European history: medieval period, middle ages Books

Book SynopsisIn this sweeping and richly illustrated history, S. Frederick Starr tells the fascinating but largely unknown story of Central Asia's medieval enlightenment through the eventful lives and astonishing accomplishments of its greatest minds--remarkable figures who built a bridge to the modern world. Because nearly all of these figures wrote in Arabic,Trade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2013 PROSE Award in European and World History, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014 "A fantastic book."--President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan "Lost Enlightenment is a remarkable and accessible scholarly tour de force."--David Morgan, Times Literary Supplement "Starr argues rightly that the region's brilliant culture rested on a highly cosmopolitan mix of ethnic groups, languages and religions; a long, rich pre-Islamic intellectual tradition (mainly Buddhist); and prosperity... Starr shines in his core chapters, where he presents the great achievements of the Central Asian philosopher-scientists at a time when their homeland was the creative intellectual capital of the world."--Nature "Starr is that rare scholar with the horsepower to write about the medieval culture of this vast region that is bounded by Persia to the west, and China to the east, and India to the southeast... An indispensable title for scholars, this lively study should prove equally compelling to serious lay readers with an interest in Arabic and medieval thought."--Library Journal, starred review "In this graceful, luxuriant history, Starr recovers the stunning contributions of Central Asia scientists, architects, artists, engineers, and historians during the four centuries that began just before the Arab onslaught of the eight century and lasted until the Mongol siege in the thirteenth century... The book offers a lucid exploration of the era's intricate philosophical and theological debates and a succinct depiction of its poetry and art, enhanced by many illustrations."--Foreign Affairs "Lost Enlightenment is a most amazing book, one with--if we are lucky--the potential to shape global public thinking for decades ahead... Lost Enlightenment is an entirely readable, informative and even entertaining book. Although it might surely serve as an inspiration to the modern inhabitants of Central Asia, it should also serve as a warning to any modern nation and civilization that it is tempted to intolerance."--Dimitry Chen, Asian Review of Books "Starr undertakes a daunting task--the intellectual history of Central Asia through the medieval period. Happily, he succeeds... Starr's book is thorough and well researched, and includes ample supplemental material and sources, so that even novice students will find it instructive and useful without being overwhelming."--Choice "This favorable account of Central Asia's intellectual life will enhance any reader's perception of Central Asia and challenge further investigation."--Isenbike Togan, Bogazici Journal "This book does a marvelous job of highlighting the contributions of medieval intellectuals from Central Asia to the history of world civilizations... It is a very informative and readable book."--Richard Foltz, Fezana Journal "In the book Lost Enlightenment, historian S. Frederick Starr chronicles the long tradition of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and literary intellectuals that flourished in the Iranian- and Turkish-speaking regions of Central Asia."--Noah Smith, Bloomberg View "This book is a must-read for those wanting to understand the development of this vast region of the world and the cultural and religious tides that gave rise to the conflicts we face today."--Carl G. Schuster, Explorers JournalTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Preface xiii Dramatis Personae xxi Chronology xxxi Chapter 1 The Center of the World 1 Chapter 2 Worldly Urbanists, Ancient Land 28 Chapter 3 A Cauldron of Skills, Ideas, and Faiths 62 Chapter 4 How Arabs Conquered Central Asia and Central Asia Then Set the Stage to Conquer Baghdad 101 Chapter 5 East Wind over Baghdad 126 Chapter 6 Wandering Scholars 156 Chapter 7 Khurasan: Central Asia's Rising Star 194 Chapter 8 A Flowering of Central Asia: The Samanid Dynasty 225 Chapter 9 A Moment in the Desert: Gurganj under the Mamuns 267 Chapter 10 Turks Take the Stage: Mahmud of Kashgar and Yusuf of Balasagun 303 Chapter 11 Culture under a Turkic Marauder: Mahmud's Ghazni 332 Chapter 12 Tremors under the Dome of Seljuk Rule 381 Chapter 13 The Mongol Century 436 Chapter 14 Tamerlane and His Successors 478 Chapter 15 Retrospective: The Sand and the Oyster 515 Notes 541 Index 611

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Book SynopsisThe Histories of Sallust (86–35 BCE), while fragmentary, provide invaluable information about a crucial period of history from 78 to around 67 BCE. In this volume, John T. Ramsey has freshly edited the Histories and the two pseudo-Sallustian Letters to Caesar, completing the Loeb Classical Library edition of his works.

