UNITED KINGDOM AUTHOR · HISTORY · MILITARY HISTORY
Geoffrey Parker
Noel Geoffrey Parker, FBA (born Nottingham, United Kingdom, 25 December 1943) is a British historian specialising in the history of Western Europe, Spain, and warfare during the early modern era. His best known book is Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500–1800, first published by Cambridge University Press in 1988. He holds his BA, MA, PhD and Litt.D. degrees from Cambridge University where he studied under the historian Sir John Huxtable Elliott. Parker has taught at the University of Illinois, the University of St. Andrews and Yale University. He is currently the Andreas Dorpalen Professor of History at The Ohio State University. Parker was a consultant and main contributor on the BBC series, Armada: 12 Days to Save England. Source: Geoffrey Parker on Wikipedia.
The year 1618 was like many others in those uneasy decades of armed neutrality which occur from time to time in the history of Europe.
— from The Thirty Years' War, 1964
Most acclaimed
The military revolution
1988
"This is a new edition of Geoffrey Parker's much-admired illustrated account of how the West, so small and so deficient in natural resources in 1500, had by 1800 come to control over one third of the world. This edition incorporates new material, including a substantial 'Afterword' which summarizes the debate which developed after the book's first publication." "Geoffrey Parker's argument is in two parts. First the military practice of the West 'at home' in Europe is analysed, with special reference to the role of firearms in the transformation of both offensive and defensive warfare; to the rapid growth in army size; and to the creation of ocean-going warships which fought with long-range guns instead of ramming and boarding. He then argues that these major changes amounted to a 'military revolution' which gave Westerners a decided advantage over the people of other continents: over the Amerindians in the sixteenth century, over most Indonesians in the seventeenth, and over many Indians and Africans in the eighteenth. The book concludes with a brief survey of how the industrial revolution caused a second series of military changes which allowed the West to dominate almost the entire world by 1914." --Book Jacket.
The world
The Mumonkan, or "Gateless Barrier," is the most widely used collection of koans in Zen practice. For centuries, monks, nuns, and lay people have struggled with these koans as a means of attaining enlightenment. As director of the Montreal Zen Center for the past fifteen years, Albert Low has helped others work through these koans. In this book he provides contemporary and lively commentaries which serve to make the Mumonkan available to all readers and relevant to their everyday lives. He draws upon his own thirty years of practice, half of which has been spent as a teacher, to show how the Mumonkan can be a gateway to spiritual life. His commentaries are filled with anecdotes and new insights into the human condition. The book is structured in the traditional style, with translations of each koan followed by the author's comments. The translations are drawn from the author's own interpretation and from his work with Roshi Philip Kapleau. Excerpts from the Diamond Sutra and a translation of the Prajnaparamita Hridaya ("Heart of Perfect Wisdom" sutra) are included, as well as the author's story of his own path toward awakening.
'THE ''TIMES'' COMPACT HISTORY OF THE WORLD'
The ultimate small-format single-volume illustrated history of the world. The 5th edition of The Times Compact History of the World is a fully-updated, authoritative, detailed and visually-exciting guide to the world - past and present. From the emergence of the first modern humans to recent acts of terrorism, technological breakthroughs, and global issues of the environment and economy, The Times Compact History of the World covers the whole spectrum of human development through an integrated approach of concise yet accessible text, lavish and informative mapping, stunning illustrations, and evocative photographs.