The book explores Oakeshott's thought on the key role human imagination plays in relation to the political. It addresses four main themes: imagination, foundational narratives, the question of political societies' identities as well as that of human living-together, to use Hannah Arendt's expression. The book's main objective is to show that Oakeshott may be rightfully understood to be a philosopher of the imagination as well as a foundationalist thinker in the Arendtian narrative constructivist tradition.
The myths of the Romans are stories not about the gods but about the Romans themselves. Writers such as Livy, Virgil and Ovid presented myths as if they were actual histories of the origins and early days of Rome.
"Tells the story of the Krupp family and its industrial empire between the early nineteenth century and the present, and analyzes its transition from a family business to one owned by a non-profit foundation. Krupp founded a small steel mill in 1811, which established the basis for one of the largest and most important companies in the world by the end of the century. Famously loyal to its highly paid workers, it rejected an exclusive focus on profit, but the company also played a central role in the armament of Nazi Germany and the firm's head was convicted as a war criminal at Nuremberg. Yet after the war Krupp managed to rebuild itself and become a symbol of Germany once again -- this time open, economically successful, and socially responsible" -- Publisher's description.
This superb book is devoted to trains past and present, all over the world. It is superbly illustrated with numerous magnificent photographs of locomotives then and now. The history of railways is comprehensively covered, from horse-drawn streetcars and George Stephenson's steam-powered 'Rocket' of 1829, through the glory days of steam, the development of diesel and electric locomotives, to the technical wonders of today's high-speed trains, such as the TGV and the Transrapid.
The Hardy Boys meets The Phantom Tollbooth, in the new century! When two adventurous cousins accidentally extend the last day of summer by freezing time, they find the secrets hidden between the unmoving seconds, minutes, and hours are not the endless fun they expected.
Legendary Figures examines revolutionary views of the past that have played a crucial role in European and American literature of the last 150 years. Clayton Koelb traces these new approaches to history through an impressive range of novels,øfrom Flaubert?s Salammb– to Christa Wolf?s Cassandra. Koelb argues that this new ?historical sense,? which arose in the mid?nineteenth century, gained eloquent expression in Flaubert?s writings. What is crucial about the new historical sense is that it views the past as essentially ?alien? and ?other.? The connection between past and present may be powerful, but it is always indirect and difficult to negotiate. As a result, the past seems exotic and unattainable, the object of nostalgia and desire. Koelb distinguishes this sense of history, with its persistent discontinuities between past and present, from the more continuous and progressive views of history of novelists like Sir Walter Scott and such philosophers as Hegel, Marx, and Luk¾cs. In their writings, history ?proceeds according to the laws of cause and effect, and each epoch can be understood as both the result of the previous one and the cause of the next.? In contrast, the modernist writers that Koelb examines?Flaubert, Pater, Mann, Broch, Wilder, Yourcenar, and Wolf?imagine a past that is ?mythic? and ?legendary? and thus a metaphor for everything distant, complicated, unattainable, and unknowable.
