European history Books

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis instructive study examines how a transnational discourse on âmodernâ social policy â based the guiding principles of âactivationâ and an âactivating welfare stateâ â intervenes in the concepts and practices of citizenship. -- .Table of Contents1. The transnational quest for a new welfare paradigm2. From citizenship to citizenship in practice 3. The EU debate: gender equality in the EES 4. Germany – reservations and reforms5. The United Kingdom – teaching activation 6. Hungary – openness and rights without access 7. Conclusion: the activation of citizenship – transnationally negotiated References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThroughout history the English have been a warlike lot. Often we fight among ourselves - there have been a good few civil wars - and when we were not slaughtering each other, we practiced on our neighbours, the Scots, the Irish, the French . . . When that got too easy, we set off around the world to find other people to fight. This was usually done with a hubris that invited some ludicrous pratfall. In THE BEASTLY BATTLES OF OLD ENGLAND, Nigel Cawthorne takes us on a darkly humorous journey through some of our ill-advised military actions. From the war over a severed ear to a general seeking out his rival''s mistresses to even the score, it is a miscellany of insufferable arrogance, reckless gallantry, stunning stupidity, massive misjudgements and general beastliness.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the seventeenth century Bristol was the second city of England. It was the main west coast port, an internationally important entrepot and rich trading centre. Industry flourished, too, with manufacturing and processing industries like soap making and gunpowder production responsible for Bristol''s considerable wealth. In consequence, control of the town became one of the chief objectives of both armies during the civil war which raged in England in the 1640s. Beginning the war under Parliamentarian control, the city changed hands twice, with each transfer having a major effect of the war effort of both sides.This new study argues that when the Royalists captured Bristol in July 1643 they gained not only the city, but also the materials and facilities that literally allowed them to remain in the war. Under Royalist rule Bristol became a vital centre for military and government activities, as well as a centre for importing arms from Europe and becoming almost the alternative Royalist capital. The loss of Bristol in 1645 was therefore a huge blow to the Royalist cause. This book is surely one of the most important written on the civil wars in recent times. Its radical reinterpretation of the pivotal role of England''s second city will ensure it a place on bookshelves of anyone interested in the most turbulent years of the seventeenth century.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow religious belief and practice shaped daily life in early modern France.Trade Review"The Catholicisms of Coutances is the best in-depth study I have seen of Catholicism as it was practiced at the local level in the early modern period - in its breadth and detail no work matches it." Frederic J. Baumgartner, Department of History, Virginia Polytechnic and State University "The work is clearly written, elegantly expressed and conceptually challenging. It will be essential reading for all historians of Counter/Reformation France and indeed of Catholic Europe more widely." H-France Reviews

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe papers in this volume contribute to a more precise assessment of the interconnections between England and Scandinavia during the period from the establishment of the Danelaw to the Norman Conquest. The essays fall into three groups of concern: history, myth, and the language of poetry. Contents: Introduction: The Vikings and England; The Viking Policy of Ethelred the Unready; The Viking Policy of Ethelred: A Response; Ethelred II, Olaf Tryggvason, and the Conversion of Norway; Norse Mythology and Northumbria: Methodological Notes; Norse Mythology and Northumbria: A Response; Did Anglo-Saxon Audiences Have a Skaldic Tooth?; Skaldic Technique in Brunanburh; and Maldon As It Really Was. Co-published with the Old English Colloquium.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSoldier, hero, and politician, the Duke of Wellington is one of the best-known figures of nineteenth-century England. From his victory at Waterloo over Napoleon in 1815, he rose to become prime minister of his country. But Peter Sinnema finds equal fascination in Victorian England’s response to the duke’s death.Trade Review“The scholarship is impeccable, and the analysis both thorough and subtle; it is easy to read and full of useful and fascinating information.The Wake of Wellington should be read by anyone interested in the Victorian period.” * Victorian Studies *“Sinnema provides fascinating insight into the process by which an Anglo-Irishman assumed Englishness and was appropriated (with some whitewashing of his personal life, and despite his political reputation) as a quintessential Englishman, the embodiment of the English traits of ‘simplicity of character, common sense, and the veneration of duty,’ whose ‘death celebrations staged Englishness, London, and the [English] nation.’” * University of Toronto Quarterly *“Well-researched, well-written, well-organized, informative, and often entertaining.” -- Patrick Brantlinger, author of Dark Vanishings: Discourse on the Extinction of Primitive Races, 1800–1930“The funeral on November 18, 1852, of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, was less a laying to rest than an earthquake, exposing a range of fault lines in Victorian culture and producing aftershocks felt long after the event. These aftereffects are the subjects of Peter W. Sinnema’s The Wake of Wellington, which focuses on neither the illustrious man nor his lavish funeral, but on the cultural repercussions that followed in the wake of his death.” * Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines justice, nationalism, gender, and patriotism in Fascist Italy through the lens of a 1931 Administrative Court case related to surname italianization in Italy’s Adriatic borderlands.Trade Review"This book tells a fascinating story, one that needs to be told." -- -Nancy Wingfield Northern Illinois University "In the name of Italy offers a useful case study of the continuities found in the administrative machinery of Italian fascist regime and a provocative example of the politics of naming." -American Historical Review "The seven chapters of this volume, in addition to the introduction and conclusion, are followed by a list of thoroughly written bibliography and an index of names and important terms discussed, which make this book an indispensable research tool for both novice and expert scholars of the period." -Forum Italicum: A Journal of Italian Studies "I found this material to be both fresh and interesting." -- -Alexander De Grand North Carolina State University

