There is a myth—easily shattered—that Western societies since the Enlightenment have been dedicated to the ideal of protecting the differences between individuals and groups; and another—too readily accepted—that before the rise of secularism in the modern period; intolerance and persecution held sway throughout Europe. In Beyond the Persecuting Society John Christian Laursen; Cary J. Nederman; and nine other scholars dismantle this second generalization.If intolerance and religious persecution have been at the root of some of the greatest suffering in human history; it is nevertheless the case that toleration was practiced and theorized in medieval and early modern Europe on a scale few have realized: Christians and Jews; the English; French; Germans; Dutch; Swiss; Italians; and Spanish had their proponents of and experiments with tolerance well before John Locke penned his famous Letter Concerning Toleration. Moving from Abelard to Aphra Behn; from the apology for the gentiles of the fourteenth-century Talmudic scholar; Menahem ben Solomon Ha-MeIiri; to the rejection of intolerance in the "New Israel" of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; Beyond the Persecuting Society offers a detailed and decisive correction to a vision of the past as any less complex in its embrace and abhorrence of diversity than the present.
#562090 in Books Stackpole Books 2005-11-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 10.00 x .81 x 8.00l; 2.15 #File Name: 0811732444368 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Advanced Domination 103By WiltDurkeyAn amazing book. I am not done with it yet; it's not light reading by any means; but I will expand this review when I am done.For now; let's just say that this is the closest to an "how to" manual on WWII armored warfare that I've seen. Sure; if you are a soldier you probably are familiar with those types of manuals; but for us civvies; this is eye opening. And remember; this is from the most proficient tank army in what has been the only truly large scale tank war in history.The guiding principles would probably be partially applicable even nowadays; corrected for AT helicopter; night vision and other modern tech. In fact; that is just what the author was doing for the Bundeswehr professionally.Not at all the usual anecdotal contents about tactical engagements. Tactical tank combat doctrine; distilled; explained and put in context.And if the Russians didn't train/endoctrinate their troops this well; easy to see how their numerical and even tank quality superiority took a long time to carry the day; despite their courage.Last; and admittedly a bit frivolous. I am a keen computer gamer and play a fair bit of wargames. Reading this upped my game quite a bit; I've always been too cautious; but this preaches a heightened level of controlled aggressiveness as the way to keep your enemy off balance. Lots of formation and attack logic being described is very applicable to computer gaming.The one peeve I have is that; on a paperwhite Kindle; the maps are not very clear at all and are still labelled in German. Given the quality of the overall book; I'll leave it a 5 stars; but it would have been much better with nicer maps.38 of 38 people found the following review helpful. Extremely valuable - material found nowhere else...By James D. Pollard...at least in my own ever-growing collection. We have the experiences of a Guderian; von Mellenthin; or Manstein; self serving as they sometimes may be; but at all these decades remove the view of the actual panzer crewman starts to get a little hazy. This book remedies this by way of hundreds of photographs that I don't believe are published in any other popularly available work. The CAPTIONS to these are of value! (For example: "Proper spacing is 100 meters - these Pz IIIs are too close!).Each chapter begins with a concise exposition of the topic (Offensive operations; Defensive operations; Unit Movements; Command and Control; Logistics and Maintenance; etc.) from the point of view of the experienced veteran. A number of reproductions of the actual training materials for panzer crew from the period are included. The author takes pains to show how; during actual operations over the course of the war; panzer crew were repeatedly forced to improvise; departing from rigid adherance to the doctrine in these materials. Also included are a number of sketch maps of various operations at the smaller unit level; to further illustrate the principles. I believe a number of these are from actual after-action reports; hand drawn by the officers involved.But it's the photos that are of the most value. These bring to life all the gritty little details of the panzer crew's existence; which was at times boring; terrifying; exhausting; freezing; burning; bleeding; and at most times thoroughly miserable. Life in a tank in WW II was hard. Operating them with enough skill to accomplish impossibly difficult missions with any chance of survival was even harder. This book goes some way towards showing how the Germans did it.If you are a modeler or wargamer; mark this one down as a MUST HAVE.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Must ReadBy Robert FisherFor anyone with more than a passing interest in the subject; this book is essential. Whether you are a historian; scale modeler or a wargamer; this book fills; in precise detail; that great void in understanding how moving a regiment or battalion on the map translates down to the platoon and individual vehicle and how they deploy for combat. It explains how Guderian's theory of mobile warfare was imparted in training; and later how it was put into action. This book is very rich in never-before-published photographs: truly a treasure for those who thought they had already seen all the good photos in print of these classic vehicles. It is rich in maps; and illustrations from field manuals on tactical situations; contrasting the correct with the false solutions. Chapters focus on attack; defense; recon; road march; command and communications; combined arms; training; and even life in a panzer. A great read: possibly even more useful than Von Mellinthin's great "Panzer Battles."
