From the middle of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century the Baltic sea was the scene of frequent conflicts between the powers that surrounded it. As the fortunes in the struggle changed, so did the composition of opposing alliances and the identity of the leading participants. Not only were the littoral states concerned by the outcome; other European states were anxious thoughout the period with what went on in the Baltic, where the emergence of one dominant power could be potentially dangerous and where many had important commercial interests. Stewart Oakley makes clear the causes and course of the conflicts and explains the varying fortunes of the participants. It traces the emergence of Sweden, poor as it was in resources, as the leading power in the area in the early 17th century, the early unsuccessful attempts by the Muscovite state to break through to the Sea, the eventual collapse of Sweden's "empire" at the beginning of the 18th century and final emergence of Russia as the leading player on the stage. The main part of the work ends with the failure of Sweden's final attempt to regain something of its former status.

Domitian, Emperor of Rome AD 81-96, has traditionally been portrayed as a tyrant, and his later years on the throne as a "reign of terror"; his death bringing a restoration of liberty and inaugurating the glorious rule of the "five good emperors". It is less well known that he was an able, meticulous administrator, a reformer of the economy, with a building programme designed to ensure that Rome not only was the capital of the world but looked like it as well. Brian Jones's biography of the emperor, aims to provide a balanced interpretation of the life of Domitian. In taking into account recent scholarship and new epigraphic and archaeological discoveries, "The Emperor Domitian" proposes that Domitian was a ruthless but efficient autocrat with a sound foreign policy, and rejects the traditional view that dismisses him as a vicious tyrant. His harshness was felt by a comparatively minute, but highly vocal section of the population, who included those who wrote the history of his reign. Brian Jones argues that his relationship with the court rather than with the senate is central to understanding his policies.

The tremendous changes in the role and significance of religion during Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation affected all of society. Yet, there have been few attempts to view medicine and the ideas underpinning it within the context of the period and see what changes it underwent. This study charts how both popular and official religion affected orthodox medicine as well as more popular healers. Illustrating the central part played by medicine in Lutheran teachings, the Calvinistic rationalization of disease, and the Catholic responses, the contributors offer new perspectives on the relation of religion and medicine in the early modern period. It should be of interest to social historians as well as specialists in the history of medicine.

'I was on a train, and a German soldier began shouting at me and poking me in the ribs with his machine gun. I just thought that was it, the game was up . . .' Downed airman Bob Frost faced danger at every turn as he was smuggled out of France and over the Pyrenees. Prisoner of war Len Harley went on the run in Italy, surviving months in hiding and then a hazardous climb over the Abruzzo mountains with German troops hot on his heels. These are just some of the stories told in heart-stopping detail as Monty Halls takes us along the freedom trails out of occupied Europe, from the immense French escape lines to lesser-known routes in Italy and Slovenia. Escaping Hitler features spies and traitors, extraordinary heroism from those who ran the escape routes and offered shelter to escapees, and great feats of endurance. The SAS in Operation Galia fought for forty days behind enemy lines in Italy and then, exhausted and pursued by the enemy, exfiltrated across the Apennine mountains. And in Slovenia Australian POW Ralph Churches and British Les Laws orchestrated the largest successful Allied escape of the entire war. Mixing new research, interviews with survivors and his own experience of walking the trails, Monty brings the past to life in this dramatic and gripping slice of military history.

Contents:
1. Introduction Richard Sylla and Gianni Toniolo Part I 2. Substitution for Prerequisites: Endigenous Institutions and Comparative Economic History C. Knick Harley, University of Western Ontario 3. The Role of Banks Richard Sylla 4. The Role of the State in Promoting Economic Development: The Russian Case and its General Implications Paul R. Gregory, University of Houston 5. Europe in an American Mirror: Reflections on Industrialization and Ideology William N. Parker, Yale University Part II 6. Britain N.F.R. Crafts, University of Warwick, S.J.Leybourne, University of Leeds and T.C. Mills, City University Business School 7. France Maurice Levy-Leboyer and Michel Lescure, University of Paris, Nanterre 8. Germany Richard Tilly, Universitat Munster 9. Italy Giovanni Federico, Universita di Pisa and Gianni Toniolo 10. Austria-Hungary David Good, University of Minnesota 11. Russia Olga Crisp, University of London Part III: On the Methodology of Economic History 12. Kinks, Tools, Spurts and Substitutes: Gerschenkron's Rhetoric of Relative Backwardness Donald N. McCloskey, University of Iowa

