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The Balfour Declaration
by Jonathan SchneerIssued in London in 1917, the Balfour Declaration was one of the key documents of the twentieth century. It committed Britain to supporting the establishment in Palestine of "a National Home for the Jewish people," and its reverberations continue to be felt to this day. Now the entire fascinating story of the document is revealed in this impressive work of modern history.With new material retrieved from historical archives, scholar Jonathan Schneer recounts in dramatic detail the public and private battles in the early 1900s for a small strip of land in the Middle East, battles that started when the governing Ottoman Empire took Germany's side in World War I. The Balfour Declaration paints an indelible picture of how Arab nationalists, backed by Britain, fought for their future as Zionists in England battled diplomatically for influence. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either side or even to most members of the British government, Prime Minister David Lloyd George was telling Turkey that she could keep her flag flying over the disputed territory if only she would agree to a separate peace.The key players in this watershed moment are rendered here in nuanced and detailed relief: Sharif Hussein, the Arab leader who secretly sought British support; Chaim Weizmann, Zionist hero, the folksmensch who charmed British high society; T. E. Lawrence, the legendary "super cerebral" British officer who "set the desert on fire" for the Arabs; Basil Zaharoff, the infamous arms dealer who was Britain's most important back channel to the Turks; and the other generals and prime ministers, soldiers and negotiators, who shed blood and cut deals to grab or give away the precious land.A book crucial to understanding the Middle East as it is today, The Balfour Declaration is a rich and remarkable achievement, a riveting volume about the ancient faiths and timeless treacheries that continue to drive global events.From the Hardcover edition.
Bali: A Paradise Created
by Adrian VickersBali: A Paradise Created bridges the gap between scholarly works and more popular travel accounts. It offers an accessible history fo this fascinating island and an anthropological study not only of the Balinese, but of the paradise-seekers from all parts of the world who have invaded Bali in ever-increasing numbers over the decades. This books shows how Balinese culture has pervaded western film, art, literature and music so that even those who've never been there have enjoyed a glimpse of paradise. This authoritative, much-cited work is now updated with new photos and illustrations, a new introduction, and new text covering the past twenty years.
Bali Chronicles
by Adrian Vickers Willard A. HannaThis book tells the story of Bali-the "paradise island of the Pacific"-its rulers and its people, and their encounters with the Western world.Balinese history tells a fascinating story. For a thousand years, the peculiar splendor of Balinese-Hindu culture came very close to satisfying the social, religious and artistic needs of the people. The arrival of European visitors in the 1920s and 1930s soon made the island's magical charms known to the outside world, and forever changed the "real, unspoiled" Bali. This is the story about the vulnerability-and durability-of an ancient culture to the modern world.There already exists a wealth of literature on Balinese art and thought and the singularly beautiful Balinese way of life which often seems to outsiders like a lavishly costumed pageant continuously and merrily played out against a superbly scenic tropical backdrop.A new introduction by Adrian Vickers, a professor of history at the University of Sydney, places the book into the context of the literature on Bali and the impact that the Western world and tourism are currently having on the island.
Balinese Architecture
by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni Bruce Granquist Davison Julian Nengah Enu Mubinas HanafiBalinese style villas and resorts are popping up everywhere-from Ibiza to St Barts to Singapore. But what is Balinese architecture? And why is it so popular today?Traditional Balinese houses, temples and pavilions are designed to allow man to exist in harmony with the natural forces of the universe-reflecting core Balinese beliefs about man's place in relation to the cosmos, the gods, the ancestors, and the world around him. Innovative local and Western architects have been designing resorts and villas on Bali for decades, drawing their inspiration from these local traditions.In this one-of-a-kind book, author Julian Davison provides a comprehensive guide to Balinese architectural forms, the Balinese belief system, the rituals associated with building, the materials and construction techniques, and the intricate ornamentation used. Over 100 watercolor illustrations and photographs provide a clear picture of the island's architecture as well as an eye-opening look at a culture and a people that have captivated the world's imagination.
Balinese Architecture Discover Indonesia
by Julian Davison Bruce GranquistBalinese Architecture is a step-by-step guide to the intricacies of Balinese vernacular architecture, the written word being complemented throughout by watercolor illustrations of different building types, design concepts and construction techniques.
