . . . The Sumerians, for all their doubtful status as a formal society, have a remarkable list of achievements to their credit. Besides being the world’s earliest attested civilization in the fourth millennium BCE, they invented cuneiform – the world’s earliest writing – and the sexagesimal system of mathematics. Their cities, such as Uruk and Ur, were the headquarters of the world’s earliest city-states, with bureaucracies, legal codes, divisions of labor, and a money economy . . . a civilization made vivid by Collins’s clear and expert text."" - Science ""Rapidly, provocatively, this book shakes the history of the last few decades into a new and persuasive shape, and asks the question we all need to answer: how shall we orient ourselves, how shall we understand good and evil, when the old taboos are breaking down, and the horrors of the past are losing their strength as guard-rails?"" - Francis Spufford, author of Red Plenty and the Booker Prize-longlisted Light Perpetual ""Vast Expanses is thought-provoking, intelligent, entertaining, and yet still compact. It could be read in a graduate seminar or on a beach holiday. Professor Rozwadowski has written a great book on an important subject, and it is anything but a dry history!"" - Kurkpatrick Dorsey, Associate Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire and author of Whales and Nations: Environmental Diplomacy on the High Seas ""With his lissome prose, Alec Ryrie is a brilliant guide in the best of the essayist tradition, who empowers us to face the formidable moral questions of our age not as victims but through critical self-examination, ethical reflection, and compassionate action. Who are we? The appeal to self-awareness is neither otherworldly nor moralizing. Rather, like the great Montaigne, Ryrie meets us in the middle of his and our lives, offering rich and humane historical reflections as wisdom in our consumerist, perpetually online, and post-truth realities. This is an extraordinary book with which you don't need to be in full agreement to emerge radically transformed into a more enlightened and charitable person in a fraught age."" - Bruce Gordon, Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale Divinity School ""This engagingly written, meticulously researched, and carefully reasoned examination of the significance of Earth's oceans provides a valuable introduction not only to their geologic past but also to the role humans have played in discovering them, understanding them, and politicizing them. Intimately familiar with every dimension of this topic and the current literature, Rozwadowski places the subject in its appropriate geological, biological, historical, and environmental context. The diverse paths by which the human community began to find its way upon the seas and explore their depths is succinctly delineated. The discovery and exploitation of new lands, in particular the Trans-Mississippi West, is used as a historical counterpoint to examine and challenge many assumptions about the role the seas may play in helping humanity confront the challenges of feeding an ever-increasing global population by depending on its ability to farm the oceans for their (supposedly) inexhaustible marine resources."" - Choice ""In this fascinating monograph, Collins provides a thought-provoking study of the Sumerians as representing the most ancient of all civilizations. Instead of presenting a traditional descriptive account, Collins explores how archaeological and textual sources were used over the past 150 years to construct multiple and often-conflicting notions of the ancient land called Sumer and the people who became known as the Sumerians . . . Well-written, well-illustrated, and well-documented, this volume will be of great interest to both scholars and students. Highly recommended."" - Choice ""The title of Cooper’s Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact echoes that of Amazing Stories, a magazine founded in the 1920s that was the first to be devoted to “science fiction” – a term coined by its editor, Hugo Gernsback . . . In 1928 the writer Jack Williamson recounted Gernsback’s view: Science fiction “takes the basis of science . . . and then adds a thing that is alien to science – imagination. It lights the way.” . . . Cooper’s informed, engaging account of the ways that science-fiction planets correspond to their real counterparts provides a lucid primer on exoplanets, while also demonstrating that Gernsback’s hopes for science fiction have been fulfilled."" - Wall Street Journal ""This book is concise yet remarkably comprehensive, covering everything from werewolves and vampires to costume play and masquerades. It is also well-written, equally as entertaining as it is informative for any reader."" - Magonia Review of Books ""In this wide-ranging study, John Kachuba argues that our interest in what the American Psychiatric Association calls “gender dysphoria disturbance” is only the latest manifestation of our long-established fascination with shapeshifting in all its guises. It is ubiquitous in literature and folklore, from the countless metamorphoses in Greek myth down to the apprentice wizards of Hogwarts. Transformation is the lifeblood of narrative . . . Kachuba refreshes the meagre store of case studies from the time of the European witch craze with comparable modern accounts."" - Literary Review ""[a] masterful new book . . . The book is well-organized, highly readable, and thoughtfully authoritative, making it equally useful for academic historians interested in her call to take ocean history seriously and for those less expert, including both undergraduates and general readers . . . Vast Expanses provides a stimulating rethinking of our approach to the oceans and an important addition both to the growing body