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First published in 1989, Michael's Foley's book deals with the
'abeyances' present in both written and unwritten constitutions,
arguing that these gaps in the explicitness of a constitution, and
the various ways they are preserved, provide the means by which
constitutional conflict is continually postponed. Abeyances are
valuable, therefore, not in spite of their obscurity, but because
of it. The author illustrates his point with analyses of
constitutional crises from both sides of the Atlantic. He examines
the period leading up to the English civil war in the seventeenth
century, and the 'imperial presidency' episode under Richard Nixon
in the late 1960s and 1970s in the USA. In both cases there was no
constitutionally correct solution available but, as the author
demonstrates, the political skill of the participants in their use
of constitutional devices allowed the anomalies of the American
system to survive in a way that contrasted markedly with the plight
of Charles I and the Stuart constitution. This reissue of a
landmark study will be welcomed by all those interested in the
interpretation and construction of constitutional law.
First published in 1989, Michael's Foley's book deals with the
'abeyances' present in both written and unwritten constitutions,
arguing that these gaps in the explicitness of a constitution, and
the various ways they are preserved, provide the means by which
constitutional conflict is continually postponed. Abeyances are
valuable, therefore, not in spite of their obscurity, but because
of it. The author illustrates his point with analyses of
constitutional crises from both sides of the Atlantic. He examines
the period leading up to the English civil war in the seventeenth
century, and the 'imperial presidency' episode under Richard Nixon
in the late 1960s and 1970s in the USA. In both cases there was no
constitutionally correct solution available but, as the author
demonstrates, the political skill of the participants in their use
of constitutional devices allowed the anomalies of the American
system to survive in a way that contrasted markedly with the plight
of Charles I and the Stuart constitution. This reissue of a
landmark study will be welcomed by all those interested in the
interpretation and construction of constitutional law.
It has always been difficult to appreciate everyday life, often
devalued as dreary, banal and burdensome, and never more so than in
a culture besotted with fantasy, celebrity and glamour. Yet many
writers, artists, film-makers and photographers have celebrated the
ordinary life around them, and many philosophers, anthropologists,
psychologists and neuroscientists have offered insights into the
difficulties and rewards of paying attention to the here and now.
With characteristic wit and earthiness, Michael Foley - author of
the bestselling The Age of Absurdity- draws on the work of these
artists and thinkers, and encourages us to delight in the
complexities of everyday psychopathology. With astute observation,
Foley brings fresh insights to such things as the banality of
everyday speech, the madness and weirdness of snobbery, love and
sex, and the strangeness of everyday objects and the everyday
environment, such as the office. It is all more fascinating,
comical and mysterious than you think.
First published in 1990, Laws, Men and Machines is an original
interpretation of the lasting influence that Newtonian mechanics
has had on the design and operation of the American political
system. The author argues that it is this mechanistic tradition
that now instinctively shapes the way we conceive of, analyse, and
evaluate American politics, and that the Newtonian conception of
the world still finds expression in the 'checks and balances' of
the American system.
First published in 1990, Laws, Men and Machines is an original
interpretation of the lasting influence that Newtonian mechanics
has had on the design and operation of the American political
system. The author argues that it is this mechanistic tradition
that now instinctively shapes the way we conceive of, analyse, and
evaluate American politics, and that the Newtonian conception of
the world still finds expression in the 'checks and balances' of
the American system.