Balinese Art
by Adrian Vickers[Balinese Art is the first comprehensive survey of Balinese painting from its origins in the traditional Balinese village to its present position at the forefront of the high-priced Asian art scene.] Balinese art has been popular and widely collected around the world for many decades. In fact, the contemporary painter who commands the highest prices in Southeast Asia's hot art market is not Chinese but Bali-born Nyoman Masriadi (1973-)-and this book demonstrates that his work draws on a long and deeply-rooted tradition.[This book surveys the art scene in Bali for the past two hundred years. The author shows how Balinese painting has deep local roots and has followed its own distinctive trajectory, yet has been heavily influenced by outsiders.] Indian artistic and religious traditions were introduced to Bali over a thousand years ago through the prism of ancient Javanese culture. Balinese artists and craftsmen have also interacted with other Asian artists, particularly those of China, and later Western artists. From these sources, an aesthetic tradition developed that depicts stories from the ancient Indian epics as well as themes from Javanese mythology and the religious and communal life of the Balinese themselves.Starting with a discussion of the island's aesthetic traditions and how Balinese art should be viewed and understood, this book goes on to present pre-colonial painting traditions, some of which are still practiced in the village of Kamasan-the home of "classical" Balinese art. However, the main focus is the development of new styles starting in the 1930s and how these gradually evolved in response to the tourist industry that has come to dominate the island. [Balinese Art acquaints readers with the masterpieces and master artists of Bali, and the final chapter presents the most important artists who are active today and serves as an introduction to their work.]
Baling Out: Amazing Dramas of Military Flying
by Robert JacksonTo bale out of a stricken airplane is a pilot's or aircrew's final chance to escape death. It is a traumatic and hazardous exercise that is only practiced in extremis and is in itself full of danger with no guarantee of survival. Many struggled free of a flaming and spinning aircraft only to see their parachute alight above them, some were machine gunned to death by their opponents as they drifted to earth, some landed in mine-fields and were blown apart and many landed in forests and died suspended from the treetops. And yet many survived, some to fight again and some to become prisoners of war. This book relates the experiences of many airmen who survived to tell the tale, some quite remarkable because of pure good luck, some because of ingenuity and some through pure determination to survive at all costs.This book includes escapes from crippled German, British and US aircraft; stories of the first pilots to use parachutes in WW1; amazing escapes from aircraft in the inter-war years.
Balkan Babel: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia from the Death of Tito to the Fall of Milosevic
by Sabrina P. RametThe fourth edition of this critically acclaimed work includes a new chapter, a new epilogue, and revisions throughout the book. Sabrina Ramet, a veteran observer of the Yugoslav scene, traces the steady deterioration of Yugoslavia's political and social fabric in the years since 1980, arguing that, while the federal system and multiethnic fabric laid down fault lines, the final crisis was sown in the failure to resolve the legitimacy question, triggered by economic deterioration, and pushed forward toward war by Serbian politicians bent on power-either within a centralized Yugoslavia or within an "ethnically cleansed" Greater Serbia. With her detailed knowledge of the area and extensive fieldwork, Ramet paints a strikingly original picture of Yugoslavia's demise and the emergence of the Yugoslav successor states.
Balkan Babel
by Sabrina Petra RametThe fourth edition of this critically acclaimed work includes a new chapter, a new epilogue, and revisions throughout the book. Sabrina Ramet, a veteran observer of the Yugoslav scene, traces the steady deterioration of Yugoslavia's political and social fabric in the years since 1980, arguing that, while the federal system and multiethnic fabric laid down fault lines, the final crisis was sown in the failure to resolve the legitimacy question, triggered by economic deterioration, and pushed forward toward war by Serbian politicians bent on power-either within a centralized Yugoslavia or within an "ethnically cleansed" Greater Serbia. With her detailed knowledge of the area and extensive fieldwork, Ramet paints a strikingly original picture of Yugoslavia's demise and the emergence of the Yugoslav successor states.