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Book SynopsisThe Medici: Citizens and Masters offers a novel, comparative approach to examining Medici power and influence in Florence. Contributors from diverse perspectives set Medici rule against princely states such as Milan and Ferrara, and they ask how much the Medici changed Florence, contrasting their supremacy with earlier Florentine regimes.Trade ReviewA major collection of essays by twenty-two scholars in the field…The editors, Robert Black in particular, do a superb job of highlighting the volume’s brief. -- Lauro Martines * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisFor over five hundred years the Russians wondered what kind of people their Arctic and sub-Arctic subjects were. They have mouths between their shoulders and eyes in their chests, reported a fifteenth-century tale. They rove around, live of their own free will, and beat the Russian people, complained a seventeenth-century Cossack. Their actions are exceedingly rude. They do not take off their hats and do not bow to each other, huffed an eighteenth-century scholar. They are children of nature and guardians of ecological balance, rhapsodized early nineteenth-century and late twentieth-century romantics. Even the Bolsheviks, who categorized the circumpolar foragers as authentic proletarians, were repeatedly puzzled by the peoples from the late Neolithic period who, by virtue of their extreme backwardness, cannot keep up either economically or culturally with the furious speed of the emerging socialist society.Whether described as brutes, aliens, or endangered indigenous populations, thTrade ReviewEngagingly written and with much ironic wit throughout, Arctic Mirrors is a pleasure to read. * Journal of Historical Geography *In this great book, Slezkine has provided us with a comprehensive history of the encounter between the Russians and the indigenous peoples of the Arctic and northwestern Pacific.... Arctic Mirrors has already become required reading for anyone interested in the history or anthropology of Siberia, and it will soon establish itself as an invaluable contribution to the growing field of studies on the newly independent states. * American Anthropologist *Slezkine concentrates on the changing face of the Soviet Union in the microcosm of the northern people: from 'savage Indians' to the slow evolution from icebound hunters and trappers to industrialized laborers.... An invaluable look at the people the totalitarian Soviets forgot. * Booklist *This book sheds light on the history of a neglected people and reveals Russian self-perceptions refracted through the prism of their attitudes toward the natives.... It is a beautifully written, fascinating book that greatly enhances our understanding of Russia as a multiethnic state. * American Historical Review *This enlightening book should be read by all interested in the (former) Soviet north, northern people in general, or the relation between nation states and the various 'small peoples' of the earth. * Ethnohistory *This fascinating and authoritative book covers the history of relations between Russian civilization and the hunter-gatherer peoples of northern Eurasia. Slezkine charts changing Russian policies toward these circumpolar cultures beginning with the fur trade... in the eleventh century, through the expansion of the Russian empire under the tsars, to the modernization policies of the Soviets. He argues that attention to this kind of history reveals as much about the construction of Russian identity as it does about the cultural identity of the northern 'others.' This book is an important addition to the growing literature on comparative colonialisms. * Virginia Quarterly Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Small Peoples of the NorthPART I. SUBJECTS OF THE TSARCHAPTER 1. The Unbaptized The Sovereign's Profit The Sovereign's ForeignersCHAPTER 2. The Unenlightened The State and the Savages The State and the Tribute PayersCHAPTER 3. The Uncorrupted High Culture and the Children of Nature The Empire and the AliensPART II. SUBJECTS OF CONCERNCHAPTER 4. The Oppressed Aliens as Neighbors and Tribute Payers as Debtors The Russian Indians and the Populist IntellectualsCHAPTER 5. The Liberated The Commissariat of Nationalities and the Tribes of the Northern Borderlands The Committee of the North: The Committee The Committee of the North: The NorthPART III. CONQUERORS OF BACKWARDNESSCHAPTER 6. The Conscious Collectivists Class Struggles in a Classless Society Hunting and Gathering under SocialismCHAPTER 7. The Cultural Revolutionaries The War against Backwardness The War against EthnographyCHAPTER 8. The Uncertain Proletarians The Native Northerners as Industrial Laborers The North without the Native Northerners The Long Journey of the Small PeoplesPART IV. LAST AMONG EQUALSCHAPTER 9. The Socialist Nationalities Socialist Realism in the Social Sciences Fiction as HistoryCHAPTER 10. The Endangered Species Planners' Problems and Scholars' Scruples The Return of Dersu Uzala Perestroika and the Numerically Small Peoples of the NorthConclusionBibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhen the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917, they set themselves the task of building socialism in the vast landscape of the former Russian Empire, a territory populated by hundreds of different peoples belonging to a multitude of linguistic, religious, and ethnic groups. Before 1917, the Bolsheviks had called for the national self-determination of all peoples and had condemned all forms of colonization as exploitative. After attaining power, however, they began to express concern that it would not be possible for Soviet Russia to survive without the cotton of Turkestan and the oil of the Caucasus. In an effort to reconcile their anti-imperialist position with their desire to hold on to as much territory as possible, the Bolsheviks integrated the national idea into the administrative-territorial structure of the new Soviet state. In Empire of Nations, Francine Hirsch examines the ways in which former imperial ethnographers and local elites provided the Bolsheviks with ethnographTrade ReviewHirsch does not simply... posit another ideological or epistemological model of Soviet history. She instead provides a completely new kind of analysis. Her book is more than an innovative study of high quality; it stakes out a position that cannot fail to have a long-standing impact on the historiography of the Soviet state. -- Marina Mogil'ner * Ab Imperio *Referring to the Soviet Union as an 'empire of nations,' Hirsch demonstrates through prodigious research how ethnographers from the former tsarist regime collaborated with the Leninists to shape the new state. Hers is the tale of a modernizing, self-styled scientific state that imposed categories, names, and programs on ethnic populations with relatively little say in their own fate.... Empire of Nations is an exceptionally rich book and a significant addition to the growing literature on the construction of the Soviet state. Beautifully written and clearly presented even when the story hovers on complicated administrative matters, Hirsch's account of the Soviet Union as a 'work in progress' that neither began with a blueprint nor achieved completion reaffirms the now widely accepted view of nation-formation as a process of human intervention and invention. -- Ronald Grigor Suny * The Moscow Times *This innovative and important book reinterprets the formation of the Soviet Union in the years after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Instead of focusing on the views of the Soviet leadership and the events surrounding the official formation of the Soviet Union in 1922, Hirsch takes a broader perspective on the processes involved with establishing a nationalities policy in the Soviet Union from the prerevolutionary background through the 1930s by looking at the activities of experts and local elites, among others. Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One. Empire, Nation, and the Scientific State1. Toward a Revolutionary Alliance2. The National Idea versus Economic ExpediencyPart Two. Cultural Technologies of Rule and the Nature of Soviet Power3. The 1926 Census and the Conceptual Conquest of Lands and Peoples4. Border-Making and the Formation of Soviet National Identities5. Transforming "The Peoples of the USSR": Ethnographic Exhibits and the Evolutionary TimelinePart Three. The Nazi Threat and the Acceleration of the Bolshevik Revolution6. State-Sponsored Evolutionism and the Struggle against German Biological Determinism7. Ethnographic Knowledge and TerrorEpilogueAppendixes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisUsing the study of movement as a focus, Russell-Wood gains unique insight into the diversity, breadth, and balance between the competing interests and priorities that characterized the Portuguese culture and its expansion spanning four centuries' events on four different continents.Trade ReviewOffers a variety of complimentary perspectives on the background, nature and extent of Portuguese expansion..a powerful reminder that empires are made, not born. -- Lincoln Paine Nautical Research Journal Enumerates Portuguese contributions to other peoples' pasts and presents, especially in the contexts of the 'ebb and flow of commodities,' the 'dissemination of flora and fauna' and the 'transmission of styles, theories and ideas.' The original feature is the author's concentration on people and transport as vectors of cultural exchange... He evokes a lively picture of the highly mobile merchants, missionaries and administrators who hurried back and forth across oceans and continents to keep the enterprise going. Times Literary Supplement A. J. R. Russell-Wood realized that human and geographical factors contributed much to Portuguese success. Some practices were responses to the colonial experience itself. He therefore culled this historical literature, largely modern works in English including his own, to explore a rich variety of aspects of the Portuguese colonial empire... If geography is defined as mankind's relationship with its planet, this book is the essence of historical geography. Informative and entertaining, it is important for its new approach and insights, and because it confirms the amazing global perspective of Portugal's colonial rulers. Journal of Historical Geography This is a book where every page bears witness to the author's fascination with the Portuguese colonial world and his deep love of his subject. It is the kind of book which results from a scholar's decision to open to the world the files he has accumulated in a lifetime's reading. As a result it is a sort of encyclopaedia of strange and recondite information, colourful detail, anecdotes and quotations. It is certainly a book that any student of Portuguese colonial activity would want to read and, indeed, to own. Mariner's MirrorTable of ContentsList of MapsList of IllustrationsPreface to the Johns Hopkins EditionAcknoledgementsIntroduction: QuincentennialsI. Portugal and the "Age of Discoveries"II. Moves: Caravels, Carracks, Caravans, Canoes, and CartsIII. Flux and Reflux of Peoplei. Migrants and Settlersii. Servants of the Crowniii. Servants of Christiv. Servants of Mammonv. The Voicelessvi. Individuals and Groupsvii. Carriers of DiseaseIV. Ebb and Flow of CommoditiesV. Dissemination of Flora and FaunaVI. Transmission of Styles, Mores, and IdeasVII. Moverment in Word and ImageChronologyNotesBibliographyA Note of Two Portuguese ArtistsAcknowledgements for IllustrationsIndex

