Bøger af David Potter

David Potter's detailed examination of war and government in Picardy, a region of France hitherto neglected by historians, has much to say about the development of French absolutism and the participation of the nobility in the government of the kingdom.

A survey of French history from the reign of Louis XI to the outbreak of the Wars of Religion that isolates some of the controversial theories of the period: state building, nobility and clientage and the Reformation and discusses them with full attention to the regional diversity of France.

No Roman emperor had a greater impact on the modern world than did Constantine. The reason is not simply that he converted to Christianity, but that he did so in a way that brought his subjects along after him. Indeed, this major new biography argues that Constantine's conversion is but one feature of a unique administrative style that enabled him to take control of an empire beset by internal rebellions and external threats by Persians and Goths. The vast record of Constantine's administration reveals a government careful in its exercise of power but capable of ruthless, even savage, actions. Constantine executed (or drove to suicide) his father-in-law, two brothers-in-law, his eldest son, and his once beloved wife. An unparalleled general throughout his life, planning a major assault on the Sassanian Empire in Persia even on his deathbed. Alongside the visionary who believed that his success came from the direct intervention of his God resided an aggressive warrior, a sometimes cruel partner, and an immensely shrewd ruler. These characteristics combined together in a long and remarkable career, which restored the Roman Empire to its former glory. Beginning with his first biographer Eusebius, Constantine's image has been subject to distortion. More recent revisions include John Carroll's view of him as the intellectual ancestor of the Holocaust (Constantine's Sword) and Dan Brown's presentation of him as the man who oversaw the reshaping of Christian history (The Da Vinci Code). In Constantine the Emperor, David Potter confronts each of these skewed and partial accounts to provide the most comprehensive, authoritative, and readable account of Constantine's extraordinary life.

To the practical modern mind, the idea of divine prophecy is more ludicrous than sublime. Yet to our cultural forebears in ancient Greece and Rome, prophecy was anything but marginal; it was in fact the basic medium for recalling significant past events and expressing hopes for the future, and it offered assurance that divinities truly cared about mere mortals. Prophecy also served political ends, and it was often invoked to support or condemn an emperor's actions. In Prophets and Emperors, David Potter shows us how prophecy worked, how it could empower, and how the diverse inhabitants of the Roman Empire used it to make sense of their world. This is a fascinating account of prophecy as a social, religious, and political phenomenon. The various systems of prophecy--including sacred books, oracles, astrological readings, interpretation of dreams, the sayings of holy men and women--come into sharp relief. Potter explores the use of prophecy as a nieans of historical analysis and political communication, and he describes it in the context of the ancient city. Finally, he traces the reformation of the prophetic tradition under the influence of Christianity in the fourth century. Drawing on diverse evidence--from inscriptions and ancient prophetic books to Greek and Roman historians and the Bible--Potter has produced a study that will engage anyone interested in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean and in the history and politics of the Roman Empire.

The rulers of Renaissance France regarded war as hugely important. This book shows why, looking at all aspects of warfare from strategy to its reception, depiction and promotion.

The Dictionary of Jewish Proverbs offers the reader a comprehensive insight into the world of Jewish wisdom. A truly absorbing read, Jewish Wisdom will be an indispensable manual for all lovers of wisdom from whatever religious persuasion and an absolute goldmine of witty and wise things to say when the time is right.

The Emperors of Rome charts the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through profiles of the greatest and most notorious of the emperors.

'I am proud to say that I knew Jock Stein as a football manager, as a colleague and as a friend .

Literary Texts and the Roman Historian provides an accessible and concise introduction to the complexities of Roman historiography.

Newcastle United On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the club's glorious history, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable Magpies diary. From Victorian roots to Premier League, via FA Cup and European glory, there's an entry for every day of the year.

He was a tremendous player with pace, trickery, passing ability and a cannonball shot - yet his record of only one Scottish Cup medal, two Scottish League medals and two Scottish caps was a profoundly disappointing one for a man of his talent.

A biography of Alec Troup