Books published by Reaktion Books

A nuanced, provocative new account of the life and work of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

The first English-language biography in twenty years of innovative French novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

A broad introduction to the role of insects as human food.

The first popular biography in English in thirty years of Erasmus of Rotterdam.

A fresh, up-to-date account of the life and work of Charles Darwin.

An exploration of ghouls, cannibals and other monsters that eat the dead.

A hard-hitting historical expose of the global diamond industry.

A captivating history of gloves both real and mythical, practical and high fashion. This beautifully illustrated history of gloves draws on examples from across the world to explore their cultural significance. From hand-knitted mittens to exquisitely embroidered confections, and from the three-fingered gloves of medieval shepherds to Bluetooth-enabled examples that function like a mobile phone, gloves' extraordinary variety is a tribute to human ingenuity. So, too, is the remarkable diversity of their--often contradictory--cultural associations. They have been linked to honor, identity, and status, but also to decadence and deceit. In this book, Anne Green discusses gloves both as material objects with their own fascinating history and as fictional creations in folktales, literature, films, etiquette manuals, paintings, and advertisements. Looking to the runway, Green even explores their recent resurgence as objects of high fashion.

Trick or Treat is the first book ever to both examine the origins and history of Halloween and explore in depth its current global popularity.

For all who yearn to travel to the home of the sagas, a beautifully illustrated companion to the terrain of Iceland--from puffins to ponies, glaciers and volcanoes to legendary trolls. Described by William Morris as "most unimaginably strange," the landscape of Iceland has fascinated and inspired travelers, scientists, artists, and writers throughout history. This book provides a contemporary understanding of the landscape as a whole, not only its iconic glaciers and volcanoes, but also its deserts, canyons, plants, and animals. The book examines historic and modern scientific studies of the landscape and animals, as well as accounts of early visitors to the land. These were captivating people, some eccentric but most drawn to Iceland by an enthrallment with all things northern, a desire to experience the land of the sagas, or plain scientific and touristic curiosity. Featuring many spectacular illustrations, this is a fine exploration of a most singular landscape.

"So-called extinct objects are those that were imagined but were never in use, or that existed but are now unused-superseded, unfashionable, or simply forgotten. Extinct gathers together an exceptional range of artists, curators, architects, critics, and academics, including Hal Foster, Barry Bergdoll, Deyan Sudjic, Tacita Dean, Emily Orr, Richard Wentworth, and many more. In eighty-five essays, contributors nominate "extinct" objects and address them in a series of short, vivid, sometimes personal accounts, speaking not only of obsolete technologies, but of other ways of thinking, making, and interacting with the world. Extinct is filled with curious, half-remembered objects, each one evoking a future that never came to pass"--Publisher's description.

A beautifully illustrated account of the botanical and cultural faces of the ash tree.

An illuminating and lively history of paganism in the West.

The picaresque tale of the vitriolic, highly public quarrel between the poet Alexander Pope and the publisher Edmund Curll.

A meticulously researched account of the midlife crisis in both men and women.

A new biogrpahy of one of the 20th-century's most influential political thinkers, Hannah Arendt.