Today culture is everywhere as maybe never before. We read culture reviews, watch culture shows, live in Cities of Culture, and witness the Cultural Olympiad. Government, museums and arts councils worry that we are not getting enough culture and shape policy around notions of art and culture for all. Access and inclusion are in. Difficulty and exclusivity out. In "e;Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination"e; Angus Kennedy asks if this explosion of culture, and the breaking down of distinctions between high and low culture, has emancipated us or left us adrift without cultural moorings. Is it true that all cultures are equal? Is cultural diversity a good thing? Is it unacceptably elitist to insist on the highest standards of judgment? To argue that some cultural works stand the test of time and some don't? Can anyone dare to call themselves cultured anymore? Might it even be the case that culture no longer actually means anything much to us? That our nervousness about exercising discrimination and good taste - the erosion of cultural authority - might have left us with a culture that may be open to all, but lacking in depth? This provocative book strikes a blow for discrimination in culture and argues that there is a responsibility on each of us as individuals to always be becoming more cultured beings: our best selves. Kennedy revisits the tradition - from Cicero to Kant, Arnold to Arendt - of autonomy in culture: both in the sense of its intrinsic value and how it rests on our individual freedom - quite apart from state and society - to discriminate and judge. A freedom, without which, we risk a widening culture of consensus and conformity. But which is the constitutive element of a world in common.

Good hair day? Bad hair day? Hair has always evoked strong emotions.In this fascinating book, Patricia Malcolmson examines how British women over the past 150 years have managed their hair, from the extravagant styles of the late nineteenth century to the 'anything goes' attitude of today, taking in along the way the daring bobs of the 1920s, the wartime styles of women in uniform, the slavish copying of Hollywood stars, the beehive, the hippy and the Goth. In Me and My Hair you'll hear the voices of women from around Britain talking about their hair - whether it's their longing to have 'Shirley Temple' curls, the visits of the nit nurse, their first home perm, roasting under hood dryers, going platinum blonde, hilarious experiments with hair extensions, or fears of going grey.

Twenty-first century British kids are more comfortable with ethnic diversity than ever before. The 'mixed race' population is rising exponentially. In school playgrounds across Britain, kids are inventing a version of colour-blind, multi-ethnic interaction that should teach the adult world a thing or two - not least about the amazing, superdiverse generation that is to come.And yet, for over a decade, playgrounds and classrooms have endured unprecedented interference in the form of official racist-incident reporting, training on the importance of racial etiquette, and the reinforcement of racial identities. Such interference is viewed by modern day anti-racists as a necessary bulwark against the creeping influence of the far-right, 'Islamophobia', and more generally the supposed covert racism of the wider population. Many official policy documents written under the influence of this approach insist a failure to tackle racist behaviour at the earliest age will allow racism to incubate and grow. Here, 'racism' is something defined by the notion of what constitutes hate speech or wounding words. Often it can be detected from an entirely innocent phrase, so long as the phrase is perceived by the offence-taker or another party or policy as 'racist'.This mindset has, in recent years, permeated public discourse on the subject. Evidence of racism - such as a gaffe by a politician or celebrity, or a footballer's on-pitch insult - is always 'the tip of iceberg' (the moment that racist society breaks the surface and is revealed to all). The idea of a hidden mass of racists in our midst explains the advent of a racism-watch approach that turns up the attenuator and trawls the nooks and crannies of everyday life for tell-tale signs. Moreover, PC anti-racism synthesises many of today's worst cultural trends: the erosion of free speech and of adult moral authority; the elevation of victimhood and of identity politics (particularly the reinstatement of racial identity); the misanthropic view of rotten, vulnerable humanity (where the state becomes purifier); the cult of child protection and the emergence of a degraded and vulgar conception of child development.It is with some irony, then, that modern day anti-racism can be argued as having taken over from old-fashioned racism as the dominant racialising force in British society.

Emily had planted a tiny sunflower seed in her garden but it was not growing. So her Daddy took her to visit Mrs Handbag, a colourful lady with crazy hair and a sparkly dress. Could Mrs Handbag work some magic on Emily's seed? An ideal story for reading aloud to small children, with delightful colour illustrations.

Is good fortune just a matter of luck? Or being born under the right star? In this compelling book, Murdo MacLeod shows how you can load the dice in your own favour. Murdo MacLeod's easy-to-follow programme demonstrates how to harness the power within you in order to achieve:material wealthperfect healthpersonal charmthe conquest of anxietyFirst published in 1932, How to Achieve Good Fortune is strikingly modern in its approach, not just in its promotion of the 'power of positive thinking', but also in the method of picturing what it is that you desire. Many of the ideas that Murdo MacLeod proposed have since been taken up in New Age philosophy, particularly the concept of 'Cosmic Mind'.

