The history of Human Rights

from Ancient times to the Globalization Era

Micheline Ishay recounts the dramatic struggle for human rights across the ages in a book that brilliantly synthesizes historical and intellectual developments from the Mesopotamian Codes of Hammurabi to today's era of globalization. As she chronicles the clash of social movements, ideas, and armies ...

The unmaking of the Middle East

a history of Western disorder in Arab Lands

Written for those who want to know more about the Middle East than the mainstream media is willing or able to tell, this book begins by examining a question that has been asked by numerous commentators since September 11, 2001: "Why do they hate us ...

Servants of the dynasty

palace women in world history

Mothers, wives, concubines, entertainers, attendants, officials, maids, drudges. By offering the first comparative view of the women who lived, worked, and served in royal courts around the globe, this work opens a new perspective on the monarchies that have dominated much of human history. Written ...

Blood and belief

the circulation of a symbol between jews and christians

Blood contains extraordinary symbolic power in both Judaism and Christianity#as the blood of sacrifice, of Jesus, of the Jewish martyrs, of menstruation, and more. Yet, though they share the same literary, cultural, and religious origins, on the question of blood the two religions have ...

Food politics

how the food industry influences nutrition and health

An accessible and balanced account, "Food Politics" laid the groundwork for today's food revolution and changed the way we respond to food industry marketing practices. Now, a new introduction and concluding chapter bring us up to date on the key events in that movement ...

The pursuit of knowledge

speeches and papers of Richard C. Atkinson

Richard C. Atkinson's tenure as president of the University of California (1995-2003) reflected the major issues facing California itself: the state's emergence as the world's leading knowledge-based economy and the rapid expansion and increased diversity of its population. As this selection of ...

Critical readings in Impressionism and post-Impressionism

an anthology

The essays in this wide-ranging, beautifully illustrated volume capture the theoretical range and scholarly rigor of recent criticism that has fundamentally transformed the study of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Readers are invited to consider the profound issues and penetrating questions that lie beneath this ...

Brewing justice

fair trade coffe, sustainability, and survival

Fair trade is a fast-growing alternative market intended to bring better prices and greater social justice to small farmers around the world. But is it working? This vivid study of coffee farmers in Mexico offers the first thorough investigation of the social, economic, and environmental ...

Global outlaws

crime, money, and power in the contemporary world

Carolyn Nordstrom explores the pathways of global crime in this stunning work of anthropology that has the power to change the way we think about the world. To write this book, she spent three years traveling to hot spots in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the ...

Liberalism for a new century

American liberalism today is in a state of confusion and disarray, with the "L word" widely considered a term of derision. By examining both the historical past and the fractious present, "Liberalism for a New Century" restores a proud political tradition and carves out a ...

Opting out?

why women really quit careers and head home

Noting a phenomenon that might seem to recall a previous era, "The New York Times Magazine" recently portrayed women who leave their careers in order to become full-time mothers as "opting out." But, are high- achieving professional women really choosing to abandon their careers in ...

Falling behind

how rising inequality harms the middle class

Although middle-income families don't earn much more than they did several decades ago, they are buying bigger cars, houses, and appliances. To pay for them, they spend more than they earn and carry record levels of debt. In a book that explores the very ...

An intimate affair

womwn, lingerie, and sexuality

Intimate apparel, a term in use by 1921, has played a crucial role in the development of the "naughty but nice" feminine ideal that emerged in the twentieth century. Jill Fields' engaging, imaginative, and sophisticated history of twentieth-century lingerie tours the world of women's ...

Mesopotamia

assyrians, sumerians, babylonians

This beautifully illustrated guide to the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, is the perfect companion for travelers and armchair travelers alike. It provides a concise survey of three ancient cultures that have often been misunderstood, both because of ...

Rome

This pocket-size reference draws on the vast treasures of this ancient civilization to illustrate the remarkable achievements of one of the great empires of the West, from the traditional date of Rome's founding - 754 B.C. - until the fall of the Western Empire in ...

Egypt in the byzantine world, 300-700

Egypt in the period from the reign of the emperor Constantine to the Arab conquest was both a vital part of the Late Roman and Byzantine world, participating fully in the culture of its wider Mediterranean society, and a distinctive milieu, launched on a path ...

Ending slavery

how we free today´s slaves

In his 1999 book, Disposable People, Kevin Bales brought to light the shocking fact of modern slavery and described how, nearly two hundred years after the slave trade was abolished (legal slavery would have to wait another fifty years), global slavery stubbornly persists. In Ending ...

Historical Atlas of California with original maps

Using nearly five hundred historical maps and many other illustrations - from rough sketches drawn in the field to commercial maps to beautifully rendered works of art - this lavishly illustrated volume is the first to tell the story of California's past from a unique visual ...

Creationism and its critics in Antiquity

The world is configured in ways that seem systematically hospitable to life forms, especially the human race. Is this the outcome of divine planning or simply of the laws of physics? This book examines this question and offers fresh historical perspectives on the pantheon of ...

Medieval cuisine of the Islamic World

a concise history with 174 recipes

Vinegar and sugar, dried fruit, rose water, spices from India and China, sweet wine made from raisins and dates--these are the flavors of the golden age of Arab cuisine. This book, a delightful culinary adventure that is part history and part cookbook, surveys the gastronomical ...