Theodosius II (AD 408-450) was the longest reigning Roman emperor. Ever since Edward Gibbon, he has been dismissed as mediocre and ineffectual. Yet Theodosius ruled an empire which retained its integrity while the West was broken up by barbarian invasions. This book explores Theodosius' challenges and successes. Ten essays by leading scholars of late antiquity provide important new insights into the court at Constantinople, the literary and cultural vitality of the reign, and the presentation of imperial piety and power. Much attention has been directed towards the changes promoted by Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century; much less to their crystallisation under Theodosius II. This volume explores the working out of new conceptions of the Roman Empire - its history, its rulers and its God. A substantial introduction offers a new framework for thinking afresh about the long transition from the classical world to Byzantium.

This volume examines letters, newspaper articles, and eyewitness accounts from 1776-1794, documenting James Monroe's time in the Continental Army, in state and national government, and as an attorney, while also revealing aspects of his personal life. These rarely seen documents provide great insight into both Monroe's public activities and his private life. Read letters he wrote from the battlefield to George Washington. Better understand his political views by reading the correspondence he had with Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. Read a letter Monroe wrote to his wife--the only letter he did not destroy after her death. This extraordinary collection is ideal for undergraduate students, as well as for scholars interested in learning more about James Monroe's personal life.

"An outstanding biography of the most unusual and controversial king of the 20th century. Highly recommended."--"CHOICE"

"Vivid and atmospheric, but based on solid and scrupulous research, this is an outstanding account of one of the most intriguing figures in twentieth-century Balkan history. Non-specialists will read it with pleasure and fascination, and even specialists in Albanian history will find much to learn here from Jason Tomes's marvelously lucid analysis of the politics and diplomacy of the period."
--Noel Malcolm, author of Bosnia: A Short History" and Kosovo: A Short History"

"Very well researched, critical yet balanced, this is the best book about Zog to have appeared in any language."
--Bejtullah Destani, Director of the Centre for Albanian Studies

Shortly before 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 1, 1928, Europe gained a new kingdom and its only Muslim king: 32-year-old Zog I of the Albanians. Few foreign journalists were present in the Parliament House in Tirana to hear him swear his oath on the Koran and the Bible, yet the birth of the Kingdom of Albania--a native monarchy, not an alien imposition--did not go unnoticed abroad.

King Zog (1895-1961) was a curiosity, and so he has remained: the most atypical European monarch of the twentieth century, a man entirely without royal connections who created his own kingdom. By contemporaries, he was variously labeled "the last ruler of romance," "an appalling gangster," "the modern Napoleon," "the finest patriot," and "frankly a cad." Even today his reputation is disputed, but Zog is undeniably one of the foremost figures in Albanian history. Though notorious for cut-throat political intrigue, he promised tobring order and progress to a land that had long known little of either. "It was I who made Albania," he claimed.

Zog's reign ended in 1939; Italian Fascists forced him into exile and post-war Stalinists kept him there despite his best efforts to return. In this first full biography, Jason Tomes explores the reality behind the man described in "The Times" as "the bizarre King Zog" and shows him to have been the product of a unique time and place. Tomes invites readers to set aside their assumptions about modern European monarchy and meet a king who fired back at assassins and paid his bills with gold bullion.

This book examines the many ways in which the Communist Party in China is still revolutionary by focusing on how, in recent years, it has attempted to mobilize Party members to become ethical subjects. In the context of the Party's history of the military revolution, Cultural Revolution and Economic Reform (or economic revolution), the authors argue that under President Xi Jinping the Party has launched an ethical revolution within the Party for the sake of sustaining its legitimacy. This book examines the various combined components of this ethical revolution, including anti-corruption, anti-four undesirable working styles and Mass-Line Education programme from the perspective of the fifty current Communist Party officials.

This collection examines the political themes and strategies utilized by candidate Bush in 1988 and President Bush in 1992, as told by the actual players as well as presidential and political scholars. Also considered are the role of the Vice President, the Cabinet, relations with Congress and the Supreme Court, the presidency and the media, and the role of the First Lady.

This volume focuses on the political world inside the Bush White House. Domestic political actors and institutions such as the vice president, chief of staff, Congress, and the Supreme Court all interact to create a president's political world. In George Bush's inaugural speech he spoke of the keys to success, saying these ideas are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment. These themes are seen by many of the writers in the collection as characterizing the political world of George Bush.

Equal consideration is given to the political themes and strategies utilized by candidate Bush in 1988 and President Bush in 1992. Also considered are the role of the Vice President, the Cabinet, relations with Congress and the Supreme Court, the presidency and the media, and the role of the First Lady. Essential reading for scholars and other researchers of the Bush presidency and American history of the late 1980s.