An invaluable collection of primary sources for the study of eighteenth-century convent life. Between 1728 and 1744 the Catholic lawyer Mannock Strickland (1673-1744) acted as agent for English nuns living on the Continent, including St Monica's, Louvain, the Brussels Dominicans and the Dunkirk Benedictines. Most convent archives perished at the French Revolution, but Strickland's papers survived in the archives of Mapledurham House, Oxfordshire, offering a unique insight into the workings of English convents. These extraordinary documents reveal the reality of exile for a group of formidable yet vulnerable women, "doubly dead" to English law. Two hundred letters tell stories of hardship, isolation, severe winters, war, starvation, Jacobite intrigue and international finance. They show that convent bursars became skilled at playing international exchange markets yet remained at the mercy of unscrupulous investors. The letters are presented here with full notes; a thorough introduction sets theletters, cash day books, bills of exchange and other documents in context. Richard G. Williams is Librarian and Archivist of Mapledurham House; he has also held senior posts at the University of Warwick, Imperial College London, Birkbeck College London and at Yale University.

At the German Armistice, small-scale Allied intervention in Russia (designed to thwart the Germans, save the Czechs, and overthrow the Bolsheviks) had completely failed. But the presence of Allied troops had enabled some White groups to come together, while Allied finance had kept others alive. Now the Great War was over. Were Allied troops to be withdrawn - or reinforced? All would be decided at the coming Peace Conference. But before it even met, Britain had already decided to supply the Whites in South Russia and Siberia, while France had actually launched a military invasion in the Odessa region. The Peace Conference never properly addressed the Russian problem. After President Wilson's final effort to make peace with Moscow had failed, and the Whites had started an advance in Siberia, and French troops, in open mutiny, had abandoned Odessa, the British were left to carry on single-handed. On the main South Russian, Siberian and Baltic fronts, Churchill and Lloyd George now turned the White forces into expendable British pawns in a temporary forward holding operation, designed to contain the Bolshevik inferno within Russia, and burn it out there, and thus give a prostrate Europe time to recover. This medium British intervention (which the Peace Conference had already been carefully warned was doomed to failure) was thus to prolong the Russian civil war, and cause a further 14 million Russian deaths - due not to the hap-hazard fighting, but to starvation, cholera and typhus, in turn due to the ever-growing dislocation within Russia, and its further ruin. Thus were sown the seeds of the Cold War.

This book is unusual inasmuch as the author is not worried about being controversial. He wrote this work in a frank manner using his personal experience. In his preface he says: 'The experience of twenty-six years' commissioned service in the Royal Air Force, coupled with an enquiring mind, led me to write this book...'The book is not about the aircrews of Bomber Command. Operations are brushed over, operational fatigue hardly mentioned. Instead the book focuses on the policy and its wisdom. He does not raise the cry 'morality', and rightly points out that the activities indulged in by Hitler and Stalin were not pleasant. What he does do, with much relevant observation, is to point out what might have been achieved if British targeting policies had been thought through with greater intelligence. At the end in a helpful appendix he quotes the post-war interrogation of Albert Speer: QUESTION: Which, at various periods of the war, caused most concern: British or American heavy bomber attacks, day or night attacks; and why? ANSWER: The American attacks, which followed a definite system of assault on industrial targets, were by far the most dangerous.It was in fact these attacks which caused the breakdown of the German armaments industry. The night attacks did not succeed in breaking the will to work of the civilian population...

