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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2025

        The Jewish pedlar

        An untold criminal history

        by Tony Kushner

        An imaginative investigation into a historical crime that sheds new light on Jewish history. In 1734 a pedlar turned smuggler named Jacob Harris slit the throats of three people in a pub in Sussex. This triple-murder, for which he was hanged and gibbeted, remains the most violent crime ever committed by a British Jew. Yet today it is all but forgotten. In The Jewish pedlar, Tony Kushner goes in search of the enigmatic Harris. Digging into a remarkable range of sources, from law records and newspaper reports to ballads and folktales, he follows the traces of Harris's legend across three hundred years of British history. In doing so, he reconstructs the world of Jewish pedlars and criminals across many continents. The lives these figures eked out at the margins of society paint a picture of persistent antisemitism - but also of remarkable integration. Intellectually bold and deeply humane, The Jewish pedlar takes a new, grassroots approach to the history of Jews in the modern world, shedding light on everyday lives from the Enlightenment to the Holocaust and beyond.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2004

        Religion in history

        Conflict, conversion and coexistence

        by John Wolffe

        This is an integrated collection of essays by leading scholars that looks at issues of conflict, conversion and coexistence in the religious context since the third century. The range of topics explored include paganism and Christianity in the later Roman world, the Crusades, the impact of the Reformation in Britain and Ireland, subsequent Protestant-Catholic conflict, the Hindu Renaissance in nineteenth-century India, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Britain in the 1960s, women and the ministry, and Christianity, Judaism and the Holocaust. The book concludes by offering an historical perspective on religion, conflict and coexistence in the world today. Published in association with The Open University, this is a student-friendly and accessible volume on popular subjects within religious history, and it will be of value to students on a range of courses, as well as to a wider readership interested in the historical background to the role of religion in the contemporary world. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2024

        Tracking the Jews

        Ecumenical Protestants, conversion, and the Holocaust

        by Carolyn Sanzenbacher

        This book sheds light on an unprecedented Protestant conversion initiative for the global evangelisation of Jews. Founded in 1929, the International Committee on the Christian Approach to the Jews (ICCAJ) aimed to bring Jewish people to their 'spiritual destiny', a task it saw as both benevolent and essential for a harmonious society. By the time of Hitler's rise to power it was active in thirty-two countries, educating Protestant churches on the right Christian attitude towards Jews and antisemitism. Reconstructing the activities of the ICCAJ in the years before, during and immediately after the Holocaust, Tracking the Jews reveals how ideas disseminated through the organisation's discourse - 'Jewish problem', 'Jewish influence', 'Judaising threat', 'eternal Jew' - were used to rationalise, justify, explain or advance a number of deeply troubling policies. They were, for vastly different reasons, consciously used elements of argumentation in both Protestant conversionary discourse and Nazi antisemitic ideology.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        February 2023

        No masters but God

        Portraits of anarcho-Judaism

        by Hayyim Rothman

        The forgotten legacy of religious Jewish anarchism, and the adventures and ideas of its key figures, finally comes to light in this book. Set in the decades surrounding both world wars, No masters but God identifies a loosely connected group of rabbis and traditionalist thinkers who explicitly appealed to anarchist ideas in articulating the meaning of the Torah, traditional practice, Jewish life and the mission of modern Jewry. Full of archival discoveries and first translations from Yiddish and Hebrew, it explores anarcho-Judaism in its variety through the works of Yaakov Meir Zalkind, Yitshak Nahman Steinberg, Yehudah Leyb Don-Yahiya, Avraham Yehudah Heyn, Natan Hofshi, Shmuel Alexandrov, Yehudah Ashlag and Aaron Shmuel Tamaret. With this ground-breaking account, Hayyim Rothman traces a complicated story about the modern entanglement of religion and anarchism, pacifism and Zionism, prophetic anti-authoritarianism and mystical antinomianism.

