European history: medieval period, middle ages Books

Book SynopsisIn her Introduction to The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman, Caroline Robbins wrote that the Commonwealthmen were a gifted and active minority of the population of the British Isles, who kept alive, during an age of extraordinary complacency and legislative inactivity, a demand for increased liberty of conscience.. Their essays, arguments, pamphlets, and histories -- a continual flow from the late seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth -- were hugely popular in America. The themes presented were revolutionary: separation of powers, natural rights, rotation in office, religious freedom, a supreme court, and resistance to tyranny. They achieved very little political success, but the documents of later generations are full of ideas kept alive by the Commonwealthmen in difficult times. In The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman, Robbins adeptly presents a history of these men, whose writings advocated the principles of liberty in an era when change was considered perilous.

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Book SynopsisContrary to a prevalent belief, the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century dramatically improved the standard of living of the people. This title shows how this remarkable transformation came about.

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Book SynopsisSir Frederick Pollock and Frederic William Maitland''s legal classic The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I expanded the work of Sir Edward Coke and William Blackstone by exploring the origins of key aspects of English common law and society and with them the development of individual rights as these were gradually carved out from the authority of the Crown and the Church. Book one examines Anglo-Saxon law, goes on to consider the changes in law introduced by the Normans, then moves to the twelfth-century Age of Glanvill followed by the thirteenth century Age of Bracton. Book two takes up different areas of English law by topic, including land tenure, marriage and wardship, fealty, the ranks of men both free and unfree, aliens, Jews, excommunicates, women, and the churches and the King, before turning to the various jurisdictions of that decentralised era.

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Book SynopsisJohn Brown (17151766) was a clergyman who achieved great but transient fame as a writer and moralist. His attack on Shaftesbury and moral sense philosophy, against which he employed utilitarian arguments and also arguments deriving from Gods benevolent intentions toward his creation, was published in 1751 and was later praised by John Stuart Mill. The central text of this volume, An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times (1757), is a vigorous attack on the vain, luxurious, and selfish effeminacy of Englands higher ranks, in the wake of the loss of Minorca to the French at the opening of the Seven Years War (17561763). Brown repeated the usual complaints of corruption that had been raised during the premiership of Walpole and argued that public virtue had been undermined by a preoccupation with luxury and commerce. Estimate was printed no fewer than seven times within the first year, earning the author the name Estimate Brown. Alongside Estimate, the volume includes four other works by Brown: his poem On Liberty (1749); his Essays on the Characteristicks (1751), which is an attack on Shaftesburys Characteristicks; his Explanatory Defence of the Estimate (1758), in which Brown engaged to defend the work, to some modest extent, against his critics; and finally, a late work, Thoughts on Civil Liberty (1765). Two appendixes complement the texts: a brief tribute to Brown by Thomas Hollis (an Englishman who devoted his life to the cause of liberty and for whom this series is named), in which Hollis depicts Brown as a weak man who nevertheless possessed a measure of virtue and talent, and who fell among thieves in the feral literary and political circles of Hanoverian England. The second appendix provides Holliss own annotations to his copy of Estimate. The introduction, by David Womersley, places Browns writings and career in the context of eighteenth-century moralism and, naturally, in the tradition of British writing on liberty. The annotations will gloss now-unfamiliar words and explain now-obscure references to contemporary events, circumstances, and personalities.

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Book SynopsisJohn Brown (17151766) was a clergyman who achieved great but transient fame as a writer and moralist. His attack on Shaftesbury and moral sense philosophy, against which he employed utilitarian arguments and also arguments deriving from Gods benevolent intentions toward his creation, was published in 1751 and was later praised by John Stuart Mill. The central text of this volume, An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times (1757), is a vigorous attack on the vain, luxurious, and selfish effeminacy of Englands higher ranks, in the wake of the loss of Minorca to the French at the opening of the Seven Years War (17561763). Brown repeated the usual complaints of corruption that had been raised during the premiership of Walpole and argued that public virtue had been undermined by a preoccupation with luxury and commerce. Estimate was printed no fewer than seven times within the first year, earning the author the name Estimate Brown. Alongside Estimate, the volume includes four other works by Brown: his poem On Liberty (1749); his Essays on the Characteristicks (1751), which is an attack on Shaftesburys Characteristicks; his Explanatory Defence of the Estimate (1758), in which Brown engaged to defend the work, to some modest extent, against his critics; and finally, a late work, Thoughts on Civil Liberty (1765). Two appendixes complement the texts: a brief tribute to Brown by Thomas Hollis (an Englishman who devoted his life to the cause of liberty and for whom this series is named), in which Hollis depicts Brown as a weak man who nevertheless possessed a measure of virtue and talent, and who fell among thieves in the feral literary and political circles of Hanoverian England. The second appendix provides Holliss own annotations to his copy of Estimate. The introduction, by David Womersley, places Browns writings and career in the context of eighteenth-century moralism and, naturally, in the tradition of British writing on liberty. The annotations will gloss now-unfamiliar words and explain now-obscure references to contemporary events, circumstances, and personalities.

