Candide is characterised by its sarcastic tone, as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious bildungsroman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. Voltaire's men and women point his case against optimism by starting high and falling low. A modern could not go about it after this fashion.?He would not plunge his people into an unfamiliar misery. He would just keep them in the misery they were born to. But such an account of Voltaire's procedure is as misleading as the plaster cast of a dance. Look at his procedure again. Mademoiselle Cunégonde, the illustrious Westphalian, sprung from a family that could prove seventy-one quarterings, descends and descends until we find her earning her keep by washing dishes in the Propontis. The aged faithful attendant, victim of a hundred acts of rape by negro pirates, remembers that she is the daughter of a pope, and that in honor of her approaching marriage with a Prince of Massa-Carrara all Italy wrote sonnets of which not one was passable. We do not need to know French literature before Voltaire in order to feel, although the lurking parody may escape us, that he is poking fun at us and at himself. His laughter at his own methods grows more unmistakable at the last, when he caricatures them by casually assembling six fallen monarchs in an inn at Venice. A modern assailant of optimism would arm himself with social pity. There is no social pity in "Candide." Voltaire, whose light touch on familiar institutions opens them and reveals their absurdity, likes to remind us that the slaughter and pillage and murder which Candide?witnessed among the Bulgarians was perfectly regular, having been conducted according to the laws and usages of war. Had Voltaire lived today he would have done to poverty what he did to war. Pitying the poor, he would have shown us poverty as a ridiculous anachronism, and both the ridicule and the pity would have expressed his indignation. About Author: VOLTAIREFran?ois-Marie Arouet (1694 – 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.

This story belongs to the year 1837, and was regarded by the generations of that and a succeeding time as the most miraculous of all the recorded deliverances from death at sea. It may be told thus: Mr. Montagu Vanderholt sat at breakfast with his daughter Violet one morning in September. Vanderholt's house was one of a fine terrace close to Hyde Park. He was a rich man, a retired Cape merchant, and his life had been as chequered as Trelawney's, with nothing of romance and nothing of imagination in it. He was the son of honest parents, of Dutch extraction, and had run away to sea when about twelve years old. Nothing under the serious heavens was harsher, more charged with misery, suffering, dirt, and wretchedness, than seafaring in the days when young Vanderholt, with an idiot's cunning, fled to it from his father's comfortable little home. He got a ship, was three years absent, and on his return found both his father and mother dead. He went again to sea, and, fortunately for him, was shipwrecked in the neighbourhood of Simon's Bay. The survivors made their way to Cape Town, and presently young Vanderholt got a job, and afterwards a position. He then became a master, until, after some eight or ten years of heroic perseverance, attended by much good luck, behold Mr. Vanderholt full-blown into a colonial merchant prince. How much he was worth when he made up his mind to settle in England, after the death of his wife, and when he had disposed of his affairs so as to leave himself as free a man as ever he had been when he was a common Jack Swab, really signifies nothing. It is certain he had plenty, and plenty is enough, even for a merchant prince of Dutch extraction. Besides Violet, he had two sons, who will not make an appearance on this little brief stage. They are dismissed, therefore, with this brief reference—that both were in the army, and both, at the time of this tale, in India. Violet was Vanderholt's only daughter, and he loved her exceedingly. She was not beautiful, but she was fair to see, with a pretty figure, and an arch, gay smile. You saw the Dutch blood in her eyes, as you saw it in her father's, whose orbs of vision, indeed, were ridiculously small—scarcely visible in their bed of socket and lash. An English mother had come to Violet's help in this matter. Taking her from top to toe, with her surprising quantity of brown hair, soft complexion, good mouth, teeth, and figure, Violet Vanderholt was undoubtedly a fine girl. THE LAST ENTRY "OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE LAST ENTRY": '"The Last Entry" is a rattling good salt-water yarn, told in the author's usual breezy, exhilarating style.'-”Daily Mail. 'In this new novel Mr. Russell has cleverly thrown its events into the year 1837, and there are one or two ingenious passages which add to the Diamond Jubilee interest which that date suggests.... "The Last Entry" is as certain of general popularity as any of Mr. Russell's former tales of the marvels of the sea.'-”Glasgow Herald. 'We do not think it possible for anyone to dip into this novel without desiring to finish it, and it adds another to the long list of successes of our best sea author.'-”Librarian. 'In addition to mutiny and murder, "The Last Entry" contains many of those good things which have made Mr. Russell's pages a joy to so many lovers of the sea during the last twenty years.... "The Last Entry" is a welcome addition to Mr. Clark Russell's library.'-”Speaker. 'The writer is as realistic and picturesque as usual in his vivid descriptions of the stagnant life on board the homeward-bound Indiaman.'-”Times. 'It is full of pleasant vigour.... As is always the case in Mr. Clark Russell's books, the elements are treated with the pen of an artist.'-”Standard. 'We expected plenty of go, of fresh and vigorous description of sea-faring life, coupled with a story which would not be wanting in interest. All this we have here.'”-Tablet.

