Books published by Reaktion Books

A fun yet comprehensive celebration of the world's fermented food and drink.

A trenchant expose of the effects of automation on worker's lives.

A Band with Built-In Hate portrays The Who through the prism of pop art and the levelling of high and low culture it brought about.

An erudite, engaging literary enquiry into the meaning of midlife.

The first historical account of the development of prison gangs world-wide.

A witty, eloquent, curious history of the wig.

Renowned historian Joanna Bourke explores the modern history of bestiality.

Recounts the origins, art, literature and legends of the cherry tree.

In Egyptomania Ronald H. Fritze takes us on a historical journey to unearth the Egypt of the imagination, a land of weird gods, murky magic, secret knowledge, marvellous pyramids, enigmatic sphinxes, monumental obelisks, immense wealth and mystifying mummies.

A sweeping story of twenty real worlds orbiting other stars.

A new account of the short yet extraordinary life of Rosa Luxemburg.

A magisterial account by Roy Porter of representations of the body in health, disease and death.

Have you ever wondered how a star shines? Did you know that black holes can blaze like cosmic beacons across intergalactic space? Have you ever thought about what light really is? Five Photons explains all with the tales of five fascinating astrophysical processes through the journeys of light across space and time.

A funny, bold and provocative enquiry into what it means to be human.

A history of the fabled heroes and miracles of the Middle Ages.

A comprehensive account of France's rich culinary history.

Drawing on archaeology, mythology and folklore, Kenneth J. McNamara explores humankind's unending quest for the meaning of fossils.

The dramatic history of the world's most expensive spice.

An original interpretation of Joseph Conrad's life of writing.

Humphry Repton (1752-1818) remains one of England's most interesting and prolific garden and landscape designers. Renowned for his innovative design proposals and distinctive before-and-after images, captured in his famous "Red Books," Repton's astonishing career represents the link between the simple parklands of his predecessor Capability Brown and the more elaborate, structured, and formal landscapes of the Victorian age. This lavishly illustrated book, based on a wealth of new research, reinterprets Repton's life, working methods, and designs, and examines why they proved so popular in a rapidly changing world.

An exploration of the visual elusiveness at the core of Giorgione's work.

A nuanced account of the life and art of Piero della Francesca.

A unique, global perspective of the monochrome in modern art.