Suchergebnisse

Der Philosoph, Aufklärer und Spötter Voltaire (1694 – 1778) hat unzählige Briefe, Dramen, sarkastische Gedichte, philosophische Erzählungen und weltgeschichtliche Abhandlungen hinterlassen und ist doch ein großer Unbekannter. Volker Reinhardt erzählt fesselnd von einem Literaten, der sich an einer staatlichen Lotterie bereicherte, über die Mächtigen und Etablierten spottete, die Hofgesellschaften in Versailles und Potsdam provozierte, sich virtuos zu tarnen verstand und schließlich in Ferney sein eigenes Reich schuf. Voltaires abenteuerliches Leben ist, wie seine Werke, ein eindrucksvolles Manifest für die Freiheit in einer autoritätsgläubigen Welt.Voltaire ist ein Monument der Aufklärung, verewigt im Panthéon, verhasst als Zerstörer aller etablierten Ordnung. Sein «Traktat über die Toleranz» war nach den Anschlägen auf «Charlie Hebdo» 2015 eines der meistverkauften Bücher Frankreichs. Und doch ist der große Philosoph ein Unbekannter. Volker Reinhardt hat das riesige Oeuvre und die Quellen neu gelesen und entdeckt einen Lebenskünstler, der seine Fluchtwege immer im Blick hatte. Voltaire wurde reich, weil er eine Lotterie austrickste, erforschte zusammen mit einer Physikerin die Natur, düpierte die Versailler Hofgesellschaft, verärgerte Friedrich den Großen, kämpfte gegen die verlogene Kirche, deckte Justizskandale auf, warb der Stadt Genf für sein eigenes kleines Reich die Uhrmacher ab und verfolgte Rousseau mit grenzenlosem Sarkasmus. Volker Reinhardt erzählt von einem Abenteurer der Freiheit, der in einer Welt voller Krisen mit scharfem Verstand, beißendem Spott und menschenfreundlicher Toleranz seinen Garten bestellte und unserer eigenen Zeit den Spiegel vorhält

"Jacob Gorender's (1922-2013) 1978 book, Colonial Slavery (O Escravismo Colonial), comes alive for English-language readers thanks to Bernd Reiter and Alejandro Reyes' brilliant translation. Gorender argued that slave-holding societies produced an economic system sui generis, not fitting into any of the established societal categories offered by Karl Marx and Max Weber. As such, Gorender proposed a theory of colonial slavery as the structuring force of slave-holding societies. For him, slave-holding societies are different from other societies in that slavery structured them differently. This is of the utmost relevance to this day as it allows for a new and different way to explain contemporary racial inequalities in post-slavery societies. An accomplished interpreter of Brazilian social formation, Gorender was motivated by the need to understand the historical roots of class domination and the emergence of Brazilian capitalist society. His presentation of rich historical data, rigorous theoretical and analytical framework, and militant action as an active member of the Brazilian Communist Party are the hallmarks of his writing. Colonial Slavery: An Abridged Translation is a must-read for researchers, teachers, and students of history, sociology, economics, politics, as well as activists of the Black movement and other movements committed to anti-racism"--

Ancient beer produced in the Near East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas was a food that had a remarkable role in shaping the development of agriculture and some of the earliest state-level societies. Its invention 13,000 years ago was one of the fundamental motivations for the domestication of grains around the world. In early states, the control over the technological knowledge and resources to produce beer contributed to social hierarchies. Beer even likely provided the capital to motivate laborers to construct the ancient pyramids and other large-scale public works. The fermentation of beer also provided a healthy and safe alternative to the contaminated drinking water in early states and it continues to do so among rural Indigenous populations today. Archaeologist John W. Arthur takes readers on an exciting global journey to explore the origins, development, and recipes of ancient beer.

"This book provides a history of Nazi medical euthanasia programs, demonstrating that arguments in their favor were widely embraced by Western medicine before the Third Reich. Contributors find significant continuities between history and current physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia and urge caution about their legalization or implementation"--

Eleanor M. Wheeler, a correspondent for the Religious News Service, wrote letters from Prague to her friends in the USA from 1947 to 1957. Her husband, George Shaw Wheeler, was a colonel in the US Army and the chief of the de-Nazification section of the Manpower Division of the Office of the Military Government (OMGUS). While in Germany in 1946, Wheeler's contract was not renewed, mainly due to suspicions that he was disloyal to the US government and had connections to the communist movement. Afterwards the entire family moved to Prague, where in 1951 they applied for political asylum. The correspondence depicts ten years of life in Czechoslovakia – from the rise of communism through high Stalinism to the de-Stalinization of the country – from the perspective of pro-Communist-minded Americans. Thematically, the correspondence covers a wide range of political, cultural, and social topics, including the Cold War, the Korean War, the role of Christians in mediating dialogue between East and West, McCarthyism, and topics focused on the internal politics of Czechoslovakia.