1688: a Global History - Hardcover

Wills, John E

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1862074135 ISBN 13: 9781862074132

Verlag: Granta Books, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dw. A particularly fine example; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp cornered.; 330 pages; Description: 330 p. : map ; 24 cm. Indexed and comprehensively annotated. Subject: History, Modern --17th century --Dates covered: 1688-1688 --History, Modern. Summary: John E. Wills's masterful history ushers us into the worlds of 1688, from the suicidal exaltation of Russian Old Believers to the ravishing voice of the haiku poet Basho. Witness the splendor of the Chinese imperial court as the Kangxi emperor publicly mourns the death of his grandmother and shrewdly consolidates his power. Join the great caravans of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage from Damascus and Cairo to Mecca. Walk the pungent streets of Amsterdam and enter the Rasp House, where vagrants, beggars, and petty criminals labored to produce powdered brazilwood for the dyeworks. Through these stories and many others, Wills paints a detailed picture of how the global connections of power, money, and belief were beginning to lend the world its modern form.

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Críticas:

Presenting a worldwide view of events occurring in just one year of the 17th century, Wills sets his sights high with a Longitude type of book in the history sphere. A professor of history at the University of Southern California, his previous works are mainly studies of China, but also of European involvement therein. What makes this book so enchanting is the intricate detail of the stories, letters, poems and essays of the era. Moreover, when the author begins the tale of each new area, he takes care to update us on the events which have led to the situation that prevails. We learn of Klaas, a Khoikhoi (or Hottentot) chief, being imprisoned on Robben Island, off the South African coast, three centuries before Nelson Mandela suffered the same fate. Indeed, it is surprising how many similarities exist between 1688 and the present day. With his evocative local colour and careful use of context, Wills has produced a fascinating book that skips along at an unrelenting pace and transports you to another age.

Reseña del editor:

This work is a survey of the world on the threshold of modernity and a sweeping narrative of different cultures being drawn together by the pull of trade and violence: a world where spices, silver and slaves made fortunes and ruined lives. The reader is taken on a journey around the world, through Russia, where Tsar Peter is about to launch a coup that will change his country's history forever; to the splendid court of the Sun King in France; to Mexico; to the Sonora desert of North America, where a Jesuit priest and his tribe of Pima Indian converts are about to discover California; to Manila, Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, Siam and to England, where a Dutch king lands in Dorset to begin the Glorious Revolution and fashion the state under which we still live.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Granta Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1862074135
• ISBN 13: 9781862074132
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 320