1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910465403503321

Autore

Narveson Kate

Titolo

Bible readers and lay writers in early modern England : gender and self-definition in an emergent writing culture / / Kate Narveson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London : , : Routledge, , 2016

ISBN

1-317-17443-7

1-315-56930-2

1-317-17442-9

1-4094-4168-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (246 p.)

Collana

Material Readings in Early Modern Culture

Disciplina

274.2/06

Soggetti

Spiritual journals - Authorship

Electronic books.

England Church history 16th century

England Church history 17th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

First published 2012 by Ashgate Publishing.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Reading the Bible: clerical prescriptions and lay reading practices -- The emergence of lay composition -- Application to the self : reading and the restructuring of identity -- Recording identity: scripturalist devotion among ordinary layfolk -- Discursive horizons and the question of gender -- The devotional page and the schoolroom of print -- Grace Mildmay's meditations: love letters from God and their Scriptural authorization.

Sommario/riassunto

Analysing print and manuscript sources from 1580 to 1660, this volume studies how lay immersion in the Bible gave rise to a non-professional writing culture. Narveson examines the development of that culture, looking at the close connection between reading and writing practices, the influence of gender and the emergence of writing as a key practice of lay devotion. She also explores the attendant clerical anxiety, as layfolk assumed control of their spiritual self-definition.



2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778189503321

Autore

Johnson Dominic D. P. <1974->

Titolo

Overconfidence and war [[electronic resource] ] : the havoc and glory of positive illusions / / Dominic D.P. Johnson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : Harvard University Press, 2004

ISBN

0-674-03916-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (289 p.)

Disciplina

355.02/7

Soggetti

War - Psychological aspects

War - Causes

Military history, Modern - 20th century

Military history, Modern - 21st century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-269) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- 1 War and Illusions -- 2 Looking for Illusions -- 3 World War I -- 4 The Munich Crisis -- 5 The Cuban Missile Crisis -- 6 Vietnam -- 7 Vanity Dies Hard -- 8 Iraq, 2003 -- Appendix -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Opponents rarely go to war without thinking they can win--and clearly, one side must be wrong. This conundrum lies at the heart of the so-called "war puzzle": rational states should agree on their differences in power and thus not fight. But as Dominic Johnson argues in Overconfidence and War, states are no more rational than people, who are susceptible to exaggerated ideas of their own virtue, of their ability to control events, and of the future. By looking at this bias--called "positive illusions"--as it figures in evolutionary biology, psychology, and the politics of international conflict, this book offers compelling insights into why states wage war. Johnson traces the effects of positive illusions on four turning points in twentieth-century history: two that erupted into war (World War I and Vietnam); and two that did not (the Munich crisis and the Cuban missile crisis). Examining the two wars, he shows how positive illusions have filtered into politics, causing leaders to overestimate themselves and underestimate their adversaries--and to resort to violence to settle a conflict against unreasonable odds. In



the Munich and Cuban missile crises, he shows how lessening positive illusions may allow leaders to pursue peaceful solutions. The human tendency toward overconfidence may have been favored by natural selection throughout our evolutionary history because of the advantages it conferred--heightening combat performance or improving one's ability to bluff an opponent. And yet, as this book suggests--and as the recent conflict in Iraq bears out--in the modern world the consequences of this evolutionary legacy are potentially deadly.