John H. Brock's Books

A History of Fireworks from Their Origins to the Present Day

By: John Withington

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A History of Fireworks from Their Origins to the Present Day

By: John Withington

Bursting with images from across time, a sparkling chronicle of rockets, pinwheels, and more. This book illuminates the glittering history of fireworks, from their mysterious beginnings to the dazzling big-budget displays of today. It describes how they enthralled the world’s royal courts and became a sensation across the British Empire. There are stories of innovations like “living fireworks,” fiercely fought international competitions, and the technology behind modern showpieces viewed by millions. Practitioners say fireworks are an art, and they have inspired artists from Shakespeare, Handel, Dickens, and Whistler to Katy Perry. But John Withington also covers fireworks’ practical uses—rescues at sea, attempts to control the weather—while not ignoring their dangers, accidents, or efforts to make them safer.

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471

Publisher

Reaktion Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1789149746

ISBN 13

9781789149746

Evangelicalism: a Very Short Introduction

By: John G. Stackhouse Jr.

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Evangelicalism: a Very Short Introduction

By: John G. Stackhouse Jr.

Original evangelicalism -- Evangelicalism defined -- Evangelicalism expands -- Modern challenges -- The end of evangelicalism?

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161

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Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190079681

ISBN 13

9780190079680

The Mapmakers

Revised Edition

By: John Noble Wilford

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The Mapmakers

Revised Edition

By: John Noble Wilford

In his classic text, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner John Noble Wilford recounts the history of cartography from antiquity to the space age. They are among the world's great pioneers and adventurers: the mapmakers who for centuries have been expanding our knowledge of who and where we are, and where we want to go. From the surprisingly accurate silk maps prepared by Chinese cartographers in the second century B.C., to medieval mapmakers who believed they had fixed the location of paradise, through to the expeditions of Columbus and Magellan, John Noble Wilford chronicles the exploits of the great pioneers of mapmaking. Wilford brings the story up to the present day as he shows the impact of new technologies that make it possible for cartographers to go where no one has been before, from the deepest reaches of the universe (where astronomers are mapping time as well as space) to the inside of the human brain. These modern-day mapmakers join the many earlier adventurers—including ancient Greek stargazers, Renaissance seafarers, and the explorers who mapped the American West—whose achievements shape this dramatic story of human inventiveness and limitless curiosity.

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530

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0375708502

ISBN 13

9780375708503

The European Union

A Very Short Introduction

By: Simon McDougall Usherwood,John Pinder

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The European Union

A Very Short Introduction

By: Simon McDougall Usherwood,John Pinder

John Pinder and Simon Usherwood explain the EU in plain, readable English. They show how and why it has developed, how the institutions work, and what it does - from the single market to the euro, and from agriculture to the environment.

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209

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198808852

ISBN 13

9780198808855

Heredity: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Waller

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Heredity: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Waller

The concept of heredity is fundamental to how we see ourselves and others. It goes far beyond the obvious continuity of physical traits across generations. We routinely ascribe similarities in personality, intellect, outlook, and aptitude between family members to what's passed down in sperm and eggs. The simple idea that children take after their ancestors has long been central to science and medicine and to the breeding of plants and animals. It has also been used for ideological purposes to impute innate differences in character and rationality between males and females and among different ethnicities and social classes. Slavery, colonialism, and genocide, the unequal treatment of women, and the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few have been consistently rationalized in the language of heredity and 'natural' hierarchy. In this Very Short Introduction John Waller traces the diverse ideas about biological inheritance expressed by Europeans and their colonial descendants during two millennia of human history. He charts the changing ways in which scholars and laypersons have believed heredity to work, the development of spurious and self-serving beliefs about heredity by dominant groups, the recent revolution in our ability to understand the mechanics of heredity, and the difficult dilemmas our species is likely to face as we gain increasing mastery over the contents of our own genomes. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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191

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0192507699

ISBN 13

9780192507693

The Bible: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Riches

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The Bible: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Riches

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Bible is one of the world's most read and most influential books. It has provided many rules for people to live by, and has shaped our language and our shared beliefs in ways that have both drawn communities together and fueled bitter disputes and conflicts. Having played a major role in the development of Western culture, the Bible continues to exert an enormous influence over millions of lives. This Very Short Introduction explores the material, cultural, and religious history of the Bible. Looking first at how the books of the Bible came to be written down and collected as authoritative sacred texts, John Riches goes on to show how they were produced and distributed across the world, and how they have been read and interpreted by differing communities in different languages. Riches compares how Jewish and Christian communities have interpreted the same passage of the Bible, and looks at some of the strikingly varied readings a very short book like Galatians has received over 2,000 years. Finally, he explores post-colonial and feminist readings of the Bible, and concludes by surveying the uses of the Bible in art, music, poetry, and politics. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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177

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0192608398

ISBN 13

9780192608390

Genomics

A Very Short Introduction

By: John M. Archibald

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Genomics

A Very Short Introduction

By: John M. Archibald

In the years since the Human Genome Project, genomics has grown into a big and rapidly developing field driven by bioinformatics technology. The implications for our health and privacy, and our understanding of ecological systems and evolution are profound. This book provides an account of this exciting new science, its impact and its potential.