Read more less

Book SynopsisRather than being a conventional regimental history, Fighting Tigers instead picks out fourteen classic actions and campaigns fought by men of the Leicestershire (later Royal Leicestershire) Regiment. These are some of the actions in which the bravery and determination shone through most clearly.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDr Sam Willis is a maritime historian and archaeologist, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is the author of the bestselling Hearts of Oak Trilogy and the Fighting Ships series.Trade ReviewExtraordinary... Seldom has the drama, chaos and stench of battle been more vividly evoked. * Daily Mail, 'Books of the Year' *Lively and wide-ranging... Willis manages to combine hard facts with fascinating anecdotes and pen pictures of the principal characters * History Today *Sam Willis does not just transcribe the precious, privileged sources he has discovered. He also locates them in the warfare, seascapes, and politics of their time. His vivid writing and the book's lovely design make In the Hour of Victory a pleasure to handle and a revelation to read. * Felipe Fernandez-Armesto *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffering an understanding of politics in fifth-century Athens, this title constructs models of Athenian political groupings to explain the rise of the 'new politicians', young men who launched a different kind of democracy by appealing to the citizenry at large.Trade Review. . . a valuable book, and written in such a way that its interest should by no means be limited to classical scholars.—Times Literary Supplement. . . a major, stimulating, and positive contribution to our understanding of late fifth-century Athenian politics.--J. K. Davies, Gnomon

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffering an understanding of politics in fifth-century Athens, this title constructs models of Athenian political groupings to explain the rise of the 'new politicians', young men who launched a different kind of democracy by appealing to the citizenry at large.Trade Review. . . a valuable book, and written in such a way that its interest should by no means be limited to classical scholars.—Times Literary Supplement. . . a major, stimulating, and positive contribution to our understanding of late fifth-century Athenian politics.--J. K. Davies, Gnomon

Read more less

Book SynopsisDesigned for students with little or no background in ancient Greek language and culture, this collection of extracts from The History of the Peloponnesian War includes those passages that shed most light on Thucydides' political theory--famous as well as important but lesser-known pieces frequently overlooked by nonspecialists. Newly translated into spare, vigorous English, and situated within a connective narrative framework, Woodruff's selections will be of special interest to instructors in political theory and Greek civilization. Includes maps, notes, glossary.Trade Review. . . the selections go much deeper than the standard collection of the best-known speeches . . . in Woodruff's work I see a clear thread going through important passages and making them accessible to the reader.--Alfonso Gómez-Lobo, Georgetown UniversityThis text is a very readable, modern, American English translation. It remains true to the original Greek. The introductory materials are useful, sane, and meet the needs of a wide range of undergraduates. Maps are easy to read and very useful.--Marie T. Gingras, University of Colorado

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisOriginally adapted for stage, Peter Meineck's revised translation features a general introduction and introductions to the plays. Detailed notes on staging, history, religious practice and myth combine to make a this a practical teaching text.Trade ReviewStorey's contributions are solid, and conduct the beginner clearly and logically through the various minefields of Aristophanic scholarship, without oversimplification. . . . The particular virtue of Meineck lies in the fact that he is a theatre director who has worked with these texts in an attempt to realize them for modern audiences. . . . His aim of producing translations ‘that are understandable, performable, accessible, and entertaining’ has clearly been fulfilled. --Keith Sidwell, Classical Review. . . lively and entertaining. It conveys the astonishing vigor of the original Greek, while keeping close to the text. The notes would be useful in the classroom. --Margaret E. Reesor, Queen's University

