Foreign Rights Guide Spring 2019 - wbg
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wbg Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Foreign Rights Department Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt Germany Contact “Wissen verbindet” – Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de Connecting people through +49 6151 3308 159 knowledge… Rights Website www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/foreignrights wbg is a publisher as well as a book club with more than wbg Online Bookshop 85.000 members. In the original German, wbg stands for www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/buecher-mehr/ Knowledge (Wissen), Education (Bildung) and Community (Gemeinschaft). Since 1949, the association wbg has been a byword for voyages of discovery to the world of knowledge. Our non-profit focus enables us to give visibility to topics which enrich our society. All of our profits flow back into new projects. Every year, around 120 publications appear under wbg’s different publishing imprints. wbg Theiss is the home for popular non-fiction, while books specialising in the ancient world appear under the wbg Philipp von Zabern imprint. The new imprint wbg Edition offers reprints and complete editions. wbg Academics, which is also new, focuses on academic, study course and research literature. We look forward to hearing from you! If any of our books spark your interest, if you have any further questions, or if Translation (pp. 3–25): you would like to discuss backlist opportunities, please contact us anytime. We are happy to provide you with So to Speak. International Publishing Services reading copies in PDF format and with additional infor- and Media Consulting mation on specific titles or on our program in general. Cover illustration: With best wishes, Network Rebecca © koto_feja/iStock
TITLES FOR TRANSLATION SPRING 2019 Ancient Sciences Burandt The Roman Legionary ................................................................................................. 4 Song / Leitdorf / Heller Aerial Archaeology............................................................................ 5 Fischer Have you just found more broken old junk again? ................................................ 6 Barceló The Old World ................................................................................................................ 7 Biographies Rasch / Wagner Aldous Huxley ................................................................................................ 8 Knechtges-Obrecht Clara Schumann ...................................................................................... 9 Grunewald A Princess in Disgrace ......................................................................................... 10 Mülcher Napoleon ......................................................................................................................11 Kittstein Gottfried Keller .......................................................................................................... 12 Geography & Natural Sciences Blum A Short History of Mathematics ................................................................................... 13 Börner Chemistry ....................................................................................................................... 14 Richarz Bird Migration .............................................................................................................. 15 History Fittkau / Werner The Conspirators ......................................................................................... 16 Polian Letters From Hell........................................................................................................... 17 Bringmann The People rules itself.......................................................................................... 18 Knipp The Fascists’ Commune ............................................................................................... 19 Modern Language Studies & Art Von Arnauld / Klein Because Books Change our World..................................................... 20 Philosophy & Theology Vogt Christians in the Middle East ........................................................................................ 21 Vasek A Country of Drivers ..................................................................................................... 22 Selected Backlist Titles ................................................................................................. 23
Boris Burandt The Roman Legionary: © private Clothing, Equipment and Weapons during the Period from Augustus to Domitian The Roman Legionary is just as much a part of The archaeologist Dr. Boris Burandt Ancient Rome as the Colosseum and the toga. is carrying out research as a postdoc Wearing iron plate armour over his red tunic, a in the DFG-funded research training helmet with cheek flaps and the typical rectangular group “Wert und Äquivalent” (Value shield, he is still in service today – in books, comics, TV documentaries and, of course, films. Irrespective and Equivalence) at the University of of whether he is fighting a battle in the Teutoburg Frankfurt. He is an expert in the Forest, participating in the Marcomannic Wars or the Roman military. battle against Attila’s Huns, the Roman Infantryman’s appearance is almost identical. And yet his equipment was almost constantly changing. • The star of the Roman Army Boris Burandt’s archaeologically based research into the Roman Legionary paints a more differentiated through the ages picture: he accompanies him through the first century and meticulously tracks the evolution of his • Brought to life by many highly weapons and equipment. Detailed reconstructions of detailed reconstructions individual pieces of equipment, fresco paintings and mosaics illustrate impressively the description of the findings which have mainly been handed down in fragments. In doing so, this book manages to preserve the glamour of the Roman Legionary and to fascinate readers with the variations in his battle 112 pages 100 color illus. 2019 attire. Original Title: Der römische Legionär. Kleidung, Ausrüstung und Waffen in der Zeit von Augustus bis Domitian ISBN: 978-3-8053-5183-6 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Ancient Sciences page 4
