Civil Society in British History: Ideas, Identities, Institutions
This book explores the many different strands in the language of civil society from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Through a series of case-studies it investigates the applicability of the term to a wide range of historical settings. These include 'state interference', voluntary associations, economic decision-making, social and economic planning, the 'bourgeois public sphere', civil society in wartime, the 'inclusion' and 'exclusion' of women, and relations between the state, the voluntary sector, and individual citizens. The contributors suggest that the sharp distinction between civil society and the state, common in much continental thought, was of only limited application in a British context. They show how past understandings of the term were often very different from (even in some respects the exact opposite of) those held today, arguing that it makes more sense to understand civil society as a phenomenon that varies between differenc cultures and periods, rather than a universally applicable set of principles and procedures.
Added by: RubbySun | Karma: 47.85 | Fiction literature | 6 September 2007
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Londonistan
T
he suicide bombings carried out in London in 2005 by British Muslims revealed an enormous fifth column of Islamist terrorists and their sympathizers. Under the noses of British intelligence, London has become the European hub for the promotion, recruitment and financing of Islamic terror and extremism.
The Restoration of 1660 is often quoted as the birth date of our modern British Army. While this may be true as far as continuity of unit identity is concerned, the evidence of history shows that the creation of an efficient military machine, and its proving on the battlefield, predates the Restoration by 15 years. It was on the battlefields of the Civil War that the foundations of the British professional army were laid. Here, supported by a wide variety of photographs and eight full colour plates, Stuart Asquith details the history, organisation, weapons and equipment of the New Model Army.
In this assessment of British imperialism, the underlying social, economic and political forces that facilitated expansion during the key period of 1870-1914 are examined. The book emphasizes that the British Empire was first and foremost established by predatory methods to fulfil the financial goals of imperial power without regard to the welfare of indigenous people. This short volume focuses upon the British empire and the development and growth of the country’s imperial system between 1870 and the outbreak of World War I, in the context of historically unprecedented global expansion by certain European powers.
This book presents the history of English from its obscure Indo-European roots to its twenty-first century position as the world's first language. It shows how English evolved in the British Isles and how it spread to the United States and through the old British empire to every corner of the world. It examines the different versions and roles of the language in every part of the globe and shows how English rose to international pre-eminence.
With approachable but impeccable scholarship fourteen experts chart the history of written and spoken English in all its rich and protean variety. Their accounts are made vivid with examples drawn from an immense range of documentary evidence including letters, diaries, and private records. They explore and explain the mixture of gradual and rapid change in the words, meanings, grammar, or pronunciation of English at different times and in different places. They examine the three-century rise of standard English and received pronunciation and consider their current status and wellbeing.
This book will appeal to everyone with a keen interest in the English language and its development.
he suicide bombings carried out in London
New Model Army 1645-60 (Men at Arms Series)
