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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900
Cook explores the development of clinical tropical medicine from
the 19th century onwards by following the pioneering doctors in
this discipline, their personalities, achievements and scientific
breakthroughs.
Bestselling author Nicholson Baker, recognized as one of the most
dexterous and talented writers in America today, has created a
compelling work of nonfiction bound to provoke discussion and
controversy -- a wide-ranging, astonishingly fresh perspective on
the political and social landscape that gave rise to World War II.
"Human Smoke" delivers a closely textured, deeply moving
indictment of the treasured myths that have romanticized much of
the 1930s and '40s. Incorporating meticulous research and
well-documented sources -- including newspaper and magazine
articles, radio speeches, memoirs, and diaries -- the book
juxtaposes hundreds of interrelated moments of decision, brutality,
suffering, and mercy. Vivid glimpses of political leaders and their
dissenters illuminate and examine the gradual, horrifying advance
toward overt global war and Holocaust.
Praised by critics and readers alike for his exquisitely observant
eye and deft, inimitable prose, Baker has assembled a narrative
within "Human Smoke" that unfolds gracefully, tragically, and
persuasively. This is an unforgettable book that makes a profound
impact on our perceptions of historical events and mourns the
unthinkable loss humanity has borne at its own hand.
Insightful and well-researched, this book is the first-ever
comprehensive account of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's activities in
Europe. On 19 January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose escaped in disguise
from British surveillance in Calcutta to Kabul. There, he
established contact with the German and Italian foreign ministries,
thereby beginning a long period of collaboration with the Axis
Powers to counter British rule in India. This led to the setting up
of the Free India Centre, the radio station Azad Hind, and the
Indian Legion - in which 4,500 Indian volunteers were trained by
German experts to fight for the freedom of their nation. While his
compatriots resisted colonial rule on native soil, Bose spearheaded
the cause of freedom in Europe. Using Machiavellian tactics, he
discreetly played the Axis leaders off against each other and
courted considerable public favour through his transmissions on
Radio Azad Hind. Netaji in Europe pieces together information from
official records, diaries and military archives in Germany, Italy,
Britain and India to give a comprehensive account of the daily
negotiations between Bose, and foreign offices, diplomats and
double agents, during the Second World War. These efforts resulted
in a declaration of India's independence long before 1947, and the
formation of the first Indian army. The first work to narrate the
story of Netaji in Europe, this insightful book closes an important
gap in research on Bose's biography.
The Spanish Civil War left a legacy of destruction, resentment and
deep ideological divisions in a country that was attempting to
recover from economic stagnation and social inequality. After
Franco's victory, the repression and purge that ensued immersed
Spain in a spiral of fear and silence which continued long after
the dictator's death, through 'the pact of oblivion' that was
observed during the transition to democracy. Memories of the
Spanish Civil War: Conflict and Community in Rural Spain attempts
to break this silence by recovering the local memories of survivors
of the Civil War and the early years of Franco's dictatorship.
Combining oral testimony gathered in one Andalusian village, with
archival research, this ethnographic study approaches the
expression of memory as an important site of socio-political
struggle.
World War II has left an indelible mark on the fabric of human
history. The exploits of men like Hitler and Mussolini, Roosevelt
and Churchill are chronicled in countless books and movies. Their
names and their actions will never be forgotten-and for good
reason. To gain a deeper understanding of the war's impact,
however, we must look beyond the names that grace the pages of
textbooks and recognize the sacrifices of the anonymous soldiers
who risked life and limb to serve the country they loved.
With each passing year, their stories-which persist only through
the oral history passed from generation to generation-fade into the
ether of time. As a boy, author William S. Murray listened to his
grandfather's stories about training as a pilot during World War II
with rapt attention. In an effort to preserve these memories,
Murray sat down with his grandfather, Thomas Stewart, to record
these stories for posterity. Stewart shares memories both happy and
bittersweet, from his beginnings in Byhalia, Mississippi, through
his experiences as a pilot during the war years.
"Journey to War" is not the story of familiar heroes like
Eisenhower, Patton, and MacArthur. This is the story of one
ordinary man doing his part to serve his country during
extraordinary times. This is the story of Second Lieutenant Thomas
Stewart and the men with whom he served.
On May 17th, 1968, a group of Catholic antiwar activists burst into
a draft board in suburban Baltimore, stole hundreds of Selective
Service records (which they called "death certificates"), and
burned the documents in a fire fueled by homemade napalm. The bold
actions of the ''Catonsville Nine'' quickly became international
news and captured headlines throughout the summer and fall of 1968
when the activists, defended by radical attorney William Kunstler,
were tried in federal court. In The Catonsville Nine, Shawn Francis
Peters, a Catonsville native, offers the first comprehensive
account of this key event in the history of 1960's protest. While
thousands of supporters thronged the streets outside the
courthouse, the Catonsville Nine-whose ranks included activist
priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan-delivered passionate indictments
of the war in Vietnam and the brutality of American foreign policy.