Baoquan Song / Klaus Leidorf / Eckhard The authors are the aerial Heller archaeologists Baoquan Song and Klaus Leidorf, as well as the surveyor, Eckhard Heller. Aerial Archaeology Tracing the Past from the Air The methods and techniques behind aerial • Impressive and outstanding archaeology are developing at lightning speed. Digital aerial photos photography, computer-based air photogrammetry, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), LIDAR • The only up-to-date technical (airborne laser scanning) and 3D technology, to name just a few examples, can all be applied to and scientific introduction to archaeology. The access to diverse geodata such as the topic WMS, Geobasis, Google Earth and many other tools open up limitless opportunities for research. • Future essential reading for all relevant disciplines in the The aerial archaeologists, Baoquan Song and Klaus humanities and the geo and Leidorf, as well as the surveyor, Eckhard Heller, use practical examples to present an overview of the engineering sciences potential methodological applications of aerial archaeology in various natural and cultural landscapes. The case studies originate from research projects in China, Germany, France, Georgia, Iran, Italy, Spain, South Africa and Hungary. 168 pages 123 color illus. 2019 Original Title: Luftbildarchäologie. Spuren der Vergangenheit aus der Luft ISBN: 978-3-8062-3887-7 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Ancient Sciences page 5
Jonas Fischer Jonas Fischer is studying Communication Design and is working at the Muthesius University Have you just found of Fine Arts and Design in Kiel. He accompanies archaeologists from more broken old junk the CRC 1266 (Cooperative Research again? Centre) at Kiel University. An Excavation Journal with Drawings – the Archaeological Excavation of a Large Stone Age Settlement in • The graphic novel about Stolniceni, Moldova archaeology: the daily life of archaeologists during excavations, seen through the Is archaeologists’ day-to-day research in exotic eyes of a graphic artist countries really as adventurous and romantic as it is made out to be? Meeting different people and • An entertaining and charming cultures and living and working in a confined space excavation journal for the are exceptional situations which can deliver unique twenty-first century stories. The expedition takes us to the large Chalcolithic • For all those who always settlement of Stolniceni in Moldova, a so-called wanted to take part in an mega site, which belongs to the Cucuteni-Trypillia archaeological dig and all culture. This culture, which spread out across the those who have already done region of Eastern Europe that comprises the modern- so day Ukraine, Moldova and Romania between 5000 and 2700 B.C., created the largest known settlements of the time in Europe – large cities with probably as many as 30,000 inhabitants, extending over areas of up to 340 hectares. 156 pages with numerous colored illus. 2018 Original Title: Habt ihr wieder nur altes kaputtes Zeug gefunden? Ein gezeichnetes Grabungstagebuch ISBN: 978-3-8062-3880-8 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Ancient Sciences page 6
Pedro Barceló Born in 1950, Pedro Barceló was Professor of Ancient History at the University of Potsdam until 2015. The Old World Within the field of Greek and Roman Antiquity, the internationally A Story of Land and Sea, Domination renowned historian focused, among and War, Legend, Cult and Salvation other things, on the History of Religion and Religious Change, of fringe groups and of the role of The concepts of universality and globalisation are Christianity. Among other titles, currently at the tips of everyone’s tongues, but they are in fact nothing new. They have their roots in WBG published his biography of Antiquity, in the cultural realm created by Hellenism Alexander the Great, as well as short and the Roman Empire. histories of both Rome and Greece. As a conclusion to his many years of research into the Ancient World, Pedro Barceló, a leading Ancient Historian, presents a panoramic view of the most • The Ancient World as an important factors in Antiquity’s political, economic, social, religious and cultic developments. In doing so, archive of memories and he distils the elements that characterised the catalyst for our cultural surrounding environment and the cultural and mental inheritance constants which defined ancient history for more than two thousand years. Which timeless myths • Written by one of the leading pervaded the Greek and Roman Mediterranean German ancient historians culture? Which notions did they share when it came to divinity, domination or hostility? It was indeed these anthropological factors in particular which turned the cultural realm comprising the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans into a large single entity and which still influence us today – because 704 pages 71 b/w illus. 2019 we are following in their footsteps. Original Title: Die Alte Welt. Von Land und Meer, Herrschaft und Krieg, Mythos, Kult und Erlösung ISBN: 978-3-8053-5186-7 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Ancient Sciences page 7
Uwe Rasch / Gerhard Wagner Since 2001, Uwe Rasch has been a research assistant at the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies at the Aldous Huxley University of Münster and contributes to the publication of the “Aldous Huxley Annual” and “Human Potentialities”, a series of Huxley The English author Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) is well monographs. He worked for many known to many readers. His novel “Brave New World” years as a cultural journalist. became a world classic, with its title soon being Currently, Uwe Rasch’s main turned into a slogan. Its warning about the risks of occupation is as a full-time lecturer technological dictatorship remains relevant to this in Academic English at the day. University of Münster’s Language For the first time, Uwe Rasch and Gerhard Wagner Centre. provide German readers with a comprehensive overview of the influential author and thinker. They describe Huxley’s serious eye disease, defence of Gerhard Wagner did his PhD thesis pacifism, experiments with drugs, adventures in on poetic theory in Aldous Huxley’s Hollywood and finally the founding of the Esalen essay writing. Previously, he studied Institute in California. Krishnamurti, Strawinsky, Yehudi Menuhin and Charlie Chaplin were all his English Philology, Modern History close friends. He met Thomas Mann while in exile. and Nordic Philology. He has worked Theodor Adorno dedicated an essay to him. Huxley is at the Centre for Aldous Huxley shown on the one hand to be deeply pessimistic and Studies at the University of Münster on the other as a highly committed humanist. His since it was founded in 1998. As his extraordinary significance for a globalised world is main occupation, he works as a state striking. school teacher. 320 pages 30 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Aldous Huxley ISBN: 978-3-8062-3844-0 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Biographies page 8