In depth discussion of key themes in Mediterranean history / Enables readers to follow the controversies generated by The Corrupting Sea / large-scale comparison between the Mediterranean and other areas of the globe.

'The rule of law and property rights were the ''secret weapons'' that made Western Europe and its offshoots in North America and Oceania democratic and prosperous. How did this European legal system come to be? To answer this question, Bart Wauters and Marco de Benito offer us a fresh overview of the history of law in Europe, dealing with both civil and common law, from Roman times through to its codification. This book is a stimulating, lucid, and imaginative read.' - Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, University of Pennsylvania, US Comprehensive and accessible, this book offers a concise synthesis of the evolution of the law in Western Europe, from ancient Rome to the beginning of the twentieth century. It situates law in the wider framework of Europe's political, economic, social and cultural developments. Offering a readily graspable and sound structure, chapters are organized according to the civil law systems and common law systems. Each chapter is built around the evolution of the four sources of the law: legal science, legislation, courts and customary law, set chronologically against the relevant historical context. Throughout this in-depth presentation of the key determinants in European legal history, Bart Wauters and Marco de Benito allow readers to understand how the law arose and evolved in Europe as a shared language, of which its different national laws are but dialectal expressions - with the unique exception, perhaps, of English common law, whose peculiarity is likewise due to accidents of history which are themselves explored. With its elegant comparative approach, this book will appeal to European Law students and scholars looking for a concise, yet academically sound, account of the history of law in Europe.

"How the War Was Won" describes the major role played by the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in defeating the German army. In particular, the book explains the methods used in fighting the last year of the war, and raises questions as to whether mechanical warfare could have been more widely used.
Using a wide range of unpublished material from archives in both Britain and Canada, Travers explores the two themes of command and technology as the style of warfare changed from late 1917 through 1918. He describes in detail the British army's defense against the German 1918 spring offensives, analyzes command problems during these offensives, and offers an overriding explanation for the March 1918 retreat. He also fully investigates the role of the tank from Cambrai to the end of the war, and concludes that, properly used, the tank could have made a greater contribution to victory.
"How the War Was Won" explodes many myths and advances new and controversial arguments. It will be essential reading for military historians and strategists, and for those interested in the origins of mechanical warfare.

Originally published in German, Italian and French these articles have been translated into English for the first time by the author, the former archivist of The Warburg Institute, London. Aby Warburg's research and writings centred on images, their origins and metamorphoses, and their explanations and interpretations.

This book covers a wide range of topics related to honor and shame in European historical societies: history of law and literature, social and ancient history, as well as theoretical contributions on the state of research and the importance of honor and shame in traditional societies. Honor and shame in Western History brings together 14 texts of interdisciplinary scholars from Europe and North America. It covers a wide range of topics related to honor and shame in historical societies. The contributions cover periods of Western history from Greek and Roman times to the nineteenth century and many of them integrate the concept of a "deep history" of honor and shame in social interaction. The book is essential for a broad audience interested in social history and the history of emotions.

In the early modern centuries disease was rampant, medicine had few powerful weapons in its armoury, and the provision of professional medical care was patchy. Under such circumstances it is no surprise that a body of popularised medical writings appeared, aiming to explain how ordinary people could best take care of their own health, in the absence of, or by way of supplement to, professional medical care. Often written by doctors, such books gave simple advice for home treatments, while commonly warning of the dangers of magic, quackery, old wive's tales and faith healing. "The Popularization of Medicine" explores the rise of this form of people's medicine, from the early days of printing to the Victorian age, focusing upon the different experiences of Britain and France, more marginal European nations like Spain and Hungary, and upon North America. It assesses the wider social and cultural history contexts of the tradition: its religious rationales in radical Protestantism, conflicts between elite and popular culture, challenges to medical monopoly, and the spread of medical hegemony. This book should be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and researchers con

