Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Teotihuacan and Cholula: The...

  Editors Charles River

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  Although Teotihuacan reached the height of its power and influence about 1500 years ago, the city is still an endless topic of fascination and debate, in addition to being Mexico’s most toured archaeological site. The origins of the city remain mysterious (as do the city’s founders), and scholars are still coming up with theories to explain the city’s demise. All the while, later Mesoamerican civilizations remembered Teotihuacan, and the Aztec even considered the city’s ruins a site of worship. 
  Cholula is one of the most interesting, enigmatic, and forgotten cities in ancient Mesoamerica, and few people are aware that it is the oldest continuously-occupied settlement in the entire Western hemisphere. The current city is known for the Great Pyramid, which has the largest base of all pyramids in the world, as well as its many colonial churches and constant religious celebrations. All of these things ensure that Cholula is heavily visited, but the tremendous importance of Prehispanic Cholula has mostly been lost in the historical accounts of Puebla and even Mexico as a whole. 
  During the height of Teotihuacan’s influence in the Classic period and the expansion of the Aztecs in the Postclassic, Cholula managed to maintain its independence and grew to become the greatest religious center in central Mesoamerica. As the main site for the cult of the god Quetzalcoatl, Cholula received pilgrims from many Prehispanic cities, and the two high priests of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl were charged with confirming the legitimacy of these foreign rulers, making their role one of the most important in the region. Most sources note that Cholula was a great religious center with a large pyramid, and that it was the site of a terrible massacre perpetrated by the Spanish, but other than that those details, the impressive city remains mostly unknown. 

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  Not That I'd Kiss A Girl - A...

  Anonimo

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  Lil O'Brien accidentally outed herself to her parents at the age of nineteen when they overheard her talking to a friend about liking girls. Half an hour later she found herself on the side of the road, with instructions to come back and pick up her suitcase the next day. 
  What follows is a heartbreaking yet hugely funny story of a young Kiwi girl - the deputy head girl from a posh private school - coming to grips with her sexuality in the face of stark disapproval from her parents. 
  Bit by bit, Lil finds the inner strength to pull herself into an entirely new world. Along the way she's called out for looking too straight in a gay bar, tries to break in to the lesbian in-crowd and figures out how to send her internet lover back to America. She falls in lust over a knotted soccer shoelace, explores how the hell to have sex with a girl and dates four women at once - unsuccessfully. 
  Lil's story is an insightful and honest look at how you figure out whether you're gay, bi or whatever - and deal with what comes next. It's an essential read for anyone who's had to fight for who they are and what they believe in.

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  Guelphs and Ghibellines The: The...

  Charles River Editors

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  Papal supremacy in ecclesiastical matters had long been asserted and was, by and large, unchallenged. But in the late 11th century, Pope Gregory VII asserted authority in the temporal sphere as well. In a long dispute with Emperor Henry IV over who had the right to appoint bishops and abbots, Gregory decreed that the pope “alone may use the imperial insignia,” that “all princes shall kiss the feet of the pope alone,” and “that it may be permitted to him to depose emperors.” The popes asserted their dominion over the whole of Christendom, based on a spurious document known as the Donation of Constantine. This 8th century forgery asserted that Constantine the Great had gifted all of the West to Pope Sylvester I, in gratitude for his baptism. There is, of course, no evidence of Sylvester ever exercising imperial powers, and the document was determined to be a forgery in the 15th century. But beyond the Donation, Gregory could also point to the fact that emperors had received the imperial anointing and crown from the hands of the pope since Charlemagne. 
  	What was new was the vehemence with which Gregory pursued his claims. After a bitter exchange between pope and emperor over ecclesiastical governance, he attempted to break the impasse by excommunicating and deposing Henry. Conversely, the emperors asserted that God had charged the temporal authorities with the protection and guidance of the Church of God. After all, the German emperors before Henry IV had confirmed papal elections, resolved ecclesiastical disputes, regulated dioceses, and appointed their bishops.  
  In conjunction with these disputes, supporters of each side formed political factions and thus found themselves at odds with their rivals. The Guelphs and Ghibellines fought several conflicts in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries, and they were significant in laying the grounds for the independence of the Italian city-states, as well as for Germany. 

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  Bear Witness - The Pursuit of...

  Ross Halperin

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  As young men, Kurt Ver Beek, an American sociologist, and Carlos Hernández, a Honduran schoolteacher, devoted their lives to helping the poor. But it wasn't until they moved to an extraordinarily dangerous neighborhood in Honduras that they came to a radical conclusion: The charity world was combating poverty incorrectly. 
   
   
   
  In gripping prose, journalist Ross Halperin chronicles how these two best friends became quasi vigilantes and charged into a series of life-and-death battles: first with the gang that terrorized their community, then with a notorious tycoon who commanded about a thousand-armed men, and finally with a police force whose corruption and brutality defied credulity. Their efforts made some of the most violent neighborhoods on earth safer and arguably improved the functioning of a national government, but in the process of pulling that off, they compromised their principles, precipitated collateral damage, and acquired their share of outraged critics. 
   
   
   
  A remarkable and dangerous feat of reportage, Bear Witness is a thrilling account of an unorthodox mission to establish justice in a place thought to be beyond the reach of the law.

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  Gospel music of black men trying...

  Raymond Sturgis

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  Black men must understand that religion or their faith is instrumental in their lives, and it affects their decisions and encourages them in times of trouble. Although black men have made economic and educational improvements in the past, there are still problems that make black men today more depressed, stressed, and sad about their current conditions. The stereotypes that all black men are irresponsible, make babies, leave their families behind, and create impediments to success, love, and economic stability, are wrong. Black men have feelings, from the obdurate gang banger to the father who works two jobs to support his family, while the pressure of the world sits on their dreams like an anchor pulling them toward defeat. 
    However, black men are trying to change their lives, and what they do not need, is outside influences obstructing their desire to positively change. Yes, many black men are angry, and many black men are tired of negative and racist misinformation concerning them and their communities. This is the most beloved book on real black men's issues TRYING and DOING positive things to atone and avert from their past mistakes.

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  Winters in the World - A Journey...

  Eleanor Parker

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  Interweaving literature, history, and religion, an exquisite meditation on the turning of the seasons in medieval England. 
   
   
    
  Winters in the World is a beautifully observed journey through the cycle of the year in Anglo-Saxon England, exploring the festivals, customs, and traditions linked to the different seasons. Drawing on a wide variety of source material, including poetry, histories, and religious literature, Eleanor Parker investigates how Anglo-Saxons felt about the annual passing of the seasons and the profound relationship they saw between human life and the rhythms of nature. Many of the festivals celebrated in the United Kingdom today have their roots in the Anglo-Saxon period, and this book traces their surprising history while unearthing traditions now long forgotten. It celebrates some of the finest treasures of medieval literature and provides an imaginative connection to the Anglo-Saxon world.

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