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Page Count

161

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198786204

ISBN 13

9780198786207

Medieval Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Marenbon

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Medieval Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Marenbon

For many of us, the term 'medieval philosophy' conjures up the figure of Thomas Aquinas, and is closely intertwined with religion. In this Very Short Introduction John Marenbon shows how medieval philosophy had a far broader reach than the thirteenth and fourteenth-century universities of Christian Europe, and is instead one of the most exciting and diversified periods in the history of thought. Introducing the coexisting strands of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish philosophy, Marenbon shows how these traditions all go back to the Platonic schools of late antiquity and explains the complex ways in which they are interlinked. Providing an overview of some of the main thinkers, such as Boethius, Abelard, al-F?r?b?, Avicenna, Maimonides, and Gersonides, and the topics, institutions and literary forms of medieval philosophy, he discusses in detail some of the key issues in medieval thought: universals; mind, body and mortality; foreknowledge and freedom; society and the best life. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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171

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191640131

ISBN 13

9780191640131

Multilingualism

A Very Short Introduction

By: John C. Maher

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Multilingualism

A Very Short Introduction

By: John C. Maher

John C. Maher explains why societies everywhere have become more multilingual, despite the disappearance of hundreds of the world languages. He considers our notion of language as national or cultural identities, and discusses why nations cluster and survive around particular languages even as some territories pursue autonomy or nationhood.

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169

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Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198724993

ISBN 13

9780198724995

The Portrait in the Renaissance

By: John Pope-Hennessy

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The Portrait in the Renaissance

By: John Pope-Hennessy

A major account of Renaissance portraiture by one of the twentieth century’s most eminent art historians In this book, John Pope-Hennessy provides an unprecedented look at two centuries of experiment in portraiture during the Renaissance. Pope-Hennessy shows how the Renaissance cult of individuality brought with it a demand that the features of the individual be perpetuated, a concept first manifested in the portraits that fill the great Florentine fresco cycles and led, later in the fifteenth century, to the creation of the independent portrait by such artists as Sandro Botticelli, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Giovanni Bellini, and Antonello da Messina. Pope-Hennessy goes on to describe the process by which Titian and the great artists of the High Renaissance transformed the portrait from a record of appearance into an analysis of character.

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384

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691252130

ISBN 13

9780691252131

Capitalism in the Anthropocene

Ecological Ruin or Ecological Revolution

By: John Bellamy Foster

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Capitalism in the Anthropocene

Ecological Ruin or Ecological Revolution

By: John Bellamy Foster

Over the last 11,700 years, during which human civilization developed, the earth has existed within what geologists refer to as the Holocene Epoch. Now science is telling us that the Holocene Epoch in the geological time scale ended, replaced by the onset of a new, more dangerous Anthropocene Epoch, which began around 1950. The Anthropocene Epoch is characterized by an “anthropogenic rift” in the biological cycles of the Earth System, marking a changed reality in which human activities are now the main geological force impacting the earth as a whole, generating at the same time an existential crisis for the world’s population. What caused this massive shift in the history of the earth? In this comprehensive study, John Bellamy Foster tells us that a globalized system of capital accumulation has induced humanity to foul its own nest. The result is a planetary emergency that threatens all present and future generations, throwing into question the continuation of civilization and ultimately the very survival of humanity itself. Only by addressing the social aspects of the current planetary emergency, exploring the theoretical, historical, and practical dimensions of the capitalism’s alteration of the planetary environment, is it possible to develop the ecological and social resources for a new journey of hope.

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371

Publisher

NYU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1583679766

ISBN 13

9781583679760

The Scientific 100

By: John Simmons,Lynda Simmons

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The Scientific 100

By: John Simmons,Lynda Simmons

Who are the great scientists throughout the ages, and what exactly did they do to earn their importance? From Archimedes to Newton to Einstein to Hawking, The Scientific 100 provides the fascinating answers. Vivid biographical sketches chronicle the lives and accomplishments of the world's preeminent scientists. And in the tradition of the Citadel Press 100 Series, they are ranked provocatively in order of influence--an inspiration for lively discussion. This unique volume is a browser's treasure trove and a handy reference for the general reader. John Simmons has been associated with Current Biography for more than fifteen years. He has written frequently about Nobel laureates in science. A member of the New York Academy of Sciences, he divides his time between New York City and Paris.

