It is often assumed that religion is the backward-looking servant of tradition and the status quo, utterly opposed to the new. This refrain in so much of recent polemical writing has permeated the public mind and can even be found in academic publications. But recent scholarship increasingly shows that this view is a gross simplification - that, in fact, religious beliefs and practices have contributed to significant changes in human affairs: political and legal, social and artistic, scientific and commercial. This is certainly not to say that religion is always innovative. But the relationship between religion and innovation is much more complex and instructive than is generally assumed. Religion and Innovation includes contributions from leading historians, archaeologists, and social scientists, who offer findings about the relationship between religion and innovation. The essays collected in this volume range from discussions of the transformative power of religion in early societies; to re-examinations of our notions of naturalism, secularization, and progress; to explorations of cutting-edge contemporary issues. Combining scholarly rigor with clear, accessible writing, Religion and Innovation: Antagonists or Partners? is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of religion and the ongoing debates about its role in the modern world and into the future.

It is often assumed that religion is the backward-looking servant of tradition and the status quo, utterly opposed to the new. This refrain in so much of recent polemical writing has permeated the public mind and can even be found in academic publications. But recent scholarship increasingly shows that this view is a gross simplification - that, in fact, religious beliefs and practices have contributed to significant changes in human affairs: political and legal, social and artistic, scientific and commercial. This is certainly not to say that religion is always innovative. But the relationship between religion and innovation is much more complex and instructive than is generally assumed. Religion and Innovation includes contributions from leading historians, archaeologists, and social scientists, who offer findings about the relationship between religion and innovation. The essays collected in this volume range from discussions of the transformative power of religion in early societies; to re-examinations of our notions of naturalism, secularization, and progress; to explorations of cutting-edge contemporary issues. Combining scholarly rigor with clear, accessible writing, Religion and Innovation: Antagonists or Partners? is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of religion and the ongoing debates about its role in the modern world and into the future.

This title presents original discussions on the public role of history and historians from a pantheon of notable experts. ""Recent Themes on Historians and the Public"" represents some of the best recent writing on the public role of historians. These articles and interviews from ""Historically Speaking"" examine the relationship between historians and their audiences. Award-winning 'popular historian' Adam Hochschild begins by discussing the relationship between popular and academic history. An all-star cast of historians and editors offer their responses, forming a fascinating extended conversation. This forum addresses questions such as what the public role of the historian should be and whether practicing history requires a license. In addition the book contains a candid exchange about the state of the history profession at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Designed to engage both students and general readers, ""Recent Themes on Historians and the Public"" illuminates the controversy over the role of historians in the public sphere. The contributors are Eric Arnesen, H. W. Brands, John Demos, Joseph J. Ellis, John Ferling, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Ellen Fitzpatrick, Thomas Fleming, James Goodman, Adam Hochschild, Bruce Kuklick, John Lukacs, Joyce Lee Malcolm, Louis P. Masur, Wilfred M. McClay, Greg Neale, Maureen Ogle, William Palmer, Leo P. Ribuffo, Joyce Seltzer, Daniel Snowman, Barry Strauss, Marc Trachtenberg, Derek Wilson, John Wilson, and Jay Winik.

This book offers an inviting survey of recent developments in military studies from leading voices in the field.Deemed ""the New York Review of Books for history,"" ""Historical Speaking"" has emerged as one of the most unusual historical publications in recent years, actively seeking out contributions from a pantheon of leading voices in historical discourse from both inside and outside academia. ""Recent Themes in Military History"" represents some of the best writing on military history to appear in ""Historically Speaking"" in the past five years.Using multiple formats - forums, interviews, and individual essays - this collection provides contrasting views on such topics in military history as the existence and function of military revolutions in the past and present, the experience of soldiering and combat, the particularly violent and gruesome nature of twentieth-century warfare and projections of nature of future wars. The ebb and flow of discourse between contributors also illustrates how the study of history is an ongoing conversation wherein discovery and debate lead to deeper understanding and development of fresh opportunities for further inquiry.The contributors are Andrew J. Bacevich, Eric Bergerud, Jeremy Black, Max Boot, Jeffrey Clarke, Antulio J. Echevarria II, Niall Ferguson, Colin S. Gray, T. X. Hammes, Victor Davis Hanson, Max Hastings, Richard Holmes, Peter Paret, Geoffrey Parker, and Dennis Showalter.

