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Southeast Asian Islam: Integration and Indigenisation (Global Islamic Cultures)
By Nasr M. Arif, Abbas Panakkal. 2024
This book explores Muslim communities in Southeast Asia and the integration of Islamic culture with the diverse ethnic cultures of…
the region, offering a look at the practice of cultural and religious coexistence in various realms.The volume traces the origins and processes of adoption, transmission, and adaptation of Islam by diverse ethnic communities such as the Malay, Acehnese, Javanese, Sundanese, the Bugis, Batak, Betawi, and Madurese communities, among others. It examines the integration of Islam within local politics, cultural networks, law, rituals, education, art, and architecture, which engendered unique regional Muslim identities.Additionally, the book illuminates distinctive examples of cultural pluralism, cosmopolitanism, and syncretism that persisted in Islamic religious practices in the region owing to its maritime economy and reputation as a marketplace for goods, languages, cultures, and ideas.As part of the Global Islamic Cultures series that investigates integrated and indigenized Islam, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of theology and religion, Islamic studies, religious history, political Islam, cultural studies, and Southeast Asian studies. It also offers an engaging read for general audiences interested in world religions and cultures.The Making of the Indian Princes
By Edward John Thompson. 2024
India’s political framework was made in twenty years: in 1799-1819, between the death of Tipu Sultan and the elimination of…
the Peshwa. The period opens with the destruction of the Muslim kingdom of Mysore and ends with the disintegration of the Maratha Confederacy into a series of separate chieftaincies. These two conquests gave the British the control of India.After Tipu’s destruction the Marathas remained. When they were finally beaten down, Modern India was formed and its map in essentials drawn. The arrangement was to stay until the slow process of time and the coming of new systems of political thinking made it an anachronism, calling for Round Table Conferences, White Papers, and their sequel in constitutional legislation and political offers. India, as we knew it yesterday and the world has known it, was made in the space of these twenty years, first by the shattering of what Lord Wellesley styled ‘the Mahratta Empire’ and then, after a brief period of uncertain and faltering doctrine, by Lord Hastings’ firm establishment of the States which had survived, each in the niche and status which was to be legally accepted as its own until our day. The Indian ‘Prince’ emerged in 1806, arising, like the Puranic Urvasi, from the churning of the Ocean by the Gods and Demons, and received his position in India’s polity in 1819.Reminiscences of the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857
By Mrs Elizabeth Wagentreiber. 2024
“Elizabeth Wagentreiber was the youngest daughter of Colonel James Skinner of the famous cavalry regiment 'Skinner's Horse'. She had originally…
married a Captain Radclyffe Haldane, an officer of Skinner's Horse who was killed at the Battle of Chillianwallah during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. She subsequently married George Wagentreiber. And in the Spring of 1857 the couple were living in the civilian lines at Delhi when the Indian Mutiny broke out in the Bengal Army and reports arrived that the native cavalry was running amok in the city, slaughtering Europeans. Fearful for their lives the couple escaped with their children and the harrowing account of their time as fugitives makes compelling reading.”-Print ed.“Colonial warfare on the Dark ContinentThe British Empire rapidly spread its influence throughout the globe during the nineteenth century. Predictably…
these intrusions rarely found favour with the indigenous populations and so, inevitably, the imperial interests of power and commerce were reinforced by the imposition of military and naval might courtesy of the British Army and the Royal Navy. British interests in West Africa proved to be no exception to the rule and the so called 'Ashanti Wars' were fought with varying degrees of savagery and through eight campaigns from 1806 until 1900. This book is about the Third Anglo-Ashanti War which was fought during 1873-74. Garnet Wolseley, commanding a force of British, West Indian and local forces marched against the Ashanti who had invaded British territory. The campaign gained particular notoriety because it occurred during the golden age of newspaper correspondents and was covered by both G. A. Henty and Henry Morton Stanley. It made Wolseley's reputation and he became a household name. The conflict was made singular by the nature of the terrain-often thick jungle-across which it was fought and by its exotic protagonists and this makes it a subject of particular interest for students of the colonial wars in the Victorian era. The outcome of the war was, perhaps, predictable and the British both occupied the enemy capital Kumasi and then burnt it down as an object lesson. This book is particularly useful because the author was an eyewitness to the storming of Amoaful by the Black Watch, the storming of Ordahsu by the Rifle Brigade and the fall of the capital.”-Print ed.My Recollections of The Sepoy Revolt (1857-58)
