bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Richard William Southern 1912–2001
Authors: Murray Alexander
Published: February 2012

People with a logical turn of mind say that the history of the world can be summarised in a sentence. A précis of mediaval historian Richard William Southern's work made in that spirit would identify two characteristics, one housed inside the other, and both quite apart from the question of its quality as a work of art. The first is his sympathy for a particular kind of medieval churchman, a kind who combined deep thought about faith with practical action. This characteristic fits inside another, touching Southern's historical vision as a whole. Its genesis is traceable to those few seconds in his teens when he ‘quarrelled’ with his father about the Renaissance. The intuition that moved him to do so became a historical fides quaerens intellectum. Reflection on Southern's life work leaves us with an example of the service an historian can perform for his contemporary world, as a truer self-perception seeps into the common consciousness by way of a lifetime of teaching and writing, spreading out through the world (all Southern's books were translated into one or more foreign language).
Thomas Wilson 1916–2001
Authors: Scott M. FG.
Published: February 2012

Tom Wilson's long career as an economist took him from Belfast to the London School of Economics, Whitehall (during the Second World War), Oxford, Glasgow, and finally Bristol; and the subjects which interested him ranged as widely. His method, however, in addressing them followed a pattern. It was eclectic: the different sides of the argument were fairly set out and criticised. Tom could usually find some virtue in each, and took the trouble to inform himself about them. His economic analysis was not mathematical or econometric, and seldom even diagrammatic. As it was often the policy implications of economic problems which interested him, he could not stop at simplified models of reality which left out some of the relevant variety and complexity of experience. His books on macroeconomics, regional policy, planning, the welfare state, and competition policy, drew on these strengths, and they shine forth most clearly in two written towards the end of his life: on Lord Cherwell's advice to Churchill during the war and on the Ulster tragedy.
Cultural Interaction between China and Central Asia during the Bronze Age
Authors: Mei Jianjun
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses some preliminary observations on the early cultural relationship between China and Central Asia in the light of the most recent archaeological discoveries from Northwest China. It considers three main issues: the role of outside influences in the beginnings and early development of bronze metallurgy in China, the shift to the ‘Steppe Road’, and the two-way traffic of cultural influence along the prehistoric ‘Silk Road’. The lecture also tries to show that early cultural interaction between China and Central Asia was the crucial drive for the growth of civilisations in both regions.
The Quest for the Industrial Revolution
Authors: Wrigley E. A.
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses a quest for the Industrial Revolution. It determines that the key feature of this revolution consisted less in an acceleration in growth than in the absence of any deceleration. The lecture further considers certain implications that may be termed the crafts revision and the prominence of agriculture.
Overestimating Culture: A German Problem
Authors: Lepenies Wolf
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the close connection among war and culture, education and destruction, politics and poetry, and spirit and violence. It studies one aspect of this connection, which is the traditional overestimation of culture at the expense of politics that has long shaped German history. It is shown to have not fully disappeared in present times.
Development as a Process of Change: Toward a Dynamic Public Economics
Authors: Stern Nicholas
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses some key lessons of development experience and the strategy they lead to. It shows how one can and should do further research on both the processes of development behind the strategy, and on the type of public economics that should inform public action. Aside from presenting a strategy for development, the lecture argues that this strategy provides both a basis for action and an agenda for research. The strategy is based on a review of fifty years of development, which in turn pinpoints some key strategic lessons such as the multiple dimensions of development and the complementarity of states and markets.
Human Rights: Have the Public Benefited?
Authors: Woolf Lord
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which was established due to the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Second World War. It looks at the scale of the changes that occurred in constitutional arrangements, and considers the fact that these changes have been achieved without damaging the underlying constitutional arrangements and traditions of the United Kingdom. The lecture also considers whether these changes would benefit the public, and studies some of the arguments that are both in favour of and against the ECHR in becoming a part of the country's law.
British patristic scholarship in the twentieth century
Authors: Wiles Maurice
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses British patristic scholarship during the twentieth century. After the Reformation, patristic study was considered an important aspect of British theological scholarship. During this period the Church of England played a dominant role in the life of the universities, while the patristics played an important role in that church's definition. The chapter is restricted mostly to British patristic scholarship and references the work of other scholars. It concludes that British patristic study today has to be seen as one contributory stream, situated within a single international community of patristic scholars.
The long eighteenth century
Authors: Shaw Jane
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the eighteenth-century Church of England. It examines the changes in how people thought about the place of religion in eighteenth-century Britain by first looking at the histories of the eighteenth-century Church of England. The chapter studies the changing views of the Enlightenment's relationship to religious thought and practice in Britain. It ends with a discussion of the newer fields of study that have emerged, most especially during the latter part of the twentieth century.
Introduction
Authors: Crow Tim J.
Published: February 2012

This book reflects an attempt to cross the interdisciplinary boundaries between archaeology, palaeontology, neuropsychology, neuroanatomy, genetics and evolutionary theory to approach the problem of the origins of modern Homo sapiens. It argues that scrutiny of the origin of our species casts speciation, and maybe evolutionary theory as it now stands, in a critical light. This chapter considers man's place in evolutionary theory, F. M. Muller's critique of Darwinian theory, whether language required a macro-mutation, and the status of saltations in evolutionary theory.
Grades and Transitions in Human Evolution
Authors: Collard Mark
Published: February 2012

This chapter assesses the number of grades that have appeared in the course of human evolution. It identifies three grades. The first is characterised by a species mean body mass of under 50 kg; a species mean stature of less than 150 cm; facultative bipedalism; relatively large teeth and jaws; a moderate size brain relative to body mass; and a relatively short period of maturation. The second grade is characterised by a species mean body mass of more than 50 kg; a species mean stature in excess of 150 cm; obligate bipedalism; relatively small teeth and jaws; a moderate size brain relative to body mass; and a relatively short period of maturation. The third grade is similar to the second in terms of body mass, stature, locomotor behaviour and masticatory system size; but exhibits a considerably higher level of encephalisation. It also exhibits delayed maturation.
Is the Neural Basis of Vocalisation Different in Non-Human Primates and Homo Sapiens?
Authors: Ploog Detlev
Published: February 2012

From an evolutionary perspective, the voice was a prerequisite for the emergence of speech. Speech, the most advanced mode of vocal communication, became possible only after gradual transformations of the sound-producing system and its central nervous control, in co-evolution with the transformations of the auditory system, had taken place. The discussion suggests that the last step in the evolution of the phonatory system in the brain was the outgrowing and augmenting of the fine fibre portion of the pyramidal tract synapsing directly with the motor nuclei for the vocal cords and the tongue, so that the direct and voluntary control of vocal behaviour became possible. It holds that the answer to the question raised in the title is ‘yes’. The neural basis is in fact quite different. The chapter also explains this difference and its consequences for the evolution of language.
Preferential Sex Linkage of Sexually Selected Genes: Evidence and a New Explanation
Authors: Reinhold Klaus
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses evidence and theory on sex chromosomal linkage of sexually selected traits that may be the key to a functional separation of sexual and natural selection. It reviews the evidence showing that the X chromosome has a disproportional share concerning the inheritance of sexually selected traits in animals with heterogametic males, and suggests a new explanation that relates this X bias with female choice of heterozygotic males. With numeric simulations, it shows that female choice of heterozygotic males is usually disadvantageous. Because this disadvantage cannot occur when females prefer X-linked male traits, preferential X linkage of sexually selected traits can be expected. As an alternative to fluctuating selection on sex-limited traits, the disadvantage of heterozygotic choice may thus explain the X bias observed for sexually selected traits.
A Welsh Perspective
Authors: Geraint H. Jenkins
Published: February 2012

This chapter comments on Keith Robbins' lecture on the history of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It criticizes Robbins' failure to discuss the Welsh language, which is critical to the understanding and validation of Celtic Studies as a subject. It stresses the need to revitalize the study of medieval Welsh history, which is close to collapse because of changing student demands.
The Genealogy of Krugovaya Poruka: Forced Trust as a Feature of Russian Political Culture
Authors: Ledeneva Alena
Published: February 2012

Russia is characterized by a high degree of interpersonal trust, reflected in the fundamental divide between us/insiders (svoi) and them/outsiders (chuzhie), with a consequent gap in ethical standards. If the lack of an impersonal system of trust in post-Communist Russia is often explained by the imperfection of newly built institutions that are not trusted for a good reason, the prevalence of strong interpersonal ties is normally linked to Russia's political culture. This chapter argues that imposed forms of cooperation, whether within a peasant community, work collective, or personal network, have produced a form of interpersonal trust associated with a rather compelling form of solidarity–krugovaya poruka–which is most commonly associated with the peasant communes of pre-revolutionary Russia. This chapter examines the origins of krugovaya poruka, taxation and krugovaya poruka, legislation on krugovaya poruka, the abolition of krugovaya poruka, Soviet bureaucracy and krugovaya poruka, and krugovaya poruka in the post-Soviet context.
The Problem of Trust in Russian Public Opinion
Authors: Levada Yuri
Published: February 2012

Trust is closely related to other social concepts such as hope, expectations, loyalty, charismatic authority, rational considerations, and the mass imagination. Recently, ‘trust’ and a related concept, ‘social capital’, have become the subject of special interest in Russia and other post-Communist countries. Under the Soviet regime it was forbidden to conduct proper nationwide surveys of public opinion. But even if opinion surveys had been allowed, the researcher would have found it impossible to obtain any measures of public trust or distrust with respect to state institutions or leaders. In the mass mind, such terms as ‘public opinion’ did not exist. This chapter examines the problem of trust in public opinion in Russia. It compares the indices of trust in Russian social institutions (president, political parties, army, courts, church, media, etc.) with those in the United States. The chapter also summarizes the results of a survey that explored Russians' degree of trust in various countries of the world.
The Puzzle of Work: Insecurity and Stress and Autonomy and Commitment
Authors: Paul Edwards
Published: February 2012

This chapter suggests that the nature of work in Britain changed dramatically during the last thirty years of the twentieth century. Sectoral shifts included a move from manufacturing towards services. There were also major shifts from the public sector to the private sector: between 1980 and 1998 the proportion of employees accounted for by private sector services rose from 26% to 44%. Part-time and temporary workers also became more common. These changes are often claimed to be associated with some more general transformations in the nature of work in Britain. One view holds that there have been improving levels of skills and training and better communication in the workplace. Another view holds that there have been increased levels of effort and stress. This chapter attempts to explain why rising skill levels, employee autonomy and commitment have been accompanied by widespread reports of increases in stress, lengthening working hours and a sense of a lack of control over one's working life.
Entrapment in Unemployment: Motivational Deficiency or Structural Constraint?
Authors: Gallie Duncan
Published: February 2012

This chapter explains the processes that lead people to become vulnerable to labour market marginalisation through unemployment. It first focuses on incentives to work and suggests that unemployment is the result of a motivational deficit, which is linked to a system of welfare benefits that reduces the value that people attach to work. It then discusses social exclusion, which suggests that once people become unemployed, they are caught in a vicious circle of poverty and social isolation that in turn sharply reduce their opportunities for employment. Finally, it looks at the argument that the critical factor is related to the changing patterns of skills in advanced societies and the nature of the training provision for the updating and modification of skills.
Explaining Ethnic Minority Disadvantage
Authors: Heath Anthony F. , Yu Soojin
Published: February 2012

This chapter offers a variety of explanations as to why ethnic minorities in Britain suffered ‘ethnic penalties’ or serious disadvantages in the labour market. These explanations focused on the lack of human capital on the part of the migrant workers and the prejudice and discrimination they experienced at the hands of the British society.
Sainte-Beuve: Biography, Criticism, and the Literary
Authors: Jefferson Ann
Published: February 2012

Biography seemed to have little to offer in comparison to literature itself. From this perspective, it is perceived as being at best marginal to literature, and at worst as antithetical to the literary. This negative relation is predominant in the French tradition, where writers themselves have repeatedly and vehemently protested against what they perceived as extraneous imposition of the ‘life’ onto the literary ‘work’. This chapter addresses whether biography has any critical validity in the study of literary texts, when their prime concern is considered by the critical parti pris and by their authors to be aesthetic. In it, the focus is on Sainte-Beuve, the founder and exemplar of the biological approach to literary criticism. The chapter determines whether and how his method acquired general critical validity, what its critical presuppositions were, and how it conceived of literature and the literary.
Sartre’s Existentialist Biographies: Search for a Method
Authors: Howells Christina
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses Jean Sartre's approach to writing biographies. As a biographer, Sartre embraces the paradox of an attempted, yet always impossible, totalization of the fragmentary, and acknowledges the extent to which he is implicated in the story he tells. His biographical purpose is innovatory compared to the norms of French biography in the twentieth century. Sartre's approach is epistemological, critical, and political rather than literary. His method involves historical and psychological interpretation. Although Sartre's biographies are not consistent in format and approach, they nevertheless are all examples of existentialist psychoanalysis and of the progressive–regressive method. In all cases, he is concerned to conceive human life as a totality rather than as a collection of disparate data, and to interpret attitudes, events, and projects as part of the chosen destiny rather than as accidental phenomenon. In this sense, all the biographies form part of Sartre's epistemological enquiry into the relations between man and nature, and his ethical exploration of nature and of freedom.
Introduction
Authors: Bogdanor Vernon
Published: February 2012

This introductory chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the history of the British constitution in the twentieth century. In the beginning of the twentieth century, doubts started to emerge concerning the function of the uncodified constitution and the role of the sovereign in such a system. In the later part of the century it became accepted that the sovereign could perform a valuable role as mediator, and Queen Victoria had not hesitated in exercising this role. The chapter also discusses the role of other government agencies under an uncodified constitution, including the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the civil service.
The Monarchy
Authors: Brazier Rodney
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the role of the monarchy in the history of the British constitution during the twentieth century, investigating how the constitutional power enjoyed by the sovereign gave way to constitutional influence and describing the changes the Parliament made to the law relevant to the Crown. It suggests that, for most of the twentieth century, sovereigns and their closest advisers recognised the continuing need to adapt the institution of monarchy so as to reflect changes in British society, and this involved further erosions in the sovereign's power.
The Cabinet System
Authors: Seldon Anthony
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines how the Cabinet system in Great Britain changed between 1900 and 2000. It investigates how the system operated and what it meant in 1900, and describes the changes in the system at twenty-year intervals from 1920 to 2000. The chapter explains that the Cabinet has changed from being the sole, to the principal, decision-taking body, and then to a personal system. It also discusses why the Cabinet system changed.
The House of Commons1
Authors: Seaward Paul , Silk Paul
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the history of the House of Commons in Great Britain, discussing the nineteenth- and twentieth-century legacy of the House of Commons. It reveals that, by the end of the twentieth century, the prestige and pre-eminence which Parliament possessed at its beginning was clearly no more. The first signs of a retreat from the principle of parliamentary sovereignty was the passage of the European Communities Act and the Factortame case.
Civil Liberties1
Authors: Feldman David
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the changes in civil liberties in Great Britain during the twentieth century. It suggests that, for those 100 years, the law and practice of civil liberties have pulled in many directions at the same time. The doctrine of parliamentary supremacy gave Parliament the opportunity either to extend effective protection for rights or to interfere with them more extensively, and some rights, such as those derived from the idea of equality, have been advanced by Parliament.
Britain and Europe
Authors: Loveland Ian
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the changes in Great Britain's relationship with the rest of Europe during the twentieth century. Britain's membership to the European Community (EC) has significantly affected constitutional understandings because it required the transfer of law-making authority from Britain to its fellow EC member states and the institutions of the Community. In this light, it can be argued that accession to the Community has proved by far the most significant constitutional innovation undertaken by any government in the twentieth century.
Vivien Anne Law, 1954–2002
Authors: Lapidge Michael , Matthews Peter
Published: February 2012

Vivienne Law acquired a mastery of the field of late antique and early Medieval Latin grammar, her first task was to familiarise herself with the early medieval manuscripts in which grammatical texts were transmitted. This task necessitated constant travel to British and continental libraries in order to provide herself with transcriptions of grammatical texts; it also necessitated the acquisition of a huge collection of microfilms of grammatical manuscripts. Her work on these manuscripts soon revealed a vast and uncharted sea of unedited and unstudied grammatical texts, for the most part anonymous. A major component of her life's work was the attempt to chart this sea. Her earliest publications reveal a profound experience of grammatical manuscripts and a refusal simply to reiterate the opinions of earlier scholars. All these publications report new discoveries, such as previously unknown Old English glosses to the Ars grammatica of Tatwine, an early 8th-century Anglo-Saxon grammarian; or unsuspected aspects of the relationship between Anglo-Saxon and continental learning as revealed in the transmission of the grammars of Boniface and Tatwine; or the true nature of the jumbled and misunderstood grammar attributed to the early Irish grammarian Malsachanus.
Provincial towns: streets and squares, 1750–1830
Authors: Griffin Emma
Published: February 2012

This chapter gives an extended analysis of street recreations. It does this in two ways. It continues the chronological history of street recreations from earlier chapters and looks at the fortunes of events that were once funded by civic elites in the years following the end of these payments. It also considers forms of civic recreations that did not have routine funding, and examines the cycle of pleasure fairs and the occasional public celebrations. The chapter concludes with a discussion of ephemeral events and plebeian street recreation.
Village greens
Authors: Griffin Emma
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the practice of recreation in rural areas. It focuses on the spaces where the games were played. It examines the long-forgotten sport of camping, which illustrates both the possibilities and the problems of using space to explore the history of popular recreations in the rural context.
The ‘long’ late antiquity: a late twentieth-century model
Authors: Cameron Averil
Published: February 2012

The last generation has seen an ‘explosion’ in the study of late antiquity. Whether people call it ‘the later Roman empire’ or ‘late antiquity’, the term now in much more common use in English. Handbooks are rapidly appearing to help their teachers meet this demand and they too express the current understanding of what is to be included. This chapter argues that a particular model for the study of this period has come to have a strong influence on students and scholars alike, and it asks how and why this is so, and what implications there are for the future study of the subject. Andrea Giardina has called this a particularly Anglo-centric phenomenon.
Greek civilisation and slavery
Authors: Cartledge Paul
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines whether Greek civilization was based on slavery. The silence of classicists on the subject is not surprising. The discussion here is limited to Anglo-American scholarship, in an attempt to achieve a manageable focus, though a great deal of the last half-century's work on ancient Greek slavery has been written in French and German. Slavery may cover very different types of unfreedom, such as the chattel slave system of Athens and the helotage that was the predominant form of servitude practised by Sparta. Whether slaves, especially chattel slaves, are to be seen principally as living property or as socially dead outsiders evokes further levels of definition, which are also contested.
Socrates on trial in the USA
Authors: Schofield Malcolm
Published: February 2012

For the last thirty years or more publications on Socrates have become a major growth industry. Its centre is the USA; and much of it has been occasioned by engagement with the work of Gregory Vlastos, conceivably the single most influential writer on ancient Greek philosophy in the English-speaking world in the twentieth century. A tricky area for US citizens is Socrates' political stance. Probably there would be fairly wide agreement among scholars that the principal motive behind the prosecution which led to Socrates' death in 399 bc was political animus against someone who had had close associations with Critias, leading member of the junta which overthrew the Athenian democracy in 403 bc. The assumption underpinning the formal charges brought against him will have been that Socrates was guilty by association, even if he had not engaged in political activity himself.
Roman history and the ideological vacuum
Authors: Wiseman T. P.
Published: February 2012

For the twentieth century, the political history of Athens was essentially ideological, involving great issues of freedom and tyranny, while that of the Roman Republic was merely a struggle for power, with no significant ideological content. But why should that be? The Romans were perfectly familiar with the concepts and terminology of Greek political philosophy and used them to describe their own politics, as Cicero explains in writing in 56 bc. Not surprisingly. Greek authors who dealt with Roman politics used the concepts of democracy and oligarchy, the rule of the many or the rule of the best, without any sense that it was an inappropriate idiom.
The Re-description of Enlightenment
Authors: Pocock J. G. A.
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the argument that the history of the Enlightenment should be pluralised. It shows that there were a number of Enlightenments occurring, and that not all of them were similar to the original concept. Isaiah Berlin presumed that there was an ‘Enlightenment’ that reduced everything to reason, and a ‘Counter-Enlightenment’ that returned it to the imagination and situated it in history.
Michael Drayton’s Brilliant Career
Authors: Hadfield Andrew
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the career of Michael Drayton, who is generally regarded as a major second-rate poet. A careful examination of his extensive writings has revealed a shrewd and forceful mind at work, and one that has a clear sense of what a poet should do. Drayton's writings cover many subjects and use a variety of styles and forms. The lecture tries to show that Drayton was a poet who saw the possibilities of the medium of print publication, which would enable the poet to reach a wider audience.
The Rule of Law in International Affairs
Authors: Simpson Brian
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the influence of international law on the conduct of states. It focuses on two specific and very fully documented incidents that took place during the Second World War, and which provoked strong protests from the Norwegian government. The lecture attempts to identify the severe problems that are involved in establishing the relationship between international law and state action. It concludes by identifying an area of legal theory that has been neglected by scholars: the nature of legal justification in international affairs.
‘The Nation Within’: British India at War 1939–1947
Authors: Bayly C. A.
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the remarkable recovery of British India and the Indian army that made the reconquest of Burma and Malaya possible. The Indian army is shown to have displayed a number of strengths during its final years, such as its reorganisation and provision with new equipment. It was also given a higher political profile, and Indian soldiers were given new initiatives by their commanders. The lecture determines that the final campaign of the Indian army helped create the social order of the new nations of the Subcontinent.
Urbanization and Spatial Organization in Southern France and North-Eastern Spain during the Iron Age
Authors: Garcia Dominique
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the process of urbanization in north-east Spain and southern France during the Iron Age. The findings reveal that the French Midi is an intermediate zone where the process of urbanization develops later than in the central Mediterranean, but earlier than in Celtic Europe. The results also indicate that it was the Greek commercial demand that influenced the organization of a network of exchange which resulted in the network of settlements that occurred at the end of the sixth century BC.
Village to City: Staples and Luxuries? Exchange Networks and Urbanization
Authors: Foxhall Lin
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the role of commodities and their movements to the complex processes of change and urbanization in the Greek world. It suggests that economies of urban centers emerged out of, and came to reside in, the consumption of goods driven by fashion, as many people in fluid political and social settings use goods to display their political aims and construct social ambitions. Thus, the increasing numbers of communities that might seriously be called urban by the sixth century could be considered, in the most literal sense, as consumer cities.
Victorian Classics: Sustaining the Study of the Ancient World
Authors: Turner Frank M.
Published: February 2012