Balkan Babel: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia From The Death of Tito to The Fall of Milosevic (Fourth Edition)
by Sabrina Petra RametYugoslavia's would-be system-builders failed three times over to build a workable system. The underlying problem was their failure to resolve the problem of legitimacy. In the 1980s, economic deterioration pushed people to despair and, under the pressure of Serbia's ambitious political establishment, the country broke up along ethnic fault lines. This volume, now in its fourth expanded edition, tells the story of socialist Yugoslavia's troubles and the challenges facing its successor states from May 1980 to July 2001.
Balkan Babel
by Sabrina Petra RametThe fourth edition of this critically acclaimed work includes a new chapter, a new epilogue, and revisions throughout the book. Sabrina Ramet, a veteran observer of the Yugoslav scene, traces the steady deterioration of Yugoslavia's political and social fabric in the years since 1980, arguing that, while the federal system and multiethnic fabric laid down fault lines, the final crisis was sown in the failure to resolve the legitimacy question, triggered by economic deterioration, and pushed forward toward war by Serbian politicians bent on power-either within a centralized Yugoslavia or within an "ethnically cleansed" Greater Serbia. With her detailed knowledge of the area and extensive fieldwork, Ramet paints a strikingly original picture of Yugoslavia's demise and the emergence of the Yugoslav successor states.
Balkan Babel 4E
by Sabrina Petra RametThe fourth edition of this critically acclaimed work includes a new chapter, a new epilogue, and revisions throughout the book. Sabrina Ramet, a veteran observer of the Yugoslav scene, traces the steady deterioration of Yugoslavia's political and social fabric in the years since 1980, arguing that, while the federal system and multiethnic fabric laid down fault lines, the final crisis was sown in the failure to resolve the legitimacy question, triggered by economic deterioration, and pushed forward toward war by Serbian politicians bent on power--either within a centralized Yugoslavia or within an "ethnically cleansed" Greater Serbia. With her detailed knowledge of the area and extensive fieldwork, Ramet paints a strikingly original picture of Yugoslavia's demise and the emergence of the Yugoslav successor states.
Balkan Blue: Family & Military Memories
by Roy RedgraveContrary to popular misconception, the Army is capable of tolerating, even encouraging, individuality amongst its officers, particularly when they are inherently competent. Yet, as readers of Balkan Blue will discover it is a gloriously untypical autobiography covering the unlikely combination of the eccentric Redgrave clan and service life, the lighter side of which the author refreshingly captures.
Balkan Blues: Consumer Politics after State Socialism (New Anthropologies of Europe)
by Yuson JungAn exploration of how a state transitions from the collectivized production and distribution of socialism to the consumer-focused culture of capitalism.In Balkan Blues, Yuson Jung considers the state as an economic agent in upholding rights and responsibilities in the shift to a global market. Taking Bulgaria as her focus, Jung shows how impoverished Bulgarians developed a consumer-oriented society and how the concept of “need’ adapted in surprising ways to accommodate this new culture.Different legal frameworks arose to ensure the rights of vulnerable or deceived consumers. Consumer advocacy NGOs and government officers scrambled to navigate unfamiliar EU-imposed models for consumer affairs departments. All of these changes involved issues of responsibility, accountability, and civic engagement, which brought Bulgarians new ways of viewing both their identities and their sense of agency. Yet these opportunities also raised questions of inequality, injustice, and social stratification. Jung’s study provides a compelling argument for reconsidering of the role of the state in the construction of twenty-first-century consumer cultures.“A good contribution to post-socialist and Balkan studies, showing well that the concept of post-socialism can still be useful not only in the context of Central and Eastern Europe, but also in the Balkans. The book is based on long-term, deep ethnography and is well written . . . I recommend it to anyone who wants to try to understand social, political, and economic differences in Europe and everyday practices related to the (imaginaries of the) state.” —Karolina Bielenin-Lenczowska, Ethnologia Polona
Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918 (Twentieth-Century Battles)
by Richard C. HallWith the transfer of German units to the western front in the spring of 1918, the position of the Central Powers on the Macedonian front worsened. Materiel became scarce and morale among the Bulgarian forces deteriorated. The Entente Command perceived in Macedonia an excellent opportunity to apply additional pressure to the Germans, who were already retreating on the western front. In September, Entente forces undertook an offensive directed primarily at Bulgarian defenses at Dobro Pole. Balkan Breakthrough tells the story of that battle and its consequences. Dobro Pole was the catalyst for the collapse of the Central Powers and the Entente victory in southeastern Europe--a defeat that helped persuade the German military leadership that the war was lost. While decisive in ending World War I in the region, the battle did not resolve the underlying national issues there.
Balkan Contextual Theology: An Introduction (Routledge Studies in Religion)
by Stipe OdakThis book opens a new research field in Balkan contextual theology. By embracing culturally rich traditions of the Western Balkans as its starting point, it explores their existential and theological bearings. Placed at the crossroads of civilizations and religions, this region has witnessed some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. At the same time, it has produced unique textures of inter-cultural life. The volume addresses some of the most poignant phenomena endemic to the region, such as sevdalinka music, intimate forms of neighborhood, archetypes of ‘sacred warriors,’ the experience of democratic jet lag, collective melancholy, and intergenerational trauma. As the first book of this nature, it aims to encourage further development of contextual theological thinking in the region and promote its international reception.
Balkan Cyberia: Cold War Computing, Bulgarian Modernization, and the Information Age behind the Iron Curtain
by Victor PetrovHow Bulgaria transformed the computer industry behind the Iron Curtain—and the consequences of that transformation for a society that dreamt of a brighter future.Bulgaria in 1963 was a communist country led by a centralized party trying to navigate a multinational Cold War. The state needed money, and it sought prestige. By cultivating a burgeoning computer industry, Bulgaria achieved both but at great cost to the established order. In Balkan Cyberia, Victor Petrov elevates a deeply researched, local story of ambition into an essential history of global innovation, ideological conflict, and exchange. Granted tremendous freedom by the Politburo and backed by a concerted state secret intelligence effort, a new, privileged class of technical intellectuals and managers rose to prominence in Bulgaria in the 1960s. Plugged in to transnational business and professional networks, they strove to realize the party&’s radical dreams of utopian automation, and Bulgaria would come to manufacture up to half of the Eastern Bloc&’s electronics. Yet, as Petrov shows, the export-oriented nature of the industry also led to the disruption of party rule. Technicians, now thinking with and through computers, began to recast the dominant intellectual discourse within a framework of reform, while technocratic managers translated their newfound political clout into economic power that served them well before and after the revolutions of 1989.Balkan Cyberia reveals the extension of economic and political networks of influence far past the reputed fall of communism, along with the pivotal role small countries played in geopolitical games at the time. Through the prism of the Bulgarian computer industry, the true nature of the socialist international economy, and indeed the links between capitalism and communism, emerge.
Balkan Departures: Travel Writing from Southeastern Europe
by Wendy Bracewell Alex Drace-FrancisIn writings about travel, the Balkans appear most often as a place travelled to. Western accounts of the Balkans revel in the different and the exotic, the violent and the primitive − traits that serve (according to many commentators) as a foil to self-congratulatory definitions of the West as modern, progressive and rational. However, the Balkans have also long been travelled from. The region’s writers have given accounts of their travels in the West and elsewhere, saying something in the process about themselves and their place in the world. The analyses presented here, ranging from those of 16th-century Greek humanists to 19th-century Romanian reformers to 20th-century writers, socialists and ‘men-of-the-world’, suggest that travellers from the region have also created their own identities through their encounters with Europe. Consequently, this book challenges assumptions of Western discursive hegemony, while at the same time exploring Balkan ‘Occidentalisms’.