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Book SynopsisThe final, climactic volume of Wilson's acclaimed bomber war trilogy.Trade ReviewA brilliant insight into life in the air and on the ground, and considers why a force that took the war into the heart of Germany on a nightly basis was ignored when the fighting stopped ... a long way to answering why there will be a memorial to these brave airmen in a London park * Observer *Despite their enormous courage and huge sacrifice, Britain has never formally acknowledged the bravery of the men who fought through the Second World War in Bomber Command. The men's valour was betrayed by politicians and they have been denied a medal honouring their campaign * Sunday Express *A sobering, deeply moving and historically fascinating account ... Kevin Wilson has brought some striking new research to bear in this brilliant work ... As is made painfully clear through anecdotes, many veterans of Bomber Command are left with terrible memories of what they endured in the struggle for national survivalMasterly approach ... it makes fascinating reading and will be of huge interest to all who remember the dying days of the last war * Church of England Newspaper *

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Book SynopsisThe divisions of the Waffen-SS were among the elite of Hitler's armies in the Second World War. But alongside the Germans in the Waffen-SS fought an astonishingly high number of volunteers from other countries. By the end of the Second World War these foreign volunteers comprised half of all Hitler's Waffen-SS, and filled the ranks of over twenty-four of the nominal thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions. So during the most brutal war that mankind has ever known, hundreds of thousands of men flocked to fight for a country that was not theirs, and for a cause that was one of the most monstrous and barbaric in history. Who were these men, and why did they fight? Hitler's Gauls is an in-depth examination of one of these legions of foreign volunteers, the Charlemagne division, who were recruited entirely from conquered France. The men in Charlemagne, often motivated by an extreme anti-communist zeal, fought hard on the Eastern Front including battles of near annihilation in the snows of Pomerani

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Book SynopsisThe breath  of reading is astounding, the knowledge displayed is awe-inspiring and the attention quietly given to critical theory and the postmodern questioning of evidence is both careful and sincere.--The Daily Telegraph (UK)A superlative work of historical scholarship.--Literary Review (UK)A unique and enlightening look at Europe's so-called Dark Ages; the second volume in the Penguin History of Europe Defying the conventional Dark Ages view of European history between A.D. 400 and 1000, award-winning historian Chris Wickham presents The Inheritance of Rome, a work of remarkable scope and rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham agues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. From Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean, the narrative constructs a vivid p

