Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Beneath the Surface of Things -...

  Wade Davis

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  A timely and eclectic collection from one of the foremost thinkers of our time, "a powerful, penetrating and immensely knowledgeable writer" (The Guardian). 
   
   
   
  The essays in this collection came about during the unhurried months when one who had traveled incessantly was obliged to stay still, even as events flared on all sides in a world that never stops moving. Wade Davis brings his unique cultural perspective to such varied topics as the demonization of coca, the sacred plant of the Inca; the Great War and the birth of modernity; the British conquest of Everest; the endless conflict in the Middle East; reaching beyond climate fear and trepidation; on the meaning of the sacred. His essay, "The Unraveling of America," first published in Rolling Stone, attracted five million readers and generated 362 million social media impressions. Media interest in the story was sustained over many weeks, with interview requests coming in from twenty-three countries. 
   
   
   
  The anthropological lens, as Davis demonstrates, reveals what lies beneath the surface of things, allowing us to see, and to seek, the wisdom of the middle way, a perspective of promise and hope that all of the essays in this collection aspire to convey.

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  The Hungarian Who Walked to...

  Edward Fox

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  This is a delightful short biography of an eccentric Hungarian scholar who became one of the fathers of Western studies of the Tibetan language and culture. Educated at an austere Calvinist school until aged 31 where he demonstrated exceptional skills as a linguist, Csoma de Korös (1784-1842) finally set out alone on a pilgrimage to the East. His personal mission was to discover the roots of the Hungarian people, whom he and others of the time theorized to be descended from Attila the Hun. 
   
  Due to a Chinese decree restricting foreign entry to Tibet he was sadly never to reach Yarkand in the Western plains of China, where he hoped to find linguistic proof of the Central Asian origins of the Hungarian race. However on his way, via many adventures, misfortunes and disguises, he expanded his repertoire to as many as 14 languages and became one of the first Europeans to enter Ladakh, Tibetan in language and culture, but politically part of India. Supported by the British vet and superintendent of the East India Company's Stud, William Moorcroft, Csoma was encouraged to use his extraordinary facility for languages to learn Tibetan, (largely unknown in the West), and produce the first English-Tibetan dictionary. He studied with Lama Sangye Phuntsog in a remote monastery in Zanskar. For 16 months the two men studied the Tibetan language and its vast religious canon in austere freezing conditions in a tiny nine-foot square cell. The fruits of this arduous but pioneering effort, the first reliable grammar and dictionary of Tibetan, was finally published in two volumes in 1834 - using a Tibetan font that had to be specially made. Csoma spent the last years of his life working for the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta, mastering Marathi, Bengali and Sanskrit, before dying of malaria on a final courageous attempt to travel across Tibet to Western China. Csoma’s life-story and achievements gradually became known in Hungary, and he is now a revered national figure. A fascinating little book.

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  Chronicle The - Book One -...

  Mr Punch

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  The Chronicle: BOOK ONE (January to March) 
   
  This is history at its best and most entertaining! One moment Liselotte, the Duchess of Orleans (1678) is observing the Prince of Orange consummating his marriage in thick woollen drawers… and the next, Harold Nicolson (1936) is at the Savoy Grill dining with the Prince of Wales and Mrs Simpson who is, "bejewelled, eyebrow-plucked, virtuous and wise". There's the young medical student watching his friend Samuel Wright (1864) bowing to the crowd as he is hanged on the roof of Horsemonger Lane Gaol. And then Joe Orton and the Beatles (1967), Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis (1980), Captain Robert Scott and the South Pole (1912), John Betjeman, Barbara Castle, Joyce Grenfell, Alan Clark, Kenneth Williams and many other contributors… and not forgetting the anonymous but harrowing account of a witch’s trial by water (1731) 
    
  “It’s WONDERFUL.  In fact, I would describe it as one of the all-time audio greats... an unmissable five-star production.”  (The Guardian) 
  “I recommend the reader to hunt down and buy this series wherever it may be found.”  (The Spectator) 
  “The whole endeavour is a beguiling jigsaw”  (Sunday Times) 
   
  Dramatised and performed by a distinguished cast of over 30 actors, including Charles Dance, Harriet Walter, David Suchet, Timothy West, James Bolam, Maureen Lipman, Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Joss Ackland, Eleanor Bron, John Sessions, Imogen Stubbs. 
   
