Author:R. Southern
The history of the Western church in the Middle Ages is the history of the most elaborate and thoroughly integrated system of religious thought and practice the world has ever known. It is also the history of European society during eight hundred years of sometimes rapid change. This authoritative history shows how the concept of an organized human society, both religious and secular, as an expression of a divinely ordered universe, was central to medieval thought. Professor R. W. Southern’s book covers the period from the eighth to the sixteenth century, highlighting the main features of each medieval age and studying the Papacy, the relations between Rome and her rival Constantinople, the bishops and archbishops and the various religious orders in detail, providing a superb study of the period.
Anyone who is concerned about the future of democracy should read this brisk, accessible book. Anyone who is not concerned should definitely read it.
—— Daron Acemoglu, co-author of Why Nations FailHow Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt is a useful primer on the importance of norms, institutional restraints and civic participation in maintaining a democracy - and how quickly those things can erode when we're not paying attention
—— President Barack ObamaWith great energy and integrity [Levitsky and Ziblatt] apply their expertise to the current problems of the United States.
—— Timothy Snyder, author of On TyrannyWe owe the authors a debt of thanks for bringing their deep understanding to bear on the central political issue of the day.
—— Francis Fukuyama, author of Political Order and Political DecayWhat's the worst thing to happen to US democracy recently? Most answers to that question start and end with Donald Trump. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, though as horrified by Trump as anyone, try to take a wider view. This book looks to history to provide a guide for defending democratic norms when they are under threat, and finds that it is possible to fight back. Provocative and readable.
—— David Runciman , The GuardianThere are two must-read books about the Trump presidency at the moment. This is the one you probably haven't heard of. It is also the one that is most useful to British readers. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt are anti-Donald Trump politics professors at Harvard. And the big advantage of political scientists over even the shrewdest and luckiest of eavesdropping journalists is that they have the training to give us a bigger picture.
They set out some rules about the slow, internal collapse of democracies, which are entirely relevant to Britain...
The greatest of the many merits of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's contribution to what will doubtless be the ballooning discipline of democracy death studies is their rejection of western exceptionalism. They tell inspiring stories I had not heard before...excellent, scholarly and readable, alarming and level-headed.
—— Nick Cohen , The GuardianThe political-science text in vogue this winter is How Democracies Die.
—— The New Yorker[An] important new book.
—— Nicholas Kristof , New York TimesLevitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies have collapsed elsewhere-not just through violent coups, but more commonly (and insidiously) through a gradual slide into authoritarianism.... How Democracies Die is a lucid and essential guide to what can happen here.
—— New York TimesWe're already awash in public indignation-what we desperately need is a sober, dispassionate look at the current state of affairs. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two of the most respected scholars in the field of democracy studies, offer just that.
—— The Washington PostGrander, more didactic ambitions underpin "How Democracies Die" ... a more scholarly approach
—— The EconomistThe most thought-provoking book comparing democratic crises in different nations
—— Adam Tooze , New York Review of BooksThe most important book of the Trump era was not Bob Woodward's Fear or Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury or any of the other bestselling exposés of the White House circus. Arguably it was a wonkish tome by two Harvard political scientists, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, published a year into Donald Trump's presidency and entitled How Democracies Die
Schama writes with power and energy, and his patchwork of individual tales crosses the world.
—— Anthony Satting , The ObserverExtraordinary… From Britain to France, from America to the dark forests of central and eastern Europe, Schama’s scalpel-like wit and painterly descriptions provide a bravura panorama of the Jewish story
—— Jenni Frazer , Jewish ChronicleIt’s a riveting read, bursting with anecdote, colour and wit. Schama uses individual stories to highlight horror and suffering, but also to illustrate bravery, achievement and hope
—— Peter Frankopan , History TodayFew historians write with the energy of Simon Schama. His second volume on the history of the Jews shows that Schama has lost none of his vigour
—— David Abulafia , StandpointSimon Schama takes the reader through a grand sweep of Jewish history, but he makes it so personal you begin to feel you know the men and women whose lives shine out from the pages, and their foibles, and you get a sense of the fragility of their lives and their determination to survive. It's a brilliant piece of work
—— Julia Neuberger, Senior Rabbi, West London SynagogueSchama's speciality is to take sometimes little-known historical figures and bring them dramatically to life. We are presented with a glittering cast of Jews from every century since the 15th ... Belonging shows Jews as prize-fighters and charlatans, theatre managers and physicians, writers, actors, painters, farmers and musicians. They are men and women of every sort, who leap off the pages as they struggle with what Schama has defined as the abiding challenge of Jewish life in the diaspora
—— Jewish ChronicleSimon Schama’s epic tale of the Jewish people is full of rich, colourful stories that span centuries and continents and include massacres, miracles, discrimination and tolerance… Passionate
—— Life & LivingIn the hands of a master colourist, this is history as a portrait gallery.
—— The EconomistIt is an engaging and electrifying read by a skilled literary craftsman, cultural historian and tour guide.
—— Thane Rosenbaum , GuardianDazzling.
—— Daniel Beer , GuardianSchama presents his material with the wit and panache of a novelist. The reader is treated to a dazzling parade of humanity in all its glory and shame. Every page sparkles with rich material and the range of learning is breathtaking. The story of Jewish survival – and sometimes even flourishing – against all the odds is utterly riveting.
—— Rev. Dr. John Harrod , Methodist RecorderSimon Schama is the perfect companion for a time-travelling journey through Jewish history… A beguiling narrator.
—— David J. Wasserstein , The TabletThese accounts make such fascinating reading that, through Schama’s extraordinary gift for storytelling, his book was difficult to put down.
—— Anthony Phillips , Church TimesWhat a visionary!... You must read it this summer, you’ll love it. It’s so incredible they published that a year before everything happened… He has a vision and it’s incredible… Incredible!
—— Carla Bruni , QuietusThe literary chronicler of Western decadence
—— Ross Douthat , New Statesman