Rights Guide Spring 2020 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Rights Department Dolivostraße 17 64293 Darmstadt Germany
E-Mail: rights@wbg-wissenverbindet.de Web: www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
Frontlist Titles
Torben Lütjen America’s Cold Civil War A Country in Search of its Centre For much of the 20th century, the United States, with its moderate political culture, was the antithesis to ideologically fractured Europe. Today, however, the country has become the epicenter of a new global wave of extreme polarization. From a uniquely European perspective, Torben Lütjen wonders what has happened to the promised land of pragmatism. His disturbing answer: That too much freedom, autonomy, and personal choice can tear a nation apart. Torben Lütjen (*1974), USA specialist, author of several books and regular contributor to FAZ, ZEIT and Der Spiegel, is professor for European Studies and Political Science at the Vanderbilt University, USA. 7046 / 208 pages March 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Ulrike Ackermann The Silence of the Middle Ways out of the Polarisation Trap Society is splintering into an increasing number of groups fighting for their own interests. Important controversies are not led from the political centre, but are ignited from the margins. Germany's intellectuals are fighting for opinion leadership. Can they succeed in breaking down ideological and moral polarization? Ackermann pleads for a return to anti-totalitarian and liberal traditions in order to intellectually reoccupy the political centre. Prof. Ulrike Ackermann, political scientist and sociologist, founder and director of the John Stuart Mill Institute for Freedom Research and former professor for Political Science at the University of Heidelberg.
8062 / 206 pages February 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Frank Göse Frederick William I The Many Faces of ‘Soldier King’ Frank Göse presents the first comprehensive biography of King Frederick William I (1688-1740), father of Frederick the Great. He assesses his actions primarily from a contemporary viewpoint. He examines the king's personal contribution to the developments in Prussia and acknowledges his achievements in the military, in economics and in education as well as at the royal court. A fasci-nating portrait of a dazzling figure as well as a great panoramic portrayal of up-coming Prussia during the first half of the 18th century. Frank Göse is a specialist for Prussian history and developed Brandenburg's state exhibition on „Prussia and Saxony“.
4106 / 608 pages / 25 s/w illus. March 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Kersten Knipp Paris under the Swastika Everyday life in a State of Emergency Following the deceptive calm of the Phony War the Wehrmacht invaded France in June 1940. Kersten Knipp describes the French resistance and French collaboration, the persecution and extermination of the Jews, the massacre of the children of Izieu. He portrays fallen and rising heroes: Marshal Pétain and General de Gaulle. The relationship between Germans and French has always ambivalent, but at no time has this been as clearly apparent as between 1940 and 1944. Dr. Kersten Knipp (*1966), publicist, journalist and regular contributor to the ARD and the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, specialises in modern history and the politics of the Middle East and the Arab world. 4106 / 472 pages / 30 b/w illus. March 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Boaquan Song / Klaus Leidorf Fascination Aerial Archeology The World from a Bird’s Eye View Baoquan Song and Klaus Leidorf, aerial archaeologists, circle over landscapes from Germany via Italy to China in small planes and return with fascinating images of archaeological remains. Abandoned places and remains of early buildings or gravesites become visible and can be viewed in their overall context, which is only possible from the air. Their fascinating photographs portray the present and the ancient world simultaneously. Dr. Baoquan Song is an aerial archeologist and works at the Institute for Archeological Science at the University of Bochum. Klaus Leidorf is an archeologist of aerial photography and has discovered numerous historical monuments. 4093 / 132 pages / 200 col. illus. January 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Hedwig Herold-Schmidt Florence Nightingale The Woman behind the Legend Florence Nightingale is perceived as the founder of modern nursing. During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale was regarded as an 'angel of humanity'; a self-sacrificing young woman nursing sick soldiers under severe conditions. Others saw her as a powercrazed, psychologically unstable schemer, who put obstacles in the way of her peers' emancipation efforts. Historian Hedwig Herold-Schmidt presents a fascinating and differentiated portrait of an extraordinary woman. Dr. Hedwig Herold-Schmidt works in the department for Cultural History at the University of Jena and specialises amongst others in the 19th and 20th century.
