Transportation and the State


Book Description

This book analyses the role of the national state, as organiser of its territory and governor of its infrastructure, since it emerged in the 19th Century. It presents a cross-time analysis of eight emerging democratic states during the transport revolution, focussing on railway systems. The book explores how the intervention state regulated society in Europe and Australia since the Industrial Revolution. The authors conclude that these state capacities are still governing the public domain, also at the level of the EU.




Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy


Book Description

This book is a major study in English of the duchy of Savoy during the period of the Thirty Years War. Rather than examining Savoy purely in terms of its military or geo-strategic role, Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy comprises three interwoven strands: the dynastic ambitions of the ruling House of Savoy, the family interests of an elite clan in ducal service, and the unique role played by one member of that clan, Abate Alessandro Scaglia (1592-1641), who emerged as one of Europe's most widely known diplomats. Scaglia, the focus of the book, affords insights not only into Savoyard court politics and diplomacy, but more generally into a diplomatic culture of seventeenth-century Europe. With his image fixed by a remarkable series of Van Dyck portraits, Scaglia is emblematic of an international network of princes, diplomats, courtiers and artists, at the point of contact between dynasticism, high politics and the arts.




Court and Politics in Papal Rome, 1492–1700


Book Description

This 2002 book attempts to overcome the traditional historiographical approach to the role of the early modern papacy by focusing on the actual mechanisms of power in the papal court. The period covered extends from the Renaissance to the aftermath of the peace of Westphalia in 1648 - after which the papacy was reduced to a mainly spiritual role. Based on research in Italian and other European archives, the book concentrates on the factions at the Roman court and in the college of cardinals. The sacred college came under great international pressure during the election of a new pope, and consequently such figures as foreign ambassadors and foreign cardinals are examined, as well as political liaisons and social contacts at court. Finally, the book includes an analysis of the ambiguous nature of Roman ceremonial, which was both religious and secular: a reflection of the power struggle both in Rome and in Europe.




Blood, Iron, and Gold


Book Description

The opening of the world's first railroad in Britain and America in 1830 marked the dawn of a new age. Within the course of a decade, tracks were being laid as far afield as Australia and Cuba, and by the outbreak of World War I, the United States alone boasted over a quarter of a million miles. With unrelenting determination, architectural innovation, and under gruesome labor conditions, a global railroad network was built that forever changed the way people lived. From Panama to Punjab, from Tasmania to Turin, Christian Wolmar shows how cultures were enriched, and destroyed, by one of the greatest global transport revolutions of our time, and celebrates the visionaries and laborers responsible for its creation.




Germany's Two Unifications


Book Description

Germany's unique historical experience of undergoing national unification twice in a little over a century makes it a fascinating object of study. In this volume the processes of unification are analysed from the point of view of historians, political scientists and literary historians. Because each event had quite different historical pre-conditions (the first having been long anticipated and pursued, whereas the second took virtually all participants by surprise), the processes of adjustment to it have differed in many ways. Yet in each case the idea of national unity has held sway powerfully as a norm guiding the responses of those involved.




Italy Before Italy


Book Description

Italian unification is one of the pivotal events in European history but the period leading up to Risorgimento has often been analysed in less detail. This book focuses on the history of the Italian states between 1815 and 1860 focusing on state institutions, international relations, economic and fiscal policies, living conditions and culture.




Cultural Continuity in Advanced Economies


Book Description

Originally published in 2005. In the past three centuries Britain, Continental Europe and the United States have all experienced remarkable continuity in terms of the character and nature of the relations between the State and the economy. In a fascinating and eminently readable account, this book examines the significance of ideology in the formation of economic policy in the two groups of countries, comparing and contrasting the minimalist state-ownership societies of Britain and the United States with the interventionist states of Continental Europe. The book uncovers a continued contrast between the economic and social individualism of Britain and the United States, and the reliance on the State typical of nations in Continental Europe. The readership will benefit from a clearer understanding of the varying degrees of intervention in both the domestic and international economic policies employed, and the illuminating comparisons between the Continentals and the more market orientated nations of Britain and the United States.




Transnational Perspectives on Modern Irish History


Book Description

This book explores the benefits and challenges of transnational history for the study of modern Ireland. In recent years the word "transnational" has become more and more conspicuous in history writing across the globe, with scholars seeking to move beyond national and local frameworks when investigating the past. Yet transnational approaches remain rare in Irish historical scholarship. This book argues that the broader contexts and scales associated with transnational history are ideally suited to open up new questions on many themes of critical importance to Ireland’s past and present. They also provide an important means of challenging ideas of Irish exceptionalism. The chapters included here open up new perspectives on central debates and events in Irish history. They illuminate numerous transnational lives, follow flows and ties across Irish borders, and trace networks and links with Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Australia and the British Empire. This book provides specialists and students with examples of different concepts and ways of doing transnational history. Non-specialists will be interested in the new perspectives offered here on a rich variety of topics, particularly the two major events in modern Irish history, the Great Irish Famine and the 1916 Rising.




Peacemaking and the Canon Law of the Catholic Church


Book Description

This volume unites three disparate strands of historical and legal experience. Nearly from its beginning, the Catholic Church has sought to promote peace – among warring parties, and among private litigants. The volume explores three vehicles the Church has used to promote peace: papal diplomacy of international disputes both medieval and contemporary; the arbitration of disputes among litigants; and the use of the tools of reconciliation to bring about rapprochement between ecclesiastical superiors and those subject to their authority. The book concludes with an appendix exploring a wide variety of hypothetical, yet plausible scenarios in which the Church might use its good offices to repair breaches among persons and nations.