Books published by Liverpool University Press

Two thirds of our planet is covered by oceans and seas. Over recent decades developments in ocean science have dramatically improved our understanding of the key role oceans play in the Earth System, and how vital they are for regulating global climate. Humans depend on the oceans for many resources, but at the same time their impacts on the marine systems around the world are of increasing concern. Introducing Oceanography has been written by two leading oceanographers to provide a succinct overview of the science of the study of the seas for students and for the interested adult wanting a topical guide to this enormous and complex subject. The initial chapters describe the oceans and the forces at work within them. The authors then discuss the effects of light, the chemistry of the seas and the food web before surveying biological oceanography in the main oceanic regions. The final chapter looks at the methodology of ocean study. Copiously illustrated, this book is intended for those whose interest in oceanography has been stimulated, perhaps by media coverage of declining resources or climate change and who want to know more. Technical terms are kept to a minimum and are explained in a glossary.

A comprehensive introductory treatment of sedimentary structures, characterized by an abundance of clear illustrations and a practical approach to a subject of fundamental importance in the study of sedimentology and related areas of the Earth sciences.

Always at the centre of her books and performances are the experiences of the body, and, whether she is exploring racism, violence, the experiences of diaspora communities in India, England or America, what emerges is a heart-stopping, life-affirming way of telling the near impossible-to-be-told.

This book provides all that is needed to study Plato's Atlantis story: Greek text, commentary, vocabulary of Greek terms, new translation and full introduction.

A group of Argive women beg King Theseus to bring about the burial of their sons who are being denied it by their Theban conquerors. The play explores themes of a just war, the family, the role and behaviour of women, and the education of Theseus, as he is transformed from a great hero into a great man. Text with facing translation and commentary.

Orosius's work is therefore crucial for an understanding of early Christian approaches to history, the development of universal history, and the intellectual life of the Middle Ages, for which it was both an important reference work and also a defining model for the writing of history.

The nornir or norns were a group of female supernatural beings closely related to ideas about fate in Old Norse tradition. Karen Bek-Pedersen provides a thorough understanding of the role played by norns and other beings like them in the relevant sources. Although they are well known, even to people who have only a superficial knowledge of Old Norse mythology, this is the first detailed discussion of the norns to be published amongst the literature dealing with Old Norse beliefs. Surprisingly little has been written specifically about the norns. Although often mentioned in scholarship treating Old Norse culture, the norns are all too often dealt with in overly superficial ways. The research presented in this book goes much deeper in order to properly understand the nature and role of the norns in the Old Norse world view. The conclusions reached by the author overturn a number of stereotypical conceptions that have long dominated our understanding of these beings. The book has a natural focus on Old Norse culture and is especially relevant to those interested in or studying Old Norse culture and tradition. However, comparative material from Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Classical traditions is also employed and the book is therefore of interest also to those with a broader interest in European mythologies.

The six hundred miles between the northernmost Shetland island and the Mull of Galloway in the South of Scotland contain some of the most interesting geology and most varied landscapes in Europe. This variety was the inspiration for a tradition of geological investigation that stretches back to the earliest earth scientists. The origins of the Scotland that we know today lie in five quite distinct geological histories.The Geology and landscapes of Scotland takes the reader on a tour of each of these regions in turn, starting with the Northwest Highlands and Outer Hebrides, which contain some of the oldest rocks on Earth, through the mountain terrains of the Highlands and Uplands to the Lowlands and then the fringes of the North Sea. A section describes the volcanic provinces of Scotland; another deals with the effects of the Ice Ages while a final section looks at Scotlands natural resources.Of equal appeal to the professional geologist seeking a broad overview of a much-studied terrain and a resource for the resident, visitor, walker, climber or angler who wants to understand the origins of the landforms they observe, Geology and landscapes of Scotland has proved itself as a reliable guide. In this thoroughly revised edition the many illustrations are presented in colour.

For students of Middle English, Andrew and Waldron's The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript has been the key edition of the four Pearl poems (the best-known of which is Gawain and the Green Knight) for 30 years.

The only Latin art of war to survive, Vegetius' Epitome was for long a part of the medieval prince's military education. The core of his proposals, the maintenance of a professional standing army, was revolutionary for medieval Europe, while his theory of deterrence through strength remains the foundation of modern Western defence policy.

The eighteenth-century French author Montesquieu developed a novel, comprehensive account of Roman history that framed his political science, grounded his political teachings, shaped the Enlightenment's image of Rome, and revealed, by comparison, the modern state's strengths and weaknesses. This book is the first to restore and investigate that complete account.

This is the first sustained exploration of therelationship between post-colonial science fiction, Indian techno-scientificpolicies, and the non-aligned movement. It shows the critical role played bythe science fiction genre in imagining alternative pathways for scientific and geo-politicaldevelopments to those that dominate our lives now.

The psychologist may appear in science fiction as the herald of utopia or dystopia; literary studies have used psychoanalytic theories to interpret science fiction; and psychology has employed science fiction as an educational medium. Science Fiction and Psychology goes beyond such incidental observations and engagements to offer an in-depth exploration of science fiction literature's varied use of psychological discourses, beginning at the birth of modern psychology in the late nineteenth century and concluding with the ascendance of neuroscience in the late twentieth century. Rather than dwelling on psychoanalytic readings, this literary investigation combines with history of psychology to offer attentive textual readings that explore five key psychological schools: evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, behaviourism, existential-humanism, and cognitivism. The varied functions of psychological discourses in science fiction are explored, whether to popularise and prophesy, to imagine utopia or dystopia, to estrange our everyday reality, to comment on science fiction itself, or to abet (or resist) the spread of psychological wisdom. Science Fiction and Psychology also considers how psychology itself has made use of science fiction in order to teach, to secure legitimacy as a discipline, and to comment on the present.

This study seeks to explore Brian Patten's position in relation to his fellow "Liverpool Poets" and to contemporary poetry more widely.

After Shakespeare the most famous British author in Europe, in Britain Byron was for years either neglected, or a victim of the myth of his own personality. Now he is read and studied both for his complex politics and as a forerunner of many of the ideas and techniques more usually associated with post-modernism.

In recent years Brendan's voyage has become increasingly popular as a topic of interest, not only in medieval studies, but also within the history of travel literature in general. This volume collects the most important versions of the voyage from a wide variety of cultures, and presents them in modern English translations.