General and world history Books
McFarland & Company How the Telegraph Changed the World
Book Synopsis
£20.89
McFarland & Co Inc Stealing Sisis Star How a Master Thief Nearly Got
Book Synopsis While on honeymoon in Vienna in June of 1998, at the height of the tourist season, Gerald Daniel Blanchard, an accomplished thief, happened upon the greatest challenge of his life when he spotted the last remaining Sisi Star on display in Schonbrunn Palace. Named after its former owner, the Empress Elisabeth, the ten-pointed diamond and pearl star was originally one of 27 that the enigmatic Sisi wore in her extravagantly long hair. Despite the multi-layered security system protecting the priceless jewel, Blanchard decided then and there to steal it. The star remained missing for nine years until a team of Canadian police investigators launched a joint task force to bring down a criminal organization that had robbed banks, stores and ordinary citizens on several continents. When their chief suspect offered to reveal the whereabouts of the Sisi Star, the investigators realized they were dealing with no ordinary thief. But no one involved in the case fully understood the hi
£14.24
Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S. Queens Women Who Ruled from Ancient Egypt to
Book SynopsisThis tiny yet majestic volume introduces us to some 250 queens who ruled in their own right - who were crowned as the sovereigns of their countries or, in some cases, decided to crown themselves. It begins with queens of the ancient world and ends with those ruling today, encompassing along the way both household names, like Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great, and those who deserve to be better known, like Margaret I of Denmark and Ranavalona I of Madagascar. Each queen is represented by her portrait - painted, carved, engraved, or photographed - and an interesting fact about her reign. This Tiny Folio will be the perfect gift for the powerful women in your life.
£9.49
State University Press of New York (SUNY) The NonJewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews Suny
Book SynopsisThe author uses linguistic, ethnographic, and historical evidence to support his theory that the origins of Sephardic Jews are predominantly Berber and Arab.
£24.27
State University of New York Press Freud Psychoanalysis Social Theory The
Book SynopsisDiscusses the reasons for the decline of the cultural influence of psychoanalysis. Freud, Psychoanalysis, Social Theory explores the parallel decline of psychoanalysis which, as psychoanalysts themselves testify, has lost its position as a vital source for innovative cultural analysis and critique, and mainstream social science, which has for methodological reasons similarly abandoned larger interpretive goals. Theory in all domains faces a central paradox: it is easier for societies to absorb and contain the multiple perspectives and disparate intentions of people acting in the context of different social locations than it is for theorists from any perspective to explain credibly how it happens. Weinstein uses the conflicts between and among the many competing visions of psychoanalytic theory to suggest how this paradox might yet be resolved.
£22.96
State University Press of New York (SUNY) Time Is of the Essence Temporality Gender and the
Book Synopsis
£22.96
State University Press of New York (SUNY) A BUDDHIST HISTORY OF THE WEST STUDIES IN LACK
Book SynopsisA Buddhist interpretation of Western history that shows civilization shaped by the self''s desire for groundedness.Buddhism teaches that to become happy, greed, ill-will, and delusion must be transformed into their positive counterparts: generosity, compassion, and wisdom. The history of the West, like all histories, has been plagued by the consequences of greed, ill-will, and delusion. A Buddhist History of the West investigates how individuals have tried to ground themselves to make themselves feel more real. To be self-conscious is to experience ungroundedness as a sense of lack, but what is lacking has been understood differently in different historical periods. Author David R. Loy examines how the understanding of lack changes at historical junctures and shows how those junctures were so crucial in the development of the West.
£22.96
State University of New York Press Mill Girls and Strangers Single Womens
Book SynopsisA comparative history of single women''s independent migration to the textile cities of Preston, England; Lowell, Massachusetts; and Paisley, Scotland.In the nineteenth-century mill towns of Preston, England; Lowell, Massachusetts; and Paisley, Scotland, there were specific demands for migrant and female labor, and potential employers provided the necessary respectable conditions in order to attract them. Using individual accounts, this innovative and comparative study examines the migrants'' lives by addressing their reasons for migration, their relationship to their families, the roles they played in the cities to which they moved, and the dangers they met as a result of their youth, gender, and separation from family. Gordon details both the similarities and differences in the women''s migration experiences, and somewhat surprisingly concludes that they became financially independent, rather than primarily contributors to a family economy.
£22.96
State University of New York Press Three Spanish Philosophers Unamuno Ortega
Book SynopsisAn introduction to the thought of three major philosophers of twentieth-century Spain.This collection provides an excellent introduction to three of the most important names in twentieth-century Spanish philosophy: Miguel de Unamuno (1864?1936), José Ortega y Gasset (1883?1955), and José Ferrater Mora (1912?1991). The thought-provoking work of these great contemporary philosophers offers a rich and penetrating insight into human existence. Originally written by Ferrater Mora in the middle of the last century, his interpretations of Unamuno and Ortega are considered classics, and the chapter on his own thought reflects his mature thinking about being and death. Each essay is introduced by noted Ferrater Mora scholar J. M. Terricabras and contains updated biographical and bibliographic information.