Hogyan váltak a lovak az emberiség kiszolgálóivá?A lovak évezredek óta jelen vannak az emberek életében: hatalmas erejüket és engedelmességüket kihasználva dolgoznak, küzdenek, hódítanak.De hogyan lehetséges, hogy a 60-65 millió éve a F?ld?n él? állatokat végül az ember igába hajthatta? Ez a regény err?l is szól, fantasztikus, mesés elemekkel telet?zdelve. Kül?n?s mozzanat a t?rténetben a lovak találkozása az emberekkel, akik a F?ldész nev?, egy a F?ldh?z hasonló élhet? bolygóról érkeztek, és egyedül ezekben csodás állatokban találták meg azt az akarater?t és intelligenciát, ami alkalmassá teszi ?ket majd a f?ldi emberi társadalmak kialakítására.Fuli Sándor kalandos regénye az életigenlésr?l felhívja fiatal olvasói figyelmét a minden nehézséggel való bátor szembenézés fontosságára.

Milyen állambiztonsági kockázatokat rejtett magában egy futball-világbajnokság? Vajon miért volt olyan fontos a titkosszolgálat számára Puskás, hogy még a hatvanas évek végén is érkeztek róla jelentések? Valóban kiváltságos klubként kezelte a rendszer Kádár kedvenc csapatát, a Vasast? A politikai rend?rség szempontjából miért voltak kiemelten veszélyesek a Ferencváros mérk?zései? ?s vajon mi igaz abból, hogy a magyar válogatott nem nyerhetett a Szovjetunió ellen? ?s egyáltalán: miért érdekelte mindez az állambiztonságot? TAK?CS TIBOR k?nyvéb?l kiderül, hogy a sport, így a futball egyre fokozódó állambiztonsági ellen?rzését mindenekel?tt a kiszélesed? nemzetk?zi kapcsolatok indokolták, de egyes sportvezet?ket, játékosokat és szurkolókat is folyamatosan megfigyelés alatt tartottak. Ezzel együtt a kádári politikai rend?rség olykor maga sem tudta pontosan, mi dolga a labdarúgás k?rül – ilyenkor aztán m?k?désbe lépett az állambiztonsági paranoia, amely egy egyszer? szurkolói megnyilvánulásban is ?ellenséges tevékenységet” szimatolt. A t?rténész arra vállalkozik, hogy bemutassa: milyen tevékenységet végzett a Kádár-korszak állambiztonsága a legnagyobb t?megeket vonzó t?megsport, a labdarúgás k?rül. Futball és állambiztonság kapcsolatáról kül?nb?z?, néha párhuzamosan futó, olykor egymást metsz? t?rténeteken keresztül ad átfogó képet, mik?zben felvázolja az 1956 utáni állami sportirányítási rendszer és a politikai rend?rség m?k?désének f?bb vonásait és jellemz?it is. TAK?CS TIBOR Nyíregyházán született 1974-ben. A Kossuth Lajos Tudományegyetem B?lcsészettudományi Karán diplomázott 1997-ben. Ezt k?vet?en doktori ?szt?ndíjas volt, majd a nyíregyházi levéltárban dolgozott. 2002-t?l a T?rténeti Hivatal, illetve utódintézménye, az ?llambiztonsági Szolgálatok T?rténeti Levéltára munkatársa. 2005-ben a Debreceni Egyetemen doktori címet szerzett. F? kutatási területe az 1945 utáni magyar t?rténelem, kül?n?s tekintettel a politikai rend?rség m?k?désére

