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      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        September 2020

        Spenser and Virgil

        by Syrithe Pugh, J. B. Lethbridge

      • 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. ;

      • General & world history

        The Predator Culture

        The Roots and Intent of Organised Violence

        by Fred Harrison

        Understanding the territorial basis of political power and wealth is the pre-requisite, the author argues, for making sense of issues as diverse as genocide, narco-gangsterism, terrorism and fascism. Fred Harrison draws on global-wide case studies to show how the violent birth of nation-states, whether the result of territorial conquests or colonialism, splits the population into two classes, victors and vanquished. This division is perpetuated and legitimated through the system of land tenure. The pathological consequences - as diverse as failed states, organised crime (mafia), religious fundamentalism and the re-emergence of piracy - are the result of the violent uprooting of the original inhabitants from their homelands. The struggle over land and resources, Harrison contends, is at the root of all of today's global crises. Some attempts are being made to restore land to those in need, ranging from the offer of land in Afghanistan to the Taliban as an inducement to set aside their violent strategies, to the sharing of the rents of oil in Nigeria to entice eco-warriors into mainstream politics. But these piecemeal tactics fail to synthesise the conditions for peace and prosperity. "The Predator Culture" provides a framework for truth and reconciliation in what has become a violent world that is slipping dangerously out of control.

      • Business, Economics & Law

        A New Model of the Economy

        by Brian Hodgkinson

        The book offers a radical revision of modern economic theory. Its starting point is the existing body of both micro and macro economics, as developed in such textbooks as "Economics" by Begg, Fischer and Dombusch and "Positive Economics" by Lipsey and Chrystal. Following a similar framework as these books, it adjusts the whole range of theory by introducing some new concepts and other earlier ones that have been much neglected in the economic thought of the past century. These are related especially to the fundamental part played by land, in its proper sense of all natural resources available on the earth, the significance of credit, especially through the banking system, and the crucial impact of the method of taxation. The resulting analysis yields a thoroughly revised version on the contemporary model of a capitalist economy, so that a genuine 'third way' is revealed. This is not a mere modification of the present system of absentee ownership confronting a market for labour, with all the attendant evils of unemployment, monopoly and misdistribution of wealth and income. Rather it is a system based upon natural law, exhibiting economic security for all, fair distribution of output and, above all, the opportunity for self-fulfilment through work. The "new model"; draws upon the masters of economic thought from Smith and Ricardo, to Marshall, Schumpeter and Keynes by highlighting concepts often omitted from current studies of their works; such as Ricardo's' analysis of scarcity and differential elements of rent, Schumpeter's view of the role of banking and Keynes' hints at a labour theory of value. Indeed, this far reaching revision makes bold advances upon the Marshallian theory of the firm and the Keynesian theory of national income determination, thus providing new insights into both micro and macro theory. It remains faithful, however, to the tradition of these latter thinkers in explaining matters fully in words and resorting to mathematics mainly through the use of diagrams intelligible to anyone with an elementary grasp of the subject. Whilst the book strives to avoid value judgments in the interests on social science, it undoubtedly carries strong implications about economic policy. These are bound up with the central notions of free land and free credit, which have been singularly ignored by policy-makers since a few valiant attempts to introduce them in the early twentieth century. Hence the 'new model' is offered to both theorists and practitioners of Economics, to politicians and public servants, but particularly to those who, like the author, truly seek a new vision of the subject. --- The author, who has taught economics for many years, deliberately follows the broad outline of modern textbooks to offer a radical revision of modern economic theory. The book is aimed at economists disillusioned with the disconnect between what is taught at universities and the real world. One of our Ethical Economics titles www.ethicaleconomics.org.uk.

