First published in 1976, Paul Johnson's exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude--"a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical" ("New York Review of Books").
In a highly readable companion to books on faith and history, the scholar and author Johnson has illuminated the Christian world and its fascinating history in a way that no other has. Johnson takes off in the year 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known 'Jesus Sect', A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity--and its trials and tribulations throughout history--has never before been contained in such a captivating work.

This timely book provides an authoritative analysis of the pension reform process in nine countries, namely Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and USA, with Japan being covered in the introduction by the editors. The book draws on the work of experts from each of these countries to provide a picture of how the pension systems work in each country. The contributors examine the policy reform process in each country, against the background of the fiscal stresses arising from the ageing populations in OECD countries. They also analyse whether different types of pension delivery systems (e.g. the public-private mix) generate different standards of living. Each study is prepared according to a common template allowing meaningful analysis of pension delivery and outcomes across countries using similar macroeconomic statistics and microdata. Pension Systems and Retirement Incomes across OECD Countries is an extremely valuable and empirically sound book on a highly topical subject. It will appeal to scholars of economics, public policy, political science and finance as well as being of great interest to policymakers and practitioners involved in pension fund management.

A galaxy of legendary figures from the annals of Western history

In this enlightening and entertaining work, Paul Johnson, the bestselling author of "Intellectuals" and "Creators," approaches the subject of heroism with stirring examples of men and women from every age, walk of life, and corner of the planet who have inspired and transformed not only their own cultures but the entire world as well.

Heroes includes:

Samson, Judith, and Deborah - Henry V and Joan of Arc - Elizabeth I and Walter Raleigh - George Washington, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Nelson - Emily Dickinson - Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee - Mae West and Marilyn Monroe - Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II

This is a forensic examination - by the man best placed to do so - of what it costs to run the United Kingdom's economy. To follow the money. To provide an explanation, of where that money comes from and where it goes to, how that has changed and how it needs to change. We are heading off, in fact, on a journey to not just follow the money, but to track it and pin it down, to find out how much of our money government takes and spends to keep the country we recognise as the UK running. Government decisions determine the welfare of the poor and the elderly, the state of the health service, the effectiveness of our children's education, and our preparedness for the future: whether that is a pandemic or global warming. As a society, we are a reflection of what the government spends. Nearly four pounds out every ten we earn goes, one way or another, to the taxman? What are the combined effects of these decisions to take hundreds of billions from us every year and then dish it out again? Johnson looks at what happened following the financial crisis of 2008-09 and the austerity years that followed. And then at how in 2020 the government reacted to the coronavirus with by far the biggest spending splurge in peacetime history. And he peers into our economic futures as we try to reach a new 'normal' after Covid-19.

This book examines the increasing significance of DNA profiling for crime investigation in modern society. It focuses on developments in the UK as the world-leader in the development and application of forensic DNA technology, and in the construction of DNA databases as an essential element in the successful use of DNA for forensic purposes. The book uses data collected from funded research into police uses of the UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) to describe the relationship between scientific knowledge and police investigations. It refers to some of the major UK criminal cases in which DNA evidence has been presented and contested. Chapters in the book explain the scientific developments which have enabled DNA profiling to be applied to criminal investigation, the ways in which the state has directed this, and how genetic technology has risen to such preeminence; how DNA evidence moved from its use in individual prosecutions to a major role in intelligence led policing, and saw the de

A Critical Companion to Stanley Kubrick offers a thorough and detailed study of the works of Stanley Kubrick. Labeled a recluse, a provocateur, and a perfectionist, Kubrick remains one of the greatest legends of cinema who continues to influence contemporary filmmakers and visual culture. An unequaled visionary, Kubrick revolutionized film genres, the use of music in film, narrative pacing and structure, and depictions of war and violence. This book delves into the complexities of his work and examines the wide range of topics and the multiple interpretations that his films inspire. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, explore new trends of research in film studies, providing a series of unique and novel perspectives on all of Kubrick's thirteen feature films, from Fear and Desire (1953) to Eyes Wide Shut (1999), as well as his work on A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001).

This book opens up new directions in judgment and decision making research. Our society and academic research have largely neglected the fact that sound judgment and decision making are the crux of many professions. This volume explores metacognitive processes as an enabler of competence at decision making. Offering a new analysis of competence, by understanding and communicating what professional decision makers do, this book provides valuable contributions to the judgement/decision making field as well as the professional community at large.

A Critical Companion to Robert Zemeckis offers a comprehensive, academic and detailed study of the works of Robert Zemeckis, whose films include successful productions such as the Back to the Future trilogy (1985-90), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000) and The Polar Express (2004), but also lesser known films such as I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Used Cars (1980), and Allied (2015). Most of Zemeckis' major productions were not only successful when they were first released but continue to enjoy popularity-with critics and fans alike-even today. This volume investigates several distinct areas of Zemeckis' works and addresses the different approaches: the philosophical, the artistic, the socio-cultural, and the personal. The methodologies adopted by the contributors differ significantly from each other, thus offering the reader a variegated and compelling picture of Zemeckis' oeuvre, which includes nineteen films. Contrary to the few volumes published in the past on the subject, the chapters in this volume offer specific case studies that have been previously ignored (or only partially mentioned) by other scholars. A Critical Companion to Robert Zemeckis offers a great variety of interdisciplinary approaches to Zemeckis' films, illuminating, re-reading and/or interpreting for the first time the entire career of the director, from his first films to the most recent ones.

