C.H.Beck Fall 2023

Marcus Willaschek’s book traces Kant’s revolution of thought throughout his entire oeuvre. It gives wide-ranging insights into his philosophy, which is explained in a clear and concrete way and taken out of the realm of the abstract. In 30 short standalone chapters, Willaschek presents the various themes and aspects of Kant’s thought in a clear, trenchant and comprehensible way. His explanations are interwoven with biographical and historical sketches, painting a picture of Immanuel Kant as a man and a philosopher in the context of his time. At the same time, the current relevance – and sometimes also the problematic nature – of his revolutionary thought becomes clear.

In this book, Otfried Höffe takes us step by step through one of the most important works in philosophy: Kant’s ‘Critique of Pure Reason’. Kant’s ideas are introduced, interpreted and critically evaluated. A guide to a core text of modern philosophy, critically reviewed and available in time for Kant’s 300th birthday. Kant’s ‘Critique of Pure Reason’ occupies such an important position in modern philosophy that it can justifiably be called a foundational text. According to Arthur Schopenhauer, it is ‘the most important book ever written in Europe’. Almost every field of theoretical philosophy, and many areas of practical philosophy too, were revolutionised by this book. It has shaped the modern face of the landscape of Western thought. Otfried Höffe undertakes a new reading of Kant’s ‘Critique of Pure Reason’, producing a historical and systematic interpretation of it and relating it to contemporary philosophical questions.

From renunciation as a way of moderating passions, or as religious asceticism, to the legal restriction of individual freedoms and the great duty we have to exercise self-restraint in light of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, this short history of renunciation shows that the noble art of voluntary self-restraint is integral to a successful life. Otfried Höffe is also concerned with conceptual clarification, and with formulating a little philosophy of renunciation. Can the concept be rehabilitated – and can it once again become fertile soil for contemporary thought?

One of the global inequalities capitalism has produced consists in the unequal consumption of fossil fuels, and in environmental degradation affecting several parts of the world to very different degrees. The indifference of trade and industry capitalists towards the natural world resembles their past indifference to human suffering. The millions of slaves forced to work on American plantations until well into the 19th century are just one example of how oppressed labour and a capitalist economy go hand in hand. In this fascinating, lucid and expert book, Friedrich Lenger tells the story of the triumph of capitalism and explains its dynamic, which will never place limits on itself – any restrictions have to be imposed from outside. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the modern world and the problems we face today – our survival depends on their solution.

Twenty years ago, geologists were able to reveal a sensational discovery. For a very long time, the Black Sea was a freshwater lake on whose shores early civilisations had emerged. But around 6800 B.C., the Mediterranean Sea broke through what is now the Bosphorus. For years, a thundering waterfall poured into the Black Sea and flooded larges areas. Based on the latest research, Harald Haarmann outlines the causes and course of the Flood. He then explores the consequences of the Flood for cultural development in the Black Sea region. In the process, he finds traces of one of the oldest advanced civilisations in the world and, based on archaeological discoveries but also on linguistic and written history, he shows how its reach extended as far as Mesopotamia.

• ‘The natural disaster of the Black Sea flood was like a Big Bang in terms of its impact on cultural history.’ - Harald Haarmann

• A fully revised and updated new edition

• The breakthrough of the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea and what it meant for the early civilisations in Europe and Asia

• How global warming set the early civilisations in motion

• The cult of the Great Goddess and how it spread from the Black Sea

Few people know as much about the history of the advanced civilisations east of the Mediterranean as Zurich-based ancient historian Christian Marek. In his latest book he presents a masterful, richly illustrated synthesis of his decades of research on Asia Minor, Syria and Arabia. He explores the prehistory of these regions from the early advanced civilisations of the Orient to the spread of Hellenism, describes Rome’s conflicts with potentates like Mithrades VI and peoples such as the Parthians and the Jews, and explains the institutions and techniques of Roman rule as well as the way foreign cultures were permeated by the ‘Roman way of life’. Finally, he tells the story of the rise and spread of Christianity in the eastern half of the Roman Empire until the emergence of Islam. The first historical account of its kind!

• ‚And we will continue to pray to the gods to give us back our freedom.’ - Polybius

• A major overview

• From the Babylonians to Pompey – the influence of Roman rule in Asia Minor

• Conquerors and resistance fighters

• Ex oriente lux: philosophy, literature, science

How can we enable people of different genders and gender identities to live empowered lives? How can we carefully support young people on the path to finding and living their own identity? What is gender, and how is it defined? And what is non-binarity – does it only exist in a binary world? Can people choose their own gender, and if so from what age? This book explores these questions and, in collaboration with diverse young people, looks for answers. It is a book designed to give the younger generation a voice and help the older generation listen to it – an example of the vital dialogue that makes change possible.