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528

Publisher

Kensington Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806536780

ISBN 13

9780806536781

Loneliness

Human Nature And The Need For Social Connection

By: John T Cacioppo,William Patrick

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Loneliness

Human Nature And The Need For Social Connection

By: John T Cacioppo,William Patrick

A pioneering neuroscientist reveals the reasons for chronic loneliness--which he defines an unrecognized syndrome--and brings it out of the shadow of its cousin, depression. 12 illustrations.

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377

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393335283

ISBN 13

9780393335286

The Robbery of Nature

Capitalism and the Ecological Rift

By: John Bellamy Foster,Brett Clark

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The Robbery of Nature

Capitalism and the Ecological Rift

By: John Bellamy Foster,Brett Clark

Bridges the gap between social and environmental critiques of capitalism In the nineteenth century, Karl Marx, inspired by the German chemist Justus von Liebig, argued that capitalism’s relation to its natural environment was that of a robbery system, leading to an irreparable rift in the metabolism between humanity and nature. In the twenty-first century, these classical insights into capitalism’s degradation of the earth have become the basis of extraordinary advances in critical theory and practice associated with contemporary ecosocialism. In The Robbery of Nature, John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark, working within this historical tradition, examine capitalism’s plundering of nature via commodity production, and how it has led to the current anthropogenic rift in the Earth System. Departing from much previous scholarship, Foster and Clark adopt a materialist and dialectical approach, bridging the gap between social and environmental critiques of capitalism. The ecological crisis, they explain, extends beyond questions of traditional class struggle to a corporeal rift in the physical organization of living beings themselves, raising critical issues of social reproduction, racial capitalism, alienated speciesism, and ecological imperialism. No one, they conclude, following Marx, owns the earth. Instead we must maintain it for future generations and the innumerable, diverse inhabitants of the planet as part of a process of sustainable human development.

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384

Publisher

Monthly Review Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1583678395

ISBN 13

9781583678398

Water is for Fighting Over

And Other Myths about Water in the West

By: John Fleck

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Water is for Fighting Over

And Other Myths about Water in the West

By: John Fleck

Illuminating." --New York Times WIRED's Required Science Reading 2016 When we think of water in the West, we think of conflict and crisis. Yet despite decades of headlines warning of mega-droughts, the death of agriculture, and the collapse of cities, the Colorado River basin has thrived in the face of water scarcity. John Fleck shows how western communities, whether farmers and city-dwellers or U.S. environmentalists and Mexican water managers, actually have a promising record of conservation and cooperation. Rather than perpetuate the myth "Whiskey's for drinkin', water's for fightin' over," Fleck urges readers to embrace a new, more optimistic narrative--a future where the Colorado continues to flow.

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264

Publisher

Island Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1610916794

ISBN 13

9781610916790

MarxÕs Ecology

Materialism and Nature

By: John Bellamy Foster

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MarxÕs Ecology

Materialism and Nature

By: John Bellamy Foster

Progress requires the conquest of nature. Or does it? This startling new account overturns conventional interpretations of Marx and in the process outlines a more rational approach to the current environmental crisis. Marx, it is often assumed, cared only about industrial growth and the development of economic forces. John Bellamy Foster examines Marx's neglected writings on capitalist agriculture and soil ecology, philosophical naturalism, and evolutionary theory. He shows that Marx, known as a powerful critic of capitalist society, was also deeply concerned with the changing human relationship to nature. Marx's Ecology covers many other thinkers, including Epicurus, Charles Darwin, Thomas Malthus, Ludwig Feuerbach, P. J. Proudhon, and William Paley. By reconstructing a materialist conception of nature and society, Marx's Ecology challenges the spiritualism prevalent in the modern Green movement, pointing toward a method that offers more lasting and sustainable solutions to the ecological crisis.

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Page Count

325

Publisher

NYU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1583670114

ISBN 13

9781583670118

Tasty

The Art and Science of What We Eat

By: John McQuaid

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Tasty

The Art and Science of What We Eat

By: John McQuaid

A fascinating and deeply researched investigation into the mysteries of flavor, from our ancestors' first bites to ongoing scientific advances in taste and today's "foodie" revolution. --

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304

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1451685017

ISBN 13

9781451685015

Consuming Pleasure

Australia and the International Drug Bussiness

By: John Rainford

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Consuming Pleasure

Australia and the International Drug Bussiness

By: John Rainford

Drug-use.

