Paper Empires

This new volume in UQP's History of the Book in Australia series explores Australian book production and consumption from 1946 to the present day. In the immediate postwar era, most books were imported into a colonial market dominated by British publishers. Paper Empires traces this fascinating and volatile half-century, using wide-ranging resea...

Shrouded in mystery for centuries, the origins of American Playing Cards have continued to eluded us - UNTIL NOW! Journey back in time and discover the fascinating story of the early manufacturers. Retrace the steps of some of NEW YORK'S first influencers and businessmen. See the monumental events that shaped one of the country's favourite pastimes. PAPER EMPIRES reveals the undiscovered story of the United States Playing Card Industry as it follows four of its first, most iconic print masters. New research has provided volumes of never-before-seen images and information. These discoveries have cast light on the historical narrative behind the card makers and placed them front and centre during the most intriguing times of the 19th century. PAPER EMPIRES EXPLORES: THE MANUFACTURERS and their untold, chronological biographies. VISUAL HISTORICAL SECTIONS that show the amazing backdrop of American History. PLAYING CARD SECTIONS containing vibrant and high quality images of every deck. HISTORIC MAPS to authentically retrace the many locations of their businesses. PERSONAL DOCUMENTATION giving an inside look at their lives and families. FULL-SIZE IMAGE GALLERY featuring many high quality images. VOLUME I contains the complete histories of L I COHEN, ANDREW DOUGHERTY, SAMUEL HART, JOHN J LEVY. See the cultural significance of EARLY AMERICAN PLAYING CARDS and discover the prestigious past that belongs to the popular brands still in use today. Once you meet the makers, you'll never look at playing cards the same way again.

"In the late 16th century, hundreds of travelers made their way to the Habsburg ambassador's residence, known as the German House, in Constantinople. In this centrally located inn, subjects of the emperor found food, wine, shelter, and good company-and left an incredible collection of albums filled with images, messages, decorated papers, and more. Portraits of Empires offers a complete account of this early form of social media, which had a profound impact on later European iconography. Revealing a vibrant transimperial culture as viewed from all walks of life-Muslim and Christian, noble and servant, scholar and stable boy-the pocket-sized albums containing these curiosities have never been fully connected to the abundant archival records on the German House and its residents. Robyn Dora Radway not only introduces these objects, the people who filled their pages, and the house at the center of their creation, but she also presents several arguments regarding chronologies of exchange, workshop practices, the curation of social networks and visual collections based on status, and the purposes of these highly individualized material portraits. Featuring 162 fascinating color images, Portraits of Empires reconstructs the world of Habsburg subjects living in Ottoman Constantinople, using a rich and distinctive set of objects to raise questions about imperial belonging and the artistic practices used to articulate it"--

In this book, the author weaves a unique narrative that looks at both empires of business created from mergers and acquisitions and global empires from world history in an attempt to answer the question: why do certain empires endure for long periods while others collapse in a short space of time.

‘A tour de force.’ — Professor Rodney Tiffen Before newspapers were ravaged by the digital age, they were a powerful force, especially in Australia — a country of newspaper giants and kingmakers. This magisterial book reveals who owned Australia’s newspapers and how they used them to wield political power. A corporate and political history of Australian newspapers spanning 140 years, it explains how Australia’s media system came to be dominated by a handful of empires and powerful family dynasties. Many are household names, even now: Murdoch, Fairfax, Syme, Packer. Written with verve and insight and showing unparalleled command of a vast range of sources, Sally Young shows how newspaper owners influenced policy-making, lobbied and bullied politicians, and shaped internal party politics. The book begins in 1803 with Australia’s first newspaper owner — a convict who became a wealthy bank owner — giving the industry a blend of notoriety, power and wealth from the start. Throughout the twentieth century, Australians were unaware that they were reading newspapers owned by secret bankrupts and failed land boomers, powerful mining magnates, Underbelly-style gangsters, bankers, and corporate titans. It ends with the downfall of Menzies in 1941 and his conviction that a handful of press barons brought him down. The intervening years are packed with political drama, business machinations and a struggle for readers, all while the newspaper barons are peddling power and influence.

Annotation " ... It is highly recommended to anyone who thinks they have a serious interest in the book ... or would like to discover to discover something of the complexity of the well-springs of the Australian psyche." Biblionews Paper Empires explores Australian book production and consumption from 1946 to the present day, using wide-ranging research, oral history and memoir to explore the worlds of book publishing, selling and reading. After 1945, Australian publishing went from a handful of fledgling businesses to the billion dollar industry of today with thousands of new titles each year and a vast array of imported books. Publishing's postwar expansion began with the baby boom and the increased demand for school texts, with independent houses blossoming during the 1960s and 70s followed by the current era dominated by global conglomerates.

In Empires and Walls Mohammad A. Chaichian provides compelling comparative-historical analysis of ancient and contemporary walls and barriers, both ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive,’ that imperial powers have erected in order to subjugate the colonized subjects and control population movements within the empire.