Of all the European powers, the Dutch were considered the most tolerant of minority religious practices in their colonies. In The Expansion of Tolerance, a pair of historians examines this unusual sensitivity in the case of the seventeenth-century Dutch colonies of Brazil. Jonathan Israel demonstrates that religious tolerance under Dutch rule in Brazil was unprecedented. Catholics and Jews coexisted peacefully with the Protestant majority and were allowed freedom of conscience and unfettered private worship. Stuart Schwartz then considers the Dutch example in light of the Portuguese colonies in Brazil, revealing that the Portuguese were surprisingly tolerant as well. This collaboration will be of interest to anyone studying colonial history or the history of religious tolerance.

Outwardly, we live in an era that appears more open-minded, non-judgemental and tolerant than in any time in human history. The very term intolerant invokes moral condemnation. We are constantly reminded to understand the importance of respecting different cultures and diversities. In this pugnacious new book, Frank Furedi argues that despite the democratisation of public life and the expansion of freedom, society is dominated by a culture that not only tolerates but often encourages intolerance. Often the intolerance is directed at people who refuse to accept the conventional wisdom and who are stigmatised as 'deniers'. Frequently intolerance comes into its own in clashes over cultural values and lifestyles. People are condemned for the food they eat, how they parent and for wearing religious symbols in public. This book challenges the 'quiet mood of tolerance' towards morally stigmatised forms of behaviour. The author examines recent forms of 'unacceptable behaviour'. It will tease out the real motives and drivers of intolerance.

Since the beginning of its history, Islam has encountered other religious communities both in Arabia and in the territories conquered during its expansion. Muslims faced other religions from the position of a ruling power and were therefore able to determine the nature of that relationship in accordance with their world-view and beliefs. Yohanan Friedmann's original and erudite study examines questions of religious tolerance as they appear in the Qur'an and in the prophetic tradition, and analyses the principle that Islam is exalted above all religions, discussing the ways in which this principle was reflected in various legal pronouncements. The book also considers the various interpretations of the Qur'anic verse according to which 'No compulsion is there in religion ...', noting that, despite the apparent meaning of this verse, Islamic law allowed the practice of religious coercion against Manichaeans and Arab idolaters, as well as against women and children in certain circumstances.

Jews and Judaism played a significant role in the history of the expansion of Europe to the west as well as in the history of the economic, social, and religious development of the New World. They played an important role in the discovery, colonization, and eventually exploitation of the resources of the New World. Alone among the European peoples who came to the Americas in the colonial period, Jews were dispersed throughout the hemisphere; indeed, they were the only cohesive European ethnic or religious group that lived under both Catholic and Protestant regimes, which makes their study particularly fruitful from a comparative perspective. As distinguished from other religious or ethnic minorities, the Jewish struggle was not only against an overpowering and fierce nature but also against the political regimes that ruled over the various colonies of the Americas and often looked unfavorably upon the establishment and tleration of Jewish communities in their own territory. Jews managed to survive and occasionally to flourish against all odds, and their history in the Americas is one of the more fascinating chapters in the early modern history of European expansion.

This volume draws together the many discrete studies of tolerance to create a global and comprehensive synthesis. In a concise text, author Peter Stearns makes connections across time periods and key regions, to help clarify the record and the relationship between current tolerance patterns and those of the past. The work is timely in light of the obvious tensions around tolerance in the world today – within the West, and without. A historical backdrop helps to clarify the contours of these tensions, and to promote greater understanding of the advantages and challenges of a tolerant approach.

Drawing on the FolgerÕs rich collections of 16th- and 17th-century books, manuscripts, and works of art, Voices for Tolerance in an Age of Persecution tells the story of the struggle between tolerance and persecution. It traces the roots of our quest for liberty of conscience and freedom of expression and explores how individuals and communities in early modern Europe experienced, contemplated, and responded to the forces of hate, racism, and intolerance as their world expanded to include peoples and cultures radically different from their own. Essays explore many topics including religious dissent, the protestant and Catholic reformations in Germany, protestant identity in France, Jews in early modern Europe, Africans in England and Scotland, Catholics in Renaissance England, the Puritan revolution, Islam, early modern Ireland, and print culture. Vincent P. Carey is professor of history at Plattsburgh State University of New York. Other contributors include Anna Battigelli, Ronald Bogdan, Karl S. Bottigheimer, Clare Carroll, Barbara B. Diefendorf, Donna B. Hamilton, Sujata Iyengar, Ute Lotz-Heutmann, Jyotsna G. Singh, Clodagh Tait, and Elizabeth A. Walsh.