Book Description
'Make no mistake, the normative authority of the United States of America lies in ruins': such is the judgement of the most influential thinker in Europe today reflecting on the political repercussions of the war in Iraq. The decision to go to war in Iraq, without the explicit backing of a Security Council resolution, opened up a deep fissure in the West which continues to divide erstwhile allies and to hinder the attempt to develop a coordinated response to the new threats posed by international terrorism.In this timely and important volume J ürgen Habermas responds to the dramatic political events of the period since 9/11 and maps out a way to move the political agenda forward, beyond the acrimonious debates which have pitched opponents of the war against the Bush Administration and its 'coalition of the willing'. What is fundamentally at stake, argues Habermas, is the Kantian project of abolishing the state of nature between states. Habermas develops a detailed multidimensional model of transnational and supranational governance inspired by Kantian cosmopolitanism, situates it in the context of the evolution of international law towards a cosmopolitan constitutional order during the 19th and 20th centuries, and defends it against the new challenge posed by the 'hegemonic liberal' vision underlying the aggressive unilateralism of the current US administration.The Divided West is a major intervention by one of the most highly regarded political thinkers of our time. It will be essential reading for students of sociology, politics, international relations and international law, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the current and future course of European and international politics.
Book Description
From the ashes of World War II to the conflict over Iraq, William Hitchcock examines the miraculous transformation of Europe from a deeply fractured land to a continent striving for stability, tolerance, democracy, and prosperity. Exploring the role of Cold War politics in Europe’s peace settlement and the half century that followed, Hitchcock reveals how leaders such as Charles de Gaulle, Willy Brandt, and Margaret Thatcher balanced their nations’ interests against the demands of the reigning superpowers, leading to great strides in economic and political unity. He re-creates Europeans’ struggles with their troubling legacy of racial, ethnic, and national antagonism, and shows that while divisions persist, Europe stands on the threshold of changes that may profoundly shape the future of world affairs.
Customer Reviews:
Good Choice for a European Overview.......2006-08-06
The best thing to be said about Hitchcock's book is probably the worst as well: it is perfectly suited to be an entertaining and accessible textbook for a modern European history class. On the one hand, this means that the book is highly informative and hits on the major issues of high politics in postwar Europe. Hitchcock is very adept at providing enough background to allow readers to fully appreciate the stories he tells, many of which are probably unknown to most. Reading the story of Labor's postwar victory in Britain, or the fairly unheard-of July 1953 uprising in Berlin turns out to be novel and entertaining.
Yet, the book also suffers from some classic schoolbook problems. Hitchcock occasionally gets drowned in reciting facts and figures, which greatly slows the book's fast start. And as the previous reviewer said, the scope of the book is not wide, sticking to the obvious countries and people for the most part. The final chapter on the EU is truly textbook-like, bogged down with bolded terms, long definitions, and slightly out of date. For all the momentum the book builds, it ends with a disappointing whimper that sours the whole experience.
The bottom line is that the book is good, but skippable. For those with a interest in recent European history, it will serve as an excellent and interesting starting point. For those well-steeped in the story of the Continent, it is probably of little use, though the occasional story may provide some novelty.
A Very Readable History of Modern Europe.......2006-01-10
Hitchcock's The Struggle for Europe achieves exactly what it sets out to do: provide a clear and easy-to-read synopsis of the events of the last 60 years of European History.
The book opens with a detailed analysis of the postwar period with Britain totally broke, much of Germany destroyed, France & Italy in chaos and Eastern Europe falling into Stalinist control. Hitchock shows the importance that a few key descisions in the late 1940s had on the development of both Western and Eastern Europe for the rest of the century. The economic boom in the West, continued repression in the E, social change, immigration, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Yugoslavia, and the European Union all receive a chapter in this, mostly chronological, narrative. Hitchcock does a very good job weaving these disparate events together and providing the reader with a perspective on the forces behind them.
Hitchcock spends most of his time focusing on Germany, Britain, and France. Although Eastern Europe (essentially limited to Poland, Hungery and Czechoslovakia) features in a few chapters and there is a chapter on Spain and Portugal, the book is structures around events in Western Europe. Scandinavia is hardly mentionned and Romania first appears in 1989!