of scholarship on ocean history and to the broader fields on which it touches."" - Technology and Culture ""This is an important book . . . a vital and thought-provoking contribution to the study of the ancient Middle East, and is written in such a way that readers beyond those working in the field will also find it accessible. The book is attractively laid out, with beautiful color illustrations and the text formatted in a clear, readable font."" - Amanda H. Podany, Journal of the American Oriental Society ""With his lissome prose, Alec Ryrie is a brilliant guide in the best of the essayist tradition, who empowers us to face the formidable moral questions of our age not as victims but through critical self-examination, ethical reflection, and compassionate action. Who are we? The appeal to self-awareness is neither otherworldly nor moralizing. Rather, like the great Montaigne, Ryrie meets us in the middle of his and our lives, offering rich and humane historical reflections as wisdom in our consumerist, perpetually online, and post-truth realities. This is an extraordinary book with which you don't need to be in full agreement to emerge radically transformed into a more enlightened and charitable person in a fraught age."" - Bruce Gordon, Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale Divinity School ""A brilliant exposition of Hitler’s role as the embodiment of evil in the collective imagination of the West – and of what may happen as it starts to fade."" - Tom Holland, author of Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind ""Like so many around this green planet, I have loved oak trees but I never imagined one would talk to me. Tim Entwisle’s stricken garden guest, like so many human beings today, was driven to find its possible ancestors – and what an adventure it turns out to be. The range of this great family of plants is magnificent – and his book has exquisite illustrations to prove it. As I toast this rare achievement with a fine wine, I pause, nod, and recognise where the cork came from."" - Robyn Williams, host of The Science Show on ABC Radio National ""Nuanced and wide-ranging . . . [a] major contribution, which deserves to be widely and closely read."" - Quarterly Review of Biology ""While testing the plausibility of the most remarkable fictional worlds, the author manages to provide an in-depth introduction to key topics in exoplanet science and habitability – some of which would be quite challenging to explain to the general public without the narrative pull of fictional worlds . . . It is always a challenge for an expert scientist to approach a book aimed at the general public, as it is far too tempting to focus on every little detail rather than appreciating the general picture . . . I found myself eagerly reading through each chapter, smiling at the many familiar sci-fi references, admiring the depth of scientific explanations, and all in all amazed by how close imagination and reality are."" - Nature Physics ""It becomes obvious early on that Cooper, who is a science journalist in his day job, knows his stuff on the fiction side as well as the current science . . . it’s a good exploration of the field, with neat SF references."" - Popular Science ""A pioneering volume. For our ageing population, varieties of illness have become headline news, an ever-present talking-point for which we badly need fresh thinking. Subtle, sympathetic and wide-ranging, Vickers and Bolton demonstrate how the reach of medical humanities can be extended by empathy and health science. This study of the 'collective psychobiological' dimensions of illness is radical in its implications. Potentially, it offers a new way forward for our understanding of the ways the human animal interrelates in sickness and in health."" - Robert McCrum, author of Every Third Thought: On Life, Death and the Endgame ""A brilliant exposition of Hitler’s role as the embodiment of evil in the collective imagination of the West – and of what may happen as it starts to fade."" - Tom Holland, author of Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind ""We live amid alarming fractures in the public understanding of our identities, our collective needs and our perils. Alec Ryrie’s little book of contemporary history manages to be both exhilarating and comforting, based on his rare skill in bringing an historian’s cool gaze on our anxious world to assess its ills, and with due modesty to offer some remedial ways forward."" - Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford ""A highly readable, fully authoritative account of all aspects of the ways of life of the Sumerians, one of the most important peoples of the ancient world. Paul Collins also covers the issue of the discovery and rediscovery of the Sumerians very effectively, bringing to life not just the Sumerians themselves but also the early travellers and antiquarians who first engaged with them. The book, too, is superbly illustrated."" - Roger Matthews, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Reading ""Shapeshifters are those “who can change from human form to that of an animal”, John Kachuba tells us. Yet his absorbing and comprehensive conspectus of mutation also takes in human beings who can impersonate other human beings; Uther Pendragon does this in order to impregnate his future queen at Tintagel. Shapeshifting is fascinating and troubling: it asks questions about how we can tell who is who. From the inside, shapeshifting is about the struggle to find a true identity, but from the outside this shifting looks shifty."" - TLS ""A timely and useful oceancentric natural history of the ocean–human relationship. Human understanding of the oceans, which cover much of the surface of the earth, is historically weak . . . Until recently, it was assumed that