Women have been consistently excluded from all manner of clubs and associations over the years, whether as the direct result of an anti-woman policy or indirectly through prohibitive entry requirements, social constraints, or conflict of interests and tastes. Retaliation from women has taken two directions: some women have set up their own exclusive clubs that reflect their own interests and aims, while others have taken on the men and striven to break down resistance to their joining 'men's' clubs on an equal footing.

This book traces the development of the current situation,...

Throughout history, women from all over the world have come together for diverse and often contradictory purposes in informal networks, or as participants in men's organizations, or even more or less covertly. However, in Britain and Ireland at least, it is only in the past two centuries that they have in significant numbers banded together openly, formally, separately and autonomously. They have done so for a variety of reasons: to further a political cause, to improve social relations, to improve their understanding of the world or to acquire particular skills, to share a leisure or...

Tolkien Through Russian Eyes examines the sociological impact of the translation and publication of J.R.R. Tolkiens works in post-Soviet Russia. After 70 years of obligatory State atheism, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian society began actively seeking new sets of spiritual values. The Christian-like doctrine of Tolkienism has attracted a substantial following. During the Soviet era, The Lord of the Rings was a banned book, which was translated independently by a number of underground translators. The result of this is that there are numerous contemporary published translations...