Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed

By Kieron Gillen

It can be said, almost without exaggeration, that martyrdom has become one of the most pressing theological issues facing the contemporary world. Since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, the world has had to face up to an Islamic manifestation of martyrdom. Martyrdom has a long history; as long as individuals have been dying for their faith or cause, others have been telling and more importantly, interpreting their stories. These martyrologies are essentially conflict stories. Whether a Christian confessing her faith before a bemused Roman governor, or a suicide bomber blowing himself up in a crowed cafe in Jerusalem, the way these stories are recounted - positively or negatively - reflect a wider conflict in which the narrator and his community find themselves. Martyr narratives, whether textual, oral, or even a CNN news report, do more than simply report a death; they also contain the interpretative framework by which that death is understood - again positively or negatively. When the death of a martyr is reported, the way in which that story is told places that death within a larger narrative of conflict, which may be regional, global, or even cosmic. The martyr becomes a symbol of the community's desires and hopes, or for that matter, their terrors and fears, but in either case, the martyr is representative of a larger struggle, and often martyrology contains the vision of how the community envisages final victory over their enemy. This book aims to illuminate the way these conflict stories have been told and function (principally, though not exclusively) within Christian, Jewish, and Islamic communities. Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0567032183
• ISBN13: 9780567032188
• Release Date: August 2011
• Publisher: T & T Clark International
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

One of the two BGP bibles

If you are looking for a book describing all the things which need to be taken care of when planning and implementing BGP then you will appreciate this book.Mr Halabi provides a lot of example set-ups which are, for the people working in the Internet networking industry, very familiar. The examples range from a typical customer who wants BGP connectivity to multi-customer and international backbone configurations.Aside from...

Excellent book for BGP routing architectures

I am the architect of a leading MPLS VPN service which uses BGPv4 with MPLS extensions. I constantly refer back to this book for standard BGP scenarios (it has no MPLS VPN info). I have recommended this book to all our techincal support people and our customers for designing BGP peering networks.The book is well written, well organized and easy to follow. It has great breath of BGP applications. It is a tremendous help...

Excellent Internet Routing (BGP) Reference

Halabi's book is the BGP equivalent of Doyle's "Routing TCP/IP, Vol. 1". Without reading this book, I never would have understood BGP and the implications of interdomain routing. I also recommend Radia Perlman's "Interconnections, 2nd Ed."

I can now say that I understand BGP

The book was very easy to read for a networking literate individual. The book builds up to advanced topics and walks you through sample configurations. I now feel confident about my knowledge of BGP.

They should've called this the 'Routing Bible'

This is, without a doubt, *the* definitive routing reference for the network engineer; and one of the best technical books I have ever read. I usually skip to the back and pick out the parts that interest me; I'm reading this from start to finish, it's that well written. If you need to integrate your LAN with the internet, or if you are a network consultant or ISP tech like me, you need this book. This is required reading.<P...