By Mrs Elizabeth Muter. 2024
“Mrs Elizabeth McMullin Muter was married to a captain of the 1st Battalion 60th King's Royal Rifles stationed in Meerut,…
a few hours travel east of Delhi, when the mutiny among the sepoys of the garrison broke out there on Sunday morning of May 10th, 1857. Elizabeth Muter graphically describes the horrors of those first days of the conflict from the perspective of the wives of officers who were set adrift in times of peril and uncertainty as their husbands left them to fight. This book also contains some campaign recollections by Captain Muter.”-Print ed.War Beyond the Dragon Pagoda: A Personal Narrative of the First Anglo-Burmese War 1824 - 1826
By J. J. Snodgrass. 2024
“The author—a staff officer—who was an eyewitness to most of the major events of the First Anglo-Burmese War, gives us…
an incisive overview of the whole war. This provides the reader with a unique insight into the actions of the various troops during the course of the campaign. However it is the author's descriptions of pitched battles against a richly caparisoned foe—including everything from umbrella bearing generals and war elephants to "invincibles" and Amazons—that bring this exotic and spectacular conflict vividly to life. Re-living this war from just one step away, whether witnessing fighting in jungle stockades or experiencing river actions against Burmese war boats, will remain with and intrigue all who are interested in the British in the East.”-Print ed.Ghenko: The Mongol Invasion of Japan, 1274-81
By Nakaba Yamada. 2024
“A ferocious conflict between Mongol and Samurai.The Japanese word 'Ghenko' is the term employed for the Mongol invasion of Japan.…
The event was an immensely significant one for the Japanese and it remained so for centuries because, in part, the defeat of the invaders was attributed to divine intervention. There can be little doubt that Japan's salvation had much to do with the fact that they are an island race and in that they have much in common with other islanders, Great Britain among them, who on more than one occasion might claim the sea as their principal and most powerful ally. Indeed, the author of this book draws parallels with Britain and the Spanish Armada. The Mongols had rapidly risen to power during the 13th century and had created an unstoppable empire that spread over huge areas of land from the Yellow Sea of Asia to the Danube in Europe. Although massively stronger than the Japanese, the Mongols attacked the Japanese islands, attempting domination by invasion and yet were repulsed with finality. To modern students of military history the contents of this book has a compelling allure, since there can be no doubt that in the Mongol warrior and the Japanese Samurai there resided a martial spirit and expertise which, perhaps inevitably, could not both exist in the same sphere, but which in collision could not fail to instigate conflict of the most singular kind. This account of the clash between the ultimate warriors of their day analyses this time of warfare in superb detail. An essential addition to the library of anyone interested in the warfare of the East.”-Print ed.Commentaries on the Punjab Campaign, 1848-49: the Battles of the Second Sikh War by an Eyewitness
By James Henry Lawrence-Archer. 2024
“An infantry officer's view of the fall of the Sikhs.The author of this book served with No 6 company of…
HM 24th Regiment-an infantry regiment of the British Army-which saw much service in the Second Sikh War and suffered greatly in the fighting particularly at Chillianwalla. So there could hardly be a more qualified writer—or one with closer connections to other participants—to take on the task of reporting the war. At the conclusion of the First Sikh War there remained a sense of business unfinished. The Sikhs were yet masters of the Punjab and the Khalsa remained one of the most formidable armies the Sub-Continent had ever seen. Most importantly the centre of Sikh power, the seemingly impregnable and daunting fortress of Mooltan remained defiant. Once again the British Empire learnt the lesson of what a formidable foe the Sikhs were as they joined battle with them at Ramnuggar, Chillianwalla, Mooltan and Googerat. Archer takes us through this campaign in compelling detail embellished by an insight only first hand experience can provide.”-Print ed.The History of The Knights Templars, The Temple Church, and The Temple: Large Print
By Charles G Addison. 2024
“The warrior knights of the crossThe Knights Templar were one of the most famous Christian military orders of the medieval…
