This volume in Oxford's A Very Short Introduction series offers a concise, readable narrative of the vast span of American history, from the earliest human migrations to the early twenty-first century when the United States loomed as a global power and co

How much have women's lives really changed? In the West women still come up against the 'glass ceiling' at work, most earning considerably less than their male counterparts. What are we to make of the now commonplace insistence that feminism deprives men of their rights and dignities? And how does one tackle the issue of female emancipation in different cultural and economic environments - in, for example, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, and Africa?

This book provides an historical account of feminism, exploring its earliest roots as well as key issues including voting rights, the liberation of the sixties, and its relevance today. Margaret Walters touches on the difficulties and inequities that women still face more than forty years after the 'new wave' of 1960s feminism, such as how successful women are at combining domesticity, motherhood, and work outside the house. She brings the subject completely up to date by providing an analysis of the current situation of women across the globe, from Europe and the United States to Third World countries.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

ALAN BARENBERG IS BUENA VISTA FOUNDATION ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY. HIS PUBLICATIONS INCLUDE RETHINKING THE GULAG: SOURCES, APPROACHES, IDENTITIES (CO-EDITED WITH EMILY D. JOHNSON) AND GULAG TOWN, COMPANY TOWN:

International relations affects everyone's lives: their security, economic well-being, rights and freedoms, and the environment they share. Recently we have seen the transformation from a world of empires to today's world of sovereign states, which are enmeshed in a complex array of international institutions, all exercising degrees of political authority. The new global organization of political authority has far-reaching consequences. This Very Short Introduction untangles this complex world, providing an accessible framework for understanding the contours of global political change. Christian Reus-Smit treats theory as an indispensable tool for grasping international relations, but demystifies theorizing, introducing it as an everyday human practice. He surveys a range of theories, from realism to feminism: reading them as contrasting perspectives on the global organization of political authority. Historically, such organization has been shaped by diverse social forces, four of which are discussed in detail: shifting patterns of warfare, changing economic conditions, struggles for rights, and the politics of culture. Reus-Smit concludes with a reflection on the future of international relations in an era of profound global change. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew's Very Short Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since the defeat of Napoleon, it was largely urban and English. Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew show the forces behind Britain's rise to its imperial zenith, and the continuing tensions within the nations and classes of the 'union state'.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

The French Revolution is a time of history made familiar from Dickens, Baroness Orczy, and Tolstoy, as well as the legends of let them eat cake, and tricolours. Beginning in 1789, this period of extreme political and social unrest saw the end of the French monarchy, the death of an extraordinary number of people beneath the guillotine's blade during the Terror, and the rise of Napoleon, as well as far reaching consequences still with us today, such as the enduring ideology of human rights, and decimalization. In this Very Short Introduction, William Doyle introduces the French old regime and considers how and why it collapsed. Retelling the unfolding events of the revolution, he analyses why the revolutionaries quarrelled with the king, the church and the rest of Europe, why this produced Terror, and finally how it accomplished rule by a general. Doyle also discusses how and why the revolution destroyed the age-old cultural, institutional, and social structures in France and beyond. In this new edition, Doyle includes new sections highlighting the main developments in the field since the first edition, before exploring the legacy of the revolution in the form of rationality in public affairs and responsible government. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

Toleration is one of the most foundational and contentious concepts in contemporary political discourse. Although its modern origins lie in the realm of religious dissent, toleration remains one of our most contentious and broad-ranging concepts, invoked in today's debates about race, gender, religion, sexuality, cultural identity, free speech, and civil liberties. Questions of toleration arise wherever unpopular groups face hostile environments and stand in need of protection from state interference or the actions of their neighbors. Toleration can seem counterintuitive at first glance, since it involves a complex mixture of rejection and acceptance, combining disapproval - of particular individuals, groups, beliefs, and practices - on the one hand with legal and political guarantees for such groups on the other. Toleration has long been considered a cardinal virtue of liberalism, endorsed by central figures such as Locke, Mill, and Rawls. Although toleration has been criticized as unduly minimal, compared with more expansive terms such as recognition or acceptance, it has routinely played a key role in the protracted struggles of marginalized groups of various sorts (a necessary, if not always sufficient, condition for liberty). Toleration: A Very Short Introduction will concisely canvass the history, development, and contemporary global status of toleration as both a concept and a contested political and legal practice. Lire la suite Fermer

Photographs are an integral part of our daily lives - from snapshots and tabloid newspapers to art photography in galleries and exhibitions. This book combines a sense of the historical development of photography with an insightful analysis of its purpose and meaning within a wider cultural context.

After seven decades of existence has the UN become obsolete? Is it ripe for retirement? As Jussi Hanhimaeki proves in the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, the answer is no. In the second decade of the twenty-first century the UN remains an indispensable organization that continues to save lives and improve the world as its founders hoped. Since its original publication in 2008, this 2nd edition includes more recent examples of the UN Security Council in action and peacekeeping efforts while exploring its most recent successes and failures. After a brief history of the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, Hanhimaeki examines the UN's successes and failures as a guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human rights, as a protector of international law, and as an engineer of socio-economic development. This updated edition highlights what continues to make the UN a complicated organization today, and the ongoing challenges between its ambitions and capabilities. Hanhimaeki also provides a clear account of the UN and its various arms and organizations (such as UNESCO and UNICEF), and offers a critical overview of the UN Security Council's involvement in recent crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, and Syria, and how likely it is to meet its overall goals in the future. Regardless of its obstacles, the UN is likely to survive for the foreseeable future. That alone makes trying to understand the UN in all its manifold - magnificent and frustrating - complexity a worthy task. With this much-needed updated introduction to the UN, Jussi Hanhimaeki engages the current debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear understanding of how it was originally conceived, how it has come to its present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

In this provocative but balanced essay, Kenneth Minogue discusses the development of politics from the ancient world to the twentieth century. He prompts us to consider why political systems evolve, how politics offers both power and order in our society, whether democracy is always a good thing, and what future politics may have in the twenty-first century.

This Very Short Introduction provides a concise, accurate, and lively portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte's character and career, situating him firmly in historical context. David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility--for both good and ill--that Napoleon represented. By his late twenties, Napoleon was already one of the greatest generals in European history. At thirty, he had become absolute master of Europe's most powerful country. In his early forties, he ruled a European empire more powerful than any since Rome, fighting wars that changed the shape of the continent and brought death to millions. Then everything collapsed, leading him to spend his last years in miserable exile in the South Atlantic. Bell emphasizes the importance of the French Revolution in understanding Napoleon's career. The revolution made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon accrued, and his success in mobilizing human and material resources. Without the political changes brought about by the revolution, Napoleon could not have fought his wars. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. Though his virtual dictatorship betrayed the ideals of liberty and equality, his life and career were revolutionary. Lire la suite Fermer

Llewelyn Morgan has taught Greek and Roman languages and literature at Brasenose College for 25 years, and before that at University College Dublin. He has published books on Virgil, Ovid, poetic metre, the Buddhas of Bamiyan, and nineteent

Diplomatic history explores the management of relations between nation-states by the process of negotiations. From the diplomacy of the American Revolution, the diplomatic origins of the Great War and its aftermath, Versailles, and the personal summitry behind the night Stalin and Churchill Divided Europe, to George W. Bush and the Iraq War, and diplomacy in the age of globalization, the management of power relationships has had an immense impact on our recent history. This Very Short Introduction updates the former Diplomacy: A Very Short Introduction and illustrates international diplomacy in action, exploring the changes in method at key historical junctures, and highlighting the very different demands that circumstances make on the practice of diplomats. Drawing on the case studies above, it makes sense of the way in which skilful diplomacy, as well as hubris, rashness, and excessive caution, can have important ramifications for the fate of nations. Based on the experiences of diplomatic history, it also locates the universal role of negotiations and identifies the key elements of success. As Joseph M. Siracusa shows, diplomacy was and is an indispensable element of statecraft, and without skilful diplomacy political success may remain elusive. Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

