European Integration in the Twenty-First Century provides a comprehensive overview of the many dimensions and challenges to the on-going European integration project. It employs a number of interdisciplinary perspectives to review processes of both unity and disunity providing the reader with a complete snapshot of contemporary European integration in its variety of settings.

During the past fifty years few issues in British politics have generated such heated controversy as Britain's approach to European integration. Why has Europe had such an explosive impact on British politics? What impelled British policymakers to embrace a European destiny and why did they take such a cautious approach? These are some of the key issues addressed inThe Reluctant Europeans. This new study draws upon recently available source material providing a clear chronological account and covering events right up to Blair's first year in office and the launch of the Euro.

This multivolume set is much more than a collection of essays on sports and sporting cultures from around the world: it also details how and why sports are played wherever they exist, and examines key charismatic athletes from around the world who have transcended their sports. Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice provides a unique, global overview of sports and sports cultures. Unlike most works of this type, this book provides both essays that examine general topics, such as globalization and sport, international relations and sport, and tourism and sport, as well as essays on sports history, culture, and practice in world regions—for example, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and Oceania—in order to provide a more global perspective. These essays are followed by entries on specific sports, world athletes, stadiums and arenas, famous games and matches, and major controversies. Spanning topics as varied as modern professional cycling to the fictional movie Rocky to the deadly ball game of the ancient Mayans, the first three volumes contain overview essays and entries for specific sports that have been and are currently practiced around the world. The fourth volume provides a compendium of information on the winners of major sporting competitions from around the world. Readers will gain invaluable insights into how sports have been enjoyed throughout all of human culture, and more fully comprehend their cultural contexts. The entries provide suggestions for further reading on each topic—helpful to general readers, students with school projects, university students and academics alike. Additionally, the four-volume Sports Around the World spotlights key charismatic athletes who have changed a sport or become more than just an outstanding player.

This major contribution to the idea of Europe sweeps the continent from its Celtic and German origins through the influence of the Greeks and Romans to the fruitful--and sometimes bloody--contacts with other cultures. Peter Rietbergen portrays Europe's history as a series of four grand phases of continuity and change set in the context of political, social and economic developments. These phases are new forms of: surviving; believing; looking at man and the world; and consumption and communication. Rietbergen's descriptions are supported by a selection of illuminating excerpts such as: Chaucer's description of London in 1378; Michelangelo on Italian art; and popular music lyrics of Iron Maiden and Sting.

The 1994 European Elections focused public attention on the perception that representatives put integration above public interest. The contributors here critically assess the diagnosis of the ailment and the solutions that have been canvassed to remedy its causes and consequences.

This volume presents reflections on a variety of environmental issues in South-Eastern Europe from diverse contemporary scientific disciplines. The contributions address many crucial issues including national environmental policies, economic instruments for preventing crimes against the environment, international waste trafficking, threats to air, water and soil due to mining, management of dump areas, environment protection and food safety from a perspective of public health. The book will be a useful resource for researchers, developers and decision makers interested in the stability and sustainable development of the South-Eastern European countries.

"No matter where you are in the world, you are at home when tea is served." -- Earlene Grey Tea has its very own significance in every consumer’s life. However, above all, tea represents enjoyment, the ritual of preparation and the appreciation of the moment. In this sense, tea creates hospitality and peace, tea brings people together to talk and to make time for each other. Tea needs time, tea spends time. In this pioneering book featuring hospitality embraced by tea culture, you will read of fascinating tea ceremonies, impressive tea china and comfortable tea houses as well as different national and regional tea-related habits in European countries. Nearly 50 contributions provide unique insights -- Samowars in the East, Dresmer blue porcelain in Germany, tulip glasses in Turkey and around, silver tea pots in Great Britain and, many more. The first tea plantations in Portugal or Georgia are discussed, as well as tea in arts, tea events, tea flavoured signature products, tea pairing and, impulses for entrepreneurship and education. Tea Cultures of Europe is written for tea lovers, educators and students, as well as industry practitioners (tea sommeliers, tea masters) and entrepreneurs.

The Book of Firsts is an entertaining, enlightening, and highly browsable tour of the major innovations of the past twenty centuries and how they shaped our world. Peter D’Epiro makes this handy overview of human history both fun and thought-provoking with his survey of the major “firsts”—inventions, discoveries, political and military upheavals, artistic and scientific breakthroughs, religious controversies, and catastrophic events—of the last two thousand years. Who was the first to use gunpowder? Invent paper? Sack the city of Rome? Write a sonnet? What was the first university? The first astronomical telescope? The first great novel? The first Impressionist painting? The Book of Firsts explores these questions and many more, from the earliest surviving cookbook (featuring parboiled flamingo) and the origin of chess (sixth-century India) to the first civil service exam (China in 606 AD) and the first tell-all memoir about scandalous royals (Byzantine Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora). In the form of 150 brief, witty, erudite, and information-packed essays, The Book of Firsts is ideal for anyone interested in an enjoyable way to acquire a deeper understanding of history and the fascinating personalities who forged it.