Read more less

Book SynopsisOriginally adapted for the stage, Peter Meineck''s revised translations achieve a level of fidelity appropriate for classroom use while managing to preserve the wit and energy that led The New Yorker to judge his CloudsThe best Greek drama we''ve ever seen anywhere, and The Times Literary Supplement to describe his Wasps as Hugely enjoyable and very, very funny. A general Introduction, introductions to the plays, and detailed notes on staging, history, religious practice and myth combine to make this a remarkably useful teaching text.Trade ReviewStorey's contributions are solid, and conduct the beginner clearly and logically through the various minefields of Aristophanic scholarship, without oversimplification. . . . The particular virtue of Meineck lies in the fact that he is a theatre director who has worked with these texts in an attempt to realize them for modern audiences. . . . His aim of producing translations ‘that are understandable, performable, accessible, and entertaining’ has clearly been fulfilled. --Keith Sidwell, Classical Review. . . lively and entertaining. It conveys the astonishing vigor of the original Greek, while keeping close to the text. The notes would be useful in the classroom. --Margaret E. Reesor, Queen's University

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe author of more than 70 plays, Aeschylus is the earliest of the great Attic tragedians. Of these plays, only seven remain. The "Oresteia" is his only complete surviving trilogy. Peter Meineck has aimed to translate this version of the "Oresteia" for the modern stage.Trade ReviewPeter Meineck's new rendition of the Oresteia is that rare and wonderful thing: a text accessible to the Greekless audience while still preserving the vocabulary of Aeschylus. Those of us who have seen Peter Meineck's performances have long marveled at his ability to turn Greek into clear English, how he does not do 'versions' of the plays, how he does not rewrite the ancients into modern jargon (even his comedies maintain more Aristophanic text than is usual). Here lines that students have always needed explicated stand clear. . . . Helene Foley has provided a fine introduction for this translation. Introduction and translation together provide an exciting text, one that should be widely read, widely used. --Karelisa Hartigan, University of Florida, in The Classical Outlook. . . a translation for the stage by an experienced man of the theater. Its virtues are very real, and, though Meineck makes them seem easy, very hard to achieve. The idiom is contemporary without yielding to the siren song of gimmicky updating; it manages to be clear without betraying Aeschylus’ complexity or sacrificing his intricate imagery. What makes it effective on stage makes it work on the page, too. With the added guidance of Helene Foley's characteristically intelligent Introduction and Meineck's own crisp annotation and full stage directions, this translation offers the most approachable and in many ways most communicative Oresteia now available. It will be the Oresteia of choice for many teachers and their students, as well as for readers interested in what makes Greek tragedy great theater. --Peter Burian, Duke University