      • Trusted Partner
        May 1985

        Wie entsteht Religion?

        by Alfred North Whitehead, Hans Günter Holl

        Religion in the Making – so der englische Originaltitel – besteht aus vier Vorlesungen, die Whitehead 1926 gehalten hat. In der gleichen Perspektive, wie er in den ein Jahr früher gehaltenen Lowell Lectures, die unter dem Titel Wissenschaft und moderne Welt erschienen sind, Entwicklung und Wirkung der modernen Wissenschaft analysiert hatte, verfolgt er in Wie entsteht Religion? die Ziele, »eine gedrängte Analyse der vielfältigen Faktoren in der menschlichen Natur vorzulegen, die in ihrem Zusammenwirken eine neue Religion entstehen lassen, den unausweichlichen Wandel der Religion im Zusammenhang mit dem Wandel des Wissens darzustellen und insbesondere die Aufmerksamkeit darauf zu richten, wie die Religion von unserer Auffassung jener beständigen Elemente abhängt, vermöge derer es in der Welt eine feste Ordnung gibt – beständige Elemente, ohne die es keine sich verändernde Welt geben könnte«.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2013

        The Jews in western Europe, 1400–1600

        by John Edwards

        As European politics, society, economy and religion underwent epoch-making changes between 1400 and 1600, the treatment of Europe's Jews by the non-Jewish majority was, then as in later periods, a symptom of social problems and tensions in the Continent as a whole. Through a broad-ranging collection of documents, John Edwards sets out to present a vivid picture of the Jewish presence in European life during this vital and turbulent period. Subjects covered include the Jews' own economic presence and culture, social relations between Jews and Christians, the policies and actions of Christian authorities in Church and State. He also draws upon original source material to convey ordinary people's prejudices about Jews, including myths about Jewish 'devilishness', money-grabbing, and 'ritual murder' of Christian children. Full introductory and explanatory material makes accessible the historical context of the subject and highlights the insights offered by the documents as well as the pitfalls to be avoided in this area of historical enquiry. This volume aims to provide a coherent working collection of texts for lecturers, teachers and students who wish to understand the experience of Jewish Europeans in this period.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2021

        Creating God

        by Robin Derricourt

      • Trusted Partner
        May 2002

        Die Religion der Gesellschaft

        by Niklas Luhmann, André Kieserling

        Die Klassiker der Soziologie hatten die Religionssoziologie als einen zentralen Teil der Gesellschaftstheorie angesehen, und zwar auch und gerade dort, wo ihnen die moderne, angeblich so religionsfern gebaute Gesellschaft vor Augen stand. Der vorliegende Band, an dem Niklas Luhmann bis kurz vor seinem Tod gearbeitet hat, erneuert diesen Anspruch, indem er die Religion als autonomes Kommunikationssystem innerhalb der modernen Gesellschaft beschreibt.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2022

        Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan

        The cult of the Two Grand Elders

        by Fabian Graham

        In Singapore and Malaysia, the inversion of Chinese Underworld traditions has meant that Underworld demons are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities in statue form, channelled through their spirit mediums, tang-ki. The Chinese Underworld and its sub-hells are populated by a bureaucracy drawn from the Buddhist, Taoist and vernacular pantheons. Under the watchful eye of Hell's 'enforcers', the lower echelons of demon soldiers impose post-mortal punishments on the souls of the recently deceased for moral transgressions committed during their prior incarnations. Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan offers an ethnography of contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions, where night-time cemetery rituals assist the souls of the dead, exorcised spirits are imprisoned in Guinness bottles, and malicious foetus ghosts are enlisted to strengthen a temple's spirit army. Understanding the religious divergences between Singapore and Malaysia (and their counterparts in Taiwan) through an analysis of socio-political and historical events, Fabian Graham challenges common assumptions about the nature and scope of Chinese vernacular religious beliefs and practices. Graham's innovative approach to alterity allows the reader to listen to first-person dialogues between the author and channelled Underworld deities. Through its alternative methodological and narrative stance, the book intervenes in debates on the interrelation between sociocultural and spiritual worlds, and promotes the destigmatisation of spirit possession and discarnate phenomena in the future study of mystical and religious traditions.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2021

        Religion and life cycles in early modern England

        by Caroline Bowden, Emily Vine, Tessa Whitehouse

        Religion and life cycles in early modern England assembles scholars working in the fields of history, English literature and art history to further our understanding of the intersection between religion and the life course in the period c. 1550-1800. Featuring chapters on Catholic, Protestant and Jewish communities, it encourages cross-confessional comparison between life stages and rites of passage that were of religious significance to all faiths in early modern England. The book considers biological processes such as birth and death, aspects of the social life cycle including schooling, coming of age and marriage and understandings of religious transition points such as spiritual awakenings and conversion. Through this inclusive and interdisciplinary approach, it seeks to show that the life cycle was not something fixed or predetermined and that early modern individuals experienced multiple, overlapping life cycles.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medieval history
        November 2011

        Jewish Women in Europe in the Middle Ages

        A quiet revolution

        by Simha Goldin

        Goldin's study explores the relationships between men and women within Jewish society living in Germany, northern France and England among the Christian population over a period of some 350 years. Looking at original Hebrew sources to conduct a social analysis, he takes us from the middle of the tenth century until the middle of the second half of the fourteenth century, when the Christian population had expelled the Jews from almost all of the places they were living. Particularly fascinating are the attitudes towards women, as well as their changes in social status. By examining the factors involved in these issues, including views of the leadership, economic influences, internal power politics and gender struggles, Goldin's book provides a greater understanding of the functioning of these communities. This volume will be of great interest to historians of medieval Europe, gender and religion.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2007

        Religion in Revolutionary England

        by Christopher Durston, Judith Maltby

        This book offers a collection of essays tightly focused around the issue of religion in England between 1640 and 1660, a time of upheaval and civil war in England. Edited by well-known scholars of the subject, topics include the toleration controversy, women's theological writing, observance of the Lord's Day and prayer books. To aid understanding, the essays are divided into three sections examining theology in revolutionary England, inside and outside the revolutionary National Church and local impacts of religious revolution. Carefully and thoughtfully presented, this book will be of great use for those seeking to better understand the practices and patterns of religious life in England in this important and fascinating period. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2025

        Faith, folk and the far right

        Racist and anti-racist Heathenry and Occultism in Britain

        by Dominic Alessio, Robert J. Wallis

        This book offers the first examination of extremist Heathenry and occultism in the UK and how anti-racist Heathens act to counter this discourse. It explores the spectrum of Heathen practice today and the historical origins of racist Heathenry in nineteenth century Germanic romanticism and twentieth century folkish nationalism. Treating each of the three main extremist Heathen organisations, the book extends the analysis to the neo-Nazi occult organization the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), and the wider racist Heathen cultural scene in Black Metal and Dark Folk music. The authors balance this with discussion of how inclusivist Heathens are countering this discourse, from visible protests at far-right rallies to inter-faith forums and an active presence on social media platforms. The book makes an important contribution to the intersecting fields of new religious movements, nationalist history and racist politics.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences

        Naguib Mahfouz Annuals: About Youth and Freedom

        by Naguib Mahfouz

        Religion is taught in schools as if a branch of science consisting of some Koranic verses, prophetic tradition (Hadith), creed, worships, and biography! Pupils usually study such items by heart, then they go to exam and forget all. Religion is neither a branch of science nor a branch of material knowledge. Religion is a spiritual education that had to be applied in society. It is felt in the way people behave or conduct. Sometimes we meet a clever pupil but he has bad manners! Another, may get high marks in religion but dismissed out of the school for his ill behaviors and bad manners. I believe that religion must be taught as a spiritual education surrounded by a sphere of sympathy and affection. It is something felt by heart, not studied by heart. Teachers have to adress minds to make pupils convinced. They have to teach them biography of the prophet and also of the orthodox Caliphs. They have to select Koran verses according to “the age and the need”. For example Koranic verses dealing with” prayers”, must be studied in an early stage. Then Koranic verses dealing with “fasting”. After that comes verses dealing with moral conducts. In an advanced stage or secondary school, students can study views, ideas, conceptions, visions and philosophy of Islamic eminent characters, as well as eminent characters of other religions. There is a sort of a deflagrated competition between different religions, though they are similar in concepts and attitudes. Also, rivalary between Islam and Western civilization, and communism, is considered. Western civilization has its own entity. It is an integral doctrine having its theories and applications. Western civilization admits human rights and free economy. It could achieve marvellous progress in different fields of life. At the other hand communism also has its own integral doctrine with a private philosophy, economy and ruling systems. It aspires equality between all people, regardless to their colour or race. As a matter of fact it could achieve marevellous progress in different fields of life. Islam stands in between those two different civilizations, trying to get up and rise after a long sleep in the darkness of stagnancy and retardation. Lately, Islam did not achieve adequate progress in fields like modern science, technology, and material power. But it didn’t surrender, because it is till standing as a civilization having its own historical dignity and tradition. But now it is working hard to compensate what it did lose and indemnify what has gone, without contradicting its message and entity.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        April 2006

