Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism, the companion volume to Perry Anderson’s highly acclaimed and influential Lineages of the Absolutist State, is a sustained exercise in historical sociology to root the development of absolutism in the diverse routes taken from the slave-based societies of Ancient Greece and Rome to fully-fledged feudalism. In the course of this study Anderson vindicates and refines the explanatory power of a Marxist conception of history, whilst casting a fascinating light on Greece, Rome, the Germanic invasion, nomadic society, and the different patterns of the evolution of feudalism in Northern, Mediterranean, Eastern and Western Europe.

    In this three-volume study, illustrated with charts and maps, Hodgson traces and interprets the historical development of Islamic civilization from before the birth of Muhammad to the middle of the twentieth century. This work grew out of the famous course on Islamic civilization that Hodgson created and taught for many years at the University of Chicago."This is a nonpareil work, not only because of its command of its subject but also because it demonstrates how, ideally, history should be written."—The New Yorker Volume 1, The Classical Age of Islam, analyzes the world before Islam, Muhammad's challenge, and the early Muslim state between 625 and 692. Hodgson then discusses the classical civilization of the High Caliphate. The volume also contains a general introduction to the complete work and a foreword by Reuben Smith, who, as Hodgson's colleague and friend, finished the Venture of Islam after the author's death and saw it through to publication.

    Noted Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci interviews well-known political figures including Henry Kissenger, Nguyen Van Thieu, Golda Meir, Yasser Arafat, and others.

    In this book, William Barclay examines many of the key words of the Greek New Testament, explaining what these words meant to the writers of the New Testament and to those who read an heard their message for the first time.The William Barclay Library is a collection of books addressing the great issues of the Christian faith. As one of the world's most widely read interpreters of the Bible and its meaning, William Barclay devoted his life to helping people become more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

    Thus by chance they discovered the fabled country reported by Marco Polo. In 1549 St Francis Xavier started a Jesuit mission in Japan. Christianity flourished; by the end of the "Christian Century" there were some 300,000 converts. Then the Shoguns rose to absolute power, the missionaries were expelled and Christians persecuted. Two centuries later, when Commodore Perry forced Japan to open its ports, thousands of Christians declared themselves. This classic study of a remarkable but little-known period of Japanese history was first published in 1951. This edition is illustrated with the works of art produced in that fruitful century of cultural cross-fertilisation.

    It is a tale vividly told by renowned archaeology author, Brian Fagan, with characters that include the ancient historian Herodotus; Theban tomb robbers; obelisk-stealing Romans; Coptic Christians determined to erase the heretical past; mummy traders; leisured antiquarians; major European museums; Giovanni Belzoni, a circus strongman who removed more antiquities than Napoleon's armies; shrewd consuls and ruthless pashas; and archaeologists such Sir Flinders Petrie who changed the course of Egyptology. This is the first thoroughly revised edition of The Rape of the Nile - Fagan's classic account of the cavalcade of archaeologists, thieves, and sightseers who have flocked to the Nile Valley since ancient times. Featured in this edition are new accounts of stunning recent discoveries, including the Royal Tombs of Tanis, the Valley of Golden Mummies at Bahariya, the Tomb of the Sons of Ramses, and the sunken city of Alexandria (whose lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). Fagan concludes with a clear-eyed assessment of the impact of modern mass tourism on archaeological sites and artifacts.

    It was the first war to be fought with modern weapons.The Japanese had fought the Chinese at sea in 1894 and had gained a foothold in Manchuria by taking control of Port Authur. In 1895, however, Japan was forced to abandon its claims by the Russian fleet's presence in the Straits of Tsushima. Tsar Nicholas had obtained a window to the East for his empire and Japan had been humiliated. Tensions between the two countries would rise inexorably over the next decade.Around the world, no one doubted that little Japan would be no match for the mighty armies of Tsar Nicholas II. Yet Russia was in an advanced state of decay, the government corrupt and its troops inept and demoralized. Japan, meanwhile, was emerging from centuries of feudal isolation and becoming an industrial power, led by zealous nationalist warlords keen to lead the Orient to victory over the oppressive West. From the opening surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Authur in 1904, the Japanese out-fought and out-thought the Russians.This is a definitive account of one of the pivotal conflicts of the twentieth century whose impact was felt around the world.

    

    Traces milestones in history from the plays of Shakespeare in 1601 to the westernization of Russia under Peter the Great in 1698.

    The volume as a whole covers the subjects of alchemy, early chemistry, and chemical technology (which includes military invention, especially gunpowder and rockets; paper and printing; textiles; mining and metallurgy; the salt industry; and ceramics).

    

    The population was split down the middle. While many peers and gentry took the side of the King, others equally supported the leaders of Parliament, so families and friends were painfully divided in their loyalties. The final defeat, trial and execution of King Charles I shock the monarchies throughout Europe but left them deeply impressed by the victories of Oliver Cromwell and by his seizure of power as Lord Protector.

    For thousands of years, they have played a fundamental role in the healing arts, right up to the present day. From the beginning, they were linked to the material of religion, were key factors in the cultural life of many societies, and became intertwined with magic. They remain today part of both the art and science of medicine. Medicinal Plants and Their History recounts the long and fascinating story of plants and herbal remedies — the cultural traditions that used them, the books and treatises written about them, the tangential events that influenced them or were influenced by them.From the ancient Chinese treatment for hay fever (recently proved to be scientifically sound) to today’s sophisticated extraction of essential plant oils, the book details how various civilizations have used and misused plant remedies. Common practices of Egyptian, Indian, Hebraic, Greek, and Roman times are covered; as are those of the early Christian era, the Middle Ages, and sixteenth-, seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century England. Coming into the twentieth century, there is a full description of modern cultivation of medicinal plants and the contemporary drug trade. The case of plants and herbs in magic and religion, the contributions of famous herbalists and physicians (notably Hippocrates, Pliny, Dioscorides, Sydenham), famous English and European herbals, medical organization and education in the Middle Ages, and the first British pharmacopoeia, are some of the related events described.One of the most interesting and informative chapters is the one detailing the medicinal properties of 40 major orders of British wild plants — over 150 plants in all. Whether the problem was fever, whooping cough, kidney trouble, or ague, there was a remedy for it. And, because many traditional remedies have a basis in scientific fact, you will discover which are still being used today.

    The author's coverage of obsolete notations — and what we can learn from them — is as comprehensive as those which have survived and still enjoy favor. Originally published in 1929 in a two-volume edition, this monumental work is presented here in one volume.