The reality and validity of the moral sense - which ordinary people take for granted - took a battering in the last century. Materialist trends in philosophy, decline in religious faith, and a loosening of traditional moral constraints contributed to a shift in public attitudes, with many decent honest folk both aware of a questioning of moral claims and uneasy with a world that has no place for the moral dimension. Haslam shows how important the moral sense is to the human personality and exposes the weakness in much current thinking that suggests otherwise. His goal is to help the reader to a mature and confident understanding of the moral mind, which constitutes an essential part of what it is to be human.

Walking around Lee-on-the-Solent provides tantalising glimpses into its past - whether it's the balconied Victorian buildings in Pier Street, the Art Deco frontages above the shops in Marine Parade West, the airfield with its gliders soaring peacefully overhead, the hovercraft museum, the sight of yachts on the sparkling waters of the Solent, or the lengthy list of names on the War Memorial. And perhaps you remember, or have heard talk of, the Tower with its ballroom and cinema, the Pier Hotel in its heyday, and the outdoor swimming pool?But what's the real story behind the history of Lee-on-the-Solent? Whether you are a resident or a visitor, you are bound to discover something new in this fascinating account. Why would Isle of Wight monks build a windmill at Lee? Why would you have needed the help of the baker's boy if you wanted to get a train at Elmore Halt? What was on offer at Bulson's Stores and Pleasure Retreat? Why was a rainstorm so popular at the Anglican church? Why did the last two Englishmen to fight a duel choose Browndown as the venue? What made prefabs the envy of many residents? And why was a patch of grass in the wildgrounds always tended in the shape of a cross? You'll find the answer to these questions and many more in Exploring the History of Lee-on-the-Solent.Best of all, you'll discover why you should raise a glass to John Robinson, the Victorian entrepreneur without whom Lee-on-the-Solent would surely not exist.

In Church-going, Going, Gone! Michael Horan argues that although the Christian church in Britain may be in terminal decline, that is not to be equated with a national decline in spiritual values. Most if not all people have some level of awareness of what he calls the 'Other-than-oneself', even though they have rejected, or never accepted, the church's now outdated teaching. Church-going, Going, Gone! is concerned less with teaching than with learning. The book provides atheists, agnostics and believers-in-exile, as well as those who have given little thought to belief, with a framework for collaborating as learners, working toward equality, peace and reconciliation, and dedicated to unselfish and imaginative social action. A new movement of the human spirit is beginning.

Wormwood Scrubs is Britain's most 'media-soaked' prison. Its celebrity inmates have provided the tabloids with many good stories, from Rolling Stone Keith Richards - banged up for drugs offences - to notorious spy George Blake, whose escape enthralled the country. It has entertained the Master of the Queen's music, Sir Michael Tippett, socialist scrapper Fred Copeman, rebellious soul Pete Doherty, influential writer Joe Orton, lifetime litigant Lord Alfred Douglas, fraudster John Stonehouse and professional con Charles Bronson.In this book, you'll read about the forgotten, as well as the famous; the plain as well as the extraordinary. It is an enthralling gallery of rogues, liars, spies, mountebanks, lovers of courtroom strife and general, all-round villains who did anything to get rich.

Liberal education used to command wide political support. Radicals disagreed with conservatives on whether the best culture could be appreciated by everyone, and they disagreed, too, on whether the barriers to understanding it were mainly social and economic, but there was no dispute that any worthwhile education ought to hand on the best that has been thought and said. That consensus has vanished since the 1960s. The book examines why social radicals supported liberal education, why they have moved away from it, and what the implications are for the future of an intellectually stimulating and culturally literate education.

Alone in the Crowd discusses the identity of nineteenth-century Paris, one of the most widely imaged cities in the modern world, whose most enduring attribute is that of a city of spectacle - a city of the pleasure of looking and being looked at simultaneously. Did Haussmann's re-figuring of the city, with its unrelenting straight boulevards, stirring vistas and uniform buildings, create a 'mass produced' image of Paris? If so, who benefited - and who lost out - in the construction of this new identity? Did the boulevards represent dystopia as well as utopia?

Plan for six weeks of learning covering all six areas of learning and development of the EYFS through the topic of the twelve days of Christmas. The Planning for Learning series is a series of topic books written around the Early Years Foundation Stage designed to make planning easy. This book takes you through 12 days of activities on the theme of the 12 days of Christmas. Each activity is linked to a specific Early Learning Goal, and the book contains a skills overview so that practitioners can keep track of which areas of learning and development they are promoting. This book also includes a photocopiable page to give to parents with ideas for them to get involved with their children's topic, as well as ideas for bringing the six weeks of learning together. The weekly themes in this book include: ideas for advent, the Christmas story, Christmas cards and decorations, and organising your very own Christmas party.

