History and Archaeology Books

Book SynopsisThis early thirteenth-century West Midlands guide for women recluses is not only one of the major works of early Middle English prose, but is also a key document for the development of medieval spirituality.Trade ReviewIt is a text that all students of English Literature should read but which few could in its original language, making a good modern translation an essential to the work’s modern dissemination. Bella Millett’s new translation is extremely valuable for this reason alone, but it is an additional boon in being the fruit of many years’ research on the original Middle English manuscripts by the current leading scholar in the field of Ancrene Wisse studies. Such helpful tools, coupled with the very readable lucid prose in which the entire translation and commentary have been rendered will no doubt be greeted with thanks from the students and non-specialists whom this translation is meant to serve, as well as from the specialists who now have an exceptionally well done translation to use in their classrooms. * English Studies Vol.92, No. 4, pp.464-475 *Table of ContentsPreface to this edition Introduction 1. Ancrene Wisse and its Contexts 2. Sources and Analogues 3. The Form of the Work 4. The Textual History of Ancrene Wisse 5. This Translation Guide for Anchoresses Preface Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Explanatory Notes Bibliography 1. A Note on Further Reading 2. Abbreviations and Short Titles 3. Editions and Secondary Works General Index Scriptural Quotations Index

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Book SynopsisAgainst Nazi dictatorship,the disillusionment of Weimar, and Christian austerity, Hermann Hesse’s stories inspired a nonconformist yearning for universal values to supplant fanaticism in all its guises. He reenters our world through Gunnar Decker’s biography—a champion of spiritual searching in the face of mass culture and the disenchanted life.Trade ReviewShows that Hesse’s life was an uneasy compromise between his spiritual absolutism, which pushed him in the direction of irascible isolation, and his human needs, which encumbered him with wives, children, and houses that he never quite wanted or accepted. -- Adam Kirsch * New Yorker *Decker’s wonderfully rich, insightful biography is a welcome reminder of Hesse’s painfully honest exploration of selfhood and is destined to become the standard work on this difficult, reclusive and often self-destructive writer. -- P. D. Smith * The Guardian *Gunnar Decker’s smartly written biography of Hermann Hesse captures the turbulent inner life and stubborn individuality which gave rise to such innovative and widely read novels as Demian, Steppenwolf, and The Glass Bead Game. Weaving in a wealth of sources, Decker unfolds the story of Hesse as the self-styled outsider and his engagement with the great conflicts of his age. In Peter Lewis’s sprightly translation, this outstanding biography will surely rekindle the enthusiasm of readers who witnessed the so-called Hesse boom of the sixties and seventies while also attracting new admirers. -- Mark Harman, translator of The Castle by Franz Kafka and of Soul of the Age: Selected Letters of Hermann Hesse, 1891–1962Will likely be the definitive biography…Decker restores depth and context to an author much maligned in his own time and much misinterpreted by later eras. * Publishers Weekly *Top-notch…A masterful, penetrating biography…that deserves the accolade ‘definitive.’…Decker lays bare Hesse’s complex, contradictory personality, his all-consuming dedication to the creative life, his tormented relationships with women, and the cultural and political forces that found their ways into his works…A richly detailed and supremely sensitive portrayal of an artist obsessed with the ‘terrible and magnificent’ act of creation. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *Will not be superseded for some time. * Library Journal *The definitive English-language account of Hesse’s life…Decker makes clear that Hesse’s restless soul was the basis of his books, which spoke to many people around the world. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisGareth Jones (1905-1934), the young Welsh investigative journalist, is revered in Ukraine as a national hero and is now rightly recognised as the first reporter to reveal the horror of the Holodomor, the Soviet Government-induced famine of the early 1930s, which killed millions of Ukrainians. Gareth Jones - Eyewitness to the Holodomor is a meticulous study of the efforts made by the the Aberystwyth and Cambridge-educated journalist, a fluent Russian-speaker, to investigate the Soviet Government’s denials, that its Five Year Plan had led to mass starvation, by visiting Ukraine in 1933 and reporting what he saw and witnessed: `I walked along through villages and twelve collective farms. Everywhere was the cry, “There is no bread. We are dying”’. Determined to alert the world to the suffering in Ukraine and to expose Stalin’s policies and prejudices towards the Ukrainian people, Jones published numerous articles in the UK (The Times, Daily Express and Western Mail) and the USA (New York Evening News and Chicago Daily News) with headlines such as `Famine Grips Russia. Millions Dying’, but soon saw his credibility and integrity attacked and denigrated by Soviet sympathizers, most famously by Moscow-based Walter Duranty of the New York Times. Gareth Jones was killed by bandits the following year, on the eve of his 30th birthday, whilst travelling in Japanese-controlled China. There remain strong suspicions that Jones’ murder was arranged by the Soviets in revenge for his eyewitness reporting which brought global attention to the Holodomor.Trade Review'This excellent book serves as a warning to journalists not to be taken in by official sources and political ideology but to report what they actually learn through their own efforts. Gamache deserves commendation for his research and careful reconstruction of Jones' reportorial journeys.' Prof. Maurine H. Beasley, College of Journalism, Univ. of Maryland; '...meticulously researched book [that] returns Gareth Jones to his rightful status, as one of the most outstanding journalists of his generation, in a tumultuous era that depended upon honest journalism as its main source of news.' Nigel Linsan Colley, www.garethjones.org; 'Extraordinary...Jones' articles...caused a small sensation...Because [his] notebooks record immediate impressions and describe events as they were happening, they have an unusual freshness...in the past two decades, the fate of the two journalists has been slowly reversed. Duranty's work has become controversial; in 2003, the Pulitzer committee debated whether to retrospectively withdraw his prize...[whilst] Jones' reputation has revived thanks to the Ukrainian government's broader efforts to tell the history of the famine...the establishment of a Ukrainian state simply makes Jones seem less marginal, more central, more important. Anne Applebaum, The New York ReviewTable of Contents1. `Famine Rules Russia’ 2. `Alone in an Unknown Country’ 3. `The Two Russias’ 4. `We are starving’ 5. `The hunger year’ 6. `Philological Sophistries’ 7. `There is no bread’ (`Hleba Nietu’) 8. `All are swollen’ (`Vse Pukhli’) 9. `Facts are stubborn things’ 10. `Hero of the Ukraine’

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Book SynopsisArthur McKeown examines newly revealed Tibetan and Chinese biographies of Sariputra and a collection of historical documents in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. These sources point to a fundamental reconsideration of later Indian Buddhism, its relationship with Brahmanism and Islam, and its enduring importance throughout Asia.

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Book SynopsisJonas of Bobbio was an Italian monk, author, and abbot, active in Lombard Italy and Merovingian Gaul during the seventh century. He is best known as the author of the Life of Columbanus and His Disciples, one of the most important works of hagiography from the early medieval period, that charts the remarkable journey of the Irish exile and monastic founder, Columbanus (d. 615), through Western Europe, as well as the monastic movement initiated by him and his Frankish successors in the Merovingian kingdoms. In the years following Columbanus’s death numerous new monasteries were built by his successors and their elite patrons in Francia that decisively transformed the inter-relationship between monasteries and secular authorities in the Early Middle Ages. Jonas also wrote two other, occasional works set in the late fifth and sixth centuries: the Life of John, the abbot and founder of the monastery of Réomé in Burgundy, and the Life of Vedast, the first bishop of Arras and a contemporary of Clovis. Both works provide perspectives on how the past Gallic monastic tradition, the role of bishops, and the Christianization of the Franks were perceived in Jonas’s time. Jonas’s hagiography also provides important evidence for the reception of classical and late antique texts as well as the works of Gregory the Great and Gregory of Tours.This volume presents the first complete English translation of all of Jonas of Bobbio’s saints’ Lives with detailed notes and scholarly introduction that will be of value to all those interested in this period.Trade ReviewReviews 'There is a richness to the material which O'Hara and Wood have done us a great service in making more accessible.' Jamie Kreiner, The Medieval Review'This book is a timely and meaningful contribution to the scholarship on Merovingian Gaul. It is important not only for its accessible translation of a large and difficult corpus of works set against a complicated historical and textual background, but also for its clear synthesis of current scholarship. Finally, it elegantly succeeds in navigating the “Irish” vs. “Frankish” controversy, which seems to have reawakened of late.' Yaniv Fox, Speculum'This very welcome new translation is also a highly sophisticated scholarly edition. It is particularly rich in bibliography, with an extensive listing of virtually all the secondary literature on Columban and his times.' Terrence Kardong, American Benedictine Review 'This very welcome addition to Liverpool University Press’s Translated Texts for Historians more than lives up to expectations for this esteemed book series [...] Alexander O’Hara and Ian Wood’s volume will be an essential companion for its valuable introduction, detailed footnotes, half-dozen appendices, up-to-date bibliography, and, not least of all, high-quality translation of Jonas’s often challenging Latin. [...] In sum, this is an important book, not only for the early medieval texts it makes available to a much wider potential readership but also for the exceptional scholarship that went into the presentation and translation of those texts.'Westley Follett, Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies‘Whatever the final outcome of contemporary debates about Columbanus, ‘Columbanian Monasticism’, and the influence of the Irish in continental Europe in the early Middle Ages, this volume will provide invaluable evidence (for both sides!) for many years to come.’ Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Europe'The publication of an erudite, readable, and heavily annotated translation of Jonas of Bobbio’s hagiographical corpus is a cause for celebration. Although one of the recognized classics of seventh-century hagiography, Jonas’s Vita Columbani until now has not been available in an unabridged English translation, while the comparatively brief lives of John of Réomé and Vedast appear for the very first time in English. [...] O’Hara and Wood thus have produced not only an invaluable teaching resource, but a significant contribution to the new wave of Columbanian studies.' Gregory I. Halfond, The Mediæval JournalTable of ContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroduction1. The works of Jonas of Bobbio.2. Francia in the Days of Columbanus.3. The Gallic Church of the Late Sixth Century.4. Columbanus and his ascetic exile to the continent.5. Columbanus’s legacy.6. Jonas of Bobbio: an Italian monk in Merovingian Gaul.7. The manuscripts of the Life of Columbanus and the structure of the text.8. Jonas the hagiographer and his Christian sources.9. The Second Book of the Life of Columbanus and his Disciples.10. Language and Style.11. Jonas’s Life of John.12. The Life of Vedast of Arras. Author and text.13. Conclusion - the influence of Jonas’s hagiography.14. A note on the text and translations of the Life of Columbanus.Jonas, The Life of Columbanus. Book I. Verses and Hymn. Book II.Jonas, The Life of John.Jonas (?), The Life of Vedast.Appendices1. Textual Variants.2. Distribution of Biblical Quotations.3. Parallels between Regula cuiusdam ad virgines and Jonas’s hagiographical works.4. Three diplomas associated with Bobbio and Faremoutiers in the time of Jonas.BibliographyMaps1. Ireland in the Days of Columbanus,2. Francia, c. 590.3. Burgundy c. 590-610.4. Luxeuil and its environs.5. Francia, c.610.6. Early Columbanian foundations.7. The World of Jonas.8. The World of the Life of Vedast.9. Arras in the Merovingian period.

