BRILL
The classic Jewish philosophers; from Saadia through the Renaissance.
Now retired, Schweid (Jewish thought, Hebrew U.) has rewritten and expanded a 1966-67 lecture course on medieval Jewish philosophy into this three-volume survey. His main interest is modern Jewish philosophy, so his account of medieval philosophers focuses on how they contributed to and how they differed from their intellectual descendants. Ha-Filosofim ha-Gedolim Shelanu was published by Miskal/Yediot Aharonot Books, Tel-Aviv, in 1999. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Claims of dual nationals and the development of customary international law issues before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.
The Iran-United States Claims tribunal has been described as the most influential arbitration institution in the history of international adjudication, and rightly so, largely because in practice the application of laws governing international claims of dual nationals depends on the individual's standing at the international level. In the last 20 years the tribunal has tested this idea in a host of cases of widely different characters. Aghahosseini, a member of the Tribunal, gives significant insight form experience, describing the history of the tribunal, early awards, cases before the full tribunal and Iran's reactions to decisions, decisions' interpretation of customary international law, the importance of timing, the criteria of dominance, the "important caveat" and its application to individual cases, and the likely impact of the tribunal's jurisprudence to claimants and to the practice of law. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Collected courses of the Hague Academy of International Law; v.319 (2006) / Recueil des cours.
This volume of the Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law contains two separate works. The first is a general course on private international law entitled "International Litigation and Transactions from a Common-Law Perspective, written by T.C. Hartley (emeritus, London School of Economics, UK). It examines comparative issues of jurisdiction in the United States and Europe, choice-of-court agreements, conflicts of jurisdiction, choice of law, party autonomy and mandatory rules in contract law, regulating business activities, protecting employees, conserving foreign currency, and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The second work presented, penned by James Crawford (international law, U. of Cambridge, UK), is a course on multilateral rights and obligations in international law. It offers chapters on the development of multilateral law-making, the multilateral treaty (the charter of the United Nations specifically) as constitution, the sources of international law as sources of multilateral rights and obligations, standing to claim for breaches of multilateral obligations, and the evolution of peremptory norms and international crimes of state. Martinus-Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Collected courses of the Hague Academy of International Law; v.321 (2006) / Recueil des cours.
In English, Mohamed Ibrahim Shaker, currently Vice-Chairman of the Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs, describes the current state of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He examines the obligations imposed by the Treaty, the role of international and regional organizations, including the United Nations, in the application of safeguards, development of peaceful uses for nuclear energy, including export control regimes, negotiation processes, and regional nuclear weapon-free zones. In French, Pierre Klein (law, U. Libre de Bruxelles) notes that conflict about the definition of what a terrorist is and does could be reduced by comparing acts of terrorism to acts of national liberation. He closely defines actions, motivations and intentions of terrorists and responses by states and the means by which international organizations such as the United Nations should define terrorism. He also examines the rights and liberties affected by terrorism. Martinus-Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Competition and collaboration; Japanese prints of the Utagawa school.
Published to accompany an exhibition held at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin and the Brooklyn Museum in New York in 2008, this handsome catalogue presents lengthy essays on the school followed by a catalogue arranged by artist and theme. Both parts are heavily illustrated with color plates of the best quality. The volume is oversize (10x12 inches) and includes a glossary and brief artist's biographies. Hotei is an imprint of BRILL. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Consumption and wealth in Luke's travel narrative.
Most readings of the Gospel of Luke find Jesus admonishing his wealthy followers to practice generosity and justice, in line with practices common in Roman Palestine, but Metzger (religion, Luther College, Iowa) says a much more radical reading is possible. He argues that Jesus declares divestiture of all private property to be the only road to salvation. The study began as his Ph.D. dissertation at Vanderbilt University. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Consolidated legal texts for the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
In this volume, Jalloh (legal adviser/duty counsel for the Special Court for Sierra Leone) collects the various significant legal texts and instruments relating to the mandate of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the first treaty-based international criminal court with a mixed jurisdiction ratione materiae by the United Nations and the government. He includes the primary legal texts underpinning the work of the Court, as well as the key agreements from the failed peace process which gave rise to the Court, thereby providing context for important provisions contained in the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The material is presented in four sections containing the foundational texts of the Court, important regulations adopted by the President or the Registrar of the Court, those areas of Sierra Leonian law relating to the Court's mandate, and the four most comprehensive peace and ceasefire agreements between the Sierra Leonean Government and the Revolutionary United Front relevant to the work of the Court. No commentary is provided. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Contributions to the cultural history of early Tibet.
