Chapter 6 elucidates the concept of “world” in the cuneiform corpus. This chapter is meant as an alternative to the reconstruction of a cosmology in the sense of a systematic account of the physical universe and argues that worldmaking serves better as a heuristic for non-Western premodern systems of knowledge than does the idea of cosmology.

Is there philosophy in Hume’s Essays? In this contribution, I argue that the form of the Essays implies an ongoing philosophical project with a significant sceptical difference from the systemic form of Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature. There is evidence in the Essays that Hume thought of himself thinking philosophically in these works, even if philosophy is narrowly conceived as the search for general principles associated with the ‘abstruse philosophy’ of the Treatise and Enquiries. The distinction between the forms of the Essays and the form of the Treatise indicates, however, that the Essays are not merely continuing the Treatise’s project. The pedagogy of the Essays, revealed in their form, teaches that philosophy is an ongoing project, a sceptical search that is sceptical even about its limits, rather than the system that the young Hume was confident could be completed within the boundaries of a treatise. There is not philosophy in the Essays. The Essays are philosophy.

Air power, with its capability for mass destruction, changed the face of twentieth-century inter-state warfare and redefined what power means. Having had limited impact on the First World War, the unique characteristics of air power – speed, height and reach – were immediately recognised as were its attributes: ubiquity, agility and concentration. Theorists explored the potential of this novel instrument for future wars, with one school emphasising strategic utility while another school explored its potential in the context of continental land warfare. Theory directly influenced the creation of air power capabilities and air warfare during World War II. While military technologies – in particular due to precision munitions – and societal attitudes concerning the use of force have changed, the theoretical foundations of the interbellum and the debates about the utility of air power still resonate. Today air power has become the icon of Western-preferred style of warfare, having demonstrated its potential utility not only in inter-state wars but also during humanitarian interventions and irregular warfare. Air power can pose or counter threats simultaneously, across a far wider area than surface capabilities, and quickly switch the point of application within and between operational theatres to create tactical and strategic effects.

This concluding chapter begins with a description of young Israelis who have chosen to live in Berlin. The political, economic, and cultural reasons for choosing Berlin are listed. The analysis turns to a critique of the ‘warring tribe’ model of Israeli society and suggests instead that there are presently different versions of ‘being Israeli’, or ‘Israeliness’. The majority version is secular in orientation, and haredim and Israeli Palestinians are variant minority versions. The three share some common cultural features, while also differing in many respects. Continuing close interactions between them produces new features and alignments, and they will continue to negotiate the society’s shape and directions.

Chapter 4 explores the kinds of extraordinary situations experienced in the lives of royal ladies-in-waiting, asserting their prominent roles in coronations, marriages, christenings, and other ceremonies designed to cement and further dynastic prestige, such as Order of the Garter tournaments and the Field of Cloth of Gold extravaganza. Serving the queen at important life-cycle rituals, seasonal events, and diplomatic spectacles contributed to the monarchy’s propaganda program, thereby bolstering royal authority and encouraging dynastic loyalty. When kings dispatched their daughters and sisters to foreign lands, their entourages signaled the wealth and status of the English monarchy. Highborn female attendants not only assisted the queen and female royals, but also reinforced hierarchical order by their very placement in these rituals, order that was displayed, I argue, both in processions and their particular assigned responsibilities. This chapter reveals how the spectacle of such pageantry had significant political dimensions, even if such was not always recognized by the subjects who witnessed royal processions.

Chapter 2 investigates the status of the post-Antonescu Jewish community in Romania focusing on the Jews’ efforts to rebuild their lives and communities. The chapter traces both the communal – related to Jewish parties and organizations – and individual developments.

Europe across the period from 1000–1500 was characterised by a multiplicity of polities, but the majority were unified by membership of the Catholic Church. Indeed Latin Christendom (those polities that recognised papal authority and followed the Latin liturgy) doubled in size by the end of the twelfth century, as frontiers were pushed forward in the Holy Land, Sicily, the Iberian peninsula and the Baltic. This was generally achieved by extraordinary multi-polity coalitions loosely under the direction of the papacy, which confronted enemies of another faith and culture who seemed to present a military and existential threat to Christendom itself. Inter-polity conflict was nevertheless waged within Latin Christendom throughout the period, and especially after the collapse of Latin power in the Holy Land in 1291. As rulers focused more attention on nearby adversaries, they increasingly raised armies by contract for pay, aided by systems of credit, enabling the professionalisation of armies, to a limited extent. Meanwhile, throughout the period, securing divine support was considered important as military means in achieving strategic goals. The strategy and means of political–military elites are revealed through an increasing abundance of sources, notably chronicles and, particularly from the turn of the thirteenth century, an abundance of government records.

A history of the military strategy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) involves in part China’s use of force around its periphery; whether that is the Korean War (1950–1953), the Sino-Indian border clash (1962), the Sino-Russian border clash (1969), China’s seizure of islets in the Paracels from South Vietnam (1974), the Sino-Vietnamese border clash (1979) and finally China’s seizure of islets from Vietnam in the Spratlys (1988). A close examination of these campaigns reveals a mixed pattern of strategic signalling, military opportunism, punishing adversaries and bolstering buffer zones around China to accomplish China’s long-term strategic objectives with minimal risk to China itself. Curiously, the PRC embarked on a multi-decade period in which the Chinese did not use large-scale force and initiated a concerted effort at defence modernisation and economic development. This has led to a dramatic transformation of the People’s Liberation Army from a backward force into one of the most modern militaries on the planet.