Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2016 -

Seventy years ago, a distinguished British philosopher, Robin Collingwood, wrote that all history is thought about past thought. This work suggests that he was right, or at least was right about intellectual history. In 29 chapters, leading researchers address the development over time of their fields of specialization, which include such subbranches of intellectual history as the history of law, political theory, science, economics, aesthetics, and natural rights doctrine. At the same time, they consider current scholarly debates in these subfields. One might think that all of this would make for arduous reading but, in fact, this is an exceptionally stimulating book. Each chapter discusses complex matters with lucidity with no loss in rigor, and each raises questions with great intrinsic interest. What were the ways in which the Enlightenment, so often thought of as secular, was indebted to earlier religious thought? Why were British historians in the early 20th century so drawn to the tenets of German historicism? What debt does modern philosophy owe to a school of thought--skepticism--that has its origins in classical antiquity? An outstanding work.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

World history is about connections in space and time. Writing ancient world history is particularly difficult, since it requires the integration of archaeological and textual sources published in multiple languages. The theme of this masterful example of ancient world history, written on a grand scale by distinguished archaeologist and historian Cunliffe (emer., Oxford), is indicated by its subtitle. In 12 lucidly written and beautifully illustrated chapters spanning over 13,000 years of history, the author traces the emergence of Eurasia as a global interaction zone made possible by exploitation of the steppe corridor in the North and the Indian Ocean in the South. Two features stand out. First are the book's excellent illustrations, in which the abundant drawings, maps, and images really do illuminate the text. The second is the extensive "Guide to Further Reading," which actually does guide readers to works that will enable them to pursue any of the work's major themes that might interest them. An outstanding and, amazingly, a reasonably priced work that belongs in all college and university libraries.Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.

Tudda (history, George Washington Univ.) has produced a book destined to become the benchmark work on the Cold War-era summits. Because of the book's excellent format, it is one of those rare historical works that will be accessible to beginning students, yet also of interest to experts in the field. Tudda covers all of the summits between 1945 and 1991 (Potsdam, Bandung, Glassboro, Beijing, Vienna, and Malta). Each chapter begins by setting the historical stage for the summit, enabling novices to better understand the issues and era in which the summit took place. Taken as a whole, these background pages form a history of cold war issues and relations between the Soviet Union and US, almost constituting a book within the book. Following the background information, Tudda provides detailed descriptions of the summit discussions between US presidents and Soviet premiers or other leaders. In addition to the US-Soviet summits, there are detailed descriptions of the Bandung Summit, which involved Asian and African leaders, as well as the Beijing Summit meetings that involved President Nixon and Mao Zedong. Tudda notes throughout the importance of summitry during the nuclear age, when building relationships between US and Soviet leaders helped reduce the danger of nuclear war.Summing Up: Essential. All academic levels/libraries.

Since the historical origins of the present have always been at the core of Marxist concerns, this up-to-date, erudite, and thoughtful collection of essays on contemporary Marxist historiography will be invaluable not only to students of historiography and intellectual history, but also to anyone who wants to investigate the globalization of Marxism. There are essays on the globe's major regions as well as on major nations, including Russia, China, India, Japan, Turkey, and Brazil. Each essay, written by an expert, analyzes significant trends and introduces influential authors and their texts while relating shifts in historiography to contemporary history, for thinking about history cannot be divorced from history as experienced. Each essay provides excellent and quite extensive bibliographies, as well as suggestions for further reading to guide students into deeper research. As a whole, this book shows how Marxism has been transformed--broadened but also diluted as it continues to challenge capitalism and its defenders. The two editors, major historiographers themselves, are to be congratulated on a very useful volume.Summing Up: Essential. Most levels/libraries.

In his general introduction, Evan Mawdsley argues that because WW II was the "most complex event" of the century, an international team of scholars was necessary to provide detailed analysis of subjects as diverse as political economy and humanitarian law. The result is three volumes with 81 contributors and 75 essays (plus editors' introductions), making theThe Cambridge History an impressive set in size and scope. Though the majority of authors follow a transnational perspective and methodology, the first set of essays focuses on the strategic goals of the major belligerents. Analyzing strategies from a national perspective helps restore some oft-neglected regions, such as China, to an important role in the war. Many contributors focus on traditional topics, such as diplomacy, but the collection also addresses questions of ideology from a transnational perspective. Silvio Pons ("The Soviet Union and the International Left"), for instance, analyzes how the Nazi-Soviet Pact almost destroyed international communist solidarity, only to have Operation Barbarossa enhance Stalin's cult of personality.

Crusade studies are increasingly popular, and this multidisciplinary survey of recent and current research is a very authoritative collection of essays by well-known and emerging scholars that will play a significant role in the direction of future crusade research. This impressive tome is divided into eight sections by topic; each part contains several of the 37 chapters, each by a different author and with extensive footnotes and references at the end of the chapters. This very scholarly volume fulfills its goal of being an overview of the dynamic and vibrant scholarship that is determining the central issues that should be and/or are already attracting new interest and research. The essays cover an extensive range of topics, including the role of the papacy and church, the involvement of women, mercenaries, the military-religious orders, pragmatic cross-religious alliances and coexistence, cultural and religious exchanges, religious pilgrimages and missionary activities, the practices of Italian merchants, the role of Byzantium, the Latin kingdoms in the East, and new archaeological evidence. All of these traditional and new avenues of research provide an enhanced view of the world of the crusaders. This volume will serve as the starting point for all future crusade research for years to come. Especially for serious scholars and libraries with major crusade collections.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.