Capitalism and Material Life, 1400-1800

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A Dull Title for an Amazing Book!

Capitalism and Material Life, 1400-1800
Fernand Braudel
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 006090433X

Customer Reviews:

A Dull Title for an Amazing Book!.......2007-01-05

I originally fell over a (borrowed) paperback copy of this book some years ago.

I opened it up and was taken aback, by the very minute details and descriptive writing by M. Braudel.

Whereas I would normally have passed it by, I began reading it about halfway through, and found it extremely interesting.

It is full of information about the lives of "ordinary" men and women, who lived in and through the middle ages and into the industrialisation that commenced in the 1800's. As such, it describes daily life, and living and working conditions of whole generations, long since passed.

When did we begin to eat at tables? Where did the use of knives and forks commence? How did people keep warm? What did they eat? How long did they live? What did they believe in? What did they wear, and how was it obtained? How did the arrival of corn and other cereals change the face of the world and it's human inhabitants? What was the population of Europe at this time?

Just about any questions that you have regarding the 400 years between 1400 and 1800 will be answered by this book.

I recently purchased a hardcover copy from Amazon, and this time, I commenced reading it from the beginning!

Don't be put off by the "boring" title.........grab a copy if you can, and enjoy a marvellous look into Medieval life!

Capitalism & Material Life, 1400-1800 (Harper Torchbooks,)

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Capitalism & Material Life, 1400-1800 (Harper Torchbooks,)
Fernand Braudel
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0061318361

Capitalism and material life, 1400-1800; translated by Miriam Kochan -

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Capitalism and material life, 1400-1800; translated by Miriam Kochan -
Fernand Braudel
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OS3QPY

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Capitalism and Material Life 1400-1800
Fernand Braudel
Manufacturer: Harper
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Binding: Paperback
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Capitalism and Material Life 1400-1800
Fernand Baudel
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Binding: Hardcover
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Capitalism and Material Life, 1400-1800
Fernand Braudel
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
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Capitalism and Material Life, 1400-1800
Fernand Braudel
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEZ714

Book Description

"I truly enjoyed The Politics of Law. It's a well-guided tour through contemporary legal academic thought, in general and critical legal studies, in particular. For lawyers--or laypersons--interested in alternative perspectives on the law and legal institutions, this book is an invaluable aid."
--Scott Turow, author of Burden of Proof and Presumed Innocent

The Politics of Law is the leading and most widely read progressive critique of the nature and role of the law in America society. This revised--and over a third entirely new--edition continues the book's concrete focus on the major subjects and fields of law. New essays on emerging fields and the latest trends and cases have been added to update versions of the now classic essays from earlier editions.

A unique assortment of leading scholars and practitioners in law and related disciplines--political science, economics, sociology, criminology, history, and literature--raise basic questions about law, challenging long-held ideas like the separation of law form politics, economics, religion, and culture. The address such issues contextually and with a keen historical perspective as they explain and critique the law in a broad range of areas.

This third edition contains essays on all of the subjects covered in the first year of law school while continuing the book's tradition of accessibility to non-law-trained readers. Insightful and powerful, The Politics of Law makes sense of the debates about judicial restraint and range of legal controversies so central to American public life and culture.

Customer Reviews:

Unsatisfying and theoretically immature.......2006-08-03

"The Politics of Law" is a collection of essays by legal scholars from a progressive point of view, or rather a range of progressive points of view. Every major topic of law has one or two essays criticizing the current legislation and jurisprudence from a leftist perspective. Attention is paid not just to traditional injustices such as racism and access difficulties, but also more modern subjects like gay rights, feminism and the environment. So far, so good.

The essays themselves, however, are by and large very disappointing. About half of them are so general and so vaguely outline areas that may or may not be a problem that may or may not be worth addressing either inside or outside the legal scholarship, and so on, that they are largely useless to any reader but the most uninitiated. The other half tend to be thorough in their critiques, but make far too many assumptions about the nature progressive criticism should take, and often merely assert their critiques with no evidence at all. For example, whether affirmative action is to be considered good or bad from a radical progressive perspective is quite a debatable topic, but in this book it is basically assumed that the reader is an avid proponent. Same thing with constitutional jurisprudence such as Griswold vs. Connecticut and Roe vs. Wade; one can very well make a leftist argument against such creations as a "right to privacy" by emphasizing its antidemocratic constructs, but no attention is paid to this at all.

