The Black Death - from the Plague Village to Europe

“I came upon an intriguing finger post, pointing the way to the Plague Village. There I found the history of the village’s ordeal, and their extraordinary decision… What would it be like, I wondered, to make such a choice and to find that, in consequence, two-thirds of your neighbours were dead within a year? How would faith, relationships, and social order survive?” – from the Afterword of Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague.

Views of Ancient Egypt - A personal selection from the new catalogue

It is ten years since I last went to Egypt, but having immersed myself in so many wondrous books on the subject of late, I can almost feel myself transported back there...

A series no medievalist should be without...

The Medieval Finds from Excavations in London series is one that medieval archaeologists and specialists have come to trust and rely upon in recent years. The masses of material contained in the Museum of London, much of which was recovered from securely stratified deposits, forms an ideal reference source of medieval objects with a use that extends far beyond the capital itself.

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.

New Releases

The Oasis Papers 3: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project
edited by Gillian E Bowen and Colin A Hope
Hardback. GB £85.00, GB £15.00

This volume contains twenty-five papers presented at the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project held in Melbourne in 2000, plus several other invited papers, which together reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the project. Five deal with Pleistocene and Holocene archaeology, including the first charaterisation of the Older Middle Stone Age culture of the Oasis; there are three on pharaonic archaeology and fifteen devoted to Roman period Kellis. They include: discussions of the most recent archaeological work; the first detailed publication of a unique glass jug decorated with scenes of combatant gladiators, accompanied by colour images; and specialist reports on human skeletal remains.

Catalogues

During the last month the catalogue department has produced the Egypt and Near East 2004-2005 catalogue.

• Section 1 (468 Kb)
• Section 2 - Egypt Exploration Society (39 Kb)
• Section 3 (72 Kb)
• Section 4 - Near East (941 Kb)

• Bargains and Special Offers (73 Kb)

Conferences we will be attending

International Medieval Congress 2004 (LEEDS)
University of Leeds (UK) (Monday 12 July, 2004 - Thursday 15 July, 2004)
On 13 April 1204, the world's greatest Christian city, Constantinople, was sacked by the forces of the Fourth Crusade. In 2004, the IMC will reflect on this event by dedicating a special thematic strand, comprising 24 sessions, to Clash of Cultures. Oxbow's usual large stand, selling books to around 1200 delegates, will be present.

Sizzling Summer Sale

The weather may be as damp and dreary as can be but here at Oxbow our sale is sizzling hot...