Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2006

History, Geography & Area Studies, Central & Eastern Europe Top

This illuminating study examines the dramatic transformation of Bohemiannoble identity from the rise of mass politics in the late nineteenth century to the descent ofthe Iron Curtain after World War II. This book offers valuable insights on the nationalizationof a conservative political elite, as well as on the national and social revolutions that recastCentral Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.

Co-published with the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, Brown University. This is the first volume of three in what will be the only complete and fully reliable version of the memoirs available in English.

Lower provides the most complete assessment available of German colonization and the Holocaust in Ukraine, the "jewel" of the Nazi empire. In this unprecedented attempt at Nazi empire building, violence, racism, antisemitism, and militarism pervaded all.phpects of everyday life. Lower argues that it was in the eastern outposts of the Reich, such as Ukraine, that the regime's core beliefs, aims, and practices were revealed.

A powerful, groundbreaking narrative of the ordinary Russian soldier’s experience of the worst war in history, based on newly revealed sources nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Of the thirty million who fought, eight million died, driven forward in suicidal charges, shattered by German shells and tanks. They were the men and women of the Red Army, a ragtag mass of soldiers who confronted Europe’s most lethal fighting force and by 1945 had defeated it. Sixty years have passed since their epic triumph, but the heart and mind of Ivan—as the ordinary Russian soldier was called—remain a mystery. We know something about hoe the soldiers died, but nearly nothing about how they lived, how they saw the world, or why they fought. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Drawing on previously closed military and secret police archives, interviews with veterans, and private letters and diaries, Catherine Merridale presents the first comprehensive history of the Red Army rank and file. She follows the soldiers from the shock of the German invasion to their costly triumph in Stalingrad, where life expectancy was often a mere twenty-four hours. Through the soldiers’ eyes, we witness their victorious arrival in Berlin, where their rage and suffering exact an awful toll, and accompany them as they return home full of hope, only to be denied the new life they had been fighting to secure. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; A tour de force of original research and a gripping history, Ivan’s War reveals the singular mixture of courage, patriotism, anger, and fear that made it possible for these underfed, badly led troops to defeat the Nazi army. In the process Merridale restores to history the invisible millions who sacrificed the most to win the war.

This book traces the complex process by which Budapest became a "Hungarian" city in the nineteenth-century. In 1800, the towns of Buda, Pest and Obuda-which would unite to form Budapest in 1873-were dusty, provincial, and largely German-speaking. By century's end, Budapest had become a capital, a metropolis, and a Hungarian-speaking city. Few cities grew as rapidly, and in almost none was nationalism woven so tightly into the urban fabric. Drawing upon original archival research, newspapers, memoirs, and other largely untapped sources. Nemes looks at how the national idea influenced painting, architecture, music, dress, and literature, not to mention the names of streets, shops, and even children.

Serf-era and provincial Russia heralded the spectacular turn in cultural history that began in the 1860s. Examining the role of arts and artists in society’s value system, Richard Stites explores this shift in a groundbreaking history of visual and performing arts in the last decades of serfdom. Provincial town and manor house engaged the culture of Moscow and St. Petersburg while thousands of serfs and ex-serfs created or performed. Mikhail Glinka raised Russian music to new levels and Anton Rubinstein struggled to found a conservatory. Long before the itinerants, painters explored town and country in genre scenes of everyday life. Serf actors on loan from their masters brought naturalistic acting from provincial theaters to the imperial stages. Stites’s richly detailed book offers new perspectives on the origins of Russia’s nineteenth-century artistic prowess.

Focusing on a period of history rocked by four armed movements, Lillian Guerra traces the origins of Cubans' struggles to determine the meaning of their identity and the character of the state, from Cuba's last war of independence in 1895 to the consolidation of U.S. neocolonial hegemony in 1921. Guerra argues that political violence and competing interpretations of the "social unity" proposed by Cuba's revolutionary patriot, José Martí, reveal conflicting visions of the nation--visions that differ in their ideological radicalism and in how they cast Cuba's relationship with the United States. As Guerra explains, some nationalists supported incorporating foreign investment and values, while others sought social change through the application of an authoritarian model of electoral politics; still others sought a democratic government with social and economic justice. But for all factions, the image of Martí became the principal means by which Cubans attacked, policed, and discredited one another to preserve their own vision over others'. Guerra's examination demonstrates how competing historical memories and battles for control of a weak state explain why polarity, rather than consensus on the idea of the "nation" and the character of the Cuban state, came to define Cuban politics throughout the twentieth century.

The colonial Spanish-American city, like its counterpart across the Atlantic, was an outgrowth of commercial enterprise. A center of entrepreneurial activity and wealth, it drew people seeking a better life, with more educational, occupational, commercial, bureaucratic, and marital possibilities than were available in the rural regions of the Spanish colonies. Indeed, the Spanish-American city represented hope and opportunity, although not for everyone.In this authoritative work, Jay Kinsbruner draws on many sources to offer the first history and interpretation in English of the colonial Spanish-American city. After an overview of pre-Columbian cities, he devotes chapters to many important.phpects of the colonial city, including its governance and administrative structure, physical form, economy, and social and family life. Kinsbruner's overarching thesis is that the Spanish-American city evolved as a circumstance of trans-Atlantic capitalism. Underpinning this thesis is his view that there were no plebeians in the colonial city. He calls for a class interpretation, with an emphasis on the lower-middle class. His study also explores the active roles of women, many of them heads of households, in the colonial Spanish-American city.

Between Legitimacy and Violence is an authoritative, sweeping history of Colombia's "long twentieth century," from the tumultuous civil wars of the late nineteenth century to the drug wars of the late twentieth. Marco Palacios, a leading Latin American historian, skillfully blends political, economic, social, and cultural history. In an expansive chronological narrative full of vivid detail, he explains Colombia's political history, discussing key leaders, laws, parties, and ideologies; corruption and inefficiency; and the paradoxical nature of government institutions, which while stable and enduring are unable to prevent frequent and extreme outbursts of violence. Palacios traces the trajectory of the economy, addressing agriculture (particularly the economic significance of coffee), the development of a communication and transportation infrastructure, industrialization, and labor struggles. Palacios also gives extensive attention to persistent social inequalities, the role of the Catholic church, demographic shifts such as urbanization and emigration, and Colombia's relationship with the United States. Offering a comparative perspective, he frequently contrasts Colombia with other Latin American nations. Throughout Palacios offers a helpful interpretive framework, connecting developments with their causes and consequences. By thoroughly illuminating Colombia's past, Between Legitimacy and Violence sheds much-needed light on the country's violent present.

The author translated this book into English and updated the text of the original Spanish edition. REVIEWS OF THE SPANISH EDITION: “An intelligent and up-to-date work.” —Annales “When a student or a professor wanted to gather a general picture of the new interpretations on Puerto Rican history, the task seemed overwhelming. Most textbooks on the island’s history either were dated or dealt simply with a chronology of political events, devoid of references to the society or the economy. At times, the general reader’s access to the recent scholarly works was diffi cult. This has changed now, thanks to Picó’s Historia general. “Historia general traces Puerto Rico’s history from its geological formation, some 135 million years ago, [to the present]. . . . It covers recent research on topics such as the development of the island’s Indian culture and the recent discussion on the class structure of the Puerto Rican nationalist movement, which staged an uprising in 1950. Throughout, Picó stresses that Puerto Rico has evidenced a formative development, which he correctly explains as being more in the nature of an ongoing process than an accomplished fact. . . . Picó has superbly synthesized . . . social problems in this book.” —Hispanic American Historical Review FERNANDO PICÓ, University of Puerto Rico, is the author of numerous books, including Puerto Rico 1898: The War After the War.

The first intellectual history of the Caribbean written by a top Caribbean studies scholar, this book examines both writings penned by natives of the region as well as a body of texts interpretive of the region produced by Western authors. Stressing the experiential and cultural particularity of the Caribbean, the study considers four major questions: What art, literature or thought can come from the minds of people who have undergone a catastrophic history? What makes the conceptual paradigms fashioned by the Western intellectual industry capable of illuminating the distinct experience of Antilleans, but not vice versa? Do Antilleans lack the intellectual history required for the interpretation of culture, whether in their region or elsewhere in the world? Why is the specificity of Caribbean humanity such that it cannot be used as a paradigm for humanity as a whole?

Two centuries after Cortés and Pizarro seized the Aztec and Inca empires, Spain’s conquest of America remained unfinished. Indians retained control over most of the lands in Spain’s American empire. Mounted on horseback, savvy about European ways, and often possessing firearms, independent Indians continued to find new ways to resist subjugation by Spanish soldiers and conversion by Spanish missionaries. In this panoramic study, David J. Weber explains how late eighteenthcentury Spanish administrators tried to fashion a more enlightened policy toward the people they called bárbaros, or “savages.” Even Spain’s most powerful monarchs failed, however, to enforce a consistent, well-reasoned policy toward Indians. At one extreme, powerful independent Indians forced Spaniards to seek peace, acknowledge autonomous tribal governments, and recognize the existence of tribal lands, fulfilling the Crown’s oft-stated wish to use “gentle” means in dealing with Indians. At the other extreme the Crown abandoned its principles, authorizing bloody wars on Indians when Spanish officers believed they could defeat them. Power, says Weber, more than the power of ideas, determined how Spaniards treated “savages” in the Age of Enlightenment.

