Mapping Warsaw

Inspired by the spatial turn in the humanities and social sciences, Mapping Warsaw is an interdisciplinary study that combines urban studies, cinema studies, cultural studies, history, literature, and photography. It examines Warsaw's post-World War II reconstruction through images and language. Juxtaposing close readings of photo books, socialist-era newsreels called the Polska Kronika Filmowa, the comedies of Leonard Buczkowski and Jan Fethke, the writing and films of Tadeusz Konwicki, and a case study on the Palace of Culture and Science—a "gift" from none other than Stalin—this study investigates the rhetorical and visual, rather than physical, reconstruction of Warsaw in various medias and genres. Ewa Wampuszyc roots her analysis in the historical context of the postwar decade and shows how and why Poland's capital became an essential part of a propaganda program inspired by communist ideology and the needs of a newly established socialist People's Republic. Mapping Warsaw demonstrates how physical space manifests itself in culture, and how culture, history, and politics leave an indelible mark on places. It points out ways in which we take for granted our perception of space and the meanings we assign to it.

Black communities have been making major contributions to Europe's social and cultural life and landscapes for centuries. However, their achievements largely remain unrecognized by the dominant societies, as their perspectives are excluded from traditional modes of marking public memory. For the first time in European history, leading Black scholars and activists examine this issue - with first-hand knowledge of the eight European capitals in which they live. Highlighting existing monuments, memorials, and urban markers they discuss collective narratives, outline community action, and introduce people and places relevant to Black European history, which continues to be obscured today.

Drawing from the ideas of critical geography and based on extensive archival research, Cole brilliantly reconstructs the formation of the Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust, focusing primarily on the ghetto in Budapest, Hungary--one of the largest created during the war, but rarely examined. Cole maps the city illustrating how spaces--cafes, theaters, bars, bathhouses--became divided in two. Throughout the book, Cole discusses how the creation of this Jewish ghetto, just like the others being built across occupied Europe, tells us a great deal about the nature of Nazism, what life was like under Nazi-occupation, and the role the ghetto actually played in the Final Solution.

The book contains private views of experts from various countries on the role of geological mapping in sustainable development. New technologies and concepts are presented, which are either awaiting for recognition by Geological Surveys, or are gradually applied in some survey. The target of the book is well worded in the "Summary and recommendations" elaborated by the Ad Hoc Committee at the Advanced Research Workshop on Innovative Geological Cartography, held under NATO sponsorship in Poland in November 2003. After the "Summaries" were issued by the end of 2003, the authors who presented their views at the Workshop, gave a revised version of their papers with more new ideas and material. Generally, the book is addressed to cartographers in Geological Surveys, geologists and geographers co-operating with landuse planners, ecologists and decision makers, who may learn about the state-of-the-art and the enormous information potential of the modern information technologies in Geosciences. The book, however, gives no methodological recipes but, as it was the authors' intention, may and shall be used as a guide-book in modernizing Information Technologies at the local, regional and national levels in Geosciences.

Shape theory, an extension of homotopy theory from the realm of CW-complexes to arbitrary spaces, was introduced by Borsuk 30 years ago and Mardesic contributed greatly to it. One expert says: "If we need a book in the field, this is it! It is thorough, careful and complete."