      • Economic theory & philosophy

        Public Revenue Without Taxation

        by Ronald Burgess

        Gordon Brown was a past-master at sneaking in new taxes by stealth, but his efforts as Chancellor and then Prime Minister were merely the latest in a long line of party leaders desperate to extract more money from reluctant taxpayers. This book challenges the need for government to resort to such underhand practices which undermine the economy, killing the goose which lays the golden eggs, and the integrity of the political process.The author argues that not only does taxation flout the principle of private property, but it ‘is a primal cause of both inflation and unemployment. Regardless of this, the freely elected governments of contemporary trading economies – with the acquiescence of their electorates – persist in raising the major part, if not all, of their revenues by means of taxation. The immediate cause of such action by governments... is ignorance of any acceptable alternative method of raising sufficient public revenue.’Burgess shows how the development of Keynes’ general theory of employment ‘leads to the conclusion that an open trading economy is likely to be most competitive, and therefore most prosperous, only when taxation is abolished’ – but government must be funded. How can this be done without taxation?To provide an answer he refines Alfred Marshall’s distinction between the public and private value of property to reveal an alternative, peculiarly public source of revenue. Unlike a tax, defined by a former Labour Chancellor, Hugh Dalton, as ‘a compulsory contribution imposed by a public authority, irrespective of the exact amount of service rendered to the taxpayer in return’, the ‘public value’ identified by Marshall would deliver an exact equivalence between the benefits enjoyed and the amount paid. On the basis of this widely accepted definition, therefore, it is not a tax but the price for services rendered like any other transaction - the price fixed by the market.The author shows how reform may be introduced with a minimum of disruption, so that politicians with an eye to re-election can achieve measurable results during the lifetime of a parliament.

      • Political economy

        Re-Solving the Economic Puzzle

        by Walter. Rybeck

        In the richest nation on earth, people are mired in poverty. Food is produced on a vast scale, yet families go hungry. Homeless men and women huddle in doorways of boarded-up housing. A deep-rooted cause of this inequality, the author reveals, lies in an injustice that permeates the economic system of America and the world, an injustice that is as unquestioned today as slavery once was.Rybeck shares with the reader his discovery that how property taxes are levied is crucial to this issue. Contrary to a common belief that all taxes are necessary evils, the author distinguishes taxes that suppress the economy from those that spur well-being for individuals, business, and society at large. He presents a strategy for gradually increasing beneficial taxes and reducing harmful ones.His prescriptions are based both on economic theory and on examination of success stories from the United States and elsewhere where these prescriptions have been adopted. Reaching back into history, the author finds that easy access to land and natural resources played a major role in fostering America’s early dynamic economy. He urges wider use of land value taxation to reverse land monopoly and sky-high land prices and restore a vigorous and competitive enterprise system with opportunity for all. Though America is the case study, the remedy is applicable worldwide.Not a technical book, the author illustrates concepts, issues, and policies through episodes from his rich life experiences in journalism and public service, giving new insights and slants on the work ethic, land speculation, the housing bubble, property rights, and legally accepted injustices.‘… could go far to restore our nation’s economic health’William J. Coyne, former Pittsburgh Congressman‘… a workable formula that will make our natural riches a blessing for the population as a whole’Ken Hechler, formerly White House Assistant, Congressman and West Virginia State Secretary‘…We know it works’ Stephen R. Reed, Harrisburg Mayor, 1982-2010

      • Literature & Literary Studies

        The Shakespearean Ethic

        by John Vyvyan

        ‘… the most original book about Shakespeare I have ever read'Christopher BookerOriginally published by Chatto & Windus in 1959, this book has long been out of print and largely neglected by Shakespearean scholars. It offers a viewpoint seldom considered: an unusual and exceptionally clear insight into Shakespeare’s philosophy. It does so with freshness, modesty and conviction.Appreciating the danger Shakespeare faced in writing at a time of major religious intolerance, Vyvyan shows how subtly the plays explore aspects of the perennial philosophy allegorically. In doing so, Shakespeare raises the fundamental question of ethics: What ought we to do?‘Shakespeare,’ says the author, ‘is never ethically neutral. He is never in doubt as to whether the souls of his characters are rising or falling.’ There is a constant pattern in the tragedies: ‘first the hero is untrue to his own self, then he casts out love, then conscience is gone – or rather inverted – and the devil enters into him.’ Vyvyan shows us this pattern of damnation, or its counterpart – a pattern of regeneration – working out in certain plays, contrasting Hamlet with Measure for Measure and Othello with The Winter’s Tale, where a similar dilemma and choice confront the hero. His intuitive insights also illumine Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Titus Andronicus which focus on the fall, whereas The Tempest explores most fully the pattern of regeneration and creative mercy.Here is a book, both thought-provoking and persuasive, which will send many readers back to Shakespeare’s plays with fresh vision and clearer understanding. To assist such readers, this edition cross-references the quotations in the text to the relevant place in the play. The text has been completely reset and the index expanded.

