In Distilling the Frenzy, the UK's leading contemporary historian examines the special considerations that apply to writing the history of one's own times, and revisits the grand themes running through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He looks at Britain's persistent impulse to punch well above its weight in the world; at the sustenance of the nuclear weapons policy which has accompanied that impulse; and at the intelligence operations which underpin it. For the human perspective on these huge issues, he applies his trademark blend of scholarship and wit to assess the contrasting styles and achievements of post-war prime ministers from Clement Attlee to David Cameron. As one of Britain's foremost constitutional experts (and now a cross-bench peer) Peter Hennessy brings a unique perspective to the question of reform of the House of Lords, that irritation to the body politic once again at the very forefront of political debate. Shot through with a thread of autobiography that gives the book an especial immediacy, Distilling the Frenzy is a major work of contemporary history.

Britain's leading contemporary historian revisits the grand themes that have run through modern Britain, including the abiding trends of the post-war era--Britain's persistent impulse to punch well above its weight in the world and the secrecy that has too often surrounded state affairs. In Distilling the Frenzy a heavyweight of British scholarship lays bear the historian's art for all to see, incorporating elements of autobiography that gives the book a poignancy lacking in other grand historical works. This is the story of Britain's century through the eyes of its most celebrated chronicler. Peter Hennessy is the Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary, University of London.

The late twentieth century witnessed massive human rights violations. What can to done to stop them? How can the root causes be addressed? The issue of human rights has become the secular religion of our time. Yet violations continue to occur in a gross and flagrant manner. Author David Matas examines examples of human rights violations and suggests what individuals, private organizations, governments, and the UN can do about this worldwide problem. He also focuses on how Canada stands p to international human rights standards and provides a thorough analysis of the contribution of Amnesty International.

*** PROSE Award Winner (2018) in the Textbook/Humanities Category *** A Practical Guide to Studying History is the perfect guide for students embarking on degree-level study. The book: - introduces students to the concepts of historical objectivity, frameworks and debate - explains the differences in aims, methods and audiences for different types of history - explores the relationship between the skills developed during a history undergraduate degree and the practice of professional history - helps students develop the practical skills required to read historical writing critically, write good essays, and participate in historical debates - includes study questions, further reading lists, text boxes, maps and illustrations The book incorporates case studies taken from a range of regions and periods, reflecting the varied nature of historical study at university, and helps students to understand history, and to practice it successfully: it is an indispensable guide to studying history.

Harry V. Jaffa (1918-2015), one of the profoundest political thinkers of his time, is known most prominently for his pathbreaking work on Abraham Lincoln. Jaffa, who taught for 50 years at the Claremont Colleges and was a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute, sought to produce a revolution in political philosophy by applying Strauss’s controversial thinking about natural right, Scripture, and human greatness to American politics. In these 10 essays, beginning in the 1980s, Jaffa rediscovered the moral and intellectual complexity of statesmanship, in particular that of Lincoln and the American founders. The essays reveal the profundity of the Declaration of Independence, in observations both theoretical (e.g., Aristotle and Aquinas) and practical (e.g., campus radicalism). Jaffa takes aim at the interpretations of America made by some of Leo Strauss’s students, chastising their imputation of radically liberal theorizing to the Declaration and their ignorance of the meaning of “all men are created equal.” The Declaration’s radicalism lies rather in its synthesis of ancient political philosophy and Scriptural authority on the good human life. Jaffa is particularly critical of Allan Bloom and, in previously unpublished essays, Irving Kristol and Harvey Mansfield for their errors about America. Jaffa’s essays recover political philosophy in its political and philosophic dimensions so that it can be a continuing guide for our politics today.

In November 1980, James Callaghan retired as leader of the Labour Party. He had been on the front line of British politics for many years and was the only person to hold all of the four great offices of state. However, his premiership is seen as a failure, the last gasp of Keynesian social democracy being smothered by the oncoming advent of Thatcherism. This book offers a timely reappraisal of Jim Callaghan's premiership and time as Leader of the Opposition in 1979–80.

Some recent trends in macroeconomic theory and practice; A critique of Keynesian macroeconomics; The basic neoclassical model; Extension of the neoclassical model; Long term policy analysis; The rational expectations hypothesis; Macroeconomic policy and rational expectations; Theory and practice.