Leonardo's views of aesthetic are all important in his philosophy of life and art. The worker's thoughts on his craft are always of interest. They are doubly so when there is in them no trace of literary self-consciousness to blemish their expression. He recorded these thoughts at the instant of their birth, for a constant habit of observation and analysis had early developed with him into a second nature. His ideas were penned in the same fragmentary way as they presented themselves to his mind, perhaps with no intention of publishing them to the world. But his ideal of art depended intimately, none the less, on the system he had thrown out seemingly in so haphazard a manner. The long obscurity of the Dark Ages lifted over Italy, awakening to a national though a divided consciousness. Already two distinct tendencies were apparent. The practical and rational, on the one hand, was soon to be outwardly reflected in the burgher-life of Florence and the Lombard cities, while at Rome it had even then created the civil organization of the curia. The novella was its literary triumph. In art it expressed itself simply, directly and with vigour. Opposed to this was the other great undercurrent in Italian life, mystical, religious and speculative, which had run through the nation from the earliest times, and received fresh volume from mediaeval Christianity, encouraging ecstatic mysticism to drive to frenzy the population of its mountain cities. Umbrian painting is inspired by it, and the glowing words of Jacopone da Todi expressed in poetry the same religious fervour which the life of Florence and Perugia bore witness to in action. Italy developed out of the relation and conflict of these two forces the rational with the mystical. Their later union in the greater men was to form the art temperament of the Renaissance. The practical side gave it the firm foundation of rationalism and reality on which it rested; the mystical guided its endeavour to picture the unreal in terms of ideal beauty.The first offspring of this union was Leonardo. Since the decay of ancient art no painter had been able to fully express the human form, for imperfect mastery of technique still proved the barrier. Leonardo was the first completely to disengage his personality from its constraint, and make line express thought as none before him could do. Nor was this his only triumph, but rather the foundation on which further achievement rested. Remarkable as a thinker alone, he preferred to enlist thought in the service of art, and make art the handmaid of beauty. Leonardo saw the world not as it is, but as he himself was. He viewed it through the atmosphere of beauty which filled his mind, and tinged its shadows with the mystery of his nature. From his earliest years, the elements of greatness were present in Leonardo. But the maturity of his genius came unaffected from without. He barely noticed the great forces of the age which in life he encountered. After the first promise of his boyhood in the Tuscan hills, his youth at Florence had been spent under Verrocchio as a master, in company with those whose names were later to brighten the pages of Italian art. At one time he contemplated entering the service of an Oriental prince. Instead, he entered that of Caesar Borgia, as military engineer, and the greatest painter of the age became inspector of a despot's strongholds. But his restless nature did not leave him long at this. Returning to Florence he competed with Michelangelo; yet the service of even his native city could not retain him. His fame had attracted the attention of a new patron of the arts, prince of the state which had conquered his first master. In this his last venture, he forsook Italy, only to die three years later at Amboise, in the castle of the French king.

Dvadeset godina nakon epohalne promjene 1989., koja je na postjugoslavenski prostor djelovala na posve druk?iji na?in nego na druge prija?nje realsocijalisti?ke europske zemlje, ova studija predstavlja poku?aj analiti?kog osvrta na dva desetlje?a razvoja civilnog dru?tva na zapadnom Balkanu. Njen autor Sr?an Dvornik iz Hrvatske, u to je dobro upu?en. Nije slu?ajno ?to se kroz cijeli sadr?aj i u strukturi ove knjige ispreple?u teorija i praksa te odnosi unutar i izvan “civilnodru?tvenog” razvoja. (...) Ova je studija va?an doprinos, dosad nedostatnim, razmatranjima o mogu?nostima i ograni?enjima akter? civilnog dru?tva u (post)autoritarnim dru?tvima. Istovremeno ona donosi i pouku da instrumenti zapadne politike demokratizacije imaju pred sobom jo? dug put razvoja do to?ke na kojoj ?e posve iscrpsti svoje dosada?nje organizacijske i politi?ke potencijale, da bi potom na nove me?unarodne izazove, koje nam novi svjetski (ne)red postavlja posljednja dva desetlje?a, mogli primjerenije reagirati. dr. Azra D?aji?-Weber

