Books published by Reaktion Books

Gay Watson explores attention through many disciplines and ways of life, from neuroscience to surfing. This is a valuable and timely account of something central to our lives yet all too often neglected.

In this new critical biography Frida Beckman traces Gilles Deleuze's remarkable intellectual journey, mapping the encounters from which his life and work emerged.

Contains many fascinating facts about the world's fastest animal, including falcons in secret military projects and espionage; falcons nesting in the middle of cities; the history of the race to save the peregrine; and the colourful sport of falconry.

The zombie has shuffled with dead-eyed, remorseless menace from its beginnings in folklore and primitive superstition to become the dominant image of the undead. Roger Luckhurst sifts material from anthropology, folklore, long-forgotten pulp literature, B-movies, medical history and cultural theory to give a definitive introduction to the zombie.

Drawing on archaeological evidence and a wealth of oral and written history, this book reveals the journey Vietnamese food has traversed through history to become a much-loved cuisine today.

In this compelling journey through peaks both real and imaginary, Veronica della Dora explores how the history of mountains is deeply interlaced with cultural values and aesthetic tastes, with religious beliefs and scientific practices.

Edible Flowers is the fascinating history of how flowers have been used in cooking from ancient customs to modern kitchens. It also serves up novel ways to prepare and eat soups, salads, desserts and drinks. Discover something new about the flowers all around you with this surprising history.

Chillies traces the culinary journey of the spice and uncovers cultural and spiritual links between chillies and humans, from their use as an aphrodisiac, to the recent discovery that chilli heat shows promise as a treatment for neuropathic pain, prostate cancer and leukaemia.

An exploration of the issues that arise when philosophers ask 'how are we to eat?'

A new, critical biography of enigmatic French theorist, writer, actor and artist Antonin Artaud examining Artaud's work in relation to his life, as well as the many influential figures he came into contact with.

Meteorite: Nature and Culture is a unique, richly illustrated cultural history of these ancient and mysterious phenomena.

Art in Ireland since 1910 is the first book to examine Irish art from the early twentieth century to the present day. In this highly illustrated volume Fionna Barber looks at the work of a wide range of artists from Yeats and le Brocquy to Cross and Doherty, many of whom are unfamiliar to audiences outside Ireland.

Though gardening is beloved the world over, the style of gardens themselves varies from region to region, determined as much by culture as climate. In this series of illustrated essays, John Dixon Hunt takes us on a world tour of different periods in the making of gardens.

Martha Jay traces the history of allium family - onions, shallots, garlic, chives, and leeks - back to the earliest civilizations of the Fertile Crescent and the recipes of ancient Mesopotamia.

A cultural and natural history of the moth, which may seem drab compared to the butterfly, but which in fact has more species and brighter colouring than its day-flying cousin.

A classic account of how landscape has been central to questions of 'Englishness' - of national identity, history and modernity, as well as concepts of citizenship and the body.

A stunning, beautifully illustrated exploration of urban underground spaces, bringing together a collection of 80 subterranean sites from around the world.

Charlotte Horlyck explores oil and ink paintings to video art, multi-media installations, ready-mades and performance, and the questions that arise about the role of art and the artist's position within society.

An acclaimed reassessment of Italian master painter Jacopo Tintoretto, now available in compact pocket format, which charts Tintoretto's life and work in the context of Venetian art and the culture of the Cinquecento.

One of France's most high-profile writers and a Nobel Prize-winner, Albert Camus experienced both public adulation and acrimonious rejection during his career, which was cut short by a fatal car accident in 1960. Edward J. Hughes unravels the life of a complex personality whose work and stance were the subjects of intense interest and scrutiny.

A significant, ground-breaking reassessment of ancient Chinese tombs, which were filled with exquisite art objects and images, now available in paperback. The Art of the Yellow Springs looks at the implications presented by an entire burial site, rather than the individual works of art contained within them.

St George: A Saint for All is a compelling account of the myth of St George, one of the most significant mythic figures in Christian culture, as well as many other religions world-wide. The book describes St George's lively and diverse following today, and shows how the saint has inspired artists, poets and painters.

Ruins and Fragments is a wide-ranging, elliptical, engaging view of the history of modernity through the lens of the ruined and fragmentary. It explores literary fragments such as the plays of Aeschylus, as well as how writers - Joyce, Coleridge, Pound, T. S. Elliot - exploit fragmentary techniques and forms.

The first book to examine the films of Jim Jarmusch from a sound-oriented perspective. The three essential acoustic elements that structure a film - music, words and noise - propel this book's fascinating journey through his work, including Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down By Law (1986), Dead Man (1995), and Only Lovers Left Alive (2013).