Can the orgasm be explained in historical terms? An almost incommunicable individual emotion yet also a cultural reality, the orgasm is part of, but also escapes, collective experience. The history of the orgasm is that of the hidden body, of forbidden desires, of flesh constrained by taboos and morality. Buried deep in archives and libraries, the documents that shed light on this physical, sometimes libertine, life are nevertheless surprisingly plentiful and have a surprisingly evocative charge. Robert Muchembled's book unearths fascinating sources which suggest that we need to look with a...

Can the orgasm be explained in historical terms? An almost incommunicable individual emotion yet also a cultural reality, the orgasm is part of, but also escapes, collective experience. The history of the orgasm is that of the hidden body, of forbidden desires, of flesh constrained by taboos and morality. Buried deep in archives and libraries, the documents that shed light on this physical, sometimes libertine, life are nevertheless surprisingly plentiful and have a surprisingly evocative charge. Robert Muchembled's book unearths fascinating sources which suggest that we need to look with a...

The point of departure of Heide Gerstenberger's path-breaking work is a critique of structural-functionalist theory of the state, in both its modernisation theory and materialist variants. Prof. Gerstenberger opposes to these a historical-theoretical explanation that proceeds from the long-term structuring effect of concrete social practice. This is elucidated by detailed investigation of the development of bourgeois state power in the two key examples of England and France. The different complexions that the bourgeois state assumed are presented as the results of processes of social...

Karl Marx was not only the great theorist of capitalism, he was also a superb journalist, politician and historian. In these brand-new editions of Marx s Political Writings we are able to see the depth and range of his mature work from 1848 through to the end of his life, from The Communist Manifesto to The Class Struggles in France and The Critique of the Gotha Programme. Each book has a new introduction from a major contemporary thinker, to shed new light on these vital texts. Volume 3: The First International and After The crucial texts of Marx s later years notably The Civil War in France...

Karl Marx was not only the great theorist of capitalism; he was above all else a revolutionary. In Paris in 1844 he made the connection between radical philosophy and the proletariat that would guide his future work, first with the Communist League and later with the International Workingmen's Association. Marx's Political Writings display a profound understanding of history and politics that is still relevant to the very different conditions of today.

Volume 1: The Revolutions of 1848 Marx and Engels had already sketched out the principles of scientific communism by...

Paul Levi remains one of the most interesting and controversial figures in the history of the Communist movement. As leader of the KPD after the murder of Luxemburg and Liebknecht, he successfully built up a party of a third of a million members, but by 1921 Comintern pressure forced Levi's resignation. This is the first English edition of Levi's writings.

Jewish modernity flourished between the age of Enlightenment and World War II and in fact was a major driver of intellectual, scientific, social, literary, and artistic progress in that period. But the age of Jewish modernity is over.
That s the argument that historian Enzo Traverso mounts in this provocative book. With great sensitivity and nuance, he teases out the fundamentally conservative turn that the mainstream of Jewish thought has taken in the years since World War II, revealing its roots in the Holocaust and the establishment of the United Nations and Israel as the new poles of...

On August 16, 2012, thirty-four black South African mineworkers were shot by police working under the auspices of the African National Congress in what has become known as the Marikana massacre. An attempt to stop the rise of independent working-class power, the incident is now seen as a major turning point in the history of South Africa and its politics.

The Spirit of Marikana tells the story of the leaders of labor action at the world's three largest platinum mining companies, who survived ongoing state-sponsored campaigns of violence, intimidation, torture, and murder to push...

On August 16, 2012, thirty-four black South African mineworkers were shot by police working under the auspices of the African National Congress in what has become known as the Marikana massacre. An attempt to stop the rise of independent working-class power, the incident is now seen as a major turning point in the history of South Africa and its politics.

The Spirit of Marikana tells the story of the leaders of labor action at the world's three largest platinum mining companies, who survived ongoing state-sponsored campaigns of violence, intimidation, torture, and murder to push...