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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900
'Invasion Rabaul' is a gut-wrenching account of courage and
sacrifice, folly and disaster, as seen through the eyes of the
Allied defenders who survived the Japanese assault on Britain
during the opening days of World War II.
'A brilliant account of Africa’s most extraordinary dictator . . . This book will become a classic.' Economist A sparkling account of the rise and fall of Mobutu Sese Seko, the charismatic dictator who plundered his country’s wealth and indulged a passion for pink champagne, gold jewellery and chartered Concordes. Absurdity, anarchy and corruption run riot in Michela Wrong’s fascinating dissection of the Congo; a story of grim comedy amidst the apocalypse and a celebration of the sheer indestructibility of the human spirit.
Recent years have seen a disturbing advance in populist and
authoritarian styles of rule and, in response, a rise in popular
activism. Strongmen, especially since the advent of fascism, have
formed their base of power in popular acclaim. But what power do
the people have in checking the rise of tyranny? In this book an
international team of experts representing several academic
disciplines examines the power relationship between peoples and
their rulers. It is among the first to study this globally as a
problem of nation states. From populism in 19th-century Latin
America to eastern Europe since the collapse of communism, to the
Arab Spring and contemporary Russia and China, the cases in this
book span five continents and twelve nations. Taken together, they
reveal how different forms of popular opposition have succeeded or
failed in unseating authoritarian regimes and expose the tactics
and strategies used by regimes to repress people power and create
an image of popular support. Analysing the causes and consequence
of the global advance of authoritarianism, The Power of Populism
and the People offers a historical comparison of popular protest,
opposition and crises over the last century to the recent rise of
populist leaders.
Bearing the Torch stands as a comprehensive history of the
University of Tennessee, replete with anecdotes and vignettes of
interest to anyone interested in UT, from the administrators and
chancellors to students and alums, and even to the Vols fans whose
familiarity with the school comes mainly from the sports page. It
is also a biography of a school whose history reflects that of its
state and its nation. The institution that began as Blount College
in 1794 in a frontier village called Knoxville exemplifies the
relationship between education and American history. This is the
first scholarly history of UT since 1984. T. R. C. Hutton not only
provides a much-needed update, but also seeks to present a social
history of the university, fully integrating historical context and
showing how the volume's central "character"-the university
itself-reflects historical themes and concerns. For example, Hutton
shows how the school's development was hampered in the early
nineteenth century by stingy state funding (a theme that also
appears in subsequent decades) and Jacksonian fears that publicly
funded higher education equaled elite privilege. The institution
nearly disappeared as the Civil War raged in a divided region, but
then it flourished thanks to policies that never could have
happened without the war. In the twentieth century, students
embraced dramatic social changes as the university wrestled with
race, gender, and other important issues. In the Cold War era, UT
became a successful research institution and entered into a deep
partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratories that persists to
this day. All the while UT athletics experienced the highs of
national championships and the lows of lawsuits and losing seasons.
UT is a university with a universe of historical experiences. The
University of Tennessee's story has always been defined by
inclusion and exclusion, and the school has triumphed when it
practiced the former and failed when it took part in the latter.
Bearing the Torch traces that ongoing process, richly detailing the
University's contributions to what one president, Joseph Estabrook,
called the "diffusion of knowledge among the people."
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