The first half of the twentieth century witnessed a revolution in contraceptive behaviour as the large Victorian family disappeared. This book offers a new perspective on the gender relations, sexual attitudes, and contraceptive practices that accompanied the emergence of the smaller family in modern Britain. Kate Fisher draws on a range of first-hand evidence, including over 190 oral history interviews, in which individuals born between 1900 and 1930 described their marriages and sexual relationships. By using individual testimony she challenges many of the key conditions that have long been envisaged by demographic and historical scholars as necessary for any significant reduction in average family size to take place. Dr Fisher demonstrates that a massive expansion in birth control took place in a society in which sexual ignorance was widespread; that effective family limitation was achieved without the mass adoption of new contraceptive technologies; that traditional methods, such as withdrawal, abstinence, and abortion were often seen as preferable to modern appliances, such as condoms and caps; that communication between spouses was not key to the systematic adoption of contraception; and, above all, that women were not necessarily the driving force behind the attempt to avoid pregnancy. Women frequently avoided involvement in family planning decisions and practices, whereas the vast majority of men in Britain from the interwar period onward viewed the regular use of birth control as a masculine duty and obligation. By allowing this generation to speak for themselves, Kate Fisher produces a richer understanding of the often startling social attitudes and complex conjugal dynamics that lay behind the vast changes in contraceptive behaviour and family size in the twentieth century.

This study considers the impact of industrialisation, revolution and world war on women's working lives in Russia. Unlike existing studies this new text looks at women from all social classes. In the process the authors reveal how the stereotypical portrayal of Russian women's work as a struggle of endurance and sacrifice distorts and oversimplifies the reality of their experience between 1880 and 1930.

This book seeks, for the first time, to examine the demography and the social and economic conditions in the Yerevan Province during the first decade of the twentieth century, before the great changes that occurred during World War I and the seven decades of Soviet rule. Unlike in Tiflis and Baku, the Armenian inhabitants of the Yerevan Province were overwhelmingly peasants. They did not play a major role in the political, intellectual or economic life of the South Caucasus. The aim of the book is to prove conclusively that the Armenians of the Yerevan Province not only benefited from living under the umbrella of imperial security, but, as junior and senior officials, they also acquired important administrative and professional skills. The social and economic changes of the last decade of Russian rule enabled the local Armenians to advance and, following the collapse of the Russian Empire, to occupy posts previously held by Russians. Thus, despite the absence of their most talented individuals and the lack of experienced political leaders, as well as the loss of half their territory to Turkish attacks in 1918, the local Armenian administration, in the face of terrible conditions and great odds, provided the foundation which allowed the Armenian Republic to maintain its independence until December of 1920. In fact, some of the survivors would assist in the modernization and nation building of Soviet Armenia. Providing a detailed overview of the history of the Yerevan Province in the late imperial age, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in the History of Armenia, the Russian Empire and the Caucasus.

The Jewish philosopher Lev Shestov (1866-1938) is perhaps the great forgotten thinker of the twentieth century, but one whose revival seems timely and urgent in the twenty-first century. An important influence on Georges Bataille, Albert Camus, Gilles Deleuze and many others, Shestov developed a fascinating anti-Enlightenment philosophy that critiqued the limits of reason and triumphantly affirmed an ethics of hope in the face of hopelessness. In a wide-ranging reappraisal of his life and thought, which explores his ideas in relation to the history of literature and painting as well as philosophy, Matthew Beaumont restores Shestov to prominence as a thinker for turbulent times. In reconstructing Shestov's thought and asserting its continued relevance, the book's central theme is wakefulness. It argues that for Shestov, escape from the limits of rationalist Enlightenment thought comes from maintaining an insomniac vigilance in the face of the spiritual night to which his century appeared condemned. Shestov's engagement with the image of Christ remaining awake in the Garden of Gethsemane then, is at the core of his inspiring understanding of our ethical responsibilities after the horrors of the twentieth century.

This volume offers perspectives from the general public in post-Soviet Central Asia and reconsiders the meaning and the legacy of Soviet administration in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This study emphasizes that the way in which people in Central Asia reconcile their Soviet past to a great extent refers to the three-fold process of recollecting their everyday experiences, reflecting on their past from the perspective of their post-Soviet present, and re-imagining. These three elements influence memories and lead to selectivity in memory construction. This process also emphasizes the aspects of the Soviet era people choose to recall in positive and negative lights. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how Soviet life has influenced the identity and understanding of self among the population in post-Soviet Central Asian states.

