Author: Azar Gat File Type: pdf Why do people go to war? Is it rooted in human nature or is it a late cultural invention? How does war relate to the other fundamental developments in the history of human civilization? And what of war today--is it a declining phenomenon or simply changing its shape? In this sweeping study of war and civilization, Azar Gat sets out to find definitive answers to these questions in an attempt to unravel the riddle of war throughout human history, from the early hunter-gatherers right through to the unconventional terrorism of the twenty-first century. In the process, the book generates an astonishing wealth of original and fascinating insights on all major aspects of humankinds remarkable journey through the ages, engaging a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology and evolutionary psychology to sociology and political science. Written with remarkable verve and clarity and wholly free from jargon, it will be of interest to anyone who has ever pondered the puzzle of war. **Review War in Human Civilization is indeed the ambitious, sweeping book that the author set out to write. Both its scope and scale are impressive as is the wide range of sources and disciplines whose theories and methods are brought to bear on the riddle of war.... The coverage and the deft weaving together of so many central theories on human behavior make this a book worth examining.--Michael S. Neilberg, Journal of Social History A work of extraordinary scope and formidable erudition.... Gat definitively unravels the riddle of civilization and war.--Professor Robert J. Lieber, Georgetown University Gats book is a rich undertaking definitely well worth reading and pondering.--William R. Thompson, The International History Review UNEDITED UK REVIEW An immensely ambitious work covering not only history but archaeology, anthropology, ethnography, demography and economics, to name but a few... its weight of learning is borne aloft by the authors enthusiasm for his subject and takes his readers with it. If only there were more scholars like this!--Michael Howard, TLS Books of the Year UNEDITED UK REVIEW Theres any amount of fascinating insight to be found in this big and enormously ambitious interdisciplinary study.--The Scotsman UNEDITED UK REVIEW A book of extraordinary ambition, erudition and range... Every student of war will be obliged to engage with this remarkable piece of scholarship.--Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Kings College, London A work of extraordinary scope and formidable erudition.... Gat definitively unravels the riddle of civilization and war.--Professor Robert J. Lieber, Georgetown University UNEDITED UK REVIEW A towering and triumphant achievement... acute, scholarly, and wide-ranging it is certainly one of the most important works on the subject written since 1945. Gat is at the top of his brilliant form, linking a variety of disciplines in a rich and comprehensive study of this most pertinent of issues.--Professor Richard Holmes The scope and sweep of Gats work is certainly unmatched in modern world history writings...Gats work will be a springboard for debate, refutation, support and development for some time to come. --World History Bulletin About the Author Azar Gat is Ezer Weitzman Professor of National Security in the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University. He has published widely in the field of military strategy and thought, including A History of Military Thought From the Enlightenment to the Cold War.

Author: Samuel Johnson File Type: epub In his moving essay, Samuel Johnson offers wise words on confronting grief at the loss of a loved one. The other pieces here, ranging from art to marriage to morality, demonstrate the brilliance, perception and wit that made Johnson the leading man of letters of his day, and one of the finest essayists in the English language.Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.**About the Author Samuel Johnson (1709-84) was an English poet, novelist, critic, lexicographer, biographer, and editor. It was however his essays that made him a dominant figure in 18th century English literary life.

Author: Lisa Sarti File Type: pdf This collection draws on cutting-edge work that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries to offer new perspectives on the importance of visuality and the imagination in the work of Luigi Pirandello, the great Italian modernist. The volume re-examines traditional critical notions central to the study of Pirandello by focusing on the importance of the visual imagination in his poetics and aesthetics, an area of multimedia investigation which has not yet received ample attention in English-language books. Putting scholarship on Pirandello in conversation with new work on the multimedia dimensions of modernism, the volume examines how Pirandello worked across and was adapted through multiple media. It also brings Pirandello into a cross-disciplinary dialogue with new approaches to Italian cultural studies to show how his work remains relevant to scholarly conversations across the field. The essays in this collection highlight the ways in which Pirandello is engaged not only in literature and theatre but also in the visual arts, film, and music. At the same time, they emphasize the ways in which this multimedia creativity enables Pirandello to pursue complex philosophical thoughts, and how scholars interpretation of his works can provide new insights into problems facing us today. Crossing from aesthetics and a study of modernist notions of creative imagination into studies of multimedia works and adaptations, the volume argues that Pirandello should be understood as a thinker in images whose legacy can be felt across the arts and into the realm of 21st-century theories of literary cognition.

Author: Eric Hobsbawm File Type: pdf Back in print, groundbreaking essays from the best known living historian in the world (The Times, London). One of the few genuinely great historians of our century according to the New Republic, Eric Hobsbawm has produced a canon of landmark booksincluding The Age of Capital, The Age of Revolution, Bandits, and The Age of Extremesthat has both set the standard for radical scholarship and influenced historical thinking across the political spectrum. Now back in print after thirty years, Revolutionaries is vintage Hobsbawm, written masterfully amid one of the centurys most intense periods of political and social upheaval, putting those events in historical context. Few observers were as astute as Hobsbawm at probing, criticizing, and clarifying radical movements, whether in Beijing or Berkeley. Ranging from historical investigations into communism to contemporary appraisals of revolutionary movements and meditations on Marxism, Hobsbawms commentaries are essential guides to ideas and people that changed the face of the twentieth century. Hobsbawms essays retain a freshness that speaks both to his brilliance as a writer and scholar, as well as to the perennial importance of his subjects. At a time when the very concept of revolution has been largely discredited, these essays remind us of the enduring importance of radical investigations intoand solutions tosocietys persistent inequalities and injustices.ReviewAn unusually rewarding book almost every item bears witness to Professor Hobsbawms sharp intelligence and felicitous style. -- Times Literary SupplementFor sheer intelligence, Hobsbawm has no superior in the historical profession. -- The GuardianAbout the AuthorLong considered one of the foremost historians of the twentieth century, Eric Hobsbawm most recently taught at the New School University in New York. His most recent books include Bandits and On the Edge of the New Century (both from The New Press), and Age of Extremes.