Michael Foley, the author of bestselling The Age of Absurdity,
wants to understand why he doesn't appear to be experiencing as
much 'fun' as everyone else . . . And so, with characteristic wit
and humour, Foley sets out to understand what fun really means,
examining its heritage, its cultural significance and the various
activities we associate with fun. He investigates pursuits such as
dancing, sex, holidays, sport, gaming and comedy, and concludes
that fun is not easy, simple and fixed, as many seem to believe,
but elusive, complex and constantly changing. In fact, fun is a
profoundly serious business. His findings will invigorate you with
insights, quite possibly help you to understand why the
post-post-modern is actually the pre-pre-modern and, at the very
least, make you laugh at life. 'This book is such a wondrous
kaleidoscope of rage, based on such a deep reading of all the
sources, that I shall be searching out his other works to read
forthwith. The man is a marvel.' Daily Mail
Much of what has been written about the treatment of prisoners of
war held by the British suggest that they have often been treated
in a more caring and compassionate way than the prisoners of other
countries. During the First World War, Germans held in Britain were
treated leniently while there were claims of British prisoners
being mistreated in Germany. Was the British sense of fair play
present in the prison camps and did this sense of respect include
the press and public who often called for harsher treatment of
Germans in captivity? Were those seen as enemy aliens living in
Britain given similar fair treatment? Were they sent to internment
camps because they were a threat to the country or for their own
protection to save them from the British public intent on
inflicting violence on them? Prisoners of the British: Internees
and Prisoners of War during the First World War examines the truth
of these views while also looking at the number of camps set up in
the country and the public and press perception of the men held
here.
When the Wright Brothers made their first flight in the early years
of the twentieth century it sparked the imagination of those who
wanted to fly, both in their country and around the world. In
Britain, however, the spark wasnt strong enough to light a fire and
it was in other parts of Europe, notably France, where flight began
to develop seriously. Early pioneers of flight faced a high level
of danger and many died in pursuit of fulfilling their dream.
Although aircraft design had made incredible progress by the time
of the outbreak of war, accidents still occurred on a regular
basis. For some time, as many pilots died in accidents as they did
in combat. This publication consolidates a range of stories,
insights, and facts that, when combined, offer a vivid impression
of events as they unfolded. The chaos stirred up during the First
World War and the scramble to develop aircraft in response to the
threat to homeland security is eloquently relayed, as are the
battles that characterized this conflicted era. The reality of
conflict gave aviation engineers and designers the opportunity to
test their craft in the harshest of environments, pushing the
benchmark ever higher in terms of what could be achieved. Sure to
appeal to aviation enthusiasts and historians alike, this work
offers the reader a full account of the developmental early days of
flight.
It is easy to believe that the only part that Britain's railways
played in the First World War was to carry the soldiers to the
ships that would take them to France. This couldn't be further from
the truth. Without the help from the railways it is unlikely that
the war would have been over as quickly as it was. In _Britain's
Railways in the First World War_ Michael Foley examines how the
railway system and its workers proved to be a vital part of the war
effort, one contemporary writer even commenting that he thought
they were as significant as the navy. The book describes how the
enlistment of railway troops for the Royal Engineers to meet the
increasing transport demands of the military was to bleed the
civilian system dry as skilled railwaymen were sent to work at the
front. In addition, the military commandeered thousands of
Britain's railway vehicles, sending them to each of the theatres of
war, and turned the already stressed railway workshops away from
maintaining what remained of the country's railways and rolling
stock so they could produce armaments for the forces instead. The
book also reveals how the British were so far behind their enemies
and allies in the use of railway support to the front lines that
they had to plead for help from Canada.
Like Alain de Botton crossed with Charlie Brooker, Foley succeeds
in educating and enlightening us in this wry take on the
existential dilemmas of modern life. 'Fascinating . . . the quest
for happiness and how we are getting it all wrong' Jeremy Vine,
Sunday Telegraph The good news is that the great thinkers from
history have proposed the same strategies for happiness and
fulfilment. The bad news is that these turn out to be the very
things most discouraged by contemporary culture. This knotty
dilemma is the subject of The Age of Absurdity - a humourous and
accessible investigation into how the desirable states of wellbeing
and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life. Michael
Foley examines the elusive conditions of happiness common to
philosophy, spiritual teachings and contemporary psychology, then
shows how these are becoming increasingly difficult to apply in a
world of high expectations. The common challenges of earning a
living, maintaining a relationship and ageing are becoming
battlegrounds of existential angst and self-loathing in a culture
that demands conspicuous consumption, high-octane partnerships and
perpetual youth. Rather than denouncing and rejecting these
challenges, Foley presents an entertaining strategy of not just
accepting but embracing today's world - finding happiness in its
absurdity.
