Since the 1970s West German historiography has been one of the main arenas of international comparative history. It has produced important empirical studies particularly in social history as well as methodological and theoretical reflections on comparative history. During the last twenty years however, this approach has felt pressure from two sources: cultural historical approaches, which stress microhistory and the construction of cultural transfer on the one hand, global history and transnational approaches with emphasis on connected history on the other. This volume introduces the reader to some of the major methodological debates and to recent empirical research of German historians, who do comparative and transnational work.

Since the 1970s West German historiography has been one of the main arenas of international comparative history. It has produced important empirical studies particularly in social history as well as methodological and theoretical reflections on comparative history. During the last twenty years however, this approach has felt pressure from two sources: cultural historical approaches, which stress microhistory and the construction of cultural transfer on the one hand, global history and transnational approaches with emphasis on connected history on the other. This volume introduces the reader to some of the major methodological debates and to recent empirical research of German historians, who do comparative and transnational work.

Heinz-Gerhard Haupt is currently Professor of European History at the European University Institute. Previously, he was at the Universities of Bremen (1974-93), Halle (1993-98), and Bielefeld (1998-2004). He has been a Visiting Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, University of Lyon II, and Columbia University and a Fellow at Princeton University. His publications in English include The Petite Bourgeoisie in Europe 1780-1914: Enterprise, Family and Independence (with G.Crossick, Routledge, 1995) and Europe in 1848: Revolution and Reform (edited with D. Dowe, D. Langewiesche, J. Sperber, 2001).

Jurgen Kocka is currently Professor for the History of the Industrial World at the Free University of Berlin, Research Professor at the Social Science Research Center Berlin and, regularly, a Visiting Professor at the University of California Los Angeles. Between 1973 and 1988 he taught in the University of Bielefeld. He has published widely in the field of modern history of Europe. His publications in the English language include Facing Total War. German Society 1914-1918 (Berg, 1984) and Industrial Culture and Bourgeois Society. Business, Labor, and Bureaucracy in Modern Germany (Berghahn, 1999)."

First published in 1995. Geoffrey Crossick and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt provide a major overview of the social, economic, cultural and political development of the petite bourgeoisie in eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. Through comparative analysis the authors examine issues such as the centrality of small enterprise to industrial change, the importance of family and locality to the petit-bourgeois world, the search for stability and status, and the associated political move to the right. This title will be of interest to students of history.

The events of 1989/90 in Europe demonstrated the renewed relevance of the mid-nineteenth century uprisings: both by showing, once again, how a revolutionary initiative could quickly spread through different European countries, but also by calling into question the nature of revolution and the criteria for a revolution's success and failure. To commemorate the 1848 revolution in a spirit of renewed critical inquiry, an international team of prominent historians have come together to produce what must be the most comprehensive work on this topic to date and to offer a synthesis that sums up the current state of scholarly research, emphasizing the many new interpretations that have developed over several decades.

First published in 1984. Shopkeepers and master artisans had a striking presence in the history of nineteenth-century Europe, not only in the development of industrial and urban economies, but also the fabric of social life and the politics of protest. The experience of 1848, the differing pace of various forms of nationalism and liberalism and, at the end of the century, the shift towards right-wing nationalist or Catholic political movements reflected a developing 'crisis' in the petite bourgeoisie. The essays examine the nature of this crisis and ask critical questions about the social relations of the petite bourgeoisie with the developing working classes. This book as a whole provides a fresh and integrated approach to the world of these shopkeepers and master artisans and illuminates much else besides in the social history of nineteenth-century Europe.

Crossick and Haupt provide a major overview of the social, economic, cultural and political development of the petite bourgeoisie in modern Europe, a group until now largely neglected by European social historians. Through comparative analysis the authors examine issues such as the centrality of small enterprise to industrial change, the importance of family and locality to the petit-bourgeois world, the search for stability and status and the associated political move to the right. Crossick and Haupt have written an invaluable and authoritative assessment of the emergence of a distinctive petit-bourgeois cultural and political identity. It will be of interest to both undergraduate students and academic historians.

