A Political History of the World

Author: Jonathan Holslag
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241352053
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
A three-thousand year history of the world that examines the causes of war and the search for peace In three thousand years of history, China has spent at least eleven centuries at war. The Roman Empire was in conflict during at least 50 per cent of its lifetime. Since 1776, the United States has spent over one hundred years at war. The dream of peace has been universal in the history of humanity. So why have we so rarely been able to achieve it? In A Political History of the World, Jonathan Holslag has produced a sweeping history of the world, from the Iron Age to the present, that investigates the causes of conflict between empires, nations and peoples and the attempts at diplomacy and cosmopolitanism. A birds-eye view of three thousand years of history, the book illuminates the forces shaping world politics from Ancient Egypt to the Han Dynasty, the Pax Romana to the rise of Islam, the Peace of Westphalia to the creation of the United Nations. This truly global approach enables Holslag to search for patterns across different eras and regions, and explore larger questions about war, diplomacy, and power. Has trade fostered peace? What are the limits of diplomacy? How does environmental change affect stability? Is war a universal sin of power? At a time when the threat of nuclear war looms again, this is a much-needed history intended for students of international politics, and anyone looking for a background on current events.

A World History of Political Thought

Author: J. Babb
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1786435535
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 476

Book Description
A World History of Political Thought is an outstanding and innovative work with profound significance for the study of the history of political thought, providing a wide-ranging, detailed and global overview of political thought from 600 BC to the 21st century. Treating both western and non-western systems of political thought as equal and placing them as they should be; side by side.

A Political History of the USA

Author: Bruce Kuklick
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350307904
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 591

Book Description
This book is an engaging account of US history from the first European contact with the 'New World' to the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Bruce Kuklick's straightforward yet authoritative narrative takes students through the complexities of US history without oversimplifying of requiring prior knowledge. Placing politics in the context of religious culture and exploring America's assertive expansion throughout history, A Political History of the USA is supported by wide-ranging examples, vivid extracts from primary sources, maps and illustrations which illuminate the main text. The historical narrative it presents is concise, nuanced and sharply drawn. Offering a compelling yet balanced account of US political, cultural and religious history, this is essential reading for undergraduate students of History and American Studies. New to this Edition: - More emphasis on the religious dimensions of the American story, explaining the continuing relevance of evangelical Christians - A new chapter on the period since 2008 - Incorporation of new research - Discussion of the paradox of modernism and religion in America - A revised bibliography, including more 'classic' works

Timelines

Author: John Rees
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136337245
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
War and revolution, economic crises and political conflict are the very stuff of modern history. This guide to the last 100 years of great power conflict, social rebellion, strikes and protests gives us the essential history of the world in which we live. Based on the Timeline TV series this is a rapid and accessible guide for those who want to know how power is exercised, by who, and for what purposes in the modern world. From the rise and fall of great empires in two world wars, the Cold War and the ‘war on terror’ through to the rise of China Timelines describes the shifts in the imperial structure of the world. And it looks at the impact of those changes in the conflict zones of the 21st century, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. Finally Timelines looks at moments of popular resistance, from the Russian and Spanish revolutions to the fall of Apartheid in the 1990s and the ongoing socialist experiment that is Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. We live in turbulent times. These essays show us how we got here and outline the forces that are going to shape the history of the 21st century.

I'd Fight the World

Author: Peter La Chapelle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226923002
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 355

Book Description
Long before the United States had presidents from the world of movies and reality TV, we had scores of politicians with connections to country music. In I’d Fight the World, Peter La Chapelle traces the deep bonds between country music and politics, from the nineteenth-century rise of fiddler-politicians to more recent figures like Pappy O’Daniel, Roy Acuff, and Rob Quist. These performers and politicians both rode and resisted cultural waves: some advocated for the poor and dispossessed, and others voiced religious and racial anger, but they all walked the line between exploiting their celebrity and righteously taking on the world. La Chapelle vividly shows how country music campaigners have profoundly influenced the American political landscape.

