{"title":"James A Oliver","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"pamphleteers-book-james-a-oliver-9780955183447","title":"The Pamphleteers","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Pamphleteers is an investigation into the early journalism. In an era long before the advent of the periodical press, the pamphleteers were the world's proto-journalists. As a paper platform for a spectrum of religious fanatics, eccentrics, social reporters and satirists, the pamphlet evolved as a weapon of propaganda (forged between the fledgling press and the censorship of the Star Chamber) for powerful vested interest groups, political parties, governments - and revolutionists. The Guttenberg press of the Renaissance provided the spark and the sixteenth century Reformation the explosive fuel for the pamphleteering phenomenon. As the pamphlet form took root, then so English prose evolved from its antique form to embrace an extraordinary spectrum of literary techniques and styles from cod-polemic to ferocious satire, and beyond. In times of religious ferment, civil war, colonial unrest and revolution, such texts - risky or even dangerous to publish - were as often the product of secret presses and anonymous authors. At the other exposure, there were those who encountered that risk - and found notoriety or lasting fame along the way. In the hands of a select few, the pamphlet reached a level of high achievement beyond any ordinary Grub Street reckoning. In this brief survey, the author includes vignettes on seven pamphleteers: Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, Thomas Dekker, John Milton, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and culminating with Tom Paine. The narrative shows how the work of the early journalists was driven, not merely by scandal and sensationalism, but by major historical events on the world stage: the Reformation, the English Revolution, the War of the Spanish Succession, and the revolutions in America and in France. These are the great political tides that led to the birth of journalism, the periodical press, and the emergence of the fourth estate. The Pamphleteers is itself a pamphlet for the digital age. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49637477712145,"sku":"GOR008141852","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49910713057553,"sku":"CIN0955183448G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0955183448.jpg?v=1751012767"},{"product_id":"bering-strait-crossing-book-james-a-oliver-9780954699567","title":"The Bering Strait Crossing","description":"The Bering Strait Crossing is the epic story of the Intercontinental Divide. The ancient waterway - when the fog clears over the Diomede Islands - is among the world's most stunning vistas. This is where the 53-mile wide strait, named for Danish explorer Vitus Bering (1681-1741), separates four continents across the Europe-Asia landmass and the Americas. Isolation, extremes of climate, and geopolitical tensions have interfaced to create the perception of a frozen limbo at the edge of the world. Yet the Bering Strait is the world's geographical crossroads - linking East with West - for nowhere else on the globe is it possible to cross the Pacific overland, between Asia and the Americas. In the modern era, several schemes have been proposed - rail, ferry, tunnel - by which to cross the strait. Since the end of the Cold War, a scheduled air service has been in place. The strait remains undefeated in terms of a terrestrial link between the USA and Russia - so far. The author uncovers a world-shaping revelation: that the Bering Strait has the potential to become a global shipping nexus via the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route between Europe, North America, and Asia. In the early 21st century, the self-induced amnesia of the long Cold War years is yielding to a fresh outlook between East and West across the strait. In a world thirsty for energy resources and trade, the prospect for US-Russian cooperation across the northern Pacific Rim is tantalising in its multiplicity - and vastness - with profound implications for the global economy. James A. Oliver blends geography, exploration and international relations to recount a story that has, incredibly, been lost to the archives - but which belongs to the future as much as to the past. The Bering Strait Crossing is an adventure story that is still unfolding, and which, in the 21st century, stands as a frontier with new challenges on the horizon . . .From East and West, enter a cast of extraordinary protagonists: Pliny, Mercator, Dezhnev, Vitus Bering, Shelikhov, Captain Cook, William Gilpin, Roald Amundsen, and - since the end of the Cold War - George Koumal, whose vision for a mighty project to cross the strait is worthy of Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaire. . . The Bering Strait crossing has a deep, worldwide significance. -Dr Yutaka Mochida","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49910124151057,"sku":"CIN0954699564G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53452356452625,"sku":"GOR005213576","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0954699564.jpg?v=1751172088"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-james-a-oliver.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}