Author: Michael Bess
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226044217
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
"Two world wars, concentration camps, the obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and continued preparations for nuclear war illustrate the modern world's propensity for mass destruction. . . . Yet there have been important signs of resistance to this trend. These have included not only the emergence of mass-based peace and disarmament movements but activist intellectuals grappling with the growing problem posed by mass violence among nation-states. . . . Bess examines the lives and ideas of four of these intellectuals: Leo Szilard of Hungary and (later) the United States, E. P. Thompson of England, Danilo Dolci of Italy, and Louise Weiss of France. . . . Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud is a powerful, important scholarly work, casting new light upon some of the great issues of modern times. Readers will learn much from it."—Lawrence S. Wittner, Peace and Change "Bess seeks to understand the way in which the creation of the atomic bomb has changed the social and political situation of humankind. Are we to be held hostage by military forces or can we transform our situation? He describes the lives of four very different activists, each with different views on what causes conflict and how best to address conflict. . . . Overall, this book offers an interesting perspective on life after the atomic bomb. . . . In asking ourselves what the possibilities of our future are, we can turn to these lives for some guidance. . . . This book is informative, provocative, and encourages one to consider carefully how s/he chooses to live."—Erin McKenna, Utopian Studies "These four lives, researched and skillfully presented by historian Michael Bess, make fascinating stories in themselves. They also serve as useful vehicles for examining major cross-currents of Cold War resistance. . . . From Weiss the cynical pragmatist to Szilard the high-level fixer to hompson the social reformer to Dolce the spiritual street organizer, Michael Bess has woven an illuminating tapestry of human efforts to cope with life under the mushroom cloud."—Samuel H. Day Jr., The Progressive
Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud
Author: Michael Bess
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226044217
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
"Two world wars, concentration camps, the obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and continued preparations for nuclear war illustrate the modern world's propensity for mass destruction. . . . Yet there have been important signs of resistance to this trend. These have included not only the emergence of mass-based peace and disarmament movements but activist intellectuals grappling with the growing problem posed by mass violence among nation-states. . . . Bess examines the lives and ideas of four of these intellectuals: Leo Szilard of Hungary and (later) the United States, E. P. Thompson of England, Danilo Dolci of Italy, and Louise Weiss of France. . . . Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud is a powerful, important scholarly work, casting new light upon some of the great issues of modern times. Readers will learn much from it."—Lawrence S. Wittner, Peace and Change "Bess seeks to understand the way in which the creation of the atomic bomb has changed the social and political situation of humankind. Are we to be held hostage by military forces or can we transform our situation? He describes the lives of four very different activists, each with different views on what causes conflict and how best to address conflict. . . . Overall, this book offers an interesting perspective on life after the atomic bomb. . . . In asking ourselves what the possibilities of our future are, we can turn to these lives for some guidance. . . . This book is informative, provocative, and encourages one to consider carefully how s/he chooses to live."—Erin McKenna, Utopian Studies "These four lives, researched and skillfully presented by historian Michael Bess, make fascinating stories in themselves. They also serve as useful vehicles for examining major cross-currents of Cold War resistance. . . . From Weiss the cynical pragmatist to Szilard the high-level fixer to hompson the social reformer to Dolce the spiritual street organizer, Michael Bess has woven an illuminating tapestry of human efforts to cope with life under the mushroom cloud."—Samuel H. Day Jr., The Progressive
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226044217
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
"Two world wars, concentration camps, the obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and continued preparations for nuclear war illustrate the modern world's propensity for mass destruction. . . . Yet there have been important signs of resistance to this trend. These have included not only the emergence of mass-based peace and disarmament movements but activist intellectuals grappling with the growing problem posed by mass violence among nation-states. . . . Bess examines the lives and ideas of four of these intellectuals: Leo Szilard of Hungary and (later) the United States, E. P. Thompson of England, Danilo Dolci of Italy, and Louise Weiss of France. . . . Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud is a powerful, important scholarly work, casting new light upon some of the great issues of modern times. Readers will learn much from it."—Lawrence S. Wittner, Peace and Change "Bess seeks to understand the way in which the creation of the atomic bomb has changed the social and political situation of humankind. Are we to be held hostage by military forces or can we transform our situation? He describes the lives of four very different activists, each with different views on what causes conflict and how best to address conflict. . . . Overall, this book offers an interesting perspective on life after the atomic bomb. . . . In asking ourselves what the possibilities of our future are, we can turn to these lives for some guidance. . . . This book is informative, provocative, and encourages one to consider carefully how s/he chooses to live."—Erin McKenna, Utopian Studies "These four lives, researched and skillfully presented by historian Michael Bess, make fascinating stories in themselves. They also serve as useful vehicles for examining major cross-currents of Cold War resistance. . . . From Weiss the cynical pragmatist to Szilard the high-level fixer to hompson the social reformer to Dolce the spiritual street organizer, Michael Bess has woven an illuminating tapestry of human efforts to cope with life under the mushroom cloud."—Samuel H. Day Jr., The Progressive
Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud
Author: Michael Bess
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Doomsday Men
Author: P. D. Smith
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141910321
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 757
Book Description
It was the weapon to end all weapons: the doomsday device. A huge nuclear bomb so powerful that it could envelop the entire planet in a cloud of radioactive dust, and bring about instant extinction. This is the untold story of the Cold War’s most insane plan, the men behind it and how it nearly happened. It is also the history of humanity’s nightmare vision of a superweapon, showing how popular culture, from the stories of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne to films such as Planet of the Apes, Mad Max and Dr Strangelove itself have both shaped and reflected our darkest dreams.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141910321
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 757
Book Description
It was the weapon to end all weapons: the doomsday device. A huge nuclear bomb so powerful that it could envelop the entire planet in a cloud of radioactive dust, and bring about instant extinction. This is the untold story of the Cold War’s most insane plan, the men behind it and how it nearly happened. It is also the history of humanity’s nightmare vision of a superweapon, showing how popular culture, from the stories of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne to films such as Planet of the Apes, Mad Max and Dr Strangelove itself have both shaped and reflected our darkest dreams.
