Anthony King

The British system of government has changed dramatically in recent decades, and far more than most of us realise. As acclaimed political scientist and bestselling author Anthony King shows us, this shift is at the heart of Britian's political dilemma today: the quality of government and the capacity of politicians have been greatly diminished, yet our expectations have not adjusted to the new reality. But how exactly has the British government changed, and where has power shifted? In Who Governs Britain?, King offers the first general overview of the British political system in many years, a fascinating and accessible primer that will provided the much-needed context to the 2015 election.

Who Governs Britain?

Ivor Crewe

blunder/ˈblʌndə(r)/, n., A gross mistake; an error due to stupidity or carelessness. There are a handful of cock-ups that we remember all too well, from the poll tax to the Millennium Dome. However, the list is longer than most of us realize – and it’s growing. With unrivalled political savvy and a keen sense of irony, distinguished political scientists Anthony King and Ivor Crewe open our eyes to the worst government horror stories and explain why the British political system is quite so prone to appalling mistakes. You will discover why: • The government wasted up to £20 billion pounds in a failed scheme to update London’s Underground system. • Tens of thousands of single mothers were left in poverty without financial support from absent fathers. • Tony Blair committed the NHS to the biggest civilian IT project the world has ever seen, despite knowing next to nothing about computing. • The Assets Recovery Agency cost far more to run than it ever clawed back from the proceeds of organised crime. • The Coalition government is at least as blunder-prone as any of its predecessors. Groupthink, constantly rotating ministers and a weak parliament all contribute to wasted billions and illogical policy. But, it doesn’t have to be this way. Informed by years of research and interviews with senior cabinet ministers and civil servants, this razor-sharp diagnosis of flawed government is required reading for every UK citizen. With its spirited prescriptions for more fool-proof policymaking, it will prove to be one of the most important political books of the decade.

The Blunders of Our Governments

In the latter part of the nineteenth century Walter Bagehot wrote a classic account of the British constitution as it had developed during Queen Victoria's reign. He argued that the late Victorian constitution was not at all what people thought it was. Anthony King argues that the same is true at the beginning of this century. Most people are aware that a series of major constitutional changes has taken place, but few recognize that their cumulative effect has been to change entirely the nature of Britain's constitutional structure. The old constitution has gone. The author insists that the new constitution is a mess, but one that we should probably try to make the best of. The British Constitution is neither a reference book nor a textbook. Like Bagehot's classic, it is written with wit and mordant humour - by someone who is a journalist and political commentator as well as a distinguished academic. The author maintains that, although the new British constitution is a mess, there is no going back now. 'As always', he says, 'nostalgia is a good companion but a bad guide.' Highly charged issues that remain to be settled concern the relations between Scotland and England and the future of the House of Lords. A reformed House of Lords, the author fears, could wind up comprising 'a miscellaneous assemblage of party hacks, political careerists, clapped-out retired or defeated MPs, has-beens, never-were's and never-could-possibly-be's'. The book is a Bagehot for the twenty-first century - the product of a lifetime's reflection on British politics and essential reading for anyone interested in how the British system has changed and how it is likely to change in future

The British Constitution

Football constitutes a vivid public ritual in contemporary European culture through which emergent social solidarities and new economic networks have come into being. This fascinating and unique volume traces the transformation of European football from the 1950s to the present, focusing in particular on the dramatic changes that have occurred in the last decade and linking them to the wider process of European integration. The examination of football illuminates how the growing dominance of the free market has changed European society from an international order in which the nation-state was dominant to a more complex transnational regime in which cities and regions are becoming more prominent than in the past. The study is supported by detailed ethnographic accounts emerging from the author's fieldwork at Manchester United and interview data with some of the most important figures in European football at clubs including Juventus, Milan, Bayern Munich, Schalke and Barcelona. It also includes a highly topical examination of racism in European football.

