Metternich – sein Name steht für das Zeitalter der Restauration, das monarchische Prinzip und den Versuch, den liberalen und nationalen Kräften des 19. Jahrhunderts Einhalt zu gebieten. Doch der Fürst, der rund vier Jahrzehnte lang zu den beherrschenden Gestalten Europas gehörte, war mehr als nur ein Reaktionär. Wolfram Siemann zeigt, dass der Gegenspieler Napoleons und Architekt der europäischen Friedensordnung nach dem Wiener Kongreß von 1815 mehr als bislang aus seiner Zeit heraus verstanden werden muss und in vielem moderner war als das bis heute gängige Bild von ihm vermuten lässt.

Edmund Curtis's remarkable survey of Ireland, from its earliest origins to the twentieth century, is a classic introduction to Ireland's fascinating history. Reaching from St. Patrick's Mission in 432 to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, this authoritative text explores the formative events of Ireland's past and encompasses the Norman invasion, Gaelic recovery, Cromwell's Settlement, the Act of Union and the Great Famine. Lucid and scholarly, this all-embracing account unfolds the events of Ireland's history and the story of its people, through an examination of their political, religious, social, economic and cultural past. Ireland's unique history is revealed here through the 'moving forces, the deciding facts, and the men who mattered'. Featuring a chronology of key dates in Irish history and a guideline to the pronunciation of Irish names, this celebrated narrative now includes a new introduction by Sean Duffy.

Generations of students have been taught that the American Revolution was a revolt against royal tyranny. In this revisionist account, Eric Nelson argues that a great many of our "founding fathers" saw themselves as rebels against the British Parliament, not the Crown. The Royalist Revolution interprets the patriot campaign of the 1770s as an insurrection in favor of royal power--driven by the conviction that the Lords and Commons had usurped the just prerogatives of the monarch.
Leading patriots believed that the colonies were the king's own to govern, and they urged George III to defy Parliament and rule directly. These theorists were proposing to turn back the clock on the English constitution, rejecting the Whig settlement that had secured the supremacy of Parliament after the Glorious Revolution. Instead, they embraced the political theory of those who had waged the last great campaign against Parliament's "usurpations" the reviled Stuart monarchs of the seventeenth century.
When it came time to design the state and federal constitutions, the very same figures who had defended this expansive conception of royal authority--John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and their allies--returned to the fray as champions of a single executive vested with sweeping prerogatives. As a result of their labors, the Constitution of 1787 would assign its new president far more power than any British monarch had wielded for almost a hundred years. On one side of the Atlantic, Nelson concludes, there would be kings without monarchy; on the other, monarchy without kings.

In the eighteenth century, India’s share of the world economy was as large as Europe’s. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation.
British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial “gift”―from the railways to the rule of law―was designed in Britain’s interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain’s Industrial Revolution was founded on India’s deindustrialization, and the destruction of its textile industry. In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain’s stained Indian legacy.

Los Angeles Times Book Prize FinalistFrom historian Stephen Alford, author of The Watchers, the dramatic story of the dazzling growth of London in the sixteenth century.For most, England in the sixteenth century was the era of the Tudors, from Henry VII and VIII to Elizabeth I. But as their dramas played out at court, England was being transformed economically by the astonishing discoveries of the New World and of direct sea routes to Asia. At the start of the century, England was hardly involved in the wider world and London remained a gloomy, introverted medieval city. But as the century progressed something extraordinary happened, which placed London at the center of the world stage forever.Stephen Alford’s evocative, original new book uses the same skills that made his widely-praised The Watchers so successful, bringing to life the network of merchants, visionaries, crooks, and sailors who changed London and England forever. In an explosion of energy, English ships were suddenly found all over the world--trading with Russia and the Levant, exploring Virginia and the Arctic, and fanning out across the Indian Ocean. The people who made this possible--the families, the guild members, the money-men who were willing to risk huge sums and sometimes their own lives in pursuit of the rare, exotic, and desirable--are as interesting as any of those at court. Their ambitions fueled a new view of the world--initiating a long era of trade and empire, the consequences of which still resonate today.

American Disruptor is the untold story of Leland Stanford – from his birth in a backwoods bar to the founding of the world-class university that became and remains the nucleus of Silicon Valley. The life of this robber baron, politician, and historic influencer is the astonishing tale of how one supremely ambitious man became this country's original "disruptor" – reshaping industry and engineering one of the greatest raids on the public treasury for America’s transcontinental railroad, all while living more opulently than maharajas, kings, and emperors.
It is also the saga of how Stanford, once a serial failure, overcame all obstacles to become one of America’s most powerful and wealthiest men, using his high elective office to enrich himself before losing the one thing that mattered most to him – his only child and son. Scandal and intrigue would follow Stanford through his life, and even after his death, when his widow was murdered in a Honolulu hotel – a crime quickly covered up by the almost stillborn university she had saved. Richly detailed and deeply researched, American Disruptor restores Leland Stanford’s rightful place as a revolutionary force and architect of modern America.

国际法在晚清传入中国，是历史大事，可以视作西潮东渐引发文化变迁的典型范例，影响深远，反映了西方文明渗透入中国思维的过程，更展示了中国传统“天下观”崩解的具体情况。全书以全球化的视野，探讨了晚清国际法传入中国，引起有识之士思考国际对策，从“师夷之长技以制夷”，到“用夷变夏”的具体过程与思维变化，反映了东西方文明踫撞之时，遭受侵略压迫的中国，在被迫纳入西方主导的世界体系之时，是如何重新定位自身的文化秩序，在左冲右突、几乎可说是“困兽犹斗”的艰苦情况下，接受了西方国际法的挑战。同时也展示了所谓“国际公法”多面与多层次的复杂性，对于我们思考世界历史中不同文化进程的发展，有一定的启发作用。全书资料资料翔实、论证细密，是近年该领域研究中的一部力作。

《万国公法》于一八六四年刻印之后，虽曾有过几次重版，但总的来说印数不多。经过一百三十八年的岁月磨难，该书至目前已经很难看到，不仅是广大的讯者，即使是法学甚至是国际法学专业的研究人员，也是难于查阅到此书。
《万国公法》点校所依据的底本，为华东政法学院图书馆所藏北京崇实馆一八六四年的刻印本。

中国私法意义上的商法及其商法典起始于晚清时期。晚清商事立法成果集中地体现在曾颁行有效的《钦定大清商律》商法典和“志田案”、《商法调查案》、《改订大清商律草案》3部法典草案上。而且这些商法成果均是在初步成熟的商法以及独立法典思想指导下和诸多社会条件的合力推动下，政府实力主导、商民积极参与方才取得的。
除绪言外，任满军编著的《晚清商事立法研究》的主体部分共有10章。
《晚清商事立法研究》第一章晚清时期催生中国近代商法的多元性因素。“中国中心观”、“冲击一反应说”等对于晚清时期催生中国近代商法的动力解说都有着一定的创见性。从国内条件看，主要有“商战”、商本主义思潮、外来的和本土的规则资源和法典传统以及商法利益群体的直接推动；另外，体现西方列强殖民利益的一系列商事条约也对中国晚清商法的产生和发展具有强制性影响。
第二章晚清商法思想的成熟和商法典的立法规划。晚清时期商法思想已经初步形成，政府为解决商法空白的法律危机而在晚清修律变法运动中首重商法，确定了独立商法典路线，并作了编纂商法典的组织预备。
第三章 《钦定大清商律》的制度构成。该律主要移植了大陆法系的商法规则，采纳了折衷主义法典体例；该律典由《商人通例》和《公司律》组成，从内容上看，既吸收了西方商法制度的成果，又在一定程度上注意到了本土商法资源的利用，体现了国际化和本土化的商事立法原则。
第四章 《破产律》和《钦定大清商律》配套法规。《破产律》虽不属于《钦定大清商律》法典的构成部分，但与之密不可分且有着共同的整合性特点。另外公司注册章程、奖励工商章程、商会章程以及铁路银行章程等相关配套法规的颁行，有力地配合了《钦定大清商律》的实施，从而成为了晚清商法建设的重要内容。
第五章 晚清商法的施行及其社会适应性考证。《钦定大清商律》和《破产律》制度多来自对外国先进商法的移植，立法过于超前而不能适应当时中国经济发展的实际需要。晚清商法的执行、司法和守法等实施情况反映出了晚清商法移植中不理智的一面。
第六章志田钾太郎《大清商律草案》。近代日本“亚细亚主义”的法律输出与晚清“近法日本”商法建设方针发生了印合。日本商法专家受聘来华帮助草成了“志田案”，虽然该案是一部已达到国际水平的、最为系统的商法典草案，但由于缺乏理论的同步移植，也忽视了对中国商业习惯的吸收，导致其影响力不足。
第七章商人阶层的商法构想和《商法调查案》。新兴的商人阶层由于不满于政府既有的商事立法，而自行召开两次商法大会，决定自行调查商业习惯，自编商法典草案，既大量借鉴外国商法成果，又更充分地吸收本国商业习惯，进一步推动外来法律本土化和中国近代商法建设的进程。
第八章农工商部《改订大清商律草案》。农工商部对《钦定大清商律》进行修订，充分吸收了《商法调查案》的成果，进一步借鉴吸收外国商法成就，引进了公司法人制度，并使商法总则和公司律的结构体例得以定型，而使《改订大清商律草案》成为了晚清商法建设成就的集大成者。
第九章晚清官方商事习惯调查及其商法价值。宪政编查馆和修订法律馆为完成商法典的编纂计划，决定举行全国性商事习惯调查，设立专门机构，编写调查提纲，并取得了丰硕的调查成果。由于晚清政府的垮台，这些调查成果并没有及时地被吸收到晚清商法建设中，但为民国时期的商事立法提供了重要材料。
第十章历史经验，中国当代商法及其法典建设。晚清商法制度建设以及法典体例方面取得了重大成就，但同时也有诸多缺陷，从而可以为我们当今商法建设提供历史经验。中国应当坚定独立商法典的立法思路，尽快制定出《商法总则》，俟条件成熟时再谋求一部现代商法典。

