Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute,to be Held at Edinburgh in July, 1856

The following paper is based on work carried out between 1974 and 1984 in connection with J. T. Smith's survey for the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England of the domestic buildings of Hertfordshire. It deals principally with painted decoration on plaster and timber walls and ceilings, but also takes into consideration other decorative features such as moulded plasterwork and wooden panelling.     

The Rise and Race of Hastings

Qualitative, quantitative and distributional aspects of the overall results from archaeological surveillance of the routes before and during construction of the M4 and M5 motorways in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset are discussed. By comparing the data from the M4 and M5, and from the M40 in Oxfordshire too, some elements of numerical consistency are adduced for which explanations are sought rather than provided. An implication is that, despite the circumstances of their recovery, archaeological data from motorways are, in bulk, not without significance for the lowland English landscape.     

New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton

Charisma is one of the most common explanations for the success of political leaders in obtaining the support of the mass public. Yet authors employing the concept typically begin their analyses by simply assuming the presence of charisma, foregoing more rigorous analyses, including the consideration of alternative explanations for public appeal. Thus, charisma becomes a post hoc attribution, a residual category of explanation that is difficult to evaluate objectively. This article examines the concept of charisma in the context of the American presidency by testing for its consequences, including presidents obtaining unusually high levels of support, support from unusual sources, or especially intense and committed support, or successfully leading public opinion on matters of public policy. I particularly focus on the best-case tests of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Unable to find systematic evidence of some special form of leadership that we might characterize as "charismatic," I conclude that the concept of charisma is neither salvageable analytically nor helpful empirically.