Balkan Ghost: A Journey Through History
by Robert KaplanAcclaim for ROBERT D. KAPLAN'S BALKAN GHOSTS "Kaplan is a striking and evocative writer, and the Balkans offer him all the richness of a Garcia Marquez world, where the fantastic is everyday life." -San Francisco Examiner "With remarkable clarity, [Kaplan] explains problems that all sides have lived with throughout the long history of the Balkan peninsula. . . . Mr. Kaplan succeeds in presenting the everyday experience of different Balkan communities in a vivid and significant way. Balkan Ghosts offers the complexity, brutality and beauty in traveling in both the past and the present." -Seattle Times "A timely field guide to the ethnic and religious passions of 'Europe's forgotten rear door.' Few writers surpass Kaplan in the ability to pack useful information into a small space." -San Francisco Chronicle "An often rewarding odyssey filled with vivid writing." -Wall Street Journal "Historical perspective makes Kaplan a superb observer. ... He artfully blends his reporter's notes with rich historical reflection." -Business Week "A well-documented account of the Balkans' past and present. . . . Kaplan . . . forcefully illustrates that the irreconcilable differences among Serbs, Croatians and Bosnians are only one part of the seething ethnic, religious and cultural tensions tearing at a much larger region." -Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Balkan Glory: Thomas Kydd 23 (Thomas Kydd #36)
by Julian Stockwin'Balkan Glory is an epic chapter in the splendid Kydd canon, weaving knotty political gambits with stirring naval actions, expressively re-creating the often harsh reality Jack Tars witnessed within their wooden walls during the Napoleonic Wars' - Quarterdeck1811. The Adriatic, the 'French Lake', is now the most valuable territory Napoleon Bonaparte possesses. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd finds his glorious return to England cut short when the Admiralty summons him to lead a squadron of frigates into these waters to cause havoc and distress to the enemy. Kydd is dubbed 'The Sea Devil' by Bonaparte who personally appoints one of his favourites, Dubourdieu, along with a fleet that greatly outweighs the British, to rid him of this menace.At the same time, Nicholas Renzi is sent to Austria on a secret mission to sound out the devious arch-statesman, Count Metternich. His meeting reveals a deadly plan by Bonaparte that threatens the whole balance of power in Europe. The only thing that can stop it is a decisive move at sea and for this he must somehow cross the Alps to the Adriatic to contact Kydd directly. A climactic sea battle where the stakes could not be higher is inevitable. Kydd faces Dubourdieu with impossible odds stacked against him. Can he shatter Bonaparte's dreams of breaking out of Europe and marching to the gates of India and Asia?*************************************Readers LOVE Balkan Glory'I can say without a doubt Balkan Glory is Stockwin's best of the series. All these elements make it so. It's great, involving reading (I was surprised when I reached The End!). It's what makes for great historical fiction''By far the best of the Kydd series. Can the next one possibly be as riveting?''One of my must have books each year'
Balkan Glory: Thomas Kydd 23 (Thomas Kydd Ser.)
by Julian Stockwin'Balkan Glory is an epic chapter in the splendid Kydd canon, weaving knotty political gambits with stirring naval actions, expressively re-creating the often harsh reality Jack Tars witnessed within their wooden walls during the Napoleonic Wars' - Quarterdeck1811. The Adriatic, the 'French Lake', is now the most valuable territory Napoleon Bonaparte possesses. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd finds his glorious return to England cut short when the Admiralty summons him to lead a squadron of frigates into these waters to cause havoc and distress to the enemy. Kydd is dubbed 'The Sea Devil' by Bonaparte who personally appoints one of his favourites, Dubourdieu, along with a fleet that greatly outweighs the British, to rid him of this menace.At the same time, Nicholas Renzi is sent to Austria on a secret mission to sound out the devious arch-statesman, Count Metternich. His meeting reveals a deadly plan by Bonaparte that threatens the whole balance of power in Europe. The only thing that can stop it is a decisive move at sea and for this he must somehow cross the Alps to the Adriatic to contact Kydd directly. A climactic sea battle where the stakes could not be higher is inevitable. Kydd faces Dubourdieu with impossible odds stacked against him. Can he shatter Bonaparte's dreams of breaking out of Europe and marching to the gates of India and Asia?*************************************Readers LOVE Balkan Glory'I can say without a doubt Balkan Glory is Stockwin's best of the series. All these elements make it so. It's great, involving reading (I was surprised when I reached The End!). It's what makes for great historical fiction''By far the best of the Kydd series. Can the next one possibly be as riveting?''One of my must have books each year'
