'Probably the best "buy" among recent works for one who comes to medieval history for the first time.' History (about the second edition) ... Consisting of two parts, this book successfully conveys the importance of the distant past in understanding our modern world. The first part; The Dark Ages, examines the impact of the Barbarian invasions on Constantine's Christianized empire, and the gradual emergence, by the end of the ninth century, of a new social, economic and political order. There are important chapters on the on the Church and the Papacy, the coming of Islam, and the rise and fall of the Frankish Empire. The second part; The High Middle Ages, takes the reader from the Saxon Empire through to an examination of the European economy in the mid-thirteenth century. Important topics covered in this period include the spread of monasticism, the reform of the Papacy, the crusades, and feudal monarchy.   This has been the best introductory book in medieval history for fifty years, and still is.  

In this concise and balanced survey of heresy and inquisition in the Middle Ages, Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane explores the increasingly bitter encounters... between piety, reform, dissent, and the institutional Church between 1100 and 1500. Although the loaded terms of 'heresy' and 'orthodoxy' employed by ecclesiastical officials suggest a clear division between right and wrong, that division was in fact vigorously contested by medieval people at all levels of society. Deane investigates key issues that sparked confrontations between Christians, including access to scripture, apostolic models of poverty and preaching, the Eucharist and sacramental power, and clerical corruption and wealth. She traces the means by which Church elites developed an increasingly complex set of inquisitorial procedures and resources to identify, label, and repress 'heresy,' examines the various regional eruptions of such confrontations across medieval Europe, and considers the judicial processes that brought many to the stake. The book ranges from the 'Good Christians' of Languedoc and Lombardy and the pan-European 'Poor,' to Spiritual Franciscans, lay religious women, anticlerical and vernacular movements in England and Bohemia, mysticism, magical practices, and witchcraft. Throughout, Deane considers how the new inquisitorial bureaucracies not only fueled anxiety over heresy, but actually generated fictional 'heresies' through their own texts and techniques. Incorporating recent research and debates in the field, her analysis brings to life a compelling issue that profoundly influenced the medieval world.

This is an introduction to the history of the Muslim East from the rise of Islam to the Mongol conquests. It explains and indicates the main trends of... Islamic historical evolution during the Middle Ages, and will help the non-Orientalist to understand something of the relationship between Islam and Christendom in those centuries.

A comprehensive narrative history which should prove useful to teachers, students, and general readers in European history. It gives primacy to... political events without neglecting institutional, social, and cultural matters. Recommended in Laura Berquist Medieval English amp Spanish Hist/Geog/Lit Syllabus, Laura Berquist Medieval European Hist/Geog/Lit Syllabus Author: Joesph F. O Callaghan Grades: 9 and up Number of Pages: 728 Paperback Publisher: Cornell University ISBN 0-8014-9264-5

This important book on economic development in the modern Middle East examines, for the first time, the separate national economies of the Arab states,... including the Gulf, Israel, and Turkey, from 1918 to the present. It describes the main trends within each economy based on the best available statistical data, and answers larger questions concerning the long-term growth of the countries, first in the colonial period, then in the periods characterized by planning and development, followed by the first steps toward liberalization and structural adjustment. It evaluates government policy in promoting the protection of imports and in advancing market economies. Policies employed by the oil-producing states to build new institutional structures based on near unlimited supplies of capital and labor are also examined. The Middle East economies are placed in their proper international context, and questions of colonialism and labor migration are discussed. The authors evaluate where the Middle Eastern economies are now, and speculate about how they may develop in the future.

A History of Modern Africa recounts the full breadth of historical events that have shaped the last two centuries of the African continent.Stresses the... diversity of Africa’s rich variety of people, societies, cultures and religious beliefsProvides a thought-provoking and illuminating journey through the slave trade and colonization to the rise of Islam, struggles for independence, and beyondPuts the colonial era into proper perspective in relation to events that occurred before it and sinceWide-ranging in scope, it provides a framework for understanding such events as the genocidal horrors of Rwanda and the recent troubles in Zimbabwe and Kenya

Updated and revised to emphasise long-term perspectives on current issues facing the continent, the new 2nd Edition of A History of Modern Africa... recounts the full breadth of Africa's political, economic, and social history over the past two centuries.Adopts a long-term approach to current issues, stressing the importance of nineteenth-century and deeper indigenous dynamics in explaining Africa's later twentieth-century challengesPlaces a greater focus on African agency, especially during the colonial encounterIncludes more in-depth coverage of non-Anglophone AfricaOffers expanded coverage of the post-colonial era to take account of recent developments, including the conflict in Darfur and the political unrest of 2011 in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya

This engaging volume tells the story of how the great political visions and idealisms of Victorian Britain came to be defeated by a culture of... consumerism, celebrity, and self-gratification. It explains how in each decade, political leaders found themselves confounded by the British people, who always turned out to be harder to herd than predicted. Historically Britain has been a country on the edge—first of invasion, then of bankruptcy, then on the vulnerable front line of the Cold War, and later in the forefront of the great opening up of capital and migration. This history follows all the political and economic stories of the modern era as well as with such social trends as comedy, cars, the war against homosexuals, oil-men and punks, Margaret Thatcher’s wonderful good luck, political lies, and the true heroes of British theater.

