In recent years Edward II's reign has attracted the attention of a number of scholars whose work has considerably modified the traditional picture. As a result, there has been a move away from the emphasis on constitutional and administrative theory and practice to a consideration of the personalities involved, notably Edward himself and the earls of Pembroke and Lancaster. Although medieval biography is difficult, such an approach has been highly successful - the actions of individuals are seen to be crucial in any analysis of events. However, since Kathleen Edwards's pioneer article in the...

The role of representation theory in algebra is an important one and in this book Manz and Wolf concentrate on that part of the theory that relates to solvable groups. In particular, modules over finite fields are studied, but also some applications to ordinary and Brauer characters of solvable groups are given. The authors include a proof of Brauer's height-zero conjecture and a new proof of Huppert's classification of 2-transitive solvable permutation groups.

Industry in the Countryside is a wide-ranging and readable study of the nature of manufacturing before the Industrial Revolution. It examines the widely-debated theory of 'proto-industrialisation', drawing on data from the Kentish Weald - an area which was already a centre of cottage industry in the Tudor era and was also the earliest rural manufacturing region to 'de-industrialise'. The book analyses the Wealden textile industry from its workforce to its industrialists and emphasises the ubiquity of dual employment among textile workers. It explores the local context of cottage industry,...

This is the first book-length study of the poetic style of Aldhelm of Malmesbury, "the first English man of letters." Aldhelm is one of the earliest Anglo-Saxons whose writings survive, and the first to attempt to compose Latin metrical verse. Andy Orchard traces the sources and models for his idiosyncratic style and the nature and extent of his influence on later Anglo-Latin verse. The book will not only interest Anglo-Saxonists, but more broadly those interested in the wider fields of Classics, medieval Latin, oral tradition and poetics.

This book explains the contrasting strategies of social democratic parties and their electoral fortunes in the major European democracies in the 1970s and 1980s. Going beyond approaches that focus on the influence of class structures and political economic institutions, Herbert Kitschelt analyzes a party's competitive situation in the electoral arena, the constraints and opportunities of party organization, and ideological legacies to explain the strategic choices made by social democratic parties and their electoral results. Social democracy is far from being doomed to decline, but its...

Based on the author's widely used earlier text African Farm Management, this account updates the economic analysis of tropical agriculture and broadens its perspective to include examples from all parts of the developing world. Writing in a clear, concise style, Professor Upton explains the essential theories of farm economics without numerous mathematical formulae. The text is completely revised, with increased emphasis on farm household economics, in which farms are seen as consumers as well as producers. Also included is a new chapter on the economics of irrigated agriculture. This book...

The monastic life was of central importance in the Middle Ages. In one sense, monasteries were cut off from the world; in another, they forged vital links with it. This is a study of the regional growth of monasticism between 1069 and 1215, in what was the largest county in England. It studies those who entered monastic communities, and the impact of the growth of monasticism on the aristocracy (who founded and patronized monasteries) and the local community, on the landscape and economy of the county, and on regional identity.

This detailed study of Normandy's frontiers in the twelfth century explores how the dukes of Normandy, who were also usually kings of England, controlled the borders of their realm, and how the local aristocracy responded to their rule. The book discusses ties of land and kinship among the frontier lords, and how the political borders affected government, law, the Church, and the fortunes of the local nobility. It culminates in a major discussion of the annexation of Normandy by the kings of France in 1204.

This book shows just how much can be discovered about the so-called "Dark Ages," between the fall of Rome and the high Middle Ages. Whereas it is believed widely that the source materials for early medieval Europe are too sparse to allow sustained study of social and political relationships, State and Society in the Early Middle Ages offers a detailed analysis of the workings of society at the heart of Charlemagne's empire, and suggests the need to rethink our understanding of political power in this period.

This book examines the evidence for literacy in early medieval Italy under the rule of the Lombards, the last of the barbarian invaders who established a kingdom in north and central Italy from 568 to 774. By examining different kinds of written documentation (legislation, charters, inscriptions and manuscripts), the study reveals that Lombard Italy actually possessed a relatively sophisticated written culture prior to the so-called Carolingian Renaissance of the ninth century.