Dover Books on History, Political and Social Science

Renowned medievalist offers exceptionally detailed, comprehensive and vivid picture of medieval peasant life, including nature of serfdom, manorial customs, village discipline, peasant revolts, the Black Death, justice, tithing, games and dance, much more. Much on exploitation of peasant classes.

When The Nightless City was first published in 1899, it was deemed taboo in polite circles. It is now considered a valuable historical document-albeit still provocative-as a pioneering sociological study of the Yoshiwara Yukwaku: Tokyo's infamous red-light district where the giving of pleasure became both a tradition and a business. A consequence of old Japan's polygamous family system (where men had multiple wives who bore them many children), the Yoshiwara quarter offered a rough road to survival for the surplus daughters, many of whom were sold into prostitution by families who could not afford to keep them. It was thus regarded as a "necessary evil" that thrived from the late nineteenth century well into the 1950s. Despite its dark underbelly of slavery and abuse, the area was celebrated for its veneer of gaiety and the refinement of pleasure. In fact, the Yoshiwara district held such an honored place in Japanese tradition (and sexual tourism) that its demise in 1957 was lamented all over the world. Rich in detail pertaining to the many aspects of Yoshiwara life-folklore, ceremony, costume, erotic practices, and the like-The Nightless City is a compelling examination of life behind the teahouse doors. Two maps and over 40 plates of illustrations are included from the original edition.

In this controversial text, Sorel, a noted revolutionary, voices his belief in class warfare as a means of effecting lasting social change. His searching inquiry extends to the functions of violence, the sources of political power, the weapons of revolution, and the role of myths in converting and motivating people.

This masterpiece of medieval historical literature constitutes the first account of English history. Written in 731 AD by a Northumbrian monk, it chronicles the growth of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England. The Venerable Bede's account starts with the Roman invasion led by Julius Caesar in 55-54 BC and extends to the date of its completion. It profiles the kings, bishops, monks, and nuns involved in the formation of the island nation's religion and government. Known today as The Father of English History, Bede was among the most learned man of his time. His History illuminates a period otherwise obscured by the absence of written evidence and illustrates the Church's use of persuasion to overcome pagan violence. Essential reading for students of history and theology, it ranks among the most important primary sources of Western history.

Born a Russian prince, Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) rejected his title and wealth to spend his life in pursuit of social justice and equality. His last major work, The Conquest of Bread, surveys economic methods for the satisfaction of human needs. The 1892 treatise also outlines the revolutionary path to his vision of utopia: an anarchist communist society. Kropotkin criticizes the effects of feudalism and capitalism, noting that both systems exacerbate poverty and promote privilege, even in times of abundance. Citing the human propensity toward voluntary cooperation, he proposes the establishment of free, self-sufficient anarchic communes and outlines practical considerations of production and distribution. The author supports his theories with examples from the French rebellions of 1789, 1848, and 1871, and his reasoning anticipates aspects of twentieth-century revolutions in Russia, Germany, and Spain. At a time when many thinkers employed the new Darwinian concept of "survival of the fittest" to justify their capitalist and imperialist goals, Kropotkin pointed out the historic patterns of humanity's best success under cooperative circumstances. A century later, his economic analysis remains fresh and relevant.

Published in 1938, when Nazi power was approaching its zenith, this well-documented indictment reveals the systematic brainwashing of Germany's youth. The Nazi program prepared for its future with a fanatical focus on national preeminence and warlike readiness that dominated every department and phase of education. Methods included alienating children from their parents, promoting notions of racial superiority instead of science, and developing a cult of personality centered on Hitler. Erika Mann, a member of the World War II generation of German youth, observed firsthand the Third Reich's perversion of a once-proud school system and the systematic poisoning of family life. This edition of her historic exposé features an Introduction by her father, famed author and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann.

A polemic writing by the famous "Red Rosa" Luxemburg, Reform or Revolution (1899) explains why capitalism can never overcome its internal contradictions. An effective refutation of revisionist interpretations of Marxist doctrine, it defines the position of scientific socialism on the issues of social reforms, the state, democracy, and the character of the proletarian revolution. Reform or Revolution opposes Edward Bernstein's revisionist theories, which rejected Marxism in favor of trade unionism and parliamentary procedures. Luxemburg offers articulate and reasoned objections to all of Bernstein's arguments. She defends the necessity for socialism, which provides an answer to the contradictions and inevitable crisis of the capitalist economy, along with a means for a transformation in working class consciousness. This essay remains a key explanation of why there can be no parliamentary road to socialism. It appears here together with Luxemburg's writings on "Leninism or Marxism," "The Mass Strike," and "The Russian Revolution."

This abridged edition makes the great German scholar's multi-volume work accessible to a larger audience. Rivaling Gibbon, Macaulay, and Burckhardt in its scope and power, it chronicles Roman society and government from the second century BC to the end of the Republic and rise of Julius Caesar - and helped earn Mommsen the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature.