BRILL

Abraham Ibn Ezra on elections, interrogations, and medical astrology; a parallel Hebrew-English critical edition of the Book of Elections (3 versions), the Book of Interrogations (3 versions)...

In this third volume of the series Abraham Ibn Ezra's Astrological Writings, Seal (Jewish philosophy, Bar-Ilan U.) presents the first critical edition, with English translation and commentary, of seven astrological texts by Ibn Ezra (1092-1167), a Jew who was raised and educated in the context of Arabic Spain. They cover three systems of astrology: elections — finding the best time to begin a particular activity, interrogations — answering questions related to daily life, and the astrological theory behind the doctrine of critical days when marked changes take place in the symptoms of a disease. Ibn Ezra himself thought the three were related, he says, both technically and because they were all a relief from the usual nativities and historical astrology. Extensive scholarly paraphernalia are provided, including separate English-Hebrew glossaries of technical terms for each of the three sets of documents. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Abraham Kuyper; an annotated bibliography 1857-2010.

This impressive reference contains lengthy annotation for each of the works written by the influential and tireless Neo-Calvinist theologian, who wrote on politics and current affairs as well as religion, and published his own daily newspaper. Presented in English (it was translated by Clifford Anderson of Princteon Theological Seminary), the material is organized chronologically by year of publication. Entry format includes the title in the original Dutch, with English translation, details of the original publication, including print run, dates, and subsequent provenances, and Kuiper's detailed annotation about the work. A chronological outline of Kuyper's life and work and several indexes of his works and secondary sources are also provided. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Africa yearbook; politics, economy and society south of the Sahara in 2010; v.7. (online access included)

The Yearbook is a joint effort initiated in 2004, and carried forward by the African Studies Centre in Leiden, the Institute of African Affairs in Hamburg, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Uppsala (stepping in when the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala stepped out, in 2007). From the preface: "The country-specific articles cover domestic politics, foreign affairs and socioeconomic developments in the states of sub-Saharan Africa during the calendar year under review." Overview articles introduced each of the four sub-regions, and other overviews pertain to continental developments, European-African relations, and the United Nations. The articles are based on scholarly, factual work, but there's no attempt to rein in the authors' opinions. The intended audience includes students, politicians, diplomats, journalists, business people — anyone with involvement in the continent. There is no subject index, but the online version (included with purchase of the print edition) is no doubt searchable. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Agostino Nifo De intellectu.

Spruit (Dutch language and literature, Sapienza U., Rome, Italy) offers a commentary and introductory essay, and the complete 1554 edition of Nifo's De intellectu (in Latin). In his introduction, Spruit describes the main points of the work, its intellectual origins, and its reception. A chapter-by-chapter commentary on the work follows, with summaries of each chapter's main argument. Following Nifo's text, the volume concludes with an exhaustive bibliography of primary and secondary sources and a chronology of Nifo's life and career. This is a major new resource for scholars of Platonism, particularly as related to Averroes and his interpreters. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Art and palace politics in early modern Japan, 1580s-1680s.

In this major study, Lillehof (DePaul U.) uses artistic patronage as the basis for an analysis of the shifts in power in Momoyama and early Edo Japan, tracing the political careers of emperors and warlords in Kyoto. The artistic patronage of Emperor Go-Yozei, his son Emperor Go-Mizunoo, and daughter-in-law Tofukumon'in, form the parameters of the study, with separate sections on their contributions to specific works of art, architecture, ritual, calligraphy, and cultural events. A concluding chapter discusses the relationship between emperor and warlord, as this is documented in art. A beautifully produced book, with copious color plates of superb quality, this volume marks a significant addition to the study of Japanese history and culture. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Art in Tibet; issues in traditional Tibetan art from the seventh to the twentieth century; proceedings.

The 18 papers of this proceedings were originally presented at the Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, held in Oxford in 2003. Presenting their current research, and of interest particularly to other scholars of Tibetan art history, the papers describe condition, meaning, and study of examples of wall painting, textiles, sculpture, and prayer flags, as well as questions and projects concerning history, iconography, painting technology, and ritual practice. Among the papers is Sarah E. Fraser's report on painting workshops in the 1940s, following the systematic destruction of Tibetan art and architecture during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and before; meaning and festival use of giant ritual appliqué thang kas in Gyantse, by Michael Henss; and recent textual evidence for the biography of the 17th-century Karma pa of Tibet, by Irmgard Mengele (author affiliations are not noted). Not indexed. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Between opposition and collaboration; nobles, bishops, and the German Reformations in the prince-bishopric of Bamberg, 1555-1619.