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis new English edition of some of Sieyes' key texts is to be warmly welcomed. . . . Michael Sonenscher's scholarly Introduction is devoted to a discussion of different aspects of Sieyes' political ideas, rather than to a detailed examination of the texts themselves. He concentrates mainly, and quite properly, on Sieyes' concept of representation, which he analyses with sensitivity, linking it to Sieyes' concept of the nation, and distinguishing it carefully from the conventional view of representation held by the man in the street. . . . Sonenscher has researched widely and his allusions are original and stimulating. . . . [He] has done a good service in making these compelling and subversive writings more widely available. --Murray Forsyth, History of Political ThoughtThis is an invaluable contribution to the study of political thought. Sieyès was the most important political thinker of the French Revolution and one of the great theorists of representative government. Michael Sonenscher has made it easier for Anglophone readers to understand why. In addition to excellent translations, he provides a brilliantly original and illuminating Introduction to these fundamental texts. --Keith Michael Baker, Stanford UniversityMichael Sonenscher's edition of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes's political writings is, in effect, two substantial works in one. First, Sonenscher provides readers with a sorely needed English-language edition of Sieyes's work that goes beyond the frequently anthologized, but almost inevitably excerpted, 'What is the Third Estate?' With the addition of two contemporaneous pamphlets ('Views of the Executive Means Available to the Representatives of France in 1789' and 'An Essay on Privileges') as well as Sieyes's 1791 debate with Tom Paine, Sonenscher has crafted a scholarly resource that will remain a point of reference for some time. Second, by way of an introduction to this well-translated and annotated edition, Sonenscher offers a lengthy, ambitious essay that, drawing on manuscript sources, gives a fresh and equally overdue perspective on Sieyes's political thought. . . . With this edition of Sieyès's works, Hackett has proven once again that it is much more than a niche publisher of staid and inexpensive classroom editions of the classics in politics and philosophy. As readers of Hackett's editions of Bernard Mandeville (ed. E. J. Hundert), Edmund Burke (ed. J. G. A. Pocock), Niccolo Machiavelli (ed. David Wootton) and Charles-Louis Montesquieu (ed. Melvin Richter)--to name just a few--already know, Hackett is no country cousin to the higher profile series, Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, but is also reshaping and reinvigorating the discipline of the history of political thought. Sonenscher's edition of Sieyès's political writings is no exception. --Paul Cheney, University of Chicago, for H-France Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisStanley Lombardo's translation of Homer's classic work aims to offer the distinctive speed and clarity of his other tranlations.Trade Review"The definitive English version of Homer for our time." —The Common Review: The Magazine of the Great Books Foundation"Lombardo weaves his cherished idioms into important patterns of repetition and transformation so familiar to the telling of the Odyssey. . . . Above all, such familiar phrases serve to remind us of the oral character of the original Odyssey, providing the reader with an uncanny immediacy and relevance." —Christina Zwarg, The Bryn Mawr Classical Review"Lombardo has the simple gift of summoning up a Homeric flavor wherever he turns. He may even blend contemporary colloquialisms with an antique epic grandeur, and the effect remains unimpaired. As Lombardo tells us, he recites and performs, he impersonates the poem as if he were the bard. We follow, we explore, plunging into 'medias res'. Homer arises before him as an encompassing reality. Lombardo moves at ease through this Homeric world, without artifice or rhetoric, attuning his verse to Homer's composition. Homer is here a vindication of poetry." —Paolo Vivante, McGill University"Lombardo has created a Homeric voice for his contemporaries: fresh, quick, and verbally engaging to the modern ear, as the original was to the ancient. His characters come alive as real people expressing real feelings with urgency and verve. I very much like the language and the pace of this version, and would welcome it for classroom use." —Joseph Russo, Haverford College"What could be finer / Than listening to a singer of tales / . . . with a voice like a god's?' So Odysseus on the bard Demodocus. And the singer, the oral poet, the 'aoidos', is what Lombardo embodies in his Homer. With a line and a language hammered out in public performance, he has made a verse that can move his audience to tears and even to laughter. At first glance, the simplicity startles—spare syntax, the highest proportion of short words in modern English poetry, colloquialism in the saddle, sudden and direct contact with the matter. But then the wonders of how he works become evident. So much was already to be seen/heard in Lombardo's version of the Iliad. But his Odyssey moves beyond, its verse widening its range to everything in between tears and laughter, able to present a storm, a battle, a chiding, a fable, a tale, and a whine with equal deftness. No version of the Odyssey is more immediate. No version shows better one of Homer's essentials: the oral poet at work. The persona is there, and it's real." —Douglass Parker, University of Texas at Austin"Ever since the publication of Stanley Lombardo's extraordinary translation of the Iliad, we have been waiting eagerly for his Odyssey, and it has been well worth the wait. Lombardo has done it again: he has rendered the Odyssey into English just as accurate, as perspicuous, and as gripping as that in his Iliad. Students will probably be unable to resist reading it in great long chunks. Lombardo's translation is enhanced by Sheila Murnaghan's characteristically lucid and accurate introduction, which will be a boon to teachers of undergraduates (or even high school students)." —John Kirby, Purdue University"It sheds new light, guiding us through a psychology of language we understand in order to show us the shadows of something quite alien to contemporary, secular experience. The language is honed, so that event, object and emotion are revealed by a tone of voice, or a compressed stanza that draws out an essential element without the accompanying poetic distortions of romance. This translation delivers the goods without dallying in over-amplified academic considerations. Instead, the words retain a kind of artful weight, with the emotional stress intact." —First Intensity Magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis line-for-line translation of Aritophanes' famous comedy features an introduction that explores Old Comedy and the place of "Clouds" and Aristophanic comedy within it. The text is accompanied by extensive footnotes.Trade ReviewSince the appearance of Sommerstein's very successful literal translation less than twenty years ago, there have been at least five further new published attempts at rendering the play into English. It is certainly a bold enterprise to introduce yet one more translation onto the scene, but Peter Meineck has risen well to the challenge. The translation is straightforward and idiomatic, as well as well-paced and funny. . . Ian Storey’s Introduction is perfect for undergraduates. --Max Nelson, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewAn excellent translation, ideal for undergraduates. Readable and entertaining to a modern audience, Meineck doesn't make the fatal mistake of translating the humor with modern cultural equivalents--a mistake that has dated within years other translations of Aristophanes. Excellent notes and an outstanding introduction to Greek Comedy, Aristophanes, and Clouds by Ian Storey coupled with the superb translation will make this the edition to use in teaching for many years to come. --James A. Francis, University of KentuckyIan Storey's helpful 41-page introduction clearly introduces Greekless students to Old Comedy, to Aristophanes, to what is known of how it was produced, to the literary structure of Old Comedy, to problems of interpreting Aristophanes, and to the Clouds itself. The translation aims to serve 'both as a tool for the effective execution of onstage comedy and as an accurate reflection of the Greek.' With its excellent, well-chosen notes, helpful bibliography, and its affordable paperback format, the Meineck translation is clear, readable, appropriately accurate. It earns high marks also for cost-effectiveness. --E. M. Macierowski, Benedictine College

