Bøker i Encounters: Cultural Histories-serien

Dust is a witty and highly original investigation into the development of modern history writing. This book considers how history writing belongs to the currents of thought shaping the modern world, and suggests that, like dust, the 'matter of history' can never go away or be erased. -- .

Plants, Patients, and the Historian examines the relationship between the act of historical recollection and the coming "age of genetic engineering." Paolo Palladino provides a history of genetics in Britain from its inception as an agricultural science in the early years of the twentieth century to its contemporary biomedical applications. The book focuses specifically on the institutionalization of two cases—plant breeding and the genetics of cancer. More subtly, however, the author suggests that the ability to tinker with genetic material—which is itself a form of history—changes our understanding of the past. Like plants and patients, the archive is not simply a repository of the past, but is instead the principle of formation of the past, the present, and the future. In explaining the similarities and their conceptual implications, the author argues further that the same principle of formation that creates the historical actor, the plant or patient that once was, also produces the historian or geneticist who is and will be. Theoretically informed and empirically substantiated, Plants, Patients, and the Historian is an innovative study at the intersection of critical theory, science and technology studies, and historiography.

A history of poisoning in the nineteenth century and in particular the case of Dr William Palmer, convicted of murder by poisoning, and how he baffled toxicologists, doctors, detectives and judges -- .

This exciting history of male prostitution in New York, the first detailed history of the hustler, draws the reader into the fascinating sexual culture of postwar America. its subject matter and style will appeal to a wide range of readers, especially those interested in the histories of sex, the city, masculinity, and American culture. -- .

Resisting History examines the unexpected origins of our modern notion of the subconscious. Written in a fresh and entertaining style, this concise volume argues that this fundamental tenet of psychological thought derives from the attempts of theologians, historians and psychologists to contain supernatural experience.

Mourning Becomes... challenges many supposed 'facts' about the concentration camps established by the British military during the South African War 1899-1902. -- .

Explores the intersection of historiography, critical theory, and science and technology studies, aiming to reaffirm the inescapable presence and necessity of the 'Absolute. -- .

An innovative and valuable text for students and specialists on the intellectual and political context of Walter Benjamin's unfinished masterpiece, The Arcades Project Authored by three literary scholars and one historian, all of whom are highly regarded in their respective fields Includes a special 'convoluted index', designed to.