£22.96
State University of New York Press Tale of Two Factions A Myth Memory and Identity
Book SynopsisReevaluates the foundation myths of two rival factions in Egypt during the Ottoman era.Winner of the 2003 Ohio Academy of History Outstanding Publication Award This revisionist study reevaluates the origins and foundation myths of the Faqaris and Qasimis, two rival factions that divided Egyptian society during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when Egypt was the largest province in the Ottoman Empire. In answer to the enduring mystery surrounding the factions'' origins, Jane Hathaway places their emergence within the generalized crisis that the Ottoman Empire-like much of the rest of the world-suffered during the early modern period, while uncovering a symbiosis between Ottoman Egypt and Yemen that was critical to their formation. In addition, she scrutinizes the factions'' foundation myths, deconstructing their tropes and symbols to reveal their connections to much older popular narratives. Drawing on parallels from a wide array of cultures, she demonstrates with striking originality how rituals such as storytelling and public processions, as well as identifying colors and emblems, could serve to reinforce factional identity.
£65.04
State University Press of New York (SUNY) Indian Critiques of Gandhi Suny Series in
Book SynopsisThrough examinations of Gandhi''s critics, both individuals and groups, this book shows the complexity of Indian society and opinion at the time of the Indian Independence Movement.Although Gandhi has been the subject of hundreds of books and an Oscar-winning film, there has been no sustained study of his engagement with major figures in the Indian Independence Movement who were often his critics from 1920?1948. This book fills that gap by examining the strengths and weaknesses of Gandhi''s contribution to India as evidenced in the letters, speeches, and newspaper articles focused on the dialogue/debate between Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Annie Besant, and C. F. Andrews. The book also covers key groups within India that Gandhi sought to incorporate into his Independence Movement-the Hindu Right, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs-and analyzes Gandhi''s ambiguous stance regarding the Hindi-Urdu question and its impact on the Independence struggle.
£24.23
State University Press of New York (SUNY) Through the Reading Glass Women Books and Sex in
Book SynopsisArgues that women''s relationship to books and their promotion of reading contributed greatly to the cultural and intellectual vitality of the Enlightenment.2005 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Through the Reading Glass explores the practices and protocols that surrounded women''s reading in eighteenth-century France. Looking at texts as various as fairy tales, memoirs, historical romances, short stories, love letters, novels, and the pages of the new female periodical press, Suellen Diaconoff shows how a reading culture, one in which books, sex, and acts of reading were richly and evocatively intertwined, was constructed for and by women. Diaconoff proposes that the underlying discourse of virtue found in women''s work was both an empowering strategy, intended to create new kinds of responsible and not merely responsive readers, and an integral part of the conviction that domestic reading does not have to be trivial.
£65.04
State University of New York Press Carnegies Model Republic Triumphant Democracy and
Book SynopsisExamines Carnegie''s book Triumphant Democracy and his efforts to promote closer ties between America and Britain.Andrew Carnegie (1835?1919) has long been known as a leading American industrialist, a man of great wealth and great philanthropy. What is not as well known is that he was actively involved in Anglo-American politics and tried to promote a closer relationship between his native Britain and the United States. To that end, Carnegie published Triumphant Democracy in 1886, in which he proposed the American federal republic as a model for solving Britain''s unsettling problems. On the basis of his own experience, Carnegie argued that America was a much-improved Britain and that the British monarchy could best overcome its social and political turbulence by following the democratic American model. He expressed a growing belief that the antagonism between the two nations should be supplanted by rapprochement. A. S. Eisenstadt offers an in-depth analysis of Triumphant Democracy, illustrating its importance and illuminating the larger current of British-American politics between the American Revolution and World War I and the fascinating exchange about the virtues and defects of the two nations.
£22.96
State University Press of New York (SUNY) Montesquieu and His Legacy
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£24.27
Baker Publishing Group - Baker Books Choosing to See
Book SynopsisWhen it first released in September 2010, Choosing to SEE stormed onto bestseller lists in every market, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CBA. With appearances on media from Focus on the Family to FOX and Friends to Good Morning America, Mary Beth shared her touching story to critical acclaim.Mary Beth''s story is our story--wondering where God is when the worst happens. In Choosing to SEE, readers will hear firsthand about the loss of her daughter, the struggle to heal, and the unexpected path God has placed her on. Includes a 16-page full color photo insert. 'Unbelievably accessible and undeniably honest.'--CCM'Mary Beth makes the deepest places of our being easier to embrace and grasp.'--Denise Jonas, mother of the Jonas Brothers'I couldn''t help but sense God''s presence in every sentence.'--Mary Graham, president of Women of Faith'You won''t be able t
£12.59
Baker Publishing Group The Big Book of LaughOutLoud Jokes for Kids A
Book SynopsisThree of Rob Elliott's popular joke books for kids in one hilarious volume sure to have kids of all ages laughing out loud.
