A critical study of five historical armies that offers solutions for how contemporary forces should be reformed to deal with modern threats.
The BBC Proms Guide is the official companion to the world's greatest classical music festival.
An comparative analysis of Islamist groups' ideological positioning toward nation-state, secularism, and democracy across different countries in the MENA region.Authoritarian reassertion following the Arab uprisings in the Middle East has restrained Islamists' political participation and challenged their survival as both opposition groups and rulers. In light of national sociopolitical variations across the region, this book explores Islamists' means of adaptation and resilience in the face of this political exclusion, unpacking Islamists' sociopolitical persistence and ideological sustainability.In doing so this book sheds light on the following questions: How did Islamists adapt to contextual restrictions in terms of repression and stigmatization? How did the Arab uprisings impact their internal debates, ideological revisions, and reconsideration of tools of action? Individual chapters explore similarities and divergences among Islamist groups/ parties in terms of ideological affiliations, means of survival and political participation strategies, drawing on comparative cases from across the MENA region. Examples include the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, al-Nahda in Tunisia and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. These studies engage critically with conceptual debates related to Islamism, post-Islamism, Jihadist Islam, and the Islamic nation/community (ummah) to determine the trajectory of Political Islam in the MENA.
The first book in any language that collects scholarly essays on Kierkegaard's beautiful and vital Lily Discourses. Long branded as "merely" devotional writings, Kierkegaard's texts dealing with the lilies and birds spoken of in Matthew's gospel are rich with poetic nuance and philosophical significance. In Kierkegaard and the Poetry of the Gospel, a diverse group of emerging and established interpreters addresses the religious, literary and dramatic aspirations of the philosopher in these discourses. Kierkegaard employs the figures of the lily and the bird to convey both suffering and pleasure, the fleeting nature of experience and the search to endow this very transience with enduring significance. In the process, they identify and develop a philosophy of language-and of exemplarity-crucial to all of Kierkegaard's writings. To ask what the lily and bird teach is also to ask what it means, or could mean, to be human. This collection of essays is pivotal in registering, clarifying and celebrating Kierkegaard's own response to that question suspended at the heart of his Lily Discourses.The range of perspectives and approaches represented in this volume testifies to the wide appeal of this new and exciting area of Kierkegaard research, from analytic aesthetics to eco-theology. Kierkegaard and the Poetry of the Gospel is the go-to text for anyone looking to teach or write about the Lily Discourses across the disciplines of philosophy, literary studies and religion.
An illuminating and comprehensive interrogation of the impacts of corruption on state structures and institutions in Africa from two expert African scholars.Focusing on a variety of institutions and establishments - from the judiciary to the legislature, civil service to religion, tertiary education to national economies - and drawing on key countries across the continent, including Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the book explains why national, continental and global initiatives addressing corruption have achieved such limited success. This provides a much-needed nuanced understanding of corruption which rejects stereotypical depictions of Africa as a corruption-ridden continent and also offers new insights into the international community's role in making and sustaining corrupt systems in Africa.
By demonstrating the importance of horrific motifs in Greek and Roman epic, this book challenges existing conceptions of what an epic poem is and of what it means to engage with such a text. Taking the reader through canonical and less-well-known ancient epic, Brockliss argues that contrary to conventional readings, 'the horrific' is central to these texts. In fact, these poems dwell as much if not more on foul displays of human physicality as on depictions of a sublime heroism, prioritize psychological disturbance over tragic suffering, and set the intrusions of unquiet ghosts in tension with celebrations of the safely dead. This book thus offers a fresh perspective on a literary genre that is central both to ancient cultures and to the later western tradition. Alongside happy recollections of past glories, ancient epics offer readers a shocking and immersive experience that confronts them with the bare facts of human physiques and minds. Rather than focusing narrowly on the eminent achievements of a few, horror in epic offers an egalitarian portrait of what makes us human.
Analysing the evolution of the myth of the Amazons that has survived in our imagination for millenia.
A groundbreaking, multidisciplinary study of the relations between climate disaster, pastoralist migration, and intercommunal conflict in the experiences of the Dinka people of South Sudan
Employing a wide range of scholarly approaches, such as reception studies, feminist studies, racial studies and posthumanism studies, this volume examines the classical influence on the character of Wonder Woman. In particular, the contributors look at the cultural phenomenon of this female superhero across comic books and film. The result is an in-depth study that examines the influence ancient Greek mythology has on popular culture and, reversely, how modern media shapes contemporary views of the ancient Mediterranean world. Introduced to the world via Sensation Comics in 1941, Wonder Woman remains one of the most identifiable superheroes today, and her narratives that frequently involve love, inclusion and empathy continue to speak to readers and viewers around the world. Engaging with her long and complex history, the chapters examine the history of this influential character and her associates, alongside her relevance within the field of classical reception, and her gender identity. As such, this book presents Wonder Woman as the complex heroine that she is, and one who has both influenced and been influenced by our understanding of the ancient world.