The Human Rights Revolution
Author: Akira Iriye
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199913390
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Between the Second World War and the early 1970s, political leaders, activists, citizens, protestors. and freedom fighters triggered a human rights revolution in world affairs. Stimulated particularly by the horrors of the crimes against humanity in the 1940s, the human rights revolution grew rapidly to subsume claims from minorities, women, the politically oppressed, and marginal communities across the globe. The human rights revolution began with a disarmingly simple idea: that every individual, whatever his or her nationality, political beliefs, or ethnic and religious heritage, possesses an inviolable right to be treated with dignity. From this basic claim grew many more, and ever since, the cascading effect of these initial rights claims has dramatically shaped world history down to our own times. The contributors to this volume look at the wave of human rights legislation emerging out of World War II, including the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the Nuremberg trial, and the Geneva Conventions, and the expansion of human rights activity in the 1970s and beyond, including the anti-torture campaigns of Amnesty International, human rights politics in Indonesia and East Timor, the emergence of a human rights agenda among international scientists, and the global campaign female genital mutilation. The book concludes with a look at the UN Declaration at its 60th anniversary. Bringing together renowned senior scholars with a new generation of international historians, these essays set an ambitious agenda for the history of human rights.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199913390
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Between the Second World War and the early 1970s, political leaders, activists, citizens, protestors. and freedom fighters triggered a human rights revolution in world affairs. Stimulated particularly by the horrors of the crimes against humanity in the 1940s, the human rights revolution grew rapidly to subsume claims from minorities, women, the politically oppressed, and marginal communities across the globe. The human rights revolution began with a disarmingly simple idea: that every individual, whatever his or her nationality, political beliefs, or ethnic and religious heritage, possesses an inviolable right to be treated with dignity. From this basic claim grew many more, and ever since, the cascading effect of these initial rights claims has dramatically shaped world history down to our own times. The contributors to this volume look at the wave of human rights legislation emerging out of World War II, including the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the Nuremberg trial, and the Geneva Conventions, and the expansion of human rights activity in the 1970s and beyond, including the anti-torture campaigns of Amnesty International, human rights politics in Indonesia and East Timor, the emergence of a human rights agenda among international scientists, and the global campaign female genital mutilation. The book concludes with a look at the UN Declaration at its 60th anniversary. Bringing together renowned senior scholars with a new generation of international historians, these essays set an ambitious agenda for the history of human rights.
Thinking Europe
Author: MATS ANDRÉN
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1800735693
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
List of figures and tables -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- Part I. Unity and Borders (1800-1914) -- Chapter 1. Dreaming of unity -- Chapter 2. Longing for borders -- Chapter 3. Looking for common ground -- Chapter 4. Performing communality -- Part II. Crisis and Decline (1914-1945) -- Chapter 5. Passage to a new Europe: the First World War -- Chapter 6. Fearing crisis -- Chapter 7. Organising for Europe -- Part III. Integration and identity (1945-) -- Chapter 8. Claiming European unity and a Europe of nations -- Chapter 9. Elevating European awareness -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1800735693
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
List of figures and tables -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- Part I. Unity and Borders (1800-1914) -- Chapter 1. Dreaming of unity -- Chapter 2. Longing for borders -- Chapter 3. Looking for common ground -- Chapter 4. Performing communality -- Part II. Crisis and Decline (1914-1945) -- Chapter 5. Passage to a new Europe: the First World War -- Chapter 6. Fearing crisis -- Chapter 7. Organising for Europe -- Part III. Integration and identity (1945-) -- Chapter 8. Claiming European unity and a Europe of nations -- Chapter 9. Elevating European awareness -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.