MONICA DUFFY TOFT IS PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY'S FLETCHER SCHOOL. SHE IS THE AUTHOR OF TEN BOOKS INCLUDING, WITH SIDITA KUSHI, DYING BY THE SWORD.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The growing concern about global environmental change and human impacts on the planet has led to the emergence of a broad field of study on the 'sustainability' of human societies. The term's common usage can be traced back to the advent of the Earth Summit in 1992 when 'sustainable development' was broadly embraced by the international community as an ostensibly win-win proposition for economic development, social inclusion, and ecological conservation. Yet both the natural science underpinnings and the social implications of a quest for sustainability have been diffuse. There is a need for a coherent synthesis which draws out key themes from both natural and social analysis of the concept. This Very Short Introduction begins by introducing the concept of sustainability and how it has developed. The central chapters consider four key concepts crucial to sustainability: a) material and energy flows in consumption and production; b) technological interventions for a sustainable society; c) tipping points, and resilience in natural and social systems; and d) renewability and circularity in the economy. In the concluding chapter, Saleem H. Ali explores political means of managing anthropogenic change for a more sustainable society. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

This book introduces readers to the concepts of political philosophy - authority, democracy, freedom and its limits, justice, feminism, multiculturalism, and nationality. Accessibly written and assuming no previous knowledge of the subject, it encourages the reader to think clearly and critically about the leading political questions of our time.

JAMES BINNEY, FRS, IS AN ASTROPHYSICIST AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY. HE IS THE CO-AUTHOR OF THE PHYSICS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS (2013) WITH DAVID SKINNER, ALONG WITH ASTROPHYSICS: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION.

RANA MITTER IS ST LEE CHAIR IN US-ASIA RELATIONS AT THE HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL. HE IS THE AUTHOR OR EDITOR OF SEVERAL BOOKS, INCLUDING THE MANCHURIAN MYTH: NATIONALISM, RESISTANCE, AND COLLABORATION IN MODERN CHINA (2000) AND A BITTER REVOL

ANTOINETTE BURTON IS MAYBELLE LELAND SWANLUND ENDOWED CHAIR PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. SHE IS THE AUTHOR OF SIX BOOKS INCLUDING DWELLING IN THE ARCHIVE: WOMEN WRITING HOUSE, HOME AND HISTORY IN LATE COLONIAL INDIA A

The conflict between Palestine and Israel is one of the most highly publicized and bitter struggles in history. In this accessible and stimulating Very Short Introduction, Martin Bunton clearly explains the history of the problem, reducing it to its very essence - a modern territorial contest between two nations and one geographical territory. Adopting a fresh and original approach, each section covers a twenty-year span, to highlight the historical complexity of the conflict throughout successive decades. Each chapter starts with an examination of the relationships among people and events that marked particular years as historical moments in the evolution of the conflict, including the 1897 Basle Congress; the 1917 Balfour Declaration and British occupation of Palestine; and the 1947 UN Partition Plan and the war for Palestine. Providing a clear and fair exploration of the main issues, Bunton explores not only the historical basis of the conflict, but also looks at how and why partition has been so difficult and how efforts to restore peace continue today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

Edward Craig is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University, and Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. He is the author of several books, including Knowledge and the State of Nature (OUP, 1991), and The Mind of God and the Wo

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring This Very Short Introduction introduces the life, work, and influence of one of the greatest dramatists of all time, Sophocles the Athenian. Placing his plays within their historical context, and explaining the conventions of ancient Greek tragic theatre, Edith Hall spotlights their distinctive features-tight plots, titanic personalities, lucid style, sympathetic women, exquisite poetry, and stagecraft. This analysis is followed by an account of how and why Sophoclean dramas have survived to be read and widely performed into the twenty-first century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Lire la suite Fermer

Mark Maslin FRGS, FRSA is a Professor of Earth System Science at University College London. He is a leading scientist with expertise in past and future climate change. Maslin appears regularly on radio and television, and has written ten bo