On one level a history of the Electorate of Mainz in the eighteenth century, this book also seeks to illuminate a much wider area. In particular it is intended to be a contribution to the debate on the 'German Problem' - the growing cultural and political divergence between Germany and Western Europe in the modern period. Many historians have identified the crucial phase of this development in the nineteenth century; Dr Blanning argues that the eighteenth century was of equal if not greater importance.

This book explores the nineteenth century roots of globalisation through the activities of the enterprise network created by the Scottish merchant, William Mackinnon. It follows the rise of the family-led business group from its modest origins in Scotland to its transformation into the world's largest maritime and mercantile conglomerate, tracing the history of the various shipping firms within the group - including the British India, Netherlands India and Australasian United companies - and identifies the key factors behind its domination of coastal steamshipping around the Indian Ocean and into the western Pacific. It provides an analysis of the anatomy and dynamics of the enterprise network over time. The book also examines Mackinnon's relationship with the imperial statesman, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, which drew the network into the operations of British 'informal imperialism' in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and East-Central Africa regions, and eventually to its sponsorship of the ill-fated Imperial British East Africa Company. It breaks new ground in identifying the interplay of personal and business considerations behind Mackinnon's participation in the 'Scramble for Africa' in its combination of maritime history with business history and imperial history to contribute to the current debate over 'gentlemanly capitalism' and British overseas expansion. WINNER OF THE 2004 WADSWORTH PRIZE. JOINT WINNER OF THE 2004 SALTIRE SOCIETY RESEARCH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD. J. FORBES MUNRO is emeritus professor of international economic history, University of Glasgow

Based on unrestricted access to papers and personnel at BP, as well as numerous other sources, this second volume of BP's history aims to be an honest and comprehensive examination of the company in the period 1928-1954. Such a history inevitably touches on many different historical interests ranging from international relations to social, economic, political and military topics, primarily in Britain and the Middle East. The 1994 book includes penetrating insights into the direction and management of the company, the achievements and shortcomings of successive chairmen, and the relationship between the company and its major shareholder, the British Government. It also deals in detail with matters which have retained an aura of controversy and mystique long after their occurrence, most notably the international petroleum cartel which sought to control world oil markets, and the major international crisis arising from Iran's oil nationalisation.

This compelling contribution to contemporary debates about the banking industry offers a unique perspective on its geographical and conceptual 'placement'. It traces the evolving links between the two, revealing how our notions of banking 'productiveness' have evolved alongside the shifting loci of banking activity. An original contribution to the urgent debates taking place on banking sparked by the current economic crisis Offers a unique perspective on the geographical and social concept of 'placement' of the banking industry Combines theoretical approaches from political economy with contemporary literature on the performativity of economics Details the globalization of Western banking, and analyzes how representations of the banking sector's productiveness have shifted throughout the evolution of Western economic theory Analyzes the social conceptualization of the nature -- and value -- of the banking industry Illuminates not only how economic ideas 'perform' and shape the economic world, but how those ideas are themselves always products of particular economic realities

This book is a groundbreaking study of the historical reasons for the divergence in public health policies adopted in Britain, France, Germany and Sweden, and the spectrum of responses to the threat of contagious diseases such as cholera, smallpox and syphilis. In particular the book examines the link between politics and prevention. Did the varying political regimes influence the styles of precaution adopted? Or was it, as Peter Baldwin argues, a matter of more basic differences between nations, above all their geographic placement in the epidemiological trajectory of contagion, that helped shape their responses and their basic assumptions about the respective claims of the sick and of society, and fundamental political decisions for and against different styles of statutory intervention? Thus the book seeks to use medical history to illuminate broader questions of the development of statutory intervention and the comparative and divergent evolution of the modern state in Europe.

There is much heated rhetoric about the widening gulf between Europe and America. According to the American right, Europeans are lazy, defeatist and irreligious, while Americans are entrepreneurial, optimistic, and pious. And according to Europeans, America is harsh, dominated by the market, crime-ridden, violent, and sharp-elbowed. But are the US and Europe so different? Peter Baldwin, one of the world's leading historians of comparative social policy, thinks not, and in this bracingly argued but remarkably informed polemic, he lays out how similar the two continents really are. Drawing on the latest evidence from sources such as the United Nations, the World Bank, IMF, and other international organizations, Baldwin offers a fascinating comparison of the United States and Europe, looking at the latest statistics on the economy, crime, health care, education and culture, religion, the environment, and much more. It is a book filled with surprising revelations. For most categories of crime, for instance, America is safe and peaceful by European standards. But the biggest surprise is that, though there are many differences between America and Europe, in almost all cases, these differences are no greater than the differences among European nations. Europe and the US are, in fact, part of a common, big-tent grouping. America is not Sweden, for sure. But nor is Italy Sweden, nor France, nor even Germany. And who says that Sweden is Europe? Anymore than Vermont is America? Writing with flair and armed with an impressive stock of evidence, Baldwin paints a truly eye-opening portrait of Europe and America. Anyone interested in American foreign relations--or simply curious about American and European society--will want to read this revelatory volume.