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Book SynopsisMichael Fisher holds the Robert S. Danforth Chair in History at Oberlin College and in 2007 was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award for Social Sciences by Oberlin.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. From Central Asia into the Alien Land of India 2. Establishment of the Mughal Indian Empire 3. Efflorescence of the Imperial Court 4. Building up the Empire 5. Expanding the Frontiers and Facing Challenges 6. Hollowing Out the Imperial System 7. Vestiges of Imperium 8. Contested Meanings of the Mughal Empire Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisEach of the three volumes of this magisterial work provides a comprehensive picture of the realities of Jewish life in the Polish lands in the period it covers, while also considering the contemporary political, economic, and social context. Volume I: 1350 to 1881 provides a wide-ranging overview down to the mid-eighteenth century, including social, economic, and religious history. The period from 1764 to 1881 is covered in more detail, with attention focused on developments in each country in turn, especially with regard to the politics of emancipation, acculturation, assimilation, and forced integration. Volume II: 1881 to 1914 explores the factors that had a negative impact on Jewish life as well as the political and cultural movements that developed in consequence: Zionism, socialism, autonomism, the emergence of modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature, Jewish urbanization, and the rise of popular Jewish culture. Galicia, Prussian Poland, the Kingdom of Poland, and the tsarist empire are all treated individually, as are the main cities. Volume III: 1914 to 2008 covers the interwar period, the Second World War, and the Holocaust, including Polish–Jewish relations and the Soviet record on the Holocaust. A survey of developments since 1945 concludes with an epilogue on the situation of the Jews since the collapse of communism.Trade Review'Polonsky's sweeping study offers an illuminating, accessible view of Jewish life in eastern Euope since the end of World War II. In elegant prose, the author engages major historiographical issues while analyzing important cultural, religious, social, and political trends among eastern European Jewry. He carefully frames each section with a chapter-long overview of the relevant historical context for the following chapters . . . Throughout, Polonsky masterfully navigates the different realms of a turbulent eastern European Jewish world, conveying both the richness of its history and the tragedy of its destruction. Highly recommended.'J. Haus, Choice'Succeeds admirably. Simply put, these volumes are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in East European history or for anyone looking for a scholarly assessment of a particular feature of Polish or Russian Jewish history. Handsomely produced, with extensive maps and tables, and a glossary . . . will remain a standard work in the field for some time . . . a body of work that, in summarizing the current state of our knowledge, effectively sets the agenda for future scholars. Polonsky is perhaps the scholar most responsible for the growth of Polish Jewish studies in the late twentieth century . . Very few historians could write a series of volumes like this . . . [he] has armed scholars with a formidable tool that will help them dispel stereotypes . . . Just as these volumes are destined to become the starting point for the work of many students, they will be the touchstone for scholars working in the field at all levels.' Sean Martin, European History Quarterly'Combines a masterful grasp of Jewish history with that of eastern Europe. While underlining the unique features and achievements of the Jewish communal experience he authoritatively integrates them into the history of the countries in which Jews lived . . . Incorporating current, ground-breaking scholarship from North America, Israel, and Europe these beautifully narrated volumes should not only be seen as a staple of university courses, but also as a must-read for anyone attempting to understand any aspect of modern Jewish history and religious tradition, wherever it may be playing out . . . With this extremely important book, Antony Polonsky not only writes history but, following the example of his illustrious predecessors, makes it.' Katarzyna Person, European Judaism'We can only commend Antony Polonsky for his massive effort to explain seven centuries of Jewish history in a mere 2,000 pages . . . Polonsky's strength lies in his ability to illuminate intellectual and cultural developments . . . Because of the excellent bibliographies, extensive annotation, and wonderful maps included in each volume, any reader wishing to read in greater detail about Polish and Russian Jewry will have plenty of resources to enable the search.' Alexandra S. Korros, Jewish Quarterly'Magisterial . . . all three volumes, but particularly Volume 3, should be of special interest to Polish Americans and all Americans interested in the history of the Jews in Poland, Lithuania, and Russia.' Anna M. Cienciala, Polish Review'Definitive . . . The scope is immense and the author does an impressive job of synthesizing a vast literature . . . This trilogy will no doubt serve as a standard history of east European Jewry for a long time.' - Shaul Stampfer, Religious Studies Review'Exemplary and formidable . . . Polonsky, as much as anyone else, has created the field of modern Jewish history as a subject to be considered and understood rather than simply a tragic past to be mourned. He is too good a historian to confuse the history of Jewish life with the German policies that brought Jewish death . . . The barely visible commitment in these three wonderful volumes is to rescue a world from polemic, for the sake of history.' - Timothy Snyder, Wall Street Journal‘The first serious, and most successful, effort thus far to summarize the history of the Jews of “Eastern Europe” . . . the first book to synthesize the vast research that has emerged since the seventies . . . comprehensive and multidisciplinary . . . there is no book today that can compare to its scope and to the vast and new materials that he brings forth and analyzes with a broad imagination, an intensive approach, and a moderate style.’ - Moshe Rosman, ZionTable of ContentsList of Maps List of Tables Note on Transliteration Note on Place Names Maps General Introduction I Jewish Life in Poland–Lithuanian to 1750 Introduction 1 Jews and Christians in Early Modern Poland–Lithuania 2 The Structure of Jewish Autonomous Institutions 3 Jewish Places: Royal Towns and Noble Towns 4 Jews in Economic Life 5 Religious and Spiritual Life Conclusion Appendix: The Polish-Lithuanian Background II Attempts to Transform and Integrate the Jews, and the Jewish Response, 1750–1880 Introduction 1 The Last Years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 2 The Jews in the Prussian Partition of Poland, 1772–1870 3 The Jews in Galicia to the mid-1870s 4 The Jews in the Duchy of Warsaw and the Kingdom of Poland, 1807–1881 5 The Jews in the Tsarist Empire, 1772–1825 6 Nicholas I and the Jews of Russia, 1825–1855 7 The Reign of Alexander II, 1855–1881 Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEach of the three volumes of this magisterial work provides a comprehensive picture of the realities of Jewish life in the Polish lands in the period it covers, while also considering the contemporary political, economic, and social context. Volume I: 1350 to 1881 provides a wide-ranging overview down to the mid-eighteenth century, including social, economic, and religious history. The period from 1764 to 1881 is covered in more detail, with attention focused on developments in each country in turn, especially with regard to the politics of emancipation, acculturation, assimilation, and forced integration. Volume II: 1881 to 1914 explores the factors that had a negative impact on Jewish life as well as the political and cultural movements that developed in consequence: Zionism, socialism, autonomism, the emergence of modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature, Jewish urbanization, and the rise of popular Jewish culture. Galicia, Prussian Poland, the Kingdom of Poland, and the tsarist empire are all treated individually, as are the main cities. Volume III: 1914 to 2008 covers the interwar period, the Second World War, and the Holocaust, including Polish–Jewish relations and the Soviet record on the Holocaust. A survey of developments since 1945 concludes with an epilogue on the situation of the Jews since the collapse of communism.Trade Review'A truly landmark study of east European Jewish history for the mid-fourteenth century to the outbreak of World War I. This work is an invaluable synthetic exposition of Jewish civilization in Poland and Russia that pays close attention to the larger historical context in which Jewish history unfolded in these areas. While exhaustive in presenting historical detail and utilizing available sources and data of all types, Polonsky is also masterful in conveying the texture of Jewish life in different regions during each period. His study weaves together numerous aspects of that life—among others, the relationship of Jewish communities to the states in the region and their governance mechanisms; Jewish religious and political movements; the evolving role of the synagogue in communities; the wide variety of Jewish organizations over time and space; cultural changes, including the development of the mass press, modern literature, and theatre; the experiences of Jewish women; and descriptions of the towns and cities in which Jewish history played out. The contribution of Polonsky's study, however, is not only an impressive synthesis of a vast topic and vast amount of information. In integrating all of this material, the author also deftly crafts his own interpretations of trends in the area and the timing of shifts in them. His marshalling of evidence and his own insights add up to a compelling set of arguments about the course of Jewish history. Polonsky addresses Jewish, Polish, and Russian historical developments all with great nuance, and that depth of understanding allows him to present the complexities of these intertwined histories with a subtlety rarely achieved in projects of such ambitious temporal and spatial scope. This study will become a “go to” reference for scholars of east European Jewish history for a long time to come.'From the citation for the 2011 Kulczycki Book Prize for Polish Studies, awarded to Volumes I and II 'This second volume of Polonsky's well-reseached, eloquently written study provides a finely distinct portrait of Jewish life in eastern Europe in the years leading up to the Great War . . . Highly recommended.'- R. K. Byczkiewicz, Choice'Succeeds admirably. Simply put, these volumes are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in East European history or for anyone looking for a scholarly assessment of a particular feature of Polish or Russian Jewish history. Handsomely produced, with extensive maps and tables, and a glossary . . . will remain a standard work in the field for some time . . . a body of work that, in summarizing the current state of our knowledge, effectively sets the agenda for future scholars. Polonsky is perhaps the scholar most responsible for the growth of Polish Jewish studies in the late twentieth century . . Very few historians could write a series of volumes like this . . . [he] has armed scholars with a formidable tool that will help them dispel stereotypes . . . Just as these volumes are destined to become the starting point for the work of many students, they will be the touchstone for scholars working in the field at all levels.'- Sean Martin, European History Quarterly 'Combines a masterful grasp of Jewish history with that of eastern Europe. While underlining the unique features and achievements of the Jewish communal experience he authoritatively integrates them into the history of the countries in which Jews lived . . . Incorporating current, ground-breaking scholarship from North America, Israel, and Europe these beautifully narrated volumes should not only be seen as a staple of university courses, but also as a must-read for anyone attempting to understand any aspect of modern Jewish history and religious tradition, wherever it may be playing out . . . With this extremely important book, Antony Polonsky not only writes history but, following the example of his illustrious predecessors, makes it.'- Katarzyna Person, European Judaism'The first two volumes of Antony Polonsky's magisterial The Jews in Poland and Russia trilogy provide a much-needed addition to the landscape of Jewish historical studies . . . [a] significant achievement in presenting the most modern findings in a clear, readable, comprehensive survey . . . his narrative is grand and his analysis tight . . . an excellent synthesis of this community's history, incorporating much of the groundbreaking scholarship of the last few decades. Repeatedly, the volumes remind us of the many lost opportunities for real reform in the region. They help correct the nostalgic and romanticized portraits of what is sometimes considered a lost civilization, while simultaneously demonstrating the vibrancy and diversity of Jewish life in the region . . . essential reading for those seeking a thorough and balanced understanding of Jewish life in pre-twentieth century Eastern Europe.' - Jeffrey Veidlinger, H-Judaic'For several decades now, Antony Polonsky has been at the forefront of Polish–Jewish studies . . . It is thus fitting that Polosnky, who has nurtured young scholars, especially in Poland itself and North America, should bring together old and new work in this remarkable multi-volume synthesis of Jewish history and culture . . . These volumes will provide the first port of call for any student of east European Jewry.' - Tony Kushner, Jewish Chronicle'We can only commend Antony Polonsky for his massive effort to explain seven centuries of Jewish history in a mere 2,000 pages . . . Polonsky's strength lies in his ability to illuminate intellectual and cultural developments . . . Because of the excellent bibliographies, extensive annotation, and wonderful maps included in each volume, any reader wishing to read in greater detail about Polish and Russian Jewry will have plenty of resources to enable the search.' - Alexandra S. Korros, Jewish Quarterly'An excellent synthesis of recent research on east European Jewish culture and history. As such it fills a definite need for an accessible introduction to the current scholarship and thinking about the Jews of Poland and Russia . . . should be on the reading list of anyone interested in the history and folk cultures of eastern Europe, whether they work specifically with Jewish history and folk culture, or with other regional cultures.'- David Elton Gay, Journal of Folklore Research'Any reader who invests the time and money to read the book . . . will find it very rewarding—and not just because of the wealth of information it contains. What Polonsky's book brings home, in a way that a narrower study could not, is the sheer complexity and vitality of Jewish life in that time and place . . . this broader picture is needed to make sense of the social changes that were accelerating by the late nineteenth century—above all, in the situation of women, the subject of one of Polonsky's best chapters . . . Polonsky's panoramic book, which packs so much vivid detail and statistical information into its 500 pages, helps to show just how rich, and how difficult, that life really was.'- Adam Kirsch, The New Republic and Tablet Magazine'Polonsky's magisterial The Jews in Poland and Russia is one of those rare works that can hope to bridge the gap between specialist and “intelligent general reader”, providing a strong narrative and appealing prose for the latter as well as an up-to-date distilled knowledge of both primary and secondary sources for the former. No one interested in Jewish, Polish, or Russian history can afford to be without these volumes . . . will long remain the standard work on this crucial Jewish community . . . While a survey of this sort requires a goodly bit of politics . . . Polonsky has gone out of his way to include culture, religious life, gender, Jewish mass culture, and social history . . . The books' structure is entirely appropriate for its primary purpose: to provide a basic overview of this Jewish community's history . . . strikingly high level of scholarship . . . [The publisher] is particularly to be commended on its allowing Polonsky to cite at length from the Jewish literary sources he is considering and not begrudging space for a dozen pages of useful statistics (not a small thing in a publishing world where bibliographies are often considered superfluous!) . . . This history, written by a major scholar of both Polish and Jewish history and a person profoundly attached to both communities, is exemplary in its efforts to integrate Jews into Polish history, neither white-washing sources of friction nor painting an overly rosy picture. The most important thing one can say about Antony Polonsky's The Jews in Poland and Russia is: get it and read it!'- Theodore R. Weeks, The Polish Review'This superb and very up-to-date book is very well written, carefully documented, balanced, and will be a standard reference in the field. It has a glossary and a wide-ranging bibliography, very useful maps, and statistical tables, all of which make it a good starting point for any reading on east European Jewry.'- Shaul Stampfer, Religious Studies Review'Exemplary and formidable . . . Polonsky, as much as anyone else, has created the field of modern Jewish history as a subject to be considered and understood rather than simply a tragic past to be mourned. He is too good a historian to confuse the history of Jewish life with the German policies that brought Jewish death . . . The barely visible commitment in these three wonderful volumes is to rescue a world from polemic, for the sake of history.' - Timothy Snyder, Wall Street Journal‘The first serious, and most successful, effort thus far to summarize the history of the Jews of “Eastern Europe” . . . the first book to synthesize the vast research that has emerged since the seventies . . . comprehensive and multidisciplinary . . . there is no book today that can compare to its scope and to the vast and new materials that he brings forth and analyzes with a broad imagination, an intensive approach, and a moderate style.’- Moshe Rosman, ZionTable of ContentsList of MapsList of TablesNote on TransliterationMapsIntroduction1 The Position of the Jews in the Tsarist Empire, 1881-19052 Revolution and Reaction, 1904-19143 The Kingdom of Poland, 1881-19144 Galicia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century5 Prussian Poland, 1848-19146 Jewish Spaces: Shtetls and Towns in the Nineteenth CenturyStatistical Appendix7 Modern Jewish Literature in the Tsarist Empire and Galicia8 Jewish Religious Life from the Mid-Eightteenth Century to 19149 Women in Jewish Eastern Europe10 The Rise of Jewish Mass Culture: Literature, Press, TheatreConclusionGlossaryBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe French Revolution is a time of history made familiar from Dickens, Baroness Orczy, and Tolstoy, as well as the legends of let them eat cake, and tricolours. Beginning in 1789, this period of extreme political and social unrest saw the end of the French monarchy, the death of an extraordinary number of people beneath the guillotine''s blade during the Terror, and the rise of Napoleon, as well as far reaching consequences still with us today, such as the enduring ideology of human rights, and decimalization.In this Very Short Introduction, William Doyle introduces the French old regime and considers how and why it collapsed. Retelling the unfolding events of the revolution, he analyses why the revolutionaries quarrelled with the king, the church and the rest of Europe, why this produced Terror, and finally how it accomplished rule by a general. Doyle also discusses how and why the revolution destroyed the age-old cultural, institutional, and social structures in France and beyond. In this new edition, Doyle includes new sections highlighting the main developments in the field since the first edition, before exploring the legacy of the revolution in the form of rationality in public affairs and responsible government.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1: Echoes 2: Why it happened 3: How it happened 4: What it ended 5: What it started 6: Where it stands Timeline: Important dates of the French Revolution The Revolutionary CalendarFurther readingIndex

