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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > General
A prevailing belief among Russia's cultural elite in the early
twentieth century was that the music of composers such as Sergei
Rachmaninoff, Aleksandr Scriabin, and Nikolai Medtner could forge a
shared identity for the Russian people across social and economic
divides. In this illuminating study of competing artistic and
ideological visions at the close of Russia's "Silver Age," author
Rebecca Mitchell interweaves cultural history, music, and
philosophy to explore how "Nietzsche's orphans" strove to find in
music a means to overcome the disunity of modern life in the final
tumultuous years before World War I and the Communist Revolution.
What began in spring 2020 as local protests in response to the
killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police quickly exploded into
a massive nationwide movement. Millions of mostly young people
defiantly flooded into the nation's streets, demanding an end to
police brutality and to the broader, systemic repression of Black
people and other people of color. To many observers, the protests
appeared to be without precedent in their scale and persistence.
Yet, as the acclaimed historian Elizabeth Hinton demonstrates in
America on Fire, the events of 2020 had clear precursors-and any
attempt to understand our current crisis requires a reckoning with
the recent past. Even in the aftermath of Donald Trump, many
Americans consider the decades since the civil rights movement in
the mid-1960s as a story of progress toward greater inclusiveness
and equality. Hinton's sweeping narrative uncovers an altogether
different history, taking us on a troubling journey from Detroit in
1967 and Miami in 1980 to Los Angeles in 1992 and beyond to chart
the persistence of structural racism and one of its primary
consequences, the so-called urban riot. Hinton offers a critical
corrective: the word riot was nothing less than a racist trope
applied to events that can only be properly understood as
rebellions-explosions of collective resistance to an unequal and
violent order. As she suggests, if rebellion and the conditions
that precipitated it never disappeared, the optimistic story of a
post-Jim Crow United States no longer holds. Black rebellion,
America on Fire powerfully illustrates, was born in response to
poverty and exclusion, but most immediately in reaction to police
violence. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson launched the "War on
Crime," sending militarized police forces into impoverished Black
neighborhoods. Facing increasing surveillance and brutality,
residents threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers, plundered
local businesses, and vandalized exploitative institutions. Hinton
draws on exclusive sources to uncover a previously hidden geography
of violence in smaller American cities, from York, Pennsylvania, to
Cairo, Illinois, to Stockton, California. The central lesson from
these eruptions-that police violence invariably leads to community
violence-continues to escape policymakers, who respond by further
criminalizing entire groups instead of addressing underlying
socioeconomic causes. The results are the hugely expanded policing
and prison regimes that shape the lives of so many Americans today.
Presenting a new framework for understanding our nation's enduring
strife, America on Fire is also a warning: rebellions will surely
continue unless police are no longer called on to manage the
consequences of dismal conditions beyond their control, and until
an oppressive system is finally remade on the principles of justice
and equality.
The truck system was a global phenomenon in the period 1865-1920,
where workers were paid through the company store. In Beyond Racism
and Poverty Karin Lurvink looks at how this system functioned on
plantations in Louisiana in comparison with peateries in the
Netherlands. In the United States, the system is often viewed as a
'second slavery' and strongly associated with racism. In the
Netherlands, however, not racism but poverty has been seen as the
main reason for its continued existence. By using a variety of
historical sources and by analyzing the perspectives of both
employers and workers, Lurvink provides new insights into how the
truck system worked and can be explained. She reveals how the
system was not only coercive but had advantages for the workers as
well, which should not be overlooked.
This is the first history of sport in Ireland, locating the history
of sport within Irish political, social, and cultural history, and
within the global history of sport. Sport and Ireland demonstrates
that there are aspects of Ireland's sporting history that are
uniquely Irish and are defined by the peculiarities of life on a
small island on the edge of Europe. What is equally apparent,
though, is that the Irish sporting world is unique only in part;
much of the history of Irish sport is a shared history with that of
other societies. Drawing on an unparalleled range of sources -
government archives, sporting institutions, private collections,
and more than sixty local, national, and international newspapers -
this volume offers a unique insight into the history of the British
Empire in Ireland and examines the impact that political partition
has had on the organization of sport there. Paul Rouse assesses the
relationship between sport and national identity, how sport
influences policy-making in modern states, and the ways in which
sport has been colonized by the media and has colonized it in turn.
