New Releases by Simon Schama

Da millenni gli esseri umani e i virus coesistono e, suo malgrado, l''umanità più di una volta si è scoperta vulnerabile, stretta tra il terrore del contagio e l''ingegnosità della scienza. Soffermandosi in particolare su avvenimenti del XVIII e XIX secolo, Schama focalizza la propria ricerca su un tema ancora oggi attuale, ossia il sospetto e i pregiudizi che da sempre hanno accompagnato tanto l''insorgere di inattese epidemie quanto le nuove scoperte scientifiche volte a scongiurarne gli effetti peggiori. Infatti, diverse malattie infettive dilagarono nelle affollate città moderne: il vaiolo colpì Londra, il colera infestò Parigi, la peste flagellò l''India. Il compito della nascente scienza medica? Fermare la mortalità. Per raccontare quella frenetica battaglia per salvare quante più vite umane possibili, Schama presenta un''incredibile sequenza di personaggi e di storie. Tra queste, la triste parabola di un eroe quasi sconosciuto, Waldemar Haffkine. Scienziato ebreo di Odessa e microbiologo presso l''Istituto Pasteur, Haffkine sviluppò il primo vaccino contro il colera e, trasferitosi in India, fu pioniere di una serie di studi scientifici che contribuirono a immunizzare milioni di persone. Acclamato in Inghilterra come «salvatore dell''umanità», fu però vittima di un atto di scioccante ingiustizia che mise fine alla sua brillante carriera. Nel ripercorrere la lunga storia della lotta tra l''uomo e i virus, Schama trova lo spunto per difendere la propria incrollabile certezza che esista un legame profondo e inscindibile che ci unisce alla natura e alla nostra specie. Alla fine, sostiene Schama, affrontiamo alcune sfide del nostro tempo insieme, come la lotta contro le infezioni pericolose. In quei momenti, «non ci sono estranei, ma solo amici intimi: un''unica preziosa catena di connessioni». Attraversando i confini tra Oriente e Occidente, Schama conduce il lettore in un viaggio nel tempo che racconta molto del nostro presente, dimostrando come la lotta alle epidemie sia un compito non solo scientifico, ma anche politico, culturale e personale.

La narración perfecta de una historia de miedo, ingenio, persecución, colaboración y grandes logros, por el aclamado historiador Simon Schama. «Una épica historia de pandemias e inmunidad». Jorge Benítez, El Mundo Países sumidos en el pánico, desesperados por conseguir vacunas, pero temerosos del efecto de las dosis. Lo hemos vivido con la COVID-19. En esta épica historia de pandemias y vacunas el historiador Simon Schama describe cómo humanos y virus han convivido durante milenios y cómo la humanidad se ha visto atrapada entre el terror al contagio y el ingenio de la ciencia. Con minuciosas explicaciones sobre los estragos de la viruela, el cólera o la peste, se engarzan apasionantes relatos y se presenta a un inolvidable elenco de personajes y ejemplos históricos, cruzando fronteras entre Oriente y Occidente con los que Schama demuestra que la erradicación de las enfermedades es una tarea no solo científica, sino también política, cultural y personal. En el meollo de la narración, un héroe olvidado: Waldemar Haffkine, estudiante judío, pistolero de Odesa convertido en microbiólogo del Insituto Pasteur y aclamado en Inglaterra como «salvador de la humanidad» por crear la primera línea de producción masiva de vacunas en Bombay e inmunizar a millones de personas contra el cólera y la peste bubónica. Este libro es también un firme recordatorio de la interconexión que nos vincula a la naturaleza y a nuestra propia especie. En última instancia, defiende Schama, afrontamos juntos determinados retos de nuestro tiempo, como por ejemplo la lucha contra peligrosas infecciones. En esos momentos, «no hay extranjeros, solo familiares». La crítica ha dicho: «Una espléndida y conmovedora obra histórica. Schama tiene un don para combinar detalles novelísticos, análisis serios y comentarios irónicamente divertidos». The Daily Telegraph «Magnífico». The Observer «Extraordinario. Una narración meticulosa de un periodo terrible, a la par que científicamente innovador. Defiende la urgencia de construir un futuro mejor a partir de nuestro pasado tóxico». The Guardian «Historia del mejor género: humanamente comprometida pero alejada de sentimentalismos». The Mail on Sunday

