Exhibition of books, acquired by the National Library of Russia
through the Exchange Program of the Library of Congress in 2009
The exhibition of the new foreign literature, received by exchange from the U.S. Library of Congress, shows more than 600 items of various American and European publishers, such as Cambridge and Oxford universities, Brill, Palgrave, Brepols, Edwin Mellen Press, Simon and Schuster, Norton, Alfred Knopf, alongside Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Columbia and other American universities.
A central place in the exhibition is occupided by the literature on the history and culture of the United States. A number of publications feature the colonial period in American history. For instance, Jaap Jacobs in his book New Netherland. A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America / Leiden, 2005 / explores Dutch penetration into America, using archival material. Anglo-French rivalry in Nova Scotia in the 18th century is the subject of the book by John Grenier The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia 1710-1760 / Norman, 2008 /.
The War for Independence of the late 18th century, which resulted in the formation of the United States of America, is one of the most popular themes in American historiography. The exhibition presents a new biography of George Washington, prepared by Peter Lillback / Lillback P. George Washington's Sacred Fire. Bryn Mawr, 2006 /, and the book by Peter Whiteley, devoted to British Prime Minister Frederick Lord North / 1770-1782 / and his incompetent policies that led to Britain's loss of the American colonies / Whiteley P. Lord North. The Prime minister who lost America. London, 1996 /.
Another important milestone in American history is the civil war, which ended slavery and became a starting point in building a new American society. The first mention should include the new works by Hans Trefousse and Douglas Wilson, dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, one of the most popular American presidents: /Trefousse H. First among Equals. Abraham Lincoln's Reputation during His Administration. New York, 2005 /,
/ Wilson D. The Presidency and the Power of Words: Lincoln's Sword. New York, 2006 /. A number of monographs describe the course of the hostilities. In particular, we would like to draw attention to the book by Stephen Woodworth Decision in the Heartland. The Civil War in the West / Westport, 2008 /.
In the seven volums of collected articles The Second World War / Aldershot, 2007 /, readers can find many interesting publications that analyze role of the United States in this war. First of all, the articles deal with the Pacific War against Japan, the North African Campaign and the Second Front opened by the USA in Western Europe in 1944.
The book by Raymond McMaster Dereliction of Duty. Lindon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that led to Vietnam / New York, 1997 / proves that American military intervention in Vietnam was not inevitable, as commonly thought, and demonstrates convincingly that the president's inner circle was chiefly responsible for an escalation of the conflict in Southeast Asia.
Publications on national history and culture are undoubtly able to excite interest of readers. The most notable among them is a collection of articles Russia between East and West. Scholarly Debates on Eurasianism / Leiden, 2007 /.
Eurasian doctrine, widespread among Russian emigrants in the 20 years of the twentieth century, became a response to the Western and Slavophile conceptions that had dominated the Russian historical and philosophical thought for a long time. Monograph by May Smith The Influence of Franch on Eighteenth-Century Literary Russian. Semantic and Phraseological Calques / Oxford, 2006 / is an important research source for exploring the Russian language and literature of that era. Michael Beran in his book Forge of Empires 1861-1871. Three Revolutionary Statesmen and the World They Made / New York, 2007 / gives a comparative study of the political activities of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, the American President Abraham Lincoln and the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. All of them, in the author's opinion, have one thing in common. During the ten years from 1861 to 1871, they radically changed the destiny of their nations, and uncovered a new pathway in the development of their countries.
At the display, readers can see the new book on the history of various European countries, including England, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Italy and others. Albert Ferreiro's reference resource The Visigoths in Gaul and Iberia. A Supplementary Bibliography 1984-2003 is an essential tool for anyone involved in the study of the early history of Spain. The monograph by George Garnett Conquered England. Kingship, Succession, and Tenure 1066-1166. Oxford, 2007 / illustrates a major era in Britain's history - the transition period from the Anglo-Saxon state to the Norman feudal society. Books by S.Connolly Contested Island: Ireland 1460-1630 / Oxford, 2007 / and Paul Bew Ireland: The Politics of Enmity 1789-2006 / Oxford, 2007 / touch on fundamental problems of Irish history from the late Middle Ages to the present day.