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Book SynopsisGiuliana Chamedes offers the first comprehensive history of the Vatican’s efforts to defeat the forces of secular liberalism and communism through international law, cultural diplomacy, and a marriage of convenience with authoritarian and right-wing rulers.Trade ReviewFascinating…A work of tremendous ambitions and impressive panoramic scope. Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, it charts one of the 20th century’s most far-reaching cultural-political projects, which stretched over dozens of countries and unfolded over decades…What Chamedes has superbly charted is the world that [Pope] Francis has set to demolish. How his alternative will fare, and whether it will succeed where his predecessors had failed, is still to be seen. -- Udi Greenberg * Los Angeles Review of Books *Readers seeking backstories for the Vatican agreements that legitimated Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany will not be disappointed. Nor will students wrestling with how to place the Vatican within the global history of the twentieth century…Part intellectual history, part history of the international system, part collective biography. -- Piotr H. Kosicki * Times Literary Supplement *Eye-opening…Zealous hostility to communism and socialism led the church into legal alliance with right-wing reactionaries…This fascinating book highlights that the church’s present is always in dialogue with its past. -- Christopher Kissane * Irish Times *This study of what preceded Vatican II can help one to appreciate the Council even more. -- Michael Fitzgerald * The Tablet *Has the potential for very broad appeal…Chamedes’ work seems to provide the necessary framework for any future study of Catholic internationalism. -- Anastasiia Akulich * European Review of History *Superb…Chamedes’s book is a magisterial achievement. It will remain the standard work on Catholic internationalism for years. -- Peter McDonough * Journal of Church and State *Chamedes’s excellent new book is a welcome corrective to standard narratives about the papacy’s supposed irrelevance in modern international history…A fluidly written, engaging and ground-breaking work that deserves a wide audience. This book will benefit…anyone seeking to understand the role of ideology in modern international history. -- Patrick J. Houlihan * Journal of Ecclesiastical History *While much has been written about the Catholic anti-Communist crusade in the interwar period, [Chamedes] examines it more thoroughly and comprehensively than most historians have done hitherto…This is an important monograph on an important aspect of the history of the papacy in the twentieth century. -- John Pollard * Journal of Modern History *The picture that emerges of the Church’s political role in twentieth-century Europe is utterly damning…Will stand as a vital account of the uses to which [the Vatican’s] force has been put, shorn of apologetics and exhaustively documented. -- Daniel Finn * New Left Review *This important book reveals the unknown story of the Vatican’s efforts to reshape international relations in the twentieth century. Facing new competition from secularism, liberalism, and communism, the Church responded with an international program of its own: ‘concordat diplomacy.’ In recovering this lost history, Chamedes sheds new light on seemingly familiar terrain and enhances our understanding of a complicated past that continues to resonate today. -- Andrew Preston, author of Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and DiplomacyThis is transnational history at its best. In this impressively researched book, Giuliana Chamedes reaches into all corners of the European continent as she brings forth the crucial role of the Vatican and its particular brand of internationalism in Europe’s tumultuous twentieth century. It is essential reading for those interested in modern Europe and in religion. -- Elizabeth Foster, author of African CatholicChamedes offers a pathbreaking study of twentieth-century Catholic internationalism and papal diplomacy that illuminates a vast terrain of hitherto unknown transnational activity. Her book is not just an eye-opening addition to the literature on internationalism, it reframes our understanding of twentieth-century modernity. An essential contribution. -- Adam Tooze, author of CrashedThis comprehensive study provides a broad perspective on 20th-century papal diplomacy's crusade to sustain Catholic influence in European society. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisAn investigation of two manuals of inquisition reveals much about the practice in action. The Inquisition played a central role in European history. It moulded societies by enforcing religious and intellectual unity; it helped develop the judicial and police techniques which are the basis of those used today; and it helped lay the foundations for the persecution of witches. An understanding of the Inquisition is therefore essential to the late medieval and early modern periods. This book looks at how the philosophy and practice of Inquisition developed in the fourteenth century. It saw the proliferation of heresies defined by the Church (notably the Spiritual Franciscans and Beguines) and the classifcation of many more magical practices as heresy.The consequentialwidening of the Inquisition's role in turn led to it being seen as an essential part of the Church and the guardian of all the Church's doctrinal boundaries; the inclusion of magic in particular also changed the Inquisition's attitude towards suspects, and the use of torture became systematised and regularised. These changes are charted here through close attention to the inquisitorial manuals of Bernard Gui and Nicholas Eymerich, using other sourceswhere available. Gui's and Eymerich's personalities were important factors. Gui was a successful insider, Eymerich a maverick, but Eymerich's work had the greater long-term influence. Through them we can see the Inquisition in action. DEREK HILL gained his PhD from the University of London.Trade Review[An] important contribution to our understanding of medieval inquisition practice and thought. -- JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORYDespite the fame both Gui's Practica and Eymerich's Directorium have long enjoyed, neither has been the focus of as much careful and thoroughgoing inquiry as they merit. Hill's rich study helps correct that error, and [ . . . ] contributes significantly to our understanding of some major fourteenth-century developments, inquisitorial and otherwise. * JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Historical Context and Gui's, Eymerich's and Ugolini's Lives The Interpretation of Gui's Practica and Eymerich's Directorium Inquisitors' Companions and Relationships with the Secular Arm and with the Rest of the Church Detection, Interrogation, Abjuration and the Inquisitor's Relationship with his Suspects Sermones Generales - The Theatre of Inquisition Changes in Thinking on Inquisition and Heresy Conclusions and Consequences Cautelæ inquisitorum decem contra hæreticorum cavillationes et fraudes Super illius Specula Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn January of 1649, after years of civil war, King Charles I stood trial in a specially convened English court on charges of treason, murder, and other high crimes against his people. Not only did the revolutionary tribunal fi nd him guilty and order his death, but its masters then abolished monarchy itself and embarked on a bold (though short-lived) republican experiment. The event was a landmark in legal history. The trial and execution of King Charles marked a watershed in English politics and political theory, and thus also affected subsequent developments in those parts of the world colonized by the British.This book presents a selection of contemporaries’ accounts of the king’s trial and their reactions to it, as well as a report of the trial of the king’s own judges once the wheel of fortune turned and monarchy was restored. It uses the words of people directly involved to offer insight into the causes and consequences of these momentous events.Trade Review“The trial of Charles I is one of the most important events in British history, and the documentary evidence surrounding it is thrilling and evocative. This wonderful new edition offers not just the colour but also the complexity of the surviving sources; it reveals the contested nature of the events themselves, as well as ongoing debates about their meaning and significance. In addition to the amazing record of the trial itself, we are presented with neglected evidence about how profoundly the king’s death affected even the most radical of contemporary commentators. As such, the book casts new and genuinely thought-provoking light on these momentous events.” — Jason Peacey, University College London“This compendium of primary sources provides an indispensable teaching resource for studying the trial of Charles I. Kesselring’s contextual introduction guides the reader through recent controversies among historians over how to interpret the trial, while providing a list of penetrating questions to stimulate enquiry and debate. The volume’s strength lies in the different perspectives offered by its selected texts; its inclusion of an account of the regicide Thomas Harrison’s trial invites readers to explore further comparative dimensions.” — Andrew Hopper, University of LeicesterTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChronologyQuestions to ConsiderPart 1: Trying the King Title page and Extracts from John Nalson, A True Copy of the Journal of the High Court of Justice for the Tryal of K. Charles I (London, 1684) Lord President Bradshaw’s Speech: Extract from Gilbert Mabbott, A Perfect Narrative of the Whole Proceedings of the High Court of Justice (London, 1649) The Death Warrant of Charles I Part 2: Reactions and Aftermath Acts Establishing a Republic Extracts from “An Act for the abolishing the Kingly Office in England and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging” (1649) Extracts from “An Act for the Abolishing the House of Peers” (1649) “An Act Declaring and Constituting the People of England to be a Commonwealth and Free State” (1649) A Contemporary Depiction of the King’s Execution A “Martyr” Speaks from the Grave: The King’s Eikon Basilike (London, 1649): Extracts and Frontispiece to the Eikon Basilike A Soldier’s Doubts: Extracts from Francis White, The copies of several letters contrary to the opinion of the present powers (London, 1649) Principles and Pragmatism: Extracts from John Lilburne, The legal fundamental liberties of the people of england revived, asserted, and vindicated (London, 1649) Overthrowing “Kingly Power” as well as Kings: Extracts from Gerrard Winstanley, A New Year’s Gift for the Parliament and Army (London, 1650) Part 3: Trying the King-Killers A Contemporary Depiction of the Executions of the King and of His Judges The Trial of Major General Harrison: Extracts from Heneage Finch, An Exact and most Impartial Accompt of the Indictment, Arraignment, Trial, and Judgment (according to Law) of Twenty Nine Regicides (London, 1660) Glossary of Key Figures and TermsSelect Bibliography

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Book SynopsisShakespeare and London: A Dictionary is a topographical reference book of all the London locations, allusions and colloquial terms mentioned in Shakespeare's complete works. For many years critics have argued that Shakespeare did not engage with the city in which he lived, however London''s topography and life is present in all his work, in its language, its locations and its characters. This dictionary offers a concise and fascinating insight into the city''s impact on the Shakespearean imagination and provides readers with a wide-ranging guide to early modern London, its contemporary meanings and the ways in which Shakespeare employs these throughout the canon.Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Series Editor's Preface List of Abbreviations List of Headwords Introduction A-Z Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBeating its biplane rivals in a 1936 Reich Air Ministry design competition, the Arado Ar 196 provided the Kriegsmarine with possibly the best shipborne reconnaissance seaplane of World War II. Replacing the Heinkel He 60 biplane as the standard catapult-launched floatplane embarked on the Kriegsmarine's capital ships, the Ar 196 flew an assortment of combat missions during World War II, including coastal patrol, submarine hunting, light bombing, general reconnaissance and convoy escort sorties. The first vessel to take its Ar 196A-1s to sea was the pocket battleship Graf Spee, which embarked two in the autumn of 1939. The battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz could carry six Arados each, the battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst four and smaller pocket battleships and cruisers two. Shore-based aircraft were also operated from coastal ports on the Channel, Baltic, North Sea and Bay of Biscay coasts, as well as in the Balkans and Mediterranean. In this tTable of Contents1. The Last Floatplane 2. First Blood 3. Ahead of the Atlantic Wall 4. The Seven Seas 5. Eastern Front and the Mediterranean 6. War's End and Foreign Use Appendices - Colour Plates Commentary - Bibliography - Index