A vibrant cultural history investigating pandemics and vaccines, by bestselling author and historian Simon Schama Cities and countries engulfed by panic and death, desperate for vaccines but fearful of what inoculation may bring. This is what the world has just gone through with Covid-19. But as Simon Schama shows in his epic history of vulnerable humanity caught between the terror of contagion and the ingenuity of science, it has happened before. Characteristically, Schama’s message is delivered through gripping, page-turning stories set in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: smallpox strikes London; cholera hits Paris; plague comes to India. Threading through the scenes of terror, suffering and hope – in hospitals and prisons, palaces, and slums – are an unforgettable cast of characters: a philosopher-playwright burning up with smallpox in a country chateau; a vaccinating doctor paying house calls in Halifax; a woman doctor in south India driving her inoculator-carriage through the stricken streets as dead monkeys drop from the trees. But we are also in the labs when great, life-saving breakthroughs happen, in Paris, Hong Kong, and Mumbai. At the heart of it all is an unsung hero: Waldemar Haffkine, a gun-toting Jewish student in Odesa turned microbiologist at the Pasteur Institute, hailed in England as “the saviour of mankind” for vaccinating millions against cholera and bubonic plague in British India while being cold-shouldered by the medical establishment of the Raj. Creator of the world’s first mass production line of vaccines in Mumbai, he is tragically brought down in an act of shocking injustice. Foreign Bodies crosses borders between east and west, Asia and Europe, the worlds of rich and poor, politics and science. Its thrilling story carries with it the credo of its author on the interconnectedness of humanity and nature; of the powerful and the people. Ultimately, Schama says, as we face the challenges of our times together, “there are no foreigners, only familiars.”

“Simon Schama has re-examined the role of Baron Edmond de Rothschild [1845-1934] and his son James [1878-1957] in the Jewish settlement of Palestine... He refutes Herzl’s charge that the colonies were a ‘rich man’s pastime to while away what would otherwise have been idle hours’ by illustrating how Baron Edmond’s immediate concern in 1882 for the sanctuary of Eastern European pogrom victims was, by the turn of the century, translated into a total commitment to the development of a self-supporting Jewish homeland and finally a state... Along the way, Schama maneuvers skillfully through the cluttered detail of budgets, expenditures, equipment, crop experimentation (with wine, tobacco, and perfume), border disputes, and administrative problems, providing occasional vignettes of local Palestinian conditions under Ottoman rule, Baronial outrage at colonists’ ingratitude toward his centralized regime, agents’ ineptness, and encounters with Herzl, Balfour, and Weizmann. Meanwhile the Baron evolves from a ‘benevolent onlooker’ to an ‘active accomplice’; and, with Schama’s thoroughly documented, incisively written account, he and his family take their significant places in Israeli history.” — Kirkus “To its credit Schama’s work records that the re-establishment of large-scale Jewish settlement in Palestine was not only marked by a struggle against its Arab inhabitants and later against its British overlords, but primarily by a struggle against the sandy soil, rocks and swamps which covered so much of the land available for Jewish settlement at the turn of the century... The importance of this study... is that it is the first to be based on the archives of PICA [the Palestine Jewish Colonisation Association], which Schama has used extensively. He presents countless details concerning the early Jewish settlements, and many fascinating vignettes of life in Ottoman Palestine... he has written a highly readable account of aspects of life in Palestine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” — Ronald W. Zweig, The Historical Journal “Schama’s contributions are remarkable... Schama’s lively and intelligent discussion of the material hardships and economic realities of the resettlement effort... makes... an important contribution... The spare details of the economic problems of the Yishuv take on a sense of immediacy that is found only in the best economic history.” — Todd M. Endelman, Jewish Social Studies “[B]iographies of Baron Edmond de Rothschild have been written before... But not until Schama’s book, which evidently had the support of family cooperation, could we rely on a study based on archival as well as more readily available documentation. It is fortunate that this material is now made accessible in the interpretation of a distinguished historian with a broad sweep of social and economic as well as political interests.” — Benjamin Halpern, Middle East Journal “[An] important study.” — Raphael Patai, The American Historical Review