First published in 1995. Geoffrey Crossick and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt provide a major overview of the social, economic, cultural and political development of the petite bourgeoisie in eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. Through comparative analysis the authors examine issues such as the centrality of small enterprise to industrial change, the importance of family and locality to the petit-bourgeois world, the search for stability and status, and the associated political move to the right. This title will be of interest to students of history.

First published in 1984. Shopkeepers and master artisans had a striking presence in the history of nineteenth-century Europe, not only in the development of industrial and urban economies, but also the fabric of social life and the politics of protest. The experience of 1848, the differing pace of various forms of nationalism and liberalism and, at the end of the century, the shift towards right-wing nationalist or Catholic political movements reflected a developing 'crisis' in the petite bourgeoisie. The essays examine the nature of this crisis and ask critical questions about the social relations of the petite bourgeoisie with the developing working classes. This book as a whole provides a fresh and integrated approach to the world of these shopkeepers and master artisans and illuminates much else besides in the social history of nineteenth-century Europe.

The Control of Violence in Modern Society, starts from the hypothesis that in modern society we will face an increasing loss of control over certain phenomena of violence. This leads to unpredictable escalations and violence can no longer be contained adequately by the relevant control regimes, such as police, state surveillance institutions, national repression apparatuses and international law. However, before investigating this hypothesis from an internationally and historically comparative perspective, the terms and "tools" for this undertaking have to be rendered more precisely. Since both "control" and "violence" are all but clear-cut terms but rather highly debatable and contested concepts that may take multiple connotations. The main question is whether an increase in certain forms of violence can be explained by the failure or, in turn, "overeffectiveness" of certain control mechanisms. It is asked, for instance, which contribution religion can make to limit violence and, in turn, which destructive potential religion might have in its fundamentalist form. Moreover, the concept of individual self-control as well as social institutions and strategies of collective disengagement and de-radicalization are investigated with regard to their potential for controlling violence. The Control of Violence in Modern Society concludes with a re-examination of the hypothesis of a loss of control by specifying in what cases and under which circumstances we can speak of a loss of control over violence.

The Control of Violence in Modern Society, starts from the hypothesis that in modern society we will face an increasing loss of control over certain phenomena of violence. This leads to unpredictable escalations and violence can no longer be contained adequately by the relevant control regimes, such as police, state surveillance institutions, national repression apparatuses and international law. However, before investigating this hypothesis from an internationally and historically comparative perspective, the terms and "tools" for this undertaking have to be rendered more precisely. Since both "control" and "violence" are all but clear-cut terms but rather highly debatable and contested concepts that may take multiple connotations. The main question is whether an increase in certain forms of violence can be explained by the failure or, in turn, "overeffectiveness" of certain control mechanisms. It is asked, for instance, which contribution religion can make to limit violence and, in turn, which destructive potential religion might have in its fundamentalist form. Moreover, the concept of individual self-control as well as social institutions and strategies of collective disengagement and de-radicalization are investigated with regard to their potential for controlling violence.

The Control of Violence in Modern Society concludes with a re-examination of the hypothesis of a loss of control by specifying in what cases and under which circumstances we can speak of a loss of control over violence.

In late 20th-century Europe, both national and regional loyalties have retained a surprising strength and topicality, despite the advance of supra-national integration. This volume addresses some specific aspects of this phenomenon that lay at the centre of the interdisciplinary work of the first "European Forum" of the European University Institute in Florence during the academic year 1993/1994. It aims at contributing to a better understanding of the origins and the nature of territorially-based identities in Europe, and it also offers some analysis of current problems arising at various levels of the relationships between regional, national and international structures. The contributions to this volume refer to three major fields of historical and contemporary research: the study of the factors that constitute "territorially-based imagined communites"; the analysis of the mechanisms by which particular group interests (social, political or cultural) are "translated" into narratives of regional or national identity; and an enquiry into the relationship between national and regional identities.

In recent years political history has been rediscovered by historians. In this volume the contributors approach the new political history in a constructivist way, conceiving the political as a communicative space whose boundaries are constantly reconfigured through acts of verbal, visual, and sometimes violent communication. Writing Political History Today is organized into four sections, focusing on politics and the political as contested concepts; boundary disputes between the political and other spheres; the question of whether violence is a means, an object, or the end of political communication; and on a future agenda for writing political history.