Simon Dell

Unique study of portraiture in the colonial imaginaryFrench colonisers of the Third Republic claimed not to oppress but to liberate, imagining they were spreading republican ideals to the colonies to make a Greater France. In this book Simon Dell explores the various roles played by portraiture in this colonial imaginary. Anyone interested in the history of colonial Africa will have encountered innumerable portraits of African elites produced during the first half of the twentieth century, yet no book to date has focused on these ubiquitous images. Dell analyses the production and dissemination of such portraits and situates them in a complex and conflicted field of representations. Moving between European and African perspectives, The Portrait and the Colonial Imaginary blends history with art history to provide insights into the larger processes that were transforming the French metropole and colonies during the early twentieth century. This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

In 1968 Mr Albion Harman, the last owner of Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel, died. His surviving two sisters, faced with a challenging future running the island, put Lundy up for auction. An appeal fund for £150,000 was started but unfortunately this failed. At the last minute of the auction Jack Hayward (later Sir Jack Hayward) bid the asking price and bought the island. He immediately donated it to the National Trust, who in turn leased it to the Landmark Trust, who still manage and look after this amazing wildlife and marine conservation area today. In 2019 the National Trust and Landmark Trust celebrate those fifty landmark years. Following on from the success of Lundy Through Time, author Simon Dell has written this book looking back at those fifty years and charting the significant changes in that time.

This fascinating selection of more than 180 photographs traces some of the many ways in which Lundy Island has changed and developed over the last century.

Hidden behind the picturesque facade of country lanes and rugged coastlines, quaint villages and busy market towns, the South West counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have witnessed some of the most shocking murder cases in British history. West Country Murders brings together over 30 cases from the authors' previous collections here in one volume. They include stories of those who killed for greed, jealousy and lust, as well as those who committed murder in what a well-known judge once described as 'a gust of passion'. Some of the killers were undoubtedly insane at the time of their crimes; others were almost certainly innocent, yet paid the ultimate price for a murder they did not commit. Some remain unsolved to this day, despite the best efforts of the local constabularies. This book is sure to appeal to all those interested in the shady side of the West Country's history.

During the 1930s Europe was convulsed by political violence. The National Socialists rose to power in Germany and Fascists campaigned in Britain, Spain and France. Yet Europe was also transformed in this decade through new applications of film, photography and radio. In fact, these political and technological developments were closely intertwined.