Here, brought vividly to life, is an icon of Japanese culture and custom--the geisha in her role as human work of art and perfect woman.

A hundred years ago geisha numbered eighty thousand; today there are a thousand at most. Happily, Jodi Cobb is able to show us--before they vanish--both[...]

Traces the murder of the controversial Dutch filmmaker and great-grandnephew of Vincent van Gogh by an angry Muslim immigrant's son who promptly committed ritual suicide, describing how the event sent shock waves throughout Europe and tested the boundaries of the secular West's tolerance of other cu[...]

"Imaginative, original--wittily written."--The Washington Post Book World

To some, England has long represented tolerance, reason, and political moderation. To others, it is a moribund bastion of snobbery and outdated tradition. In this lively and diverting social history, noted author Ia[...]

An intriguing study of China as seen from the perspective of its dissidents profiles these opponents of the country's official policies, reporting on exiles in California, religious dissidents in Beijing, the clash between cultural traditions and contemporary politics, the role of Taiwan, the handov[...]

For eight years the president of the United States was a born-again Christian, backed by well-organized evangelicals who often seemed intent on erasing the church-state divide. In Europe, the increasing number of radicalized Muslims is creating widespread fear that Islam is undermining Western-style[...]

Ian Buruma is fascinated, he writes, "by what makes the human species behave atrociously." In Theater of Cruelty the acclaimed author of The Wages of Guilt and Year Zero: A History of 1945 once again turns to World War II to explore that question-to the Nazi occupation of Paris, the Allied bombing o[...]

It was the emblematic crime of our moment: On a cold November day in Amsterdam, an angry young Muslim man, Mohammed Bouyeri, the son of Moroccan immigrants, shot and killed the celebrated and controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, great-grandnephew of Vincent and iconic European provocateur.[...]

With its distinctive history of civil liberties and the delicate balance between social order and the free pursuit of self-interest, England has always fascinated its continental neighbours. This title examines the history of ideas of Englishness and what Europeans have admired (or loathed) in Engla[...]

Approaches China through the stories of its dissidents: ordinary, brave people who oppose a regime that uses repression in the name of social order. This book tells the stories of Chinese rebels who dare to stand up to their rulers, exploring their chances of success in the face of the most powerful[...]

En kall novemberdag i Amsterdam 2004 cyklade den hyllade och kontroversielle Filmaren Theo van Gogh till jobbet. Han kom aldrig fram. Han mördades av en fanatisk ung muslim, Mohammed Bouyeri, som hade provocerats av en film van Gogh gjort med islammotståndaren Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Mordet c[...]

Krig brukar sällan sluta i en entydig känsla av befrielse. Det andra världskriget har på många sätt varit det stora undantaget: det var det goda som segrade mot det onda, och våren 1945 kunde hela världen dra en i och för sig sorgsen, men ändå djup lättnadens suck.I sin nya bok År noll [...]