Monographs 2024
Twilight of the Samurai. War, Great Powers, Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Japan (1850-1880)
Roman Kodet
A publication published by Epocha Publishing House, The Twilight of the Samurai, subtitled War, Superpowers, Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Japan (1850-1880), presents a turbulent period in Japanese history when the island empire opened up to the world and embarked on a complex path of modernisation. This era was marked by the internal pressures of a changing social structure, the external threat from Western powers opening up Japan, the Meiji Restoration (a revolution that ended the shogunate), and subsequent rapid modernization efforts to become a world power. The author's newly introduced work builds on his previous publications, The Samurai Wars (2015) and The Story of the Samurai (2018), which presented the history and world of warriors in ancient Japan. In nearly eight hundred pages, he presents a turbulent period of Japanese history in an international context. His research, spanning more than a decade, has included studies in archives and other institutions in Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany Austria, and other countries. The result is an extensive and graphically exceptional publication that represents an exceptional result of research at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of WBU.
Year of publication: 2024
Místo publikace: Praha
Publisher: Epocha
ISBN: 978-80-278-0189-3
Why We Believe Disinformation: An Argument for Strategic Communication
Tomáš Kolomazník, Štefan Sarvaš and Zdeněk Rod
This new book addresses disinformation and proposes a strategic communication approach, which the authors argue is an effective way to eliminate disinformation narratives. The book uses both theoretical interpretations and concrete examples of these two phenomena. The authors use contemporary examples from the United Kingdom, the USA, Central and Eastern Europe, and the wider global world. The authors draw together their varied experiences and backgrounds in corporate marketing and communications, state security administration, and academic research. The book's first part deals with the role of disinformation in modern society, and examines disinformation throughout history. It reflects on the impact of modern technologies on the changing nature of disinformation, primarily in the speed and method of dissemination. The second section examines why we are losing the fight against disinformation. Disinformation is not rational; it utilises cognitive biases, the mental shortcuts that help us, and misleads us in our everyday lives. To reduce the impact of disinformation narratives, we need to understand better how people decide and use cognitive biases to reduce the impact of disinformation. The third part is devoted to strategic communication, which the authors present as an effective tool to fight disinformation. This part analyses individual communication channels and how we can use them as part of strategic communication. It guides the creation of the most effective media mix to support strategic intent.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Ethic Press
ISBN: 978-1-80441-635-8
Roles and Ideologies in the Czech Foreign Policy: the Case of European Migration Crisis
Petr Drulák
The edited volume investigates the Czech response to the European migration crisis of 2015. Focusing on the discourses and practices the book analyses the foreign policy ideas which were guiding the Czech foreign policy in the period from 2014 to 2019. The chapters offer a variety of methodologies (discourse analysis, content analysis, and case study) and perspectives (decision-makers, NGOs, emotions, foreign policy practice, and European partners).
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 978-3-031-49974-6
Hope Across the Ocean: Competition Between Shipping Lines for Customers in the Habsburg Empire at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Century
Martin Boček
The book primarily looks at the operation of shipping companies in Austria-Hungary while also providing insight into the phenomenon of emigration during the period of mass migration to the USA. In terms of time, the book primarily looks at the last two decades of the long 19th century, incorporating the period up until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. It was during this period that emigration from the Habsburg Monarchy reached its peak, and it was a golden era for shipping.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: New Academic Press
ISBN: 978-3-7003-2311-2
Conscious and Unconscious Mentality: Examining their Nature, Similarities, and Differences
Michal Polák, Juraj Hvorecký, Tomáš Marvan
In this collection of essays, experts in the field of consciousness research shed light on the intricate relationship between conscious and unconscious states of mind. Advancing the debate on consciousness research, this book puts centre stage the topic of commonalities and differences between conscious and unconscious contents of the mind. The collection of cutting-edge chapters offers a breadth of research perspectives, with some arguing that unconscious states have been unjustly overlooked and deserve recognition for their richness and wide scope. Others contend that significant differences between conscious and unconscious states persist, highlighting the importance of their distinct characteristics. Explorations into the nature of the transition from unconscious to conscious mind further complicate the picture, with some authors questioning whether a sharp divide between unconscious and conscious states truly exists. Delving into ontological, epistemological, and methodological issues, this thought-provoking text challenges established paradigms and paves the way for a reimagining of consciousness research. It does so in an understandable and accessible way, making this a perfect companion for both experts and students of philosophy, psychology, and related fields.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 978-1-03-252979-0
The Health System of the First Czechoslovak Republic in the Context of National and Social Composition - Centre vs. Periphery
Lukáš Novotný, Andrej Tóth a Valérie Tóthová
The monograph The Health System of the First Czechoslovak Republic in the Context of National and Social Composition - Centre vs. Periphery presents the development of Czechoslovak public health in the 1920s and 1930s not only to expert readers, especially physicians, but also to those interested in the wider spectrum of the general public who are more interested in the realities of First Czechoslovak Republic. It provides answers to some important questions related to the issue of health care (its accessibility, linguistic or cultural differentiation by region, or the situation of socially disadvantaged populations), medical education, its conception, financing or organisational structure, the building of a modern health system in the Czechoslovak Republic, the health challenges of the new state (the fight against infectious diseases, the treatment of oncological diseases or the introduction of compulsory vaccination), the development of community care or the Czechoslovak health system from a national perspective. The conclusion of the monograph clearly shows that the First Republic public health system was undoubtedly one of the high-quality and modern public health systems not only in the Central European context, but also in some aspects it was comparable to the developed countries in Western and Northern Europe.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Nakladatelství Tomáš Halama