If you are looking to learn about the modern history of Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden, Holland, Greece, etc. you will need to look elsewhere! However, if you are looking for a good survey of European history since the Second World War, The Struggle for Europe delivers with a clear and concise narrative.
Book Description
Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society is a comprehensive history of the third most populous country of Latin America. It offers the most extensive discussion available in English of the whole of Colombian history-from pre-Columbian times to the present. The book begins with an in-depth look at the earliest years in Colombia's history, emphasizing the role geography played in shaping Colombia's economy, society, and politics and in encouraging the growth of distinctive regional cultures and identities. It includes a thorough discussion of Colombian politics that looks at the ways in which historical memory has affected political choices, particularly in the formation and development of the country's two traditional political parties. The authors explore the factors that have contributed to Colombia's economic troubles, such as the delay in its national economic integration and its relative ineffectiveness as an exporter. The three concluding chapters offer an authoritative and up-to-date examination of the impact of coffee on Colombia's economy and society, the social and political effects of urban growth, and the multiple dimensions of the violence that has plagued the country since 1946. Written in clear, vigorous prose, Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society is essential for students of Latin American history and politics, and for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the history of this fascinating and tumultuous country.
Customer Reviews:
An invaluable historical source.......2003-12-14
Most academics in the field concede that this is the most comprehensive single-source on Colombia's history. The work on the 19th Century is particularly strong. My only misgiving is that the contemporary period is somewhat thin, and as such some of the present debates are about especially the armed groups are not as detailed as they could be. That said, this should be the starting point for anyone wishing to study Colombian history from pre-independence to the end of the National Front (1974).
Excellent review of our History.......2002-01-08
However, in order to get a better understanding of the internal conflict in the 20th century it is advisable to complement its reading with 'Entre la legitimidad y la violencia: Colombia 1875-1994'. Marco Palacios (2000)
A comprehensive accounting of the crisis in Colombia.......2001-09-21
A brilliant book...well written and meticulously researched. "Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society" easily exceeds the legendary work of American graybeard...David Bushnell. This book is essential reading for anyone attempting to obtain a special competence in Colombian affairs. Highly recommended.
Book Description
Since Turbulent Peace was first published in 2001, the international landscape has changed profoundly. Leashing the Dogs of Warreplaces its well-established predecessor as the definitive volume on the sources of contemporary conflict and the array of possible responses to it. The authors--more than forty of the most influential and innovative analysts of international affairs--present multiple perspectives on how best to prevent, manage, or resolve conflicts around the world.
Leashing the Dogs of War assesses the nature and extent of the changes wrought by 9/11 and its aftermath, and explores their wide-ranging implications. For the United States, of course, the changes have been dramatic. It has engaged in a war on terrorism and has become both a third party in certain conflict arenas and a direct party to the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. But these events have also affected other actors, from the United Nations to humanitarian NGOs to collective defense and security organizations such as NATO and the OSCE.
At the same time, some things have not changed. Failed states, economic stagnation, weapons proliferation, nuclear missiles, and identity-based conflicts continue to threaten global security. Looking at the combination of old and new threats, are traditional instruments of negotiation, mediation, peacekeeping and peace enforcement still effective in managing and resolving conflict? How do conflict management efforts and the campaign against terrorism interact in various security environments? Are our institutions--be they states, coalitions of the willing, international organizations, or NGOs--capable of creating and implementing a peacemaking strategy? All these questions are addressed in this new volume.
Book Description
This accessible study traces the dramatic social, cultural and political tensions in Germany since 1918. It ranges from the self-destructive Weimar Republic, through the extremes of genocide and military aggression in the Nazi era, to the extraordinary political experimentation of division of the nation in the Cold War, culminating in the collapse of communist East Germany and unification with capitalist democratic West Germany in 1990.The first edition of this book - one of the very first to appear after the fall of the Berlin Wall, treating East and West German history in equal depth - offered a powerful interpretation of the dynamics of twentieth-century German history. It focused particularly on the role of elites, and on the implications of political dissent and opposition under changing socio-economic conditions and international circumstances. For the second edition, revisions have been made to incorporate the results of recent research, an epilogue covering the years 1990 -2000 has been added, and the suggestions for further reading and the bibliography have been updated.