ocean resources were inexhaustible, especially the bounty of fish and marine mammals, and that garbage and chemical waste dumped into oceans would just disappear. The idea that burning fossil fuels could raise ocean temperatures was unthinkable . . . [and] bad science continued to support uncontrolled exploitation of the seas, even after the rise of the ecological movement of the latter half of the twentieth century. Rozwadowski thoroughly brings readers up-to-date on these essential issues of marine exploration, research and the environment."" - Booklist ""Keith Cooper’s book summarizes recent advances in our understanding of exoplanets and compares them to fictional planets in books and films, in an attempt to determine to what extent science fiction has been influenced by actual science, and whether these fictional worlds are based on real observations and scientifically plausible . . . This book shows how science and science fiction play leapfrog with each other."" - Times Literary Supplement ""In this wide-ranging study, John Kachuba argues that our interest in what the American Psychiatric Association calls “gender dysphoria disturbance” is only the latest manifestation of our long-established fascination with shapeshifting in all its guises. It is ubiquitous in literature and folklore, from the countless metamorphoses in Greek myth down to the apprentice wizards of Hogwarts. Transformation is the lifeblood of narrative . . . Kachuba refreshes the meagre store of case studies from the time of the European witch craze with comparable modern accounts."" - Literary Review ""This is an important book . . . a vital and thought-provoking contribution to the study of the ancient Middle East, and is written in such a way that readers beyond those working in the field will also find it accessible. The book is attractively laid out, with beautiful color illustrations and the text formatted in a clear, readable font."" - Amanda H. Podany, Journal of the American Oriental Society ""Helen M. Rozwadowski offers a sweeping account of the ocean's past and a model for an engaged “ocean history” that places the sea in the heart of our human past . . . Vast Expanses not only challenges the notion of the ocean as a timeless place immune to human action, but it also situates that conception in the evolution of people’s dynamic relationship with the sea . . . More significantly, Vast Expanses makes an impassioned, compelling case that a humanistic understanding of the ocean “can form the foundation for positive change” . . . This book deserves wide readership."" - The Mariner's Mirror ""A brilliant exposition of Hitler’s role as the embodiment of evil in the collective imagination of the West – and of what may happen as it starts to fade."" - Tom Holland, author of Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind ""well written, well researched, covers a huge range of topics and is full of interesting stuff . . . for a hardback it represents pretty good value these days,"" - Ocean Challenge ""For this reader, ""shapeshifter"" initially suggested werewolves and vampires, and indeed two of this book’s 10 chapters focus on these subjects. But the author has taken a broader approach, opening with the well-known Palæolithic cave painting ""The Sorcerer"", which supposedly depicts a shaman transforming into a deer . . . a thorough survey of shapeshifters worldwide, past and present."" - Fortean Times ""[The Age of Hitler] offers a wealth of reflections on the topics of historical periodization, historical memory, and the historical foundations of postwar Western morality. It also offers a thoughtful analysis of why those foundations are crumbling and what the consequences might be for Western cultural and spiritual life in the coming years . . . Ryrie is to be commended for encouraging dialogue between progressive secularists and conservative traditionalists."" - Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, Los Angeles Review of Books ""While testing the plausibility of the most remarkable fictional worlds, the author manages to provide an in-depth introduction to key topics in exoplanet science and habitability – some of which would be quite challenging to explain to the general public without the narrative pull of fictional worlds . . . It is always a challenge for an expert scientist to approach a book aimed at the general public, as it is far too tempting to focus on every little detail rather than appreciating the general picture . . . I found myself eagerly reading through each chapter, smiling at the many familiar sci-fi references, admiring the depth of scientific explanations, and all in all amazed by how close imagination and reality are."" - Nature Physics ""Absorbing and delightfully readable, Vast Expanses explores an immense topic – the history of the world’s oceans – with the skill and intelligence we have come to expect from Rozwadowski’s writings . . . She crafts a flowing narrative by braiding together three strands of analysis: she demonstrates the interconnectedness of the oceans and human history by examining the enduring human relationship to the sea, spanning back through evolutionary time; she shows that human exchanges with the sea have become increasingly profound over time, especially in the ages of industrialization and globalization; and she reveals that human understandings of the ocean – shaped by science, work, and play – have substantially shaped our interactions with it . . . Remarkable . . . Through its many interesting facts and details, presented with discernible enthusiasm, Vast Expanses reveals not only Rozwadowski’s considerable ability as a historian but also her love for the ocean. This work will appeal to environmental historians, maritime historians, and any reader who wants to know