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The content derives from the British Academy’s public lecture programme which presents specialist research in an accessible manner. The papers range in subject matter over history, sociology, politics, psychology and literature, demonstrating the depth and breadth of scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that the British Academy champions.

This book explores the history of Czechoslovakia, a state neglected in British historiography, but which is vital for understanding Europe after 1918. The country twice lost its independence, firstly to Adolf Hitler's Germany and then to Joseph Stalin's USSR — events that sent shock waves through the continent. The fourteen chapters deal with four main subject areas: aspects of Czech national society, the Czechs' relationship with Slovaks and Germans, and the British dimension.

This volume is a study of revolution, genocide and national identity in Bosnia-Hercegovina during World War II. It explains the civil war between two rival guerrilla movements — the Partisans and the Chetniks — both in terms of long-term socio-economic and cultural fissures in Bosnia-Hercegovina, and in terms of short-term differences in policy and ideology. A chronological narrative history of the Bosnian Partisan movement allows the reader to understand how it evolved, as it first provoked the emergence of its Chetnik rival, and was then forced to adapt under pressure from the latter.

The process of European integration is marked both by continued deepening and widening, and by growing evidence of domestic disquiet and dissent. Against this background, this book examines three key themes: the challenge to the power of member states – as subjects of European integration – to determine the course of the integrationist project and to shape European public policies; the constraints in the domestic political arena experienced by member states as objects of European integration; and the contestation over both the ‘constitutive politics of the EU’ and specific policy choices. These three themes – power, constraint, and contestation – and their interdependence are explored with specific reference to Germany. The main findings call for a revision of the ‘conventional wisdom’ about Germany's Europeanization experience. First, while Germany continues to engage intensively in all aspects of the integration process, its power to ‘upload’ – ‘hard’ and ‘soft’, ‘deliberate’ or ‘unintentional’, ‘institutional’ or ‘ideational’ – appears in decline. Germany's capacity to ‘shape its regional milieu’ is challenged by both changes in the integration process and the ever-more-apparent weaknesses of the ‘German model’. The traditional regional core milieu is shrinking in size and importance in an enlarging Europe, and Germany's milieu-shaping power is being challenged. Second, the coincidence of enabling and constraining effects is being progressively replaced by a discourse that notes unwelcome constrictions associated with EU membership.

Giuseppe Mazzini – Italian patriot, humanist, and republican – was one of the most celebrated and revered political activists and thinkers of the 19th century. This volume compares and contrasts the perception of his thought and the transformation of his image across the world. Mazzini's contribution to the Italian Risorgimento was unparalleled; he stood for a ‘religion of humanity’; he argued against tyranny, and for universal education, a democratic franchise, and the liberation of women. The chapters in this book reflect the range of Mazzini's political thought, discussing his vision of international relations, his concept of the nation, and the role of the arts in politics. They detail how his writings and reputation influenced nations and leaders across Europe, the Americas, and India. The book links the study of political history to the history of art, literature and religion, modern nationalism, and the history of democracy.

The rulers of Venice prided themselves on their unique brand of justice, which was a source of both ridicule and admiration for foreign commentators. This book uncovers what this special justice meant for ordinary subjects by studying the history of one of the oldest magistracies of the city, a body responsible for handling petty market crime and small-claims litigation. It examines how changing ideas about justice at the level of the political elite were related to judicial and policing practices in the courtroom and on the street. The book shows how failure to invest in the state bureaucracy allowed corruption to flourish and effectively delegated power to private interest groups such as the guilds. At the same time, it reveals that the bottom level of civil justice was fast, cheap, and accessible. Everyone had the chance to be heard, and the poor and disadvantaged could hope for justice along with the rich and powerful.

This book covers one of the most important and persistent problems in nineteenth-century European diplomacy, the Eastern Question. The Eastern Question was essentially shorthand for comprehending the international consequences caused by the gradual and apparently terminal decline of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. This volume examines the military and diplomatic policies of Russia as it struggled with the Ottoman Empire for influence in the Balkans and the Caucasus. The book is based on extensive use of Russian archive sources and it makes a contribution to our understanding of issues such as the development of Russian military thought, the origins and conduct of the 1828–1829 Russo-Turkish War, the origins and conduct of the 1826–1828 Russo-Persian War and the Treaty of Adrianople. The book also considers issues such as the Russian army's use of Balkan irregulars, the reform of the Danubian Principalities (1829 –1834), the ideas of the ‘Russian Party’ and Russian public opinion toward the Eastern Question.