This collection of essays explores the experience of religious reform in "national context." In discussing similarities and differences among the reform movements in a dozen European countries, the book considers countries in which the Reformation was strikingly successful and those where it failed to make an impact. The individual essays emphasize the local preconditions and limitations that the Reformation encountered as it spread from Germany into most of the countries of western and central Europe. Together they present a picture of the many-sided nature of the Reformation as it grew up in each "national context."

The Industrial Revolution has been, and continues to be, the focus of massive historiographical as well as historical enquiry. This collection includes reappraisals by Phyllis Deane and by Francois Crouzet of their classic accounts of industrialization in Britain and in France, and more generally broaches the wider issue of 'new approaches' which have been emerging for the understanding of the industrializing process in nations where it came somewhat later. In addition to grappling with questions of technical skills, economic analysis and the process of industrialization, the authors also tackle questions of national politics and international relations. In addition to the roster of authors who examine individual national experiences, a general essay by Sidney Pollard takes into account the relative contributions of the distinct national experiences in Western and Eastern Europe, the USA and Japan, and assesses them as speical cases of a more general phenomenon.

Until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia's identity seemed inextricably linked with that of the former state. This book explores the key moments and themes in the history of Slovakia from the Duchy of Nitra's ninth-century origins to the establishment of independent Slovakia at midnight 1992 1993. Leading scholars chart the gradual ethnic awakening of the Slovaks during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examine how Slovak national identity took shape with the codification of standard literary Slovak in 1843 and the subsequent development of the Slovak national movement. They show how, after a thousand years of Magyar-Slovak coexistence, Slovakia became part of the new Czechoslovak Republic from 1918 1939 and shed new light on its role as a Nazi client state as well as on the postwar developments leading up to full statehood in the aftermath of the collapse of Communism in 1989. There is no comparable book in English on the subject."

Until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia's identity seemed inextricably linked with that of the former state. This book explores the key moments and themes in the history of Slovakia from the Duchy of Nitra's ninth-century origins to the establishment of independent Slovakia at midnight 1992-3. Leading scholars chart the gradual ethnic awakening of the Slovaks during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examine how Slovak national identity took shape with the codification of standard literary Slovak in 1843 and the subsequent development of the Slovak national movement. They show how, after a thousand years of Magyar-Slovak coexistence, Slovakia became part of the new Czechoslovak state from 1918-39, and shed new light on its role as a Nazi client state as well as on the postwar developments leading up to full statehood in the aftermath of the collapse of communism in 1989. There is no comparable book in English on the subject.

This original collection offers an account of key moments and themes in the history of the Czech lands from the time of the rise of the Premyslide dynasty in the ninth century to the fall of socialism in 1989. The pieces, commissioned especially for this volume, are written by prominent scholars almost all teaching and researching in the present-day Czech Republic. Apart from eleven historical essays along socio-political times there are four contributions which focus broadly on the arts, sciences and education, emphasising political, economic and other aspects. Two further essays consider the worlds of the university and of science in the period 1800-1914, and 1800-1930 respectively. The co-existence and encounters between Czechs and Germans embedded in Czech history are emphasised throughout the book, while the conflicts between the two nationalities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are examined in a separate chapter. Lastly, pursuing the 'ethnic' theme, there are essays on both the little-explored question of Czech-Jewish relations and on the sensitive Czech-Slovak question.

In general terms, one way of describing the world we live in is to say that it is made up of nature and society, and that human beings belong to both. This is the first volume to be published that addresses the historical contexts of the relations between these two characteristics of human nature. Individual essays and the general conclusions of the volume are important not only for our understanding of the evolution of knowledge of nature and of society, but also for an awareness of the types of truth and perception produced in the process.

In general terms, one way of describing the world we live in is to say that it is made up of nature and society, and that human beings belong to both. This was the first volume to be published which addresses the historical contexts of the relations between these two characteristics of human nature. A distinguished international team aims to contribute - through selective, interdisciplinary studies - to a much-needed but currently scant debate over the reciprocal links between conceptions of nature and conceptions of society from the ancient Greek kosmos to late twentieth-century 'ecology'. Individual essays and the general conclusions of the volume are important not only for our understanding of the evolution of knowledge of nature and of society, but also for an awareness of the types of truth and perception produced in the process.

The Industrial Revolution has been, and continues to be, the focus of massive historiographical as well as historical enquiry. This collection includes reappraisals by Phyllis Deane and by François Crouzet of their classic accounts of industrialization in Britain and in France, and more generally broaches the wider issue of "new approaches" that have been emerging for the understanding of the industrializing process in nations where it came somewhat later.

This collection of essays explores the experience of religious reform in "national context." In discussing similarities and differences among the reform movements in a dozen European countries, the book considers countries in which the Reformation was strikingly successful and those where it failed to make an impact. The individual essays emphasize the local preconditions and limitations that the Reformation encountered as it spread from Germany into most of the countries of western and central Europe. Together they present a picture of the many-sided nature of the Reformation as it grew up in each "national context."

The historical impact of national movements in Europe has been dramatic and continues to be an issue of major importance. Leading historians discuss authoritatively European nationalism in its historical context. Nationalism is not of course a specifically European phenomenon, but for reasons of space and intelligibility coverage has been limited geographically. The aim is that the essays should attract readers interested in a historical problem which has been difficult to encompass theoretically and to deal with practically. A glance at what is being shown or written in the media with regard to national and ethnical issues demonstrates the validity of this aim, not only with regard to the multinational former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia in eastern Europe, but also (for example) to the 'four nations' of the British Isles or bi-national Belgium in the west.