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Book Synopsis*One of The Times Best Art Books of the Year*'Looking to Sea is a remarkable and compelling book... I loved it.' Edmund de Waal'In her first, transporting book, Lily Le Brun sweeps the beaches of the past century of British art, collecting treasures from sea, shingle and shore... A book to pack in your picnic basket for shivering dips, heatwave day trips and ice-cream Sundays' The TimesAn alternative history of modern Britain, Looking to Sea is an exquisite work of cultural, artistic and philosophical storytelling. Looking to Sea considers ten pivotal artworks, from Vanessa Bell's Studland Beach, one of the first modernist paintings in Britain, to Paul Nash's work bearing the scars of his experience in the trenches and Martin Parr's photographs of seaside resorts in the 1980s, which raised controversial questions of class. Each of the startlingly different pieces, created between 1912 and 2015, opens a window onto big ideas, from modernism and the sublime, the impact of the world wars and colonialism, to issues crucial to our world today like the environment and nationhood. In this astonishingly perceptive portrait of the twentieth century, art critic Lily Le Brun brings a fresh eye to a vast idea, offering readers an imaginative new way of seeing our island nation.'Le Brun's writing is at once bold and delicate, far-reaching and fine-tuned. Her book explores the inexhaustible variety of human perception.' Alexandra Harris'A smart and clear-eyed set of meditations on marine gaze, made with a painterly touch worthy of the chosen artists. Empathy and intelligence lift memoir into cultural history.' Iain Sinclair'Elegant and endlessly interesting . . . as much a rich compendium of social history as it is a hard consideration of art itself' CriticTrade ReviewThis history of twentieth-century Britain, refracted through ten artistic responses to the sea, is beautifully written - authoritative and questioning; scholarly, but also vividly insightful about bodies, private lives, feelings, the often-overlooked quotidian. -- Aida Edemariam, judge of the RSL awardsLooking to Sea is a remarkable and compelling book. It is both a wonderfully sustained mapping of the intersection between artists, writers and the sea and a meditation on belonging and displacement. I loved it. * Edmund de Waal *Le Brun's writing is at once bold and delicate, far-reaching and fine-tuned. Her book explores the inexhaustible variety of human perception. * Alexandra Harris *A smart and clear-eyed set of meditations on marine gaze, made with a painterly touch worthy of the chosen artists. Empathy and intelligence lift memoir into cultural history. * Iain Sinclair *An elegant scheme, beautifully written... From Alfred Wallis to Tracey Emin's Margate beach hut, this is an elegant guide to a century of seaside art... This book will give you sea fever. Pack your sou'wester, fill your Thermos, take a train to the coast. Read this sitting on the pier and see what you can see -- Laura Freeman * The TImes *Ambitious . . . accessible . . . a chronicle of British art, unfurled against the panoramic backdrop of 20th-century history * Sunday Telegraph *A carefully considered and enjoyable mix of biography, art criticism and personal reflection -- Chloë Ashby * Spectator *One for wild swimmers, beachcombers, wind surfers and all who like to be beside the seaside with a sketchbook and watercolour set. In her first, transporting book, Lily Le Brun sweeps the beaches of the past century of British art, collecting treasures from sea, shingle and shore . . . A book to pack in your picnic basket for shivering dips, heatwave day trips and ice-cream Sundays. -- Books of the Year * The Times *Held within a neatly conceived structure and based on far-reaching research, this book is not only about art but also about national identity, belonging and displacement. It churns with large ideas as well as persuasive arguments . . . Le Brun has an eye and ear for details that catch the reader's attention. She handles words with great skill and piercing thought -- Frances Spalding * Literary Review *Ten hallmark, water-themed artworks provide a key into reading the modern history of the UK and the 20th century * Monocle *A beautifully illustrated, meditative book for art lovers who also like the sea . . . This guide will make you long for salty air, sand and fish and chips. Pack the book and a flask of tea (or whisky) and head for the coast * The Lady *[A] rich portrait of our island nation . . . Le Brun has written a study of Britain imagined, Britain as it recently was, and of Britain becoming . . . elegant and endlessly interesting . . . as much a rich compendium of social history as it is a hard consideration of art itself . . . reading Le Brun's book will give you a renewed love for this place that sits apart -- Patrick Galbraith * Critic *Each chapter mixes biography with anecdote, cultural criticism with lyrical description and wider philosophical musing . . . Le Brun apparently uses the artists' own visions to comment on today's Britain, though in fact her own range often outstrips theirs -- Jan Dalley * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The Capital Order uses the historical record in Europe to argue that austerity—tightening the belt, cutting government programs—is less about budgets and debt and more about deliberately making the labor force feel insecure." * APM's Marketplace Morning Report *"Mattei reminds us that . . . austerity is a one-sided class war, conducted in numbers and defended by economists’ jargon.” -- Aditya Chakrabortty * The Guardian *“Illuminating . . . Any reader of The Capital Order will be struck by the contemporary resonances.” * The New Statesman *"In our current moment, as policymakers are once again entertaining monetary tightening as a means to impose necessary hardship & discipline on working people, The Capital Order is a potent reminder of the cruel rationality of austerity." * Dissent Magazine *“[With The Capital Order], we can begin to see method in the madness: austerity is a vital bulwark in defense of the capitalist system.” * Business Recorder *“It’s often been pointed out that austerity just doesn’t achieve its stated aims of balancing the books and paying down public debt. [In Mattei’s] analysis the actual aim is not the stated one, it is to discipline the working population. Over the last century it would seem to have achieved that quite successfully.” * The National *“Shocking disparities underlie economist Clara Mattei’s topical study of austerity measures promoted over the past century. Focusing on 1920s liberal-democracy Britain and fascist Italy, she argues that the profitable application of austerity to these dissimilar nations licensed its use as a capitalist ‘tool of class control.” * Nature *“A serious economic history of the 1920s and its fiscal and credit policies, and you should not dismiss it.” -- Tyler Cowen * Marginal Revolution *“Brilliantly provocative . . . powerfully argued. . . . With her history of the relationship between liberal economists and fascism, Mattei puts the skids under complacent champions of liberal democracy who today summon the fascist figure as a reassuring boogyman. . . . A round house critique of the role of liberal economics in general.” -- Adam Tooze * Chartbook *"Mattei shows how austerity emerged as the response of international capital to the risks to its power and wealth. Its aim was to rescue capitalism from ‘its enemies’ by taming an increasingly politicized and restive class and restoring the prewar order." * History Today *"There are few books that once read manage to leave a clear idea and a full-fledged thesis imprinted on the reader’s mind: Chiara E. Mattei’s book is one of them." * The Journal of European Economic History *"She [Mattei] has done an impressive amount of archival research and has skillfully mined the published literature of the interwar period. The fruit of these labors is a rich and insightful account of a pivotal moment in capitalism’s history." -- Gary Mongiovi * Catalyst *"Through meticulously compiled archival material, Mattei explores austerity by studying economists in the 1920s from the birthplace of liberalism (Britain) and the birthplace of fascism (Italy) to draw a provocative conclusion about its nature: 'an anti-democratic reaction to threats from bottom-up social change.'” * Politics Today *“A powerful critique.” * Asiana Times *“She argues that forcing a recession or cutting social welfare is not really about budgets and debt. This so-called “economic pain” is inflicted deliberately to make the labour force feel insecure and to stop demanding better conditions.” * Irish Examiner *"Austerity’s defenders claim that any adverse impact on employment will quickly end and will be justified by eventual success. Such is the theory. Clara Mattei will have none of it. Her vigorously written and well-researched new study, The Capital Order, insists that austerity is a class strategy, not just a policy to restore economic equilibrium." * European Review of Books *“A work with remarkable resonance for the moment we are living through. I found it impossible to put down.” -- James K. Galbraith“Clara Mattei shows how the supposedly apolitical science of economics has served, and continues to serve, as an ideology of class oppression. The chapters exploring the birth, in Britain and Italy in the 1920s, of what the author calls ‘the technocratic project’ of austerity, and its political and economic consequences, are particularly illuminating.” -- Robert Skidelsky“A decade after austerity tore British society apart, the UK government stands ready to do so again. Given that it didn’t work the first time around, one wonders why they want to try it again. This is where Mattei’s explanation illuminates brightly: if we think of austerity not as an economic policy, but as a form of capitalist crisis management for moments when the lower orders start to question the governing classes’ preferences, then its repeated dosage—despite its damages—makes much more sense.” -- Mark Blyth“Clara Mattei’s work is an important contribution to building a new economic narrative. At a time when inflation is up and governments feel inclined to once again ‘tighten their belts,’ this book is as relevant as ever.” -- Mariana Mazzucato“There is a long history of efforts to separate the political from the economic domain. . . . One very impressive recent study, by Clara Mattei, argues persuasively that this dichotomy, typically taking the form of austerity programs, has been a major instrument of class war for a century, paving the way to fascism, which was indeed welcomed by Western elite opinion.”—Noam Chomsky * Truth Out *A 2022 Best Book in Economics * Financial Times *“Austerity is not an innocent policy error, but a fallacy functional to dark interests. Mattei’s admirable new book exposes austerity’s hidden agenda.” -- Yanis Varoufakis“A fascinating history of the rise of austerity policies in post–World War I Europe and how it paved the way for fascism—along with many of the economic policies of today. A must-read, with key lessons for the future. Historical political economy at its best.” -- Thomas PikettyFall 2022 Book Recommendation (General Interest) -- Sean Guynes“[A] message for our time.” * Brazzil Magazine *"The capital order asserts the primacy of capital over labor in the hierarchy of social relations within the capitalist production process. That primacy was threatened after World War I in what Mattei claims was the greatest crisis in the history of capitalism. . . . To counter these trends, Mattei argues, unelected technocratic elites 'invented' austerity as a means of re-naturalizing the capital order. . . . What Britain’s technocrats accomplished through the market, Italy’s fascists accomplished through Mussolini’s edicts. . . Recommended." * Choice *"In her book The Capital Order, economist Clara Mattei shows that austerity was thought of as a counter-offensive against experiments in economic democracy." * Alternatives Economiques *"A wonderful book [and a] compelling story." * Rethinking Economics *“A very readable and historically profound work.” -- translated from German * H/Soz/Kult *"Austerity is premeditated policy. It’s a blunt instrument that preempts resistance by weakening and dividing the working class while unifying different wings of the ruling class. . . . Mattei documents austerity’s essential role in the rise of fascism." * Counterpunch *"Meticulously researched. . . Mattei’s analysis is an exemplary work of historical political economy that seeks to steer the conversation on capitalist crisis from Keynesianism back toward Marx." * Phenomenal World *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: War and Crisis 1 The Great War and the Economy 2 “A Wholly New School of Thought” 3 The Struggle for Economic Democracy 4 The New Order Part II: The Meaning of Austerity 5 International Technocrats and the Making of Austerity 6 Austerity, a British Story 7 Austerity, an Italian Story 8 Italian Austerity and Fascism through British Eyes 9 Austerity and Its “Successes” 10 Austerity Forever Afterword Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOn 21 October 1966, thousands of tonnes of coal tip waste slid down a mountainside and devastated the mining village of Aber-fan. The black mass crashed through the local school. 144 people were killed. 116 were schoolchildren. Gaynor Madgwick was there. She was eight and severely injured. In this book, Gaynor tells her own story and interviews people affected by the day''s events. Reprint.

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Book SynopsisAn examination of how farming expertise could be shared and extended, over four centuries. All kinds of knowledge, from traditional know-how to modern science, are socially contingent and the product of an age-long and permanent social struggle. This book unravels the creation and the exchange of agronomic knowledge in rural Europe, from the early eighteenth century up until the end of the twentieth. It explores the spreading of knowing through the lens of "knowledge networks": where did agricultural knowledge come from and how did one learn to run a farm? Who was involved in this process of knowledge exchange? Which strategies and communicative methods were employed and what kind of networks were active? The answers to these questions mirror, as the book illustrates, the inventiveness of the actors on the scene: the creativity of a French naturalist in establishing links with local farmers to stop the circulation of a devastating grain moth, the power of the agricultural press to instill "proper values" into Hungarian farming practices or to shape the identity of the Galician agrarian movement, and the agency of post-war British farmers in selecting their own information, from sources such as lectures to the Young Farmers' Club, visits by public advisors and representatives of commercial firms, and radio programs. From the start of the agricultural Enlightenment, increasingly farmers have been besieged by a growing army of experts, telling them what to do, when and how. In a sense farming has become one of the most patronised professions. But farmers can resist and carve their own path. The chapters here reveal the continuous tensions between science-based agriculture and practice-based farming, between the expert image of an ideal agriculture and the (less known) self-image of being a good farmer. The dominant process, as this book shows, is that of an instrumental top-down transmission of knowledge from "the lab to the field". But between these two poles, complex and flourishing networks developed, functioning as trading zones in which knowledge and experience could be circulated, put to the test, forgotten, altered, rejected - and sometimes imposed.Trade Review[G]ive[s] us much food for thought and points the way to further studies and collaborations in rural Europe, an interesting time to be doing so as the United Kingdom leaves the Common Agricultural Policy. -- LANDSCAPES[...] readers will find value in every chapter, which all offer clear, thoughtful and well-researched histories of farming knowledge. * AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Knowledge and its Networks in Rural Europe: From the Early Eighteenth to the Late Twentieth Century - Yves Segers and Leen Van Molle Agricultural Literature in Scandinavia and the Anglo-Saxon Countries as an Indicator of a Deep-Rooted Economic Enlightenment, c.1700-1800 - Janken Myrdal Peasant Eyes: A Critique of the Agricultural Enlightenment - Verena Lehmbrock Fighting the Angoumois Grain Moth: Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau and his Network of Entomological Observers - Pierre-Etienne Stockland 'Promoting and Accelerating the Progress of Agriculture': A Case Study of Agricultural Societies in the Doncaster District, South Yorkshire, England - Sarah Holland 'Proper Values' in Agriculture: The Role of Agricultural Associations in Knowledge Dissemination in Hungary, 1830-1880 - Zsuzsanna Kiss 'The Eye of the Master'. Livestock Improvement and Knowledge Networks in Belgium, 1900-1940 - Dries Claeys and Yves Segers Bridging Rural Culture and Expert Culture: The Agrarian Press in Galicia, c.1900-c.1950 - Miguel Cabo and Lourenzo Fernández Prieto Farmers Facing a Body of Expertise: the Activities and Methods of the Departmental Services for Agriculture in Oise (France), 1945-1955 - Laurent Herment Technical Change and Knowledge Networks in England, 1945-1980s - Paul Brassley Communicating an Innovation: Building Dutch Progeny Testing Stations for Pigs - Steven van der Laan

