Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 1: North America
This 10-volume set lists and describes more than 1,500 global cultures. Based on research of social scientists, it is the source for historical, social, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and other information on virtually every existing culture. Its cross-cultural perspective meets high school curricular requirements for world studies and social sciences.
The Arabs in History - Bernard Lewis 'Whoever lives in our country, speaks our language, is brought up in
our culture and takes pride in our glory is one of us.'
Thus ran a
declaration of modern leaders of Arab states. But what exactly is an
Arab, and what has been their place in the course of human history? In
this well-established classic, Professor Lewis examines the key issues
of Arab development - their identity, the national revival which
cemented the creation of the Islamic state, and the social and economic
pressures that destroyed the Arab kingdom and created the Islamic
empire. He analyses the forces which contributed to that empire's
eventual decline, and the effects of growing Western influence. Today,
with the Arab world facing profound social and political challenges, it
constitutes an essential introduction to the Arabs and their history.
In his illuminating introduction, Robert Graves discusses the function of myth. He claims that in the first place, it serves to answer the type of awkward questions that children ask, like Who made the world or Who were the first people? The second function of myth is to justify an existing social system and to account for traditional customs and rites. Graves points out how myths of origin and eventual extinction vary according to the climate and that one finds a warm celestial afterworld in the north or a fresh flowered Elysian Field in Greece. He also deals with the Akan of Ghana and with Egypt and India. His conclusion is that myth is a dramatic shorthand record of stuff like invasions, migrations, dynastic changes, admission of foreign cults and social reforms. For example, when bread was first introduced in Greece, the myth of Demeter and Triptolemus sanctified its use.
The Encyclopedia investigates prehistoric mythology and that of Egypt, Assyro-Babylonia, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Persia, India, China, Japan, Oceania and that of the Celts, the Teutons, the Amerindians and Africans. It contains 34 colour plates and hundred of black and white illustrations and it concludes with a further reading list divided under different headings reflecting its chapter contents, plus a thorough index.
Three characters in Hard Times; James Harthouse, Josiah Bounderby and Stephen Blackpool, exemplify this realistic quality and each is representative of a different social division. These divisions are the upper, middle and lower class. Each class, because of social interaction or absence of the same, creates different dilemmas.
The upper-class, as holds true in real-life, is the smallest of the three categories and, consequently, has its own unique problems. James Harthouse, a characteristic member of the upper-class, comes to Coketown to search for something else to bide his time with.