Each chapter of Sport and Ireland contains new research on the
place of sport in Irish life: the playing of hurling matches in
London in the eighteenth century, the growth of cricket to become
the most important sport in early Victorian Ireland, and the
enlistment of thousands of members of the Gaelic Athletic
Association as soldiers in the British Army during the Great War.
Rouse draws out the significance of animals to the Irish sporting
tradition, from the role of horse and dogs in racing and hunting,
to the cocks, bulls, and bears that were involved in fighting and
baiting.
This new and very important collection of essays reinterprets and
updates the history of New York's Puerto Rican community and its
leaders from the beginnings of the great migration in the 1940s to
the present time. The collection also honors the memory of the late
Dr. Antonia Pantoja, who was perhaps the community's most important
and influential activist and institution builder during this
period. The book is organized in chronological order and includes
chapters by noted historians, sociologists, and political
scientists, such as Virginia Sanchez Korrol, Ana Celia Zentella,
Jose Cruz, Francisco Rivera Batiz, and Gabriel Haslip-Viera. These
chapters focus on issues of culture, demography, language, economic
status, politics, and community organization. Eminently useful in
college-level courses that deal with Latinos and other ethnic
groups in U.S. society, the book ends with essays by Angelo Falcon
and Clara E. Rodriguez that assess the legacy, current status, and
future prospects of the Puerto Rican community in New York.
Winston Churchill is a renowned historical figure, whose remarkable
political and military career continues to enthral. This book
consists of short, highly readable chapters on key aspects of
Churchill's career. Written by leading experts, the chapters draw
on documents from Churchill's extensive personal papers as well as
cutting-edge scholarship. Ranging from Churchill's youthful
statesmanship to the period of the Cold War, the volume considers
his military strategy during both World Wars as well as dealing
with the social, political and economic issues that helped define
the Churchillian era. Suitable for those coming to Churchill for
the first time, as well as providing new insights for those already
familiar with his life, this is a sparkling collection of essays
that provides an enlightening history of Churchill and his era.
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.
The United Nations in International History argues for a new way of
examining the history of this central global institution by
integrating more traditional diplomacy between states with new
trends in transnational and cultural history to explore the
organization and its role in 20th- and 21st-century history. Amy
Sayward looks at the origins of the U.N. before examining a range
of organizations and players in the United Nations system and
analysing its international work in the key arenas of diplomacy,
social & economic development programs, peace-keeping, and
human rights. This volume provides a concise introduction to the
broad array of international work done by the United Nations,
synthesizes the existing interdisciplinary literature, and
highlights areas in need of further research, making it ideal for
students and beginning researchers.
Today, 1913 is inevitably viewed through the lens of 1914: as the
last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order
and tear Europe apart, undermining its global pre-eminence. Our
perspectives narrowed by hindsight, the world of that year is
reduced to its most frivolous features--last summers in grand
aristocratic residences--or its most destructive ones: the
unresolved rivalries of the great European powers, the fear of
revolution, violence in the Balkans.
In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world
of 1913 from this "prelude to war" narrative, and explores it as it
was, in all its richness and complexity. Traveling from Europe's
capitals, then at the height of their global reach, to the emerging
metropolises of Canada and the United States, the imperial cities
of Asia and Africa, and the boomtowns of Australia and South
America, he provides a panoramic view of a world crackling with
possibilities, its future still undecided, its outlook still open.
