Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Toby Thacker (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)

Joseph Goebbels was the most notorious demagogue of the twentieth century, and Hitler’s closest confidant. This book uses his complete diary from 1923–1945, only recently released from the former Soviet Union, and a wide range of other sources, to present a challenging new interpretation of his life.

David Wyatt (Brill) 2009

This book highlights the extreme cultural/social significance of slavery for the societies of medieval Britain c. 800–1200. Concentrating upon the lifestyle, attitudes and motivations of the slave-holders and slave-raiders, it explores the violent activities and behavioural codes of Britain’s warrior-centred societies, illustrating the extreme significance of the institution of slavery for constructions of power, ethnic identity and gender.

Shaun Tougher (Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies) 2008

Eunuchs were one of the defining features of the Byzantine empire. In this book Shaun Tougher surveys the history of the Byzantine eunuch from the fourth to the fifteenth century AD, and analyses both the roles eunuchs played and the attitudes expressed towards them in Byzantine society. In addition he places the history of the Byzantine eunuch in the context of the history of the eunuch in general, and makes extensive use of comparative material.

Louis Rawlings (Manchester University Press) 2007

The ancient Greeks experienced war in many forms: they conducted raids, ambushes, battles and sieges, and embarked on campaigns of intimidation, conquest and annihilation against fellow Greeks and 'barbarian' foreigners. Drawing on a wealth of literary, epigraphic and archaeological material, this wide-ranging synthesis looks at the practicalities of Greek warfare and its wider social ramifications from the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600 BC) to Alexander the Great (323 BC).

Louis Rawlings and Hugh Bowden (eds) (The Classical Press of Wales) 2005

Herakles and Hercules was a hero of myth and a god with cult associations. He was ancestor of Macedonian kings, patron of Carthaginian generals and of Roman emperors, and a role model for Stoic philosophers. The eleven new studies in this volume explore why this figure appealed so widely in Antiquity. They examine his role in ancient myth and philosophy, drama and art, as well as in politics and propaganda, warfare and religion.

J. Mulville and A.K. Outram (eds) (Oxbow Books) 2005

Fat has been cast as a villain in our modern, Western society, but for many economies, past and present, the availability of foods rich in fat could mean the difference between life and death. But fat has more to offer than nutrition; fats can be used in waterproofing, as lubrication, and as a base for other items such as perfumes and cosmetics.

Peter Guest (British Museum Press) 2005

Discovered in 1992, the Hoxne Treasure is perhaps the richest cache of gold and silver coins, jewellery and tableware from the entire Roman world. The core of this volume is the catalogue of the 15,000 late 4th- and early 5th-century gold and silver coins, together with an in-depth discussion of the production and supply of late Roman coinage.

Douglass Bailey (Routledge) 2005

Prehistoric Figurines presents a radical new approach to one of the most exciting but poorly understood artefacts from our prehistoric past and transforms the study and interpretation of prehistoric figurines from Neolithic southeast Europe. The book explores the ways that people use representations of human bodies to make subtle political points, to understand their own identities and to negotiate relationships with friends and enemies.

Shaun Tougher (ed.) (The Classical Press of Wales) 2002

Eunuchism was a subject which both intrigued and embarrassed the ancient world. The special virtue attributed to the castrated male at court, of undistracted loyalty to his ruler, aided the promotion of numerous eunuchs to positions of great power. A literary discourse developed, reviling and sometimes defending the eminence of these 'half-men'. Here, thirteen new studies from an international cast explore how eunuchs were perceived, and also reconstruct the realities of eunuchs' lives in Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Eastern culture.