Cherson and the conversion of Rus': an anti-revisionist view

Abstract

The story of the conversion to Byzantine Christianity of Prince Vladimir of Kiev and of many of his subjects has, in the accounts of most modern historians, conformed more or less to the following pattern. In the summer of 987 the rebellious general Bardas Phocas, master of most of Asia Minor, proclaimed himself emperor, and marched on Constantinople. The legitimate emperor, Basil II, was in a desperate position. Some time during that same summer he sent an embassy to Kiev with an urgent request for help. By the terms of a treaty they had concluded with the Empire in 971, the Russians were bound to give the Byzantines military assistance in case of need. Vladimir sent him a contingent of six thousand Varangian soldiers. This expeditionary force, which arrived on Byzantine territory in the spring of 988, saved Basil II, who defeated his rival in the battles of Chrysopolis and Abydos. The second of these battles was fought on 13 April, 989.     

The history of cultural anthropology: Two views

Elvin J. Hatch. Theories of Man and Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1973. viii + 384 pp. References and index. $12.00.

Paul J. Bohannan and Mark Glazer, eds. High Points in Anthropology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973. xix + 449 pp. References. $6.95.     

The early history of the neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Research on the neurobiology and pharmacotherapy of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown exponentially since 1980. A reasonable question is whether this research has improved our understanding and treatment of ADHD. This article describes relevant developments that took place roughly between 1900 and 1970. During this time, the efficacy of stimulant therapy for the disorder was established and the symptoms of ADHD were linked to many possible nervous system disorders including in the brain-stem, reticular formation, diencephalon, basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex. In 1970, the catecholamine hypothesis of ADHD was proposed. It is concluded that early theories about the neurobiologic basis of ADHD anticipated core ideas of modern theory.     

Human ecology and the early history of St Kilda,Scotland

It is 300 years since Martin Martin published hisVoyage to St Kilda, one of the most informative accounts ever published of a seventeenth-century community. Historical treatments of St Kilda have often dramatized its isolation, distinctiveness and «marginality» but Martin's writings suggest that the lifeways of the St Kildans were not very different from those of contemporary Hebrideans. The economy described by Martin was subject to a rigorous regime of communal self-management. This article argues that in late medieval climatic conditions, St Kilda's particular combination of resources—sheltered arable land, seals and sea-bird colonies, including a huge gannetry—would have made the archipelago a valued component of the MacLeod chiefdom and a good target for the annual predatory visit of the sub-chief and his retinue. St Kilda's history should be seen not in isolation, but in a context of regional interdependence, and the archipelago's «marginality» is best understood in a long-term historical perspective.