The "Scientific Revolution" of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries continues to command attention in historical debate. What was its nature? How did it develop? Controversy still rages about the extent to which it was essentially a "revolution of the mind," or how far it must also be explained by wider considerations--social, economic, political and cultural. In this volume, leading scholars of early modern science argue the importance of specifically national contexts for understanding the transformation in natural philosophy between Copernicus and Newton. Distinct political, religious, cultural and linguistic formations shaped scientific interests and concerns differently in Italy, France, Britain, the Germanies, Spain, and so on, and explain different levels of scientific intensity. Questions of institutional development, and of the transmission of scientific ideas, are also addressed. The emphasis on national determinants makes this volume an entirely original contribution to the study of the scientific revolution.

The "Scientific Revolution" of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries continues to command attention in historical debate. What was its nature? How did it develop? Controversy still rages about the extent to which it was essentially a "revolution of the mind," or how far it must also be explained by wider considerations--social, economic, political and cultural. In this volume, leading scholars of early modern science argue the importance of specifically national contexts for understanding the transformation in natural philosophy between Copernicus and Newton. Distinct political, religious, cultural and linguistic formations shaped scientific interests and concerns differently in Italy, France, Britain, the Germanies, Spain, and so on, and explain different levels of scientific intensity. Questions of institutional development, and of the transmission of scientific ideas, are also addressed. The emphasis on national determinants makes this volume an entirely original contribution to the study of the scientific revolution.

The Renaissance in National Context aims to dispel the commonly-held view that the great efflorescence of art, learning and culture in the period from c. 1350 to 1550 was solely or even primarily an Italian phenomenon. These essays address the development of art, literacy and humanism across the length and breadth of Europe, showing that the Renaissance had many sources independent of Italy, meeting numerous local needs, and serving diverse local functions, specific to the political, economic, social and religious climates of various regions and principalities. The authors show that though the Renaissance was in a fashion backward-looking, recovering the culture of antiquity, it nevertheless served as the springboard for many specifically modern developments, including the rise of diplomacy, education, printing, nationalism, and the "new science."

For many years, the term "fin de siecle" has been used to imply a state of decadence which was thought to have pervaded 'civilized' European society in the years around 1900. This volume of essays, which draws on a very wide range of disciplines, argues that the period was also one of dramatic constructive change.

This was the period of the rise of the giant corporation, of mass production and mass consumption, and of the development of the generation and distribution of electrical energy. Great strides were made in the advance of mechanical road transport and in aviation. Novel social features such as mass politics, mass media, and mass sport involved the body of ordinary people who were themselves becoming active participants in public affairs, popular culture and leisure. In the arts, literature, aesthetics and philosophy, complex reactions to contemporary social reality were aroused and expressed. This was also the period which gave birth to the study of quantum mechanics, relativity physics, the new exploration of mental processes and the systematic study of genetics.

This volume forms part of a sequence of collections of essays which began with "The Enlightenment in national context" (1981) and has continued with "Romanticism in national context" (1988). In preparation are "The Renaissance in national context," "The national question in Europe in historical context," and "The scientific revolution in national context." The purpose of these and other envisaged collections is to bring together comparative, national and interdisciplinary approaches to the history of great movements in the development of human thought and action.

The Enlightenment has often been written about as a sequence of disembodied 'great ideas'. The aim of this book is to put the beliefs of the Enlightenment firmly into their social context, by revealing the national soils in which they were rooted and the specific purposes for which they were used. It brings out the regional divergences of the Enlightenment experience, shaped by different local intellectual and economic priorities. At the same time it also shows how central concerns (with virtue, patriotism, liberty and modernisation) were shared everywhere, and how the writings of certain key areas (such as France and England) came to be influential elsewhere. The thirteen essays, each written by a historian specialising in the particular country, examine national contexts from Sweden to Italy, from Russia to North America. As well as focusing attention on the interplay of thought and action, ideology and society, the book offers important insights into the place of the intelligentsia in the modern world.

This collection of essays explores the complex and contested histories of drugs and narcotics in societies from ancient Greece to the present day. It shows that the major substances so used, from herbs of the field to laboratory-produced synthetic medicines, have a healing potential, and have been widely employed both within and outside the medical profession. Many of these substances, if taken improperly, are also highly toxic or even lethally poisonous. Some, being mood-influencing and habit-forming, are open to abuse and lead to addiction and are even objects of international contraband trade and the targets of "drug wars."

Special emphasis is placed on the interplay between Romantic culture and social, political and economic change in this study of the course of Romanticism in various European countries.

All serious historical inquiry constantly encounters these major questions: what are the forces of historical change? and are there any general patterns shaping historical development? Theories of revolution have figured large in historians' explanations, yet they have remained deeply controversial, not least because of the complexity - and often ambiguity - of such notions of revolution themselves. In this book fifteen contributors, leading historians and renowned experts in particular fields or periods, examine the interpretative value of ideas of revolution for explaining historical development within their own specialism, assessing the existing historiography and offering their own personal views. The book presents a conspectus of modern historical opinion, provides a sweeping historical overview, and offers students an invaluable introduction to major questions of historiographical interpretation and controversy.