The Book of Judith tells the story of a fictitious Jewish woman beheading the general of a powerful army to free her people. The parabolic story was set as an example of how God will help the righteous. Judith's heroic action not only became a validating charter myth of Judaism itself but has also been appropriated by many Christian and secular groupings, and has been an inspiration for numerous literary texts and works of art. It continues to exercise its power over artists, authors and academics and is becoming a major field of research in its own right.The Sword of Judith is the first multidisciplinary collection of essays to discuss representations of Judith throughout the centuries. It transforms our understanding across a wide range of disciplines. The collection includes new archival source studies, the translation of unpublished manuscripts, the translation of texts unavailable in English, and Judith images and music.

The Book of Judith tells the story of a fictitious Jewish woman beheading the general of the most powerful imaginable army to free her people. The parabolic story was set as an example of how God will help the righteous. Judith's heroic action not only became a validating charter myth of Judaism itself but has also been appropriated by many Christian and secular groupings, and has been an inspiration for numerous literary texts and works of art. It continues to exercise its power over artists, authors and academics and is becoming a major field of research in its own right.The Sword of Judith is the first multidisciplinary collection of essays to discuss representations of Judith throughout the centuries. It transforms our understanding across a wide range of disciplines. The collection includes new archival source studies, the translation of unpublished manuscripts, the translation of texts unavailable in English, and Judith images and music.

Sir William Jones was a brilliant and engaged man of letters and law closely involved with the significant figures of Great Britain, America and India during the American Revolution and the early days of the Raj. He essentially introduced the Western world to Oriental peoples and cultures. To linguists, he is known as the founder of Indo-European linguistics. In the field of South Asian Studies, he is known as one of the early pioneers of Indology, and the founder of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. His translations of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit poetry and drama are credited with having a major impact on the English romantic poets. Within the history of English jurisprudence, he is known for a classic treatise on the Law of Bailment, and his translations of key Hindu and Islamic legal treatises such as the Laws of Manu.

The world's foremost authorities on Sir William Jones reflect here on Jones's life and mind, contributions and influences. In Part One of this volume, the life and mind of Sir William Jones are explored by Garland Cannon and Rosane Rocher. In Part Two, Jones's contributions to linguistics, jurisprudence, history and natural science are presented by R.H. Robins, James Oldham, O.P. Kejariwal and Kenneth A.R. Kennedy. In Part Three, W.P. Lehmann examines Jones's influence in German-speaking areas in the nineteenth century, and David Kopf debates Jones's role in the hotly contested subject of British Orientalism.