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Book Synopsis A.J. Woodman''s translation combines accuracy and Tacitean invention, masterfully conveying Tacitus'' distinctive and powerful manner of expression, and reflecting the best of current scholarship. An introductory essay discusses Tacitus'' career, the period about which he wrote, the nature of historical writing in the Roman world, and the principles of translation which have shaped this rendering. No other translation captures more successfully the flavor, nuance, and power of Tacitus'' greatest work. This edition includes extensive notes; suggestions for further reading; appendices explaining political and military terms, and geographical and topographical names; imperial family trees; maps; and an index. The current printing of the 2004 edition includes corrections and revisions made in 2008. Trade ReviewWoodman has produced the most sophisticated English translation of Tacitus' Annals to date, one that will likely remain the standard for years to come. . . . Woodman successfully incorporates into his translation the sense and sound of the author's literary style. His deft rendering into English of Tacitus' word order and sentence structure, mimicking the ancient writer's preference for the unusual word and his propensity to employ metaphorical expressions, alliteration, and an unbalanced syntactic structure, imparts to his translation the artistic texture of this work of history. Woodman's Introduction provides an informative background to Tacitus and an explanation of how the translator has attempted to capture the artistry of the ancient historian. Annotations to the text increase understanding of events and and their participants without burdening the reader or interrupting the flow of the story. In addition to maps and a list of further readings, the work contains useful appendixes, such as a list of political and military terms and a stemma of the Julio-Claudian Emperors. Summing up: Highly recommended. Readers of all levels. --R. I. Curtis, CHOICEAn elegant addition to Tacitean scholarship. . . . The appendices are comprehensive and extremely useful for students, covering political and military terms that are cross-referenced to the text, the deployment of the army which can be confusing in the Annals, Rome, geographical and tribal names, and maps as well as a good index of names. . . . This translation has many eminently practical features, including clear layout, the use of footnotes, and numbering of the text. . . . The Introduction is very accessible and, coupled with the text, will be very useful for students. --Alisdair Gibson, Journal of Classics TeachingThis work is more than a superb translation. It is also in effect a succinct commentary on the whole of the Annals. The section in the Introduction on problems of translation is particularly valuable. --J.N. Adams, All Souls College, Oxford

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe publication of Henry John Walker's translation of Memorable Deeds and Sayings ensures a wider readership for Valerius' great compendium of Greco-Roman lore. Of the many merits of Walker's translation, I would cite especially its readability. Walker has produced a version of Valerius Maximus that reflects the original’s wide sweep, but in Walker's hands Valerius tells a seamless story in multiple parts. This translation will be easily used by students in the classroom and by scholars. It is a substantial accomplishment: a superior new translation that renders a monument of Latin literature accessible in every way to multiple audiences.--Joseph Pucci, Brown University

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Book Synopsis When wealthy Jewish industrialist David Friedländer proposed in 1799 that Berlin''s Jews undergo a sham conversion to Christianity in return for full German citizenship, he touched off a political and theological debate that would continue to define the relation between Jewish and German identity for more than a century. In the series of provocative letters collected here, Friedländer, Protestant leader Wilhelm Abraham Teller, and young Christian theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher debate Friedländer''s radical proposal. In so doing, they grapple with many of the thorny problems--such as citizenship, religious tolerance, and assimilation--that continue to vex world political leaders today. Richard Crouter''s Introduction provides the cultural, religious, and historical context for this compelling exchange; a postscript by Julie Klassen reveals the ways in which Germany''s minorities continue to be marginalized more than two hundred years after Friedländer made his pTrade Review One of the most fascinating and, indeed, seminal debates in the protracted struggle of German Jewry to gain full citizenship and civic equality. As the translators make clear in their learned and generally lucid Introduction, this debate illuminates the enduring difficulty of modern nation states to establish a civic society that is, if not religiously neutral, at least inclusive. . . . It will surely enter the canon of standard works in the study of modern Jewish history. --Paul Mendes-Flohr, Hebrew University

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Book Synopsis When wealthy Jewish industrialist David Friedländer proposed in 1799 that Berlin''s Jews undergo a sham conversion to Christianity in return for full German citizenship, he touched off a political and theological debate that would continue to define the relation between Jewish and German identity for more than a century. In the series of provocative letters collected here, Friedländer, Protestant leader Wilhelm Abraham Teller, and young Christian theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher debate Friedländer''s radical proposal. In so doing, they grapple with many of the thorny problems--such as citizenship, religious tolerance, and assimilation--that continue to vex world political leaders today. Richard Crouter''s Introduction provides the cultural, religious, and historical context for this compelling exchange; a postscript by Julie Klassen reveals the ways in which Germany''s minorities continue to be marginalized more than two hundred years after Friedländer made his pTrade Review One of the most fascinating and, indeed, seminal debates in the protracted struggle of German Jewry to gain full citizenship and civic equality. As the translators make clear in their learned and generally lucid Introduction, this debate illuminates the enduring difficulty of modern nation states to establish a civic society that is, if not religiously neutral, at least inclusive. . . . It will surely enter the canon of standard works in the study of modern Jewish history. --Paul Mendes-Flohr, Hebrew University

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Book Synopsis Readers of this witty and fluent new translation of The Canterbury Tales should find themselves turning page after page: by recasting Chaucer''s ten-syllable couplets into eight-syllable lines, Joseph Glaser achieves a lighter, more rapid cadence than other translators, a four-beat rhythm well-established in the English poetic tradition up to Chaucer''s time. Glaser''s shortened lines make compelling reading and mirror the elegance and variety of Chaucer''s verse to a degree rarely met by translations that copy Chaucer beat for beat. Moreover, this translation''s full, Chaucerian range of diction--from earthy to Latinate--conveys the great scope of Chaucer''s interests and effects. The selection features complete translations of the majority of the stories, including all of the more familiar tales and narrative links along with abridgments or summaries of the others. To reflect Chaucer''s interest in poetic technique, Glaser presents the tales written in non-coupleTrade Review This version of The Canterbury Tales is indeed 'fast-paced and entertaining'. It includes translations of most of the tales (certainly all of the most popular ones) and abridgments and summaries of a few others. Glaser's main innovation in this translation is a rather striking decision to render Chaucer's standard iambic pentameter line in iambic tetrameter. . . . Those who read his translation of The Canterbury Tales will likely be motivated to tackle a linguistically more challenging, yet more rewarding Middle English edition. Those who lack the time for such a task will still be able to appreciate the humor and variety of one of Chaucer's greatest works and will, through the basic and clear Introduction, get a sense of the historical and literary background of Chaucer, his times, and his works. The near conversational tone of the Introduction, furthermore, makes for an unintimidating encounter with a period of literature that, for many, is foreign and remote. As a kind of gateway text, therefore, Glaser's new translation of The Canterbury Tales will be much appreciated and valued by a non-specialist audience. --Jennifer A. Smith, Comitatus

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Book SynopsisThis collection of previously untranslated court documents, testimonials, and letters portrays the Spanish Inquisition in vivid detail, offering fresh perspectives on such topics as the Inquisition''s persecution of Jews and Muslims, the role of women in Spanish religious culture, the Inquisition''s construction and persecution of witchcraft, daily life inside an Inquisition prison, and the relationship between the Inquisition and the Spanish monarchy. Headnotes introduce the selections, and a general introduction provides historical, political, and legal context. A map and index are included.Trade Reviewq>Those of us who teach the history of early modern Spain to undergraduates have long lamented the lack of primary sources in English translation. Lu Ann Homza has gone a long way toward filling that gap with this excellent anthology of sources. Homza provides a judicious selection of documents that chronicle the Spanish Inquisition from its establishment by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1478 to root out crypto-Jews to the expulsion of the Moriscos carried out under Philip III between 1611 and 1614. She recovers many voices from late fifteenth-, sixteenth-, and early seventeenth-century Spain, of defendants, witnesses, politicians, and the ecclesiastical judges whose zeal for religious orthodoxy and correct legal procedure rendered this one of the most famous, if often misunderstood, judicial institutions in European history. Homza begins the volume with a helpful, clearly written introduction that explains the inner workings of the Inquisition and traces its Roman and medieval antecedents. . . . [She] has succeeded in compiling an anthology that is both erudite and accessible, and available at a refreshingly low price. Thus, students as well as teachers and scholars will welcome this significant contribution to the religious and legal history of early modern Spain. --Jodi Bilinkoff, The Catholic Historical ReviewWith very few exceptions the rich inquisitorial sources collected here have, until now, been available only to specialists with a knowledge of early modern Spanish. The Spanish Inquisition, 1478–1614: An Anthology of Sources fills a gaping hole in the English-language literature, making these previously inaccessible documents available to a much wider reading public. . . . With a strong Introduction and supporting material for each document, this source reader provides a wealth of material for classes on late medieval or modern Europe; Spain and Latin America; Western civilization; or the history of Western religions. This reader will also be valuable to seminars on subjects such as witchcraft, early modern legal history, and women's history. --Benjamin Ehlers, University of Georgiaq>[Homza's] selections are useful in teaching the historical method, because the texts force us to assess their truth, confront gaps in the documentation, and consider the differences between the religious beliefs of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and our own. The book is highly recommended to students of early modern Spanish history and its institutions. --Frank A. Domínguez, Sixteenth Century Journal

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Book SynopsisThis collection of previously untranslated court documents, testimonials, and letters portrays the Spanish Inquisition in vivid detail, offering fresh perspectives on such topics as the Inquisition''s persecution of Jews and Muslims, the role of women in Spanish religious culture, the Inquisition''s construction and persecution of witchcraft, daily life inside an Inquisition prison, and the relationship between the Inquisition and the Spanish monarchy. Headnotes introduce the selections, and a general introduction provides historical, political, and legal context. A map and index are included.Trade Reviewq>Those of us who teach the history of early modern Spain to undergraduates have long lamented the lack of primary sources in English translation. Lu Ann Homza has gone a long way toward filling that gap with this excellent anthology of sources. Homza provides a judicious selection of documents that chronicle the Spanish Inquisition from its establishment by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1478 to root out crypto-Jews to the expulsion of the Moriscos carried out under Philip III between 1611 and 1614. She recovers many voices from late fifteenth-, sixteenth-, and early seventeenth-century Spain, of defendants, witnesses, politicians, and the ecclesiastical judges whose zeal for religious orthodoxy and correct legal procedure rendered this one of the most famous, if often misunderstood, judicial institutions in European history. Homza begins the volume with a helpful, clearly written introduction that explains the inner workings of the Inquisition and traces its Roman and medieval antecedents. . . . [She] has succeeded in compiling an anthology that is both erudite and accessible, and available at a refreshingly low price. Thus, students as well as teachers and scholars will welcome this significant contribution to the religious and legal history of early modern Spain. --Jodi Bilinkoff, The Catholic Historical ReviewWith very few exceptions the rich inquisitorial sources collected here have, until now, been available only to specialists with a knowledge of early modern Spanish. The Spanish Inquisition, 1478–1614: An Anthology of Sources fills a gaping hole in the English-language literature, making these previously inaccessible documents available to a much wider reading public. . . . With a strong Introduction and supporting material for each document, this source reader provides a wealth of material for classes on late medieval or modern Europe; Spain and Latin America; Western civilization; or the history of Western religions. This reader will also be valuable to seminars on subjects such as witchcraft, early modern legal history, and women's history. --Benjamin Ehlers, University of Georgiaq>[Homza's] selections are useful in teaching the historical method, because the texts force us to assess their truth, confront gaps in the documentation, and consider the differences between the religious beliefs of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and our own. The book is highly recommended to students of early modern Spanish history and its institutions. --Frank A. Domínguez, Sixteenth Century Journal

