This book offers an in-depth, archive-based analysis of “scientific atheism”, focused on the development of the field in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Scientific atheism was established as a Soviet import in 1963 at Jena University, with a presence in East German universities, propaganda and politics for nearly 30 years. The chapters explore the sociological work done by scientific atheists such as Olof Klohr, how they defined religion and atheism, and their role as actors of atheisation in various fields. As well as reflecting on the specific religious and political context in East Germany, the author makes comparison with other communist-ruled countries. Drawing on extensive and unique documentation, this book will be of interest to scholars of atheism and secularism, religion and politics, religious history, German history and East European studies.
Colin Boococks' railway photographs are already familiar as they have been featured in a variety of railway books and magazines. This book shows around 300 of his favorite images that illustrate the many different aspects of railway photography.The key seven chapters in this book each cover one decade from the 1940s up to the present day. Not only do they display the early improvement in his photography as he gained experience, they also bring into focus how much railways have changed over the last seventy years. Grimy steam locomotives in smoky surroundings persisted in ever-reducing pockets as more modern forms of traction spread across our railways. Working steam finally disappeared from UK main lines in 1968 and around coal mines in the mid–1980s.The later chapters benefit greatly from Colins' worldwide travels, in which he searched for more unfamiliar railways. The growth of heritage railways also features.Useful appendices add insights into Colins' experience of camera technologies and photographic techniques. These emphasize the changes that have faced him as his photography has moved from black-and-white to color, and from films and darkrooms to the computer and the digital age. Colin last used film in early 2004, having embraced digital photography with enthusiasm.
This introductory survey covers all aspects of the period when Britain was transformed into an industrial, urban society, with political power in the hands of the middle class.
Widely praised in its first edition, the second edition of The GDR was updated to cover events through the spring of 1988, examining in particular the impact of new leadership in both Bonn and Moscow and of the changing world economy on the prospects of the GDR.
"This is the first book-length study devoted to modern German "author-as-character" fiction set in the Age of Goethe. It shows for the first time in a sustained manner the powerful hold the Goethezeit continues to exercise on the imagination of many of Germany's leading writers. This inner-German dialogue across the ages provides an important corrective to the dominant critical view that contemporary German-language literature is composed primarily under the sign of both globalization and the influence of mass American culture." -- Book cover.