That seems to be the main problem with almost all essays in the main part of the book (Kairys' own article on free speech is a notable exception): there is a very strong presumption in favor of legal and especially judicial resolution of social problems, as opposed to for example a call for a more thorough democratization. It's probably because of the background of the contributors as law professors and radical lawyers that this top-down legal tendency is incorporated in all the criticisms, but it is not at all uncontested in radical progressive circles.

Finally, there are quite some silly mistakes and poor reasonings. Consistently misspelling Lochner as "Lockner" and implying that the 'imminent lawless action' test and the 'clear and present danger' test are the same are errors that should not be in any professional legal work. Rhonda Copelon's article explaining why the US is evil for not immediately implementing the various UN declarations' assertions such as "the right to the continuous improvement of living conditions" consists of nothing but angry assertions and makes a very amateuristic impression. The constant invocation of "the conservative Rehnquist court" as some sort of conspiracy to take away all civil rights, without any backup or argumentation whatever, is shrill and stupid.

The main virtues of this collection are the broad reach of its criticism and the last couple of essays, gathered under the header "progressive approaches to the law". These articles are more theoretical in nature and discuss the relation between progressive political views, especially radical ones, and legal systems. Particularly worthwhile is Cornel West's discussion of the role of law vis-à-vis radical leftist movements in the United States. The reader would do best to borrow this from the library to read that essay, and not to bother with the rest.

This book changed my life.......2004-03-01

As a non-traditional student returning to college to complete my undergraduate degree at the age of 47, I had accumulated hundreds of questions in my mind about the confusing state of American legal and political thought. Everywhere I turned, I ran into brick walls impermeable to logic. For example, if I helped to save the whales, how would that activity do anything about racism? And how would women who stayed at home with their children be empowered by entering a working environment rife with sexual harassment and discrimination? Why was it ok for so-called "captains of industry" to engage in selfish and rapacious behavior while being honored as "astute businessmen"? Why did some people's work receive more respect than others?

This book provided the foundation from which I have been able to distill answers to my questions. The Politics of Law challenges the mythology we are spoonfed throughout our lives. I always get a big kick out the the Right Wing's claims that indoctrination is the special purview of progressive political thought. When our education system is reinforced by our illiberal media and the overwhelming presence of corporate advertising and influence, it's shocking that anyone can think their way out of this maze of programming. Start with The Politics of Law.

Understanding Law as Politics.......2001-12-09

This book makes sense of the limits of "the rule of law," without giving up on The Law's importance. Cutting through the dream that "we have a government of laws, not of men," Kairys and his contributors demonstrate that The Law is not necessarily on the side of justice, fairness, or democracy. Today, perhaps more than at any time in the last 50 years, the supposedly neutrality of the system of laws has been compromised. In so many crucial areas -- such as the criminal "justice" system, the welfare state, civil rights and civil liberties, labor, women's rights, health, environment law, poverty, and many more -- this book helps us see how The Law is there to serve the powerholders, the "haves" of society, rather than the "have-nots." There is a lot here too about legal processes: about access to the system (and restrictions in people's access), about the legal rights of racial minorities, immigrants, workers, women, low-income people, and gays, and about the politics of policing.

Although highly critical of the present state of The Law, the writers here do not abandon the The Law as a zone where the struggle for justice, equality, and democracy goes on. Indeed they have written this book, in a sense, to redeem The Law as a tool for a true justice. Kairys and his collaborators want The Law truly to serve that cause, not merely to claim that it seeks justice when it so often does the reverse.

The book will be crucial for law students, critical thinkers, and real believers in democracy everywhere. It helps us think about what freedom really means.

Complicated yet lucid...highly recommended for students.......2000-09-02

I use this book in my Sociology of Law course. The essays in this book are wonderful for instructional purposes because they are simultaneously clear enough that people not firmly entrenched in the legal field can read them, yet rich in their content, exposing the complexities of law and society.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in law and society, and especially to instructors.