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Book Synopsis In this volume, eminent scholar and translator Herbert W. Benario provides faithful, readable translations of three short works of Tacitus: Agricolathe fullest ancient account of Rome''s conquest of Britain and of the public career of a senator in the service of a Roman emperorGermany, a valuable source on the ancient land and its people, and Dialogue on Orators, an examination in the tradition of Cicero''s rhetorical essays of the decline of oratory in Rome''s early empire. Together, these works illuminate an important phase in Tacitus'' development as Rome''s foremost historian. Introductory essays, chapter summaries, notes, a bibliography, maps, and an index are included.

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Book Synopsis This rich and lively anthology offers a broad selection of Middle English poetry from about 1200 to 1500 C.E., including more than 150 secular and religious lyrics and nine complete or extracted longer works, all translated into Modern English verse that closely resembles the original forms. Five complete satires and narratives illustrate important conventions of the period: Athelston, a historical romance; The Cock and the Fox, a beast fable by Robert Henryson; Sir Orfeo, a Breton lai; Saint Erkenwald, an alliterative saint''s life; and The Land of Cockayne, a fantasy. The book concludes with substantial excerpts from longer narratives such as Piers Plowman and Confessio Amantis. The poems are accompanied by introductions, notes, marginal glosses, source notes, and appendixes, including a bibliography and a list to help readers locate the lyrics in current original-language editions. Trade Review[An] excellent edition. Beautiful layout, attractive format. A good balance of Worldly and Religious texts.--Maryellen Keefe, Department of Humanities, SUNY Maritime College

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Book SynopsisOffers a broad selection of Middle English poetry from about 1200 to 1500 CE, including more than 150 secular and religious lyrics and nine complete or extracted longer works, all translated into Modern English verse.Trade Review[An] excellent edition. Beautiful layout, attractive format. A good balance of Worldly and Religious texts.--Maryellen Keefe, Department of Humanities, SUNY Maritime College

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Book SynopsisA fictive traveler''s guide to the East, both Near and Far, The Book of John Mandeville was a late--medieval best seller, more popular in its day than Marco Polo''s Travels. In addition to a fresh, vibrant translation--the first from the Middle French original since the fifteenth centurythis edition of The Book of John Mandeville offers a succinct, broad-ranging Introduction to the work that touches on the question of authorship, the sources on which the text drew, and the transformation and reception of the work down to the present day.Trade ReviewHonorable Mention Recipient, 2011 MLA Scaglione Prize for an Outstanding Translation of a Literary Work:The Book of John Mandeville, one of the most important medieval travel books, has been translated into English from the original Anglo-Norman French for the first time since the late fourteenth century. Iain Macleod Higgins's accurate, readable, and judiciously edited rendering now supersedes the modernizations of Middle English versions that have hitherto been the English-speaking world's chief access to a work second only to Marco Polo's Travels in its influence and the duration of its popularity. Higgins's copious annotation, detailed index, and inclusion of translated excerpts from Mandeville's sources and other relevant texts make this a historically important contribution to our knowledge of medieval travel literature and of Western perceptions of non-Western peoples. Impressive scholarship combines with skillful translation of a medieval work with great modern relevance." --Modern Language AssociationIain Macleod Higgins's edition of The Book of John Mandeville with Related Texts offers the first English translation from the Anglo-Norman for 600 years, together with a collection of excerpts from a range of sources that inform this synthesized travel narrative. Higgins’s edition is at once scholarly and highly readable, combining a lively translation of this hugely influential work with judicious commentary on the text and textual tradition, its contexts, and criticism. Its publication in a highly affordable paperback edition makes an impressive piece of scholarship into a valuable teaching text. --The Year's Work in English Studies, (Volume 92, Issue 1 2013)

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Book Synopsis The ten speeches in this volume illustrate Cicero''s entire career and exemplify all the major contexts for his oratory: before the senate, the people, and the courts. They illuminate the major political crises of Cicero''s time and offer portraits of many of the major political figures. Several of these speeches also shed light on the most important cultural and literary debates of the late Republic. James Zetzel''s general Introduction discusses Cicero''s public life; the social, political, and cultural contexts of his speeches; and the challenges of translating them into modern English. This edition also includes an introduction to each speech, a section on Roman institutions and offices, a chronological table, maps, a bibliography, and a biographical index. Trade ReviewThis volume is a most welcome and much needed resource for the classroom, and a marked improvement over the Penguin editions of Cicero's selected speeches and selected political speeches, which it should supersede. A very well-chosen selection of speeches, accurately and fluidly translated, and handsomely produced. I especially appreciate the inclusion of clear maps and the section "Roman institutions and offices" which should prove especially useful for students. --Amanda Wilcox, Williams CollegeZetzel's translation of ten speeches by Cicero is a welcome addition for anyone interested in the works of Cicero or late Republican history. The short Introduction presents the reader with a concise overview of Cicero's life and the milieu in which the speeches were written. . . . followed by a brief and very clear summary of Roman Institutions and Offices, which includes a description of Roman nomenclature, public offices, and political institutions. . . . The individual introductions preceding each translation are succinct and useful guides to the topics and issues surrounding each speech. . . . The translations themselves are clear and readable. Together, these ten speeches deliver an overview of some of the most significant moments of the late Republic. This volume is an excellent guide to the events of this period but also, and perhaps more importantly, to Cicero himself. This translation gives students of Cicero a window into his life and his beliefs. It presents his wit, humor, and style in an engaging way that should appeal to many modern readers. --Alison Jeppesen, University of Calgary