Irmgard Knechtges-Obrecht Clara Schumann A Life Dedicated to Music © private Irmgard Knechtges-Obrecht Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was a concert pianist, studied Music, Theatre, Film and wife and mother. She outlived her husband, the Television as well as History at the Romantic composer and music writer Robert University of Cologne. She wrote her Schumann, by forty years. He was the love of her life PhD thesis on Robert Schumann. but fell ill at an early age with a serious nervous Until 1990, she worked as a research condition. Magnificent successes and severe assistant for the new edition of setbacks accompanied him on his path from child prodigy to legendary composer. Schumann’s complete works. Since 1991, she has been working as a Irmgard Knechtges-Obrecht portrays Clara as an freelancer. Knechtges-Obrecht is independent artist and a fascinating personality who Vice-President of the Robert worked hard to provide a living for eight children and Schumann Society in Düsseldorf. 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 • 200th anniversary of Clara which have only recently been published are able to Schumann‘s birth on 13 dispel prejudices and clichés. Photographs, which September 2019 are printed here for the first time, portray a woman’s life that was extremely unusual for that era. 256 pages 20 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Clara Schumann. Ein Leben für die Musik ISBN: 978-3-8062-3850-1 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Biographies page 9
Ulrike Grunewald Ulrike Grunewald, who was born in 1958, is Deputy Director of ZDF’s editorial department for A Princess in Disgrace contemporary history. She worked as The Scandal surrounding Queen a ZDF presenter and reporter for Victoria’s outcast Mother-In-Law, “heute-journal”, the channel’s news Louise show, and the lunchtime news programme “Mittagsmagazin”. In 1987, she accompanied Charles and Diana on their visit to Germany. She An unhappy marriage, scandalous affairs and the either co-wrote or co-edited a enforced exile from the court of her husband, Ernst number of major TV documentaries, von Sachsen-Coburg, all left their mark on her life. Branded “Disgraced Louise”, Princess Louise of largely about contemporary Germany Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Queen Victoria’s mother-in- and the families of European law, was quickly forgotten after her early death. monarchies, such as “Die Wölfe” Ulrike Grunewald presents this woman’s life and (which was awarded the links her story to the rise of the House of Saxe- International Emmy in 2009). Ulrike Coburg and Gotha from a tiny unimportant Grunewald has written a number of principality to one of the most powerful dynasties of the nineteenth century. When Louise’s son Albert popular biographies on similar topics found recognition at the side of Queen Victoria in with the publisher VGS und Knaur England, he had to struggle with his mother’s legacy (“Rivalinnen”, “Der Fluch des Hauses – as rumour had it, Albert was an illegitimate child of Windsor”, “Hauses Windsor”, “Auf the hedonistic Louise. Rosamunde Pilchers Spuren”, “William & Kate”). The book does not only provide us with a greater understanding of a life which had, until then, not been researched, but also gives us an insight into the social conventions and constraints of the early nineteenth century, which Louise flouted on several occasions. 288 pages 12 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Die Schand-Luise. Der Skandal um Queen Victorias verstoßene Schwiegermutter ISBN: 978-3-8062-3889-1 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Biographies page 10
Günter Müchler Napoleon A Revolutionary on the Emperor’s © private Throne Born in 1946, Günter Müchler studied History and Political He came from nowhere, first had to learn French, and Science. Following posts with a rose through the ranks from Artillery Officer to First number of newspapers, he moved Consul: the Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte. The into radio in 1987 and, until 2011, was revolutionary went on to become the Emperor of Programme Director of the German France. public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, the culture-oriented radio station Günter Müchler eloquently outlines the life story of a Deutschlandradio Kultur and DRadio man who himself recognised his own limitations most Wissen, a radio station targeting clearly in his defeat on Saint Helena: the creator and young people. 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. “The truth is that I was never in control The 250th anniversary of Napoleon of my movements. I had plans but never had the Bonaparte‘s birth is on 15 August freedom to execute them. Whatever I did was always 2019 determined by circumstance”. 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. 642 pages 32 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Napoleon. Revolutionär auf dem Kaiserthron ISBN: 978-3-8062-3917-1 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Biographies page 11
