Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

Swan, Glenda, ReEnvisioning the Material Past: How to Educate and Engage Modern Students Using Visual Culture. 75 pp. 2023:3 (Palgrave Macmillan, UK) <700-2204>
ISBN 978-3-031-24026-3 paper ¥7,289.- (税込) EUR 29.99

This book is designed to help instructors effectively incorporate images and other aspects of material culture into their pedagogy in an engaging and relatable manner. The author draws on her personal experiences as an art historian of ancient art who instructs a wide variety of undergraduates. In addition to helping students to look and think critically, the book explores how the material culture of the past can be a potent tool in motivating student involvement with course content and sharpening skills vital for navigating contemporary culture.

Burrell, Courtney Marie, Otto Hoefler's Characterisation of the Germanic Peoples: From Sacred Men's Bands to Social Daemonism. (Ergaenzungsbaende zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 140) 440 pp. 2023:5 (de Gruyter, GW) <700-2341>
ISBN 978-3-11-103238-2 hard ¥30,374.- (税込) EUR 124.95 *

Otto Hoefler (1901-1987) was an Austrian Germanist and Scandinavist. His research on ?Germanic culture?, in particular on Germanic Maennerbuende (men’s bands), was controversial and remains a topic of academic debate. In modern discourse, Hoefler’s theories are often fundamentally rejected on account of his involvement in the National Socialist movement and his contribution to the research initiatives of the SS Ahnenerbe, or they are adopted by scholars who ignore his problematic methodologies and the ideological and political elements of his work. The present study takes a comprehensive approach to Hoefler’s research on ?Germanic culture? and analyses his characterisation of the ?Germanic peoples?, contextualising his research in the backdrop of German philological studies of the early twentieth century and highlighting elements of his theories that are still the topic of modern academic discourse. A thorough analysis of his main research theses, focusing on his Maennerbund-research, reveals that his concept of ?Germanic culture? is underscored by a belief in the deep-seated religiosity of the ?Germanic peoples? formed through sacred-daemonic forces.

Hartmann, Martina, "Es fragt die Welt nach meinem Ziel, nach deiner letzten Stunde nichts": Das Wissenschaftler-Ehepaar Hildegund und Ottokar Menzel (1910-1945). (Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungen 64) 232 S. 2023:3 (Duncker, GW) <700-2342>
ISBN 978-3-428-18796-6 paper ¥12,129.- (税込) EUR 49.90 *

Drawing on previously unused archival material, this double biography presents the lives of the married scholars Hildegund and Ottokar Menzel in hitherto unknown facets and reveals possible factors contributing to their joint suicide in early 1945. Together, the historian Ottokar Menzel, the son of a Munich orientalist, and Hildegund Rogner, a Berlin teacher’s daughter who had studied philosophy, mathematics, and physics, strove with great effort to make their way as academics under Nazi rule.

Hesketh, Ian, A History of Big History. (Elements in Historical Theory and Practice) 75 pp. 2023:6 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <700-2343>
ISBN 978-1-00-900519-7 paper ¥4,899.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00 *

Big History is a seemingly novel approach that seeks to situate human history within a grand cosmic story of life. It claims to do so by uniting the historical sciences in order to construct a linear and accurate timeline of 'threshold moments' beginning with the Big Bang and ending with the present and future development of humanity itself. As well as examining the theory and practice of Big History, this Element considers Big History alongside previous largescale attempts to unite human and natural history, and includes comparative discussions of the practices of chronology, universal history, and the evolutionary epic.

Binder, Marnie, A Pragmatist Philosophy of History. (American Philosophy Series) 156 pp. 2023:1 (Lexington Books, US) <700-111>
ISBN 978-1-79365-371-0 hard ¥21,318.- (税込) US$ 95.00

The topic of history was not a principal theme of the classical American Pragmatists, but in this book Marnie Binder presents the case for a pragmatist philosophy of history, examining supporting material from William James, John Dewey, F.C.S. Schiller, C.S. Peirce, George Herbert Mead, and Jane Addams. While the thinkers explored here have significant differences among themselves, together they provide distinct contributions to a fuller picture of what guides our selective memory and our present attention, and they indicate how this is all maintained via confirmation in the future. Philosophy needs history to help clarify meanings and concepts; part of the methodology of pragmatism is derived from history, as it is attested over time. History needs philosophy to critically analyze historical data; pragmatic interests influence how we study and record history. A Pragmatist Philosophy of History, therefore, provides a rich context for a method that brings the two disciplines together.