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Books > History > World history > From 1900
This non-technical introduction to modern European intellectual
history traces the evolution of ideas in Europe from the turn of
the 19th century to the modern day. Placing particular emphasis on
the huge technological and scientific change that has taken place
over the last two centuries, David Galaty shows how intellectual
life has been driven by the conditions and problems posed by this
world of technology. In everything from theories of beauty to
studies in metaphysics, the technologically-based modern world has
stimulated a host of competing theories and intellectual systems,
often built around the opposing notions of 'the power of the
individual' versus collectivist ideals like community, nation,
tradition and transcendent experience. In an accessible,
jargon-free style, Modern European Intellectual History unpicks
these debates and historically analyses how thought has developed
in Europe since the time of the French Revolution. Among other
topics, the book explores: * The Kantian Revolution * Feminism and
the Suffrage Movement * Socialism and Marxism * Nationalism *
Structuralism * Quantum theory * Developments in the Arts *
Postmodernism * Big Data and the Cyber Century Highly illustrated
with 80 images and 10 tables, and further supported by an online
Instructor's Guide, this is the most important student resource on
modern European intellectual history available today.
Who are we? Where did we come from and where are we going? What is
the meaning of life and death? Can we abolish death and live
forever? These "big" questions of human nature and human destiny
have boggled humanity's best minds for centuries. But they assumed
a particular urgency and saliency in 1920s Russia, just as the
country was emerging from nearly a decade of continuous warfare,
political turmoil, persistent famine, and deadly epidemics,
generating an enormous variety of fantastic social, scientific, and
literary experiments that sought to answer these "perpetual"
existential questions. This book investigates the interplay between
actual (scientific) and fictional (literary) experiments that
manipulated sex gonads in animals and humans, searched for "rays of
life" froze and thawed butterflies and bats, kept alive severed dog
heads, and produced various tissue extracts (hormones), all
fostering a powerful image of "science that conquers death."
Revolutionary Experiments explores the intersection between social
and scientific revolutions, documenting the rapid growth of
science's funding, institutions, personnel, public resonance, and
cultural authority in the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik
Revolution. It examines why and how biomedical sciences came to
occupy such a prominent place in the stories of numerous
litterateurs and in the culture and society of post-revolutionary
Russia more generally. Nikolai Krementsov argues that the
collective, though not necessarily coordinated, efforts of
scientists, their Bolshevik patrons, and their literary
fans/critics effectively transformed specialized knowledge
generated by experimental biomedical research into an influential
cultural resource that facilitated the establishment of large
specialized institutions, inspired numerous science-fiction
stories, displaced religious beliefs, and gave the millennia-old
dream of immortality new forms and new meanings in Bolshevik
Russia.
In the first five months of the Great War, one million men
volunteered to fight. Yet by the end of 1915, the British
government realized that conscription would be required. Why did so
many enlist, and conversely, why so few? Focusing on analyses of
widely felt emotions related to moral and domestic duty, "Juvenile
Nation" broaches these questions in new ways."Juvenile Nation"
examines how religious and secular youth groups, the juvenile
periodical press, and a burgeoning new group of child
psychologists, social workers and other 'experts' affected
society's perception of a new problem character, the 'adolescent'.
By what means should this character be turned into a 'fit' citizen?
Considering qualities such as loyalty, character, temperance,
manliness, fatherhood, and piety, Stephanie Olsen discusses the
idea of an 'informal education', focused on building character
through emotional control, and how this education was seen as key
to shaping the future citizenry of Britain and the Empire."Juvenile
Nation" recasts the militarism of the 1880s onwards as part of an
emotional outpouring based on association to family, to community
and to Christian cultural continuity. Significantly, the same
emotional responses explain why so many men turned away from active
militarism, with duty to family and community perhaps thought to
have been best carried out at home. By linking the historical study
of the emotions with an examination of the individual's place in
society, Olsen provides an important new insight on how a
generation of young men was formed.
This book details the evolution of General George Marshall's
relationship with the atomic bomb-including the Manhattan Project
and the use of atomic weapons on Japan-as it emerged as the
ultimate weapon of mass destruction. The atomic bomb is not only
the most powerful weapon ever used in the history of warfare: it is
also the most significant in terms of its long-term impact on U.S.
military power and policy, and as the reason behind the conflict
that raged for four decades without actually happening-the Cold
War. General George C. Marshall played an instrumental role in the
development and use of the atomic bomb in World War II as well as
in issues involving nuclear weapons in the post-World War II
period. This book tells the story of Marshall's experience with the
atomic bomb from his early skepticism of its effectiveness as a
weapon, to his oversight of its development and deployment against
Japan in World War II, to his recognition of the bomb as a weapon
of such dire consequence that it should never be used again.
