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Since the first African American denomination was established in Philadelphia in 1818, churches have gone beyond their role as spiritual guides in African American communities and have served as civic institutions, spaces for education, and sites for thecultivation of individuality and identities in the face of limited or non-existent freedom.In this Very Short Introduction, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. explores the history and circumstances of African American religion through three examples: conjure, African American Christianity, and African American Islam. He argues that the phrase AfricanAmerican religion is meaningful only insofar as it describes how through religion, African Americans have responded to oppressive conditions including slavery, Jim Crow apartheid, and the pervasive and institutionalized discrimination that existstoday. This bold claim frames his interpretation of the historical record of the wide diversity of religious experiences in the African American community. He rejects the common tendency to racialize African American religious experiences as an inherentproclivity towards religiousness and instead focuses on how religious communities and experiences have developed in the African American community and the context in which these developments took place.

Deserts are remarkable places. Typified by drought and extremes of temperature, they can be harsh and hostile

The history of modern Italy is characterized by recurrent cultural and political projects of modernity, rejuvenation, and regeneration

Translation is everywhere, and matters to everybody. Translation doesn't only give us foreign news, dubbed films and instructions for using the microwave: without it, there would be no world religions, and our literatures, our cultures, and our languageswould be unrecognisable.In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Reynolds gives an authoritative and thought-provoking account of the field, from ancient Akkadian to World English, from St Jerome to Google Translate. He shows how translation determines meaning, how it mattersin commerce, empire, conflict and resistance, and why it is fundamental to literature and the arts.

Banks are of central importance for economic growth, the allocation of capital, competitiveness, and financial stability. Propelled by technological advances in financial analysis and financial deregulation, the banking industry's investment played a keyrole in enhancing national economic growth in the early 21st century. The global financial crisis in 2007 revealed the banking world's feet of clay.Since 2007, the turmoil in the global financial system has prompted a fundamental reappraisal of the scale, scope, governance, performance, safety and soundness of banks and other financial institutions. In this Very Short Introduction John Goddard andJohn Wilson explore the world of banking, describing the role of central banks in national and global economies, and analysing the increasing supervision and regulation imposed on the banking industry. Looking to the future, the authors considerproposals for reform of the banking industry, and the prospects of a resolution of the closely-related banking and sovereign debt crises.

For as long as there have been civilizations, there has been the urge to venture outside of them, either in search of other civilizations or in search of novelty. Exploration: A Very Short Introduction surveys this quintessential human impulse, tracingit from pre-history to the present, from east to west around the globe, and from the depths of volcanoes to the expanses of space.Stewart Weaver arranges the history of world explorations into thematic chapters, each of which isolates the distinctive qualities and characteristics of exploration in a particular era, period, or place. He introduces the reader to the definition ofexploration

What shapes our sexuality? Is it a product of our genes, or of society, culture, and politics? How have concepts of sexuality and sexual norms changed over time? How have feminist theories, religion, and HIV/AIDS affected our attitudes to sex?Focusing on the social, political, and psychological aspects of sexuality, this Very Short Introduction examines these questions and many more, exploring what shapes our sexuality, and how our attitudes to sex have in turn shaped the wider world.Revealing how our assumptions about what is 'normal' in sexuality have, in reality, varied widely across time and place, this book tackles the major topics and controversies that still confront us when issues of sex and sexuality are discussed: from sexeducation, HIVAIDS, and eugenics, to religious doctrine, gay rights, and feminism.

The biography of Franz Stangl, commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp - a classic and utterly compelling study of evilOnly four men commanded Nazi extermination (as opposed to concentration) camps. Franz Stangl was one of the. Gitta Sereny's investigation of this man's mind, and of the influences which shaped him, has become a classic. Stangl commanded Treblinka and wasfound guilty of co-responsibility for the slaughter there of at least 900, 000 people. Sereny, after weeks of talk with him and months of further research, shows us this man as he saw himself, and 'as he was seen by many others, including his wife.To horrify is not Sereny's aim, though horror is inevitable. She is seeking an answer to the question which beggars reason: How were human beings turned into instruments of such overwhelming evil?Gitta Sereny is of Hungarian-Austrian extraction and is trilingual in English, French and German. During the Second World War she became a social worker, caring for war-damaged children in France. She gave hundreds of lectures in schools and colleges inAmerica and, when the war ended, she worked as a Child Welfare Officer in UNRRA displaced persons' camps in Germany. In 1949 she married the American Vogue photographer Don Honeyman and settled in London, where they brought up a son and a daughter andwhere she began her career as a journalist.Her journalistic work was of great variety but focussed particularly on the Third Reich and troubled children. She wrote mainly for the Daily Telegraph Magazine, the Sunday Times, The Times, the Independent and the Independent on Sunday Review. She alsocontributed to numerous newspapers and magazines around the world.Her books include: The Medallion, a novel

- Practical, hands-on focus.- Accessible style, even when discussing statistical methods.- Integrated coverage of both qualitative and quantitative research.- Pioneering discussion of mixed methods research in applied linguistics.- Examples of how to report research results.A comprehensive overview of research methodology in applied linguistics which describes the various stages of qualitative and quantitative investigations, from collecting the data to reporting the results.

This Very Short Introduction provides both the believer and non-believer with a balanced survey of the central questions of theology. David Ford's approach draws us in to considering the principles underlying religious belief, including the centrality ofsalvation to most major religions, the concept of God in ancient, modern, and postmodern contexts, the challenge posed to theology by prayer and worship, and the issue of sin and evil. He also probes the nature of experience, knowledge, and wisdom intheology, and discusses what is involved in interpreting theological texts.In this new edition, Ford considers the contemporary relevance of theology, including the effect of globalization and digitized communication, examines the theological responses to change and development in science, considers the impact of increasedengagement between Islam and the West, and looks at the development and importance of theology between the different faiths.

Branding is possibly the most powerful commercial and cultural force on the planet. Iconic names such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Manchester United, Harry Potter, and Google are known and recognized by millions of people worldwide. As the market economy spreadsacross the world, brands are becoming ever more prevalent. The Apple brand has been valued at $98 billion - more than the GDP of Slovakia. Every day, we're exposed to more than 3500 brand messages. And even though people are increasingly brand-aware andbrand-sceptical, they are nevertheless seduced by brands. We may reject the whole brand system, but we still wouldn't be parted from our Apple Macs. Brands are impossible to escape.In this Very Short Introduction Robert Jones discusses the rising omnipresence of brands, and analyses how they work their magic. He considers the incredible potency of brands as a commercial, social, and cultural force, and looks at the many differentkinds of brands that exist - from products, services, and artistic properties, to companies, charities, sports clubs, and political parties. Defining what we mean by the word 'brand', he explores both the positive and negative aspects of brands. FinallyJones considers the business of branding, and asks whether the idea of brands and branding is starting to decline, or whether it has a long future ahead.

If you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do.This Very Short Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology combines an accessible account of some of the disciplines guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work.

Who were the Druids? What do we know about them? Do they still exist today?The Druids first came into focus in Western Europe - Gaul, Britain, and Ireland - in the second century BC. They are a popular subject

The prehistory of the Hungarians, or Magyars, like the early history of most peoples, is obscured by the mists of time. What is known for certain is that the Hungarian language belongs to the and Finno-Ugrian language family that evolved from the Uralicprotolanguage. The languages most closely related to it are Mansi (Vogul) and life Khanty (Ostyak), which form the Ob-Ugrian branch of Finno-Ugric. For centuries the Mansi and the Khanty have inhabited a vast area of Western Siberia between the middleand lower reaches of the Ob and the Yenisei Rivers. The linguistic kinship, along with the archeological and ethnographic research of the past decades allow us to assume that millennia ago the Hungarians' ancestors also fished, hunted and gatheredtogether with the Finno-Ugric tribes along the central and northern foothills of the Ural Mountains. Around 3000 BCE the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugrian language community moved towards the Baltic Sea, while the Ugric branch headed south.Romsics Ignác (Homokmégy, 1951. március 30. -) Széchenyi-díjas magyar történész, egyetemi tanár, a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (MTA) rendes tagja. A 20. századi magyar történelem neves kutatója.

