Across the Anatolian Plateau ... and heading for Hattuša

Who cares about the Hittites? Considering the scarcity of general books on the subject, you may wonder ... but unjustly so. This Bronze Age kingdom, with its capital Hattuša strategically located in the metal-rich highlands of central Turkey, played a pivotal (and aggressive) role in the history of the Near East, Black Sea and Mediterranean regions for a large part of the second millennium BCE. Archaeologists and historians have been steadily collecting new information about the Hittites for much of last century, and so it is about time for some new synthetic books on the subject. At last a few publishers have taken up the challenge, and the past year has seen the release of several new titles looking at various aspects of Hittite culture ...

Rome's Eagles: A guide to good books on Roman weapons and warfare

In September AD 9 the heart of Rome was shaken by events on the fringes of the empire. Germanic tribes annihilated three entire legions, twenty thousand men, under the command of Quinctilius Varus. It was said that Augustus was haunted by dreams of his lost eagles for the rest of his days. The Roman Empire was built upon the successes of its fighting machine; it was not used to defeat or humiliation. Win or lose, the Roman army continues to exercise its control upon the minds of popular and academic historians alike ...

The life and times of the šaman

It is not like Oxbow to sit on the fence but shamanism, and its application in archaeology and anthropology, is a contentious issue that has raised many hackles in recent time. The dust is unlikely to settle for some time, especially with new publications appearing all the time. If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, the following books provide some of the most recent contributions to the debate ...

Hannig Lexica 4 – The Last Word in Egyptological Dictionaries?

At almost 2000 pages, Ägyptisches Wörterbuch 1: Altes Reich und Erste Zwischenzeit may just be the last word in Egyptian dictionaries. This hefty book is the most recent publication from the Hannig Lexica project, but how does it relate to the other volumes in the series, and other dictionaries available, and what do you get for your money? Read on to find out ...

Quirky Book of the Month

If you have a problem distinguishing between flint flakes and corn flakes, well then, the Human Evolution Cookbook is for you. Need I say more?

Of all the new books that have passed over the desks of the Oxbow staff this month, these, for whatever reason, are the ones that grabbed their attention.

Meet the Dreamer: Kasia Szpakowska

Kasia Szpakowska's new book, Behind Closed Eyes: Dreams & Nightmares in Ancient Egypt, explores the importance the ancient Egyptians attached to dreams and their interpretation. It is also the first title in a new series on Egyptology published by The Classical Press of Wales, already a well-known force in the world of Greek and Roman studies, and the first major publication to come out of the University of Wales at Swansea's Egyptology program. In honour of the occasion, I decided to look up Kasia and ask her about dreams, Wales and her wider interests.

Conferences: A Reminder

Calling all medievalists! The International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo will be taking place on Thursday the 8th of May, til Sunday the 11th of May, on the campus of Western Michigan University. The David Brown Book Company will be there with a large display of exciting books ... the new and the newest titles, and a considerable number of sale bargains. We will be featuring books from the University of Exeter Press, Windgather, Iceland University Press, Aarhus University Press, and Oxbow (of course). For information on sessions, how to get there, and other details, follow this link to the congress website:
http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/38congress/toc.htm

A new date for OXeN mailings

After a year of mailing Oxbow's electronic newsletter on the first day of each month, we have decided to make a change. Heavy server traffic on our chosen mailing date has been causing a number of technical problems, so from June onwards we will be mailing OXeN on or around the 7th of each month.

New Releases

At Oxbow, we also publish the occasional book. These are some of our new releases during May: