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Now recognised as the standard work on the subject, Realm of St Stephen is a comprehensive history of medieval Eastern and Central Europe. Pál Engel traces the establishment of the medieval kingdom of Hungary from its conquest by the Magyar tribes in 895 until defeat by the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. He shows the development of the dominant Magyars who, upon inheriting an almost empty land, absorbed the remaining Slavic peoples into their culture after the original communities had largely disappeared. Engel's book is an accessible and highly readable history. 'This is now the standard English language treatment of medieval Hungary - its internal history as well as its regional and European significance.' --- P W Knoll, University of Southern Carolina (From 'Choice') 'A lively and highly readable narrative ' --- Albrecht Classen, University of Arizona (From 'Mediaevistik')
Now recognised as the standard work on the subject, Realm of St Stephen is a comprehensive history of medieval Eastern and Central Europe. Pal Engel traces the establishment of the medieval kingdom of Hungary from its conquest by the Magyar tribes in 895 until defeat by the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. He shows the development of the dominant Magyars who, upon inheriting an almost empty land, absorbed the remaining Slavic peoples into their culture after the original communities had largely disappeared.
Nations are not trapped by their pasts, but events that happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago continue to exert huge influence on present-day politics. If we are to understand the politics that we now take for granted, we need to understand its origins. Francis Fukuyama examines the paths that different societies have taken to reach their current forms of political order. This book starts with the very beginning of mankind and comes right up to the eve of the French and American revolutions, spanning such diverse disciplines as economics, anthropology and geography. The Origins of Political Order is a magisterial study on the emergence of mankind as a political animal, by one of the most eminent political thinkers writing today.
The Holy Wars of King Wladislas and Sultan Murad comprises the first detailed treatment of the pivotal conflict between the Ottomans and Christendom from 1438-1444. Beginning with the Council of Florence and renewed Ottoman expansion it covers the election of Wladislas, the rise of John Hunyadi and the factional politics of the Porte. "The author recounts the major campaigns including Hunyadi's victories in 1442 as well as the Long March and Varna expeditions of 1443/44. He also gives a thorough description of the armies, their tactics and strategy. Dr. Jefferson's work is the first to make full use of both Ottoman and Christian sources, and not only corrects persistent misconceptions but provides the fullest picture of this conflict to date.
Modern life in increasingly heterogeneous societies has directed attention to patterns of interaction, often using a framework of persecution and tolerance. This study of the economic, social, legal and religious position of three minorities (Jews, Muslims and pagan Turkic nomads) argues that different degrees of exclusion and integration characterized medieval non-Christian status in the medieval Christian kingdom of Hungary between 1000 and 1300. A complex explanation of non-Christian status emerges from the analysis of their economic, social, legal and religious positions and roles. Existence on the frontier with the nomadic world led to the formulation of a frontier ideology, and to anxiety about Hungary's detachment from Christendom, which affected policies towards non-Christians. The study also succeeds in integrating central European history with the study of the medieval world, while challenging such current concepts in medieval studies as frontier societies, persecution and tolerance, ethnicity and 'the other'.
Mirosław Michał Sadowski is Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland; Affiliated Researcher at the Centre for Global Studies, Alberta University in Lisbon, Portugal; Postdoctoral Researcher at CEBRAP – Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning in São Paulo, Brazil; Research Assistant at the Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.
For the first time the true story of the man who founded the Dracula dynasty is revealed. Stories of Dracula have fascinated people around the world for generations. Both the fictional vampire created by the Irish author Bram Stoker at the end of the nineteenth century and the fifteenth century Prince called Vlad the Impaler, the man regarded as the historical Dracula, have become part of universal culture. Yet few realize that the Wallachian ruler dubbed "the Impaler," is not the original Dracula. Instead, that distinction belongs to his father, a little-known prince called Vlad Dracul. But who was the one who started it all? The elder Vlad, who gained the sobriquet Dracul or Dracula when H...
The Fall of Tsarism contains a series of gripping, plain-spoken testimonies from some of the leading participants of the Russian Revolution of February 1917, including the future revolutionary premier Alexander Kerenskii. Recorded in the spring of 1917, months before the Bolsheviks seized power, these interviews represent the earliest first-hand testimonies on the overthrow of the Tsarist regime known to historians. Hidden away and presumed lost for the better part of a century, they are now revealed to the world for the first time.
What are the evolutionary mechanisms and ecological implications behind a pollinator choosing its favourite flower? Sixty-five million years of evolution has created the complex and integrated system which we see today and understanding the interactions involved is key to environmental sustainability. Examining pollination relationships from an evolutionary perspective, this book covers both botanical and zoological aspects. It addresses the puzzling question of co-speciation and co-evolution and the complexity of the relationships between plant and pollinator, the development of which is examined through the fossil record. Additional chapters are dedicated to the evolution of floral displays and signalling, as well as their role in pollination syndromes and the building of pollination networks. Wide-ranging in its coverage, it outlines current knowledge and complex emerging topics, demonstrating how advances in research methods are applied to pollination biology.
A major new account of the Eurasian borderlands as 'shatter zones' which have generated some of the world's most significant conflicts.