Evropské dějiny v perspektivě Série

Historians have tried time and again to identify the central issues of the conflict which devastated Europe between 1618 and 1648. The Thirty Years War by Ronald G. Asch puts the religious and constitutional struggle in the Holy Roman Empire squarely back into the centre of events. However, other issues are not neglected. Thus the problems of war finance are shown to be an important key to the interaction between inter-state and domestic conflicts during the war. Equally confessional tensions are analysed as a decisive factor linking international and domestic disputes, and the reader is provided with a succinct narrative account concentrating on the major turning points of the war.

Drawing on recent research, David Sturdy presents a concise and comparative analysis of the private and public careers of Richelieu and Mazarin. Several chapters are devoted to such central themes as the international government of France and the conduct of foreign policy, while others deal with the political strategies of the two men, the relations between the ministers and the crown, and the patronage which they exercised. The study concludes with an assessment of the historical significance of Richelieu and Mazarin.

By turns radical, uncertain, ambitious, and autocratic, Mikhail Gorbachev in his bid to reform the Soviet Union has shaped the contemporary world. In 1985, he set out to modernize the Soviet state and revive his Communist Party. Instead, by the end of 1991, the USSR had fragmented and the Party was banned. Institutions which had survived for 70 years, notwithstanding Stalin's murderous purges and the Nazi war machine, proved unable to survive his well-meant reforms. This is a concise and lively introduction to the man and his times, setting them in the context of a decaying and ramshackle empire and an ideology long since betrayed by its professed followers. Simply and clearly, it follows Gorbachev's increasingly desperate attempts to control the forces he unleashed and hold together a state whose days were over. Ultimately, Gorbachev failed yet, as this study concludes, from his revolution arose an historic opportunity to redefine Russia's place in the world and break with a centuries-long autocratic tradition.

The history of Sweden in the seventeenth century is perhaps one of the most remarkable political success stories of early modern Europe. Little more than a century after achieving independence from Denmark, Sweden - an impoverished and sparsely-populated state - had defeated all of its most fearsome enemies and was ranked amongst the great powers of Europe. In this book, which incorporates the latest research on the subject, Paul Douglas Lockhart: - surveys the political, diplomatic, economic, social and cultural history of the country, from the beginnings of its career as an empire to its decline at the end of the seventeenth century - examines the mechanisms that helped Sweden to achieve the status of a great power, and the reasons for its eventual downfall - emphasises the interplay between social structure, constitutional development, and military necessity Clear and well-written, Lockhart's text is essential reading for all those with an interest in the fascinating history of early modern Sweden.

Peter G. Wallace interweaves the Reformation into the transformations of political institutions, socio-economic structures, gender relations, and cultural values in Europe. The revised second edition now incorporates the latest research, as well as a new chapter on the Reformation and Islam, expanded discussion of gender issues, and a glossary.

Peter G. Wallace interweaves the Reformation into the transformations of political institutions, socioeconomic structures, gender relations, and cultural values in early modern Europe. In approaching the European Reformation as a long-term process, Wallace argues that the classic sixteenth-century religious struggles with the resolutions proposed by reformers such as Luther, were not fully realized for most Christians until the early eighteenth century.

Stalin's massive impact on Soviet history is often explained in terms of his inherent evil, personality defects, and power lust. This volume argues that Stalin's thoughts and actions are best contextualized in the inter-relationship between war and revolution in the first half of the twentieth century. Kevin McDermott incorporates recently declassified materials from the former Soviet Party archives and provides a critical review of western and Russian historiography.