Corporate capitalism was invented in nineteenth-century Britain; most of the market institutions that we take for granted today - limited companies, shares, stock markets, accountants, financial newspapers - were Victorian creations. So were the moral codes, the behavioural assumptions, the rules of thumb and the unspoken agreements that made this market structure work. This innovative study provides the first integrated analysis of the origin of these formative capitalist institutions, and reveals why they were conceived and how they were constructed. It explores the moral, economic and legal assumptions that supported this formal institutional structure, and which continue to shape the corporate economy of today. Tracing the institutional growth of the corporate economy in Victorian Britain and demonstrating that many of the perceived problems of modern capitalism - financial fraud, reckless speculation, excessive remuneration - have clear historical precedents, this is a major contribution to the economic history of modern Britain.

The population of the European Community will fall by 2% by the year 2025. Between 1960 and 1990, it grew by 17%. This contrast reflects the dramatic growth of the population of pensioners in the total population, and also the rapid ageing of the Community's working population. In this volume, based on a CEPR conference held in Munich in April 1992, leading economists in the field assess demographic and labour market developments in Western and Eastern Europe. They compare them with developments in the USA and Japan, and assess the effects of ageing on European productivity, earnings and human capital formation. Policies to improve the quantity and quality of the labour force are considered, including incentives for female labour participation, selective immigration policies, 'pronatalist' family policies, and improved human capital formation.

First published in 1980, Ireland: Land of Troubles is a fascinating and eminently readable account of Ireland's history from the twelfth century which gives a valuable insight into her twentieth century Troubles. Ireland is a country which has produced examples of the finest flowering of Western culture but also witnessed centuries of turbulence and bloodshed. From the first establishment of an English presence around Dublin in the twelfth century, Ireland's turbulence has been responsible for wrecking the reputations and destroying the causes of Richard II, the Earl of Essex, Charles I and James II and a host of Lords Lieutenant and Ministers, but no one could get to the heart of the 'Irish problem.' And the great famine and depopulation of Ireland in the nineteenth century, when four million of her people emigrated - many to America - gave a boost to Irish nationalism and the struggle for Home Rule, culminating eventually in Partition and the continuing Troubles. The author combines his account of Ireland's history with a penetrating insight into the rise of the Anglo-Irish Establishment and the cultural and religious divides which form an integral part of his story. This book will be of interest to students of history, political science, war studies, ethno-nationalism and internal security.

A new edition of the leading textbook on the economic history of Britain since industrialisation. Leading historians and economists examine the foundational importance of economic life in modern Britain as well as the close interconnections between economic, social, political and cultural change. Each chapter provides a clear guide to the major controversies in the field and students are shown how to connect historical evidence with economic theory and how to apply quantitative methods. Volume 2, on 1870 to the present, tracks the development of the British economy from late nineteenth-century global dominance to its early twenty-first-century position as a mid-sized player in an integrated European economy. The chapters re-examine issues of Britain's relative economic growth and decline over the 'long' twentieth century, setting the British experience within an international context, and benchmark its performance against that of its European and global competitors.

A new edition of the leading textbook on the economic history of Britain since industrialisation. Leading historians and economists examine the foundational importance of economic life in modern Britain as well as the close interconnections between economic, social, political and cultural change. Each chapter provides a clear guide to the major controversies in the field and students are shown how to connect historical evidence with economic theory and how to apply quantitative methods. Volume 1, on 1700 1870, offers new approaches to classic issues such as the causes and consequences of industrialisation, the role of institutions and the state, and the transition from an organic to an inorganic economy, as well as introducing new issues such as globalisation, convergence and divergence, the role of science, technology and invention, and the growth of consumerism. Throughout the volume, British experience is set within an international context and its performance benchmarked against its global competitors."

Have you ever seen a pixie? Really? How about a nixie? Where would you find a brownie? And who exactly is Puck? Hiding in the woods, meadows, lakes and caves of these green and pleasant lands are a multitude of little-studied folk who have evaded the course eyes and lenses of modern naturalists for years. Join Paul Johnson and Dan Goodfellow as they at last unveil the fair folk of these ancient lands, their secret ways, names and abodes. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

Law, Religion and Homosexuality is the first book-length study of how religion has shaped, and continues to shape, legislation that regulates the lives of gay men and lesbians . Through a systematic examination of how religious discourse influences the making of law - in the form of official interventions made by faith communities and organizations, as well as by expressions of faith by individual legislators - the authors argue that religion continues to be central to both enabling and restricting the development of sexual orientation equality. Whilst some claim that faith has been marginalized in the legislative processes of contemporary western societies, Johnson and Vanderbeck show the significant impact of religion in a number of substantive legal areas relating to sexual orientation including: same-sex sexual relations, family life, civil partnership and same-sex marriage, equality in employment and the provision of goods and services, hate speech regulation, and education. Law, Religion and Homosexuality demonstrates the dynamic interplay between law and religion in respect of homosexuality and will be of considerable interest to a wide audience of academics, policy makers and stakeholders.

Based on themes such as status and welfare, Old Age from Antiquity to Post-Modernity examines the role of the elderly in history. This empirical study represents a substantial contribution to both the historical understanding of old age in past societies as well as the discussion of the contribution of post-modernism to historical scholarship.