        Benjamin's Arcades

        An unGuided tour

        by Peter Buse, Bertrand Taithe, Ken Hirschkop, Roger Cooter, Scott McCracken, Carolyn Steedman, Bertrand Taithe

        The Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin's unfinished masterpiece, is a brilliant but maddening book. Benjamin's Arcades: an unGuided Tour looks for the method behind the madness, carefully reconstructing the intellectual and political context of the work and unpacking its numerous analogies, metaphors and conceptual gambits. Written by three literary scholars and one historian, this text is both a reading companion and a vigorous interpretation of one of the most important humanistic texts of the twentieth century. Benjamin's Arcades is composed of 16 entries and a specially designed 'convoluted' index. Some of the entries confront Benjamin with a different reading of his own historical sources (Blanqui, Marx, Giedion), others look intensively at key themes, obsessions, and images (the gambler, commodity fetishism, the Angel of History, magic). Throughout there is discussion of the relationship of Benjamin's work to current and past debate on topics such as modernity, Judaism, fascism, and psychoanalysis. Benjamin's Arcades opens up Benjamin's texts to a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and will be an essential text for those seeking to better understand this extraordinary work. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        April 2026

        Being Jewish Today

        Jüdische Stimmen aus Amerika

        by Amir Eshel, Thomas Sparr, Ursula Kömen

        Der 7. Oktober, der Terror der Hamas und der nachfolgende Krieg in Gaza, die weltweiten Proteste dagegen stellen Jüdinnen und Juden in aller Welt vor neue entscheidende Fragen: nach Zugehörigkeit, Entfremdung von Israel oder Loyalität zum jüdischen Staat, nach Repräsentation. Die jüdische Welt ist in Aufruhr und Unruhe. Antisemitische Anfeindungen haben weltweit, besonders in Deutschland massiv zugenommen. Gleichzeitig sind viele liberale, säkulare oder progressive Jüdinnen und Juden uneins mit der Politik der derzeitigen israelischen Regierung, geraten in Erklärungsnot oder einen Zwang, sich anderen erklären zu müssen. Ein Spannungsfeld ist entstanden, das nicht nur politisch, sondern existentiell ist. Wie lassen sich Solidarität und Kritik zusammendenken? Wie sieht ein jüdisches Selbstverständnis aus, das Raum für Vielstimmigkeit und Widerspruch bietet? Bedeutet jüdisch zu sein auch israelisch zu sein? Inwieweit verändert der 7. Oktober jüdisches Gemeindeleben, die Gedankenwelt und jüdische Publizistik? Wie steht es um das jüdische Gemeindeleben in den USA?In den USA wird eine intensive Diskussion über all das geführt, mit der dieser Band vertraut machen möchte: Peter Beinart ist darin mit seinem Beitrag Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza vertreten, die Gegenstimme von Elliot Crosgrove mit In such a time as this. On being Jewish Today sowie Susannah Heschel, Sarah Hammerschlag, Emily Levine, Shaul Magid und David N. Myers.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2026

        AngloGerman Manchester

        Refuge and Reparation

        by Janet Wolff

        The essays in this book discuss the lives of Germans living in Manchester, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, combining historical study with personal and autobiographical material. Chapters are devoted to Frederick Engels, Fanny Lewald, Rabbi Felix Carlebach and W. G. Sebald, with additional discussion of Elizabeth Gaskell and the Manchester writer Geraldine Jewsbury. One chapter focuses on Jewish refugees from Nazism who set up new industries in Manchester, including the author's father. The final chapter takes up the theme of reparation, which runs through the book, relating the work of non-Jewish Germans engaged in the project of 'making amends' in their own country for the crimes of an earlier generation.

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