A History of Modern Britain: 1714 to the Present presents a lively introduction to the history of the modern British Isles from the Hanoverian... succession to the present day. Develops themes of tradition and change, the role of the four nations of the British Isles, and Britain in a world contextComplements the narrative with descriptions of fascinating personalities from Britain's past, from the arsonist James Aitken and the female adventurer Jane Digby, to the celebrity footballer George BestIncludes features to help orientate the reader: illustrations, maps, royal family genealogies, chronology, and glossary; online supplements include preliminary chapter from 1688An accompanying website containing additional support and materials for lecturers and students is available at www.wiley.com/go/wasson

This engaging history covers modern computing from the development of the first electronic digital computer through the dot-com crash. The author... concentrates on five key moments of transition: the transformation of the computer in the late 1940s from a specialized scientific instrument to a commercial product; the emergence of small systems in the late 1960s; the beginning of personal computing in the 1970s; the spread of networking after 1985; and, in a chapter written for this edition, the period 1995-2001. The new material focuses on the Microsoft antitrust suit, the rise and fall of the dot-coms, and the advent of open source software, particularly Linux.Within the chronological narrative, the book traces several overlapping threads: the evolution of the computer's internal design; the effect of economic trends and the Cold War; the long-term role of IBM as a player and as a target for upstart entrepreneurs; the growth of software from a hidden element to a major character in the story of computing; and the recurring issue of the place of information and computing in a democratic society. The focus is on the United States (though Europe and Japan enter the story at crucial points), on computing per se rather than on applications such as artificial intelligence, and on systems that were sold commercially and installed in quantities.

A classic in its field, loved by instructors and students for its narrative flair, humor, authority, and comprehensive coverage. More than 100,000... copies sold!Available in both one-volume and two-volume paperback editions, A History of Modern Europe presents a panoramic survey of modern Europe from the Renaissance to the present day. A single author lends a unified approach and consistent style throughout, with an emphasis on the connections of events and people over time. The Third Edition, like the two before it, is authoritative and up-to-date. New to the Third Edition is the theme of empire. From the imperial rivalries between France and Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through the rise and fall of the Ottoman Turkish empire, and on into the imperial history of the twentieth century—decolonization, the spread of the Soviet empire, and the imperial power of the United States—the theme of empire helps students find commonalities among the events of European history.

A classic in its field, loved by instructors and students for its narrative flair, humor, authority, and comprehensive coverage. More than 100,000... copies sold!Available in both one-volume and two-volume paperback editions, A History of Modern Europe presents a panoramic survey of modern Europe from the Renaissance to the present day. A single author lends a unified approach and consistent style throughout, with an emphasis on the connections of events and people over time. The Third Edition, like the two before it, is authoritative and up-to-date. New to the Third Edition is the theme of empire. From the imperial rivalries between France and Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through the rise and fall of the Ottoman Turkish empire, and on into the imperial history of the twentieth century—decolonization, the spread of the Soviet empire, and the imperial power of the United States—the theme of empire helps students find commonalities among the events of European history.

A classic in its field, loved by instructors and students for its narrative flair, humor, authority, and comprehensive coverage. More than 100,000... copies sold!Available in both one-volume and two-volume paperback editions, A History of Modern Europe presents a panoramic survey of modern Europe from the Renaissance to the present day. A single author lends a unified approach and consistent style throughout, with an emphasis on the connections of events and people over time. The Third Edition, like the two before it, is authoritative and up-to-date. New to the Third Edition is the theme of empire. From the imperial rivalries between France and Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through the rise and fall of the Ottoman Turkish empire, and on into the imperial history of the twentieth century—decolonization, the spread of the Soviet empire, and the imperial power of the United States—the theme of empire helps students find commonalities among the events of European history.

History of Modern Francesurveys the history of France, from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. The book attempts to present scholarly... controversies in an even-handed way and to reflect the best of contemporary scholarship in French history. Organized chronologically, the book presents an overview of the dramatic events that have punctuated French history, from the French Revolution through the upheavals of the nineteenth century and the world wars of the twentieth, down to France’s current role in the European Community. For the study of modern French history.