This book explores how the women's orchestra at Auschwitz-Birkenau has been remembered in both media and popular culture since the end of the Second World War. In particular it focuses on Fania Fenelon's memoir, Playing for Time (1976), which was subsequently adapted into a film. Since then the publication has become a cornerstone of Holocaust remembrance and scholarship. Susan Eischeid therefore investigates whether it deserves such status, and whether such material can ever be considered reliable source material for historians. Using divergent source material gathered by the author, such as interviews with the other surviving members of the orchestra, this Pivot seeks to shed light on this period of women's history, and questions how we remember the Holocaust today.

Should Hoover have taken more aggressive action to combat the Great Depression? Did Roosevelt's New Deal go too far? Should Truman have ordered the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima? These and other controversial issues stamped the presidencies of Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry Truman, and the crises they addressed marked a series of watersheds in American history. This rich resource of primary documents and commentary is a one-stop source for debating the central issues that shaped the Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman presidencies. In their own words, these presidents articulate their positions on the key issues of their presidencies. Juxtaposed to their statements are relevant and interesting original source statements by the opposition. These opposing documents, along with introductions which place the issues in political context, will enable students to debate the great issues of the day.

This resource covers thirty-seven key issues and initiatives of the Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman presidencies. The entry on each issue contains an overview of the issue and discussion of opposing viewpoints, followed by a statement from the president and the text of an opponent's dissenting point of view. Among the issues covered are Hoover's legislative attempts to deal with the Great Depression; Roosevelt's formation of New Deal agencies, his effort to pack the Supreme Court, and the actions he took that led the United States into war; Truman's momentous decision to drop the bomb, his efforts to rebuild Europe after the war, his firing of General MacArthur, and his efforts to deal with labor disputes. The section on each president concludes with suggested reading for further study. An introductory overview to the period and a timeline place the issues in chronological context.

"The failure of Liberalism" in Germany and its responsibility for the rise of Nazism has been widely discussed among scholars inside and outside Germany. This author argues that German liberalism failed because of the irreconcilable conflict between two competing visions of German identity. In following the German liberal parties from the Empire through the Third Reich Kurlander illustrates convincingly how an exclusionary racist Weltanschauung, conditioned by profound transformations in German political culture at large, gradually displaced the liberal-universalist conception of a democratic Rechtsstaat. Although there were some notable exceptions, this widespread obsession with "racial community [Volksgemeinschaft]" caused the liberal parties to succumb to ideological lassitude and self-contradiction, paving the way for National Socialism.

These essays by nine distinguished historians deal with prominent personalities in German history over the last two centuries; and they are dominated by two themes. First, they trace the growth and flowering of German culture in areas like print and architecture and painting and how this transformed relationships and procedures in everyday life. Second, they follow the rise of a political consciousness on the part of the Germans, and the consequences this consciousness had for nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. In throwing light on the art of Schinkel and Liebermann, on the undertakings of Lichtwark, on the policies of Bismarck, and on the ordeals of Rathenau and Hitler and Beck and Faulhaber and Brandt, these nine essays offer a salutary guidepost to a past that is as rich as it is terrifying.

The author of such classic works as The Republican Roosevelt, V Was for Victory, and Years of Discord, John Morton Blum is one of a small group of intellectuals who for more than a quarter of a century dominated the writing of American political history. Writing now of his own career, Blum provides a behind-the-scenes look at Ivy League education and political power from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Blum insightfully recounts a long and distinguished journey that began at Phillips Academy, where he first realized he could make a career of teaching and writing history. He tells how young men were socialized to the values of the Northeastern establishment in those years before World War II, and how as a non-practicing Jew he learned to over-come bigotry both at Andover and at Harvard, which then had no Jewish professors.

In 1957 Blum joined the faculty of Yale University's history department, widely regarded as the nation's best, where he became both influential and popular and where his students included one future U.S. president as well as others who aspired to the office. He reveals much about the inner workings of Ivy League education and tells of controversies over the Vietnam War and the Black Panthers, his role in Eugene McCarthy's presidential campaign, and how he searched for common ground between reactionary faculty and radical students.

More than a recounting of a singular life, Blum's story explains how political history was researched and written during the second half of the twentieth century, describing how the discipline evolved, gained ascendancy, and was challenged as historical fashions changed. It also offers revealing glimpses of such prominent academics as Kingman Brewster, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., C. Vann Woodward, and William Sloan Coffin.

Over a distinguished career, Blum witnessed considerable change in elite educational institutions, where minorities and women were grossly underrepresented when he first entered academia. In a memoir brimming with insight and laced with humor, he looks back at the academy--"not a refuge from reality but an alternative reality"--as he reflects upon his intellectual journey and his contributions to the study and writing of twentieth-century American history.

