Pacaritambo

ALL SALAMANCA AND ITS PROVINCE
No author given. Color photos illustrate. Condition: 1985 Escudo de Oro, S.A. Trade Paperback, Fourth Edition. Beautiful color photos. Content: The history of this ancient city (Hannibal once conquered it, as did the Celts) in text and color photos. Simply beautiful. [1 copy available]
$ 4.95 + $ 3.15 media shipping.

AND THE WORLD CLOSED ITS DOORS: The Story of One Family Abandoned to the Holocaust
by David Clay Large. B&W era photo section. Condition: NEW 2003 Basic Books hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Remainder. Content: Max Schohl's family, including his wife and two teenage daughters, fled Germany for Yugoslavia in 1940. As a Jew, Max was no longer permitted to live and work in his own country. In 1942, Schohl was deported to Auschwitz, where he died the following year. His wife and daughters were sent back to Germany to work as slave laborers. They survived and finally were able to emigrate to the U.S. after World War II. Schohl's youngest daughter, Kathe, now 79 and living in Charleston, West Virginia, provided Large with letters and other documents chronicling the family's efforts to escape. Much of the book is in the form of letters, many of them between Max Schohl and Rudolf Hess. Large describes Germany in the 1920s and 1930s by saying "What I try to do in this narrative is to attach a specific human face and voice to the otherwise bloodless record of political calculations and bureaucratic regulations." More clearly than many other books, Large's account depicts the tragic abandonment of the Jews by Western nations. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 4.89 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

THE DESTRUCTION OF YUGOSLAVIA: Tracing the Break-Up 1980 - 92
by Branka Magas. Condition: Gently pre-used 1995 Versa (UK) Trade Paperback, second impression. Although the book appears unread, there is highlighting to page 25, and thereafter, perfect. Content: Magas, a Croatian journalist and historian, offers some pointed, alternative perspectives on the former Yugoslavia in this compilation of her often-prescient articles, written for New Left Review and other journals. Though this is not a comprehensive or narrative history, and some articles are redundant, Magas adds to the literature of Yugoslavia by emphasizing the politics of intellectuals; she identifies the 1981 institution of martial law in the province of Kosovo as a watershed, since Serbian leftist intellectuals did not protest but rallied to nationalism. Magas criticizes intellectuals inside and outside the country for not understanding the link between uenven economic development and nationalist intolerance. Serbian nationalism, she observes, is backed by "the only structures of the Yugoslav Communist state that managed to escape the process of democratization: the Serbian Communist Party and the Army High Command." The book also includes manifestos and letters from Yugoslavian organizations and from Yugoslavians outside the country. Magas's writings show that at least some observers were warning of chaos long before it erupted. [366 pages] [1 copy available]
$ 4.49 + $ 3.49 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE DILIGENT: The Voyage Through the Worlds of the Slave Trade
by Robert Harms. B&W maps and era drawings and illustrations. Condition: NEW 2002 Basic Books hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), second printing. Content: From the 16th to the 19th century, more than 40,000 slave ships plied the waters of the Atlantic, bringing human cargo to the Americas. Drawing on a memoir by a lieutenant, historian Robert Harms tells the story of one such ship, a story that, although shocking to modern readers, "was distressingly ordinary in its own time and place." Designed to transport grain over short distances, the Diligent was perhaps not the most seaworthy of vessels. Still, by ship's officer Robert Durand's account, it transported nearly 300 victims at a time from the African coast to the French colony of Martinique, often at a terrible cost in life because of disease, malnutrition, and harsh shipboard discipline. Harms carefully reconstructs episodes in the ship's life, including the curious trial that ended its 1731 ocean crossing. More than that, he untangles the complex business of the slave trade, which was far from monolithic, depending instead on ever-shifting alliances and private agendas in the race for profit. As Harms notes, though more than 17,000 ships' logs from the slaving voyages of the 18th century have been recovered, only a few shed light on daily life aboard those vessels. His troubling narrative does just that, and it gives new evidence of the ordinariness of evil. [1 copy available]
$ 6.89 + $ 3.39 media shipping.

THE DREAM KING: Ludwig II of Bavaria
by Wilfrid Blunt. Beautiful color paintings and photos plus B&W photos illustrate. Condition: Gently pre-read 1978 Penguin Books (UK) softcover, reprint. Edgewear with pale shelfwear hinge crease. Content: Reviewer: "If you have any curiosity at all about the man who built those famous, fairytale castles in Germany, this is an excellent overview. It pairs a good, basic biography with loads of images and pulls the reader into Ludwig's world in a way a less well-illustrated biography might not." Wonderful bio! [1 copy available]
$ 8.89 + $ 3.49 media shipping.

