BRILL
Absolute beginners; der mittelalterliche beitrag zu einem ausgang vom unbedingten.
It can be said that the Absolute is the ultimate source of knowledge in medieval philosophy, a perception that predicted Spinoza's departure from the Absolute in the ethics of the doctrine of God as first object in the generation of knowledge, an approach taken by Henry of Ghent and Richard Conington in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. In this monograph, which is in German, Goris (philosophy, Vrije U.) explores various aspects of the question, in effect offering a case study of the construction of an historical object, calling into question the ways in which elements of that history are presented as "givens," particularly those which appear to be self-evident or spontaneous. The result is a challenging treatment of the system of exclusions which make up the doctrine of God as a first object in the generation of knowledge. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Adjudicatory authority in private international law; a comparative study.
This book is a revised an expanded version of the late Professor Arthur T. von Mehren's General Course on Private International Law, first published in 20002 under the title "Theory and Practice of the Adjudicatory Authority in Private International Law: A Comparative Study of the Doctrine, Policies and Practices of Common- and Civil- Law Systems" in vol. 295 of the Collected Courses (Martinus Nijhoff, 2002). Finished by Gottschalk (an associate with CMS Hasche Sigle in Hamburg, Germany specializing on corporate law) after von Mehren's demise, the text discusses foundational reasons for the existence of adjudicatory authority and its principal types; the design of jurisdictional provisions; the emergence of jurisdictional theory in the United States and Germany; the actor sequitur forum rei principle; consequences of splitting causes of action, participating as a litigant, and choice of forum agreements for consent and adjudicatory authority; forum non conveniens, antisuit injunctions, and lis pendens; and the role of international instruments in convergence and compromise in private international law. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Africa yearbook; v.3: Politics, economy and society south of the Sahara in 2006.
Produced under the aegis of AEGIS (the Africa-Europe Group of Interdisciplinary Studies), this Yearbook aims to present a complete summary round up of domestic politics, foreign affairs, and socioeconomic developments in the states of sub-Sahara Africa for the year 2006. The bulk of the volume consists of individual country reports, with paper length tied to the perceived relative importance of the country examined, but editors Mehler (director, Institute of African Affairs, German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Germany), Melber (executive director, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Sweden), and Walraven (African Studies Center in Leiden, Germany) also present regional overviews of Southern, Eastern, Central, and West Africa and reviews of United Nations activities in Africa and African-European relations. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Amnesty for crimes against humanity under international law.
Many emerging democracies that have replaced dictatorial regimes have utilized amnesty for "political crimes" as part of that transition, legally encouraged by Article 6 (5) of the Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions, yet the Rome Statute of 1998 insists on criminal prosecution for the core crimes under international law. Analyzing the relevant national and international legal documents, in addition to state practice, Ntoubandi (law, Giessen U., Germany) endeavors to identify a valid compromise between the legal duty to prosecute core crimes under international law and national practical political consideration that may stand in the way of such prosecutions. After determining states duties under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the 1948 Genocide Convention, the 1984 Torture Convention, the 1998 Rome Statute, general human rights conventions, and customary international law and critically examining the South African post-apartheid amnesty mechanisms, he sets out a framework that presents crimes against humanity as part of delicti jus gentium and as a jus cogens offense and thus invalidates amnesty for these crimes under international law. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The ancient synagogue from its origins to 200 C.E.; a source book.
Despite growing scholarly interest in ancient synagogues — including an equivocal one at Qumran, they have been rarely been discussed as institutions of their own time rather than in religious metaphors, according to the editors' expansive introduction. Following contextual information on research in the field, Runesson (Early Christianity and early Judaism, McMaster U., Canada) and other authorities on New Testament studies present 217 dated sources in Greek and English translation with commentary and references. Entries are organized by location in Israel and the Diaspora, and literary source, and range from first century CE references to recent archeological finds. The attractive volume, based on a Lund U. Sweden project, includes illustrations of synagogue plans and reconstructions, and a foldout map of the ancient Middle East. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The annotated digest of the international criminal court; v.1, 2004-2006.
Laucci (a consultant in international humanitarian law and international criminal law) presents the first volume of a series that aims to present the most relevant abstracts of decisions rendered by the International Criminal Court. This is achieved by reviewing all public decisions issued by the court and selecting the relevant legal findings that give an interpretation of the basic rules of the Court; show how a specific basic rule is concretely implemented by the court; clarify a point of law of general importance with respect to international criminal law, international humanitarian law, or international law of human rights; or are otherwise meaningful with respect to international criminal justice. Abstracts are then either quoted or have their full references mentioned under quoted findings of previous relevant decisions, including chamber, situation or case, title of the decision, date, and paragraphs or pages. Quoted abstracts are presented in the original working language of the decision, either English or French. Where available, the official English translations of French-language abstracts are provided, but the reverse is not true. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Annals of the caliphs' kitchens; Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's tenth-century Baghdadi cookbook.
