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  The Ancient World’s Most...

  Editors Charles River

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  Although he is still one of history’s most famous philosophers, Confucius was in many respects an unremarkable man, and even his physical features were said to be unattractive. There is little evidence that he thought of himself as a harbinger of any kind, but shortly after his death, writings, sayings, and theories based on his life and ideas spread throughout China and even took hold of the imperial court of one of the most powerful and important dynasties, the Han (206 BCE-220 CE). It was during the Han Dynasty that Confucianism became closely tied to state affairs, and it would remain so until the fall of the last dynasty in 1912.  
  	None of Socrates’ works survived antiquity, so most of what is known about him came from the writings of his followers, most notably Plato. What is known about Socrates is that he seemed to make a career out of philosophy, and Plato was intent on following in his footsteps. Yet for all of the influence of Socrates’ life on his followers, it was Socrates’ death around 399 B.C. that truly shaped them. Plato was so embittered by Socrates’ trial in Athens that he completely soured on Athenian democracy, and Aristotle would later criticize politicians who relied on rhetoric; when Aristotle’s own life was threatened, he fled Greece and allegedly remarked, “I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy." 
  	Alongside Pericles, Cicero was one of antiquity’s greatest politicians, and he has remained one of the most influential statesmen in history, relied upon by the Romans of his day, political philosophers like John Locke, Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau, and America’s Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson credited Cicero as an inspiration for the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams asserted, "As all the ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher united than Cicero, his authority should have great weight.”

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  Charles Babbage and Ada...

  Charles River Editors

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  While many are familiar with those facts, and a recent movie revived interest in Alan Turing’s achievements with computing during World War II, it was Charles Babbage who was the first to conceive the notion of a programmable and automatic universal computer, which, on top of its ability to calculate any mathematical equation at an unmatched speed, could also be used for a seemingly infinite number of other applications. In other words, he envisioned the precursor to the modern computer.   
  At first blush, Babbage hardly seemed the type, because in many ways, Babbage was the antithesis of the debonair, silver-tongued, and effortlessly charismatic CEOs of present-day tech giants. Babbage was a quirky individual to say the least. He was highly observant, but was in the same breath a habitual daydreamer, often caught in a trance of deep thought.  Indeed, his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and his brilliant mind were unparalleled, but this was paired with his restless, addictive, and extreme nature, as well as his obsession with precision and factual accuracy.  
  	Working with Babbage was certainly an unusual path for any woman, but Ada Lovelace managed to do so before an incredibly premature death. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, died in 1852 at the age of 36, but during her short and tumultuous life, she was one of the first to recognize that computers could do far more than complex calculations. This was all the more surprising given that, during her life, no computers existed, and her ideas were based on an implicit understanding of the theoretical work of Charles Babbage, who himself is today recognized as the “Father of the Computer.” What makes her work truly startling is that she did this more than 100 years before the first computer had even been created. But Ada Lovelace was a woman, and in Victorian England, her work was generally either ignored or disparaged.

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  The Tatas - How a Family Built a...

  Vikrant Pande, Girish Kuber,...

