A thought-provoking account of the life and work of Franz Boas and his influential role in shaping modern anthropology Franz Boas (1858–1942) is widely acknowledged for his pioneering work in the field of cultural anthropology. His rigorous studies of variations across societies were aimed at demonstrating that cultures and peoples were not shaped by biological predispositions. This book traces Boas’s life and intellectual passions from his roots in Germany and his move to the United States in 1884, partly in response to growing antisemitism in Germany, to his work with First Nations communities and his influential role as a teacher, mentor, and engaged activist who inspired an entire generation. Drawing from Boas’s numerous but rarely read writings, Noga Arikha brings back to life the man and the ideas he developed about the complex interplay of mind and culture, biology and history, language and myth. She provides a comprehensive picture of the cultural contexts in which he worked, of his personal and professional relationships, and of his revolutionary approach to fieldwork. He was celebrated in his lifetime for the cultural relativism he developed and the arguments he marshaled against entrenched racialism, but his was a constant battle, and Arikha shows how urgently relevant his voice and legacy have become again today.
An insightful, hugely engaging new history of elite women and the country house from the sixteenth to the twentieth century
The first survey of Joe Overstreet, abstract painter of the Black Arts Movement and forecaster of Afrofuturism
An illuminating examination of the interconnectivity of women artists and activists in Great Britain from the Victorian era through the Second World War
The full story of Josephine Baker’s wartime and intelligence work in France and North Africa
A landmark survey of the wide-ranging practice of one of the twentieth century’s most innovative artists
A compulsively readable, startling, and philosophically rich book about marriage, from an acclaimed critic and filmmaker
The origins and evolution of Irish American identity, from colonial times through the twentieth century
An account of the emergence of creative nonfiction, written by the “godfather” of the genre
A journey through Europe’s old towns, exploring why we treasure them—but also what they hide about a continent’s fraught history “[A] fascinating chronicle.”—Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War—some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stories they tell about places, peoples, and nations are selective. They are never the whole story. These old towns and their turbulent histories have been key sites in Europe’s ongoing theater of politics and war. Exploring seven old towns, from Frankfurt and Prague to Vilnius in Lithuania, the acclaimed writer Marek Kohn examines how they have been used since the Second World War to conceal political tensions and reinforce certain versions of history. Uncovering hidden stories behind these old and old-seeming façades, Kohn offers us a new understanding of the politics of European history-making—showing how our visits to old towns could promote belonging over exclusion, and empathy over indifference.
The revolutionary roots of the artists collective known as the Impressionists—and the course they charted for modern art
A career-spanning examination of the work of Robert Bergman and its place within the history of American art
An exploration of contemporary African masquerade that reveals its cultural contexts, artistic innovations, and intersection with museum collection practices
An examination of how engagement with the nuances of Caribbean intellectual thought could reshape art history
The first full-scale history of Theoderic and the Goths in more than seventy-five years, tracing the transformation of a divided kingdom into a great power
A lavish exploration of how contemporary jewelry pushes the boundary between ornament and art
A celebration of printmaker LaToya M. Hobbs featuring a suite of life-size woodcut prints
From beloved Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, a newly discovered novella and five short stories of love, grief, and maternal longing
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