The geographer and journalist Pia Volk has explored the Wadden area and the Allgäu, the banks of the river Main and the Sorbenland, and has stumbled across all sorts of strange and unusual places: an oak tree with its own address; a submerged Atlantis in the North Sea; a chandelier in Cologne’s sewer system; the last surviving secret border crossing point for agents in the Soviet zone. In this exciting and entertaining book, Pia Volk introduces us to geographical and historical curiosities and teaches us to see our own country with fresh eyes.

A fierce controversy has emerged regarding the Hohenzollerns and the question of whether they gave a ‘significant boost’ to the rise of Nazism. At the centre of this controversy is the ex-Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, whose public appearances in the period from 1932 to 1934 are also of key legal importance when it comes to answering this question. Jürgen Luh, an expert on this subject, explores the Crown Prince’s behaviour in meticulous case studies based on the source material, and uses telling examples to show how Wilhelm publicly advocated not only for the old elites to collaborate with the Nazis but also for Hitler’s ‘Führerstaat’.

• The Crown Prince and the Nazis

• On the debate about the Hohenzollerns

• A public man – ex-Crown Prince Wilhelm and the rise of National Socialism

• With a foreword by Georg Herbert (former presiding judge at the Federal Administrative Court) and Stephan Malinowski (‘Die Hohenzollern und die Nazis’)

For almost a thousand years, Yiddish was the mother tongue of the Ashkenazi Jews and, as such, was extremely widespread. Migrations of Jews to Eastern Europe and to the USA, encounters with other languages and cultures, and intra-Jewish developments led to the emergence of various Yiddish cultures. But despite this diversity, and although the language was once denigrated as a corrupted variant of German, Yiddish developed into a modern global language which has given us great writers like Sholem Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Yiddish is still a living language which means a lot to its speakers and those who love it – not least as a reminder of the Eastern European Jews killed during the Second World War.

Karl-Joachim Hölkeskamp is an internationally renowned ancient historian. In this book he paints a picture of the continual performance at the heart of the Roman Empire. We see and understand the countless buildings and monuments – which all evoke the greatness, the heroes and the order of the Roman world – as a living, meaningful and effective backdrop against which gods, priests, politicians and ordinary people met, communicated and acted. We understand the significance of the well-choreographed triumphs and funerals, the public gatherings and ritual acts, as a justification of and testament to the everlasting power and dominance of Rome. This book is a key work for anyone hoping to gain a better understanding of the Roman Republic.

• A key text for understanding the Roman Republic

• An extremely clear account with concrete examples

• Circus - triumph - funeral

• Knowledge of the past spurs us on to new greatness

Antisemitism is both an ancient hatred of a small minority and a highly contemporary phenomenon. In this book, thought-provoking questions are raised about both aspects – the history of antisemitism and the present day – as well as about the causes and the consequences of antisemitism. The book takes the present day and the situation in modern-day Germany as its starting point, but it also looks to the past and to the future.

Richard von Weizsäcker was the last German president to have lived through the Second World War as an adult. This explains the international fame garnered by his speech to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the war, on 8th May 1985. For this reason, the book ends with Weizsäcker’s speech, and begins with Theodor Heuss, who – as the first head of state of the Federal Republic of Germany – had to find ways and means of speaking about the crimes of the ‘Third Reich’ ‘in the name of the Germans’. In this brilliant, meticulously researched book, Norbert Frei, author of the now-canonical study ‘Vergangenheitspolitik’ and one of the most renowned contemporary historians of our time, traces the long and winding road to the development of a statesmanlike art and respected praxis.

In the year 60 B.C., a three-headed monster looms over Rome and brings the city under its control. And so begins the story of a secret alliance between three men who have decided that nothing may happen in the state unless they have approved it first. It is the story of the first triumvirate and its creators – Crassus, the richest man in Rome, Pompey the military potentate and Caesar the political genius. And it is the story of the downfall of the Roman Republic. In this exciting book, Markus Schauer makes the link between the social unrest in society and the deep-rooted tensions within the aristocracy during the second half of the 2nd century, and the bloody civil wars of the 1st century B.C. During this time, powerful individuals had unprecedented opportunities to do whatever they wanted, and they exploited them ruthlessly using all the powers at their disposal. This book gives a dramatic account of their motivations, how they came together, how they eliminated their enemies and how they plundered Rome. But inevitably there would come a point where the new masters could no longer stand each other: in the end, there could only be one.