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The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique
David Kairys
Manufacturer: Pantheon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RBW5OG

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The Politics of Law, A Progressive Critique
David Kairys
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J2J7S0

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Politics of Law: a Progressive Critique
David Kairys
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O5WJRS

Book Description

How to Start a Business in Vermont is your roadmap to avoid planning, legal and financial pitfalls and direct you through the bureaucratic red tape that often entangles fledgling entrepreneurs. This all-in-one resource goes a step beyond other business how-to books to give you a jump-start on planning for your business and provides you with:

Quick reference to the most current mailing and Internet addresses and telephone numbers for federal, state, local and private agencies that will help get your business up and running.
State population statistics, income and consumption rates, major industry trends and overall business incentives to give you a better picture of doing business in Vermont.
Checklists, sample forms and a complete sample business plan to assist you with numerous startup details.
State-specific information on issues like choosing a legal form, selecting a business name, obtaining licenses and permits, registering to pay for taxes and knowing your employer responsibilities.
Federal and state options for financing your new venture.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful primer on starting a business with contact information for locating startup funds if necessary........2006-12-06

This is a valuable book (resource) for budding entrepreneurs. It seems to try to cover all the bases for starting a small business, but it can't do them all well in the space available between its covers. The book is only 288 pages long. If you are in the planning stages of starting a small business, then I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. Read it, study it, and outline it. There are helpful checklists to help you grasp the subjects. You will come up with a plethora of keywords and terms that you will want to google to find Web pages giving more detailed (and maybe more current) information.

I am a SCORE counselor (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) who typically does face-to-face counseling sessions three nights a month. It would really be neat if my clients would read this book BEFORE they came to their session with me because they would pretty much be "educated customers" ready to ask educated questions. Our sessions would be so much more beneficial.

My favorite chapters were:

1. Initial business concerns
2. Your business' structure
3. Business start-up details
5. Sources of business assistance (SCORE is mentioned here)
7. Your smart business plan (and a good sample plan is included)
8. Obtaining the financing you need

The book is weak when it comes to how the Internet can be used in corresponding, hiring, and marketing. But this is just one example of how googling keywords and concepts found in the book will make the book more complete. Don't treat the book as authoritative on the law. It isn't. Nor was it ever intended to be. It is light on tax information as it relates to small business.

I was particularly impressed with the material presented in Chapter 2: Choice of Legal Entity. That subject is sorely ignored in most small business books, and it is critically important. It is a subject I regularly must spend a great deal of time discussing at my SCORE sessions. This book does a pretty good job on the topic.

Chapters 4 and 9 through 12 are easy to find fault with. The topic of each could fill a book. But having these topics covered definitely will help a budding entrepreneur know some of the issues they raise.

I would have liked the book more if Chapter 6 (marketing) had been less superficial. When I read it I got the impression that the author was more a public relations expert than a marketing expert. I generally categorize public relations as a subset of marketing. Marketing includes advertising, public relations, and a whole host of other promotion techniques. I did not get this message when I read the book. I also would have liked the book better if the Internet, email, and Web sites had been discussed more. But there are many books on those subjects. Therefore, I can't complain too much about the limited discussion of computers.

When you read this book it may feel a little like it was produced on an assembly line. Maybe it was? There are 51 versions of this book sold; one for each state and the District of Columbia. Content is king, and this book has it. 5 stars!

Book Description

Between Mecca and Beijing examines how a community of urban Chinese Muslims uses consumption to position its members more favorably within the Chinese government’s official paradigm for development. Residents of the old Muslim district in the ancient Chinese capital of Xi’an belong to an official minority (the Hui nationality) that has been classified by the state as “backward” in comparison to China’s majority (Han) population. Though these Hui urbanites, like the vast majority of Chinese citizens, accept the assumptions about social evolution upon which such labels are based, they actively reject the official characterization of themselves as less civilized and modern than the Han majority.

By selectively consuming goods and adopting fashions they regard as modern and non-Chinese—which include commodities and styles from both the West and the Muslim world—these Chinese Muslims seek to demonstrate that they are capable of modernizing without the guidance or assistance of the state. In so doing, they challenge one of the fundamental roles the Chinese Communist government has claimed for itself, that of guide and purveyor of modernity. Through a detailed study of the daily life—eating habits, dress styles, housing, marriage and death rituals, religious practices, education, family organization—of the Hui inhabitants of Xi’an, the author explores the effects of a state-sponsored ideology of progress on an urban Chinese Muslim neighborhood.

