What conditions the chances of liberty, wealth and equality at the start of the third Christian millennium? Why did human civilizations develop so slowly for thousands of years, and then transform themselves during the last three hundred? This study of four great thinkers who lived between 1689 and 1995, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, De Tocqueville, and Ernest Gellner, weaves their lives and works together and through their own words shows how they approached the question of the nature of man, his past and his future.

Revised edition of this classic work brings the story of the Amish into the 21st century. Since its publication in 1989, The Riddle of Amish Culture has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.

At the start of the third Christian millennium we are aware of massive political, economic, and ideological changes which condition the chances of liberty, wealth, and equality. Yet it is surprisingly difficult to understand these forces, because we cannot see what surrounds us so closely. This book analyzes our condition by looking at the work of two great thinkers; F.W. Maitland provides a deep historical perspective, while Yukichi Fukuzawa lays down a wide comparative analysis.

An investigation of the non-human world in the Exeter Book riddles, drawing on the exciting new approaches of eco-criticism and eco-theology.

Library has Vol. 1-5.

This book is a thematic history of the world from 1780, the pivotal year of the revolutionary age, to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. It brings together historical data and arguments from different societies in order to show how interconnected the world was, even before the onset of modern globalization. "The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914 demonstrates how events in Asia, Africa, and South America, from the decline of the eighteenth-century Islamic empires to the anti-European Boxer rebellion of 1900 in China, had a direct impact on European and American history. Conversely, it sketches the "ripple effects" of crises such as the European revolutions and the American Civil War. The book also considers the great themes of the nineteenth-century world: the rise of the modern state, industrialization, liberalism, and the progress of world religions. Engaging and original, this book both challenges and complements the dominant regional and national approaches traditionally adopted by historians.

From the preface: 'This is a book which synthesizes a lifetime of reflection on the origins of the modern world. Through forty years of travel in Europe, Australia, India, Nepal, Japan and China I have observed the similarities and differences of cultures. I have read as widely as possible in both contemporary and classical works in history, anthropology and philosophy.' Prof Macfarlane is also the author of The Culture of Capitalism, The Savage Wars of Peace, The Riddle of the Modern World and The Making of the Modern World, among many others. This is the third book published by Odd Volumes, the imprint of The Fortnightly Review.