{"title":"John Blair","description":"\u003cp\u003eDive into the fascinating world of early medieval England with the works of \u003cem\u003eJohn Blair\u003c\/em\u003e. An esteemed historian and professor, Blair is renowned for his deep insights into the architectural and cultural landscape of the Anglo-Saxon period. His books are a treasure trove for history enthusiasts and those intrigued by Britain's rich past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBuilding Anglo-Saxon England\u003c\/em\u003e is a standout work within Blair's impressive collection, skillfully illustrating how architecture and settlement patterns reveal the socio-political and cultural tapestry of the era. By delving into archaeological evidence and historical documentation, Blair paints a vivid picture of life during a transformative period in English history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you're an academic, a history buff, or simply curious about the evolving landscapes of early medieval England, John Blair's meticulously researched and accessible writings offer an enlightening perspective on the complexities of the past. Explore his books under our \u003cstrong\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Military\u003c\/strong\u003e category and enrich your understanding of the foundations of Anglo-Saxon England.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"building-anglo-saxon-england-by-john-blair-9780691228426","title":"Building Anglo-Saxon England","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA radical rethinking of the Anglo-Saxon world that draws on the latest archaeological discoveries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis beautifully illustrated book draws on the latest archaeological discoveries to present a radical reappraisal of the Anglo-Saxon built environment and its inhabitants. John Blair, one of the world's leading experts on this transformative era in England's early history, explains the origins of towns, manor houses, and castles in a completely new way. He sheds new light on the important functions of buildings and settlements in shaping people's lives during the age of the Venerable Bede and King Alfred.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBuilding Anglo-Saxon England\u003c\/em\u003e demonstrates how hundreds of recent excavations enable us to grasp for the first time how regionally diverse the built environment of the Anglo-Saxons truly was. Blair identifies a zone of eastern England with access to the North Sea whose economy, prosperity, and timber buildings had more in common with the Low Countries and Scandinavia than the rest of England.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe origins of villages and their field systems emerge with new clarity, as does the royal administrative organisation of the kingdom of Mercia, which dominated central England for two centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing a wealth of colour illustrations throughout, \u003cem\u003eBuilding Anglo-Saxon England\u003c\/em\u003e explores how the natural landscape was modified to accommodate human activity, and how many settlements—secular and religious—were laid out with geometrical precision by specialist surveyors. The book also shows how the Anglo-Saxon love of elegant and intricate decoration is reflected in the construction of the living environment, which in some ways was more sophisticated than it would become after the Norman Conquest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848595525868,"sku":"9780691228426","price":84.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2271403482434.jpg?v=1758991547"},{"product_id":"killing-the-dead-by-john-blair-9780691224794","title":"Killing the Dead","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riveting history of vampire panics across cultures and down through the millennia  and why killing the dead is better than killing the living.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eKilling the Dead\u003c\/i\u003e provides the first in-depth, global account of one of the world's most widespread yet misunderstood forms of mass hysteria  the vampire epidemic. In a spellbinding narrative, John Blair takes readers from ancient Mesopotamia to present-day Haiti to explore a macabre frontier of life and death where corpses are believed to wander or do harm from the grave, and where the vampire is a physical expression of society's inexplicable terrors and anxieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1732, the British public opened their morning papers to read of lurid happenings in eastern Europe. Serbian villagers had dug up several corpses and had found them to be undecayed and bloated with blood. Recognising the marks of vampirism, they mutilated and burned them. Centuries earlier, the English themselves engaged in the same behaviour. In fact, vampire epidemics have flared up throughout history  in ancient Assyria, China, and Rome, medieval and early modern Europe, and the Americas. Blair blends the latest findings in archaeology, anthropology, and psychology with vampire lore from literature and popular culture to show how these episodes occur at traumatic moments in societies that upend all sense of security, and how the European vampire is just one species in a larger family of predatory supernatural entities that includes the female flying demons of Southeast Asia and the lustful \u003ci\u003eyogins\u003c\/i\u003e of India.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichly illustrated, \u003ci\u003eKilling the Dead\u003c\/i\u003e provocatively argues that corpse-killing, far from being pathological or unhealthy, served as a therapeutic and largely harmless outlet for fear, hatred, and paranoia that would otherwise result in violence against marginalised groups and individuals.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288536695020,"sku":"9780691224794","price":79.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/81kzC9gGOAL._SL1500.jpg?v=1773002426"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/john-blair.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}