Between Mecca and Beijing: Modernization and Consumption among Urban Chinese Muslims. (book review): An article from: The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology

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Between Mecca and Beijing: Modernization and Consumption among Urban Chinese Muslims. (book review): An article from: The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology
Alison Hayford
Manufacturer: Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Assn.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, published by Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Assn. on May 1, 2002. The length of the article is 593 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Between Mecca and Beijing: Modernization and Consumption among Urban Chinese Muslims. (book review)
Author: Alison Hayford
Publication: The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2002
Publisher: Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Assn.
Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Page: 225(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Market Overview.......2003-12-16

Please help me to find a book that writes about Market Overview

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The Worst Poverty: A History of Debt and Debtors
Hugh Barty-King
Manufacturer: Budding Books
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When America Does It Right: Case Studies in Service Quality
Jay W. Spechler
Manufacturer: Industrial Engineering and Management Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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When America Does It Right

Manufacturer: Inst of Industrial Engineers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 9991109730

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When America Does It Right : Case Studies in Service Quality
Jay W. (editor) Spechler
Manufacturer: Engineering & Management Press
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Book Description

This book is unique in its depth of perspective. It uses a comparative approach to explain why China's role in the world economy has changed so dramatically in the last thousand years. It concludes that China is likely to resume its natural role as the world's largest economy by the year 2015, thus regaining the position it had held until the end of the nineteenth century. The study provides a major reassessment of the scale and scope of China's resurgence over the past half century, employing quantitative measurement techniques which are standard practice in OECD countries, but which have not hitherto been available for China. Written by the author of many studies on comparative economic history, including two best sellers for the OECD Development Centre, this book is essential reading for all those who seek to understand the role of China in the world economy, in the past, as well as in the present and the future.

Customer Reviews:

GDP (2).......2004-01-25

I should add that in the five years since this book came out, China's economy has been growing at an average 7% per year. Since 2001 the pace has accelerated, and the Chinese economic engine is now firing on all cylinders, delivering a phenomenal performance which combines high GDP growth with low inflation. Maddison's projection is about to be fulfilled ahead of schedule.

GDP.......2004-01-19

Maddison predicts a low GDP growth rate for China - 5.5% per year for the next two decades or so, which is lower than most Western estimates. But he also concludes that China's gross GDP in PPP terms will be equal to America's by 2015, on the basis of this low rate.

This is a bit of a surprise to me, since Gregory Chow, the Princeton econometrist, believes that China will reach America's level only by 2020 - but on the assumption of 7%.

I have second thoughts about Maddison's figures. Some of them don't match from one table to the next.

Interestingly, Richard N. Cooper, the Harvard economist and China specialist, discounts the PPP altogether and prefers to calculate on the basis of nominal exchange rates. He predicts China's GDP will be worth under one-quarter America's by 2020. (And yes, he accepts Chow's 7%, as well as about 3% for the US.) This is in line with the US Dept of Energy's forecasts: 23% of US by 2020, then 26% by 2025, based on 6.2% for China and 3% for the US, which I think are reasonable estimates.

For those of us who think one-quarter of US GDP is unimpressive, this is certainly true as long as we keep in mind that by 2025, Japan's GDP will be worth just 35% America's - and that Japan will still be the second largest economy in the world (unless the EU is counted as one, in which case it could be larger than America). At 25% of America's GDP, China will be the third largest economy, just after Japan. (Of course, if the EU is counted as one, China will be 4th, Japan 3rd, and America 2nd, and so on for everybody else.)

Maddison is quite right that historically China had the largest economy in the world. He estimates that China's population has always been almost twice the size of Europe's, while China's per capita income has been similar to Europe's until about 1300's. (I'm not sure about that, but that's another point.) Therefore, China's gross GDP must have been much bigger than any European economy's. His historical tables, dating back to the year 0, show some very exact calculations which one must take with a grain of salt. (I mean, how does he know with such exactitude?)

In a larger sense, Maddison is right. Alone among the great ancient civilizations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Greece and Rome, etc.), China is a "Great Power" today. And of all the "Great Powers" today, only China can aspire to become America's rival in the foreseeable future.