This book provides an analysis of the urban government system in Bangladesh, focusing on its upper tier, the City Corporation (CC), and the institutional and legal frameworks within which it operates. Along with a discussion of the scale and magnitude of urbanization, the book presents a comprehensive analysis of the reform agendas of CCs including their functional assignments, local political leadership, local control over administration and service delivery, local fiscal autonomy and local financial management, and local participation and accountability mechanisms. Very few efforts have been taken to analyze the comprehensive reform agenda required to make the CCs effectively discharge their duties and responsibilities in the context of Bangladesh. This book therefore not only fills this gap in the literature, but also provides recommendations on each reform agenda.

Though many studies of contemporary campaigns focus on brief political advertisements and the growing impact of technology on contemporary campaigns, the definitive statements of most candidates are still made in public addresses. Friedenberg examines the first public address made by an American presidential candidate on his own behalf. The circumstances giving rise to William Henry Harrison's 1840 address, and the themes that he developed in that address are strikingly contemporary, serving as an appropriate prelude to the examinations of contemporary political speaking that follow. Those examinations focus on notable campaign speeches by John F. Kennedy, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George W. Bush. Each study examines a key event that foreshadowed the speech studied. Each study presents a rhetorical biography of the speaker including a discussion of the speechwriting team and preparation techniques utilized by the speaker. Each study presents a thorough study of the campaign context in which the speeches were presented. Each also presents a close reading and rhetorical analysis of the speech itself and observations on the impact of the speech. Cumulatively, Friedenberg's studies help to illustrate how, even in today's high-tech political environment of 30-second ads and candidate Web sites, public speeches continue to play a crucial role in political campaigning. Of particular interest to scholars and students involved with political communication and political American campaigning.

Understanding Singapore Politics is written to address the dearth of a succinct overview on Singapore politics. This introductory text looks at the factors that shape the island-republic's domestic politics, the key institutions and issues in the city-state, electoral power as well as the political direction Singapore is likely to take in a post-Lee Kuan Yew era. The specific institutions covered for discussion include the mass media, trade unions, civil service and grassroots organisations. The role of civil and civic society, including pressures for democratisation, is also examined. In addition, various new political issues - the importance of race, income equality and migration - and their implications are discussed. Finally, the linkage between Singapore's domestic and foreign policy is analysed. This foundational guide to Singapore politics is recommended for anyone who has an interest or a stake in the island republic.

Understanding Singapore Politics is written to address the dearth of a succinct overview on Singapore politics. This introductory text looks at the factors that shape the island-republic's domestic politics, the key institutions and issues in the city-state, electoral power as well as the political direction Singapore is likely to take in a post-Lee Kuan Yew era. The specific institutions covered for discussion include the mass media, trade unions, civil service and grassroots organisations. The role of civil and civic society, including pressures for democratisation, is also examined. In addition, various new political issues - the importance of race, income equality and migration - and their implications are discussed. Finally, the linkage between Singapore's domestic and foreign policy is analysed. This foundational guide to Singapore politics is recommended for anyone who has an interest or a stake in the island republic.

'Clear-eyed and illuminating.' Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor 'A rich, superbly researched, balanced history of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.' General David Petraeus, former Commander U.S. Central Command and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency 'Destined to be the best single volume on the Kingdom.' Ambassador Chas Freeman, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of Defense 'Should be prescribed reading for a new generation of political leaders.' Sir Richard Dearlove, former Chief of H.M. Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Something extraordinary is happening in Saudi Arabia. A traditional, tribal society once known for its lack of tolerance is rapidly implementing significant economic and social reforms. An army of foreign consultants is rewriting the social contract, King Salman has cracked down hard on corruption, and his dynamic though inexperienced son, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is promoting a more tolerant Islam. But is all this a new vision for Saudi Arabia or merely a mirage likely to dissolve into Iranian-style revolution? David Rundell - one of America's foremost experts on Saudi Arabia - explains how the country has been stable for so long, why it is less so today, and what is most likely to happen in the future. The book is based on the author's close contacts and intimate knowledge of the country where he spent 15 years living and working as a diplomat. Vision or Mirage demystifies one of the most powerful, but least understood, states in the Middle East and is essential reading for anyone interested in the power dynamics and politics of the Arab World.

As Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi has broken new ground for women in American politics and has become a notable role model for young women. Yet hers has hardly been a Cinderella career. Pelosi was virtually born into politics, and her series of firsts--first female minority whip in the U.S. House; first female minority leader; and, finally, first female Speaker--was preceded by three decades of service as a political organizer, candidate, and U.S. representative. All along she balanced her political career with her role as a wife and the mother of five children. In this book a distinguished Washington journalist traces Pelosi's classic rise through the political ranks, culminating in her historic elevation to the Speaker's chair--and explains how Pelosi's career and legislative priorities have been shaped by her gender.

Women and Leadership around the World is the third volume in a new series of books (Women and Leadership: Research, Theory, and Practice) that will is now being published to inform leadership scholars and practitioners. The purpose of this volume is to explore areas of women's leadership in four regions around the world: the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Hence, we have included 14 chapters that cover a wide range of important topics relevant to women and leadership within specific contexts around the world. Our goal for this volume is to provide readers with explorations of women's experiences as leaders, including recent research studies, analysis and interpretation of statistics unpacking the status of women in various sectors and countries, stories of influential women leaders with national or local spheres of influence, and including recommendations for positive change to increase women's access to positions of authority. The volume contributors use various theories andconceptualizations to problematize, historicize, and analyze women's limited access to power, and their agency as leaders from the grassroots to the national scene, from education to non-profits and business organizations. Overall, the book contributes interpretations of the status of women in various countries, presenting the stories behind the numbers and statistics and uncovering not only challenges but also opportunities for resiliency and effectiveness as leaders. The authors offer recommendations for change that cross national boundaries, such as structural changes in organizations that would open the door for more women to access positions of authority and be effective as leaders. It is rare to find a book with such a diverse array of topics and countries, making this a timely contribution to the literature on women and leadership. The authors remind us to continue to expand the literature base on women and leadership, drawing from both qualitative and quantitative studies as well as conceptual explorations of women as leaders in different countries, regions, indigenous communities, and across different sectors. The more we know, the better informed will be our efforts to create appropriate leadership development activities and experiences for emerging women leaders and girls around the world. This book contributes significantly to that very effort.

We may think we know Sarah Palin from all the coverage she has received in the political arena, but one-side depictions but media coverage is limited and, Sarah would even say, biased. OUR SARAH is also a bit biased since it's written by Sarah's dad and brother with contributions from many friends and colleagues--these are the people who know her--and love her--best.
Combining the appeal of Sarah Palin's bestselling book, "Going Rogue, " with the flavor of the hugely successful TV show "Sarah Palin's Alaska," here are intimate stories from Sarah's life along with a celebration of growing up in and sharing all that Alaska means to Sarah and her family. Sarah's dad and brother share great family stories of life in the last frontier--from hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and gold-mining, to marathon running, teaching and community service--first in small ways and then on a national stage. Structured around themes of family, faith, independence, resilience, character, risk-taking and adventure--here is a full and loving portrait of where Sarah Palin came from and what made her the person she is today.

'Important, compelling, and detailed . . . a superb analysis of the West’s policy missteps and the tragic consequences of them.' - General David Petraeus In Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny, Con Coughlin, veteran commentator on war in the Middle East and author of Saddam: The Secret Life, examines how a mild-mannered ophthalmic surgeon has transformed himself into the tyrannical ruler of a once flourishing country. Until the Arab Spring of 2011, the world’s view of Bashar al-Assad was largely benign. He and his wife, a former British banker, were viewed as philanthropic individuals doing their best to keep their country at peace. So much so that a profile of Mrs Assad in American Vogue was headlined ‘The Rose in the Desert’. Shortly after it appeared, Syria descended into the horrific civil war that has seen its cities reduced to rubble and thousands murdered and displaced, a civil war that is still raging over a decade later. In this vivid and authoritative account Con Coughlin draws together all the strands of Assad's remarkable story, revealing precisely how a young doctor ensured not only that he inherited the presidency from his father, but has held on to power by whatever means necessary, continuing to preside over one of the most brutal regimes of modern times.

Any programmer working with text files needs a way to deal with Microsoft Word documents and their underlying Rich Text Format. RTF is notoriously difficult to work with, and our handy quick reference is the only book available on what many developers call this maddeningly unstructured format. Small and easy to use on the job, the RTF Pocket Guide focuses on the workhorse codes that programmers can't do without, including text style codes, paragraph formatting codes, and page formatting codes - all with many examples of real use.