Per Jonathan Richardson, pittore e teorico delle arti visive del XVIII secolo, il principale requisito del ritratto è quello di raccontare la storia del soggetto rappresentato sulla tela - il suo vero io, l''essenza nascosta dietro la maschera del potere e della fama - al fine di tramandarne il ricordo. Perché il ritratto, se da un lato cristallizza un istante del presente, dall''altro si proietta nel futuro, a beneficio dello sguardo di coloro che verranno dopo, continuando a vivere nel giudizio del pubblico. Nell''era della fretta e dei selfie, lo storico Simon Schama, docente alla Columbia University, osserva dunque con attenzione dipinti e fotografie dei secoli passati. Vi legge personalità ed emozioni: risolutezza, risolutezza, amore, ambizione, coraggio, dolore. E, unendo storia e arte, attraverso una serie sorprendente di immagini conservate alla National Portrait Gallery di Londra, ripercorre la storia dell''Inghilterra, dai Tudor ai giorni nostri. Immagini che hanno permesso ai britannici di ricordare «chi erano», contribuendo così alla costruzione di un''identità culturale collettiva, di una tradizione e di una memoria condivisa. Quei volti di re e regine, di politici e letterati, di filosofi e cortigiane, di suffragette e popstar, rivivono così in queste pagine, in un fluire appassionato e incessante di personaggi, aneddoti, vicende, interpretazioni, ricordi. Da Winston Churchill, nel tormentato dipinto di Graham Sutherland, a John Lennon, fotografato da Annie Leibovitz solo cinque ore prima di essere assassinato; da Enrico VIII, raffigurato nella sua aura di invincibilità da Holbein il Giovane, alle cartes de visite della regina Vittoria in lutto; dalle esilaranti stampe satiriche di James Gillray, che nel Settecento trasformarono la politica in intrattenimento, agli strazianti autoritratti di Gwen John, Schama invita il lettore a trovare il proprio legame personale con questi volti e la loro storia, a stabilire con essi un contatto visivo, che è «l''inizio dell''etica, la condizione indispensabile dell''empatia, la capacità di sperimentare il mondo attraverso qualcosa di più della nostra persona isolata».

沒有國際地位的民族，注定無法安身立命？ 「想生活得像個人」竟成了猶太人跨世紀的追尋。 當國家不存在，身分成為被孤立的包袱， 是要棄國轉身，抑或堅持存在的權利？ 「那是他唯一真正的耶路撒冷頓悟。……他會打造成一個只屬於步行者的領域，只屬於每一個宗教的朝聖者、禮拜者。沒有人來統治，但每個人和他們的聖地都會獲得照料。那會是一個所有信仰者和無信仰者共享的耶路撒冷。」──〈第十六章 該是現在嗎？〉 正是當無國可去、無根可尋之時，猶太人長出了追求平等、自由與尊嚴的翅膀。 《猶太人》系列，是英國知名歷史學者西蒙・夏瑪醞釀了幾乎一輩子，出自靈魂的書寫。在第二部，他講述了晚近五百年間猶太人為保有文化、身分，如何在不同國家賣力爭取權益，範圍涵蓋了葡萄牙、義大利、法國、英國、俄羅斯，遠到南美洲、美國、印度、西非、阿拉伯半島，並鮮活描繪出各地的猶太人面貌，有穿梭於權貴間的商人世家，有威尼斯貧民窟的詩人、中國明朝的猶太教徒、英國的拳擊手、德國的歌劇作家等等，跨越數百年、數個階級。 猶太人的世界史之所以重要，在於以他們無國卻始終以猶太身分生活的漫長歷史，向這世界拋出了疑問： 當沒有了國家來定義人，人難道就毫無生存的空間與權利？ 關於猶太人的傳說何其多，但很少人能如西蒙・夏瑪，直指猶太人是為了在這跨世紀歲月中維繫自身的文化、爭取最基本權利，才練就了一身功夫。而對異文化、異族的排擠與針對，正是現今我們仍頻繁面對的重要課題。自古以來族群、文化、國家架構下的弱勢與強勢問題，全在猶太人的歷史得以彰顯。 然而歷經數世紀煎熬的猶太人告訴我們：追求吧！堅持吧！外在的國籍、文化，無法阻擋我們胸中那座神廟的光指引方向，因為那是身而為人的根本，是眾人共享的基本權利。我們生來，就有資格自由、不受打壓地活著。

