Modern society has operated under the assumption that technological developments and the production of material goods intrinsically lead to improvement in the overall welfare of individuals and nations. However, Walter G. Moss provides a more analytical reading of the main trends of the twentieth century, and offers a gripping introduction to the defining themes of the recent past. His history is an accomplished review, dealing with the complexities and subtleties of this beguiling epoch with the adeptness that has made his previous historical works such resounding successes.

'An...

'Lloyd George at War, 1916-1918' provides a much needed re-evaluation of this charismatic prime minister's wartime leadership. Calling on a wide range of primary sources and focussing on Lloyd George's role in the war cabinet, Cassar compellingly argues that George's reputation as the "man who won the war" was wholly unmerited. Instead Cassar shows that Lloyd George's heavy handed leadership was often detrimental to the Allied cause. From his wholehearted support for the disastrous Nivelle offensive, to his pursuit of a peripheral strategy that diverted troops away from the critical...

'Churchill, Eden and Indo-China, 1951-1955' provides a greater historical awareness of the broad international context of decolonized Indo-China, focussing on the administrations of Churchill and Eden. Nong Dan takes a systematic approach to pertinent international politics, providing a historiography and assessing the effects of events such as the Cold War and the Second World War, paying special attention to the impact of the Second World War on the British version of the domino theory. Nong Dan focuses particularly on South East Asia, and applies a thorough analysis of the pitched...

Unlike many partisan accounts of the nineteen sixties this book aims to give a considered explanation of the context in which the sixties radical movements arose and, also, their significance from the standpoint of various nations' actors, often ignored by North American and West European standpoints. Secondly, it examines how the radical decade sowed the seeds of various liberation or 'rights movements' - initially in the West but also globally as movements became increasingly diffused. Contributors' varied international backgrounds and specialities provide expertise in examining the...

This book is an overview and analysis of the global tradition of the outlaw hero. The mythology and history of the outlaw hero is traced from the Roman Empire to the present, showing how both real and mythic figures have influenced social, political, economic and cultural outcomes in many times and places. The book also looks at the contemporary continuations of the outlaw hero mythology, not only in popular culture and everyday life, but also in the current outbreak of global terrorism.

The book also presents a more general argument related to the importance of understanding folk...

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists to symbolise the perils facing humanity from nuclear weapons. In 2007 it was set at five minutes before the final bell, including for the first time the threat of climate change as well as new developments in the life sciences and nanotechnology. This book aims at an analysis of the evolution of our present predicament throughout the Anthropocene Era beginning in 1763, making special reference to the history of the period, the study of the subject and major advances in the natural sciences.

Adam Smith and Adam...

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists to symbolise the perils facing humanity from nuclear weapons. In 2007 it was set at five minutes before the final bell, including for the first time the threat of climate change as well as new developments in the life sciences and nanotechnology. This book aims at an analysis of the evolution of our present predicament throughout the Anthropocene Era beginning in 1763, making special reference to the history of the period, the study of the subject and major advances in the natural sciences.

Adam Smith and Adam...

'Churchill, Eden and Indo-China, 1951-1955' provides a greater historical awareness of the broad international context of decolonized Indo-China, focussing on the administrations of Churchill and Eden. Nong Dan takes a systematic approach to pertinent international politics, providing a historiography and assessing the effects of events such as the Cold War and the Second World War, paying special attention to the impact of the Second World War on the British version of the domino theory. Nong Dan focuses particularly on South East Asia, and applies a thorough analysis of the pitched...

How did European colonization transform the organization of territory in South Asia? "Statemaking and Territory in South Asia: Lessons from the Anglo-Gorkha War (1814-1816)" seeks to connect two historical junctures at which the idea of the modern state as a geographically discernible and territorially circumscribed entity emerged in colonial South Asia.

The volume first examines the territorial disputes that emerged along the common frontiers of the Himalayan kingdom of Gorkha (present-day Nepal) and the English East India Company that eventually led to the Anglo-Gorkha War of...

This book provides a comprehensive guide to all three volumes of Karl Marx's 'Capital', with advice on further reading and points for further discussion. Recognizing the contemporary relevance of 'Capital' in the midst of the current financial crisis, Kenneth Smith has produced an essential guide to Marx's ideas, particularly on the subject of the circulation of money-capital. This guide uniquely presents the three volumes of 'Capital' in a different order of reading to that in which they were published, placing them instead in the order that Marx himself sometimes recommended as a more...