After the Ice - A Quantum Leap through global history

The editor of OXeN always asks us to include a wide range of books in our features to broaden the subject and provide something for everyone. Well, this month I said 'To hell with that'! To surround After the Ice: A Global Human History 20,000-5000 BC with other books on the subject would be to diminish its standing and, besides which, I can't think of anything else that measures up. This is what I think of Steven Mithen's new book - it's good ... it's very good!

Archaeology and the Cold War

In the period between the end of WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the British government was obsessed with the threat of atomic weapons and tried to confront the unthinkable with a variety of imaginative structures. The Cold War: Building for Nuclear Confrontation is a new book from English Heritage, which investigates the secret world constructed behind barbed-wire fences and deep beneath our cities.

Ships, Pirates and a Safe Harbour

With last month's publication of Sealed by Time, about Henry VIII's flagship The Mary Rose, my thoughts have drifted to the sea and other recent books about boats, ships, navies, merchants and pirates ...

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 Author: Alasdair Whittle

Alasdair Whittle is a Research Professor in Archaeology at Cardiff University, and well known for his work on the Neolithic of the Avebury area in southern Britain. His new book, The Archaeology of People: Dimensions of Neolithic Life, has just been published by Routledge, so we decided to write to him and ask a few questions about it. For example: what's wrong with the term 'Neolithic', and why does he like the word "messiness" so much? These were his answers ...

Conferences: A Sizzling August 2003

A quick glance at the list of conferences that Oxbow Books and The David Brown Book Company are attending this August shows that the long Summer holidays academics are meant to spend flat on a beach are something of a myth. As the temperatures soar, most hard-pressed scholars are to be found sitting in sweltering lecture halls being harangued by their peers. Still, the plus side is that you can always escape into the cool, collected atmosphere of our conference bookstands, where the latest scholarship nestles beside some absolutely scorching sale bargains. Read on to see where you can find Oxbow stands this month ...

The 14th International Conference on Patristic Studies starts in the Examination Schools in Oxford (UK) on Monday the 18th of August 2003, and finishes on Saturday the 23rd of August. 700 delegates are expected at this meeting - the largest on the Early Christian fathers in the world. Keynote lectures in the mornings include presentations by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Oxbow Books will be displaying books from its distributed publishers including the Griffith Institute and Francis Cairns, selling books from its Oxford bookshop, and representing the Catholic University of America Press, Blackwell Publishers and Cambridge University Press with special displays. Details of the conference can be found at:
http://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/news/patristics.shtml

The last International Congress of Classical Archaeology was held in Amsterdam in 1998. The 16th congress will move across the Atlantic to Boston, Massachusetts. Starting on Saturday the 23rd of August 2003, and finishing on Tuesday the 26th of August, the papers, colloquia and posters will focus on the theme "Common Ground: Archaeology, Art, Science and the Humanities". The David Brown Book Company's stand will have a new group of special bargains, including publications of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and lots of exciting new publications on classical art and archaeology. Around 600 delegates are expected. All the conference details are available from the following website:
http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/sites/aiac/ancongress.html

"The Living and the Dead: The Relationship between Settlement and Burial in Early Christian Anglo-Saxon England" is the theme of a small meeting happening at the beautiful seaside resort of Hunstanton in Norfolk (UK). Starting and ending on Saturday the 23rd of August, this intensive one day conference is organized by the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project and features some of the leading lights in Anglo-Saxon research, including: Helen Geake, Alison Taylor and Neil Faulkner. 200 people are expected. A conference schedule is available on the SHARP website:
http://www.sharp.org.uk/involved/conference.htm

The 12th International Congress of Celtic Studies finds its home this year in the heart of the Celtic world, at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth. The week starts on Monday the 25th of August and runs through to Friday the 29th of August, with a one-day break on Wednesday for exploration of the surrounding valleys and historic sites. Devoted to the study of Celtic languages and their literatures, and to Celtic history and archaeology, this meeting is only held once every four years and around 450 people are expected to attend. The conference website offers all the relevant details:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/celt/

Leeds Bestsellers 2003

At a record-breaking Leeds International Medieval Congress in July the Oxbow Books stand was besieged by eager book buyers. We had more books on display than ever before, and it has taken us a few weeks to churn through the sales reports, but we have now prepared a list of the most popular books and are ready to reveal what's hot in the world of medieval studies' publishing.

Book Bargains - Archaeology of the Americas

Check out this feature for more great deals on archaeology books, this time focusing on the Americas. We have all sorts of fabulous bargains and remainders, and some new special sale items - advertised first to OXeN readers!

Oxbow Books Summer Sale

The Summer Sale at our Oxford showroom begins on Monday the 11th of August. Visitors will find some really good bargains, with discounts off all books and huge reductions on older titles, and secondhand and slightly damaged books. It's well worth a visit!

The sale will begin at 9 am on Monday, and will continue until the end of August.

Oxbow Books is open from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday, and 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.

The showroom is in Park End Place, Oxford, just off Park End Street. It is a 5 minute walk from the Railway Station, and we are on the Third Floor.
Local Map