By the way, it is an interesting question why Japan, whose per capita PPP was 10% America's just after World War II (according to Lester Thurow), leapt to America's par by 1990. Japan managed to achieve this feat (impressive indeed) in 45 years, while China, whose per capita PPP happens to be also 10% America's, will rise to maybe one-quarter America's in PPP and much less than that in nominal GDP, by 2025 - 46 years after economic reform begain in 1979? The answer may be that Japan has been modernizing since 1867, while China did not begin until 1949. So China is 80 years behind Japan in this sense. So it may not be till the end of the 21st century or the beginning of the 22nd when China finally reaches the standard of living of the West. By then, China will once again be the world's sole superpower, resuming its historical position. One or two hundred years may seem like a long time for a young country like America or Canada, but for the Chinese, whose history is ten times as long as America's, one century feels like one decade to Americans, and that is not a long time in national terms.

China: 2015.......2004-01-15

Using both a quantitative comparative study of international economies, and a historical survey of China's economic history over the past two thousand years, Maddison concludes that China will be the same size as the United States in gross GDP (in Purchasing Power Parity) in 2015.

Gregory Chow of Princeton University reaches a similar conclusion in his book "China's Economic Transformation," except that he puts 2020 instead of 2015 as the year of parity.

Maddison discounts the Chinese official GDP growth rates of 10% in 1978-95; he believes 7.5% as the most realistic. Yet he is more, not less, optimistic about China than Chow.

Interestingly, Maddison puts the GDP growth rates for the US in 1978-95 at 2.5% - one third of China's. This is in line with my estimate that China has been growing at three times the rate as America in the past quarter century. Maddison also believes that the growth rates for China will slow to 5% or thereabouts in the next two decades. This is also in agreement with my estimate that China will grow at twice the rate as the US for that period.

Table 2.2a, "Shares of World GDP, 1700-1995" is fascinating. It shows that China was the world's largest economy as late as 1820; Europe as a whole accounted for 26.6% of the world as opposed to China's 32.4%. China was as big as Europe and the US (only 1.8%!!) and Russia (4.8%) put together. In 1995 China had 10.9% of the world GDP, about half as much as the US (20.9%). This table also claims that in 1952, Europe had 29.7% - more than America's 28.4%. That I find unbelievable. In the first years after World War II America had at least 40% of the world GDP while Europe was still just recovering.

Maddison did not give the figures, but China could well double its current share of world GDP (12%) to 24% in 2020 as its economy quadruples in the next two decades. Maddison thinks China will only triple in size in that period (that's what 5% does). America retains 24% until 2020, although that's unlikely as its share has been dropping in the last few decades (due primarily to Europe's and Japan's recovery). America's 24% (if that much) will continue to shrink as China continues to lead America in growth - and India leads China - after 2020.

Book Description

The explosion of applied technology around the globe is redefining national intersts. This book traverses the fields of energy, finance, and national security to offer a look at the new century's new geopolitics. Experts in all three areas join in a conversation about the ways in which globalization is affecting U.S. foreign policy. Their goal: to break free of predictive and policy-prescriptive trains of analysis.

Book Description

This yearbook contains basic information on export-import, investment and business opportunities in the respected country. Provides information on government structure, economy, business climate, regulations, and more... Includes basic statistics, information on the most important business contacts and business travel. Updated annually.

Canada Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook

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Canada Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook
USA International Business Publications
Manufacturer: International Business Publications, USA
ProductGroup: Book
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Canada Investment & Business Opportunities Yearbook (World Investment & Business Opportunities Library)

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Canada Investment & Business Opportunities Yearbook (World Investment & Business Opportunities Library)
USA International Business Publications
Manufacturer: International Business Publications, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0739712306

Book Description

This yearbook contains information on investment business opportunities, international economic projects, tenders, government projects, marketing and export-import opportunities information.

Canada Oil & Gas Industry Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook (World Strategic and Business Information Library)

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Canada Oil & Gas Industry Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook (World Strategic and Business Information Library)

Manufacturer: Intl Business Pubns USA
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Binding: Paperback

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Canada Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook
Ibp USA
Manufacturer: NY
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Binding: Paperback
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