New and noteworthy

Contemporary Review, May, 2004

THAMES & HUDSON have added two new volumes to their highly successful World of Art series. The first is Timothy Hyman's Sienese Painting: The Art of a City-Republic (1278-1477) ([pounds sterling]8.95). To the author, 'no other art has engaged so imaginatively with the experience of moving about in one's own city' as Siena's in the period that began with Duccio and ended with Francesco di Giorgio. The author follows a basically chronological approach which builds up to the Black Death and then shows how the city was revived to reach a new height in artistic achievement. The second, Christopher Allen's French Painting in the Golden Age ([pounds sterling]9.95), seeks to fill a gap in our knowledge of European art history. The seventeenth century was the period of Lorraine and Poussin and of various cultural achievements in France yet French art is seen as secondary to the Dutch school or to the works of Rubens and Rembrandt. To Dr Allen, French art of the seventeenth century 'is both a crucial moment in the story of modern painting and a time from which many lessons can be drawn'. Its influences are still felt today. Both volumes are well written and helped by numerous illustrations, many of which are in colour.

From PALGRAVE MACMILLAN we have The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Cold War ([pounds sterling]14.99 p.b.) by John Swift which seeks to give students 'an affordable visual aid to the geopolitics of the Cold War'. The explanatory texts and maps are designed to give the reader 'the first step on the way to understanding the great issues of the Cold War'. Sadly the maps only use the European system of kilometres which will be of little use to readers in the U.K. The U.S. Palgrave have also reissued two older titles: the first is a revised and updated edition of Leslie Benson's Yugoslavia: A Concise History ([pounds sterling]12.99) in which the author takes account of the break-up of the Serbian dominated nation in the 1990s. The second is J. H. Plumb's The Death of the Past ([pounds sterling]10.00) which was first published in 1969. This new edition has contributions from two of the most famous tele-dons of our time: Simon Schama, who has written a Foreword and Niall Ferguson, who has contributed an introduction in which he shows that Plumb's arguments are as relevant now as they were thirty-five years ago. The distinction between 'the past'--events that preceded us as remembered incorrectly or for an ulterior motive--and 'history' which is both accurate and purposeful.

W. W. NORTON has recently published two new titles in its Critical Edition series: Shakespeare's Macbeth ([pounds sterling]8.99) and Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders ([pounds sterling]9.99). Shakespeare's famous tragedy is here edited by Prof. Robert S. Miola who has taken his text from the First Folio of 1623. Defoe's novel, edited by Prof. Albert J. Rivero, used the first edition of 1722 although the editor has on pages 243-4 corrected the error perpetrated in the second edition by inserting the later passage, 'In this condition ... always take your Advice' instead of that printed in the first edition. (The printer inserted the second without taking out the first which it was meant to replace.) Both editions have, in addition to the texts, copious explanatory notes and background information as well as selections of criticism of the work.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS has brought out a second edition of David Birmingham's frequently reprinted A Concise History of Portugal ([pounds sterling]40.00 and US$60.00) which was first published in 1993. Prof. Birmingham has brought his history up to date and has revised the bibliography by adding a list of books published after 1990. Also from Cambridge we have a new title in their Musical Lives series, Peter Williams' The Life of Bach ([pounds sterling]40.00 and US$ 60.00). Prof. Williams accepts that the major problem with writing about Johann Sebastian Bach is 'that so little is known about either his inner or his outer life'. Of necessity, then, the author refers a great deal to Bach's musical output to 'flesh out' his story. He also treats with discrimination what sources do survive to give us as well rounded and full a life of the composer as we shall probably ever have.

From SCALA PUBLISHERS we have a new and useful museum guide, James Stourton's Great Smaller Museums of Europe ([pounds sterling]29.95). The author covers twelve countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. Whilst the selection is a personal one, and whilst the author concentres mainly on privately created collections, he has still produced a beautifully illustrated guide to museums little known outside their localities, a guide that should achieve his aim of encouraging readers to visit the museums described.

Among new titles from ALLEN LANE we have another guide, this time to London: Ed Glinert's The London Compendium: Exploring the Hidden Metropolis ([pounds sterling]25.00). The author's aim was to 'unravel the mystery of London and relate its most interesting stories ... through the physical reality of the place: its areas, streets and buildings'. He has divided the capital into eleven areas and gives readers a walking tour in which he describes the buildings and parks and brings their hidden pasts to life for those fortunate enough to have his book to hand. What he has given his readers could be called 'Pevsner with a soul'.