《民国商事立法研究》在宏观分析方面全面而准确。书中分析了民国商事立法的时代背景、立法动因，评价了民国商事立法的历史成就及其历史地位，将民国商事立法置人中国法制近代化过程中进行考察，较为完整地展现了民国商事立法的历史脉络，阐述了民国商事立法是一个移植与继承、借鉴与扬弃的历史发展过程，揭示了民国商事立法的发展规律。《民国商事立法研究》对民国商事立法的具体成果——商事法律制度进行了较为详细的评介，使民国商事立法的研究从抽象走向具体，从宏观走向微观，在一定程度上拓展了民国商事立法研究的领域与内容。《民国商事立法研究》在借鉴已有研究成果的基础上，挖掘和使用了许多新的文献资料，它是一部资料翔实、言之有物的佳作。

19世纪后半期至20世纪初，西风东渐大潮汹涌澎湃。以往的研究，似更注重“器”或“道”的层面。本书从“西食东渐”这一具体角度，来考察传统中国的现代蜕变。法国历史学家布罗代尔说：“我以为不应该把糖、咖啡、茶、烧酒等许多食品的出现贬低为生活细节。它们分别体现着无休止的重大历史潮流。”作者梳理了大量中外文献，在相关历史文化语境的勾勒、论析，与对众多个体饮食记忆钩沉、探赜的基础上，对西餐汉语表述与译写的典型文本展开了较为深入的考论，从而立体地展示出近代“西食东渐”过程中的“大”形势与“小”历史，呈现了饮食变迁和语言拓展的幽微进程。

Plants seldom figure in the grand narratives of war, peace, or even everyday life yet they are often at the center of high intrigue. In the eighteenth century, epic scientific voyages were sponsored by European imperial powers to explore the natural riches of the New World, and uncover the botanical secrets of its people. Bioprospectors brought back medicines, luxuries, and staples for their king and country. Risking their lives to discover exotic plants, these daredevil explorers joined with their sponsors to create a global culture of botany. But some secrets were unearthed only to be lost again. In this moving account of the abuses of indigenous Caribbean people and African slaves, Schiebinger describes how slave women brewed the �peacock flower� into an abortifacient, to ensure that they would bear no children into oppression. Yet, impeded by trade winds of prevailing opinion, knowledge of West Indian abortifacients never flowed into Europe. A rich history of discovery and loss, Plants and Empire explores the movement, triumph, and extinction of knowledge in the course of encounters between Europeans and the Caribbean populations.