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Book SynopsisThis book describes the delivery of 8000 aircraft to Russia over a little known airway that extended from the U.S. through Northwestern Canada to Nome, Alaska. Warplanes to Alaska is a tribute to the hundreds of men and women who toiled in the harshest of climates to help decide the outcome of World War II. The author interviewed scores of Canadian, Russians and American veterans and acquired hundreds of photos in an effort to fully recount this amazing part of history. Details of the Russian portion of the airway and their military operations, long hidden by an impenetrable veil of official secrecy, are revealed here for the first time. Warplanes to Alaska will engage anyone interested in WWII, aviation or northern history. Could a subarctic wilderness airway traversing northwestern North America and the breadth of Russia be used to deliver thousands of warplanes? The needs of the beleaguered WW II ally demanded the attempt, despite the brutal climate, primitive facilities and wild te

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Book SynopsisCompiled by a radical journalist and poet in the early days of the French Revolution, these subversively satirical lives of women saints sought to win both women and men away from religion. Though based on authentic hagiography, Maréchal''s new legendary introduces a skeptical, rationalist perspective that anticipates modern critical approaches. Along with Delany''s thorough introduction and notes, Anti-Saints offers a new perspective on the cultural climate of the French Revolution and a strikingly modern contribution to our own public conversation on religion. A must for scholars and non-specialists alike, and lovers of audacious wit.Trade Review“'Lives of the Saints,' or hagiography, was once a robust literary genre unto itself, and a highly respectable one at that. Today it is the opposite of intellectually respectable. The cultural distance reflected in the opposing valuations of hagiography makes it difficult for modern readers to fully appreciate Sylvain Maréchal’s parodic treatment of the genre in Nouvelle légende dorée, the work that Sheila Delany has wonderfully brought back to life in English under the title Anti-Saints.... Delany’s resurrection of the Nouvelle légende dorée is to be welcomed especially because it puts the spotlight on an author whose literary contributions to the French Revolution have heretofore been undervalued..." -- Clifford D. Conner * Science & Society *"This book offers a fascinating cultural find: a strong and significant text from the first phases of the French Revolution which is virtually unknown even among specialists of the period and never reprinted in modern times.... Delany’s unearthing and decoding of Maréchal’s satirical lives of women saints is first of all a truly original intellectual achievement, thanks to an uncommon combination of scholarly competences in both medieval and French revolutionary history and literature.... Delany’s excellent translation, as sparkling and spirited and ironic as the original French, but also as stark and uncompromising, renders the way the author plays with words...." -- Erica J. Mannucci * CRCL/RCLC *

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Book SynopsisSome Historical & Etymological Aspects of Family, Patronage & Slavery in Stefan Brink