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Augustine's Political Thought (Hardcover)
Richard J. Dougherty; Contributions by Adam Thomas, Ashleen Manchaca-Bagnulo, Daniel E. Burns, Daniel Strand, …
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R3,023
Discovery Miles 30 230
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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This important collection reveals that Augustine's political
thought drew on and diverged from the classical tradition,
contributing to the study of questions at the center of all Western
political thought. 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award
Winner Studies on Augustine have burgeoned over the past decade,
but attention has focused primarily on his writings on philosophy
and theology. Less attention has been given to his political
teaching, despite his well-known and influential statements on
politics, most notably in his City of God. This collection of
essays examines Augustine's corpus with a view to understanding his
political thought. Taking seriously what he has to say about
politics, the contributors here begin with Augustine's own
reflections on politics-and often in writings where one least
expects to find such reflections, such as the autobiographical
Confessions, his letters, and his sermons.The contributors then
consider the ways in which Augustine's teaching relates to that of
his predecessors, the classical thinkers, as well as to the thought
of other medieval thinkers, revealing that Augustine both drew on
and diverged from the classical tradition and influenced the
political thought of later medieval and even modern thinkers. This
important collection thus contributes to the history of political
thought and to the study of the questionsat the center of all
Western political thought. RICHARD J. DOUGHERTY is professor of
politics and chair of the Department of Politics at the University
of Dallas.
Before the First World War, Essex was a very different county from
that which we know today. The economy was largely based on
agriculture, and its people rarely travelled beyond its borders, or
even out of their towns or villages. The war opened up a whole new
world for the people of Essex. Men from the county enlisted in
Kitchener's Army and travelled abroad, and many troops came into
the camps and barracks which sprang up around the countryside. Some
of these men came from all points of the British Empire and had
enlisted to fight for the mother country. Essex was a key area
during the war. Situated on the east coast, it was thought that the
enemy could potentially use it as a site for invasion, so many
defences were set up all round the county. Essex was subjected to
great danger and harsh times by the enemy in the form of air raids
from Zeppelins, and later, from the more potent aeroplane attacks.
This well-illustrated and informative book sets out the experiences
of the county and its inhabitants against what was happening in the
broader theatre of war. It offers a valuable insight into life for
Essex folk in the First World War and will appeal to anyone
interested in the county's history.
The Russian Revolution is remembered as the catalyst for the bloody
conflict between the Reds and the Whites as each side tried to gain
control of the country. But it was far from being so simple. The
conflict did not only involve the Russians. The author contemplates
whether the Russians could have capitulated to Germany and whether
in fact Russia was ever in any condition to carry on the fight even
before the revolution began, examining whether a collapse of the
war in the east would lead to Allied defeat in the west. The effect
of the revolution and the civil war went far beyond the borders of
the enormous Russian Empire and far beyond the end of the Great War
and the civil war, not least of all whom the millions of subject
peoples and races supported: the Reds, the Whites, the Germans, or
none. The conflict in Russia between 1917 and 1922 is a fascinating
and complex period of history but the brutally colourful cast of
characters-Tsar Nicholas II, Brusilov, Kerensky, Lenin, Trotsy,
Stalin and Churchill-would make a violent impact on the world stage
for a century to come.
In AD 60 Boudicca razed the Roman town of Colchester to the ground.
