BRILL

Islam and Muslims in Germany.

Volume seven of the Muslim Minorities series, Islam and Muslims in Germany explores the diverse topic with contributors from wide-ranging fields including geography, sociology, religious studies, law, literature, and history. Al-Hamarneh (human geography, U. of Mainz, Germany) and Thielman (managing director, Kompetenzzentrum Orient-Okzident Mainz KOOM, U. of Mainz, Germnay) section the book into seven parts: framing of Muslim life worlds (Lebenswelten), Islam and social practice, communities and identities, culture, media, gender, and economies. Each section contains multiple chapters from 25 contributors, the majority of whom are based in Germany. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Israel in the wilderness; interpretations of the biblical narratives in Jewish and Christian traditions.

The series publishes conference proceedings and monographs dealing with early interpretations of Biblical narrative material by and for specialist scholars and students in the relevant literary corpora. Here the focus is the narrative of Israel's sojourn from the east bank of the Red Sea to the east bank of the Jordon River. The tale was most immediately a setting for the Law of Moses, but as the centuries rolled by, it became a trove that Jewish and Christian storytellers mined for material. The 12 essays look at examples such as Philo's interpretation of Korah, Josephus' view of the Amalekites, the wilderness narrative of the apostolic fathers, and manna traditions. They were written in conjunction with some meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature that is not further cited. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism; Myoshinji, a living religion.

Borup (Aarhus U., Denmark) is a specialist in Buddhism, and here draws on material he used for his Ph.D. in theology at Aarhus to investigate a contemporary Japanese Zen Buddhist sect. He focuses on living aspects, including the human beings, the religious institution, and the religious practice. Myoshinji is the largest of the 15 Rinzai sects and a good representative of them, he says, and though the kind of sect that Suzuki favored, has been little studied. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The Jews in Sicily; v.12: Notaries of Palermo; pt.3.

Volume 12 of The Jews in Sicily series, this meticulously thorough resource of primary sources identifies primary legal documents, the majority appearing in publication for the first time. These documents include notarial deeds drawn by Palermo public notaries as well as cases brought before the Pretorian Court in Palermo. Information includes trade and commerce, crafts, profession, and religious and family life, shedding light on community organization and institutions, the synagogue, education, customs, and tradition and also illustrating the lives of the minority Jews on Sicily and their relations with the Christian majority. Simonsohn (Professor Emeritus, Jewish History, Tel Aviv U.) includes a glossary as well as three indexes portioned by person, geographical place, and subject. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Justification and participation in Christ; the development of the Lutheran doctrine of justification from Luther to the Formula of concord (1580).

To Luther, Christ's real presence is in the believer, and those who followed agreed. How they differed was in the participation of the individual in justification. Vainio (systematic theology and ecumenical theology, U. of Helsinki) ably traces the doctrinal development of Lutheran justification from Luther's perceptions of the Christ as the form of faith to the idea of justification operating as the renewal of the intellect and the will as proposed by Melanchthon, the controversies over interpretation of Luther as exemplified by Osiander and Flacius, the synthesis of extremes attempted by Morlin and Chemnitz, and, in a remarkable series of chapters, the work of theologians who supported the Christ-centered efforts in the formation of the Formula of Concord, succinctly covering how the wide ranges of thought came together to a remarkable extent. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Kingship in early medieval China.

Eisenberg (history, Northeastern Illinois U., Chicago) begins with the peculiar institution by which a senior and junior emperor ruled together. His explanation for how that came about leads to the politics of imperial succession and kinship politics, and from there to an overarching analysis of patterns of political action. The field he considers ranges from the late 300s through the 650s, covering the Northern Dynasties and the early Tang. The politics of succession and kinship politics was so enmeshed in the Northern Dynasties, he says, that they are now essentially indistinguishable, though by the Tang era, they had become more distinct. Some of the chapters have been published as separate articles. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Konfession, migration und elitenbildung; studien zur theologenausbildung des 16. jahrhunderts.