Intended for a general audience as well as scholars with specific
knowledge about the subject matter, this book presents a cohesive
account of General Marshall's involvement with nuclear weapons and
atomic power as Army chief of staff during World War II and as
secretary of state and secretary of defense in the early years of
the Cold War. Marshall's involvement with the use of nuclear
weapons is set in the context of the Allies' efforts to force Japan
to surrender and the initiation of the Cold War. Readers will gain
insight into Marshall's quest for obtaining a Japanese surrender;
his views on the use of the atomic bomb on Japan versus the use of
conventional weapons, including fire bombing or poison gas; his
interactions with Roosevelt and Truman on nuclear issues; and
Marshall's diplomatic skillfulness in dealing with the issues
surrounding the control and use of nuclear weapons as secretary of
state and secretary of defense in the post-World War II era. These
included consideration of the use of the atomic bomb during the
Berlin crisis and the Korean war. Presents a clear and concise
narrative of Marshall's interactions with nuclear weapons, from his
appointment to President Roosevelt's advisory committee in 1941 to
his tenure as President Truman's secretary of defense in 1950
Documents Marshall's role in pulling together the financial,
material, and human resources required for the Manhattan Project as
well as his collaboration with Secretary of War Henry Stimson and
Manhattan Project leader General Leslie Groves to produce the
atomic bomb Derives an accurate account of Marshall's involvement
with nuclear weapons through official documents, his
correspondence, the opinions of his peers, and personal interviews
he granted later in his life
Despite the wealth of historical literature on the Second World
War, the subject of religion and churches in occupied Europe has
been undervalued - until now. This critical European history is
unique in delivering a rich and detailed analysis of churches and
religion during the Second World War, looking at the Christian
religions of occupied Europe: Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism,
and Orthodoxy. The authors engage with key themes such as relations
between religious institutions and the occupying forces; religion
as a key factor in national identity and resistance; theological
answers to the Fascist and National Socialist ideologies,
especially in terms of the persecution of the Jews; Christians as
bystanders or protectors in the Holocaust; and religious life
during the war. Churches and Religion in the Second World War will
be of great value to students and scholars of European history, the
Second World War and religion and theology.
In this groundbreaking volume, based on extensive research in
Chinese archives and libraries, Jan Kiely explores the
pre-Communist origins of the process of systematic thought reform
or reformation (ganhua) that evolved into a key component of Mao
Zedong's revolutionary restructuring of Chinese society. Focusing
on ganhua as it was employed in China's prison system, Kiely's
thought-provoking work brings the history of this critical
phenomenon to life through the stories of individuals who
conceptualized, implemented, and experienced it, and he details how
these techniques were subsequently adapted for broader social and
political use.
Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew
the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who
received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military
campaign in aviation history. There's no higher accolade in the
U.S. military than the Medal of Honor, and 472 people received it
for their action during World War II. But only one was demoted
right after: Maynard Harrison Smith. Smith is one of the most
unlikely heroes of the war, where he served in B-17s during the
early days of the bombing of France and Germany from England. From
his juvenile delinquent past in Michigan, through the war and
during the decades after, Smith's life seemed to be a series of
very public missteps. The other airmen took to calling the 5-foot,
5-inch airman "Snuffy" after an unappealing movie character. This
is also the man who, on a tragically mishandled mission over France
on May 1, 1943, single-handedly saved the crewmen in his stricken
B-17. With every other gunner injured or bailed out, Smith stood
alone in the fuselage of a shattered, nameless bomber and fought
fires, treated wounded crew and fought off fighters. His ordeal is
part of a forgotten mission that aircrews came to call the May Day
Massacre. The skies over Europe in 1943 were a charnel house for
U.S. pilots, who were being led by tacticians surprised by the
brutal effectiveness of German defenses. By May 1943 the combat
losses among bomb crews were a staggering 40 to 50 percent. The
backdrop of Smith's story intersects with some of the luminaries of
aviation history, including Curtis Lemay, Ira Eaker and "Hap"
Arnold, during critical times of their storied careers. Inferno
also examines Smith's life in a new, comprehensive light, through
the use of exclusive interviews of those who knew him (including
fellow MOH recipients and family) as well as public and archival
records. This is both a thrilling and horrifying story of the air
war over Europe during WWII and a fascinating look at one of
America's forgotten heroes.