£10.24
Baker Publishing Group 90 Minutes in Heaven A True Story of Death Life
Book SynopsisThis inspiring and encouraging account continues to touch and comfort hundreds of thousands of people around the world as it offers a glimpse of inexpressible heavenly bliss.
£11.39
Baker Publishing Group Stolen The True Story of a Sex Trafficking
Book SynopsisA dramatic memoir of an American woman who as a child was recruited, bought, and sold as a victim of the sex trade without ever leaving US borders.
£19.49
Fleming H. Revell Company More Than Rivals
Book SynopsisAn Inspiring True Story Set in the Midst of the Civil Rights EraBy 1970, racial tension was at a breaking point in the southern town of Gallatin, Tennessee. Desegregation had emotions running high. The town was a powder keg ready to erupt. But it was also on the verge of something incredible.Eddie Sherlin and Bill Ligon were boys growing up on opposite sides of the tracks who shared a passion for basketball. They knew the barriers that divided them--some physical landmarks and some hidden in the heart--but those barriers melted away when the boys were on the court. After years of playing wherever they could find a hoop, Eddie and Bill entered the rigors of their respective high school teams. And at the end of the 1970 season, all-white Gallatin High and all-black Union High faced each other in a once-in-a-lifetime championship game. What happened that night would challenge Eddie and Bill--and transform their town.This New York Times bestselle
£17.06
Baker Publishing Group More Crack Yourself Up Jokes for Kids
Book SynopsisHilarious one-liners, knock-knock jokes, and dozens of clever cartoons for kids ages 6-12.
£5.59
Baker Publishing Group 90 minutos en el cielo Una historia real de Vida
Book SynopsisEste relato inspirador y lleno de esperanza sigue tocando y consolando a cientos de miles de personas en todo el mundo, ofreciéndoles un vistazo de la inexpresable dicha celestial.
£19.14
Baker Publishing Group The Light and the Glory for Young Readers
Book SynopsisFrom the very beginning it would seem that God had a plan for America. From its discovery by Europeans to its settlement, from the Revolution to Manifest Destiny, from the stirrings of civil unrest to civil war, America was on a path. In our pluralistic world, when textbooks are being rewritten in ways that obscure the Judeo-Christian beginnings of our country, the books in the Discovering God''s Plan for America series help ground young readers in a distinctly evangelical way of understanding early American history.As young readers look at their nation''s development from God''s point of view, they will begin to have a clearer idea of how much we owe to a very few--and how much is still at stake. These engaging books bring history alive in a way that will inspire young people to do their important part in shaping this nation into the future.
£21.66
Fleming H. Revell Company 90 Minutes in Heaven My True Story
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Baker Publishing Group She Led the Way
Book SynopsisThis nonfiction book for middle-grade readers celebrates the contributions of 14 Black women in history who have had a profound impact on the lives of all Americans.
£10.44
Baker Publishing Group Becoming the Next Great Generation Taking Our
Book SynopsisBestselling author and frequent speaker helps today's youth understand the significance of the growing gap between generations and how they can best prepare to accept four life-shaping challenges that will empower them to become confident and capable adults.
£11.69
Baker Publishing Group Taken at Birth
Book SynopsisThe shocking true story of a baby illegally sold at birth and her relentless journey to find her birth family, help fellow victims, and expose the hidden secrets of the Hicks Clinic.
£16.19
Baker Publishing Group - Baker Books Kids Big Questions about Heaven the Bible and
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£12.59
Baker Publishing Group - Baker Books The Big Book of Life Skills for Kids
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£10.79
Baker Publishing Group - Baker Books Hiking Through One Mans Journey to Peace and
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Baker Publishing Group My Glimpse of Eternity
Book SynopsisIn this inspiring and bestselling true story, a young mom shares what she saw and heard while in heaven--and how dying taught her to truly live.
£9.49
Baker Publishing Group Born Again
Book SynopsisIn 1974 Charles W. Colson pleaded guilty to Watergate-related offenses and, after a tumultuous investigation, served seven months in prison. In his search for meaning and purpose in the face of the Watergate scandal, Colson penned Born Again. This unforgettable memoir shows a man who, seeking fulfillment in success and power, found it, paradoxically, in national disgrace and prison.In more than three decades since its initial publication, Born Again has brought hope and encouragement to millions. This remarkable story of new life continues to influence lives around the world. This expanded edition includes a brand-new introduction and a new epilogue by Colson, recounting the writing of his bestselling book and detailing some of the ways his background and ministry have brought hope and encouragement to so many.
£17.44
Baker Publishing Group Chasing the Dragon One Womans Struggle Against
Book SynopsisHear the amazing story of transformation inside Hong Kong's infamous Walled City when twenty-year-old Jackie Pullinger heeded God's call to ministry. Brutal hoodlums were converted, prostitutes retired, and addicts found freedom. Hundreds discovered new life in Christ.