Scholars from western Europe discuss both minute details and general questions concerning early medieval Tibet, reflecting the gradual growth of knowledge over the past decades. Covering social and political history, literary and oral transmission, and Chinese trends in Tibetan Buddhism, they discuss six topics, among them the relations of the 11th-century Tsong kha tribal confederation to its neighbor states on the Silk Road, the narrative History of the Cycle of Birth and Death, and the conjunction of Chinese Chan and Tibetan Rdzogs chen thought. No index is provided. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Corporations and international lawmaking.
Tully (commerce and law, The London School of Economics and Political Science) offers legal insight into the participation of corporations in international lawmaking procedures. Chapters address how corporate participation has changed within the legal order; how the methods, motivations, and regulatory demands of corporations augment or challenge the notion of consent essential to international law; and corporate involvement in dispute settlement, treaty formation and implementation, and the implementation of customary and "soft" international law. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae; addendum, squeezes in the Max van Berchem collection (Palestine, Trans-Jordan, Northern Syria); squeezes 1-84.
Squeezes are reproductions of inscriptions, many of which have already disappeared. Those in the Max van Berchem archives in Geneva are mostly but not entirely from within Palestine, and were made during the late 19th century under very difficult conditions often using primitive paper that was unsuitable but the only paper available. Sharon photographs them in ways that reveal them best, and provides information about their contents, epigraphic context, and historical background. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Creativity and critique; subjectivity and agency in Touraine and Ricoeur.
Contemporary social theorist Alain Touraine offers a more far-reaching hermeneutical dimension than either Giddens or Habermas, argues Ballantyne (sociology, Swinburne U. of Technology, Australia), but he undermines it by refusing to take up the project systematically. She develops a dialogue between him and Paul Ricoeur, one of the leading exponents of contemporary philosophical hermeneutics, in order to fill out the account. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Crises and the Roman Empire; proceedings.
The 29 papers — 20 in English — offer a range of views on how the concepts of crises had an impact on the development and functioning of the Roman Empire from the Republic to Late Imperial times, but particularly during the third century. They cover crisis in regard to imperial politics, the economy, the emperor, and legal writing. The specific topics include Britain during the third century crisis, the impact on the international trade with the East, the employment of epithets in the struggle for power, and the end of legal writing in the classical tradition. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Critical companion to contemporary Marxism.
In this comprehensive guide to intellectual and historical contexts, disciplinary fields and leading thinkers, expert commentators span all the humanities and social sciences, with a distinct emphasis on philosophy. They cover such contextual issues as the crises of Marxism and the transformation of capitalism, Marxism as developed in Marxist-Leninism to France and Italy at the end of the twentieth century, Anglo-Saxon Marxism, and the new Marxist economics. Configurations of Marxist thought include the analytical, the Frankfurt and Budapest schools, ecological Marxism, market socialism, postcolonial studies, class analysis, state theory, theories of racism, and the relationship between Marxism and language, and leading figures examined include Adorno, Badiou, Bhaskar, Bourdieu, Derrida, Foucault, Gramsci, Habermas, Lefebvre, Kozo Uno and Raymond Williams. This is an essential reference. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Cultivating perfection; mysticism and self-transformation in early Quanzhen Daoism.
Wang Chongyang began his Perfected Chongyang's Instructions on the Gold Pass and Jade Lock with the understanding that the body of each human being contains the principles of the heavens and earth. As he worked through his concepts and the questions of his disciples, he built Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, which emphasizes the complex interplay amongst ideas of the self, training regimens, and the mystical experiences dedicated practitioners should expect. Komjathy (religion, Pacific Lutheran U. and religion, science and social studies, Shandong U.), provides a full analysis of Quanzhen Daoism's historical contexts and his approach to mysticism, renunciation and asceticism, ethical rectification and purification. This is fascinating enough, but Komjathy also provides a masterful translation of the original instructions and even a technical glossary of early Quanzhen Daoism. The result is a model for studies of the origins of faiths. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The Danish resources c. 1000-1550; growth and recession.
