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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900
The successful evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from
Belgium and northern France through the port of Dunkirk and across
adjacent beaches is rightly regarded as one of the most significant
episodes in the nation's long history, although Winston Churchill
sagely cautioned in Parliament on 4th June that the country "must
be careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a
victory. Wars are not won by evacuations". Nevertheless, the
Dunkirk evacuation, Operation "Dynamo", was a victory and, like
many others before it, it was a victory of sea power. The Royal
Navy achieved what it set out to do, despite grievous losses, in
the teeth of determined opposition. It denied an aggressive and
ruthless continental power a potentially war-winning total victory
that could have changed the direction of civilization for
generations to come. The loss of the main British field army would
have enfeebled the nation militarily and psychologically, prompting
political upheaval, potentially resulting in a negotiated peace
with Nazi Germany on unfavourable terms dictated by Adolf Hitler.
The undeniable success of the evacuation was certainly a crucial
naval and military achievement but its positive effect on the
nation's morale was just as important, instilling confidence in the
eventual outcome of the war, whatever the immediate future might
hold, and creating optimism in the face of adversity that added
"the Dunkirk spirit" to the English language. This edition of
Dunkirk, Operation "Dynamo" 26th May - 4th June 1940, An Epic of
Gallantry, publishes the now declassified Battle Summary No 41, a
document once classified as 'Restricted' and produced in small
numbers only for official government purposes. This Summary, The
Evacuation from Dunkirk, lodged in the archive at Britannia Royal
Naval College, Dartmouth, is one of the very few surviving copies
in existence and records events in minute detail, being written
soon after the evacuation using the words of the naval officers
involved. This makes it a unique record and a primary source for
the history of Operation "Dynamo" from mid-May 1940 until its
conclusion on 4th June. The original document has been supplemented
in this title by a Foreword written by Admiral Sir James
Burnell-Nugent, formerly the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief,
Fleet, whose father commanded one of the destroyers sunk off
Dunkirk when rescuing troops. In addition, there is a modern
historical introduction and commentary, putting the evacuation into
context and this edition is enhanced by the inclusion of a large
number of previously unpublished photographs of the beaches, town,
and harbour of Dunkirk taken immediately after the conclusion of
the operation, together with others illustrating many of the ships
that took part. Britannia Naval Histories of World War II - an
important source in understanding the critical naval actions of the
period.
Winner of the 2022 Ab Imperio Award Hoping to unite all of
humankind and revolutionize the world, Ludwik Zamenhof launched a
new international language called Esperanto from late imperial
Russia in 1887. Ordinary men and women in Russia and all over the
world soon transformed Esperanto into a global movement. Esperanto
and Languages of Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia traces
the history and legacy of this effort: from Esperanto's roots in
the social turmoil of the pre-revolutionary Pale of Settlement; to
its links to socialist internationalism and Comintern bids for
world revolution; and, finally, to the demise of the Soviet
Esperanto movement in the increasingly xenophobic Stalinist 1930s.
In doing so, this book reveals how Esperanto - and global language
politics more broadly - shaped revolutionary and early Soviet
Russia. Based on extensive archival materials, Brigid O'Keeffe's
book provides the first in-depth exploration of Esperanto at
grassroots level and sheds new light on a hitherto overlooked area
of Russian history. As such, Esperanto and Languages of
Internationalism in Revolutionary Russia will be of immense value
to both historians of modern Russia and scholars of
internationalism, transnational networks, and sociolinguistics.
Guyana, a former British colony, obtained independence in 1966,
following the collapse of a multi-racial nationalist movement and
instability fomented by the US and UK governments. Standard
political economy and historical analyses of post-independence
Guyana tend to focus on the period of authoritarian rule under the
People's National Congress party, and the introduction of an
IMF-supervised economic recovery programme. The analyses rarely go
beyond the return to formal electoral democracy in 1992. Unmasking
the State fills a critical gap in our understanding of the last
three decades of Guyanese political, economic, social and cultural
life under the People's Progressive Party in the context of
evolving regional and global geopolitical realities. It offers a
detailed and nuanced examination of the post-1992 period, within a
larger context where historical divisions, persistent attempts to
tinker with and reinterpret the defective 1980 constitution, and
systemic and institutional failures have produced waves of
authoritarianism and corruption. It includes a stimulating range
and diversity of perspectives from academics and activists,
multidisciplinary in their engagement of history, politics,
anthropology, economics, feminist, queer, Indigenous and
environmental studies.
The acclaimed autobiography of Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt is
brought to the reader anew in this well-produced edition, inclusive
of all notes and appendices. Written over years and published in
1913, this lengthy yet engrossing biography sees one of the United
States finest Presidents recount his life in his own words.
Theodore Roosevelt sets out events in a way which clarify how he
came to possess his beliefs. We hear of his love of the great
outdoors which would in turn result in the establishment of
America's national parks, and his belief in commerce as an engine
for progress which would lead to the state-sponsored construction
of the Panama Canal during his presidency. Seldom straying to
dryness or heady description of the many and varied events of his
life, Theodore Roosevelt instead imbues every chapter with keynote
personality and liveliness. Personal letters with influential
figures are shared, placing the reader deep in the political world
which this popular, charismatic leader was immersed.