This open-access volume explores the reception of Graeco-Romano culture from Ireland's earliest medieval scholars such as Columbanus and John Scottus Eriugena to later writers including James Joyce, Seamus Heaney and Colm Tóibín. Migrations and classical antiquity have played a key interconnected role for successive centuries in the experiences of the Irish diaspora, in the articulations of those experiences, as well as in the influences of Irish classicism abroad. Throughout subsequent centuries ancient Greece and Rome were repeatedly evoked in literature, art, and historiographies associated with migrations as vehicles for the expression of varied political and cultural positions. The chapters in this collection explore how the early Irish peregrini left their mark on continental scholarship; how the model of ancient Rome was coopted for political purposes; the ways in which Protestant writers adopted the notion of ancient Romanitas as a key to the British imperial project; and, finally, how the Catholics perceived ancient Rome as being subsumed into the universalism of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, this collection, the first of its kind, seeks to create a holistic overview of the distinctive cultural classical in Irish culture throughout the ages. What we learn is how deep articulations of migration through classical media have penetrated Ireland's diasporic culture. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the European Research Council.
This book examines the growth of charity in 19th century Britain through the lens of the philanthropic activities of Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone, over a 40-year period.Sarah Flew incorporates comprehensive archival research, and analyses Samuel Jones-Loyd's financial ledgers and letters, in order to illuminate both Jones-Loyd's philanthropic motives, and broader social issues in Britain and abroad during the Victorian era. Structured around the different recipients of Jones-Loyd's 2,880 donations, this book offers detailed insight into the philanthropic market place of the 19th century, in addition to a variety of eminent social issues - such as the cholera outbreaks of 1849 and 1866, the education of children and adults, and emergency appeals at home and overseas.The author demonstrates how instances of charitable action widely increased during Victorian Britain through comprehensive exploration of Jones-Loyd's philanthropy, Against the backdrop of a growing British economy, this volume analyses the events contributing to the establishment of the Charity Commission in 1853, in addition to the expansion of voluntary agencies and funds. Ultimately, Flew crafts a detailed insight into the charitable landscape of 19th century Britain, and highlights how one forty-year period of giving can offer new perspectives on the social fabric of the period.
From 1919 to 1922, Greece and Turkey fought a brutal war for Anatolia that reconfigured international politics. This volume examines the international, transnational and economic dimensions of that conflict and the bitter peace that formally ended it.Bringing together a diverse group of experts drawing on multiple archives and the latest scholarship, this volume analyses the complexities of peacemaking, the foundation of new nations through the violent 'unmixing' of peoples, the traumas of military mobilisation, and the remarkable revival of global capitalism on the ruins of old empires. Taken together, these essays will remind readers that the Great War did not end in 1919, and that the Greek-Turkish story is a critical element in the wider reshaping of twentieth-century international order.
This book provides an inclusive and intersectional look into television from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Each of the essays, written by international scholars across various disciplines, offer close textual analyses of popular series from Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Cuba, these include La casa de papel (2017-2021), Drag Race España (2021-), Inés del alma mía (2020) and El ministerio del tiempo (2015). The detailed case studies of seminal local and global hits provide overdue critical attention to Latin American television programming, highlighting on screen representations of gendered identities and the role of online streaming in facilitating social change. The collection goes on to explore recent industrial changes through first hand interviews with prominent practitioners such as Veronica Fernandez and Leticia Dolera. Discussing a broad range of genres including the telenovela, melodrama, historical drama and reality TV, alongside critical theories of media and gender, the collection contextualises and interrogates representational practices in Spanish television programming.
This book argues that the treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses is a critical gauge for measuring the level of religious toleration and freedom in any given society. Witnesses' beliefs and practices exist at the margins of what most modern states and societies deem acceptable. Thus, the 'Jehovah's Witness test' reveals much about the conditions for minority religions in any given state.The chapters focus on a range of geographic locations, including South America, Rwanda, and South Korea, across the 20th and 21st centuries. Each one highlights what Witnesses tell us about the state of tolerance in that context, focusing on salient issues such as taxation regimes, religious legislation, ethics and law, human rights, medical treatment and gender. The central objective is twofold: to see what insights the analysis of Witnesses offers to our broader understanding of religious tolerance and to determine how Witnesses have shaped the way we regard basic religious freedoms.The book is a multidisciplinary call for scholars to recognize the Jehovah's Witnesses as a crucial litmus test for tolerance. Taken together, the contributions demonstrate that the treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses reveal the extent to which modern societies and governments uphold and respect basic civil liberties.
From Bollywood to K-Pop, from Crazy Rich Asians to YouTube stars and Boys' Love media, this book brings together leading scholars to explore "bromance" in celebrity culture across Asia. Celebrity Bromance and Comradery Capital in Asia demonstrates how celebrity bromances are used as global promotional tools in different national and transnational contexts, including China, Thailand, India and beyond. Across chapters written by leading international scholars, the book demonstrates how a "comradery capital" develops as Asian bromances become not just a promotional tool but commodities in their own right in contemporary celebrity culture.
A history of England's most infamous king, Richard III, the last of the Plantagenets. With a new introduction from bestselling author Dan Jones.
An updated edition of the popular RSPB guide to interpreting the signs that animals leave behind.
Containing more than 1,600 photos and drawings, this magnificent handbook is the definitive guide to the tracks and signs of European animals.
Prenumerera på vårt nyhetsbrev för att få fantastiska erbjudanden och inspiration för din nästa läsning.
Genom att registrera dig accepterar du vår personuppgiftspolicy.