Build, reinforce and assess students' knowledge throughout their course; tailored to the 2016 CCEA specification and brought to you by the leading History publisher, this study and revision guide combines clear content coverage with practice questions and sample answers. - Ensure understanding of the period with concise coverage of all Unit content, broken down into manageable chunks - Develop the analytical and evaluative skills that students need to succeed in A-level History - Consolidate understanding with exam tips and knowledge-check questions - Practise exam-style questions matched to the CCEA assessment requirements for every question type - Improve students' exam technique and show them how to reach the next grade with sample student answers and commentary for each exam-style question - Use flexibly in class or at home, for knowledge acquisition during the course or focused revision and exam preparation

Eglantyne Jebb was a teacher, social investigator and founder of the Save the Children Fund. Her "Declaration of the Rights of the Child," adopted by League of Nations, shows evolution from Charity Organization Society model to philosophy of international mutual responsibility, childrens rights and humanitarianism.

This study investigates the connection between the regulation of opium and the exercise of imperial power in colonial Burma. It traces the opium industry from the British annexation of the Burmese territories of Arakan and Tenasserim in 1826 to the end of the colonial era, arguing that this connection was multi-dimensional. The British regime regulated opium to facilitate labour extraction, and the articulation of a rationale for opium policy was inextricable from the articulation of a rationale for colonial rule more generally. Evolving discourses about race invoked opium consumption. Finally, Burma's position in multiple transnational and imperial networks informed its colonial opium policy.

From the middle of the twentieth century to today, the Great Books idea has been perennially contested in successive iterations of the 'culture wars.' Whether embraced as the distillation of the best of Western culture or dismissed as hegemonic, elitist, and outdated, it has encapsulated the contradictions of intellectual life and civic culture in the era of American dominance. Drawing on previously unexamined sources, this book casts the Great Books idea in a new light, arguing that its proponents aimed to support an intellectually robust, consensus-oriented democratic culture. Moving from the concept's origins in nineteenth-century cultural, industrial, and educational initiatives, author Tim Lacy highlights the life and career of Mortimer J. Adler, who moved the idea out of the academy and worked to weave it into social and cultural fabric of the United States. With attention to the frequently changing fortunes of the project and its own inherent virtues and vices, The Dream of a Democratic Culture conclusively shows that neither liberals nor conservatives can claim ownership of the Great Books idea, whose significance has always depended upon usage, selection criteria, and context.

The central idea behind this book is that the globalisation and politicisation of traditional religious identities is a historical phenomenon with deep roots in the 19th-20th centuries. Tracing the emergence of 'Religious Internationals' as a distinctive new phenomenon in world history, it transforms our understanding of the place of religion in the modern world. Leading historians and social scientists break new ground by comparing the historical experiences of different faith communities in an age of globalization without comparing them as religions. In-depth case studies focus on the internationalist dimensions of Buddhism, Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant), Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Individually, they illuminate the complex processes whereby communities of believers became communities of opinion. Collectively, they shed new light on the origins and nature of global civil society, highlighting the role of religion as one of its motor forces from the start.

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 has been widely seen as a historical turning-point. For the first time in modern history an Asian and a European country competed on equal terms, overturning the prevailing balance of power. Based on a wide range of original source material in Russian, Japanese and other languages, this book goes beyond the military and international political grand narratives to examine the war's social, cultural, literary and intellectual impact in their historical context. In Japan the war reinforced the country's self-image as a 'coming' nation, while in Russia, combined with the revolution of 1905 and later political and social upheaval, it was seen as separating the old regime from the new. Throughout the world, 'spirit' was seen to be a decisive factor, and cultural considerations determined the war's interpretation. Featuring contributions by established scholars in the fields of military history and the history and literature of both Russia and Japan, this book offers for the first time a comparative perspective on the symbolic meaning of the conflict.

Hindenburg: Power, Myth, and the Rise of the Nazis reveals how a previously little-known general, whose career to normal retirement age had provided no real foretaste of his heroic status, became a national icon and living myth in Germany after the First World War, capturing the imagination of millions. In a period characterized by rupture and fragmentation, the legend surrounding Paul von Hindenburg brought together a broad coalition of Germans and became one of the most potent forces in Weimar politics. Charting the origins of the myth, from Hindenburg's decisive victory at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 to his death in Nazi Germany and beyond, Anna von der Goltz explains why the presence of Hindenburg's name on the ballot mesmerized an overwhelming number of voters in the presidential elections of 1925. His myth-an ever-evolving phenomenon-increasingly transcended the dividing lines of interwar politics, which helped him secure re-election by left-wing and moderate voters. Indeed, the only two times in German history that the people could elect their head of state directly and secretly, they chose this national icon. Hindenburg even managed to defeat Adolf Hitler in 1932, making him the Nazi leader's final arbiter; it was he who made the final and fateful decision to appoint Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933.