For years, the history of the anti-Nazi resistance in Germany was
hidden and distorted by Cold War politics. Providing a much-needed
corrective, Red Orchestra presents the dramatic story of a circle
of German citizens who opposed Hitler from the start, choosing to
stay in Germany to resist Nazism and help its victims. The book
shines a light on this critical movement which was made up of
academics, theatre people, and factory workers; Protestants,
Catholics and Jews; around 150 Germans all told and from all walks
of life. Drawing on archives, memoirs, and interviews with
survivors, award-winning scholar and journalist Anne Nelson
presents a compelling portrait of the men and women involved, and
the terrifying day-to-day decisions in their lives, from the Nazi
takeover in 1933 to their Gestapo arrest in 1942. Nelson traces the
story of the Red Orchestra (Rote Kapelle) resistance movement
within the context of German history, showing the stages of the
Nazi movement and regime from the 1920s to the end of the Second
World War. She also constructs the narrative around the life of
Greta Kuckhoff and other female figures whose role in the anti-Nazi
resistance fight is too-often unrecognised or under appreciated.
This revised edition includes: * A new introduction which explores
elements of the Red Orchestra’s experience that resonate with our
times, including: the impact of new media technologies; the dangers
of political polarization; and the way the judiciary can be shaped
to further the ends of autocracy. The introduction will also
address the long-standing misconception that the German Resistance
only took action when it was clear that Germany was losing the war.
* Historiographic updates throughout the book which take account of
recent literature and additional archival sources
In this succinct one-volume account of the rise and fall of the
English press, Jeremy Black traces the medium's history from the
emergence of the country's newspaper industry to the Internet age.
The English Press focuses on the major developments in the world of
print journalism and sets the history of the press in wider
currents of English history, political, social, economic and
technological. Black takes the reader through a chronological
sequence of chapters, with a final chapter exploring possible
scenarios for the future of print media. He investigates whether we
are witnessing the demise or simply a crisis of the press in the
aftermath of the News of the World scandal and Levinson Inquiry. A
new title by one of the most eminent historians of Britain and a
leading expert on the history of the press, The English Press will
appeal to undergraduate students of British and media history and
journalism, as well as to the general reader with an interest in
the history of England and the media.
The early 20th-century world experienced a growth in international
cooperation. Yet the dominant historical view of the period has
long been one of national, military, and social divisions rather
than connections. International Cooperation in the Early Twentieth
Century revises this historical consensus by providing a more
focused and detailed analysis of the many ways in which people
interacted with each other across borders in the early decades of
the 20th century. It devotes particular attention to private and
non-governmental actors. Daniel Gorman focuses on international
cooperation, international social movements, various forms of
cultural internationalism, imperial and anti-imperial
internationalism, and the growth of cosmopolitan ideas. The book
incorporates a non-Western focus alongside the transatlantic core
of early 20th-century internationalism. It interweaves analyses of
international anti-colonial networks, ideas emanating from
non-Western sites of influence such as Japan, China and Turkey, the
emergence of networks of international indigenous peoples in
resistance to a state-centric international system, and diaspora
and transnational ethno-cultural-religious identity networks.
A Journey with Margaret Thatcher is an extraordinary insider's
account of British foreign policy under Margaret Thatcher by one of
her key advisers. Providing a closeup view of the Iron Lady in
action, former high-ranking diplomat Robin Renwick examines her
diplomatic successes - including the defeat of aggression in the
Falklands, what the Americans felt to be the excessive influence
she exerted on Ronald Reagan, her special relationship with Mikhail
Gorbachev and contribution to the ending of the Cold War, the
Anglo-Irish agreement, her influence with de Klerk in South Africa
and relationship with Nelson Mandela - and what she herself
acknowledged as her spectacular failure in resisting German
reunification. He describes at first hand her often turbulent
relationship with other European leaders and her arguments with her
Cabinet colleagues about European monetary union (in which regard,
he contends, her arguments have stood the test of time better and
are highly relevant to the crisis in the eurozone today). Finally,
the book tells of her bravura performance in the run up to the Gulf
War, her calls for intervention in Bosnia and the difficulties she
created for her successor. While her faults were on the same scale
as her virtues, Margaret Thatcher succeeded in her mission to
restore Britain's standing and influence, in the process becoming a
cult figure in many other parts of the world.
Bridging East and West explores the literary evolution of Ol'ha
Kobylians'ka, one of Ukraine's foremost modernist writers.
Investigating themes of feminism, populism, Nietzscheanism,
nationalism, and fascism in her works, this study presents an
alternative intellectual genealogy in turn-of-the-century European
arts and letters whose implications reach far beyond the field of
Ukrainian studies. For feminist scholars, Bridging East and West
makes accessible a thorough account of a central, yet overlooked,
woman writer who served as a model and a contributor within a major
cultural tradition. For those working in Victorian studies or
comparative fascism and for those interested in Nietzsche and his
influence on European intellectuals, Kobylians'ka emerges in this
study as an unlikely, but no less active, trailblazer in the social
and aesthetic theories that would define European debates about
culture, science, and politics in the first half of the twentieth
century. For those interested in questions of transnationalism and
intersectionality, this study's discussion of Kobylians'ka's hybrid
cultural identity and philosophical program exemplifies cultural
interchange and irreducible complexities of cultural identity.
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