In the nineteenth century, as Britain attained a leading economic and political position in Europe, British policymakers embarked on a bold experiment with small and limited government. By the outbreak of the First World War, however, this laissez-faire philosophy of government had been abandoned and the country had taken its first steps toward becoming a modern welfare state. ...(展开全部)

威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆（1874—1965），英国著名作家，被誉为“最会讲故事的作家”，整个英语世界最畅销的作家之一。毛姆是一位成功的多产作家，在长篇小说、短篇小说和戏剧领域里都有建树。不过毛姆本人对自己的评价却很谦虚：“我只不过是二流作家中排在前面的一个。” 毛姆最知名、最畅销的小说包括《人生的枷锁》《月亮和六便士》和《刀锋》等。除长篇外，毛姆还是一个出色的短篇小说家，他的短篇小说有一百多部。1946年，毛姆设立了萨默塞特·毛姆奖，奖励优秀的年轻作家，鼓励 并资助他们到各处旅游。1952年，牛津大学授予毛姆名誉博士学位。1954年，英王室授予他“荣誉侍从”称号。1965年12月16日毛姆在法国尼斯去逝。

Maugham found a parallel to the turmoil of our own times in the duplicity, intrigue and sensuality of the Italian Renaissance. Then and Now enters the world of Machiavelli, and covers three important months in the career of that crafty politician, worldly seducer and high priest of schemers.

马尔科姆·安德鲁斯，肯特大学英语学院荣誉退休教授，狄更斯研究专家，也长期从事维多利亚时代与视觉艺术的研究，已出版数本探讨艺术与文学作品中的风景的著作，包括《寻找如画美》（The Search for the Picturesque）、《如画美：文学资料与文献》（The Picturesque: Sources and Documents）、《风景与西方艺术》（Landscape and Western Art）等。

小约翰·威特教授 埃默里大学法学院教授，埃默里大学法律与宗教研究中心主任。宗教自由与权利研究领域最具代表性的学者之一。其学术专长为宗教自由、基本权利、法律史、婚姻和家庭法。 著有《法律与新教：路德改革的法律教义》（Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation，2002）、《上帝的竞技，上帝的正义：西方传统中的法律与宗教》（God’s Joust, God’s Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition，2006）、《权利的重构：早期现代加尔文主义的法律、宗教和人权》（The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion, and Human Rights in Ear...(展开全部)

Confidence in American government has been declining for three decades. Three-quarters of Americans said they trusted the Federal government to do the right thing in 1964. Today, only a quarter do. Why the decline? Is this mistrust a healthy reflection of America's long-lasting skepticism of a strong state? Is mistrust a problem for the future of governance? Bringing together e...(展开全部)

Britain's supremacy in the nineteenth century depended in large part on its vast deposits of coal. This coal not only powered steam engines in factories, ships, and railway locomotives but also warmed homes and cooked food. As coal consumption skyrocketed, the air in Britain's cities and towns became filled with ever-greater and denser clouds of smoke. In this far-reaching stud...(展开全部)

Britain's supremacy in the nineteenth century depended in large part on its vast deposits of coal. This coal not only powered steam engines in factories, ships, and railway locomotives but also warmed homes and cooked food. As coal consumption skyrocketed, the air in Britain's cities and towns became filled with ever-greater and denser clouds of smoke. In this far-reaching stud...(展开全部)

Britain's supremacy in the nineteenth century depended in large part on its vast deposits of coal. This coal not only powered steam engines in factories, ships, and railway locomotives but also warmed homes and cooked food. As coal consumption skyrocketed, the air in Britain's cities and towns became filled with ever-greater and denser clouds of smoke. In this far-reaching stud...(展开全部)

Britain's supremacy in the nineteenth century depended in large part on its vast deposits of coal. This coal not only powered steam engines in factories, ships, and railway locomotives but also warmed homes and cooked food. As coal consumption skyrocketed, the air in Britain's cities and towns became filled with ever-greater and denser clouds of smoke. In this far-reaching stud...(展开全部)