FABERGE FLOWERS
by Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey, et al. Stunning color photos illustrate. Condition: NEW 2004 Harry N. Abrams hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first ediiton, fist printing. Content: Well, ok, this art isn't in the class with the Faberge Eggs, but almost. In fact, some of the jewel flowers were placed on the Eggs. At one time, the royal families in Europe and Russia were accustomed to having their every whim satisfied, even apparently impossible desires like freezing and preserving nature in its most perfect form. This collection of photographs and essays documents Carl Fabergé’s attempts to do just that for the Russian Imperial Family and other aristocrats throughout Europe. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Fabergé (who’s best known for his extravagant jeweled Easter eggs) created delicate replicas of pansies, lilies of the valley, violets and other flowers and berries that were most often destined for glass display cabinets in the royal palaces of London and Moscow. In somewhat dry terms that draw heavily on sales ledgers and collection inventories, Swezey, a noted authority on the Russian Imperial Family, and a handful of decorative arts experts chronicle the history of the sculptures, from their genesis to the disappearance of many during the outbreak of the Soviet revolution. The lush color photos allow readers to get closer to the pieces than they could ever hope to otherwise, so close that one can see the real fuzz used to augment an intricately crafted dandelion puff and get a sense of how the jars were fashioned in order to look like they were filled with water. Fascinating! [1 copy available]
$ 9.79 + $ 3.39 media shipping.

FAITH, REASON, AND THE PLAGUE IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TUSCANY
by Carlo M. Cipolla. Translated by Muriel Kittrel. B&W photos & illustrations. Condition: UNREAD 1981 W. W. Norton soft cover, third printing. Content: By the late fall of 1630, the Black Plague had descended upon northern Italy. the prentice Magistracy of Public Health, centered in Florence, took steps to contain and combat the scourge. In this essay, Cipolla recreates the daily struggle of plague-stricken Monte Lupo, a rustic Tuscan village, revealing in the vivid terms of actual events and prsonalities a central drama of Western civilization - the conflict between faith and eason, church and state. [1 copy available]
$ 6.59 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

THE FIRST EDEN: The Mediterranean World and Man
by David Attenborough. Color photos & drawings illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1990 Little, Brown hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), most likely a Book Club Edition. Tiny shelfwear to DJ edges - interior perfect. Content: Attenborough, in this lavishly illustrated volume, a TV tie-in, focuses on the cradle of Western civilization, tracing the life of the Mediterranean from salt bed to lush paradise and its ultimate exploitation. History, natural history and archeology come together in a narrative that portrays the changing attitudes of mankind toward the environment. Attenborough surveys early plant and animal life; he discusses climatic changes, noting that today the hostile season is summer. An examination of prehistoric cave drawings leads to the subject of animal gods and sacrificial worship. The domestication of the horse opened the doors to wars and migration; Attenborough chronicles the movements in both directions from the Huns to the Crusaders and, finally, looks at more recent despoliation. The final chapter locates pockets of Edenareas of preservation. [1 copy available]
$ 8.89 + $ 3.49 media shipping.

THE GOLDEN FLEECE: Tales from the Caucasus
translated by Avril Pyman. Color & B&W illustrations. Condition: Overall a very good copy of a rare book published in 1971 by Progress Publishers in Moscow, printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. First printing. Grey cloth boards with decorations. Decorated endpages. Interior clean & tight. Clever color & B&W illustrations. The DJ has done its job and protected the book: tiny tear top spine with edgewear at corners. Now in protective mylar jacket. I love this book! Content: In keeping with pacaritambo books' theory that a country's folklore belongs with it's history, we submit this book for your consideration. The stories are: The Daughter of the Sun (from Georgia); The Tale of the Red Cow (Armenia); Flower of Ezhvan (Georgia); Okhik (Armenia); Doctor Lokhman (Armenia); Tale of the Orphan (Azerbaijan); Azaran Bulbul (Armenia); Tale of the Dev Who Tried to Kill the Miller's Son (Georgia); Quarter-Master Fox and the Tsar's Son (Georgia); Anait (Armenia); Ibrahim (Azerbaijan); Amiran (from Georgia); Merchant's Daughter and the Seven Brothers (Azerbaijan); and an Afterword by Professor E. Pomerantseva. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 31.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

