Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

• 

  Steppe Nomads The: The History...

  Editors Charles River

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Though history is usually written by the victors, the lack of a particularly strong writing tradition from the Mongols ensured that history was largely written by those who they vanquished. Because of this, their portrayal in the West and the Middle East has been extraordinarily (and in many ways unfairly) negative for centuries, at least until recent revisions to the historical record. The Mongols have long been depicted as wild horse-archers galloping out of the dawn to rape, pillage, murder and enslave, but the Mongol army was a highly sophisticated, minutely organized and incredibly adaptive and innovative institution, as witnessed by the fact that it was successful in conquering enemies who employed completely different weaponry and different styles of fighting, from Chinese armored infantry to Middle Eastern camel cavalry and Western knights and men-at-arms.  
  	Geographically the Tatars descend from several parts of Asia, particularly Central Asia, but the Crimean region has been the nexus of several great power rivalries and numerous conflicts. Yet the Crimean Tatars endured through many of these, aligning themselves with a number of larger powers and developing a reputation as fearsome warriors. Today the Tatars are mainly linked with and live in the Volga region of the Russian Federation. Indeed, Tatarstan is a republic in modern Russia. The “Volga Tatars” are perhaps the best known of the peoples known as Tatars and today number about 5 million people.  
  	Before the Mongols rode across the steppes of Asia and Eastern Europe, the Cumans were a major military and cultural force that monarchs from China to Hungary and from Russia to the Byzantine Empire faced, often losing armies and cities in the process. The Cumans were a tribe of Turkic nomads who rode the steppes looking for plunder and riches, but they rarely stayed long after they got what they wanted. 

  Mostra libro

• 

  Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara - A...

  Ben Connelly, Norman Fischer

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In this book, Ben Connelly guides us through the intricacies of Yogacara and the richness of the "Thirty Verses." His warm and wise voice unpacks and contextualizes its wisdom, showing us how we can apply its ancient insights to our own modern lives, to create a life of engaged peace, harmony, compassion, and joy. 
   
   
   
  In fourth-century India one of the great geniuses of Buddhism, Vasubandhu, sought to reconcile the diverse ideas and forms of Buddhism practiced at the time and demonstrate how they could be effectively integrated into a single system. This was the Yogacara movement, and it continues to have great influence in modern Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. 
   
   
   
  Vasubandhu's "Thirty Verses" lay out a path of practice that integrates the most powerful of Buddhism's psychological and mystical possibilities. Although Yogacara has a reputation for being extremely complex, the "Thirty Verses" distills the principles of these traditions to their most practical forms, and this book follows that sense of focus; it goes to the heart of the matter—how do we alleviate suffering through shedding our emotional knots and our sense of alienation? 
   
   
   
  This is a great introduction to a philosophy, a master, and a work whose influence reverberates throughout modern Buddhism.

  Mostra libro

• 

  Famous Landmarks of Ancient Rome

  Editors Charles River

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  When the Colosseum was built in the late 1st century A.D., the Romans, who were known for their architectural acumen, managed to amaze themselves. Martial, a Roman poet writing during the inauguration of the Colosseum, clearly believed the Colosseum was so grand a monument that it was even greater than the other Wonders of the Ancient World, which had been written about and visited endlessly by the Romans and Greeks in antiquity. Indeed, although the Wonders were wondrous to behold, the Colosseum was a spectacular achievement in architecture, something new and innovative, and therefore an amazing “Wonder” in its own way.  
  For well over a thousand years, the Forum was the scene of intense construction, as well as social, political, and commercial activity, making the Forum a boon for the study of Roman history, even though some buildings in the Forum are of such importance that they cannot be disassembled in order to discover the older layers underneath and thus find more evidence about the origins of this area. Ultimately, the Forum transformed from being a backwater used for grazing livestock into the religious and political center of Roman life, and it has long been an inspiration for subsequent generations, influencing the Renaissance, Romanticism, and even Fascism.  
  	Although Roman roads may not have attained the glamorous status of other inventions, their influence is just as profound; roads provide essential communication and transport lines for any country – throughout the hundreds of years when Rome was ascendant in the ancient world, the roads they built held together first their republic and then their empire into a cohesive unit. Since the Appian Way was first built in 312 BC, it has inspired poets, slaves, and conquerors, and Mark Antony, Spartacus, Hannibal, and Horace are just a few of the notable historical personalities who travelled on the Appian Way. 