These 15 papers address the education of academic theologians and clergy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, describing the training programs and curricula intended to produce Church elite. They show why students moved from university to university in search of programs, and explain how a network of learning and communication developed as a result. Topics of individual papers include migratory evangelism, control of religious and elite secular students, Luther and his cohorts, Vermigli and Aristotle, Vermigli and the primacy of scripture, theology students in Basel from 1542 to 1642, a school protocol of 1563, Dutch confessional theology and the development of reformation, analytical theology, the relationship between Hyperious and Villavicencio, the didacticism and pedagogy of Johann Valentin Andreas, Moller's place between secular and sacred, Leonardus Marius and the Catholic mission to The Netherlands, and the development of a trans-European perspective. Two papers are in English; all others are in German. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Korea yearbook; v.1: Politics, economy and society, 2007

Like it's German language predecessor, Korea — Politik, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft, this yearbook combines refereed scholarly articles with concise overviews of North and South Korean domestic politics and economy, inter-Korean relations, and the foreign relations of both countries for 2006-2007. Topics addressed by the scholarly articles selected by editors Frank (East Asian economy and society, U. of Vienna, Austria), Hoare (formerly of the British Diplomatic Service), Köllner (acting director, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Germany), and Pares (also formerly of the British Diplomatic Service) include online grassroots journalism and participatory democracy in South Korea, the Lone Star corruption scandal, changing perceptions of inward foreign direct investment in South Korea (1998-2006), the emergence of China and the economy of South Korea, hybrid modernism in Korean cityscapes, new ancestral shrines in South Korea, the political economy of patriotism, the plight of North Koreans in China, and the history of the Sino-Korean border from the 18th century to the 20th. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Latin American trade agreements, rev. ed.

The original edition and four subsequent updates (published by Martinus Nijhoff) are presented by Transnational in a binding that accommodates removal and insertion of looseleaf pages. The material is divided into sections that discuss the history of Latin American economic integration, the Latin American Integration Association, MERCOSUR, the Andean community, the G-3 Accord and the Central American Integration System (SIGA). The volume concludes with discussion of the rules and laws associated with the free trade area of the Americas, MERCOSUR, and NAFTA. Numerous appendices and a full bibliography are included. It is not indexed. O'Keefe is president of Mercosur Consulting in Washington DC, teaches economic integration at Johns Hopkins and George Washington U., and has a history of activity with human rights operations in Chile. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Le Sucre; production, commercialisation et usages dans la méditerranée médiévale.

This is a brilliant, erudite and well-written book, accessible to those who read French. Today sugar is a staple in most homes; but once, to Western peoples it was a rare and exotic spice. Ouerfelli, who received his doctorate from the Pantheon-Sorbonne, is now professor of history at the University of Provence. In his study of how sugar was introduced into the Mediterranean world, he delves into every aspect of the process. This work integrates economic, political and social history, adding information on the growing and refining of sugar, its initial use as a medicine and how it gradually became available to the average person. Using sources in Latin, Italian, Old French and Arabic, Ouerfelli provides insight from all the regions affected by the sugar trade; and he even gives medieval recipes! By using sugar as the focal point of his story, Ouerfelli sheds light on all aspects of medieval life in both Europe and the Near East. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The legacy of Nuremberg; civilising influence or institutionalised vengeance?

This collection of articles addresses the trial in its full social and historical context, including its effect on the process of building a system of international law and rebuilding societies, on the investigation of international crimes, in post-1945 responses to genocide, and current responses to collective crimes of aggression. Other subjects include the success of Leste's reconciliation commission, models of tribunals, the operation of the International Criminal Court, and Australia's parallel prosecution of Japanese war criminals. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Locutio angelica; die diskussion der engelsprache als antizipations einer sprechakttheorie in mittelalter und früher neuzeit.

Roling (medieval Latin and neo-Latin, U. of Münster, Germany) has undertaken an ambitious history in this substantial work, where the notion of "locutio angelica", or speech of the angels, is carefully traced from its origins in the neoplatonic thought of Late Antiquity, through the Middle Ages, and into the early modern era. Roling demonstrates how the locutio angelica was significant for its connection to the notion of speech-act, and therefore to the early philosophy of communication and linguistics, discussed by philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment, Protestant theologians, and the Jesuits. The volume is written in German. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The Lord's Supper in the New Testament.