more about our relationship with the sea."" - H-Environment ""When you reach the end of Shapeshifters, it seems clear that, in addition to being a history, with most of its chapters focused on stories from antiquity through early modernity, Shapeshifters is very much a book of, and for, the 21st century as well. The greatest shapeshifters have always been human . . . From diets and bodybuilding, to religious conversion and spiritual cleansing, to rising in social class, to online avatars, to gender reassignment, we seem to believe more strongly in the benefits of shapeshifting, literally and symbolically, than ever . . . For a study that barely reaches 200 pages, including references and index, Shapeshifters is comprehensive in examples and broadly multicultural."" - Popmatters ""Rapidly, provocatively, this book shakes the history of the last few decades into a new and persuasive shape, and asks the question we all need to answer: how shall we orient ourselves, how shall we understand good and evil, when the old taboos are breaking down, and the horrors of the past are losing their strength as guard-rails?"" - Francis Spufford, author of Red Plenty and the Booker Prize-longlisted Light Perpetual ""Vickers and Bolton elucidate the contradiction between the human need for caring relationships and people’s tendency to pull away from those who are ill and disabled. They assemble the broadest range of studies—from infant research to microsociology to neurology and epigenetics—to explain why relationships between the healthy and the ill are often fraught. Readers who seek a scientific basis for medical humanities will find much of value here."" - Arthur W. Frank, Ph.D., author of At the Will of the Body and The Wounded Storyteller ""[A] fascinating book . . . Despite dealing with some cutting-edge science, this isn’t a technical book, focusing instead on the wonder and excitement of the subject. Keith Cooper draws heavily on his own conversations with exoplanet scientists, discussing the techniques they use, the discoveries they’ve made and their plans for the future. Comparisons with fictional planets run like a thread through the book – and it’s fair to say they bear out the old saying that the truth is stranger than fiction."" - Andrew May, How It Works magazine ""Astronomers observed the first confirmed exoplanet in 1992. Some 5,900 are now known, in about 4,500 planetary systems, with around 1,000 containing several planets, according to NASA. No life has been detected yet, showing just “how rare our planet Earth still is” and how “the imagination imbued within science fiction can only carry us so far,” notes science journalist Cooper. His engaging book, based on interviews with writers and researchers, examines what science fiction has got right and wrong, and what science can learn from it."" - Nature ""The reaction to illness, our own and that of others to whom we are close, reveals much of what it means to be human and live in society. Such is the theme of this humane and scholarly study which has much to say about the fundamentals of caring for others, both when they are ill, and when they are well."" - Michael Marmot, Director UCL Institute of Health Equity ""With his lissome prose, Alec Ryrie is a brilliant guide in the best of the essayist tradition, who empowers us to face the formidable moral questions of our age not as victims but through critical self-examination, ethical reflection, and compassionate action. Who are we? The appeal to self-awareness is neither otherworldly nor moralizing. Rather, like the great Montaigne, Ryrie meets us in the middle of his and our lives, offering rich and humane historical reflections as wisdom in our consumerist, perpetually online, and post-truth realities. This is an extraordinary book with which you don't need to be in full agreement to emerge radically transformed into a more enlightened and charitable person in a fraught age."" - Bruce Gordon, Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale Divinity School ""This book is concise yet remarkably comprehensive, covering everything from werewolves and vampires to costume play and masquerades. It is also well-written, equally as entertaining as it is informative for any reader."" - Magonia Review of Books ""No history is ever a complete account; however, this book is a very good introduction to the global histories of the ocean. For all historians, but particularly those of science and technology, it challenges us to think bigger, see globally, and take a plunge into the great beyond of the seascape. It is also an utterly captivating read."" - Isis Journal ""It becomes obvious early on that Cooper, who is a science journalist in his day job, knows his stuff on the fiction side as well as the current science . . . it’s a good exploration of the field, with neat SF references."" - Popular Science ""This is a bold and interesting thesis, and it is presented with a wealth of comments on contentious topics confronting politicians and church leaders alike. It also sketches a vision of how secularists and religious traditionalists might learn from one another and together shape a less divided society."" - Canon Robin Gill, Church Times ""The book is a look at the cultural forces which generate tales of shapeshifters as much as it is a history, if not more so. The writing is engaging and the content interesting, so you will not go wrong by reading this book for diversion."" - Historical Novel Society ""Much of human experience can be distilled to saltwater: tears, sweat, and an enduring connection to the sea. In Vast Expanses, Rozwadowski weaves a cultural, environmental, and geopolitical history of that relationship, a journey of tides and titanic forces reaching around the globe and across geological and evolutionary time."" - New