Michael Roberts – författare

After three-quarters of a century in which Sweden had been reckoned as one of the great powers of Europe, it fell almost overnight into the position of being one of the weakest. But if in international affairs this was a period of decrepitude, in domestic affairs it was a period of remarkable achievements. Between 1720 and 1772 Sweden had the most advanced constitution in Europe. Foreign observers regarded her as 'the freest country in the world'. To an analysis of the principles and practice of the constitution, and of the nature and functioning of Swedish parties, the central chapters of this book are devoted. The final chapter attempts to explain why it was that in 1772 Gustav III was so easily able to bring the Age of Liberty to an end, and why an egalitarian social revolution, which had seemed imminent, was temporarily aborted by his coup d'état.

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Most people, when they think about the purported conflict between science and religion, would most likely think first of evangelical Protestantism. Because of the prominent place evolution versus creationism - and such events as the Scopes Trial - has had in the debates over science and religion, many people think of evangelicals as hostile to science. As with other volumes in the Greenwood Guides to Science and Religion series, this work addresses the more complex interworkings between modern science and evangelical Christianity. Creationism will feature prominently, of course, but there will be other chapters covering other aspects of this relationship - geology, environmental issues, and technology.Evangelicals and Science provides a thorough overview of the history of the relationship between these two dominant forces in public life, including chapters on evangelicals, the Bible and science, evangelicals and geology, the rise of Creationism, and evangelicals and modern science.The volume includes primary source documents to give readers a flavor of the writings of evangelicals on science, a timeline, and an annotated bibliography.

Published in 1965: This book is about the  Period in which the Whig Party was in power between 1807 - 1812. It talks about Economics, Parliamentary reforms and wars.

Published in 1965: This book is about the  Period in which the Whig Party was in power between 1807 - 1812. It talks about Economics, Parliamentary reforms and wars.

Prudentius' Peristephanon is a collection of martyr texts from a vital period for the growth of martyr cult in the West. Building on recent work on the cult of the saints and on the sacralization of the space and time, Roberts demonstrates how the Peristephanon relates to developments in late fourth century spirituality. The author examines how Prudentius creates an idiom to express devotion to the martyrs, particularly in the structuring of narrative and the use of poetic language. Roberts concludes by demonstrating how Prudentius employs the model of martyr cult to articulate the status of Christian literature, the role of the bishop in the Christian community, and the symbolic status of Rome in the Christian West. Michael Roberts is Robert Rich Professor of Latin, Wesleyan University. Jacket art: Gold-glass vase, after A.D. 350. By permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.

Caste Conflict and Elite Formation is a study in the social history of Sri Lanka. However, it does not merely document the remarkable successes in business enterprise and in the acquisition of Western-educated professional skills which were achieved by families from the Karava caste during the last two centuries; their advances, and the social and political struggles which accompanied this process, are employed as a window through which a survey of social change in Sri Lanka during the last four hundred years is conducted. The interest of the book extends beyond the many fascinating social incidents, historical trends and channels of elite formation that are described within its pages to a series of controlled comparisons which reveal the factors responsible for the formation of the Karava elite. Thus the book extends the methodological frontiers of the social history of the region. It emphasizes the significance of the patterns of caste discrimination and caste interaction in Sri Lankan politics, and reveals how these patterns were central to the incentives and opportunities which powered the advances of the Karava families.

In his Wiles Lectures for 1977 Professor Roberts examines some of the problems raised by Sweden's brief career as a great power, and seeks to answer some of the questions that flow from them. Were the underlying considerations which prompted the unexpected development geopolitical, or social, or economic? How was it possible to produce the financial resources and the manpower which the enterprise demanded? How far was seventeenth-century Sweden a militarized society? What importance had official propaganda and national myths? Did the consititutional situation help to make an expansionist foreign policy easier? The structure of the empire is next examined: its administration, the ties that held it together, the differing interests of the provinces, the varying responses of the metropolitan power was there, in fact, anything deserving the name of an imperial policy? How did the provinces view the Swedish connexion? In a final chapter the author tries to answer the question why, if Sweden could acquire an empire without undue strain, she could not retain it; why the collapse was so rapid and so total; and whether her career as a great power had real relevance to the country's subsequent history. On almost all these topics little information is available in English, and no comparable treatment of them on this scale exists in any language.

This comprehensive history of sixteenth-century Sweden has remained a standard work for English-speaking historians since its publication in 1968. It is now available in paperback for the first time. The book includes a full account of the reign of Gustav Vasa (1523-60), one of the greatest rulers of his age, and of the half-century after his death that paved the way for Sweden's emergence as a great power. Professor Roberts provides an account of the course of the Swedish Reformation: he analyses those trans-Baltic entanglements which were to assume such importance, both for Sweden and for Europe, in the next century; and he pays particular attention to the constitutional controversies which reached their climax, though not their end, with the deposition of King Sigismund and the 'Bloodbath of Linköping'.

The spectacular career of Gustav Adolf by no means established Sweden as a great power. In the four years after his death such a development became increasingly improbable. At Westphalia in 1648 the improbable became a fact; but the momentum of Swedish imperial expansion did not culminate until 1658, when Charles X imposed peace upon a prostrate Denmark. The core of this volume of four essays, by the doyen of historians of Sweden, lies in the two studies of the man who bestrode the summit. One, an examination (if Charles X's domestic policies and constitutional significance; the other, a discussion of the objectives of his foreign policy. Both are matters of controversy, and these studies attempt to assess the debate. Flanking these essays are a study of Oxenstierna's magnificent failure in Germany between 1633 and 1636, and an examination of the great controversy surrounding the death of Charles XII.

The original Faber Book of Modern Verse (1936), edited by Michael Roberts, was influential in forming the tastes of a generation and gave a concrete meaning to the phrase 'modern verse'. In order to keep the anthology a reasonably representative one containing poems written since 1936 there have been two revised editions - one by Anne ridler in 1951 and one by Donald Hall in 1965. The new edition, edited by Peter Porter, is intended to be the final one and it is published simultaneously with a reissue of Michael Roberts' original.In a short Introduction Peter Porter explains the principles which he has followed in making changes to the existing selection and in making his choice of poems which have appeared since the last edition.

First published in February 1936, just under a year from when the idea for it was first discussed, this is one of the most important and influential anthologies of the twentieth century. Since then three further editions by, in succession, Anne Ridler, Donald Hall and Peter Porter have been published. All took as their kernel the original selection by Michael Roberts. This Faber Finds reissue restores that pristine selection.More likely than not, the original idea was T. S. Eliot's, the choice of editor was undoubtedly his, and it was an inspired one. Michael Roberts was a poet himself, and a good one, but more important for this task was his acute awareness of the poetry scene, and his sense of the modern movement within it. Yes, his purpose was tendentious. He excludes some poets he admires such asEdmund Blunden and Walter de la Mare because (they) 'seem to me to have written good poems without having been compelled to make any notable development of poetic technique.' On the other hand, 'I have included only poems which seem to me to add to the resources of poetry, to be likely to influence the future development of poetry and language . . .' From the very start (and could there be a more arresting one?) with Gerard Manley Hopkins' The Wreck of the Deutschland Michael Roberts powerfully and consistently fulfils that aim. Philip Hobsbaum, in The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry, says of The Faber Book of Modern Verse, 'it also encapsulates, as no other literary document quite does, the innovative quality of the 1930s.'

Gustavus Adolphus (1594--1632) dominated his age: he made Sweden the leading power of Northern Europe, was the principal upholder of the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years War, and was a great administrator as well as a brilliant soldier. His toleration and reforms helped define the development of the modern state. This concise study of his career, by the doyen of modern historians of the North, appeared in 1973. Long unavailable but now revised, expanded, updated and reset, it makes a welcome return in Profiles in Power.

Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus, bishop of Vienne and a vigorous defender of Christian orthodoxy, was born into the senatorial aristocracy in southern Gaul in the mid-fifth century and lived until 518. The verse in Biblical and Pastoral Poetry was written in the late fifth or early sixth century. Avitus’s most famous work, the Spiritual History, narrates the biblical stories of creation, the Fall and expulsion from paradise, the Flood, and the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. He revitalizes Christian epic poetry, highlighting original sin and redemption and telling the history of Christian salvation with dramatic dialogue and rich description. In Consolatory Praise of Chastity—a verse treatise addressed to his sister, a consecrated virgin—illuminates the demands of the ascetic life from the perspective of a close family member. Avitus seeks to bolster his sister’s resolve with biblical examples of mental fortitude, constructing a robust model for female heroism. This volume presents new English translations of Avitus’s two extant poetic writings alongside the Latin texts.

The eleven books of poetry by Venantius Fortunatus include well-loved hymns, figure poems, epigrams on miracles, and elegies in the voices of abandoned or exiled women. The sixth-century poet began his career in northern Italy before moving to Gaul, where he wrote for the remainder of his life—praising kings and elites of the Merovingian dynasty and describing the natural scenery and society of his adopted homeland during the transition from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. In his lively and inventive style, Fortunatus also addressed verses to religious figures such as his patron Gregory of Tours and to holy women such as Radegund, founder of the Convent of the Holy Cross in Poitiers, and Agnes, the convent’s first abbess.Fortunatus’s imaginative metaphors and wry, self-mocking humor ensure his place in the canon of Christian Latin poets. This volume presents for the first time in English translation all of his poetry, apart from a single long saint’s life in verse.

Contemporary capitalism is always evolving. From digital technologies to cryptocurrencies, current trends in political economy are much discussed, but often little understood. So where can we turn for clarity? As Michael Roberts and Guglielmo Carchedi argue, new trends don’t necessarily call for new theory.In Capitalism in the 21st Century, the authors show how Marx’s law of value explains numerous issues in our modern world. In both advanced economies and the periphery, value theory provides a piercing analytical framework through which we can approach topics as varied as labour, profitability, automation and AI, the environment, nature and ecology, the role of China, imperialism and the state.This is an ambitious work that will appeal to both heterodox economists and labour movement activists alike, as it demonstrates the ongoing contemporary relevance of Marxist theory to current trends in political economy.

Contemporary capitalism is always evolving. From digital technologies to cryptocurrencies, current trends in political economy are much discussed, but often little understood. So where can we turn for clarity? As Michael Roberts and Guglielmo Carchedi argue, new trends don’t necessarily call for new theory.In Capitalism in the 21st Century, the authors show how Marx’s law of value explains numerous issues in our modern world. In both advanced economies and the periphery, value theory provides a piercing analytical framework through which we can approach topics as varied as labour, profitability, automation and AI, the environment, nature and ecology, the role of China, imperialism and the state.This is an ambitious work that will appeal to both heterodox economists and labour movement activists alike, as it demonstrates the ongoing contemporary relevance of Marxist theory to current trends in political economy.

In this sequel to GingerNutz: The Jungle Memoir of a Model Orangutan, we see the ginger-haired beauty cavorting about the famous landmarks of Paris and visiting the ateliers of storied fashion designers.She’s back! After becoming a breakout star in the fashion world, GingerNutz, the first Bornean-born orangutan supermodel, has landed in Paris for a whirlwind week of fittings, photo shoots and parties. Though born in humble jungle surroundings, the precocious primate quickly adjusts to life at the upper echelons of the fashion world: bookings at all the maisons de haute couture, front-row seats to the latest theater shows and hotel suites at the Ritz.In this sequel to GingerNutz: The Jungle Memoir of a Model Orangutan, we see the ginger-haired beauty cavorting about the famous landmarks of Paris – Notre Dame Cathedral, Café de Flore – and visiting the ateliers of storied fashion designers including Azzedine Alaïa, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Comme des Garçons and Dries van Noten. Being the hottest model of the moment, GingerNutz will also model the latest haute couture styles, chosen at the Fall 2018 shows in Paris by Grace Coddington. Michael Roberts’ charming text and hand-drawn illustrations capture the wonder and whimsy of a glamorous but still naïve young girl’s adventures in Paris. The story of GingerNutz was inspired by legendary model and fashion editor Grace Coddington, the longtime creative director of American Vogue and a close friend of the author.

Gustavus Adolphus (1594--1632) dominated his age: he made Sweden the leading power of Northern Europe, was the principal upholder of the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years War, and was a great administrator as well as a brilliant soldier. His toleration and reforms helped define the development of the modern state. This concise study of his career, by the doyen of modern historians of the North, appeared in 1973. Long unavailable but now revised, expanded, updated and reset, it makes a welcome return in Profiles in Power.