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis line-for-line translation of Aristophanes'' best-known comedy features an Introduction on Old Comedy, and the place of Clouds and Aristophanic comedy within it. Footnotes and more detailed endnotes further distinguish this edition of a play famous for its caricature of Socrates and of the new learning.Trade ReviewSince the appearance of Sommerstein's very successful literal translation less than twenty years ago, there have been at least five further new published attempts at rendering the play into English. It is certainly a bold enterprise to introduce yet one more translation onto the scene, but Peter Meineck has risen well to the challenge. The translation is straightforward and idiomatic, as well as well-paced and funny. . . Ian Storey’s Introduction is perfect for undergraduates. --Max Nelson, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewAn excellent translation, ideal for undergraduates. Readable and entertaining to a modern audience, Meineck doesn't make the fatal mistake of translating the humor with modern cultural equivalents--a mistake that has dated within years other translations of Aristophanes. Excellent notes and an outstanding introduction to Greek Comedy, Aristophanes, and Clouds by Ian Storey coupled with the superb translation will make this the edition to use in teaching for many years to come. --James A. Francis, University of KentuckyIan Storey's helpful 41-page introduction clearly introduces Greekless students to Old Comedy, to Aristophanes, to what is known of how it was produced, to the literary structure of Old Comedy, to problems of interpreting Aristophanes, and to the Clouds itself. The translation aims to serve 'both as a tool for the effective execution of onstage comedy and as an accurate reflection of the Greek.' With its excellent, well-chosen notes, helpful bibliography, and its affordable paperback format, the Meineck translation is clear, readable, appropriately accurate. It earns high marks also for cost-effectiveness. --E. M. Macierowski, Benedictine College

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhile preserving the basic narrative of the Iliad, this bare-bones abridgement highlights the epic's high poetic moments and essential mythological content, and will prove especially useful in surveys of world literature, and in Western civilization surveys.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents a Sappho by a master poet and translator that treats the fragments as aesthetic wholes, complete in their fragmentariness, and which is also, as the translator puts it: 'ever mindful of performative qualities, quality of voice, changes of voice...Trade ReviewThe four sections of this book [Introduction, Translator's Note, translations, Notes on Ancient Sources] work remarkably well together, presenting the fragments of Sappho according to 'the idea of the isolated message' (xvii). The dominant and characteristic interest shared by both Lombardo as translator and Gordon as introducer is their concerted effort to validate 'fragments as esthetic wholes' (xxvi). Lombardo's translations are pleasantly distinct from those of any other I am aware of both for their sonorous but straightforward rendering in modern spoken American English . . . [an edition] better both for its clear translations, and for the breadth and depth of the critical Introduction. Lombardo's strategy as translator is to convey not only the Greek by means of English, but also the experience of reading 'Sappho as a pure, received text' (xxvi) by means of direct, plain presentation of the poem . . . A unique and welcome contribution to the diversity of English translations available. --Travis Feldman, The Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewI have long been an admirer of Stanley Lombardo's translations of Homer, and I was curious to see how he would adapt his fast-paced, lively style to Sappho. He has succeeded admirably. His translation of 73 poems of Sappho is clear, energetic, and close to the Greek. Pamela Gordon's Introduction gives a lucid and useful guide for the non-specialist to the last fifty years of scholarly debate on Sappho. This edition will be particularly useful for instructors of courses in translation seeking an introduction to Sappho for the Greekless student. It is also a pleasure to read. --Laurel Bowman, The Classical BulletinGordon's Introduction is a clear summation of the poetic and scholarly aura surrounding the figure of Sappho and these literary fragments. . . . This essay, complete with selective bibliography at the end, could be assigned to undergraduates as a first introduction to both the poetry and the phenomenon of Sappho. . . . Lombardo's translations are lively and accessible; Sappho lives anew for the English reader. . . . Ideal for teaching at the undergraduate level. --Cashman Kerr Prince, New England Classical Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisFifty years after the arrival of Columbus, at the height of Spain''s conquest of the West Indies, Spanish bishop and colonist Bartolomé de Las Casas dedicated his Brevísima Relación de la Destruición de las Indias to Philip II of Spain. An impassioned plea on behalf of the native peoples of the West Indies, the Brevísima Relación catalogues in horrific detail atrocities it attributes to the king's colonists in the New World. The result is a withering indictment of the conquerors that has cast a 500-year shadow over the subsequent history of that world and the European colonization of it.Trade ReviewAndrew Hurley's daring new translation dramatically foreshortens that five hundred years by reversing the usual priority of a translation; rather than bring the Brevísima Relación to the reader, it brings the reader to the Brevísima Relación--not as it is, but as it might have been, had it been originally written in English. The translator thus allows himself no words or devices unavailable in English by 1560, and in so doing reveals the prophetic voice, urgency and clarity of the work, qualities often obscured in modern translations. An Introduction by Franklin Knight, notes, a map, and a judicious set of Related Readings offer further aids to a fresh appreciation of this foundational historical and literary work of the New World and European engagement with it. This is a splendid new translation of Brevísima Relación, the famous denunciation of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, written by Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas (1483-1566). . . . The Hackett edition of Brevísima Relación . . . has a lot to offer to undergraduates. . . . Knight's introduction to the text makes in fact for a compelling read. . . . Together with Knight’s ample annotations, which refer students to the most up-to-date secondary literature, it makes for a wonderful introduction to the history of Europe’s expansion into the Western Hemisphere." --Martine van Ittersum, Journal of Early Modern HistoryLas Casas comes alive in this version. The translator turns Las Casas' rough and rambling style, which has thwarted previous translators, into the Biblical tirade that Las Casas intended; the rambling becomes rumbling with these sonorous word choices. This will doubtless become the standard translation of the Brevísima Relación. --David Frye, University of MichiganThis is by far the best modern edition of the classic account of Las Casas. An excellent Introduction provides the background of the friar and the debates he engendered. Of equal value are the appendices with the royal legislation for protection of the conquered Amerindians, that are the true legacy of his polemical treatises. Excerpts from eyewitnesses of the conquest of Mexico provide students with food for thought and discussion. This is an excellent classroom edition that should be widely used." --Noble David Cook, author of Born to Die: Disease and New World Conquest, 1492-1650

