Best of
19th-Century

1958

The Balkans Since 1453


Leften Stavros Stavrianos - 1958
    Long out of print, Stavrianos' opus both synthesizes the existing literature of Balkan studies since World War I and demonstrates the centrality of the Balkans to both European and world history, a centrality painfully apparent in recent years.At last, the cornerstone book for every student of Balkan history, culture and politics is now available once again.

Poems of Jules Laforgue


Jules Laforgue - 1958
    a father of light', said Ezra Pound in 1918 of Jules Laforgue. Among the most innovative of poets in the French language, Laforgue was an important influence on the young T S Eliot. Part-symbolist and part-impressionist, his associative method, speech-rhythms and boldly heterogenous diction make him not only one of the most individual of French poets but also among the most entertaining. Notable also for his early protests for the liberation of women, Laforgue died in Paris in 1887 aged just 27. In this revised edition of his verse translation, Peter Dale (described by Donald Davie as an `exceptionally thoughtful and enterprising translator') captures the energy and panache of Laforgue's poetry in translations which are by turns as playful, wild, clear, obscure and impossible as the French poems. Peter Dale was born in Addleston, Surrey, and worked as a secondary school teacher before becoming a freelance writer in 1993. He was co-editor of the poetry journal Agenda for many years. Well known for his translations of Dante's Divine Comedy and the poems of François Villon, he is also an accomplished poet in his own right. His selected poems, Edge to Edge, was published in 1997.

Selected Writings


Gérard de Nerval - 1958
    Introduction2. Sylvie3. Émilie4. Aurélia, or Dream and Life5. Poetry6. Proust on Nerval

The Fate of the Maine


John Edward Weems - 1958
    battleship Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898, it set off the Spanish-American War, that "splendid little war" which forever changed the United States' position among nations. "Remember the Maine!" was the outraged public's call for battle, but here it is a call to remember the seemingly star-crossed ship and the more than 260 young men who perished with it.Author John Edward Weems tells the story of the ship from beginning to explosive end, with the help of the Maine's survivors, whom he interviewed in 1957. The text of this edition has not been revised, for good reason. Since the book's first publication in 1958, no conclusive evidence of what caused the fatal explosion has ever been found.When the U.S.S. battleship Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898, it set off the Spanish-American War. "Remember the Maine!" was the outraged public's call for battle, but here it is a call to remember the ill-fated ship and the more than 260 young men who perished with it. John Edward Weems tells the story of the ship from beginning to explosive end, with the help of the survivors. The text of this new edition has not been revised, for good reason. Since the book's first publication in 1958, no conclusive evidence of the explosion's source has ever been found."Whatever the cause of the disaster, . . . it was the beginning of an American imperialism from the dangers of which we are not yet entirely free. . . . John Weems, whose A Weekend in September examined the Galveston flood, has presented the incident with painstaking detail from every possible angle."--New York Times Book Review

The Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit


George Smeaton - 1958
    Smeaton's work remains the most valuable of many volumes on this subject.