  Mostra libro

• 

  White Nights - A Poignant Tale...

  Fyodor Dostoevsky, Tim Zengerink

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  What if one summer night could change your heart forever? 
  Set in the pale glow of St. Petersburg’s “white nights,” this touching short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky explores the tender connection between a lonely dreamer and a heartbroken young woman.  
  White Nights captures the raw honesty of two souls who share their inner worlds, only to find that love, like twilight, doesn’t always last. 
  What you'll discover inside: 
  - A Poignant Story of Longing and Connection – A shy man’s fleeting romance with a woman still bound to another 
  - An Emotional Exploration of Urban Solitude – Intimate reflections on being invisible in a bustling world 
  - One of Dostoevsky’s Most Romantic Works – A short novel that shows his rarely seen sentimental side 
  - A Clear, Contemporary Translation – Faithfully adapted for the modern listener while retaining the original beauty 
  Whether you're a lover of literary romance or seeking a moving meditation on love and loneliness, White Nights is a gentle masterpiece that will linger in your heart long after the final line. 
  Start listening and let the dream begin.

  Mostra libro

• 

  Aliens - The Chequered History...

  Paul Dowswell

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The welcome given to refugees from fascist Europe is part of our fond nostalgia for Britain's role in the Second World War, nestling in our imagination next to images of evacuees clutching teddy bears, and milkmen picking their way through bomb rubble during the Blitz. But there is a darker side to this story. Then, as now, there was great suspicion, resentment and fear towards new arrivals, much of it kindled by the tabloid press. Then, as now, politicians dealt with a reluctance to accommodate refugees by hiding behind bureaucratic hurdles and obfuscation.
  Many of the 10,000 Kindertransport children who arrived here in the late 1930s have warm memories of the kindness they were shown, but half a million refugees were refused entry and most of them died as a result. And those who were accepted found their troubles far from over. While Britain fearfully awaited invasion in 1940, 30,000 Jews were interned as 'enemy aliens' and some were sent off to the colonies on dangerous and sometimes fatal voyages. Nor were Jews the only refugees clamouring for the thin gruel of public sympathy. Those fleeing fascism and civil war elsewhere in Europe found that whether they were met with kindness or hostility depended on the locals' political affiliations and newspapers of choice.
  Interweaving personal testimonies with historical sources, Paul Dowswell casts a fresh eye on the wartime era, painting a vivid picture of what life was really like for Britain's refugees.

  Mostra libro

• 

  Village Labourer 1760-1832 The:...

  James L Hammond, Barbara...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Many histories have been written of the governing class that ruled England with such absolute power during the last century of the old régime. Those histories have shown how that class conducted war, how it governed its colonies, how it behaved to the continental Powers, how it managed the first critical chapters of our relations with India, how it treated Ireland, how it developed the Parliamentary system, how it saved Europe from Napoleon. One history has only been sketched in outline: it is the history of the way in which this class governed England. The writers of this book have here attempted to describe the life of the poor during this period. It is their object to show what was in fact happening to the working classes under a government in which they had no share. They found, on searching through the material for such a study, that the subject was too large for a single book; they have accordingly confined themselves in this volume to the treatment of the village poor, leaving the town worker for separate treatment. It is necessary to mention this, for it helps to explain certain omissions that may strike the reader.The growth and direction of economic opinion, for example, are an important part of any examination of this question, but the writers have been obliged to reserve the consideration of that subject for their later volume, to which it seems more appropriate. The writers have also found it necessary to leave entirely on one side for the present the movement for Parliamentary Reform which was alive throughout this period, and very active, of course, during its later stages.Two subjects are discussed fully in this volume, they believe, for the first time. One is the actual method and procedure of Parliamentary Enclosure; the other the labourers’ rising of 1830. Nowhere can the student find a full analysis of the procedure and stages by which the old village age was destroyed. The rising of 1830 is covered as well.

  Mostra libro