How does feminism shake up political science, the study of politics and electoral politics? What difference do feminist political scientists and politicians make to political institutions, policy processes and outcomes? The scholarship and activism of pioneering feminist political scientist Professor Joni Lovenduski helped establish these questions on the political science agenda. This book addresses key themes in Lovenduski's seminal work. State-of-the-art chapters by leading scholars cover gender and parties; elected institutions and the state; quotas and recruitment; public opinion and women's interests. Vignettes by prominent politicians and practitioners, including Dame Anne Begg MP, Baroness Gould, Deborah Mattinson, and the Rt Hon Theresa May, bring the academic analysis to life. Deeds and Words reveals the impact of feminist interventions on politics in the round. Its groundbreaking assessment of feminist scholarship and politics offers an appraisal of, and fitting tribute to, Lovenduski's own contribution to gender studies and feminist politics.

Known as the "savior of the Union" during the Civil War, General Grant went on to serve as the 18th president of the United States from 1869-1877. This first volume of his memoirs was completed just days prior to his death from throat cancer in 1885.

This book seeks to uncover a clear picture of Barack Obama's grand strategy, the overarching methods applied to identify and achieve national interests in a global setting. Pressed for an "Obama doctrine" during his final years in office, the President claimed a simple international relations approach: applying all tools at his disposal before resorting for military force. Critics, however, remain unimpressed. They charge the administration with strategic incoherence and weak leadership. Stepping away from ideological and theoretical commitments, Shively applies a simple framework for grand strategy, one that also deepens our systematic understanding. After untangling a complex history and narrating three cases of tumult in 2009, 2011, and 2014, Shively characterizes Obama's grand strategy as "pragmatic internationalism" and argues that it was a promising but poorly implemented approach.

Scholarly definitions of elites as those who wield political power and control distribution of resources in their locales consistently leave out their capacity to shape morality, civic ethics and the legitimacy of power relations beyond material domination. In this insightful ethnography of Rundu, a frontier town in Namibia, Mattia Fumanti highlights the fundamental contribution elites make to the public space through their much-praised concept of civility and their promotion of nation-building at the local level. In centring his argument on the moral agency of elites over three generations and their attempts to achieve distinction in public life, this book counters an often found and over-generalized view of postcolonial African states as weak, ruling through authoritarian, greedy and corrupt practices. By looking at the intricate ways in which the biographies of a middle-range town and its inhabitants are interwoven, this study draws very different conclusions from the grand narratives of pathologies, chaos and crisis that characterize much of the accepted discourse of African urbanization derived from the study of large cities. Focusing on how generational relations between elites have both shaped, and are shaped by, the transitions from apartheid and civil war to independence and postindependence, the book illuminates public debates on the power of education, the aspirations of youth, the role of the state and citizen, delivery of good governance and the place of ethnic and settler minorities in post-apartheid southern Africa. This book is a vibrant antidote to Afro-pessimism and views that emphasize the spectacle of disaster, kleptomania and corruption of the weak state. By examining the rhetoric of public morality Fumanti challenges this but is, nevertheless, also critical of the ruling elite. This is a sophisticated and nuanced analysis of how small-town elites emerge and how they see the world, a group of people who are potentially vital players in the evolving shape of African cultures and moralities, who have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. Robert Gordon, University of Vermont and University of the Free State The Politics of Distinction tackles a perennial anthropological subject with immense brio. Using the most contemporary of social theories and ethnographic methods, Mattia Fumanti addresses the enduring but elusive nexus of inter-generational consciousness and of the ambivalences between generations. That the two generations in this Namibian border town see themselves as the architects and inheritors of liberation imbues their provincial relations with echoes of grand history. Anyone interested in African elite formation, post-colonial governance, and the dividends and distinctions of education, or simply looking for a finely crafted contemporary ethnography, will find Fumanti's a compelling narrative. Richard Fardon, Professor of West African Anthropology at SOAS

'A REMARKABLE BOOK... AN AMAZINGLY AUDACIOUS AND COMPLETELY INNOVATIVE WAY OF WRITING HISTORY... IMMEDIATE AND GRIPPING' - WILLIAM BOYD In Petrograd a fire is lit. The Tsar is packed off to the Urals. A rancorous Russian exile crosses war-torn Europe to make his triumphal entry into the capital. 'Peace now!' the crowds cry... German soldiers return from the war to quash a Communist rising in Berlin. A former field-runner trained by the army to give rousing speeches against the Bolshevik peril begins to rail against the Jews... A solar eclipse turns a former patent clerk from Switzerland into a celebrity, shaking the foundations of human understanding with his revolutionary theories of time and space... In Paris an American reporter in search of himself writes ever shorter sentences and discovers a new literary style... Lenin and Hitler, Einstein and Hemingway, Sigmund Freud and Andre Breton, Emmaline Pankhurst and Mustafa Kemal - these are some of the protagonists in this dramatic panorama of a world in turmoil. Emperors, kings and generals depart furtively on midnight trains and submarines. Women are given the vote. Artistic experiments flourish. The real becomes surreal. Marching tunes are syncopated into jazz. Civilisation is loosed from its pre-war moorings. People search for meaning in the wreckage. Even as the ink is drying on the armistice that ends the war in the west in 1918, fresh conflicts and upheavals erupt elsewhere. It takes six years for Europe to find uneasy peace. Crucible is the collective diary of an era: filled with all-too-human tales of exuberant dreams, dark fears, grubby ambitions and the absurdities of chance. Encompassing both tragedy and humour, it brings immediacy and intimacy to a moment of deep historical transformation - with consequences which echo down to today.

Nick Greiner was an unusual post-war Premier of NSW. He came into office in 1988 wanting to do more than change lifestyles, win re-election and remain popular, and he proceeded to implement a wide-ranging and enduring transformation of what he called "NSW Inc." Greiner's personal story is also unusual. Born in Budapest, the elder son of a Hungarian father and Slovak mother, Nick arrived in Sydney in 1951 at the age of three. His parents' encounters with Nazi and then Communist persecution explain their determination to leave Europe, to 'make good' in Australia, and to encourage their two boys to assimilate. From an early age, Nick wanted to be the best. He came top or amongst the top in every year at school, in the Economics Faculty at the University of Sydney, and at the Harvard Business School. Frustrated by his father's 'European ways' of running the family timber business, he went into politics. Within three years this self-styled 'non-politician' and Liberal Party 'outsider' was elected Leader of the demoralised State Liberals, and within another five years led the Coalition to a landslide election victory. He brought to the premiership, and his later very successful business career, the habits of thought which his Harvard and post-Harvard experience had cultivated: a commitment to change and a willingness to take risks, an emphasis on evidence-based, rational and strategic approaches to decision-making, a concentration on outcomes rather than processes and on practical solutions rather than ideological consistency. Greiner's departure from politics was equally unusual. Having almost lost the unlosable election of May 1991, he took the 'political' option of securing a job in the Public Service for a dissident Liberal in order to reclaim his seat. ICAC, his creation, found him guilty of 'corrupt conduct' within the meaning of his legislation. The Labor Opposition and three high-minded Independents, supported by an equally high-minded media, hounded him out of office before the Court of Appeal overturned a finding which looks even more absurd in the light of recent ICAC investigations. This book sets out to describe and explain Greiner's life in politics, to tell the story of someone who made a difference and yet who, being a manager and strategist rather than a conventional politician, contributed to his own undoing.

The study of Prime Ministers and the reform of British central government in any era is fascinating. The interaction between the temporary, often inexperienced but largely elected ministers and the experienced but theoretically subservient senior civil servants provides enormous interest. This book concentrates on the years of Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson, Alec Douglas Home and Edward Heath--years when the battle between Civil Service and Government was most intense. What makes this book more compelling is that many of the key players, including Richard Crossman, Barbara Castle and Tony Benn, wrote their own published accounts. Eighteen months after he came to power, Harold Wilson commissioned the Fulton Committee to look at the recruitment, training and management of civil servants. The Fulton report emerged in 1968 and became legendary for its difficult gestation and for the mini civil war, which developed within Whitehall over its implementation. This is but one episode in the history of British Prime Ministers' attempts to reform the Civil Service. The Fulton report remains a landmark in the administrative history of Britain.

This book is an examination of the manner in which American presidents respond to pandemics and other public health crises. Skidmore argues that presidential performance in dealing with emergencies and pandemics varies, but those who are informed, focused, and confident that government can work are most likely to be successful. As an example, Gerald Ford's "Swine Flu program" is widely derided as incompetent and politically motivated. Closer examination, however, suggests the contrary, demonstrating the potential of government to act quickly and effectively against public health emergencies, even when facing formidable obstacles. The American government has a mixed record ranging from excellent to unacceptable, even counterproductive, in dealing with emergency threats to life and health. Despite ideological arguments to the contrary, however, governments are important to effective responses, and in the American setting, presidential action is essential.

This definitive dual portrait offers a fresh perspective on Abraham Lincoln and William Cullen Bryant's crucial role in elevating him to the presidency. The book also sheds new light on the influence that "Bryant and his class" (as Lincoln called the Radical Republican faction whose views Bryant articulated) wielded on the chief executive. How the cautious president and the preeminent editor of the Fourth Estate interacted-and how their ideological battle tilted gradually in Bryant's favor-is the centerpiece of this study. A work of meticulous scholarship and a model of compression, Lincoln and Bryant is a watershed account of two Republicans fighting common enemies (and each other) during the Civil War era.