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The book discusses how the most severe abuses of political power, traditionally termed from the ancient times as ‘tyranny', were presented in 16th century political philosophy, propaganda, and literature in Italy, France, England, Scotland, German countries, and Poland-Lithuania. Using a unique interdisciplinary methodology, the book is both timeless and timely as it demonstrates various approaches of acknowledged Renaissance intellectuals to the problem of tyranny and how best to avoid or fight it. The author consciously avoids categories of the classic history of ideas or political thought and instead reveals broader intellectual and cultural connections in the perception of tyranny in the 16th century and its impact on modern debates on different dangers of political abuses of power.

Der moderne Zionismus bildete nie eine politische Einheit, sondern vielmehr eine heterogene Bewegung. Wie ihre ZeitgenossInnen waren auch die ZionistInnen in ihrer ideologisch-politischen Entwicklung von gängigen Wissens- und Ideenbeständen beeinflusst und verhandelten in dieser Zeitgebundenheit ihre Vision(en) von einer künftigen jüdischen Heimstätte. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes analysieren AkteurInnen, Agitationsmittel und Diskurse innerhalb der vielseitigen zionistischen Bewegung, die als ‚Zionismen‘ apostrophiert werden. Die AutorInnen hinterfragen herkömmliche Narrative im Hinblick auf individuelle und kollektive Strategien der Identitätsbildung. Sie beleuchten zudem das spannungsreiche Verhältnis der ZionistInnen untereinander sowie ihre ambivalenten Beziehungen zu nichtzionistischen Gruppen.

«The book offers an opportunity to look at the genesis of national identity as it was constructed in a specific stateless and multicultural context through cultural transfer and the impact of the contemporary media. It explores Polish reactions to the Italian Risorgimento which at the time represented the quintessential struggle for national freedom and offered hope for other oppressed nationalities. The Polish intellectuals were inflamed by the Italian movement, mostly as supporters, but also as its fierce opponents. They took on the Risorgimento's political and civilizational dilemmas, adjusting them to suit their own agendas. By vividly discussing Italy's political prospects they were filling in the half-empty vessel of Polish national identity. As the result of this dialogue, they placed Poland firmly within Western civilization, determined which factors legitimized their nation and defined its religious outlook. The book allows us to discern the external foundations of such empowering national images as the ‘revolutionary Pole'and the ‘Pole Catholic.'» Marta Petrusewicz, City University of New York, Università della Calabria.