In Union and Emancipation; seven leading historians offer new perspectives on the issues of race and politics in American Society from the antebellum era to the aftermath of Reconstruction. The authors; all trained by Richard H. Sewell at the University of Wisconsin - Madison; address two major themes: the politics of sectional conflict prior to the Civil War; illuminated through ideological and institutional inquiry; and the central importance of race; slavery; and emancipation in shaping American political culture and social memory. Contributors consider the national culture; the centrality of the nation-state in understanding American history; the place of race in redefining what it meant to be an American; the way the Civil War helped to redefine the nature of the 'political; ' and of 'citizenship; ' and the significance of political parties through the ideas and interests that motivate them. The collection; with its dual themes of union and emancipation; will provoke debate; offer insight; and challenge recent interpretations of this turbulent period in American history.
#839693 in Books Hackett Pub Co 2009-09-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x 5.25 x .75l; .85 #File Name: 0872209814328 pages
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. translation is good..By P.H.Scholarship is impressive; translation is good ... the content itself is mind-numbingly boring. Essentially Rubruck spends 250 pages complaining about hard travel days; describing minutiae of Nestorian church services; briefly mentioning that the mission trip was a complete failure (near the end); and very rarely describing anything of interest about the daily life of the Mongols or anything else that might be insightful in any way about any topic.16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating and EntertainingBy GendunIn 1253; the Flemish Franciscan friar William of Rubruck made his way to the courts of the Mongol rulers Batu and Möngke bearing a letter from the French Crusader king Louis IX. This book is an annotated a translation from Latin of his subsequent report to the king. It is a fascinating and rare glimpse of the life of the Mongols during the heyday of their empire in the aftermath of the conquests of Genghis Khan; and a true masterpiece of European medieval travel literature. William is a keen observer who writes throughout with clarity and discernment of the many wonders he encounters on his journey; and we see through his eyes as he makes the enormous journey to the fabled "Tent City" capital of the Mongols; Karakorum. Along his way he frequently rubs shoulders with Muslims; Nestorian Christians; soothsayers; and Chinese and Tibetan priests and monks; and makes what is very probably the first European report of the Tibetan system of reincarnating lamas.I was certain going in that this would be a fascinating read; but I was surprised by how engaging and brisk it is. It is superbly translated and annotated by Peter Jackson and David Morgan; who unobtrusively offer excellent support in their rich footnotes; detailing the geography; politics; and cultural background with great erudition.I believe subsequent generations of historians will take for granted a fact that we seem to be in the slow process of waking up to realize now - the mobile and dynamic cultures of Central Eurasia; including but not limited to the peoples of the steppe; are not peripheral or incidental to the history of Europe and Asia; but central to it. The dynamics of the high civilizations of the landmass cannot be understood on an elementary level without attending to the rich systemic interplay between its various centers; which inevitably plays out historically through the movements of these peoples. This book offers a rare first-hand glimpse at one of the greatest of these nomadic civilizations; and is a thrilling and illuminating work of a high order.
