Paul Dukes

The book examines the evolution of the predicament symbolised by the setting of the Doomsday Clock at a few minutes to midnight in the context of the Anthropocene Era from 1763, making special reference to the study of history throughout the period. It seeks to demonstrate the necessity for history as science, pointing out the inadequacy of some previous approaches. It argues for a pandisciplinary approach to today’s crisis.

Great Men in the Second World War provides a new perspective on the role of the individual in history. Paul Dukes selects five Great Men, each in his turn one of the leaders of the three victorious powers, the UK, the USA and the USSR. The identity of the Big Three changed significantly during the last months of the conflict. Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was succeeded by Truman. Churchill lost the general election to Attlee in July. Stalin alone provided continuity throughout the conferences of the Big Three, and immediately beyond. The book explores the power of these individuals, asking such questions as:-To what extent did the leaders exert their own influence and to what extent could they be considered to be spokesmen for their countries?-How significant was it that Truman and Attlee had less colourful personalities than Roosevelt and Churchill?-Was Stalin uniquely bad while the others were good? Drawing in particular on the record of their interaction at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, but also making use of other sources including novels as well as works of history, Paul Dukes sheds light on both the major statesmen involved and the nature of the Second World War. This is a book that will be useful for students of the Second World War and anyone with an interest in the role of individuals in history.

Great Men in the Second World War provides a new perspective on the role of the individual in history. Paul Dukes selects five Great Men, each in his turn one of the leaders of the three victorious powers, the UK, the USA and the USSR. The identity of the Big Three changed significantly during the last months of the conflict. Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was succeeded by Truman. Churchill lost the general election to Attlee in July. Stalin alone provided continuity throughout the conferences of the Big Three, and immediately beyond. The book explores the power of these individuals, asking such questions as:-To what extent did the leaders exert their own influence and to what extent could they be considered to be spokesmen for their countries?-How significant was it that Truman and Attlee had less colourful personalities than Roosevelt and Churchill?-Was Stalin uniquely bad while the others were good? Drawing in particular on the record of their interaction at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, but also making use of other sources including novels as well as works of history, Paul Dukes sheds light on both the major statesmen involved and the nature of the Second World War. This is a book that will be useful for students of the Second World War and anyone with an interest in the role of individuals in history.

This book is a historical reinterpretation of the Cold War in the broadest sense from the viewpoint of the late 1980s. Dukes contends that the rivalry of the USA and Soviet Union, like the Great Game between Britain and Imperial Russia, can be understood only by analysing their relationship over centuries. He adopts the explanatory model of French historian Fernand Braudel - the concepts of event, conjuncture and structure – and examines the super-power relationship in an historical context stretching back to the medieval period. He argues that the political and cultural gaps between Western and Soviet approaches at key events have stemmed from widely different experiences of these events, as well as from long-embedded traditions.

The Urals are best known as the boundary between Europe and Asia. A History of the Urals demonstrates the region's importance in its own right, as a crucible of Russia’s defence industry in particular. In the first English-language book to explore the subject fully, Paul Dukes examines the region's contribution to the power of the state in tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet times, offering a refreshing antidote to Moscow-centric interpretations of Russian history. The book contextualises more recent periods with chapters on the earlier years of the Urals and covers the key environmental as well as economic, political and cultural themes. The book contains illustrations and maps, plus lists of books and websites, as aids to further research and understanding of the subject. A History of the Urals is an important book that provides new and valuable insights for all students of Russian history.

This is an English translation of important writings on the Thirty Years' War by the great Soviet historian B. F. Porshnev. Little is known of the Muscovite contribution to the conflict and Paul Dukes - arguably Britain's senior historian of ancien regime Russia - has selected the most valuable areas of Porshnev's unparalleled archival research to fill a crucial gap in the literature of the seventeenth century. In placing this work in the context of Porshnev's larger undertaking, Professor Dukes' substantial introduction assesses Porshnev's critics and evaluates his contribution to our understanding of the Thirty Years' War and of relations between Eastern and Western Europe at the time. A significant reinterpretation of a fascinating period, the book will interest both Russian specialists and those working more generally in seventeenth- century European history.

This is the first English translation of important writings on the Thirty Years’ War by the great Soviet historian B. F. Porshnev. Little is known of the Muscovite contribution to the conflict and Paul Dukes - arguably Britain’s senior historian of ancien regime Russia - has selected the most valuable areas of Porshnev’s unparalleled archival research to fill a crucial gap in the literature of the seventeenth-century. In placing this work in the context of Porshnev’s larger undertaking, Professor Dukes’ substantial introduction assesses Porshnev’s critics and evaluates his contribution to our understanding of the Thirty Years’ War and of relations between Eastern and Western Europe at the time. A significant reinterpretation of a fascinating period, the book will interest both Russian specialists and those working more generally in seventeenth- century European history.