£11.99
Baker Publishing Group The Life and Diary of David Brainerd
Book SynopsisIncludes a biographical sketch of Jonathan Edwards by Phillip E. Howard Jr. This intensely devotional diary of a young 1740s missionary in the American wilderness inspired the world missions movement.
£12.59
Baker Publishing Group They Were Christians
Book SynopsisWhat do Abraham Lincoln, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Louis Pasteur, Frederick Douglass, Florence Nightingale, and John D. Rockefeller Sr. all have in common? They all changed the world--and they were all Christians. Now the little-known stories of faith behind twelve influential people of history are available in one inspiring volume.They Were Christians reveals the faith-filled motivations behind some of the most outstanding political, scientific, and humanitarian contributions of history. From the founding of the Red Cross to the family crisis that drove America''s favorite president to his knees and cracked his religious skepticism, the fascinating stories of these faithful history-makers will inspire, encourage, and entertain readers of history and biography.
£14.32
Baker Publishing Group The Reason How I Discovered a Life Worth Living
Book SynopsisOnce a suicidal atheist, now a Christ-following rock star, Lacey tells her story of finding purpose behind the pain, sharing the many reasons for her hope and helping readers see how valuable they are to God.
£12.59
Baker Publishing Group The Mystery
Book SynopsisIn this deeply personal memoir, a Christian rock princess shares her journey of heartbreak and longing, from childhood through her current marriage, giving insights into why true love is difficult but worth pursuing and inspiring readers to think of love in new, healthy ways.
£16.95
Baker Publishing Group The Return Reflections on Loving God Back
Book SynopsisIn her bestselling narrative style, Christian rocker offers readers hopeful, inspiring truths about God's purpose for their lives, helping them see each day as a gift from God as they offer their unique gifts to him.
£12.59
Baker Publishing Group Gods Double Agent The True Story of a Chinese
Book SynopsisFormer pastor of a Chinese underground church tells the dramatic story of his imprisonment and escape as well as his tireless fight for freedom and human rights in China.
£13.49
Baker Publishing Group The Boy Born Dead
Book SynopsisCompelling story of a man who turned deep personal tragedy and the emotional and physical challenges of a severe disability into unexpected redemption and purpose, inspiring millions to overcome their own obstacles as a public speaker.
£18.77
Cornell University Press Prince of Darkness
Book SynopsisWhile recounting how past generations have personified evil, Jeffrey Burton Russell deepens our understanding of the ways in which people have dealt with the enduring problem of radical evil.Trade ReviewFascinating.... A history of the Devil taken seriously, in theology, folklore, art, literature. * Village Voice *Russell recreates the arcane images of good and evil we all once understood perfectly well as children. From the moment the cover is lifted on this beautifully produced book, the world darkens. Russell presents story after story, using them like a descending staircase, drawing us down into archetypal memories of unending battles with the Evil One. * Bloomsbury Review *There is probably no one alive who knows more about the lore of the Devil than Jeffrey Burton Russell.... He supplies colourful accounts of the pictures medieval folklore formed of the Evil One, and discerning sketches of the insights of poets like Dante and Milton, and novelists from Dostoevsky to Flannery O'Conner.... A first-rate survey.... Close-packed as it inevitably is, it reads easily, and each of its chapters is full of accurate and skillfully arranged information. * Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. Evil 2. The Devil around the World 3. The Good Lord and the Devil 4. Christ and the Power of Evil 5. Satan and Heresy 6. Dualism and the Desert 7. The Classical Christian View 8. Lucifer Popular and Elite 9. Scholastics, Poets, and Dramatists 10. Nominalists, Mystics, and Witches 11. The Devil and the Reformers 12. High on a Throne of Royal State 13. The Disintegration of Hell 14. From Romance to Nihilism 15. The Integration of Evil 16. Auschwitz and Hiroshima 17. The Meaning of EvilAppendixes Index
£38.70
MB - Cornell University Press Catholic Converts British and American
Book SynopsisFrom the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, an impressive group of English speaking intellectuals converted to Catholicism. Outspoken and gifted, they intended to show the fallacies of religious skeptics and place Catholicism, once...Trade ReviewA generally well-informed study of intellectual converts to the Roman Catholic Church in the Anglo-American world, spanning the period from Newman to the Second Vatican Council. Catholic Converts is a fascinating and well-written book which makes a strong case for the importance of converts in Roman Catholic intellectual life. * Times Literary Supplement *Until World War II, in both England and the United States, converts supplied the church's intellectual leadership. They were much better prepared educationally than the working-class immigrants who constituted the bulk of the faithful, and they were conversant with the surrounding non-Catholic culture. In Catholic Converts, Patrick Allitt ushers a fascinating cast of these converts on and off his stage: major figures like John Henry Newman, Orestes Brownson, G. K. Chesterton, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Marshall McLuhan, but also less well-known figures like Richard Simpson, a tireless critic of the temporal and spiritual claims made by the 19th-century papacy, and St. George Mivart, an expert in primate anatomy who criticized Darwin but argued his own form of evolution and was eventually excommunicated for his then-maverick views on everything from hell to church history. * New York Times Book Review *This volume is the first comprehensive treatment of the impact of British and American converts on the intellectual life of Catholicism from the early 19th to the mid-20th century. Allitt reviews the profound contributions of a wide variety of poets, artists, and intellectual converts—including such prominent figures as John Henry Newman, G. K. Chesterton, Isaac Hecker, Orestes Brownson, Evelyn Waugh, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton—who claimed that Catholicism was intellectually liberating despite its emphasis on tradition and its rejection of modernism. Elegantly written and well document, this volume represents an important contribution to Catholic studies. Highly recommended. * Choice *The century and a quarter before Vatican Council II saw quite a few American and British intellectuals enter the Roman Catholic Church. Through their writings, these converts, among them John Henry Newman, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Christopher Dawson, and G. K. Chesterton, affected the life of the whole Catholic community and in fact often far outshone their born-Catholic contemporaries. While their stories have already been told individually, as well as by others, Allitt considers them as a group. And what a diverse group then were: liberals and conservatives, contemplatives and activists, apologists, spiritual writers, historians, and literary figures all evaluated here in the context of the wider church and society. Written in a lively style, this is intellectual history at its best. Recommended for all general collections. * Library Journal *A scholarly and stimulating history of the impact made by gifted thinkers who became Catholics on both sides of the Atlantic between 1825 and 1962, and of the problems they faced in their new Church and in society. Generations of penal legislation in Britain and in many parts of the American colonies had left Catholics an uneducated, suspect group. Allitt traces the fortunes of a rich variety of scholars and literary figures who 'went over to Rome,' often in the face of social and professional ostracism. Allitt makes good use of the extensive scholarship available on many of these figures, adding his own incisive observations and showing how their work tried but failed to restore the cultural visibility that the Church had enjoyed in former centuries. * Kirkus Reviews *Allitt offers an informed evaluation of the converts' lives and works and situates them in the larger arenas of British and American cultural history. He makes a convincing case. He offers concise examinations of issues in theology, philosophy, literature, and the social sciences. * Journal of American History *Patrick Allitt argues persuasively that in the past even a small band of intellectual converts has had a decisive influence. Allitt convinces us that converts, never more than 3 per cent of the Catholic population, wielded tremendous influence. * New Statesman *Catholic Converts succeeds admirably at showing the rich transatlantic religious culture that emerged after the early decades of the nineteenth century.... This clearly written, well-organized, and carefully documented overview of Catholic thinkers succeeds in providing a broad and necessary reminder that vibrant intellectual traditions can and do exist.... From the early theologians... through the twentieth-century converts... and event the media guru Marshall McLuhan—not to mention the dozens of other Catholic converts that crowd the pages of this generous intellectual history—the reiterated themes are resistance to progress, affection for the pleasures and pains of tradition, and deep suspicion about a troubled modernity arriving with increasing speed and on seemingly friction less rails. * New England Quarterly *Engaging.... Making a complicated 'big picture' seem obvious is the mark of an accomplished synthesist and storyteller; and Allitt, associate professor of history at Emory University, excels at drawing connections, charting trajectories of thought and behavior and discerning patterns embedded in huge chunks of historical material. Part of the delight in reading Catholic Converts lies in watching him skillfully weave together the insights and findings of a plethora of secondary works with carefully chose illustrations and quotations from the novels, treatises and memoirs of the converts themselves.... Catholic Converts reminds us... that a significant and influential company of modern thinkers, caught up in 'the quests for truth,' found Catholic traditions compelling and indeed irresistible. Eyes and ears wide open to the claims of its detractors, they freely chose the church as their intellectual home and them set about drawing its institutions ever closer, in practice, to the ideals for which they had sacrificed their old lives and livelihoods. It is a remarkable story, and Patrick Allitt has done it justice. * America *Exhaustively researched.... Allitt's book is a fine example of intellectual history. It is thoroughly researched and eminently readable. He has a genius for resurrecting little known, forgotten, obscure, minor figures and showing how important they were in their own time. He is a scholarly detective in searching out amusing anecdotes about the historical figures who are his subjects.... Every chapter of this book is a gem. Each is massively informed and extremely well-written. * Cithara *
£62.90
Cornell University Press The Familial State Ruling Families and Merchant
Book SynopsisThe seventeenth century was called the Dutch Golden Age. Over the course of eighty years, the tiny United Provinces of the Netherlands overthrew Spanish rule and became Europe's dominant power. Eventually, though, Dutch hegemony collapsed as quickly...Trade ReviewSeldom have two hundred pages displayed such ambitious goals and achieved them with such a remarkable fluency. Julia Adams examines state formation and familial institutions in three early modern European countries: the Netherlands, France, and England. In so doing, she restores the Dutch experience to the centrality that it commanded in the seventeenth century. The book also suggests to national historians and historical sociologists that a narrow focus just cannot answer the big questions posed by the very histories so ubiquitously practiced by the current generation of one-nation historians. Comfortable being both genuinely comparative and firmly grounded in her own field, historical sociology, Adams further argues that the old categories deployed by historical analysis—state structures, class, religion, and patronage—cannot address the complexity of power without also addressing gender—more precisely, patrimony—as a force of immense historical significance.... This is a book that should now become required reading in every graduate seminar in early modern European history. It challenges us all to think outside the box that is the history of the nation, and it rewards such thinking with fresh insight into issues of gender, class, and state formation. It is a triumph. -- Margaret C. Jacob * Journal of Modern History *
£42.50
Cornell University Press Monks and Nuns Saints and Outcasts
Book SynopsisA new generation of historians today is borrowing from cultural anthropology, post-modern critical theory, and gender studies to understand the social meanings of medieval religious movements, practices, figures, and cults. In this volume Sharon...Trade ReviewA common feature of these studies is the full and helpful citation of primary sources combined with an extensive acquaintance with relevant scholarly work. They merit the careful attention of those interested in their subjects, and they inspire confidence in the judicious use of the approach that they adopt. -- H.E.J. Cowdrey * Oxford. English Historical Review *Its introduction and ten essays are well written and engage with wide-ranging and serious issues.... Their authors succeed in asking innovative questions and suggesting new approaches with a clear sense of the demands and limitations posed by the documentary remains that sustain their inquiries. -- Miri Rubin, University of London * Speculum *The volume's essays are important, original contributions. -- Robert C. Figueira, Lander University * History *
£97.20
Cornell University Press StateCulture
Book SynopsisWhat impact does culture have on state-formation and public policy? How do states affect national and local cultures? How is the ongoing cultural turn in theory reshaping our understanding of the Western and modernizing states, long viewed as the...Trade ReviewThis important volume... seeks to revitalize the study of state formation by allowing it to partake of the fruits of the cultural turn. In its ambitions this collection bears a strong resemblance to Peter Evans, Dietrick Rueschemayer, and Theda Skocpol's Bringing the State Back In of 1985, and its impact should be equally great... The richness of this volume's contributions should provide inspiration to all those who seek to reinvigorate the study of the state and state formation. -- Thomas Ertman, New York University * American Journal of Sociology *This book... is a serious and substantive addition to the literature, not only of states but also of cultures and economics. -- Robert K. Schaeffer, Kansas State University * Contemporary Sociology *This collection of essays examines the process of state formation in light of the ongoing 'cultural turn' in the social sciences....Such work is particularly useful to historians of education....Although the essays collected in State Formation after the Cultural Turn do not focus directly on the history of education, they can be used as a source of conceptual inspiration. They can also be read as a map of the social sciences: providing useful coordinates of our own position, clarifying the differences between relevant writers and approaches, and noting the direction of particularly useful interventions....This is a useful book deserving a wide readership. -- Pavla Miller, RMIT Melbourne * History of Education Review *
£97.20
Cornell University Press The Odd Man Karakozov
Book SynopsisOn April 4, 1866, just as Alexander II stepped out of Saint Petersburg''s Summer Garden and onto the boulevard, a young man named Dmitry Karakozov pulled out a pistol and shot at the tsar. He missed, but his unheard-of act changed the course of Russian historyand gave birth to the revolutionary political violence known as terrorism.Based on clues pulled out of the pockets of Karakozov''s peasant disguise, investigators concluded that there had been a conspiracy so extensive as to have sprawled across the entirety of the Russian empire and the European continent. Karakozov was said to have been a member of The Organization, a socialist network at the center of which sat a secret cell of suicide-assassins: Hell. It is still unclear how much of this conspiracy theory was actually true, but of the thirty-six defendants who stood accused during what was Russia''s first modern political trial, all but a few were exiled to Siberia, and Karakozov himself was publicly hanged on SeptemTrade ReviewThe Odd Man Karakozov is a subtle, challenging, and imaginative work. It deserves to be widely read not just by students of modern Russian history but by all those interested in modern political violence and its interpenetration with forms of subjectivity, art, and mass culture. -- Daniel Beer * Slavic Review *Verhoeven argues that modern terrorism began in nineteenth-century Russia... on April 4, 1866, [when] Dmitry Karakozov attempted to assassinate Czar Alexander II.... Verhoeven's thesis is comprehensive and thought provoking. She places the attempted assassination within the political context of social changes in Russia and other parts of Europe. She achieves this goal, incorporating the roles of Russian law, technological change, the emerging and competing media, and the advent of modernity. It is an outstanding analysis. -- Jonathan R. White * The Historian *Verhoeven's careful inspection of Karakozov's failed assassination of Alexander II reads like an extremely well-researched detective story. -- Lonny Harrison * Slavic and East European Journal *Verhoeven's powers of observation are formidable, her insights startlingly original, and her narrative masterfully staged on the level of the scene, the sentence, and the word. -- Lynn Patyk * Russian Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Transliteration, Translation, Dates, and Dramatis PersonaeIntroduction 1. From the Files of the Karakozov Case: The Virtual Birth of Terrorism 2. The Real Rakhmetov: The Image of the Revolutionary after Karakozov 3. "A Life for the Tsar": Tsaricide in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 4. Raskolnikov, Karakozov, and the Etiology of a "New Word" 5. Armiak; or "So Many Things in an Overcoat!" 