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Book SynopsisA distinctive new account of John Maynard Keyes in his historical context. Peter Clarke considers Keynes' public policy role in terms of how his thinking informed his contribution to policy-making as well as the place of expediency in resolving issues of public policy.Trade Review'This readable and lively book by the eminent modern historian and Keynes scholar Peter Clarke provides an important insight into 'the historical Keynes,' both academic theorist and public intellectual, by examining the complex relation between truth and expediency in policy advising from Versailles to Bretton Woods and in probability theory.' Robert Dimand, Brock University'A sparkling and learned exploration of Keynes's beliefs about probability, truth, and expediency.' Richard Toye, University of ExeterTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. What really happened at Paris? Keynes and Dulles; 2. What really happened at Paris? The war guilt clause; 3. 'You are very famous, Maynard': Keynes and the Manchester Guardian; 4. The truth about Lloyd George: four perspectives; 5. Yielding to Ramsey: probability revisited; 6. Yielding to realities: golden rules?; 7. Truths between friends: Cambridge and economics; 8. Truths between friends: Bloomsbury and politics; 9. The road to Bretton Woods: expediency revisited; Conclusion: pragmatic and dogmatic Keynesianism.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1940 and 1945, more than 100,000 airmen were shot down over Europe, a few thousand of whom survived and avoided being arrested. When Men Fell from the Sky is a comparative history of the treatment of these airmen by civilians in France, Germany and Britain. By studying the situation on the ground, Claire Andrieu shows how these encounters reshaped societies at a local level. She reveals how the fall of France in 1940 may have concealed an insurrection nipped in the bud, that the ''People''s War'' in Britain was not merely a myth, and that in Germany, the ''racial community of the people'' had in fact become a social reality with Allied airmen increasingly subjected to lynching from 1943 onwards. By considering why the treatment of these airmen contrasted so strongly in these countries, Andrieu sheds new light on how civilians reacted when confronted with the war ''at home''.Trade Review'This masterful book challenges us to rethink our assumptions about civilian action in France, Germany and Britain during the Second World War. Andrieu mobilises rich sources to craft a penetrating and innovative analysis. Burgeoning with fascinating detail, the book is an inspirational must-read for all those interested in the period.' Hanna Diamond, author of Fleeing Hitler: France 1940'A comparison of the treatment of fallen airmen in Britain, France, and Germany during the Second World War, this prodigiously researched study is a micro-social history of the air war from below, viewing civilians as active participants rather than as victims. It also presents a bold argument about the macro-political and cultural reasons for the different national responses in this 'civilians' war.' All in all, a provocative, and compelling account.' Carol Gluck, Columbia University'Claire Andrieu's magisterial book examines how local civilian populations in the Second World War reacted to the unexpected presence amongst them of pilots who had been shot down: Luftwaffe pilots shot down in France in May-June 1940; RAF pilots in Germany; Luftwaffe pilots in Britain; RAF pilots in Occupied France. Using an impressive range of sources, her book, taking us into the fields and cities of three countries, tells many poignant and moving stories. Written with exemplary clarity, it offers insights into the forms of civilian participation in the war effort; into the relations between the Resistance and the wider population in France; and into the respective political cultures of the three societies. This is comparative history at its best.' Julian Jackson, author of A Certain Idea of France'In answering one of the last unsolved questions of World War 2 - how were downed Allied and German airmen treated when they parachuted into territory controlled by the enemy? - Claire Andrieu has drawn on massive archival research in four countries to give us a magisterial, closely-argued - and moving - work of comparative history.' Andrew Knapp, author of Charles de Gaulle'How do civilians treat downed aviators in wartime? National political culture makes all the difference, argues Claire Andrieu in this pioneering, well-researched, and inspiring book.' Philip Nord, author of After the Deportation: Memory Battles in Postwar France'Claire Andrieu reverses the normal scenario of bombing wars and focusses on those moments after airmen crashed to earth and found themselves isolated and facing angry civilians. In this powerful, probing and engaged analysis, she shows how fundamental the contrasting ideologies of wartime France, Britain and Germany were to what happened next. Vivid and compelling, this is history-writing that puts the politics back into the face-to-face encounters between civilians and airmen, making us ask again who were victims and who were perpetrators.' Nicholas Stargardt, author of The German War: A Nation under Arms, 1939–45Table of ContentsIntroduction: the international in the village; Part I. Blitz-Invasion in France, or Resistance Crushed: 1. Finding the volunteers of the Year 40; 2. The repression of the Republic's 'francs-tireurs'; Part II. 'Imminent invasion!': a very civil war in the United Kingdom: 3. Britain into battle: a people at war; 4. 'British humor' as an agent of civility; Part III. The Origins of the Resistance: Hiding Allies in France: 5. The resistance as mass local dynamic; 6. The Sequences of aid: between family and repression; 7. A civil society against two states; Part IV. Lynching in Germany, 1943–1945: defending the Nazi state: 8. The lynching of Allied airmen, an ordinary practice; 9. A revolutionary dynamic; 10. Lynch mobs: pre-constructed anger and Nazism in action; 11. Race at heart; Conclusion: an archeology of the moment.

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Book SynopsisSouthern Italy's strategic location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean gave it a unique position as a frontier for the major religious faiths of the medieval world, where Latin Christian, Greek Christian and Muslim communities coexisted. In this study, the first to offer a comprehensive analysis of sanctity and pilgrimage in southern Italy between 1000 and 1200, Paul Oldfield presents a fascinating picture of a politically and culturally fragmented land which, as well as hosting its own important relics as important pilgrimage centres, was a transit point for pilgrims and commercial traffic. Drawing on a diverse range of sources from hagiographical material to calendars, martyrologies, charters and pilgrim travel guides, the book examines how sanctity functioned at this key cultural crossroads and, by integrating the analysis of sanctity with that of pilgrimage, offers important new insights into society, cross-cultural interaction and faith in the region and across the medieval woTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Sanctity: 1. Sanctity in early medieval southern Italy; 2. The Latin mainland: south Italian saints, Normans, Church reform and urbanization; 3. Greek saints in southern Italy: at Christendom's faultline; 4. Sicilian saints and Christian renewal; Part II. Pilgrimage: 5. Bridge to salvation and entrance to the underworld: southern Italy and international pilgrimage; 6. Pilgrims at south Italian and foreign shrines: origins, identities and destinations; Conclusion; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisReckoning with mass crimes perpetrated by an ideologically driven regime entails engaging in a thorough-going exploration of its utopian foundations. In the case of Romania, such an analysis requires an interpretation of the role of personality in the construction of a uniquely grotesque and unrepentant form of neo-Stalinist despotism. Of all the revolutions of 1989, the only violent one took place in Romania. Confronting its communist past therefore involves addressing the abuses committed by the communist regime up to its very last day, its failure to engage in Round Table-type agreements with democratic representatives, and the repression during the first post-communist years, a direct legacy of the old regime. This book shows how moral justice can contribute to a restoration of truth and a climate of trust in politics, in the absence of which any democratic polity remains exposed to authoritarian attack.Trade Review'Tismaneanu and Stan's Romania Confronts its Communist Past furnishes a signal contribution to our understanding of post-despotic justice and healing. Drawing on a profound understanding of the history and psychology of totalitarianism as well as a matchless grasp of the Romanian case, Tismaneanu and Stan shed light on why sound constitutions and decent economic performance are insufficient to consolidate robust democracy in societies previously rent by abusive rulers. Appearing at time when observers mull a post-truth and post-trust politics and when substantial portions of Western publics appear to be unlearning the lessons of twentieth-century nightmares, Romania Confronts its Communist Past reminds us that democracy's endurance rests on moral commitment and dedication to truth-telling no less than on workable institutions and technically competent officials.' Steven Fish, University of California, BerkeleyTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Judging the past in post-traumatic societies: Romania in comparative perspective; 2. Romania before 2006; 3. Coming to terms with the past in Romania: the presidential commission; 4. Reactions to the condemnation and political re-arrangements after 2007; 5. The report's aftermath: interpretations, polemics, and policies; 6. Romania and the European framework of dealing with the communist past.

