Bøker utgitt av Reaktion Books

In Coffee: A Global History, Jonathan Morris explains how the world acquired a taste for coffee, yet why coffee tastes so different throughout the world. Written in an engaging style, and featuring wonderful recipes, stories and facts, the book explores who drank coffee, as well as why and where, how it was prepared and what it tasted like.

A new interpretation of Tycho Brahe's pivotal role in the emergence of empirical science.

The most exciting book on Vikings for a generation, Laughing Shall I Die presents them for what they were: not peaceful explorers and traders, but bloodthirsty warriors and marauders.

An introduction to the lives and works of the most influential economists of modern times.

The rich history of the intoxicating and evocative spice, vanilla.

Georgia is the most Western-looking state in today's Near or Middle East. This book begins with the first intimations of the existence of Georgians in ancient Anatolia and ends with today's volatile President Saakashvili. It also deals with the country's struggles with the empires which have tried to control, fragment or even exterminate it.

In this best-selling book David Batchelor analyzes the motivations behind the widespread fear of colour within Western culture, considering the work of writers and philosophers who have used colour as a significant motif, and offering new interpretations of familiar texts and works of art. 'a hugely entertaining guide to our ongoing obsession with white' - Time Out

This sumptuously illustrated book tells the remarkable story of the mulberry tree.

A new book from Reaktion best-selling author and artist, David Batchelor, The Luminous and the Grey is a unique study of the places where colour comes into being and where it fades away.

Featuring a wealth of illustrations, a fungi-filled tour of the importance of mushrooms, from the enchanted forests of folklore to their role in sustaining life on earth. Mushrooms hold a peculiar place in our culture: we love them and despise them, fear them and misunderstand them. They can be downright delicious or deadly poisonous, cute as buttons, or utterly grotesque. These strange organisms hold great symbolism in our myths and legends. In this book, Nicholas P. Money tells the utterly fascinating story of mushrooms and the ways we have interacted with these fungi throughout history. Whether they have populated the landscapes of fairytales, lent splendid umami to our dishes, or steered us into deep hallucinations, mushrooms have affected humanity from the earliest beginnings of our species. As Money explains, mushrooms are not self-contained organisms like animals and plants. Rather, they are the fruiting bodies of large--sometimes extremely large--colonies of mycelial threads that spread underground and permeate rotting vegetation. Because these colonies decompose organic matter, they are of extraordinary ecological value and have a huge effect on the health of the environment. From sustaining plant growth and spinning the carbon cycle to causing hay fever and affecting the weather, mushrooms affect just about everything we do. Money tells the stories of the eccentric pioneers of mycology, delights in culinary powerhouses like porcini and morels, and considers the value of medicinal mushrooms. This book takes us on a tour of the cultural and scientific importance of mushrooms, from the enchanted forests of folklore to the role of these fungi in sustaining life on earth.

A rogues' gallery of the worst leaders in military history.

An beautifully illustrated account of the sea and its meanings, from ancient myths to contemporary geopolitics.

A nuanced, provocative new account of the life and work of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

A superbly illustrated overview of our long relationship with our feathered friends.

A selective yet wide-ranging anthology of concrete poetry edited by curator Nancy Perloff, which redefines what the concrete poetry movement means today.

A vibrant account of both the sensuous cultural scene of postwar Paris and the life of an alluring icon of modern art. Isidore Isou was a young Jew in wartime Bucharest who barely survived the Romanian Holocaust. He made his way to Paris, where, in 1945, he founded the avant-garde movement Lettrism, described as the missing link between Dada, Surrealism, Situationism, and May '68. In Speaking East, Andrew Hussey presents a colorful picture of the postwar Left Bank, where Lettrist fists flew in avantgarde punch-ups in Jazz clubs and cafés, and where Isou--as sexy and as charismatic as the young Elvis--gathered around him a group of hooligan disciples who argued, drank, and had sex with the Parisian intellectual élite. This is a vibrant account of the life and times of a pivotal figure in the history of modern art.

A humane, thoughtful and yet clear-eyed history of people with learning disabilities since 1700.

Sheds new light on Qatar, a country that has previously defied explanation.

An original, comprehensive account of influential European director Andrei Tarkovsky, which examines his entire film output, as well as works for radio, theatre and opera .

Carol Mavor takes in the many shades and meanings of the colour blue, including those of science, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Slavery, gender, sex, ornithology, the literary past, and film.

A compelling guide to prediction, a subject that is vital to modern existence.

A fresh and exciting reappraisal of folklore outlaw Robin Hood.

Through lively anecdotes, colourful pictures and delicious recipes, Jeff Miller explores the meteoric rise of the avocado.

A new cultural and natural history of the flashing, iridescent kingfisher.

A beautifully illustrated celebration of the hat, a stylish, practical and important accessory.

Dogs in Art presents humanity's best friend like never before.

Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a celebration of the bicycle by French anthropologist Marc Auge.