What might a descendant-benefi- ciary of such a heinous crime do when confronted with the reality of this scenario, and finding a spark of human horror within seeks to at least understand? Enter into the worlds of the most shadowy of memories; undertake to collect and collate memory of the crime scene; approach with utter rever- ence the weight of tragic knowing that descendants bear. [...] By the way, I use the metonym 'Occident' to refer to the ideological space from which the originators and architects of the ca- tastrophe that became colonialism emerged, for the sake of aetiology and the tomb-poking process that is this presentation. [...] But what to do with it when trauma is a multi- prism, multi-form, distinct-char- acter presence? At the core of the tragedy of colonialism is the sad- ness of wilful destruction of the gift and treasure of the intimacy of humanity, of what-could-have- been. [...] The role and power of the African space as a listener to the history of the Occidental is quite possible in the goal towards the re-humanisa- tion of all peoples. [...] Begin, at last, the real age of human discovery of the human and of the custodianship of the earth using the instruments of your time: technology, platforms, codes that confuse us.

Lurianics tells the story of a youngish man – one Isaac Luria (namesake of one of the world's great Kabbalists) – who seeks to create a "true work" which will give his life a meaning that is uniquely beyond label. Set on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the novel anatomizes this unlikely hero's ambivalence-racked relationships with a veritable cast of thousands, all of whom have one thing in common – a craving to derail his every attempt to get on with the job. They include: a smugly go-getting kid brother, a hyper-articulate mystery woman, and assorted bosses, co-workers, composers and filmmakers living and dead, ballet stars, murdered doormen, stuff-strutting sparrows, and honey locusts about to bloom. But chaos does not always reign supreme and in the end every encounter plays its part in forcing Luria to confront the ultimate question: Does he have the guts not just to erect his Valhalla (any fool can do that) but to erect it with the only building blocks worth a damn, i.e., the very things befouling the path?

While the economic involvement of early modern Germany in slavery and the slave trade is increasingly receiving attention, the direct participation of Germans in human trafficking remains a blind spot in historiography. This edited volume focuses on practices of enslavement taking place within German territories in the early modern period as well as on the people of African, Asian, and Native American descent caught up in them.

Explores how European nations were remade by the end of empire, through the history of 'returning' settlers from Portuguese Africa.

From Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, his 1992 graduate collection, to Plato's Atlantis, the last show before his death in 2010, Lee Alexander McQueen was as celebrated for the exquisite tailoring, meticulous craftsmanship, and stunning originality of his designs as he was notorious for his theatrical—and often controversial—runway shows. McQueen found inspiration for his avant-garde collections everywhere: his Scottish ancestry, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Yoruba mythology, the destruction of the environment—even the fashion industry itself. Whatever his inspiration, however, McQueen’s concept for his runway show came first and was crucial to the development of the collection. Every show had a narrative and was staged with his characteristic dramatic flair. Highland Rape featured disheveled models smeared with “blood” staggering down the runway in town clothes. In Scanners, two robots sprayed paint on a model trapped on a spinning platform. In Widows of Culloden, a hologram of supermodel Kate Moss held center stage. Other McQueen shows staged models walking through water, drifting snowflakes, rain, and wind tunnels; pole-dancing in garish makeup at a carnival, playing living pieces in a bizarre chess game, and performing with trained dancers in a Depression-era-style marathon. Illustrated throughout with stunning photography and liberally sprinkled with quotations from McQueen and those who knew him best, Alexander McQueen: Evolution is the story of the designer’s thirty-five runway shows and the genius behind them.

From 1884 to 1914, the world's fourth-largest overseas colonial empire was that of the German Kaiserreich. Yet this fact is little known in Germany and the subject remains virtually absent from most school textbooks. While debates are now common in France and Britain over the impact of empire on former colonies and colonizing societies, German imperialism has only more recently become a topic of wider public interest. In 2015, the German government belatedly and half-heartedly conceded that the extermination policies carried out over 1904-8 in the settler colony of German South West Africa (now Namibia) qualify as genocide. But the recent invigoration of debate on Germany's colonial past has been hindered by continued amnesia, denialism and a populist right endorsing colonial revisionism. A recent campaign against postcolonial studies sought to denounce and ostracize any serious engagement with the crimes of the imperial age. Henning Melber presents an overview of German colonial rule and analyses how its legacy has affected and been debated in German society, politics and the media. He also discusses the quotidian experiences of Afro-Germans, the restitution of colonial loot, and how the history of colonialism affects important institutions such as the Humboldt Forum.

Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is a monumental tale of justice, love, sacrifice, and redemption, set against the turbulent backdrop of 19th-century France. This new translation of the original French text brings a fresh, contemporary voice to Hugo’s masterpiece, while staying faithful to the richness and emotional depth of the original. At the heart of the story is Jean Valjean, a man condemned for stealing a loaf of bread, who embarks on a lifelong journey of transformation and moral awakening. Alongside him are unforgettable characters like Fantine, the tragic mother forced into despair, and Javert, the relentless inspector driven by an unwavering sense of duty. Their lives intersect with the sweeping forces of revolution, poverty, and justice in a narrative that is both epic in scale and deeply personal. What sets this translation apart is its clarity and accessibility for modern readers, without losing the grandeur and poetic intensity of Hugo’s original prose. By capturing the full range of Hugo's language, from his vivid character portrayals to his sharp social critique, this edition ensures that the novel’s timeless themes of hope, forgiveness, and the fight for justice resonate just as powerfully today as they did when first published. With its vibrant translation, Les Misérables continues to stand as one of the most powerful and enduring works in all of literature.

Far off the edge of human existence, beside a dying star lies a nameless ship abandoned and hidden, lost for a millennium. But there are secrets there, terrible secrets that would change the fate of humanity, and eventually someone will come looking. Refugee, criminal and linguist Sean Wren is made an offer he knows he can’t refuse: life in prison, “voluntary” military service – or salvaging data in a long-dead language from an abandoned ship filled with traps and monsters, just days before it’s destroyed in a supernova. Data connected to the Philosopher’s Stone experiments, into unlocking the secrets of immortality. And he’s not the only one looking for the derelict ship. The Ministers, mysterious undying aliens that have ruled over humanity for centuries, want the data – as does The Republic, humanity’s last free government. And time is running out. In the bowels of the derelict ship, surrounded by horrors and dead men, Sean slowly uncovers the truth of what happened on the ship, in its final days… and the terrible secret it’s hiding.