Simon Schama vertelt in De ruwe oversteek op sublieme wijze over de grote maar onderbelichte rol die slaafgemaakten speelden in de strijd tussen Amerika en Groot-Brittannië (Amerikaanse Revolutie, 1775-1783). Tienduizenden Afrikaans-Amerikaanse slaafgemaakten vluchtten van plantages om voor de Britse troepen te vechten. In ruil voor hun loyaliteit werd hen vrijheid en land in het vooruitzicht gesteld, een belofte die niet werd nagekomen. Simon Schama volgt hun odyssee, van het vuur van de oorlog tot de vlucht naar het ijskoude, onherbergzame Nova Scotia, waar ze na de Britse nederlaag aan hun lot werden overgelaten. Voorstanders van het afschaffen van de slavernij leidden duizenden van hen naar Sierra Leone, waar ze hoopten eindelijk vrij te zijn.

Simon Schama poursuit, avec ce deuxième volume, sa magistrale histoire des Juifs, à partir de leur expulsion d’Espagne en 1492. Il donne vie à l’épopée d’un peuple jeté sur les routes, en quête d’un lieu où vivre en harmonie avec les autres, sans renier sa culture. C’est l’histoire non seulement de rabbins et de philosophes, mais aussi d’une poétesse du ghetto de Venise, d’un général dans la Chine des Ming, d’un boxeur de l’Angleterre géorgienne ou encore d’un compositeur d’opéra dans l’Allemagne du xixe siècle. Du Kerala à Mantoue, des rives de la Colombie aux tavernes d’Ukraine, jusque dans les camps miniers de Californie, le lecteur parcourt le monde. Il navigue sur des caravelles, voyage en diligence, sillonne les rues de Londres à l’aube, un paquet de vêtements usés sous le bras, tombe avec ce qu’il reste de l’armée napoléonienne en ruine. L’histoire que nous raconte Simon Schama est celle de l’endurance face à la destruction, de la créativité face à l’oppression, de la joie dans la peine. C’est ce qui en fait l’histoire de tous et de chacun. Et en ces temps où les souffrances de la migration sont quotidiennement rappelées, elle trouve d’autant plus de résonance. Simon Schama est professeur d’histoire de l’art et d’histoire à l’université Columbia. Il a publié plusieurs ouvrages récompensés et traduits dans une quinzaine de langues, et a écrit et présenté une quarantaine de films pour la BBC2 sur des sujets aussi divers que Tolstoï, la politique américaine et Shakespeare. En 2013, il a publié chez Fayard le volume I de l’Histoire des Juifs. Trouver les mots, de 1000 av. notre ère à 1492.

¿Fue la libertad la causa o el producto de la Revolución francesa? La mejor crónica sobre uno de los periodos estelares de la humanidad. Ciudadanos no es la versión trillada de un régimen muriendo de enfermedad y decrepitud, sino el reflejo de la transformación que cambió la historia de Europa para siempre: el paso de hombres y mujeres de «sujetos» a «ciudadanos». Partiendo de la idea de que la fe de los ciudadanos en la libertad fue la causa más que el producto de la Revolución francesa, Schama dibuja un país en ebullición en el que se derrumban las diferencias entre nobles y plebeyos, en un escenario de hambre, ira, terror y muerte. A través de la historia social, cultural y política, Schama encuentra el marco de su historia en imágenes y artefactos, cerámicas y calendarios y, con su particular punto de vista, nos acerca más que nunca a la realidad humana de la Revolución Francesa. Reseñas: «El mejor libro que he leído sobre la Revolución francesa.» Richard Cobb «Monumental, provocador y refinado. La descripción que hace Schama de los primeros años de la gran Revolución que se apoderó de Francia y de las décadas que la precedieron, son difíciles de superar.» Eugene Weber, The New York Times Book Review «No he leído nada que pueda compararse al épico relato de Schama que tiene la capacidad de sumergir al lector en los años más violentos de ese "fermento universal" que fue la Revolución.» Christopher Hibbert, Sunday Times «Deslumbrante... supera todos los elogios. Schama describe en las páginas de este maravilloso libro las vicisitudes de ese mundo con una comprensión, sabiduría, compasión y verdad inigualables.» Bernard Levin «Schamabrinda una imagen sin parangón de las corrientes y contradicciones que conformaron esta terrible secuencia de sucesos.» Antont Beevor, Express «La sabiduría de Schama es la causa del placer y la admiración que provoca la lectura de esta obra. La humanidad de sus veredictos representa un logro formidable, a menudo conmovedor.» George Steiner, The New Yorker «Un brillante tour de force. Este extraordinario libro identifica y transmite la esencia de la Revolución, lo atractivo de su llamada, el secreto de su poder y la razón de su eventual fracaso: la violencia.» Tim Blanning, Independent «A cambio, Ciudadanos cuenta la Historia enhebrando historias, relatos personales que matiza con la agudeza de la novela y eleva a algo más, a un conocimiento histórico nuevo, lleno de desmentidos y paradojas.» Luis Alemany, El Mundo «Imprescindible para quien busque una idea objetiva de esos años que decidieron el destino del mundo.» Gabriel Albiac, ABC

