Between 1929 and 1932 the Soviet Communist Party struck a double blow at the Russian peasantry: dekulakization, the dispossession and deportation of millions of peasant families, and collectivization, the abolition of private ownership of land and the concentration of the remaining peasants in party-controlled "collective" farms. This was followed in 1932-33 by a "terror-famine," inflicted by the State on the collectivized peasants of the Ukraine and certain other areas by setting impossibly high grain quotas, removing every other source of food, and preventing help from outside--even from other areas of the Soviet Union--from reaching the starving populace. The death toll resulting from the actions described in this book was an estimated 14.5 million--more than the total number of deaths for all countries in World War I.Ambitious, meticulously researched, and lucidly written, The Harvest of Sorrow is a deeply moving testament to those who died, and will register in the Western consciousness a sense of the dark side of this century's history.

    

    Although sovereigns no longer ruled by divine right, their prestige and positions remained almost intact. The glittering centerpieces of national life, those crowned and anointed monarchs were still widely regarded as mystical, unassailable, divinely guided. And, with the majority of them being so closely related, they constituted a royal clan, an international freemasonry through which it was assumed the peace of Europe was being maintained. World War I shattered all this. King took up arms against king; cousin was pitted against cousin. Twelve leading monarchs, ranging from the vainglorious Kaiser Wilhelm II to such lesser-known figures as the brigandly Nicholas of Montenegro, the 'outre' Foxy Ferdinand of Bulgaria and the tragic Emperor Karl of Austria-Hungary, were involved in the conflict. For, in the end, that celebrated kinship of the family of kings proved irrelevant. Against the upheavals of these years, monarchs were revealed as both powerless and impotent. Here, Theo Aronson has assembled the entire cast of embattled monarchs. His is the story of eight momentous years viewed, as it were, from the monarchical standpoint; an account of the passing, not only of their particular world, but of the entire monarchic and dynastic order of the Continent. It describes the brilliant sunset and the dramatic break-up of the Europe of the Kings.

    A renowned medievalist with an encyclopedic knowledge of original sources and a passion for history, Bumke overlooks no detail, from the material realities of aristocratic society -- the castles and clothing, weapons and transportation, food, drink, and table etiquette -- to the behavior prescribed and practiced at tournaments, knighting ceremonies, and great princely feasts. The courtly knight and courtly lady, and the transforming idea of courtly love, are seen through the literature that celebrated them, and we learn how literacy among an aristocratic laity spread from France through Germany and became the basis of a cultural revolution. At the same time, Bumke clearly challenges those who have comfortably confused the ideals of courtly culture with their expression in courtly society.

    The young, bright, lively girl suddenly found herself in a cramped flat hiding with other Jewish families. Then came the raids. To avoid being one of the thousands who were rounded up every day and deported to the camps, Janina was forced to keep on the move. Her escape to the 'Aryan' side was followed by years spent behind hidden doors, where dependence on others was crucial. Told through her teenage diaries, this is an extraordinary tale of a passionate young woman's survival and courage.

    A dominant figure in the Europe of the Thirty Years' War, he struggled to maintain Spanish hegemony at a time when the traditional foundations of Spain's power were being eroded, and Spain itself was increasingly being perceived as a great power in decline. The story of his political career, and of his efforts to check the process of decline by an ambitious programme of domestic reform, becomes an epic of titanic and ultimately unsuccessful struggle, culminating in personal tragedy and national disaster. The Count-Duke met his match in his great French rival, Cardinal Richelieu, and France replaced Spain as the leading European power.For all the Count-Duke's enormous historical importance, no attempt has previously been made to study in detail his political aspirations and his career as a statesman. The sheer scale of the enterprise, along with major problems of documentation, has deterred historians from embarking on the study of a man whose policies touched the lives of millions in Europe and the Americas over a period of more than twenty years. This work therefore fills a gaping void in modern European and Spanish history.In this comprehensive political biography Olivares's domestic and foreign policies are skilfully woven together into a sustained narrative on the grand scale. Based overwhelmingly on primary and often unknown sources, this is a study of Spain and Europe in the 1620s and 1630s, but it is also the study of a man. Through it all, the author never loses sight of Olivares himself, a massive figure of fluctuating moods and emotions, once described by Braudel as a cortege of personalities requiring a cortege of explanations. This elegantly written book will be seen as a landmark in the study of a man and an age; indispensable to specialists and students, but of interest also to the general reading public.

    The author traces the ships from their construction through a decade of service, incorporating a history of Spain's Golden Age. This book was awarded the Spain and America in Quincentennial Year of Discovery prize.

    Jewish survivors of World War II tell the stories of some of the non-Jews who helped them escape the Nazis in France, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Norway, and Denmark.

    I managed to prevent Stalin's dark and murky ambition from taking root - his desire to hide from the world that we had found Hitler's corpse" - Elena Rzhevskaya "A telling reminder of the jealousy and rivalries that split the Allies even in their hour of victory, and foreshadowed the Cold War"- Tom Parfitt, The Guardian On May 2,1945, Red Army soldiers broke into Hitler's bunker. Rzhevskaya, a young military interpreter, was with them. Almost accidentally the Soviet military found the charred remains of Hitler and Eva Braun. They also found key documents: Bormann's notes, the diaries of Goebbels and letters of Magda Goebbels. Rzhevskaya was entrusted with the proof of the Hitler's death: his teeth wrenched from his corpse by a pathologist hours earlier. The teeth were given to Rzhevskaya because they believed male agents were more likely to get drunk on Victory Day, blurt out the secret and lose the evidence. She interrogated Hitler's dentist's assistant who confirmed the teeth were his. Elena's role as an interpreter allowed her to forge a link between the Soviet troops and the Germans. She also witnessed the civilian tragedy perpetrated by the Soviets. The book includes her diary material and later additions, including conversations with Zhukov, letters of pathologist Shkaravsky, who led the autopsy, and a new Preface written by Rzhevskaya for the English language edition. Rzhevskaya writes about the key historical events and everyday life in her own inimitable style. She talks in depth of human suffering, of bittersweet victory, of an author's responsibility, of strange laws of memory and unresolved feeling of guilt.

    In this readable and richly detailed history of the conflict, the Belgian scholar Ernest Mandel (author of the acclaimed Late Capitalism) outlines his view that the war was in fact a combination of several distinct struggles and a battle between rival imperialisms for world hegemony. In concise chapters, Mandel examines the role played by technology, science, logistics, weapons and propaganda. Throughout, he weaves a consideration of the military strategy of the opposing states into his analytical narrative of the war and its results.The Verso World History Series:This series provides attractive new editions of classic works of history, making landmark texts available to a new generation of readers. Covering a timespan stretching from Ancient Greece and Rome to the twentieth century, and with a global geographical range, the series will also include thematic volumes providing insights into such topics as the spread of print cultures and the history of money.

    Braudel questions the origins of frontiers, the growth of towns, how Paris became the capital and how France's unification came about.

    Less familiar is the Byzantine reaction that followed in the patriarchate of Gregory of Cyprus, when the settlement of 1274 was formally repudiated by imperial decree and the Council of Blachernae. Includes index.

    It covers the travellers and their routes, and emphasizes their importance to the exchange of ideas and the spread of civilization.

    An outstanding array of scholars—literary critics, art critics, and historians—reexamines the role of women and their relations with men during the Renaissance. In the process, the contributors enrich the emerging languages of and about women, gender, and sexual difference. Throughout, the essays focus on the structures of Renaissance patriarchy that organized power relations both in the state and in the family. They explore the major conequences of patriarchy for women—their marginalization and lack of identity and power—and the ways in which individual women or groups of women broke, or in some cases deliberately circumvented, the rules that defined them as a secondary sex. Topics covered include representations of women in literature and art, the actual work done by women both inside and outside of the home, and the writings of women themselves. In analyzing the rhetorical strategies that "marginalized" historical and fictional women, these essays counter scholarly and critical traditions that continue to exhibit patriarchal biases.

    It examines the individual achievements of Brunel, Joseph Paxton and Robert Stephenson among others, and explains how industrialization changed the face of the environment. The book concludes by considering why the Victorians' mood of optimism turned to one of disillusionment. It argues that the Victorians failed to come to terms with the consequences of industrialization, and that many of the innovations of British engineers found their best expression in other countries.

    Settlers of all nationalities went there to seek their fortune, among them Jews who came to form one of the largest, wealthiest, and most culturally fertile Jewish communities in Europe. This history of Jewish Odessa traces the rise of that community from its foundation in 1794 to the pogroms of 1881 that erupted after the assassination of Alexander II. Zipperstein emphasizes Jewish acculturation: changes in behavior, attitude, and ideology as reflected in schools, synagogues, newspapers, and other institutions of the period. The patterns set then affected the community's cultural development well into the second decade of the twentieth century. More a modern metropolis than any other Russian city with a significant Jewish population, Odessa offers a window into the diversity of Russian Jewish experience.

    Howell argues that women's work was the product of the intersection of two systems, one cultural and one economic. Howell shows forcefully that patriarchal family structure, not capitalist development per se, was a decisive factor in determining women's work. Women could enjoy high labor status if they worked within a family production unit or if their labor did not interfere with their domestic responsibilities or threaten male control of a craft or trade.