period. Officially endorsed by the church in the early decades of the 12th century the express purpose of the order was to provide defence and protection to Christian pilgrims. The concept became a popular one and with patronage came wealth and power so that the order, through a substantial infrastructure of non-warrior members spread throughout Europe promoting its objectives, developing financial institutions and building fortification on a grand scale. However, the Knights Templar are especially remembered today for the prowess of their military knights. Clad in white mantles bearing the distinctive red cross the Templars both attracted and created some of the most expert and effective fighting men of their time. Naturally, the order was closely connected to the Holy Land and with the Crusades. For some two hundred years it fought the forces of Islam for dominance of Jerusalem experiencing mixed fortunes in dozens of actions and major battles. The eventual loss of the Holy Land could do no other than promote a decline in their fortunes, and indeed, the support for the Templars. Furthermore, the order's wealth and its independent structure, wielding power outside state and church, inevitably made it a target for both suspicion and dissolution. The end came in 1312—in a welter of torture, bloodshed and burnings at the stake. The legend has lived on however, and today the times of Knights Templar are to many more intriguing and evocative than ever.”-Print ed.The Rope and Other Plays
By Plautus. 1964
Brilliantly adapting Greek New Comedy for Roman audiences, the sublime comedies of Plautus (c. 254 -184 bc ) are the…
earliest surviving complete works of Latin literature. The four plays collected here reveal a playwright in his prime, exploring classic themes and developing standard characters that were to influence the comedies of Shakespeare, Molière and many others. In The Ghost, a dissolute son who has squandered his father's money is thrown into disarray when he returns from abroad, a theme that is explored further in the comedy of errors A Three-Dollar Day. In The Rope - regarded by many as the best of Plautus' plays - the shipwreck of a pimp and his slaves leads to the touching reunion of a father and his daughter, while Amphitryo, Plautus's only excursion into divine mythology, offers a cheerful account of how Jupiter became father to Hercules.Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare. 1967
'Shakespeare invented the human as we continue to know it' Harold BloomSet in a city torn apart by feuds and…
gang warfare, Shakespeare's immortal drama tells the story of star-crossed lovers, rival dynasties and bloody revenge. Romeo and Juliet is a hymn to youth and the thrill of forbidden love, charged with sexual passion and violence, but also a warning of death: a dazzling combination of bawdy comedy and high tragedy. Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by T. J. B. Spencer Introduction by Adrian PooleThe Robbers and Wallenstein
By F. Lamport, Friedrich Schiller. 1979
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) was one of the most influential of all playwrights, the author of deeply moving dramas that explored…
human fears, desires and ideals. Written at the age of twenty-one, The Robbers was his first play. A passionate consideration of liberty, fraternity and deep betrayal, it quickly established his fame throughout Germany and wider Europe. Wallenstein, produced nineteen years later, is regarded as Schiller's masterpiece: a deeply moving exploration of a flawed general's struggle to bring the Thirty Years War to an end against the will of his Emperor. Depicting the deep corruption caused by constant fighting between Protestants and Catholics, it is at once a meditation on the unbounded possible strength of humanity, and a tragic recognition of what can happen when men allow themselves to be weak.Richard III
By William Shakespeare. 1968
'Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York'Shakespeare's final drama of the Wars…
of the Roses cycle begins as the dust settles on England after bloody civil war, and the bitter hunchback Richard, brother of the king, secretly plots to seize the throne. Charming and duplicitous, powerfully eloquent and viciously cruel, he is prepared to go to any lengths to achieve his goal. Richard III shows a man who, in his skilful manipulation of events and people, is a chilling incarnation of the temptations of power in a land shocked by war.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by E. A. J. HonigmannIntroduction by Michael TaylorRichard II
By William Shakespeare. 1969
'Not all the water in the rough rude sea Can wash the balm off from an anointed king'Richard, a vain,…
