Venezia è la città più turistica del mondo: ma come lo è diventata nel corso dei secoli? E quali sono le implicazioni per chi ci viveva e ci vive tuttora? Da qui muove la ricerca storica di Robert C. Davis, iniziata oltre vent'anni fa insieme all'antropologo Garry R. Marvin e qui tradotta per la prima volta in italiano, in un'edizione riveduta e aggiornata. Illuminante ritratto delle trasformazioni vissute dalla città negli ultimi decenni, il libro di Davis analizza in profondità la società e la cultura veneziane, restituendone luci ed ombre. Il giocattolo del mondo è una lettura imprescindibile per capire la storia della città al di là dei luoghi comuni, addentrandosi nella sua reale complessità. Una lettura che parla di Venezia per parlare del mondo intero, dove l'industria turistica avanza inarrestabile, trasformando secondo i propri dettami i luoghi e le culture di ogni angolo del pianeta.

The Fourth Edition of this widely used and respected book has been thoroughly revised and updated to include newly contributed and updated articles utilizing the latest research and studies in the areas of violence, abuse, and victims' rights from experts in the field. It has a stronger focus on emerging issues and policies in the field of victimology than other comparable texts and offer the most current research, thinking, and best practices regarding crime victims and crime victim services. Using an engaging and comprehensible format, editors Robert C. Davis, Arthur J. Lurigio, and Susan Herman provide a synopsis of the contemporary literature and debates on significant topics in the field of criminal victimization.

By January 1865, most of Virginia's schools were closed, many newspapers had ceased publication, businesses suffered, and food was scarce. Having endured major defeats on their home soil and the loss of much of the state's territory to the Union army, Virginia's Confederate soldiers began to desert at higher rates than at any other time in the war, returning home to provide their families with whatever assistance they could muster. It was a dark year for Virginia.

Virginia at War, 1865 closely examines the end of the Civil War in the Old Dominion, delivering a striking depiction of a state ravaged by violence and destruction. In the final volume of the Virginia at War series, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. have once again assembled an impressive collection of essays covering topics that include land operations, women and families, wartime economy, music and entertainment, the demobilization of Lee's army, and the war's aftermath. The volume ends with the final installment of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire's popular and important Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War. Like the previous four volumes in the series, Virginia at War, 1865 provides valuable insights into the devastating effects of the war on citizens across the state.

The fourth book in the Virginia at War series casts a special light on vital home front matters in Virginia during 1864. Following a year in which only one major battle was fought on Virginia soil, 1864 brought military campaigning to the Old Dominion. For the first time during the Civil War, the majority of Virginia's forces fought inside the state's borders. Yet soldiers were a distinct minority among the Virginians affected by the war. In Virginia at War, 1864, scholars explore various aspects of the civilian experience in Virginia including transportation and communication, wartime literature, politics and the press, higher education, patriotic celebrations, and early efforts at reconstruction in Union-occupied Virginia. The volume focuses on the effects of war on the civilian infrastructure as well as efforts to maintain the Confederacy. As in previous volumes, the book concludes with an edited and annotated excerpt of the Judith Brockenbrough McGuire diary.

A powerful work exposes the religiously-based white slave trade that existed throughout the Mediterranean, where it was as extensive as--and more brutal than--the trade in African slaves.

Between the epic battles of 1862 and the grueling and violent military campaigns that would follow, the year 1863 was oddly quiet for the Confederate state of Virginia. Only one major battle was fought on its soil, at Chancellorsville, and the conflict was one of the Army of Northern Virginia's greatest victories. Yet the pressures of the Civil War turned the daily lives of Virginians -- young and old, men and women, civilians and soldiers -- into battles of their own. Despite minimal combat, 1863 was an eventful year in Virginia history -- Stonewall Jackson died within its borders and Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. In Virginia at War, 1863, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. present these and other key events, as well as a discussion of the year's military land operations to reveal the political, social, and cultural ramifications of the ongoing national conflict. By this time, the war had profoundly transformed nearly every aspect of Virginia life and culture, from education to religion to commerce. Mounting casualties and depleted resources made the citizens of the Commonwealth feel the deprivations of war more deeply than ever. Virginia at War, 1863 surveys these often overlooked elements of the conflict. Contributors focus on the war's impact on Virginia's children and its newly freed slaves. They shed light on the origins of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, explore the popularity of scrapbooking as a form of personal recordkeeping, and consider the changing role of religion during wartime and the uncertain faith of Virginia's Christians. The book concludes with the 1863 entries of the Diary of a Southern Refugee by Richmond's Judith Brockenbrough McGuire. At the midpoint of the Civil War, the hostility of this great American struggle had become an ingrained part of Virginia life. Virginia at War, 1863 is the third volume of a five-book series that reexamines the Commonwealth's history as an integral part of the Confederacy. The series looks beyond military campaigns and tactics to consider how the war forever changed the people, culture, and society of Virginia.

Although nine of the former British colonies joined the United States before Virginia, the fate of the new republic depended heavily on the Commonwealth. With four of the first five American presidents, and many other founding fathers and framers of the Constitution, calling Virginia their home, the roots of American democracy are firmly planted within the borders of the Old Dominion. Similarly, several Southern states preceded Virginia in seceding from the Union, but until Virginia joined them in April 1861, the Confederacy lacked cohesion. Richmond was immediately named the capital of the fledgling nation, and by the end of spring, Virginia had become the primary political and military theater in which the grand tragedy of the Civil War was enacted. Virginia at War, 1861, edited by acclaimed historians William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr., vividly portrays the process of secession, the early phases of conflict, and the struggles of Virginians to weather the brutal storms of war. Virginia at War, 1861 is the first in a series of volumes on each of Virginia's five years as a Confederate state. Essays by eight noted Civil War scholars provide a three-dimensional view of Virginians' experiences during the first year of the War Between the States. In addition to recounting the remarkable military events taking place in Virginia in 1861, this collection examines a civilian population braced for war but divided on crucial questions, an economy pressed to cope with the demands of combat, and a culture that strained to reconcile its proud heritage with its uncertain future. In 1861, the outcome of the Civil War was far from determined, but for Virginians there was little doubt that the war experience would alter nearly everything they had known before the outbreak of hostilities. In exacting detail, Virginia at War, 1861 examines the earliest challenges of the Civil War, the changes war wrought, and the ways in which Virginians withstood and adapted to this profound, irrevocable upheaval.

A rare Sephardic Jew in the Old South and a favorite of Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin has been described as "the brains of the Confederacy." He held three successive Confederate cabinet posts - attorney general, secretary of war, and secretary of state - but some have questioned Benjamin's loyalty to Davis and the extent of his influence. More than 140 years after Benjamin first appeared on the Confederate scene, historians still debate his place in the history of the Lost Cause. Robert Douthat Meade's absorbing account of the life of this enigmatic Civil War figure, who built a second brilliant career in England after the war, remains the definitive study of Benjamin.