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Book Synopsis“Rebecca West’s magnum opus . . . one of the great books of our time.” —The New Yorker   Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life.   For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and acros

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Book SynopsisFocuses on the state of liberty and shows how longstanding restraints against tyranny - and the rights of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and due process of law, and the prohibition of torture - are abridged. This book demonstrates how these ancient rights are laid aside when the greed of privatization and the ambition of empire seize a state.Trade Review"With a passion, eloquence and lyrical reverence for the hard-won freedoms of Old England that take the breath away." The Independent "The year's most lyrical and necessary book on liberty. The Magna Carta Manifesto is such a pleasure to read." -- John Nichols The Nation "Shows how restraints against tyranny are being abridged as rights once held inalienable are laid aside." Times Higher Education "Linebaugh should be commended for the impressive scope of his analysis." Insight TurkeyTable of ContentsIllustrations Preface 1. Introduction 2. Two Charters 3. The Commodity and the Commons 4. Charters Lost and Found 5. The Charters in Blackface and Whiteface 6. 1776 and Runnamede 7. The Law of the Jungle 8. Magna Carta and the U.S. Supreme Court 9. Icon and Idol 10. This Land Was Made by You and Me 11. The Constitution of the Commons 12. Conclusion Appendix 1. Magna Carta 2. The Charter of the Forest Glossary Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThis work stresses the ancient, rooted nature of Irish culture, but also looks beyond received ideas of Irish history to explore the patterns of fragmentation and change which have been characteristic of Ireland's past. The text is supplemented with a chronology of Irish history, and maps.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition `Both the findings and the angles of attack on Irish political history are truly up to date.' * Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland ; 2. The Norman Invasion and the Gaelic Recovery ; 3. Early Modern Ireland, c. 1500-1700 ; 4. Ascendancy and Union ; 5. Ireland Since 1870 ; 6. Irish Literature and Irish History ; Further Reading ; Chronology ; Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Some particular books I found useful for a A Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention. ... Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City, both by Joseph and Frances Gies." -- George R.R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series

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Book SynopsisOn December 18, 1499, the Muslims in Granada revolted against the Christian city government's attempts to suppress their rights to live and worship as followers of Islam. Although the Granada riot was a local phenomenon that was soon contained, subsequent widespread rebellion provided the Christian government with an excuseor justification, as its leaders saw thingsto embark on the systematic elimination of the Islamic presencefrom Spain, as well as from the Iberian Peninsula as a whole, over the next hundred years. Picking up at the end of his earlier classic study, Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500 which described the courageous efforts of the followers of Islam to preserve their secular, as well as sacred, culture in late medieval SpainL. P. Harvey chronicles here the struggles of the Moriscos. These forced converts to Christianity lived clandestinely in the sixteenth century as Muslims, communicating in aljamiado Spanish written in Arabic characters. More broadly, Muslims in Spain, 150

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Book SynopsisThis work shows 16th-century Italy from an alternative perspective: through advice manuals which were staples in the households of middlebrow Italians just trying to lead a better life.

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Book SynopsisThe Music Trade in Regional Britain explores the breadth, diversity and significance of the commercial music trade and its communities across Britain during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Adding to the existing scholarship on music publishers and instrument makers, mostly based in London and the university cities, the collection challenges this historiography by offering the first collective narrative for the commercial trade in musical goods and services - including the printing, publishing and sale of printed music, the sale of manuscript music, musical instruments and related wares, and the tuning and general maintenance of musical instruments such as organs and pianos.Contributions draw on evidence from across the country of the trade's activities, networks and communities, and recognize the significance of small cities, market towns and regional hubs in cultural dissemination. The Music Trade in Regional Britain therefore contributes to a growing body of work offering a nationwide account of musical culture. It foregrounds a trade that was far more geographically dispersed, economically significant and culturally broad than has previously been acknowledged.

