James J. Sheehan

"Of the thousands of children and young adults who fled Nazi Germany in the years before the Second World War, a remarkable number went on to become trained historians in their adopted homelands. By placing autobiographical testimonies alongside historical analysis and professional reflections, this richly varied collection comprises the first sustained effort to illuminate the role these men and women played in modern historiography. Focusing particularly on those who settled in North America, Great Britain, and Israel, it culminates in a comprehensive, meticulously researched biobibliographical guide that provides a systematic overview of the lives and works of this 'second generation'"--From publisher's website.

This volume in the Oxford History of Modern Europe is a comprehensive study of German history from 1770 to 1866. It examines the manner in which the development of bureaucratic and participatory institutions changed the character and capacities of governments throughout German Europe; the economic expansion in which the productivity of both agriculture and manufacturing increased, commercial activity intensified, and urban growth was encouraged; and the rising culture of print, which sustained new developments in literature, philosophy, and scholarship, and helped transform the rules and procedures of everyday life. These developments, it is argued, led to an erosion of the traditional values and institutions, and played an important part in the transformation of German politics, society, and culture. Rather than viewing the development of a Prussian-led Nation State as "natural" or inevitable, the book emphasizes alternative forces of unity and division which existed up until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.

"Art museums teach us what to see when we look at art. This book uses the history of art museums in Germany to illuminate the origins and character of the museum's central role in modern culture. By combining the history of ideas, institutions, and architecture, this study shows how the museum both reflected and shaped the place of art in German culture from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century.". "James Sheehan begins by describing the establishment of the first public galleries during the last decades of Germany's old regime. He then examines the revolutionary upheaval that swept Germany between 1789 and 1815, arguing that the first great German museums reflected the nation's revolutionary aspirations. By the mid-nineteenth century, the climate had changed; museums constructed in this period affirmed historical continuities and celebrated political accomplishments. During the next several years, however, Germans became disillusioned with conventional definitions of art and lost interest in monumental museums. By the turn of the century, the museum had become a site for the political and cultural controversies caused by the rise of artistic modernism. In this context, Sheehan argues, we can see the first signs of what would become the modern style of museum architecture and modes of display.". "The first study of its kind, this book will appeal to historians, museum professionals, and anyone interested in the relationship between art, politics, and culture."--BOOK JACKET.

To the age-old debate over what it means to be human, the relatively new fields of sociobiology and artificial intelligence bring new, if not necessarily compatible, insights. What have these two fields in common? Have they affected the way we define humanity? These and other timely questions are addressed with colorful individuality by the authors of The Boundaries of Humanity. Leading researchers in both sociobiology and artificial intelligence combine their reflections with those of philosophers, historians, and social scientists, while the editors explore the historical and contemporary contexts of the debate in their introductions. The implications of their individual arguments, and the often heated controversies generated by biological determinism or by mechanical models of mind, go to the heart of contemporary scientific, philosophical, and humanistic studies--Publisher's description.