This chapter provides an overview of the history of Victorian classical studies. The teaching and knowledge of the Classics in Britain had expanded throughout the Victorian era as the number of educational institutions grew and as the numbers of people with the aspiration for social mobility through education had similarly expanded. More people wanted some kind of knowledge of the classical languages and the classical world because they provided avenues for advancement in secondary schools, the universities, the church, the military, the professions and the civil service. The chapter also describes the major role played by George Grote in British and European classical study. Grote forged a progressive intellectual identity for the study of ancient languages, literature, philosophy and history. He introduced dynamic modern ideas into classical scholarship and sustained the Classics as a force of modern instruction.
Specialisation and Social Utility: Disciplining English Studies
Authors: Guy Josephine M.
Published: February 2012

This chapter analyses the relationship between nineteenth-century and modern debates about the academic discipline of English. It discusses the development of the discipline of English in terms of wider changes in the social organisation of knowledge which took place in the late decades of the nineteenth century, particularly the processes which constitute professionalisation and specialisation. It suggests that a framework placing English in relation to general criteria for disciplinary knowledge represents a complete or sufficient understanding of its history. The chapter also discusses the role played by local institutional politics and practices and different countries and nationalities in the development of English as a discipline.
Libraries, Knowledge and Public Identity
Authors: McKitterick David
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the identification of libraries as a national and public issue and the establishment of librarianship as an identifiable profession. The public identity of libraries lay in their collections and how such collections were shared and interpreted. As repositories of history and current knowledge, their principles of selection and presentation denoted national and local aspirations, linked by a scale of values broadly defined as social, to a sense of the past. The chapter also highlights the Public Libraries Act of 1850, also known as the Ewart Act, which gave power to local authorities to levy rates for the development and support of local libraries. This authority given to local authorities meant that all decisions respecting local libraries were subject to notions of public identity.
Intimacy, Imagination and the Inner Dialectics of Knowledge Communities: The Synthetic Society, 1896–1908
Authors: Lubenow W. C.
Published: February 2012

Knowledge communities are formed at the interstices of university and metropolitan life. They help produce some of the intangible features of social capital and are also considered as engines of change. This chapter examines the knowledge community — the Synthetic Society — in more detail. It discusses the Rules of the Synthetic Society, which consider existing Agnostic tendencies and contribute toward a working philosophy of religious belief. Their objective was to expose various views and to seek in them not only mutual understanding but to identify which of those concepts they held in common.
The Hutton Inquiry: Some Wider Legal Aspects
Authors: Twining William
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the legal aspects of the Hutton Inquiry. It suggests that the Hutton Report is not of great legal significance and that though it was criticizes it was not extreme example of the danger or risks of involving judges in political controversy. The chapter contends that the controversy surrounding the Hutton Report has less to do with the law relating to freedom of information than to the culture of secrecy that has now been more extensively canvassed by the Phillis Report.
Introduction
Authors: Adams J. N. , Lapidge Michael , Reinhardt Tobias
Published: February 2012

‘Language’ is given a comprehensive sense in this book. Many of the chapters are not ‘linguistic’ in any formal sense, but are about the skill (or otherwise) of writers in expressing themselves. They are thus about style, the study of which can be seen as a branch of literary criticism. There are various objections that can be made to the notion (implicit in Bernhard’s statement) that the inclusion of ‘poeticisms’ in prose was an imperial development and represented a debasement of the literary language. The diversity of extant prose is a major theme of this book. Examples of early long sentences are also presented. Bad writing may show up clearly in a translation. This writing may be determined in a non-literary text written by someone who had not had a literary education and might not even have been a native speaker of Latin. Archaism emerges as a generic label rather than a unified category. The chapter then discusses the translation from Greek. Aspects of high-style Latin prose, namely neologism, archaism, Greek loanword, and poeticism, are described.
Hair, Hegemony, and Historiography: Caesar’s Style and its Earliest Critics
Authors: Kraus Christina Shuttleworth
Published: February 2012

The ancient term commentarius designates works ranging from official records to collections of anecdotes to historical narrative. The ancient historiographical commentarius tended to be represented as an emperor in search of new clothes, as it were – clothing that would provide the copia, ornatus, and completeness appropriate to a work of artistic prose. The three ancient critics presented testify to the frustrations inherent in evaluating a Caesarian commentarius. Additionally, some ways in which the ancient reactions to the Commentarii are reflected in modern criticism (primarily of the Bellum Gallicum) are covered. The chapter then demonstrates that what Eden (1962:74) calls the ‘ambivalent status’ of the commentarius does fit closely with the biographical tradition concerning Caesar’s habits, dress, and demeanor; and further, suggests that same biographical tradition can be read as a complex of metaphors. Caesar’s particular brand of commentarius may be just the kind of oratio this character deserved.
Poeticism in Pre-Conquest Anglo-Latin Prose
Authors: Lapidge Michael
Published: February 2012

This chapter is primarily concerned with Anglo-Latin prose: that is to say, Latin prose composed in Anglo-Saxon England between roughly 650 and 1050. It poses the question of the extent to which Anglo-Latin authors were aware of different stylistic registers, and how well they understood what diction was appropriate to either prose or verse. Using the example of Bede as a starting point, the chapter provides a list of those features of poetic diction that are found, in varying degrees, in the authors of Anglo-Latin prose. The seven criteria presented provide a crude measuring-stick against which to assess the poeticism of the principal authors of Anglo-Latin prose. The study of poeticism in Anglo-Latin prose, and in medieval Latin literature in general, is a subject that awaits exploration.
The Development of Machian Themes in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Barbour Julian
Published: February 2012

This chapter charts the complicated legacy of Mach's critique of absolute space and time. In 1902, Poincaré achieved a clear formulation of what a truly Machian mechanics should accomplish: it should permit a unique prediction of future motion on the basis of just the relative separations of bodies, and these separations' rates of change. However, this work made no impact on Einstein, despite his admiration for Mach. The discussion explains how several independent ideas that dominated Einstein's thinking about space, time and matter led him to a quite different interpretation (or misinterpretation) of Mach. This chapter also argues that, despite the misinterpretation, general relativity is perfectly Machian (in a sense that is the analogue for field theories of Poincaré's criterion), and that this shows general relativity to be ‘timeless’ in a certain sense, which is suggestive of quantum gravity.
The Perception of Time
Authors: Treisman Michel
Published: February 2012

This chapter aims to present a psychological model of how people perceive time, and to explain some experimental evidence supporting it. It suggests that the apparently close correspondence between the spatiotemporal structures of the perceived world and of the physical world, in contrast to the complex and controversial relation between, for example, perceived colour and light, lies at the root of the primary quality/secondary quality distinction. It also examines the neural mechanisms by which people keep track of time. The answer to this question is a model in which the nervous system itself produces temporal information, in the form of a ‘pacemaker’ or pacemakers that emit pulses at regular characteristic intervals; the model also includes a ‘calibration unit’ to allow for flexibility in the accuracy of timing. The chapter ends by surveying the experimental evidence for this model, including EEG studies.
Rational Resistance to Land Privatization: The Behaviour of Russia’s Rural Producers in Response to Agrarian Reforms, 1861–2000
Authors: Leonard Carol Scott
Published: February 2012

This chapter analyses rural opposition to land privatization in the post-Soviet transition era that draws explicit parallels with the resistance by Russian peasants to early twentieth-century government programmes of land reform. It focuses on the failure of the effort to extend the policy of privatization to farmland, and the collapse of marketed output from the agricultural sector's large koholz units.
The Human Body in Britain: Past and Future
Authors: Floud Roderick
Published: February 2012

This chapter explores evidence on the changing shape of the British human body, in particular its height and weight, in order to shed light on the past and possibly future standard of living of the British population. It focuses on anthropometric measures (based on height, weight, and body mass index) that are employed as indicators of material welfare of the population.
‘They Worship Death Here’: William Faulkner, Sanctuary and Hollywood
Authors: Gray Richard
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses William Faulkner's experiences in Hollywood, which he described as a place that worships death and not money. It shows that nearly all of his experiences in Hollywood were bad, but were eventually redeemed in part by friendships, most notably with director Howard Hawks. Faulkner also had a passionate affair with Meta Carpenter, Hawks' script clerk. Faulkner is shown to have never fully settled down or felt secure in Hollywood, and eventually things became worse for him as time went on. However, Faulkner was able to recognise the determining significance of Hollywood in his time and culture, and subsequently penned a number of novels and written works, including The Wild Palms. The lecture examines several of Faulkner's works that were written during his stay in Hollywood, most particularly Sanctuary, a notorious and controversial novel during that time.
Nomad’s Progress
Authors: Sutherland Lord
Published: February 2012

This lecture discusses the usefulness, the appropriateness, and the viability of the metaphor of pilgrimage, as it is applied in the post-twentieth century world to the search for moral and spiritual fulfilment. The lecture suggests some parallels with Isaiah Berlin's rejection of the central premise in utopian thought, where the idea of a perfect whole where all good things existed was coherent. It is also implied that there were parallels to some concerns in the recent work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Ernest Gellner; several themes that were central to their theses are identified.
The Justice of Venice
Authors: Shaw James E
Published: February 2012

The rulers of Venice prided themselves on their unique brand of justice, which was a source of both ridicule and admiration for foreign commentators. This book uncovers what this special justice meant for ordinary subjects by studying the history of one of the oldest magistracies of the city, a body responsible for handling petty market crime and small-claims litigation. It examines how changing ideas about justice at the level of the political elite were related to judicial and policing practices in the courtroom and on the street. The book shows how failure to invest in the state bureaucracy allowed corruption to flourish and effectively delegated power to private interest groups such as the guilds. At the same time, it reveals that the bottom level of civil justice was fast, cheap, and accessible. Everyone had the chance to be heard, and the poor and disadvantaged could hope for justice along with the rich and powerful.
PBW: the Project and the Colloquium
Authors: Jeffreys Michael
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the ‘Prosopography of the Byzantine World’ (PBW), which appears in many pages of this book. It is a British Academy project that is largely funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The chapter also introduces the concept of prosopography, and mentions several conclusions that PBW drew from the papers and from extensive discussions that occurred in the framework of the colloquium.
Crusader Sources from the Near East (1099–1204)
Authors: Edbury Peter
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the Crusader sources from the near East that originated between 1099 and 1204. There are no letter collections from the Latin east that were written during the twelfth century, but there are several letters from the east that contain invaluable contemporary evidence for relations between the crusaders and Alexios Komnenos. Aside from examining letters, the chapter studies the literary works that were composed by the Latins in the east, as well as the literary works written in the thirteenth century which relate to the events from before the Fourth Crusade.
Latin Sources and Byzantine Prosopography: Genoa, Venice, Pisa and Barcelona
Authors: Balard Michel
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses Byzantine prosopography and several Latin sources that come from the archives of Genoa, Pisa, Venice, and Barcelona. It attempts to show in what respects Byzantine prosopography for the twelfth century can be enriched thanks to deeds, which are able to provide information on ambassadors and merchants. Deeds can also show the Latins who settled either permanently or temporarily in Constantinople, or in the provincial cities of the Empire. The information gathered from each archive is discussed separately.
Syriac Historiographical Sources
Authors: Witakowski Witold
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses Syriac historiographical sources and three authors of historiographical works in Syriac. The first author discussed in the chapter is Michael the Elder, who is known to western scholars as Michael the Syrian, and is the author of the comprehensive Chronicle. The mystery author of the Chronicle to the Year 1234 is also discussed, followed by John Gregory Barebroyo. Barebroyo is the author of two historiographical works in Syriac, and is famous for his works covering nearly all the scholarly knowledge of the period.
The Invention of German Music, c. 1800
Authors: Deathridge John
Published: February 2012

Arnold Schoenberg once spoke famously of his invention of ‘the method of composition with twelve tones related only to one another’, as the discovery of ‘something which will assure the supremacy of German music for the next hundred years’. How did the generally inclusive habits of composers in German-speaking countries in the eighteenth century, who did not hesitate to adopt diverse musical styles from other countries in Europe, turn into something called German music in the nineteenth century that was decidedly exclusive? And who were its inventors? This chapter argues that German music took its bearings from non-German countries in a spirit of assimilation or opposition — and vice versa. Public ritual and predictable cycles most memorably marked by German music began in Germany in the nineteenth century with the inauguration of the annual Lower Rhine Music Festivals founded in the late 1810s. The marked suitability of German music to do cultural work in the name of the past in order to stabilise uncertain life in the present is not without precedent in Britain too.
Does Transparency Make a Difference? The Example of the European Council of Ministers
Authors: Stasagage David
Published: February 2012

In the panoply of European institutions that have been criticized for their secrecy and lack of accountability, the European Council of Ministers certainly ranks near the top of the list. However, others insist that the secrecy of the policy process within the European Union is exaggerated, and that the public already has access to plentiful information about decision making. This chapter examines empirical evidence that may be used to determine the extent to which secrecy of the EU Council of Ministers is costly or beneficial. It also discusses the effect of efforts made by the Council since 1993 to become more open in its proceedings. Though the focus of the chapter is on whether contributions of individual members of a decision-making body are observable, there are more basic levels of transparency that might be considered, in particular whether there is a ‘giving reasons requirement’, whereby a decision-making body is obliged to provide an explanation for its decisions.