Based on new and existing research by a world-class scholar, this is the first book in twenty years to examine the dynamics of the entire American-West European relationship since 1945. The relationship between the United States and Western Europe has always been crucial, and recent events dictate that it is becoming ever more so. In this important new work, Geir Lundestad analyses the balance between the cooperation and conflict which has characterized this relationship in the post-war period. He examines talk of transatlantic drift, and the strain now apparent between the USA and the nation states of Western Europe. In the concluding section, Lundestad offers a topical view of the future of transatlantic interaction. Throughout the work Lundestad's much cited 'empire by invitation' thesis is both put into practice and extended in time and scope. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in one of the most important and enduring international relationships of the last sixty years.

《西洋杂志》是[曾门四弟子]的桐城派著名作家黎庶昌任驻英、法、德、西使馆参赞五年闻关于欧洲的记述，通过细致的观察、深刻的体会与明洁动人的描写，作者翔实广泛地介绍日、德、意、奥、比、瑞士等西洋诸国经济发展、生产方式、政治制度、文化教育、科学技术、风俗民情等国情，呈现给人们一幅生动的西方社会全景，勾勒出近代中国人刚刚睁开双眼看世界时的认知过程与内心感受。全书共八卷，向国人详细介绍西洋各国实况，以其独特的史料价值和浓郁的文化兴味，并因顺应当时历史潮流，而深受国内外有识之士好评。

Kim Philby was the greatest spy in history, a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War—while he was secretly working for the enemy. And nobody thought he knew Philby like Nicholas Elliott, Philby’s best friend and fellow officer in MI6. The two men had gone to the same schools, belonged to the same exclusive clubs, grown close through the crucible of wartime intelligence work and long nights of drink and revelry. It was madness for one to think the other might be a communist spy, bent on subverting Western values and the power of the free world.
But Philby was secretly betraying his friend. Every word Elliott breathed to Philby was transmitted back to Moscow—and not just Elliott’s words, for in America, Philby had made another powerful friend: James Jesus Angleton, the crafty, paranoid head of CIA counterintelligence. Angleton's and Elliott’s unwitting disclosures helped Philby sink almost every important Anglo-American spy operation for twenty years, leading countless operatives to their doom. Even as the web of suspicion closed around him, and Philby was driven to greater lies to protect his cover, his two friends never abandoned him—until it was too late. The stunning truth of his betrayal would have devastating consequences on the two men who thought they knew him best, and on the intelligence services he left crippled in his wake.
Told with heart-pounding suspense and keen psychological insight, and based on personal papers and never-before-seen British intelligence files, A Spy Among Friends is Ben Macintyre’s best book yet, a high-water mark in Cold War history telling.

When the cataclysm of the First World War impacted on British society, it particularly affected the landed classes, with their long military tradition. Country houses, as in a variety of popular TV dramas, were turned into military hospitals and convalescent homes, while many of the menfolk were killed or badly injured in the hostilities. When the war ended efforts were made to return to the pre-war world. Pleasure seeking in night-clubs, sporting events and country-house weekends became the order of the day. Many of the old former rituals such as presentation at Court for debutantes and royal garden parties were revived. Yet, overshadowing all were the economic pressures of the decade as increased taxation, death duties and declining farm rentals reduced landed incomes. Some owners sold their mansions or some land to newly enriched businessmen who had prospered as a result of the war. Others turned to city directorships to make ends meet or, in the case of the women, ran dress shops and other small businesses. The 1920s proved a decade of flux for High Society, with the light-hearted dances, treasure hunts and sexual permissiveness of the 'Bright Young People' contrasting with the financial anxieties and problems faced by their parents' generation. Pamela Horn draws on the letters and diaries of iconic figures of the period, such as Nancy Mitford and Barbara Cartland, to give an insight into this new post-war era.

Edwardian Britain is the quintessential age of nostalgia, often seen as the last long summer afternoon before the cataclysmic changes of the twentieth century began to take form. The class system remained rigidly in place and thousands were employed in domestic service. The habits and sports of the aristocracy were an everyday indulgence. But it was an age of invention as well as tradition. It saw the first widespread use of the motor car, the first aeroplane and the first use of the telegraph. It was also a time of vastly improved education and the public appetite for authors such as Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling and E. M. Forster was increased by greater literacy. There were signs too, of the corner history was soon to turn, with the problematic Boer War hinting at a new British weakness overseas and the drive for Votes for Women and Home Rule for Ireland pushing the boundaries of the social and political landscape. In this major work of history, Roy Hattersley has been given exclusive access to many new documents to produce this magisterial new appraisal of a legendary age.

Until 1970 it would have been premature to attempt a comprehensive and impartial account of British foreign policy from 1905 to 1916, during the secretaryship of Sir Edward Grey. Apart from the difficulty of passing judgement on matters that were still controversial, the confidential archives of the British government for the years after 1905 did not begin to become available until the 1950s. By 1970, however, scholars had thoroughly digested the contents of these voluminous records up to 1916, and a statement of their findings was even overdue. In this volume many of the British historians who have been in the forefront of the research report on their work. They establish the facts about a period which saw fundamental changes in Great Britain's position in the world, and offer assessments of the British government's contribution to such important developments as the evolution of the Anglo-French Entente, Anglo-German rivalry before 1914, the outbreak of the first World War and the origin of the League of Nations.