Books Network ""This powerful progressive text demands that we accord the ocean its history, free from the romantic, anthropomorphic and gendered language of the past, and accept the reality that the human role in the story is one of destruction: without humans the oceans would recover from all the their current problems, reversing centuries of exploitation, pollution and folly. All of those who go down to the sea in ships, books or other media will profit from reading Helen Rozwadowski’s timely, concise and compelling book . . . Vast Expanses has the capacity to advance understanding, extend engagement and promote a more sophisticated view of our responsibility for the future of oceans. This is a work of the first importance for students of the sea."" - Andrew Lambert, The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord ""The book examines the history of the enduring shapeshifter archetype, which persists today, is found in almost every culture around the world and is believed by some to be more than myth . . . [it] describes the various shapeshifter motifs such as discipline, avengement or punishment, for example in The Frog Prince. Katchuba differentiates between those who have been involuntarily transformed through magic or a curse, and those who have voluntary control over their transformations and can shift at will between their human and transformed nature."" - Grammarye ""Astronomers observed the first confirmed exoplanet in 1992. Some 5,900 are now known, in about 4,500 planetary systems, with around 1,000 containing several planets, according to NASA. No life has been detected yet, showing just “how rare our planet Earth still is” and how “the imagination imbued within science fiction can only carry us so far,” notes science journalist Cooper. His engaging book, based on interviews with writers and researchers, examines what science fiction has got right and wrong, and what science can learn from it."" - Nature ""well written, well researched, covers a huge range of topics and is full of interesting stuff . . . for a hardback it represents pretty good value these days,"" - Ocean Challenge ""For this reader, ""shapeshifter"" initially suggested werewolves and vampires, and indeed two of this book’s 10 chapters focus on these subjects. But the author has taken a broader approach, opening with the well-known Palæolithic cave painting ""The Sorcerer"", which supposedly depicts a shaman transforming into a deer . . . a thorough survey of shapeshifters worldwide, past and present."" - Fortean Times ""An extremely rich book – rich in learning and methodology, rich in examples, rich in important insight . . . It brings inspiration in the conceptual analysis that it offers of a fundamental concept like care . . . Being Ill is not just a rich book, it’s an important one as well, one that deserves to receive an audience that goes far beyond the scholarly domain of health and medical humanities."" - The Polyphony ""Shaped by interviews with an eclectic mixture of science fiction authors, exoplanet astronomers, planetary and atmospheric scientists, Cooper’s engaging and informative text traces how our perceptions of alien worlds are reshaped by both scientific discoveries and cultural influences . . . As popular science communication, it aims for the middle ground, and hits that target solidly, building towards a clear and correct description of both the range of genuine alien worlds now under investigation and the uncertainties intrinsic to research in a fast-moving field . . . Amazing Worlds is a peon of praise to both contemporary exoplanet research and science fiction. Above all, it encourages readers to recognize the ways in which changing science changes our worldview, and to ponder both the potential and limitations of our explorations of exoplanets – real or imagined."" - Nature Astronomy ""Planetary science and Science Fiction (SF) were always closely related . . . This tome appears to be targeted at SF readers and those (non-professional astronomers) who enjoy popular science. However, many in the astronomy field will also enjoy this. I certainly did. Recommended."" - The Observatory ""a must-read – a powerful, interdisciplinary masterpiece . . . explore[s] what it truly means to fall ill – not only physically, but emotionally, socially, and existentially . . .Being Ill is a call: it challenges healthcare professionals, and aid providers to go beyond technical solutions. Gratitude to Neil Vickers and Derek Bolton who through this book teach us to be better carers."" - Chronicle of Healthcare and Narrative Medicine ""when Shapeshifters: A History showed up on my doorstep, I was pretty excited. And I wasn’t disappointed. Kachuba has complied an extensive survey of all sorts of shape-shifting myths, legends, folktales, and fairytales from the ages. He covers everything from the gods and goddesses of the ancient world, to the faerie folk of Europe, to the classics such as the werewolf and the vampire . . . If you enjoy reading nonfiction works about the origins our monsters and mythical beings as much as I do, then this is the book for you."" - Cemetery Dance ""Much of human experience can be distilled to saltwater: tears, sweat, and an enduring connection to the sea. In Vast Expanses, Rozwadowski weaves a cultural, environmental, and geopolitical history of that relationship, a journey of tides and titanic forces reaching around the globe and across geological and evolutionary time."" - New Books Network ""Shaped by interviews with an eclectic mixture of science fiction authors, exoplanet astronomers, planetary and atmospheric scientists, Cooper’s engaging and informative text traces how our perceptions of alien worlds are reshaped by both scientific discoveries and cultural influences . . . As popular