Bøker av Hunt Janin

The intertwined histories of Paris and of the River Seine are interesting but complicated. It is the Seine, however with all its ports, bridges, boats, commerce, monuments, and vistas, that has always been the keystone in the arch of Paris life, both in the past and now in the present. The great French medievalist Jean Favier (1932-2014) summed up its story in just six words: ""Paris is born of the Seine."" Paris may be known today as ""The City of Light"" but, like most big cities, it also has a sordid side. This book introduces to the reader not only the rich and the famous of Paris, but also some of ""the unknown people of the Seine."" These latter include traders, police officers, millers, fishermen, charlatans, monkey handlers, jugglers, water carriers, and the homeless men searching through the cold mud of the Seine trying to find a small gold ornament of some kind lost by a rich traveler passing by in a boat.

The Middle Ages in Western Europe extended from roughly 500 to 1500 c.e. During these thousand years, hundreds of monastic communities were founded and played important roles in religious, economic, social, literary and even military realms. Each had different emphases and goals, ranging from aristocratic monasteries and nunneries that offered comfort and security, to rural institutions that specialized only in the most ascetic lifestyles. This book has two goals. The first is to detail the most significant monastic and secular events of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, such as the decline of the Roman Catholic Church, the rise of Protestantism and the various types and purposes of monasteries and nunneries. The second is to introduce some notable (and unusual) individuals who made their mark upon the Middle Ages-- such as Eustache, the French monk who became a pirate and made a pact with the Devil.

Provides a detailed survey that blends Yellowstone National Park's past into its present and explores its likely future. The book covers the first inhabitants of the area; the explorers and visionary conservationists who first brought Yellowstone to public attention; and the flora, fauna, and spectacular geology of the region.

In 1528, the Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions were shipwrecked and, looking for help, began an eight-year trek through the deserts of the American West. Over three centuries later, the four ""Great Surveys"" in the United States were consolidated into the US Geological Survey.

The histories of four of the Western rivers of the Great Basin - the Walker, the Truckee, the Carson and the Humboldt - are explored in this book, along with three of the western lakes of the Great Basin: Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake, and Walker Lake.

Before the Gold Rush of 1848-1858, Alta (Upper) California was an isolated cattle frontier - and home to a colourful group of Spanish speaking, non-indigenous people known as Californios. Drawing on firsthand contemporary accounts, the author chronicles the rise and fall of Californio men and women.

The US-Mexican War of 1846-1848 remains controversial even today. The California campaigns of this conflict introduce the reader to the Californios (the colourful inhabitants of Alta, or Upper, California); to the American and other adventurers who arrived after them; and to the local Indians, who were always there.

Concentrates on Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and secular pilgrimages to Jerusalem, drawing from over 165 accounts of travels to the ancient city. Chapters focus on ghostly and other pilgrims, the significance of Jerusalem, the beginnings of the pilgrimage in the time of kings David and Solomon, pilgrimages under Roman and Byzantine rule, and more.

From 1823 to 1860 a fleet of small, fast brigs and schooners carried chests of opium from India to China, often facing the challenges of pirates and typhoons along the way. This shadowy trade, conducted by American, British, and Indian firms, thrived despite its moral and legal consequences. Drawing largely on primary sources, the story of the opium trade comes through in the voices of those who saw it firsthand. Appendices describe a favorite shipboard recipe, two of the ships involved in the trade and their crews, excerpts from accounts of the Opium War, and language equivalents for proper and place names. A bibliography is included, and maps and photographs help illumine this important and unusual period of history.

In medieval and Renaissance Europe, mercenaries--professional soldiers who fought for money or other rewards--played violent, colorful, international roles in warfare, but they have received relatively little scholarly attention. In this book a large number of vignettes portray their activities in Western Europe over a period of nearly 900 years, from the Merovingian mercenaries of 752 through the Thirty Years' War, which ended in 1648. Intended as an introduction to the subject and drawing heavily on contemporary first-person accounts, the book creates a vivid but balanced mosaic of the many thousands of mercenaries who were hired to fight for various employers.

Offers an overview of medieval universities. This book traces the growth of selected universities, including the universities of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford, along with ten lesser known universities such as the universities of Padua, Naples, Angers, Prague, and Glasgow.

The sharia is a set of traditional laws that define a Muslim's obligations to God and his fellow human beings. Written for those unfamiliar with Islam, this volume provides an assessment of the sharia's achievements, shortcomings and prospects. It explores the fundamentals of Islam and traditional sharia laws.

Presents a general survey of the events which took place in the Trans-Mississippi West during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This book examines six distinct groups - Native American Indians, Spanish, French, British, Russians and Americans - and the objectives of each with regard to the Trans-Mississippi West.

Presents a survey of the major historic trails of New Mexico and other parts of the American Southwest. This work highlights prehistoric Indian trails, Spanish exploration, and Pecos as a microcosm of the old Southwest.

Presents a survey of Muslim intellectual and cultural achievements that spans 1,400 years. Chapters in this work fall into three sections: fundamentals of Islamic learning; its growth; and its future direction in the face of anti-intellectual fundamentalism.

The university is indigenous to Western Europe and is probably the greatest and most enduring achievement of the Middle Ages. This survey traces the growth of the largest medieval universities of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford, along with the universities of Cambridge, Padua, Naples, Montpellier, Toulouse, Orleans, Angers, Prague, Vienna and Glasgow.