Peter Parker

How did the delphinium get its name? Which parts of the body lend their names to auriculas and orchids? Who are the gentian, lobelia and heuchera named after? Why are nasturtiums and antirrhinums connected? What does an everlasting pea have to do with Indian miniature paintings? These are some of the questions answered in Peter Parker's adventurous exploration of the mysteries of Botanical Latin. Evolved over many centuries and often thought to belong to the rarefied world of scholars and scientists, this invented language is in fact a very useful tool for everyday gardening. It allows us to find our way around nurseries; it sorts out confusions when two plants have the same English name; and it gives us all kinds of information about how big or small a plant will grow, what shape or colour it will develop, and what habitat it prefers. In his lively survey, Parker agues that Botanical Latin is not merely useful, but fun. The naming of plants draws upon geography, social and medical history, folklore, mythology, language, literature, the human body, the animal kingdom and all manner of ancient beliefs and superstitions. The book, beautifully illustrated with old woodcuts, explains how and why plants have been named, includes handy lists of identifying adjectives, and takes the reader down some of the stranger byways of human endeavour and eccentricity.

**A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR** 'Quite simply, this book is a work of genius' Matthew Parris, SpectatorThe second in a major two-part anthology uncovering the rich reality of life for queer men in London, from the end of the Second World War to decriminalization in 1967In the 1940s, it was believed that homosexuality had been becoming more widespread in the aftermath of war. A moral panic ensued, centred around London as the place to which gay men gravitated. Peter Parker's fascinating new compendium explores what it was actually like for queer men in London in this period, whether they were well-known figures such as Francis Bacon, Joe Orton and Kenneth Williams, or living lives of quiet – or occasionally rowdy – anonymity in pubs, clubs, more public places of assignation, or at home. It is rich with letters, diaries, psychological textbooks, novels, films, plays and police records, covering a wide range of viewpoints, from those who deplored homosexuality to those who campaigned for its decriminalization. This second volume, from 1960 to 1967, shows how key elements in British society gradually changed their views on homosexuality, resulting in the landmark 1967 act by which it was no longer considered a crime if it took place between adults in private. This did not end violence, discrimination and prejudice, but it at least curbed official persecution. Some Men in London is a testament to queer life and its thriving, joyous subculture – a subculture without which the 1960s would have been immeasurably impoverished.

**A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR**Quite simply, this book is a work of genius - Matthew Parris, The SpectatorAn essential study of post-war gay London life... one of the best anthologies I have ever read - John Self, The ObserverWith it’s wide-ranging selection, generous biographical notes and provocative bibliography, Some Men in London is a serious and important contribution to our understanding of Britain up to today - Fiona Sampson, The TabletAn absolutely extraordinary book … about actually what life was like for homosexual men in London in the 1940s and the 1950s… It’s amazing - Dominic Sandbrook The first part of a major new anthology which uncovers the rich reality of life for queer men in LondonIn the 1940s, it was believed that homosexuality had been becoming more widespread in the aftermath of war. A moral panic ensued, centred around London as the place to which gay men gravitated. In a major new anthology, Peter Parker explores what it was actually like for queer men in London in this period, whether they were well-known figures such as John Gielgud, ‘Chips’ Channon and E. M. Forster, or living lives of quiet – or occasionally rowdy – anonymity in pubs, clubs, more public places of assignation, or at home. It is rich with letters, diaries, psychological textbooks, novels, films, plays and police records, covering a wide range of viewpoints, from those who deplored homosexuality to those who campaigned for its decriminalisation. This first volume, from 1945 to 1959, details a community forced to live at constant risk of blackmail or prison. Yet it also shows a thriving and joyous subculture, one that enriched a mainstream culture often ignorant of its debt to gay creators. Some Men In London is a testament to queer life, which was always much more complex than newspapers, governments and the Metropolitan Police Force imagined.

Entering amateur radio? Or maybe you're returning after a break away. Or maybe you've confined yourself to a narrow facet of the hobby. Whatever your interests in radio, Illustrated International Ham Radio Dictionary is for you. In a clear, conversational style, it presents definitions for over 1500 amateur radio and electronic terms. Both technical and operating facets are covered. Many definitions have photos or diagrams. Others go into more detail than you might expect. All up there's over 50 000 words. Hear an unfamiliar term on the air? With this book at hand you'll soon know what they're talking about.

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and Nominated for the 2017 PEN/Bograd Weld Prize for Biography A captivating exploration of A. E. Housman and the influence of his particular brand of Englishness A. E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad made little impression when it was first published in 1896 but has since become one of the best-loved volumes of poetry in the English language. Its evocation of the English countryside, thwarted love, and a yearning for things lost is as potent today as it was more than a century ago, and the book has never been out of print. In Housman Country, Peter Parker explores the lives of A. E. Housman and his most famous book, and in doing so shows how A Shropshire Lad has permeated English life and culture since its publication. The poems were taken to war by soldiers who wanted to carry England in their pockets, were adapted by composers trying to create a new kind of English music, and have influenced poetry, fiction, music, and drama right up to the present day. Everyone has a personal "land of lost content" with "blue remembered hills," and Housman has been a tangible and far-reaching presence in a startling range of work, from the war poets and Ralph Vaughan Williams to Inspector Morse and Morrissey. Housman Country is a vivid exploration of England and Englishness, in which Parker maps out terrain that is as historical and emotional as it is topographical.

Born into the English landed gentry, the heir to a substantial country estate, Christopher Isherwood ended up in California, an American citizen and the disciple of a Hindu swami. En route, he became a leading writer of the 1930's generation, an unmatched chronicler of pre-Hitler Berlin, an experimental dramatist, a war reporter, a travel writer, a pacifist, a Hollywood screenwriter, a monk, and a grand old man of the emerging gay liberation movement. In this biography, the first to be written since Isherwood's death, and the only one with access to all Isherwood's papers, Peter Parker traces the long journey of a man who never felt at home wherever he lived. Isherwood's travels were a means of escape: from his family, his class, his country, and the dead weight of the past. Parker reveals the truth about Isherwood's relationship with his war-hero father, his strong-willed mother, and his disturbed younger brother, Richard, who was also homosexual. He also draws upon a vast number of letters to describe Isherwood's complicated relationships with such lifelong friends as W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Edward Upward and John Lehmann. The result is a frank portrait of contradictions, a man searching for meaning in life, and one of the twentieth century's most significant writers.

A thoughtful and fascinating portrait of England, told through the story of A. E. Housman and his much-loved poetry collection, A Shropshire Lad.

Malmö University publications in urban studies nr 16. Denna antologi är ett resultat av ett gemensamt arbete mellan forskare och tjänstemän för att diskutera möjligheterna och formerna för det praktiska arbetet kring hållbar stadsutveckling. År 2010 utlystes medel inom programmet Samordnad stadsutveckling - en förutsättning för hållbarhet, vilket har finansierat forskningsprojektet Omvandling av fragmenterade städer. En studie av att integrera hållbarhetsmål genom urbana rörelsestråk, med finansiering från FORMAS och RAÄ för att under tre år fördjupa sig i hållbar stadsutveckling och inte minst kring sociala utmaningar. I fokus för projektet är Malmö stads satsning på att knyta ihop de östra och västra delarna av Malmö genom förstärkandet av ett stråk. Antologin presenterar både konkreta resultat av dessa satsningar, och reflektioner kring de processer som initierades.

This moving and timely book explores the way the First World War has been thought about and commemorated, and how it has affected its own, and later, generations. On 11 November 1920, huge crowds lined the streets of London for the funeral of the Unknown Warrior. As the coffin was drawn on a gun carriage from the Cenotaph to Westminster Abbey, the King and Ministers of State followed silently behind. The modern world had tilted on its axis, but it had been saved. Armistice Day was born, the acknowledgement of the great sacrifice made by a whole generation of British men and women. Now, almost a century later, Harry Patch, the last British veteran who saw active service, has died. Our final link with the First World War is broken. Harry Patch was born in 1898 and was conscripted in 1916. He served with a Lewis gun team at the Battle of Passchendaele and in September 1917 was wounded by a shell that killed three of his comrades. After the war, Patch returned to Somerset to work as a plumber, a job he continued to do until his retirement. The First World War was fought not by a professional army but by ordinary civilians like Patch, who epitomised Edwardian Britain and the sense, now lost, of what Britain stood for and why it was worth fighting for. ‘The Last Veteran’ tells Patch's story, and explores the meaning of the war to those who fought in it and the generations that have followed. Peter Parker's illuminating and timely book is a moving tribute to a remarkable generation.

Long unavailable, this acclaimed book traces the history of an ideal and examines its effect on the lives of those caught up in the First World War. Rupert Brooke's apparent enthusiasm for the War in 1914 was echoed throughout England, particularly by young men who had been educated in a gentlemanly tradition of patriotism, chivalry and sportsmanship at their public schools. These codes had also trickled down through society thanks to the school stories that appeared in popular boys' magazines, and to the missions and boys' clubs run by the schools and universities in the poorer parts of the country. Drawing upon a wealth of material, Peter Parker's fascinating book traces the growth and dissemination of what Wilfred Owen dismissed as 'the old lie' in his poem Dulce Et Decorum Est. It also explores the wide variety of responses to the war ? from celebration to denigration, from patriotic acquiescence to bitter rebellion ? as they were reflected in the poetry, plays and prose of the period. The Old Lie unearths some truly bizarre notions about education and warfare and illuminatingly re-examines the literature of the First World War by placing it in its historical and social perspective.

On September 3, 1984 in Sharpeville, South Africa, a peaceful demonstration about rent erupted into a bloody battle between white police and black residents. The Apartheid government arrested, tried, and sentenced to death six people for allegedly killing a town councillor. After an unprecedented international campaign, the prisoners were ultimately granted clemency and released. In the Shadow of Sharpeville explores the case in comprehensive, personal detail. Among the "Sharpeville Six" was Francis Mokhesi, whose sister, Joyce Mokhesi-Parker and coauthor, Peter Parker, here scrutinize the crime and its investigation by the police, the prosecution's case, and the response of the defense. They argue convincingly that the convictions were obtained because of the inventiveness of the judge and the selective attention paid to the evidence. The authors further examine the corrupting effect of the system on its victims, using Francis Mokhesi's letters from death row to show how an individual responds to the pain and fear of impending execution. In the Shadow of Sharpevill reveals the obduracy of a regime which refused to understand how indefensible its behavior had become and which still believed that a state could declare war on its people and win.

The authors take a scalpel to South Africa's system of criminal justice during the Apartheid era. They focus on the case of the Sharpeville Six to analyse how criminal justice was used to make convictions easy to secure. Analysing the technicalities of the criminal law, as well as the quality of evidence and judicial reasoning in the case against the Six, Parker and Mokhesi-Parker also convey vividly through letters from death row, the sense these people made of their impending executions and how an international campaign to save their lives succeeded with only 18 hours to spare.

The authors take a scalpel to South Africa's system of criminal justice during the Apartheid era. They focus on the case of the Sharpeville Six to analyse how criminal justice was used to make convictions easy to secure. Analysing the technicalities of the criminal law, as well as the quality of evidence and judicial reasoning in the case against the Six, Parker and Mokhesi-Parker also convey vividly through letters from death row, the sense these people made of their impending executions and how an international campaign to save their lives succeeded with only 18 hours to spare.