The experience of shifting from one social class to another—from a dominated group to a dominant group—raises the question of how the upwardly mobile person relates to his/her group of origin. Stepping into the Elite traces the particular ways in which upwardly mobile people in India, France, and the United States—countries embodying three distinct stratification systems—make sense of this change. Given that people draw upon specific cultural tools or repertoires to analyse their world and situate themselves in it, Naudet identifies the extent to which narratives of ‘success’ vary from one country to another. For instance, he explains that while stories in a caste-ridden society such as India hinge on the preservation of bonds with the original class, in France, they are centered on the idea that an upwardly mobile person is alienated from all social groups. In the United States, on the other hand, the rhetoric of success is tinged by the ardent belief in the American society being classless. A sociological journey in three different cultural contexts, this book deftly ties the exploration of questions regarding transformation of social identity and views on being successful.

"Brilliant. One of those rare books that forces you to ask what the hell you're doing with your life." --George Monbiot, The Guardian **One of Forbes' 13 Best Books for Summer 2017** We've all heard the saying "seize the day." But what does it really mean--and how can we use it to jumpstart our lives? In the age of distraction, carpe diem is more essential than ever, and yet many of us simply don't employ it in our lives. In this thought-provoking and empowering book, cultural writer Roman Krznaric unpacks the history, philosophy, and modern-day applications of "seizing the day" and delivers a rousing call to action for anyone who wants to improve their lives--or our world. Carpe Diem is a far-ranging read, drawing on everything from the neuropsychology of regret to the anthropology of play, from medieval carnival rites to religious conceptions of the afterlife and early Japanese cinema. Offering food for thought as well as inspiring takeaways, the book examines not just the contributions of great thinkers throughout history, but also reveals insights from the lives of great seize-the-day practitioners including nightclub dancers, war photographers, bored housewives, and committed revolutionaries--offering a wide range of solutions to the daunting challenge of leading a meaningful life.

Hitchins traces how Rumania's political and intellectual élites attempted to create an independent state before the advent of communist rule in 1947.

This first full-length study fosters a greater understanding of Hovenden's gifts as a painter and of his stylistic contribution to art. Chronologically organized, it is both a retrospective of Hovenden's work and a critical biography of the artist.

The intrigue began with a triple homicide in a luxury apartment building just steps from the Champs-Elyseés, in March 1887. A high-class prostitute and two others, one of them a child, had been stabbed to death—the latest in a string of unsolved murders targeting women of the Parisian demimonde. Newspapers eagerly reported the lurid details, and when the police arrested Enrico Pranzini, a charismatic and handsome Egyptian migrant, the story became an international sensation. As the case descended into scandal and papers fanned the flames of anti-immigrant politics, the investigation became thoroughly enmeshed with the crisis-driven political climate of the French Third Republic and the rise of xenophobic right-wing movements. Aaron Freundschuh's account of the "Pranzini Affair" recreates not just the intricacies of the investigation and the raucous courtroom trial, but also the jockeying for status among rival players—reporters, police detectives, doctors, and magistrates—who all stood to gain professional advantage and prestige. Freundschuh deftly weaves together the sensational details of the case with the social and political undercurrents of the time, arguing that the racially charged portrayal of Pranzini reflects a mounting anxiety about the colonial "Other" within France's own borders. Pranzini's case provides a window into a transformational decade for the history of immigration, nationalism, and empire in France.

History in all its forms is more popular nowadays than ever. History programmes on television can attract audiences in the millions, as do top heritage sites, while growing numbers of people pursue family and local history and join historical re-enactment societies. A bestselling history book can nowadays outsell a popular novel, something almost unimaginable fifty years ago. Who are the men and women who have helped make the past of such absorbing interest to the present, and how have they done so? In his stimulating anthology of essays about the life and work of some of our leading historians, Daniel Snowman provides a vivid snapshot of history and historians in our new century. Included in Historians are: Jeremy Black, John Brewer, Asa Briggs, Peter Burke, David Cannadine, Linda Colley, Norman Davies, Natalie Zemon Davis, Christopher Dyer, Richard J. Evans, Niall Ferguson, Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Orlando Figes, Eric Foner, Roy Foster, Antonia Fraser, Eric Hobsbawm, Geoffrey Hosking, Lisa Jardine, John Keegan, Ian Kershaw, John Morrill, Laurence Rees, Lyndal Roper, Simon Schama, Peter Stansky, David Starkey, Theodore Zeldin.

The twentieth century has seen both the greatest triumph of Jewish history and its greatest tragedy: the birth of the nation of Israel, and the state-sponsored genocide of the Holocaust. A People Apart is the first study to examine the role played by the Jews themselves, across the whole ofEurope, during the century and a half leading up to these events.David Vital explores the Jews' troubled relationship with Europe, documenting the struggles of this 'nation without a territory' to establish a place for itself within an increasingly polarized and nationalist continent. He examines the clash within the Jewish community between politically neutraltraditionalists and a new group of activists, whose unprecedented demands for national and political self-determination were stimulated both by increasing civil emancipation and the mounting effort to drive the Jews out of Europe altogether. Controversially, Professor Vital concludes that thehistory of the Jewish people was indeed in crucial respects although certainly not all of their own making; at times by their own autonomous action and choice; at others by inaction and default.This powerful and stimulating new analysis represents a watershed in our understanding of the history of the Jews in Europe.

Originally published in 1989. This is the first history of modern France to explore the long-term origins of the libertarian revolt. It traces the moral history from the eighteenth century to the 1960s, examining the questions of marriage and divorce, homosexuality, and sexual morality. It includes detailed chapters on the Marquis de Sade, Charles Fourier, André Gide, and Daniel Guérin in order to illustrate the changing legislation, popular thought and public opinion. The result is an enlightening and provocative account which will be of interest to students of modern French history, moral thought and the history of sexual attitudes.

Giacomo Meyerbeer was once one of the most famous of all opera composers, enjoying into the twentieth century the same universal admiration and performance as a composer like Puccini does today. Through a series of adverse factors, his reputation was seriously damaged with the resurgence of nationalism and the growing ant-Semitism in France and Germany at the end of the nineteenth century, the propagation of a Wagnerian operatic aesthetic, the decline of the bel canto vocal tradition, and the disfavour manifested towards the heroism of French grand opera. All these factors, and especially the ban on his music in Nazi Germany, meant that Meyerbeer’s reputation was seriously overshadowed in the years after the Second World War. During the 1960s and 1970s, a tentative interest began to manifest itself, and with the advent of the new millennium, a growing rediscovery of his operas has been apparent. Not least in this process has been the recovery of all the composer’s private papers and their scholarly editing. His life and work have been the subject of a growing number of informed studies which have enabled radical reassessment. This volume takes a fresh look at this process of rediscovery by considering the composer in terms of the primary sources (diaries and letters) now available for forming a more complete and detailed biography unclouded by prejudicial or uninformed opinions. The extraordinary nature of Meyerbeer’s Jewish background and the role of this family in Prussian emancipation are also considered. Most importantly, however, his life and works are presented in a critical chronology that is fundamentally based on his own private papers, with testimony (both positive and negative) from many contemporary sources. A detailed iconography is integral to this process, and helps to bring Meyerbeer's story and music more vividly to life.