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewSarah Ruden's translation is clear, lean, intelligent, and delightfully readable. The notes provide guidance without encumbering the text. This will be marvelous for classroom use, for reading aloud, or simply for reading for pleasure. --Pamela Gordon, Department of Classics, University of KansasThe translation moves along at a smart and elegant pace. . . . Ruden is clearly a writer with considerable skill in poetic expression. . . . [Sheila Murnaghan's] introduction does a good job of introducing the Homeric Hymns to a general audience and assisting the inexperienced reader in reading the longer hymns, in particular. [This] new translation will clearly fill a niche for a convenient and inexpensive translation of the Homeric Hymns into English verse. . . . --Roger S. Fisher, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewClear, inclusive, luminously helpful, the Ruden/Murnaghan Homeric Hymns is a text I'll use next time I teach my ever-expanding Mythology in Literature class. Introduction, translation, and notes are all of superior quality. --Rachel Hadas, Department of English, Rutgers University

Read more less

Book SynopsisComprising relevant selections from the four ancient writers whose portraits of Alexander the Great still survive--Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius--this volume provides a complete narrative of the important events in Alexander's life. The Introduction sets these works in historical context, stretching from the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War through Alexander's conquest of Asia, and provides an assessment of Alexander's historical importance as well as a survey of the central controversies surrounding his personality, aims and intentions. This edition includes a timeline, maps, a bibliography, a glossary, and an index.Trade ReviewThe translations . . . are rendered in clear, modern style. Romm's Introduction is fresh, mature, and insightful--one of the best brief synopses of Alexander's life and impact this reviewer has read in recent years. . . . Romm's carefully selected and well-translated passages from Arrian provide a vivid and cohesive narrative of the highlights of Alexander's career. Wherever there is a major discrepancy among our ancient sources, or wherever an alternate version seems to enrich Arrian's account, Romm relegates the variant source to his notes, thereby providing the enhancement without disrupting the main narrative. He has thus preserved the flow of Arrian's narrative, while also providing a commentary that alerts the reader to some of the pitfalls that mark any attempt to understand the course of Alexander's achievements. I highly recommend this work as a pedagogical component in the teaching of basic courses on Alexander. And even some battle-hardened advanced students, scholars of the Macedonian monarchy, and history buffs would benefit by the insights of Romm's introductory essay and the notes accompanying Arrian's text. --Eugene N. Borza, The Classical OutlookA refreshing new work which will no doubt open up a number of possibilities for undergraduate instruction. Romm has produced a comprehensive and well-organized reader. --Charles M. Muskiet II, Villanova University

