[An] entertaining rejoinder, [a] look at the hidden structures and unacknowledged tendencies of our day. --Kirkus Reviews

Who were the Norse gods - the mighty Aesyr, led by Odinn, and the mysterious Vanir? This book describes the myths' origins in pre-Christian Scandinavia and Iceland, and their survival in artefacts and written sources, from Old Norse sagas and poems to the less approving accounts of medieval Christian writers.

Oceanic art was important to the development of the modernist movement, influencing such artists as Gauguin. The tendency in the West has been to view Oceanic art as "primitive", but this book goes beyond this view to discover the meaning of art for the people of the Pacific.

An anthology of traditional nursery rhymes. It features around 20 well- known tales, illustrated by engravings.

Reveals the history of the anti-war movement in the UK from the outbreak of the First World War to present-day conflicts in the Middle East. This is a story of conscientious objectors and others who have been engaged in protest over the past century.

This updated edition is supplemented by a definitive account of the current technological, political and aesthetic shifts in performance art that mark its transition to the 21st century. New artists are shown in the context of previous innovators, from the Dadaists to Laurie Anderson.

Surveys a full century of performance, from the Futurist manifesto of 1909 to the second decade of the millennium. This title explains how a medium once used only in sporadic outbreaks of artistic dissent has become, over the course of a century, a vital and integral part of the contemporary mainstream and a global phenomenon.