Volume 1. From the beginnings to Old Kingdom Egypt and the dynasty of Akkad.

A finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Chautauqua Prize “Not simply another detail of the Holocaust but a matter of enduring existential, psychological and moral reflection.” —Johnathan Brent, New York Times Book Review With a new epilogue and reading group guide featuring a Q&A and commentary with Tara Zahra, author of The Great Departure Despite decades of outstanding writing about the Holocaust, the full story of roughly a quarter million Jews who survived Nazi extermination in the Soviet interior, Central Asia, and the Middle East is nearly unknown, even to their descendants. Investigating her late father’s mysterious identity as a “Tehran Child,” literary scholar Mikhal Dekel delved deep into archives —including Soviet files not previously available to Western scholars—on three continents. She pursued the path of these Holocaust refugees from remote Kolyma in Siberia to Tashkent in Uzbekistan and, with the help of an Iranian friend and colleague, to Tehran. It was there that her father, aunt, and nearly a thousand other Jewish refugee children survived the war. Dekel’s part-memoir, part-history, part-literary-political reflection on fate, identity, and memory uncovers the lost story of Jewish refuge in Muslim lands, the complex global politics behind whether refugees live or die, and the collective identity-creation that determines the past we remember.

The Oxford Handbook of the State in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean offers a comprehensive survey of ancient state formation in western Eurasia and North Africa. Eighteen experts introduce readers to a wide variety of systems spanning 4,000 years, from the earliest known states in world history to the Roman Empire and its immediate successors. They seek to understand the inner workings of these states by focusing on key issues: political and military power, the impact of ideologies, the rise and fall of individual polities, and the mechanisms of cooperation, coercion, and exploitation. This shared emphasis on critical institutions and dynamics invites comparative and cross-cultural perspectives. A detailed introductory review of contemporary approaches to the study of the state puts the rich historical case studies in context. Transcending conventional boundaries between ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean history and between ancient and early medieval history, this volume will be of interest not only to historians but also anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, and political scientists. Its accessible style and up-to-date references will make it an invaluable resource for both students and scholars.

As "the English Athens," Oxford has long been seen as central to England's intellectual life. For over six centuries the city has been lauded, slighted, and cited in the pages of English literature. While it has been hailed as the embodiment of excellence, beauty, and truth on the one hand, it has also been attacked for its elitism, insularity, and traditionalism on the other. Oxford in English Literature provides for the first time an overview of these literary representations, ranging from Chaucer's account of medieval students to modern-day detective stories set in the city. The book begins with the early university, possibly founded by an eighth-century princess named Frideswide. The volume moves on through the Middle Ages with Chaucer's clerks and Foxe's martyrs. Oxford in English Literature touches on more recent centuries with Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland, Matthew Arnold, Max Beerbohm and Evelyn Waugh, and the "Infamous St. Oscar." Following the rise of the colleges, the literature becomes characterized by a sense of insulation, for the closed collegiate structure led to elitism and eccentricity. The notion of the university as a paradise of youth, beauty, and intelligence led to the so-called Oxford myth and the backlash against it after World War II. The underlying argument of John Dougill's work is that the defining symbol of Oxford is not so much the dreaming spire as the college wall. In Oxford literature the college is depicted as a world of its own--secluded, conservative, and eccentric, driven by its own rituals. Idealized, it becomes a cloistered utopia, an Athenian city-state, a fantasy wonderland, or an Arcadian idyll. Exclusivity led to resentment from those on the outside, as is evident in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. With the advent of democratic and egalitarian values in the twentieth century, the privilege and elitism of the university has come under increasing attack, as has the whole notion of the "English Athens." Oxford in English Literature is aimed at the general reader interested in the literature and history of a very unusual town. Its familiar subject and the inclusion of numerous rare and specially commissioned illustrations and photographs make this a compelling book. John Dougill is Associate Professor of English Literature, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan. He is an Oxford graduate and author of The Writers of English Literature.

"Oxford and Its Story" by Cecil Headlam. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.