THE INQUISITION (Turning Points in World History Series)
edited by Brenda Stalcup. Condition: NEW 2001 Greenhaven Press Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: This anthology of excerpts from scholarly works opens with a brief overview of the Inquisition's 800-year history, but most of the book is made up of the 24 readings. Some are taken from standard historical works, and others feature recent scholarship and new interpretations about the complex interactions between the religious and civil forces that created and sustained the tribunal's investigations. The readings represent a wide variety of viewpoints, including those that attack and defend the motives and actions of both the Church and civil authorities. The five main chapters discuss the roots and beginning of the Inquisition, its resulting trials and punishments, the Spanish Inquisition and its aftermath, and gradual conclusion of the persecution. Several readings discuss the Inquisition's impact on national governments, Jews, and the indigenous peoples of the Spanish New World. An appendix of 26 primary-source documents supplements the readings, and the list for further reading is extensive. Although this is an informative and often fascinating book, readers will need to have considerable background knowledge about both medieval history and the Catholic Church in order to be able to understand its themes and very difficult vocabulary. Intended for Grade 10 and up, this may be a bit difficult for high school students, IMHO Questions welcome. [1 copy availaable]
$ 9.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

JOAN OF ARC: Her Story (Movie Tie-In)
by Regine Pernoud & Marie-Veronique Clin (translation by Jeremy Adams). B&W illustrations section. Condition: Very Good+, 1999 Palgrave-McMillan Trade Paperback, 1st thus, 1st printing. Rrevised & translated by Jeremy Adams. Appears unread, but is not "crisp." Beautiful cover art of "Joan" by Jean Dominique, 1854. Content: The peasant girl who led an army against the English and placed Charles VII on the French throne has inspired countless books since her death at age 19. While others have claimed Joan the Maid (as she called herself) for every cause from feminism to working-class radicalism, this meticulous volume by two French scholars sticks close to the known facts. The authors make extensive use of contemporary documents that bring to life the turbulent political scene in which Joan operated as well as her forceful personality. Joan followed the directives of voices she believed were sent to her by God; her deep piety, self-assurance, decisiveness, and shrewd intelligence radiate from her letters and from her responses to hostile questioning at the rigged trial that resulted in her being burned alive as a heretic in 1431. Basis for the movie by Luc Besson. [1 copy available]
$ 8.95 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE MAN BEHIND THE IRON MASK: The True Story
by John Noone. B&W photos illustrate. Condition: NEW 1998 St. Martin's Press Trade Paperback, reprint. Tiny, tiny edgewear bottom front cover corner tip. Content: For more than three hundred years the legend of 'the man in the iron mask' has held a place on the stage of human enquiry and debate. From the time of his incarceration during the reign of Louis XIV right through to our modern day, the awful fate of the man condemned to live a lifetime with his face encased in iron has inspired, depending on the era, anger, horror, pity and fascination." So opened the New York Times review of the first edition of The Man Behind the Iron Mask. John Noone's masterful account of the mystery presents all the known facts of the prisoner's existence chronologically as they have been discovered, including the famous legend immortalized in the nineteenth century by Alexander Dumas in his sequel to The Three Musketeers, and into modern times with the supposed discovery of his skeleton in an old tower in Cannes in 1977. Noone also offers his own intriguing solution to the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask, telling the story of this mystery of enduring strength like no one else has. [1 copy available]
$ 5.89 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

THE MAPMAKERS' QUEST: Depicting New Worlds in Renaissance Europe
by David Buisseret. Beautiful color illustrations. Condition: Gently pre-read 2003 Oxford University Press hardcover & JD (in mylar jacket), first printing. Interesting "oblong" shape. DJ has a small chip top back edge. Content: Buisseret, professor of the history of cartography at the University of Texas at Arlington, intends this book to answer a simple question: "Why was it that there were so few maps in Europe in 1400, and yet so many by 1650?" One reason for the explosion was the 15th-century European rediscovery of ancient map collections, such as Ptolemy's supremely influential Geography; the book's first chapter is devoted to the cartographic legacy of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Equally important was Europe's new outward expansion, with journeys of exploration to Africa and the New World. Portugal and Spain, Buisseret emphasizes, led the way in mapmaking just as they did in exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries, though other nations, such as England and France, caught up by the 17th century. Cartography also came to be used for military purposes, for depicting battlefields, troop maneuvers and fortifications. Maps were also important for administrative purposes: nation-states were growing fast, and maps helped in governing them. In 16th-century England, Buisseret explains, estate maps were used by individuals to define the limits of an owner's property, and in the same period, town plans emerged in reaction to military and administrative requirements. This growth of mapmaking was greatly accelerated by the emergence of the printing press. Buisseret supplements his narrative with dozens of illustrative maps, in color and black-and-white, from some of the great Renaissance mapmakers such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Durer. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 10.49 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

