Conquest And Union

The British Isles is a multi-national arena, but its history has traditionally been studied from a distinctively English -- often, indeed, London -- perspective. Now, however, the interweaving of the distinct but mutually-dependent histories of the four nations is at the heart of some of the liveliest historical research today. In this major contribution to that research, eleven leading scholars consider key aspects of the internal relations of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales in the early modern period, and the problems of accommodating different -- and resistant -- cultures to a single centralizing polity. The contributors are: Sarah Barber; Toby Barnard; Ciaran Brady; Keith M. Brown; Jane Dawson; Steven G. Ellis; David Hayton; Philip Jenkins; Alan Macinnes; Michael Mac Craith; and John Morrill.

“A lovely, fascinating book, which brings science to life.” —Alan Lightman Combining science, history, and adventure, Tom Shachtman “holds the reader’s attention with the skill of a novelist” as he chronicles the story of humans’ four-centuries-long quest to master the secrets of cold (Scientific American). “A disarming portrait of an exquisite, ferocious, world-ending extreme,” Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold demonstrates how temperature science produced astonishing scientific insights and applications that have revolutionized civilization (Kirkus Reviews). It also illustrates how scientific advancement, fueled by fortuitous discoveries and the efforts of determined individuals, has allowed people to adapt to—and change—the environments in which they live and work, shaping man’s very understanding of, and relationship, with the world. This “truly wonderful book” was adapted into an acclaimed documentary underwritten by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, directed by British Emmy Award winner David Dugan, and aired on the BBC and PBS’s Nova in 2008 (Library Journal). “An absorbing account to chill out with.” —Booklist

This highly-anticipated companion volume to the best-selling Legacy of Stone: Saskatchewan's Stone Buildings combines brilliant colour images of the buildings people worship in with the fascinating stories of those places and people. Legacy of Worship profiles over 60 rural churches, representing 15 spiritual denominations. The writer/photographer team that brought you the award-winning Legacy of Stone has scoured the province for sacred places that illustrate the finest of Saskatchewan’s art and design. Rural religious gathering places often display the work of folk artists and craftspeople, as well as that of professional artists and architects; they are the last repository of primitive art and such crafts as weaving, metal-smithing, needlework and furniture making. This book presents sacred places that illustrate how beauty in any form inspires and nurtures the soul. They demonstrate the universal, eternal need for art and beauty, and the importance of valuing and protecting the religious heritage so important to our identity and our proud place in Canada.

This book is about a region on the fringes of empire, which neither Tsarist Russia, nor the Soviet Union, nor in fact the Russian Federation, ever really managed to control. Starting with the nineteenth century, it analyses the state's various strategies to establish its rule over populations highly resilient to change imposed from outside, who frequently resorted to arms to resist interference in their religious practices and beliefs, traditional customs, and ways of life. Jeronim Perovic offers a major contribution to our knowledge of the early Soviet era, a crucial yet overlooked period in this region's troubled history. During the 1920s and 1930s, the various peoples of this predominantly Muslim region came into contact for the first time with a modernising state, demanding not only unconditional loyalty but active participation in the project of 'socialist transformation'. Drawing on unpublished documents from Russian archives, Perovi? investigates the changes wrought by Russian policy and explains why, from Moscow's perspective, these modernization attempts failed, ultimately prompting the Stalinist leadership to forcefully exile the Chechens and other North Caucasians to Central Asia in 1943-4.

A look at the twentieth century examines the factors and events that have sent millions to their deaths, discussing the philosophies that have caused so much conflict, as well as what the future may hold for the human race.

This book, first published in 1970, is an important study of Russia’s security services from their earliest years to the mid-twentieth century. Ronald Hingley demonstrates how the secret police acted, both under the Tsars and under Soviet rule, as a key instrument of control exercised over all fields of Russian life by an outstandingly authoritarian state. He analyses the Tsarist Third Section and Okhrana and their role in countering Russian revolutionary groups, and examines the Soviet agencies as they assumed the roles of policeman, judge and executioner. This masterly evaluation of Russian and Soviet secret police makes extensive use of hard-to-find Russian documentary sources, and is the first such research that studies Russian political security (Muscovite, Imperial and Soviet) as a whole.

Written by a Russian prince who renounced his title, this work promotes an anarchist market economy — a system of autonomous cooperative collectives. A century after its initial publication, it remains fresh and relevant.