5. Beneath the Surface
Mary Beard and John Henderson
in Classics: A Very Short Introduction
‘Beneath the Surface’ considers more detailed thoughts on the construction of such monuments as the Apollo Temple at Bassae and the various society conditions that made the building ...
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3. The polemics of possession
Rolena Adorno
in Colonial Latin American Literature: A Very Short Introduction
‘The polemics of possession’ examines the polemic regarding the Castilians' right to govern the New World. As the Indies had not threatened Spain the conquest of their lands was not ‘just’ ...
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2. Babylonian society through the perspective of Hammurabi’s Laws
Trevor Bryce
in Babylonia: A Very Short Introduction
An imposing stone stele (pillar) discovered during excavations of the ancient city of Susa in ad 1901–2 depicts Shamash, god of justice, and the Babylonian king, Hammurabi. It is also ...
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7. African religions today
Jacob J. Olupọna
in African Religions: A Very Short Introduction
African indigenous religion in contemporary Africa struggles to maintain its legal tone and identity in the face of the forces of Islam and Christianity, especially radicalized forms. But ...
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Conclusion
David A. Gerber
in American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction
The United States is truly a multicultural society, or a global society, as any visitor to the country will attest. This global society has developed in fits and starts. The Conclusion ...
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5. The century of the child and beyond
James Marten
in The History of Childhood: A Very Short Introduction
The 1989 Convention of the Rights of the Child, issued by the United Nations, provided a far more detailed and supposedly binding set of conditions and rights than the 1924 Declaration of ...
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1. The Atlantic slave trade
Heather Andrea Williams
in American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction
Slavery had long existed in Europe and Africa, but the history of the Atlantic slave trade begins in the 1440s with Portuguese exploration of West Africa. ‘The Atlantic slave trade’ charts ...
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3. The work of slavery
Heather Andrea Williams
in American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction
‘The work of slavery’ describes the wide range of work and duties allocated to enslaved people—men, women, and children—in the North and South. From the 1600s to 1865 the vast majority ...
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4. Struggles for control
Heather Andrea Williams
in American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction
It took persistent effort on the part of slave owners and their allies to keep slavery in place, to make people work without pay, and to sustain the arguments that justified the forced ...
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2. Oviedo and Las Casas
Rolena Adorno
in Colonial Latin American Literature: A Very Short Introduction
‘Oviedo and Las Casas’ compares the differences between the histories of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo and Bartolomé de Las Casas. Oviedo, a product of the Italian and Castile courts, ...
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1. Traditions
James Marten
in The History of Childhood: A Very Short Introduction
More is known about ancient childhoods in the West than elsewhere in the world, but from what is known, all cultures believed that childhood was more than a phase of biological immaturity, ...
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3. Assyrians at home
Karen Radner
in Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction
‘Assyrians at home’ describes the great variety of living conditions and human experiences in the Assyrian Empire in the 7th century, the period when the source material is most numerous ...
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4. Assyrians abroad
Karen Radner
in Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction
‘Assyrians abroad’ captures snapshots of Assyrian lives far away from the city of Aššur and Assyrian heartland through a range of primary sources from different periods. Accounts of ...
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5. Foreigners in Assyria
Karen Radner
in Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction
‘Foreigners in Assyria’ looks at Assyrian interactions with the wider world by focusing on foreigners in the city of Aššur and how they got there. The first two cases explore Assyrian ...
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20. Reluctant Imperialists?
Christopher Harvie and H. C. G. Matthew
in Nineteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction
‘Reluctant Imperialists?’ outlines British imperial policy in the late nineteenth century. Britain did not, as a whole, look for increased direct imperial authority, nor did public opinion ...
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5. Vocation
Henry Chadwick
in Augustine: A Very Short Introduction
Augustine did not find that he could provide answers to all the questions that troubled him while at Thagaste. In 391, on a visit to Hippo Regius, he was forcibly ordained presbyter for a ...
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2. Inventing new selves
Cheryl A. Wall
in The Harlem Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction
‘Inventing new selves’ considers the New Negroes and their efforts to rescue the race and themselves from the stereotypes and caricatures that represented black Americans in the first ...
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6. The war at sea
Mike Rapport
in The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction
The British navy was a formidable enemy to the French. Size alone did not account for the success of the British navy at securing maritime dominance as the French could call on the Dutch ...
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3. Mycenae
Paul Cartledge
in Ancient Greece: A Very Short Introduction
Mycenae is the major Late Bronze Age city in the Argolis region of the north-east Peloponnese that gave its name to an entire era: the ‘Mycenaean’ Age. ‘Mycenae’ focuses on this Ancient ...
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6. Massalia
Paul Cartledge
in Ancient Greece: A Very Short Introduction
Several cities and settlements of coastal Provence betray their Greek origin in their name, such as Antibes, which started out as Antipolis, meaning ‘city opposite’, and Nice, which used to ...
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