On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, becoming the seventh state to emerge from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. A tiny country of just two million people, 90% of whom are ethnic Albanians, Kosovo is central-geographically, historically, and politically-to the future of the Western Balkans and, in turn, its potential future within the European Union. But the fate of both Kosovo, condemned by Serbian leaders as a "fake state" and the region as a whole, remains uncertain.
In Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know(r), Tim Judah provides a straight-forward guide to the complicated place that is Kosovo. Judah, who has spent years covering the region, offers succinct, penetrating answers to a wide range of questions: Why is Kosovo important? Who are the Albanians? Who are the Serbs? Why is Kosovo so important to Serbs? What role does Kosovo play in the region and in the world? Judah reveals how things stand now and presents the history and geopolitical dynamics that have led to it. The most important of these is the question of the right to self-determination, invoked by the Kosovo Albanians, as opposed to right of territorial integrity invoked by the Serbs. For many Serbs, Kosovo's declaration of independence and subsequent recognition has been traumatic, a savage blow to national pride. Albanians, on the other hand, believe their independence rights an historical wrong: the Serbian conquest (Serbs say "liberation") of Kosovo in 1912.
For anyone wishing to understand both the history and possible future of Kosovo at this pivotal moment in its history, this book offers a wealth of insight and information in a uniquely accessible format.
What Everyone Needs to Know(r) is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press

'This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations' Cynthia Ozick The prescient New York Times writer delivers an urgent wake-up call exposing the alarming rise of anti-semitism -- and explains what we can do to defeat it On 27 October 2018 Bari Weiss's childhood synagogue in Pittsburgh became the site of the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. For most of us, the massacre came as a total shock. But to those who have been paying attention, it was only a more violent, extreme expression of the broader trend that has been sweeping Europe and the United States for the past two decades. No longer the exclusive province of the far right and far left, anti-Semitism finds a home in identity politics, in the renewal of 'America first' isolationism and in the rise of one-world socialism. An ancient hatred increasingly allowed into modern political discussion, anti-Semitism has been migrating toward the mainstream in dangerous ways, amplified by social media and a culture of conspiracy that threatens us all. In this urgent book, New York Times writer Bari Weiss makes a powerful case for renewing Jewish and liberal values to guide us through this uncertain moment.

In recent years, the mask of tolerant, secular, multicultural Europe has been shattered by new forms of antisemitic crime. Though many of the perpetrators do not profess Christianity, antisemitism has flourished in Christian Europe. In this book, thirteen scholars of European history, Jewish studies, and Christian theology examine antisemitism s insidious role in Europe s intellectual and political life. The essays reveal that annihilative antisemitic thought was not limited to Germany, but could be found in the theology and liturgical practice of most of Europe s Christian churches. They dismantle the claim of a distinction between Christian anti-Judaism and neo-pagan antisemitism and show that, at the heart of Christianity, hatred for Jews overwhelmingly formed the milieu of 20th-century Europe."

"The Book of Lyle" by Daniel B. Lyle, Ph.D., is a spiritual adventure from our beginning to beyond death. It is a fresh look at Religion and Spirituality. If you could start all over with Religion while retaining the accumulated experience and knowledge of mankind---where would you end up? In the Book of Lyle you discover for yourself four profound insights: 1) a completely different perspective on pain, suffering, and tragedy; 2) motivation far more interesting than fear or love; 3) how to be freed from the tyranny of success; and 4) how to constantly celebrate the true meaning of life. Together with Dr. Lyle explore all aspects of human behavior. Question your deepest assumptions. Pursue your true motivations. Allow God to put you on trial. Have the courage to listen to your enemies and allow them to dictate your fate. By this process both you and Lyle will excavate your own minds---not for vague generalities but hard specifics. You will confront your greatest fears. You will admit your greatest weaknesses. You will discover and be reconciled with the true nature of evil. Struggle for survival in a hostile wilderness. Battle predators and the elements. Confront the Unholy Trinity. Fight vicious demons. All this and more---intriguing parables, beautiful songs, and the most-dangerous prayers---await you in The Book of Lyle Together with Lyle answer the key Question upon which everything else hinges: "What do you want?"