In June 1863, General Robert E. Lee and the 75,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia launched a second invasion of the North, crossing into Maryland and Pennsylvania to try to win a decisive victory over Federal forces. On July 1, Lee’s army encountered Major General Meade’s 90,000 strong Army of the Potamac at the small town of Gettysburg. After some initial success in dispersing the Federal advance guard, Lee launched attack after attack against the main army, but everywhere the Union line held. On July 3, Lee ordered a final assault of 12,500 Confederates at the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, known as Pickett’s Charge. The charge was repulsed with huge loss of life, bringing the battle to an end. Today, Gettysburg is recognized as the turning point in the Civil War and one of the iconic battles of the great struggle between North and South. Lee’s gamble didn’t pay off, leaving the Army of Northern Virginia fatally weakened and unable to continue its invasion of the North. Gettysburg is divided into five chapters, outlining the campaign, the fighting on July 1, July 2, and July 3, as well as a chapter dealing with the aftermath; an extended appendices provides biographical background of the main Federal and Confederate leaders who fought in the battle. Through letters, journal entries, and official reports, the book includes numerous first-hand accounts from those who survived. Color maps show the battle as it unfolded over three days of fighting in places that have a place in Civil War legend: Seminary Ridge, Little Round Top, Cemetery Hill, Devil’s Den, the Wheat Field, Culp’s Hill, the Peach Orchard. Including more than 200 archival photographs, illustrations, paintings, and maps, Gettysburg is a colorful, accessible guide to the great battle that marked the turning point in the Civil War.

POW Escape and Evasion covers everything you need to know about making a successful return to friendly territory. Beginning from the point where a combatant finds himself or herself trapped in enemy territory, the book offers useful tips and solid advice on how to evade capture and, if that fails, how to escape. Key topics include the will to survive; handling stress in captivity; escape techniques; survival in a variety of environments, including urban, rural, jungle and desert; how to forage for food; tracking and how to cover your tracks; navigation, with or without a map; and seeking recovery by friendly forces. The book also includes a number of real life accounts of POW escape from World War II (including The Great Escape story and Colditz), the Vietnam War (Dieter Dengler, with others, escaping from Laos), the Balkans, Iraq (Thomas Hamill in 2004) and Afghanistan. With more than 120 black-&-white artworks and with easy-to-follow text, POW Escape and Evasion is for anyone who wants to know how to survive in the most stressful of circumstances and emerge a winner. Presented in a handy, pocket-size format, this is a book you could take with you into the field. And it could save your life.

The Odyssey (Greek:Odysseia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. It is believed to have been composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia. The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths) and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage. It continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe that the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The details of the ancient oral performance, and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a poetic dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects—and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and serfs, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer. It was usually attributed in Antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta, but in one source was said to have been stolen from Musaeus by Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene (see Cyclic poets). ABOUT AUTHOR: Homeros, In the Western classical tradition, Homer (Ancient Greek: Homeros) is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature. When he lived is unknown. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, which would place him at around 850 BC, while other ancient sources claim that he lived much nearer to the supposed time of the Trojan War, in the early 12th century BC. Most modern researchers place Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. The formative influence of the Homeric epics in shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the teacher of Greece. Homer's works, which are about fifty percent speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds. Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek literary papyrus finds. PeriodFor modern scholars "the date of Homer" refers not to an individual, but to the period when the epics were created. The consensus is that "the Iliad and the Odyssey date from around the 8th century BC, the Iliad being composed before the Odyssey, perhaps by some decades," i.e. earlier than Hesiod, the Iliad being the oldest work of Western literature. Over the past few decades, some scholars have argued for a 7th-century BC date. Oliver Taplin believes that the conclusion of modern researchers is that Homer dates to between 750 to 650 BC. Some of those who argue that the Homeric poems developed gradually over a long period of time give an even later date for the composition of the poems; according to Gregory Nagy for example, they only became fixed texts in the 6th century BC. The question of the historicity of Homer the individual is known as the "Homeric question"; there is no reliable biographical information handed down from classical antiquity. The poems are generally seen as the culmination of many generations of oral story-telling, in a tradition with a well-developed formulaic system of poetic composition. Some scholars, such as Martin West, claim that "Homer" is "not the name of a historical poet, but a fictitious or constructed name."