"Tragedy at Graignes" tells the story of Captain Bud Sophian, the only US Army officer who did not flee Graignes, France, as the Waffen SS overran the American positions and stormed the village. Sophian was a surgeon, and he refused to abandon the fourteen wounded paratroopers in his care. He surrendered by waving a white flag at the door of the badly shelled Norman church where his aid station was located. He hoped for fair prisoner treatment in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 1929. The German troops instead committed unspeakable atrocities, leaving many of the American prisoners mutilated in grotesque heaps. All of the American prisoners, including Sophian, were killed.

Captain Sophian's judgment and actions in the US Army were the culmination of the rich and challenging life he led prior to the Second World War. Bud's correspondence with his sister and other Sophian archival materials tell the story of this compelling life. These letters are reproduced verbatim in "Tragedy at Graignes: The Bud Sophian Story" so that Bud and other authors may speak directly to you and to the historical record.

The debate on Italian regionalism has received renewed impetus from the disintegration of the First Republic and the emergence of the Northern League. In this important study, leading scholars of Italian history, politics, sociology and linguistics examine the nature of Italian regionalism since the formation of the modern Italian nation state. This is the first English-language book to explore the Italian concept of regionalism in all its ramifications.Topics include: the nature and problems of Italian regionalism in context; the historical background of the period up to 1945; critical overviews of regionalism since the establishment of the Republic; the relationship between dialect, language and Italian regionalism; and an examination of the origins of the Northern Leagues, their growing power, and their contribution to the crisis of the Republic. Contributors: Adrian Lyttelton, John Davis, Anna Laura Lepschy, Giulio Lepschy, Martin Clark, Percy Allum, Ilvo Diamanti, Joseph Farrell, David Hine, Anna Cento Bull, Miriam Voghera

The Andersons have committed themselves to a 20-year struggle to address wrongs that Denise suffered while employed at GM. Hired in 1982, under the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, a predecessor of the 1990 ADA, she suffered an on-the-job injury, but was disallowed to return to work after her medical release. Their journey was financially & emotionally costly, pursuing redress thru the federal courts, EEOC & the union. The book presents violations of the human/civil rights of a disabled American citizen. It is a testament to the strength & endurance of the Andersons. Dora Anderson, "The Rosa Parks of the Disabled Movement," has become the symbol for the supporter of the American disabled citizen. Endorsers Americans love an "underdog" story, even more, a happy ending, which is so glaringly absent in the Anderson book. The intent of the ADA was to balance the scales of opportunity, but as their saga reveals, those scales are badly tilted. They have been thru too much now to expect a happy ending, but a just one can still be written. All it takes is a nation that prizes the opportunity to do the right thing. Barry Marrow, Oscar Award-Winning Co-Writer for Rain Man & Producer "The Union" has played a key role in the economic life of the American working class. This book highlights the growing patterns of certain "union boses" sacrificing their rank & fiile on the alter of survival & political access, forcing a confrontation. At a time when unions need a stronger member driven leadership, we are in a sensitive moment when the real uniion leadership, the workers, must make their presence known & ensure the future of a much needed source of political strength & economic power in working classcommunities across the country. Odette Machado, Pres., Health/Humanitarian Employees Alliance Rights & Trades

This highly original and lively study represents the first analysis of the dynamics of British press reporting of India and the attempts made by the British Government to manipulate press coverage as part of a strategy of imperial control. The press was an important forum for debate over India's future and was used by groups within the political elite to advance their agendas. Yet it also provided the wider British public with the information and images from which they formed their perceptions of the subcontinent. The repercussions of press reporting were therefore considerable, being felt not only in Britain, but also within India and the wider world. For this reason British imperial administrators felt the need to integrate press management with their approach to government. Kaul focuses on a period of critical transition in the history of the Raj, a period which witnessed the impact of the First World War, major constitutional reform initiatives, the tragedy of the Amritsar massacre, and the launching of Gandhi's mass movement. The war was also a watershed in official media manipulation, the Government's previously informal and ad hoc attempts to shape press reporting were placed on a more formal basis and explicitly incorporated into official strategy. This book will be essential reading for students of the British Empire, Indian history and the British press. It also offers important insights for students of media and communications studies and the history of political communication - and indeed anyone concerned with understanding the ever-deepening relationship between politics and the mass media today.