Publisher:

New Haven : Yale University press, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 912 P598A 2023

Pages:

viii, 229 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
What have smart technologies taught us about cities? What lessons can we learn from today’s urbanites to make better places to live? Antoine Picon and Carlo Ratti argue that the answers are in the maps we make. For centuries, we have relied on maps to navigate the enormity of the city. Now, as the physical world combines with the digital world, we need a new generation of maps to navigate the city of tomorrow. Pervasive sensors allow anyone to visualize cities in entirely new ways—ebbs and flows of pollution, traffic, and internet connectivity. This book explores how the growth of digital mapping, spurred by sensing technologies, is affecting cities and daily lives. It examines how new cartographic possibilities aid urban planners, technicians, politicians, and administrators; how digitally mapped cities could reveal ways to make cities smarter and more efficient; how monitoring urbanites has political and social repercussions; and how the proliferation of open-source maps and collaborative platforms can aid activists and vulnerable populations. With its beautiful, accessible presentation of cutting-edge research, this book makes it easy for readers to understand the stakes of the new information age—and appreciate the timeless power of the city.
Publisher:

New Haven : Yale University press, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 912 P598A 2023

Pages:

viii, 229 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
What have smart technologies taught us about cities? What lessons can we learn from today’s urbanites to make better places to live? Antoine Picon and Carlo Ratti argue that the answers are in the maps we make. For centuries, we have relied on maps to navigate the enormity of the city. Now, as the physical world combines with the digital world, we need a new generation of maps to navigate the city of tomorrow. Pervasive sensors allow anyone to visualize cities in entirely new ways—ebbs and flows of pollution, traffic, and internet connectivity. This book explores how the growth of digital mapping, spurred by sensing technologies, is affecting cities and daily lives. It examines how new cartographic possibilities aid urban planners, technicians, politicians, and administrators; how digitally mapped cities could reveal ways to make cities smarter and more efficient; how monitoring urbanites has political and social repercussions; and how the proliferation of open-source maps and collaborative platforms can aid activists and vulnerable populations. With its beautiful, accessible presentation of cutting-edge research, this book makes it easy for readers to understand the stakes of the new information age—and appreciate the timeless power of the city.
Publisher:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 954.025 D229C 2023

Pages:

xxii, 440 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I's first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South Asian trade and India was sketchy at best, and, to the Mughals, they were minor players on a very large stage. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity as a unified 'Great Britain' under the Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile, the court he entered in India was wealthy and cultured, its dominion widely considered to be one of the greatest and richest empires of the world. In Nandini Das's fascinating history of Roe's four years in India, she offers an insider's view of a Britain in the making, a country whose imperial seeds were just being sown. It is a story of palace intrigue and scandal, lotteries and wagers that unfolds as global trade begins to stretch from Russia to Virginia, from West Africa to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. A major debut that explores the art, literature, sights and sounds of Jacobean London and Imperial India, Courting India reveals Thomas Roe's time in the Mughal Empire to be a turning point in history – and offers a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early empire.
Publisher:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 954.025 D229C 2023

Pages:

xxii, 440 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I's first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South Asian trade and India was sketchy at best, and, to the Mughals, they were minor players on a very large stage. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity as a unified 'Great Britain' under the Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile, the court he entered in India was wealthy and cultured, its dominion widely considered to be one of the greatest and richest empires of the world. In Nandini Das's fascinating history of Roe's four years in India, she offers an insider's view of a Britain in the making, a country whose imperial seeds were just being sown. It is a story of palace intrigue and scandal, lotteries and wagers that unfolds as global trade begins to stretch from Russia to Virginia, from West Africa to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. A major debut that explores the art, literature, sights and sounds of Jacobean London and Imperial India, Courting India reveals Thomas Roe's time in the Mughal Empire to be a turning point in history – and offers a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early empire.
Publisher:

Karachi : Liberty Publishing, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 327.5405694 E781H 2023

Pages:

xii, 225 pages ; 20 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
Under Narendra Modi, India has changed dramatically. As the world attempts to grapple with its trajectory towards authoritarianism and a 'Hindu Rashtra' (Hindu State), little attention has been paid to the linkages between Modi's India and the governments from which it has drawn inspiration, as well as military and technical support. India once called Zionism racism, but, as Azad Essa argues, the state of Israel has increasingly become a cornerstone of India's foreign policy. Looking to replicate the 'ethnic state' in the image of Israel in policy and practice, the annexation of Kashmir increasingly resembles Israel's settler-colonial project of the occupied West Bank. The ideological and political linkages between the two states are alarming; their brands of ethnonationalism deeply intertwined. Hostile Homelands puts India's relationship with Israel in its historical context, looking at the origins of Zionism and Hindutva; India's changing position on Palestine; and the countries' growing military-industrial relationship from the 1990s. Lucid and persuasive, Essa demonstrates that the India-Israel alliance spells significant consequences for democracy, the rule of law and justice worldwide.
Publisher:

Karachi : Liberty Publishing, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 327.5405694 E781H 2023

Pages:

xii, 225 pages ; 20 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
Under Narendra Modi, India has changed dramatically. As the world attempts to grapple with its trajectory towards authoritarianism and a 'Hindu Rashtra' (Hindu State), little attention has been paid to the linkages between Modi's India and the governments from which it has drawn inspiration, as well as military and technical support. India once called Zionism racism, but, as Azad Essa argues, the state of Israel has increasingly become a cornerstone of India's foreign policy. Looking to replicate the 'ethnic state' in the image of Israel in policy and practice, the annexation of Kashmir increasingly resembles Israel's settler-colonial project of the occupied West Bank. The ideological and political linkages between the two states are alarming; their brands of ethnonationalism deeply intertwined. Hostile Homelands puts India's relationship with Israel in its historical context, looking at the origins of Zionism and Hindutva; India's changing position on Palestine; and the countries' growing military-industrial relationship from the 1990s. Lucid and persuasive, Essa demonstrates that the India-Israel alliance spells significant consequences for democracy, the rule of law and justice worldwide.
Publisher:

London : Simon & Schuster, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 923.2073 E346K 2023

Pages:

x, 669 pages, 16 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
The compelling story of Martin Luther King's life and achievements has become simplified and domesticated in a way that fails to do full justice to his radical vision and importance. Now, in King, we get the most comprehensive and complete portrait ever written about this iconic figure. The first major new biography of Martin Luther King Jr in over 40 years, Jonathan Eig's superb King is based on years of research, hundreds of interviews with those who knew him and many thousands of previously unreleased documents, including a huge cache from the FBI. Eig reveals King's story to be more compelling and more complex than we knew. For too long, his radical vision for the future has been erased. The hope of his 'I have a dream' message and the tragedy of his assassination at the age of 39 have overwhelmed the story of a brilliantly bold and complicated man, which obscures his real significance of today's society and for the future. His vision went far beyond achieving equal treatment for black men and women, which was only a part of a much greater and more wide-ranging mission - something that has been forgotten by most. Eig's fascinating biography not only shines new light on King's remarkable career, but also humanises him so that he becomes more than a symbol of hope and defiance, but a man with flaws, a sense of humour, as a father and a husband. It's an essential read for our times.
Publisher:

London : Simon & Schuster, 2023.

Call Number:

KIC 923.2073 E346K 2023

Pages:

x, 669 pages, 16 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
The compelling story of Martin Luther King's life and achievements has become simplified and domesticated in a way that fails to do full justice to his radical vision and importance. Now, in King, we get the most comprehensive and complete portrait ever written about this iconic figure. The first major new biography of Martin Luther King Jr in over 40 years, Jonathan Eig's superb King is based on years of research, hundreds of interviews with those who knew him and many thousands of previously unreleased documents, including a huge cache from the FBI. Eig reveals King's story to be more compelling and more complex than we knew. For too long, his radical vision for the future has been erased. The hope of his 'I have a dream' message and the tragedy of his assassination at the age of 39 have overwhelmed the story of a brilliantly bold and complicated man, which obscures his real significance of today's society and for the future. His vision went far beyond achieving equal treatment for black men and women, which was only a part of a much greater and more wide-ranging mission - something that has been forgotten by most. Eig's fascinating biography not only shines new light on King's remarkable career, but also humanises him so that he becomes more than a symbol of hope and defiance, but a man with flaws, a sense of humour, as a father and a husband. It's an essential read for our times.
Publisher:

New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2009.