Art, with its finite means, cannot hope to record the infinite variety and com-plexity of Nature, and so contents itself with a partial statement, addressing this to the imagination for the full and perfect meaning. This inadequation, and the artificial ad-justments which it involves, are tolerated by right of what is known as artistic convention; and as each art has its own particular limitations, so each has its own particular conventions. Sculpture reproduces the forms of Nature, but discards the color without any shock to our ideas of verity; Painting gives us the color, but not the third dimension, and we are satisfied; and Architecture ispurely conventional, since it does not even aim at the imitation of natural form. The Conventions of Line Drawing,Of the kindred arts which group themselves under the head of Painting, none is based on such broad conventions as that with which we are immediately concerned—the art of Pen Drawing. In this medium, Nature's variety of color, when not positively ignored, is suggested by means of sharp black lines, of varying thickness, placed more or less closely together upon white paper; while natural form depends primarily for its representation upon arbitrary boundary lines. There is, of course, no authority in Na-ture for a positive outline: we see objects only by the difference in color of the other objects behind and around them. The technical capacity of the pen and ink medium, however, does not provide a value corresponding to every natural one, so that a broad interpretation has to be adopted which eliminates the less positive values; and, that form may not likewise be sacrificed, the outline becomes necessary, that light objects may stand relieved against light. This outline is the most characteristic, as it is the most indispensable, of the conventions of line drawing. To seek to abolish it only involves a resort to expedients no less artificial, and the results of all such attempts, dependent as they necessarily are upon elaboration of color, and a general indirectness of method, lack some of the best characteristics of pen drawing. More frequently, however, an elaborate color-scheme is merely a straining at the technical limitations of the pen in an effort to render the greatest possible number of values. It may be worth while to inquire whether excellence in pen drawing consists in thus dispensing with its recognized conventions, or in otherwise taxing the technical re-sources of the instrument. This involves the question of Style,—of what characteristic pen methods are,—a question which we will briefly consider...

Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640), was a Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality. He is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe.. Early lifeRubens was born in the German city of Siegen, Westphalia to Jan Rubens and Maria Pypelincks. His father, a Calvinist, and mother fled Antwerp for Cologne in 1568, after increased religious turmoil and persecution of Protestants during the rule of the Spanish Netherlands by the Duke of Alba. Jan Rubens became the legal advisor (and lover) of Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange, and settled at her court in Siegen in 1570; their daughter Christine was born in 1571. Following Jan Rubens's imprisonment for the affair, Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577. The family returned to Cologne the next year. In 1589, two years after his father's death, Rubens moved with his mother Maria Pypelincks to Antwerp, where he was raised as a Catholic. Religion figured prominently in much of his work and Rubens later became one of the leading voices of the Catholic Counter-Reformation style of painting (he had said "My passion comes from the heavens, not from earthly musings").In Antwerp, Rubens received a humanist education, studying Latin and classical literature. By fourteen he began his artistic apprenticeship with Tobias Verhaeght. Subsequently, he studied under two of the city's leading painters of the time, the late Mannerist artists Adam van Noort and Otto van Veen. Much of his earliest training involved copying earlier artists' works, such as woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger and Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings after Raphael. Rubens completed his education in 1598, at which time he entered the Guild of St. Luke as an independent master. Italy (1600–1608)In 1600, Rubens travelled to Italy. He stopped first in Venice, where he saw paintings by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, before settling in Mantua at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The coloring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an immediate effect on Rubens's painting, and his later, mature style was profoundly influenced by Titian. With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled to Rome by way of Florence in 1601. Last decade (1630–1640)The Exchange of Princesses, from the Marie de' Medici Cycle. Louvre, ParisRubens's last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. Major works for foreign patrons still occupied him, such as the ceiling paintings for the Banqueting House at Inigo Jones's Palace of Whitehall, but he also explored more personal artistic directions.In 1630, four years after the death of his first wife, the 53-year-old painter married 16-year-old Hélène Fourment. Hélène inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s, including The Feast of Venus (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), The Three Graces and The Judgment of Paris (both Prado, Madrid). In the latter painting, which was made for the Spanish court, the artist's young wife was recognized by viewers in the figure of Venus. In an intimate portrait of her, Hélène Fourment in a Fur Wrap, also known as Het Pelsken, Rubens's wife is even partially modelled after classical sculptures of the Venus Pudica, such as the Medici Venus. In 1635, Rubens bought an estate outside of Antwerp, the Steen, where he spent much of his time. Landscapes, such as his Ch?teau de Steen with Hunter (National Gallery, London) and Farmers Returning from the Fields (Pitti Gallery, Florence), reflect the more personal nature of many of his later works. He also drew upon the Netherlandish traditions of Pieter Bruegel the Elder for inspiration in later works like Flemish Kermis (c. 1630; Louvre, Paris).