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Book SynopsisFor the first time, Richard S. Grayson tells the story of the Dubliners who served in the British military and in republican forces during the First World War and the Irish Revolution as a series of interconnected ''Great Wars''. He charts the full scope of Dubliners'' military service, far beyond the well-known Dublin ''Pals'', with as many as 35,000 serving and over 6,500 dead, from the Irish Sea to the Middle East and beyond. Linking two conflicts usually narrated as separate stories, he shows how Irish nationalist support for Britain going to war in 1914 can only be understood in the context of the political fight for Home Rule and why so many Dubliners were hostile to the Easter Rising. He examines Dublin loyalism and how the War of Independence and the Civil War would be shaped by the militarisation of Irish society and the earlier experiences of veterans of the British army.Trade Review'Dublin's Great Wars exploits a wealth of sources to reconstruct the street-level impact of a decade of war and revolution which ultimately culminated in Irish independence. Ranging from Gallipoli to the General Post Office, Grayson skilfully illuminates the diversity of experiences and loyalties that characterised revolutionary Dublin's entangled military histories.' Fearghal McGarry, author of The Rising. Ireland: Easter 1916'Richard S. Grayson's masterly study shows that Dubliners' opposition to rule by the British ran deep – but so did support for the Crown. This is a penetrating and ambitious book that successfully reconnects the Irish Revolution with the First World War.' Gary Sheffield, author of A Short History of the First World War'This lively and detailed account of the military history of Dublin men and their families from 1912 to 1923 presents a convincing case for viewing the Great War and the military episodes in the Irish struggle for independence as a series of inter-connected 'Great Wars'.' Mary E. Daly, author of Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957–1973'This is an important and timely book, given its publication during the centenary of the Irish Revolution. Meticulously researched, in archives in Britain and Ireland, it neatly contextualises Dublin's experience of revolution within the experience of the greater World War of 1914–18,' Timothy Bowman, co-author of The British Army and the First World War'A powerful, multivocal account of a decade of violence in Ireland beginning in 1914…. This is a book of sensitive scholarship, one based on a deep knowledge of both the military history and the social history of the men who waged it … it is the best history we have of Dubliners at war, and, like James Joyce's 'The Dead', published in 1914, it treats them with the sympathy and compassion they deserve.' Jay Winter, H-Net'Written in a clear and lively style and resting upon very substantial research … an excellent and illuminating account of how conflict shaped Ireland's capital city during the Irish revolution and is bound to command the wide audience it deserves.' John Gibney, History Ireland'A very significant addition to our knowledge and understanding of the Irish revolution and should be read by everyone wishing to understand it more fully.' Padraig Yeates, Dublin Review of Books'His Easter Week chapters entwine the Royal Dublin Fusiliers' fighting at Hulluch in Belgium with the simultaneous uprising in Dublin.… Grayson's eye for detail lends these passages a cinematic flair, capturing the prayers of both Irish troops abroad and rebels back home as they prepared to go into their respective battles.' Matthew Kovac, LSE Review of Books'Dublin's Great Wars is a fascinating study of the history of Dubliners' wartime experiences during the First World War and the Irish Revolution … This book will appeal to those interested in the history of war and revolution in Ireland, the history of Irish involvement in the First World War and the history of Dublin.' David Durnin, CerclesTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Prelude: Dublin and conflict, 1899–1914; 2. Dublin goes to war; 3. Outbreak, 1914; 4. Stalemate, 1915; 5. Gallipoli: Helles; 6. Gallipoli: Suvla Bay; 7. Preparations; 8. Rising; 9. Falling; 10. Consequences; 11. The Other 1916; 12. Success on the Somme; 13. Snow and sand; 14. Attrition: 1916–17; 15. Learning; 16. Victory from the jaws of defeat; 17. War of Independence; 18. Crossovers; 19. Civil war; 20. Peace; 21. Commemoration; Conclusion: three men.