      • Geography & the Environment

        Eradicating Ecocide

        Laws and Governance to Prevent the Destruction of Our Planet

        by Polly Higgins

        Eradicating Ecocide highlights the need for enforceable, legally binding mechanisms in national and international law to hold to account perpetrators of long term severe damage to the environment. At this critical juncture in history it is vital that we set global standards of accountability for corporations, in order to put an end to the culture of impunity and double standards that pervade the international legal system. Higgins advocates the introduction of a new international law, Ecocide: ‘damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems’, as the 5th Crime Against Peace. This would hold to account heads of corporate bodies that are found guilty of damaging the environment; it would present corporations with a new choice: they could choose to be part of the solution, part of the salvation of the planet’s future, by complying with the new law of Ecocide. The opportunity to implement this law represents a crossroads in the fate of humanity; we can accept the change, or we can continue to allow its destruction, risking future brutal war over disappearing natural resources.This is the first book to explain that we all have a commanding voice and the power to call upon all our governments to change the existing rules of the game.Higgins presents examples of laws in other countries which have succeeded in curtailing the power of governments, corporations and banks and made a quick and effective change, demonstrating that her proposal is not impossible. Eradicating Ecocide is a crash course on what laws work, what doesn’t and what else is needed to prevent the imminent disaster of global collapse.Eradicating Ecocide provides a comprehensive overview of what needs to be done in order to prevent ecocide. It is a book providing a template of a body of laws for all governments to implement, which applies equally to smaller communities and anyone who is involved in decision-making. --- The author is becoming a world figure in promoting the idea that ecocide should become an international crime like genocide. Here is a link to a talk she gave recently in Vienna, suggesting that a German language edition might be a prospect. ERDgespräche//EARTHtalks 2013: Polly Higgins on Vimeo.

      • The environment
        June 2012

        Earth Is Our Business

        Changing the Rules of the Game

        by Polly Higgins

        Earth is our Business takes forward the argument of Polly Higgins’ first book, Eradicating Ecocide. This book proposes new Earth law, but it is also about something more than law: it advocates a new form of leadership which places the health and well-being of people and planet first. Polly Higgins shows how law can provide the tools and be a bridge to a new way of doing business. She argues, in fact, that Earth is the business of us all, not the exclusive preserve of the executives of the world’s top corporations. Expanding on the proposal in her first book to make Ecocide an international crime, this book sets out the institutional framework for sustainable development and international environmental governance. It proposes new rules of the game to transform our economies, energy supplies and political landscape in a radical, but practical, way. The implications of Polly Higgins’ proposal are far-reaching and profound. Like her award-winning first book, Earth is our Business is written for anyone who is engaging in the new and emerging discourse about the future of our planet. Instead of merely examining the problem, Earth is our Business sets out a solution: new rules of the game. They are, says Polly Higgins, a new set of laws based on the sacredness of all life. Included as appendices are a draft Ecocide Act, a proposal for revising World Bank investment rules, and the indictment used in the mock Ecocide Trial held in the UK Supreme Court in September 2011.Eradicating Ecocide won The People’s Book Prize for non-fiction in 2011. --- Another indication of Polly Higgins, the author’s, growing world recognition is her inclusion with some of the world’s foremost environmental activists and philosophers in a feature film that sheds light upon the new Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, which has been presented by Bolivia to the United Nations for recognition. The film also features Dr. Vandana Shiva, David Holmgren, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Starhawk, Cormac Cullinan, Father Bob Maguire, John Seed and others http://indymedia.org.au/2013/06/03/united-natures-press-release

      • Shadows & Light, The Life of James McBey

        by Alasdair Soussi

        Creative genius, war artist, adventurer, lover. These are just some of the words that can be used to describe Aberdeenshire-born painter and printmaker James McBey (1883– 1959). This illegitimate son of a blacksmiths’ daughter was the acknowledged heir to Whistler and Rembrandt. But after his death in 1959, his renown as one of Britain’s most accomplished artists faded. At the heart of this biography is his time as a war artist in the Middle East during the Great War, his love affairs, marriage to a beautiful American and his enduring passion for Morocco. This biography reinstates a great 20th century artist whose respectful focus brought the Arab world into the British consciousness.

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