Present Volume Research Articles

Editorial

We are pleased to be able to present Volume 5, Issue 1 of Relay Journal. Relay is dedicated to promoting research and best practice in learner and teacher autonomy from practitioners and learners at all levels. In this issue, we feature three articles addressing a variety of aspects of learner autonomy. Additionally, the Reflective Practice column contains a reflection on practice in advising in language learning.

Introduction to Studies on Plato’s Lysis

Plato’s Lysis shows Socrates in conversation with two boys he has met at a wrestling school, Lysis and Menexenus. Their debate revolves around the notion of philia, seeking to pin down the nature of this relation, who or what takes part in it, and what causes it. The word philiahas usually been translated as “friendship” but has a wider application in this dialogue, as it encompasses a variety of friendly and loving attitudes toward both people and things. The kinds of interpersonal philia evoked include erotic attachments, kinship relations, utility-based relations, and playful companionship. Roughly two-thirds into the dialogue, the focus turns to a more general theory of desiderative attachments and the question of their ultimate telos and cause. The conversation ends, at least on the face of it, in an impasse, an aporia, when the interlocutors find themselves thrown back to the point from where they started, and no attempt to answer the question of what philia is or what motivates it has stuck. The Lysis nevertheless offers many incentives for further discussion and has elicited radically different responses from its interpreters as to what its real message is. For instance, does it promote a form of utilitarian egoism according to which human attachment can never, or should never, be altruistically motivated? Or does it hint at a very different concept of interpersonal love based on the idea that friendship, as it were, completes us since it connects us with those that share the same values? Does this dialogue stay within the familiar ambit of Socratic ethics, centered around the question of what it takes to achieve happiness (eudaimonia) in a human life, without a concern for metaphysical questions? Or, quite the contrary, does its discussion of the highest object of love (to proton philon) point forward to the metaphysical program of Plato’s so-called middle-period dialogues and especially to the notions of the form of the good or the form of the beautiful, notions which are at the center of the Republic and the Symposium? These questions and others will continue to be debated about this puzzling dialogue. The essays assembled in the present volume address many of these topics.

Charting a Course: Volume 66 of Virginia Libraries

The Editorial Board is happy to present volume sixty-six (Vol. 66) of <em>Virginia Libraries</em>. The Essays in this volume represent approaches to charting a course in multiple ways, from the sweeping journey of international travel to the customized details of ebook app curation. Read on and consider adding your voice to the next volume.

New edition of Boriu Zevzeka's Selected Works

The new collection of humorous and satirical works by Boris Rumenov (Boryu Zewzeka) "Hear Something Cheerful" is compiled by Kalina Zahova and scientific editor Andrei Tashev. The texts included in the collection cover the entire time span in which the writer worked - from the beginning of the 20th century until his assassination in the autumn of 1944, and reveal to the full extent the genre and thematic diversity of his artistic heritage. Some of the works in the present volume appear for the first time since their original publication.

Russian Modernism in the Memories of the Survivors: The Duvakin Interviews, 1967–1974 By Slav N.Gratchev, MargaritaMarinova, IrinaEvdokimova. Translated by Slav N. Gratchev and Margarita Marinova. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021, xii + 234 pp. $80.00. ISBN 978‐1‐4874‐2725‐9

Russian Modernism in the Memories of the Survivors: The Duvakin Interviews, 1967–1974 By Slav N.Gratchev, MargaritaMarinova, IrinaEvdokimova. Translated by Slav N. Gratchev and Margarita Marinova. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021, xii + 234 pp. $80.00. ISBN 978‐1‐4874‐2725‐9

Preface of the Proceedings of 14th International Conference on Hydroinformatics – HIC 2022

The present volume contains the Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Hydroinformatics – HIC 2022, held from the 4th to the 8th of July 2022 in Bucharest, Romania. The conference was jointly organised by the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest and the University “Politehnica” of Bucharest.

REVIEW: Stefan Sienerth, Bespitzelt und bedrängt – verhaftet und verstrickt. Rumäniendeutsche Schriftsteller und Geisteswissenschaftler im Blickfeld der Securitate. Studien und Aufsätzes

The present volume, German Writers and Scholars from Romania in the eyes of the State Security [Securitate], paints a picture of Romanian society during the communist period by looking at the relationship of some German writers from Romania with the Secret Police. Stefan Sienerth’s volume consists of fifteen extensive studies that provide profiles of cynical and abject members of the State Security but also of some of the writers’ informants, who were blackmailed into collaborating under threat of being arrested. All studies are based on empirical research and on analysing documents from the CNSAS Security Archive, and describe an absurd world dominated by anxiety, fear, betrayal, blackmail, as well as the unscrupulous and cynical operating methods employed by the State Security. These are very rich in information and explicit, with clear statements and very precise terminology, revealing a very experienced researcher, as well as characterizing an era through the prism of a network of destinies, some of which are implacable.

Faith and the Sacraments: A Commentary on the International Theological Commission's The Reciprocity between Faith and the Sacraments in the Sacramental Economy ed. by Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M.

Reviewed by: Faith and the Sacraments: A Commentary on the International Theological Commission's The Reciprocity between Faith and the Sacraments in the Sacramental Economy ed. by Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M. Michael Brummond Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap., ed. Faith and the Sacraments: A Commentary on the International Theological Commission's The Reciprocity between Faith and the Sacraments in the Sacramental Economy Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2022 187 pages. Paperback. $34.95. Anyone engaged in pastoral ministry is aware of the frequent disconnect experienced between faith and the sacraments. In some cases, people participate in the sacraments with little evidence of faith; a kind of ritualism or sacramental automatism. Alternatively, the sacraments are viewed as superfluous to a meaningfully lived faith. This pastoral crisis is at the heart of the volume edited by Fr. Thomas Weinandy. Weinandy was appointed by Pope Francis to the International Theological Commission (ITC) in 2014 and was part of the group that worked on the topic of faith and sacraments, ultimately leading to the document which is the subject of this book. The ITC document (hereafter Reciprocity) articulates the theological relationship between faith and the sacraments and addresses related pastoral concerns. The present volume is a collection of essays summarizing and offering commentary on each section of Reciprocity, as well as a translation of the document itself. While robustly theological, the telos of the work is ultimately pastoral, "aimed at aiding priests and seminarians as they address or prepare to address the pastoral and theological concerns they encounter or will encounter on a daily basis" (ix). The opening chapter by John P. Yocum summarizes the contemporary relevance of the problem, tracing the philosophical roots of the crisis, the cultural phenomena antagonistic to Catholic faith, common attitudes among faithful and clergy, and pastoral failures that undermine the reciprocity between faith and sacraments. To demonstrate that the situation may rightly be called a crisis, the chapter marshals several recent surveys indicating lack of practice or doctrinal adherence among Catholics. The author also emphasizes the link between philosophical-theological errors and pastoral practice: "The questions addressed in a systematic way by professional [End Page 137] philosophers are, or are derived from, the basic questions that every human being asks," (4) questions related to the human desire to know objective reality, and the possibility of divinization. In the second chapter, Christopher Ruddy offers a summary of the main themes from Reciprocity on the dialogical nature of the sacramental economy. He briefly notes the strengths and weaknesses of this section of the document, points that are valid though somewhat anemic given the robust quality of Reciprocity at this stage. The real strength of this chapter lies in drawing attention to "more original, primary crises of faith and sacramentality" (24). The author notes that various scandals—sexual, financial, etc.—make belief difficult. Faith is also complicated by sociocultural conditions, including the growth of phenomena such as secularism and "moralistic therapeutic deism" (25). Sacramentality itself is absurd to a materialistic, scientistic worldview. He also notes that the response to Covid has unmasked this crisis, making explicit in many Catholics the attitude that sacraments are truly superfluous. In response, the author appeals to a more transcendent, eschatologically oriented liturgy as an avenue into the sacramental worldview. In the next essay, Jennifer Newsome Martin turns to the reciprocity of faith and the sacraments of Christian initiation. The author advocates for a theologically charged pastoral vision which should "prioritize rigor and beauty over accessibility in order to communicate the sophistication, complexity, mystery, and metaphysical seriousness of the Catholic intellectual tradition" (30). The sections on the individual sacraments of initiation highlight the need for mystagogical catechesis and offer concrete, challenging, and realistic suggestions for sacramental formation for these sacraments, oriented to genuine personal discipleship. The author suggests, for instance, formation in contemplative prayer, lectio, Bible reading, service, close friendships within the community, as well as the establishment of a framework of flexible curriculum so that "sacramental preparation would be more uniform, consistent, and theologically responsible" (41). In chapter four, John S. Grabowski discusses Reciprocity's treatment of faith and marriage. Of particular interest in this chapter are...

As 7 Vidas de José Saramago by Miguel Real and Filomena Oliveira (review)

Reviewed by: As 7 Vidas de José Saramago by Miguel Real and Filomena Oliveira David G. Frier Miguel Real and Filomena Oliveira, As 7 Vidas de José Saramago (Lisbon: Companhia das Letras, 2022). 747 pages. Print and ebook. This biography of Portugal’s Nobel Laureate in Literature has been researched in depth and compiled by two specialists who have engaged closely with his work in the past: Real is a long-standing literary critic, who has published widely on Saramago and other major Portuguese authors, while Oliveira’s activities as a theatre director have included adaptations of a number of Saramago’s major novels. They have therefore been able to achieve access to the author and those close to him over many years, and this fact is reflected in the extensive length and broad scope of this study. The central tenet of the work is a focus on the author’s lifelong (and ultimately successful) dedication to the creation of ‘Josephville’, a concept derived from a lesser-known chronicle by Saramago originally published in the regional newspaper O Jornal do Fundão in the late 1960s (over a decade before his first major literary success, achieved in 1980 with Levantado do Chão), where he contrasted his ideal city of letters with the real-life experiences of a would-be writer in a conservative and culturally elitist Lisbon, hostile to a working-class, rural, self-taught intellectual such as himself. This concept of Saramago’s ambition to construct his own ‘Josephville’ then becomes a rather strained conceit sustained throughout the book, justifying the notion of the ‘seven lives’ or seven major stages in Saramago’s life and work from his origins in a village in the Ribatejo through to celebrity status, unprecedented for a literary author in Portugal, as a major figure in world literature and a commentator on a wide range of social and political issues. The authors view Saramago’s entire career as a process of ascent to this stage, forming the overriding priority of both his personal life and his literary creation, which have to be viewed in parallel. This general framework for reading Saramago’s trajectory is unproblematic: Joaquim Vieira’s earlier biography of the author (published in 2018) made a similar argument. The major difference between that work and the present volume, however, is that, whereas Vieira sought out a wide range of perspectives of different kinds on Saramago’s life, his professional career and inner self, the authors of this volume seek to reach their conclusions largely through written sources, drawing on an astonishing range of literary and non-literary texts written by the author, including correspondence with many well-known contemporaries and interviews with the press in many countries, as well as the testimonies of those who knew him well, including prominent academics such as Carlos Reis and members of Saramago’s own family. While this approach undoubtedly yields many interesting insights and delves into a number of topics which have not been widely acknowledged (including a long-overdue re-evaluation and cultural contextualization of the author’s role in the notorious [End Page 98] episode of the dismissal of a group of twenty-four journalists from the Diário de Notícias during Saramago’s period as editor of the newspaper, in 1975), it does necessarily reduce the scope for critical distance from the novelist’s own perspectives on his life, career and interactions with others, not least because the authors seem on occasion to rely on Saramago’s own memories as committed to writing, often long after the events outlined. This tendency is noticeable, for example, in the relatively uncritical attention paid to accounts of his early life in the Ribatejo, as recorded in his As Pequenas Memórias (published in 2006). In addition, while this is certainly no hagiographical account, there is not the same degree of examination of more difficult aspects of the author’s character to be found in Vieira’s work (for example, in relation to allegations of infidelity during his relationships with Ilda Reis and Isabel de Nóbrega). Indeed, at times it is not clear at all if the underlying rationale...

Measurement of Intraocular Pressure in the Emergency Department – An Educational Quality Improvement Project

Background: Primary care physicians are facing both increasing volume and complexity of ocular presentations. The tonometer, a device used to measure intraocular pressure, is a useful component of the eye examination which can aid in the differentiation of serious ocular pathologies. Objectives: Primary aim was to achieve 100% of the ED care providers being trained on how to use the department’s tonometer. Secondary aims were to subjectively improve ED staff’s successful tonometer set up and the interpretation of the IOP readings. Methods: This educational quality improvement project shares how an Emergency Department District General Hospital has trained its physicians to both correctly utilise the tonometer and interpret its results. Results: Three cycles of improvements have shown a significant improvement in successful tonometer set up and interpretation within a high percentage of working physicians. Conclusions: This project has contributed to more thorough general eye assessments; supported decisions to allow safe discharge; and developed more comprehensive referrals. This educational report reflects a simple and replicable strategy to improve primary eye care triage and services

A Companion to the Early Modern Cardinal ed. by Hollingsworth, Mary, Miles Pattenden, and Arnold Witte

Reviewed by: A Companion to the Early Modern Cardinal ed. by Hollingsworth, Mary, Miles Pattenden, and Arnold Witte Wolfgang Reinhard A Companion to the Early Modern Cardinal. Edited by Hollingsworth, Mary, Miles Pattenden, and Arnold Witte. [Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, vol. 91] (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020, Pp. xviii, 705, 43 figures and 7 tables. € 252,52. ISBN: 9789004310964). Obviously, recent Anglophone publishers successfully continue to produce expensive collective volumes on many different subjects. Most outstanding is Brill’s extensive series of Companions which includes the present impressive volume on early modern cardinals. The several thousand cardinals of the Roman church have always fascinated historians because of their many different activities and social roles. This big handbook presents some thirty different important aspects of the cardinals’ typology. But does it integrate these details successfully? [End Page 195] (1) The first of the eight parts of the book concerns the concept and functions of the cardinal. It starts with a chapter on medieval legal history. In the early modern period the College of Cardinals lost much of its collective power, but often this loss was compensated by an increase of power of individual cardinals. The popes simply needed cooperators. Next, after the rites of promotion and the activities in conclave the formal and informal roles of the hybrid quasi-institution of the cardinal-nephew are analyzed. (2) The significance of cardinals’ ecclesiastic and ecclesiologic activities in the Church can certainly not be covered exhaustively. The handbook selects chapters on ecumenical councils and theology, on the Inquisition and the Penitentiary, and on the protectorate of religious institutions. (3) In continuation, one reads on the secular power which the cardinals wielded as legates, as protectors of nations, as political leaders of the Richelieu type, and in their specific role as prince-bishops of the Empire. (4) The chapters on property and wealth besides an analysis of the income of cardinals include additional contributions on their social background and education, on their household and on the strategic consequences of their testaments. (5) The city of Rome is concerned when cardinals act as administrators of the Papal States or as governors of the vacant see. They also left their mark on their titular churches and on their sumptuous palaces. (6) “Mission” starts with an overview of cardinals in global history concerning in particular the Islam, the religions of Asia, the Jews, and the primal religions. Special chapters concern Eastern Churches, the church of Spanish-America, and, in contrast, the activities of the Propaganda Fide. (7) “Cardinals and literature” presents early modern historiography on early modern cardinals, which first of all consisted in collections of biographies, but also includes treatises on the ideal cardinal and some biographies of saintly cardinals, in addition, cardinals profiled as book collectors and even as founders of libraries. (8) On the other hand, they profiled as patrons of the visual arts and music. After an analysis of their wardrobe, the book demonstrates how their portraits and their tombs left an extensive impact on the scenery of early modern Rome. With equal balance of gender 31 authors produced 35 chapters. The three editors wrote more than one. According to their institutional affiliation eight contributors originate from Italy, seven from England, five from Germany, four from the USA, two from Scotland and France respectively, and one each from Belgium, the Netherlands and Finland. Considering their names, however, we may assume that at least four of them were no natives of the countries of their universities—an additional demonstration of the international character of this endeavor. Nevertheless, I could discover only one or two theologians on the list, but several historians of art—another remarkable fact. A selection from the long list of contributors is an impossible task and unjust, because they are all equally proven experts, who have already published in the field of their special competence. Extensive notes demonstrate the high level of their learnedness. When for example sometimes evidence might be missing as in the case of Markus Völkel’s book in chapters 16 and 22, then this defect is compensated in the brilliant general bibliography of 70 pages. Nevertheless, the book’s strength is also its...