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new volume of three of Euripides'' most celebrated plays offers graceful, economical, metrical translations that convey the wide range of effects of the playwright''s verse, from the idiomatic speech of its dialogue to the high formality of its choral odes.Trade ReviewDiane Arnson Svarlien's body of work means a quantum leap forward in the vibrancy and immediacy of classical verse drama. I first learned of her work when I was searching, madly, for a translation of Medea for a production I had been hired to direct. I sought out every published version. I tried to track down any unpublished ones rumored to exist. All the others were wanting; her translation was revelatory. Merely read her translation of the play, then read another. You will sense the difference. This is particularly true if you are a practitioner of theatre. --Patrick Wang, Director of Diane Arnson Svarlien's Medea in its world premiere at the Stella Adler Studio, and of the feature film In the Family, nominated for a Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award.The excellent Introduction by Robin Mitchell-Boyask displays an admirable command of up-to-date scholarship and judiciously leaves controversial matters open to one's own interpretation. Arnson Svarlien's verse translation has both elegance and power--it reads well, not just to the eye, but (happily for the director and actors) also to the ear. --Ian Storey, Department of Classics, Trent UniversityMitchell-Boyask's Introduction gives the reader a lively and accessible overview of Euripides' life, the circumstances of the original performances, and critical debate on the three plays. Footnotes to the translations provide students with useful background without over-burdening the text. The translations themselves are lively, vigorous, colorful, and direct, while remaining very close to the Greek; I laughed out loud more than once when I realized that, yes, this was exactly what Euripides had said. Arnson Svarlien has also taken care with the meter. Iambic trimeter, the 'spoken' meter of Greek, has been represented with iambic pentameter in English; but even in the lyric passages, whose meters do not translate into English, responsion within odes has been preserved. Yet all of this attention to such details of meter and accuracy sacrifices nothing in clarity or pace. Arnson Svarlien's translations are an ideal introduction to Euripides for students with no Greek and little knowledge of the ancient world. They remind me of why I love Euripides. --Laurel Bowman, Department of Classics, University of VictoriaTable of ContentsIntroduction; Translator's Preface; Maps; Alcestis; Medea; Hippolytus.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIncludes maps and illustrations, as well as a chronology of the Wars for Independence, suggestions for further reading, and a thorough index.Trade ReviewRarely has the story of Latin American independence been told so richly and with such a plurality of voices. Chambers and Chasteen have expertly woven a comprehensive yet accessible historical tapestry of primary sources to tell the story of the Wars for Independence. The editors recover fascinating, lesser-known voices--many of which appear in English for the first time here--and situate them alongside canonical sources in rewarding and surprising ways. This is an indispensable resource for students and scholars alike, and an invitation to critically rethink the multiple meanings and resonance of Latin American independence. --Christopher Conway, The University of Texas at ArlingtonThis magnificent collection gives voice to the many peoples--women and men, Blacks and Whites, natives and newcomers--who watched, fought, fled, and most especially put pen to paper as the Iberian empires broke up. All of them bring history to life. The introductions to each document, themselves valuable little essays, will guide even the untutored through the complex labyrinth of Latin America’s first revolutions. --Jeremy Adelman, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgements; Maps. Genealogical Charts. Time Line; SELECTIONS: Acusilaus; Aelian; Aeschylus; Andron; Antoninus Liberalis; Apollodorus; Archilochus; Arrian; Babrius; Bacchylides; Bion; Callimachus; Cleanthes; Conon; Cornutus; Critias; Diodorus of Sicily; Eratosthenes; Euripides; Fulgentius; Hellanicus; Heraclitus; Herodorus; Herodotus; Hesiod; The Homeric Hymns; Horace; Hyginus; Longus; Lucian; Lucretius; Ovid; Palaephatus; Parthenius; Pausanias; Pherecydes; Pindar; Plato; Plutarch; Proclus; Sallustius; Sappho; Semonides; Simonides; Sophocles; Statius; Theocritus; Theophrastus; Thucydides; Vergil; Xenophanes; Xenophon; Appendix One: Linear B Sources (by Thomas G. Palaima); Appendix Two: Inscriptions; Appendix Three: Papyri; Note on Texts and Translations. Names and Transliterations. Index/Glossary.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIncludes maps and illustrations, as well as a chronology of the Wars for Independence, suggestions for further reading, and a thorough index.Trade ReviewRarely has the story of Latin American independence been told so richly and with such a plurality of voices. Chambers and Chasteen have expertly woven a comprehensive yet accessible historical tapestry of primary sources to tell the story of the Wars for Independence. The editors recover fascinating, lesser-known voices--many of which appear in English for the first time here--and situate them alongside canonical sources in rewarding and surprising ways. This is an indispensable resource for students and scholars alike, and an invitation to critically rethink the multiple meanings and resonance of Latin American independence. --Christopher Conway, The University of Texas at ArlingtonThis magnificent collection gives voice to the many peoples--women and men, Blacks and Whites, natives and newcomers--who watched, fought, fled, and most especially put pen to paper as the Iberian empires broke up. All of them bring history to life. The introductions to each document, themselves valuable little essays, will guide even the untutored through the complex labyrinth of Latin America’s first revolutions. --Jeremy Adelman, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgements; Maps. Genealogical Charts. Time Line; SELECTIONS: Acusilaus; Aelian; Aeschylus; Andron; Antoninus Liberalis; Apollodorus; Archilochus; Arrian; Babrius; Bacchylides; Bion; Callimachus; Cleanthes; Conon; Cornutus; Critias; Diodorus of Sicily; Eratosthenes; Euripides; Fulgentius; Hellanicus; Heraclitus; Herodorus; Herodotus; Hesiod; The Homeric Hymns; Horace; Hyginus; Longus; Lucian; Lucretius; Ovid; Palaephatus; Parthenius; Pausanias; Pherecydes; Pindar; Plato; Plutarch; Proclus; Sallustius; Sappho; Semonides; Simonides; Sophocles; Statius; Theocritus; Theophrastus; Thucydides; Vergil; Xenophanes; Xenophon; Appendix One: Linear B Sources (by Thomas G. Palaima); Appendix Two: Inscriptions; Appendix Three: Papyri; Note on Texts and Translations. Names and Transliterations. Index/Glossary.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIncludes introduction and notes by Robin Mitchell-Boyask.Trade ReviewDiane Arnson Svarlien's body of work means a quantum leap forward in the vibrancy and immediacy of classical verse drama. I first learned of her work when I was searching, madly, for a translation of Medea for a production I had been hired to direct. I sought out every published version. I tried to track down any unpublished ones rumored to exist. All the others were wanting; her translation was revelatory. Merely read her translation of the play, then read another. You will sense the difference. This is particularly true if you are a practitioner of theatre.--Patrick Wang, Director of Diane Arnson Svarlien's Medea in its world premiere at the Stella Adler Studio, and of the feature film In the Family,nominated for a "Best First Feature" Independent Spirit Award. Retrieved from monkeyatatypewriter.com.Fluid, lively, and accurate! --Amy Vail, Department of Classics, Baylor UniversityTable of ContentsIntroducton; Translator's Preface; Maps; Medea; Endnotes & Comments on the Text; Select Bibliography.