science communication, it aims for the middle ground, and hits that target solidly, building towards a clear and correct description of both the range of genuine alien worlds now under investigation and the uncertainties intrinsic to research in a fast-moving field . . . Amazing Worlds is a peon of praise to both contemporary exoplanet research and science fiction. Above all, it encourages readers to recognize the ways in which changing science changes our worldview, and to ponder both the potential and limitations of our explorations of exoplanets – real or imagined."" - Nature Astronomy ""When you reach the end of Shapeshifters, it seems clear that, in addition to being a history, with most of its chapters focused on stories from antiquity through early modernity, Shapeshifters is very much a book of, and for, the 21st century as well. The greatest shapeshifters have always been human . . . From diets and bodybuilding, to religious conversion and spiritual cleansing, to rising in social class, to online avatars, to gender reassignment, we seem to believe more strongly in the benefits of shapeshifting, literally and symbolically, than ever . . . For a study that barely reaches 200 pages, including references and index, Shapeshifters is comprehensive in examples and broadly multicultural."" - Popmatters ""No history is ever a complete account; however, this book is a very good introduction to the global histories of the ocean. For all historians, but particularly those of science and technology, it challenges us to think bigger, see globally, and take a plunge into the great beyond of the seascape. It is also an utterly captivating read."" - Isis Journal ""[a] masterful new book . . . The book is well-organized, highly readable, and thoughtfully authoritative, making it equally useful for academic historians interested in her call to take ocean history seriously and for those less expert, including both undergraduates and general readers . . . Vast Expanses provides a stimulating rethinking of our approach to the oceans and an important addition both to the growing body of scholarship on ocean history and to the broader fields on which it touches."" - Technology and Culture ""inspiring and useful in understanding the cultural contexts that gave rise to stories of vampires, werewolves and witches in the first place . . . The moral of the story is that monsters change principally from within not from without, and it can be a two-way process. The choice is ours."" - Catholic Herald ""Planetary science and Science Fiction (SF) were always closely related . . . This tome appears to be targeted at SF readers and those (non-professional astronomers) who enjoy popular science. However, many in the astronomy field will also enjoy this. I certainly did. Recommended."" - The Observatory ""Vast Expanses is a synthetic book that yokes together research in maritime history, oceanic history, and environmental history, but it is largely based on Helen Rozwadowski’s insightful research on the history of the ocean sciences in the nineteenth century and fisheries management in the twentieth."" - Canadian Journal of History ""The myths, magic, and meaning surrounding shapeshifters are brought vividly to life in John B. Kachuba’s Shapeshifters: A History. Rituals in early cultures worldwide seemingly allowed shamans, sorcerers, witches, and wizards to transform at will into animals and back again . . . Featuring a fantastic and ghoulish array of examples from history, literature, film, TV, and computer games, Shapeshifters explores our secret desire to become something other than human."" - New Books Network ""The book cleverly uses reader’s familiarity with invented worlds from science fiction television programs, films, and books as a way to get them to think about astronomy in general and actual extrasolar planets in particular. . . . As a lifetime reader of science fiction and a student of astronomy, I enjoyed the rapid-fire, round-robin tenor of the book as references to many books and films I had enjoyed came up for discussion. There is significant attention paid to real-world exoplanets and the missions that discovered them, giving readers a sense of how fast this area of study is progressing."" - National Space Society’s Ad Astra ""Films such as Star Wars, Dune and Avatar, and the work of science-fiction visionaries like Arthur C. Clarke and Ursula Le Guin, have fired the imagination of science-fiction fans for decades, but how realistic are their predictions of what alien planets might look like? That, and much more besides, is discussed in this fascinating, accessible book, with the author concluding that the real exoplanets (any planet beyond our solar system) being discovered by scientists and astronomers today far surpass the strangeness of any film or work of fiction."" - Choice Magazine, UK ""The book is a look at the cultural forces which generate tales of shapeshifters as much as it is a history, if not more so. The writing is engaging and the content interesting, so you will not go wrong by reading this book for diversion."" - Historical Novel Society ""This powerful progressive text demands that we accord the ocean its history, free from the romantic, anthropomorphic and gendered language of the past, and accept the reality that the human role in the story is one of destruction: without humans the oceans would recover from all the their current problems, reversing centuries of exploitation, pollution and folly. All of those who go down to the sea in ships, books or other media will profit from reading Helen Rozwadowski’s timely, concise and compelling book . . . Vast Expanses has the capacity to advance understanding, extend engagement and promote a more sophisticated view of our responsibility for the future of oceans. This