Ulrich Kittsein Ulrich Kittstein is Professor of Modern German Literature at the University of Mannheim. He was Gottfried Keller awarded the University of Mannheim’s Prize for Language and A Middle-Class Outsider Science for his post-doctoral thesis. His work focuses on German literature from the eighteenth century until the present, with a focus on poetry, historical narration, Alongside Fontane and Storm, Gottfried Keller (1819- Friedrich Schiller, Eduard Mörike, 1890) is seen as the most important representative of Gottfried Keller and Bertolt Brecht. German-speaking Realism. Marked by the tradition and culture of his home city, Zurich, and by the ideas of Swiss liberalism, he developed his very own ideal of middle-class life. Nevertheless, as an author and critic of his times, Keller remained a social outsider, • 200th anniversary of his birth who also revealed the deep chasms of middle-class on 19 July 2019 life in his works. Ullrich Kittstein describes Keller’s personality and • Unrivalled overview of his life career, his ideological and political stance and his and work poetics. He looks in detail at “Green Henry”, “Martin Salander” and “The People of Seldwyla”. In 2019, • The first detailed overall Keller’s jubilee year, Kittstein has written a assessment of the writer’s life multifaceted portrayal of an author whose virtuoso for thirty years storytelling and psychological shrewdness never cease to fascinate readers to this day. 512 pages 2019 Original Title: Gottfried Keller. Ein bürgerlicher Außenseiter ISBN: 978-3-534-27072-9 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Biographies page 12
Wolfgang Blum has a PhD in Wolfgang Blum Mathematics. Following his university education, he carried out A Short History of research for several years at the University of Erlangen. He then Mathematics worked as an economics journalist for the German publications “Die Zeit”, “Geo” and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and for the broadcaster WDR. Since 2002, he has also been In our daily lives, we are constantly surrounded by teaching Mathematics and Physics mathematics without noticing it. It can be found in at a secondary school. our smartphones, cars, electric toothbrushes or in a snow crystal. It recognises what is essential, classifies, and reveals new connections. One of its special characteristics is that once something has • A high-speed journey through been discovered, it applies forever. Two times two the history of mathematics will always make four and the angles of a triangle will always add up to 180 degrees, just as they did in ancient times and will continue to do in centuries to • An easily understandable come. But where was calculation discovered? Why do introduction to mathematics we need logarithms or algebra? And what is behind and its history the beauty of mathematics? • Understandable without any Wolfgang Blum goes back in time and tells us the particular specialist knowledge story of mathematics, starting with the first numbers of mathematics in the Stone Age and continuing through to the twenty-first century’s Sudoku puzzles. 200 pages 33 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Eine kurze Geschichte der Mathematik ISBN: 978-3-8062-3877-8 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Geography & Natural Sciences page 13
Armin Börner Chemistry Connections for Life © private Dare to venture into a world in which there is a Armin Börner has been Full connection between sugar and decisiveness or cave Professor of Organic Chemistry at drawings and formula language. See for yourself how the University of Rostock since 2000 Chemistry structures the world and how the and also works as Head of knowledge of Chemistry can contribute to a better understanding of where we live. Department at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis. He was awarded the You have learned much of what you read in this book Descartes Prize in 2001. in Chemistry lessons – you have probably filed it in a corner of your brain and forgotten it. Either because you think that you did not understand it or because you believe that it is irrelevant for your daily life. The reality is quite the opposite. Chemistry is the common thread that links all areas of our lives. • Finally get to grips with Chemistry! • Links Chemistry to our everyday lives 392 pages 23 color illus. 2019 Original Title: Chemie. Verbindungen fürs Leben ISBN: 978-3-8062-3884-6 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Geography & Natural Sciences page 14
Klaus Richarz Bird Migration © private Every year, an estimated fifty billion birds head off to their winter quarters, often thousands of kilometres away, before embarking on their return journey in spring, when they return to their breeding grounds. Klaus Richarz has a PhD in Biology. During their long and dangerous journeys, they often Between 1980 and 2013, he worked achieve extraordinary things, need to cross mighty full-time in the field of nature oceans and overcome huge mountain ranges. conservation and, until 2013, headed up the Hesse, Rheinland-Palatinate Bird migration provides an endless source of fascination to humans. Whenever we spot flocks of and Saarland Ornithological cranes or swallows in the autumn sky and marvel at Institutes in Frankfurt for twenty-two their formations, which have been created seemingly years. He continues to play an active by chance, we ask ourselves many questions: how do role in nature conservation (as an they communicate with each other while they are advisor to several nature flying, how do birds find their way on their long conservation foundations and more). journey, who actually travels and who stays at home? Richarz has been writing non-fiction Klaus Richarz introduces us to the most important books about birds, bats, nature migratory birds, describes their flight paths, explains conservation and the experience of and decodes the bird satnav and touches upon the nature for many years, which have consequences of climate change for bird migration. been translated into more than ten Finally, he provides some tips on how to protect our languages. migratory birds and where it is best to observe them. Read all about one of the most fascinating natural phenomena on earth. 192 pages 218 color illust. 2019 Original Title: Vogelzug ISBN: 978-3-8062-3885-3 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Geography & Natural Sciences page 15
