Junimea ?i revista Convorbiri literare, pentru o ?ar? ca a noastr?, a tuturor nea?ez?rilor, au fost un suflu de temeinicie care s-a mai repetat ?n perioada interbelic?, f?r? a reu?i s? se coaguleze ca urmare a r?zboiului ?i dictaturilor ce l-au ?nso?it ?i urmat; suflu care pare ?nc? departe, ca s? nu spunem imposibil s? revin? ?n cultura rom?n? sub presiunea globalismului ?i multiculturalismului, a deconstruc?iei cu program ?n toate manifest?rile social-culturale, materiale ?i spirituale. E un model care, dup? o sut? cincizeci de ani, ?nc? ??i trimite razele f?r? a primi o reflectare pe m?sur?.Ceea ce deosebe?te criticismul junimist de criticile epocii ?i, ?n parte, ?i de al ?nainta?ilor este atitudinea comun?, afirmat? de Maiorescu, respectul adev?rului.Importan?a ?i influen?a junimismului ?n sfera politic? sunt de acela?i nivel cu cele afirmate ?n plan cultural ?i literar, e drept, nu cu aceea?i durabilitate, politicul este mult mai efemer, dar nu mai pu?in implicat ?i cu efecte imediate ?i adesea pe termen mediu ?i lung ?n via?a social? a ??rii. (Cassian Maria Spiridon)

Aceast? carte este un demers pe care l-am g?ndit ca pe o lucrare de sintez? care s? surprind?, ?n m?sura posibilit??ilor, puncte de referin?? ?ntre texte ?i autori din perioade diferite, din Evul Mediu european ?i Rena?tere, con?tient? fiind c? epoca medieval? nu trebuie considerat? cu nimic mai prejos dec?t grandorile Greciei vechi sau ale Rena?terii. Problematica acestui concept al Alegoriei ?n receptarea sa de c?tre literatura Evului Mediu, dar ?i de c?tre epocile ulterioare, este complex? ?i bogata bibliografie ce i s-a consacrat ?n ultimele decenii nu face dec?t s? provoace la noi discu?ii ?i interpret?ri a?a cum este ?i aceast? lucrare.

This book, in affectionate tribute to the gallant courage, rugged indepen-dence and wonderful endurance of those adventurous souls who formed the vanguard of civilization in the early history of the Territory of Arizona and the remainder of the Great West, is DEDICATED TO JOHN H. CADY and?BASIL D. WOON ?/ ?PATAGONIA, ARIZONA, NINETEEN-FIFTEEN. When I first broached the matter of writing his autobiography to John H. Cady, two things had struck me particularly. One was that of all the literature about Arizona there was little that attempted to give a straight, chronological and intimate description of events that occurred during the early life of the Territory, and, second, that of all the men I knew, Cady was best fitted, by reason of his extraordinary experiences, remarkable memory for names and dates, and seniority in pioneership, to supply the work that I felt lacking. Some years ago, when I first came West, I happened to be sitting on the observation platform of a train bound for the orange groves of Southern California. A lady with whom I had held some slight conversation on the journey turned to me after we had left Tucson and had started on the long and somewhat dreary journey across the desert that stretches from the "Old Pueblo" to "San Berdoo," and said: "Do you know, I actually used to believe all those stories about the 'wildness of the West.' I see how badly I was mistaken." She had taken a half-hour stroll about Tucson while the train changed crews and had been impressed by the—to the casual observer—sleepiness of the ancient town. She told me that never again would she look on a "wild West" moving picture without wanting to laugh. She would not believe that there had ever been a "wild West"—at least, not in Arizona. And yet it is history that the old Territory of Arizona in days gone by was the "wildest and woolliest" of all the West, as any old settler will testify.

Doamna Marusia CIRSTEA, doctor in stiinte istorice, a investigat, in baza cercetarii unei extrem de bogate bibliografii si a unor studii intense in arhivele diplomatice si militare interne (Arhiva Ministerului de Externe al Romaniei - Bucuresti, Arhivele Militare Nationale – Bucuresti si Pitesti, Arhivele Nationale ale Romaniei - Bucuresti, Biblioteca Nationala si Biblioteca Academiei Romane, ambele din Bucuresti), o problema de mare interes, abordata pana acum de numerosi istorici romani si straini (Paul D. Quinlan, Elisabeth Barker, V. F. Dobrinescu, Gh. Pascalau, Ion Patroiu s.a.). Tocmai de aceea, meritul autoarei este cu totul deosebit, intrucat, bazandu-se pe rezultatele cercetarilor anterioare, dar, aprofundandu-le si completandu-le substantial cu documente inedite, este in masura sa realizeze o contributie stiintifica de reala valoare pe marginea evolutiei raporturilor politico-diplomatice intre Romania si Marea Britanie intr-una din perioadele cele mai captivante si mai dificile ale epocii contemporane – ajunul conflagratiei mondiale din 1939-1945. Asa dupa cum se subliniaza in ampla Introducere, problema cercetata ?constituie o tema de studiu si de reflectie importanta, interesanta si plina de invataminte, nu numai pentru istoricul de astazi, dar si pentru omul simplu, pasionat de istorie si, indeosebi, pentru politicianul si diplomatul care trebuie sa gaseasca solutii practice unor aspecte interesand raporturile internationale“ (p. 3). Astfel, dupa o pertinenta si documentata Introducere, care elucideaza si aspectele istoriografice ale cercetarii, autoarea realizeaza o consistenta monografie privind relatiile dintre Bucuresti si Londra intre 1936 si 1939, in cuprinsul a patru capitole judicios repartizate pentru a se asigura tratarea globala si unitara a materiei. De un mare interes si cu o importanta pondere in economia lucrarii se dovedesc, nu mai putin, Concluziile (pp. 200-213), Bibliografia (pp. 214-232) si cele 25 de Anexe (pp. 233-350).Ultimele luni de pace si inceputul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, evolutia raporturilor anglo-romane in context fac obiectul celui de-al IV-lea capitol. Principalele evenimente tratate sunt, in ordine cronologica, faimosul caz Tilea; garantiile franceze si britanice acordate Poloniei, Greciei si Romaniei; rostul pactului sovieto-german din 23 august 1939 in politica europeana; declansarea razboiului si atitudinea Romaniei si, in sfarsit, proclamarea neutralitatii Romaniei in razboi vizavi de implicarea Marii Britanii in ostilitati. Temeinicia cercetarii este atestata de o bogata si sistematica Bibliografíe, care, fara indoiala, intregeste, in chip fericit, textul lucrarii. In acelasi timp, Anexele ingaduie specialistului si cititorului interesat sa aprecieze amploarea si seriozitatea investigatiilor arhivistice.

Un volum cuprinzand studii si documente descoperite in arhivele romane si straine (aproximativ 900 pagini) privind istoria conflictului mondial din 1939-1945 si a razboiului rece. Lucrarea reflecta, in esenta, batalia pentru informatii angajata intre serviciile de spionaj dupa 1939, pregatirea si infaptuirea loviturii de stat de la 23 August 1944, lupta pentru putere la nivelul conducerii P.C.R. (1944-1989), premisele loviturii de stat din 22 decembrie 1989, prabusirea statului comunist in Europa Est-Centrala e.t.c.

Insumeaza o serie de cursuri universitare (de docenta si nu numai) tinute de unul dintre cei mai ilustrii elevi ai lui Vasile Parvan, prof. dr. docent Vladimir Dumitrescu, la Universitatea din Bucuresti in anii 30 ai secolului trecut, in vederea obtinerii titlului de docent si pe cel de conferentiar al respectivei Universitati. Volumul incepe cu o cuprinzatoare prelegere din care aflam cere au fost formele de civilizatie preistorica in Dacia rasariteana pana in mileniul I, i. C., precum si rolul marilor fluvii in dezvoltarea civilizatiilor omenesti.

Dictionarul de sociologie rurala este primul volum din cele sase care alcatuiesc Enciclopedia Rurala. Lucrarea se inscrie in traditia deschisa de Scoala Sociologica de la Bucuresti si pentru realizarea sa a colaborat un colectiv de autori din toate centrele universitare ale tarii: Bucuresti, Cluj, Oradea, Iasi, Brasov, Craiova. Dictionarul este structurat pe patru sectiuni (termeni, personalitati, curente, reviste) si cumuleaza, pe o intindere de aproximativ 650 de pagini, un numar de peste 300 de termeni. Lucrarea valorifica terminologia sociologiei rurale romanesti si europene precum si cea din practica unor institutii internationale si regionale care prin natura preocuparilor lor afecteaza mediul rural. De asemenea dictionarul ofera o sistematizare schematica a teoriilor si curentelor de referinta pentru domeniu si constituie un ghid util pentru toti cei interesati de practica si metodologia de cercetare rurala din sociologie, antropologie si politici de dezvoltare.

