The Old Boys

The Old Boys

Author: David Turner

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2015-04-28

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 0300213131

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To many in the United Kingdom, the British public school remains the disliked and mistrusted embodiment of privilege and elitism. They have educated many of the country’s top bankers and politicians over the centuries right up to the present, including the present Prime Minister. David Turner’s vibrant history of Great Britain’s public schools, from the foundation of Winchester College in 1382 to the modern day, offers a fresh reappraisal of the controversial educational system. Turner argues that public schools are, in fact, good for the nation and are presently enjoying their true “Golden Age,” countering the long-held belief that these institutions achieved their greatest glory during Great Britain’s Victorian Era. Turner’s engrossing and enlightening work is rife with colorful stories of schoolboy revolts, eccentric heads, shocking corruption, and financial collapse. His thoughtful appreciation of these learning establishments follows the progression of public schools from their sometimes brutal and inglorious pasts through their present incarnations as vital contributors to the economic, scientific, and political future of the country.


The English School (Volumes I and II)

The English School (Volumes I and II)

Author: Malcolm Seaborne

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-07-30

Total Pages: 751

ISBN-13: 1000807800

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Britain has a rich heritage of school buildings dating from the later Middle Ages to the present day. While some of these schools have attracted the attention of architectural historians, they have not previously been considered from the educational viewpoint. Even schools of little or no architectural interest are important sociologically, since the changing architecture of schools reflects changing ideas about how children should be educated and organized for teaching purposes. Documentary material relating to education is often fragmentary, and buildings may thus constitute the only real source of knowledge about the development of particular schools and can also throw light on general educational history. Originally published in 1971 and 1977, these books are, therefore, not only a major contribution to architectural history but also a study in the development of educational ideas and practices from the fourteenth to the twentieth century.


Philip's Phoenix

Philip's Phoenix

Author: Margaret P. Hannay

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1990-01-18

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 0195363353

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In contrast to previous studies that have portrayed Mary Sidney as a demure, retiring woman, this biography shows that she was actually an outspoken and dynamic figure. Basing her work on primary sources including account books, legal documents, diaries, and family letters, Hannay shows that Sidney was a vibrant, eloquent, self-assertive woman who was deeply involved in Protestant politics. Although she did confine her writings to appropriately feminine genres, she called herself "Sister of Philip Sidney" to establish a literary and political identity. As a Phoenix rising from her brother's ashes, she transcended gender restrictions by publishing her brother's writings, by writing and translating works which he would have approved, by assuming his role as literary patron, and by supporting the cause for which he died. Hannay also reveals--via court cases--that in her final years the countess turned from literary to administrative responsibilities, contending with jewel thieves, pirates, and murderers.


The Experience of Poetry

The Experience of Poetry

Author: Derek Attridge

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-01-28

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0192569589

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Was the experience of poetry—or a cultural practice we now call poetry—continuously available across the two-and-a-half millennia from the composition of the Homeric epics to the publication of Ben Jonson's Works and the death of Shakespeare in 1616? How did the pleasure afforded by the crafting of language into memorable and moving rhythmic forms play a part in the lives of hearers and readers in Ancient Greece and Rome, Europe during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and Britain during the Renaissance? In tackling these questions, this book first examines the evidence for the performance of the Iliad and the Odyssey and of Ancient Greek lyric poetry, the impact of the invention of writing on Alexandrian verse, the performances of poetry that characterized Ancient Rome, and the private and public venues for poetic experience in Late Antiquity. It moves on to deal with medieval verse, exploring the oral traditions that spread across Europe in the vernacular languages, the place of manuscript transmission, the shift from roll to codex and from papyrus to parchment, and the changing audiences for poetry. A final part investigates the experience of poetry in the English Renaissance, from the manuscript verse of Henry VIII's court to the anthologies and collections of the late Elizabethan era. Among the topics considered in this part are the importance of the printed page, the continuing significance of manuscript circulation, the performance of poetry in pageants and progresses, and the appearance of poets on the Elizabethan stage. In tracking both continuity and change across these many centuries, the book throws fresh light on the role and importance of poetry in western culture.


Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Author: Andrew Norman

Publisher: Skyhorse

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13: 1629140740

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Charles Darwin did not deliberately set out to be the “destroyer of mythical beliefs,” some of which, in his early days as a young Christian, he had previously espoused. He was a modest man who liked to avoid controversy of any kind, yet paradoxically, he was to be the cause of the greatest controversy in the history of science and religion. When Darwin embarked on the HMS Beagle in late December 1831, bound for the southern hemisphere, he could not have imagined that the experience would lead him to formulate a theory which would totally revolutionize the way in which we viewed the natural world. He did not come to his conclusions about the origin and evolution of all life on Earth quickly, though, for just as the living organisms to which his theory applied had evolved over millions of years, so his thinking evolved as his own life progressed. How did this thoughtful, methodical scientist come to have such an impact on his time—and on ours? These questions and more are what Andrew Norman seeks to answer in this biography of the author of The Origin of Species. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.