Nicholson Books

The scope is immense and the subject matter interesting. The concept of nationalism intersects with German history in all kinds of ways. At the end of the 1980's it was concluded that German peoples had less national pride than other Europeans. The book seeks to find out what are the dangers of an excessive focus on economics in national life and the effects on German development of her place in the economic system. As early as 1917 the national obsession with economics was noted. In a sense, perhaps, the Germans were ahead of the other Europeans and the Americans in this respect.

Germany's political influence includes Greece, Russia, France, England, the U.S., Switzerland, Poland, Italy and Austria. Gottfried Herder's "Essay on the Origins of Language," (1772), was an important contribution to German self-consciousness. He held that cultural transmission meant learning from other people. Herder was inspired by ancient folk tales. Goethe wrote a pamphlet on Gothic architecture. Fichte continued the logic of Herder's argument. Through everything he remained obsessed by education. Wilhelm von Humboldt's vision for Prussian educational policy shaped German schools and universities for the rest of the nineteenth century. Classicism in education inspired classicism in architecture. This became known as the Berlin style. German schools were more accessible to a wider social range than other schools in Europe. Education became a vehicle of social mobility. In the 1840's nationalism started. For Fichte and Hegel Germans were a universal people. For Paul Pfizer, CORRESPONDENCE OF TWO GERMANS (1831) the Germans were a "cosmopolitan nation." In 1848 the claim to be nationally superior rested mainly on assertion. The first promoter of German economic nationalism was Friedrich List. The railway was an instrument of national integration. Cologne's railway station was built next to the cathedral. In the mythology of German unification, a tariff union, Zollverein, was a critical factor. Realpolitik caught on as a slogan for midcentury Germany.

Economics had become a central part of the vision of political liberalism. Economics could be used to stabilize a politically volatile state. Relative freedom and independence in academic activity produced German scientific supremacy long before it had supremacy in economics. The German Empire began in 1871 at Versailles. Constitutionally it was a federation. The permanence of Prussian dominance was guaranteed. The Germanness of schools, citizenship, and nationality was highly aggressive. Until the 1920's Wagner's circle had little political impact. According to Nietzsche the modern German bourgeoisie had no capacity for an independent culture. Nietzsche felt that the Germans should be less self-conscious and look back to the Greeks. Nietzsche received little attention during his mentally-active lifetime. Walter Rathenau contended that German materialism was exemplified by the beer hall and the garden gnome.

Unfortunately the illusions and hopes of 1914 shaped German history after 1918. Nationalists and supporters of the Republic clashed. The military defeat came suddenly and it was necessary to become democratic quickly to sue for peace. The stab in the back theory was developed to explain Germany's failures. The economic realities of the postwar years frustrated optimistic aspirations. Weimar rejected the old, but found it difficult to create a new political style. By the time of economic collapse the government could not rule through parliament but had to use special decrees. Reparations ended in July 1932 and Weimar ceased six months later. There was a shifting character to Nazi support based on Hitler's chameleon strategy. Nazi nationalism had a manipulative function. Hitler's foreign policy rested on pre-war theories of Mitteleuropa. The Nazi view of culture contained traditional elements. Nazism offered a concrete realization of dreams. The killing actions did not form part of a publicly proclaimed doctrine of nationality. The leadership shrouded the holocaust in circumlocution. The identification of conspiracy and crime with the nation produced a legacy that has outlasted 1945. After May 1945 Germany no longer existed as a political entity. After 1949 two states called themselves Germany and the Cold War was played out there. In the early fifties in the Federal Republic there were economic and foreign policy successes. Poltical stability was achieved by, among other things, having virtually a two-party system. The re-union of Germany in 1989 and 1990 took place in several stages and constitutes an achievement of some magnitude. Economics continues to dominate the political scene. Germany's federal tradition is venerable and antique.

A thoroughly inspirational book on an activity that is so often just a matter of buying paper and sticking a ready made bow on if you're feeling extravagant. The materials she uses range from everday household items and inexpensive or recycled bits and pieces through to more luxurious trimmings. As the saying goes "It's the thought that counts" and anyone receiving a gift wrapped using these ideas is sure to know a lot of thought and care went into it.

When Christopher Hill died in 2003 at the age of 91 the Guardian rightly called him "the commanding interpreter of 17th-century England". Upon publication in 1970 his book `God's Englishman - Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution `, a nuanced biography of Oliver Cromwell, was a bestseller.

Hill leads the reader unsentimentally through Cromwell's life from his beginnings in Huntingdonshire to his brutal end. Hill's Cromwell reaches his apogee in the Commonwealth he helped create and then only grudgingly accepts the `necessity' of the Protectorate. Hill argues that the English Revolution did indeed change the balance of political power between the King and Parliament for good, despite the eventual return of Charles II to the throne.

The book presumes the reader possesses a good bit of knowledge about the English Civil War. References to individual actors, even the less prominent, are often made without context.

Hill was an active Communist up to 1956 when the repression of the Hungarian Revolt led to disenchantment with the Soviets. He remained a Marxist thereafter, suffered blacklisting, but persevered and saw his career reach its great heights. His personal views do not enter into the matter of his biography of Oliver Cromwell.