1. The architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that all work done by the other arts is put to test. This knowledge is the child of practice and theory. Practice is the continuous and regular exercise of employment where manual work is done with any necessary material according to the design of a drawing. Theory, on the other hand, is the ability to demonstrate and explain the productions of dexterity on the principles of proportion. 2. It follows, therefore, that architects who have aimed at acquiring manual skill without scholarship have never been able to reach a position of authority to correspond to their pains, while those who relied only upon theories and scholarship were obviously hunting the shadow, not the substance. But those who have a thorough knowledge of both, like men armed at all points, have the sooner attained their object and carried authority with them. 3. In all matters, but particularly in architecture, there are these two points:—the thing signified, and that which gives it its significance. That which is signified is the subject of which we may be speaking; and that which gives significance is a demonstration on scientific principles. It appears, then, that one who professes himself an architect should be well versed in both directions. He ought, therefore, to be both naturally gifted and amenable to instruction. Neither natural ability without instruction nor instruction without natural ability can make the perfect artist. Let him be educated, skilful with the pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have some knowledge of medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens. 4. The reasons for all this are as follows. An architect ought to be an educated man so as to leave a more lasting remembrance in his treatises. Secondly, he must have a knowledge of drawing so that he can readily make sketches to show the appearance of the work which he proposes. Geometry, also, is of much assistance in architecture, and in particular it teaches us the use of the rule and compasses, by which especially we acquire readiness in making plans for buildings in their grounds, and rightly apply the square, the level, and the plummet. By means of optics, again, the light in buildings can be drawn from fixed quarters of the sky. It is true that it is by arithmetic that the total cost of buildings is calculated and measurements are computed, but difficult questions involving symmetry are solved by means of geometrical theories and methods. 5. A wide knowledge of history is requisite because, among the ornamental parts of an architect's design for a work, there are many the underlying idea of whose employment he should be able to explain toGree inquirers. For instance, suppose him to set up the marble statues of women in long robes, called Caryatides, to take the place of columns, with the mutules and coronas placed directly above their heads, he will give the following explanation to his questioners. Caryae, a state in Peloponnesus, sided with the Persian enemies against Greece; later the Greeks, having gloriously won their freedom by victory in the war, made common cause and declared war against the people of Caryae. They took the town, killed the men, abandoned the State to desolation, and carried off their wives into slavery, without permitting them, however, to lay aside the long robes and other marks of their rank as married women, so that they might be obliged not only to march in the triumph but to appear forever after as a type of slavery, burdened with the weight of their shame and so making atonement for their State. Hence, the architects of the time designed for public buildings statues of these women, placed so as to carry a load..

In writing upon any matter of experience, such as art, the possibilities of misunderstanding are enormous, and one shudders to think of the things that may be put down to one's credit, owing to such misunderstandings. It is like writing about the taste of sugar, you are only likely to be understood by those who have already experienced the flavour; by those who have not, the wildest interpretation will be put upon your words. The written word is necessarily confined to the things of the understanding because only the understanding has written language; whereas art deals with ideas of a different mental texture, which words can only vaguely suggest. However, there are a large number of people who, although they cannot viibe said to have experienced in a full sense any works of art, have undoubtedly the impelling desire which a little direction may lead on to a fuller appreciation. And it is to such that books on art are useful. So that although this book is primarily addressed to working students, it is hoped that it may be of interest to that increasing number of people who, tired with the rush and struggle of modern existence, seek refreshment in artistic things. To many such in this country modern art is still a closed book; its point of view is so different from that of the art they have been brought up with, that they refuse to have anything to do with it. Whereas, if they only took the trouble to find out something of the point of view of the modern artist, they would discover new beauties they little suspected. If anybody looks at a picture by Claude Monet from the point of view of a Raphael, he will see nothing but a meaningless jargon of wild paint-strokes. And if anybody looks at a Raphael from the point of view of a Claude Monet, he will, no doubt, only see hard, tinny figures in a setting devoid of any of the lovely atmosphere that always envelops form seen in nature. So wide apart are some of the points of view in painting. In the treatment of form these differences in point of view make for enormous variety in the work. Works showing much ingenuity and ability, but no artistic brains; pictures that are little more than school studies, exercises in the representation of carefully or carelessly arranged objects, but cold to any artistic intention. At this time particularly some principles, and a clear intellectual understanding of what it is you are trying to do, are needed. We have no set traditions to guide us. The times when the student accepted the style and traditions of his master and blindly followed them until he found himself, are gone. Such conditions belonged to an age when intercommunication was difficult, and when the artistic horizon was restricted to a single town or province. Science has altered all that, and we may regret the loss of local colour and singleness of aim this growth of art in separate compartments produced; but it is unlikely that such conditions will occur again. Quick means of transit and cheap methods of reproduction have brought the art of the whole world to our doors. Where formerly the artistic food at the disposal of the student was restricted to the few pictures in his vicinity and some prints of others, now there is scarcely a picture of note in the world that is not known to the average student, either from personal inspection at our museums and loan exhibitions, or from excellent photographic reproductions. Not only European art, but the art of the East, China and Japan, is part of the formative influence by which he is surrounded; not to mention the modern science of light and colour that has had such an influence on technique. It is no wonder that a period of artistic indigestion is upon us. Hence the student has need ixof sound principles and a clear understanding of the science of his art, if he would select from this mass of material those things which answer to his own inner need for artistic expression.

Marele romancier face o incursiune ?n trecutul nu foarte ?ndep?rtat al Rom?niei, trat?nd anii dictaturii ro?ii f?r? p?rtinire, ?ncerc?nd o radiografie crud?, impar?ial? ?i – lucru extrem de rar ?n Balcani – radical? a unei jum?t??i de secol de istorie.Cartea e destinat? studen?ilor, elevilor, profesorilor, precum ?i publicului larg de cititori.

Дарону Аджемо?лу ? Джеймсу Роб?нсону вдалося, здавалося б, неможливе — в?дпов?сти на питання, яке до них безрезультатно вивчали стол?ттями: чому одн? кра?ни багат?, а ?нш? — б?дн?????рунтуючись на п’ятнадцятир?чних досл?дженнях у галузях ?стор??, пол?толог?? та економ?ки, автори легко ? доступно пояснюють, чому економ?чний усп?х держав не залежить в?д культури, кл?мату чи географ?чного положення.??Аджемо?лу та Роб?нсон переконан?: кра?ни стали найусп?шн?шими через те, що ?хн? громадяни повалили владну ел?ту ? створили сусп?льства, де головною ц?нн?стю стали р?вн? економ?чн? та пол?тичн? права кожного. На ?хню думку, саме свобода робить св?т багатшим.??Книга ?Чому нац?? занепадають? — сво?р?дний пос?бник, який допоможе краще зрозум?ти причини, що сприяють процв?танню держав та ?хньому занепаду.

Н?л Фер?юсон зауважу?: ?Ще на початку XV стол?ття сама лише думка про те, що наступн? п’ять стол?ть Зах?д буде дом?нувати над рештою св?ту, здалася б дуже дивною. А вт?м, це сталося?. ? нин? могутн?сть Заходу вража? нав?ть найбагатшу уяву... То чому ж так трапилося? Чому ?вропа, що на 1500-й р?к поступалася Сходу за багатьма показниками — економ?чними, технолог?чними, демограф?чними, — зум?ла р?зко рвонути уперед ? досягти безперечного св?тового панування? Як? складов? усп?ху зах?дно? цив?л?зац??? Саме ц? дражлив? питання украй см?ливо, часом нав?ть зухвало, а проте надзвичайно захопливо висв?тлю? Н?л Фер?юсон.

THE history, the features, and the most famous examples of European architecture, during a period extending from the rise of the Gothic, or pointed, style in the twelfth century to the general depression which overtook the Renaissance style at the close of the eighteenth, form the subject of this little volume. I have endeavoured to adopt as free and simple a mode of treatment as is compatible with the accurate statement of at least the outlines of so very technical a subject. Though it is to be hoped that many professional students of architecture will find this hand-book serviceable to them in their elementary studies, it has been my principal endeavour to adapt it to the requirements of those who are preparing for the professional pursuit of the sister arts, and of that large and happily increasing number of students who pursue the fine arts as a necessary part of a complete liberal education, and who know that a solid and comprehensive acquaintance with art, especially if joined to some skill in the use of the pencil, the brush, the modelling tool, or the etching needle, will open sources of pleasure and interest of the most refined description. The broad facts of all art history; the principles which underlie each of the fine arts; and the most precious or most noteworthy examples of each, ought to be familiar to every art student, whatever special branch he may follow. Beyond these limits I have not attempted to carry this account of Gothic and Renaissance architecture; within them I have endeavoured to make the work as complete as the space at my disposal permitted. THE architecture generally known as Gothic, but often described as Christian Pointed, prevailed throughout Europe to the exclusion of every rival for upwards of three centuries; and it is to be met with, more or less, during two others. Speaking broadly, it may be said that its origin took place in the twelfth century, that the thirteenth was the period of its development, the fourteenth that of its perfection, and the fifteenth that of its decline; while many examples of its employment occur in the sixteenth. In the following chapters the principal changes in the features of buildings which occurred during the progress of the style in England will be described. Subsequently, the manner in which the different stages of development were reached in different countries will be given; for architecture passed through very nearly the same phases in all European nations, though not quite simultaneously. It must be understood that through the whole Gothic period, growth or at least change was going on; the transitions from one stage to another were only periods of more rapid change than usual. The whole process may be illustrated by the progress of a language. If, for instance, we compare round-arched architecture in the eleventh century to the Anglo-Saxon form of speech of the time of Alfred the Great, and the architecture of the twelfth century to the English of Chaucer, that of the thirteenth will correspond to the richer language of Shakespeare, that of the fourteenth to the highly polished language of Addison and Pope, and that of the fifteenth to the English of our own day. We can thus obtain an apt parallel to the gradual change and growth which went on in architecture; and we shall find that the oneness of the language in the former case, and of the architecture in the latter, was maintained throughout. For an account of the Christian round-arched architecture which preceded Gothic, the reader is referred to the companion volume in this series. Here it will be only necessary briefly to review the circumstances which went before the appearance of the pointed styles.