No political concept is more used, and misused, than that of democracy. Nearly every regime today claims to be democratic, but not all democracies allow free politics, and free politics existed long before democratic franchises.This book is a short account of the history of the doctrine and practice of democracy, from ancient Greece and Rome through the American, French, and Russian revolutions, and of the usages and practices associated with it in the modern world. It arguesthat democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for good government, and that ideas of the rule of law, and of human rights, should in some situations limit democratic claims.

Homer, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Shakespeare, and Tolstoy

Contemporary fiction is a wide and diverse field, now global in dimension, with an enormous range of novels and writers that continues to grow at a fantastic speed.In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Eaglestone provides a clear and engaging exploration of the major themes, patterns, and debates of contemporary fiction. From genre, form, and experimentalism to the legacies of modernism and postmodernism, therelationship between globalization and terrorism, and the impact of technology, Eaglestone examines how works both reflect the world in which we live and the artistic concerns of writers and readers alike.

Witchcraft is a subject that fascinates us all, and everyone knows what a witch is - or do they? From childhood most of us develop a sense of the mysterious, malign person, usually an old woman. Historically, too, we recognize witch-hunting as a featureof pre-modern societies. But why do witches still feature so heavily in our cultures and consciousness? From Halloween to superstitions, and literary references such as Faust and even Harry Potter, witches still feature heavily in our society. In thisVery Short Introduction Malcolm Gaskill challenges all of this, and argues that what we think we know is, in fact, wrong.Taking a historical perspective from the ancient world to contemporary paganism, Gaskill reveals how witchcraft has meant different things to different people and that in every age it has raised questions about the distinction between fantasy andreality, faith and proof.Telling stories, delving into court records, and challenging myths, Gaskill examines the witch-hunts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and explores the reinvention of witchcraft - as history, religion, fiction, and metaphor.

Today it is usually not long before a problem gets expressed as a human rights issue. Indeed, human rights law continues to gain increasing attention internationally, and must move quickly in order to keep up with a social world that changes so rapidly.This Very Short Introduction, in its second edition, brings the issue of human rights up to date, considering the current controversies surrounding the movement. Discussing torture and arbitrary detention in the context of counter terrorism, AndrewClapham also considers new challenges to human rights in the context of privacy, equality and the right to health. Looking at the philosophical justification for rights, the historical origins of human rights and how they are formed in law, Claphamexplains what our human rights actually are, what they might be, and where the human rights movement is heading.

Normon Solomon's succinct book is an ideal introduction to Judaism as a religion and way of life. Demonstrating the diverse nature and ethnic origin of those with the Jewish faith, Solomon explores how the Jewish religion has developed in the 2,000 yearssince the days of the Bible.This Very Short Introduction starts by outlining the basics of practical Judaism - its festivals, prayers, customs, and various sects - and goes on to consider how Judaism has responded to, and dealt with, a number of key issues and debates, includingthe impact of the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel. In this new edition, Solomon considers issues of contemporary Judaism in the twenty first century.