Book Description
James L. Gelvin brings a new and distinctive perspective to the perennially fascinating topic of nationalism in the Arab Middle East. Unlike previous historians who have focused on the activities and ideas of a small group of elites, Gelvin details the role played by non-elites in nationalist politics during the early part of the twentieth century. Drawing from previously untapped sources, he documents the appearance of a new form of political organization--the popular committee--that sprang up in cities and villages throughout greater Syria in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. These committees empowered a new type of nationalist leadership, made nationalist politics a mass phenomenon for the first time, and articulated a view of nation and nationalism that continues to inform the politics of the region today.
Gelvin does more than recount an episode in the history of nationalism in the Arab Middle East. His examination of leaflets, graffiti, speeches, rumors, and editorials offers fresh insights into the symbolic construction of national communities. His analysis of ceremonies--national celebrations, demonstrations, theater--contributes to our understanding of the emergence of mass politics. By situating his study within a broader historical context, Gelvin has written a book that will be of interest to all who wish to understand nationalism in the region and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
Intrepid and Creative Scholarship.......2003-10-02
This work acts as a social history of the rise of nationalism in Syria during the short-lived Faisali gov't prior to the implentation the French and British Mandates following WWI and the King-Crane Commission. He aims at challenging two views prevalent (though quickly dying) of Arab nationalism: 1) that what occurred was an awakening of a perennial identity in remission rather than a construction of a national identity and 2) that intellectual histories of elites suffices to show the development of nationalism in the Middle East. Using an uncanny array of sources, novel approaches to investigation, and a particularly lucid picture of Syrian events of the time, he successfully demolishes both views.
What emerges in its place is not only more cogent and probable but also bespeaks the multi-layered experience of nationalism and mass politics as it developed in Syria as he narrates the dialectic between the top-down efforts of the Faisali administration to secure a broad and stable influence over society and various, polyvalent efforts of local popular committees to appropriate national discourse into their own emerging interpretations.
Gelvin's work should be read by any student of the modern Arab World.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent introduction to German history
- Very Decent Overview of the 20th Century as a Whole
- How you can trust a review?
- extemely un professional
|
The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990
Mary Fulbrook
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Germany
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0195075714 |
Book Description
Covering all major aspects of German history from the Weimar Republic through reunification, this new textbook offers a remarkably rich, insightful survey of a difficult and controversial subject. It integrates East German history more fully than competing texts, offering a precisely nuanced picture of life in the GDR and a compelling account of the roots of the 1989 revolution, and incorporates the latest research in social and economic history to deepen and vivify the political narrative. A unique advantage is its full, and fully accessible, examination of current historiographical debates in the field. Comprehensive, cogent, and judiciously balanced, The Divided Nation will become a standard text for undergraduate and graduate courses.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent introduction to German history.......2004-07-30
Fulbrook writes in very informative and eloquent manner that makes this book very accessible to both college students and the casual reader. While introducing key themes of 20th-century German history, Fulbrook also offers her own very interesting perspectives rich with details. Finally, it was nice to see a book on German history that doesn't over-indulge on the Nazi period.
Very Decent Overview of the 20th Century as a Whole.......2002-01-22
While some periods, like the Third Reich, make books upon books in themselves, Fulbrook's narrative is concise and gets straight to the point. It tells just enough to whet one's taste and push them toward other topics. The post war period is especially good and destroys the black and white Communism is bad and FDR is good by showing how certain aspects of each were beneficial to people in each country. Very unbiased and very well researched. Not the perfect history book, but a near perfect overview into the most turbulent period in German history.