Marie-Christine Werner was born in 1971 and holds joint German and French nationalities. She studied Ludger Fittkau / Marie-Christine Werner Comparative Literature, Italian, International and European Law in Saarbrücken. Following a traineeship The Conspirators in Journalism at SDR/SWR, she has The Civil Resistance behind the Events been an editor and presenter with of 20 July 1944 the SWR2 radio station in Mainz since 2000. She is also the author of longer-running programmes, frequently about the National Stauffenberg’s headquarters, the “Wolf’s Lair”, Socialist period. provided the stage for the assassination. The Bendlerblock building in Berlin was the conspirators’ Ludger Fittkau, who was born in military control centre. This is one – extensively Essen in 1959, has been working as a researched – side of the events of 20 July 1944. This freelance correspondent since 1994 book takes a look at another, much less well known for, among others, the public story behind the assassination. It looks at non- military participants and their secret meeting places broadcasters WDR and – courageous business people, Catholic women’s Deutschlandfunk (DLF). He studied rights activists or left-wing pacifists who met Social Sciences at the secretly. Fernuniversität in Hagen and did a PhD in Sociology in 2006. Since The story is told of the supporters of Trade Union 2013, Ludger Fittkau has been Leader Wilhelm Leuschner, of several hundred trade working as the Hesse correspondent unionists and social democrats, of police officers and betting shop operators. Of experienced underground for DLF. Prior to this, he had been activists who were preparing to occupy public DLF’s correspondent for the administrations and radio stations, following a Rhineland-Palatinate region in Mainz successful assassination of Hitler. Marie-Christine from 2009. Werner and Ludger Fittkau trace the structures of the conspirators’ civilian wing on 20 July 1944 and tell the on-site story of the participants’ intertwined destinies. 336 pages 36 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Die Konspirateure. Der zivile Widerstand hinter dem 20. Juli 1944 ISBN: 978-3-8062-3893-8 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 History page 16
Pavel Polian Letters from Hell © Ingo Schneider The Records from the Jewish Auschwitz Special Unit When state-of-the-art technology enabled Marcel Pavel Polian is a Jewish Russian Nadjari’s testimony to de decoded for posterity in historian and literary scholar. He 2017, it was a real sensation: the last of the “Letters lives and works in Moscow and from Hell”, the secret records compiled by Jewish Freiburg. His numerous publications prisoners in the Special Unit in Auschwitz-Birkenau, on the holocaust ensure that he is had become decipherable once again. The Special Unit’s members were forced by the SS to help with recognised as an expert also in the mass murder in the crematoria, the burning of Germany and is well connected both corpses and the disposal of the ashes of hundreds of to fellow historians and the press. thousands of people. The fact that some of them felt the need to provide written testimony of the horror is an unbelievable act of humanity. That some of these testimonies would be handed down to posterity did not occur to the • The essential holocaust National Socialists. This volume is the first collection documentation – for the first of all nine of the preserved testimonies in German time in full, with all nine translation and includes detailed essays to place reports available and a them in the context in which they originated. These German commentary are key documents relating to the murder of the Jews – and to deeply moving humanity. 544 pages 20 b/w illust. 2019 Original Title: Briefe aus der Hölle. Die Aufzeichnungen des jüdischen Sonderkommandos Auschwitz ISBN: 978-3-8062-3916-4 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 History page 17
Klaus Bringmann, who was born in Klaus Bringmann 1936, is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the Goethe The People rules itself University in Frankfurt am Main. A History of Democracy • Democracy – its historical Relatively speaking, our Western democracy is fairly new. Great Britain, for example, has only belonged to principles, development, the club of fully legitimate democracies since 1928. strengths and risks Philosophers from the Age of Enlightenment were still in favour of a republic and were suspicious of • A book which takes due democracy – as was Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. account of the current Athens was, however, the cradle of democracy. unease about our democracy In an important late work, the Ancient Historian, Klaus Bringmann, describes the ideals and shaping • A plea for the achievements of Athenian democracy and demonstrates its of the western world fundamental difference from modern-day systems. He traces its concept and practice via the class • The defining work of a system of the early modern period, the leading historian and enlightenment, the birth of the first real democracy observer of contemporary during the United States’ early days through to today. issues He clearly analyses and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of different options and criticises some over-hasty reform ideas which are being developed in light of democracy’s current crisis. Those who value our liberal system’s future need to know about its history and evolution. 336 pages 2019 Original Title: Das Volk regiert sich selbst. Eine Geschichte der Demokratie ISBN: 978-3-8062-3872-3 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 History page 18
Kersten Knipp The Fascists’ Commune How the Republic of Fiume tested the 20th Century Kersten Knipp, who was born in 1966, is a publicist and journalist. He In September 1919, 2500 franc-tireurs under the is a freelance political editor at the leadership of the eccentric, poet and war hero, German broadcaster „Deutsche Gabriele D’Annunzio, occupied a small Croatian coastal town and established the Republic of Fiume Welle“ and works for there on the ruins of the Habsburg Empire. They Deutschlandfunk and other stations enacted a bizarre spectacle with many contradictory belonging to the broadcaster ARD. elements: military parades, torchlight processions He also writes for the Swiss and events which glorified war, combined with a non- newspaper „Neue Zürcher Zeitung“. stop celebration of free love, drugs and nudism. The He focuses on contemporary history Republic of Fiume marked the start of a violent century. It became a laboratory of fascist aesthetics as well as politics in the Middle East and an early location for the counter culture of 1968. and the Arab World. In his historical essay, Kersten Knipp describes how all of these contradictory elements came together to • 100th anniversary of the create a dangerous populism accompanied by mass Republic of Fiume in hysteria and demonstrates how this extraordinary September 1919 (continues to episode hinted at the paths and wrong turns that the twentieth century was to take. the start of 1921) 140 pages 30 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Die Kommune der Faschisten. Wie die Republik von Fiume das 20. Jahrhundert probte ISBN: 978-3-8062-3914-0 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 History page 19