In a unique survey, based on new census data, "Geographic Perspectives on Soviet Central Asia" highlights the region's geographic, economic and ecological problems since 1945. Painting a grim picture, this book investigates how the combination of rapid population growth and declining per capita investment is causing economic conditions to slide in rural areas and encouraging an ecological catastrophe. The authors discuss the effects of low rural out-migration, and show that at current growth rates the rural working-age population will double with each generation. Unprecedented in a developed country, this is causing the region to become more rather than less rural. Soviet Central Asia is an area of low productivity, and the book considers the lack of support from Soviet central government to the region. Wishing to maximize their return to capital and labour, the government is concentrating its investment in the European West and directing insufficient funds for a growing workforce in Central Asia. Soviet Central Asia also faces grave ecological problems; the declining level of the Aral Sea, extensive soil salinization and water pollution. This book should be of interest to undergra

This collection systematically approaches the concept of Czechoslovakism and its historical progression, covering the time span from the mid-nineteenth century to Czechoslovakia's dissolution in 1992/1993, while also providing the most recent research on the subject. "Czechoslovakism" was a foundational concept of the interwar Czechoslovak Republic and it remained an important ideological, political and cultural phenomenon throughout the twentieth century. As such, it is one of the most controversial terms in Czech, Slovak and Central European history. While Czechoslovakism was perceived by some as an effort to assert Czech domination in Slovakia, for others it represented a symbol of the struggle for the Republic's survival during the interwar and Second World War periods. The authors take care to analyze Czechoslovakism's various emotional connotations, however their primary objective is to consider Czechoslovakism as an important historical concept and follow its changes through the various cultural-political contexts spanning from the mid-nineteenth century to the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Including the work of many of the most eminent Czech and Slovak historians, this volume is an insightful study for academic and postgraduate student audiences interested in the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe, nationality studies, as well as intellectual history, political science and sociology.

While much has been written of the importance of Agrippa in Augustus' rise to power as the first emperor of Rome, Maecenas remains a shadowy figure despite being a vital part in the success of Augustus. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Maecenas was a vital negotiator between Octavian and Mark Antony in the years leading up to the battle of Actium, and a wise political advisor to Augustus during the early years of the new regime. This is the first biography of Maecenas in English and gives due credit to the stature of Maecenas both as a confidant of the emperor and as patron of the poets Virgil, Horace and Propertius. The book devotes a chapter to each poet's relationship with Maecenas and the Augustan regime: the chapter on Virgil, while considering his relationship to Maecenas and Augustus, argues that the origins of his choice of Aeneas may lie in Etruria rather than elsewhere, while the chapter on Horace assesses one of the closest documented relationships of Roman history. The chapter on Propertius wrestles with the disparate views of scholars on the question of his relationship with the Augustan regime and argues that, at heart, he remains an Umbrian/Etruscan rather than a Roman. A crucial feature of the book is the provision of 161 texts from ancient Roman and Greek authors which mention Maecenas. Based on sustainable evidence this study of the importance of Maecenas takes scholarship in new and important directions.

The Routledge History of Emotions in Europe: 1100-1700 presents the state of the field of pre-modern emotions during this period, placing particular emphasis on theoretical and methodological aspects of current research. This book serves as a reference to existing research practices in emotions history and advances studies in the field across a range of scholarly approaches. It brings together the work of recognized experts and new voices, and represents a wide range of international and interdisciplinary perspectives from different schools of research practice, including art history, literature and culture, philosophy, linguistics, archaeology and music. Throughout the book, central and recurrent themes in emotional culture within medieval and early modern Europe are highlighted from different angles, and each chapter pays specialist attention to illustrative examples showing theory and method in application. Exploring topics such as love, war, sex and sexuality, death, time, the body and the family in the context of emotional culture, The Routledge History of Emotions in Europe: 1100-1700 reflects the sharp rise in scholarship relating to the history of emotions in recent years and is an essential resource for students and researchers of the history of pre-modern emotions.