The proceedings reached a stirring climax, as the nine activists
led the entire courtroom (the judge and federal prosecutors
included) in the Lord's Prayer. Peters gives readers vivid,
blow-by-blow accounts of the draft raid, the trial, and the ensuing
manhunt for the Berrigans, George Mische, and Mary Moylan, who went
underground rather than report to prison. He also examines the
impact of Daniel Berrigan's play, The Trial of the Catonsville
Nine, and the larger influence of this remarkable act of civil
disobedience. More than 40 years after they stormed the draft
board, the Catonsville Nine are still invoked by both secular and
religious opponents of militarism. Based on a wealth of sources,
including archival documents, the activists' previously unreleased
FBI files, and a variety of eyewitness accounts, The Catonsville
Nine tells a story as relevant and instructive today as it was in
1968.
This book is about new forms of religiosity and religious activity
emerging in the context of their dialectic relations with
contemporary multicultural realities. World religions are
effectively a major agent of the multiculturalization of
contemporary societies. However, multiculturalism pushes them not
only toward change and reforms, but also toward new conflicts
between and within them. This process should remind us of the
Jewish legend of the Golem an animated being created by man which
finally challenges the latter s control over it - a dialectic
relation, indeed. World religions today greatly contribute to a
world (dis)order that is multicultural both when viewed as a whole,
and from within most societies that compose it. It is a development
that contrasts both with the assumption that globalization implies
one-way homogenization and convergence to Western modernity, and
the expectation that globalization would be bound to polarize
homogeneous civilizations.
Northeast Africa has one of the richest histories in the world, and
yet also one of the most violent. Richard Reid offers an historical
analysis of violent conflict in northeast Africa through the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, incorporating the Ethiopian and
Eritrean highlands and their escarpment and lowland peripheries,
stretching between the modern Eritrean Red Sea coast and the
southern and eastern borderlands of present day Ethiopia. Sudanese
and Somali frontiers are also examined insofar as they can be
related to ethnic, political, and religious conflict, and the
violent state- and empire-building processes which have defined the
region since c.1800.
Reid argues that this modern warfare is not solely the product of
modern political 'failure', but rather has its roots in a network
of frontier zones which are both violent and creative. Such
borderlands have given rise to markedly militarised political
cultures which are rooted in the violence of the nineteenth
century, and which in recent decades are manifest in authoritarian
systems of government. Reid thus traces the history of Amhara and
Tigrayan imperialisms to the nationalist and ethnic revolutions
which represented the march of volatile borderlands on the
hegemonic centre. He suggests a new interpretation of Ethiopian and
Eritrean history, arguing that the key to understanding the
region's turbulent present lies in an appreciation of the role of
the armed, and politically fertile, frontier in its deeper past.
Classes, Culture, and Politics investigates those fields in British
history that have been illustrated by the works of Ross McKibbin,
one of the foremost historians of twentieth century Britain.
Written by a distinguished team of scholars, it examines McKibbin's
life and thought, and explores the implications of his arguments.
One of his most important achievements has been to break down the
artificial barriers that existed between 'social' and 'political'
history, in order to enrich the writing of both; that legacy is
reflected throughout this volume.
From international football to Liberal internationalism, from the
hedonism of the early Labour party to the relationship between
London cabbies and Thatcherism, this volume is an ambitious attempt
to explore contemporary Britain, endeavouring to be as original,
unsycophantic, rebarbative, and diverting as the historian whose
work has inspired it.
The quantity of journalism produced during World War I was unlike
anything the then-budding mass media had ever seen. Correspondents
at the front were dispatching voluminous reports on a daily basis,
and though much of it was subject to censorship, it all eventually
became available. It remains the most extraordinary firsthand look
at the war that we have. Published immediately after the cessation
of hostilities and compiled from those original journalistic
sources-American, British, French, German, and others-this is an
astonishing contemporary perspective on the Great War. This replica
of the first 1919 edition includes all the original maps, photos,
and illustrations, lending an even greater immediacy to readers a
century later. Volume VII focuses on Russia during the war years,
from her early victories and defeats through the Revolution of
1919. American journalist and historian FRANCIS WHITING HALSEY
(1851-1919) was literary editor of The New York Times from 1892
through 1896. He wrote and lectured extensively on history; his
works include, as editor, the two-volume Great Epochs in American
History Described by Famous Writers, From Columbus to Roosevelt
(1912), and, as writer, the 10-volume Seeing Europe with Famous
Authors (1914).