4055 / 320 pages / 30 b/w illus. March 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Bernd Imgrund 101 German Places you must See Great sights such as Neuschwanstein; not such great sights, such as the former Stasi prison Bautzen II; and the lesser known ones like the German Museum of Caricature and Drawing - they all make up Germany. Impressive architecture, historical events or popular culture make these places unique. Bernd Imgrund's descriptions and anecdotes bring these 101 cultural-historical places to life. An unusual and very personal compendium! Bernd Imgrund (*1964) is a journalist and the author of two books on football and skat.
4110 / 218 pages / 150 colour illus. January 2020 - 5th edition wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Pavel Polian Letters from Hell The Records of the Jewish Sonderkommando Auschwitz When in 2017 Marcel Nadjari's testimony to posterity was deciphered using elaborate technology, it was a sensation: the last of the secret records from Hell, written by Jewish prisoners of the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau. These prisoners were forced to assist the SS in the crematoria. This book brings together all nine testimonies and embeds them in the context of their origins with detailed essays. They are the central, deeply moving documents of the mass murder of the Jews. Pavel Polian (*1952), professor and author of more than 30 books on the history of WWII, the holocaust, war captivity and compulsory labour, migration geography and on Russian poetry of the 20th century. Founder of the Mandelstam society and currently director of the Mandelstam Centre, Moscow
3916 / 632 pages / 4 b/w illus. October 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Hans-Georg Klemm / Yvonne Zoll 66 x Beethoven Everything you need to know about the Great Composer On the occasion of Beethoven's 250th anniversary, Yvonne Zoll and Hans-Georg Klemm have compiled 66 surprising and entertaining articles and anecdotes about this great musician. You will find exciting background information on the creation of his works, his working methods, but also on modern popcultural references such as Chuck Berry's "Roll over Beethoven". A book that will make everyone a Beethoven connoisseur - but one that also offers a great deal of information even for the experts. Hans-Georg Klemm (*1965), teacher and author of nonfiction books, specialises in the biographies of Beethoven, Wagner and Brahms.
4082 / 191 pages / 14 b/w. illus. March 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Bernd-Jürgen Seitz The Face of Europe The Diversity of our Landscapes "The Face of Europe" presents the current face of Europe's rich and diverse landscapes and habitats. The author describes where the political and geographical borders run, the climatic and geological conditions that form the basis for Europe's rich flora and fauna as well as the habitats for animals and plants. This book also provides a small travel guide on the natural and cultural landscapes of Europe, describing the most important natural areas and protected areas as well as national parks and biosphere reserves of the 47 European states. Dr. Bernd-Jürgen Seitz is a biologist and director of the Department for Landscape and Nature Conservation of the regional board of Freiburg.
4081 / 240 pages / 246 colour illus. February 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Wolfang H. Pleger Socrates On Dialogical Reason This is a completely revised version of Wolfgang Pleger's book. In it he describes the historical context, the foundations of Socratic philosophy as well as the most important Socratic schools and traditions of thought. He focuses on the dialogical principle of Socrates and illustrates how it influenced and shaped the thinking of subsequent philosophers from Hannah Arendt to Jürgen Habermas. A concise introduction to Socrates' thinking and an indispensable reference book! Wolfgang H. Pleger (* 1944), former professor of Philosophy at the Universities of Münster, Karlsruhe and Koblenz-Landau. Numerous publications on philosophy and antrophology.
27166 / 304 pages April 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Umberto Pappalardo In Honour of Zeus The Olympic Games of Antiquity Higher, faster, further! Young men have been competing since 776 BC in disciplines such as running, jumping, throwing and fighting –all in honor of Zeus. The very first Olympic athletes appeared before Zeus. The competition took place in Olympia on Peloponnese. Umberto Pappalardo takes us back through historical and archaeological sources to the very origins of the Olympic Games. Umberto Pappalardo is professor for Classical Archeology and the Archeology of Pompeji at the University of Naples. He leads the excavation of the Herculaneum and plays a leading part in reseraching Pompeji.