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Book SynopsisWomen of Fortune tells the compelling story of mercantile wealth, arranged marriages, and merchant heiresses who asserted their rights despite loss, imprisonment, and murder. Following three generations of the Bennet and Morewood families, who made their fortune in Crown finance, the East Indies, the Americas, and moneylending, Linda Levy Peck explores the changing society, economy, and culture of early modern England. The heiresses - curious, intrepid, entrepreneurial, scholarly - married into the aristocracy, fought for their property, and wrote philosophy. One spent years on the Grand Tour. Her life in Europe, despite the outbreak of war, is vividly documented. Another''s husband went to debtors'' prison. She recovered the fortune and bought shares. Husbands, sons, and contemporaries challenged their independence legally, financially, even violently, but new forms of wealth, education, and the law enabled these heiresses to insist on their own agency, create their own identities, anTrade Review'In this exhaustively researched and skillfully presented book, Linda Levy Peck recasts passive heiresses as active wives. Promoting their own ambitions and reshaping the families into which they married, these 'women of fortune' creatively re-energized elite cultures and pushed out the boundaries of female opportunity. Peck rightly and rigorously positions them at the very center of England's early modern social order.' Cynthia Herrup, J. R. Hubbard Professor of History Emerita, University of Southern California'Women of Fortune opens with the grim details of the murder of a noblewoman described by a peer as 'the most sordid person who ever lived …' and then explores a huge web of connection across a whole century and across city, county, and a continent, opening up the economic, social, and cultural dimensions of that web, seen mainly through the eyes of its wonderfully feisty female members. This book is as illuminating as it is evocative.' John Morrill, Professor Emeritus of British and Irish History, University of Cambridge'In this important book, Linda Levy Peck traces the fortunes of the descendants of two London apprentices who made good in early seventeenth-century London. The agency and enterprise of women are at the heart of her story, mostly merry widows making and spending money, travelling the continent, although in one unfortunate case, being murdered for their gold by the local butcher. Engaging detail and vivid personalities combine in a compelling account of fundamental transformation over a century and a half - of social mobility, new forms of wealth and credit, and improved opportunities for elite women.' Ann Hughes, Keele University'Peck charts the destinies of three generations of the Bennet and Morewood families. Sir Thomas Bennet the elder was the founder of the dynasty, earning a fortune in the cloth trade, enriching himself through Crown finance, and ending as Lord Mayor of London. Like Bennet, Gilbert Morewood was the scion of minor gentry who became a successful merchant and London oligarch. … One learns much about the rationale for arranged marriages, brokers and marriage portions … Peck is particularly effective in showing how female heiresses protected their inheritances, passed them onto their children, and crafted independent identities for themselves. The most compelling section deals with the grisly murder of Grace Bennet the elder, who was killed by a butcher in search of gold allegedly buried on her estate. Portraits of worthies and other reproductions of period art adorn the text.' D. R. Bisson, Choice'Levy Peck does a meticulous job of mining her sources, which include family papers, accounts, correspondence, company records, probate, and court documents. What is striking is that the Bennett-Morewood women emerge fully formed from the pages despite the fact that few to none of the sources are in their own words or voices. This book is a primer in how to bring women into a story even when that story was told and dominated by men.' Amy M. Froide, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History'Levy Peck's depth of research is outstanding, including more than twenty archives in the UK and US, bringing to light previously unpublished sources. Where correspondence for her main protagonists is missing, she has reconstructed their activities through financial accounts and lawsuits. Although the book focuses on a small number of elite women, it allows for much broader conclusions to be drawn, about the changing nature of financial opportunity and investment in early modern England, the persistence of elite ties to country and city, and the central role of women in harvesting and protecting property and inheritance for future generations.' Misha Ewen, Cultural and Social History'… this work is enlightening and exciting to read and provides an unusual and striking impression of the changing lives of three generations …' Margrit Schulte Beerbühl, Historische Zeitschrift'This book is a very good read … The author has painted a fascinating picture of this gallery of individuals, whose lives were so different in outcomes and yet had similarities.' Janette Rutterford, The Economic History ReviewTable of ContentsList of figures; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Family trees; Introduction; Part I. Money: 1. 'The Great Man of Buckinghamshire' The Lord Mayor, the Benefactor, and the moneylender: the Bennets; 2. 'My personal estate which God of his infinite goodness hath lent me' the grocer's apprentice: the Morewoods; Part II. Marriage: 3. 'The £30,000 widow' and Kensington House: the Finches, the Cliftons, and the Conways; 4. 'I was never one of fortune's darlings' city and country: the Gresleys; 5. 'One of the greatest fortunes in England' money, marriage and mobility: the Bennet heiresses; Part III. Murder: 6. “The most sordid person that ever lived' the murder of Grace Bennet; Part IV. Metropolis: 7. 'The Countess of Salisbury who loved travelling' from Hatfield House to the Grand Tour: the Earl and Countess of Salisbury; 8. 'A seventh son and beau major shall gain my Lady Salisbury' courting the Countess: George Jocelyn; 9. 'Diverse great troubles and misfortunes' losing a fortune: John and Grace Bennet; 10. 'Fortune's darlings' single women in Hanoverian London: the Dowager Countess of Salisbury and Grace Bennet; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the French Revolution, advocates of protection against foreign competition prevailed in a fierce controversy over international trade. They succeeded by portraying free trade as a British ideology and French free traders as traitors. This groundbreaking study is the first to examine this 'protectionist turn' in full.Trade Review'Reading David Todd's excellent well-researched monograph, I found it simply impossible not to think of the astonishing parallels between Anglo-French debates on free trade in the early decades of the nineteenth century and today's increasingly pressing arguments about possible British exit from the EU and France's parlous recent economic performance … Todd's concluding remarks give us much to think about. Protectionism after 1870, he suggests, contributed to the enduring stability of the Third Republic and arguably remained a force of stability in French society until its abandonment in the 1980s. Todd's contribution to the 'intellectual history of globalization' makes us realize that these issues are not about to go away.' Jeremy Jennings, H-France Forum'This is not a book of economic history but rather a history of economic ideas and political economy, namely, the debates that took place in France on international trade between 1814 and 1851 … This book is important insofar it shows a return to political economy in historical context without the abstractions and a-historical analyses of mainstream economic history.' Alessandro Stanziani, H-France Forum'Using a wide range of archival and printed primary sources in English, French and German, Todd provides the reader with an exhaustive analysis of the economic debates within France and stresses their connection with the globalizing economy of the nineteenth century.' Christopher Guyver, European History QuarterlyTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The reactionary political economy of the Bourbon Restoration; 2. Economists, winegrowers and the dissemination of commercial liberalism; 3. Completing the revolution: political and commercial liberty after 1830; 4. Inventing economic nationalism; 5. The contours of the national economy; 6. The Englishness of free trade and the consolidation of protectionist dominance; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

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