Джеффри Паркер — новинки

Revolutions, droughts, famines, invasions, wars, regicides – the calamities of the mid-seventeenth century were not only unprecedented, they were agonisingly widespread. A global crisis extended from England to Japan, and from the Russian Empire to sub-Saharan Africa. North and South America, too, suffered turbulence. The distinguished historian Geoffrey Parker examines first-hand accounts of men and women throughout the world describing what they saw and suffered during a sequence of political, economic and social crises that stretched from 1618 to the 1680s. Parker also deploys scientific evidence concerning climate conditions of the period, and his use of ‘natural’ as well as ‘human’ archives transforms our understanding of the World Crisis. Changes in the prevailing weather patterns during the 1640s and 1650s – longer and harsher winters, and cooler and wetter summers – disrupted growing seasons, causing dearth, malnutrition, and disease, along with more deaths and fewer births. Some contemporaries estimated that one-third of the world died, and much of the surviving historical evidence supports their pessimism.

Parker’s demonstration of the link between climate change and worldwide catastrophe 350 years ago stands as an extraordinary historical achievement. And the contemporary implications of his study are equally important: are we at all prepared today for the catastrophes that climate change could bring tomorrow?

Це авторизований переклад англомовного видання Compact History of the World видавництва "Таймс". У ньому стисло викладено історію людства, починаючи від походження людини до суспільства ХХІ ст. Атлас висвітлює насамперед глобальні історичні події у світі, акцентуючи увагу на досягненнях різних народів планети в усі часи. Розділи, присвячені Україні, доповнені та подані з позиції сучасного бачення історичних подій, що відбувалися на її теренах.

Sovereign City examines the nature of the city-state's changing role and traces the evolution of the city as a political entity from ancient times, when it flourished, to the present day, when it is of much diminished importance. Geoffrey Parker examines the city-state as a geopolitical form, as well as its distinctive place within a range of types of states. The rise of the city-state in ancient times is analysed with particular reference to the Greek polis, which Plato and Aristotle considered the perfect type of state. He also examines the Roman example of city-state as imperial capital, as well as the political role of the city in the early Islamic world, assessing the extent to which the term 'city-state' is applicable. He goes on to consider the revival of the European city-state in late Medieval and Renaissance Italy, tracing its extension to northern Europe. The importance of the city-state, as one of the principal forms of geopolitical organization in early modern Europe, culminated with the Hanseatic League of city-states located around the Baltic and the North Sea. The relationship of the League with other emerging types of state, particularly the nation-state, is examined, and the extent to which the nation-state was a cause of the city-state's decline is addressed. The author concludes with an examination of the role of the city-state in the contemporary world, focusing on its re-emergence in parts of the Far East and the Islamic world in the post-imperial era. In this context, he assesses the possible role of the city-state in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Well before the Industrial Revolution, Europe developed the superior military potential and expertise that enabled her to dominate the world for the next two centuries. In this attractively illustrated and updated edition, Geoffrey Parker discusses the major changes in the military practice of the West during this time period--establishment of bigger armies, creation of superior warships, the role of firearms--and argues that these major changes amounted to a "military revolution" that gave Westerners a decided advantage over people of other continents. A new chapter addresses the controversies engendered by the previous edition

Well before the Industrial Revolution, Europe developed the superior military potential and expertise that enabled her to dominate the world for the next two centuries. In this attractively illustrated and updated edition, Geoffrey Parker discusses the major changes in the military practice of the West during this time period--establishment of bigger armies, creation of superior warships, the role of firearms--and argues that these major changes amounted to a "military revolution" that gave Westerners a decided advantage over people of other continents. A new chapter addresses the controversies engendered by the previous edition.

The publication of The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road in 1972 marked the birth of the 'new military history', which emphasized military organization - mobilization, pay, supply, morale and, above all, logistics - rather than military 'events' such as sieges and battles. Geoffrey Parker studied one of the great logistical feats of early modern Europe: how Habsburg Spain managed to maintain and mobilize the largest army in Europe in an 80-year effort to suppress the Dutch Revolt, at 700 miles' distance. Using a unique combination of surviving records, he presented strikingly the logistical problems of fighting wars in early modern Europe, and demonstrated why Spain failed to suppress the Dutch Revolt. The book has been constantly cited since its first publication in English (with translations into Spanish and Dutch). This revised second edition includes some new sources and updates some references but otherwise remains faithful to the original version.