At first glance, issues like economic inequality, healthcare, climate change, and abortion seem unrelated. However, when thinking and talking about them, people reliably fall into two camps: conservative and liberal. What explains this divide? Why do conservatives and liberals hold the positions they do? And what is the conceptual nature of those who decide elections, commonly called the "e;political middle"e;?The answers are profound. They have to do with how our minds and brains work. Political attitudes are the product of what cognitive scientists call Embodied Cognition - the grounding of abstract thought in everyday world experience. Clashing beliefs about how to run nations largely arise from conflicting beliefs about family life: conservatives endorse a strict father and liberals a nurturant parent model. So-called "e;middle"e; voters are not in the middle at all. They are morally biconceptual, divided between both models, and as a result highly susceptible to moral political persuasion.In this brief introduction, Lakoff and Wehling reveal how cognitive science research has advanced our understanding of political thought and language, forcing us to revise common folk theories about the rational voter.

Anne Glyn-Jones opens up the secret world of the interceptors of German Morse Code signals during World War II. Leaving her girls' boarding school with romantic ideas about joining the navy as a Wren, Anne had no idea that she would be working for the mysterious 'Station X', which we now know to be Bletchley Park. Round the clock shifts, bed bugs, rats and poor diet took its toll, as well as the ongoing lack of recognition from the Navy hierarchy. Morse Code Wrens of Station X is a very personal memoir of a young woman's experiences of war time service, as well as providing fascinating insights into the daily realities of the battle for military intelligence superiority.

Shy boy Amadeo reigns supreme at table football in his local cafe. Taking on all comers he is one of "e;the unbeatables"e; with his loyal team of tiny foosballers. But there's another "e;unbeatable"e; in town. Aggrieved by his only ever defeat at the hands of Amadeo in a foosball match when they were kids, Flash the town bully returns to seek revenge. Not only does he destroy the foosball table, but he challenges Amadeo to a game of actual football. Amadeo has never played real football - and Flash, with his insatiable quest for glory, has subsequently risen to become the world's most famous soccer star. With the future of the village at stake and his foosballers scattered, the situation looks hopeless for Amadeo. Unless he can recruit the help of his eccentric fellow villagers and the girl he loves, Lara, to take on the world's best football team captained by his nemesis Flash. And unless the foossballers can be reunited. "e;It'll be like Barcelona against a non-league team with an injury crisis,"e; predicts Lara. What nobody predicts, however, is how Amadeo's foosballers will affect the game... The Unbeatables novel is the ultimate fantasy football story. Expanding upon the original movie, the novel includes additional adventures and characters. Written for young adults (and not so young adults), the book is a scintillating, action-packed 90 minutes of end-to-end incident, comedic flair, goalmouth scrambles and dubious off the ball challenges on the ethos of the modern game. Praise for The Unbeatables: "e;The witty dialogue and banter makes for some very funny moments, while the digs at the excesses of modern footballers will ring true to followers of the Beautiful Game."e; - Radio Times"e;The Unbeatables is great fun for young and old."e; - Daily Express"e;Nice jokes at the expense of FIFA, overpaid prima donna footballers and slimy agents."e; - Daily Mail"e;Lively and consistently funny."e; - Irish Times"e;An utterly charming gem. Deft one-liners. Back of the net!"e; - Irish Independent

Kyoto, the ancient former capital of Japan, breathes history and mystery. Its temples, gardens and palaces are testimony to many centuries of aristocratic and religious grandeur. Under the veneer of modernity, the city remains filled with countless reminders of a proud past. John Dougill explores this most venerable of Japanese cities, revealing the spirit of place and the individuals that have shaped its often dramatic history. Courtiers and courtesans, poets and priests, samurai and geisha people the pages of his account. Covering twelve centuries in all, the book not only provides a historical overview but brings to life the cultural magnificence of the city of "e;Purple Hills and Crystal Streams"e;. City of Power: The seat of aristocrats and warriors; military might and spiritual authority; unification and the transition to modernity. City of Ritual: Buddhist sects and Shinto festivals; tea ceremony; the role of the geisha; the influence of Zen. City of Arts: Poetry and fiction; architecture and garden design; Heian verse and Noh theatre; art and handicrafts; the Japanese Hollywood.

