"Poetic exploration in Middle English about the body, physical space, ownership of space, gender, and transitioning genders."--

Jos Boy's Tale of the Nigerian Biafra War is written to bring true reconciliation and to show those who are currently leading many countries of the world that, “you gain nothing by violence.” There is honour in peaceful settlement of any dispute. Onwusa Opiah in this book postulates that an inclusive government with qualified people in positions of authority, in line with their potential, would enable Nigeria to achieve greatness. He defines patriotism as the ability to give up selfish interest for the general good of the people. It encompasses taking action devoid of nepotism and the success of the country and its citizens. Writing this book is also aimed at correcting the erroneous impression held by many people in Nigeria that the war was fought because the Igbo people wanted to secede. As can explained in the book, this impression cannot be true as the Igbo people called home any place they found themselves in. It is written to provoke readers, that if within two and a half years, Biafra was able to build a refinery and manufacture other things, what stops Nigeria after sixty years of independence?

Josua und Salomo puts forward the thesis that the literary figure of the successor was created by circles who strongly relied on the book of Deuteronomy. In order to construct the ideal of a successor they used the characters of Joshua and Solomon and implemented the results of their theological reflection which were unleashed by the complete destruction of the pre-exilic political, social and religious organization of the nation. The figure of Joshua combines all the treats of their theological conception of an ideal political leader, whereas the figure of Solomon demonstrates the dangers which are implied in monarchical succession. From the theological perspective of deuteronomism “Solomon” and “Joshua” are opposite characters. The deuteronomic concepts of God and authority play a central role for the reflection on both characters.

This book collects twenty two previously published essays and one new one by Erich S. Gruen who has written extensively on the literature and history of early Judaism and the experience of the Jews in the Greco-Roman world. His many articles on this subject have, however, appeared mostly in conference volumes and Festschriften, and have therefore not had wide circulation. By putting them together in a single work, this will bring the essays to the attention of a much broader scholarly readership and make them more readily available to students in the fields of ancient history and early Judaism. The pieces are quite varied, but develop a number of connected and related themes: Jewish identity in the pagan world, the literary representations by Jews and pagans of one another, the interconnections of Hellenism and Judaism, and the Jewish experience under Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman empire.