  Also available as part of the CHRONICLE BOX SET, over 11 hours of audio bliss.

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  Black Hearts and Painted Guns -...

  Kelly Eads, Daniel S. Morgan

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  “Will give readers a feeling for what it was like to fight in the Global War on Terror and the kind of young people who stepped forward to do it.” —On Point: The Journal of Army HistoryKelly Eads joined the 101st Airborne Division soon after 9/eleven, his experience reflecting the patriotism and commitment of so many young men and women who responded to the attack. He deployed to Iraq twice with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment.Early in their deployment to Iraq, the 2nd Battalion brought the fight directly to the enemy by setting up patrol bases in the local areas where they lived and operated. Soon they built a reputation for themselves, becoming known to the enemy as the Black Hearts—The 502nd had been distinguished on the battlefield by black hearts on their helmets since World War II. Their Scout Platoon became known as Painted Guns due to their practice of camouflaging their rifles.During Eads’ deployments, the battalion would experience thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices and firefights. They would spend countless hours in blistering 120-degree desert heat, controlling roads and preventing enemy freedom of movement; and would dedicate months to hunting enemy mortar teams and terror cells.With the help of Dan Morgan, an Infantry officer who deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan as a commander and operations officer, Eads takes the reader on a rollercoaster of combat experiences during the hunt for the most violent terrorist in Iraq, Abū Muṣʻab Zarqāwī, bringing to life the painstaking and horrid details of combat in a sectarian war. He tells the story of the soldiers’ camaraderie, built through adversity, and the love of family that sustained them.

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  Cleopatra - Last Pharaoh of Egypt

  Omar Khalil

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  Cleopatra VII was born into the powerful Ptolemaic dynasty, a Greek ruling family that had governed Egypt since the time of Alexander the Great. As the daughter of Ptolemy XII, she was raised in a world of immense political intrigue and royal rivalries. Unlike many of her predecessors, Cleopatra was highly educated, mastering several languages, including Egyptian—an unusual skill among the Greek rulers of Egypt. Her intelligence, charm, and deep understanding of politics set her apart as a leader destined for greatness. 
  From a young age, Cleopatra was immersed in the complexities of governance. She studied philosophy, mathematics, and diplomacy, acquiring knowledge that would later aid her in navigating the dangerous world of ancient power struggles. While her early years were marked by luxury, they were also shadowed by uncertainty. Egypt, under her father’s rule, was heavily dependent on Rome, and political instability threatened the Ptolemaic dynasty. Cleopatra observed these tensions closely, preparing herself for the inevitable challenge of ruling a divided kingdom. 
  When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BCE, Cleopatra, at just eighteen years old, ascended to the throne alongside her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII. According to Egyptian tradition, royal siblings often married to secure dynastic rule, and Cleopatra was expected to govern jointly with her brother-husband. However, she had little interest in sharing power. She quickly demonstrated her political ambition, seeking to rule Egypt independently. Her intelligence and strategic mindset made her a formidable leader, but her brother’s advisors viewed her as a threat.

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  Coming of Age - My Journey to...

  Madeleine May Kunin

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  Many readers are already familiar with Madeleine Kunin, the former threeterm governor of Vermont, who served as the deputy secretary of education and ambassador to Switzerland under President Bill Clinton. In her newest book, a memoir entitled Coming of Age: My Journey to the Eighties, the topic is aging, but she looks well beyond the physical tolls and explores the emotional ones as well. And she has had an extraordinary life: governor, ambassador, feminist, wife, mother, professor, poet, and much, much more. As recently reported in the New York Times, a girl born today can expect to live to the age of ninety, on average (boys, on the other hand, can expect to live until age eightyfive). Life expectancy, for many, is increasing, yet people rarely contemplate the emotional changes that come alongside the physical changes of aging. Madeleine wants to change that. Coming of Age: My Journey to the Eighties takes a close and incisive look at what it is like to grow old. The book is a memoir, yet most important of all, it is an honest and positive look at aging and how it has affected her life. Cover photo © Todd Lockwood.

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