Introduction to the Special Issue: Time

If you were to list the perennial issues in philosophy, the nature of time would no doubt be on that list. The essays in the present volume all touch upon the problem of time. The volume includes four contributions from different perspectives within the history of philosophy of time.Jani Hakkarainen and Todd Ryan delve into David Hume's account of time. Hume thinks there can be no time without succession. Consequently, unchanging, steadfast objects do not have a duration. They are stationary, not subject to any change. Although they lack a duration, they coexist with a temporal succession. This introduces a problem: What is the relation between unchanging objects and time? Hakkarainen and Ryan draw on what they call Hume's Principle of Quantitative Comparison. Each indivisible temporal extent is equal to any other temporal extent; differences in duration are due to the different number of temporal parts. Steadfast objects may be thought to undergo a certain number of calculable changes when they are compared to ordinary successions we experience. This experience is provided, for example, by the ticking of a clock. We have the capacity to think that steadfast objects have precise durations. We humans nevertheless cannot give any deep explanation as how we come to this conclusion.Emily Thomas focuses on the graphic representation of time. Whereas the visual representation of time has typically been done with matrices or grids, Joseph Priestley represented time in a line in 1765. Priestley's line divides time “by an equal scale” into centuries. Many have interpreted this as being evidence of a Newtonian influence, as if there is an absolute time flowing equably. Thomas situates Priestley's position in the modern debates on the nature of our ideas. She argues that the absolutist reading does not have merit. Thomas thinks rather that Priestley sides with David Hartley, who explained how we acquire the ideas of duration and time from sensation. Thomas's essay advances our understanding of the history of space-time parallelism. With timelines, the analogy between time and space becomes a possibility.In my essay I assess Ernst Mach's criticism of Isaac Newton's substantivalist account of time. Newton's argument for absolute time relates to his mathematical-empirical physics and theology. In his Science of Mechanics, Mach largely neglects the laws of motion, calculus and the omnipresence theology that is at the background of Newton's concept of time. Mach did however criticize Newton's absolutist argument on the basis that the self-existing flow cannot be observed, measured, or experimented with, and he provided an alternative relational account of time. I point out that this was not only extreme positivism or phenomenalism, but an epistemology and ontology suited for the subsequent physical theories of relativity. Finally, I argue that Mach's denial of the independent atomic structure of matter should not be entirely assimilated to his denial of substantivalism about time. The two phenomena are different, so we should evaluate Mach's reasoning concerning them accordingly.Matyáš Moravec and Peter West go through Susan Stebbing's criticism of Arthur Eddington's popular account of the passage of time. Stebbing's target, Moravec and West argue, is Eddington's largely Bergsonian view on time. She objects to the view that our minds have “a private door” to the physical reality which no measurements can disclose. Stebbing believes that our experience of the passage of time belongs to our ordinary, every-day experience, and she thinks Eddington mystifies the whole idea by leaning on a peculiar form of introspection. Moravec and West build a case for Bergson's influence on Eddington, arguing that Bergson probably did contribute to Eddington's idea of “the intuition of becoming.” Both seem to think that we may access the dynamic temporal reality in ways not captured by scientific investigation, by means of an introspective internal experience of duration.As a final remark, I think I should note, with regret, that out of the six authors in this volume only one is a woman. Let the reader know that as an editor I tried to strike a better balance. I still trust that the quality of the articles is high, and most importantly, worthwhile for readers interested in the history of philosophy of time.

Ancient Glass of South Asia: Archaeology, Ethnography and Global Connections. Alok Kumar Kanungo and Laure Dussubieux, eds. Singapore: Springer, 2021. xxvi + 557 pp., 59 b&amp;w + 245 colour illustrations. Hardcover US$160, ISBN: 9789811636554; softcover US$140, ISBN: 9789811636578; ebook US$109, ISBN: 9789811636561.

