An exploration of modern assumptions about God, social, economic, and political structures, through the analysis of contemporary cultural expression. This is combined with a study of the locations that successively became the frontiers of modernity, such as Vienna, Moscow, Paris and Berlin, as well as America.

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Throughout history artists, writers and musicians - 'creative' people - have tried to outdo God or the Gods in the acts of creation. This study traces the different concepts of creation in Western civilization, following the struggle between man and god for the right to create, and even the right to create gods.

Presents a personal account of the role islands play in our dreams and nightmares. This book explains why islands appeal to us, and provides coverage that ranges from the myth of Atlantis to Watteaus erotic Cytherea, from Prosperos magical kingdom to Nelson Mandelas prison.

Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, the two greatest operatic composers of their time, had everything and nothing in common. Their achievements were comparable, but their personalities, their approaches to music and drama, and their complex legacies made them incompatible. This book investigates their affinities and explains their mutual mistrust.

An account of Australia - the people, the bush, the desert, the cities - as it was when the country was allowed to be itself, compared with what it has become. Its story is accompanied by numerous images of the Australian landscape, taken from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia.

With the advent of the Human Genome Project, the new genetics has moved to the cutting edge of science and medicine. The development and use of such genetics will have a profound impact on our understanding of disease and behaviour.

Books end, but the stories they tell continue. If they are retold often enough, they acquire the status of myth. This volume traces the multiple incarnations of four pervasive stories: those of Chaucer's Pilgrims , Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and King Lear , and finally, Prometheus .