• The downfall of the Roman Republic

• Serious historiography in an exciting presentation

• Markus Schauer’s ‘Der Gallische Krieg’ was shortlisted for the Bavarian Book Prize

Rome and the Tiber share a 3000-year history, spanning the period from the Roman Empire to the golden age of the Popes to the present day. For a long time, the city and its river existed in a close symbiosis. The Tiber kept daily life moving – it was used to transport everything from grain to marble obelisks. Its water drove mill wheels, and its good fishing grounds made the Church rich. It was also a force of nature: the Romans feared its frequent floods. But they enjoyed bathing in the river, and it formed the beautiful backdrop to the pleasure gardens of the Renaissance. Rich princes and paupers flocked to its banks in search of spiritual salvation. Knights were dubbed on the banks of the Tiber, orphan girls were married, executions were carried out, plague victims were cured and prostitutes were corralled. In Birgit Schönau’s gripping double biography of Rome and the Tiber, everything converges: good times and terrible times, religion and crime, art and cesspits, history and mystery.

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been in the focus of world public attention for decades. The authors vividly trace its history and explain the different views of the conflict parties. They describe the most important points of contention - such as control over Jerusalem, access to water and the course of the border - and explain why the current constellations of domestic and foreign policy do not allow the trouble spot to calm down.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564) is widely regarded as one of the most important sculptors, painters and architects of the Italian Renaissance. His independence of thought and action shaped both his character and his trailblazing art. The statue of David, the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica are all testament to this. Claudia Echinger-Maurach traces the development of this innovative artist and gives an expert introduction to Michelangelo’s extensive oeuvre, which also includes excellent drawings and lyric poems.

The protagonists of fairy tales often meet with misfortune, sometimes deserved, sometimes undeserved. But fairy tales are also about happiness, and about happiness in unhappy circumstances. The happiness of a child who is mocked but eventually triumphs. The happiness of being small and clever. The happiness of siblings sticking together. Happiness of not always thinking of your own interests. The happiness of finding finally where you belong to after having been an outcast. The happiness of overcoming insults. And last but not least, the happiness of going your own way.

• With illustrations by Rotraut Susanne Berner

• A book for reading aloud, which opens up the world of fairy tales to children and adults alike

• Familiar and unfamiliar stories brought together in one beautifully illustrated volume

• A wonderful guide through the world of fairy tales, backed up by insights from developmental psychology

How can we come to terms with the passing of time? What happens in us when life outwardly becomes more and more monotonous? Which long-cherished habits do we retain, and which are suddenly upended? How do we relate to the current zeitgeist when we have already lived through so many others? Albert von Schirnding reflects on much-loved books that have accompanied him through the years, about the music of his life, about people and encounters, about moments of failure and salvation. He attentively traverses the landscape of old age and finds both light and shadow there in equal measure.

• About what really matters at the end of life

• A kaleidoscope of thoughts about the light and shade of old age and about what really matters at the end of life

• Sincere, serene and comforting

The ’awkwardness of the beginning’ poses a Herculean task for philosophy: how can a truly philosophical realisation be arrived at? How has this problem of the systematic starting point been solved in the history of philosophy? Referring to Hegel, Vieweg draws a logical map of all kinds of philosophical opening moves, in which the intellectual fascination of philosophising becomes tangible.

In premodern times, waste was foremost a practical problem. It lay around, smelled bad and got in the way of people and vehicles. The rapid worldwide urban growth of the late 18th century went hand in hand with an increased awareness of the hygiene problems caused by waste, and the way these problems facilitated the spread of typhus and cholera. Now, however, rubbish is no longer just a question of urban cleanliness but a global environmental problem. In his global history of rubbish from early history to the present day, Roman Köster explores the causes of these developments and shows how the way we throw things away, dispose of them and recycle them has changed over the course of history.

• ‘Rubbish is our only growing resource.’ Hollis Dole, Undersecretary of State at the US Department of the Interior, 1969

• Human beings have always thrown things away

• Living with rubbish – from the time when nomadic populations became sedentary, to the present day

• How our approach to rubbish has shaped the face of our villages and towns – and the lives of their inhabitants

• A history of throwing away, disposing and recycling

• From the litter problems of ancient cities to the rubbish mountains of the present day

Reformation rather than revolution: for a long time, this was the motto of all the citizens and intellectuals in Germany who were opposed to the status quo yet did not want to see a violent coup. Following the revolution of 1848-9, which failed to achieve the double goal of unification and freedom, Bismarck responded with a revolution from above, the so-called ‘Small Germany Solution’. The revolution of 1918-19 gave rise to a new democratic system in the form of the Weimar Republic, which was brought to an end by the Nazi dictatorship. Whether this was in fact a revolution is one of the questions explored in this brilliantly written book, which also looks at the issue of the historical significance of the ‘peaceful revolution’ of 1989 and how it provided a solution to the ‘German question’ in form of reunification.

This book gives a breathtaking overview of around 1700 years of the history of ancient temples – including the history of people’s responses to them – using the examples of buildings such as Jefferson’s University of Virginia and the Glyptothek in Munich, which dates back to the reign of Ludwig I. Featuring 100 images, maps, sketches and colour illustrations, it explores the nature and functions of temples in various regions of the Greco-Roman world and their spheres of influence. Based on the latest research, Ulrich Sinn, an internationally renowned archaeologist, gives an informative, clear and accessible explanation of one of the most striking features of the ancient world, buildings which are as impressive today as they were over 2000 years ago.

The administrative language in this new Roman Empire on the Bosphorus was no longer Latin, but Greek – in the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin had become a dead language even in the traditional dominions of the ‘old Romans’. Another new aspect of Byzantium was its close interrelationships – often in the form of bloody conflicts – with the Islamic world. But the threat from the ‘Latin West’, arising from the devastating Crusades, was almost as severe. And finally, Byzantium accelerated the globalisation of historical processes, through its contacts in East Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller gives an exciting and informative account of the period.

These and many other mysteries await the readers of "Dark Rome" – an exciting history of the life and customs of the Roman world just as wild as it is full of facts. Readers will meet poisoners and magicians, ancient security specialists, and undercover agents who put their own lives and the lives of their contemporaries at risk on strictly confidential missions. Many of them were embroiled in state affairs, brutal power struggles, major scandals, political intrigues, and perfidious assassinations – and even Palatine Hill, imperial residence since the age of the puritanical Augustus, frequently became the scene of gruesome crimes. "Dark Rome" will provide readers with a glimpse into the abysses of Roman antiquity and will allow them to discover a side of the Romans that will seem both strange and strangely familiar!

In his famous ‘Griechische Culturgeschichte’, Jacob Burckhardt devoted little space to ancient art, and in his ‘Cicerone’ it is just one element among many. This book, therefore, fills an important gap. In it, Burckhardt’s notes for his lectures on the ‘art of antiquity’ – written over the course of several decades – are published for the first time. It gives us access to a previously undocumented area of Burckhardt’s work and thought. This edition is edited by the Jacob Burckhardt Stiftung in Basel and published jointly by C.H.Beck, Munich, and Schwabe, Basel. Distribution is via C.H.Beck.

Potsdam-based contemporary historian Manfred Görtemaker has been working on this meticulously researched biography for almost 20 years. For the first time, he was able to analyse around 4100 letters and 50,000 pages of correspondence from the Hess estate in the Federal Archives in Bern, received special dispensation to view the papers of Lord Selkirk of Douglas, to whose home in Scotland Hess fled, and drew on an impressive number of previously unexamined archival documents. The result is an unusually vivid biography of the man who, right from the start, was by Hitler’s side through thick and thin, who managed his growing power like an alter ego and whose influence over the ‘boss’ no rival was left in any doubt about.

• ‘I regret nothing.’ - Hess in his closing remarks at the Nuremberg Trial of the Major War Criminals in 1946

• Manfred Görtemaker is the first to analyse letters and texts from Rudolf Hess’s estate

• A meticulous biographical reconstruction of Hitler’s most faithful paladin

• An exemplary study of how someone becomes a Nazi

There are many studies about Konrad Adenauer, the founding father of the Federal Republic, as well as a famous two-volume biography. But until now there has been nothing comparable on Adenauer’s counterpart in East Germany. Walter Ulbricht is just as influential a figure, however, when it comes to the history of Germany in the 20th century. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk describes the rise of this tailor’s son, born in Leipzig at the turn of the century, to become the leader of the German Communist Party, the founder of the GDR and, in 1961, the man behind the building of the Berlin Wall. Kowalczuk not only reveals new aspects of Ulbricht in his official role, but also paints a novel portrait of Ulbricht the man. He explains Ulbricht in the context of his time, rather than writing about him in hindsight. The first volume looks at the period leading up to 1945, when the ‘Ulbricht Group’ was sent to Berlin, and includes Ulbricht’s rise through the ranks of the labour movement, the struggle of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany) within and against the Weimar Republic, and Ulbricht’s resistance to Nazism and exile in Prague, Paris and Moscow. Understanding this background makes it far easier to understand what motivated Ulbricht after 1945, and how the GDR became what it was.