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Book SynopsisLviv, Lwów, Lvov, Lemberg. Known by a variety of names, the City of Lions is now in western Ukraine. Situated in different countries during its history, it is a city located along the fault-lines of Europe's history. City of Lions presents two essays, written more than half a century apart - but united by one city. Józef Wittlin's sensual and lyrical paean to his Lwów, written in exile, is a deep cry of love and pain for his city, where most people he knew have fled or been killed. Philippe Sands' finely honed exploration of what has been lost and what remains interweaves a lawyer's love of evidence with the emotional heft of a descendant of Lviv. With an illuminating preface by Eva Hoffman and stunning new photographs by Diana Matar, City of Lions is a powerful and melancholy evocation of central Europe in the twentieth century, with a special resonance for today's troubled continent.Trade Review"[Wittlin's essay My Lwów is] for many Poles the definitive evocation of one of their great lost cities. . . a loving, sensuous, but also gently ironic reconstruction. . . Sands’s perspective is closer to that of the contemporary reader, who struggles with the juxtaposition between beauty, faded grandeur, and whimsical visions of a cosmopolitan past on the one hand, and savage mass murder on the other." —Los Angeles Review of Books"Congratulations to Pushkin Press for bringing lovely, haunted Lviv to a new audience." — Times Literary Supplement"A walk down memory lane, a meditation on time, politics and remembrance." — Dublin Review of Books "Wittlin takes us on a detailed tour of the city... well-illustrated." — East-West Review"Beautiful and disturbing songs in prose." - Kazimierz Wierzyński

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Book SynopsisAll they wanted was land: land for crofting and land on which to build a house. In 1908, ten desperate men from the islands of Barra and Mingulay in the Western Isles were imprisoned in Edinburgh for refusing to leave the island of Vatersay, where they had built huts and planted potatoes without permission. The case caused an outcry throughout Scotland, and led eventually to the purchase of the island by the government for crofting. This book, the first about Vatersay, tells the remarkable story of the raiders and their struggle to escape from the poverty which the policies of an absentee landowner forced them to endure. The Vatersay Raiders documents not only these events, which had enormous significance in the history of crofting, but also the fascinating earlier history of Vatersay and its now-deserted neighbour Sandray. An outline of more recent developments brings the account up to date.

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Book SynopsisThe first full-scale biography of Robert Welch, who founded the John Birch Society and planted some of modern conservatism's most insidious seeds. Though you may not know his name, Robert Welch (1899-1985)founder of the John Birch Societyis easily one of the most significant architects of our current political moment. In A Conspiratorial Life, the first full-scale biography of Welch, Edward H. Miller delves deep into the life of an overlooked figure whose ideas nevertheless reshaped the American right. A child prodigy who entered college at age 12, Welch became an unlikely candy magnate, founding the company that created Sugar Daddies, Junior Mints, and other famed confections. In 1958, he funneled his wealth into establishing the organization that would define his legacy and change the face of American politics: the John Birch Society. Though the group's paranoiac right-wing nativism was dismissed by conservative thinkers like William F. Buckley, its ideas gradually moved from the far-right fringe into the mainstream. By exploring the development of Welch's political worldview, A Conspiratorial Life shows how the John Birch Society's rabid libertarianismand its highly effective grassroots networkingbecame a profound, yet often ignored or derided influence on the modern Republican Party. Miller convincingly connects the accusatory conservatism of the midcentury John Birch Society to the inflammatory rhetoric of the Tea Party, the Trump administration, Q, and more. As this book makes clear, whether or not you know his name or what he accomplished, it's hard to deny that we're living in Robert Welch's America. Trade Review“In this highly readable, insightful biography of Robert Welch, Miller uses his unique access into Welch's papers to reveal a man much more important to modern American conservatism than we have previously understood. Miller shows how, far from being marginalized to the fringes of the movement, Welch was central to creating the destructive conspiratorial worldview that now dominates our politics.” * Heather Cox Richardson, author of “Letters from an American” *“[A] terrific biography. . . In Miller’s hands, the story of Robert Welch shows that there was no real dividing line between the responsible and radical right.” * Times Literary Supplement *"The rise of Trump, Q-anon, and a Republican Party seemingly allergic to the ordinary canons of decency and expertise, has led historians to a reexamination of brands of American conservatism previously considered too extreme to be relevant to understanding the present. This work demands a rare combination of talents: an ability to empathize with ways of thinking from which reason recoils, and a moral sense that refuses to normalize it. Miller possesses both in abundance, which is what makes this groundbreaking biography of Robert Welch of the John Birch Society so very valuable." * Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland: America's Right Turn, 1976-1980 *“In this immersive biography, Miller traces the roots of today’s right-wing conspiracy theories to John Birch Society founder Robert Welch . . . Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, this is an enlightening study of an overlooked yet influential figure in American politics.” * Publishers Weekly *“Miller’s study of Robert Welch, the founder of the John Birch Society, presents a plausible account of America’s slow descent from the 1950s into the abyss of post-truth politics.” * London Review of Books *"Traces the origins and history of the John Birch Society and, in the process, provides historical perspective on the far-right populism of the Trump era. . . . On the whole, as Miller’s book makes clear, Republican politicians of the early 1960s were more eager to court the John Birch Society than to distance themselves from it." * New York Review of Books *“A Conspiratorial Life is the first comprehensive biography of Robert Welch. It is revelatory about his role in the development of modern American conservatism.” * Foreword Reviews *"Offers a good angle from which to appraise the fractured state of American conservatism." * Financial Times *“[An] impressively researched and nuanced reconsideration of the modern American right. . . Miller makes a provocative and persuasive case that Welch was a vanguard figure rather than a retrograde one.” * The New Republic *“A reminder that outlandish conspiracism has a long history on the right.” * Los Angeles Review of Books *"Miller makes an important contribution to understanding how conspiracy theories have altered American politics in this biography of Robert Welch (1899–1985) . . . Although Welch died in 1985, Miller argues that his use of the “Big Lie” still resonates today, manifesting in the Tea Party's xenophobic anger; Donald Trump's election as president in 2016; and the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the January 6 insurrection. Recommended." * Choice *“Miller has undertaken the definitive biography of John Birch Society founder Robert Welch, and he has succeeded. A Conspiratorial Life is incredibly thorough, carefully researched and written, and enlivened by energetic prose.” * Heather Hendershot, author of Open to Debate: How William F. Buckley Put Liberal America on the Firing Line *"A welcome contribution to the history of modern right-wing politics at its extremes." * Kirkus Reviews *“[An] eye-opener of a biography." -- Robert Siegel * Moment Magazine *"In the standard origin story of the modern US right, today's conservative movement was born with an excommunication: when William F. Buckley, the erudite, upper-crust founder of the National Review, turned on his onetime ally, Robert Welch of the John Birch Society, driving Welch and the rest of the conspiracy-hunting "Birchers" out of the respectable right. The truth, as always, is much messier, as Edward H. Miller demonstrates in his new book. . . The deeper imperative of the book, Miller writes, is to correct historians' long-standing misapprehensions about conservatism, and what the field has missed by dismissing the darker, stranger corners of the right, and how its apparent losers may have won the long game." * Salon *"An eye-opening look at the deep roots of rightwing politics in the United States. Sweeping in scope, the book takes a deep dive into the fears at the heart of the John Birch Society . . . [Miller] provides a deep, thoughtful, and accessible account of Welch’s lasting hold on U.S. politics." * The Progressive *"An engaging and penetrating dive into the enduring influence of the John Birch Society and the group’s founder Robert Welch." * Political Research Associates *"Most accounts of the rise of conservatism in the twentieth century follow a familiar set of characters: William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan. Historian Edward Miller suggests an alternative leading man: Robert Welch. His new biography of the founder and leader of the John Birch Society, the anticommunist grass-roots organization founded in 1958, makes the case that the scholarly focus on the politically respectable right has led to a distorted understanding of the history of conservatism—one that is especially problematic given the prevalence of loony conspiracy theories on the right today." -- Kim Phillips-Fein * Society for US Intellectual History *"A comprehensive account. . . Miller’s central contention that Welch 'paved the way for the conservatism of the twentieth century, shaped events in the twentieth-first century, and will continue to do so far into the future' is as disturbing as it is compelling." * The Review of Politics *"Miller’s contribution to this revisionist historiography constitutes a cleverly written, finely textured, and badly needed study of a pivotal and too-often marginalized figure in the development of the modern American Right." * Journal of Southern History *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Chowan County, North Carolina 1700–1899 2 Stockton, 1899–1910 3 Elizabeth City, Raleigh, Annapolis, 1910–1919 4 The Candyman, 1919–1927 5 Professional Breakdown and the Great Depression, 1928–1940 6 America First, 1940–1945 7 Postwar Dreams and Delusions, 1946–1950 8 The Candidate, 1950 9 May God Forgive Us, 1951–1952 10 There’s Just Something about Ike, 1952 11 A Republican Looks at His President, 1953–1954 12 The Saga of John Birch, 1954 13 Adventures in the Far East, 1954–1955 14 Arrivals and Departures, 1955–1958 15 The Indy Eleven, 1957–1959 16 Revelations, 1959–1960 17 Goldwater in ’60, 1960 18 Staccato Jabs, 1961–1962 19 Succession? 1961–1962 20 “Where Were You in ’62?,” 1962 21 Revolution in the Streets and the Paranoid Style in Belmont, 1963 22 Two Novembers, 1963–1964 23 Nadir, 1965–1966 24 Avenging the Insiders, 1966–1968 25 The Fifty-Foot Cabin Cruiser, 1969–1975 26 Bunker, 1970–1978 27 Making Morning in America . . . , 1970–1985 Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFirst full-length study of the notion and concept of old age in early medieval England. How did Anglo-Saxons reflect on the experience of growing old? Was it really a golden age for the elderly, as has been suggested? This first full survey of the Anglo-Saxon cultural conceptualisation of old age, as manifested and reflected in the texts and artwork of the inhabitants of early medieval England, presents a more nuanced and complicated picture. The author argues that although senescence was associated with the potential for wisdom and pious living, the Anglo-Saxons also anticipated various social, psychological and physical repercussions of growing old. Their attitude towards elderly men and women - whether they were saints, warriors or kings - was equally ambivalent. Multidisciplinary in approach, this book makes use of a wide variety of sources, ranging from the visual arts to hagiography, homiletic literature and heroic poetry. Individual chapters deal with early medieval definitions ofthe life cycle; the merits and drawbacks of old age as represented in Anglo-Saxon homilies and wisdom poetry; the hagiographic topos of elderly saints; the portrayal of grey-haired warriors in heroic literature; Beowulf asa mirror for elderly kings; and the cultural roles attributed to old women.Trade ReviewA detailed and interesting cultural study, which provides a useful model for studies of later periods. * FACHRS NEWSLETTER *Combining good judgment with ample learning in both Germanic philology and intellectual history, Porck has produced a valuable contribution to knowledge that is as stimulating as it is rigorous. * MODERN PHILOLOGY *A pleasure to read. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Definitions of Old Age Merits of Old Age Drawbacks of Old Age frode fyrnwitan: Old Saints in Anglo-Saxon Hagiography hare hilderincas: Old Warriors in Anglo-Saxon England ealde eðelweardas: Beowulf as a Mirror of Elderly Kings gamole geomeowlan: Old Women in Anglo-Saxon England Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn the much-anticipated conclusion to his masterful trilogy chronicling the wartime career of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, renowned military and political biographer Nigel Hamilton aligns triumph with tragedy to show how FDR was the architect of a victorious peace that he would not live to witness. Providing the definitive account of the events in Normandy on 6 June 1944, Hamilton also reveals the fraught nature of the relationship between the greatest wartime leaders of the Allied forces. Using hitherto unpublished documents and interviews to counter the famous narrative of World War II strategy given by Winston Churchill in his memoirs, Hamilton highlights the true significance of FDR’s leadership. Seventy-five years after the D-Day landings, we finally see, close up and in dramatic detail, who was responsible for rescuing – and insisting upon – the great American-led invasion of France in June 1944, and exactly why that invasion was orchestrated by Eisenhower. War and Peace is the rousing final installment in one of the most important historical biographies of the twenty-first century, which demonstrates how FDR’s failing health only spurred him on in his efforts to build a US-backed post-war world order. In this stirring account of the life of one of the most celebrated political leaders of our time, Hamilton hails the President as the sole person capable of anticipating the requirements of peace in order to bring an end to the war.