5228 / 112 pages / 100 colour illus. 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Lukas Grawe (ed.) The Military Elite of the Empire 24 CVs 24 biographical essays portray the German emperor's leading military officers. They formed an elitist state within a state. The essays compiled by Lukas Grawe depict the mentality and politics of the late period of the empire. All branches of the armed forces, including the young Luftwaffe, representatives of the Prussian military as well as those of Saxony, Bavaria and Württemberg are taken into account. An unprecedented panorama of the Wilhelminian officer corps, which is significant beyond pure military history. Lukas Grawe (*1985) is historian at the University of Bremen and specialises in military and secret service history and the history of social politics. 4018 / 320 pages / 25 b/w illus. February 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Ronald G. Asch Before the Great War Europe 1589-1620 The great early modern historian Ronald G. Asch sketches the great panorama of Europe on the eve of the Thirty Years' War, an epoch in which, after decades of confessional warfare, the continent seemed to have reached a peaceful settlement. He outlines the reasons for the outbreak of the greatest war of modern times. He achieves a comparative cross-section taking into account the Habsburg Empire as well as Spain, England and France, but also the Ottoman Empire, and highlights the different developments amongst the great European powers. Ronald G. Asch (*1953) is Professor for History of the Early Modern Age in Freiburg, leading expert on the Stuarts, member of numerous scientific societies and member of the Academy of Sciences in Heidelberg and of the Academia Europea. 27222 / 488 pages / 15 b/w. illus. April 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Lars-Christian Koch Music Ethnology This introduction to music ethnology focuses on theoretical and methodological aspects. Central research methods are explained by means of regional examples, as are analysis and evaluation methods. The research fields of Organology, Music Archaeology, Global Popular Music Research, Sacred Music, Emotional Research and Aesthetics, Music and Politics, Institutions, Historical Research and Global Music Ethnology are described using short examples that highlight the research methods. Lars-Christian Koch, director of the Department of Music Ethnology, Media Technology and the Phonogramm Archive of the Ethnological Museum in Berlin and honorary professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin. 27140 / 168 pages / 30 b/w illus. April 2020 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Selected Backlist Titles
Klaus-Jürgen Bremm 1870/71 The Franco-Prussian War It must have been an amazing triumph for Prussia – the French Emperor, Napoleon III, is captured near Sedan, the German troops march to Paris and bombard it. On 18 January 1871, William I is proclaimed German Emperor in Versailles. The Prussian victory and the founding of the Empire were the decisive milestone for further political development of Europe. Klaus-Jürgen Bremm explains very knowledgably how the war came about, describes battles, weapon technology and strategy. He also makes it clear how this war and the growing national pride are to be understood in light of the German mentality at the time.
4019 / 350 pages / 25 b/w illus. July 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Pedro Barceló The Old World A Story of Land and See, Domination and War, Legend Cult and Salvation As a conclusion to his many years of research into the Ancient World, Pedro Barceló presents the most important political, economic, social, religious and cultic factors responsible for Antiquity’s developments. He distils the elements that characterised the surrounding environment and the cultural and mental constants which defined ancient history for more than two thousand years: Which timeless myths pervaded the Greek and Roman culture? Which notions did they share when it came to divinity, domination or hostility? These factors turned the cultural realm comprising Egyptians, Greeks and Romans into a large single entity which still influences us today – because we are following in their footsteps. 5186 / 704 pages / 71 b/w illus. February 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Günther Müchler Napoleon A Revolutionary on the Emperor’s Throne He came from nowhere, first had to learn French, and rose through the ranks from Artillery Officer to First Consul: the Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte. The revolutionary went on to become the Emperor of France. Günter Müchler eloquently outlines the life story of a man who himself recognised his own limitations most clearly in his defeat on Saint Helena: The creator and power broker was just as much a prisoner of the conditions which the revolution dictated to him as he was of the European battle between the old order and the new. “I generally had to give in. I never was truly my own master but was always ruled by circumstances”. This is a remarkable portrayal which casts a new light on the revolutionary on the imperial throne depicting both his meteoric rise and his devastating downfall. wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
