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Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 04 Nov 2009 20:38:02 | Comments : 0

Jack Hayward, "Leaderless Europe"
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA | 2008 | ISBN 0199535027 | PDF | 327 pages | 11,2 MB

From its antecedents in the 1950s, successive forms of European integration were intended to be leaderless. They have succeeded only too well in demonstrating that much can be achieved without sustained leadership. The attachment to national sovereignty of most of the European elites and mass populations has meant that confederalism has been implicitly accepted for the foreseeable future. This book attempts to clarify three clusters of issues. First, as European integration has advanced, who has provided the impetus? Particular insiders have episodically exerted decisive innovative influence, despite the need to conciliate the jealous champions of national sovereignty. Three case studies are offered: economic and monetary policy, environmental policy and technology policy. The second part examines why the European Union is currently leaderless. The weakened Commission and the increasingly assertive European Council and Council of Ministers have contended for control of agenda-setting but it is in the sphere of foreign and security policy that the EU's logic of leaderlessness has been most conspicuous. Finally, reduced capacity of the Franco-German tandem to offer acceptable leadership and British incapacity to join or replace them in providing overall leadership is also discussed.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 20:31:15 | Comments : 0

Roderick Floud, Paul Johnson, "The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain: Volume 3"
Publisher: Cambridge University Press | 2004 | ISBN 0521527384 | PDF | 471 pages | 13.4 MB

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain provides a readable and comprehensive survey of the economic history of Britain since industrialisation, based on the most up-to-date research into the subject. Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson have assembled a team of fifty leading scholars from around the world to produce a set of volumes which are both a lucid textbook for students and an authoritative guide to the subject. The text pays particular attention to the explanation of quantitative and theory-based enquiry, but all forms of historical research are used to provide a comprehensive account of the development of the British economy. Volume III covers the period 1939–2000, when Britain adjusted to a decline in manufacturing, an expansion of the service economy, and a repositioning of external economic activity towards Europe. It will be an invaluable guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students in history, economics and other social sciences.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 20:18:32 | Comments : 0

Roderick Floud, Paul Johnson, "The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain: Volume 2 "
Publisher: Cambridge University Press | 2004 | ISBN 0521527376 | PDF | 546 pages | 15.2 MB

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain provides a readable and comprehensive survey of the economic history of Britain since industrialisation, based on the most up-to-date research into the subject. Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson have assembled a team of fifty leading scholars from around the world to produce a set of volumes which are both a lucid textbook for students and an authoritative guide to the subject. The text pays particular attention to the explanation of quantitative and theory-based enquiry, but all forms of historical research are used to provide a comprehensive account of the development of the British economy. Volume II examines the period 1860–1939 when British economic power was at its height. It will be an invaluable guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students in history, economics and other social sciences.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 20:01:32 | Comments : 0

Roderick Floud, Paul Johnson, "The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain, Volume 1: Industrialisation, 1700–1860"
Publisher: Cambridge University Press | 2004 | ISBN 0521820367 | PDF | 525 pages | 10.6 MB

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain is a comprehensive account of the economic history of Britain since 1700, based on the most up-to-date research. Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson have assembled well-known international scholars to produce a set of volumes which serve as a textbook for undergraduate students as well as an authoritative reference guide to the subject.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 19:13:41 | Comments : 0

William W. Malandra, "An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and the Achaemenid Inscriptions (Minnesota Publications in the Humanities, V. 2)"
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press | 1983 | ISBN 0816611157 | PDF | 209 pages | 10 MB

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion was first published in 1983. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. When Persia fell to Islam in the mid-seventh century, the ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism all but disappeared (although it is still practiced by small groups in India and Iran). As one of the dominant religions of antiquity, it influenced the Judeo- Christian tradition as well as some forms of gnosticism. Despite its age and venerable place in the history of world religions, Zoroastrianism remains little known outside of a few philologists and historians of religion. Because of the difficulty of translation, there is little primary textual material available for nonspecialists; the few translations that do exist are quite old. In An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion, William Malandra provides not only modern English translations of the sacred texts but also a comprehensive introduction to the subject of Zoroastrianism itself. In an introductory essay Malandra outlines the main features of Zoroastrianism in its historical, cultural, and spiritual setting. His new translations of readings from the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism, and selections from the Achaemenid inscriptions of the great kings Darius and Xerxes are accompanied by interpretive notes that allow students to make their way through this difficult material. This book is, therefore, not just a collection of texts but a selfcontained introduction to Zoroastrianism that can be used by the nonspecialist without recourse to additional interpretive works.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 19:05:37 | Comments : 1

Michael Rothberg, "Traumatic Realism: The Demands of Holocaust Representation"
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press | 2000 | ISBN 0816634580 | PDF | 337 pages | 17 MB

Analyzes the impact of historical trauma on contemporary culture.
How to approach the Holocaust and its relationship to late twentieth-century society? While some stress the impossibility of comprehending this event, others attempt representations in forms as different as the nonfiction novel (and Hollywood blockbuster) Schindler's List, the documentary Shoah, and the comic book Maus. This problem is at the center of Michael Rothberg's book, a focused account of the psychic, intellectual, and cultural aftermath of the Holocaust. Drawing on a wide range of texts, Michael Rothberg puts forth an overarching framework for understanding representations of the Holocaust. Through close readings of such writers and thinkers as Theodor Adorno, Maurice Blanchot, Ruth Klger, Charlotte Delbo, Art Spiegelman, and Philip Roth and an examination of films by Steven Spielberg and Claude Lanzmann, Rothberg demonstrates how the Holocaust as a traumatic event makes three fundamental demands on representation: a demand for documentation, a demand for reflection on the limits of representation, and a demand for engagement with the public sphere and commodity culture. As it establishes new grounding for Holocaust studies, his book provides a new understanding of realism, modernism, and postmodernism as responses to the demands of history.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 18:58:42 | Comments : 0

DK Publishing, "American Revolution (DK Eyewitness Books)"
Publisher: DK CHILDREN | 2005 | ISBN 0756610605 | PDF | 66 pages | 9.9 MB

Discover how a few brave patriots battled a great empire. Be an eyewitness to the thrilling American war for independence: the battles and leaders, soldiers and heroes, scoundrels and patriots. It's all here in this ultimate visual guide that show you how it really was. See a continental solder's musket, a spy's hollow "silver bullet", Washington's sword, a bullet-riddled battle flag, the Liberty Bell, the Declaration of Independence. Learn why Washington was commander-in-chief, how the Declaration of Independence was written, how Benedict Arnold was at first a patriot hero, how solders were drilled, who the Loyalists were, how France helped win American liberty. Discover how Betsy Ross sewed the Stars and Stripes, the secrets of spies and traitors, why it was Breed's not Bunker Hill, why King George admired Washington, why Yorktown was not the end of the Revolution, and much, much more.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 18:49:59 | Comments : 0

Peter Clark, "The Cambridge Urban History of Britain (Volume 2)"
Publisher: Cambridge University Press | 2000 | ISBN 0521431417 | PDF | 887 pages | 11.2 MB

The second volume of The Cambridge Urban History is the first comprehensive study of British towns and cities in the early modern period, and examines when, why, and how Britain became the first modern urban nation. The contributors offer a detailed analysis of the evolution of national and regional urban networks, and assess the growth of all the main types of towns. They discuss problems of urban mortality and migration, social organization, industrial growth and the service sector, civic governance, and the rise of religious and cultural pluralism.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 18:25:50 | Comments : 0

La Cohn-Sherbok, "A Popular Dictionary of Judaism (Popular Dictionaries of Religion)"
Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon | 1997 | ISBN 0700710477 | PDF | 178 pages | 12.4 MB

This concise dictionary of Judaism contains over a thousand entries describing all the key aspects of religion, culture and history in the Jewish faith. Designed for the student as well as the general reader, it deserves a place in every library and every Jewish home. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 18:14:17 | Comments : 0

Thomas Cahill, "How the Irish Saved Civilization"
Publisher: Rosetta | 2004 | ISBN B000FC1LX8 | PDF | 213 pages | 11.1 MB

"From the fall of Rome to the rise of Charlemagne--the "dark ages"--learning, scholarship, and culture disappeared from the European continent. The great heritage of western civilization--from the Greek and Roman classics to Jewish and Christian works--would have been utterly lost were it not for the holy men and women of unconquered Ireland. In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known "hinge" of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the "island of saints and scholars," the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the west's written treasures. With the return of stability in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning. Thus the Irish not only were conservators of civilization, but became shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on western culture. The sub-title tells it all: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. How the Irish Saved Civilization is the first volume in the Hinges of History series."
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Posted by :: Alex | Date :: Aug 20, 2008 19:05:00 | [ 34 comments ]


Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 03 Nov 2009 18:07:40 | Comments : 0

Hidemasa Morikawa, "A History of Top Management in Japan: Managerial Enterprises and Family Enterprises"
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA | 2001 | ISBN 0195131657 | PDF |240 pages | 15.2 MB

This book analyzes the top management of leading Japanese enterprises. Drawing on the work of Alfred Chandler, Morikawa demonstrates the difference between family-owned firms and professionally managed firms.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 01 Nov 2009 01:18:02 | Comments : 0

Oliver Leaman, "Jewish Thought: An Introduction"
Publisher: Routledge | 2006 | ISBN 0415374251 | PDF | 201 pages | 13 MB

