Sachgebiete

Beschreibung:

194 p. Hardcover.

Bemerkung:

In very good condition. - Preface: This writer has long been intrigued by the primal urge for survival, as it shapes human behavior from home to workplace to legislature to battlefield and manifests itself in outbursts of violence that range from child and spousal abuse to brawling, homicide, and civil, ethnic, and nationalistic strife.1 It is this interest that led me, ultimately, to take a closer look at the peace programs of medieval Europe-a civilization that not only suffered all of these afflictions but learned to contain the most egregious ones, namely crime, feud, insurgency, and war. -- Such an inquiry challenges the expertise and methodologies of peace researcher and medievalist, alike; yet both would agree on one point. Their interest extends well beyond the study of conflict-an endemic and necessary part of life, of which violence is the most extreme but not necessarily most common, expression. Their ultimate goal is to ask questions and uncover options that might help society control aggression, guide it into nonviolent channels, and attain some measure of stability within and between groups.2 The only intellectually reputable way to do this is to examine the causes, course, and consequences of particular conflicts, and that is precisely what this study tries to do. -- This book summarizes a number of papers I have published or delivered over the years.* * 3 None of these essays would, of course, have been possible without the long line of scholars on whose labors this work is based and to whom I acknowledge my debt. Next, I should like to thank the many colleagues who have helped me, in one form or another, at various stages of this project. These include, above all, Richard Dean Bums, Karl Bosl, Peter Brock, Stanley Burstein, Peter Dennis, John H.E. Fried, Carroll Gillmore, Robert Ginsberg, Karl Holl, Annette Kuhn, Kenneth Pratt, Friedrich Prinz, Erwin Riedenauer, Gerta Scharffenorth, Roland Stromberg, Heinz Eduard Todt, Peter Van den Dungen, and Solomon Wank. Last, but not least, I should like to recognize the contributions of Charles Chatfield, Jo Ann McNamara and Donald Weinstein, who reviewed my manuscript and helped make it better. That none of them should be held responsible for any remaining lapses of fact or interpretation is, of course, understood.