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Book SynopsisThe author is Helen Gould Sheppard Professor of Art History at New York University , Institute of Fine Arts, and a leading authority on English medieval manuscript illumination. This volume bring together twenty-six of Professor Sandler's studies, focusing on illustrated manuscripts produced in England in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, particularly on the illuminated psalters. The marginal illustrations in these psalters are a topic of particular interest, and there are a number of iconographic studies derived from this material. A separate section deals with the illustrated encyclopedias of the period, particularly the Omne bonum.Table of ContentsIntroduction Manuscripts, Artists and Themes The Historical Miniatures of the Fourteenth-Century Ramsey Psalter Peterborough Abbey and the Peterborough Psalter in Brussels A Follower of Jean Pucelle in England; Christian Hebraism and the Ramsey Abbey Psalter An Early Fourteenth Century English Breviary at Longleat An Early Fourteenth Century English Psalter in the Escorial A Fragment of the Chertsey Breviary in San Francisco Jean Pucelle and the Lost Miniatures of the Belleville Breviary The Handclasp in the Arnolfini Wedding: A Manuscript Precedent Marginalia and Word Imagery: A Series of Marginal Illustrations in the Rutland Psalter Reflections on the Construction of Hybrids in English Gothic Marginal Illustrations A Bawdy Betrothal in the Ormesby Psalter The Study of Marginal Imagery, Past, Present, and Future; Verbal and Pictorial Play in the Margins: The Case of Stowe 49 The Images of Words in English Gothic Psalters; Devotional, Visionary and Self-Images: Face to Face with God: A Pictorial Image of the Beatific Vision The Image of the Book-owner in the Fourteenth Century: Three Cases of Self-definitionManuscript Images of Devotion and the Wilton Diptych The Chantry Chapel of Roger of Waltham in Old St Paul's Illustrated Encyclopedias and Scholarly Texts: Notes for the Illuminator: the Case of the Omne bonum Omne bonum: Compilatio and Ordinatio in an English Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Fourteenth Century; Enciclopedia The Canon Law Illustrations of the Omne bonum, an English Encyclopedia of the Fourteenth Century Index-making in the Fourteenth Century: Archbishop Arundel's Copy of the Gospel Commentary of William of Nottingham The Role of Illustrations in James le Palmer's Omne bonum John of Metz, The Tower of Wisdom; Additional Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTraces the journey from ill health to miraculous cure through the lens of hagiographical texts from twelfth-century England. The cults of the saints were central to the medieval Church. These holy men and women acted as patrons and protectors to the religious communities who housed their relics and to the devotees who requested their assistance in petitioning God for a miracle. Among the collections of posthumous miracle stories, miracula, accounts of holy healing feature prominently and depict cure-seekers successfully securing their desired remedy for a range of ailments and afflictions. What can these miracle accounts tell us of the cure-seekers' experiences of their journey from ill health to recovery, and how was healthcare presented in these sources? This book aims to answer these questions via an in-depth study of the miraculous cure-seeking process, considering Latin miracle accounts produced in twelfth-century England, a time both when saints' cults flourished and there was an increasing transmission and dissemination of classical and Arabic medical works. Focused on seven shorter miracula (including Eadmer of Canterbury's Miracula S. Dunstani and Thomas of Monmouth's Vita et Passione S. Wilelmi Martyris Norwicensis) with a predominantly localised appeal, and thus on a select group of cure-seekers - including Abbot Osbert of Notley who suffered from an eye complaint, Leofmær the bedridden knight, and Gaufrid who experienced a bad tooth extraction - the volume brings together studies of healthcare and pilgrimage, looking at the alternative to secular medical intervention and the practicalities and processes of securing saintly assistance.Trade ReviewSalter's book will be valuable to medievalists for thoughtful close reading of texts, well-situated in relevant historiography. [...] the careful analysis in Salter's work will make it useful to medievalists, and its engagement with broader questions should enable scholarly comparison with the experiences of cure-seekers in other historical periods and today. -- BULLETIN OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE[A] masterclass in unpacking all that the rich genre of miracula has to offer. -- H-NET REVIEWS[Accessible] and appealing to informed non-specialists and subject experts, as well as to students of this period [...]. Through this extraordinary lens of the miraculous, we catch a glimpse of mundane. -- SOCIAL HISTORY OF MEDICINESalter should be commended for doing so much with sources that are, by their very nature, formulaic and not particularly forthcoming with narrative detail. [...] her book is packed with demographic data that historians of medieval English medicine will find useful. Armed with this data and a handful of compelling miracle stories, she constructs a comprehensive picture of the journey from suffering to health for cure-seekers in twelfth-century England. -- THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW (TMR)Salter's study is particularly commendable for offering thick description of the learned medical culture and spatial context in which the narratives were produced; indeed, chapters 2, 5, and 6 would make worthwhile introductions to their respective topics for use in undergraduate classrooms. * SPECULUM *Her [Ruth Salter's] book does provide a thoughtful commentary on her chosen miracle collections, perhaps especially welcome for those-from Burton and Coldingham-edited and translated in the past twenty years. -- James G. Clark * JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Miraculous Cures in Context: Twelfth-Century Medicine and the Saints 2 Holy Healing: An Analysis of the Ailments 3 The Great and the Good: Identifying the Cure-Seekers within the Miracles 4 From Near and Far: The Geography of the Cults and the Distance Travelled 5 The Road to Recovery: The Experience of Seeking Cure 6 Upon Arrival at the Shrine: Cure-Seekers and the Place of their Cure Conclusion Appendix 1: A List of the Named Cure-Seekers Within the Seven Miracula Appendix 2: A List of the Occupations Recorded for Laypersons Within the Seven Miracula Appendix 3: A List of the Place Names Recorded for Within Thomas of Monmouth's M. Willelmi Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1900 the Catholic Church stood staunchly against human rights, religious freedom, and the secular state disastrous concepts unleashed by the French Revolution. Yet by the 1960s its position was reversed. How did the world's largest religious organization become modern? James Chappel finds answers in the shattering experiences of the 1930s.Trade ReviewFascinating…Chappel’s is a complex intellectual history, focusing not on popes and bishops, but on the lay individuals and movements of ideas that drove this sea change…[He] deftly survey[s] the intellectual evolution of Catholic thought throughout the 20th century. -- Cormac Shine * Los Angeles Review of Books *Deeply researched and beautifully written…[An] excellent book…Chappel’s history shows how profoundly Catholicism can be transformed over time. -- Jan-Werner Müller * The Nation *Catholic Modern is an endlessly fascinating analysis of Catholic social thought in turbulent times, which I imagine we will be turning to for years to come. Essential reading. -- Michael Duggan * Catholic Herald *Highly creative, massively researched, and eye-opening…[A] fresh recasting of history. -- Peter Steinfels * Commonweal *Chappel has taken one facet of the Catholic modern and explored it with exemplary scholarship and originality. -- John Cornwell * Times Higher Education *Authoritative…It sets out to explain how, when, and why the Catholic Church became modern. -- Sarah Shortall * Boston Review *A heady look at how the church remade itself at a time of social and political upheaval. * America *Chappel has historicized the dueling forms of Catholic modern at the heart of present polarization in the church…If you are a Catholic theologian working with twentieth-century European or Latin American figures, you need to read this book. -- William L. Portier * Horizons *James Chappel has written a masterful accounting of one of the most perplexing questions in modern European history. It will be required reading for anyone interested in understanding the transition from dictatorship to democracy among hundreds of millions of European Catholics in the span of mere decades. -- Richard Steigmann-Gall, author of The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945An incisive account of how Catholics became (and not were) modern…A magnificent book by a promising author and scholar. A must-read for all who have an interest in the manifold ways in which faith and ideology have forged the minds and lives of so many during the twentieth century. -- Jan Nelis * Social History *This carefully researched and lucidly written history demonstrates how Catholic social thought shaped central features of ‘secular’ Western European states in the twentieth century, including the development of pro-familial welfare states and a ‘European’ variety of capitalism. Its transnational approach to developments that are all too often treated within a single national frame lends new insight into Europe’s Catholic modernity. -- Judith Surkis, author of Sexing the Citizen: Masculinity and Morality in France, 1870–1920Over the past century, the Catholic Church has undergone a dramatic transformation. Shedding its former hostility to social pluralism and political democracy, it has adapted itself to new patterns of societal organization that we now characterize as modern. In his capacious and richly populated history of the European Catholic laity, James Chappel provides an excellent survey of the intellectual and ideological debates that contributed to this epic transformation. -- Peter E. Gordon, author of Adorno and ExistenceThe past century posed unexpected dangers to Catholics’ immortal souls: fascism and socialism, and then liberalism, with its enticements to question things never questioned and enjoy things never enjoyed. In his wholly original and pathbreaking book Chappel takes us to the heart of their predicament, reminding us that it was neither simply historical nor European, but remains with the Church everywhere it faces the challenges of modernity. -- John Connelly, author of From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933–1965Chappel skillfully explores how, why, and when the Catholic church became modern. * Publishers Weekly *Groundbreaking…This bare summary does not do justice to the sophistication and breadth of Chappel’s book. It is vital reading for anyone interested in the [Roman Catholic] Church’s engagement with politics in the 20th century. -- Jeremy Morris * Church Times *A key contribution to understanding the relationship between Catholicism and political modernity as experienced particularly in the decades before and immediately after the Second World War…An immensely useful assessment of a critical period for the formation of Catholic attitudes and ideas that still resonate in today’s church and secular politics. -- Daniel Rober * Theological Studies *A persuasive account, from the perspective of intellectual history, of how ultramontane Catholicism swiftly but gradually discarded its ingrained antimodern stance…Highly readable and many readers of different stripes will find it of great interest. Chappel’s contribution to the history of late modern Catholicism will certainly garner much richly deserved attention. -- Paul Misner * Journal of Modern History *

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Book SynopsisChurchill may have played the larger role in Hitlerâs defeat, but Orwellâs reckoning with the threat of authoritarian rule in 1984 and Animal Farm defined the stakes of the Cold War and continues to inspire to this day. Their lives are an eloquent testament to the power of moral conviction, and to the courage it takes to stay true to it.Trade Review'Really, very interesting' John Le Carré‘An inspiring story… highly readable’ Andrew Roberts, bestselling author of Napoleon the Great and The Storm of War‘Ricks is an excellent writer; his eye for telling detail brings to life these two remarkable and much-mythologised men’ Keith Lowe, Telegraph'A feast of a book, laden with observations and insights that enable us to see these familiar figures, and through them our own time, in a fresh and illuminating light' John Gray, New Statesman‘A page turner written with great brio... highly enjoyable’ New York Times

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Book Synopsis1961. The height of the Cold War. Just hours before work begins on the Berlin Wall, a KGB assassin and his young wife flee for the West before the Iron Curtain comes down and traps them in the East forever. This gripping story of real-life espionage and intrigue began when the Soviets invented a special weapon that killed without leaving a trace and put it in the hands of Bogdan Stashinsky. It is a tale of exploding parcels, fake identities, forbidden love and a man who knew the truth about the USSR’s most classified programme. By the time Stashinsky had his day in court, the whole world was watching.Trade Review‘Remarkable…moves nimbly from midnight shenanigans in Berlin to the bigger picture of superpowers arguing over captive nations.’ * The Times *‘With tensions once again rising…this book makes fascinating reading.’ * Spectator *‘Imaginative…insightful…alarmingly resonant.’ * New Statesman *‘Brims with skulduggery…balances its cloak-and-dagger element with historical insight.’ * Telegraph *‘Gripping.' * GQ *‘One of the greatest espionage stories of all time. Plokhy’s riveting tale of how a KGB assassin came in from the cold reads like a thriller because it is a thriller and all the more powerful because every word is true.’ -- Michael Smith, author of Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews‘This is a remarkable story about one Soviet agent’s attempt to free himself from the overweening and terrifying grip of the KGB at the height of the Cold War. Serhii Plokhy superbly captures the tense mood of the late 1950s and early 1960s in the USSR...thrilling.’ -- Roger Hermiston, author of The Greatest Traitor: The Secret Lives of Agent George Blake‘Evoking classic spy thrillers, Serhii Plokhy – one of the foremost experts on Russian and Cold War history alive today – masterfully tells the stranger than fiction tale of soviet spy Bogdan Stashinsky and the most publicized assassination case of the Cold War.’ -- Anne Applebaum, author of Gulag: A History and Iron Curtain‘The Man with the Poison Gun is the classic old-school Cold War spy tale. It’s all here—the trench coats, the cigarette smoke, the high stakes, the special weapons—deeply documented and smoothly told by Professor Plokhy. In the literature on 20th-century espionage, this book belongs on the top shelf.’ -- Mark Riebling, author of Church of Spies‘This book often reads like an Ian Fleming spy novel, but it is actually about real events that occurred during the tensest phase of the Cold War in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Serhii Plokhy provides a riveting account of the exploits of a Soviet assassin who used poison gas to kill exiled opponents of the Soviet regime amid East-West preparations for all-out war. Plokhy’s meticulously researched book sheds valuable light on the Soviet regime’s continued use of political assassinations in foreign countries long after the death of Joseph Stalin. A wonderful read for scholars and spy novel fans alike.’ -- Mark Kramer, director of Cold War Studies, Harvard University‘A gripping portrait of an assassin and his journey from recruitment to mission to defection, The Man with the Poison Gun exhumes one of the Cold War’s stranger episodes—the KGB’s murder of Ukrainian émigrés with a spray gun that squirted poison. Author Serhii Plokhy tells an evocative and informative tale, based on original archival research, that immerses us in the tradecraft of Soviet spies operating in Western Europe.’ -- Peter Finn, co-author of The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book‘Serhii Plokhy, one of the most brilliant historians of our era, has retraced the steps of a murderer and this gripping book is the result. The Man with the Poison Gun will appeal equally to students of history and lovers of spy thrillers.’ -- Mary Elise Sarotte, author of The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall‘Serhii Plokhy has alighted upon a fascinating episode in the history of Soviet intelligence…Plokhy, a leading Harvard professor, details the story in startling clarity and pinpoint accuracy from an impressive array of sources, German, Russian, Ukrainian and American. Yet he carries his learning lightly, which makes for a very readable story that could as well have emerged from the pen of a spy thriller writer.’ -- Jonathan Haslam, George F. Kennan Professor, School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and author of Near and Distant Neighbours: A New History of Soviet Intelligence‘An extraordinary story told with verve and scholarship.’ -- Andrew Lownie, author of Stalin’s Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess

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Book SynopsisAn engaging and informative survey of medieval pet keeping which also examines their representation in art and literature. Animals in the Middle Ages have often been discussed - but usually only as a source of food, as beasts of burden, or as aids for hunters. This book takes a completely different angle, showing that they were also beloved domestic companions to their human owners, whether they were dogs, cats, monkeys, squirrels, and parrots. It offers a full survey of pets and pet-keeping: from how they were acquired, kept, fed, exercised, and displayed, to the problems they could cause. It also examines the representation of pets and their owners in art and literature; the many charming illustrations offer further evidence for the bonds between humans and their pets, then as now. A wide range of sources, including chronicles, letters, sermons and poems, are used in what is both an authoritative and entertaining account.Trade ReviewA novel and comprehensive survey. [...] Not only a milestone in the history of our obsession with pets, but also furthers our understanding of the complexity of human-animal relations in the past. * BBC HISTORY *Medieval Pets is a highly accessible and digestible look at one small slice of medieval life. * STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING *A delightful read for anyone interested in the history of pet-keeping, human-animal relations in general, and identity construction in later medieval Europe. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY *A useful addition to a growing body of specialist literature, and in addition, anyone who has ever owned a pet will find it fascinating. * REVIEWS IN HISTORY *Table of ContentsThe Medieval Pet Getting a pet Pet welfare Living with pets Pets in iconography Pets in literature

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Book SynopsisContaining an urgently needed archival database of historical evidence, this volume includes both a consolidated presentation of the documentary records of black people in Tudor and Stuart England, and an interpretive narrative that confirms and significantly extends the insights of current theoretical excursus on race in early modern England. Here for the first time Imtiaz Habib collects the scattered references to black people-whether from Africa, India or America-in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, and arranges them into a systematic, chronological descriptive index. He offers an extended historical and theoretical interpretation of the records in six chapters, which serve as an introductory guide to the index even as they articulate a specific argument about the meaning of the records. Both the archival information and interpretive scholarship provide a strong framework from which future historical debates on race in early modern England can proceed.Trade Review'Imtiaz Habib's meticulous examination of English sources, both manuscript and printed, will profoundly reshape the ongoing arguments about "race" in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. For decades to come, scholars in many fields will gratefully mine Habib's chronological chart of 448 records of "black people" between 1500 and 1677 and debate his extensive analysis. Black Lives in the English Archives is a major contribution.' Alden T. Vaughan, Columbia University, USA '...A valuable reference for ethnic historians, archivists, and Anglophiles...Recommended.' Choice ’Imtiaz Habib has done us a great service by providing this accessible database of references to Africans, Indians and Americans in early modern England, some never published before.’ Times Literary Supplement '[Habib's] book is a detailed and sophisticated study that makes a significant contribution towards filling the yawning gap in our knowledge, a gap that apparently we did not know was there. ...[an] important contribution to advancing historical understandings of race and colonialism in early modern England.' ParergonTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Missing (Black) Subject1 Early Tudor Black Records The Mixed Beginnings of a Black Population2 Elizabethan London Black RecordsThe Writing of Absence3 Black Records of Seventeenth-Century LondonABenign Neglect and the Legislation of Enslavement4 Black People outside London, 1558–1677The Provincial Backdrop5 Indians and OthersThe Protocolonial DreamAfterword

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Book SynopsisLeaps straight onto the roster of essential reading for anyone even vaguely interested in Grant and the Civil War.Ron Chernow, author of GrantProvides leadership lessons that can be obtained nowhere else Ulysses Grant in his Memoirs gives us a unique glimpse of someone who found that the habit of reflection could serve as a force multiplier for leadership.Thomas E. Ricks, Foreign PolicyUlysses S. Grant's memoirs, sold door-to-door by former Union soldiers, were once as ubiquitous in American households as the Bible. Mark Twain and Henry James hailed them as great literature, and countless presidents credit Grant with influencing their own writing. This is the first comprehensively annotated edition of Grant's memoirs, clarifying the great military leader's thoughts on his life and times through the end of the Civil War and offering his invaluable perspective on battlefield decision making. With annotations compiled by the editors of the Ulysses S. Grant Association's Presidential Library, this definitive edition enriches our understanding of the pre-war years, the war with Mexico, and the Civil War. Grant provides essential insight into how rigorously these events tested America's democratic institutions and the cohesion of its social order. What gives this peculiarly reticent book its power? Above all, authenticity Grant's style is strikingly modern in its economy.T. J. Stiles, New York TimesIt's been said that if you're going to pick up one memoir of the Civil War, Grant's is the one to read. Similarly, if you're going to purchase one of the several annotated editions of his memoirs, this is the collection to own, read, and reread.Library JournalTrade ReviewAs the first fully annotated edition of Ulysses S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs, this fine volume leaps straight onto the roster of essential reading for anyone even vaguely interested in Grant and the Civil War. The book is deeply researched, but it introduces its scholarship with a light touch that never interferes with the reader’s enjoyment of Grant’s fluent narrative. John F. Marszalek and the folks at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library are building a formidable array of books illuminating many aspects of the general’s life. -- Ron Chernow, author of GrantA richly annotated new edition… What gives this peculiarly reticent book its power? Above all, authenticity. If Grant’s voice is never confessional, it almost never rings false… Grant’s style is strikingly modern in its economy. -- T. J. Stiles * New York Times *[This] new edition, the most thoroughly annotated ever produced, provides the general reader and scholar alike with detailed access to the general’s early life and military career. -- David W. Blight * New York Review of Books *If Mark Twain called Grant’s Memoirs ‘a great, unique and unapproachable literary masterpiece,’ The Complete Annotated Edition is its ‘unique’ companion. Renowned Civil War historian John Marszalek and his team of editors are owed our gratitude. Their annotated edition will increase appreciation among both longtime admirers and a new generation discovering why Grant is winning his deserved place among American leaders. -- Ronald C. White, author of American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. GrantGrant’s style is direct and plain, but it has a kind of quiet music to it, the indescribable quality of an authentic voice. There is a level of intimacy that no amount of confessional writing could guarantee. Grant’s assessment of the Civil War and the decisions that went into its waging is mostly brisk and engaging, but what really compelled me through the book were the psychological insights on nearly every page—both of the prominent men whom Grant encountered and of the masses of people whose desires and fears he recognized, sympathized with, and often exploited. Grant’s ability to be empathetic and ruthless in the span of a few sentences—coolly calculating the costs of losing lives against the benefits of pushing on; testing what Southerners could bear and what would make them break—is consistently on display. Whatever Grant hides in his memoir is less than what he reveals. He was a man who could cringe at the cruelty of a bullfight but was willing to send men into certain slaughter to gain a riverbank, a man who understood both dignity and disgrace. -- Louisa Thomas * New Yorker *Of the many editions of the memoirs, I recommend the annotated edition published by Harvard University Press overseen by John F. Marszalek, director of the U. S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State, for its invaluable notes identifying almost every personage mentioned by Grant, expanding on incidents and events Grant glosses over and even correcting his occasional misstatements. -- Michael Hiltzik * Los Angeles Times *[R]espect for Grant can only be reinforced by reading…The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. This is the best presidential memoir written, once earning praise from no less than Mark Twain… Grant wrote in a clear and logical style, much as he issued orders, which brings the day-to-day challenges and tremors of war to his readership with never a suggestion of embellishment. -- Stephen Loosley * The Australian *A brilliant new annotated version. -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Monthly *The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant provides leadership lessons that can be obtained nowhere else…Ulysses Grant in his Memoirs gives us a unique glimpse of someone who found that the habit of reflection could serve as a force multiplier for leadership. -- Thomas E. Ricks * Foreign Policy *Ron Chernow’s Grant has been a national bestseller, deservedly so, but we think that the new edition of The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, edited and annotated [by] John F. Marszalek[,] should share that spotlight. Possibly the best presidential memoir written, annotations by Marszalek with David Nolen and Louis Gallo illuminate and contextualize the memoir for the modern reader. -- Lyn Roberts * Literary Hub *[Grant’s] memoirs, presented at last in an impressive scholarly edition by John F. Marszalek, were the fruit of a last triumphant battle…Grant’s own words restore him to the pantheon of great soldier-presidents. He stands alongside Washington, Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower, a select company to which he has always rightfully belonged. -- Nigel Jones * History Today *A worthy capstone to compliment the now completed thirty-two volume The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant…Marszalek, et. al., have done a thorough job in annotating Grant’s text…Readers of this well-constructed and highly recommended edition of Grant’s Memoirs will not fail to appreciate the man’s modesty, but they should also keep in mind that under that modesty lay a cold-blooded willingness to keep right on. -- Larry A. Grant * Civil War Book Review *The most copious annotated edition of Grant’s indispensable memoirs to date… It’s been said that if you’re going to pick up one memoir of the Civil War, Grant’s is the one to read. Similarly, if you’re going to purchase one of the several annotated editions of his memoirs, this is the collection to own, read, and reread. * Library Journal *