This book offers a detailed look at new trends in methods of historical inquiry.Through articles and interviews, the prominent historians featured in this collection comment on such wide-ranging topics of historical inquiry as the impact of postmodernism on the field, the relationship between professional and popular history, the importance of historical consciousness, and the limitations of the field in its current state. A special feature of this volume is a lively forum on counterfactuals - the might-have-beens of history. The volume in general and the forum in particular illustrates the value of ongoing conversation between historians in advancing historical investigation and enriching debate and discussion within and beyond the academic setting.The contributors are Jeremy Black, David Cannadine, Robert Cowley, Richard J. Evans, Edward Ingram, Richard Ned Lebow, Joseph S. Lucas, John Lukacs, C. Behan McCullagh, William H. McNeill, Allan Megill, Gavriel Rosenfeld, Peter Seixas, Beverley Southgate, Willie Thompson, and Sam Wineburg.

This book offers fresh perspectives on colonial and revolutionary America from leading scholars in the field.Described as ""the New York Review of Books for history,"" ""Historically Speaking"" has emerged as one of the most distinctive historical publications in recent years, actively seeking out contributions from a pantheon of leading voices in historical discourse. ""Recent Themes in Early American History"" represents the best writing on colonial and revolutionary-era American history to appear in its pages the past five years.This collection of recent essays and interviews from ""Historically Speaking"" demonstrates that traditional approaches still foster fresh understanding of the early American past and that original contributions to traditional topics continue to be made. The volume's centerpiece is a lively forum on disjunctions between colonial and revolutionary historiography. Other pieces in this collection assess the divergent interests of academics and lay readers on the subject of the founding fathers, explore the emergence of American nationalism, examine notions of sustainability in colonial agriculture, map links between culinary history and national identity, and make new inroads into a host of standard topics, including the legacy of Jamestown and Plymouth, the end of Puritanism, and higher education in the colonies.""Recent Themes in Early American History"" serves as a companion text for related courses on American history as well as an entrance point for savvy general readers. The contributors are Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, Brian Donahue, John Ferling, Edward G. Gray, Don Higginbotham, J. David Hoeveler, James Horn, Thomas S. Kidd, Joseph S. Lucas, Pauline Maier, Peter C. Mancall, Brendan McConville, James E. McWilliams, Peter S. Onuf, Paul A. Rahe, Jack N. Rakove, C. Edward Skeen, Randall J. Stephens, and Gordon S. Wood.

This book presents new approaches to understanding African history from major historians of the subject matter. This collection of articles and forums by prominent historians explores the relationship of Africa to world history, maps the current state of the burgeoning field of Atlantic history, and debates the accuracy of Olaudah Equiano's seminal narrative. The standard approach of world historians often compresses the African past into interpretive frameworks that leave Africans without a history of their own. Joseph C. Miller makes the case here for an alternative approach, a multicentric world history that gives voice to the various ways Africans experienced the past, and an impressive array of Africanist and world historians respond.The volume also assesses the state of the field of Atlantic history and includes a spirited forum on Vincent Carretta's provocative thesis that Olaudah Equiano, author of the most important account available of the horrific Middle Passage, was actually born in South Carolina and not Africa. Designed to serve as a companion text for courses in African, Atlantic, and world history, this volume will also appeal to lay readers interested in contemporary approaches to these topics. The contributors are Trevor Burnard, Vincent Carretta, Ricardo Duchesne, Paul E. Lovejoy, Patrick Manning, William H. McNeill, Joseph C. Miller, David Northrup, Jonathan T. Reynolds, Michael Salman, Jon Sensbach, Ajay Skaria, and John K. Thornton.

In Species of Origins, Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa examine America's controversial conversation about creation and evolution. While noting that part of the discord stems from the growing cultural and religious diversity of the United States, they argue powerfully that the real issue is the headlong confrontation between two seemingly incompatible worldviews upon which millions of Americans rely: modern naturalistic science and traditional Judeo-Christian religions. Visit our website for sample chapters