despotic ruler, listens only to his flatterers. When his cousin Bolingbroke, previously banished, returns to seize the crown, Richard discovers that the throne given to him by God can be taken from him by men. Depicting a tortured and morally ambivalent soul wearing the 'hollow crown', whose illusions are brutally shattered, this tragic history play unravels the idea of kingship. It is also a work of epic lyricism, filled with some of Shakespeare's most intoxicating poetry. Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Stanley Wells Introduction by Paul EdmondsonAeschylus (525–456 BC) brought a new grandeur and epic sweep to the drama of classical Athens, raising it to the…
status of high art. In Prometheus Bound the defiant Titan Prometheus is brutally punished by Zeus for daring to improve the state of wretchedness and servitude in which mankind is kept. The Suppliants tells the story of the fifty daughters of Danaus who must flee to escape enforced marriages, while Seven Against Thebes shows the inexorable downfall of the last members of the cursed family of Oedipus. And The Persians, the only Greek tragedy to deal with events from recent Athenian history, depicts the aftermath of the defeat of Persia in the battle of Salamis, with a sympathetic portrayal of its disgraced King Xerxes.Philip Vellacott’s evocative translation is accompanied by an introduction, with individual discussions of the plays, and their sources in history and mythology.The Pot of Gold and Other Plays
By Plautus. 1965
One of the supreme comic writers of the Roman world, Plautus (c.254-184 BC), skilfully adapted classic Greek comic models to…
the manners and customs of his day. This collection features a varied selection of his finest plays, from the light-hearted comedy Pseudolus, in which the lovesick Calidorus and his slave try to liberate his lover from her pimp, to the more subversive The Prisoners, which raises serious questions about the role of slavery. Also included are The Brothers Menaechmus, which formed the prototype for Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, and The Pot of Gold, whose old miser Euclio is a glorious study in avarice. Throughout, Plautus breathes new, brilliant life into classic comic types - including deceitful twins, scheming slaves, bitter old men and swaggering soldiers - creating an entertaining critique of Roman life and values.Portrait of India (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Ved Mehta. 1970
Returning to 1960s' India after decades beyond its borders, Ved Mehta explores his native country with two sets of eyes:…
those of the man educated in the West, and those of the child raised under the Raj. Travelling from the Himalayas in the east to Kerala in the west, Ved Mehta's observations and insights into India and some of its most interesting figures - including Indira Gandhi, Jaya Prakash Narayan and Satyajit Ray - create one of the twentieth century's most thought-provoking travel memoirs.Plays Political: The Apple Cart, On the Rocks, Geneva
By Dan Laurence, George Bernard Shaw. 1931
While some of Shaw’s earlier plays are still performed, his later plays, such as the ones in this volume, are…
barely known. As the collective title indicates, the themes here are political; yet, frankly, it is doubtful how seriously we can now take Shaw as a political thinker. Despite writing in the 1930s, he has little to say of the nature of totalitarianism: although he satirises Fascist dictators in “Geneva”, the satire is disappointingly mild. Neither did Shaw appear to foresee (on the evidence of these plays, at least) the imminent collapse of the British Empire.But it is Shaw the dramatist rather than Shaw the political philosopher who still holds our attention – even in plays as explicitly political as these. He had a sharp intellect and a quirky sense of humour, and his dialogue still glints and sparkles: he couldn’t write a dull line if he tried. No matter how serious the themes he addresses, the crispness of his writing and his lightness of touch still scintillate.Shaw seems, perhaps unfairly, out of fashion nowadays. But even in these lesser-known works, he demonstrates his matchless ability, still undimmed, to provoke and to entertain.Plays Extravagant: Too True to be Good, The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles, The Millionairess
By Dan Laurence, George Bernard Shaw. 1934
Plays and Fragments
By Menander. 1987
Menander (c. 341-291 BC) was the foremost innovator of Greek New Comedy, a dramatic style that moved away from the…
fantastical to focus upon the problems of ordinary Athenians. This collection contains the full text of 'Old Cantankerous' (Dyskolos), the only surviving complete example of New Comedy, as well as fragments from works including 'The Girl from Samos' and 'The Rape of the Locks', all of which are concerned with domestic catastrophes, the hazards of love and the trials of family life. Written in a poetic style regarded by the ancients as second only to Homer, these polished works - profoundly influential upon both Roman playwrights such as Plautus and Terence, and the wider Western tradition - may be regarded as the first true comedies of manners.