Peter Reill

Fernand Braudel (1912-1985), was a leading French historian and author of, among other books, the groundbreaking The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (1949). One of the founders of the Annales School in France, Braudel insisted on treating the Mediterranean region as a whole, irrespective of religious and national divides. Braudel's new historiography rejected political history as the dominant discipline and espoused a 'total history' or a 'history from below' that would tell the story of the vast majority of humanity hitherto excluded from the grand narrative. At the time of the book's appearance, this premise was revolutionary. The contributors to Braudel Revisited assess the impact of Braudel's work on today's academic world, in light of subsequent methodological shifts. Engaging with Braudel's texts as well as with his ideas, the essays in this volume speak to the enduring legacy of his work on the ongoing exploration of early modern history.

Braudel Revisited

Clorinda Donato

Hans Erich Bödeker

The principle of tolerance is one of the most enduring legacies of the Enlightenment. However, scholarly works on the topic to date have been primarily limited to traditional studies based on a historical, 'progressive' view or to the critiques of contemporary writers such as Adorno, Horkheimer, Foucault, and MacIntyre, who believed that the core beliefs of the Enlightenment, including tolerance, could actually be used as vehicles of repression and control rather than as agents promoting individual and group freedom.This collection of original essays by a distinguished international group of contributors looks at the subject in a new light and from a number of angles, focusing on the concept of tolerance at the point where the individual, or group, converges or clashes with the state. The volume opens with introductory essays that provide essential background to the major shift in thinking in regard to tolerance that occurred during the eighteenth century, while considering the general problem of writing a history of tolerance. The remaining essays, organized around two central themes, trace the expansion of the discourses of tolerance and intolerance. The first group treats tolerance and intolerance in relation to the spheres of religious and political thought and practice. The second examines the extension of broad issues of tolerance and intolerance in the realms of race, gender, deviancy, and criminality. While offering an in-depth consideration of these complex issues in the context of the Enlightenment, the volume sheds light on many similar challenges facing contemporary society.

Discourses of Tolerance & Intolerance in the European Enlightenment

David N. Myers

Massimo Ciavolella

David H. Myers

Geoffrey Symcox

Exploring the fascinating cross-cultural influences between Jews and Christians in Italy from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, Acculturation and Its Discontents assembles essays by leading historians, literary scholars, and musicologists to present a well-rounded history of Italian Jewry. The contributors offer rich portraits of the many vibrant forms of cultural and artistic expression that Italian Jews contributed to, but this volume also pays close attention to the ways in which Italian Jews - both freely and under pressure - creatively adapted to the social, cultural, and legal norms of the surrounding society. Tracing both the triumphs and tragedies of Jewish communities within Italy over a broad span of time, Acculturation and Its Discontents challenges conventional assumptions about assimilation and state intervention and, in the process, charts the complex process of cultural exchange that left such a distinctive imprint not only on Italian Jewry, but also on Italian society itself. This collection of rigorous and thought-provoking essays makes a major contribution to both the history of Italian culture and the cultural influence and significance of European Jews.

Peter Reill

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