“From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us.” – Anonymous monk, Noirmoutier, France, 9th century AD Beginning in 789AD, the Vikings raided monasteries, sacked cities and invaded western Europe. They looted and enslaved their enemies. But that is only part of their story. In long boats they discovered Iceland and America (both by accident) and also sailed up the Seine to Paris (which they sacked). They settled from Newfoundland to Russia, founded Dublin and fought battles as far afield as the Caspian Sea. A thousand years after their demise, traces of the Vikings remain all the way from North America to Istanbul. They traded walruses with Inuits, brought Russian furs to Western Europe and took European slaves to Constantinople. Their graves contain Arab silver, Byzantine silks and Frankish weapons. In this accessible book, the whole narrative of the Viking story is examined from the eighth to the eleventh centuries. Arranged thematically, Vikings: A History of the Norse People examines the Norsemen from exploration to religion to trade to settlement to weaponry to kingdoms to their demise and legacy. But today questions remain: what prompted the first Viking raids? What stopped their expansion? And how much of the tales of murder, rape and pillage is myth? Illustrated with more than 200 photographs, maps and artworks, Vikings: A History of the Norse People is an expertly written account of a people who have long captured the popular imagination.

A manhunt can involve helicopters, hounds and hundreds of military or police personnel, but it can also turn on the evidence of one broken spider’s web. Manhunts today might involve the technology of infrared cameras and surveillance devices such as powerful satellite technology, but they may also rely on examining the width, depth, tread and intervals of footprints, or observing minute changes in the natural environment. From searching for high-value enemy targets such as Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein to finding soldiers caught behind enemy lines, from escaped prisoners and serial killers to a missing child, SAS and Elite Forces Guide: Manhunt explores just how the military and police forces track people down. Including many case studies of high-value targets, suspected criminals and fugitives from justice, and with extensive background on the different techniques in tracking used, from traditional Native American trackers’ skills to the latest high-tech methods, Manhunt brings together the history and science of tracking. Illustrated with 150 maps and photographs, SAS and Elite Forces Guide: Manhunt is an authoritative examination of tracking from footprints to forensics and a must for anyone interested in the latest military practices, true crime and survival skills.

Small arms have developed hugely since the introduction of the machine gun in the 1870s. Magazine-fed rifles, submachine guns, automatic pistols and, later, assault rifles and personal defence weapons have changed the face of infantry warfare, offering a range of weaponry designed for both the specialist and novice. The World’s Greatest Small Arms features 52 weapons from the late 19th century to the present day. The book includes the best-known weapons from throughout the modern era, from the Gatling gun, SMLE rifle and Luger pistol, to the Uzi, FN MAG and the M110 sniper rifle. Great iconic weapons, such as the Colt M1911 pistol, Bren Gun, MP5 submachine gun, and Steyr AUG rifle are featured, as well as timeless classics still in use today: the M2 Browning 50 cal, AK-47 and M16 rifle. Each weapon is illustrated with a colour profile artwork and photographs, along with a description of the weapon’s development and history, key features and a full specifications box. Including more than 200 artworks and photographs, The World’s Greatest Small Arms is a colourful guide for the military historian.

Charles Dickens’ timeless story is brought to life in this vibrant new version by the award-winning playwright Neil Duffield. Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! Well, it is for everyone except the miserable Scrooge. He prefers to spend Christmas all alone in his large house, instead of celebrating with mistletoe and merriment. Bah, humbug! But one cold, dark Christmas Eve Scrooge is surprised by the ghost of Marley, his former business partner. Marley warns Scrooge that he will be called upon by three spirits – each will take him on a mysterious and magical journey to show him the error of his ways… Can Scrooge discover the true wonder and meaning of Christmas before it’s too late?