Suchergebnisse

This essay considers the expression that Charles d'Orléans's trans-national, trans-linguistic identity achieves in his poetry. It owes much to work by Jonathan Hsy and Ardis Butterfield, who highlight connections between Charles's writing and the geo-political situation produced by the Hundred Years War. I add to their accounts an appreciation of Charles's deliberate use of his biography in his verse in order to curry favour across audiences in England and on the Continent. I observe this process in operation at Blois, in France, where Charles wrote comic poetry among a coterie, and in England, where the poet was imprisoned for twenty-five years. I advance a new model for the transmission history of the poetry written by the duke during his incarceration, arguing that Charles prepared two corpora of his work for circulation, one politicized, the other (including the English poetry) not. Finally, my focus on the politically and socially instrumental potential of Charles's writing provides a fresh context in which to view his use of the unusual word 'Europe' in English ballade 35. I close with a consideration of Charles's sensitivity both to the valences of the word and to the discourse of English isolationism into which he draws it in this text.

A standard work on the history of the European Union: Initiatives, disputes, and successes, from Winston Churchill to Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Juncker."An enlightening work. Required reading for all who doubt the unfinished history of Europe" - Rolf Steininger, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."A brilliant work" - Günter Verheugen, German EU-Commissioner 1999-2009

Argues for a stronger and enduring relationship between France and Russia, claiming an innovative role for Russia as a "connecting link" between Europe and Asia. Reviews important historical and geographical ties between the two countries that precede the new challenges of terrorism in a post-9/11 world where weapons of mass destruction proliferation and regional crises threaten general global stability. Suggests that the new world order requires multilateral cooperation and an understanding of a common global fate that rejects bipolar and unipolar modes of organization with Russia having a special place in this order because of its "multifariousness" and despite the various immense internal political, cultural, and economic challenges it faces. Considers Russia's future in relation to the European Union's upcoming enlargement, economic engagements, human rights issues, efforts against organized crime and terrorism, and peace-keeping operations.

What challenges have we met while writing the history of communist countries before and after 1989? This article introduces a special section devoted to the historiography of the recent past in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. It shows that many of the methodological choices made after 1989 eschewed any critical examination and replicated or denied choices made before 1989 without reflecting on them. The section also reflects upon personal continuities. And it finally shows that history writing has been instrumentalized for political purposes after 1989 just as it had been before 1989. In other words, it acutely raises the question of continuities in historical practices despite the 1989 political rupture.

'The Nature of Mediterranean Europe: An Ecological History' by A. T. Grove and Oliver Rackham is reviewed.