2. 1861
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1861” describes the events of that year, which began with the appointment of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy. Following the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, Lincoln ...
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3. 1862
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1862” covers the conscription of Confederate soldiers and the emergence of Robert E. Lee, who assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee won many significant battles against ...
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4. 1863
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1863” begins with Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 . Authorizing the enlistment of black soldiers, the proclamation helped change the Union’s fortunes and ...
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5. 1864
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1864” demonstrates that the Union defeats across Virginia in that year came at a politically precarious time for Abraham Lincoln, with rivals angling for the Republication presidential ...
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17. ‘A Great Change in Manners’
Christopher Harvie and H. C. G. Matthew
in Nineteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction
‘A Great Change in Manners‘ draws attention to the remarkable order and balance of British society between the 1850s and 1890s. Despite massive industrial and social change, crime fell in ...
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4. ‘A work of truth’: L’Assommoir
Brian Nelson
in Émile Zola: A Very Short Introduction
‘A work of truth’ looks at the novel L’Assommoir, the first to represent how the workers—the new French industrial proletariat—really lived. The story of Gervaise Macquart, a washerwoman ...
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4. The abolitionist crossroads
Richard S. Newman
in Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction
After the turbulent 1830s, doubt and discord haunted the antislavery ranks. Facing opposition in the North and South, immediate abolitionists quarrelled not only with their opponents but ...
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5. The abolitionist renaissance and the coming of the Civil War
Richard S. Newman
in Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction
Although abolitionists never enjoyed widespread popularity in the United States, they found that northerners were more interested in their critiques of slavery during the 1850s. “The ...
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6. Abortion
Damien Keown
in Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edn)
Buddhist attitudes to abortion are influenced by its belief in rebirth and the idea that life is a never-ending continuum. Many Buddhists, accordingly, feel that abortion is prohibited by ...
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4. ‘Absolutes’, Simple Natures, and Problems
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
‘Absolutes, Simple Natures and Problems’ deals mainly with the Regulae, an incomplete treatise which anticipated some of the innovations of the Geometry, and which adapted, in outline, some ...
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5. Absurdism, protest, and commitment
Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr
in Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction
The decades 1960–80 witnessed a seismic shift in modern drama. The rage that came to define, and fuel, much of the drama in the 1960s and 1970s is directed at the audience. ‘Absurdism, ...
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3. Achievements and challenges: The history the founding fathers made
R. B. Bernstein
in The Founding Fathers: A Very Short Introduction
For seven decades, the founding fathers played pivotal roles in creating an American nation and its constitutional system. “Achievements and challenges: The history the founding fathers ...
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6. Across the ocean: seafaring and overseas expansion
Julian D. Richards
in The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction
What was it about the Vikings and their dragon-headed longships that makes them seem so distinctive in our imagination? Overseas exploits were not exceptional at that time. ‘Across the ...
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3. Across the world
William K. Kay
in Pentecostalism: A Very Short Introduction
‘Across the world’ shows how Pentecostalism expanded globally through missionary agencies and by the planting of self-sustaining congregations adapted to local culture. It was less welcome ...
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1. An Ad Hoc Navy: The Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
Craig L. Symonds
in American Naval History: A Very Short Introduction
‘An ad hoc navy: the Revolutionary War (1775–1783)’ describes the Patriots’ response to the British Royal Navy strongholds in Boston and New York and the role of armed vessels during the ...
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4. Adam and Eve, Hijra, LGBTQs, and the shake-up of gender identities
Florian Coulmas
in Identity: A Very Short Introduction
Like race, gender seems to be an immutable element of our identity, while in both cases natural and socio-cultural determinants interact. ‘Adam and Eve, Hijra, LGBTQs, and the shake-up of ...
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2. The adviser to princes
Quentin Skinner
in Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edn)
‘The adviser to princes’ considers The Prince, completed in 1513, but not published until 1532. Machiavelli wrote it partly to recommend himself to the new Medici rulers of Florence. The ...
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8. Aerostats to algorithms 2001–2020
Frank Ledwidge
in Aerial Warfare: A Very Short Introduction
Aircraft and air forces continue to play central roles in conventional battlefields in the early years of the 21st century. However, despite superior Western military power over forces in ...
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6. Aesthetics and life
Bence Nanay
in Aesthetics: A Very Short Introduction
‘Aesthetics and life’ considers several questions to show how aesthetics and life are intertwined on all kinds of levels. Should we treat our life as a work of art? Should we become the ...
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5. Aesthetics and the other
Bence Nanay
in Aesthetics: A Very Short Introduction
‘Aesthetic and the other’ looks at the interpersonal dimension of aesthetics. Aesthetics is rarely a solitary endeavour. We are social beings and there are very few aesthetic situations ...
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