History & Society

This book builds upon my previous work, A People That Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy (MacDonald 1994/2002; hereafter PTSDA). While PTSDA focused on developing a theory of Judaism within an evolutionary framework, the present volume focuses on the phenomenon of anti-Semitism. Judaism and anti-Semitism fairly cry out for an evolutionary interpretation. Anti-Semitism has been a very robust tendency over a very long period of human history and in a wide range of societies with different forms of government, different economic systems, and different dominant religious ideologies. Many anti-Semitic episodes, such as the Iberian inquisitions and the Nazi holocaust, have been characterized by extraordinary intra-societal violence. Moreover, anti-Semitism has sometimes been characterized by a very overt, self-conscious racialism...a phenomenon that immediately suggests the relevance of evolutionary theory.The basic thesis of this book can be summarized by the proposition that Judaism must be conceptualized as a group strategy characterized by cultural and genetic segregation from gentile societies combined with resource competition and conflicts of interest with segments of gentile societies. This cultural and genetic separatism combined with resource competition and other conflicts of interest tend to result in division and hatred within the society.Nevertheless, as Leslie White (1966, 3) wrote many years ago in his discussion of the Boasian school of anthropology as a politically inspired cult, "One who follows procedures such as these incurs the risk of being accused of indulging in non-scholarly, personal attacks upon whom he discusses. Such a charge is, in fact, expectable and completely in keeping with the thesis of this essay. We wish to state that no personal attacks are intended."No personal or ethnic attacks are intended here, either. Nevertheless, the charge that this is an anti-Semitic book is, to use White's phrase, expectable and completely in keeping with the thesis of this essay. A major theme of this volume, found especially in Chapters 6 and 7, is that intellectual defenses of Judaism and of Jewish theories of anti-Semitism have throughout its history played a critical role in maintaining Judaism as a group evolutionary strategy. Parts of the book read as a sort of extended discourse on the role of Jewish self-interest, deception, and self-deception in the areas of Jewish historiography, Jewish personal identity, and Jewish conceptualizations of their ingroup and its relations with outgroups. This is therefore first and foremost a book that confidently predicts its own irrelevance to those about whom it is written.MacDonald, K. B. (1994/2002).A People that Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy. Westport, CT: Praeger. Paperback edition published in 2002 by iUniverse (Lincoln, NE) (www.iuniverse.com). White, L. (1966). The social organization of ethnological theory. Rice University Studies: Monographs in Cultural Anthropology

Presents an account of the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, that might have killed the Act of Union in its infancy. Drawing on a range of resources in England, Scotland, and France, the author analyses dramatic and smaller risings of the rebellion. He examines the reasons that led some men to rebel, and reveals the significance of this rebellion.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu, published in 2009, is a riveting piece of literature that has stood the test of time. This book, a classic within the genre of military strategy, encapsulates the wisdom of Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist. Published by Pax Librorum, the book provides a comprehensive guide on strategic thinking, which is as relevant today as it was over two millennia ago. It delves into various aspects of warfare, from the importance of intelligence gathering to the significance of terrain in battle. The Art of War is more than just a book about warfare; it offers profound insights that can be applied to different facets of life, including leadership, management, and personal development. Sun Tzu's timeless wisdom makes this book a must-read for those interested in strategy, whether on the battlefield or in the boardroom.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1859 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X. Viwa: 1842, 1843. The new Station -- Namosimalua -- Training of Native Teachers -- Light and Dark -- Various Engagements -- Death of Mr. Cross -- Letter to Mr. Calvert -- Chairman of the District -- Visitation Tour -- Searchings of Heart -- Snbelief-- School Work -- A Day's Eecord -- Letters to Mr. Lyth -- To Mr. Williams -- Literary Work -- Kindness imposed upon -- Letter to Mr. Calvert. Me. and Mrs. Hunt reached their new station safely on August 30, 1842, just three years after .the commencement of the mission there by Mr. Cross. Viwa is one of the small islets which rise from the reef on the eastern coast of Na Viti Levu-- Great Fiji. At the time of the missionary's arrival it was of great political importance, and one of the most valuable dependencies of Mbau, the seat of the highest power in the group. It offered great advantages as a mission station, in consequence of its being only two miles from Mbau, where as yet the missionaries had been unable to gain a footing, and because of the frequent visits it received from people belonging to all parts of Fiji. The chief of Viwa, Namosimalua, was, as already stated, a man of great note. For some years he had been prominent in every conspiracy by which Mbau was troubled, and every war by which its greatness had been increased. In all these scenes Namosimalua distinguished himself by his craftiness in council and stratagem, while his fame as a warrior was deemed bloody and savage even in Fiji. This man had renounced heathenism and professed to be a Christian. It is too true that he never was really a Christian, yet he kept to his profession of it in the face of the displeasure and threats .of the powerful king of Mbau. In addition to this, he befriended the missionaries, while...

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION WHEN I walked through the Omaha Exposition grounds one hot day in September of 1898, on my way to the encampment of the Indian Congress, I found it difficult to realize that only fifty years before, the ground where Omaha now stands had been a camping place for Indians and that only twenty- five years ago, Nebraska, one hundred and fifty miles west of Omaha, had been a country dangerous to pass through, because the home and hunting ground of hostile tribes. All this has been forgotten now except by those who took part in the old life of those times and it was well that by such a gathering as this Indian Congress the past should be recalled and the former wild inhabitants of this fer- tile Western State should be seen by the newcomers who have succeeded them. To one who reflected upon the contrasts here af- forded by the conjunction of the two races, the pres- ence of the red man was full of suggestion. In its display of science and art, of invention, machinery and product, the Exposition stood for the bounding present it marked the swelling tide of the progress of an expanding people it exemplified the attainments of centuries of development...