Not Just Books Books

Book SynopsisWhat is the role of literature in the formation of the state? Anthony J. Cascardi takes up this fundamental question in Cervantes, Literature, and the Discourse of Politics, a comprehensive analysis of the presence of politics in Don Quixote. Cascardi argues that when public speech is constrained, as it was in seventeenth-century Spain, politics must be addressed through indirect forms including comedy, myth, and travellers'' tales.Cervantes, Literature, and the Discourse of Politics convincingly re-engages the ancient roots of political theory in modern literature by situating Cervantes within a long line of political thinkers. Cascardi notably connects Cervantes''s political theory to Plato''s, much as the writer''s literary criticism has been firmly linked to Aristotle''s. He also shows how Cervantes''s view of literature provided a compelling alternative to the modern, scientific politics of Machiavelli and Hobbes, highlighting the potential intTrade Review'Cascardi provides illuminating commentary on the overlooked influence of political philosophy upon Cervantes's -- Barbara Simerka Renaissance Quarterly; vol 65:03:2012Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. What the Canon Said 3. Views from Nowhere 4. Controversies 5. The Practice of Theory 6. Politics Brought Down to Earth 7. Imagining the Nation 8. Civil Society, Virtue, and the Pursuit of Happiness 9. Free Speech? Notes Index

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Book SynopsisPaths of Thorns is the story of Jacob Abramovich Neufeld (18951960), a prominent Soviet Mennonite leader and writer, as well as one of these Mennonites sent to the Gulag.Trade Review'Path of Thorns is easily the most substantial published first-person account of Soviet Mennonite life from the 1920s through the Second World War.' -- Benjamin W. Goossen Nova Religio vol 20:02:2016 'A highly readable translation of Neufeld's writings... Dyck offers new insights into how Soviet interrogators weaved grand narratives, drawing friends and colleagues to implicate each other and themselves in fabricated crimes. This adds a deeper understanding of the world in which Neufeld's experiences unfolded.' -- Aileen Friesen The Russian Review vol 73:04:2014 'The book provides an important firsthand account of life in the gulag and a unique perspective on the Nazi invasion of Ukraine.' -- Colin P. Neufeldt The Mennonite Quarterly, April 2015 'Harvey Dyck has done a splendid job of translating Neufeld's dense and intelligent prose and offering an insightful analysis.' -- Royden Loewen University of Toronto Quarterly vol 84:03:2015Table of ContentsMaps Introduction and Analysis, Harvey L. Dyck PART I. MY PATH OF THORNS PART II. 'TIEFENWEGE (TRAGIC PASSAGES),' 1929-1949 Section One: New Directions and Shattering Experiments, 1928-1939 Section Two: World War II, Bolshevik Collapse and German Occupation, 1941-1943 Section Three: The Great Trek, 1943-1944 Section Four: Germany's Collapse, 1944-1945 Section Five: Allied Occupation and Emigration, 1945-1949 PART III. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL LETTER TO WIFE, LENE NOTES

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Book SynopsisErasmus'' humanistic approach to theology and biblical exegesis presented a shocking challenge to the theologians at the University of Paris, which had been dominated by scholastic theology for centuries. He engaged in a decade-long controversy over his theological, exegetical, and ethical positions with the Theological Faculty, and especially with their director, Noël Béda.This volumewhich translates this crucial quarrel from Latin for the first timedetails the formal, wide-ranging attack on Erasmus'' theories printed by the faculty in 1531, along with his two replies. Erasmus published his first rebuttal in the spring of 1532, and that fall issued a second edition with substantial revisions and lengthy additions to his original text. With an extensive introduction and detailed commentary by Clarence H. Miller and James K. Farge, this volume highlights the differences between the humanist and scholastic views of genuine theology more fully and extensively than most of ErasmTrade Review'The volume meets the expectations of those who are familiar with the series - and that is not a small achievement.' -- Craig Kallendorf Neo-Latin News vol 61:1-2:2013Table of ContentsIntroduction, by Clarence H. Miller and James K. Farge Clarifications Concerning the Censures Published in Paris in the Name of the Parisian Faculty of Theology Works Frequently Cited Short-title forms for Erasmus' Works General Index