Read more less

Book Synopsis[Wolpert and Kapparis''s] anthology . . . stands apart in a number of key ways. Virtually all of the translations, which are of very high quality, are new for this volume. . . . Each of the introductions to the individual speeches is accompanied by a convenient outline, entitled Key Information'', of the important details about the dispute; this feature will be particularly welcome to undergraduates and other beginners, for whom Athenian forensic speeches often present at first glance a welter of soap opera-like complexity. In the summary that precedes Against Neaera, for example, the subheadings include ''Speaker'', Supporting Speaker'', ''Defendant'', Other Individuals'' (particularly helpful), Action'', ''Penalty'' and Date''. Having this information collected in one handy location is very useful indeed. One minor yet remarkably useful feature is that [Wolpert and Kapparis] have placed all cross-references to speeches included in the collection in bold typeface. TTrade ReviewAn excellent, wide-ranging collection of Athenian speeches illuminating central topics of political, social, and legal history, including male and female sexuality, the ancient economy, Greek law, and major episodes of civic strife. Both accurate and faithful to the orators’ prose style, Wolpert and Kapparis’ new translations come accompanied by informative introductions and notes, a glossary of legal terms, and a helpful bibliography. Highly recommended for courses in the history of classical Athens, ancient rhetoric, and Greek law. --Robert W. Wallace, Northwestern UniversityThis collection offers a broad range of law court speeches from ancient Athens, including both those speeches addressing what we might call 'criminal' matters--homicide, assault, and so on--and those dealing with political matters. The translations are excellent, and the annotation learned. --David Mirhady, Simon Fraser University"A very thoughtful selection of speeches. . . . The translations are clear and accurate. The introductory notes are wonderfully helpful—written to be accessible to students but with insights that will be appreciated by specialists." --Josiah Ober, Stanford University

Read more less

Book SynopsisDesigned for use in various undergraduate courses focused on ancient Greece, this collection offers translations of the twelve legal speeches - including Lysias 1; Aeschines 1; and Demosthenes 21, 54, and 59 - useful for the study of classical Athenian social and cultural history.Trade ReviewAn excellent, wide-ranging collection of Athenian speeches illuminating central topics of political, social, and legal history, including male and female sexuality, the ancient economy, Greek law, and major episodes of civic strife. Both accurate and faithful to the orators’ prose style, Wolpert and Kapparis’ new translations come accompanied by informative introductions and notes, a glossary of legal terms, and a helpful bibliography. Highly recommended for courses in the history of classical Athens, ancient rhetoric, and Greek law. --Robert W. Wallace, Northwestern UniversityThis collection offers a broad range of law court speeches from ancient Athens, including both those speeches addressing what we might call 'criminal' matters--homicide, assault, and so on--and those dealing with political matters. The translations are excellent, and the annotation learned. --David Mirhady, Simon Fraser University"A very thoughtful selection of speeches. . . . The translations are clear and accurate. The introductory notes are wonderfully helpful—written to be accessible to students but with insights that will be appreciated by specialists." --Josiah Ober, Stanford University

Read more less