Submarines and U-boats-killers beneath the waves
Newbolt's excellent overview of the undersea conflict of the First
World War is an essential book for any student of the subject. The
author, a recognised authority on naval and maritime history,
considers the evolution of the submarine as a weapon of naval
warfare before turning his attention to the use of the submariner
service during the war. The operations of British submarine bases
are described as are the policies of the government of the day
regarding the use of submarines in war. Tactical issues concerning
the engagement of submarines against warships and vice-versa are
also considered. The book describes the activities of British
submarines in the Baltic and Mediterranean, and particularly as
they were employed in the Dardanelles initiative. An important
focus of Newbolt's book is the destructive influence of the highly
effective German U-Boat blockade in the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst
submarines were employed by the Royal Navy it would be fair to note
that the principal objective of the Allies was to pursue the
destruction of enemy submarines. The activities of anti-submarine
trawlers, smacks and drifters is discussed as are the more
aggressive roles of the destroyers, P-Boats, Q-Boats and the
activities of the Auxiliary Patrol. Newbolt concludes with the work
of the ultimate submarine killer-the submarine itself, before
describing the closing stages of the war with the destruction of
enemy bases in Belgium. Recommended.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
The last great war of the horse
The role of the 'war horse' particularly during its twilight years
during the First World War has recently become the focus of much
interest. All armies have used horses in wartime as cavalry and
mounted infantry, as officers chargers, for artillery or for
transport and supply. Some large nations, because the horse formed
a central role in its domestic life, became more associated with
horses and horsemanship in the period when mechanised transport was
making its first halting appearance onto the field of conflict.
Russia was famous for its Cossacks and among the countries of the
British Empire and Commonwealth the accomplished riders of
Australia, New Zealand and, especially noteworthy, Canada-the home
of the author of this book. Naturally, the author is concerned with
the activities of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, but his book
examines in detail the role of horses in every aspect of the Great
War. He was not oblivious to the suffering of horses in war though,
he clearly demonstrates a great affection for them in their
military role. The book concludes with pictures and vignettes of
individual horses of renown in the Canadian Army and a short piece
on the service of dogs.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
The author, a historian and former Swiss Armoured Corp officer,
uses primary documents to describe tank tactics during the first
two years of World War II, a period in which armour was employed in
the Polish, Western and Russian campaigns. The first year of
'Operation Barbarossa' is examined in great detail using the files
of the second Panzer Army whose commander, Guderian, who has been
called the father of the German armoured force.
The end of the Cold War reshuffled the power relations between
former friends and enemies. In Broken Narratives the contributors
offer an account of the consequences of the end of the Cold War for
the (re-)telling of history in film, literature and academic
historiography in Europe and East Asia. Despite the post-modern
claim that there is no need for a master-narrative, the
contributions to this book show that we are in the middle of an
intense and difficult search for a common understanding of the
past. However, instead of common narratives polyphony and
dissonances are produced which reflect a world in a period of
transition. As the contributions to this volume show, the year 1989
has generated broken narratives. Contributors include: Peter
Verstraten, Rotem Kowner, Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, Carsten
Schafer, Martin Gieselmann, Yonson Ahn, Chang Lung-chih, Andrea
Riemenschnitter, Shingo Minamizuka, Petra Buchholz, and Tatiana
Zhurzhenko.
This epic story opens at the hour the Greatest Generation went
to war on December 7, 1941, and follows four U.S. Navy ships and
their crews in the Pacific until their day of reckoning three years
later with a far different enemy: a deadly typhoon. In December
1944, while supporting General MacArthur's invasion of the
Philippines, Admiral William "Bull" Halsey neglected the Law of
Storms, placing the mighty U.S. Third Fleet in harm's way. Drawing
on extensive interviews with nearly every living survivor and
rescuer, as well as many families of lost sailors, transcripts and
other records from naval courts of inquiry, ships' logs, personal
letters, and diaries, Bruce Henderson finds some of the story's
truest heroes exhibiting selflessness, courage, and even
defiance.
Colonial agents worked for fifty years to make a Japanese Taiwan,
using technology, culture, statistics, trade, and modern ideologies
to remake their new territory according to evolving ideas of
Japanese empire. Since the end of the Pacific War, this project has
been remembered, imagined, nostalgized, erased, commodified,
manipulated, idealized and condemned by different sectors of
Taiwan's population. ""The volume covers a range of topics,
""including colonial-era photography, exploration, postwar
deportation, sport, film, media, economic planning, contemporary
Japanese influences on Taiwanese popular culture, and recent
nostalgia for and misunderstandings about the colonial era.
"Japanese Taiwan" provides an inter-disciplinary perspective on
these related processes of colonization and decolonization,
explaining how the memories, scars and traumas of the colonial era
have been utilized during the postwar period. It provides a unique
critique of the 'Japaneseness' of the erstwhile Chinese Taiwan,
thus bringing new scholarship to bear on problems in contemporary
East Asian politics.
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