How you can trust a review?.......2001-08-10
Having seen the vicious review on file for this book I went out and had a look at the actual text. Nothing can be that bad. As ever, the one star rating tells you rather more about the reviewer than the book! This is a superb history, but of course it tramples over some toes of those who have a simplistic right and wrong view of the GDR. No doubt there are old scores to settle here. But it would be asking too much for someone to rise above their own prejudices and judge a book on its merits.
extemely un professional.......2001-05-18
Not well resourced. Oversimplified. Little knowledge of inter german relations. The former DDR did not simply send desenters to the former FRD, Their freedom was paid for by the FRD
Book Description
An omnibus volume of three classic, long-unavailable Darkover novels-Star of Danger, The Bloody Sun, and Winds of Darkover-tell of two men of mixed Darkovan ancestry, who must choose where their true allegiances lie.
Customer Reviews:
Three classic Darkover novels, including The Bloody Sun.......2004-08-14
Among all of Marion Zimmer Bradley's impressive body of work, she loved and cherished her Darkover novels and stories above all others. From the publication of Planet Savers in 1962 until her death in 1999, Bradley published over twenty Darkover novels and a dozen Darkover anthologies. It is a remarkable series covering six major stages of Darkovan history. Tragically, many of the Darkover publications have gone out of print over the years; thankfully, in 2002, Daw began publishing special omnibus collections such as this one. A World Divided consists of three novels: Star of Danger (1965), The Bloody Sun (1965), and The Winds of Darkover (1970).
One of the best things about Bradley's Darkover series is the fact that each can book can be read and enjoyed in and of itself; while there is a definite history and chronology of the planet Darkover, the reader does not have to tackle the books in any certain order. A World Divided gives us an interesting mix: two relatively minor Darkover novels and one major novel of great importance, each of them taking place in an era of great historical change.
Star of Danger reads like an exciting juvenile novel, and I believe it serves as an excellent, solid introduction to the planet Darkover. The book's protagonists are two teenaged boys standing on the cusp of adulthood, natives of two different cultures coming together for the unplanned-for adventure of a lifetime. The "backwards" Darkovans do not trust the Terrans, afraid of the type of change Earthmen will bring to their traditional, highly structured society, but Larry Montray, a young Terran new to the planet, is easily mistaken for a native inhabitant. After striking up a friendship with a young Darkovan aristocrat named Kennard Alton, Montray is given an unprecedented opportunity to spend the summer with the Altons in the countryside. Larry's great adventure soon becomes a perilous ordeal. In order to survive, Montray and Kennard must learn from and defer to one another's strengths. Culture clashes are inevitable, but in such a bond of friendship is forged the bridge that may one day unite the competing Terran and Darkovan cultures.
The Winds of Darkover shows us a side of the planet rarely explored. Alienated from the ruling families on Darkover, Loran Storn has no one to call upon for aid when bandits seize the outlying Castle of Storn. His blindness is a further impediment, and in desperation he seeks out another mind and engineers a rescue mission through that person. The mind he finds is that of a Terran named Dan Barron, and thus in one character we are presented with two unique, fresh viewpoints of Darkovan life - one by the Terran who is journeying into this world for the first time, and the other by the blind Storn aristocrat seeing the world of Darkover for the first time through Barron's eyes. The winds of change blowing in the realms outside the control of Darkover's ruling families portend the sweeping changes coming to the planet as The First Age of contact with the Terrans draws to a close.
The real gem of this omnibus collection is The Bloody Sun, as it basically takes us through the dawning of Darkover's Second Age. By this time, the influence of the Terran presence in the land has led some Darkovans to question the old ways and to call for a closer relationship with the Terrans. Some of the people believe that the old ways are out-dated and needlessly burdensome, but few in authority have the desire, let alone the courage, to pursue "progress." The true power of the ruling families has long been centralized inside the mysterious Towers that dot the land, but now only the mighty Tower in Arilinn can boast of a full-fledged Keeper, and even this primary Tower's circle is incomplete at the time this novel opens.
Raised in the Spacemen's Orphanage on Darkover until he was twelve, Jeff Kerwin spent his next several years on Earth with his Terran father's parents; an outcast on a world not truly his own, he pined for the day he could return to Darkover and learn the truth of his heritage. All he has is the name his Terran father gave him and a matrix jewel of unknown origin. When he begins to search for the history of his earliest years, he is upset to learn that no such records seem to exist. Kerwin knows he is being lied to and manipulated, but he has no idea why. On the brink of deportation from the planet of his birth, a voice beckons him through the jewel he wears, and by following this voice Kerwin finds a new home on Darkover - a home within the very Tower of Arilinn.