PHILIP OF SPAIN
by Henry Kamen. B&W photo section. Condition: UNREAD 1997 Yale Univ. Press hrdcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Content: A biography of the 16th-century Spanish king. Philip II was one of the greatest figures of Spanish history: a staunch Catholic who brought the weight of his office to bear against the northern Protestants, a patron of the arts, a master diplomat, and a soldier who conquered Holland and tried to invade Britain when their alliance collapsed. Kamen provides an exhaustively researched account of Philip's life, the first new biography of him in over 20 years. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 9.49 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

SHIPWRECKS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY & NAPOLEONIC ERAS
by Terence Grocott. Condition: Gently pre-read 2002 Caxton hardcover (pictorial boards) & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Content: This book is a chronicle of shipping disasters during the last great war of the age of sail, based almost exclusively on reporting of the time. Listed are some fifteen hundred ships, vessels naval and mercantile, of many nations whose tribulations wee covered in the national and local newspapers as well as the specialist press like the Naval Chronicle. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 7.49 + $ 3.49 media shipping.

THRESHOLD OF TERROR: The Last Hours of the Monarchy in the French Revolution
by Rodney Allen. B&W photos, maps, and drawings illustrate. Condition: NEW 2001 Sutton Publishing (UK) soft cover, first printing. Content: Allen sees in the August 10, 1792 Revolution in France the same failed attempt to establish "a new social and political era" that marked the October 25, 1917 Revolution in Russia. Using a number of eyewitness accounts previously unpublished in English, with direct quotations and paraphrases interwoven into the text, Allen has produced a marvelously detailed picture of the final hours of this crucial collapse and transformation of the high hopes that had begun in France with the fall of the Bastille in 1789. Its aftermath would be totalitarian politics, terror, civil war, and external conflict as a means both to rejoin a fractured society and to spread ideology. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.49 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

TROTSKY: Memoir & Critique
by Albert Glotzer. Trotsky photo front DJ panel. Condition: UNREAD 1990 Prometheus Books hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), no edition given. Content: As a youthful member of the American Communist League (a Trotskyite group) Glotzer made several trips to visit Trotsky during his exile from the Soviet Union. In 1937 he served as court stenographer for the American commission investigating Stalin's conspiracy charges against Trotsky. Although the outline of Trotsky's career and philosophy are assumed, the detailed accounts of Stalin's show trials (1936-38) and of the Trotsky hearings are the most valuable feature of the book. The long discourses on factional differences among Communist groups become tiresome for the uninitiated. Explanations of how and why Trotsky lost out on control of the Russian party to Stalin are based on intimate knowledge of both events and personalities. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 15.49 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

WITCHES: History of a Persecution
by Nigel Cawthorne. Great B&W era photos and art work with B&W photos. Condition: NEW 2006 Chartwell Books hard cover (pictorial boards) & DJ (in mylar jacket), first thus. Content: Using contemporaneous court reports, depositions, letters, confessions and detailed written accounts, the author builds a terrifying picture of a world beset by the collective mania that was the witch hunt. Illustrated throughout in black & white. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 9.75 + $ 3.49 media shipping

A YOUNG GIRL'S UNTOLD WAR STORY
by Helena Boyle. Condition: UNREAD Dorrance Publishing Trade Paperback, first printing. HOWEVER, something was "stuck" to the bottom back cover (I'm working on that) and has left a strange pale medium discoloration. No idea what but it does not bleed through to the inside cover or to the pages. Interior clean & tight. Content: Boyle spins a gripping tale that will appeal to all lovers of history and biography. The story is the true-life account of Boyle’s incredible experiences during World War II. Growing up as one of six children in a poor household in Riga, Latvia, life was difficult. At a young age, Helena was compelled to work in order to support herself. Aware of the encroaching presence of World War II, she became fearful. Some of her most horrifying fears were realized when her grandfather was shot by the Germans during the invasion of Latvia, and the family had to retrieve his body from a shallow grave. While working as a farmhand at barely the age of sixteen, she was kidnapped by invading German soldiers and spent many months at their mercy. Much of the time she was unaware of what was happening to her, because the Germans rendered her unconscious with poisonous gases. She did not spend the duration of the war years marching with that regiment, however. Boyle’s quest for survival led her through many different places, and her difficult journey did not stop with the end of the war. Ms. Boyle now lives in Fort Worth. [1 copy available]
$ 5.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping.