The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome

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Ewan Morris

"National symbols have long been highly contentious in Ireland, and they remain so today. While there have been a number of studies which have examined the role of symbols in the contemporary conflict in Northern Ireland, as yet there has been no detailed study of debates about national symbols in twentieth-century Ireland. This book fills that gap, outlining the historical background to the continuing controversy about national symbols in Ireland and shedding new light on the deep political divisions which have marked Irish society throughout this century. It focuses on the crucial period from 1922 to 1939 which saw the creation and consolidation of new governments in the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland."--Jacket.

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Richard Bradley

"Examining American politics, society, and culture from Kennedy to Nixon, this book ties all of these elements together and explains the political mythology that has made this period one of the most fascinating and important epochs in American history. One of the strengths of the book is that it not only demonstrates, but also explains, the deeper mechanisms behind our continual fascination with these three particular presidents. From the Kennedy assassination through Vietnam and Watergate, a complex web of historical events is untangled and lucidly explained. There have been few efforts to examine the nature of Kennedy's continual appeal, but no work thus far has attempted to place Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in one coherent framework that not only explains our fascination - indeed, obsession - with these individuals, but also illuminates the period in history they so dominated."--BOOK JACKET.

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Sune Haugbolle

"From 1975 to 1990, Lebanon endured one of the most protracted and bloody civil wars of the twentieth century. Sune Haugbolle's timely and often poignant book chronicles the battle over ideas that emerged from the wreckage of that war. While the Lebanese state encouraged forgetfulness and political parties created sectarian interpretations of the war through cults of dead leaders, intellectuals and activists--inspired by the example of truth and reconciliation movements in different parts of the world--advanced the idea that confronting and remembering the war was necessary for political and cultural renewal. Through an analysis of different cultural productions--media, art, literature, film, posters, and architecture--the author shows how the recollection and reconstruction of political and sectarian violence that took place during the war have helped in Lebanon's healing process. He also shows how a willingness to confront the past influenced the popular uprising in Lebanon after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri"--Provided by publisher.

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Fredrik Lindstrom

"Empire and Identity takes a novel approach to the critical last decades of the Habsburg Empire. The study uses biography to examine questions of identity and self-understanding in six lives and careers from the Austrian intellectual and political elite. The focus in the six biographies is on the problem of the Austrian state in an age of nationalist strife and constitutional conflict, on the different perceptions of this problem, and on the solutions proposed through the political engagement of these individuals."--Jacket.