In this well-researched study, the makeup and administration of the powerful cathedral chapter in the early modern city of Bamberg is described with attention to the noble affiliations of the members, the routine practice of sending Lutheran noble boys to be educated and serve at the (Catholic) cathedral chapter, the complex and changing relationship of the prince-bishop and imperial knights, and the reasons and actual practice of sharing power between Catholic and Lutheran nobles. The twin issues of religion and power are tracked, as Ninness (Touro College, NY) traces the history of the imperial knights, individual instances of religious division and controversy, and the steps taken between the knights and prince-bishop regarding religious practice. Ninness adapted this study from his doctoral dissertation (at U. of Pennsylvania). (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Beyond victor's justice?; the Tokyo War Crimes Trial revisited.

Tanaka (history, Hiroshima City U., Japan), McCormack (law, U. of Melbourne Law School, Australia), and Simpson (law, U. of Melbourne Law School) present a collection of papers arising out of a November 2008 conference at the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law that was organized with the purpose of going beyond the "familiar victor's justice critique" of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunals organized following the defeat of Japan in World War II (not to dismiss the critique, they argue, but because it is so prevalent that it obscures under-researched aspects). Twenty-two chapters discuss such issues as the selection of the defendants and the decision not to prosecute Emperor Hirohito, provide individual examinations of the judges, analyze the proceedings, explore crimes towards China and Korea and towards the so-called "comfort women" that were not prosecuted, and consider Allied crimes that also went unprosecuted. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Brill's companion to Lucan.

Lucan was the nephew of Seneca, and like him, condemned to self suicide by Nero. His magnificent poem, Bellum civile, remained beloved throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern era. In this volume, 29 chapters delve into current approaches, reception history, and analysis of separate figures and themes on the poem. The section on reception includes an essay by Carole Newlands (U. of Colorado, Boulder) of Statius' Silvae 2.7, a bibliography of Lucan in medieval Latin, his reception in the English Renaissance, and in translations. Other topics are internal evidence for the completeness of the Bellum civile, the work as an anti-Aeneid, the Nile digression in Book 10, depiction of crime in both Lucan and Statius, and the figure of Cato. Excerpts from the poem are cited in Latin, without English translation. A complete bibliography of cited works is provided. Edited by Lucan specialist Paolo Asso (U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor), the chapters are written by Asso and an impressive group of scholars in Europe and North America. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Brill's encyclopedia of Hinduism; v.3: Society, religious specialists, religious traditions, philosophy.

This is the third volume of a five-volume reference that aims to offer in-depth yet clear and accessible information, for a broad audience of scholars, students, and general readers. The approach encompasses "the mosaic and network of Hindu traditions in all their multiplicity, and as both historical and contemporary institutions...," states editor Knut A. Jacobsen (history of religions, U. of Bergen, in the preface. Rather than a dictionary-like compendium of alphabetically arranged-short entries — a format that is essentially redundant with the Internet, where definitions and short descriptions are easily found — the encyclopedia is much more intelligently and usefully designed as a collection of in-depth research articles, arranged thematically. Volume one focused on regions, pilgrimage, deities; and volume two, on sacred text, ritual traditions, arts, concepts. Volumes four and five will include historical periods, philosophers, poets, saints, relation to other religions and traditions, contemporary issues, religious symbols, migration, and modern religious groups and teachers. The fifth volume will also contain a comprehensive index for the entire set. This third volume and the others in the set comprise an authoritative, indispensable, core reference. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831.

This impressive history details for the first time in English the political activities of the Bulgars and their relationship with the Byzantines in the Middle Ages. Sophoulis (history, U. of Athens, Greece), who bases the volume on his 2005 PhD thesis (from Oxford U.), provides a focused narrative account of the complex events and politics of the era, detailing the agendas and histories of the various players, and the larger geopolitical situation, including Byzantium's concurrent struggles with the Abbasids. A detailed analysis of the sources for the history is the subject of chapter one. An exhaustive bibliography is provided. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The China economy yearbook; v.5.

This is an abridged translation of an annual report on the Chinese economy organized by the Analysis and Forecast Project Group for China's Economic Situation of the Institute of Economics, China Academy of Social Science. It brings together researchers from Chinese government sectors, scientific research organizations, and institutes of higher learning for analysis of China's economic performance in 2009 and forecasts for 2010 that are based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Twenty-four chapters review macroeconomic issues, the performance of different economic sectors, issues of foreign trade, and the like. Analyses and forecasts of the economic situations for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao are also included. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

China's education development and policy, 1978-2008.

The Ford Foundation supported translation of this volume, and Brill collaborated with the Social Sciences Academic Press (Beijing) to publish it so that an international audience can study China's education issues and approaches in a review of the past 30 years. Eight contributions offer discussion of policy-making mechanisms, early childhood care, special education, migrant children, vocational education, higher education, issues pertaining to ethnic minorities, and private education policy development. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The China educational development yearbook; v.3.