Christian Klein is a private lecturer and Academic Councillor for Modern German Literary History and General Andreas von Arnauld / Christian Klein Literary Studies at the University of Wuppertal and is a member of the Because Books university’s Narrative Research Centre. He is the author of a study Change our World on cult books and, in addition to From the Nibelungenlied to Harry writing numerous essays on literature from the nineteenth to the Potter twenty-first centuries, has written works of reference in the fields of non-literary narration and the theory Books have shaped our history, thinking and self- and practice of biographical writing. conception to a considerable extent. The authors present ninety-nine books that have had a significant influence on Germany as a cultural nation. They Andreas von Arnauld is Professor of focus on texts from many different areas of Public Law with a focus on knowledge: literary works are juxtaposed with International and European Law at scientific treatises; lexicons with philosophical works Kiel University and Managing and political diatribes. The special features of the Director of the Walther Schücking book in question are emphasised. Entertaining Institute for International Law. Mr. episodes are used to convey interesting information about the book’s origins and historical background. von Arnauld is Co-Editor of “Die Friedens-Warte - Journal of The authors include Martin Luther, Immanuel Kant, International Peace and J.W. Goethe, Karl Marx, Konrad Duden, Max Planck Organization”, and has written but also J.K Rowling and Thomas Hobbes. The numerous books and scientific enthralling, brief profiles in chronological order allow essays about human rights, readers to approach important landmarks in German European integration and the history from an original angle. What we know for certain is that books are indispensable for foundations of Law. understanding what constitutes Germany today. 400 pages 2019 Original Title: Weil Bücher unsere Welt verändern. Vom Nibelungenlied bis Harry Potter ISBN: 978-3-8062-3747-4 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Modern Language Studies & Art page 20
© Fotostudio_Jünger Matthias Vogt Christians in the Middle East Between Martyrdom and Exodus Matthias Vogt, who was born in 1975, studied Jewish, Semitic and Islamic Studies in Heidelberg, Paris 2018: Iraqi Christians return to their villages, from and Halle (Saale). In 2004, he took a where the so-called “Islamic State” had banished PhD in Islamic Studies at the them four years previously. A hundred years before universities of Sorbonne in Paris that, Christians in the region had already had to start (Paris IV) and Halle-Wittenberg. again from scratch. During the First World War, Among other things, he has hundreds of thousands in Anatolia were evicted and murdered. What has happened in the hundred years published works on the situation of since the end of the Ottoman Empire? What impact Christians and Jews in the Islamic did the construction of independent Arab states, World in the past and the present. Jewish immigration and the founding of Israel have? Since 2005 he has been working as a Which role does Lebanon play as a state influenced country consultant for Missio, the by Christianity? How did secular Turkey deal with international Catholic mission in Christians? What consequences did the fall of Aachen; since 2011, as the expert for Saddam Hussein have for Iraqi Christians? How do Christians see the revolution in Egypt and what North Africa and the Middle East consequences does the civil war in Syria have for and also as the Deputy Leader of the them? “Foreign Countries” department. He has lived and travelled widely in the The book describes the path steered by Christians in region. the Middle East between integration, social participation, separation and emigration as well as the challenges facing them today. 504 pages 35 color illus. 2019 Original Title: Christen im Nahen Osten. Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus ISBN: 978-3-534-27069-9 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Philosophy & Theology page 21
Thomas Vašek, born in 1968, has Thomas Vašek held leading journalistic functions with several publishers and was A Country of Drivers most recently employed as Editor-in- The Germans and their Cars Chief of the German popular science magazine P.M. He is now Editor-in- Chief at the Philosophy magazine “Hohe Luft” (literally: “High Air”) and has also made a name for himself as an author of successful non-fiction The key issues of our time, from globalisation to books on philosophy. climate change via digitalisation, lie at the heart of the debate about the crisis in the automotive industry. With the end of the combustion engine in sight, the industry is facing a comprehensive technological transformation. At the same time, the car is closely linked to the German identity. To this day, German cars stand for engineering ingenuity, quality and reliability, as well as for the country’s economic strength. Germany depends on the car: the automotive industry generates annual sales of more than 400 billion Euros. Around 1.5 million jobs depend directly or indirectly on the automotive industry. In light of this, a fundamental debate about the importance of cars to the German people is long overdue. 192 pages 10 b/w illus. 2019 Original Title: Land der Lenker. Die Deutschen und ihr Auto ISBN: 978-3-8062-3928-7 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Philosophy & Theology page 22
Spring 2019 Selected Backlist Titles