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Book Synopsis‘And by now, mind, it’s too late to redeem your debts by giving up guzzling.’ Dante''s poetic correspondence (or tenzone) with Forese Donati, a relative of his wife, was rife with crude insults: the two men derided one another on topics ranging from sexual dysfunction and cowardice to poverty and thievery. But in his Commedia, rather than denying this correspondence, Dante repeatedly acknowledged and evoked the memory of his youthful put-downs.Dante''s Tenzone with Forese Donati examines the lasting impact of these sonnets on Dante''s writings and Italian literary culture, notably in the work of Giovanni Boccaccio. Fabian Alfie expands on derision as an ethical dimension of medieval literature, both facilitating the reprehension of vice and encouraging ongoing debates about the true nature of nobility. Outlining a broad perspective on the uses of literary insult, Dante''s Tenzone with Forese DonTable of Contents* Acknowledgements and Dedication * Introduction: Dante's Harsh New Style* Chapter One: La debita correzione: The Poetics of Insult in the Duecento* Chapter Two: Ad personam, ad stipitem: Readings of the Sonnets* Chapter Three: Hellish Echoes: Reminiscences of the Correspondence in Inferno XXIX and XXX* Chapter Four: The Terrace of the Tenzone: Purgatorio XXIII and XXIV* Chapter Five: Citations and Interpretations: The Literary Memory of the Sonnets in Boccaccio and Others* Conclusion* Appendix: Manuscripts and Stemmas* Bibliography

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Book SynopsisDante Alighieri cited the Bible extensively in his Commedia, but also used his epic poem to meditate on the meaning of the Scriptures as a ''true'' text. The Biblical Dante provides close readings of passages from the Commedia to explore how Dante''s concept of Biblical truth differs sharply from modern notions.V. Stanley Benfell examines Dante''s argument that the truth of the sacred text could only be revealed when engaged with in a transformative manner - and that a lack of such encounters in his time had led to a rise in greed and corruption, notably within the Church. He also illustrates how the poet put forth a vision for the restoration of a just society using Biblical language and imagery, revealing ideas of both earthly and eternal happiness. The Biblical Dante provides an insightful analysis of attitudes towards both the Bible and how it was read in the Medieval period.Table of ContentsA Note on Texts Abbreviations Preface * Dante's Idea of the Bible * Biblical Truth in the Paradiso * The Bible in the Inferno: Misprision and Prophetic Appropriation *Una nuova legge: The Beatitudes in the Purgatorio * Dante's Apocalypse Conclusion: Poet of the Biblical World Works Cited