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Book SynopsisThe 1790s is one of the most critical decades in the history of modern Ireland. The decade witnessed the birth of the modern ideology of separatist Irish republicanism, the creation of the Orange Order, and the greatest bloodletting in modern Irish history in the form of the 1798 rebellion. In the aftermath of the rebellion came the Act of Union that brought Ireland into the United Kingdom for the next 121 years, and the smaller rebellion of Robert Emmet, possibly one of the most famous - and, to later generations, inspirational - of Irish republicans. Now, in the second instalment of the collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland magazine, some of the world's leading experts on the 1790s explore the origins, nature and aftermath of the decade from a range of perspectives: from the individuals involved and their international links, to the events of the rebellion and the responses of the government, to the manoeuvres that led to the Act of Union, this volume explore the motives, actions and legacies of the republicans, loyalists, and propagandists who shaped one of the most important decades in Ireland's modern history.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA timely reminder of the intellectual tradition deployed by Republican politicians in the U.S. when they join the loose coalition of conspiracy theorists across the Atlantic gleefully demonizing George Soros. It is both salutary and depressing to be reminded of how enduring the trope of an exploitative global Jewish conspiracy against pure, humble and selfless nationalists really is…A century after the end of the first world war, we have, it seems, learned very little. -- Mark Mazower * Financial Times *One of the great merits of Paul Hanebrink’s A Specter Haunting Europe is its demonstration of how Europe’s most pervasive and powerful twentieth-century manifestation of anti-Semitic thought—the myth of Judeo-Bolshevism—emerged before the rise of National Socialism and has continued to have a curious life long after the Holocaust and the defeat of Nazi Germany. -- Christopher R. Browning * New York Review of Books *Magisterial…Hanebrink’s book covers this dark history with insight and skill. He has the linguistic ability to bring Eastern Europe fully into the narrative, and the vision to include American and Western European debates, too. The end result is a major intervention into our understanding of 20th-century Europe and the lessons we ought to take away from its history. -- James Chappel * The Nation *Outstanding…Makes clear that Judeo-Bolshevism was far from an afterthought; it was a—perhaps the—central catalyst in driving forward the Nazi genocidal project…The most exhaustive account to date of the Nazi obsession with Judeo-Bolshevism, but also of the other sites and eras in Europe in which the myth of Judeo-Bolshevism flourished. -- David N. Myers * Los Angeles Review of Books *This masterful interpretation of the origins and trajectory of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth is far more than a new classic in the canon of the writing of twentieth-century history. With the politics of exclusion and Islamophobia now sweeping Europe, alongside the election of Donald Trump in the United States, Paul Hanebrink’s reconstruction of the conspiratorial imagination that led shadowy others to be blamed—and worse—is an indispensable warning for our own time. -- Samuel Moyn, author of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal WorldHanebrink follows the myth’s twisted course from its European origins in the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, through the jaundiced politics of the interwar period, to its devastating culmination in Nazi Germany…He argues that it survives today in the resurgent right-wing nationalism cropping up in many Western countries. From the start, the fantasy held that an alien element—the Jews—aimed to subvert the cultural values and national identities of Western societies. As Hanebrink points out, this theme is echoed in modern anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. The writers, politicians, and shills whose poisonous ideas he exhumes have many contemporary admirers. -- Robert Legvold * Foreign Affairs *Thoughtful and informative…In addition to examining the origins and influence of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth in the period from 1917 to 1945, Hanebrink attempts to show that it is still an important element in anti-Semitism, both in Europe and beyond…While Judeo-Bolshevism may have lost its resonance, Paul Hanebrink is right to insist that its history still matters, both as a key to understanding the tragic fate of Europe’s Jews in the first half of the twentieth century and as a reminder of how myths can open the way to political and moral catastrophe. -- James J. Sheehan * Commonweal *A masterful attempt to dissect the origins and the development of the idea of Judeo-Bolshevism in different cultural and political settings across twentieth-century Europe, and to explain why and how this canard came to shape the intentions of the leaders of so many parties and organizations, and dominate the minds of intellectuals as well as of average players in the Age of Extremes… Hanebrink’s close study of the way in which Nazism refashioned Judeo-Bolshevism is magisterial in the detailed assessment of how different European countries and organizations responded to Germany’s acclaimed mission to lead Europe against the common enemy… [A] tour de force… [A] definitive history of Judeo-Bolshevism. -- Elissa Bemporad * Marginalia *As Paul Hanebrink demonstrates in this masterly account, the myth of Judaeo-Bolshevism rose on a tide of hysteria whipped up by the chaos in central Europe that marked the end of the Great War…This in turn fed easily into a vicious racist rhetoric that characterized much of the discourse of the political right in Europe between the two world wars and which was of course a cornerstone of the Nazi enterprise. -- Geoffrey Alderman * Times Higher Education *An edifying new book that serves as a valuable addition to the corpus of scholarship on the long history of antisemitism. -- Tibor Krausz * Jerusalem Post *Remarkably lucid and disturbingly relevant…An explicit response to the continued use of Judeo-Bolshevism among far-right movements…The scope of Hanebrink’s achievement here should not be underestimated. -- Sean Martin * Russian Review *During World War II the phantom idea of Judeo-Bolshevism fueled genocides that killed millions of Jews and East Europeans, but, as Paul Hanebrink tells us, we hear its echoes anytime politicians stir fears about outsiders threatening civilization—whether they call it European, Western, or Christian. Hanebrink’s tour de force is rare in its brilliance and originality, but also urgent in its message for our time. -- John Connelly, author of From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933–1965Hanebrink has written a remarkable study…[He] successfully blends the political history of twentieth-century Eastern Europe—with Germany figuring prominently in his narrative—with an originally conceived intellectual history of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth and various echoes that it spawned in public discourse…His book is too good and too rich to be summarized. It should be read. -- Jan T. Gross * American Historical Review *Tremendous…Could not be more timely…These are dangerous times and we need to know as much about the history and politics of the far-right as we can. Hanebrink’s book is a challenging and important contribution helping to develop that understanding. -- John Newsinger * Socialist Review *Superb…Argues cogently that the Judeo-Bolshevism peril was constructed from ‘the raw materials of anti-Judaism, recycled and rearranged to meet new requirements.’ -- Sheldon Kirshner * Times of Israel *A tour de force…This is a first-rate, innovative study not only of a crucial chapter in European history, but also of vicious forces still at play in the present. -- Michael Stanislawski * Journal of Modern History *[An] absorbing work. -- Diane Cypkin * Martyrdom & Resistance *[A] historical tour de force…A Specter Haunting Europe is a masterful work and essential reading for both scholars and students of modern European history, antisemitism, and Jewish Studies. -- Jonathan Zisook * Religious Studies Review *

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Book SynopsisAn example of microhistory at its best, this book offers a new perspective on the socal history of medieval and early modern Europe and on historiography more broadly.Trade Review"The merit of Honor, Vengeance, and Social Trouble: Pardon Letters in the Burgundian Low Countries lies in its attempt, wherever possible, to corroborate the cases it examines by unearthing supplementary archival data from a variety of sources, and to vividly and amusingly illuminate the social world in the towns and villages of the fifteenth-century Burgundian lands." -- Thierry Boucquey * Comitatus 47 *The novelty of this book lies in chapters 3 and 4, where the focus shifts from homicide to a set of pardon letters—statistically, a tiny minority—involving the abduction, real or alleged, of a woman. Here we get an illuminating glimpse of marriage law, interpersonal violence, the interaction between these two, and fifteenth-century life generally. -- Pieter Spierenburg * Renaissance Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction. The Forgiving Prince: Pardons and Their Origins1. Social Discord: Disputes, Vendettas, and Political Clients2. Violence, Honor, and Sexuality3. Marital Conflict4. Actress, Wife, or Lover? Maria van der Hoeven Accused and DefendedConclusion. People and Their StoriesBibliographical Note Index

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Book SynopsisIran is home to the largest Jewish population in the Middle East, outside of Israel. At its peak in the twentieth century, the population numbered around 100,000; today about 25,000 Jews live in Iran. Between Iran and Zion offers the first history of this vibrant community over the course of the last century, from the 1905 Constitutional Revolution through the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over this period, Iranian Jews grew from a peripheral community into a prominent one that has made clear impacts on daily life in Iran. Drawing on interviews, newspapers, family stories, autobiographies, and previously untapped archives, Lior B. Sternfeld analyzes how Iranian Jews contributed to Iranian nation-building projects, first under the Pahlavi monarchs and then in the post-revolutionary Islamic Republic. He considers the shifting reactions to Zionism over time, in particular to religious Zionism in the early 1900s and political Zionism after the creation of the state of Israel. And he investigates the various groups that constituted the Iranian Jewish community, notably the Jewish communists who became prominent activists in the left-wing circles in the 1950s and the revolutionary Jewish organization that participated in the 1979 Revolution. The result is a rich account of the vital role of Jews in the social and political fabric of twentieth-century Iran. Trade Review"Lior Sternfeld has given us a highly nuanced and perceptive study of not only the Jewish community in Iran but also the Jewish community's integral relationship with the larger Iranian nation. The book is especially insightful on the position of the Jewish community in the 1979 Islamic Revolution." -- Ervand Abrahamian * City University of New York *"Between Iran and Zion is an exciting reconstruction of modern Jewish life in Iran. Lior Sternfeld unearths mesmerizing and previously untold stories to ask important questions about Jewish identities and offer hope for a better future to the peoples of the region, Jews and Muslims alike." -- Orit Bashkin * University of Chicago *"Between Iran and Zion offers a compelling history of Iranian Jews in the twentieth century. Lior Sternfeld proves himself an honest and judicious storyteller with this sobering account of a people caught between their historic homeland and a symbolic call for 'return.'" -- Hamid Dabashi * Columbia University *"Sternfeld's strength lies in his ability to successfully situate Iran's Jews within the broader context of Iranian history...Between Iran and Zion is highly recommended not only for readers interested in an original and nuanced examination of Iranian Jewish life between the early 1940s and the early 1980s, but also for those seeking an understanding of the greater Iranian society during this time. It is an excellent demonstration that minority communities cannot be studied in a vacuum." -- Daniella Farah * H-Nationalism *"To the best of my knowledge,Between Iran and Zionis the first utterly successful attempt to liberate the historiography of twentieth-century Iranian Jews from its conceptual and institutional straitjackets. Hence, it provides exciting, novel and thought-provoking insights and findings regarding the modern history of Jews in Iran." -- Haggai Ram * The Tel Aviv Review of Books *"Between Iran and Zion is an important contribution to the current post-Zionist debate on the status and history of Middle Eastern Jews. More importantly, it brings forth the history of Iranian Jews outside of the context of Israeli society and tries to determine its legacy within the Iranian context. I would recommend the book to everyone interested in understanding the complexity and development of Iranian society as a whole between the early 1940s and the early 1980s." -- Alessandra Cecolin * International Journal of Middle East Studies *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThe introduction sets the background for the situation of the Jews in Iran at the turn of the twentieth century. This initial chapter provides a brief history of Jews in Iran and in the Middle East and touches on the creation of transnational networks that became increasingly important in the twentieth century. It seeks to introduce and contextualize for the reader Iran's Jewish community and the manner in which it has been addressed in past works. It provides an overview of the political, social, and cultural changes the community experienced, including the implementation of a constitution, urbanization, and a different perception of the "nation" in terms of postimperial identity and structure. 1Shifting Demographics: The Arrival of Ashkenazi and Iraqi Jews chapter abstractChapter 1 explores ways that the Jewish community became more diverse following World War II. It examines the sociological and demographic transformations that the Jewish population experienced during the war. This chapter argues that the 1941 invasion of Iran by Allied forces and the subsequent collapse of the rigid state structure facilitated social mobility and redefinition. At the same time, a wave of Iraqi Jews arrived in Iran and added another layer of identity to the growing Jewish population. This chapter also debunks the traditional portrayal of Iran as passive in the war historiography, where it is usually examined in an insufficiently complex or nuanced way, and analyzes the ways in which the war and its aftermath shaped Iran. Contrary to the traditional historiography's stagnant or, rather, declining analysis of Iranian Jewry, the Jewish population in Iran witnessed a golden age in terms of becoming Iranian citizens. 2The Iranian Political Sphere: Shaping a National Identity chapter abstractChapter 2 examines the politicization of Jews in Iran during World War II and through the early 1950s. Traditional historiography distances Jews from politics in Iran. When mentioned at all, Jewish political activity usually references support of the Shah, especially in relation to his close alliance with Israel. However, this chapter argues that political activism became a means for Iranian Jews to impact their future role and sociopolitical position in Iran. Many Jews were adamant supporters and members of the Tudeh, the Iranian Communist Party, and later engaged in many other political initiatives (such as student movements and intellectual associations). The Tudeh was the most vocal opponent of fascism in the 1940s and arguably the most popular political force in Iran. The Tudeh's enduring defense of the Jewish community, combined with its message of equality, attracted many young Jews from the Iranian middle and lower middle classes. 3Iranian Jews and Israel: From Indigenous to State-Sponsored Zionism chapter abstractThis chapter examines the roots and effects of Zionism in Iran. It analyzes Zionism first as an indigenous movement that emerged in Iran as a response to the needs of Iranian Jews (with relation to the global movement of Zionism) and transformed itself as the needs of Iranian Jews changed in the course of the century. After 1948 and the establishment of Israel, Zionism could no longer be taken as a local movement alone. The contact with Israel and Israeli emissaries and the impact of state-sponsored Zionist activities ignited a new set of emotions and means of identification with or antagonism to Zionism, and a range of reactions in between. This chapter examines the way Israel dealt with the case of Iranian Jews, which was atypical compared with other Middle Eastern communities. In addition, this chapter examines the responses to Zionism among the non-Jewish intellectual elites in Iran. 4Unintended Consequences: The Lead-Up to the Iranian Revolution chapter abstractThe ultimate success of the nation-building project, led by the Shah, was evident in the decade leading up to the revolution—when the Jewish community in Iran finally achieved its release from traditional loyalties and viewed itself, first and foremost, as Iranian. This chapter explores the first manifestations of Jewish revolutionary discourse and actions and discusses postrevolutionary Iran and a new nation-building paradigm that Jews faced following the Islamic revolution. This chapter follows the Jewish response to the rapidly unfolding events: from the Shah's overthrow through the redefinition of the Iranian national identity, from the Iran-Iraq War to the post-Khomeini period. In the post-Khomeini era, Iranian Jews had to navigate between their religious ancestral homeland (Israel) and their national and political homeland (Iran). They had to deftly maneuver between the misinterpretations and deceptions that characterized the harsh rhetoric between Israel and Iran. Conclusion chapter abstractThis concluding chapter shows that the trajectory of the Jews of Iran from the early twentieth century led them ultimately to integration into each of the nation-building projects of that era.

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Book SynopsisFirst Published in 1989. Tackling the problem of Germany's role in the history of world politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is one of the most interesting tasks of historiography. Furthermore, the relationship between Britain and Germany is of central significance in understanding this role.Table of ContentsPart 1 The European Order between German Unification and the First World War; Chapter 1 Great Britain and the foundation of the German Reich; Chapter 2 Lord Clarendon, Bismarck and the problem of European disarmament, 1870.; Chapter 3 Between alliance and antagonism.; Chapter 4 The crisis of July 1914; Part 2 The Revolution in the International Order in the Twentieth Century; Chapter 5 Hitler’s policy towards France until 1936; Chapter 6 War in peace and peace in war.; Chapter 7 The German Resistance and its proposals for the political future of Eastern Europe; Part 3 The Federal Republic and its Policies towards East and West; Chapter 8 The provisional state and ‘eternal France’.; Chapter 9 Adenauer and Soviet Russia, 1963–7.; Chapter 10 The German Eigenweg;

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