Lucrarea abordeaza teme majore ale politicii despre parlamentarism, parlament, parlamentari, care au suscitat si suscita si astazi aprige controverse, antrenand eforturi si pasiuni in toate mediile culturale si politice ale societatii in decursul vremilor.In analiza Discursurilor si dezbaterilor parlamentare, specialistii si nespecialistii au la dispozitie un bogat material arhivistic alaturi de presa timpului, rod al eforturilor parlamentarilor indiferent de sistemele de reprezentare existente in stat la un moment dat – unicameral sau bicameral.De semnalat in cuprinsul volumului este Mesajul Tronului, sustinut de Al.I. Cuza, alaturi de care intalnim maestri ai elocintei parlamentare romanesti cum ar fi M. Kogalniceanu, Titu Maiorescu, P.P. Carp, I.I.C. Bratianu, Take Ionescu, N. Iorga, O. Goga, N. Titulescu, A.C. Cuza, Al. Vaida-Voievod si multi altii.

Necesitatea acestei carti s-a impus in campul istoriografiei contemporane ca un raspuns ce se cerea stringent intr-un moment in care istoriografia in ansamblul ei a intrat intr-un serios impas girat si incurajat de predominanta agresiva si interferenta unor scoli si curente inconsistente, care de care mai zgomotoase, mai belicoase, mai ?originale“, concomitent cu intensificarea presiunii factorului politic (guverne, parlamente, tribunale, ong-uri etc).Tematica lucrarii o constituie evenimentele care au tulburat intreaga lume in perioada celui de-al Doilea Razboi Mondial.Studiile din aceasta carte au aparut sub semnatura celor mai prestigiosi istorici ai neamului nostru din aceasta perioada: acad. Dan Berindei, acad. Florin Constantiniu, prof. univ. dr. Gh. Buzatu (coordonatorul editiei), Stela Cheptea si multi altii.

“Midsummer Night's Dream” is Shakespeare's classic tale of two couples who can't quite pair up to everyone's satisfaction. Demetrius and Lysander love Hermia. ??Hermia loves Lysander but has been promised to Demetrius by her father. Hermia's best friend Helena loves Demetrius, but in his obsession for Hermia Demetrius barely even notices her smitten friend. ??When Hermia and Lysander plan to elope all four find themselves in the forest late at night where the fairy Puck and his lord Oberon wreck havoc on the humans with a love potion that causes the victim to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking.??- Some Books of Shakespeare:?- Romeo and Juliet (1597)?- Hamlet (1599)?- Macbeth (1606)?- Julius Caesar (1599)?- Othello (1603)?- The Merchant of Venice (1598)?- Much Ado About Nothing (1600)?- King Lear (1606)?- The Taming of the Shrew (1594)?- The Comedy of Errors (1594)

Descent Into Hell is a novel written by Charles Williams, first published in 1937. Williams is less well known than his fellow Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Like some of them, however, he wrote a series of novels which combine elements of fantasy fiction and Christian symbolism. Forgoing the detective fiction style of most of his earlier supernatural novels, most of the story's action is spiritual or psychological in nature. It fits the "theological thriller" description sometimes given to his works. For this reason Descent was initially rejected by publishers, though T. S. Eliot's publishing house Faber and Faberwould eventually pick up the novel, as Eliot admired Williams's work, and, though he did not like Descent Into Hell as well as the earlier novels, desired to see it printed.SHORT SUMMARY: The action takes place in Battle Hill, outside London, amidst the townspeople's staging of a new play by Peter Stanhope. The hill seems to reside at the crux of time, as characters from the past appear, and perhaps at a doorway to the beyond, as characters are alternately summoned heavenwards or descend into hell. Pauline Anstruther, the heroine of the novel, lives in fear of meeting her own doppelganger, which has appeared to her throughout her life. But Stanhope, in an action central to the author's own theology, takes the burden of her fears upon himself—Williams called this The Doctrine of Substituted Love—and enables Pauline, at long last, to face her true self. Williams drew this idea from the biblical verse, "Ye shall bear one another's burdens" And so Stanhope does take the weight, with no surreptitious motive, in the most affecting scene in the novel. And Pauline, liberated, is able to accept truth.On the other hand, Lawrence Wentworth, a local historian, finding his desire for Adela Hunt to be unrequited, falls in love instead with a spirit form of Adela, which seems to represent a kind of extreme self-love on his part. As he isolates himself more and more with this insubstantial figure, and dreams of descending a silver rope into a dark pit, Wentworth begins the descent into Hell.HARROWING of HELL: "Christ in Limbo" and "Descent into Hell" redirect here. For the novel by Charles Williams, see Descent into Hell (novel). For the 8th-century Anglo-Saxon liturgical play, see Harrowing of Hell (drama).