'Philosophers have an infuriating habit of analysing questions rather than answering them', writes Terry Eagleton, who, in these pages, asks the most important question any of us ever ask, and attempts to answer it.So what is the meaning of life? In this witty, spirited, and stimulating inquiry, Eagleton shows how centuries of thinkers - from Shakespeare and Schopenhauer to Marx, Sartre and Beckett - have tackled the question. Refusing to settle for the bland andboring, Eagleton reveals with a mixture of humour and intellectual rigour how the question has become particularly problematic in modern times. Instead of addressing it head-on, we take refuge from the feelings of 'meaninglessness' in our lives byfilling them with a multitude of different things: from football and sex, to New Age religions and fundamentalism.'Many of the readers of this book are likely to be as sceptical of the phrase the meaning of life as they are of Santa Claus', he writes. But Eagleton contends that in a world where we need to find common meanings, it is important that we set aboutanswering the question of all questions

The Great Fire, the Black Death, flip-flopping religious persecution, the overthrow and reinstatement of the monarchy. The Stuart Britain era, a notch on the timeline spanning roughly 1603-1714, is one of the most interesting times in the history ofBritain. John Morrill's Stuart Britain: A Very Short Introduction brings us the major events, characters, and issues of the day. Special attention is given to the defeat King Charles I by the Parliamentary Army, and the successive waves of authoritarianPuritan, Protestant and Catholic rule which followed. Vividly illustrated and full of intriguing details, this is an ideal introduction a fascinating time.

The Norman Conquest in 1066 was the last time England was successfully invaded, and was one of the most profound turning points in English history, cataclysmically transforming a disparate collection of small nations into a European state. But whatactually happened? How was the invasion viewed by those who witnessed it? And how has its legacy been seen by generations since? This fascinating Very Short Introduction reveals how dramatically English life was changed, from its language to its law, andfocuses on the differing ways the conquest has been viewed by historians and in folklore ever since.

Botticelli, Holbein, Leonardo, Dürer, Michelangelo: the names are familiar, as are the works, such as the Last Supper fresco, or the monumental marble statue of David. But who were these artists, why did they produce such memorable images, and how wouldtheir original beholders have viewed these objects? Was the Renaissance only about great masters and masterpieces, or were mistresses also involved, such as women artists and patrons? And what about the 'minor'-pieces that Renaissance men and womenwould have encountered in homes, churches and civic spaces? This exciting and stimulating volume will answer such questions by considering both famous and lesser-known artists, patrons and works of art within the cultural and historical context ofRenaissance Europe.

The Reformation transformed Europe, and left an indelible mark on the modern world. It began as an argument about what Christians needed to do to be saved, but rapidly engulfed society in a series of fundamental changes. This Very Short Introductionprovides a lively and up-to-date guide to the process. It explains doctrinal debates in a clear and non-technical way, but is equally concerned to demonstrate the effects the Reformation had on politics, society, art, and minorities.Peter Marshall argues that the Reformation was not a solely European phenomenon, but that varieties of faith exported from Europe transformed Christianity into a truly world religion. The complex legacy of the Reformation is also assessed

Why do we remember events from our childhood as if they happened yesterday, but not what we did last week? Why does our memory seem to work well sometimes and not others? What happens when it goes wrong? Can memory be improved or manipulated, bypsychological techniques or even 'brain implants'? How does memory grow and change as we age? And what of so-called 'recovered' memories?This book brings together the latest research in neuroscience and psychology, and weaves in case-studies, anecdotes, and even literature and philosophy, to address these and many other important questions about the science of memory - how it works, andwhy we can't live without it.

Children's literature takes many forms - works adapted for children in antiquity, picture books and pop-ups - and now includes the latest online games and eBooks. This vast and amorphous subject is both intimately related to other areas of literary andcultural investigation but also has its own set of concerns, issues and challenges.From familiar authors including Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl, classic books such as Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, and The Secret Garden, to modern works including Harry Potter and the Twilight series, thisVery Short Introduction provides an overview of thehistory of children's literature as it has developed in English, whilst at the same time introducing key debates, developments, and figures in the field.Raising questions about what shape the future of literature for children should take, and exploring the crossover with adult fiction, Reynolds shows that writing for children - whether on page or screen - has participated in shaping and directing ideasabout culture, society and childhood.