In a world torn by religious antagonism, lessons can be learned from medieval Spanish villages where Muslims, Christians, and Jews rubbed shoulders on a daily basis--sharing irrigation canals, bathhouses, municipal ovens, and marketplaces. Medieval Spaniards introduced Europeans to paper manufacture, Hindu-Arabic numerals, philosophical classics, algebra, citrus fruits, cotton, and new medical techniques. Her mystics penned classics of Kabbalah and Sufism. More astonishing than Spain's wide-ranging accomplishments, however, was the simple fact that until the destruction of the last Muslim Kingdom by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492, Spain's Muslims, Christians, and Jews often managed to bestow tolerance and freedom of worship on the minorities in their midst. A Vanished World chronicles this panoramic sweep of human history and achievement, encompassing both the agony of Jihad, Crusades, and Inquisition, and the glory of a multi-religious, multi-cultural civilization that forever changed the West. Lowney shows how these three controversial religious groups once lived and worked together in Spain, creating commerce, culture, art, and architecture. He reveals how these three faith groups eventually veered into a thicket of resentment and violence, and shows how our current policies and approaches might lead us down the same path. Rising above politics, propaganda, and name-calling, A Vanished World provides a hopeful meditation on how relations among these three faith groups have gone wrong and some ideas on how to make their interactions right.

1838. Part Two of Two. Wherein is set forth at large the whole race and course of the church, from the primitive age to these later times. With a preliminary dissertation, on the difference between the church of Rome that now is, and the ancient church of Rome that then was. With a memoir of the author by his son. A new edition, with five appendices containing accounts of the Massacres in France: The Destruction of the Spanish Armada: The Irish Rebellion in the Year 1641: The Gunpowder Treason; and a Tract, showing that the executions of Papists in Queen Elizabeth's Reign, were for treason and not for heresy. Acts and Monuments, also known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is the landmark work of John Foxe, Protestant martyrologist. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. Other volumes in this set are ISBN(s): 1417946105.

A harrowing tale of how faith and friendship can surmount hate and violence. After a vicious hate crime destroyed St John Baptist Church in Dixiana, South Carolina, in 1984, two courageous women risked their lives to organize the rebuilding effort. Ammie Murray, a white union leader, and her African American friend Barbara Simmons braved death threats to successfully lead an interracial group of volunteers to reconstruct the historic African American church. But their joy was short-lived. In 1995, St John was the first of more than one hundred southern black churches plagued by a series of arsons during a two-year period. The obstacles to erect the church once more seemed insurmountable but proved no match for the tenacity of those determined to see St John rise again. ""Standing on Holy Ground"" is an inspiring tale that proves friendship, reconciliation, spiritual strength, and enduring hope can transcend racial hatred. In a moving narrative, Sandra E Johnson chronicles how the fearless duo of Murray and Simmons sparked a victory against hate crime in their community and became leaders in a national battle against violence and vandalism.

Faced with a world in which unspeakable crimes not only went unpunished but were rewarded with glory, profit, and power, the Bosnians of all faiths who testify in this book were starkly confronted with the limits and possibilities of their own ethical choices. Here, in their own words, they describe how people helped one another across ethnic lines and refused the myths promoted by the engineers of genocide. This compelling book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the reality of the "ethnic" conflicts of the late 20th and the 21st century.

1838. Part One of Two. Wherein is set forth at large the whole race and course of the church, from the primitive age to these later times. With a preliminary dissertation, on the difference between the church of Rome that now is, and the ancient church of Rome that then was. With a memoir of the author by his son. A new edition, with five appendices containing accounts of the Massacres in France: The Destruction of the Spanish Armada: The Irish Rebellion in the Year 1641: The Gunpowder Treason; and a Tract, showing that the executions of Papists in Queen Elizabeth's Reign, were for treason and not for heresy. Acts and Monuments, also known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is the landmark work of John Foxe, Protestant martyrologist. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. Other volumes in this set are ISBN(s): 1417946113.

Under the Roman emperors, commonly called the Era of the Martyrs, was occasioned partly by the increasing number and luxury of the Christians, and the hatred of Galerius, the adopted son of Diocletian, who, being stimulated by his mother, a bigoted pagan, never ceased persuading the emperor to enter upon the persecution, until he had accomplished his purpose.

This interdisciplinary collection explores how the early modern pursuit of knowledge in very different spheres - from Inquisitional investigations to biblical polemics to popular healing - was conditioned by a shared desire for certainty, and how epistemological crises produced by the religious upheavals of early modern Europe were also linked to the development of new scientific methods. Questions of representation became newly fraught as the production of knowledge increasingly challenged established orthodoxies. The volume focuses on the social and institutional dimensions of inquiry in light of political and cultural challenges, while also foregrounding the Hispanic world, which has often been left out of histories of scepticism and modernity. Featuring essays by historians and literary scholars from Europe and the United States, The Quest for Certainty in Early Modern Europe reconstructs the complexity of early modern epistemological debates across the disciplines, in a variety of cultural, social, and intellectual locales.

One of the most far-reaching examinations of militant Islam written to date.

Long before September 11, 2001, Daniel Pipes publicly warned Americans that militant Islam had declared war on America—yet sadly, Americans failed to take heed. The publication of Militant Islam Reaches America finally brought Pipes the attention he deserves. Dividing his work into two parts, Pipes first defines militant Islam, stressing the large and crucial difference between Islam, the faith, and the ideology of militant Islam. He then discusses the relatively new subject of Islam in the United States, and how it has developed rapidly in the last decade. In Militant Islam Reaches America, the product of thirty years of extensive research, Pipes provides one of the most incisive examinations of the growing radical Islamic movement ever written.

The paperback edition includes a new essay, "Jihad and the Professors." Daniel Pipes is the director of the Middle East Forum and a columnist for the New York Post and the Jerusalem Post. He has served in the departments of State and Defense and has taught at the University of Chicago and at Harvard University. He lives in Philadelphia.

"[Pipes is] an authoritative commentator on the Middle East."—Wall Street Journal

"Brilliantly demonstrates how Pipes knows his subject."—Steven Emerson, author of American Jihad

"Unlike other Middle East experts, Daniel Pipes did not need to reinvent himself or revise his opinions after September 11th."—Robert Kaplan, author of Warrior Politics and Balkan Ghosts

"Blunt and passionate."—Judith Miller, New York Times

"An extraordinarily useful compendium of basic information and analysis...easily readable by the nonspecialist, yet engaging for scholars as well."—National Review

"A singular and alarming insight into ideological Islam and the nurturing—at home—of the extremist and terrorist threat."—National Post

In early modern England, the practice of ritual or ceremonial magic - the attempted communication with angels and demons - both reinforced and subverted existing concepts of gender. The majority of male magicians acted from a position of control and command commensurate with their social position in a patriarchal society; other men, however, used the notion of magic to subvert gender ideals while still aiming to attain hegemony. Whilst women who claimed to perform magic were usually more submissive in their attempted dealings with the spirit world, some female practitioners employed magic to undermine the patriarchal culture and further their own agenda. Using unpublished diaries and journals, literature and legal records, Frances Timbers studies the practice of ritual magic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries focusing especially on gender and sexual perspectives. Based on numerous case studies and using the examples of well-known individuals, including John Dee, Simon Forman and William Lilly, this book provides a unique analysis of early modern ceremonial magic from a gender perspective.

This essential collection of three new essays was written out of a sense of urgency, concern, and a belief that a better future is still possible. It touches on the universal nature of fanaticism and its possible cures; the Jewish roots of humanism and the need for a secular pride in Israel; and the geopolitical standing of Israel in the wider Middle East and internationally.

Amos Oz boldly puts forward his case for a two-state solution in what he calls ‘a question of life and death for the State of Israel’.

Wise, provocative, moving and inspiring, these essays illuminate the argument over Israeli, Jewish and human existence, shedding a clear and surprising light on vital political and historical issues, and daring to offer new ways out of a reality that appears to be closed down.

International best-selling author and theologian Tomas Halik shares for the first time the dramatic story of his life as a secretly ordained priest in Communist Czechoslovakia. Inspired by Augustine's candid presentation of his own life, Halik writes about his spiritual journey within a framework of philosophical theology; his work has been compared to that of C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, and Henri Nouwen. Born in Prague in 1948, Halik spent his childhood under Stalinism. He describes his conversion to Christianity during the time of communist persecution of the church, his secret study of theology, and secret priesthood ordination in East Germany (even his mother was not allowed to know that her son was a priest). Halik speaks candidly of his doubts and crises of faith as well as of his conflicts within the church. He worked as a psychotherapist for over a decade and, at the same time, was active in the underground church and in the dissident movement with the legendary Cardinal Tomasek and Vaclav Havel, who proposed Halik as his successor to the Czech presidency. Since the fall of the regime, Halik has served as general secretary to the Czech Conference of Bishops and was an advisor to John Paul II and Vaclav Havel. Woven throughout Halik's story is the turbulent history of the church and society in the heart of Europe: the 1968 Prague Spring, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the self-immolation of his classmate Jan Palach, the "flying university," the 1989 Velvet Revolution, and the difficult transition from totalitarian communist regime to democracy. Thomas Halik was a direct witness to many of these events, and he provides valuable testimony about the backdrop of political events and personal memories of the key figures of that time. This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in Halik and the church as it was behind the Iron Curtain, as well as in where the church as a whole is headed today.