Football in the New Europe

The European Ritual

Ralph Haeussler

The Roman world was diverse and complex. And so were religious understandings and practices as mirrored in the enormous variety presented by archaeological, iconographic, and epigraphic evidence. Conventional approaches principally focus on the political role of civic cults as a means of social cohesion, often considered to be instrumentalized by elites. But by doing so, religious diversity is frequently overlooked, marginalizing ‘deviating’ cult activities that do not fit the Classical canon, as well as the multitude of funerary practices and other religious activities that were all part of everyday life. In the Roman Empire, a person’s religious experiences were shaped by many and sometimes seemingly incompatible cult practices, whereby the ‘civic’ and ‘imperial’ cults might have had the least impact of all. Our goal therefore is to rethink our methodologies, aiming for a more dynamic image of religion that takes into account the varied and often contradictory choices and actions of individual, which reflects the discrepant religious experiences in the Roman world. Is it possible to ‘poke into the mind’ of an individual in Roman times, whatever his/her status and ethnicity, and try to understand the individual’s diverse experiences in such a complex, interconnected empire, exploring the choices that were open to an individual? This also raises the question whether the concept of individuality is valid for Roman times. In some periods, the impact of individual actions can be more momentous: the very first adoption of Roman-style sculpture, cult practices or Latin theonyms for indigenous deities can set in motion long-term processes that will significantly influence people’s perceptions of local deities, their characteristics, and functions. Do individual choices and preferences prevail over collective identities in the Roman Empire compared to pre-Roman times? To examine these questions, this volume presents case studies that analyze individual actions in the religious sphere.

Archaeological, Iconographic and Epigraphic Case Studies from the Roman World

Religious Individualisation

Martin Henig

Grahame Soffe

Kate Adcock

This volume brings together a range of papers on buildings that have been categorised as ‘villas’, mainly in Roman Britain, from the Isle of Wight to Shropshire. It comprises the first such survey for almost half a century.

New Perspectives and Controversies

Villas, Sanctuaries and Settlement in the Romano-British Countryside

Scott Brown

Full Length, Musical Comedy Characters: 2 male In this two-man musical spoof, a pair of aspiring playwrights perform a backers' audition for their new project - a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg. With an unending supply of enthusiasm, Bud and Doug sing all the songs and play all the parts in their crass historical epic, with the hope that one of the producers in attendance will give them a Broadway contract - fulfilling their ill-advised dr

Gutenberg! the Musical!

Life Tree

Warfare has migrated into cities. From Mosul to Mumbai, Aleppo to Marawi, the major military battles of the twenty-first century have taken place in densely populated urban areas. Why has this happened? What are the defining characteristics of urban warfare today? What are its military and political implications? Leading sociologist Anthony King answers these critical questions through close analysis of recent urban battles and their historical antecedents. Exploring the changing typography and evolving tactics of the urban battlescape, he shows that although not all methods used in urban warfare are new, operations in cities today have become highly distinctive. Urban warfare has coalesced into gruelling micro-sieges, which extend from street level – and below – to the airspace high above the city, as combatants fight for individual buildings, streets and districts. At the same time, digitalized social media and information networks communicate these battles to global audiences across an urban archipelago, with these spectators often becoming active participants in the fight. A timely reminder of the costs and the horror of war and violence in cities, this book offers an invaluable interdisciplinary introduction to urban warfare in the new millennium for students of international security, urban studies and military science, as well as military professionals.

Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century

Contributions from Archaeology and History

The Roman West in the Third Century

Pagan Gods and Shrines of the Roman Empire

Over the last two decades, warfare has migrated into cities. From Mosul to Mumbai, Aleppo to Marawi, the major military battles of our time have taken place in densely populated urban areas. Why has this happened? What are the defining characteristics and the military and political implications of urban warfare today? Leading sociologist Anthony King answers these critical questions through close analysis of recent urban battles and their historical antecedents. Exploring the changing typography and evolving tactics of the urban battlescape, he shows that whilst some methods used in urban battle are not new, operations in cities have become highly distinctive. Today, urban warfare has coalesced into gruelling micro-sieges, which extend from street level - and below - to the airspace high above the city - as combatants fight for individual buildings, streets, and districts. At the same time, digitalized social media and information networks have communicated these battles to global audiences across the urban archipelago, with these spectators often becoming active participants in the fight. A timely reminder of the costs and the horror of war and violence in cities, this book offers an invaluable interdisciplinary introduction to urban warfare in the new millennium for students of international security, urban studies, and military science.

The Frequented Village, A Poem ... A New Edition, Improved with Additions. [By Anthony King.]

A Reader

The British Prime Minister

Anthony Stephen King

The British prime minister is universally acknowledged to be the most powerful single individual in the British system of government, but very little is known about what goes on behind the closed door at #10 Downing Street. As Anthony King points out, there are few articles—let alone books—on the prime ministership available to students of British politics either in the UK or the US. As the preface to the American edition states, while the British prime minister and the American president "do resemble each other in some ways, it is important right at the start to recognize the profound differences between them."

Timothy W. Potter

As part of a long-term survey of southern Etruria, the site of Monte Gelato, about 30 km north of Rome, was excavated from 1986-90. An exceptionally rich stratigraphy provided excavators with a detailed occupation narrative. An Augustan villa where dormice were eaten and eels kept as pets was abandoned in the early 3rd century AD. Sporadic settlements on the `frontier zone' of Lombard incursions were succeeded by the establishment of a fortified ecclesiastical centre and papal estate in the 9th century AD. Two major issues shaped the project design: firstly the chronology of the abandonment of Roman villas and the move to fortified castelli and secondly, the cycles of isolation from and linkage to Rome which continue to affect this beautiful area of Italy.

A Roman and Medieval Settlement in South Etruria

Excavations at the Mola Di Monte Gelato

As a result of new strategic threats, Europe's land forces are currently undergoing a historic transformation which may reflect wider processes of European integration. Europe's mass, mainly conscript armies are being replaced by smaller, more capable, professionalised militaries concentrated into new operational headquarters and rapid reaction brigades, able to plan, command, and execute global military interventions. At the same time, these headquarters and brigades are co-operating with each other across national borders at a level which would have been inconceivable in the twentieth century. As a result, a transnational military network is appearing in Europe, the forces in which are converging on common forms of military expertise. This book is a groundbreaking study of the military dimensions of European integration, which have been largely ignored until now. It will appeal to scholars across the social sciences interested in the progress of the European project, and the nature of the military today.

From the Rhine to Afghanistan

The Transformation of Europe's Armed Forces

A Comprehensive Summary Of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow About the Original Book In the book "Catch and Kill" by Ronan Farrow, Farrow in a dramatic account of violence and espionage, exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost. He also made account of the difficulties faced alongside his producer which until now, couldn't be explained. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood to Washington and beyond. About this Summary This summary guide is proudly brought to you by Anthony King. It contains a comprehensive, well detailed summary and key takeaways of the original book by Ronan Farrow. It summarizes the book in detail, to help people effectively understand, articulate and imbibe the original work by Farrow. Disclaimer: This is a summary, review of the book "Catch and Kill" and not the original book.

SUMMARY Of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

A Comprehensive Summary Of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow About the Original Book In the book "Catch and Kill" by Ronan Farrow, Farrow in a dramatic account of violence and espionage, exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost. He also made account of the difficulties faced alongside his producer which until now, couldn't be explained. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood to Washington and beyond. About this Summary This summary guide is proudly brought to you by Anthony King. It contains a comprehensive, well detailed summary and key takeaways of the original book by Ronan Farrow. It summarizes the book in detail, to help people effectively understand, articulate and imbibe the original work by Farrow. Disclaimer: This is a summary, review of the book "Catch and Kill" and not the original book. It is

Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

SUMMARY Of Catch and Kill

A work of historical, comparative sociology examining the evolution of infantry tactics in the American, Australian Canadian, British, French, German, and Italian armies from the First World War to the present. It addresses a key question in the social sciences of how social solidarity (cohesion) is generated and sustained.

Anthony King

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