France, early summer 1794. The French Revolution has been hijacked by the extreme Jacobins and is in the grip of The Terror. While the guillotine relentlessly takes the heads of innocents, two vast French and British fleets meet in mid-Atlantic after a week of skirmishing. The French, in ships painted blood-red and bearing banners proclaiming ‘la Rpublique ou la mort!' are escorting an American grain convoy to Brest to feed a starving population. Their ships are manned by a mutinous revolutionary mob that will fiercely defend their nascent Republic. The British, under the command of Lord Howe, a radical innovator and tactical genius, are bent on destroying it. Both sides would claim victory in the ensuing battle, and both had reason to do so. For the French, it represented a strategic success since the convoy and its precious cargo made it safely through. But this outcome came at a heavy material cost. In purely numerical terms ‘the Glorious First of June' was the greatest British naval victory over her oldest enemy for more than a century: six French ships were captured and another sunk, 4,200 French sailors were killed and 3,300 wounded – ten per cent of their entire maritime workforce. These were physical blows from which the French navy would never truly recover, the battle an important precursor of the decisive British victories that would soon follow.In The Glorious First of June Sam Willis not only tells, with thrilling immediacy and masterly clarity, the gripping story of an epic and complex battle, he places it within the context of The Terror, the survival of the French Revolution and the growth of British sea-power.The Glorious First of June is the last in ‘The Hearts of Oak trilogy' and, like The Fighting Temeraire and The Admiral Benbow, is another thrilling account of the Age of Sail by one of our most exciting young historians.

At a time of widespread popular cynicism and profound international unease, the need for clarity over the basic concepts of politics has never been greater.

The forces of Fundamentalism endanger our Liberty and Security, while government responses to it may pose a basic threat to Justice, Democracy and Human rights. Corruption, War and Tyranny arouse public indignation which is often inflamed by Propaganda, the blandishments of Political parties and the far-from-disinterested attentions of the Media. The proper limits of the State; the legitimacy of Revolution and Political violence; the ideological tensions between Socialism, Liberalism and Capitalism; the challenges posed by Poverty, Crime and Racism: these and other ideas are essential in interpreting the current political debate and modes of government.

In 50 Political Ideas You Really Need to Know, Ben Dupré provides a clear, concise account of key concepts that we ignore at our peril.



Autorentext

Ben Dupré read Classics at Exeter College, Oxford before pursuing a career in reference publishing. He was Children's Reference Publisher at Oxford University Press from 1992 until 2004 and, all told, has more than 20 years' experience of bringing complex and challenging concepts to the widest possible audience.

Titel
50 Political Ideas You Really Need to Know
EAN
9781849165693
ISBN
978-1-84916-569-3
Format
E-Book (epub)
Veröffentlichung
28.04.2011
Digitaler Kopierschutz
Adobe-DRM
Dateigrösse
0.83 MB
Anzahl Seiten
208
Jahr
2011
Untertitel
Englisch
Features
Unterstützte Lesegerätegruppen: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet