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By coupling step-by-step instructions and detailed photos and
illustrations, Bike Repair & Maintenance For Dummies gives
readers the information they need to keep their bikes in working
order, often without taking it to the shop.
Magic: The Basics is a concise and engaging introduction to magic
in world history and contemporary societies. Presenting magic as a
global phenomenon which has manifested in all human cultures, this
book takes a thematic approach which explores the historical,
social, and cultural aspects of magic. Key features include:
attempts to define magic either in universal or more particular
terms, and to contrast it with other broad and potentially fluid
categories such as religion and science; an examination of
different forms of magical practice and the purposes for which
magic has been used; debates about magic's effectiveness, its
reality, and its morality; an exploration of magic's association
with certain social factors, such as gender, ethnicity and
education, among others. Offering a global perspective of magic
from antiquity through to the modern era and including a glossary
of key terms, suggestions for further reading and case studies
throughout, Magic: The Basics is essential reading for anyone
seeking to learn more about the academic study of magic.
Fresh investigations into heresy after 1300, demonstrating its
continuing importance and influence. From the Gregorian reforms to
the Protestant Reformation, heresies and heretics helped shape the
religious, political, and institutional structures of medieval
Europe. Within this larger history of religious ferment, the late
medieval period presents a particularly dynamic array of heterodox
movements, dissident modes of thought, and ecclesiastical
responses. Yet recent debates about the nature of heresy in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries have too easily created an
impression of the period after 1300 as merely an epilogue to the
high medieval story. This volume takes the history of heresy in
late medieval Europe (1300-1500) on its own terms. From Paris to
Prague and fromnorthern Germany to Italy and even extending as far
as Ethiopia, the essays shed new light on a vibrant world of
audacious beguines, ardent Joachites, Spiritual Franciscans,
innovative mystics, lay prophets, idiosyncratic alchemists, daring
magicians, and even rebellious princes locked in battles with the
papacy. As befits a collection honoring the pioneering career of
Robert E. Lerner, the studies collected here combine close readings
of manuscripts andother sources with a grounding in their
political, religious and intellectual contexts, to offer fresh
insights into heresies and heretics in late medieval Europe.
MICHAEL D. BAILEY is Professor of History at Iowa State University;
SEAN L. FIELD is Professor of History at the University of Vermont.
Contributors: Louisa A. Burnham, Elizabeth Casteen, Joerg Feuchter,
Samantha Kelly, Richard Kieckhefer, Deeana Copeland Klepper,
FrancesKneupper, Georg Modestin, Barbara Newman, Sylvain Piron,
Justine L. Trombley.
This book presents a provocative account of James Madison's
political thought by focusing on Madison's lifelong encounter with
the enduring problem of constitutional imperfection. In particular,
it emphasizes Madison's alliance with Thomas Jefferson, liberating
it from those long-standing accounts of Madisonian
constitutionalism that emphasize deliberation by elites and
constitutional veneration. Contrary to much of the scholarship,
this book shows that Madison was aware of the limits of the
inventions of political science and held a far more subtle
understanding of the possibility of constitutional government than
has been recognized. By repositioning Madison as closer to
Jefferson and the Revolution of 1800, this book offers a
reinterpretation of one of the central figures of the early
republic.
This book presents a provocative account of James Madison's
political thought by focusing on Madison's lifelong encounter with
the enduring problem of constitutional imperfection. In particular,
it emphasizes Madison's alliance with Thomas Jefferson, liberating
it from those long-standing accounts of Madisonian
constitutionalism that emphasize deliberation by elites and
constitutional veneration. Contrary to much of the scholarship,
this book shows that Madison was aware of the limits of the
inventions of political science and held a far more subtle
understanding of the possibility of constitutional government than
has been recognized. By repositioning Madison as closer to
Jefferson and the Revolution of 1800, this book offers a
reinterpretation of one of the central figures of the early
republic.
Magic: The Basics is a concise and engaging introduction to magic
in world history and contemporary societies. Presenting magic as a
global phenomenon which has manifested in all human cultures, this
book takes a thematic approach which explores the historical,
social, and cultural aspects of magic. Key features include:
attempts to define magic either in universal or more particular
terms, and to contrast it with other broad and potentially fluid
categories such as religion and science; an examination of
different forms of magical practice and the purposes for which
magic has been used; debates about magic's effectiveness, its
reality, and its morality; an exploration of magic's association
with certain social factors, such as gender, ethnicity and
education, among others. Offering a global perspective of magic
from antiquity through to the modern era and including a glossary
of key terms, suggestions for further reading and case studies
throughout, Magic: The Basics is essential reading for anyone
seeking to learn more about the academic study of magic.
By revisiting Thomas Jefferson's understanding of executive power
this book offers a new understanding of the origins of presidential
power. Before Jefferson was elected president, he arrived at a way
to resolve the tension between constitutionalism and executive
power. Because his solution would preserve a strict interpretation
of the Constitution as well as transform the precedents left by his
Federalist predecessors, it provided an alternative to Alexander
Hamilton's understanding of executive power. In fact, a more
thorough account of Jefferson's political career suggests that
Jefferson envisioned an executive that was powerful, or
'energetic', because it would be more explicitly attached to the
majority will. Jefferson's Revolution of 1800, often portrayed as a
reversal of the strong presidency, was itself premised on energy in
the executive and was part of Jefferson's project to enable the
Constitution to survive and even flourish in a world governed by
necessity.
By revisiting Thomas Jefferson's understanding of executive power
this book offers a new understanding of the origins of presidential
power. Before Jefferson was elected president, he arrived at a way
to resolve the tension between constitutionalism and executive
power. Because his solution would preserve a strict interpretation
of the Constitution as well as transform the precedents left by his
Federalist predecessors, it provided an alternative to Alexander
Hamilton's understanding of executive power. In fact, a more
thorough account of Jefferson's political career suggests that
Jefferson envisioned an executive that was powerful, or
'energetic', because it would be more explicitly attached to the
majority will. Jefferson's Revolution of 1800, often portrayed as a
reversal of the strong presidency, was itself premised on energy in
the executive and was part of Jefferson's project to enable the
Constitution to survive and even flourish in a world governed by
necessity.
This guide to the workings of the United Nations details the
purposes and structure of the organization, with specific chapters
on peace and security, disarmament and human rights. In the final
chapter, the problems facing the UN are examined. Tables provide
information on the size and distribution of UN membership,
peace-keeping operations and the use of the Security Council veto.
It also includes the full text of the UN Charter.
Little is known by practitioners or academics about the dynamics of
war termination. This book describes the negotiation and
implementation of the armistice following the Korean war and the
Korean phase of the Geneva conference (1954). It also analyzes some
of the problems of coalition diplomacy. It thus foreshadows some of
the problems that were encountered in conducting a UN-authorized
war in the Gulf, and in the problems of negotiating a secure peace.
In focusing on four major wars in the Arab-Israeli conflict from
1947 to 1979, all of them ending in agreed ceasefires, truces, or
armistices, this book concentrates on the external efforts after
each war to help resolve the conflict. The account of each war
follows the same format: the prelude to the fighting, a description
of the main actors, the fighting and its aftermath, extracts from
key documents and a select bibliography which includes all items
cited three or more times in the footnotes. The last section
comprises a critical analysis of the post-hostilities peace
efforts, with special attention to those aspects which appear to
challenge or contradict the conventional wisdom about the art and
science of mediation.
Superstitions are commonplace in the modern world. Mostly,
however, they evoke innocuous images of people reading their
horoscopes or avoiding black cats. Certain religious practices
might also come to mind praying to St. Christopher or lighting
candles for the dead. Benign as they might seem today, such
practices were not always perceived that way. In medieval Europe
superstitions were considered serious offenses, violations of
essential precepts of Christian doctrine or immutable natural laws.
But how and why did this come to be? In Fearful Spirits, Reasoned
Follies, Michael D. Bailey explores the thorny concept of
superstition as it was understood and debated in the Middle
Ages.
Bailey begins by tracing Christian thinking about superstition
from the patristic period through the early and high Middle Ages.
He then turns to the later Middle Ages, a period that witnessed an
outpouring of writings devoted to superstition tracts and treatises
with titles such as De superstitionibus and Contra vitia
superstitionum. Most were written by theologians and other
academics based in Europe's universities and courts, men who were
increasingly anxious about the proliferation of suspect beliefs and
practices, from elite ritual magic to common healing charms, from
astrological divination to the observance of signs and omens. As
Bailey shows, however, authorities were far more sophisticated in
their reasoning than one might suspect, using accusations of
superstition in a calculated way to control the boundaries of
legitimate religion and acceptable science. This in turn would lay
the conceptual groundwork for future discussions of religion,
science, and magic in the early modern world. Indeed, by revealing
the extent to which early modern thinkers took up old questions
about the operation of natural properties and forces using the
vocabulary of science rather than of belief, Bailey exposes the
powerful but in many ways false dichotomy between the
"superstitious" Middle Ages and "rational" European modernity."
In this rich collection of essays, editors Dale McConkey and Peter
Augustine Lawler explore the contributions that religious faith and
morality can make to a civil society. Though the level of religious
expression has remained high in the United States, the shift from
traditional religious beliefs to a far more individualized style of
faith has led many to contend that no faith commitment, collective
or personal, should contribute to the vibrancy of a civil
democratic society. Challenging those who believe that the private
realm is the only appropriate locus of religious belief, the
contributors to this volume believe that religion can inform and
invigorate the secular institutions of society such as education,
economics, and politics. Drawn from a wide variety of religious and
moral traditions, these diverse essays show, from many
perspectives, the important contribution religion has to make in
the public square that is civil society.