Co-published by Brill and Social Sciences Academic Press (China), this volume makes available to an international audience thorough discussion of education issues that were at the forefront in China during 2009. Among the topics addressed in 18 chapters: a national outline for medium and long-term educational reform and development, pre-school education, the "school selection rush" in primary and secondary schools, distance education, performance-based pay for teachers, corruption in university admissions, and migrant children, among other topics. The appendices include statistics pertaining to education and educational expenditures during 2008, as well as a chronology of pertinent events. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The China legal development yearbook; v.5.

This annual publication leads off with a general report on developments pertaining to the rule of law in China during 2009. Following are special reports on the "National Human Rights Action Plan," international law and overseas Chinese cultural relics, military legislation, and the rule of law in SAR Macao ten years after its return to China. Subsequent articles discuss various aspects of constitutional, administrative, criminal, civil, and labor and social law. Following are chapters devoted to various regions in China, and reports from field work on rural land circulation, corporate social responsibility, and rural medical services. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The China society yearbook; v.5.

For scholars, business people, and policy makers, the fifth volume in this series, now in its tenth year, comprises 16 chapters written by contributing experts under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' research group for the "Analysis and Forecast of the Social Situation." The focus is on steps China is taking toward growth (away from the current financial crises), organization of the growth, and the restructuring of policy pertaining to employment, education, health, and urban-rural issues, among other topics. A section of statistical charts presents data on GDP, population changes, price indexes, income and expenses, construction, and student enrollment rates, among other topics. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Civic ideology, organization, and law in the rule scrolls; a comparative study of the covenanters' sect and contemporary voluntary associations in political context.

The sect associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls (here called the "Covenanters") was remarkably similar in its associational organizational and regulatory features to many other voluntary associations, both Jewish and non-Jewish, despite their separations of language, space, and time. Rather than ascribe these similarities to mere "influence" by Hellenistic and Roman associations, Gillihan (theology, Boston College) argues that these commonalities arise out of common associational responses to the state that articulated associational positions on state legitimacy and authority and the role of the association within the socio-political context imposed by the state. Based on this perspective, he analyzes the organization and regulation of the Covenanters found in the rules of the Dead Sea Scrolls as an articulation and implementation of an alternative associational civic ideology that sought to assert the particular interests, identity, and status of the Covenanters through an ideological assertion of a state-in-the-making, a future political entity governed strictly by the proper interpretation of the Torah. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Collected courses of the Xiamen Academy of International Law; v.3, 2010.

Addressing legal issues of international import, each of the five articles of this collection present an overview of their topic, including full bibliography. The articles include the international law of watercourses, by Patricia Wouters (U. of Dundee, Scotland), which focuses on international water law throughout Asia; the system of relationships underlying international law, by Malcolm N. Shaw (U. of Leicester, the UK); and recent reforms of contract law involving harmonization and unification, by Ole Lando (emeritus, Copenhagen U., Denmark). The first article addresses new trends in international law, by Stephan Hobe (Cologne U., Germany), with attention to the impact of globalization and separate sections on the following five areas of international law: use of force, humanitarian, economic and investment, environment, and air and space. The volume is not indexed. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Compliance and compromise; the jurisprudence of gender pay equity.

Chen (international studies, George Mason U.) investigates the compliance of national legal systems with international labor standards on gender pay equity (the core International Labour Organization's Convention No. 100 on Equal Renumeration) through the application of the transnational legal process theory of Harold Koh, who has described it as defining "the process whereby an international law rule is interpreted through the interaction of transnational actors in a variety of law-declaring fora, then internalized into a nation's domestic legal system," with the process comprised of the internalization of the international norm into domestic normative systems, the interpretation of an applicable global norm, and the interaction of transnational actors. The argument is pursued through analysis of how domestic legislative systems have internalized principles of gender pay equity following ratification of the Convention, the interpretation of the Convention by domestic judiciaries, the interaction of relevant institutions dealing with the principle of gender pay equity, and comparative analysis of the wildly divergent records of compliance in Canada and Japan. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Conventional correspondence; epistolary culture of the Dutch elite, 1770-1850.

Letter writing within that class during that period was more than a form of communication, says Ruberg (cultural history, Utrecht U., The Netherlands), but also a social interaction subject to rules as elaborated as those of table manners or paying calls. She explores how correspondence actually functioned in practice, paying special attention to what norms were attached to the exchange of letters within and between families and how letters could serve as a medium to demonstrate, teach, or learn correct behavior. She broadens the conventional scope of the study of egodocuments — autobiographies, diaries, and letters — by considering the form of the letters as well as their content. She covers epistolary theory, everyday correspondence, children's letters, adolescents' letters, and ceremonial correspondence. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)