ISBN: 978-80-87082-44-7
Anti-semitic Propaganda and “Science” in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Mechanisms involved in the Destruction of Democratic Tradition
Blanka Soukupová and Petr Lozoviuk
The book analyses the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia through the prism of propaganda, especially in terms of its relationship to Europe and Europeanism, its relation to Czech history and its liquidating reflection on the Jews. Attention is paid both to propagandistic historiography and pseudo-historiography and to political ethnography, which in some respects followed the old Austrian and interwar Sudeten German tradition. On a general level, then, it is a text that shows the procedures for the liquidation of liberal narratives in society.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
ISBN: 978-80-261-1263-1
Introduction to Building History for Archaeologists
František Gabriel
The book introduces the reader to the place of building history in historiography, and examines the problem of written and material sources. From material sources, it notes the course of the existence of buildings and three forms of their study (photo documentation, graphic documentation and verbal description. In the following chapter, it discusses the two meanings of the term building historical research, and their methods and goals. In the conclusion, it discusses the text chapters of the SHP, their appendices and archiving.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
ISBN: 978-80-261-1219-8
Authority in the Hebrew Bible and in Jewish Tradition
Věra Tydlitátová
Several kinds of secular authority in ancient Israel in the state of Judah prevented one group from seizing power and creating some form of totality. Power and authority were at first shared between the aristocracy, the priesthood and the prophets, later it was concentrated in the hands of the educated who continued the prophetic tradition.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
ISBN: 978-80-261-1189-4
Josef Ambrož Gabriel: A Man from the Bohemian Forest in the Whirlwind of the 19th Century
Jan Lhoták
A comprehensive biography of Josef Ambrose Gabriel (1820-1880), a now lesser-known regional politician, writer, and participant in the Czech national movement of the 19th century. In his youth, he took part in the revolutionary events of 1848 in Prague. From 1861 to 1867, he served as the mayor of Sušice and also became a deputy in the provincial assembly. Additionally, he was the first mayor of the Sušice municipal district. Gabriel was a supporter of the arts, publishing works by Václav Kliment Klicpera, among others. In the 1870s, he became a notary in Bechyně. Economic difficulties and psychological struggles ultimately led him to take his own life in 1880. The author explores the subsequent fate of Gabriel's family, particularly his three daughters, as well as his "second life." Gabriel's life trajectory is depicted against the backdrop of the turbulent times and social class to which he belonged. The book is richly illustrated and includes a name index.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Scriptorium
ISBN: 978-80-7649-055-0
Misinformation and Conspiracy Theories: Theory, Methodological Instructions and Working Sheets
Přemysl Rosůlek, Marie Fritzová, Michal Mičík
The purpose of the publication is to strengthen media literacy and critical thinking. In particular, the aim is to strengthen the key competences and skills of students to develop their ability to recognise and detect misinformation and conspiracy theories, which currently play a crucial role in the dissemination of untruths, half-truths or false information in society. In contrast to disinformation, its more familiar relatives, conspiracy theories and misinformation are often underestimated or completely ignored in the school curriculum. We also looked at the relationship between these phenomena and artificial intelligence (AI).
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
ISBN: 978-80-261-1272-3
Islamic Modernism in Egypt: Main Leaders and Currents in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Jan Kondrys
This monography deals with the topic of Islamic modernism in Egypt as a school of thought calling for religious and social reform. This intellectual current was particularly significant in Egypt over several decades in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Attention is paid to a relatively narrow, yet representative group of thinkers who by their thought and activities helped to shape the intellectual history of modern Egypt and modern Islam as such. The main reason for writing this book was the fact that the varied intellectual world of modern Islam was mostly omitted in Czech scholar environment, with the obvious exception of Islamic fundamentalism and its extreme variants. This work is devoted to analysis of Islamic modernist approaches that addressed the issues arising in Egypt along with modernity, focusing in detail on the points where the Islamic modernists parted with some crucial norms and standards which have been for centuries an integral part of theology and jurisprudence in classical Islam, so they would be able in their reinterpretations to achieve harmony between Islam as a religious system revealed by God and current requirements implied by dynamic modernity. Special emphasis in the monography is placed on the area of political theory and women‘s emancipation issues.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
ISBN: 978-80-261-1272-3
La memoria de los sentidos. El Nuevo mundo y los sentidos menores
Juan Pimentel, Angélica Morales Sarabia, Jana Černá
Este libro se acerca a los encuentros que se produjeron en el Nuevo Mundo desde el gusto, el olfato, el tacto y el oído, los sentidos menores u olvidados, los mismos que fueron eclipsados por el irremediable ascenso de la imagen y la lectura en la época de la imprenta y la ciencia moderna. Quince especialistas de Latinoamérica, Europa y Estados Unidos abordan episodios de una historia fascinante. Son capítulos llenos de fragancias, armonías y sinestesias propensas al olvido, tan elusivos son sus rastros. Pero el cuerpo y los sentidos tienen memoria.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
ISBN: 978-60-703-1459-9
Tichá: History and Present of the Fort on the Czech-Austrian Border
Tomáš Durdík, Josef Hložek, Radek Kocanda Radek, Daniel Kovář
The book maps the past and present of the fortress in Tichá, which today is one of the best archaeologically researched medieval fortified sites in South Bohemia. In addition to the history and archaeological knowledge of the site, the book also focuses on the process of its restoration, including the reconstruction and experimental construction of a half-timbered floor and roof, the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic.
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: Domažlice: Nakladatelství Českého lesa
ISBN: 978-80-7660-040-9