Superstitions are commonplace in the modern world. Mostly, however,
they evoke innocuous images of people reading their horoscopes or
avoiding black cats. Certain religious practices might also come to
mind-praying to St. Christopher or lighting candles for the dead.
Benign as they might seem today, such practices were not always
perceived that way. In medieval Europe superstitions were
considered serious offenses, violations of essential precepts of
Christian doctrine or immutable natural laws. But how and why did
this come to be? In Fearful Spirits, Reasoned Follies, Michael D.
Bailey explores the thorny concept of superstition as it was
understood and debated in the Middle Ages. Bailey begins by tracing
Christian thinking about superstition from the patristic period
through the early and high Middle Ages. He then turns to the later
Middle Ages, a period that witnessed an outpouring of writings
devoted to superstition-tracts and treatises with titles such as De
superstitionibus and Contra vitia superstitionum. Most were written
by theologians and other academics based in Europe's universities
and courts, men who were increasingly anxious about the
proliferation of suspect beliefs and practices, from elite ritual
magic to common healing charms, from astrological divination to the
observance of signs and omens. As Bailey shows, however,
authorities were far more sophisticated in their reasoning than one
might suspect, using accusations of superstition in a calculated
way to control the boundaries of legitimate religion and acceptable
science. This in turn would lay the conceptual groundwork for
future discussions of religion, science, and magic in the early
modern world. Indeed, by revealing the extent to which early modern
thinkers took up old questions about the operation of natural
properties and forces using the vocabulary of science rather than
of belief, Bailey exposes the powerful but in many ways false
dichotomy between the "superstitious" Middle Ages and "rational"
European modernity.
The U.S. Constitution is clear on the appointment of executive
officials: the president nominates, the Senate approves. But on the
question of removing those officials, the Constitution is
silent--although that silence has not discouraged strenuous efforts
to challenge, censure, and even impeach presidents from Andrew
Jackson to Bill Clinton. As J. David Alvis, Jeremy D. Bailey, and
Flagg Taylor show, the removal power has always been and continues
to be a thorny issue, especially as presidential power has expanded
dramatically during the past century.
Linking this provocative issue to American political and
constitutional development, the authors recount removal power
debate from the Founding to the present day. Understanding the
historical context of outbreaks in the debate, they contend, is
essential to sorting out the theoretical claims from partisan
maneuvering and sectional interests, enabling readers to better
understand the actual constitutional questions involved.
After a detailed review of the Decision of 1789, the book
examines the initial assertions of executive power theory,
particularly by Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, then the rise
of the argument for congressional delegation, beginning with the
Whigs and ending with the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. The
authors chronicle the return of executive power theory in the
efforts of Presidents Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Cleveland, who
all battled with Congress over removals, then describe the
emergence of new institutional arrangements with the creation of
independent regulatory commissions. They conclude by tracking the
rise of the unitarians and the challenges that this school has
posed to the modern administrative state.
Although many scholars consider the matter to have been settled
in 1789, the authors argue that a Supreme Court case as recent as
2010--"Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board"--shows the extent to which questions surrounding removal
power remain unresolved and demand more attention. Their work
offers a more nuanced and balanced account of the debate, teasing
out the logic of the different institutional perspectives on this
important constitutional question as no previous book has.
Does the president represent the entire nation? Or does he speak
for core partisans and narrow constituencies? The Federalist
Papers, the electoral college, history and circumstance from the
founders' time to our own: all factor in theories of presidential
representation, again and again lending themselves to different
interpretations. This back-and-forth, Jeremy D. Bailey contends, is
a critical feature, not a flaw, in American politics. Arriving at a
moment of great debate over the nature and exercise of executive
power, Bailey's history offers an invaluable, remarkably relevant
analysis of the intellectual underpinnings, political usefulness,
and practical merits of contending ideas of presidential
representation over time. Among scholars, a common reading of
political history holds that the founders, aware of the dangers of
demagogy, created a singularly powerful presidency that would serve
as a check on the people's representatives in Congress; then, this
theory goes, the Progressives, impatient with such a
counter-majoritarian approach, reformed the presidency to better
reflect the people's will-and, they reasoned, advance the public
good. The Idea of Presidential Representation challenges this
consensus, offering a more nuanced view of the shifting
relationship between the president and the American people.
Implicit in this pattern, Bailey tells us, is another equivocal
relationship-that between law and public opinion as the basis for
executive power in republican constitutionalism. Tracing these
contending ideas from the framers time to our own, his book
provides both a history and a much-needed context for our
understanding of presidential representation in light of the modern
presidency. In The Idea of Presidential Representation Bailey gives
us a new and useful sense of an enduring and necessary feature of
our politics.
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