Synopses & Reviews
Sociolinguistics deals with the social life of language, language in its sociocultural context. It is a branch of linguistics that looks less at the shape or sound of words--morphology or phonology--and more at how our words and sentences are influenced by the society around us--for instance, how the accent or the dialect we use has been shaped by where we come from or which social class we belong to.
In this Very Short Introduction, John Edwards offers the most up-to-date brief overview available of sociolinguistics, with side trips into the sociology of language and psycholinguistics. He considers such topics as the different social evaluations of languages and dialects, the loaded significance of names, and the importance of politically-driven language planning and policy. The relationship between language and gender, sexist language, the language of poverty, and the intertwining of language and religion are also dealt with here. Edwards stresses that, while linguists see all dialects as equally valid, in the wider world powerful attitudes have always placed language varieties in social hierarchies. The author also looks at language more broadly, examining the ways in which languages rise or fall, the attempts to revive flagging or endangered varieties, the reasons why some languages came to dominate others, and the special dynamics that affect contact between "big" and "small" languages.
In both its role as our most powerful tool of communication and as the most immediate symbolic marker of human affiliation, language is pre-eminently a social phenomenon. This compact volume offers an invaluable introduction to this vital aspect of language.
About the Series:
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.
Review
"David Potter's Constantine the Emperor is a fresh look by a veteran scholar at one of the most pivotal reigns in Western history. Almost all studies of this emperor take his conversion to Christianity as their starting point. Potter broadens the focus to show a shrewd field commander who can diagnose and exploit his opponents' weaknesses and an able ruler with a deeply held belief that his 'job' committed him to protecting the weak and ensuring fairness for all his subjects." --Harold Drake, University of California, Santa Barbara
"Crisp in its prose and comprehensive in its coverage, Constantine the Emperor grounds its much mythologized subject in the solid realities of imperial governance." --Noel Lenski, University of Colorado
"This is a penetrating and original analysis, closely based on contemporary evidence, of the step-by-step evolution of Constantine's role as Emperor, and of his conception of that role. Within that wider framework, the nature of Constantine's commitment to Christianity, and of his self-representation as a Christian, is carefully re-evaluated." --Sir Fergus Millar, University of Oxford
Review
"Vividly detailed and energetically told biography..." --Publishers Weekly
"This imaginative work is a fine contribution to scholarship on Emperor Constantine. ... Potter ably negotiates the literary and nonliterary evidence to demonstrate a number of major elements of Constantine's life... . [H]is understanding and explanation of the emperor's religious involvement are penetrating." --The Historian
"A good fit for academics and students of Roman history."--Kirkus
"David Potter's Constantine the Emperor is a fresh look by a veteran scholar at one of the most pivotal reigns in Western history. Almost all studies of this emperor take his conversion to Christianity as their starting point. Potter broadens the focus to show a shrewd field commander who can diagnose and exploit his opponents' weaknesses and an able ruler with a deeply held belief that his 'job' committed him to protecting the weak and ensuring fairness for all his subjects." --Harold Drake, University of California, Santa Barbara
"Crisp in its prose and comprehensive in its coverage, Constantine the Emperor grounds its much mythologized subject in the solid realities of imperial governance." --Noel Lenski, University of Colorado
"This is a penetrating and original analysis, closely based on contemporary evidence, of the step-by-step evolution of Constantine's role as Emperor, and of his conception of that role. Within that wider framework, the nature of Constantine's commitment to Christianity, and of his self-representation as a Christian, is carefully re-evaluated." --Sir Fergus Millar, University of Oxford
Potter, a professor of Greek and Roman history at the University of Michigan, actually offers this major hunk of history in a surprisingly readable and compelling manner. His description is excellent of Constantine's complicated world with its spreading Christian influence, altogether as good a story as the sordid family strife surrounding this emperor. Ancient Tides
"The interested reader could find no better starting point for exploring the man and the era than David Potter's Constantine the Emperor... [R]ewarding." --lThe Wall Street Journal
"ELvividly detailed and energetically told biography, Constantine was also one of Rome's greatest emperors and one of history's greatest leaders, with savvy leadership skills, great passion, and desire for an ordered society" Publishers Weekly
"Potter's interpretation of Constantine as transforming the world without intending to have that effect remains deeply provocative." l The History Book Club
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
This year Christians worldwide will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of Constantine's conversion and victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. 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, even on his deathbed he was planning a major assault on the Sassanian Empire in Persia. 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.
About the Author
John Edwards is Professor of Psychology at St. Francis Xavier University, in Nova Scotia. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and editor of the
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. His recent books include
Challenges in the Social Life of Language and Multilingualism: Understanding Linguistic Diversity. Table of Contents
TimelineIntroduction
Section 1 Imperial Resurrection
Chapter 1 The Crisis of 260 ad
Chapter 2 The Renewal of the Roman Empire
Section 2 Diocletian
Chapter 3 The New Emperor
Chapter 4 Emperors and Subjects
Chapter 5 A New Look
Chapter 6 Persia and the Caesars
Section 3 Constantine and Diocletian
Chapter 7 The Court of Diocletian
Chapter 8 Imperial Edicts and Moral Crusades
Chapter 9 Minervina
Chapter 10 The Succession
Section 4 Fathers and Sons
Chapter 11 The New Regime
Chapter 12 Maxentius and Fausta
Chapter 13 The End of Maximian
Section 5 The Road to Rome
Chapter 14 The Gathering Storm
Chapter 15 The Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Chapter 16 Freedom of Worship
Chapter 17 The Conversion of Constantine
Section 6 War and Peace
Chapter 18 Reworking Past and Future
Chapter 19 Governing the Empire
Chapter 20 Maximus and Bassus 319-323
Chapter 21 The Donatist Controversy
Section 7 Triumph and Tragedy
Chapter 22 Victory in the East
Chapter 23 The Eastern Empire
Chapter 24 Constantine Speaks to the Bishops
Chapter 25 The Arian Controversy
Chapter 26 Nicaea
Chapter 27 Constantinople and Rome
Section 8 Ruler of the World
Chapter 28 Constantine's Government
Chapter 29 Constantinople
Chapter 30 An Ordered Society
Chapter 31 Christians, Pagans and Jews
Chapter 32 Neighbours
Chapter 33 End Times
Epilogue
Dramatis Personae
Notes
Bibliography
Index