James L. Gelvin's new account of the century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians presents a compelling, accessible and up-to-the-moment introduction for students and general readers. Placing events in the disputed area within the framework of global history, the book skillfully interweaves biographical sketches, eyewitness accounts, poetry, fiction and official documentation into its narrative, including photographs, maps and an abundance of supplementary material as well. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century in Palestine, it traces the evolution and interactions of the two communities from their first encounters up to the present conflict.

Especially after the September 11 attacks, books on the Middle East are flooding bookstore shelves. Yet, regarding the Palestine-Israel conflict -- the most notrious and ingrained conflict of the twentieth century -- the general reader is left with very little in the way of introductory explanations. The Palestine-Israel Conflict: A Basic Introduction provides the student and general reader with a comprehensive yet clear and easy rendering of not only the conflict, but the entire history of the region (Canaan and Palestine). By including the ancient background, the common assumption that the Israelis and Palestinians have been "fighting for thousands of years" is put to rest. Broken up into three sections -- Background History, Pre-Conflict, and Conflict -- the reader is walked through Ancient Israel, Muhammad and Islam, and on through two world wars and up to the current situation covered on the evening news. In addition to the brief history, the reader is also provided with further direction, such as detailed citing of sources, and suggested reading lists and resources (books, periodicals, web sites, etc.). Written in a comfortable style, people wanting to look beyond the myths and death-tallying news coverage now have available to them a balanced and accessible introduction to the nucleus of Middle Eastern affairs. "An indispensable, basic introduction ... There is no better single volume -- [this is] objective in every way." -- Gabriel Kolko, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at York University in Toronto, and author of Another Century of War? " Written with a relaxed informality, [this book] is especially good at highlighting key issues." -- Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Penn State University, and author of A Concise History of the Middle East "Comprehensive, detailed, yet lively and readable ... A tour-de-force in the depth and breadth of its research and in its clarity." -- John K. Cooley, veteran foreign correspondent, and author of Unholy Wars About the Authors: Gregory Harms is a freelance writer and researcher. He lectures on the Middle East and US foreign policy, and has traveled throughout Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Todd M. Ferry studied Syro-Palestinian archaeology at the University of Chicago and has worked as a supervisor at both the sites of Ashkelon and Tel Beth Shemesh in Israel. Both authors live in Chicago.

Illustrations xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 PART ONE: BIBLICAL LEGACIES 21 CHAPTER ONE: The Book of Esther For and Against 23 CHAPTER TWO: A Pair of Queens 46 CHAPTER THREE: Mordecai's Reckless Refusal 63 CHAPTER FOUR: The Eternal Haman 81 CHAPTER FIVE: Amalek The Memory of Violence and the Violence of Memory 107 PART TWO: JEWS LIVING DANGEROUSLY 147 CHAPTER SIX: "The Fascination of the Abomination" Jews (and Jewish Historians) Confront the Cross 149 CHAPTER SEVEN: Mild Men or Wild Men? Historical Reflections on Jews and Violence 187 CHAPTER EIGHT: Ancient Jewish Violence and Modern Scholarship 213 CHAPTER NINE: Purim, Carnival, and Violence 248 CHAPTER TEN: Local Purims and the Invention of Tradition 279 Abbreviations 317 Bibliography 319 Index 325

Iraq will continue to be a major issue and involvement for the United States into the foreseeable future says William R. Polk, former member of the State Department's Policy Planning Council and professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of Chicago. Iraq sits on the world's largest supply of oil, and with the world's energy requirements continuously rising, Iraq will play an ongoing role in the global economy and the political environment throughout the Gulf region and the Middle East. Polk's concise, authoritative overview of Iraq's history shows how the pattern of outside intervention was established first by the Ottoman Turks and the Persian Safavids and later by England, Russia, and Germany. After World War I came British rule, followed by a brief and uneasy period of independence that sparked Iraqi nationalism, leading Saddam Husain to power with American military and financial aid and covert CIA involvement. The Iraq-Iran War and the invasion of Kuwait was followed by the Gulf War, the sanctions period, and the Bush administration's decision to invade. Finally, there is the American occupation and the challenges, opportunities, and options that Iraqis and Americans face now and in the future.