German academic theologian Eichhorn (1856-1926) investigates whether the Lord's Supper as recounted by the Synoptic Gospels and Paul was the first celebration of Maundy Thursday, or the first Good Friday sermon, and so the interpretation of Christ's death. The historico-critical method is deficient, he argues, and so he uses the history of religion method, which focuses on what the text meant to its writer and readers rather than any correspondence to extra-Christian events. In addition to Abendmahl im Neuen Testament, Cayzer translates for this edition essays by Hugo Gressmann on Eichorn and the history of religion school, and an article by Eichhorn on sacred history. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Marine conservation agreements; the law and policy of reservations and vetoes.

The ability of states to opt out of, or even veto, measures adopted by marine conservation and management organizations may contribute to the decline of living marine resources. Schiffman (global affairs, New York University) examines the extent to which objection procedures, specific reservation provisions, and vetoes (known collectively as exemptive provisions) have been used in the history of key marine conservation and management regimes and the impact they have had. The book explores the evolving legal landscape that informs and potentially limits the use of exemptive provisions in marine conservation and management regimes, drawing on classic treaty law, the law of reservations, the law of the sea, and the developing field of international environmental law. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The material and the ideal; essays in medieval art and archaeology in honour of Jean-Michel Spieser.

Specialists in the history of late antique and Byzantine art and architecture are the contributors to this commemorative volume. Funeral practices, court ceremonial, and architectural use are some of the topics; other papers focus on the use of a single object or their creation. The result is a wide-ranging examination of the use and meaning of objects and buildings mainly in the eastern Mediterranean. Six of the articles are in French, six in English, and one is in German. A group of b&w plates conclude the volume. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Max Planck yearbook of United Nations law; v.11, 2007.

The articles in this volume comment on recent U.N. law, with a special section containing four papers delivered at the Expert Seminar on How to speed up Implementation of the Right to Adequate Food at the International Level, held at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany in September 2006. The topics include the non- aligned movement and the reform of international relations, the International Seabed Authority, the Second Lebanon War, the acts of the Security Council, the impact on the United Nations of the "information society", and the protection of minorities and indigenous peoples. Also included is an LL.M. thesis (jointly from the U. of Heidelberg and the U. of Chile) on the nationality of juridical persons in the ICSID convention in light of its jurisprudence. The volume is not indexed. Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Mercenaries and paid men; the mercenary identity in the Middle Ages; proceedings.

Medieval lords had vassals who owed them military service; the problem was that for most of them it was temporary, for at best a few months at a time. For more protracted conflict, the lords hired mercenaries; and all warring cultures did so: Merovingian, Viking, Norman, Lithuanian, Spanish and Hungarian. The Sultans of Egypt and the kings of Jerusalem made use of them, and the cost of these men brought down governments. France (medieval history, Swansea University, UK) has edited the proceedings of a 2005 conference on mercenaries, which convened to further understanding about these men — who they were and how they fit in to medieval society. There are papers by some of the more respected names in the field. Coverage includes the hiring of soldiers from late antiquity to the seventeenth century, and how they were used and paid for. This is an excellent addition to the history of medieval warfare. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Method in unit delimitation.

Eight papers from Pericope Group meeting in Groningen in 2004, Edinburgh in 2006 and Vienna in 2007 look at methods for determining textual divisions of scripture written in ancient scripts. Among their topics are paragraphing in a Tibero-Palestinian manuscript of the Prophets and Writings, hierarchy and meaning of the accents, and graphic devices used by the editors of ancient and medieval manuscripts to mark verse-lines in classical Hebrew poetry. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Modern law of the sea; selected essays.

Anderson (former judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea) presents 15 essays concerning modern maritime law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and largely concerned with its expressions in the UK. Topics include: rights of passage and marine pollution, straits used for international navigation, the legal regime of the straits around Great Britain, the early practice of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and port state powers in the modern law of the sea. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Monstrous fishes and the Mead-Dark Sea; whaling in the medieval North Atlantic.

Szabo, now professor of ancient and medieval history at Western Carolina University, is fascinated by whales. In studies of medieval economics or food production, whales are rarely mentioned. Art and utensils made from whale bone are supposed to come from stranded whales, if the source is even considered. Szabo changes all this. In her wonderful monomania, she has researched the early perceptions of whales in Europe, the methods used in hunting them, the many uses made of them and how they improved the economy of the communities in which whalers lived or sold the catch. The focus is on Northern European lands but there was also a Basque group of whalers. Szabo's enthusiasm is infectious; the book is fascinating, shedding light on a little-known aspect of medieval culture. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)