Who's Who in World Politics

Download the book Who's Who in World Politics :

Extract :

Who’s Who in World Politics is a reference guide to the lives of men and women who have shaped or determined the process of government over the last six or seven generations. I have interpreted ‘Politics’ in a broad sense so as to cover rulers, their chief ministers or insurgent leaders but the great strategists, soldiers and seamen as well. Also included are many theorists, from Marx and Mill to Marcuse, and a few neglected ‘originals’, such as Hyndman and William Morris or more recently Haya de la Torre and Petra Kelly. The greatest worldwide social revolution in the period covered by this book has been the gradual emancipation of women, and I have therefore given more attention than in many other books to the pioneer champions of women’s rights, particularly in Britain, the United States and Japan. The starting point of 1860 was chosen because it was in itself a historic year and also the eve of a decade of great significance in world affairs. It was in 1860 that Abraham Lincoln won America’s presidential election, a victory which swept away the mastery of the slave-owning gentry from the South, who had dominated the political life of the USA since its inception. In 1860, again, two European powers— Britain and France—intervened jointly for the first time in China. It was also in 1860 that the Italians became the first European people to create a new nation-state. These events were a presage of even greater change over the next few years. What Cavour achieved for Piedmont and Italy, Bismarck was soon to surpass for Prussia and a unified Germany. At the same time the spread of the telegraph and speedier communications over land and sea brought the five continents closer together, imposing a Europeanized pattern on ancient cultures, especially across Asia. Conversely, the appeal of distant places—the Orient; central America; ‘darkest Africa’—excited upper- and middle-class society in London and Paris. With the abolition of serfdom in Russia and slavery in the States, there can be no doubt that, by the end of the 1860s, the world picture is more recognizably ‘modern’ than at their start.

Link to Download :

Who's who in the world politics