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Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982, a
longer period than any other Soviet leader apart from Stalin.
During Brezhnev's time Soviet power seemed at its height and
increasing. Living standards were rising, the Soviet Union was a
nuclear power and successful in its space missions, and the Soviet
Union's influence reached into all part of the world. Yet, as this
book, which provides a comprehensive overview and reassessment of
Brezhnev's life, early political career and career as leader,
shows, the seeds of decline were sown in Brezhnev's time. There was
a huge over-commitment of resources to the Soviet
industrial-military complex and to massively expensive foreign
policy overstretch. At the same time there was a failure to deliver
on citizens' rising expectations, and an overconfident ignoring of
dissidents and their demands. The book will be of great interest to
Russian specialists, and also to scholars of international
relations and world history.
Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982, a
longer period than any other Soviet leader apart from Stalin.
During Brezhnev's time Soviet power seemed at its height and
increasing. Living standards were rising, the Soviet Union was a
nuclear power and successful in its space missions, and the Soviet
Union's influence reached into all part of the world. Yet, as this
book, which provides a comprehensive overview and reassessment of
Brezhnev's life, early political career and career as leader,
shows, the seeds of decline were sown in Brezhnev's time. There was
a huge over-commitment of resources to the Soviet
industrial-military complex and to massively expensive foreign
policy overstretch. At the same time there was a failure to deliver
on citizens' rising expectations, and an overconfident ignoring of
dissidents and their demands. The book will be of great interest to
Russian specialists, and also to scholars of international
relations and world history.
First published in 1981, this book concerns itself with the
different ways in which money is used, the relationships which then
arise, and the institutions concerned in maintaining its various
functions. Thomas Crump examines the emergence of institutions with
familiar and distinctive monetary roles: the state, the market and
the banking system. However, other uses of money - such as for
gambling or the payment of fines - are also taken into account, in
an exhaustive, encyclopedic treatment of the subject, which extends
far beyond the range of conventional treatises on money.
First published in 1981, this book concerns itself with the
different ways in which money is used, the relationships which then
arise, and the institutions concerned in maintaining its various
functions. Thomas Crump examines the emergence of institutions with
familiar and distinctive monetary roles: the state, the market and
the banking system. However, other uses of money - such as for
gambling or the payment of fines - are also taken into account, in
an exhaustive, encyclopedic treatment of the subject, which extends
far beyond the range of conventional treatises on money.
In 1710 an obscure Devon ironmonger Thomas Newcomen invented a
machine with a pump driven by coal, used to extract water from
mines. Over the next two hundred years the steam engine would be at
the heart of the industrial revolution that changed the fortunes of
nations. Passionately written and insightful, A Brief History of
the Age of Steam reveals not just the lives of the great inventors
such as Watts, Stephenson and Brunel, but also tells a narrative
that reaches from the US to the expansion of China, India and South
America. Crump shows how the steam engine changed the world.
This is an engaging study of Lincoln and how he shaped a nation.'It
is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth' - Abraham Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address, 1863.Lincoln's life, leadership qualities and
achievements have made him a figurehead of American values, ranked
as one of the greatest US presidents. Thomas Crump examines how the
United States was transformed - politically, economically,
geographically and socially - during Lincoln's life, and how, more
than anyone else, he adapted to these changes and gave them a new
direction. This was essentially the beginning of the steam age,
meaning that the adult Lincoln lived against a backdrop of
steamboats on the great inland waterways and a continually
expanding railroad network opening up the new states beyond the
Appalachians. The foundations of America as an industrial state -
at least in the north - were being laid.Lincoln preserved the Union
with his skilful supervision of the war effort, his selection of
effective commanders such as Grant and Sherman, and his powerful
rhetoric to rally public support. His re-election in the 1864
presidential election was a landslide victory. Crump portrays
Lincoln's America and shows how institutions, places and people
changed during Lincoln's lifetime. By the time of his death the
country is presented as on the verge of a great breakthrough,
foreshadowed by events on the Pacific coast in the 1850s, and
worked for by Lincoln.Written with clarity and insight, this is an
engaging account of the true beginnings of the modern United
States.
From the beginning of the eighteenth century to the high water mark
of the Victorian era, the world was transformed by a technological
revolution the like of which had never been seen before. Inventors,
businessmen, scientists, explorers all had their part to play in
the story of the Industrial Revolution and in this Brief History
Thomas Crump brings their story to life, and shows why it is a
chapter in English history that can not be ignored. Previous praise
for Thomas Crump's A Brief History of Science: 'A serious and fully
furnished history of science, from which anyone interested in the
development of ideas . . . will greatly profit.' A. C. Grayling,
Financial Times 'Provides an enduring sense of the extraordinary
ingenuity that defines our relationship with nature.' Guardian 'An
excellent account . . Crump writes with authority.' TLS
By the end of the twentieth century, China was on its way to
becoming one of the greatest powers in the world. "Asia-Pacific" is
an account of what happened throughout the whole region since
1900.This is the first authoritative history of a region rich in
tradition, riven with conflict and central to our world today. The
political backdrop was informed by China, from the fall of its
Empire at the beginning of the 20th century through to Mao Zedong's
revolution The aftermath of World War II saw a radical
transformation in what is often known as The Ring of Fire. Japan,
defeated, lost its Empire and armed forces. The war between North
and South Korea added a crucial twist, with world-wide
repercussions still being felt a half century later. Longstanding
European colonial Empires, British, Dutch and French crumbled in
South East Asia, as new nations demanded independence, with varying
degrees of conflict and violence - culminating in the long Vietnam
War.The year 1975 was a watershed. Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh had
died and the Soviet Union - part of Mao's legacy - together with
the eventual Soviet collapse left the US as the major beneficiary.
But most importantly, the major countries of the region have been
largely at peace for over 30 years and are enjoying the fruits of
this peace - unprecedented levels of commerce and foreign
investment has made the region the driving force in the world
economy and increasingly central to the politics of globalization.
Yet this peace is tentative, with the rumblings of discontent
always audible.Thomas Crump has written a fascinating modern
history that will further our understanding of a region that has
shaped our past and will continue to shape our future.
Why do the Nuer stipulate forty cattle in brideprice? Why is the number ten so important in North American mythology? What does the anthropologist Clifford Geertz really mean to say when he talks about the correspondence of Balinese time cycles? Numbers play some part, often quite central, in almost all known cultures, yet until now the subject has never been examined in detail from an anthropological perspective. This book is the first attempt to find out how people in a wide range of diverse cultures and in different historical contexts, use and understand numbers. The opening chapters provide the basis for looking at the way numbers operate in different contexts, by looking at the logical, psychological and linguistic implications. The following eight chapters deal with specific themes: ethnoscience, politics, measurement, time, money, music, games and architecture. The final chapter relates such operations to social, economic and cultural factors.
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