In July 1936 insurgent Spanish troops organized a military coup to oust the elected Republican government in Madrid. The rebel generals expected to force a quick, clean regime change but they failed. The botched uprising turned into a bloody civil war. Hundreds of thousands died in a bitter conflict which tore the country apart and rapidly turned into the prelude for an even greater conflict yet to come--the Second World War. The siege of Madrid was the key battle of the war. The world watched and waited for the city to surrender as General Franco's Nationalist army, backed by Hitler and Mussolini, closed in on the Spanish capital. But Madrid did not fall. Madrilenos fought tooth and nail to defend their city. Helped by volunteers from fifty other countries--the International Brigades--they held out against all the odds until the end of the conflict in 1939. Despite its central role in twentieth-century history, the siege of Madrid is an episode largely hidden from today's visitor. There is no guide to the war sites and few clues for the inquisitive traveller who wants to know more. Frontline Madrid fills that gap. This unique guide book explains what life was like in the city under siege and what happened in the battlefield dramas. The simple to follow maps and diagrams make it easy to visit the frontline sites. The vividly written descriptions bring events and people compellingly to life. The role of prominent individuals, British and American--Orwell, Hemingway, John Cornford is explored. Off the beaten track, from the University district in the city centre to the mountains of Guadarrama less than an hour away, the remains of the war in Madrid can still be found--gun emplacements, bunkers, trenches and occasional debris. Frontline Madrid retraces the footsteps of those who lived through the conflict to take the reader on a tour in time. The usual tourist traps are left far behind to enter the gripping world of a war which shaped modern European history.

A collection of the three volumes by Yannis Andricopoulos on ancient Greek wisdom applied to modern culture and society, including:- Volume 1: In Bed with Madness- Volume 2: The Greek Inheritance- Volume 3: The Future of the PastIn Bed with MadnessGlobalism endowed us with McDonald's, 'the world's local bank', English football teams without English players and an irrepressible desire for more as enough is never good enough - the blanket is always too short. Our personal world as much as our social and political realities seem to have blithely surrendered to the madness of a civilization which views anything from corporate greed and global warming to military adventures and religious fundamentalism as normal as a door banging in the wind. The destructive capabilities of our age have run too far ahead of our wisdom. However, the process is not irreversible if our thinking can postpone its retirement. In Bed with Madness is 'a well-argued, powerful and profound indictment of contemporary culture', stylishly written - a reviewer said he would have bought it just for its humour!The Greek InheritanceThe culture of ancient Greece, a culture of joy, was replaced by the Judaeo-Christian culture of faith and then by the capitalist culture of profit. Yet it is the only culture worth fighting for if we want a world run by humans rather than theocracies, nanotechnologies or private equity funds. Yannis Andricopoulos views the Greek culture as the front line of the battle against individualism, materialism, authoritarianism and religious extremism. In a world turned into the corporations' playground, this is also the battle for human values, civic virtues and an ethical society. The Greek Inheritance traces the conflict between Greek values and those of the repressive, religious or capitalist order throughout the millennia. The book is challenging and well-written with a light, humorous touch.The Future of the PastUniversalism in its old forms has, just like door-to-door milkmen, gone for good. But the search for some universally accepted ethical standards cannot be abandoned - values are not colourless as the wind and odourless as thoughts. Looking into our world from the classical Greek point of view, Yannis Andricopoulos wonders whether we cannot place Justice again at the heart of our morality, look forward to the happiness of the individual rather than the upgrading of his or her consumer fantasies, and endeavour to create, not more wealth, but a just and honourable world. The Future of the Past is written in 'a lively, challenging style guaranteeing to stimulate debate on the most pressing issues of our time'.

Illusionism is the view that phenomenal consciousness (in the philosophers' sense) is an illusion. This book is a reprint of a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies devoted to this topic. It takes the form of a target paper by the editor, followed by commentaries from various thinkers, including leading defenders of the theory such as Daniel Dennett, Nicholas Humphrey, Derk Pereboom and Georges Rey. A number of disciplines are represented and different viewpoints are discussed and defended. The colleciton is tied together with a response to the commentaries from the editor.

Are you knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects? Do you enjoy learning new facts? Or are you swatting up for an upcoming quiz night? Whatever your reason for buying this quiz book you are certain to enjoy these questions with a common link - all of the answers begin with the same letter, arranged in sections from A-Z. Following on from the The Alphabetical General Knowledge Quiz Book, this book contains another 1,000 questions about general knowledge. Some are easy, some more challenging but as you are provided with the first letter of each answer, you will soon know if you are on the right track. Both educational and fun, this book is a good way for the whole family to broaden their general knowledge. Select a letter at random or work your way through the questions from A-Z to find out how much you know about the world we live in. Ideal for sharing, this book will provide hours or pleasure and appeal to people of all ages.

Are you a fan of horse racing? Do follow all the big races and enjoy the occasional bet? Can you name the great jockeys through the years and the events they have won? If you answered yes to any of the above, or would like to find out more about professional horse racing, you won't want to be without the new Horse Racing Quiz Book. Which two fences are only jumped once in the Grand National? Part of which UK racecourse is within a famous area known as the Knavesmire? What are the Christian names of the Hills twins, both Classic winning jockeys? The answers to these and many similar questions can all be found in this book.The 250 questions, some easy, some more challenging, will quickly uncover how much you know about the fast-paced world of horse racing. Covering all the big races, famous jockeys, racecourses, horses, owners and trainers as well as the history of horse racing, this is a must-have for anyone interested in this action-packed sport.