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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        Popular imperialism and the military, 1850-1950

        by John M. MacKenzie

        Colonial war played a vital part in transforming the reputation of the military and placing it on a standing equal to that of the navy. The book is concerned with the interactive culture of colonial warfare, with the representation of the military in popular media at home, and how these images affected attitudes towards war itself and wider intellectual and institutional forces. It sets out to relate the changing image of the military to these fundamental facts. For the dominant people they were an atavistic form of war, shorn of guilt by Social Darwinian and racial ideas, and rendered less dangerous by the increasing technological gap between Europe and the world. Attempts to justify and understand war were naturally important to dominant people, for the extension of imperial power was seldom a peaceful process. The entertainment value of war in the British imperial experience does seem to have taken new and more intensive forms from roughly the middle of the nineteenth century. Themes such as the delusive seduction of martial music, the sketch of the music hall song, powerful mythic texts of popular imperialism, and heroic myths of empire are discussed extensively. The first important British war correspondent was William Howard Russell (1820-1907) of The Times, in the Crimea. The 1870s saw a dramatic change in the representation of the officer in British battle painting. Up to that point it was the officer's courage, tactical wisdom and social prestige that were put on display.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2013

        Crime, Law and Society in the Later Middle Ages

        by Anthony Musson, Edward Powell

        This book provides an accessible collection of translated legal sources through which the exploits of criminals and developments in the English criminal justice system (c.1215-1485) can be studied. Drawing on the wealth of archival material and an array of contemporary literary texts, it guides readers towards an understanding of prevailing notions of law and justice and expectations of the law and legal institutions. Tensions are shown emerging between theoretical ideals of justice and the practical realities of administering the law during an era profoundly affected by periodic bouts of war, political in-fighting, social dislocation and economic disaster. Introductions and notes provide both the specific and wider legal, social and political contexts in addition to offering an overview of the existing secondary literature and historiographical trends. This collection affords a valuable insight into the character of medieval governance as well as revealing the complex nexus of interests, attitudes and relationships prevailing in society during the later Middle Ages.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        February 2024

        Governing the military

        by Carlos Solar

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        March 2017

        Images of the army

        The military in British art, 1815-1914

        by J. W. M. Hichberger

        In an age when engraving and photography were making artistic images available to a much wider public, artists were able to influence public attitudes more powerfully than ever before. This book examines works of art on military themes in relation to ruling-class ideologies about the army, war and the empire. The first part of the book is devoted to a chronological survey of battle painting, integrated with a study of contemporary military and political history. The chapters link the debate over the status and importance of battle painting to contemporary debates over the role of the army and its function at home and abroad. The second part discusses the intersection of ideologies about the army and military art, but is concerned with an examination of genre representations of soldiers. Another important theme which runs through the book is the relation of English to French military art. During the first eighty years of the period under review France was the cynosure of military artists, the school against which British critics measured their own, and the place from which innovations were imported and modified. In every generation after Waterloo battle painters visited France and often trained there. The book shows that military art, or the 'absence' of it, was one of the ways in which nationalist commentators articulated Britain's moral superiority. The final theme which underlies much of the book is the shifts which took place in the perception of heroes and hero-worship.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        Science and society in southern Africa

        by Saul Dubow

        This collection, dealing with case studies drawn from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Mauritius, examines the relationship between scientific claims and practices, and the exercise of colonial power. It challenges conventional views that portray science as a detached mode of reasoning with the capacity to confer benefits in a more or less even-handed manner. That science has the potential to further the collective good is not fundamentally at issue, but science can also be seen as complicit in processes of colonial domination. Not only did science assist in bolstering aspects of colonial power and exploitation, it also possessed a significant ideological component: it offered a means of legitimating colonial authority by counter-poising Western rationality to native superstition and it served to enhance the self-image of colonial or settler elites in important respects. This innovative volume ranges broadly through topics such as statistics, medicine, eugenics, agriculture, entomology and botany.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2013

        The Nine Years' War and the British army 1688–97

        The operations in the low countries

        by John Childs

        Between 1689 and 1697 the British army fought as a member of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV. Despite the military and political significance of the European conflict, this book is the first historical investigation for over a century dealing with the operations of the principal campaigns in the Low Countries. John Childs begins his comprehensive study by exploring the diplomatic origins of the Nine Years' War. Leading on from this political background, the author then focuses on the detailed organisation of the British, Dutch and other allied armies and the conduct of the operations. The specific campaigns are also examined and in particular the author looks at the strategic and tactical role played by the British. This campaign and operational study of the British army will be of interest to both specialist and general military historians, as well as to political historians. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        From Jack Tar to Union Jack

        Representing naval manhood in the British Empire, 1870–1918

        by Mary A. Conley

        Jack Tar to Union Jack examines the intersection between empire, navy, and manhood in British society from 1870 to 1918. Through analysis of sources that include courts-martial cases, sailors' own writings, and the HMS Pinafore, Conley charts new depictions of naval manhood during the Age of Empire, a period which witnessed the radical transformation of the navy, the intensification of imperial competition, the democratisation of British society, and the advent of mass culture. Jack Tar to Union Jack argues that popular representations of naval men increasingly reflected and informed imperial masculine ideals in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Conley shows how the British Bluejacket as both patriotic defender and dutiful husband and father stood in sharp contrast to the stereotypic image of the brave but bawdy tar of the Georgian navy. This book will be essential reading for students of British imperial history, naval and military history, and gender studies.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        January 2014

        Court and civic society in the Burgundian Low Countries c.1420–1530

        by Andrew Brown, Graeme Small

        This volume is the first ever attempt to unite and translate some of the key texts which informed Johan Huizinga's famous study of the Burgundian court, The Waning of the Middle Ages, a work which has never gone out of print. It combines these texts with sources that Huizinga did not consider, those that illuminate the wider civic world that the Burgundian court inhabited and the dynamic interaction between court and city. Through these sources, and an introduction offering new perspectives on recent historiography, the book tests whether Huizinga's controversial vision of the period still stands. Covering subjects including ceremonial events, such as the spectacles and gargantuan banquets that made the Burgundian dukes the talk of Europe, the workings of the court, and jousting, archery and rhetoric competitions, the book will appeal to students of late medieval and early modern Europe and to those with wider interests in court culture, ritual and ceremony.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        2019

        History of the Throw-Away Society

        The drawback of consumption

        by Wolfgang König

        Sooner or later everything is thrown away. In the consumer society, however, usable and serviceable products that may be as good as new are also thrown away. Such behaviour is the result of a long-term process that has developed over a period of one-and-a-half centuries. The change was led by the USA, and the Federal Republic of Germany followed. It started at the turn of the last century with personal hygiene: articles such as toilet paper, sanitary towels, nappies and paper handkerchiefs. After the Second World War, a large number of other disposable articles were soon added, such as paper cups and plastic dishes, nylon stockings and pens, razor blades, beverage cans and much more besides. Wolfgang König shows how business and consumers have together made throwing things away perfectly normal – and discusses how the throwaway society may be overcome.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2002

        American society today

        by Edward Ashbee, Bill Jones

        American society today provides a balanced introduction to the defining features of contemporary American society. Includes the ways in which the US can be considered 'exceptional' - the character of the 'American dream', the role of ethnicity and race, and the differences between the regions. Considers in depth a number of contemporary debates including the claim that the US economy has lost its capacity to generate wealth and stimulate mobility, that there has been a process of civic disengagement as voluntary organisations have lost members, and that the traditional family is in decline. Includes a thorough investigation of the effects of the terrorist attacks of September 11 and their aftermath. Looks at the arguments put forward by those who assert that a common American identity has given way to a multitude of conflicting identities structured around factors such as race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 1999

        French society in revolution 1789–1799

        by David Andress, Mark Greengrass

        French society in revolution aims to retrieve the social history of the French Revolution from unjustified neglect. This study examines both the structural and cultural elements behind the breakdown of the eighteenth-century monarchic state and its aris. . . . ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2016

        The humanitarian-military complex in Afghanistan

        by Bertrand Taithe, Eric James, Tim Jacoby

        Violent conflict brings together two seemingly disparate groups: humanitarians and soldiers. This mixes and convolutes agendas, blurring lines that are often perceived to be sacrosanct. Delving deeply into the history and reasons of why these two groups work in close proximity, this study provide a unique insight into the history, ethical dilemmas and policy conundrums when aid workers operate close to the military. Using Afghanistan as a case study, analytical rigour, deep primary research and "field" knowledge are combined in an exceptional contribution to this important area. This book gives scholars and practitioners alike a nuanced perspective on the challenges faced by aid workers, military personnel and decision-makers alike in countries affected by violent conflicts, hosting foreign military interventions and receiving international aid. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        September 2024

        The renewal of post-war Manchester

        Planning, architecture and the state

        by Richard Brook

        A compelling account of the project to transform post-war Manchester, revealing the clash between utopian vision and compromised reality. Urban renewal in Britain was thrilling in its vision, yet partial and incomplete in its implementation. For the first time, this deep study of a renewal city reveals the complex networks of actors behind physical change and stagnation in post-war Britain. Using the nested scales of region, city and case-study sites, the book explores the relationships between Whitehall legislation, its interpretation by local government planning officers and the on-the-ground impact through urban architectural projects. Each chapter highlights the connections between policy goals, global narratives and the design and construction of cities. The Cold War, decolonialisation, rising consumerism and the oil crisis all feature in a richly illustrated account of architecture and planning in post-war Manchester.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2021

        Post-everything

        An intellectual history of post-concepts

        by Herman Paul, Adriaan van Veldhuizen

        Postmodern, postcolonial and post-truth are broadly used terms. But where do they come from? When and why did the habit of interpreting the world in post-terms emerge? And who exactly were the 'post boys' responsible for this? Post-everything examines why post-Christian, post-industrial and post-bourgeois were terms that resonated, not only among academics, but also in the popular press. It delves into the historical roots of postmodern and poststructuralist, while also subjecting more recent post-constructions (posthumanist, postfeminist) to critical scrutiny. This study is the first to offer a comprehensive history of post-concepts. In tracing how these concepts found their way into a broad range of genres and disciplines, Post-everything contributes to a rapprochement between the history of the humanities and the history of the social sciences.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        February 2023

        Ode to Youth

        by Shi Zhongshan is a writer, scriptwriter, and television producer. He has written novels such as The New Generation in the Military Compound and Hailing from All Corners of the Country and novelettes such as Years of Passion Burning, Resonance of Military Songs,and Happiness as Flowers, of which over thirty have been adapted for over one thousand episodes of TV plays.

        Dong Hongmei's father died of disability after the war, and her mother mysteriously “disappeared” when she was three years old. The tragic life experience indicates that her growth will be bumpy. However, her life turned a corner as she became the so-called "child of high-ranking officials," and she managed to drag herself out of the morass of despair. By virtue of the identity of "the child of high-ranking officials," all kinds of good things, such as awards, promotion, and the opportunity of going to Beijing, followed close on one another, while all these actually resulted from a huge misunderstanding... Dong Hongmei's life is full of affecting friendship, thereby making Ode to Youth a rare masterpiece full of romantic feelings in contemporary literary circles.

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