Since that time the county of Essex has been on England's military
front line, on several occasions becoming what was essentially an
armed camp, standing by to resist invasions by the Spanish, Dutch,
French and Germans. Michael Foley's new book delves into the long
history of military Essex, from Harwich's redoubt fortress and
associated Martello towers, built to keep Napoleon out, to the
truth behind gunpowder at Purfleet and cavalry in Chelmsford, from
Harwich's naval base, which saw the surrender of 122 German U-Boats
at the end of the First World War, to the British and American Air
Force bases throughout the county, not forgetting a Cold War bunker
that is secret no longer. Illustrated with a wide range of
photographs, maps, drawings, engravings and paintings, Front-Line
Essex also includes location and access details for all the sites
that are illustrated and described. This lively and informative
book will appeal to anyone interested in Essex's history, whether
or not a military specialist.
The Premiership of Tony Blair has not only reaffirmed previous
trends towards leader-centered parties and governments, it has
provided a decisive change in the development of a British
presidency. The strategies and techniques designed to secure and
expand Blair’s public outreach, together with the priority attached
to the prime minister’s personal pledges and individual vision have
propelled the office into new dimensions of independence. Michael
Foley argues that the ascendancy of Blair is not an aberration, but
rather a culmination of trends that have established vigorous
leadership as a key criterion of political evaluation and governing
competence. This edition is completely up-to-date, including the
first convincing analysis of Tony Blair's leadership style.
The British Constitution has recently become a highly contentious
source of political critique and reform activity. In spite of the
evident increase in constitutional activity, the traditional ethos
of a constitution driven by pragmatic and political consequences
has meant that the full significance of such a rapidly developing
issue has barely been recognized, let alone analyzed. This book
provides the first major assessment of the properties, dynamics and
implications of this new area of political exchange. It
investigates the methods employed to mobilize and resist the
pressure for constitutional change; it examines the ways in which
political agendas are formed in response to constitutional issues;
and it reviews the respective positions, arguments and strategies
that exist between different types of political motivations and
objectives on the one hand and the kind of constitutional positions
which are adopted on the other.
On the morning of 21 November 1920, Jane Boyle walked to Sunday
Mass in the church where she would be married five days later. That
afternoon she went with her fiance to watch Tipperary and Dublin
play a Gaelic football match at Croke Park. Across the city
fourteen men lay dead in their beds after a synchronised IRA attack
designed to cripple British intelligence services in Ireland.
Trucks of police and military rumbled through the city streets as
hundreds of people clamoured at the metal gates of Dublin Castle
seeking refuge. Some of them were headed for Croke Park.
Award-winning journalist and author Michael Foley recounts the
extraordinary story of Bloody Sunday in Croke Park and the 90
seconds of shooting that changed Ireland forever. In a deeply
intimate portrait he tells for the first time the stories of those
killed, the police and military personnel who were in Croke Park
that day, and the families left shattered in its aftermath, all
against the backdrop of a fierce conflict that stretched from the
streets of Dublin and the hedgerows of Tipperary to the halls of
Westminster. Updated with new information and photographs.
It's all but certain that the next fifty years will bring enormous,
not to say cataclysmic, disruptions to our present way of life.
World oil reserves will be exhausted within that time frame, as
will the lithium that powers today's most sophisticated batteries,
suggesting that transportation is equally imperiled. And there's
another, even more dire limitation that is looming: at current
rates of erosion, the world's topsoil will be gone in sixty years.
Fresh water sources are in jeopardy, too. In short, the large-scale
agricultural and food delivery system as we know it has at most a
few decades before it exhausts itself and the planet with it.
Farming for the Long Haul is about building a viable small farm
economy that can withstand the economic, political, and climatic
shock waves that the twenty-first century portends. It draws on the
innovative work of contemporary farmers, but more than that, it
shares the experiences of farming societies around the world that
have maintained resilient agricultural systems over centuries of
often-turbulent change. Indigenous agriculturalists, peasants, and
traditional farmers have all created broad strategies for survival
through good times and bad, and many of them prospered. They also
developed particular techniques for managing soil, water, and other
resources sustainably. Some of these techniques have been taken up
by organic agriculture and permaculture, but many more of them are
virtually unknown, even among alternative farmers. This book lays
out some of these strategies and presents techniques and tools that
might prove most useful to farmers today and in the uncertain
future.