Call Number:

KIC 922.97 M377T 2009

Pages:

177 pages : maps ; 22 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
al-Tabari (ca. 838–923), a brilliant scholar of ‘Abbasid Baghdad, wrote extensively in all fields of the Islamic sciences of his day. Now, the most widely read of his works are his massive History of the Messengers and Kings and his Qur’an commentary. The History is the primary source for information about Sassanid Persia and the first three centuries of Islam. It is also an argument for grounding knowledge and policy on experience and rationality. In the introductory chapters, Mårtensson explains the methodologies that underpin Tabari’s contribution to history, scriptural interpretation and jurisprudence. Through an account of Tabari’s education, writings, political contacts, and the political context within which he worked, she describes Tabari’s principal concern: how to combat, through good scholarship and ‘good governance’, the arbitrary legal and administrative practices which threatened to bring down the Abbasid empire. The main chapters of the book (with maps and extensive citations from the History) show how Tabari demonstrated his general argument: that good governance should depend on merit, not family or tribal loyalties; that political and religious authority should be separated; that administration should manage the needs of society’s conflicting interest-groups rationally, through rule of law and a centralized taxation policy. That argument has urgent relevance for contemporary Muslims, as does Tabari’s observation that, while the causes of insurrection can be justified, its effects seldom can.
Publisher:

New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2009.

Call Number:

KIC 922.97 M377T 2009

Pages:

177 pages : maps ; 22 cm.

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
al-Tabari (ca. 838–923), a brilliant scholar of ‘Abbasid Baghdad, wrote extensively in all fields of the Islamic sciences of his day. Now, the most widely read of his works are his massive History of the Messengers and Kings and his Qur’an commentary. The History is the primary source for information about Sassanid Persia and the first three centuries of Islam. It is also an argument for grounding knowledge and policy on experience and rationality. In the introductory chapters, Mårtensson explains the methodologies that underpin Tabari’s contribution to history, scriptural interpretation and jurisprudence. Through an account of Tabari’s education, writings, political contacts, and the political context within which he worked, she describes Tabari’s principal concern: how to combat, through good scholarship and ‘good governance’, the arbitrary legal and administrative practices which threatened to bring down the Abbasid empire. The main chapters of the book (with maps and extensive citations from the History) show how Tabari demonstrated his general argument: that good governance should depend on merit, not family or tribal loyalties; that political and religious authority should be separated; that administration should manage the needs of society’s conflicting interest-groups rationally, through rule of law and a centralized taxation policy. That argument has urgent relevance for contemporary Muslims, as does Tabari’s observation that, while the causes of insurrection can be justified, its effects seldom can.
Publisher:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing , 2023

Call Number:

KIC 909 F834E 2023

Pages:

xxv, 696 pages: illustrations ; 24 cm

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new. In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history. From the fall of the Moche civilization in South America that came about because of the cyclical pressures of El Niño to volcanic eruptions in Iceland that affected Egypt and helped bring the Ottoman empire to its knees, climate change and its influences have always been with us. Frankopan explains how the Vikings emerged thanks to catastrophic crop failure, why the roots of regime change in eleventh-century Baghdad lay in the collapse of cotton prices resulting from unusual climate patterns, and why the western expansion of the frontiers in North America was directly affected by solar flare activity in the eighteenth century. Again and again, Frankopan shows that when past empires have failed to act sustainably, they have been met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, The Earth Transformed will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future.
Publisher:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing , 2023

Call Number:

KIC 909 F834E 2023

Pages:

xxv, 696 pages: illustrations ; 24 cm

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new. In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history. From the fall of the Moche civilization in South America that came about because of the cyclical pressures of El Niño to volcanic eruptions in Iceland that affected Egypt and helped bring the Ottoman empire to its knees, climate change and its influences have always been with us. Frankopan explains how the Vikings emerged thanks to catastrophic crop failure, why the roots of regime change in eleventh-century Baghdad lay in the collapse of cotton prices resulting from unusual climate patterns, and why the western expansion of the frontiers in North America was directly affected by solar flare activity in the eighteenth century. Again and again, Frankopan shows that when past empires have failed to act sustainably, they have been met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, The Earth Transformed will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future.
Publisher:

London : Oneworld, 2023

Call Number:

KIC 956.94052 P218E 2023

Pages:

xviii, 313 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
The book that is providing a storm of controversy, from ‘Israel’s bravest historian’ (John Pilger) Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking work on the formation of the State of Israel. 'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' NEW STATESMAN Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called 'ethnic cleansing'. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East.
Publisher:

London : Oneworld, 2023

Call Number:

KIC 956.94052 P218E 2023

Pages:

xviii, 313 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Subject:

History and Geography

Summary:
The book that is providing a storm of controversy, from ‘Israel’s bravest historian’ (John Pilger) Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking work on the formation of the State of Israel. 'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' NEW STATESMAN Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called 'ethnic cleansing'. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East.