Based on hitherto untapped source materials, this book charts the
history of Muslim missionary activity in London from 1912, when the
first Indian Muslim missionaries arrived in London, until 1944.
During this period a unique community was forged out of British
converts and native Muslims from various parts of the world, which
focused itself around a purpose built mosque in Woking and later
the first mosque to open in London in 1924. Arguing that an
understanding of Muslim mission in this period needs to place such
activity in the context of colonial encounter, Islam and Britain
provides a background narrative into why Muslim missionary activity
in London was part of a variety of strategies to engage with
European expansion and overzealous Christian missionary activity in
India. Ron Geaves draws on research undertaken in India and
Pakistan, where the Ahmadiya missionaries have kept extensive
archives of this period which until now have been unavailable to
scholars. Unique in providing an account of Islamic missionary work
in Britain from the Islamic perspective, Islam and Britain adds to
our knowledge and understanding of British Muslim history and makes
an important contribution to the literature concerned with Islamic
missiology.
Thomas Ware served in the Army from March 1968 until March 1971. He
served in Dau Tieng, Vietnam. This is an accounting of his time in
Vietnam and his ensuing life as a result of experiences. The
injustices of the American Military system.
"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a
big lie than to a small one." Adolf Hitler The only edition of Mein
Kampf officially sanctioned by the Nazi Foreign Office in the
English language was the edition translated and introduced by James
Murphy. The illustrated edition using his translation was first
published in the UK in 1939 in 22 weekly parts by Hutchison and Co
Ltd. This authentic edition brings together that entire series
complete with Murphy's 1939 introduction and a new introduction by
Emmy AwardTM winning historian Bob Carruthers, and includes over
250 photographs. Murphy's was the only translation which was
officially endorsed by the Nazi party during Hitler's lifetime and
as such represents an opportunity to approach the work as it was
presented to contemporary readers. This was the version of 'Mein
Kampf' which the Nazi party hoped would spread the gospel of
National Socialism throughout the UK, but by the time publication
was underway World War II had commenced. Somewhat surprisingly,
publication of the weekly illustrated edition was allowed to
continue although all proceeds from the sale were diverted to the
British Red Cross. This new publication of the entire primary
source provides the reader with access to the complete historical
document and provides a unique insight into the past by reproducing
'Mein Kampf' as it was presented to British readers in the
thirties.
The Emergence of the French Public Intellectual provides a working
definition of "public intellectuals" in order to clarify who they
are and what they do. It then follows their varied itineraries from
the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment to
the nineteenth century. Public intellectuals became a fixture in
French society during the Dreyfus Affair but have a long history in
France, as the contributions of Christine de Pizan, Voltaire, and
Victor Hugo, among many others, illustrate. The French novelist
Emile Zola launched the Dreyfus Affair when he published
"J'Accuse," an open letter to French President Felix Faure
denouncing a conspiracy by the government and army against Captain
Alfred Dreyfus, who was Jewish and had been wrongly convicted of
treason three years earlier. The consequent emergence of a
publicly-engaged intellectual created a new, modern space in
intellectual life as France and the world confronted the challenges
of the twentieth century.
While the coerced human experiments are notorious among all the
atrocities under National Socialism, they have been marginalised by
mainstream historians. This book seeks to remedy the
marginalisation, and to place the experiments in the context of the
broad history of National Socialism and the Holocaust. Paul
Weindling bases this study on the reconstruction of a victim group
through individual victims' life histories, and by weaving the
victims' experiences collectively together in terms of different
groupings, especially gender, ethnicity and religion, age, and
nationality. The timing of the experiments, where they occurred,
how many victims there were, and who they were, is analysed, as are
hitherto under-researched aspects such as Nazi anatomy and
executions. The experiments are also linked, more broadly, to major
elements in the dynamic and fluid Nazi power structure and the
implementation of racial policies. The approach is informed by
social history from below, exploring both the rationales and
motives of perpetrators, but assessing these critically in the
light of victim narratives.
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