Choices Under Fire
Author: Michael Bess
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307494454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
World War II was the quintessential “good war.” It was not, however, a conflict free of moral ambiguity, painful dilemmas, and unavoidable compromises. Was the bombing of civilian populations in Germany and Japan justified? Were the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crimes trials legally scrupulous? What is the legacy bequeathed to the world by Hiroshima? With wisdom and clarity, Michael Bess brings a fresh eye to these difficult questions and others, arguing eloquently against the binaries of honor and dishonor, pride and shame, and points instead toward a nuanced reckoning with one of the most pivotal conflicts in human history.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307494454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
World War II was the quintessential “good war.” It was not, however, a conflict free of moral ambiguity, painful dilemmas, and unavoidable compromises. Was the bombing of civilian populations in Germany and Japan justified? Were the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crimes trials legally scrupulous? What is the legacy bequeathed to the world by Hiroshima? With wisdom and clarity, Michael Bess brings a fresh eye to these difficult questions and others, arguing eloquently against the binaries of honor and dishonor, pride and shame, and points instead toward a nuanced reckoning with one of the most pivotal conflicts in human history.
Three Mile Island
Author: Grace Halden
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317419936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253
Book Description
Three Mile Island explains the far-reaching consequences of the partial meltdown of Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island power plant on March 28, 1979. Though the disaster was ultimately contained, the fears it triggered had an immediate and lasting impact on public attitudes towards nuclear energy in the United States. In this volume, Grace Halden contextualizes the events at Three Mile Island and the ensuing media coverage, offering a gripping portrait of a nation coming to terms with technological advances that inspired both awe and terror. Including a selection of key primary documents, this book offers a fascinating resource for students of the history of science, technology, the environment, and Cold War culture.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317419936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253
Book Description
Three Mile Island explains the far-reaching consequences of the partial meltdown of Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island power plant on March 28, 1979. Though the disaster was ultimately contained, the fears it triggered had an immediate and lasting impact on public attitudes towards nuclear energy in the United States. In this volume, Grace Halden contextualizes the events at Three Mile Island and the ensuing media coverage, offering a gripping portrait of a nation coming to terms with technological advances that inspired both awe and terror. Including a selection of key primary documents, this book offers a fascinating resource for students of the history of science, technology, the environment, and Cold War culture.
Toward Nuclear Abolition
Author: Lawrence S. Wittner
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804748629
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 692
Book Description
The final volume in the trilogy "The Struggle Against the Bomb", this book presents the inspiring and dramatic story of how citizen activists helped curb the arms race and prevent nuclear war.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804748629
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 692
Book Description
The final volume in the trilogy "The Struggle Against the Bomb", this book presents the inspiring and dramatic story of how citizen activists helped curb the arms race and prevent nuclear war.
Forgotten Engagements
Author: Angela Kershaw
Publisher: Rodopi
ISBN: 9042021691
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
Study of the contribution made by women writers to politically committed literature in 1930s France, to bring to light the work of female authors of left-wing fiction, such as Madeleine Pelletier, Simone Téry, Edith Thomas, Henrietee Valet and Louise Weiss. It shows how women were able to relate to fiction and to politics in inter-war France, situating the novels within their social, historical, literary and poltical environment.
Publisher: Rodopi
ISBN: 9042021691
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
Study of the contribution made by women writers to politically committed literature in 1930s France, to bring to light the work of female authors of left-wing fiction, such as Madeleine Pelletier, Simone Téry, Edith Thomas, Henrietee Valet and Louise Weiss. It shows how women were able to relate to fiction and to politics in inter-war France, situating the novels within their social, historical, literary and poltical environment.
Interdisciplinary Community Development
Author: Alice K. Johnson Butterfield
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136777997
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Workers from various diverse disciplines such as geography, public policy, administration, social work, education, public health and so on are joining together to address complex social issues such as poverty, health, peace building, the environment and others. Interdisciplinary Community Development: International Perspectives is a unique look at the innovations in interdisciplinary community development around the world. Leading experts from various disciplines explore the latest research, programs, and innovative approaches to promote strategies that enable social justice.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136777997
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Workers from various diverse disciplines such as geography, public policy, administration, social work, education, public health and so on are joining together to address complex social issues such as poverty, health, peace building, the environment and others. Interdisciplinary Community Development: International Perspectives is a unique look at the innovations in interdisciplinary community development around the world. Leading experts from various disciplines explore the latest research, programs, and innovative approaches to promote strategies that enable social justice.