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Book SynopsisComprehensive and engaging, this colourful study covers the whole sweep of ritual history from the earliest written records to the present day. From May Day revels and Midsummer fires, to Harvest Home and Hallowe''en, to the twelve days of Christmas, Ronald Hutton takes us on a fascinating journey through the ritual year in Britain. He challenges many common assumptions about the customs of the past, and debunks many myths surrounding festivals of the present, to illuminate the history of the calendar year we live by today.Trade Reviewa fascinating volume, which any future study of calendar rituals - or of 'pagan residues' in popular culture - will have to take into account. * Margaret Cormack, Speculum - A Jnl of Medieval Studies, 2000. *Students of religion will be impressed by the ample evidence the book provides, not for the survival of pagan religious practices in a Christian era, but for the survival of Catholic practices in a Protestant one. * Margaret Cormack, Speculum - A Jnl of Medieval Studies, 2000. *Well produced and written in a pleasing style, it is a rich source of information about late-medieval calendar customs whose scope extends far beyond the Middle Ages. Stations of the Sun belongs in the reference collection of any college library. * Margaret Cormack, Speculum - A Jnl of Medieval Studies, 2000. *a tour de force from one of the liveliest and most wide-ranging of practising English historians this unfailingly stimulating, learned and engaging book places a relatively neglected aspect of English social history firmly on the map. * Eamon Duffy, TLS *Table of Contents1. The Origins of Christmas ; 2. The Twelve Days ; 3. The Trials of Christmas ; 4. Rites of Celebration and Reassurance ; 5. Rites of Purification and Blessing ; 6. Rites of Hospitality and Charity ; 7. Mummers' Play and Sword Dance ; 8. Hobby-Horse and Hord Dance ; 9. Misrul ; 10. The Reinvention of Christmas ; 11. Speeding the Plough ; 12. Brigid's Night ; 13. Candlemas ; 14. Valentines ; 15. Shrovetide ; 16. Lent ; 17. The Origins of Easter ; 18. Holy Week ; 19. An Egg ad Easter ; 20. The Easter Holidays ; 21. England and St George ; 22. Beltane ; 23. The May ; 24. May Games and Whitsun Ales ; 25. Morris and Marian ; 26. Rogatide and Pentecost ; 27. Royal Oak ; 28. A Merrie May ; 29. Corpus Christi ; 30. The Midsummer Fires ; 31. Sheep, Hay, and Rushes ; 32. First Fruits ; 33. Harvest Home ; 34. Wakes, Revels, and Hoppings ; 35. Samhain ; 36. Saints and Souls ; 37. The Modern Hallowe'en ; 38. Blood Month and Virgin Queen ; 39. Gunpowder Treason ; 40. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisEstablishes the existence of a special radical trajectory spanning four continents and linking Beirut, Cairo, and Alexandria between 1860 and 1914. This book shows that socialist and anarchist ideas were regularly discussed, disseminated, and reworked among intellectuals, workers, dramatists, Egyptians, Ottoman Syrians, and others in these cities.Trade Review"A dazzling array of published and archival sources in Arabic, Ottoman, Italian, French, and English." Arab Studies Journal "Effectively disputes tired and old paradigms... An essential contribution to the literature of the origins of left-wing radicalism." -- Fraser Ottanelli European LegacyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. The Late Nineteenth-century World and the Emergence of a Global Radical Culture 2. The Nah.a, the Press, and the Construction and Dissemination of a Radical Worldview 3. Theater and Radical Politics in Beirut, Cairo, and Alexandria 1860--1914 4. The Construction of Two Radical Networks in Beirut and Alexandria 5. Workers, Labor Unrest, and the Formulation and Dissemination of Radical Leftist Ideas Conclusion: Deprovincializing the Eastern Mediterranean Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisStalin did not act alone. The mass executions, the mock trials, the betrayals and purges, the jailings and secret torture that ravaged the Soviet Union during the three decades of Stalin’s dictatorship, were the result of a tight network of trusted henchmen (and women), spies, psychopaths, and thugs. At the top of this pyramid of terror sat five indispensable hangmen who presided over the various incarnations of Stalin’s secret police. Now, in his harrowing new book, Donald Rayfield probes the lives, the minds, the twisted careers, and the unpunished crimes of Stalin’s loyal assassins.Founded by Feliks Dzierzynski, the Cheka-the Extraordinary Commission-came to life in the first years of the Russian Revolution. Spreading fear in a time of chaos, the Cheka proved a perfect instrument for Stalin’s ruthless consolidation of power. But brutal as it was, the Cheka under Dzierzynski was amateurish compared to the well-oiled killing machines that succeeded it.

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Book SynopsisThis is a study of the structure of the Soviet Communist Party in the 1930s. Based upon archival and published sources, the work describes the events in the Bolshevik Party leading up to the Great Purges of 1937â1938. Professor Getty concludes that the party bureaucracy was chaotic rather than totalitarian, and that local officials had relative autonomy within a considerably fragmented political system. The Moscow leadership, of which Stalin was the most authoritarian actor, reacted to social and political processes as much as instigating them. Because of disputes, confusion, and inefficiency, they often promoted contradictory policies. Avoiding the usual concentration on Stalin's personality, the author puts forward the controversial hypothesis that the Great Purges occurred not as the end product of a careful Stalin plan, but rather as the bloody but ad hoc result of Moscow's incremental attempts to centralise political power.Trade Review'With the aid of these little used materials, Dr. Getty has greatly enhanced our understanding of the Great Purges.' The Times Higher Education Supplement 'He has cleared the ground of many influential myths and has advanced many challenging hypotheses. His book is a landmark in the writing of Soviet political history.' London Review of Books 'Arch Getty has produced an exciting and timely book, devoted to a reappraisal of the Soviet Communist Party in the thirties. Using archival and newspaper sources, he queries the image of a tightly-organized party, controlled from the centre by its omnipotent leader, Stalin. Instead we see a badly-organized, inefficient and faction-ridden institution, marked by indecision at the top and confusion at the bottom. Against this backgroun, Getty offers us a new and original explanation for the explosion of political violence and terror in the Yezhovshchina. Origins of the Great Purges is the most stimulating book on the Soviet period to have appeared in several years. No one who works on Soviet politics and history can afford to ignore it.' Dr. Mary McAuley, University of EssexTable of ContentsList of tables; Preface; Introduction: the Great Purges as history; 1. The Communist Party in the thirties; 2. What was a purge?; 3. The Verification of Party Documents of 1935: a case study in bureaucratic ineptitude; 4. Radicalism and party revival; 5. Radicalism and enemies of the people; 6. The crisis matures: 1937; 7. Epilogue: the Ezhovshchina; Conclusion: some observations on politics in the thirties; Appendix: the Kirov assassination; Bibliographic essay; Notes; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the story of the invasion of France at the twilight of Napoleon''s empire. With more than a million men under arms throughout central Europe, Coalition forces poured over the Rhine River to invade France between late November 1813 and early January 1814. Three principal army groups drove across the great German landmark, smashing the exhausted French forces that attempted to defend the eastern frontier. In less than a month, French forces ingloriously retreated from the Rhine to the Marne; Allied forces were within one week of reaching Paris. This book provides the first complete English-language study of the invasion of France along a front that extended from Holland to Switzerland.Trade Review'Leggiere has made a significant contribution to Cambridge's Military Histories series. His book belongs in every military history collection, especially those that concentrate on the Napoleonic era.' Library Journal'The Fall of Napoleon is already a major work on the subject, and there's every reason to believe Volume 2 will be just as good.' www.europeanhistory.about.com'… Leggiere has set the bar quite high.' Ralph Ashby, H-France'In writing this book, Michael Leggiere not only updates the standard French and German military accounts written a century ago … but also builds on more recent diplomatic and political studies, for instance those by Henry Kissinger and Paul Schroeder. The text is detailed, but clearly written, and is supported by twenty-five excellent maps, and by fifteen portraits of military and political leaders.' Journal of the Society for Army Historical ResearchTable of Contents1. The new Charlemagne; 2. Barbarians at the gate; 3. The Frankfurt proposals; 4. Napoleon and the French; 5. The left bank; 6. The right bank; 7. The lower Rhine; 8. The upper Rhine; 9. The middle Rhine; 10. Alsace and Franche-Comté; 11. The Vosges and the Saône; 12. Lorraine; 13. The Saar and the Moselle; 14. Belgium; 15. The Marne; 16. The Aube, Bourgogne, and the Rhône; 17. The protocols of Langres.