Volumul top t – festivalul rezisten?ei rock (re)aduce ?n discu?ie istoria celui mai important festival rock al Rom?niei. Ap?rut ?n seria STRATONE, cu Nelu Stratone coordonator, volumul beneficiaz? de un cuv?nt introductiv semnat de Gabi Gombo? plus o potfa?? de Florin-Silviu Ursulescu, doi grei ai istoriei rockului rom?nesc ?i prieteni ai festivalului. Structura este una cumva istoricizant?: un palmares al edi?iilor, un amplu interiviu cu Cornel Constantinescu, Tolea Po?tovei ?i Florin Artene, trei dintre artizanii organizatori, un capitol dedicat scenei rock buzoiene, impresii ale participan?ilor la festival, interviuri realizate de-a lungul timpului ?n caietele program. Ve?i reg?si ?i multe fotografii din edi?iile top t. Cartea-document este ?i o pledoarie pentru revenirea festivalului ?n circuitul na?ional, editura Casa de pariuri literare propun?nd ?n noiembrie 2016, la t?rgul Gaudeamus, un stand personalizat al festivalului.

Mindannyian tudjuk még, mit jelentett az ?tvenes években, ha valakir?l azt mondták: ?elvitte egy fekete autó”, ahogy a ma emberének nem csengenek ismeretlenül az ?VO vagy az ?VH bet?szavak sem. Ezt hallva mindenki tudja: a kommunista diktatúráról, és annak legfontosabb eszk?zér?l, a politikai rend?rségr?l van szó. M?LLER ROLF k?nyve e szervezet t?rténetét dolgozza fel. A második világháború végét?l az 1956-os forradalomig kalauzolja el az olvasót, mik?zben számos k?zszájon forgó fogalmat tisztáz. Sorra veszi a kül?nb?z? elnevezések alatt m?k?d? titkos nyomozó szerveket, az átalakítások m?g?tt meghúzódó okokat. Elbeszéli az államvédelem évekig els? számú vezet?jének, Péter Gábornak az élett?rténetét, bemutatja kevésbé ismert riválisát, segít?it, és pozíciójának ?r?k?seit. Szemléletes példákat hoz a Rákosi Mátyás és sz?kebb k?re által gyakorolt ?kézi irányításra”, amelynek során még a felejthetetlen helsinki olimpia és a magyar-angol labdarúgó mérk?zés is el?kerül. A k?tetb?l természetesen nem maradhatnak ki az ügyn?k?k és a besúgók sem: a hálózat m?k?désén és a titkos technikákon túl az érdekl?d? megismerheti azt is, hogy kikb?l szervezték a hivatásos állományt, bepillanthat mindennapjaikba, és végigjárhatja azokat a helyszíneket, amelyek valamilyen módon a magyar politikai rend?rség legs?tétebb évtizedéhez k?t?dtek. Müller Rolf 1974-ben született Kaposváron. A Kossuth Lajos Tudományegyetem b?lcsészkarán végzett t?rténelem-politológia szakon. 1998-tól a T?rténeti Hivatalnak, 2033 óta jogutódjának, az ?llambiztonsági Szolgálatok T?rténeti Levéltárának munkatársa. Alapító szerkeszt?je a Betekint? cím? internetes folyóiratnak, t?bb éven át a lap f?szerkeszt?je. 2007-ben védte meg doktori disszertációját. 2011 szeptemberét?l a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bolyai-?szt?ndíjasa. Kutatási területe az 1945 és 1990 k?z?tt m?k?d? magyar politikai rend?rség t?rténete, illetve a fényképek és az emlékezet kapcsolata.

