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"Our Own World History" A book that presents family history against the background of world history by Raoul F. Middelmann 
The author intertwines the history of the family, his own and his wife's, with political, social and economic aspects of the history of parts of Europe, Russia, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and China. He invites readers to similarly research their history and to then integrate the results into that of the wider world. For this author, the result is much more than a normal family history, going, as it does, far beyond names, dates and places. The Roman Empire and the Middle Ages provide a general backdrop both in terms of Christianity and political power plays from the time of the Romans, through that of the tribal migrations and of the subsequent feudal period. The author draws out parallels that exist in lives of members of the family over the centuries in, on the one hand, for example in Westphalia, Hesse, and Hanover and, on the other, in Scotland, Yorkshire, Suffolk and Cornwall. He stresses general human attitudes and behaviours. This is not a history of unique individuals. The author has tried to avoid any heroisation. Nevertheless, and quite inevitably, members of the more immediate family are treated more closely than more distant ones, as are more recent political, social and economic phenomena compared with more distant ones. At all times the author has stressed general human characteristics, shaped, as he believes, they have been by social, economic, cultural conditions of their environment and time. Individuals named stand for humanity generally. It is not for us to condemn any of them, nor to condone any of their actions either. The family today is generally middle class and scattered around the globe. Its origins are largely that of cultivators of land (yeomen, Bauer, paysan). Members of most families eventually moved into business and the professions, the latter often by way of Protestant (dissenting) theology. For several lines of forebears the author traced their origins back into the 15th century. Migration has linked the family to developments in Russia, the USA and world-wide, in particular in other settlement colonies. Increased mobility brought marriage partners together from ever wider geographic distances, both within nation-states and beyond. Ease of communication has become ever more important here than nationality. The author deals with social, political, economic and moral issues posed to the family by rise of nation-states. He also highlights how the meaning of nation-states, and thus also of official migration policies and statistics, has increasingly become uncertain. Faith in Christ as the personal saviour, rather than in nation-states, Fuehrer or political leaders, becomes significant in this process. The fact that the work of Greenpeace and Amnesty International also transcends the boundaries of national-states highlights the fact that men and women, whether members of this family or not, individually face their destiny, and thus their role in history ultimately under His will. "God's own country", at best is anybody's Heimat (home), in reality however, the globe itself. Our neighbours are everywhere on that globe, irrespective of race, religion, living standard, cultural background and social prestige. Book details Hard cover, 584 pages, including photos. charts, and 197 family tables. The book also includes indexes to the tables and to historical personalities who impacted on the family's history. ISBN: 0 646 36416 2 |
