Created for an emperor, exhumed from a burial ground, coveted, traded, smashed, restored, and stuffed full of incident and intrigue, the Portland Vase -- the most famous of all Roman antiquities -- has captivated everyone who has come into contact with it. Robin Brooks's The Portland Vase is a great romp through history with this fragile, enigmatic vessel, which has touched the lives of an array of compelling characters. Following the vase's journey across Europe over the centuries, we meet the notorious tomb-robber-cum-budding-archaeologist Fabrizio Lazzaro, who "discovered" the vase; Pope Urban VIII, who hoped to enhance his image by acquiring it; the Princess of Palestrina, who supported her nasty gambling habit by auctioning it off; the Duchess of Portland, who kept her ownership of the vase a secret; the ceramics genius Josiah Wedgwood, who devoted nearly a lifetime to trying to create a satisfactory reproduction; the Irishman who shattered it and the restorers who have since repaired it; and a host of other politicians, dilettantes, and scam artists. Their stories -- how they came by the vase, how they disposed of it, and how it affected them -- result in a narrative rich with passion, inspiration, and jealousy that spans more than two thousand years. Made before the birth of Christ, when glassblowing was still a new art, the Portland Vase remains unparalleled in its craftsmanship. Surprisingly, despite the extraordinary technological advances of the past two thousand years, how, exactly, the vase was made remainsa mystery. But this is only one of the riddles that still surrounds the vase. Today art historians still can't agreeon the identity of the figures depicted on it, or what story these figures are meant to tell. Furthermore, who made the vase? What was it used for? The Portland Vase remains one of the art world's greatest enigmas. A continuing inspiration for artists, poets, historians, and art collectors, the vase now sits quietly in a little glass case in the British Museum -- seemingly inviolate, perfect, eternal.

The Portland Vase: The Extraordinary Odyssey of a Mysterious Roman Treasure

Arts & Photography

Brooks, Robin

History & Criticism

Harper

For thousands of years an enigmatic and astonishingly beautiful piece of Roman art has captivated those who have come in contact with it.Made before the birth of Christ, the Portland Vase, as it is called, is renowned for both its beauty and its mystery. In The Portland Vase, Robin Brooks takes us on a vivid journey across Europe and through the centuries, as this delicate piece of glass, less than ten inches in height, passes through the hands of a stunning cast of characters, including the first Roman emperor, Augustus; a notorious tomb raider; a reckless cardinal; a princess with a nasty gambling habit; the ceramics genius Josiah Wedgwood; the secretive Duchess of Portland; and a host of politicians, dilettantes, and scam artists. Rich with passion, inspiration, jealousy, and endless speculation, the story of The Portland Vase spans more than two thousand years and remains one of the art world's greatest enigmas.

Harper-perennial

Class Interruptions: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women's Fiction

Review\nIn this innovative work, Dr. Robin Brooks examines narratives of class divisions and economic inequality in the literature of Black women including Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, and more."--Ms. Magazine\nAs downward mobility continues to be an international issue, Robin Brooks offers a timely intervention between the humanities and social sciences by examining how Black women's cultural production engages debates about the growth in income and wealth gaps in global society during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this innovative book employs major contemporary texts by both African American and Caribbean writers&#8212;Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Dawn Turner, Olive Senior, Oonya Kempadoo, Merle Hodge, and Diana McCaulay&#8212;to demonstrate how neoliberalism, within the broader framework of racial capitalism, reframes structural inequalities as personal failures, thus obscuring how to improve unjust conditions. Through interviews with authors, textual analyses of the fiction, and a diagramming of cross-class relationships, Brooks offers compelling new insight on literary portrayals of class inequalities and division. She expands the scope of how the Black women's literary tradition, since the 1970s, has been conceptualized by repositioning the importance of class and explores why the imagination matters as we think about novel ways to address long-standing and simultaneously evolving issues.

Business & Money

Economics

The University of North Carolina Press

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Shropshire had just two operational airfields - Shawbury and Tern Hill. Eight more major airfields were to follow. For many trainee pilots, a major hazard was not enemy aircraft but the height of Shropshire's famous hill, The Wrekin. Eventually a large beacon was built at the summit, which still warns aircrews today. This action packed book describes the history of each airfield, often using first hand accounts. It also highlights some of the major operations carried out from them and shows the overall effect of the war on the daily lives of local people. Illustrated throughout.

Shropshire Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

History

Europe

Countryside Books

Memories and stories of those who took part, from fighter pilots and ground crew, to Civil Defence workers and ordinary Kentish men and women. All witnessed the battle fought out in the skies above Kent during the hot summer of 1940.

Kent and the Battle of Britain. The Long Hot Summer of 1940

This title describes the airfields of Sussex during the last war, the planes and the pilots who flew them, and the local civilians who worked alongside them.

Sussex Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

Military

A full account of the part played by Hampshire's airfields during the Second World War. The history of each airfield is described with the squadrons and aircraft based at them and the main operations flown. The effects of the war on the daily lives of civilians and the constant dangers from raids and night bombing are also detailed. Fully illustrated

Hampshire Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

A full account of the part played by Kent's airfields during the Second World War. The history of each airfield is described with the aircraft based at them and the main operations flown. The effects of the war on the daily lives of civilians, and the constant dangers from raids and night bombing are also detailed. Fully illustrated.

Kent Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

A full account of the part played by Oxfordshire's airfields during the Second World War, including Abingdon, Brize Norton, Kidlington, Upper Heyford and Benson. The history of each airfield is described with the squadrons and aircraft based at them and the main operations flown. The effects of the war on the daily lives of civilians, and the constant dangers from raids and night bombing are also detailed. Fully illustrated.

Oxfordshire Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brooks, Robin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Brooks, Robin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brooks, Robin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Portland Vase: The Extraordinary Odyssey of a Mysterious Roman Treasure

The Portland Vase: The Extraordinary Odyssey of a Mysterious Roman Treasure

Class Interruptions: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women's Fiction

Shropshire Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

Kent and the Battle of Britain. The Long Hot Summer of 1940

Sussex Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

Hampshire Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

Kent Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)

Oxfordshire Airfields in the Second World War (British Airfields in the Second World War)