6. "Factual Propaganda," an Autopsy; or, the Morbid Origins of April 4, 1866 7. The Head of the Tsaricide Conclusion: The Point of April 4, 1866Appendixes A. Dramatis Personae B. Individuals Involved in the Investigation and Trials C. The Karakozov Case, 1866–Present: Sources and HistoriographyList of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index
£37.80
MB - Cornell University Press Empire of Humanity A History of Humanitarianism
Book SynopsisFrom the 19th-century abolitionist movement to today's NGOs, a critical account of humanitarianism in world politics.Trade ReviewMichael Barnett... through careful historical investigation and analysis... deftly addresses key dilemmas whose roots run deep throughout humanitarianism's history but which are often attributed to contemporary emergency relief and development, including the tensions between humanitarian principles and politics, the effects of market influences on humanitarianism, and the nature of humanitarianism’s power over others.... Ultimately Empire of Humanity reminds us that while faith in the humanitarian imperative is crucial to realizing moral progress, the power of compassion can result in colossal failings. These failings, however, do not mean that humanitarianism is a hapless enterprise. Rather, they are the turning points that mark incremental advances, reform, and innovation that will enable humanitarian actors to not just be good but also to genuinely do good. -- Melissa Labonte * Political Science Quarterly *Michael Barnett'sEmpire of Humanity: a History of Humanitarianismprovides an insightful analysis of humanitarianism and humanitarian action focusing on its evolution and globalization especially after World War II.. This is thus a fundamental book for all those who work with humanitarian issues, both academics and practitioners, since it not only explores with rigor and detail the main trends of humanitarian action, but also because it sheds light on the most urgent and important challenges and dilemmas to be addressed when it comes to reinforcing and improving the international humanitarian system. -- Daniela Nascimento * Human Rights Review *One of the most striking features of world politics in the last 200 years was the rise of humanitarianism.... Barnett paints an expansive portrait of that ascent... [contending] that humanitarianism is a 'creature of the world it aspires to civilize,' rather than some sort of abstract ideal.... In making that argument, he includes rich details about the visionaries, missionaries, transnational activists, UN agencies, and democracies that intervened in such places as Nigeria, Cambodia, and Kosovo. -- G. John Ikenberry * Foreign Affairs *This is a history of humanitarianism—its ideas, practices, problems, and institutions. Whereas most other accounts of humanitarianism focus on recent initiatives, Barnett begins his historical account with the antislavery and missionary movements of the 19th century. He argues that humanitarianism has gone through three distinct stages: the imperial form (1800–1945), the neohumanitarian form (1945–89), and the liberal form (1989–present), with most institutional development occurring in the post-WW II era.... A strength of this study is that it critiques humanitarian initiatives in light of the historical conditions in which such activities take place. This nuanced, compelling book is strongly recommended. Summing Up: Highly recommended for all readership levels. * Choice *
£45.00
Cornell University Press Brokering Empire
Book SynopsisIn Brokering Empire, E. Natalie Rothman explores the intersecting worlds of those who regularly traversed the early modern Venetian-Ottoman frontier, including colonial migrants, redeemed slaves, merchants, commercial brokers, religious converts, and diplomatic interpreters. In their sustained interactions across linguistic, religious, and political lines these trans-imperial subjects helped to shape shifting imperial and cultural boundaries, including the emerging distinction between Europe and the Levant. Rothman argues that the period from 1570 to 1670 witnessed a gradual transformation in how Ottoman difference was conceived within Venetian institutions. Thanks in part to the activities of trans-imperial subjects, an early emphasis on juridical and commercial criteria gave way to conceptions of difference based on religion and language. Rothman begins her story in Venice's bustling marketplaces, where commercial brokers often defied the state's efforts both to tax Trade ReviewBrokering Empire is a dense and rich study of 'trans-imperial subjects', and the intermediaries who moved between Venice and the Ottoman Empire. Rothman argues that between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the way in which Ottoman difference was described in Venice evolved profoundly, from a legal and commercial conception to a more cultural one, based mainly on ethnicity, language and religion. But as she shows throughout this accomplished and stimulating book, identities were fluid, as was the way in which people interacted in Venetian society in the early modern period. -- Claire Judde de Larivière * European History Quarterly *Consistent in her anthropological method of working on institutional sites, Rothman creates a site, or rather, an archive of various texts and documents in which the term Levantine is used. From that site she then reads its Mediterranean genealogy of alterity. Throughout the book, Rothman's analysis is supported by extensive references and quotations from the sources, and several appendices, which all bring the sites of research and those who 'inhabit' them to the close proximity of the reader. -- Snjezana Buzov * Journal of Modern History *E. Natalie Rothman's important and groundbreaking book focuses on persons she dubs trans-imperial subjects. Focusing on the period from the Battle of Lepanto (1571) until the end of the War of Crete (1669), Rothman argues that persons who inhabited and negotiated the interstices between the Venetian and the Ottoman empires served as 'imperial boundary-markers.’ Brokering Empire is a model of careful research, especially in its subtle analysis of petitions and trial records. Very few first books challenge longstanding assumptions and accepted verities and make readers want to head straight to the archives to dig further. Rothman’s book does both. This is a book that deserves a wide and attentive readership, one not confined to those interested in the history of the Venetian and Ottoman empires. * Renaissance Quarterly *Rothman's investigation is based on an impressive volume of untapped Venetian primary sources and is backed by copious notes and a vast bibliography. Her incisive analytical approach and persuasive argumentation are combined with a vivid and colorful narrative, richly illustrated by biographical accounts of trans-imperial subjects. This is undoubtedly an important study, with broad implications for a reevaluation of early modern European history. -- David Jacoby * Sixteenth Century Journal *Rothman's work wonderfully illustrates a point that ethnographers and historians of race have come to understand in general terms, but that has a much wider significance and deserves a much broader audience.... Whether ancestral, religious, gendered, or ethnic, categories of difference are political constructs that those who do the categorising create and those who are categorised ultimately undermine. Therein lies the potentially liberating relationship between structure and human agency. Natalie Rothman's important and erudite book is a salutary reminder of that potential. -- Sally McKee * English Historical Review *The history of trade and diplomacy between Venice and the Ottoman Empire is quite in favor these days and an important contribution is made by E. Natalie Rothman.... Just as the First Crusade benefited the Byzantine Empire and set up what were called for a couple of centuries crusader states, so trade with the East through Venice, chiefly, rearranged political realities and relationships between people. * Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Note on Usage, Names, and DatesIntroductionPart I: Mediation 1. Trans-Imperial Subjects as Supplicants and as Brokers 2. Brokering Commerce or Making Friends?Part II: Conversion 3. Narrating Transition 4. Practicing ConversionPart III: Translation 5. Making Venetian DragomansPart IV: Articulation 6. Articulating Difference 7. Levantines: Genealogies of a CategoryAfterwordAppendixes Bibliography Index
£41.40
Cornell University Press Armed State Building
Book SynopsisSince 1898, the United States and the United Nations have deployed military force more than three dozen times in attempts to rebuild failed states. Currently there are more state-building campaigns in progress than at any time in the past centuryincluding Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Sudan, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Lebanonand the number of candidate nations for such campaigns in the future is substantial. Even with a broad definition of success, earlier campaigns failed more than half the time. In this book, Paul D. Miller brings his decade in the U.S. military, intelligence community, and policy worlds to bear on the question of what causes armed, international state-building campaigns by liberal powers to succeed or fail. The United States successfully rebuilt the West German and Japanese states after World War II but failed to build a functioning state in South Vietnam. After the Cold War the United Nations oversaw relatively sucTrade ReviewIn recognizing the complex nature of the subject matter, the author does a commendable job in advancing the body of knowledge in a meaningful way. His efforts certainly enhance the ongoing debate on how to best address conflict and post-conflict state building. Of special note, in appendix A of the book, Miller does an exceptional job in summarizing all United Nations- and U.S.-led state building interventions since 1898. This appendix alone is of value to a wide array of readers. As a complete body of work, this book is best read by conflict theory scholars, military and interagency professionals, international relations/affairs scholars and practicioners, developmental economists, and military historians. -- Dr. David A. Anderson (Lt. Col., U.S. Marine Corps, retired) and William E. Odom * Military Review *In this excellent study, Miller brings to bear scholarly rigor and his recent experience as the U.S. National Security Council's director for Afghanistan and Pakistan to assess U.S. and UN efforts to rebuild failed states through armed intervention. Drawing on evidence from such missions in Germany after World War II and more recent attempts in Nicaragua, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, Miller argues there is no master strategy that will work in all instances.... His book displays an admirable clarity in its evidence and analysis, although it is worth wondering whether powerful Western states can reliably behave as carefully as Miller advises. -- G. John Ikenberry * Foreign Affairs *Table of Contents1. Introduction2. The Myth of Sequencing3. Statehood4. State Failure5. State Building6. Strategies of State Building7. Five State-Building Case Studies8. ConclusionAppendix A: Case Selection Appendix B: Measuring Success and FailureBibliography Index
£33.25
