From the frescoes of Pompei to the disciplinarians of the naval cultures of the last century, from medieval religious zealots to the New York lesbian scene today - flagellation has been widespread throughout western civilization. This book reveals the history, origins and forms of flagellation.

null

With opposite the title page a cartoon in color by Alick P.F.Ritchie

Beschouwing over de verschillende versies van een zeventiende-eeuws verhaal.

National history is a vital part of national self-definition. Most books on the history of the world try to impose a uniform narrative, written usually from a single writers point of view. Histories of Nations is different: it presents 28 essays written by a leading historian as a self-portrait of his or her native country, defining the characteristics that embody its sense of nationhood. The countries have been selected to represent every continent and every type of state, large and small, and together they make up two-thirds of the worlds population. They range from mature democracies to religious autocracies and one-party states, from countries with a venerable history to those who only came into being in the 20th century. In order to get to grips with the national and cultural differences that both enliven and endanger our world, we need above all to understand different national viewpoints to read the always engaging and often passionate accounts given in this remarkable and unusual book.

Dieptepsychologische bespreking van de Griekse held Hercules en het beeld van hem in verleden en heden.

The Mask of Command is about generals: who they are, what they do and how they affect the world we live in. Most studies of generalship have focused on individual character and behaviour. While these are not neglected in this remarkable book, its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural enterprise, providing a key to understanding a particular era or place, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill. Through portraits of four generals - archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler - John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricable linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world. The Mask of Command is a companion volume to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Face of Battle: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.