Dominion

出版者:Oxford University Press

作者:Derek Hirst

页数:336

出版时间:2012-6-4

价格:USD 35.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780199535378

具体描述

Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours c.1500-1707 is a rich narrative history of England's increasing dominance over the cluster of territories that became known as the British Isles. It brings alive a period and a geography remarkable for repeated religious wars and a long colonial struggle as well as for London's emergence as a political, economic, and cultural hub. While Dominion concentrates on English actions and purposes, it pays careful attention to interactions in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and to the pressures of European competition. It does so by drawing on the vibrant recent scholarship of the separate nations and considerable primary research, and also on the language of the actors, from Henry VIII and Elizabeth, Spenser and Shakespeare, to Oliver Cromwell and John Milton. Its purpose is not just to explore English understandings and ideologies, but their consequences, both creative and disruptive. The landmarks of the Tudor and Stuart centuries may be familiar: the creation of Ireland as a subordinate but fractured kingdom, the unification of Wales with England, the unstable union of the crowns of England and Scotland, the bloody conquest and reconquest of Ireland, and the formation of the United Kingdom amid fierce rivalry with France. By interweaving these strands as a single coherent story of English reactions and projections, this book opens up a new understanding of this formative period in the history of these islands - and also of its fractious legacy.

用户评价

这本书的叙事节奏把握得简直出神入化，每一次情节的转折都恰到好处地勾住了读者的心弦，让人忍不住想一口气读完。作者在构建这个宏大世界的过程中，展现了惊人的细节把控能力，那些描绘的场景、人物的对话，无一不透露出一种精心打磨过的质感。我尤其欣赏它对于人性复杂性的探讨，角色们并非简单的黑白分明，每一个选择背后都有着深刻的挣扎和无奈，这使得整个故事充满了张力和深度。读到那些关键性的冲突爆发点时，我甚至能感受到心跳的加速，仿佛自己也置身于那个充满未知与挑战的境地之中。那种身临其境的代入感，是很多作品难以企及的。它不仅仅是一个故事，更像是一场精心设计的思想实验，迫使你不断思考权力、责任以及命运的真正含义。

老实说，这本书的后劲太大了，读完很久之后，其中的一些哲学思辨依然在我脑海里盘旋不去。它没有提供简单的答案，反而提出了更深刻的问题，迫使我重新审视自己对权威、忠诚和自由的理解。从文学手法上来说，作者的笔力极其老道，那种对气氛的渲染，尤其是对紧张对峙场景的描绘，几乎可以用教科书级别来形容。我非常欣赏它对“权力”这一主题的探讨，它没有停留在表面的斗争，而是深入挖掘了权力腐蚀心灵的内在机制。这是一部需要反复品读的作品，因为每一次重读，根据自己人生的阅历不同，都会从中发掘出新的层次和共鸣。

这本书的结构设计简直是一门艺术。它仿佛是一个多面棱镜，从不同的时间点和不同角色的视角切入，共同构建起一个立体且全景式的图景。这种非线性的叙事手法，起初可能会让人感到略微分散，但一旦你掌握了其中的脉络，那种豁然开朗的感觉是无与伦比的。作者对历史感的营造极为成功，你阅读时会强烈地感受到时间的重量和过去对现在无可避免的影响。它不仅仅是在讲述一个发生的故事，更像是在探讨时间本身如何塑造了文明与个体。每一次翻页，都像是在解开一个精心布置的谜题，而谜底总是比你预想的更加深刻和意味深长。

说实话，初读的时候，我一度被其浩瀚的背景设定稍微震慑了一下，那些涉及的政治体系、历史渊源，初看之下有些庞杂。但随着阅读的深入，你会发现作者是如何巧妙地将这些复杂的元素编织进人物的日常行动和关键决策之中，让晦涩的设定变得生动可感。这本书的语言风格非常独特，时而磅礴大气，如同史诗般庄重；时而又极其细腻入微，捕捉到角色内心深处最隐秘的波动。这种语言上的张弛有度，为阅读体验增添了极大的层次感。它不迎合快餐文化的阅读习惯，需要读者付出一定的专注力去品味那些潜藏在字里行间中的伏笔和暗示。但回报是巨大的，一旦你适应了它的节奏，你会发现自己沉浸在一个逻辑自洽、情感充沛的奇妙宇宙里，难以自拔。

我必须承认，这本书在某些章节的处理上显得颇为大胆，它没有回避那些令人不适甚至残酷的现实描绘，这让它区别于许多追求表面光鲜的同类作品。这种直面黑暗的勇气，赋予了作品一种坚韧的骨骼。更让人印象深刻的是，即使在最黑暗的时刻，书中依然闪烁着希望的微光，这种希望并非廉价的慰藉，而是通过角色们不懈的抗争和牺牲换来的。它成功地塑造了一批有血有肉、令人难忘的群像，他们各有各的缺陷和光芒，共同推动着历史的车轮向前。我很少遇到能将如此多独立个体命运交织得如此精妙的作品，他们的关联性在最后的收束点上，达到了令人拍案叫绝的效果。

Not your intro history book. Lots of really nuanced stuff. But need certain prior knowledge of English history of the period (or, in my case, my very good friend Wikipedia). In any case, thumbs up for the amazing Professor Hirst.

Not your intro history book. Lots of really nuanced stuff. But need certain prior knowledge of English history of the period (or, in my case, my very good friend Wikipedia). In any case, thumbs up for the amazing Professor Hirst.

Not your intro history book. Lots of really nuanced stuff. But need certain prior knowledge of English history of the period (or, in my case, my very good friend Wikipedia). In any case, thumbs up for the amazing Professor Hirst.

Not your intro history book. Lots of really nuanced stuff. But need certain prior knowledge of English history of the period (or, in my case, my very good friend Wikipedia). In any case, thumbs up for the amazing Professor Hirst.

Not your intro history book. Lots of really nuanced stuff. But need certain prior knowledge of English history of the period (or, in my case, my very good friend Wikipedia). In any case, thumbs up for the amazing Professor Hirst.