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  | WINNER OF THE GAJA CAPITAL BUSINESS BOOK PRIZE 2019 | 
   
  The nineteenth century was an exciting time of initiative and enterprise around the world. If John D. Rockefeller was creating unimagined wealth in the United States that he would put to the service of the nation, a Parsi family with humble roots was doing the same in India.In 1822, a boy was born in a priestly household in Gujarat's Navsari village. Young Nusserwanji knew early on that his destiny lay beyond his village and decided to head for Bombay to start a business - the first in his family to do so. He had neither higher education nor knowledge of business matters, just a burning passion to carve a path of his own.What Nusserwanji started as a cotton trading venture, his son Jamsetji, born in the same year as Rockefeller, grew into a multifaceted business, turning around sick textile mills, setting up an iron and steel company, envisioning a cutting-edge institute of higher learning, building a world-class hotel, and earning himself the title of the 'Bhishma Pitamah of Indian Industry'. Stewarded ably over the decades by Jamsetji's sons Dorabji and Ratanji, the charismatic and larger-than-life JRD, and thereafter the more business-like Ratan, the Tata group today is a 110-billion-dollar empire.The Tatas is their story. But it is more than just a history of the industrial house; it is an inspiring account of India in the making. It chronicles how each generation of the family invested not only in the expansion of its own business interests but also in nation building. Few know, for instance, that the first hydel power project in the world was conceived of and built by the Tatas. Nor that some radical labour concepts such as eight-hour work shifts were born in India, at the Tata mill in Nagpur. The Tata Cancer Research Centre, the Indian Institute of Science, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, as also the national carrier Air India - the family has a long, rich and unrivalled legacy.The Tatas is a tribute to a line of visionaries who have a special place in the hearts and minds of ordinary Indians. Written by seasoned journalist Girish Kuber, this is also the on

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  Golda Meir: The Life and Legacy...

  Editors Charles River

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  Israel’s Day of Independence, Yom Ha’atzmaut, is celebrated on the fifth day of the Hebrew calendar in the month of Iyar. It is immediately preceded by Yom HaZikaron, the Memorial Day for the fallen Israeli soldiers who gave their lives for Israel’s establishment. Emphasis switches from the memorial celebration to the celebration of independence a few minutes after sundown.  
  	The day on which the state of Israel was signed into existence was May 14, 1948. Many important figures in Israeli history played a part in the establishment of the new state, and among the most iconic is the nation’s first female premier, Golda Meir. Known as the “uncrowned queen of Israel” and “Mother Courage,” Meir was an activist for many years, lobbying for a Jewish state in the Mandate of Palestine. She served in numerous capacities before her appointment as Prime Minister and remains one of the most revered Israeli leaders from the pre-state years through the long-sought dream of a Jewish nation.  
  	One of eight children from a poverty-stricken family, she was to become an immigrant to a new land twice in her life. Meir and her parents fled from Kyiv during Russia's antisemitic pogroms in 1905, about a decade after the Dreyfus Affair in France. She grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before rising the ranks back in the Middle East. When it came to Israel and her role in its early years, she noted, "We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go." 
  	As in the days of the Biblical Hebrews’ migration out of Egypt under Pharaoh, finding a Jewish homeland meant the adjustment of national boundaries and the displacement of certain neighboring cultures. In the modern age, this has led to several major military conflicts and the need for an ongoing state of readiness within the Israeli military. Meir found herself at the helm of the Yom Kippur War, a time in which Israel was at its most vulnerable.

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  Carry on Jeeves and Right Ho...

  P. G. Wodehouse

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  P.G. Wodehouse, the master of British humor, produced dozens of books and hundreds of short stories in his long and prolific career. But none of his creations has quite captured the world's imagination as much as his bumbling, empty-headed, man-about-town Bertie Wooster and Bertie's faithful, knight-in-shining tuxedo Jeeves.  Collected here are two of Wodehouse's most beloved "Jeeves and Wooster" creations - ten short stories from the anthology "Carry On, Jeeves" and the complete novel "Right Ho, Jeeves" - each a master class in comedic writing. Along with Jeeves and Bertie, we are introduced to an entire cast of beloved Wodehouse characters: Bingo Little, James "Corky" Corcoran, Honoria Glossop, Rockmetteller Todd and the terrifying and bombastic Aunt Agatha.  These two books are presented here in their original and unabridged form.

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  Fractured - A Memoir

  Susan Mockler

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  A collision with a moose on a dark highway left Susan Mockler with an incomplete spinal injury, suddenly compromising her ability to walk and to care for herself. She spent months in a rehabilitation facility learning how to adjust to her new reality, and though her body partially recovered, every aspect of her life changed.
  		 
  Fractured is a compelling illumination of the challenges of acquired disability and the ways in which people with disabilities are sidelined and infantilised. Mockler, a psychotherapist, speaks with frank honesty about her family and friends’ reactions to her injury, and the hard-won lessons that she and those around her learned from her experience.

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