''Wordy is about the intoxication of writing; my sense of playful versatility; different voices for different matters: the polemical voice for political columns; the sharp-eyed descriptive take for profiles; poetic precision in grappling with the hard task of translating art into words; lyrical recall for memory pieces. And informing everything a rich sense of the human comedy and the ways it plays through historical time. It''s also a reflection on writers who have been shamelessly gloried in verbal abundance; the performing tumble of language - those who have especially inspired me - Dickens and Melville; Joyce and Marquez.'' Simon Schama Sir Simon Schama has been at the forefront of the arts, political commentary, social analysis and historical study for over forty years. As a teacher of Art History and an award-winning television presenter of iconic history-based programming, Simon is equally a prolific bestselling writer and award-winning columnist for many of the world''s foremost publishers, broadsheet newspapers, periodicals and magazines. His commissioned subjects over the years have been numerous and wide ranging - from the music of Tom Waits, to the works of Sir Quentin Blake; the history of the colour blue, to discussing what skills an actor needs to create a unique performance of Falstaff. Schama''s tastes are wide-ranging as they are eloquent, incisive, witty and thought provoking and have entertained and educated the readers of some of the world''s most respected publications - the Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, Harper''s Bazaar and Rolling Stone magazine. Wordy is a celebration of one of the world''s foremost writers. This collection of fifty essays chosen by the man himself stretches across four decades and is a treasure trove for all those who have a passion for the arts, politics, food and life.

Belonging is a magnificent cultural history abundantly alive with energy, character and colour. From the Jews'' expulsion from Spain in 1492 it tells the stories not just of rabbis and philosophers but of a poetess in the ghetto of Venice; a boxer in Georgian England; a general in Ming China; an opera composer in nineteenth-century Germany. The story unfolds in Kerala and Mantua, the starlit hills of Galilee, the rivers of Colombia, the kitchens of Istanbul, the taverns of Ukraine and the mining camps of California. It sails in caravels, rides the stage coaches and the railways; trudges the dawn streets of London, hobbles along with the remnant of Napoleon''s ruined army. The Jewish story is a history that is about, and for, all of us. And in our own time of anxious arrivals and enforced departures, the Jews'' search for a home is more startlingly resonant than ever.

In the second of two volumes of this magnificently illustrated cultural history—the tie-in to the PBS and BBC series The Story of the Jews—Simon Schama details the story of the Jewish people, spanning from their expulsion from Spain during the Inquisition across six hundred years to the present day. It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in the face of oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds. It spans the centuries and the continents—from the Iberian Peninsula and the collapse of “the golden age” to the shtetls of Russia to the dusty streets of infant Hollywood. Its voices ring loud and clear, from the philosophical musings of Spinoza to the poetry written on slips of paper in concentration camps. Within these pages, the Enlightenment unfolds, a great diaspora transforms a country, a Viennese psychiatrist forever changes the conception of the human mind. And a great story unfolds. Not—as often imagined—of a people apart, but of a Jewish culture immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled. Which, as Simon Schama so brilliantly demonstrates, makes the story of the Jews everyone’s story, too. The Story of the Jews Volume 2 features 24 pages of color photos, numerous maps, and printed endpapers.