1974-ben az Emmanuelle meghódította a francia mozikat, és r?vid id?n belül az egész világon hatalmas sikert aratott. A korabeli plakátokról egy húsz év k?rüli, r?vid hajú, félmeztelen szépség nézett kihívóan egy fonott karosszékéb?l. Ekkor még senki sem sejtette, hogy SYLVIA KRISTEL, ez az akkor még ismeretlen holland lány hamarosan a szexuális forradalom egyik emblematikus alakjává válik. A hírnévt?l és a sikert?l megrészegült színészn? egy csapásra a nemzetk?zi filmvilág ünnepelt sztárja lett, azonban nem kapott elég id?t, hogy feldolgozza a hirtelen j?tt népszer?séget, sem pedig a gyermekkorában ?t ért sérelmeket. A sztárok fény?z? és gondtalan életét élte, udvarlók seregei hevertek a lába el?tt, bejáratos volt a legcsillogóbb hollywoodi fogadásokra. Magánéletében azonban már k?zel sem volt ilyen szerencsés. Házasságai zátonyra futottak, a sorozatos sorscsapások és a múlt démonai el?l az alkoholba és drogokba menekült. Kicsapongásainak végül egy súlyos betegség vetett véget. Visszaemlékezéseiben ?szintén tárja elénk egy olyan asszony felemel? és megrendít? t?rténetét, akinek nem csak meztelen teste érdemel figyelmet.

A rock and roll nem csupán egy zenei m?faj, ?nem egy tánc”: maga az ?r?k fiatalság. Alkotás és feloldódás, amit nem magányos farkasoknak találtak ki. Csapatmunka, melyben zenész és hallgatósága egyaránt részt vesz. ?Mindenki itt van?” – kiáltja a sztár a színpadról, a t?meg pedig harsogva feleli: ?Mindenki!” Mert ahhoz, hogy egy dal megszülessen, hogy ezernyi torok visszhangozza az énekes mágikus szavait, valóban mindenkire szükség van. Az Azok a régi csibészek a hazai pop és rock legendáinak arcképcsarnoka. Csatári Bence t?rténész és Poós Zoltán író faggatja a popkultúra olyan ikonikus alakjait és nagyágyúit, mint Bródy János, Nagy Feró, Sz?rényi Levente, T?r?k ?dám, Pataky Attila, Zalatnay Sarolta és még sokan mások. Az interjúkból kirajzolódik a magyarországi rock and roll els? negyedszázadának íve Nógrádver?cét?l Londonig. A megszólalók mesélnek és mesélnek – a legvidámabb barakk k?nny?zenei szcénájáról, ?rületes bulikról, rend?rpofonokról és persze a rock and roll iránti olthatatlan szerelemr?l...

In The Beginner's American History, D. H. Montgomery provides a wide-ranging and authoritative history of America, capturing in a compact space the full story of our nation. The Beginner's American History offers an illuminating account of politics, diplomacy, and war as well as the full spectrum of social, cultural, and scientific developments that shaped our country.?Illustrated, Maps, Full-Page Illustrations. Contents start with Columbus, last chapter is Since the Civil War. Some of the other contents: Captian Sutter, General Sam Houston, General Andrew Jackson, General George Rogers Clark and lots more.

Németh Miklós és Pozsgay Imre egy k?tetben! Mellettük pedig Mayer Péter, Markovics Ferenc, Arató István, Kajli Béla, Kerezsi István és még sokan mások. Ismert, k?zismert és kevésbé ismert nevek egy beszélget?k?nyvben, amely a munkás?rség t?rténetét ?leli fel. A szerz?k megfogalmazásában: t?bb szempontból sem hagyományos interjúk?tetet készítettünk, vállalva ennek el?nyeit és hátrányait egyaránt. K?sz?nhet? volt ez annak is, hogy a k?nyv megírását megel?zte egy, a testület teljes t?rténetét feldolgozó kétrészes, ?sszesen k?zel egyórás dokumentumfilm elkészítése a Munkás?rség - Egy párthadsereg t?rténete címmel. A munkás?r?k nehéz ládát cipelnek. Amikor letették, hogy megpihenjenek, épp arra j?n János bácsi, a téesz juhásza és megkérdi: Mit cipelnek fiaim? Hadititok!, feleli az egyik munkás?r. ?s nagyon nehéz a láda? Már hogyne lenne nehéz, mikor tele van kézigránáttal?, válaszol az egyik munkás?r. A korabeli viccben és t?bbek emlékezetében is úgy él a Munkás?rség, mint egy kissé esetlen, sokszor id?s embereknek a gy?jt?helye vagy klubja. De a valóságban ez egyáltalán nem így volt. Az '56-os forradalom leverését k?vet?en létrehozott szervezet feladata sokáig kizárólag a rend(szer) védelmének a biztosítása volt. A kádári állam kiépülését k?vet?en kidolgozták háborús, határ?rizeti és polgári védelmi feladataikat is. A kezdetben harminc-, majd hatvanezer f?s párthadsereg létszámát tekintve a korabeli Magyar Néphadseregéhez képest is jelent?s volt! A rendszerváltás során a hatalom részér?l felmerült a testület átmentése is, de erre végül nem került sor. A Munkás?rség felszámolását 1989-ben a teljes ellenzék k?vetelte, leszerelésük jelent?s izgalommal t?lt?tte el a magyar társadalmat. De hogy látták mindezt a korabeli vezet? politikusok, katonák, és nem utolsó sorban maguk a munkás?r?k? Az interjúk?tet erre próbál választ találni.