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Book SynopsisLanguage is now understood as a key component of cultural identity, but discourses on linguistic nationalism are only a few centuries old. In Irresistible Signs, Paola Gambarota investigates the connection between Italian language and national identity over four hundred years, from late-Renaissance linguistic theories to nineteenth-century nationalist myths.Challenging the consensus that linguistic nationalism originated with nineteenth century German philosophers, Irresistible Signs advances a more nuanced theory of how culture and language become inextricably linked through literary and rhetorical elements. Gambarota combines Anglo-American theories of the nation with the most advanced Italian scholarship on language ideology and delves into ideas from Giambattista Vico, Giacomo Leopardi, and Melchiorre Cesarotti. Irresistible Signs also explores how images of national communities are represented within vernaculars, affirming their influence in shaTable of ContentsIntroduction * Scripts of vernaculars and collective characters in early modern Europe *Ut lingua, natio: Dominique Bouhours' genius of the nation and Ludovico Antonio Muratori's Italian republic of letters * Giambattista Vico, the vernacular, and the foundations of modern Italy * Translating genius: Cesarotti, Ossian, and the question of national character * Toward sameness: Leopardi's critique of character and the end of the nation * Irresistible signs? A postscript and the question of media Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe letters in this volume reflect Erasmus’ anxiety about the endemic warfare in Western Europe, the advance of the Ottoman Turks into Europe, and the increasing threat of armed conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Germany. Unable and unwilling to attend the Diet of Augsburg (JuneNovember 1530), summoned by Emperor Charles V in the attempt to mediate a religious settlement, Erasmus corresponded with those in attendance, urging them (in vain) to preserve peace at all costs. The letters also shed light on Erasmus’ controversies with Catholic critics (Luis de Carvajal and Frans Titelmans) who accused him of Lutheran sympathies, and former friends among the Protestant reformers (Gerard Geldenhouwer and others in Strasbourg), who embarrassed him by citing him in support of their views. Because of a mysterious and debilitating illness (identified in an appendix to the volume) the twelve months covered were less productive of scholarship than was usual for EraTrade Review'The Toronto Erasmus project is a magnificent achievement, one of the scholarly triumphs of our time. The succession of fine volumes - both in quality of content and of design and production - since the edition began in 1974 has continued to fulfil the original promise of the distinguished team of editors and the equally distinguished advisory committee.' -- Lisa Jardine Common Knowledge 'The Collected Works of Erasmus project has long since established a new standard for scholarly translation series to emulate. Not only have the English versions represented Erasmus' writings in crisp and accessible language, but meticulous editorial scholarship has placed the author's thought and work in their proper intellectual contexts.' -- Jerry H. Bentley Renaissance Quarterly 'Academic publishing does not get any better than this: durably bound, expertly annotated, beautifully translated editions of the works of one of the finest scholars in the illustrious history of the Christian Church.' -- Michael Bauman Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 'This current volume retains the impeccable scholarship, careful attention to detail, and beautiful high-quality materials and printing that has characterized the series... A very valuable and much appreciated addition.' -- Gregory D. Dodds Renaissance Quarterly vol 69:02:2016

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Book SynopsisUntil the late nineteenth-century, the most common form of local government in rural England and the British Empire was administration by amateur justices of the peace: the sessions system. Petty Justice uses an unusually well-documented example of the colonial sessions system in Loyalist New Brunswick to examine the role of justices of the peace and other front-line low law officials like customs officers and deputy land surveyors in colonial local government.Using the rich archival resources of Charlotte County, Paul Craven discusses issues such as the impact of commercial rivalries on local administration, the role of low law officials in resolving civil and criminal disputes and keeping the peace, their management of public works, social welfare, and liquor regulation, and the efforts of grand juries, high court judges, colonial governors, and elected governments to supervise them. A concluding chapter explains the demise of the sessions system in Charlotte CountTrade Review'Craven's book is a compendious analysis of archival material that reveals the day-to-day workings of the magistracy system in Charlotte County... It is heartening to see excellent research bringing important questions into the spotlight.' -- Lyndsay Campbell Acadiensis vol 44:02:2015 'Craven has effectively made accessible a wealth of knowledge and a unique glimpse of Canada's Legal history.' -- Alex E. Hughes American Review of Canadian Studies vol 46:01:2016Table of Contents1. High Law, Low Law, No Law I. Petty Justices 2. The Trials of David Owen 3. High Noon at Campobello 4. The Empire Strikes Back II. Doing Substantial Justice 5. In the Woods 6. "Unconnected with Mercantile Pursuits" 7. Hatheway's Civil Docket 1847-67 8. Hatheway's Crown Docket, 1847-67 III. The Sessions System and Its Enemies 9. Called to Account 10. Three Ships 11. The Temperance Magistrates 12. The Sessions System in Decline Appendices Reference Tables Sources Statutes Index Bibliography Index of Names Index of Places Topical Index

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Book SynopsisIn this sweeping history, Jean Casimir argues that the story of Haiti begins with a reconstruction of how individuals from Africa, in the midst of the golden age of imperialism, created a sovereign society based on political imagination and a radical rejection of the colonial order, persisting even through the US occupation in 1915.

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Book SynopsisBy Consent Alone reveals how medieval German literature responded to the evolving laws of marriage and consent in medieval Europe.

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