Modern scholars often find it difficult to account for the profound eccentricities in the work of William Blake, dismissing them as either ahistorical or simply meaningless. But with this pioneering study, Saree Makdisi develops a reliable and comprehensive framework for understanding these peculiarities. According to Makdisi, Blake's poetry and drawings should compel us to reconsider the history of the 1790s. Tracing for the first time the many links among economics, politics, and religion in his work, Makdisi shows how Blake questioned and even subverted the commercial, consumerist, and political liberties that his contemporaries championed, all while developing his own radical aesthetic.

Across 1400 years and six continents (sorry, Australia), Impossible Histories examines pivotal moments in history from both sides—what happened and what would have happened had things gone differently. The results are by turns strange, hilarious, tragic...and always fascinating. Imagine a world in which... - Hitler builds a thousand-year Reich - Columbus gets driven from the Americas by mounted knights - Robespierre decapitates Caesar Augustus - The Inca Empire has an air force - Jimmy Carter presses the Button These brave new worlds are merely our own, familiar world—if something small had happened differently. We're all one elephant away from peace in the Middle East, one knife thrust away from nuclear Armageddon. This book examines twenty pivotal moments in history, asks what if?...,and drags the answers kicking and screaming into the light. History--factual and counterfactual has never been so entertaining. A whirlwind ride through history as it never happened--but could have.

Small Beginnings is Sara Thurman's story of how she became an artist. Follow along with her journey as she tells of the adventures of her youth, her passion for global missions and the process of becoming an artist. Her testimonies of God's goodness will surely inspire the inner artist in you.Take a step forward. Enjoy the process. Dare to hope for the impossible.

It is the dream of many to own the world’s most beautifully designed automobiles, but most often only a handful of collectors ever come close. Now, The Impossible Collection of Cars makes that dream come true, showcasing the one hundred most exceptional cars of the twentieth century in ASSOULINE's third volume in the Impossible Collection series. Each luxury automobile—from the 1909 Blitzen Benz to a 1996 McLaren F1—was chosen for its revolutionary engineering, magnificent lines, and head-turning capabilities. Assouline is pleased to announce this exquisite tome, which features cars owned by celebrities like Marlene Dietrich, Ralph Lauren, Greta Garbo, Pablo Picasso, and Elvis Presley. This Impossible Collection volume is presented on cotton paper in a beautiful black rubber clamshell box with a cutout metal plate.

Skateboarding: the background, technicality, culture, rebellion, marketing, conflict, and future of the global sport as seen through two of its most influential geniuses Since it all began half a century ago, skateboarding has come to mystify some and to mesmerize many, including its tens of millions of adherents throughout America and the world. And yet, as ubiquitous as it is today, its origins, manners, and methods are little understood. The Impossible aims to get skateboarding right. Journalist Cole Louison gets inside the history, culture, and major personalities of skating. He does solargely by recounting the careers of the sport’s Yoda—Rodney Mullen, who, in his mid-forties, remains the greatest skateboarder in the world, the godfather of all modern skateboarding tricks—and its Luke Skywalker—Ryan Sheckler, who became its youngest pro athlete and a celebrity at thirteen. The story begins in the 1960s, when the first boards made their way to land in the form of off-season surfing in southern California. It then follows the sport’s spikes, plateaus, and drops—including its billion-dollar apparel industry and its connection with art, fashion, and music. In The Impossible, we come to know intimately not only skateboarding, but also two very different, equally fascinating geniuses who have shaped the sport more than anyone else.

In this most recent addition to Assouline’s highly covetable and lauded Ultimate Collection, George Peper, former editor in chief of Golf magazine and 2016 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Journalism, takes readers on an incomparable golf journey as he travels the world detailing the 100 most significant, historically noteworthy, and architecturally paramount courses. Describing intricate holes that have confounded the game’s best, revisiting tournaments that have made and broken champions, and elucidating the unique and truly special characteristics of each course makes Peper the perfect golf partner as he walks readers through the clubhouses, fairways, and bunkers. From greens as old and hallowed as St Andrews to courses celebrating their first anniversary such as Nova Scotia’s Cabot Cliffs, from the island mountain course of China’s Shanqin Bay to the Hamptons’ Maidstone Club, Golf: The Impossible Collection is an unequivocal sensory treat for the golf fanatic, or the perfect feast to feed the wanderlust simmering in all of us.

A bold new history of the American presidency, arguing that the successful presidents of the past created unrealistic expectations for every president since JFK, with enormously problematic implications for American politics In The Impossible Presidency, celebrated historian Jeremi Suri charts the rise and fall of the American presidency, from the limited role envisaged by the Founding Fathers to its current status as the most powerful job in the world. He argues that the presidency is a victim of its own success-the vastness of the job makes it almost impossible to fulfill the expectations placed upon it. As managers of the world's largest economy and military, contemporary presidents must react to a truly globalized world in a twenty-four-hour news cycle. There is little room left for bold vision. Suri traces America's disenchantment with our recent presidents to the inevitable mismatch between presidential promises and the structural limitations of the office. A masterful reassessment of presidential history, this book is essential reading for anyone trying to understand America's fraught political climate.

In this limited edition, Ultimate Collection format linen clamshell and handmade oversized book, Valerie Steele flexes her curatorial muscle by showcasing the most iconic dresses of the twentieth century. From Poiret to Pucci, Doucet to Dior, Vionnet to Valentino, Steele selects one hundred dresses that caused a stir either on the runway or entering a room and ultimately inspired new directions in fashion. Steele’s selections include Paul Poiret's figure-liberating 1907 gown, Madame Grès’s sublimely draped goddess creation from 1938, Jean Paul Gaultier's shockingly exaggerated cone-bust corset dress circa 1984, and Hussein Chalayan’s awe-inspiring remote-control fiberglass Airplane dress from 2000. The compilation, while certainly subjective, is sure to receive nods of recognition along with a gasp or two of surprise.

Chronicles the development of feminist ideas and women's rights in America from the Salem witchcraft trials of the seventeenth century through the appointment of the first woman secretary of state in the late twentieth century.

Pablo Picasso redefined artwork throughout his extraordinary career, becoming indisputably one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. In this evocative volume, the artist’s granddaughter, Diana Widmaier Picasso, curates the 100 quintessential, unique works that define the evolution of this illustrious artist, creating a stunning compendium of pieces that simply could never all be acquired by a single collector. Casual art lovers know his Cubist work and the Guernica, but Picasso: The Impossible Collection manages to go deeper, revealing and revisiting some less ubiquitous yet equally powerful paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs from Picasso’s astonishing oeuvre.