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590

Publisher

ReadHowYouWant.com

Published Date

ISBN 10

1458717240

ISBN 13

9781458717245

Consuming Pleasures

Australia and the International Drug Business

By: John Rainford

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Consuming Pleasures

Australia and the International Drug Business

By: John Rainford

Tracing the international and Australian history of both licit and illicit drug use, this investigation combines the topic of drug use with analyses of political power, the rise of the market, and social issues. It examines the way in which drug consumption is regulated in the era of global free trade by first looking at the start of the opium-growing industry and the racist origins of drug laws. Providing a social history of drug use through the lens of international politics, market forces, medicine, and race, this discussion also considers the paradox of contemporary, white Australian identity and an Australia as a nation of people whose per capita drug consumption often equals and surpasses that of most other nations.

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404

Publisher

Fremantle Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1921696737

ISBN 13

9781921696732

The Papers of John C. Calhoun

By: John Caldwell Calhoun

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The Papers of John C. Calhoun

By: John Caldwell Calhoun

Vols. 2-9: Edited by W. Edwin Hemphill; v. 10: Edited by Clyde N. Wilson and W. Edwin Hemphill; v. 11-18, 20-22: Edited by Clyde N. Wilson; v. 23-27 edited by Clyde N. Wilson and Shirley Bright CookVols. 10-15, 22: Published by the University of South Carolina Press for the South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History and the South Caroliniana Society; v. 23-28 published by the University of South Carolina Press Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

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930

Publisher

Univ of South Carolina Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1570030235

ISBN 13

9781570030239

Dunkirk: Nine Days That Saved An Army

A Day-by-Day Account of the Greatest Evacuation

By: John Grehan

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Dunkirk: Nine Days That Saved An Army

A Day-by-Day Account of the Greatest Evacuation

By: John Grehan

The epic of Dunkirk has been told many times, but the numerous accounts from surviving soldiers and sailors were often a blur of fear and fighting with the days mingling into each other, leaving what is, at times, a confusing picture. In this book, adopting a day by day approach, the author provides a clear portrayal of the unfolding drama on the perimeter around Dunkirk, in the port itself and along the beaches to La Panne and the Belgian border.Reports from many of the captains of the vessels which took part in the great evacuation were submitted to the Admiralty immediately after the conclusion of Operation Dynamo. With access to these, and supported by the various records maintained by the Army and RAF, the author has been able to finally piece together the movements and actions of the many of the squadrons, units and ships involved.With the Admiralty reports and a mass of other firsthand accounts, many of which have never been published before, the true tale of the heroism of the rescued and the rescuers is laid bare. Operation Dynamo saw civilian volunteers and Royal Navy personnel manning every type of craft from the antiaircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta to the cockle boats of the Thames Estuary. The accounts of the men who crewed these vessels tell of being bombed and strafed by the Luftwaffe or shelled from the shore. There are stories of collisions in the dark, chaos on the beaches and tragic losses as ships went down. Similar tales are told by the men waiting on the beaches, defending the perimeter or flying in the skies overhead in a valiant effort to hold the German Army and Luftwaffe at bay.Yet this is ultimately a story, as Churchill described it, of deliverance, for against all the predictions, the BEF was saved to fight again another day. With civilians and servicemen working without respite for days and nights on end under almost continual attack to rescue the army, the nation pulled together as never before. It truly was Britains finest hour.

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Page Count

380

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1526724855

ISBN 13

9781526724854

Doctors and Discoveries

Lives that Created Today's Medicine

By: John Simmons

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Doctors and Discoveries

Lives that Created Today's Medicine

By: John Simmons

Traces the history of western medicine through the lives of its major contributors, profiling such well-known figures as Hippocrates and Louis Pasteur, as well as lesser-known scientists including Elle Metchnikoff and Samuel Hahnemann.

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488

Publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published Date

ISBN 10

0618152768

ISBN 13

9780618152766

Banking: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Goddard,John O. S. Wilson

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Banking: A Very Short Introduction

By: John Goddard,John O. S. Wilson

Banks are of central importance for economic growth, the allocation of capital, competitiveness, and financial stability. Propelled by technological advances in financial analysis and financial deregulation, the banking industry's investment played a key role in enhancing national economic growth in the early 21st century. The global financial crisis in 2007 revealed the banking world's feet of clay. Since 2007, the turmoil in the global financial system has prompted a fundamental reappraisal of the scale, scope, governance, performance, safety and soundness of banks and other financial institutions. In this Very Short Introduction John Goddard and John Wilson explore the world of banking, describing the role of central banks in national and global economies, and analysing the increasing supervision and regulation imposed on the banking industry. Looking to the future, the authors consider proposals for reform of the banking industry, and the prospects of a resolution of the closely-related banking and sovereign debt crises. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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Page Count

185

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191002801

ISBN 13

9780191002809

Book's by John H. Brock

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