The contemporary university is a tangled and troubled mess. In The Skies of Babylon, Barry Bercier attempts to help us see through and beyond the ideological fog that envelops academia by beginning with a simple thesis: the university should exist in service to the desire to teach. Bercier sees in that desire something very close to the desire for life itself, since through teaching one passes on to others the way of life one has received.
His is the first to examine the weapons technology and armaments industries of the Ottoman Empire, the only Islamic empire that threatened Europe on its own territory in the age of the Gunpowder Revolution. Based on extensive research in the Turkish archives, the book affords new insights regarding the early success and subsequent failure of an Islamic empire against European adversaries. It demonstrates Ottoman flexibility and the existence of an early modern arms market and information exchange across the cultural divide, as well as Ottoman self-sufficiency in weapons production, well into the eighteenth century. Challenging Eurocentric scholarship, the book disputes the notion of Islamic conservatism and the Ottomans' supposed technological inferiority. This is a discerning analysis which successfully contends traditional perceptions of Ottoman and Islamic history.
The history of the area now known as Iran, but often still referred to as Persia, spans millennia, boasting a rich and complex artistic and cultural legacy. Populated since prehistoric times--thus making it one of the most animated and lively areas of Islamic civilization--this region was home to the first powerful empire (lead by Cyrus the Great during the Achaemenid dynasty) and influenced the aesthetic grammar of a large portion of central Asia, including Armenia, Georgia, and India. Beginning with ancient Iranian civilizations in 500 BC, through the Islamic period, and on to modern-day Iran, The Art and Architecture of Persia explores the common characteristics and thematic threads running through Persian art. The book presents its readers with archaeological landscapes, monuments, sculptures, carpets, and dazzling ornaments and art objects from this stunning artistic milieu. The text takes as its subject the most fascinating and unusual facets of the Persian artistic experience in all its phases, with a particular focus on post-Hellenic culture, namely late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The Art and Architecture of Persia investigates how the examined regions were incubators of specific artistic developments and identifies how the Iranian passage along the Silk Route acted as a bridge between distant lands for trade and also facilitated the dissemination of religious and material culture. The two authors, Giovanni Curatola and Gianroberto Scarcia, write in an engaging, refreshingly accessible manner, catering to both the specialist and the novice wishing to immerse themselves in this captivating region and its art. Author Scarcia helms the first part of the book, covering the erafrom the Achaemenids to the Sassanids, examining the great architecture from Persepolis onward, while also addressing the powerful metalwork produced by these cultures. The second part, by Curatola, explores the Islamic period, when architectural decoration moved into the forefront with brilliant chromatic effects etched onto massive built works. The same colors bloom throughout the other arts, including carpets and miniature paintings. Dynamic and absorbing, the text and its more than 200 color photos will take readers on a virtual tour of this region and the art it has produced over the millennia.
This reference is a pioneering work which explores and defines the many factors which characterize the historic and ongoing relationship between the two traditions. From Aaron to Zionism, the editors have brought together over 700 entries--including events, institutions, movements, people, places and publications--contributed by more than 100 internationally renowned scholars. The Dictionary, compiled under the auspices of the Cambridge-based Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations, offers a focus for the study and understanding of Jewish-Christian relations internationally, both within and between Judaism and Christianity.
Exploring the viewpoint of emerging economies, virtually no important aspect of central banking is left out of this complete reference. This guide examines the management of exchange rates and foreign reserves in volatile foreign-currency regimes and the handling of external and internal financial crises. Other issues detailed in the volume include adopting more transparent accountancy and reporting standards for governments and financial entities, assessing the soundness of the financial sector as whole and as individual institutions and analyzing the enormous responsibilities involved in adopting real time payment and settlement systems.
"[This book] is intended to be a reference volume for advanced students in universities and officer staff of central bank, especially in what he calls the emerging market economies (EMEs). He has, in fact, done much more, and with consummate skill. Virtually all aspects of central banking are covered . . . so systematically and fairly that it may well turn out to be an indispensable guide-book for both advisers and policy-makers in monetary authorities as well as finance ministries . . ." -- Economic and Political Weekly.
"[This book] opens a window on what goes on and what should go on in the corridors of central banks." --Business Line.
In 2003, after two years of negotiations, a group of prominent Israelis and Palestinians signed a model peace treaty. The document, popularly called the Geneva Initiative, contained detailed provisions resolving all outstanding issues between Israel and the Palestinian people, including drawing a border between Israel and Palestine, dividing Jerusalem, and determining the status of the Palestinian refugees. The negotiators presented this citizens' initiative to the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and urged them to accept it. One of the Israeli negotiators was Menachem Klein, a political scientist who has written extensively about the Jerusalem issue in the context of peace negotiations. Although the Geneva Initiative was not endorsed by the governments of either side, it became a fundamental term of reference for solving the Middle East conflict. In this firsthand account, Klein explains how and why these groups were able to achieve agreement. He directly addresses the formation of the Israeli and Palestinian teams, how they managed their negotiations, and their communications with both governments. He also discusses the role of third-party facilitators and the strategy behind marketing the Geneva Initiative to the public. A scholar and participant in the Geneva negotiations, Klein is able to provide both an inside perspective and an impartial analysis of the diplomatic efforts behind this historic compromise. He compares the negotiations to previous Israeli-Palestinian talks both formal and informal and the resolution of conflicts in South Africa and Algeria. Klein hopes that by treating the event as a case study we can learn a tremendous amount about the needs and approaches of both parties and the necessary shape peace must take between them.
This volume is the first detailed study of what happened in Britain when the East India Company acquired a vast territorial empire in South Asia. Drawing on a mass of hitherto unused material contained in the Company's administrative and financial records, the book offers a reconstruction of the inner workings of the Company as it made the remarkable transition from business to empire during the late-eighteenth century. Huw Bowen profiles the company's stock holders and directors and examines how those in London adapted their methods, working practices, and policies to changing circumstances in India.
Although the impact of works such as Common Sense and The Rights of Man has led historians to study Thomas Paine's role in the American Revolution and political scientists to evaluate his contributions to political theory, scholars have tacitly agreed not to treat him as a literary figure. This book not only redresses this omission, but also demonstrates that Paine's literary sensibility is particularly evident in the very texts that confirmed his importance as a theorist. And yet, because of this association with the 'masses', Paine is often dismissed as a mere propagandist. Thomas Paine and the Literature of Revolution recovers Paine as a transatlantic popular intellectual who would translate the major political theories of the eighteenth century into a language that was accessible and appealing to ordinary citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.
Other books exist that warn of the dangers of empire and war. However, few, if any, of these books do so from a scholarly, informed economic standpoint. In Depression, War, and Cold War, Robert Higgs, a highly regarded economic historian, makes pointed, fresh economic arguments against war, showing links between government policies and the economy in a clear, accessible way. He boldly questions, for instance, the widely accepted idea that World War II was the chief reason the Depression-era economy recovered. The book as a whole covers American economic history from the Great Depression through the Cold War. Part I centers on the Depression and World War II. It addresses the impact of government policies on the private sector, the effects of wartime procurement policies on the economy, and the economic consequences of the transition to a peacetime economy after the victorious end of the war. Part II focuses on the Cold War, particularly on the links between Congress and defense procurement, the level of profits made by defense contractors, and the role of public opinion and ideological rhetoric in the maintenance of defense expenditures over time. This new book extends and refines ideas of the earlier book with new interpretations, evidence, and statistical analysis. This book will reach a similar audience of students, researchers, and educated lay people in political economy and economic history in particular, and in the social sciences in general.
The rapid spread of the liberal market economy throughout the world poses a host of new and complex questions for the consideration of religious believers, as well as anyone concerned with the intersection of ethics and economics. Is the liberal market order, particularly as it affects the poor, fundamentally compatible with Christian moral and social teaching? Or is it in some ways in substantial tension with that tradition? In Wealth, Poverty, and Human Destiny, editors Doug Bandow and David L. Schindler bring together some of today's leading economists, theologians, and social critics -- including Wendell Berry, Michael Novak, Richard John Neuhaus, and Max Stackhouse -- to consider whether the triumph of capitalism is a cause for celebration or concern. The contributors' fresh, insightful examinations should provoke a healthy debate about the intertwined issues of the market, human freedom, the family, technology, and religion.