3917 / 624 pages / 32 b/w illus. January 2019 21
Irmgard Knechtges-Obrecht Clara Schumann A Life Dedicated to Music Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was a concert pianist, wife and mother. She outlived her husband, the Romantic composer and influential music critic Robert Schumann, by forty years. He was the love of her life but suffered from a mental disorder since young age. Irmgard Knechtges-Obrecht portrays Clara as an independent artist and a fascinating personality who worked hard to provide a living for eight children and a growing tribe of grandchildren. She helps us gain a better understanding of Clara’s relationship with her tyrannical father as well as her close bond with Brahms which remains a puzzle. Letters and diaries which have only recently been published are able to dispel prejudices and clichés. Photographs, which are printed here for the first time, portray a woman’s life that was extremely unusual for that era. 3850 / 256 pages / 20 b/w illus. May 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Mario Ludwig Animals at work Astonishing Stories about Animals in the Working World You may have heard about capuchin monkeys working as home helps for disabled people in the US. But did you know that giant pouched rats work as mine sweepers in Africa, bees take on the job of environmental detectives at German airports or that certain frogs are used as pregnancy tests? Ever since dogs have become domesticated, animal helpers become an indispensable part of our daily lives. They provide us with unbelievable services which sometimes border on the bizarre. Cats as spies, dolphins as soldiers, doves as radiologists, monkeys as harvest workers, and small flies as hunger fighters. Mario Ludwig tells us some fascinating stories about animal’s jobs and how they use their unusual talents to help us manage our daily lives in a better way. 3964 / 192 pages June 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Astrid van Nahl Judith Kerr The Woman who stole Hitler’s Pink Rabbit "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" inspired generations of young readers. In it, Judith Kerr processes the National Socialist seizure of power and tells her own story: Born in Berlin in 1923, daughter of the famous theatre critic Alfred Kerr, the ten-year-old had to flee to England with her Jewish family in 1933. With children's eyes, she sees flight as an adventure, finds her way quickly in her new home - and is characterized by a feeling of gratitude throughout her life. For the first time there is now a biography of the writer who saw herself primarily as a draftswoman. Astrid van Nahl combines private life, artistic creation and political world events to form the fascinating, sensitively written portrait of a great woman who, despite all adversity, retained the joy of life.
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3929 / 256 pages / 20 b/w illus. July 2019 24
Kersten Knipp The Fascists’ Commune In September 1919, 2500 franc-tireurs under the leadership of the eccentric, poet and war hero Gabriele D’Annunzio occupied a small Croatian coastal town and established the Republic of Fiume on the ruins of the Habsburg Empire. The Republic of Fiume, with its military parades, torchlight processions and events which glorified war, combined with a non-stop celebration of free love, drugs and nudism, marked the start of a violent century. It became a laboratory of fascist aesthetics and an early location for the counter culture of 1968. In his historical essay, Kersten Knipp describes how all of these contradictory elements came together to create a dangerous populism accompanied by mass hysteria. He demonstrates how this extraordinary episode hinted at the paths and wrong turns that the twentieth century was to take. 3929 / 288 pages / 34 b/w illus. March 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Michael Seewald Introduction To Systematic Theology Systematic Theology is the umbrella term for the disciplines of dogmatics, dogma history, fundamental theology, moral theology and Christian social ethics. The introduction to Systematic Theology has established itself as an independent course in the modularised Catholic theology syllabus. This book is aimed at all those who want to gain an understanding of the topics and working methods involved in the study of theology.
27044 / 160 pages August 2018 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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Nikolas Jaspert The Crusade The crusades decisively shaped the culture and experience of the Middle Ages. In addition to the War for the Holy Land, Nikolas Jaspert also takes into account the wars against other believers on the Iberian Peninsula or in the Baltic Sea region as well as against “inner enemies” of Christianity. Another focus is on the spiritual orders of knights, which have long shaped the history of Europe. Thanks to the broad layout of the topic and the systematic chronological approach, the author succeeds in embedding the Crusades in the general phenomenon of “European expansion”. 7th updated edition
27223 / 192 pages March 2019 wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights
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