Pleasure and Leisure in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age
Pleasure and Leisure in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age

Author: Albrecht Classen

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2019-08-05

Total Pages: 766

ISBN-13: 3110623072

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Jan Huizinga and Roger Caillois have already taught us to realize how important games and play have been for pre-modern civilization. Recent research has begun to acknowledge the fundamental importance of these aspects in cultural, religious, philosophical, and literary terms. This volume expands on the traditional approach still very much focused on the materiality of game (toys, cards, dice, falcons, dolls, etc.) and acknowledges that game constituted also a form of coming to terms with human existence in an unstable and volatile world determined by universal randomness and fortune. Whether considering blessings or horse fighting, falconry or card games, playing with dice or dolls, we can gain a much deeper understanding of medieval and early modern society when we consider how people pursued pleasure and how they structured their leisure time. The contributions examine a wide gamut of approaches to pleasure, considering health issues, eroticism, tournaments, playing music, reading and listening, drinking alcohol, gambling and throwing dice. This large issue was also relevant, of course, in non-Christian societies, and constitutes a critical concern both for the past and the present because we are all homines ludentes.

A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization
A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization

Author: John Perlin

Publisher: The Countryman Press

Published: 2005-09-20

Total Pages: 644

ISBN-13: 1581579152

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A contemporary view of the effects of wood, as used for building and fuel, and of deforestation on the development of civilization. Until the ascendancy of fossil fuels, wood has been the principal fuel and building material from the dawn of civilization. Its abundance or scarcity greatly shaped, as A Forest Journey ably relates, the culture, demographics, economy, internal and external politics, and technology of successive societies over the millennia. The book's comprehensive coverage of the major role forests have played in human life--told with grace, fluency, imagination, and humor—gained it recognition as a Harvard Classic in Science and World History and as one of Harvard's "One-Hundred Great Books." Others receiving the honor include such luminaries as Stephen Jay Gould and E. O. Wilson. This new paperback edition will add a prologue and an epilogue to reflect the current situation in which forests have become imperative for humanity's survival.

“Gypsies” in European Literature and Culture
“Gypsies” in European Literature and Culture

Author: V. Glajar

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2008-04-28

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 023061163X

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This book traces representations of "Gypsies" that have become prevalent in the European imagination and culture and influenced the perceptions of Roma in Eastern and Western European societies.

Philanthropy
Philanthropy

Author: Paul Vallely

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-09-17

Total Pages: 768

ISBN-13: 1472920147

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The super-rich are silently and secretly shaping our world. In this groundbreaking exploration of historical and contemporary philanthropy, bestselling author Paul Vallely reveals how this far-reaching change came about. Vivid with anecdote and scholarly insight, this magisterial survey – from the ancient Greeks to today's high-tech geeks – provides an original take on the history of philanthropy. It shows how giving has, variously, been a matter of honour, altruism, religious injunction, political control, moral activism, enlightened self-interest, public good, personal fulfilment and plutocratic manipulation. Its narrative moves from the Greek man of honour and Roman patron, via the Jewish prophet and Christian scholastic – through the Elizabethan machiavel, Puritan proto-capitalist, Enlightenment activist and Victorian moralist – to the robber-baron philanthropist, the welfare socialist, the celebrity activist and today's wealthy mega-giver. In the process it discovers that philanthropy lost an essential element as it entered the modern era. The book then embarks on a journey to determine where today's philanthropists come closest to recovering that missing dimension. Philanthropy explores the successes and failures of philanthrocapitalism, examines its claims and contradictions, and asks tough questions of top philanthropists and leading thinkers – among them Richard Branson, Eliza Manningham-Buller, Jonathan Ruffer, David Sainsbury, John Studzinski, Bob Geldof, Naser Haghamed, Lenny Henry, Jonathan Sacks, Rowan Williams, Ngaire Woods, and the presidents of the Rockefeller and Soros foundations, Rajiv Shah and Patrick Gaspard. In extended conversations they explore the relationship between philanthropy and family, faith, society, art, politics, and the creation and distribution of wealth. Highly engaging and meticulously researched, Paul Vallely's authoritative account of philanthropy then and now critiques the excessive utilitarianism of much modern philanthrocapitalism and points to how philanthropy can rediscover its soul.

A History of Macroeconomic Policy in the United States
A History of Macroeconomic Policy in the United States

Author: John H. Wood

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-01-13

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1135970157

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Keynes asked whether his ‘visionary’ ideas would overcome the interests opposed to change. However, an examination of the histories of monetary and fiscal policies suggests that this is a false distinction. The interests and ideas associated with government policies are seldom opposed. The suspicion that the latter more often follows than confronts the former is supported by the experiences documented in this book. Professor Wood’s new title examines the controlling influences that drive macroeconomic policies in the United States. The book addresses the history of the interests, ideas, and practices of monetary and fiscal policies in the U.S., although it also examines macro-policies in other countries, particularly the UK. Professor Wood argues that economic policies in the United States have been relatively predictable and stable historically, through a detailed examination of conflicts over taxes and monetary policy such as the whiskey rebellion, Magna Carta, the Stamp Act, the Banks of the U.S., and the Federal Reserve. Issues covered also include property, economists’ theories of stabilization, taxes, deficits, and monetary policy.

Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History
Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History

Author: Andrew Whitmore Robertson

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 3885

ISBN-13: 0872893200

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Annotation st1\: · {behavior:url(£ieooui) } Unparalleled coverage of U.S. political development through a unique chronological frameworkEncyclopedia of U.S. Political History explores the events, policies, activities, institutions, groups, people, and movements that have created and shaped political life in the United States. With contributions from scholars in the fields of history and political science, this seven-volume set provides students, researchers, and scholars the opportunity to examine the political evolution of the United States from the 1500s to the present day. With greater coverage than any other resource, the Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History identifies and illuminates patterns and interrelations that will expand the reader & BAD:rsquo;s understanding of American political institutions, culture, behavior, and change. Focusing on both government and history, the Encyclopedia brings exceptional breadth and depth to the topic with more than 100 essays for each of the critical time periods covered. With each volume covering one of seven time periods that correspond to key eras in American history, the essays and articles in this authoritative encyclopedia focus on thefollowing themes of political history:The three branches of governmentElections and political partiesLegal and constitutional historiesPolitical movements and philosophies, and key political figuresEconomicsMilitary politicsInternational relations, treaties, and alliancesRegional historiesKey FeaturesOrganized chronologically by political erasReader & BAD:rsquo;s guide for easy-topic searching across volumesMaps, photographs, and tables enhance the textSigned entries by a stellar group of contributorsVOLUME 1Colonial Beginnings through Revolution1500 & BAD:ndash;1783Volume Editor: Andrew Robertson, Herbert H. Lehman CollegeThe colonial period witnessed the transformation of thirteen distinct colonies into an independent federated republic. This volume discusses the diversity of the colonial political experience & BAD:mdash;a diversity that modern scholars have found defies easy synthesis & BAD:mdash;as well as the long-term conflicts, policies, and events that led to revolution, and the ideas underlying independence. VOLUME 2The Early Republic1784 & BAD:ndash;1840Volume Editor: Michael A. Morrison, Purdue UniversityNo period in the history of the United States was more critical to the foundation and shaping of American politics than the early American republic. This volume discusses the era of Confederation, the shaping of the U.S. Constitution, and the development of the party system.