The Oxford Handbook of the State in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean offers a comprehensive survey of ancient state formation in western Eurasia and North Africa. Eighteen experts introduce readers to a wide variety of systems spanning 4,000 years, from the earliest known states in world history to the Roman Empire and its immediate successors. They seek to understand the inner workings of these states by focusing on key issues: political and military power, the impact of ideologies, the rise and fall of individual polities, and the mechanisms of cooperation, coercion, and...

On Human Bondage--a critical reexamination of Orlando Patterson's groundbreaking Slavery and Social Death--assesses how his theories have stood the test of time and applies them to new case studies.

• Discusses the novel ideas of social death and natal alienation, as Patterson first presented them 35 years ago and as they are understood today
• Brings together exciting new work by a group of esteemed historians of slavery, as well as a final chapter by Patterson himself that responds to and expands upon the other contributions
• Provides insights into...