In addition, the exhibition devotes a section to new works on the history of Christianity. The monograph by Peter Hatlie The Monks and Monasteries of Constantinople 350-850 / Cambridge, 2007 / is dedicated to an important period in the history of monasticism in Constantinople, when it exerted an unprecedented impact on all aspects of life in the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
A Companion to Richard Hooker / Leiden, 2008 / contains basic information about the life and work of this prominent 16th century English theologian and one of the founders of Anglican theological thought. The Cambridge Companion to the Jesuits / Ed. Worcester T. Cambridge, 2008 / provides general information on the history of this famous monastic order.
Among the publications on the philosophy, special consideration should be paid to researches on ancient philosophical thought. Namely, the exhibition presents such books as The Transformation of Plato's Republic by Kenneth Dorter / Lanham. 2006 /, The Houshold as the Foundation of Aristotle's Polis by Brendan Nagle / Cambridge, 2006 /, a collection of articles The Libraries of the Neoplatonists / Ed. D'Ancina Ch. Leiden, 2007 /.
Bibliographical references to books and articles published on medieval military history and technology / De Vries K. A Cumulative Bibliography of Medieval Military History and Technology Update 2003-2006. Leiden, 2008/ would be useful for those who are engaged in research in military history. Here readers can find the new literature on the chivalrous orders and crusades, the Arab conquests and the Hundred Years' War, the arms for soldiers of that time and fortress building. David Lawrence in his interesting monograph The Complete Soldier. Military Books and Military Culture in Early Stuart England 1603-1645 / Leiden, 2009 / first explored English publications of the first half of 17th century intended to teach the English about the art of war, and their influence on the military practices of the time.
Publications in the various fields of art and philology occupy a large part of the exhibition. Here you can see new work on the ancient literature. Items worthy of notice include a series of books issued by Brill, related to the works of such poets as Pindar / Boeke H. The Value of Victory in Pindar's Odes. Gnomai, Cosmology and the Role of the Poet. Leiden, 2007 / Ion of Chios / The World of Ion of Chios. Leiden, 2007 /, Euripides / Luschnig C. Granddaughter of the Sun. A Study of Euripides' Medea. Leiden, 2007 /, Ovid / Green S. Ovid; Fasti I. A Commentary. Leiden, 2004 / as well as Mary Plaza's monograph The Function of Humour in Roman Verse Satire / Oxford, 2008 /.
Books in the subject of medieval literature are of great interest for specialists. Richard North in his book The Origins of Beowulf. From Vergil to Wiglaf / Oxford, 2006 / suggests that the dating of this famous Old English poem needs to be re-evaluated. The Dutch scholar E.van Opstall has prepared a substantial edition of works by the Byzantine poet Jean Géomètre / Jean Géomètre. Poèmes en hexamètres et en distiques élégianques. Ed. E.van Opstall. Leiden, 2008 /.
It is impossible not to mention new researches on the literary heritage of such great Italian poets Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarca / Dante and the Franciscans.ed. Casciani S. Leiden, 2006; Petrarch and the Textual Origins of Interpretation. Ed. Barolini T. Leiden, 2007 / and the most famous English Medieval poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer / Minnis A. Fallible Authors. Chaucer's Pardoner and Wife of Bath. Philadelphia, 2008/. Paul Smith in his book Dispositio: Problematic Ordering in French Renaissance Literature / Leiden, 2007 / gives new interpretation of a number of literary texts of the Renaissance, including writings of François Rabelais and Michel Montaigne.
It should also draw attention to biography of the 19th century prominent American poet Henry Longfellow Longfellow Redux / Urbana, 2006 /, written by Christoph Irmscher as well as the biography of English poet and playwright Robert Browning The Dramatic Imagination of Robert Browning. A Literary Life by R.Kennedy / Columbia, 2007 /.
Among the publications on art, we would like to mention albums and studies of the works of various American artists.
One of them is devoted to the largest American modernist Marsden Hartley /1877-1943 / - / Hole H. Marsden Hartley and the West. The Search for an American Modernism. New Haven, 2007 /, the other tells the story of the greatest American landscape painter of the 19th century George Inness /1825-1894 / / De Lue R. George Inness and the Science of Landscape. Chicago, 2008 /, the third is about the famous American master of portrait painting Cecilia Beaux / 1855-1940 / / Cecilia Beaux. American Figure Painter. Atlanta, 2008 /.
