This book offers a new perspective on the concept of modernity. Since its invention as a contrast to Antiquity or the Middle Ages, modernity has been tied to ideas of superiority, progress, and efficiency. As a counterpart to the Marxist “history of class struggle”, “modernization theories” have transformed modernity into an almost teleological concept of historical development. These strong connotations obstruct a clear look at other forms of modernity. The contributions of the volume will show in a comparative perspective how modernity can also be understood and analyzed as multiple responses of societies and polities to organize themselves in facing ever more complex and integrated interactions at ever larger scales.

Latin Political Propaganda offers the first comprehensive study of the central role played by the Latin language to celebrate or undermine political power during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1715). Waged as much on the printed page as on the battlefield, this worldwide conflict gave rise to an astonishing variety of Latin writing across the Continent - in verse or in prose - on both the pro-Habsburg and pro-Bourbon sides. Ranging from official documents, epic, satirical and panegyric poetry to defamatory pamphlets, letters, historiographical and juridical tracts, medals and ephemeral architecture, this vast textual corpus has gone almost unnoticed. Alejandro Coroleu provides close examination of the literary devices of these texts and shows how imitation of models and figures from classical antiquity was at the heart of the authors' highly refined verse and prose technique. He also pays attention to the historical and social context in which the texts emerged, and connects the Latin political writing produced at the time with more popular forms of propagandistic discourse (literary or visual) which found its expression in the vernacular. This book also reveals how the learned language continued to function - even after the hostilities had come to an end in July 1715 - as an instrument of political discourse and propaganda on both sides of the dynastic feud up until the death of Emperor Charles VI in October 1740.

Bridging the Early Modern Atlantic World brings together ten essays exploring the outcomes of the intermingling of people, circulation of goods, and exposure to new ideas that are the hallmark of the early modern Atlantic. Spanning the period from the earliest French crossings to Newfoundland to the end of the wars of independence in Spanish South America, the contributors direct particular attention to regions, communities, and groups whose activities in, and responses to, an ever-more closely bound Atlantic world remain under-represented in the literature. All share a central concern to explore the myriad ways in which ordinary people - through their own travels, relationships, and day-to-day choices - engaged with, and contributed to, the changes set in motion as the Atlantic world came into being.

This collection examines the transformation of the modern Western state in an age of accelerated globalization. Arguing that the state experienced a 'golden age' in the 1960s and 1970s, the contributors explore how and why this configuration of the state is under pressure in the 21st century.

This book focuses on the Eastern Crisis of 1839-41, closely examining the first instance of coordinated Western intervention in the Middle East during the modern era. Readers can explore topics such as how culture, domestic politics, and ideology shaped diplomacy in this landmark crisis, and the importance role played by religion - including, alongside mainstream Christianity, the Protestant Zionist movement. Highly informative and fully researched, this book suggests that the Eastern Crisis - and its associated diplomatic and military efforts - marked the first of many modern-era attempts to “improve” the region by moulding it in a Western image, providing scholars with a new perspective on this period of history.

Colin Bonwick expands and updates the well-received first edition, and incorporates fresh material drawn from recent scholarship. The structure and argument of the book remain as before, but in particular Bonwick pays greater attention to Native Americans, African Americans, and white women. Though the book traces the attainment of independence, it focuses especially on the internal revolution that created republican governments, and considers the extent of social change. It concludes by examining the development of the American union.