University College Lecturer Has Book Listed as Essential Reading

A book edited by a senior lecturer at St Mary’ University College, Twickenham, has been named as one of 15 essential art books in a list compiled by the London Evening Standard. Claire Norton, Senior Lecturer in History at St Mary’s, co-edited The Renaissance and the Ottoman World (Routledge, 2013) with Anna Contadini, and art critic Brian Sewell added it to his list of 15 essential books of 2013 in his column for the London Evening Standard. Sewell said of the book, “To general knowledge, these essays on ideas, books, maps, music and events add patches of great depth and insight.” Launched at the end of last year at the Royal Asiatic Society, the volume looks at the latest research on the cultural, intellectual, and commercial interactions during the Renaissance between Western Europe and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Ottoman Empire. It is based on articles from an international conference organised by Claire in 2006, also named The Renaissance and the Ottoman World, in conjunction with the Warburg Institute, the School of Oriental and African Studies and St Mary's University College.