Asian Perspectives, Vol. 62, No. 2 © 2023 by the University of Hawai‘i Press. Ancient Glass of South Asia: Archaeology, Ethnography and Global Connections. Alok Kumar Kanungo and Laure Dussubieux, eds. Singapore: Springer, 2021. xxvi + 557 pp., 59 b&w + 245 colour illustrations. Hardcover US$160, ISBN: 9789811636554; softcover US$140, ISBN: 9789811636578; ebook US$109, ISBN: 9789811636561. Reviewed by Ian C. FREESTONE, UCL Institute of Archaeology The marked expansion in the archaeometry of glass which took place in the first decade of the twenty-first century has led to an explosion of interest in glass beads and bangles. Desirable, robust, and portable, they hold important information on trade and connectivity which can be revealed by the analysis of their chemical constituents. While this potential of chemical analysis has been understood for decades (e.g., Basa et al. 1991; Brill 1987; Singh 1989), it is only recently that it has been fully realized, largely due to the application of the technique of laser ablation inductivelycoupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). This method allows a rapid, accurate, and precise analysis of around 60 elements in glass artifacts and, critically, is essentially non-destructive, leaving only a sub-millimetre scar on the surface of the artifact. Where earlier typological work inferred likely longdistance connections (Francis 1990), chemistry has confirmed them. The resultant growth in understanding has served to emphasise the important role of the Indian sub-continent, which was arguably the major producer of glass beads in the last two millennia. Indian beads are found as far afield as eastern Africa and northwestern Europe and are also widely distributed in southeastern and southern Asia. Furthermore, the continuation into the modern period of traditional methods of making and working with glass and glazes allows important insights into the methods and organization of the production of glass ornaments through ethnographic observation and literary accounts. The present book brings together recent and ongoing work on the archaeology, archaeometry, and ethnoarchaeology of South Asian glass, edited by two leading researchers in their respective areas. The chapters are developed from lectures delivered by the eminent list of authors at a conference in Gandhinagar in 2019 and may be considered a good reflection of the state of the art. However, this substantial 550-page book is far from a standard conference volume. It strives not only to provide a comprehensive coverage of its subject matter, but also to serve as an introduction to the study of glass by including a number of chapters by established researchers on broader issues; by and large, it is very successful. The book opens with several chapters providing introductory and background information. Rehren opens with a summary of the current state of play in our understanding of the origins of glass in Egypt and Mesopotamia. In the context of the present volume, Rehren’s chapter in particular brings home how important the analysis of glass and manufacturing debris from Late Bronze Age production sites has been to current understanding, although at present evidence from production sites in South Asia is largely lacking. The following chapter by Gratuze, Schibille, and Pactat covers the radical changes in glassmaking technology that occurred in Europe and West Asia in the later first millennium C.E., in particular the transition from the use of soda from the natron lakes of Egypt to soda obtained from the ashes of halophytic plants. Not only is this an outstanding example of the application of chemical analysis to a technical change, focusing on chronological and regional variations, but it also provides a good introduction to the major glass types which moved along the silk road from West to East and which are encountered later on in the volume. Kenoyer provides a long, comprehensive review of major importance on the faience and glazed steatite of the Indus tradition, focusing on Harappa. This brings together new work and insights with a substantial but dispersed literature, much of which has been generated by the author Early online release of article in press. and his collaborators and which is not always easily accessible. Kenoyer is skeptical about the identification of so-called “steatite faience” or glazed crushed steatite. He calls for more detailed examination of samples removed from...

The Great Medicine Road: Narratives of the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, Part 4: 1856–1869

The Great Medicine Road: Narratives of the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, Part 4: 1856–1869

Russian International Relations in War and Revolution, 1914–22 by David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye et al. (review)

Reviewed by: Russian International Relations in War and Revolution, 1914–22 by David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye et al. David Rainbow (bio) David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Oleg Budnitskii, Michael Hughes, and David MacLaren McDonald (Eds.), Russian International Relations in War and Revolution, 1914–22. Book 2: Revolution and Civil War (Bloomington, IN: Slavica, 2021). 416 pp. ISBN: 978-089357-437-6. This is an outstanding collection of essays about international relations during the Russian Revolution and Civil War. It is book 2 of volume 8 (out of ten volumes so far in print) in the series Russia's Great War and Revolution. Book 1 of volume 8 considers international relations during the first three years of World War I, whereas book 2, under review here, considers the time period from the outbreak of war through the end of the Russian Civil War, and, in a few cases, well into the 1920s. The topics covered include diplomacy, the League of Nations, aristocratic culture, refugee crises, major treaties, the creation of the Communist International, and more. As nearly every chapter shows, the collapse in Russia and its consequences are difficult to make sense of without taking stock of myriad connections across time and space, the years of global war, diplomatic negotiations, and the interests of actors and institutions within and beyond the borders of the disintegrating Russian Empire. The book includes an introduction and two chronological sections: "Revolution (1917)," and "Civil War (1918–1922)." The introduction written by the series editors (Anthony Heywood, David MacLaren McDonald, and John W. Steinberg) explains the origins and aims of the series as a whole, which began in 2006. It provides a helpful framing for the present volume, as well as an introduction to readers who might not already know the truly vast thematic and geographical scope of the Russia's Great War and Revolution project. As the editors note, the volumes are not a "comprehensive narrative history" of Russia during the period. Rather, they introduce problems and topics animating much current scholarship, including many that have previously received less attention (e.g., borderlands, religion). This approach has made the series valuable to scholars, teachers, and students alike, particularly when coupled with the supplemental resources available through the project's website. Several contributions to the book explore the "diplomatic dance" (P. 5) between Russia and its allies that followed the collapse of the tsarist empire, then still at war with the Central Powers. Russia's allies of course sought to keep the Provisional Government in the war, [End Page 273] but were reluctant to push too hard having realized the depth of Russians' war-weariness evident in the revolutionary unrest from February on. For its part, Russia still depended greatly on foreign supplies of munitions and much else besides. Soon after the February Revolution, Michael Hughes suggests, "foreign policy had become perhaps the most controversial and divisive political issue facing Russia" (P. 8). There were conflicts within the Provisional Government, and between the government and the Soviet. Allies were also afraid to push the Bolsheviks too hard once they were in power. They did not want to provoke the new revolutionary government, as one Russian diplomat reported, "to take irreparable actions, such as pulling out of the war" (P. 170). Bolsheviks were united in their opposition to the war, but once in power faced the complicated task of negotiating the peace without much leverage. Everyone danced to one extent or another. A significant complication of Bolshevik policies was that diplomats who refused to follow directives from Trotsky, the new commissar of foreign affairs after October 1917, were effectively left representing a state that no longer recognized them, or one that no longer existed, depending on one's point of view. The activities of "Russia abroad" and its ambassadors are the subjects of several chapters in the book. Within days of the Bolshevik takeover, Trotsky fired a majority of the diplomatic corps and proceeded to implement a policy of publishing previously secret documents related to foreign governments (Pp. 32–33). Most Provisional Government or tsarist diplomats remained in their posts and continued their advocacy on behalf of "the Russian state." Once the Russian Civil War broke...

Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation [Catholic Aid to Jews under the Occupation] by Limore Yagil

Reviewed by: Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation [Catholic Aid to Jews under the Occupation] by Limore Yagil Rebecca Moore Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation [Catholic Aid to Jews under the Occupation]. By Limore Yagil. (Montrouge: Bayard. 2022. Pp. 359. €21.90. ISBN: 9782750914448). French-Israeli historian Limore Yagil is well-equipped to write about how Catholic Christians under the Occupation helped Jews living in France. The author of at least eight books about World War II, she has examined Christian resistance to Nazism, both Catholic and Protestant, in numerous venues. The present volume concentrates specifically on Catholic efforts undertaken in France. Examinations by other authors have highlighted Protestant endeavors, so Yagil’s focus on Catholic interventions is a welcome addition to the literature about righteous gentiles—those non-Jews who came to the aid of Jews during World War II. Yagil begins by noting the paradox of Jewish survival in France compared to other European nations. Although almost a quarter of the Jews in France—especially foreign-born Jewish refugees—were deported to death camps, an astounding 75 percent survived. This is in contrast to neighboring countries like the Netherlands (with 80 percent deported) and Belgium (with 45 percent deported). Although part of the explanation may lie in France’s topography and politics, a large part of Jewish survival according to the author was due to the efforts of bishops, priests, seminarians, men and women religious, and lay Catholics. An important distinction that Yagil makes throughout the book is between public pronouncements condemning anti-Jewish laws, internment camps, and deportations, and the secret—and more important in her view—actions that occurred in church sanctuaries, behind convent and monastery walls, and with church approval. These covert undertakings required formal church involvement, such as issuing baptismal certificates, work permits, enrollment documents, identity cards, and travel authorizations. While the creation of paperwork may appear trivial, these documents were required for employment, education, travel, and obtaining basic necessities under the Nazi Occupation. Other activities, which frequently required church oversight and funding, included offering housing, providing schooling, hiding refugees, and, on occasion, smuggling Jews out of the country. The heart and soul of the book comprises seven chapters that recount the actions of each and every diocese before and during the war. This is a monumental body of research, which Yagil obtained by scouring diocesan records, ledgers, letters, [End Page 215] speeches, and other documents. She begins in the south of France, on the border with Spain along the Pyrenees. This was the most dangerous location for rescue given the fact that most of the French internment camps were located here, and the Gestapo patrolled the border for those in flight. Networks of clerics, religious, and lay Catholics, working with Jews, Protestants, and Communists, ran large and small operations. She concludes with consideration of the diocese of Paris and dioceses in the west. Yagil discusses the question of conversion, especially of Jewish children, throughout the book and asserts that ecclesiastical leadership strongly condemned conversionary efforts. The historian could find no directive to convert in any of the archives she examined, and takes pains to reiterate the claim that a false baptismal certificate was not considered a conversion. She states that no more than forty or fifty children were converted, out of 10,500 rescued. Like the issue of baptism and conversion, the question of Pope Pius XII’s role during World War II is also addressed. According to Yagil, the pontiff provided financial help and tacit support to the dioceses of France. The pope’s silence, she writes, “hides concretely the many discreet initiatives of rescue and mutual aid” that occurred in Italy, other European countries, and in particular, France (p. 333). The great strength of Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation, however, is its detailed presentation of the actions of ordinary, and extraordinary, Catholics in every diocese in France. Limore Yagil relates countless stories of heroism, based on meticulous research. One comes away from this book with deep appreciation for the leadership shown at all levels of the Church. It is to be hoped, therefore, that an English translation of this valuable...

Notre-Dame of Amiens: Life of the Gothic Cathedral by Stephen Murray

Reviewed by: Notre-Dame of Amiens: Life of the Gothic Cathedral by Stephen Murray Michael T. Davis Notre-Dame of Amiens: Life of the Gothic Cathedral. By Stephen Murray. (New York: Columbia University Press. 2021. Pp. xii, 440. Numerous color and black-and-white illustrations. $40.00. ISBN 9780231195768.) Beginning with the first stories, writers have guided readers through the built environment. The author of The Epic of Gilgamesh transports us to the third [End Page 190] millennium BC and the Mesopotamian city of Uruk urging us to, “Look at its wall which gleams like copper, inspect its inner wall, the like of which no one can equal! (Tablet 1)” Some, like Abbot Suger in his “little books” (libelli), or Frank Lloyd Wright in the Autobiography, take center stage to explain the political and spiritual motivations or the creative processes that informed their active roles in building projects. Others offer a shared experience emulating Pliny the Younger, who wrote of his Tuscan villa to his friend Domitius Apollinaris: “I . . . set out in this letter to take you with me round every corner of my estate. . . (Pliny, Epistulae, 5.6), ” or John the Evangelist, who reports the vision of “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven” shown to him by an angelic chaperon (Rev. 21: 10–21). Scholarly writers, on the other hand, tend to stand discreetly in the wings directing buildings to tell their stories supported by a cast of patrons, craftsmen, documents, and institutions. Stephen Murray, in Notre-Dame of Amiens: Life of the Gothic Cathedral, inspired by John Ruskin’s The Bible of Amiens (1864), revives the role of the interlocutor—“the person who points and talks and guides” (p. 14)—to narrate the long life of an edifice that has been called “the Parthenon of Gothic architecture.” In an earlier book, Notre-Dame, Cathedral of Amiens: The Power of Change in Gothic (Cambridge, 1996), Murray foregrounded construction of the thirteenth-century structure, significantly refining understanding of the sequence of building and the sources behind its design. The present volume recalculates the narrative path while extending coverage into the sixteenth century to include the additions and urgent repairs that created the cathedral that, by and large, we see today. Chapter 1, “Visiting the Cathedral” (pp. 14–98) briskly reviews the history of the city from its Roman origins as Samarobriva to its florescence as a prosperous and strategically vital node of the Capetian kingdom. With the historical background in place, Murray then steps across the temporal threshold to tour the present cathedral as a whole, first circling the exterior, then moving into the interior, and finally ascending to thread through the triforium and around the flying buttresses. Black-and-white plans and photographs, many of them also reproduced as color plates, follow the verbal commentary, but the true companion to the text is the Columbia University Media Center for Art History website (https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/amiens-arthum/content/home-page), which contains a comprehensive and dynamic dossier of high-resolution photographs, panoramas, and sound recordings. The panoramas, especially, afford a measure of independence, permitting the viewer to look up and down, zoom in and out, or explore space in a non-sequential route. Chapter 2 (pp. 99–158) surveys the five portals of the cathedral. The three west portals capture the arc of history from the Old Testament prophets on the outer faces of the buttresses to the Virgin portal and the Incarnation of Christ on the right, Saint Firmin the Martyr, venerated as the principal saint of the city, to the left, culminating with the Last Judgment in the center. Here, Murray stresses [End Page 191] the active relation of sculptural subjects to the liturgical life of the cathedral. For example, the Invention and Translation of the relics of Saint Firmin on January 13 was staged in procession, while the lush foliate band that rings the cathedral interior recalls the accompanying miracle of the leaves. As past and present, sculpted images and living actors merge across space, the cathedral reveals “the wider power of the Gothic to transform physical observation and sensation into religious and spiritual affect” (p. 226). Chapters 3, 4, and...

The Post-Soviet as Post-Colonial: A New Paradigm for Understanding Constitutional Dynamics in the Former Soviet Empire by William Partlett and Herbert Küpper (review)

Reviewed by: The Post-Soviet as Post-Colonial: A New Paradigm for Understanding Constitutional Dynamics in the Former Soviet Empire by William Partlett and Herbert Küpper W. E. Butler Partlett, William and Küpper, Herbert. The Post-Soviet as Post-Colonial: A New Paradigm for Understanding Constitutional Dynamics in the Former Soviet Empire. Elgar Monographs in Constitutional and Administrative Law. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham and Northampton, MA, 2022. xii + 269 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £95.00. Unlike the American experience where the Constitution has remained in force since 1789 with infrequent amendments, the first ten coming rather quickly, Russia in the twentieth century experienced several generations of constitutions between 1905 and 1993, all linked expressly or otherwise to fundamental changes in societal development and held out as a model for other state systems to emulate. Western political science and comparative constitutional law have found it instructive to view such constitution-making through the prism of 'authoritarian' models as juxtaposed with 'democratic', usually acknowledging that pure versions of either did not exist. The present volume offers an alternative reading to the authoritarian/post-authoritarian perspectives that have dominated comparative constitutional discourse by [End Page 187] suggesting a post-colonial lens be superimposed on constitutional-making processes. The category of 'post-colonial' is seen as an additional, not a replacement, perspective which the authors hope will improve our perceptions of 'constitutional dynamics'. The (former?) colonial power is Russia in their analysis, which acquired 'colonies' that fell into two groups: the former Soviet republics within the USSR, the 'inner Empire'; and the satellite States, formally independent but under Soviet domination (Central Europe, Mongolia and the Baltic States), here styled as the 'outer Empire'. Hungary is singled out as a case study of constitution-formation and given a separate chapter. Omitted from consideration are areas where the Soviet authorities exercised 'soft power' — Yugoslavia, Albania, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos, Cuba — and others once classified as countries 'of a socialist orientation'. From the outset the authors avoid the key issue of what differentiates a 'post-authoritarian' and a 'post-colonial' jurisdiction as being beyond their scope. They do suggest that 'post-authoritarian' implies a progressive transition towards liberal democratic constitutionalism, a limited State, a strong judiciary, and an emphasis on individual, rather than collective, rights. One immediate problem is that 'colonial' is a pejorative term that engages multiple (two or more) subjects of international law, whereas 'authoritarian' is a domestic law term confined to a single jurisdiction. There is no definition of 'colonial' in international law; usually it is explained by examples. On a broad reading, every historical situation in which a state exercises, or claims to exercise, influence or authority over a people, nation, or state outside its boundaries is eligible for possible classification as a 'colony'; often the term is associated with flows of migration and settlement. Self-awareness may also be a factor. Russia until 1917 declared itself to be an empire and from at least Petrine times forward was widely so regarded — a self-perception that some would regard as automatically making Russia a colonial power. The authors concentrate on the dissolution of the former Soviet Union but do not really address the Russian Federation as a colonial or post-colonial entity. Modern Russia is said to contain one hundred or so ethnic groups, some more or less concentrated geographically, others dispersed throughout the land. The Russian Constitution recognizes, as of October 2022, eighty-nine subjects of the Federation (or should some or all be designated as 'colonies'). All eighty-nine have a constitution or equivalent constitutive document and are bound together by international treaty. An authoritarian paradigm treats Russia as a single entity for these purposes; a colonial paradigm, if applicable, would take a different perspective. Within the limited scope of this study, the authors work with a very broad brush. They are no doubt correct that the colonial/post-colonial paradigm [End Page 188] offers insights into constitution-formation and collateral issues not readily observable through alternative paradigms. All of which enriches the discipline of comparative law. Omitted from their study and virtually all others in this field is a consideration of the twenty-one-volume verbatim...

