New Releases by David Cairns

Precarity is a concern that affects researchers in academia across the world. Despite being experienced and highly qualified, many endure working conditions more traditionally associated with people lacking skills and credentials. This book explores this perverse situation, focusing on Portugal, with a view to explaining how precarity starts and then continues for the entire duration of a research career. Using 100 interviews conducted with researchers from across Portugal in 2022-2023, covering a wide range of scientific fields, the book gives these people the opportunity to explain why they became researchers and how they have coped with precarity during the early career stages, and at intermediate and advanced levels. As a sociological study, the book draws on the theoretical concepts of ambivalence, liminality and cruel optimism to help map the parameters of precarity, while the evidence demonstrates its often visceral personal and professional impacts, reaching the conclusion that believing research needs to be a precarious profession must be challenged within higher education institutions and at policy level.

Is it really possible that you have stumbled across a secret lost for centuries? A secret that that could change the world order? From the bustling gold rush and the streets of Melbourne in 1864 to the ancient city of Edinburgh in Scotland, three friends flee from a secret society out for revenge, only to find themselves at the centre of a swirling modern-day Jacobite plot and a ‘stop at nothing’ British Secret Service. Major Findo Gask and his Sherlockian friend, Errol Rait, hunted by a murderous secret society, are forced to make a clandestine escape from Melbourne back to Gask’s hometown of Edinburgh. While in hiding, Gask visits a second-hand bookshop which launches him on a puzzling trail with several twists and turns. And deadly consequences. Rait, Gask and Mary Mitchell find themselves pitted against the full might of the British Empire’s secret services and a centuries-old Knights Templar Lodge of the Freemasons with a secret to guard and an explosive plan to replace Queen Victoria on the throne with the true King. Murder, kidnap, torture, death stalk their trail. Gask and Rait alone have the key to avert a constitutional crisis and the violent conflict that would follow. But can they survive to unlock the puzzle? Immerse yourself in the 1860s with deeply researched real background events and an intermingling with real characters of the day. This is the third book in the Major Gask series – the introductory novel was a five-star read by Reader’s Choice Book Awards. Readers of the Major Gask mysteries have become time travellers trapped in an adventure – “..left me unable to put it down until my eyes were fuzzy and I had to sleep. First thing the following morning after dog duties etc I had to return to it”….. “The setting of the mining camp was so well done with such detail, I had to finish the chapter because I thought I had mud all over me after finishing the last sentence of the chapter”. If you enjoy a Sherlock Holmes adventure or the atmosphere in a Dickens story – this will be right up your street. Will Findo be successful or will the Templars or the Secret Service triumph? You will be unprepared for the heart-thumping ending. Travel back in time and join the adventure.

"The Case of the Wandering Corpse" is a spellbinding historical mystery that transports readers back in time to the heart of Melbourne's Gold Rush in 1863. With meticulously researched details and a fast-paced plot, this novel is a must-read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and thrilling adventures.The story's setting is vividly portrayed, capturing the essence of the Gold Rush era and the vibrant, dangerous atmosphere of Melbourne at the time. This historical backdrop adds depth and authenticity to the narrative, making it more than just a mystery; it's a journey back in time.The two friends, Findo Gask and Erroll Rait shine as compelling protagonists. Their unyielding sense of justice and determination to right a wrongful accusation as Findo hesitatingly courts the pretty heiress, Mary Mitchell is both relatable and admirable. Readers will quickly become invested in their quest and root for their success as they navigate the treacherous landscape of an insidious secret society.The plot is a rollercoaster ride of suspense, deception, and high-stakes action. The narrative gallops along at a breakneck pace, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with unexpected twists and turns. The author skillfully weaves together the mystery, the quest for justice, and the overarching plot involving the secret society's obsession with hidden gold. This intricate web of subplots adds layers to the story, ensuring that there's never a dull moment until an unexpected, violent conclusion.. "The Case of the Wandering Corpse" is a thrilling and immersive historical mystery that offers an exhilarating journey into the past. With its engaging characters, well-crafted plot, and rich historical atmosphere, this novel is a captivating and rewarding read that will leave you eager for more adventures with Findo Gask and Erroll Rait.

This book looks at the changes that have taken place in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, following the lockdown of societies and imposition of border controls in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus. Using empirical evidence from Portugal, a geopolitically important point of intersection within Europe and between Global South and Global North, the book examines consequences of the apparent end of mobility expansionism, developing a refreshing theoretical concept of ‘immobility turn.’ Focusing on the tourist industry, universities hosting international students and migration agencies, the book offers invaluable insights about how the pandemic affected institutions and individuals’ lives, informing policy-making processes on a global level.

