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  Moors’ Most Famous Sites in...

  Charles River Editors

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  Tucked away on the crest of the Al-Sabika Hill in Granada of Andalusia, Spain, just left of the babbling stream of the Darro River, sits a majestic structure overlooking the charming city and mystical meadows of La Vega. This palatial fortress and the fabled Alhambra are one and the same. To those that have seen it in its full glory, this was heaven on earth itself. Many were quick to fall under the spell of its breathtaking beauty, with its admirers lovingly dubbing it “a pearl set in emeralds.”  
  	Even if one were to discount security and the Spanish royals who reside here seasonally, legend has it that the Alcázar is never truly uninhabited. Take a post-midnight stroll through the colonnades or the baths, and listen closely, insist mystics, and one will hear the spine-tingling sniffling, harrowing whimpers, and wretched weeping of the hapless souls who met their demise at the hands of Pedro the Cruel, Peter I of Castile, one of the many builders and tenants of this bewitching place. The vicious and volatile wrath of the cruel monarch knew no bounds, and his victims, no numbers. Some say these cries belong to the young maidens who were burnt at the stake for no other reason than rejecting Pedro's romantic advances. Others say they come from the spirit of Eleanor of Guzman, the mistress of Pedro's father, Alfonso XI of Castile, and one of Pedro's first kills. Or perhaps they come from all of Pedro's victims, cursed by their violent deaths to roam the Alcázar in perpetuity. 
  	The Calle Cardenal Herrero in Córdoba is an iconic cobbled street impossible to overlook, for it is home to the Andalusian city's spectacular Mosque-Cathedral. Also known as “La Mezquita,” this one-of-a-kind Moorish and Christian place of worship reels in about 1.5 million visitors each year, most of whom find themselves spellbound by its hypnotic architectural features and riveting history.

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  Ramesses the Great - Egypt's...

  Toby Wilkinson

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  The life, dramatic reign, and enduring legacy of the pharaoh Ramesses the Great, with lessons for the present, from internationally acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson 
   
  Ramesses II ruled the Nile Valley and the wider Egyptian empire from 1279 to 1213 B.C., one of the longest reigns in pharaonic history. He was a cultural innovator, a relentless self-promoter, and an astute diplomat—the peace treaty signed after the Battle of Kadesh was the first in recorded history. He outbuilt every other Egyptian pharaoh, leaving behind the temples of Abu Simbel; the great hypostyle hall of Karnak; the tomb for his wife Nefertari; and his own memorial, the Ramesseum. 
   
  His reputation eclipsed that of all other pharaohs as well: he was decried in the Bible as a despot, famed in literature as Ozymandias, and lauded by early antiquarians as the Younger Memnon. His rule coincided with the peak of ancient Egypt’s power and prosperity, the New Kingdom (1539–1069 B.C.). 
   
  In this authoritative biography, Toby Wilkinson considers Ramesses’ preoccupations and preferences, uncovering the methods and motivations of a megalomaniac ruler, with lessons for our own time.

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  Stanford Prison Experiment The:...

  Editors Charles River

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  What happens when you put good people in a bad place? 
  That was the question that an experiment in 1971 set out to answer when Stanford University professor and psychologist Philip Zimbardo used funding provided by the U.S. Office of Naval Research to create a make-believe prison in the basement of a university building. Male students were offered the chance to take part in the two-week experiment (and to make $15 per day). All applicants were carefully screened to ensure that they were healthy, emotionally and psychologically stable. 24 men were selected out of 75 that had applied. These men were then randomly assigned to play the role of either prisoners or guards in the “prison.” 
  Initially, nobody was particularly concerned: after all, these were stable, intelligent young men who understood that they would be playing a role for just two weeks. Some people even considered that the experiment was pointless because everyone involved knew that they were simply acting roles for a limited time, so they couldn’t be expected to behave in the ways that real prisoners and guards did. 
  Nonetheless, the experiment began on August 15th, 1971, and just six days later, on August 20th, it was abruptly and unexpectedly terminated after the “guards” had become brutal and sadistic and the “prisoners” had become withdrawn, fearful, and apathetic. There were real concerns that someone might end up being seriously hurt or suffer long-term psychological damage. 
  How could a group of nice, healthy, intelligent young men suddenly transform into sadistic thugs? How could another equally intelligent group of young men suddenly become apathetic victims of this brutality? What did this say about the malleability of human behavior, even when everyone involved knew that this wasn’t real?

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  The Coronation

  Charles Eisenstein

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  Renowned public speaker, bestselling author, social critic, and activist Charles Eisenstein offers a way forward from our present moment through a series of unforgettable essays that give us a new model of sense-making. Through a series of piercing essays, The Coronation takes listeners through the initiation of the Covid era?exploring topics like despair, hope, courage, division, and reunion?in this stunning collection. Paired with each essay is the author’s commentary locating the essay in a social, political, and spiritual journey. After all, it wasn’t only outward normality that the pandemic disrupted. Of all the social crises that COVID-19 has revealed, The Coronation addresses the most profound: the crisis in our sense-making. An old reality has disintegrated. This book reveals just how deep that breakdown is. Acknowledging it, we might build something more sound, more whole, and more sane. Underneath the shifting sands of the arguments and narratives, something else calls to us: the possibility of renewal, a revolution in the agreements and myths that organize society. *Individually, these essays have been read, shared, and discussed by tens of thousands of people around the globe, but they are collected together here for the first time!

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  The Rory's Stories Lockdown...

  Rory O'Conor

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  From dodgy home haircuts and Tiktok dance crazes to banana-bread baking and checkpoint cheek, even in lockdown social media star and comedian Rory O'Connor found plenty of opportunities to keep everyone laughing.
  Filled with Rory's trademark banter and observational gems, this hilarious and infectious (!) lockdown lookback will make you nostalgic for outdoor dining in the rain and loo roll shortages!

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  Summary: The Wager - A Tale of...

  Brooks Bryant

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  Disclaimer: This is NOT the official book, but a summary & it does NOT accompany the official. 
  In "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder" by David Grann, readers are thrust into a thrilling narrative based on true events surrounding the shipwreck of His Majesty's Ship the Wager in the 1740s. On a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain, the Wager pursued a treasure-laden Spanish galleon before meeting its tragic fate off the Patagonian coast. The wreckage and the ensuing survival tale provoke questions surrounding heroism, mutiny, and the human capacity for survival under the most extreme conditions. 
  The survivors' ordeal spans many months of starvation and anarchy, as they battled to endure in a harsh, desolate environment. The narrative takes a dramatic turn when two groups of survivors — one landing in Brazil and the other in Chile — narrate conflicting accounts of the events that transpired during their harrowing journey. This divergence sets the stage for a court-martial, where the truth hangs in a precarious balance with life-and-death stakes. 
  Grann excels in bringing this historic tale to life, paralleling the depth of narrative nonfiction greats and survival literature classics. The unraveling court-martial narrative holds the savvy of a courtroom thriller, beckoning readers into a vividly recreated world of 18th-century naval warfare and exploration.

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