Also noteworthy are books on music, theater and cinema. Here are just a few examples of them:
Recomposing German Music. Politics and Musical Tradition in Cold War Berlin by Elizabeth Dzhenik / Leiden, 2005 /, Cinema of the Filippines. A History and Filmography, 1897-2005 by Brian Yeatter / Jefferson, 2007 /,
The English Chorister. A History by Alan Mould / London, 2007 /, The Real Ireland. The Evolution of Ireland in documentary Film by Harrah O 'Brian / Manchester, 2004 /, and
the biography of Elton John by David Buckley / Buckley D. Elton. The Biography. Chicago, 2007 /.
The exhibition features a significant amount of the literature on the countries and nations of the East, including China, India, Japan, Tibet, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, etc.
Specialists in Chinese history and culture may be interested in such books as Telling Stories. Witchcraft and Scapegoating in Chinese History by B.Haar / Leiden, 2008 /, The Poetry of He Zhu / 1052-1125 /. Genres, Contexts, and Creativity by S.Sargent / Leiden, 2007 /, Painting Faith. Li Gonglin and Northern Song Buddhist Culture by Pan An-yi / Leiden, 2007 /, Cultivating Perfection. Mysticism and Self-Transformation in Early Quanzhen Daoism by L.Komjathy / Leiden, 2007 /.
The highlight of the publications on Japan is the Oxford Handbook of Japanese Mythology by M.Ashkenazi issued in 2008. The study of the Danish orientalist Jorn Borup Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism. Myoshinji, a living religion / Leiden, 2008 / narrates about one of the most important trends in the Japanese Zen Buddhism.
A number of publications focus on the main problems of history and culture of India. The book by Klaus Klostermaier A Survey of Hinduism / New York, 2007 / may become a valuable guide to one of the world's oldest religions, ranked third by number of adherents, after Christianity and Islam. In addition, priority attention should be given to the collection of articles by British Orientalist J.Burton-Page Indian Islamic Architecture. Forms and Typoligies, Sites and Monuments / Leiden, 2008 / as well as the substantial edition Theory and Practice of Yoga. Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson, which was released in Leiden in 2005 by Brill Publishers. The monograph by Robert Travers Ideology and Empire in Eighteenth Century India. The British in Bengal. / Cambridge, 2007 / is dedicated to problems of development of colonial India. Issues related to solving the problem of Kashmir are examined in the book Mohan Bhandari / Solving Kashmir. New Delhi, 2006 /.
A series of writings illustrates some of the problems of the history of Tibet. In particular, the book Discoveries in Western Tibet and the Western Himalayas. Essays on History, Literature, Archaeology and Art / Leiden, 2007 / contains articles on various aspects of the secular, religious, economic and cultural history of this area of Tibet from ancient civilization of Shang Shung up to now. The book Nomads of Eastern Tibet. Social Organization and Economy of a Pastoral Estate in the Kingdom of Dege by Rinzina Dargye / Leiden, 2007 / tells the story of one of the ancient state formations on the territory of Tibet and the role of nomadic peoples in its development.
Current problems of the modern Middle East are also reflected in the exhibition. Gabriel Marranchi in his work of Jihad beyond Islam / Oxford, 2006 / shows how this difficult concept in Islamic culture has become nowadays a synonym for terrorism. The former American President Jimmy Carter in his book Palestine peace not apartheid / New York, 2006 / evaluates the present-day status of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggests ways to resolve it. The book Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival and the Struggle for Iraq by Patrick Cockburn / New York, 2008 / is devoted to the problem of Iraq and the radical Iraqi Shiite leader, head of the Shiite paramilitary organization Mahdi Army, offering resistance against the international occupation forces in Iraq.
Michael Ledeen analyzes the American-Iranian relations over the past decades and describes the role of Iran in the terrorist activities of Islamic fundamentalists in his book The Iranian Time Bomb. The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction. / New York. 2007 /.