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Book SynopsisAt the heart of Gothic cathedrals, the threshold between nave and sanctuary was marked by the choir screen, a partitioning structure of special complexity, grandeur, and beauty. At once a canopy for altars, a stage for performance, a pedestal for crucifixes and reliquaries, and a ground for spectacular arrays of narrative and iconic sculptures, the choir screen profoundly shaped the spaces of liturgy and social interaction for the diverse communities, both clerical and lay, who shared the church interior. For the first time, this book draws together the most important examples - some fully extant, others known through fragments and graphic sources - from thirteenth- and fourteenth-century France and Germany. Through analyses of both their architectural and sculptural components, Jacqueline E. Jung reveals how these furnishings, far from being barricades or hindrances, were vital vehicles of communication and shapers of a community centered on Christian rituals and stories.Trade Review"Recommended." Choice"This book has been long awaited and it does not disappoint in the breadth and richness of its exposition … [U]ndoubtedly it will become a standard reference for studies of both the built environment and iconography of the Middle Ages." The Medieval Review"The Gothic Screen makes stimulating reading for students and scholars, pointing the way for further studies of screens of all kinds throughout medieval Europe. Never again could we wish away the Gothic screen, nor would we want to." Tom Nickson, The Medieval Journal"… one can only be grateful for Jung's insights and keen observations. She has put the discussion of choir screens where it really belongs: within the vast realm of lay religiosity." Dorothy Gillerman, Speculum"At the turn of this century, Jacqueline Jung published an influential article on choir screens in Gothic great churches. She has been regarded as the leading Anglo-American specialist on these furnishings ever since, a status maintained through publication of subsequent essays. Now, at last, her monograph on the topic has arrived in the form of an authoritative statement of the role of screens as space-co-ordinating, performative, psychology-conditioning objects." Julian Luxford, The Burlington MagazineTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. The Screen as Sculpture: 1. The choir screen as partition; 2. The choir screen as bridge; 3. The choir screen as frame; Part II. The Sculpture on the Screen: 4. Women, men, and the social order; 5. Jews, Christians, and the question of the individual; 6. Nobles, peasants, and the vernacular mode; Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisHow was the law used to control sex in Tudor England? What were the differences between secular and religious practice? This major study reveals that - contrary to what historians have often supposed - in pre-Reformation England both ecclesiastical and secular (especially urban) courts were already highly active in regulating sex. They not only enforced clerical celibacy and sought to combat prostitution but also restrained the pre- and extramarital sexual activities of laypeople more generally. Initially destabilising, the religious and institutional changes of 153060 eventually led to important new developments that tightened the regime further. There were striking innovations in the use of shaming punishments in provincial towns and experiments in the practice of public penance in the church courts, while Bridewell transformed the situation in London. Allowing the clergy to marry was a milestone of a different sort. Together these changes contributed to a marked shift in the moral cTrade Review'Masterly and definitive. Ingram's study, meticulously researched and powerfully argued, transforms our understanding of the evolution of sexual regulation before, during and after the Reformation.' Bernard Capp, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Warwick'Carnal Knowledge is a hugely important work of careful and stimulating scholarship that must be required reading for all late medieval and early modern scholars interested in sex, social and gender relations, and how they changed historically.' Garthine Walker, Cardiff University'In this deeply researched and highly illuminating book Martin Ingram makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the regulation of sexuality by both ecclesiastical and secular authorities in sixteenth-century England.' Adam Fox, University of Edinburgh'This eagerly anticipated book has many virtues … But by far the most important is the commitment to the long perspective … The result is a compelling and persuasive account of sex and its control that should be of interest to anyone interested in the social and cultural history of the period.' Phil Withington, University of Sheffield'Carnal Knowledge is the culmination of … two decades of endeavour, and is a publication of massive significance. It is a rich and multi-faceted book.' James Sharpe, The Times Literary Supplement'Focuses on the legal regulation of sexual behavior in England from the late 15th to the late 16th century. [Ingram] argues that the period spanning the Reformation brought changes to the regulation of sexual transgressions and provided a basis for the later Puritan reformation of manners.' J. Werner, CHOICE'Carnal Knowledge is a magisterial work based on deep immersion in archival sources of many kinds, harnessed in clear and cogent analysis. It will be required reading for scholars working in gender, sexuality, law, and politics in the premodern world.' Shannon McSheffrey, Journal of Social History'… a work of impressive range and depth, which can be read with profit by all students and scholars of late medieval and early modern English society. … to have raised so many large topics for further inquiry is itself testimony to the remarkable ambition of this project, the scrupulous precision of its author and the fruitfulness of the work that he has now triumphantly completed.' Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The English Historical Review'… this book [is] a major achievement. It substantially expands our understanding of late medieval and early modern sexual regulation and it challenges the most common assumptions about how this changed over the course of the sixteenth century. … an excellent example of an exhaustively researched and clearly articulated historical argument about an important subject. Anyone interested in how people's sexual behavior was monitored, judged, and punished in the past will want to read this book.' Brodie Waddell, H-Net'Ultimately, often superbly, it makes an important challenge to current understanding of the post- and pre- Reformation world of sexual regulation. In 1987 Ingram provided new inspiration and motivation. This new volume should do the same.' Martin Roberts, Nottingham Medieval StudiesTable of ContentsPrologue; 1. Contexts and perspectives; 2. Marriage, fame and shame; 3. 'Bawdy courts' in rural society before 1530; 4. Urban aspirations: pre-Reformation provincial towns; 5. Stews-side? Westminster, Southwark and the London suburbs; 6. London church courts before the Reformation; 7. Civic moralism in Yorkist and early Tudor London; 8. Sex and the celibate clergy; 9. Reform and Reformation, 1530–58; 10. Towards the new Jerusalem? Reformation of sexual manners in provincial society, 1558–80; 11. Brought into Bridewell: sex police in early Elizabethan London; 12. Regulating sex in late Elizabethan times: retrospect and prospect.

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Book SynopsisBased on an array of diaries and letters, this work explores the shifting experiences of adolescent girls in the late 19th century. It shows how, in leaving school, female students left an institution that had treated them more equally than any other they would encounter in their lives.

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Book SynopsisFrom the Charge of the Light Brigade to Scott of the Antarctic and beyond, it seems as if glorious disaster and valiant defeat have been essential aspects of the British national character for the past two centuries. In this fascinating book, historian Stephanie Barczewski argues that Britain's embrace of heroic failure initially helped to gloss over the moral ambiguities of imperial expansion. Later, it became a strategy for coming to terms with diminishment and loss. Filled with compelling, moving, and often humorous stories from history, Barczewski's survey offers a fresh way of thinking about the continuing legacy of empire in British culture today.Trade Review“The author has hit on a rich and fascinating subject…Heroic Failure has some sharp truths to tell about Victorian Britain”—John Carey, Sunday Times -- Sunday Times * John Carey *“A psychological history. Barczewski maps out trends in British thought and intertwines conjecture about where they have come from... I enjoyed the quest of it; and something about Barczewski evident and fervent anglophilia almost left me feeling quite proud of being Britis.h”—Hugo Rifkind, Times -- Hugo Rifkind * The Times *“Stephanie Barczewski, with all the post-colonial detachment that comes naturally to an American academic, gives a long and stirring list… she retells the old heroic tales with a narrative touch and a delicate irony which avoids condescension.”—Ferdinand Mount, London Review of Books -- Ferdinand Mount * London Review of Books *“An entertaining and well-written book.”—Jad Adams, History Today -- Jad Adams * History Today *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Freed has done so much to illuminate the ins and out of German politics in the late 12th century, ensuring that his book will be a constant point of reference for scholars.”—David Abulafia, History Today“Crafting an erudite biography on Frederick Barbarossa is no easy task, but Freed offers a comprehensive account of Frederick’s reign, rich in historical detail, that is suitable for scholars, students, and the general reader alike. This may be the go-to work on Frederick Barbarossa in English for quite some time yet.”—Stephen Donnachie, Royal Studies Journal‘John Freed's Frederick Barbarossa is a monumental achievement. Not only is it the first serious biography in English of one of the most fascinating and important individuals of the European Middle Ages. It also offers a thoughtful, lucid and immensely readable way into the environment and society from which Barbarossa emerged, and of the challenges and opportunities to be faced in writing about the wonderful world of the first Staufen emperor. We owe John Freed a collective debt of gratitude not only for having braced and mastered these challenges so magisterially, but also for the enjoyment and instruction that his book brings. It will teach experts much they did not know or had not thought about, but it will equally appeal to anyone interested in one of the most transformative periods in the history of medieval Europe.’ – Björn Weiler, author of Kingship, Rebellion and Political Culture: England and Germany, c.1215–c.1250‘John Freed has written a truly monumental biography, which will remain unchallenged as the authoritative account of Barbarossa for a long time to come. Rooted in a comprehensive command of the medieval sources and enriched by Freed’s profound understanding of twelfth-century aristocratic politics and society, this book reveals a Barbarossa stripped at last of many centuries of accumulated myth: as prince, dynast and warlord. Students of medieval history have waited a long time for a fully satisfactory treatment of one of the twelfth century’s most dazzling and complex personalities. With this brilliant and deeply learned book, their wait is over.’ - Len Scales, author of The Shaping of German Identity: Authority and Crisis, 1245–1414 “John Freed’s biography is the first in English for half a century. A 700-page doorstopper, this impressive, learned book certainly makes amends for this previously serious oversight… Thanks to Freed’s scholarly but highly readable biography, this pragmatic Teutonic Arthur might finally gain greater renown beyond Germany.”—Sean McGlynn, Spectator -- Sean McGlynn * Spectator *“Freed’s book is certainly a cause for celebration and will be a lasting resource… gives us a compelling, readable and very well-informed narrative of Frederick’s thirty-eight reign, that made him —with Henry II of England, Louis VII of France and Manuel I of Byzantium — one of the leading political personalities of Europe.”—Mark Whittow, TLS -- Mark Whittow * TLS *“Freed has done so much to illuminate the ins and out of German politics in the late 12th century, ensuring that his book will be a constant point of reference for scholars.”—David Abulafia, History Today -- David Abulafia * History Today *

