On Farting: Language and Laughter in the Middle Ages
This book presents waste as an aesthetic category that introduces an arsy-versy world where detritus is precious. This aesthetic is applied in the second part to etymology, poking through the "paternal dungheaps" of words, and tracing their origins not to Eden but to Babel, puns, and word play. Finally, in the case of Roland the Farter, who performed annually a jump, whistle, and fart before the king of England, we encounter the resistance of the past to historical rationalization. Roland moons at us across the centuries, deflating our attempts to become one flesh with the past, and placing laughter at the heart of knowing.
Cities of the Middle East and North Africa - A Historical Encyclopedia
Bustling cities with twisting streets and busy markets. Lush gardens, quiet courtyards, minarets flashing in the hot sun. The cities of the Middle East and North Africa evoke these vivid images, but the reality is often more prosaic, with problems of poverty, pollution, disenfranchisement, conflict, and poor infrastructure. What fascinating history lies behind these cities, and what are they like today?
Water Technology in the Middle Ages - Cities, Monasteries and Waterworks after the Roman Empire
Focusing attention on gravity-fed water-flow systems in medieval cities and monasteries, Water Technology in the Middle Ages: Cities, Monasteries, and Waterworks after the Roman Empire challenges the view that hydraulic engineering died with the Romans and remained moribund until the Renaissance. Roberta Magnusson explores the systems' technologies -- how they worked, what uses the water served -- and also the social rifts that created struggles over access to this basic necessity.
The Byzantine Commonwealth - Eastern Europe 500 -1453
Throughout much of the Middle Ages, Eastern Europe-the Balkans, Russia, Rumania and the land on either side of the Danube--was affected by Byzantine political and cultural influence. From the barbarian invasions to the Middle Ages, this is an illuminating read that demystifies the Balkans.
The novel centres around the protagonist, Iris Chase, and her sister Laura, who committed suicide immediately after the Second World War. Iris, now an old woman, recalls the events and relationships of her childhood, youth and middle age, as well as her unhappy marriage to Richard Griffen, a rival of her industrialist father.
