Contemporary local governance in Britain comprises a complex network of organisations working in partnership to formulate policies to address local needs and issues. Within this, local government continues to play an important part in policy and practice and in the structures and processes of local democracy. This book provides a systematic assessment of the key development issues and debates that are shaping local governance now situating these in their historical context.

Who were the giants of the twentieth-century stage, and exactly how did they influence modern theatre?

Robert Leach's Makers of Modern Theatre is the first detailed introduction to the work of the key theatre-makers who shaped the drama of the last century: Konstantin Stanislavsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud.

Leach focuses on the major issues which relate to their dominance of theatre history:

*What was significant in their life and times?
*What is their main legacy?
*What were their dramatic philosophies and...

Now in a second edition, Theatre Studies: The Basics is a fully updated guide to the wonderful world of theatre. The practical and theoretical dimensions of theatre - from acting to audience - are woven together throughout to provide an integrated introduction to the study of drama, theatre and performance. Topics covered include:

• dramatic genres, from tragedy to political documentary
• theories of performance
• the history of the theatre in the West
• acting, directing and scenography
...

Fashion design is a process of investigating, understanding context, and constantly questioning what you are doing and why. This comprehensive survey presents the work of a wide range of modern and contemporary designers and reveals the innumerable areas of inspiration and research on which they've drawn, from historical examples such as Christian Dior's "New Look" to traditional textiles from around the world, as seen in John Galliano's Peruvian-inspired collection of 2005. The first part of the book investigates the research process in the work of designers such as Paul Smith, Comme des...

Theatre Workshop: Joan Littlewood and the Making of Modern British Theatre is the first in-depth study of perhaps Britain's most influential twentieth-century theatre company. The book sets the company's aims and achievements in their social, political and theatrical contexts, and explores the elements which made its success so important. Robert Leach has provided the definitive account in this first full-length study of Theatre Workshop and the methods of its director from 1945 to 1965, Joan Littlewood. His book provides the historical and political context needed by theatre studies students...

Many investors ignore company accounts because they think they are too difficult. But, as the great investor Peter Lynch said "Investing without looking at the numbers is like playing bridge without looking at the cards." The mission of this book is to explain to ordinary investors, with no accounting knowledge, what to look for in a set of accounts and how to interpret what you find - so that you have an accurate 'health check' on a company in ten simple steps. Robert Leach considers the entire subject from an investor's point of view, by asking - and then answering - the questions which...

Ratios provide an extremely effective method of understanding company accounts. At their most basic this usually involves taking one figure from the published accounts and dividing it by another - however, this seemingly simple process can reveal an enormous amount about both the nature and performance of a company. 'Ratios Made Simple' looks at ratios from the perspective of an investor, providing a toolkit for investors to use to accurately analyse a company from its accounts. This book is divided into nine chapters, with each chapter looking at a different aspect of potential concern to an...

The first edition of the Printing Ink Manual was published by the Society of British Printing Ink Manufacturers in 1961 to fill the need for an authorative textbook on printing technology, which would serve both as a training manual and a reliable reference book for everyday use. The book soon became established as a standard source of information on printing inks and reached its fourth edition by 1988. This, the fifth edition, is being published only five years later, so rapid has been the development in technology. The objective of the Printing Ink Manual remains unchanged. It is a...

Puṣpikā 3 is the outcome of the third and fourth International Indology Graduate Research Symposiums held in Paris and Edinburgh in 2011 and 2012. This volume presents the results of recent research by early-career scholars into the texts, languages and literary, philosophical and religious traditions of South Asia. The articles offer a broad range of disciplinary perspectives on a wide array of subjects including classical and medieval philosophy, esoteric knowledge and practices in the Vedas, Kālidāsa's great poem Meghadūta ('The Cloud Messenger'), soteriology in a...

As well as introducing the "mainstream" ideologies of Liberalism, Conservatism and Socialism, this text examines challenges from nationalist, feminist and Green thinkers, amongst others. Now in its third edition, it includes a new chapter on anarchism and assesses the continuing disillusionment of Britain with the ideas of the "Westminster elite."