This fresh and contemporary introduction to the Jewish faith, its philosophies and worldviews, explores debates which have preoccupied Jewish thinkers over the centuries and examines their continuing influence in contemporary Judaism.
Written by Oliver Leaman, a leading figure in the field, the book surveys the central controversies in Judaism, including the protracted arguments within the religion itself. Topics range from the relations between Judaism and other religions, such as Islam and Christianity, to contemporary issues such as sex, gender and modernity. Central themes such as authority and obedience, the relations between Jewish and Greek thought, and the position and status of the State of Israel are also considered. The debates are further illustrated by reference to the Bible, as a profoundly realistic text in describing the long interaction between the Jews, their ancestors and God, as well as discussions about major thinkers, and passages from the ancient texts: The Mishnah, Talmud and Midrash.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 01 Nov 2009 01:01:00 | Comments : 0

Andrew Smithers, "Wall Street Revalued: Imperfect Markets and Inept Central Bankers"
Publisher: Wiley | 2009 | ISBN 0470750057 | PDF | 289 pages | 12 MB

Andrew Smithers, one of the world’s foremost economists, showed that at its peak in 2000 the US stock market was wildly over-priced and argued that central bankers should adjust their policies to prevent asset bubbles. But the Federal Reserve claimed that assets could not be valued and that they should ignore asset prices. In Wall Street Revalued, Andrew Smithers argues that the Federal Reserve was wrong on both counts and that these errors were the major cause of the current recession and financial crisis. He shows how investors and central banks can value assets, so that incipient bubbles can be identified and a repetition of today’s problems avoided. Indifference to overvalued asset prices by investors, central banks and much of the financial press is the root cause of the current crisis. Bubbles in stock markets, house prices and financial assets cause huge damage when they fall, not only to their owners, but also to the world economy. An understanding of how to value assets is therefore vital for managing the economy as well as for investors.
Wall Street Revalued explains how assets can be valued and shows how much incorrect and inaccurate information is published on the subject and how to spot this. Among investment bankers and financial journalists the two most common claims to value are, as Andrew shows, unadulterated nonsense. One of these is that "Shares are cheap given the level of current (or forecast) PE multiples" and the other is that "Shares are cheap relative to interest rates".
Andrew also explains how asset prices affect the economy and how central banks lose their ability to stabilise it when bubbles collapse. The denial that markets can be valued has caused great damage. Markets are not perfectly efficient, nor are they are irrational casinos. This book sets out a new model for understanding the limited efficiency of financial markets, which is the key condition for improving investment and economic management today.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 01 Nov 2009 00:57:06 | Comments : 0

Mark Puls, "Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution"
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan | 2008 | ISBN 1403984271 | PDF | 289 pages | 14.1 MB

Here is a compelling portrait of the Revolutionary War general whose skills as an engineer and artilleryman played a key role in all of George Washington's battles including the Siege of Boston (where his use of cannons at Dorchester Heights won back the city) and the Battle of Trenton (where he was in charge of Washington's crossing of the Delaware River). Knox became an major advocate of the U.S. Constitution and served as the nation’s first Secretary of War. He was co-founder of the U.S. Navy, laid the foundations for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and negotiated treaties and set policy with Native Americans.With nail-biting battle scenes, patriotism and deep understanding of his subject, Mark Puls breathes new life into the American Revolution and firmly assigns Knox to his deserved place in history.
Posted By : avaxxava | Date : 01 Nov 2009 00:53:43 | Comments : 0

Harvey Yunis, "Demosthenes, Speeches 18 and 19 (The Oratory of Classical Greece)"
Publisher: University of Texas Press | 2005 | ISBN 0292705786 | PDF | 274 pages | 11.4 MB

This is the ninth volume in the Oratory of Classical Greece. This series presents all of the surviving speeches from the late fifth and fourth centuries BC in new translations prepared by classical scholars who are at the forefront of the discipline. These translations are especially designed for the needs and interests of today's undergraduates, Greekless scholars in other disciplines, and the general public. Classical oratory is an invaluable resource for the study of ancient Greek life and culture. The speeches offer evidence on Greek moral views, social and economic conditions, political and social ideology, law and legal procedure, and other aspects of Athenian culture that have recently been attracting particular interest: women and family life, slavery, and religion, to name just a few. Demosthenes is regarded as the greatest orator of classical antiquity. The two speeches translated here grew out of his longtime rivalry with the orator Aeschines. In Speech 19 (On the Dishonest Embassy) delivered in 343 BC, Demosthenes attacks Aeschines for corruption centered around an ultimately disastrous embassy to Philip of Macedon that both men took part in. This speech made Demosthenes the leading politician in Athens for a time. Speech 18 (On the Crown or De Corona), delivered in 330 BC, is Demosthenes' most famous and influential oration. It resulted not only in Demosthenes receiving one of Athens' highest political honors but also in the defeat and disgrace of Aeschines, who retired from public life and left Athens forever.