Multiple murders: a stolen inheritance. Injured at the start of the Indian mutiny in 1858, Scotsman Findo Gask finds himself in Melbourne during the fabled Gold Rush where he stumbles across the mystery of a stolen inheritance. Together with his new idiosyncratic friend, Erroll Rait he seeks out the truth, travelling back to London, Edinburgh, the Scottish highlands and then to Melbourne again, uncovering multiple murders and then a sinister plot to add himself and his client to the list of victims.Taking readers back to the days of steam trains and clipper ships, gas-lit Edinburgh streets and the goldfields of Australia with the unravelling of a mystery and the discovery of a relentless murderer, The Case of the Emigrant Niece is a spellbinding novel that captures the imagination and transports you back to a different age.Suspenseful and engaging. Loved the characters and story, also the historical content and references. I look forward to reading more of the author's books. Melbourne Book Club Reviewer

The writings of David Cairns have played a major part in the relatively recent acceptance of Berlioz as a central figure in western classical music. Discovering Berlioz collects articles, lectures and other texts from several decades of advocacy, throwing new light on this outsize personality - the Romantic composer par excellence. For the past half-century and more David Cairns has been one of the world's pre-eminent Berlioz scholars, translating Berlioz's freewheeling memoirs and writing a monumental biography of the composer that earned a procession of awards. But many of Cairns' writings on Berlioz were intended for particular audiences - the Berlioz Society Bulletin, articles in books and journals, contributions to newspapers (he was a critic for The Sunday Times for 25 years) and lectures - and have never been collected between a single set of covers. Discovering Berlioz presents nearly 40 essays from the past five decades that even now throw unexpected light on this most quixotic and profound of composers - firebrand and philosopher almost in the same breath. These articles follow the chronology of Berlioz's life, examining the influences of his provincial childhood on his music, the revelations of Virgil, Gluck, Shakespeare and Beethoven, the tribulations of his professional life in Paris, when the pressure to earn a living as a reviewer and writer robbed him of the time he should have spent on composition, and finally focusing on the masterpiece that crowned Berlioz's difficult life, the operatic epic Les Troyens. Discovering Berlioz also charts the history of Berlioz reception: the composer who in the mid-twentieth century was regarded as aneccentric outsider is now seen as one of the most vital figures in the history of western music - a re-assessment for which David Cairns himself deserves much of the credit.

This book explores various forms of highly skilled mobility in the European Union, assessing the potential for this movement to contribute to individual and societal development. In doing so, the authors illustrate some of the issues arising from the opening up of Europe’s borders, and exposing its education systems and labour markets to international competition. While acknowledging the potentially positive aspects of mobility, they also reveal many of the negative consequences arising from flaws in mobility governance and inequalities in access to opportunities, arguing that when the management of mobility goes ‘wrong’, we are left with a heightened level of precariousness and the reproduction of social inequality. This discussion will be of interest to those working within Europe’s mobility infrastructure, as well as policymakers in the mobility field and students and scholars from across the social sciences.

This is a new release of the original 1923 edition.

David Cairns explains the challenge posed by the theology of Rudolf Bultmann in an accessible way and outlines its relevance for preachers. Reprint. Originally published: 1960.

A noted music critic weaves a brilliantly engaging narrative which puts Mozart's operas in the context of his life, showing how they illuminate his creativity as a whole.

All EU listed companies will be required to issue financial statements using International Accounting Standards (International Financial Reporting Standards) from 2005. This will have major implications for anyone in Europe involved in preparing or auditing listed company accounts. Written by a former IASC Secretary-General and with a foreword by Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, Applying International Accounting Standards is the most authoritative and practical book in this area. Now dealing with all recent developments, including IAS 39 on Financial Instruments, IAS 40 on Investment Property and the IASB's improvements project, Applying International Accounting Standards is an essential purchase for any practising accountant. The fourth edition includes full guidance on all the new international accounting standards, which all UK listed companies must have full compliance with by 2005.

Berlioz, Volume I, previously published only in Britain, is now available to American readers in a revised edition, together with the eagerly awaited, new Volume II. These two volumes together comprise a monumental biographical achievement, sure to stand as the definitive Berlioz biography.

Après les années de formation et les premières créations de Berlioz, parcourues dans le premier tome, le second volume, " Servitude et grandeur ", aborde les années de maturité, celles qui verront s'épanouir la carrière du musicien, se préciser sa pensée et s'élaborer ses œuvres les plus marquantes : Harold en Italie, Roméo et Juliette, La Damnation de Faust et le Requiem. La difficulté à s'imposer comme compositeur contraint Berlioz à une activité à laquelle il renâcle - mais excelle : la critique musicale, où son talent littéraire (qui s'exprime aussi dans sa vaste correspondance et dans ses Mémoires) fait merveille. Insuffisamment reconnu dans son pays, il rencontre un meilleur accueil en Allemagne, où on le considère comme un des compositeurs majeurs de la nouvelle école, en Russie et en Angleterre où on l'honore comme un des meilleurs chefs d'orchestre de son temps. La puissance d'évocation dramatique que représente l'opéra, consécration des compositeurs de son époque, exerce sur lui une séduction que le succès ne paie pas de retour : Benvenuto Cellini est mal accueilli et, malgré les honneurs reçus à la fin de sa vie, Berlioz aura connu l'amertume de n'avoir entendu de son vivant que des extraits des Troyens, son œuvre maîtresse. Les chagrins affectifs et les frustrations dont Berlioz a été largement abreuvé font de lui une incarnation de l'artiste romantique, héroïque dans son combat victorieux pour faire advenir le monde sonore dont il est porteur, dans lequel la postérité se reconnaîtra.

Covers the life of the French composer, including his struggle to establish himself in Paris and how his work was created.