This illustrated history portrays one of London's most fascinating
areas. It provides a nostalgic look at the East End's past and
highlights the special character of some of its most important
historic sites. The photographs are taken from the Historic England
Archive, a unique collection of over 12 million photographs,
drawings, plans and documents covering England's archaeology,
architecture, social and local history. Pictures date from the
earliest days of photography to the present and cover subjects from
Bronze Age burials and medieval churches to cinemas and seaside
resorts. This book shows London's East End as it once was, from its
labyrinthine streets and alleys to its factories and warehouses.
The East End was one of the poorest parts of the UK, blighted by
crime and appalling living conditions. As the boundaries of London
spread towards Essex, however, the picture has become very
different. As transport links were improved, areas such as Bethnal
Green, West Ham and Forest Gate, once small rural villages, have
been swallowed up by the capital's growth. Today, the East End is a
very different place, one of regeneration and vibrancy and great
cultural diversity. This books will help you discover its
remarkable history.
Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University publishes
Famine Folios, a unique resource for students, scholars and
researchers, as well as general readers, covering many aspects of
the Famine in Ireland from 1845-1852 - the worst demographic
catastrophe of nineteenth-century Europe. The essays are
interdisciplinary in nature, and make available new research in
Famine studies by internationally established scholars in history,
art history, cultural theory, philosophy, media history, political
economy, literature and music. Had the Great Famine not occurred,
newspapers would still have gone through massive changes in the
nineteenth century, precipitated by industrialization and
urbanisation. But the Famine did take place, and the ways Irish
journalists found to tell the story of unprecedented horror
conditioned the evolution of journalism, not alone in Ireland, but
abroad. The scale and complexity of the catastrophe forced
journalists to find new ways of reporting news, to develop new
techniques of interrogation, including the narration of the stories
of ordinary people, rather than just reporting the speeches of
important men.Whatever the political perspective of the journalist,
the ideologies of his readers had to be taken into account,
requiring him to develop new writing skills - forensic, contextual
and emotional - that explained the Famine to the rest of the world.
The stories that appeared in local Irish newspapers were often
reprinted not only in the newspapers of Dublin, but London and
other major cities, as far as America and Australia. It was the
work of journalists that attracted other journalists from around
the world who wanted to see for themselves how such a calamity
could take place so close to the centre of the world's greatest
empire. The Great Irish Famine was the worst humanitarian disaster
of the nineteenth century and how it was reported by the press
established many of the norms of disaster coverage to this day.
The outbreak of the Second World War had an enormous effect on the
railway system in Britain. Keeping the trains running through times
of conflict was not such a distant memory for the railway companies
and their workers but in this second major war of the twentieth
century, the task was to prove a very different one. The railway
system no longer consisted of the hundreds of companies of the
past, but the 'Big Four' still needed to learn how to work together
and forget their differences for the war effort. The logistics of
the mass evacuation of children, and transporting thousands of
troops during the evacuation of Dunkirk and the preparations for
D-Day, for instance, were unprecedented. At the same time, they had
to cope with the new and constant threat of aerial bombing that
military advances brought to the Second World War. The railway
system, and the men and women who ran it, effectively served as
another branch of the military during the conflict. At the end of
the war, Winston Churchill likened London to a large animal,
declaring that what kept the animal alive was its transport system.
The metaphor could have been applied to the whole of Britain, and
its most vital transport system was the railway. This book is a
fascinating account of the important role that the railways played
in the defence of the country as well as in their support of the
Allied forces in theatres of war around the world. It brings to
light the often forgotten stories of the brave and hard-working men
and women who went to work on the railways and put their lives on
the line.
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