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Book SynopsisExperts agree that Jack the Ripper murdered five London women, but how many others did he slaughter in Britain or across the seas?Trade Review"Experts Begg and Bennett. . . successfully tread new ground in this thought-provoking book. . . . Refreshingly, they don't try to advance a new suspect, on the basis of evidence that could only be circumstantial. Instead, they do a convincing job of debunking myths."—Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *“[T]his is a punchy, passionate, forgivably inconclusive book about London’s tawdry past life, with a bit of murder thrown in for kicks."—Stefanie Marsh, The Times -- Stefanie Marsh * The Times *"Jack the Ripper: The Forgotten Victims provides much new and interesting detail. When it comes to the meticulous details of a murder, the minute-by-minute examination of a crime and its policing, Messrs. Begg and Bennett are the very best in the true-crime genre."—Judith Flanders, Wall Street Journal -- Judith Flanders * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisDrawing upon the latest historical and archaeological research, Dr Peter Sarris provides a panoramic account of the history of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East from the fall of Rome to the rise of Islam. The formation of a new social and economic order in western Europe in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, and the ascendancy across the West of a new culture of military lordship, are placed firmly in the context of on-going connections and influence radiating outwards from the surviving Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from the great imperial capital of Constantinople. The East Roman (or ''Byzantine'') Emperor Justinian''s attempts to revive imperial fortunes, restore the empire''s power in the West, and face down Constantinople''s great superpower rival, the Sasanian Empire of Persia, are charted, as too are the ways in which the escalating warfare between Rome and Persia paved the way for the development of new concepts of ''holy war'', the emergence of Islam, and the ArTrade ReviewPeter Sarris' splendid new book is a defiant act of intellectual imperialism. Under the triumphant banner of The Oxford History of Medieval Europe it annexes four academic kingdoms: Rome, the early Middle Ages, Byzantium and early Islam ... It is easy to forget that this is hard-fought territory, disputed by fractious experts and partitioned between different university departments ... Peter Sarris' signal acheivement is to impose an academic unity on the period. * Christopher Kelly, The Literary Review *evoke[s], with a rare vividness, the world of the later Roman aristocracy * Conrad Leyser, Times Literary Supplement *An epic, sweeping and ferociously clever history of the age of Justinian and Mohammed. * Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard *a brilliant book about the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam, filled with insights and revolutionary ideas by one of the finest historians in Britain. * Peter Frankopan, History Today Books of the Year 2013 *This is the first volume to appear in the Oxford History of Medieval Europe. Its general editors express the hope in their preface that they have liberated their authors 'from the need to produce a standard authoritative account'. Thankfully Peter Sarris has refused to be liberated and has done exactly that. I dont think it is too fanciful to see points of similarity between Empires of Faith and Stenton's Anglo-Saxon England. Both display a mastery of the relevant sources and scholarship; both provide very clear guides to complicated situations; both are very sensitive to the shaping of history by economic, social and religious forces. This is a very good book indeed. * Michael Angold, History *This is an impressive book. Sarris has succeeded in covering both western and eastern developments and tying them convincingly together ... Empires of Faith is a lucid and confident expression of Sarris' developed view of materialist history, and at the same time a coherent and highly readable book. * Averil Cameron, English Historical Review *In this magisterial book, Peter Sarris brings to life a pivotal epoch in world history, the centuries between the end of Roman rule in western Europe and the rise of Islam. His considerable achievement is to knit together in a most compelling fashion the major political and economic developments from the Atlantic to the Eurasian steppe that cumulatively produced a new medieval world order by the beginning of the eighth century ... loaded with detail that rarely gets in the way of a lively story ... Peter Sarris has emerged as an important medieval historian with a powerful and authoritative voice. Empires of Faith deserves a wide readership. * Michael Maas, Speculum *The book's many positive features are easy to peg up ... a synthesis that goes beyond tedious textbooks in offering students a no-nonsense analytical narrative, together with useful apparatus, such as the chapter-by-chapter readings in sources and scholarship. University teachers, and a generation of students, will bless the author's name. * Mark Humphries, Early Medieval Europe *Table of Contents1. The World that had been Rome ; 2. The Formation of Post-Roman Society ; 3. The Romano-Germanic Kingdoms ; 4. The View from the East ; 5. Byzantium, the Balkans, and the West ; 6. Religion and Society ; 7. Heraclius, Persia, and Holy War ; 8. The Age of Division ; 9. The Princes of the Western Nations ; Epilogue ; Select Bibliography and Further Reading

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