In this magnificently illustrated cultural history—the tie-in to the PBS and BBC series The Story of the Jews—Simon Schama details the story of the Jewish experience, tracing it across three millennia, from their beginnings as an ancient tribal people to the opening of the New World in 1492 to the modern day. It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds. It spans the millennia and the continents—from India to Andalusia and from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford. It takes you to unimagined places: to a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern Arabia; a Syrian synagogue glowing with radiant wall paintings; the palm groves of the Jewish dead in the Roman catacombs. And its voices ring loud and clear, from the severities and ecstasies of the Bible writers to the love poems of wine bibbers in a garden in Muslim Spain. In The Story of the Jews, the Talmud burns in the streets of Paris, massed gibbets hang over the streets of medieval London, a Majorcan illuminator redraws the world; candles are lit, chants are sung, mules are packed, ships loaded with spice and gems founder at sea. And a great story unfolds. Not—as often imagined—of a culture apart, but of a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians. Which makes the story of the Jews everyone''s story, too.

A più di tre secoli dalla morte, Rembrandt, tra i più amati maestri della pittura, rimane un mistero. Le notizie sulla sua vita sono scarne: figlio di un mugnaio di Leida, trovò per qualche tempo la fama ad Amsterdam ma, nonostante l''unanime riconoscimento del suo genio, fece bancarotta e morì in povertà. Attraverso un''accurata e appassionata descrizione e interpretazione della sua opera, Simon Schama delinea il profilo di un uomo alla perenne ricerca di sé ed esplora con grazia anche l''universo degli affetti di Rembrandt: l''amatissima Saskia, moglie e modella, l''adorato figlio Titus, morto di peste, infine l''amante Hendrickje, compagna premurosa della sua tormentata maturità. Ma Gli occhi di Rembrandt va ben oltre i confini della biografia tradizionale e rievoca suoni e colori di una Amsterdam crocevia del mondo. Soprattutto avvicina il lettore al segreto di un''arte rivoluzionaria, permettendogli di guardare la vita con gli occhi del grande maestro.

Wie een gezicht vastlegt, legt de geschiedenis vast, zo is de overtuiging van Simon Schama. De manier waarop Churchill ruziede met zijn schilder zegt iets over de politieke verhoudingen na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Dat John Lennon een paar uur nadat hij in foetushouding was gefotografeerd door Annie Leibovitz, werd doodgeschoten is een wonderlijk wrede speling van het lot. En de plaatjes van Charlie Chaplin of George Bernard Shaw die je bij een pakje sigaretten kreeg, zeggen iets over het begrip roem, dat steeds meer verschijningsvormen kreeg. Schama kijkt met liefde en aandacht naar schilderijen en foto’s uit de afgelopen eeuwen. Hij leest er de karakters in: daadkracht, dromerigheid, passiviteit, frustratie, irritatie. Zijn vertelling over Groot-Brittannië aan de hand van portretten ontstijgt de geschiedenis: zijn verhalen worden meesterwerkjes over menselijke emotie en menselijk handelen. Hij beweegt zich met vertrouwde, stilistische virtuositeit tussen kunst en geschiedenis om te laten zien hoe mensen leven met macht, liefde, roem – en ondergang. Zo geeft hij een uniek beeld van een wereldrijk

L’histoire que Simon Schama entreprend de nous conter ici est à nulle autre pareille. Tout au long des dernières décennies, des découvertes archéologiques ont renouvelé notre vision de la manière dont a vu le jour la Bible, qui allait devenir le patrimoine d’une bonne partie de la planète. D’une extrémité du monde juif à l’autre ont été exhumées des mosaïques qui bouleversent notre idée de ce qu’étaient une synagogue et le culte juif, mais aussi de tout ce que cette religion, dans ses formes, partageait avec le paganisme et le christianisme primitif. Cette histoire s’étend sur les millénaires et les continents – de l’Inde à l’Andalousie, des bazars du Caire aux rues d’Oxford. Elle nous emmène d’un royaume juif dans les montagnes de l’Arabie du Sud à une synagogue syrienne aux murs peints étincelants, en passant par la colonie juive installée dans l’île d’Éléphantine, en Haute-Égypte, dès le vie siècle avant notre ère. Simon Schama nous conte avec maestria cette épopée où l’héroïsme de la vie quotidienne côtoie les grandes tragédies, et pose son regard d’historien de l’art sur les trésors qu’elle nous a légués. L’histoire des Juifs n’est pas, comme on l’imagine souvent, celle d’une culture à part, mais celle d’un monde juif immergé dans les peuples au milieu desquels il a vécu et marqué par eux, des Égyptiens aux Grecs, des Arabes aux chrétiens. C’est en cela qu’elle est l’histoire de tous. Simon Schama est professeur d’histoire de l’art et d’histoire à l’université Columbia. Il a publié plusieurs ouvrages récompensés et traduits dans une quinzaine de langues, et a écrit et présenté une quarantaine de films pour la BBC2 sur des sujets aussi divers que Tolstoï, la politique américaine et Shakespeare.