The world in 1913 was more modern than we remember, more similar to
our own times than we expect, more globalized than ever before. The
Gold Standard underpinned global flows of goods and money, while
mass migration reshaped the world's human geography. Steamships and
sub-sea cables encircled the earth, along with new technologies and
new ideas. Ford's first assembly line cranked to life in 1913 in
Detroit. The Woolworth Building went up in New York. While Mexico
was in the midst of bloody revolution, Winnipeg and Buenos Aires
boomed. An era of petro-geopolitics opened in Iran. China appeared
to be awaking from its imperial slumber. Paris celebrated itself as
the city of light--Berlin as the city of electricity.
Full of fascinating characters, stories, and insights, "1913: In
Search of the World before the Great War" brings a lost world
vividly back to life, with provocative implications for how we
understand our past and how we think about our future.
Through this book's roughly 50 reference entries, readers will gain
a better appreciation of what life during the Industrial Revolution
was like and see how the United States and Europe rapidly changed
as societies transitioned from an agrarian economy to one based on
machines and mass production. The Industrial Revolution remains one
of the most transformative events in world history. It forever
changed the economic landscape and gave birth to the modern world
as we know it. The content and primary documents within The
Industrial Revolution: History, Documents, and Key Questions
provide key historical background of the Industrial Revolution in
Europe and the United States, enable students to gain unique
insights into life during the period, and allow readers to perceive
the similarities to developments in society today with ongoing
advances in current science and technology. Roughly 50 reference
entries provide essential information about the most important
people and developments related to the Industrial Revolution,
including Richard Arkwright, coal, colonialism, cotton, the factory
system, pollution, railroads, and the steam engine. Each entry
provides information that gives readers a sense of the importance
of the topic within a historical and societal perspective. For
example, the coverage of movements during the Industrial Revolution
explains the origin of each, including when it was established, and
by whom; its significance; and the social context in which the
movement was formed. Each entry cites works for further reading to
help users learn more about specific topics. Provides entries on a
wide range of ideas, individuals, events, places, movements,
organizations, and objects and artifacts of the Industrial
Revolution that allow readers to better grasp the lasting
significance of the period Offers a historical overview essay that
presents a narrative summary of the causes of the Industrial
Revolution and a timeline of the most important events related to
the Industrial Revolution Includes primary sources-each introduced
by a headnote-that supply contemporary perspectives on vital
elements of social history, especially the actions and conditions
of laborers during the Industrial Revolution, providing insights
into people's actions and motivations during this time of
transition
International Organizations play a pivotal role on the modern
global stage and have done, this book argues, since the beginning
of the 20th century. This volume offers the first historical
exploration into the formative years of international public
administrations, covering the birth of the League of Nations and
the emergence of the second generation that still shape
international politics today such as the UN, NATO and OECD.
Centring on Europe, where the multilaterization of international
relations played out more intensely in the mid-20th century than in
other parts of the world, it demonstrates a broad range of
historiographical and methodological approaches to institutions in
international history. The book argues that after several 'turns'
(cultural, linguistic, material, transnational), international
history is now better equipped to restate its core questions of
policy and power with a view to their institutional dimensions.
Making use of new approaches in the field, this book develops an
understanding of the specific powers and roles of
IO-administrations by delving into their institutional make-up.
Concern about the 'decline of community', and the theme of
'community spirit', are internationally widespread in the modern
world. The English past has featured many representations of
declining community, expressed by those who lamented its loss in
quite different periods and in diverse genres. This book analyses
how community spirit and the passing of community have been
described in the past - whether for good or ill - with an eye to
modern issues, such as the so-called 'loneliness epidemic' or the
social consequences of alternative structures of community. It does
this through examination of authors such as Thomas Hardy, James
Wentworth Day, Adrian Bell and H.E. Bates, by appraising detective
fiction writers, analysing parish magazines, considering the letter
writing of the parish poor in the 18th and 19th centuries, and
through the depictions of realist landscape painters such as George
Morland. K. D. M. Snell addresses modern social concerns, showing
how many current preoccupations had earlier precedents. In
presenting past representations of declining communities, and the
way these affected individuals of very different political
persuasions, the book draws out lessons and examples from the past
about what community has meant hitherto, setting into context
modern predicaments and judgements about 'spirits of community'
today.
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