Meditations on the Human Condition in an Imperial Age


Book Description

The concept of empire contains features that are both irreducibly spectral and terrifyingly real. With much of both aspects prevailing at subliminal levels, it is nearly impossible for the casual observer to think through the maze of contradictions and constitutive forces inherent in the imperial system. In her latest work of nonfiction, Meditations on the Human Condition in an Imperial Age, author and political philosopher Irina V. Boca uses her expertise and research to help readers analyze the presence of empire as an indelible contemporary political force. This intricate work unravels the Gordian knot of imperial politics and allows the reader to consider overlapping concepts from multiple perspectives, finally making it possible for the general audience to get all the facts. From post-Hegelian philosophy to political science and popular culture, the author has identified the intricately woven forces of imperial politics and invites readers to reconsider any easy location of power and any clear-cut path to resistance or liberation.




The Conquest of Ruins


Book Description

The Roman Empire has been a source of inspiration and a model for imitation for Western empires practically since the moment Rome fell. Yet, as Julia Hell shows in The Conquest of Ruins, what has had the strongest grip on aspiring imperial imaginations isn’t that empire’s glory but its fall—and the haunting monuments left in its wake. Hell examines centuries of European empire-building—from Charles V in the sixteenth century and Napoleon’s campaigns of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries to the atrocities of Mussolini and the Third Reich in the 1930s and ’40s—and sees a similar fascination with recreating the Roman past in the contemporary image. In every case—particularly that of the Nazi regime—the ruins of Rome seem to represent a mystery to be solved: how could an empire so powerful be brought so low? Hell argues that this fascination with the ruins of greatness expresses a need on the part of would-be conquerors to find something to ward off a similar demise for their particular empire.










The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture


Book Description

This volume offers unparalleled coverage of all aspects of art and architecture from medieval Western Europe, from the 6th century to the early 16th century. Drawing upon the expansive scholarship in the celebrated 'Grove Dictionary of Art' and adding hundreds of new entries, it offers students, researchers and the general public a reliable, up-to-date, and convenient resource covering this field of major importance in the development of Western history and international art and architecture.







The Spectator


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The Publishers Weekly


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