Common Sense

Author: Sophia Rosenfeld
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674057813
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

Book Description
Common sense has always been a cornerstone of American politics. In 1776, Tom Paine’s vital pamphlet with that title sparked the American Revolution. And today, common sense—the wisdom of ordinary people, knowledge so self-evident that it is beyond debate—remains a powerful political ideal, utilized alike by George W. Bush’s aw-shucks articulations and Barack Obama’s down-to-earth reasonableness. But far from self-evident is where our faith in common sense comes from and how its populist logic has shaped modern democracy. Common Sense: A Political History is the first book to explore this essential political phenomenon. The story begins in the aftermath of England’s Glorious Revolution, when common sense first became a political ideal worth struggling over. Sophia Rosenfeld’s accessible and insightful account then wends its way across two continents and multiple centuries, revealing the remarkable individuals who appropriated the old, seemingly universal idea of common sense and the new strategic uses they made of it. Paine may have boasted that common sense is always on the side of the people and opposed to the rule of kings, but Rosenfeld demonstrates that common sense has been used to foster demagoguery and exclusivity as well as popular sovereignty. She provides a new account of the transatlantic Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions, and offers a fresh reading on what the eighteenth century bequeathed to the political ferment of our own time. Far from commonsensical, the history of common sense turns out to be rife with paradox and surprise.

Empire in Waves

Author: Scott Laderman
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520958047
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251

Book Description
Surfing today evokes many things: thundering waves, warm beaches, bikinis and lifeguards, and carefree pleasure. But is the story of surfing really as simple as popular culture suggests? In this first international political history of the sport, Scott Laderman shows that while wave riding is indeed capable of stimulating tremendous pleasure, its globalization went hand in hand with the blood and repression of the long twentieth century. Emerging as an imperial instrument in post-annexation Hawaii, spawning a form of tourism that conquered the littoral Third World, tracing the struggle against South African apartheid, and employed as a diplomatic weapon in America's Cold War arsenal, the saga of modern surfing is only partially captured by Gidget, the Beach Boys, and the film Blue Crush. From nineteenth-century American empire-building in the Pacific to the low-wage labor of the surf industry today, Laderman argues that surfing in fact closely mirrored American foreign relations. Yet despite its less-than-golden past, the sport continues to captivate people worldwide. Whether in El Salvador or Indonesia or points between, the modern history of this cherished pastime is hardly an uncomplicated story of beachside bliss. Sometimes messy, occasionally contentious, but never dull, surfing offers us a whole new way of viewing our globalized world.

Power

Author: Christine Stephanie Nicholls
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
"Highly readable, vastly informative, and richly illustrated from the first page to the last"--Booklist. From the Boer War to the Russian Revolution, from the Great Depression to the atomic bomb, from the start of the Cold War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the full sweep of twentieth-century political history spills from the pages of this lavishly illustrated volume. Written and edited by some of the finest historians of our times (including William McNeill and Paul Kennedy), this colorful, oversized volume recounts the events of our century in a narrative that is both readable and intelligent. Each chapter covers approximately a decade and a half and features a time chart of events the world over; boxed special focus sections that address key topics (such as the Marshall Plan and the Kennedy assassination); datafiles with graphs and charts of important statistics; and clear, enjoyable discussions of the major international developments.

High Towers and Strong Places

Author: Timothy R Furnish
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578661896
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
High Towers and Strong Places: A Political History of Middle-earth surveys Tolkien's world from Beleriand to Barad-dûr and Utumno to Umbar, and from the First to the early Fourth Age. It examines not just types of political systems, but cultural differences, international relations and why there were so many wars over 7000 years of Middle-earth's history. (How those conflicts were waged will be covered in the successor volume, Bright Swords and Glorious Warriors: A Military History of Middle-earth.) If you've ever wondered how Sauron controlled his Orcs, what Gondor owed Númenor, the way the Shire was governed or why Dwarves and Elves didn't get along-this is the book for you.

Making Sense of World History

Author: Rick Szostak
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000201678
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1672

Book Description
Making Sense of World History is a comprehensive and accessible textbook that helps students understand the key themes of world history within a chronological framework stretching from ancient times to the present day. To lend coherence to its narrative, the book employs a set of organizing devices that connect times, places, and/or themes. This narrative is supported by: Flowcharts that show how phenomena within diverse broad themes interact in generating key processes and events in world history. A discussion of the common challenges faced by different types of agent, including rulers, merchants, farmers, and parents, and a comparison of how these challenges were addressed in different times and places. An exhaustive and balanced treatment of themes such as culture, politics, and economy, with an emphasis on interaction. Explicit attention to skill acquisition in organizing information, cultural sensitivity, comparison, visual literacy, integration, interrogating primary sources, and critical thinking. A focus on historical “episodes” that are carefully related to each other. Through the use of such devices, the book shows the cumulative effect of thematic interactions through time, communicates the many ways in which societies have influenced each other through history, and allows us to compare and contrast how they have reacted to similar challenges. They also allow the reader to transcend historical controversies and can be used to stimulate class discussions and guide student assignments. With a unified authorial voice and offering a narrative from the ancient to the present, this is the go-to textbook for World History courses and students. The Open Access version of this book has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.