Theology in the Early British and Irish Gothic, 1764–1832 reassesses the relationship between contemporary theology and the Gothic. Investigating Gothic aesthetics, depictions of the supernatural and portrayals of religious organisations, it explores how the Gothic engages with contemporary theologies, both Dissenting and Anglican. Moving away from the emphasis on either a monolithic Protestantism or on the Gothic as a secular mode, it shows the ways in which the Gothic exploration of the transcendent and the obscure cannot be separated from the diverse theologies of its day. The project maps how the Gothic not only reflects but actively engages in the theological debates and controversies contemporary to its efflorescence.

Religious Horror and the Ecogothic explores the intersections of Anglophone Christianity and the Ecogothic, a subgenre that explores the ecocritical in Gothic literature, film, and media. Acknowledging the impact of Christian ideologies upon interpretations of human relationships with the environment, the Ecogothic in turn interrogates spiritual identity and humanity’s darker impulses in relation to ecological systems. Through a survey of Ecogothic texts from the eighteenth century to the present day, this book illuminates the ways in which a Christianized understanding of hierarchy, dominion, fear, and sublimity shapes reactions to the environment and conceptions of humanity’s place therein. It interrogates the discourses which inform environmental policy, as well as definitions of the “human” in a rapidly changing world.

A renowned historian offers novel perspectives on slavery and abolition in eighteenth-century Jamaica Between the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756 and the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, Jamaica was the richest and most important colony in British America. White Jamaican slaveowners presided over a highly productive economic system, a precursor to the modern factory in its management of labor, its harvesting of resources, and its scale of capital investment and ouput. Planters, supported by a dynamic merchant class in Kingston, created a plantation system in which short-term profit maximization was the main aim. Their slave system worked because the planters who ran it were extremely powerful. In Jamaica in the Age of Revolution, Trevor Burnard analyzes the men and women who gained so much from the labor of enslaved people in Jamaica to expose the ways in which power was wielded in a period when the powerful were unconstrained by custom, law, or, for the most part, public approbation or disapproval. Burnard finds that the unremitting war by the powerful against the poor and powerless, evident in the day-to-day struggles slaves had with masters, is a crucial context for grasping what enslaved people had to endure. Examining such events as Tacky's Rebellion of 1760 (the largest slave revolt in the Caribbean before the Haitian Revolution), the Somerset decision of 1772, and the murder case of the Zong in 1783 in an Atlantic context, Burnard reveals Jamiaca to be a brutally effective and exploitative society that was highly adaptable to new economic and political circumstances, even when placed under great stress, as during the American Revolution. Jamaica in the Age of Revolution demonstrates the importance of Jamaican planters and merchants to British imperial thinking at a time when slavery was unchallenged.

In addition to current definitions, provides an historical treatment to words and idioms included.

This biographical dictionary contains 10,000 biographies supplemented with 2,000 quotations chosen to reveal what major figures thought about themselves and what others thought about them. It also contains 800 reading lists to guide readers through the biographies and memoirs.

For home, school or office, a whole new standard in single-volume encyclopedias from the premier publisher of reference works! Features over 25,000 accurate, up-to-date entries; changes taking place in Eastern Europe and the Middle East; maps, charts, tables, and graphs; an A-Z format; extensive cross-referencing; over 250 illustrations, many in full-color.

First published in 1996, this comprehensive guide to the history of Britain and its peoples will be indispensable reading for the general enthusiast, as well as students. It is packed full of fascinating detail on everything from Hadrian’s Wall to the Black Death to Tony Blair. The book was assembled over more than thirty years and has seen updates in three editions. "He has done for historical encyclopaedias what Samuel Johnson did for dictionaries." Andrew Roberts, The Daily Telegraph "An astonishing synthesis of information." Roger Scruton, The Times "An astonishing achievement, a compelling book for dipping into, a splendid work." Simon Hoggart, The Guardian "This marvellous book, which contains tens of thousands of historical facts will enlighten, amuse, and inform. Every home should have one." Simon Heffer, The Daily Mail "If you were marooned on that mythical desert island with only one history book, this would be the one to take. Buy three copies – one for the children, one for the grandchildren- and one for yourself." John Charmley, The Daily Telegraph