• ‘Walter Ulbricht was one of the most important German politicians of the 20th century.’ - Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk

• The 50th anniversary of Ulbricht’s death fell on 1 August 2023

• The first comprehensive academic biography of Walter Ulbricht • The 20th century from the perspective of a communist

• Based on extensive archival research

• Many sources analysed for the first time

• Written in a very accessible style

• By one of the leading scholars of the history of German communism and the GDR

The dramatic 14th century – an era of economic and cultural flowering as well as profound crises such as the Plague, severe floods and the beginning of the Little Ice Age – was the century of Charles IV (1316 – 1378). The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Bohemia single-mindedly consolidated the power of his dynasty with wars and diplomatic skill, and in the Golden Bull he issued the Empire’s most important constitution, which remained in force until it was dissolved in 1806. He founded the Central Europe’s first university in Prague with the help of the Parler family, the best builders and sculptors of the age. Many historians have been confused by the fact that this pious emperor, who collected relics and was mindful of laws and rules, profited from – even instigated – the persecution of Jews and the plundering of their property. In this brilliantly written book, Olaf B. Rader paints a new picture of the most powerful emperor of the late Middle Ages, who has left a more lasting mark on Germany and Europe than we realise.

In his fundamental biography, Ralph Bollmann traces Merkel's life with critical sympathy. He also unfolds the story of her chancellorship placing enormous demands on her, beginning with the financial crisis, reaching to the refugee crisis and also including the Covid 19 pandemic. His brilliantly written book shows us an extraordinary woman at the center of power, who decisively shaped an entire age.

During Angela Merkel's reign, the familiar world order of the postwar period dissolved, and a new uncertainty took its place, most recently in the Corona Crisis even reaching into people's everyday lives. Thanks to her experience of the systemic breakdown of 1989/90, the former East German politician was better prepared for this challenge than many of her colleagues. She became so popular not least because she consistently kept all impositions away from Germans who were reluctant to change. But this harmony suddenly ended with the refugee debate.

Ralph Bollmann's biography is not only a captivating read, but also an impressive history of Germany and Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

Artificial intelligence is the new buzzword of digital capitalism. Intelligent computer systems make medical diagnoses and provide legal advice. They manage stock trading and will soon control our cars. They paint, write, interpret and compose. More and more intelligent robots are standing on assembly lines, greeting us at the hotel, leading us through the museum or frying burgers and shredding the lettuce that goes on top. However, alongside the utopian vision of a beautiful, new, intelligent world of technology, there always have been images of artificial intelligence gone terribly wrong, where machines monitor us at every step, take over our jobs and defy our control.

Manuela Lenzen shows which hopes and fears are realistic and which belong to science fiction. She describes what a good life with artificial intelligence could look like and explains how we can learn a lot about ourselves from these clever machines.

There are hundreds of such projects. They make up the civil society of the digital world, and are the online equivalents of Greenpeace, Global Justice Now and Amnesty International. In order to make the internet better, fairer and freer, you do not have to study computer science, found a start-up or be a hacker. Stefan Mey introduces the protagonists, goals, strategies and business models of the alternative online world in meticulously researched and entertainingly written portraits. He does not gloss over existing conflicts. Is this the start of a little revolution?

• ‘Shining a light on the darkness of the digital world.’ - Austria Presse Agentur on ‘Darknet’

• Firefox, Mastodon and Signal – are they making the internet better, fairer and freer?

• The dream of a free, democratic internet

• It is up to us how strong we make the alternative online world

• Investigative research

The sabre-rattling in the Indo-Pacific is growing ever louder. US cruisers are crossing the Taiwan Strait at regular intervals, Chinese military units are building artificial islands in the ocean. Their purpose is unmistakeable, and both sides are trying to intimidate the other with manoeuvres at sea. Neighbouring nations like Australia, Japan and Indonesia are becoming increasingly nervous and are closing ranks in their fear of a power-hungry China, whilst Beijing is weaving a dense web of regional dependencies and ruthlessly enforcing the dominance in Hong Kong that it also wants to achieve in Taiwan. One thing is for certain: whoever emerges victorious from this struggle in the new centre of gravity of the world economy will become the new global hegemon.

• The collision course between China and the USA

• The outcome of the struggle for geopolitical supremacy in the 21st century will be decided in the Indo-Pacific

• For the West, the most fundamental freedoms are at stake

• Matthias Naß explores the biggest power-political challenge of our times

In this book, Josef Braml and Mathew Burrows remind us that the future is always uncertain and explore three possible scenarios for how global events might unfold in the coming years: a bad scenario (a new Cold War with a massive loss of prosperity, particularly in the poorest countries), an ugly one (World War III) and a tolerable one (reformed globalisation 2.0 with a return to global cooperation, overcoming all the existing disputes). When we think in political scenarios, we are better able to identify the levers that need to be pulled in order to achieve a tolerable outcome and avoid disaster. Because one thing is clear: given the challenges we face – the continuing severe poverty in the world and the prospect of climate change – we cannot afford to slip into a morass of confrontation and military conflict.

• ‘My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.’ - Mike Minihan, four-star general in the US Air Force

• The greatest risk of our age lies in the confrontation between China and the USA

• What could help to reduce this risk

• We cannot afford a new Cold War – and definitely not a hot one

• More global cooperation is needed in order to bring climate change under control

• ‘Die transatlantische Illusion’ has sold 10,000 copies

This book is not about defining the ‘real’ meaning of terms, nor is it a pedantic exhortation to ‘speak properly’. Instead, Nassehi’s book looks methodically at the function of these terms in public debates. Key social concepts such as freedom, equality/inequality, identity, crisis and foreignness not only have a lexical meaning they also have a practical meaning gained via their use in debates.

• Armin Nassehi on key terms in current public debates: identity, inequality, etc.

• This book focuses not only on the public use of that conceptual rationality, but also on the social origin of terms used in the social sciences. All of this serves to answer the fundamental question: which problems do these terms offer a solution to?

• On the meaning and effect of 20 key terms in public debate

What might a world ‘beyond war’ realistically look like? How can nations with opposing values and interests – how can democracies and autocracies – integrate into an international order without ruthlessly adhering to the law of ‘might is right’? In this book, renowned peace and conflict researcher Nicole Deitelhoff looks at the period from the birth of the international order out of the ashes of two world wars, to the end of the bipolar world and the multiple crises of the present day. Her controversial argument is as follows: in the globalised world of the 21st century, an international conflagration can only be prevented if, in future, potential adversaries cautiously dismantle and reconfigure their economic, cultural and political interdependencies. At its outermost edges, it is ultimately only territorial integrity, international sovereignty and the exclusion of crimes against humanity which define Deitelhoff’s model order.

• The war in Ukraine is a break with the post-war world order

• How will international relationships be defined in the future?

• Explores new forms of peaceful coexistence

• The latest insights from peace and conflict research

At least since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, and even more so since 11 September 2001, the world has had profound concerns about Islamism. These concerns centre on terrorist attacks, on the prospect of large areas in Syria, Iraq, North Africa and Afghanistan coming under the control of Islamists, and on surprising election victories for Islamist parties. Tilmann Seidensticker explains the differences between the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafists, the Wahhabis, the Taliban and other groups, the thinkers whose ideas they draw on and the methods they use to achieve their goal of an Islamic politics and society. This definitive work is now available in a revised and updated new edition.

‘Shining Hours of Humanity’ was the title Stefan Zweig gave to his 1927 collection of historic miniatures. Almost a hundred years later, the weekly newspaper Die Zeit published a new collection of shining hours, which gave rise to this book. These defining moments are different from Zweig’s and reflect our changed view of the world. They range from hippies throwing LSD parties, to the great speech made by Social Democrat Otto Wels against Hitler’s Enabling Act. Some are great adventures, like Thor Heyerdahl’s on his raft in the Pacific, and some involve scientific progress, like when Rosalind Franklin decoded the structure of DNA only to see three men take credit for her work. Some are great achievements, like the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and some are missed opportunities, as in the case of Patrice Lumumba, who was a beacon of hope to many Africans before his execution in 1961. They are also deeply moving – like the story of the American pilots who rescued Vietnamese villagers from their own US army comrades during the My Lai massacre: a spark of humanity even in the midst of the most horrific barbarity. And these defining moments are all worth reading about – because great history always consists, first and foremost, of great stories.

• In cooperation with Die ZEIT

• Shining hours for our time

• Deeply moving stories

• There is a little light to be found even in the darkest moments

• Featuring texts by Iris Radisch, Michael Thumann, Volker Weidermann and other prominent authors

• Great history consists of great stories

• A perfect gift and a rewarding read

Throughout this time, the Chancellor and his cabinet have had to jettison many of their convictions about weapons, coal-generated power and debt. Vladimir Putin has forced them to adopt unfamiliar and unintended policies. What is the government doing to end the war? From the time the government took power in December 2021, Stephan Lamby has been travelling with its key decision-makers, accompanying them to Washington, to the capitals of Europe, to Asia’s megacities, to the Sahel and the Arabian Gulf, and also to different regions of Germany. And, of course, to Berlin. He has seen Olaf Scholz and his government make pivotal decisions and serious mistakes. Lamby’s investigative report paints a unique portrait of historic events – from inside the German centre of power.

• ‘Lamby is always there when there is something happening in German politics.’ - Nils Minkmar, Süddeutsche Zeitung

• The most dramatic phase in German foreign and security policy since the Second World War

• Stephan Lamby follows the most important players in the German government through the beginning of a turbulent time

• Upcoming ARD documentary

• A must-read for anyone with an interest in politics and contemporary history

Gustav Seibt is one of the ‘wordsmiths’ of German journalism. A historian and journalist who has won many awards for his work, Seibt is known for his unswerving humanist liberal attitudes, his wide-ranging historical knowledge and, above all, his unfailingly well-thought-out arguments. Even in the ‘blindness of the moment’ in which we are all trapped, he always manages to go beyond the politics of the day and get to the heart of a situation, giving us a better understanding of what is currently happening or what is at stake through historical observations or comparisons. This book offers readers the chance to learn about the key issues of our era in exquisite prose.

• ‘Marvelous. This book will take me right through to the next historical turning point.’ - Harald Schmidt

• One of Germany’s most renowned journalists writes about the key questions of our era

• A brilliant tour d’horizon of our political age

History does not repeat itself – so we cannot simply take solutions from the past and apply them to the present day. But history does provide us with a vital reservoir of political illustrative material. It shows which constellations led to which outcomes, and it reveals patterns and recurring problems. Anyone who wonders how the war in Ukraine will end should make use of this reservoir. Because there is hardly anything in world history as common as wars. Historically, what has driven people to continue fighting wars? How have windows for diplomacy opened up? What has led to lasting peace, and what to fragile peace? And why have the final stages of war often been the most bloody? The path to peace has frequently been a long and winding road, repeatedly delayed and interrupted. The longer a war lasts, the more victims there are over the months and years and the more complex and contradictory this path is. And even once a treaty is signed, the real work of peace has yet to begin.

• How do wars end? History holds answers

• The lessons we can learn from the wars of the past

• Examples from world history, focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries

• Trenchant and knowledgeable theories about the different directions we can take in times of war

On 29 October 1923, Atatürk proclaimed the Turkish Republic. The new state was committed to modernisation and secularisation, and culturally and politically it orientated itself towards the West. The military made sure the country stuck to this course, even mounting coups where necessary. At the turn of the millennium, Turkey was on course to join the EU – but now, under Erdogan, this is out of the question. This book illustrates very clearly how Atatürk’s Turkey is being destroyed: the separation of state and religion is now maintained only for appearance’s sake and could soon fall by the wayside altogether. Any serious opposition is suppressed. The country is turning its back on the West, looking confidently towards the East and the South, deploying troops in Syria and North Africa, and laying claims to raw materials in the Mediterranean. But within Turkish society, new currents are also emerging: a young, liberal, democratic, ecologically aware civil society which is ready to resist.

• ‘Grant freedom of thought!’ - A Schiller quote on a Cem Özdemir sticker at the state banquet with Erdogan

• 29 October 2023: the 100th anniversary of the founding of Turkey

• The crises and wars of the New Turkey and what they mean for the West

• Highly topical: elections in Turkey on 14 May (parliamentary and presidential elections)

• The hypocritical handling of the earthquake • Corruption in the construction industry

Even in premodern times, human beings intervened in the natural world around them and changed it in order to survive. But they always tried to make these changes positive rather than destructive, because they knew the natural world was the foundation on which their lives, and the lives of future generations, depended. It was only with the dawn of modern science, with the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the market economy, that short-termist thinking and behaviour took over, and nature and the environment began to be exploited without any thought for their long-term survival. It is now clear that such ways of thinking and such behaviour will, in the long term, destroy our whole environment and ultimately lead to our own destruction.

• ‘An encyclopaedic read of rare brilliance.’ - Ingo Mose on ‘Die Alpen’

• An eye-opening book that explains the world and motivates the reader to take action

• The culmination of a lifetime of research

• Why we need to revolutionise our relationship with nature

• Is there a way of interacting with nature without destroying it?

The book focuses on the period from 1890 to 1990. A hundred formative years, from the German Empire to reunification, from Peter Behrens to Günter Behnisch – a hundred years that shaped the urban face of modern-day Germany. The periods of upheaval in 1918-19, 1933 and 1945 alter the external conditions. From 1945 onwards architecture is split up into different occupation zones. After the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic are founded, developments in East and West are defined by competition and convergence. With reunification, the different strands of architecture converge once again. The year 1990 thus marks a significant turning point. An overview of the period after 1990 rounds off this impressive and multifaceted social, economic, institutional and technological history of architecture, which is bound to become a standard reference work for all historians and lovers of architecture.