Thus we get an inside look at the work of the Keepers inside their mysterious Towers. It is a brand new life for Kerwin, accepted into a telepathic circle of power and authority. Ultimately, he carries the burden of knowing that the future direction of Darkover depends on him, as the Tower of Arilinn is put to a test that will determine whether traditional "magic" or Terran technology will best serve the Darkovan people in the future.
Both Star of Danger and The Winds of Darkover are wonderfully evocative, adventure-filled novels painting an illuminating picture of Darkovan culture, but The Bloody Sun is among the most important and significant of Bradley's Darkover novels, showing as it does the inner workings of the last and most important Tower, revealing long-buried secrets reaching all the way back to the turbulent days of The Forbidden Tower, and basically explaining the impetus for one of the most significant cultural evolutions in Darkovan history. Marion Zimmer Bradley has long been an underappreciated giant in the genres of fantasy and science fiction; no reader's journey through the modern classics is complete without at least one stopover on the planet Darkover.
Darkover ... from the Terran point of view.......2004-01-01
Larry Montray is a Terran boy who befriends a Darkovan boy, Kennard Alton. Together, they are thrown into an adventure that requires each learn about the other ... and in the process learn more about Terra *and* Darkover...
Jeff Kerwin is a Terran orphan who remembers Darkover in an odd way ... the more he remembers, the stranger he seems to be. Is he 'Jeff Kerwin' ... or the son of a leronis who fulfilled the promise of the Forbidden Tower?
Finally, the adult Larry Montrey journeys through the sky-raping Hellers in an attempt to save the Storn family...
Each story tells the efforts of Earth-humans to reconcile what they *think* they know about Darkover when actually plunged into the planet's culture ... to learn that there is more to Darkover than its 'primitive' appearance, and that 'superstitions' can be based on more than mere myth. Finding out the differences -- and similarities -- in the types of people on the planet is only the start of the journeys of discovery, through the divided world that is Darkover!
Book Description
Contending discourses underlie many of the world's most intractable conflicts producing misery and violence. This is especially true in the post 9/11 world. However, contending discourses can also open the way to greater dialogue in global civil society and between states and international organizations. This possibility holds even for the most murderous sorts of conflicts in deeply divided societies.In this timely and original book, John Dryzek examines major contemporary conflicts in terms of clashing discourses. Topics covered include the alleged clash of civilizations; societies divided by ethnicity, nationality, or religion; economic globalization versus resistance, plus an in-depth discussion of the 'war on terror'. Dryzek concludes by highlighting the limitations of current neo-conservative and cosmopolitan approaches, arguing that only deliberative global politics offers unprecedented new possibilities for democratic engagement in the international system.This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, politics, philosophy and sociology.
Books:
- The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
- The Eye of the World: Book One of 'The Wheel of Time' (Wheel of Time)
- The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World
- The Goodenoughs Get in Sync: A Story for Kids about the Tough Day When Filibuster Grabbed Darwin's Rabbit's Foot and the Whole Family Ended Up in the Doghouse--An ... Introduction to Sensory Processing Disorder
- The Magic Labyrinth (Riverworld Saga, Book 4)
- The March: A Novel
- The Master Puppeteer
- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Antidepression Diet and Brain Program
- The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll: The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope
- Knight Fall: Bobby Knight, The Truth Behind America's Most Controversial Coach:
- Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War
- Enmity Between the Seeds
- Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy
- Introduction to General, Organic and Biochemistry
- Kalka River 1223: Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia
- Ezra Jack Keats: Artist and Picture-Book Maker
- From Annapolis to Scapa Flow: The Autobiography of Edward L. Beach Sr
- Energy Development in South-east Asia And Cooperation With the European Communities
Another Cosmopolitanism (The Berkeley Tanner Lectures)
The Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion
Time of Transitions
The Postnational Constellation: Political Essays (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought)
The Future of Human Nature