No major economic history of medieval Denmark exists, let alone a study of the nation's economic resources during the period such as medieval historians Hybel (U. of Copenhagen) and Poulsen (U. of Aarhus) present here. They put the extensive data produced during the 20th century on the economic and social dimensions of medieval Denmark into a new context. A crucial focus is the interaction between people and nature, including the impact of human society on the environment and vice versa, and the underlying framework is the creation of a central power. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Dharma, disorder, and the political in ancient India; the Apaddharmaparvan of the Mahabharata.
The Sanskrit term apaddharma means right conduct in times of distress, and refers to laws that come into effect when conditions make normal laws inoperable or counter-productive. The concept allows the two clans to fight the war that is the denouement of the Mahabharata. Australian scholar, Bowles, a Principal with the Clay Sanskrit Library, explores the original articulation of the concept in the Indian classic, and its implications in ancient India. The study began as his 2004 doctoral dissertation at La Trobe University. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Dispositio; problematic ordering in French Renaissance literature.
In classical rhetoric, the dispositio referred to the ordering of one's argument or discourse, but it would be a mistake to think that even those familiar with Quintilian and other major writers on rhetoric wrote in strict adherence to the prescribed models of dispositio. In this work, Smith (French literature, U. of Leiden, the Netherlands) presents a number of case studies concerned with deviance or conformity from preexisting models of dispositio in the French Renaissance. The studies provide reinterpretations of well-known texts by Rabelais, Du Bellay, and Montaigne, as well as considerations of lesser-known French emblematic fables. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Divine epithets in the Ugaritic alphabetic texts.
Rahmouni (New York U.) presents a translation of her updated and revised doctoral thesis Kinnuye Ha-Elim Ba-Teqstim Ha-Ugaritiyyam at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2001. In it she transcribes, translates, and analyzes the divine epithets in the alphabetic cuneiform texts from Ras Shamra and Ran Ibn Hani, along with the entire passage in which they occur in order to provide context. Her goal is to encompass all the epithets of the individual Ugaritic deities attested in the published texts, including individual semi-divine and demonic beings, both good and evil, following the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The early Enoch literature.
Inspired by a series of seminars which have already produced several other volumes, these papers focus on the complex relationship of 1 Enoch to Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. Contributors describe 1 Enoch's depiction wisdom and apocalyptic literature, its relationship with the Torah, textual evidence, Enochic traditions in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1 Enoch's influence in the Sadokite priesthood and the laity, memory and expectation in passages on temples and the Temple, the Enochic apocalypse, sociological settings and social profiles of the communities that produced the earliest texts, the book's influence in the sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and parallels in the intellectual movement comprised of Enochians, urban Essenes and Qumranites. The essays reflect the collegiate and strongly interactive nature of the seminars, and the collection also includes a very good bibliography of scholarship from 2000 to the present. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Education and society in Florentine Tuscany; teachers, pupils and schools, c. 1250-1500; v.1.
For Black (Renaissance history, U. of Leeds, UK), the triumph of lay education and literacy in Florence and Florentine Tuscany played a central role in the flourishing of the Italy's urban commercial revolution of the 12th and 13th centuries and the Renaissance classical revival of the 14th century. In this volume, he presents the first portion of a two-part work describing the Florentine pre-university educational system of the era. The five chapters of this volume analyze evidence of Florentine male literacy found in tax return documents of 1427; describe the comparative curricula of reading, writing, abacus, and Latin grammar in Florence and the towns of Florentine Tuscany; discuss the decline of church education and the rise lay schools up to the 14th century; examines the origins of public education in the rise of communally funded education; and conclude with a more detailed account of the schools of Florence and the curricula. The second volume will examine the communal schools of the 15th century, the revival of ecclesiastical schools in the city of Florence, and female education. Also included in the volumes are a number of documentary appendices. This volume provides education extracts from the Florentine Catasti (tax returns) of 1427 and 1458 and from family diaries, as well as lists of publicly funded teachers in Florentine Tuscany up to 1400 and in the city of Florence up to 1500. The second volume will present similar materials together with bio-bibliographic profiles of identified schoolteachers from the mid-13 century to the end of the 15th century. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