• ‘Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into spaces.’ - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

• The hundred formative years of architecture in Germany between 1890 and 1990

• Sheds light on the foundations and conditions of architecture

• Tells the story of the modern age

• Architecture as part of German history

• Political events provide the structure

Kafka’s artistic individuality becomes understandable through its tense connection with European Jewish traditions—as the property of an eternal son, who sees himself at the beginning and at the end of all traditions. Franz Kafka saw his life and writing as one unit which founded his identity. His fragile self-image remained tied to the ups and downs of his literary output. Peter-André Alt’s biography links the narrative of his life with comprehensive interpretations that explore Kafka’s work and its psychological underpinnings. It shows the author as an observer of his time by examining his relationship to Prague’s German literature and European modernity, to psychoanalysis and Zionism, philosophy and Jewish spiritual tradition, anthroposophy, natural healing, cinema and theater. He is the loafer and the loner, the traveler and the coward, the ascetic and the lover, the ecstatic and the skeptic, the terror specialist and the master of irony. Kafka’s life is not interpreted as a source, but rather as a mirror of his literary work. Thus, the world of his stories and novels acquires an enthralling as well as uncanny consequence to the lines of how his life unfolded.

• ‘A great success.’ - Oliver Pfohlmann, die tageszeitung

• The 100th anniversary of Kafka’s death falls on 3 June 2024

• Peter-André Alt’s brilliant and renowned biography

• A special edition in embossed paperback

• ‘Alt has created a new type of biography in the rugged and almost boundless landscape of Kafka literature.’ - Gerhard Neumann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The area between the Slovenian Alps, the Black Sea and the Aegean has been shaped by a variety of kingdoms, religions and language groups. This has given rise to a unique ethnic, religious and cultural melting pot. Certain conflicts over states, borders and national identities are unresolved to this day. Renowned Southern Europe expert Marie-Janine Calic gives us an introduction to the fascinating and eventful history of the region and helps us sort the myths and legends from the facts. For we cannot understand the countries of the Balkans without knowing about their history.

The German colonial empire was not large and lasted only 30 years. But the colonial experience had many repercussions for Germany itself and was therefore more important than has long been believed. In this systematic overview, Sebastian Conrad describes how the colonial order worked, where it reached its limits and how the native societies reacted to foreign rule. He also places the history of the colonies in the wider context of globalisation.

October 1962: in response to the stationing of Soviet intermediate-range missiles on Cuba, the USA imposed a blockade on the island and put its own nuclear missiles and long-range bomber planes on high alert. Drawing on American, Soviet and Cuban files, Bernd Greiner tells the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis: why it escalated, how a political solution was found and how the repercussions of the confrontation are still being felt today. In his war against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has already resorted to nuclear blackmail – under different circumstances but with the same logic that left the world’s fate hanging in the balance in the autumn of 1962.

Alexander, born in 356 B.C., was a pupil of Aristotle, a military genius who founded a global empire stretching from Greece to Egypt and India, and a young hero who died at the age of just 33. This biography gives a knowledgeable overview of the elements of Macedonian history and society that were shaped by Alexander, of his impact as a ruler and military strategist – as a ‘liberator’ and a ‘conqueror’ – and of the structural and historical context of his power politics.

Hartwin Brandt gives a concise and accessible account of the history of events in the late Roman Empire, and of its politics both in Rome and abroad. He gives a striking description of the charged relationship between secular and ecclesiastical power, and of the codification of Roman law.

In the year 9 A.D., three Roman legions commanded by Publius Quinctilius Varus were lured into an ambush set by Germanic tribes and completely obliterated – a heavy blow for the Roman Empire and its expansionist ambitions in Germania. This book gives an expert overview of the so-called Varian Disaster and the background to it, as well as the textual and archaeological evidence of this historically important event.

This book offers a well-researched account of the empire from the end of the Middle Ages to 1806. Although it has very little in common with ideas of modern statehood, Stollberg-Rilinger explains how the Holy Roman Empire influenced and helped shaped Germany well into the future.

She became the motor of constitutional change and of the development of liberal political cultures. Hans-Ulrich Thamer gives an account of causes, development and consequences and presents the main actors and their motives. The book explains important mechanisms of the revolution, including the special role of the Parisian metropolis, the revolutionaries’ wrestling for a constitution as well as the bloody reign of terror.

In this book, Wolfgang Benz, one of Germany’s most renowned Holocaust scholars, traces the history of the genocide against the Jews, from marginalisation and disfranchisement to industrialised mass murder in the extermination camps. He looks at both the victims and the perpetrators of the Holocaust, at the history of the persecutors and that of the persecuted. One chapter is devoted to the often-neglected ‘other genocide’ against the Sinti and the Roma.

This book gives a concise overview of the global history of the medieval millennium between 500 and 1500 A.D. It shows the diversity of (in some cases) unconnected worlds existing side by side, but also takes an in-depth look at the large interconnected area of Europe, North Africa and Asia with its different world religions and cultures, its changing political borders and its long-distance trading networks.