The period 1618-1648 was one of the most complex in European history. Religion interacted with rebellion and dynastic rivalry in a series of conflicts in central Europe known collectively as the Thirty Years War. This book guides the reader through the period by surveying the narrative of events and establishing the essential chronological framework. In addition Stephen Lee looks at such key issues as the motives of the participants, their gains and losses, as well as at the religious, military, social and economic aspects of the War. Each section in the book incorporates the most recent research.

"Riveting . . . There is a wealth of new information here that adds considerable texture and nuance to his story and helps to set Russia apart from previous works."-The Wall Street Journal An epic new account of the conflict that reshaped Eastern Europe and set the stage for the rest of the twentieth century. Between 1917 and 1921 a devastating struggle took place in Russia following the collapse of the Tsarist empire. The doomed White alliance of moderate socialists and reactionary monarchists stood little chance against Trotsky's Red Army and the single-minded Communist dictatorship under Lenin. In the savage civil war that followed, terror begat terror, which in turn led to ever greater cruelty with man's inhumanity to man, woman and child. The struggle became a world war by proxy as Churchill deployed weaponry and troops from the British empire, while contingents from the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, and Czechoslovakia played rival parts. Using the most up to date scholarship and archival research, Antony Beevor assembles the complete picture in a gripping narrative that conveys the conflict through the eyes of everyone from the worker on the streets of Petrograd to the cavalry officer on the battlefield and the doctor in an improvised hospital.

During the decade that preceded Mikhail Gorbachev's era of glasnost and perestroika, the KGB headquarters in Moscow was putting out a constant stream of instructions to its Residencies abroad. These top secret documents were principally concerned with agent recruitment, infiltration of key foreign organizations, intelligence collection and interpretation, and influence operations, while endeavouring at all times to promote and protect the interests of the Soviet Union against countries seen as enemies.
Unknown to the KGB, many of these highly classified documents were being secretly copied by Oleg Gordievsky, at that time not only a high-ranking KGB officer based in London but also a long-serving undercover agent for the British.
The selected documents in this volume offer a revealing insight into the attitudes, prejudices and fears of the KGB during what were to prove its declining years.

50 years ago, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and brought a reluctant America into World War II. Armed with fresh materials, which have become available only in the last decade, Renzi and Roehrs take a critical look at the decisive Japanese-American episodes in "The Great Pacific War". Unlike standard histories of World War II, "Never Look Back" includes the Japanese perspective, bringing to light challenging facts: in "Operation Flying Elephant" the Japanese attempted to cause forest fires in the American West by releasing hydrogen-filled balloons. When Americans of Japanese ancestry were interned during the conflict, word reached Japan of their plight and resulted in even greater mistreatment of American POWs in Japan. It is argued that Japan did not surrender because of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or because of the conventional firebombing or because of the US submarine campaign, but because the USSR entered the war.

This is a landmark publication featuring English translations of selections from the early gay German journal, Der Eigene. This collection, previously scattered and difficult to read in the original German, allows readers direct access to primary source material on the early gay movement. Neglected for years, these articles provide insight into the early gay movement, particularly in its relation to the various political currents in pre-World War II Germany. Simultaneously, the essays are relevant to current discussions and debates in contemporary gay, women s, and youth movements. Masterly introductory and concluding essays add additional insight by placing the articles in their historical context, discussing their past and current significance, and drawing lessons for the future. Readers of all levels of sophistication will find this anthology a fascinating look at homosexuality in early years.

The recent reunification of Germany has given rise to heated debate, inspiring new hopes and renewing old fears. But how many understand the critical post-war events which set the stage for today's events?
"Germany 1945-49: A Sourcebook" examines the crucial post-war period when, as today, the German people were ready to break with the past and reassess what it means to be German. Malzahn uses numerous documents from the immediate post-war years to elucidate the political and social currents of the time and to illustrate how the Nazi state was dismantled and refashioned into two separate countries. The documents, many of which were previously unavailable in English, reflect life at all levels from politics to fashion, presenting the viewpoints of both the Allied forces and the Germans. Unprecedented in English, this comprehensively annotated and illustrated work shows the complex reality of post-war Germany, bringing that critical period alive once again.