The public sphere can undermine liberal democracy, law, and morality. But it also liberates us from the bondages of private life and fosters a vital aesthetic experience.

The public sphere is the realm of appearances - not citizenship. Its central event is spectacle - not dialogue. Marked by an asymmetry between the few who act and the many who watch, and subjecting all its contents to visibility, the public sphere can undermine liberal democracy, law, and morality. But the public sphere also liberates us from the burdens and bondages of private life and fosters an existentially vital aesthetic experience. Reign of Appearances uses a great variety of cases to reveal the logic of the public sphere, including homosexuality in Victorian England; the 2008 crash; antisemitism in Europe; confidence in American presidents; communications in social media; special prosecutor investigations; the visibility of African-Americans; violence during the French Revolution; the Islamic veil; contemporary sexual politics; public executions; and pricing in art. This unconventional account of the public sphere is critical reading for anyone who wants to understand the effects of visibility in urban life, politics, and the media.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997.

"This main character has echoes of Rylee Adamson, yet still holds her own flare, the world building is unique and the book has some beautiful snarky humor that left me gobbling it up! The author has a deft hand at bringing bad ass women to life, I can't wait for book two!"~~ReviewerThe Witch's Reign...a land of unnatural hellish cold ruled over by the Ice Witch herself, who is in turn guarded by three creatures-Wolf, Bear, and Raven. Those lovely beasts derive their power directly from their mistress and just happen to kill any who cross their paths. To get THERE, you first must pass through the Dragon's Ground. Full of, you guessed it, dragons who for the record, also do not like trespassers.Sounds like a fun place to go, doesn't it? Yeah, not so much. You see the thing is my best friend, Darcy was sent with a team into the Witch's Reign to recover a powerful jewel that belongs to our mentor, and they are long overdue to come back. That leaves me, Zamira "Reckless" Wilson to go after my friend because no one else will. Somehow, I get saddled with a human-a male no less!-tagging along for the ride. A human that is as weak and useless as my shifting abilities. Throw in a weapon that might be trying to kill me, and a small dragon that has a penchant for Shakespearean insults, and you've got my life in a nutshell.May the sands of the desert swallow me whole because this is going to be a friggin bumpy ride.

In this text, David Starkey examines the personalities and politics of Henry VIII in Great Britain during the years 1509-1547.

The first full and authoritative biography of an American—indeed a world-wide—musical and cultural legend “No one worked harder than B.B. No one inspired more up-and-coming artists. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues.”—President Barack Obama “He is without a doubt the most important artist the blues has ever produced.”—Eric Clapton Riley “Blues Boy” King (1925-2015) was born into deep poverty in Jim Crow Mississippi. Wrenched away from his sharecropper father, B.B. lost his mother at age ten, leaving him more or less alone. Music became his emancipation from exhausting toil in the fields. Inspired by a local minister’s guitar and by the records of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker, encouraged by his cousin, the established blues man Bukka White, B.B. taught his guitar to sing in the unique solo style that, along with his relentless work ethic and humanity, became his trademark. In turn, generations of artists claimed him as inspiration, from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Carlos Santana and the Edge. King of the Blues presents the vibrant life and times of a trailblazing giant. Witness to dark prejudice and lynching in his youth, B.B. performed incessantly (some 15,000 concerts in 90 countries over nearly 60 years)—in some real way his means of escaping his past. Several of his concerts, including his landmark gig at Chicago’s Cook County Jail, endure in legend to this day. His career roller-coasted between adulation and relegation, but he always rose back up. At the same time, his story reveals the many ways record companies took advantage of artists, especially those of color. Daniel de Visé has interviewed almost every surviving member of B.B. King’s inner circle—family, band members, retainers, managers, and more—and their voices and memories enrich and enliven the life of this Mississippi blues titan, whom his contemporary Bobby “Blue” Bland simply called “the man.”