Balkan Glory: Thomas Kydd 23 (Thomas Kydd #36)
by Julian Stockwin'Paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line' - Daily Express1811. The Adriatic, the 'French Lake', is now the most valuable territory Napoleon Bonaparte possesses. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd finds his glorious return to England cut short when the Admiralty summons him to lead a squadron of frigates into these waters to cause havoc and distress to the enemy. Kydd is dubbed 'The Sea Devil' by Bonaparte who personally appoints one of his favourites, Dubourdieu, along with a fleet that greatly outweighs the British, to rid him of this menace.At the same time, Nicholas Renzi is sent to Austria on a secret mission to sound out the devious arch-statesman, Count Metternich. His meeting reveals a deadly plan by Bonaparte that threatens the whole balance of power in Europe. The only thing that can stop it is a decisive move at sea and for this he must somehow cross the Alps to the Adriatic to contact Kydd directly. A climactic sea battle where the stakes could not be higher is inevitable. Kydd faces Dubourdieu with impossible odds stacked against him. Can he shatter Bonaparte's dreams of breaking out of Europe and marching to the gates of India and Asia?(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Balkan Heritages: Negotiating History and Culture (British School at Athens - Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies #1)
by Maria Couroucli Tchavdar MarinovThis volume deals with the relation between heritage, history and politics in the Balkans. Contributions examine diverse ways in which material and immaterial heritage has been articulated, negotiated and manipulated since the nineteenth century. The major question addressed here is how modern Balkan nations have voiced claims about their past by establishing ’proof’ of a long historical presence on their territories in order to legitimise national political narratives. Focusing on claims constructed in relation to tangible evidence of past presence, especially architecture and townscape, the contributors reveal the rich relations between material and immaterial conceptions of heritage. This comparative take on Balkan public uses of the past also reveals many common trends in social and political practices, ideas and fixations embedded in public and collective memories. Balkan Heritages revisits some general truths about the Balkans as a region and a category, in scholarship and in politics. Contributions to the volume adopt a transnational and trans-disciplinary perspective of Balkan identities and heritage(s), viewed here as symbolic resources deployed by diverse local actors with special emphasis on scholars and political leaders.
Balkan Legacies of the Great War: The Past Is Never Dead (St Antony's)
by David Madden Elizabeth Roberts Othon AnastasakisThis is a rich yet succinct account of an underexplored story: the consequences of the Great War for the region which ignited it. It offers a fascinating tapestry: the collapse of Empires, the birth of Turkey and Yugoslavia, Greece as both victor and loser, Bulgaria's humiliating defeat; bitter memories, forced migrations, territorial implications and collective national amnesias. The legacies live on. <P><P> The contributions in this volume significantly enhance the debate about how the Great War is remembered in South East Europe, and why it still evokes such strong emotions and reactions, more than a century after its beginnings.
Balkan Smoke: Tobacco and the Making of Modern Bulgaria
by Mary C. NeuburgerIn Balkan Smoke, Mary Neuburger leads readers along the Bulgarian-Ottoman caravan routes and into the coffeehouses of Istanbul and Sofia. She reveals how a remote country was drawn into global economic networks through tobacco production and consumption and in the process became modern. In writing the life of tobacco in Bulgaria from the late Ottoman period through the years of Communist rule, Neuburger gives us much more than the cultural history of a commodity; she provides a fresh perspective on the genesis of modern Bulgaria itself.The tobacco trade comes to shape most of Bulgaria's international relations; it drew Bulgaria into its fateful alliance with Nazi Germany and in the postwar period Bulgaria was the primary supplier of smokes (the famed Bulgarian Gold) for the USSR and its satellites. By the late 1960s Bulgaria was the number one exporter of tobacco in the world, with roughly one eighth of its population involved in production.Through the pages of this book we visit the places where tobacco is grown and meet the merchants, the workers, and the peasant growers, most of whom are Muslim by the postwar period. Along the way, we learn how smoking and anti-smoking impulses influenced perceptions of luxury and necessity, questions of novelty, imitation, value, taste, and gender-based respectability. While the scope is often global, Neuburger also explores the politics of tobacco within Bulgaria. Among the book's surprises are the ways in which conflicts over the tobacco industry (and smoking) help to clarify the forbidding quagmire of Bulgarian politics.