This book is not for the beginner looking for an introduction to the English Civil War, but the weekend scholar will find it intriguing, especially his analyses in the closing chapters, especially Cromwell's religious views. (Personally, I enjoyed much more Hill's The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (Penguin History), a unique study of the revolution's true radicals: the Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers.) A must read for anyone with a serious interest in the English Civil War.

Grant: The Man Who Won The Civil War by British military historian Robin Neillands is the true story of Ulysses S. Grant, an undistinguished Army officer who earned his place in history by becoming commander-in-chief of the Union Armies and bringing the Civil War to an end with the Confederacy's defeat. Examining the qualities that enabled Grant to succeed where so many before him had failed - such as picking skilled and loyal subordinates and standing by them, and focusing resolutely upon the right aim or object - Grant: The Man Who Won The Civil War is a resounding, well-researched narrative history, distinguished by its insight into the external and internal forces that motivated a true leader. A welcome addition to library Civil War collections.

My book came very quickly and was in great condition as described by the seller.

The Crown really got itself a real bargain with these tough little guys from the hills of Nepal. This book does them the credit that is due them. Its good to go!

One of the greatest and most graceful athletes of the 1980's was Hana Mandlikova of the former Czechoslovakia. The winner of 4 grand slam titles and numerous victories over Navratilova, Evert, Graf, King, etc, Hana is also an enshrinee in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI.

Considering how little coverage American media gave to Hana, this book is a nice look into the background and history of this great tennis champion. A superstar in Europe, Japan, and her adopted Australia, Hana tells about her startling rise to prominence and her battle with numerous injuries and relationships with her fellow players.

This book is one of the more refreshing looks at the game's stars, the tour itself, tennis fathers, and the struggle for a young Czech girl to make it on her own as she travels around the world doing what she does best.

This is a great read for true tennis fans who wonder what it's like on the inside of things.

First of all, if you have ever read Isaiah Berlin, than you will know how incredibly literate he is. He has read more than you, and understood it better too. This particular essay is an excellent example of literary criticism. Anybody who really loves Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy will want to read this; you will find yourself nodding in agreement constantly. Berlin's thesis is that there are two different kinds of approaches to life, literature and history--one is that of the fox, the other that of the hedgehog. Try and guess where Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky fit in. One caveat, I don't actually know about this particular book. I'm just commenting on Berlin's essay, "Hedgehog and the Fox."

I found this book because of the favorable review it got in the American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. It is definitely a serious academic work (published by University of California Press) but accessible to the general reader. It makes no attempt to offer interesting anecdotes or historical tidbits but gives an insightful look at early European voyages of "discovery, exploration, and settlement" through 1650.

Part I details the technological, social, political, and economic factors that led to the explosion of Europe onto the world scene with lots of space being dedicated to technologies of sailing, mapping, navigation and (not least of all) fighting. The second part is straight narrative outlining the history of the voyages themselves with a chapter for each destination region: Africa and the Indian Ocean, Atlantic and South Sea, America, etc... The final part discusses the empires of each of the European powers in turn: Spain, Portugal and Holland. There are also comparative chapters outlining differences in administration and economies between the empires.

In this delectable satire about Hollywood and extinction, Geoff Nicholson serves up a complicated recipe of has-beens, wannabes, maybes, and a few dodos - both literal and figurative. British physician Henry accompanies his aspiring actress and yellow-toothed daughter Dorothy to Hollywood where she is supposed to meet with a talent scout. On the airplane, their paths cross briefly with self-described "Auteur of the Future" Rick, a young man prone to panic attacks and bouts of self-importance. Rick harbors an obsession with dodo birds which leads him (and the reader) to the mysterious story of William Draper, a 17th century medical student afflicted with erythrohepatic porphyria, a genetic condition that causes skin to blister with exposure to sunlight. Draper, too, is obsessed with dodos, and sets out to procure one of the last of the species on display in a seedy quarter of London. As Henry discovers a similarly afflicted man trying to sell him an animation cel of a dodo, as Rick struggles with a bizarrely vivid past life regression brought on by a beautiful one-legged woman, and as Draper tries desperately to find a mate for his beloved but aging dodo, real-life intrudes on film, becoming art in itself, and questions arise about what is contrived and what is real. And of course, since this is a novel, those questions ultimately mean nothing since all is fiction.

With chapter titles cleverly named after movies, Nicholson never loses sight of the artificiality of the genre he is mocking. The scenes that take place in Hollywood are hilarious, while Draper's affliction and affections are touchingly told. Perhaps the most daring turn is Nicholson's dovetailing of disparate plot elements into a wild, unexpected finale. While much is left unexplained, the narrative wink at the end brings it all together.

This is a truly fun novel. Nicholson's wit is more sly than biting, and he relishes the absurd. Below the hilarity lurks more serious themes - of corruption (what else in Hollywood?), of obsession, and of mortality - but these ideas never alter the established tone. Readers will find that they can't put this novel aside for more than a few hours before picking it up again to devour the next chapter.