is a work of the first importance for students of the sea."" - Andrew Lambert, The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord ""The book cleverly uses reader’s familiarity with invented worlds from science fiction television programs, films, and books as a way to get them to think about astronomy in general and actual extrasolar planets in particular. . . . As a lifetime reader of science fiction and a student of astronomy, I enjoyed the rapid-fire, round-robin tenor of the book as references to many books and films I had enjoyed came up for discussion. There is significant attention paid to real-world exoplanets and the missions that discovered them, giving readers a sense of how fast this area of study is progressing."" - National Space Society’s Ad Astra ""when Shapeshifters: A History showed up on my doorstep, I was pretty excited. And I wasn’t disappointed. Kachuba has complied an extensive survey of all sorts of shape-shifting myths, legends, folktales, and fairytales from the ages. He covers everything from the gods and goddesses of the ancient world, to the faerie folk of Europe, to the classics such as the werewolf and the vampire . . . If you enjoy reading nonfiction works about the origins our monsters and mythical beings as much as I do, then this is the book for you."" - Cemetery Dance ""Absorbing and delightfully readable, Vast Expanses explores an immense topic – the history of the world’s oceans – with the skill and intelligence we have come to expect from Rozwadowski’s writings . . . She crafts a flowing narrative by braiding together three strands of analysis: she demonstrates the interconnectedness of the oceans and human history by examining the enduring human relationship to the sea, spanning back through evolutionary time; she shows that human exchanges with the sea have become increasingly profound over time, especially in the ages of industrialization and globalization; and she reveals that human understandings of the ocean – shaped by science, work, and play – have substantially shaped our interactions with it . . . Remarkable . . . Through its many interesting facts and details, presented with discernible enthusiasm, Vast Expanses reveals not only Rozwadowski’s considerable ability as a historian but also her love for the ocean. This work will appeal to environmental historians, maritime historians, and any reader who wants to know more about our relationship with the sea."" - H-Environment ""Vast Expanses is a synthetic book that yokes together research in maritime history, oceanic history, and environmental history, but it is largely based on Helen Rozwadowski’s insightful research on the history of the ocean sciences in the nineteenth century and fisheries management in the twentieth."" - Canadian Journal of History ""Shapeshifters are those “who can change from human form to that of an animal”, John Kachuba tells us. Yet his absorbing and comprehensive conspectus of mutation also takes in human beings who can impersonate other human beings; Uther Pendragon does this in order to impregnate his future queen at Tintagel. Shapeshifting is fascinating and troubling: it asks questions about how we can tell who is who. From the inside, shapeshifting is about the struggle to find a true identity, but from the outside this shifting looks shifty."" - TLS ""Films such as Star Wars, Dune and Avatar, and the work of science-fiction visionaries like Arthur C. Clarke and Ursula Le Guin, have fired the imagination of science-fiction fans for decades, but how realistic are their predictions of what alien planets might look like? That, and much more besides, is discussed in this fascinating, accessible book, with the author concluding that the real exoplanets (any planet beyond our solar system) being discovered by scientists and astronomers today far surpass the strangeness of any film or work of fiction."" - Choice Magazine, UK ""Vast Expanses is thought-provoking, intelligent, entertaining, and yet still compact. It could be read in a graduate seminar or on a beach holiday. Professor Rozwadowski has written a great book on an important subject, and it is anything but a dry history!"" - Kurk Dorsey, Associate Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire and author of Whales and Nations: Environmental Diplomacy on the High Seas ""The book examines the history of the enduring shapeshifter archetype, which persists today, is found in almost every culture around the world and is believed by some to be more than myth . . . [it] describes the various shapeshifter motifs such as discipline, avengement or punishment, for example in The Frog Prince. Katchuba differentiates between those who have been involuntarily transformed through magic or a curse, and those who have voluntary control over their transformations and can shift at will between their human and transformed nature."" - Grammarye ""Despite dealing with some cutting-edge science, Cooper’s book isn’t too technical, focusing instead on the wonder and excitement of the subject. He draws heavily on his interviews with exoplanet scientists, discussing their techniques, discoveries and plans for the future. Comparisons with the fictional planets of movies, TV shows and novels run like a thread throughout the book, and support the old saying that the “truth is stranger than fiction.” While most fictional planets are at least vaguely Earth-like, real-life exoplanets are amazingly diverse."" - LiveScience ‘48 Best Science Books for Young Adults’ ""‘In Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact, science journalist Cooper explores the exoplanets found in popular media. Over a dozen scientists and authors weigh in as Cooper analyzes how realistic the fictional planets are in Star Wars, Avatar, Dune, and more."" - Astronomy Magazine ""inspiring and useful in understanding the cultural contexts that gave rise to stories of vampires, werewolves and witches in the first place . . . The moral of the story is that monsters change principally from within not from without, and it can be a two-way process. The choice is ours."" - Catholic Herald ""Despite dealing with some cutting-edge science, Cooper’s book isn’t too technical, focusing instead on the wonder and excitement of the subject. He draws heavily on his interviews with exoplanet scientists, discussing their techniques, discoveries and plans for the future. Comparisons with the fictional planets of movies, TV shows and novels run like a thread throughout the book, and support the old saying that the “truth is stranger than fiction.” While most fictional planets are at least vaguely Earth-like, real-life exoplanets are amazingly diverse."" - LiveScience ‘48 Best Science Books for Young Adults’ ""Packed full of interesting details from myths and legends from around the world, historical research that sifts through the beliefs about shapeshifters in different cultures, and many brief stories of the exploits, drama, and dangers associated with these sometimes frightening creatures whether animal, human, or supernatural in form."" - Monster Librarian ""John B. Kachuba’s Shapeshifters: A History is a thorough examination of shapeshifters, discussing their importance in religion, literature, folklore, and popular culture. Readers whose knowledge is largely about the two most well-known shapeshifters – the werewolf and the vampire – will find this discussion to be much more extensive . . . this book should appeal to a wide audience. Stylistically, the prose is accessible to a general readership, but that does not detract from its scholarly value . . . One would be hard-pressed to find a more thorough and thoughtful examination of these creatures."" - Journal of Folklore Research ""‘In Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact, science journalist Cooper explores the exoplanets found in popular media. Over a dozen scientists and authors weigh in as Cooper analyzes how realistic the fictional planets are in Star Wars, Avatar, Dune, and more."" - Astronomy Magazine ""packed full of interesting details from myths and legends from around the world, historical research that sifts through the beliefs about shapeshifters in different cultures, and many brief stories of the exploits, drama, and dangers associated with these sometimes frightening creatures whether animal, human, or supernatural in form."" - Monster Librarian ""Unpacking science fiction alongside real exoplanet discoveries, Keith Cooper’s Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact is a captivating, cutting-edge view of worlds beyond our Solar System that explores the intersection of fiction and fact. An essential read for anyone fascinated by the cosmos."" - Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science, Physics and Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of The Smallest Lights in the Universe ""John B. Kachuba’s Shapeshifters: A History is a thorough examination of shapeshifters, discussing their importance in religion, literature, folklore, and popular culture. Readers whose knowledge is largely about the two most well-known shapeshifters – the werewolf and the vampire – will find this discussion to be much more extensive . . . this book should appeal to a wide audience. Stylistically, the prose is accessible to a general readership, but that does not detract from its scholarly value . . . One would be hard-pressed to find a more thorough and thoughtful examination of these creatures."" - Journal of Folklore Research ""John Kachuba has written a terrifically entertaining exploration of shapeshifting, from ancient folklore and fairy tales to Transformers and Twilight. I loved learning about skinwalkers, French werewolves, and where in Romania to buy a bottle of Dracula Merlot. This book offers fascinating insight into the origins of the stories we continue to tell about our desire “to be someone or something other than what we are.”"" - Becky Hagenston, author of Scavengers: Stories ""In his exploration of the cultural history of shapeshifters, John Kachuba suggests the need to step back from our technology obsessed mind to appreciate things that our senses have yet to grow sharper to acknowledge and appreciate. In this light, the shapeshifters challenge all our assumptions about what we think we know."" - The Hindu ""In his exploration of the cultural history of shapeshifters, John Kachuba suggests the need to step back from our technology obsessed mind to appreciate things that our senses have yet to grow sharper to acknowledge and appreciate. In this light, the shapeshifters challenge all our assumptions about what we think we know."" - The Hindu ""John Kachuba has written a terrifically entertaining exploration of shapeshifting, from ancient folklore and fairy tales to Transformers and Twilight. I loved learning about skinwalkers, French werewolves, and where in Romania to buy a bottle of Dracula Merlot. This book offers fascinating insight into the origins of the stories we continue to tell about our desire “to be someone or something other than what we are.”"" - Becky Hagenston, author of Scavengers: Stories ""The myths, magic, and meaning surrounding shapeshifters are brought vividly to life in John B. Kachuba’s Shapeshifters: A History. Rituals in early cultures worldwide seemingly allowed shamans, sorcerers, witches, and wizards to transform at will into animals and back again . . . Featuring a fantastic and ghoulish array of examples from history, literature, film, TV, and computer games, Shapeshifters explores our secret desire to become something other than human."" - New Books Network