Category Archives: Travel Guides
Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia (1942)
This little book is marvellous reproduction of the original wartime guide, straight from the depths of the world-renowned Bodleian library.Nearly 1 million American soldiers passed through Australia between 1942 and 1945 as part of America`s strategy to recapture the Philippines and defeat Japan. They encountered a country full of reassuring similarities and strange differences. Here
The State in Myanmar
“The State in Myanmar” is a totally revised and expanded and updated version of “The State in Burma” (1987), with additional chapters covering the last twenty years of Myanmar`s political history. It attempts to explain the country`s current politics in the light of the historical evolution of state-society relations in Myanmar since the pre-colonial kings,
Oxford in Quotations
Since its humble beginnings as a ford for oxen across the river Thames in the tenth century, Oxford has been an inspiration to generations of writers and thinkers, who have admired its `dreaming spires` (Matthew Arnold), or warned of its excesses, as did Anthony Trollope: `Oxford is the most dangerous place to which a young
Slovenia and the Slovenes
Slovenia and the Slovenes, a Small State in the New Europe, is a well documented introduction to the history and culture of modern Slovenia. One of the few books dedicated to Slovenia, this is an account of this country’s history and its people. Expect in depth information on political, economic and cultural life. This is
London in Quotations
`When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford,` said Samuel Johnson in 1777. Since then the capital has been characterised variously as a `riddle`, a `cesspool` and a `modern Babylon`, and both Londoners and visitors alike have continued to share their
Unmaking North and South
“Unmaking North and South” revisits the Yemeni past by situating the historical construction of Yemen`s north and south as bounded political, social, and moral spaces in the broader context of imperial rule, state formation, and religious reform in the Indian Ocean arena. The study is centered on the formation of the British Aden Protectorate and
Ships of the Port of London: First to eleventh centuries AD
This report is the first full study of the remains of ships and boats used in the port of London from the first to the eleventh century AD. Using evidence from the vessels, from the waterfronts, and from trade goods, Peter Marsden has reconstructed the design and use fo these ancient ships, and brought together
Battles Exploring British Battlefields
Some battles have a major and lasting effect on the history of this country and remain strongly etched in the public consciousness. Others are relatively unknown – even to the people living on or near their sites. Yet what they all have in common is the memorable and often devastating effect they had on the
Maps of the Soul
Othman al-Sheikh is running away from the shadows of his past life in a small dusty village in the Libyan Desert. Tripoli, meanwhile, is a city in the process of transformation, moulded to the will of its Italian colonisers. Its decadent entertainments and extravagant riches conceal an underbelly of abject poverty and ruthless plotting. Othman
The Gough Map – The Earliest Road Map of Great Britain?
For centuries, the Gough Map, one of the Bodleian Library`s greatest treasures, has impressed viewers with its remarkable detail and baffled historians with its hidden secrets: who made it and why was it made? Recent digitization of the map is helping to provide answers to these questions, and is making the map more legible than
112 Gripes About the French
When American troops arrived in Paris to help maintain order at the end of the Second World War they were, at first, received by the local population with a sense of euphoria. However, the French soon began to resent the Americans for their display of wealth and brashness, while the US soldiers found the French
Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain (1942)
In 1942 the United States War Department distributed a handbook to American Servicemen advising them on the peculiarities of the `British, their country, and their ways`. This is that guide, ‘Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain” is a faithful reproduction of the original tome, taken from the depths of Oxfords world-renowned Bodleian library.The guide was
Queen Elizabeth`s Book of Oxford: Ms Bodley 13a, A Facsimile with Introduction and Translation
Queen Elizabeth`s Book of Oxford was made in 1566 as a gift for Elizabeth I on the occasion of her first royal visit to Oxford. It was made, however, not just out of reverence for the Queen, but with the aim of getting her to endow the foundation of a new college. This sophisticated tour
Instructions for British Servicemen in France (1944)
In 1944 the British War Office distributed a handbook to British soldiers informing them what to expect and how to behave in a newly-liberated France. Containing candid descriptions of this war-ravaged society (widespread malnourishment, rampant tuberculosis) as well as useful phrases and a pronunciation guide (Bonjewer, commont-allay-voo), it was an indispensable guide to everyday life.
German Invasion Plans For the British Isles (1940)
German Invasion Plans for the British Isles” is the book to which Hitler’s generals turned when they planned Operation Sea Lion in 1940. Using one of the only surviving copies found by the Allied forces as they invaded Berlin in 1945 – and subsequently acquired by the Bodleian library – this is the first time
Bicycles
To celebrate the acquisition of the Tom Phillips archive, the Bodleian Library has asked the artist to assemble and design a series of books drawing on his themed collection of over 50,000 photographic postcards. These encompass the first half of the twentieth century, a period in which, thanks to the ever cheaper medium of photography,
Fantasy Travel
This series celebrates the Bodleian Library`s acquisition of Tom Phillips`s archive of over 50,000 photographic postcards dating from the first half of the twentieth century, a period in which, thanks to the ever cheaper medium of photography, `ordinary` people could afford to own their portraits. Each title in this series is thematically assembled and designed
Postcards from the Trenches
The First World War was unique in being fought largely in trenches. Men ate, slept, fought, played, sang, prayed, and died in the trenches. This book brings together a collection of postcards which portray this strange subterranean world in its various manifestations.The cards have been selected to show how life progressed from day to day
A Tree A Day
The beauty and power of the world`s trees is timeless. Our appreciation of one of the oldest forms of life is particularly relevant in our age of climate concern. Immerse yourself in the world of trees with a tree a day – illuminating tree folklore, botany, tree uses, beauty and history. From the strength of
Realm of the Black Mountain – A History of Montenegro
Elizabeth Roberts’ ‘Realm of the Black Mountain” is a history of Montenegro that traces the history of the tiny Balkan state from its earliest roots in the medieval empire of Zeta. It also focuses on its troubled 20th century history. Going from pre-Slavic times, Roberts also includes Montenegro’s part in the battle of Kosovo, and