Kijárat az Adriára cím? nagysiker? munkája után Lovas Ildikó újabb regénye a mai divatos n?irodalommal száll szembe, a test, az érzékiség nyelvét nem radikalizálja tovább, hanem ?visszavesz” bel?le, mivel rendkívüli tudatossággal újra és újra az ártatlanság nyelvén akar szólni. A Spanyol menyasszony az erotikus krimi és a klasszikus lányregény mesteri ?tv?zete. A regény két síkon játszódik, az egyik az én-elbeszél? kiskamaszkoráig vezet vissza, míg a másik a neves orvos-író Csáth Géza feleségének, Jónás Olgának az utolsó napját beszéli el, abból próbálja megfejteni az író és felesége kegyetlenül túlf?t?tt, és tragédiába torkolló kapcsolatát.

This book, re-edited and illustrated by e-kitap projesi and published again in ebook format. In this book, telling that Boyhood stories of the Most famous persons in the world, and so These 21 famous persons lay out from Christopher Colombus –The pre-founder of the America- to Otto von Bismarc. For example: “When he was sixteen Napoleon and his best friend, a boy named Desmazis, were ordered to join the regiment of La Fère which was then quartered in the south of France. Napoleon was glad of this change which brought him nearer to his island home, and he also felt that he would now learn something of actual warfare. The two boys were taken to their regiment in charge of an officer who stayed with them from the time they left Paris until the carriage set them down at the garrison town. The regiment of La Fère was one of the best in the French army, and the boy immediately took a great liking to everything connected with it. He found the officers well educated and anxious to help him. He declared the blue uniform with red facings to be the most beautiful uniform in the world. He had to work hard, still studying mathematics, chemistry, and the laws of fortification, mounting guard with the other subalterns, and looking after his own company of men. He seemed very young to be put in charge of grown soldiers, but his great ability had brought about this extraordinarily rapid promotion. He had a room in a boarding-house kept by an old maid, but took his meals at the Inn of the Three Pigeons. Now that he was an officer he began to be more interested in making a good appearance before people. He took dancing lessons and suddenly blossomed out into much popularity among the garrison. Older people could not help but see his great strength of character, and time and again it was predicted that he would rise high in the army.”