Simon Schama brings Britain to life through its portraits, as seen in the five-part BBC series The Face of Britain and the major National Portrait Gallery exhibition Churchill and his painter locked in a struggle of stares and glares; Gainsborough watching his daughters run after a butterfly; a black Othello in the nineteenth century, the poet-artist Rossetti trying to capture on canvas what he couldn''t possess in life, a surgeon-artist making studies of wounded faces brought in from the Battle of the Somme; a naked John Lennon five hours before his death. In the age of the hasty glance and the selfie, Simon Schama has written a tour de force about the long exchange of looks from which British portraits have been made over the centuries: images of the modest and the mighty; of friends and lovers; heroes and working people. Each of them - the image-maker, the subject, and the rest of us who get to look at them - are brought unforgettably to life. Together they build into a collective picture of Britain, our past and our present, a look into the mirror of our identity at a moment when we are wondering just who we are. Combining his two great passions, British history and art history, for the first time, Schama''s extraordinary storytelling reveals the truth behind the nation''s most famous portrayals of power, love, fame, the self, and the people. Mesmerising in its breadth and its panache, and beautifully illustrated, with more than 150 images from the National Portrait Gallery, The Face of Britain will change the way we see our past - and ourselves.

Una obra fundamental sobre una cultura, un pueblo y un mundo de uno de los historiadores más prestigiosos y estimulantes de la actualidad Simon Schama narra la historia de los judíos a lo largo de tres milenios, desde sus orígenes como una tribu en la Antigüedad hasta el presente; una historia única, de resistencia a la desaparición, de creatividad bajo opresión, alegría en medio de las desgracias y afirmación de la vida contra pronóstico. Schama recorre los siglos y los continentes, desde la India a Andalucia, de los bazares de El Cairo a las calles de Oxford; y visita lugares inimaginables: un reino judío en las montañas del sur de Arabia; una sinagoga siria recubierta por brillantes murales; las palmeras de los enterramientos judíos en la catacumbas romanas. Y logra que las voces se oigan nítidas: la severidad y el gozo de los autores de la Biblia, o la poesía amorosa de los aficionados al vino en un jardín de la España musulmana. En La historia de los judíos el Talmud arde en las calles de París, los patíbulos presiden las plazas del Londres medieval, un artesano mallorquín dibuja el mundo de nuevo; se encienden velas, se cantan salmos, se cargan mulas y naufragan barcos llenos de especias y joyas. Así se despliega una historia extraordinaria. No la de una cultura distinta, como a menudo se supone, sino de un mundo judío inmerso y marcado por los pueblos entre los que han habitado, de los egipcios a los griegos, de los árabes a los cristianos. Porque la historia de los judíos es también la historia de todos los demás, nuestra historia. La crítica ha dicho... «Un espléndido trabajo que desmonta los estereotipos y cuenta los triunfos y las tragedias con brío y elocuencia.» David Abulafia, Financial Times «Schama escribe la historia desde abajo, y desde el medio, y desde otros ángulos inesperados, recuperando lo no registrado u olvidado hace tiempo, y analizando las fuerzas sociales y culturales que modelaron las vidas de sus personajes. Es un logro lleno de gracia literaria y estilo personal.» New York Times Book Review «Una exuberante obra maestra.» Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Mail «El mejor Schama, un obra hecha con cuidado y cariño, tan repleta de anécdotas memorables como una novela de Bellow y más inteligente que una película de Woody Allen.» Daniel Johnson, The Times « La historia de los judíos de Schama es una obra modélica de divulgación histórica. Animada, culta, atenta a la historiografía más reciente y, en ocasiones, encantadoramente subjetiva.» New York Times «En esta brillante historia de los judíos, el profesor heterodoxo logra de algunamanera ser simultáneamente sentimental y subversivo, moderado y disidente, y los lectores salimos ganando.» Haaretz «Emotiva y fascinante.» Los Angeles Times

This anthology contains poems shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prizes, the UK''s most valuable annual awards for contemporary poetry.

