Books in the Critical Issues in World and International History series

Traces the controversial record of mercy-killing, a source of heated debate among doctors and laypeople alike. This book examines evolving opinions about what constitutes a good death, taking into account the societal and religious values placed on sin, suffering, resignation, judgment, penance, and redemption.

In this widely praised history, noted scholar James D. Tracy offers a comprehensive, lucid, and masterful exploration of early modern Europe's key turning point. Establishing a new standard for histories of the Reformation, Tracy explores the complex religious, political, and ...

Using gender as its analytic lens, this deeply knowledgeable text illuminates the places where the Big History of China's past two centuries intersects with the daily lives of ordinary people. Based on formidable scholarship, Gail Hershatter's beautifully written book will be essential reading for all students of China's modern history.

The culmination of Mungello's forty years of study on Sino-Western history, this book provides a compelling and nuanced history of Catholicism in modern China.

Now in a new edition, this penetrating study by noted Yale historian Paul Bushkovitch casts new light on the profound impact of Peter the Great, one of the most revered and enigmatic leaders in world history, whose influence ultimately paved the way for liberalism, Western-style nationalism, and communism in Russia.

Parsons uses vivid detail to show how Africans, Asians, Arabs, and West Indians brought about the demise of the seemingly invincible British Empire by refusing to be treated as inferior imperial subjects. He traces the empire's legacies- the new cultures and norms that arose from its global networks of commerce, migration, and cultural exchange.

Among Buddhist traditions, Zen has been remarkably successful in garnering and sustaining interest outside the Buddhist homelands of Asia, and ¿zen¿ is now part of the global cultural lexicon. This deeply informed book explores the history of this enduring Japanese tradition¿from its beginnings as a form of Buddhist thought and practice imported from China to its reinvention in medieval Japan as a force for religious, political, and cultural change to its role in Japan¿s embrace of modernity. Going deeper, it also explores Zen through the experiences and teachings of key individuals who shaped Zen as a tradition committed to the embodiment of enlightenment by all. By bringing together Zen¿s institutional and personal dimensions, Peter D. Hershock offers readers a nuanced yet accessible introduction to Zen as well as distinctive insights into issues that remain relevant today, including the creative tensions between globalization and localization, the interplay of politics and religion, and the possibilities for integrating social transformation with personal liberation.  Including an introduction to the basic teachings and practices of Buddhism and an account of their spread across Asia, Public Zen, Personal Zen deftly blends historical detail with the felt experiences of Zen practitioners grappling with the meaning of human suffering, personal freedom, and the integration of social and spiritual progress.

In this text, Richard Grassby investigates the origins and evolution of the idea of capitalism to illustrate for readers the true nature, merits and the future of capitalism.

This text offers a comprehensive overview of the formation and administration of the empire from its origins in the early nineteenth century, to its climax at mid-century, to its denouement on the eve of World War I.

In examining one of the defining events of the 20th century, Bergen situates the Holocaust in its historical, political, social, cultural, and military contexts. In addition, this history discusses not only the persecution of the Jews, but also other segments of society victimized by the Nazis.

A single-volume survey of magic, this book traces the history of magic and superstition in Europe, starting from antiquity onwards. Focusing mainly on the medieval and early modern era, it also explores the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems, particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca from Europe to the US.

Presents a history that traces the 300-year saga of the pirates and warlords who poured out of Scandinavia between the eighth and eleventh centuries, terrorizing, conquering, and settling vast stretches of Europe. This work provides an account of this early medieval period that became known as the Viking Age.

Explores the history of Hong Kong from the early 1800s through the post-1997 handover, when this former colony became a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. This book explores Hong Kong from four interlinked angles Chinese history, British colonial history, world history, and as a place with its own unique identity.