Books in the The Cultural Histories Series series

To call something modern is to assert something fundamental about the social, cultural, economic and technical sophistication of that thing, over and against what has come before. A Cultural History of Theatre in the Modern Age provides an interdisciplinary overview of theatre and performance in their social and material contexts from the late 19th century through the early 2000s, emphasizing key developments and trends that both exemplify and trouble the various meanings of the term 'modern', and the identity of modernist theatre and performance. Highly illustrated with 40 images, the ten chapters each take a different theme as their focus: institutional frameworks; social functions; sexuality and gender; the environment of theatre; circulation; interpretations; communities of production; repertoire and genres; technologies of performance; and knowledge transmission.

A thematic overview of how animals were seen and used in the period from1920 to the present day, covering symbolism, hunting, domestication, sports and entertainment, science, philosophy, and art.

The history of gardens in antiquity is characterized by a rich mix of cultures interacting throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. This period - from the sixth century BCE to the sixth century CE - was foundational to the later periods of garden history. The emergence of advanced horticultural techniques, sustained regional and international trade routes, and centralized power structures promoted the development of highly sophisticated garden culture in both private and public contexts. New evidence derived from archaeology and fresh analysis of literary and visual sources revises our perspective, reminding us that these garden cultures were varied and diverse, yet connected through ritual, trade, conquest, and cultural practices in ways we are only beginning to define.

As much as the nineteenth and early twentieth century gardens and their designs were a product and representation of industrialisation and urbanisation, they were also motors of change. Gardens became an industry in and of themselves. They were both the last resting places of the dead and cultivated plots for surv ival. Gardens were therapeutic environments regarded as civilising, socialising and assimialting institutions, and they were designed and perceived as social landscapes and community playgrounds. Rich with symbolism, gardens were treated as the subject and the setting for literature and painting and were often considerd works of art in themselves. In a time of empire, when plants were drawn from across the globe, gardens also reflected territorial conquest and expansion and they fostered national, regional and local identities.A Cultural History of Gardens in the Age of Empire presents an overview of the period with essays on issues of design, types of gardens, planting, use and reception, issues of meaning, verbal and visual representation of gardens, and the relationship of gardens to the larger landscape.

How has our understanding of medicine evolved over the past 2,500 years? A Cultural History of Medicine, as the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary overview of the cultural history of medicine from ancient times to modernity, discusses this. With six highly illustrated volumes covering 2500 years of human history, this is the definitive reference work on the subject.Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one volume, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six. The six volumes cover: 1. - Antiquity (500BCE - 800 CE); 2. - Middle Ages (800 - 1450); 3. - Renaissance (1450 - 1650); 4. - Age of Enlightenment (1650 - 1800); 5. - Age of Empire (1800 - 1920); 6. - Modern Age (1920 - 2000+).Themes (and chapter titles) are: Environment; Food; Disease; Animals; Objects; Experiences; the Mind; Authority. The page extent for the pack is approximately 1,728 pp with c. 240 b/w illustrations. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction and concludes with Notes, Bibliography, and an Index.The Cultural Histories SeriesA Cultural History of Medicine is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available both as printed hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a one-off purchase and tangible reference for their shelves, or as part of a fully-searchable digital library available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access (see www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com).

How has our understanding and treatment of disability evolved in Western culture? How has it been represented and perceived in different social and cultural conditions?In a work that spans 2,500 years, these ambitious questions are addressed by over 50 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. The volumes describe different kinds of physical and mental disabilities, their representations and receptions, and what impact they have had on society and everyday life.Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six. The six volumes cover: 1. - Antiquity (500 BCE - 500 CE); 2. - Middle Ages (500 - 1450); 3. - Renaissance (1400 - 1650) ; 4. - Long Eighteenth Century (1650 - 1800); 5. - Long Nineteenth Century (1800 - 1920); 6. - Modern Age (1920 - 2000+).Themes (and chapter titles) are: atypical bodies; mobility impairment; chronic pain and illness; blindness; deafness; speech; learning difficulties; mental health.The page extent is approximately 2,000pp with c. 200 illustrations. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors, a series preface and an introduction, and concludes with Notes, Bibliography and an Index.

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries form a very distinctive period in European food history. This was a time when enduring feudal constraints in some areas contrasted with widening geographical horizons and the emergence of a consumer society.While cereal based diets and small scale trade continued to be the mainstay of the general population, elite tastes shifted from Renaissance opulence toward the greater simplicity and elegance of dining à la française. At the same time, growing spatial mobility and urbanization boosted the demand for professional cooking and commercial catering. An unprecedented wealth of artistic, literary and medical discourses on food and drink allows fascinating insights into contemporary responses to these transformations.A Cultural History of Food in the Early Modern Age presents an overview of the period with essays on food production, food systems, food security, safety and crises, food and politics, eating out, professional cooking, kitchens and service work, family and domesticity, body and soul, representations of food, and developments in food production and consumption globally.

A thematic overview of how animals were seen and used in the period from 1400 to 1600, covering symbolism, hunting, domestication, sports and entertainment, science, philosophy, and art.

A thematic overview of how animals were seen and used in the period from 1600 to 1800, covering symbolism, hunting, domestication, sports and entertainment, science, philosophy, and art.

A thematic overview of how the human body was perceived in the period from 750 BCE to 1000 CE, covering birth and death, health and disease, sex and eroticism, medicine, popular beliefs and the self.

A thematic overview of how the human body was perceived in the period from 500 to 1500, covering birth and death, health and disease, sex and eroticism, medicine, popular beliefs and the self.

A thematic overview of how the human body was perceived in the period from 1650 to 1800, covering birth and death, health and disease, sex and eroticism, medicine, popular beliefs and the self.

A thematic overview of how sexuality was perceived in the period from 350 to 1450, covering homosexuality, heterosexuality, sexual variations, prostitution, medicine, religion, erotica and popular belief.

A thematic overview of how sexuality was perceived in the period from 1820 to 1920, covering homosexuality, heterosexuality, sexual variations, prostitution, medicine, religion, erotica and popular belief.

A thematic overview of how sexuality was perceived in the period from 1920 to 2000, covering homosexuality, heterosexuality, sexual variations, prostitution, medicine, religion, erotica and popular belief.