The dominant motives in Calderon's dramas are characteristically national: fervid loyalty to Church and King, and a sense of honor heightened almost to the point of the fantastic. Though his plays are laid in a great variety of scenes and ages, the sentiment and the characters remain essentially Spanish; and this intensely local quality has probably lessened the vogue of Calderon in other countries. In the construction and conduct of his plots he showed great skill, yet the ingenuity expended in the management of the story did not restrain the fiery emotion and opulent imagination which mark his finest speeches and give them a lyric quality which some critics regard as his greatest distinction. Of all Calderon's works, "Life is a Dream" may be regarded as the most universal in its theme. It seeks to teach a lesson that may be learned from the philosophers and religious thinkers of many ages—that the world of our senses is a mere shadow, and that the only reality is to be found in the invisible and eternal. The story which forms its basis is Oriental in origin, and in the form of the legend of "Barlaam and Josaphat" was familiar in all the literatures of the Middle Ages. Combined with this in the plot is the tale of Abou Hassan from the "Arabian Nights," the main situations in which are turned to farcical purposes in the Induction to the Shakespearean "Taming of the Shrew." But with Calderon the theme is lifted altogether out of the atmosphere of comedy, and is worked up with poetic sentiment and a touch of mysticism into a symbolic drama of profound and universal philosophical significance. LIFE IS A DREAM DRAMATIS PERSONAE Basilio King of Poland.Segismund his Son.Astolfo his Nephew.Estrella his Niece.Clotaldo a General in Basilio's Service.Rosaura a Muscovite Lady.Fife her Attendant. Chamberlain, Lords in Waiting, Officers,Soldiers, etc., in Basilio's Service. The Scene of the first and third Acts lies on the Polish frontier: of the second Act, in Warsaw. As this version of Calderon's drama is not for acting, a higher and wider mountain-scene than practicable may be imagined for Rosaura's descent in the first Act and the soldiers' ascent in the last. The bad watch kept by the sentinels who guarded their state-prisoner, together with much else (not all!) that defies sober sense in this wild drama, I must leave Calderon to answer for; whose audience were not critical of detail and probability, so long as a good story, with strong, rapid, and picturesque action and situation, was set before them. about author: Pedro Calderon de la Barca was born in Madrid, January 17, 1600, of good family. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Madrid and at the University of Salamanca; and a doubtful tradition says that he began to write plays at the age of thirteen. His literary activity was interrupted for ten years, 1625-1635, by military service in Italy and the Low Countries, and again for a year or more in Catalonia. In 1637 he became a Knight of the Order of Santiago, and in 1651 he entered the priesthood, rising to the dignity of Superior of the Brotherhood of San Pedro in Madrid. He held various offices in the court of Philip IV, who rewarded his services with pensions, and had his plays produced with great splendor. He died May 5, 1681. At the time when Calderon began to compose for the stage, the Spanish drama was at its height. Lope de Vega, the most prolific and, with Calderon, the greatest, of Spanish dramatists, was still alive; and by his applause gave encouragement to the beginner whose fame was to rival his own. The national type of drama which Lope had established was maintained in its essential characteristics by Calderon, and he produced abundant specimens of all its varieties. Of regular plays he has left a hundred and twenty; of "Autos Sacramentales," the peculiar Spanish allegorical development of the medieval mystery, we have seventy-three; besides a considerable number of farces.

AUTHOR OF "POOR BOYS WHO BECAME FAMOUS," "GIRLS WHO BECAME FAMOUS," "STORIES FROM LIFE," "FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS," "FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN," "SOCIAL STUDIES IN?ENGLAND," "FROM HEART AND NATURE,"?"FAMOUS MEN OF SCIENCE," ETC. "Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live, and it is in your power." —Marcus Aurelius. "Every line, every road, every gable, every tower, has some story of the past present in it. Every tocsin that sounds is a chronicle; every bridge that unites the two banks of the river, unites also the crowds of the living with the heroism of the dead."The beauty of the past goes with you at every step in Florence. Buy eggs in the market, and you buy them where Donatello bought those which fell down in a broken heap before the wonder of the crucifix. Pause in a narrow by-street in a crowd, and it shall be that Borgo Allegri, which the people so baptized for love of the old painter and the new-born art. Stray into a great dark church at evening time, where peasants tell their beads in the vast marble silence, and you are where the whole city flocked, weeping, at midnight, to look their last upon the dead face of their Michael Angelo. Buy a knot of March anemones or April arum lilies, and you may bear them with you through the same city ward in which the child Ghirlandaio once played amidst the gold and silver garlands that his father fashioned for the young heads of the Renaissance. Ask for a shoemaker, and you shall find the cobbler sitting with his board in the same old twisting, shadowy street-way where the old man Toscanelli drew his charts that served a fair-haired sailor of Genoa, called Columbus." Florence, Shelley's "Smokeless City," was the ardently loved home of Michael Angelo. He was born March 6, 1475, or, according to some authorities, 1474, the Florentines reckoning time from the incarnation of Christ, instead of his birth. Lodovico Buonarotti, the father of Michael Angelo, had been appointed governor of Caprese and Chiusi, and had moved from Florence to the Castle of Caprese, where this boy, his second child, was born. The mother, Francesca, was, like her husband, of noble family, and but little more than half his age, being nineteen and he thirty-one. After two years they returned to Florence, leaving the child at Settignano, three miles from the city, on an estate of the Buonarottis'. He was intrusted to the care of a stone-mason's wife, as nurse. Living among the quarrymen and sculptors of this picturesque region, he began to draw as soon as he could use his hands. He took delight in the work of the masons, and they in turn loved the bright, active child. On the walls of the stone-mason's house he made charcoal sketches, which were doubtless praised by the foster-parents.