Early medieval Ireland is remembered as the "Land of Saints and Scholars," due to the distinctive devotion to Christian faith and learning that permeated its culture. As early as the seventh century, however, questions were raised about Irish orthodoxy, primarily concerning Easter observances. Yet heresy trials did not occur in Ireland until significantly later, long after allegations of Irish apostasy from Christianity had sanctioned the English invasion of Ireland. In The Templars, the Witch, and the Wild Irish, Maeve Brigid Callan analyzes Ireland's medieval heresy trials, which all occurred in the volatile fourteenth century. These include the celebrated case of Alice Kyteler and her associates, prosecuted by Richard de Ledrede, bishop of Ossory, in 1324. This trial marks the dawn of the "devil-worshipping witch" in European prosecutions, with Ireland an unexpected birthplace.Callan divides Ireland's heresy trials into three categories. In the first stand those of the Templars and Philip de Braybrook, whose trial derived from the Templars', brought by their inquisitor against an old rival. Ledrede's prosecutions, against Kyteler and other prominent Anglo-Irish colonists, constitute the second category. The trials of native Irishmen who fell victim to the sort of propaganda that justified the twelfth-century invasion and subsequent colonization of Ireland make up the third. Callan contends that Ireland's trials resulted more from feuds than doctrinal deviance and reveal the range of relations between the English, the Irish, and the Anglo-Irish, and the church's role in these relations; tensions within ecclesiastical hierarchy and between secular and spiritual authority; Ireland's position within its broader European context; and political, cultural, ethnic, and gender concerns in the colony.

For almost two centuries, followers of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s largest religious minority, have been persecuted by the state. They have been made scapegoats for the nation’s ills, branded enemies of Islam and denounced as foreign agents. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Baha’is have been barred from entering the nation’s universities, more than two hundred have been executed, and hundreds more imprisoned and tortured.

Now, however, Iran is at a turning point. A new generation has begun to question how the Baha’is have been portrayed by the government and the clergy, and called for them to be given equal rights as fellow citizens. In documenting, for the first time, the plight of this religious community in Iran since its inception, Fereydun Vahman also reveals the greater plight of a nation aspiring to develop a modern identity built on respect for diversity rather than hatred and self-deception.

For centuries into the Common Era, Christians faced social ostracism and suspicion from neighbors and authorities alike. At times, this antipathy erupted into violence. Following Christ was a risky allegiance: to be a Christian in the Roman Empire carried with it the implicit risk of being branded a traitor to cultural and imperial sensibilities. The prolonged experience of distrust, oppression, and outright persecution helped shape the ethos of the Christian faith and produced a wealth of literature commemorating those who gave their lives in witness to the gospel.Wolfram Kinzig, in Christian Persecution in Antiquity, examines the motivations and legal mechanisms behind the various outbursts of violence against Christians, and chronologically tracks the course of Roman oppression of this new religion to the time of Constantine. Brief consideration is also given to persecutions of Christians outside the borders of the Roman Empire. Kinzig analyzes martyrdom accounts of the early church, cautiously drawing on these ancient voices alongside contemporary non-Christian evidence to reconstruct the church's experience as a minority sect. In doing so, Kinzig challenges recent reductionist attempts to dismantle the idea that Christians were ever serious targets of intentional violence. While martyrdom accounts and their glorification of self-sacrifice seem strange to modern eyes, they should still be given credence as historical artifacts indicative of actual events, despite them being embellished by sanctified memory. Newly translated from the German original by Markus Bockmuehl and featuring an additional chapter and concise notes, Christian Persecution in Antiquity fills a gap in English scholarship on early Christianity and offers a helpful introduction to this era for nonspecialists. Kinzig makes clear the critical role played by the experience of persecution in the development of the church's identity and sense of belonging in the ancient world.

In 2017, Myanmar's military launched a campaign of violence against the Rohingya minority that UN experts later said amounted to a genocide. More than seven hundred thousand civilians fled to Bangladesh in what became the most concentrated flight of refugees since the Rwanda genocide of 1994. The warning signs of impending catastrophe that had built over years were downplayed by Western backers of the political transition, and only when the exodus began did the world finally come to acknowledge a catastrophe that had been long in the making. In this updated edition of the book that foreshadowed a genocide, Francis Wade explores how the manipulation of identities by an anxious ruling elite laid the foundations for mass violence. It asks: who gets to define a nation? How can democratic rights be weaponised against a minority? And why, at a time when the majority of citizens in Myanmar had begun to experience freedoms unseen for half a century, did much-lauded civilian leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi become complicit in the most heinous of crimes?