Along with the scholastic value of this translation, which is considerable, readers have the added pleasure of learning social conditions, etiquette and conventions, and the place of food in a complex and sophisticated society. In addition, the recipes themselves are fascinating. Independent scholar Nasrallah provides an elegant translation for an enormous quantity of text, providing clear accounts of over 600 recipes. Her introduction gives readers the context for the food culture of Baghdad of over 1,000 years ago, the structure of cuisine and its place in high society, and the prevailing thought about the properties of healing foods. She also provides listings for people and places mentioned in the text and glossaries from Arabic to English and English to Arabic. The result is fascinating as a study of a society as well as a practical success, as Nasrallah provides standard measurements with the recipes. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Arabic-English dictionary of Qur'anic usage.
This impressive work presents a full Arabic-English dictionary of the words of the Qu'ran. The words are arranged according to their Arabic root. The entry for each includes an inventory of its various meanings (or "semantic scatter"); the morphological derivatives that occur in the Qu'ran and the number of times they occur; and an accordance with the order in which each derivative occurs in abd al- Baqi's Concordance. A bibliography of Arabic and English sources is included. As it's a dictionary, there is no index. Eminently qualified for this ambitious task, both authors were educated at al- Azhar in Cairo, Egypt and at universities in the UK. Badawi has published other Arabic dictionaries and teaches Arabic studies and linguistics at the American U. in Cairo. Among other works, Haleem has published a translation of the Qu'ran; he teaches Islamic studies at the U. of London, the UK. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Arab painting; text and image in illustrated Arabic manuscripts.
The 13 papers of this collection were presented in earlier form as talks given at conference held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the U. of London, the UK, in September 2004. The combination of writing with art is a given in Arabic manuscripts, where calligraphy is highly valued. The combination is explored in several case studies, including both scientific and literary manuscripts, and in two theoretical papers by Contadini (SOAS), on the historiography of the study of Islamic manuscripts, and by Oleg Grabar (Princeton Institute for Advanced Study), on the concept of "Arab painting". The volume is well illustrated with b&w and full-page color plates. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The archives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the local institutions in Batavia (Jakarta).
It created one of history's most famous financial disasters, but in its prime the Verenigde Oostindische Compangnie (VOC), known in English as the Dutch East India Company opened lucrative markets around the world and became incredibly rich. It also became incredible bureaucratic, the result being 25 million pages of records, a good number of which were archived in Jakarta. This collection of financial instruments, banking records, registers, memoranda, letters of credit, credentials, inventory lists hits the high point of the collection, giving readers a good ideas about the volumes of trade, profitability, organizational structure in Jakarta and elsewhere when the VOC ruled not only a substantial number of foreign markets but due to the influence of wealth and officially sanctioned monopolies, controlled many a domestic market as well. The editors provide substantial notes. The documents are presented in their original languages, primarily Dutch. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Aristotle on memory and recollection; text, translation, interpretation, and reception in Western scholasticism.
Bloch (philosophy, U. of Copenhagen) provides a new critical edition of Aristotle's De memoria et reminiscentia, and in doing so also provides new insights into some of the most basic concepts in Aristotelian philosophical methodology. He offers a new English translation with commentary on textual matters, an essay on Aristotle's theories of memory and recollection from the text, and an essay of the tradition of the Aristotelian theories with emphasis on the Latin medieval tradition. As he works through the translation and essays he makes a solid case that previous editions did not work at his own high degree of precision; this precision avoids forcing scholars to make decisions about variant readings without a completely solid foundation of evidence. Bloch's essay on the ways in which our understanding of memory differ from those of Aristotle is particularly exciting and should be widely read. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Article 20; children deprived of their family environment.
Part of an ongoing series, this volume begins with a chapter introducing the context and policies connected to Convention article 20, followed by comparison with related policies. The remainder of the volume examines the scope of Convention article 20 in a systematic review of its contents. Cantwell is an international child protection consultant in Geneva, Switzerland; Holzcheiter teaches at the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany. The volume is not indexed. Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Article 26; the right to benefit from social security.
In an effort to explain the position of the UN on how states will take the necessary measures to achieve the fulfillment of social security rights in accordance with the child's national law. This is part of a series that explains the various benefits the UN intends for children, and includes comparisons with related international human rights provisions and national provisions. It explains the scope of article 26 and defines benefits, social security, progressive realization, physical accessibility, non-discrimination and quality. This includes a short bibliography and analyses of regional treaties relevant to the rights of children to receive social security benefits. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The art and logic of Ramon Llull; a user's guide.
Ramon Llull (1232-1315) was a Majorcan writer and philosopher whose logical system of argument developed in the Ars generalis ultima ("The ultimate general art") heavily influenced Gottfried Leibniz and his De Arte Combinatoria. Bonner (editor of the journal Studia Lulliana) provides an explication of Llull's method as found in Ars generalis ultima, complementing his own explanations with extensive quotations from Llull himself. Beyond simply explicating the material, Bonner aims to demonstrate its self-consistency and its importance to all of Llull's endeavors. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Baltic connections; archival guide to the maritime relations of the countries around the Baltic Sea (including the Netherlands) 1450-1800; 3v.
Assembled by Bes (National Archives of the Netherlands), Frankot (Hanse Research Center, U. of Groningen, the Netherlands), and Brand (Hanse Research Center), this three-volume reference guide provides an overview of significant archival sources concerning maritime relations between Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Sweden for roughly the years 1450-1800 and includes coverage of such topics as trade, shipping, merchant and merchant houses, transaction costs, commodities, trade regulation and diplomacy, finances, and spin-off effects such as migration patterns and piracy. The guide consists of 982 descriptions of archival sources kept in 127 repositories. Each description includes information on the record group as a whole (reference code, period, size, and general abstract); lists documents pertinent to the Baltic Sea region, together with their contents, period, countries involved, and languages used; and, where applicable or relevant, provides information on accessibility, custodial history, record creator, visually attractive documents, copies, related archival materials, and publications. Descriptions are arranged alphabetically by country, location of repository, name of repository, and record group. The guide is also available online at www.balticconnections.net, allowing for greater search options. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The "Belly-Myther" of Endor; interpretations of 1 Kingdoms 28 in the early church.
Known in English and Hebrew as I Samuel 28, this passage presents unique opportunities for interpretation and criticism because in it Saul consults with a female "belly-myther," a term which could indicate she is a necromancer, a witch, a medium, or a person with mastery over ghosts with the potential for divine prophecy. Encouraged by discoveries of such texts as Origen's homilies on Samuel, Eustathius's response to Origen and an interpretation by Gregory of Nyssa, modern scholars are able to consider wide-ranging issues, including the attitude of the early Church on paganism. This collection includes theological commentary on the texts translated, the patristic rhetoric of Origen and Eustathius and compositional analyses. The translations here range from Justin Marty's Dialogue with Trypho and Tertullian's On the Soul to The Martyrdom of Pionius, fragments from Apollinarius and Diodore of Tarsus, and the aforesaid interpretations by early Church leaders. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Bernhard Varenius (1622-1650).
Varenius earned renown with his 1649 Descriptio regni Japoniae, the first comprehensive account of Japan from a European perspective, but he changed the course of geography with his 1650 Geographia Generalis in which he describes geography as a mathematical and theoretical discipline without reference to special regional features. Here historians and social scientists, most of them Germans but other Europeans as well, discuss his formative years, his role transmitting knowledge about Japan, and the heritage of his general work. The 15 essays are from a symposium in Wolenbüttel, Germany (no date noted); those in German provide English abstracts, and vice versa. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Beyond systemic discrimination; educational rights, skills acquisition and the case of Roma.
The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) includes the right to education. Gynther (Erik Castrèn Institute, Helsinki; Inter-university Centre for Education Law, Antwerp) examines the gap between educational rights and their implementation for disadvantaged groups such as the Roma. Through analyzing sources of relevant international and European law, she frames the issue as not just one of access but also of how these norms can guide states to establish a sound legal foundation to promote quality education for basic skills' acquisition. This revised version of her doctoral thesis from Abo Akademi U. in 2006 includes chapter-specific summary tables; a table of international instruments; and a table of cases. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The case law of the WTO, 1999-1.
The editors (both of the U. of Paris I, France) present the fourth volume of a series of books on the case law of the World Trade Organization. Contributors take a dual approach to the topic by giving a neutral account of the reasoning of the dispute resolution mechanism, together with quotes, and by providing their critical analysis of the reasoning adopted and its relationship to evolving global case law. The cases discussed in this volume include judgments regarding US anti-dumping duties on Korean semiconductors, Korean taxes on alcoholic beverages, Japanese measures affecting agricultural products, Canadian measures affecting the export of civilian aircraft, Australian subsidies to automotive leather producers and exporters, and Brazil's export financing program for aircraft. All of the material is presented in English and French on facing pages. Martinus-Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Changing values and beliefs in 85 countries; trends from the values surveys from 1981 to 2004.
A team of social scientists continue the series presenting data from the European Values Study, a large-scale cross-national and longitudinal research project on fundamental values in Western societies. The tables identify percentages of answers in a wide range of countries to selected questions concerning perceptions of life, environment, work, family, politics and society, religion and morale, and national identity. Despite the subtitle, the four "waves" of data are from 1981, 1990, 1995, and 2000. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Chen Jiru (1558-1639); the background to development and subsequent uses of literary personae.
Chen is best known today as the author of Clandestine Jottings from My Little Window, a book he did not write, claims Greenbaum. An Australian historian of China, he noticed first that the headings, then that the entire text of an obscure work called The Scouring Blade from the Hall of an Infatuation with Antiquity by the even more obscure Lu Shaoheng, were identical to those in Jottings. He argues that Lu's was the original work, first published in the 1620s, then reprinted in the 1770s under Chen's then famous name to increase sales. The study is about the power of names during the period. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Christian remnant — African folk church; Seventh-Day Adventism in Tanzania, 1903-1980.
Like the denomination worldwide, Adventism in Tanzania emphasizes the imminent return of Christ, and considers itself to be a remnant of God's faithful end-time people. One of the aspects that Höschele (theology, Friedensau Adventist U., Germany) explores in his history of the denomination there, is how it developed into a folk church in some areas by appropriating the remnant theology and self-image. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