Volume I: In cerca delle parole. Dalle origini al 1492 Nel giugno del 1242, a Parigi, davanti a una folla urlante e a frati raccolti in preghiera, migliaia di pergamene inchiostrate recanti lettere ebraiche arsero sulle pire scoppiettanti diffondendo lungo le rive della Senna un dolciastro fetore animale. Sui roghi, innalzati per volontà di re Luigi IX il Santo, avvampavano le copie del Talmud. La parola di Dio, proprio come i corpi viventi che cadevano tra le braccia dell''Inquisizione, bruciava nelle fiamme. Iniziava così, per il Popolo del Libro, un''altra pagina della sua storia millenaria di sofferenze e persecuzioni. Eppure, come ci ricorda Simon Schama, docente alla Columbia University, questa storia non si consumò solo nel lutto e nelle fughe improvvise, nelle costanti minacce di annientamento e nell''oppressione. Quella del popolo ebraico è soprattutto una storia di resistenza, di creatività, di gioia. Una continua, e a tratti disperata, affermazione della vita sulle avversità più spaventose. In queste pagine si dipana quindi una straordinaria epopea, fatta di gente comune e di poeti, di autori biblici e medici illustri, di miniaturisti e mercanti, di cartografi e filosofi. Un caleidoscopio di microstorie in cui si accendono candele, si intonano canti, si affrontano viaggi perigliosi in terre incognite alla ricerca di spezie e pietre preziose, si studiano, si custodiscono e si perpetuano le parole del Libro. Un racconto entusiasmante, che abbraccia millenni e continenti, dalla Persia all''Andalusia, dai bazar del Cairo alle rovine struggenti del Tempio di Gerusalemme, e che ci conduce in luoghi mai immaginati - un regno ebraico fra le montagne dell''Arabia meridionale, una sinagoga siriana risplendente di radiose pitture murali, un deposito di manoscritti nell''antica Fustat, i palmeti dei defunti ebrei nelle catacombe romane - dove, nonostante le persecuzioni e la paura, la tolleranza e la convivenza erano a volte possibili. Attraverso le lettere, i poemi, i dipinti, le opere filosofiche, oltre ai testi sacri dell''ebraismo, La storia degli ebrei di Simon Schama, studioso dallo stile brillante ed erudito, ci restituisce il vivido affresco di un mondo che non - come troppo spesso si è immaginato - una cultura a parte, bensì una realtà profondamente radicata nelle vicende delle popolazioni fra cui si è insediata, dagli egizi ai greci, dai persiani ai cristiani. Una storia del popolo ebraico che è anche storia di tutti.

Cy Twombly (1928-2011) created art that was remarkable for its versatility, sensitivity and originality. Throughout his career, he followed his own artistic pathway, independent from contemporary trends, and for a long time his work went unnoticed by a wider audience. By the time of his death in Rome, at the age of 83, he was internationally recognized as one of the greatest and most idiosyncratic artists of the 20th and early 21st century. This book provides an authoritative overview of Twombly''s complex body of work, bringing together the most important of his paintings and painting cycles, as well as a selection of his drawings, sculptures and photographs.

Simon Schama explores the forces that tore Britain apart during two centuries of dynamic change - transforming outlooks, allegiances and boundaries. From the beginning of July 1637, battles raged on for 200 years - both at home and abroad, on sea and on land, up and down the length of burgeoning Britain, across Europe, America and India. Most would be wars of faith - waged on wide-ranging grounds of political or religious conviction. But as wars of religious passions gave way to campaigns for profit, the British people did come together in the imperial enterprise of ''Britannia Incorporated''. The British Wars is a story of revolution and reaction, inspiration and disenchantment, of progress and catastrophe, and Schama''s evocative narrative brings it vividly to life.