Spotlights
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Shinto: The Ancient Religion of Japan
SpotlightRead MoreShinto: The Ancient Religion of Japan offers a historical and textual examination of Japan’s indigenous religious tradition. William George Aston traces the origins of Shinto belief to early mythological narratives preserved in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, analyzing the development of kami worship, ritual purity, and imperial legitimacy. Rather than presenting Shinto as a systematic theology, Aston emphasizes its ritual character, mythic foundations, and close...
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Annals of the Turkish Empire
SpotlightRead MoreAnnals of the Turkish Empire (1591–1659) is the English translation of Mustafa Naima’s seminal Ottoman chronicle, a foundational primary source for the study of the seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire. Covering the years 1000–1070 AH (1591–1659 CE), this work documents major political, military, and administrative developments in early modern Eurasia. Naima records the Ottoman–Habsburg wars in Hungary, frontier conflicts in Bosnia and Transylvania, imperial campaigns in Central Europe, internal revolts, court politics, and the appointments and...
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On Liberty
SpotlightRead MoreOn Liberty (1859) is one of the foundational texts of modern liberal political philosophy. In this influential essay, John Stuart Mill articulates a principled defense of individual freedom against both state authority and the “tyranny of the majority.” Mill argues that the only legitimate reason for exercising power over any member of a civilized society, against their will, is to prevent harm to others—a principle now known as the “harm principle.”
The work defends freedom of...
