{
    "id": 297150,
    "slug": "the-struggle-with-leviathan-emiel-lamberts",
    "nstc": null,
    "title": "The Struggle with Leviathan",
    "subtitle": "Social Responses to the Omnipotence of the State, 1815-1965",
    "collection_title": null,
    "collection_part_number": null,
    "annotation": null,
    "description": "A panoramic picture of international politics and the formation of the modern State.\r\nThe opposition to the omnipotence of the State \u2013 as symbolised by\u00a0Thomas Hobbes\u2019 Leviathan (1651) \u2013 had a significant impact on the\u00a0political organisation of European society. A liberal strategy intended to\u00a0provide a protective legal status for individual citizens, whereas a social\u00a0strategy aimed to strengthen the social fabric to counterbalance the\u00a0power of the State. Gradually both strategies became interwoven.\u00a0\r\n\r\nThe Struggle with Leviathan\u00a0pays special attention to the social\u00a0strategy, developed by conservative and ecclesiastical circles against\u00a0the omnipotence of the State, and is structured around the fascinating\u00a0biography of the Austrian diplomat Gustav von Blome, a grandson of\u00a0Metternich and an important opponent of Bismarck. He proved to be\u00a0a transitional figure between aristocratic conservatism and Christian\u00a0democracy, which had a great influence on European integration after\u00a01945.\r\n\r\nBesides Blome, several other dramatis personae \u2013 statesmen, prelates,\u00a0political and social activists \u2013 are featured. As a result the book reads\u00a0like a compelling narrative. At the same time, it offers a broadly sketched\u00a0historical fresco of international politics and the gradual formation of the\u00a0modern State.\u00a0\r\n\r\nThe original Dutch edition of this book,\u00a0Het gevecht met Leviathan, has\u00a0been highly praised in the Dutch and Flemish press, and was awarded the\u00a0biennial international Arenberg Prize for European History and Culture.\r\n",
    "additional_content": null,
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    "imprint": null,
    "language_code": "eng",
    "original_language_code": null,
    "page_count": 344,
    "duration_seconds": null,
    "publication_date_first": "2016-05-26",
    "publication_date_latest": "2016-05-26",
    "cover_url": null,
    "editions": [
        {
            "isbn": "9789461662460",
            "product_form": "EA"
        },
        {
            "isbn": "9789462700703",
            "product_form": "BC"
        }
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    "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:12:13+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2025-11-09T00:23:33+00:00",
    "publisher": {
        "id": 1331,
        "slug": "universitaire-pers-leuven",
        "name": "Universitaire Pers Leuven",
        "created_at": "2025-09-19T12:34:20+00:00",
        "updated_at": "2025-09-19T15:03:01+00:00"
    },
    "contributors": [
        {
            "id": 175557,
            "slug": "emiel-lamberts-2",
            "key_names": "Lamberts",
            "names_before_key": "Emiel",
            "prefix_to_key": null,
            "contributor_role": "A01",
            "readable_contributor_role": "Author"
        }
    ],
    "genres": [],
    "subjects": [
        {
            "scheme_identifier": "32",
            "scheme_version": null,
            "main_subject": false,
            "subject_code": "695",
            "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:12:13+00:00",
            "updated_at": "2025-09-19T13:12:13+00:00"
        }
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