Burkhard Madea / Wilfried Rosendahl Professor Burkhard Madea (M.D., (ed.) PhD) is Director of the Institute of Forensic Science at the University Hospital Bonn and is the author of Crime Scenes from the countless non-fiction and specialist Past books. Professor Wilfried Rosendahl (PhD) is Director of the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum and of the Curt Engelhorn They are ever-present on our television screens: Centre of Art and Cultural History, forensic scientists, who, with state-of-the-art both of which are in Mannheim. The technical equipment and scientific analyses, find the “German Mummy Project”, which he smallest clues to be able to reconstruct a crime. Archaeology also uses forensic methods to leads, is one of the research units in reconstruct events from long ago. the Centre. Burkhard Madea and Wilfried Rosendahl have brought numerous experts together, who present the diverse possibilities that forensic science offers, and its uses for archaeology. From the Palaeolithic Age to the Second World War, famous and illustrious cases are represented which cover the full spectrum of possibilities: from toxicology to forensic ballistics via facial reconstruction and autopsies. Each topic is explained in a clear and understandable way by means of a meaningful case study from current archaeological research. 144 pages 133 color and 20 b/w illus. 2017 Original Title: Tatorte der Vergangenheit. Archäologie und Forensik ISBN: 978-3-8062-3645-3 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 24
Alexander Emmerich / Philipp Gassert Alexander Emmerich was born in 1974, did his PhD in Medieval and Modern History at the University of America’s Wars Heidelberg with a focus on the US. He has published widely on German and American History. He lectures at the University of Mannheim. The US does not only have the oldest democratic Professor Philipp Gassert (PhD) constitution in the world: since its independence, the holds the Chair of Contemporary country has been almost permanently involved in History at the University of military conflicts. How does that fit together – democracy and war? “To make the world safe for Mannheim. Prior to that, he carried democracy”: it was with this goal in mind that out research and lectured at the President Wilson made the case for America’s entry German Historical Institute into the First World War. Since then, entering and Washington DC (DHI) and at the waging wars have been part of a propaganda drive University of Heidelberg, the LMU which tries to create the image of an America fighting Munich, the University of all of the evil in the world. But can a “democratic way Pennsylvania and the University of of war” exist? Augsburg. In 2014 he was the Sir For the first time, this book presents a complete and Peter Ustinov Guest Professor of the critical overview of America’s wars, from the early City and University of Vienna. Since beginnings of colonial societies through to the 2011, he has been a member of the present day. It reveals similarities and patterns in board of the German Association for American foreign policy and looks at the historic American Studies (DGFA). parallels to be found in the reasons for going to war, justifications and rhetoric of American politicians. 264 pages 11 b/w illus. 2014 Original Title: Amerikas Kriege ISBN: 978-3-8062-2675-1 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 25
Clauß Peter Sajak Interreligious Learning © private Among the most important issues confronting Clauß Peter Sajak is Professor of religious education – now and in the future, Religious Education at the Faculty of considering current demographic developments – is Roman Catholic Theology at the interreligious education. In any culturally and University of Münster. He has been religiously pluralistic society, religious education cannot be content to impart the beliefs of one’s own reflecting on questions of practical faith community, but must also impart some theology for many years, focusing in knowledge of the other religions. In this way, particular on the didactics and religious education may contribute to greater methods of interreligious teaching understanding and cooperation among people of and learning. different denominations and religions, particularly among Christians, Jews and Muslims. What is needed now are new forms of interreligious learning which reduce knowledge gaps and enable learners to meet and communicate in dialogue. Clauß Peter Sajak has written the first compact and practical introduction to such an interreligious education which can contribute, in the religiously pluralistic societies of today, to a deeper understanding of other faiths and to a more respectful life together. 148 pages 52 illus. 2018 Original Title: Interreligiöses Lernen ISBN: 978-3-534-74325-4 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 26
Dieter Radaj Dieter Radaj (b. 1935) received his Philosophical doctoral and postdoctoral degrees from the Technical University of Concepts and the Brunswick before working, in a managerial capacity, in research, Natural teaching, and industry. He has authored a number of specialist books as well as several books on current issues of theoretical and Philosophical and scientific thought are connected practical philosophy. by a number of shared concepts. These convey notions that transcend sense perception and make possible the kind of abstract thinking which, in the sciences, has led to mathematical theorems, while natural philosophy remained language-bound. In addition, there is the use of those concepts and terms in everyday speech. This book focuses on complementary pairs of concepts: being and becoming, space and time, causality and correlation, chance and necessity. Further discussion treats the notion of natural laws in physics and biology as well as the higher “forms of determination” applying to the realm of the animate world. Throughout, Dieter Radaj’s account is based in a contemporary ontology and pays particular attention to the concepts of modern physics, the principles of evolution and molecular genetics, as well as the evolution of the cosmos in space and time. 233 pages 2017 Original Title: Philosophische Grundbegriffe der Naturwissenschaften ISBN: 978-3-534-26941-9 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 27
Hermann-Josef Frisch On Pilgrimage © private What happens when people set out, looking for God and – possibly – finding themselves? When they set out, that is, non in a metaphorical sense, but literally Hermann-Josef Frisch is a retired “hitting the road”, on foot, travelling light, a pilgrim’s parish priest and a former Lecturer in staff in hand? The appeal of going on a pilgrimage Religious Education at the University persists to this day, and even people who do not of Bonn. He has written or consider themselves religious are fascinated by the contributed to more than 200 books idea of a fresh departure for new experiences on the on religious education, pastoral care, road. adult education in theology, and As a globetrotter in the matter of religion, Hermann- religious studies. On more than fifty Josef Frisch knows the pilgrimage traditions of the journeys to Asia, he has explored world’s great religions like few others. From first- Buddhist culture and traditions. hand experience, he tells of how life “along the way”, with its rites, rhythms, and austerities, may sharpen one’s focus on what is truly important, and may open up a space for leisurely encounters with fellow pilgrims and others. At the same time, his book presents a masterful overview of different pilgrimage traditions, with stunning photographs that take readers on a journey to the most famous pilgrimage sites around the globe. 240 pages 130 color illus. 2017 Original Title: Man ist dann mal weg. Über das Pilgern ISBN: 978-3-8062-3625-5 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 28
