This is a book that explains politics in terms of the classic Godfather movie series. Do you want to know how the five families and Corleones meeting is similar to the big-power politics of the last 400 years? Or how Pete Clemenza is a scholar of Machiavelli? Ever heard of political arcana, which have their analogues in The Godfather? Many more metaphors are explored in a book where the underworld and government meet.

Government decisions shape our lives, but how much do we know about the foundations of modern political thought? Theorists in the Renaissance constructed the ideological world we inhabit. They claimed to have mastered natural secrets whilst also promising perpetual, flawless, and scientifically demonstrable rule. Selective applications of artistic themes, religious symbols, imperialistic concepts and spells cast by intellectual magic, helped advance sovereign rule. By mid-17th century, the...

Carl Schmitt (1888-1985) was a German conservative. He is someone you need to read if you want to know what is going on in the world today. In this study, the topic of sovereignty on Schmitt’s terms is discussed. Two themes are used to explain the sovereign theory of Schmitt, that of names and the hand. After reading this book, you should understand why politics is the “art of counting up to one.”

In 2016, Donald Trump was elected US President. Many across the globe are concerned he plans to institute a dictatorship, which is supposedly contrary to liberal–democratic values. Yet, despite current public opinion, republics like the US regularly resort to dictatorship, while a need for dictatorship has been recognized by prominent republican thinkers. This study presents the 'hidden history' of dictatorship, analyzes justifications for dictatorship, and proposes a theory of the institu...

Embroidery of the Eternal is Irish-born Colm Gillis' first published book of poetry. Written over the course of a year, the collection contains 49 poems. Themes such as the interplay of the permanent and temporal, Divine love, self-improvement, hope, unique experience, regret, and memory, to name but a few, are explored. Many poems have a romantic air or are meditative. Worthy reading for those who enjoy contemplative verse.

This is a book that explains politics in terms of the classic Godfather movie series. Do you want to know how the five families and Corleones meeting is similar to the big-power politics of the last 400 years? Or how Pete Clemenza is a scholar of Machiavelli? Ever heard of political arcana, which have their analogues in The Godfather? Many more metaphors are explored in a book where the underworld and government meet.

A true account of a turning point in medieval history that shaped the modern world, from "a superb storyteller" and the author of When Jesus Became God ( Los Angeles Times).Europe was in the long slumber of the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire was in tatters, and the Greek language was all but forgotten—until a group of twelfth-century scholars rediscovered and translated the works of Aristotle.The philosopher's ideas spread like wildfire acr...

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWSOne of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world.Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which...

In this provocative but balanced essay, Kenneth Minogue discusses the development of politics from the ancient world to the twentieth century. He prompts us to consider why political systems evolve, how politics offers both power and order in our society, whether democracy is always a good thing, and what future politics may have in the twenty-first century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subjec...

Throughout history, from the time of Socrates to our own modern age, the human race has sought the answers to fundamental questions of life: Who are we? Why are we here?In his previous national bestsellers, The Discoverers and The Creators , Daniel J. Boorstin first told brilliantly how e discovered the reality of our world, and then he celebrated man's achievements in the arts. He now turns to the great figures in history who sought meaning and purpose in our existence.Boo...

A foundational moment in the history of modern European thought, the Enlightenment continues to be a reference point for philosophers, scholars and opinion-formers. To many it remains the inspiration of our commitments to the betterment of the human condition. To others, it represents the elevation of one set of European values to the world, many of whose peoples have quite different values. But what is the relationship between the historical Enlightenment and the idea of 'Enlightenment', ...

Thomas Hobbes, the first great English political philosopher, has long had the reputation of being a pessimistic atheist, who saw human nature as inevitably evil and proposed a totalitarian state to subdue human failings. In this illuminating study, Richard Tuck re-evaluates Hobbes's philosophy and dispels these myths, revealing him to have been passionately concerned with the refutation of scepticism, and to have developed a theory of knowledge which rivalled that of Descartes in its impo...