Antitrinitarianism in Poland Before Socinus. A Historical Outline

This is a reprint of the chapter “Prelude: Antitrinitarianism in Poland before Socinus” by Zbigniew Ogonowski in his "Socinianism: History, Views, Legacy" (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2021), 3–56. Reprinted with the permission of Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura. We are grateful to Valentina Saraceni for her permission to reprint this material in the present volume.&#x0D; The paper takes an in-depth look at an early, pre-Socinian stage of Polish antitrinitarianism. First, it outlines the historical reasons for the emergence of antitrinitarianism in Poland. Second, it explains how the early Polish antitrinitarians were able to develop a view substantial enough to provide a basis for Socinianism, a philosophical and religious movement with a pan-European reach. Third, it discusses similarities and differences between the two stages of Polish "Arianism", pre-Socinian and Socinian.

Jeannine K. Brown. Philippians

Brown’s present volume on Philippians is one of the first of the new commentaries in the flagship Tyndale Commentary series—the first volumes published from 1956 to 1974 and the next set between 1983 and 2003 (p. vii). The goal of the series is to provide a simultaneously readable, accessible, and robust exegetical engagement of the text within its historical context—and with an eye toward contemporary theological relevance. Brown’s commentary accomplishes these goals with excellence.The first fifty pages are devoted to introductory matters such as authorship, audience, date, the genre and literary structure of the letter, Paul’s opponents, and theological themes. Brown assumes Paul’s imprisonment in Rome (rather than Caesarea or Ephesus), and so dates the letter to sometime in the early 60s. There are multiple purposes of the letter, including Paul’s desire to frame their understanding of Epaphroditus’s ministry upon his return to Philippi, to comment upon the gifts he had received from the Philippian church, to encourage them that they need not worry about him while he is imprisoned, and to exhort them to grow in unity. The primary theological themes that undergird Paul’s arguments are Christology, eschatology, friendship, communal discernment, unity and resilience in suffering, and Christian imitation.Brown successfully situates Paul’s argument within its ancient historical context but in a way that manages to make his claims easily digestible for nonspecialists. So, for example, in commenting upon Paul’s seeming indifference to whether he lives or dies—so long as Christ is glorified in his body (Phil 1:19–22)—she contrasts Paul’s stance with a Stoic philosophical perspective that would lead one to indifference toward so-called external matters. Rather, for Paul, “Christ himself is the lens for assessing what is valuable and of ultimate worth. . . . What is important to Paul is that the person of Christ would be exalted—shown to be of ultimate value—whatever the outcome” (p. 84). Similarly, Brown draws upon Aristotle’s three categories of proof from his work on rhetoric—pathos, ethos, and logos—to helpfully illuminate Paul’s arguments. For example, Paul draws upon ethos argumentation especially in his commendation of Timothy and Epaphroditus (Phil 2:19–30) as he appeals to their character as those who are single-mindedly committed to Christ’s interests and who work hard for the Philippian church even at great cost to themselves. Brown also notes how Paul frequently uses the philosophical language of phronesis, sometimes translated as prudence or practical wisdom, in order to cultivate a “Christologically focused mindset” that will guide the church’s communal discernment (p. 66). Brown shows how Paul’s theological argumentation intersects with the Philippian church’s situatedness in a Roman veteran colony. So, Paul’s use of the term politeuomai (Phil 1:27) has political and civic connotations. The phrase should be translated something like “live in singularly loyalty to the gospel of Christ” (p. 95). Brown notes: “As cities expected their citizens to live in undivided loyalty to their laws, norms, and ideals, Paul expects believers in Jesus to live in undivided loyalty to the norms and values implicit in the gospel and to Jesus as Lord” (pp. 95–96).With respect to the disputed pistis Christou phrase in Phil 3:9, Brown opts for the subjective genitive, namely, the faithfulness of Christ given that God’s righteousness is gifted to people “through the work of Christ—through his faithfulness or obedience . . . rather than directly through human faith” (p. 181). Paul’s language about Jesus existing in “God’s form” (2:6) and “emptying himself” (2:7), Brown argues, has less to do with ontology and is rather more interested in status, particularly in showing how Christ’s “downward mobility” (p. 117) functions to depict Jesus in his “Godlikeness as the epitome of self-giving” (p. 116). Regarding Phil 4:10–20, Brown argues that the overlap of its themes with other portions of Philippians (e.g., rejoicing, a right mindset, shared partnership, etc.) argues in favor of the integrity of the letter.There is an abundance of excellent options of good commentaries for students, teachers, and pastors today. For those who want a robust reading of Philippians, attuned to both the historical context of the letter and its contemporary theological implications, written in accessible prose—one can do no better than Jeannine Brown’s Philippians.