The ‘joyous entry’ of Archduke Maximilian into Antwerp (13 January 1478): an analysis of a ‘most elegant and dignified’ dialogue

In the historiography of ‘joyous entries’ in the medieval Low Countries, much attention has been paid to the ways in which the iconographic programmes of these inauguration ceremonies served the dialogue between the Burgundian dukes and their subjects on the one hand, and between urban interest groups on the other. Analyses of the various theatrical performances organised on town squares and other public urban spaces allow us a glimpse of the balance of power and of the participants’ ambitions and strategies in a certain historical and geographical context. An in-depth analysis of a contemporary account of Maximilian's joyous entry into Antwerp (13 January 1478) adds a new perspective to historiography by showing how the public urban spaces functioned as complex social products, which gave extra meaning to the interaction between the duke and urban groups while simultaneously mirroring the socio-economic and political structure of urban society.     

New insights into Mao’s initial strategic consideration towards the Korean War intervention

The argument that the US army’s crossing of the 38th parallel compelled China’s intervention has been widely accepted in the West. However, as the US manoeuvre posed a major threat to the political and ideological foundations of the CCP regime in the early period of the Korean War, Mao Zedong wanted to send troops to assist North Korean’s quick victory. However, this was not realised because of Stalin’s negative position. Mao’s stance shows that his overriding criteria for intervention was not whether US forces would cross the 38th parallel, but whether their dispatch helped to solidify the CCP regime and if the preconditions for victory existed.     

Amplification and sequencing of Trichuris trichiura ancient DNA extracted from archaeological sediments

Despite high prevalence of Trichuris trichiura infection, PCR-based analysis on T. trichiura from archaeological samples has not been established so far. In the present study, we sought to perform PCR-based amplification of T. trichiura aDNA using the sediments from medieval tomb of Korea. The presence of Trichuris eggs were first detected by microscopic observation; then confirmed by PCR-based aDNA analysis. Obtained sequence showed 100% homology to that of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSUrRNA) gene of T. trichiura but distinct from that of other Trichuris species. PCR-based aDNA analysis in this study can serve as effective method to confirm the presence of T. trichiura eggs in the soils or coprolites collected from archaeological sites.     

The corporeal,the social and space/place: exploring intersections from a midwifery perspective in New Zealand

This article explores the interrelations between the corporeal, the social and the spatial as they operate to shape the discursive and material realities of childbirth in the obstetric hospital setting. It draws on interviews conducted with midwives throughout New Zealand and embodies key insights derived from the work of Michel Foucault and Elizabeth Grosz. The obstetric hospital is theorised as a product of particular socio-political relations that privilege biomedical constructions of the body and childbirth. Midwives, however, proffer an alternative construction of childbirth and the space/place it is enacted. It is one that requires a woman to actively engage with a variety of birth spaces and take up a range of subject positions that enable her to be a more active agent in the process of parturition. The limited and limiting spatial and discursive arrangements of the obstetric hospital, it is argued, shape the behaviour, subjectivity and corporeality of the maternal body confined within it and therefore the practises of midwives. Unfortunately, and as this article demonstrates, the opportunity to take up such an alternative is limited in the obstetric hospital despite some recent cosmetic attempts to render it more welcoming.     

Book reviews

Heinz W. Arndt, The Rise and Fall of Economic Growth: A Study in Contemporary Thought. Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1978, pp. 161. $6.95.

Coral Bell (Ed.), Agenda for The Eighties. ANU Press, Canberra, 1980, pp.256. $12.95 (paper).

Mohammed Ayoob (ed.), Conflict and Intevention in the Third World. Croom Helm, London, and ANU Press, Canberra, 1980, pp. 261. $37.50.

Anthony Reid, The Blood of the People Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur. 1979, pp. 288. $43.20.

Leslie H. Gelb with Richard K. Betts, The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked. The Brookings Institution, Washington, 1979, pp. 387. £12.50 hardcover, £4.95 paper.

B. N. Pandey (ed.), Leadership in South Asia. New Delhi, Vikas Publishing House, 1977, pp.xxiv+731.

S.A.A. Rizvi, Iran: Royalty, Religion and Revolution. Ma'rifat Publishing House, Canberra, 1980, pp. 392. $30.00.

Amin Saikal, The Rise and Fall of the Shah, Princeton University Press and Angus and Robertson (Australia), 1980, pp. 279. US$14.50.

Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1978. pp.1283. $94.00.

Uri Davis, Israel: Utopia Incorporated. Zed Press Ltd., London, 1977, pp.182. £5.00 (Paperback: £2.95).

Rosemary Sayigh, Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries. Zed Press Ltd., London, 1979, pp.206. £8.95 (Paperback: £2.95).

Selwyn Lloyd, Suez 1956: A Personal Account. Jonathon Cape, London, 1978, pp. 282. £6.50.

John Kane‐Berman, South Africa: The Method in the Madness. Pluto Press. London. 1979, pp. 265. £2.95.

Rene Lemarchand (ed.), American Policy in Southern Africa: The Stakes and the Stance. University Press of America, Washington, D.C., 1978, pp. 450.

Richard E. Bissell, Southern Africa in the World: Autonomy or Interdependence? Foreign Policv Research Institute. Philadelphia, 1978, pp. 67. US $4.00.

Claude Ake, Revolutionary Pressures in Africa. Zed Press Ltd., London, 1978, pp. 109. £6.50.

Robin Palmer and Neil Parsons (eds.), The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern Africa. Heinemann, London, 1977, pp.xviii + 430. £2.90.

Karl Kaiser and Hans‐Peter Schwarz (eds.), America and Western Europe: Problems and Prospects. Lexington Books, D. C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Mass., 1978, pp. 448.

Walter F. Hahn and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr. (eds.), Atlantic Community in Crisis: A Redefinition of the Transatlantic Relationship. Pergamon, New York. 1979. pp. 386.

Annette Baker Fox, The Politics of Attraction: Four Middle Powers and the United States. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 371. $US21.90.

Nikolai Sivachev and Nikolai Yakovlev, Russia and the United States. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1979, pp.301. $12.95.

L. F. Fitzhardinge, The Little Digger 1914–1952: William Morris Hughes, A Political Biography, Volume II. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1979, pp.xx + 703. $40.

Australia and the Indonesian Revolution: by Margaret George. (M.U.P. in association with the Australian Institute of International Affairs).