Lothar Machtan Chancellor of the End © Milena Taplan Times Prince Max of Baden and the Fall of the Second German Empire Lothar Machtan is Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Bremen. He has written During the dramatic final phase of the First World articles for Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and War, Prince Maximilian of Baden is named German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as chancellor. His mission is to save the Empire from well as numerous well-acclaimed impending catastrophe. He fails, however, thus history books for a general audience sealing the fate of an entire era. With riveting narrative force, Lothar Machtan guides readers and the script of a TV documentary through the life of a man whose personality was about the end of German imperial marked by contradictions: “Prince Max” (as he was rule in 1918. known) maintained close contacts with the Richard Wagner Circle at Bayreuth as well as with the British- born racialist ideologue, notorious anti-Semite and Wagner’s posthumous son-in-law, Houston Stewart Chamberlain. At the same time, the Prince’s closest confidant was a scion of the Jewish haute bourgeoisie. Max of Baden was conscious of his rank and station, yet, as a homosexual, he led a life outside of the prevailing social norms. He was said to be a cosmopolitan and peaceable man, yet he despised democracy. 686 pages 39 b/w illus. 2018 Original Title: Der Endzeitkanzler. Prinz Max von Baden und der Untergang des Kaiserreichs ISBN: 978-3-8062-3660-6 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 29
Andreas Hafer / Bernd Bühler From Pythagoras to Andreas Hafer took his doctoral degree in History and teaches Quantum Physics mathematics, history, and philosophy at secondary-school level. He has published numerous A Short History of the Natural Sciences articles and books on the history of science and other topics. From their first beginnings in the ancient Greece of Thales and Pythagoras, through the times of Newton Bernd Bühler took his doctoral and Darwin to the most recent developments in degree in Physics and theaches quantum mechanics and genetic engineering, the physics, biology, astronomy, and natural sciences have worked their way through psychology at secondary-school almost 3,000 years of turbulent history. However, level.für Physik, Biologie, Astronomie that history of scientific models, theories, and research practices was neither constant nor und Psychologie. He, too, has continuous, but marked by times of comparative published numerous articles and calm as well as periods of revolutionary upheaval. books on the history of science and other topics. In their innovative short history of the sciences, Andreas Hafer and Bernd Bühler highlight the great revolutions in scientific thought, tracing both their causes and effects. Phrased in layman’s terms, their account of the fascinating history of the sciences offers authoritative orientation without getting lost in the detail. The result? a truly breathtaking historical journey! 244 pages 50 b/w illus. 2016 Original Title: Von Pythagoras zur Quantenphysik. Eine kurze Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften ISBN: 978-3-8062-3387-2 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 30
Georg Auernheimer Introduction into Georg Auernheimer, born in 1939, was professor for educational Intercultural Education science at the University of Marburg and for intercultural socialization and migration at the University of Cologne. The 8th edition of this standard work presents the newest developments in intercultural education. An overview of the development of the subject is followed by an explanation of key terms like multicultural society, education and cultural identity, acculturation, ethnocentrism, prejudice, racism and intercultural communication. The author then portrays the objectives of intercultural education: social learning, dealing with Polish rights sold differences, the ability to communicate, an education guided by multiple perspectives, multilingualism and antiracist education. The book also considers research results of cultural studies and depicts concepts of a multicultural society as well as models of intercultural learning and communication. 178 pages 7 b/w illus. 2015 (8th edition) Original Title: Einführung in die interkulturelle Pädagogik ISBN: 978-3-534-26776-7 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 31
Cornelius Hartz Myth Alarm! Cornelius Hartz studied classical philology and works as an editor, 20 Popular Errors about the Ancient author and translator in Hamburg. Romans Was Rome indeed founded in 753 BC as a popular German rhyme would have it? Did all Romans speak Classical Latin? A toga belongs to a Roman like the laurel wreath to Caesar, or doesn’t it? Speaking of Caesar – was he not murdered by a certain Brutus? Anyway, what were they like, those ancient Romans? Were they an especially cleanly people who visited the public baths on a daily basis? Or is the opposite true? After all, they did not know soap but supposedly used urine for cleaning their teeth and laundering their clothes. In this highly entertaining book, Cornelius Hartz debunks 20 popular myths about the Ancient Romans and Ancient Rome. 190 pages 2016 Original Title: Alles Mythos! 20 populäre Irrtümer über die alten Römer ISBN: 978-3-8062-3273-8 wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) Hindenburgstr. 40 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Foreign Rights Department Rebecca Ruth Ruth@wbg-wissenverbindet.de +49 6151 3308 159 Selected Backlist Titles page 32
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