History : Europe

A comprehensive but concise historical dictionary, which defines modern Europe through its important events and people. It offers accessible definitions of nearly 1000 separate items and is extensively cross-referenced. It provides associated links and connections while the appendices contain essential extra information. It is the perfect handy introduction to modern Europe for both the student and general reader. more...

Price: $30.95

This is the first comprehensive examination of the Russian ruling elite and its political institutions during an important period of state building, from the emergence of Russia on the stage of world politics around 1700 to the consolidation of its position after the victory over Napoleon. Instead of focusing on the great rulers of the period--Peter, Catherine, and Alexander--the work examines the nobility which alone could make their power effective. LeDonne not only gives a full chronological account of the development of bureaucratic, military, economic, and political institutions in Russia during this period, but also skillfully analyzes the ways in which local agencies and the ruling class exercised control and shared power with the absolute monarchs.  more...

Price: $145.00

The essays in this volume highlight the different paths Calvinism followed as it took root in Western Europe, and how it developed, within fifty years, into the dominant Protestant confession. Each chapter reinforces the notion that while many reformers tried to duplicate the kind of community that Calvin had established, most had to compromise by adapting to the particular political and cultural landscapes in which they lived. Summarizing recent research in the field through selected French, German, English and Scottish case studies, this collection adds to the emerging picture of a flexible Calvinism that could adapt to meet specific local conditions and needs in order to allow the Reformed tradition to thrive and prosper. more...

Price: $114.95

After 1945, state patriotism of communist regimes in Eastern Europe was characterized by the widespread use of national symbols. In communist Hungary the party (MKP) widely celebrated national holidays, national heroes, erected national statues, and employed national street names. Martin Mevius' pioneering study examines the origins of this socialist patriotism, how it had become the self image of party and state by 1953, and why the MKP never rid itself of the label 'agents of. Moscow'. - ;After 1945, state patriotism of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe was characterized by the widespread use of national symbols. In communist Hungary the party (MKP) widely celebrated national holidays, national heroes, erected national statues, and employed national street names. This 'socialist patriotism' had its origin in the 'national line' of the Comintern, established on Soviet instructions following the German invasion of the Soviet Union. At that time Stalin called the. parties of the Comintern to oppose the Germans by issuing the call for national liberation. This policy continued after 1945 when, as an aid in the struggle for power, the MKP presented itself as both the 'heir to the traditions of the nations' and the 'only true representative of the interest of the Hungarian people'. Paradoxically however, the Soviet origins of the national line were also one of the main obstacles to its success as the MKP could not put forward national demands if these conflicted with Soviet interests. Martin Mevius' pioneering study reveals that what had started as a tactical measure in 1941 had become the self-image of party and state in 1953 and that the ultimate loyalty to the Soviet Union worked to the detriment of the national party - the MKP never rid itself of the label 'agents of Moscow'. - ;There is thorough documentary evidence and the skillful analytical assessment is overwhelming. - Barnabas Racz, Europe Asia stud more...

Price: $175.00

In a critique of Max Weber's influential ideas about the Mediterranean region in late antiquity, Jairus Banaji shows that the fourth to seventh centuries were in fact a period of major social and economic change, bound up with an expanding circulation of gold. - ;The economy of the late antique Mediterranean is still largely seen through the prism of Weber's influential essay of 1896. Rejecting that orthodoxy, Jairus Banaji argues that the late empire saw substantial economic and social change, propelled by the powerful stimulus of a stable gold coinage that circulated widely. In successive chapters Banaji adduces fresh evidence for the prosperity of the late Roman countryside, the expanding circulation of gold, the restructuring of agrarian. --eacute--;lites, and the extensive use of paid labour, above all in the period spanning the fifth to seventh centuries. The papyrological evidence is scrutinized in detail to show that a key development entailed the rise of a new aristocracy whose estates were immune to the devastating fragmentation of. partible inheritance, extensively irrigated, and responsive to market opportunities. A concluding chapter defines the more general issue raised by the aristocracy's involvement in the monetary and business economy of the period. Exploiting a wide range of sources, Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity weaves together different strands of historiography (Weber, Mickwitz, papyrology, agrarian history) into a fascinating interpretation that challenges the minimalist orthodoxies about late antiquity and the ancient economy more generally. - more...

Price: $60.00