To present at a single glance a comprehensive view of the History of English Church Architecture from the Heptarchy to the Reformation, and to do this in a manner, which, without taxing too seriously the memory of the student, may enable him to fix in his mind the limits, and the general outline of the inquiry he is about to enter upon, is the object of the present treatise.? Instead therefore of entering, as is usual in elementary works of this nature, into a detailed account of all the parts of an Ecclesiastical structure, a certain portion only of such a building has for this purpose been selected, and so exhibited in the garb in which it appeared at successive intervals of time, as to present to the reader a means of comparison that will enable him readily to apprehend the gradual change of form through which it passed from the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Centuries, and at once to recognise the leading characteristics of the several Periods into which it is here proposed to divide the History of our National Architecture. Having thus fixed these leading characteristics in his mind, he will then be in a condition to follow us hereafter, if he pleases, into the detail of the whole subject, and to become familiar with those niceties of distinction, the detection of which—escaping, as they do, the eye of the general observer—contributes so materially to the enjoyment of the study, and a perfect acquaintance with which is so absolutely essential to a correct understanding of the true History of the Art.?That this mode of approaching the study of this subject is a convenient one, will probably be admitted by those who may remember the difficulties they encoun-tered, in their early attempts to acquire a general conception of the scheme of the History of Church Architecture, as given in most of the manuals now in use; and the complexity of detail in which they found themselves immediately involved on the very threshold of their inquiry.? It has been the practice in most elementary works on Church Architecture to derive the illustrations of the subject, indifferently from the smaller and the larger buildings of the Kingdom; and by implication to assign an equal authority to both. It will be readily admitted, however, that the History of an Art is to be gathered from its principal Monuments, and not from those the design or execution of which may have been entrusted to other than the ablest masters of the Period: in the choice, therefore, of the examples which have been selected to illustrate the series of changes which are described in the following pages, reference has been made principally to the great Cathedral, Abbey, and Collegiate Churches of the Kingdom, and occasionally only to some of the larger Parish Churches whose size or importance would seem to bring them under the above denomination.??Church Architecture in England, from its earliest existence down to the Sixteenth Century, was in a state of constant progress, or transition, and this progress appears to have been carried on, with certain exceptions in different parts of the country, very nearly simultaneously. It follows from this circumstance, first, That it is impossible to divide our National Architecture correctly into any number of distinct Orders or Styles; and secondly, That any Division of its History into a given number of Periods, must necessarily be an arbitrary one. It is nevertheless absolutely essential for the purpose of conveniently describing the long series of noble monuments which remain to us, that we should adopt some system of chronological arrangement, which may enable us to group, and to classify them in a distinct and intelligible manner: and although no broad lines of demarcation in this connected series are discernible—so gradual was the change—yet so rapid and so complete was it also, that a period of fifty years did not elapse without a material alteration in the form and fashion of every detail of a building. ?

Milyen lenyomatot hagyott bennünk 1956? T?rténelem alulnézetb?l, avagy családi emlékek, személyes t?rténetek az ominózus ?szr?l, ami után minden más lett. Hogyan lesz egy 17 éves gyárimunkás fiúból néhány nap leforgása alatt forradalmár? Mi t?rtént Erdélyben 56-ban? Mikor eszmél rá a hatéves kislány, hogy a nagyapja Magyarország legfontosabb embere? Hogyan él tovább az, akinek a menyasszonya ?r?kre elhagyta az országot? Hogyan válik a távoli kultúrából érkez? idegen október 23. szellemiségét átérz? emberré? Ilyen és ezekhez hasonló kérdésekre válaszol t?bbek k?z?tt Horgas Eszter, Varga Miklós, Kiss Zoltán Zéro, Tordai Teri, Vámos Miklós, Bornai Tibor és sokan mások. A kül?n?s, szívszorító vagy kalandos emlékekb?l megismerhetjük az ezerarcú forradalom néhány emberi mozzanatát. Naszvadi Judith családi érintettsége okán is kezdte el feltenni a kérdéseket el?bb sz?kebb, majd tágabb k?rnyezetében. A 60. évfordulóra így, ezekb?l az interjúkból állt ?ssze A mi '56-unk.

A sorozat és ami m?g?tte van I. Szulejmán szultán 1494-ben született, és 1566-ban Szigetvár alatt vesztette életét. 1520-tól haláláig az Oszmán Birodalom ikonikus uralkodójaként hódított. A magyar t?rténelmet ismer?k biztosan nem rajongtak érte soha. Miután 2013-ban az egyik kereskedelmi csatorna megvásárolta az életér?l szóló Szulejmán cím? sorozatot, a szultán negatív megítélése sokat változott. A néz?k megkedvelték a Halit Ergen? által alakított Fényességest. A sorozatban ábrázolt t?rténelmi események, személyek azonban nem minden esetben egyeznek a valósággal. Ezt az alkotók is megjegyzik: a m? t?rténelmi ihletés? - ami nem azonos a t?rténelmi h?séggel. R. Kelényi Angelika tisztázza a valós t?rténelmi eseményeket. ?sszegy?jt?tt érdekességeken keresztül oszlatja el a félreértéseket, mik?zben szórakoztatja az olvasót.

E tündérjátékról úgy tartják, egy f?úri esküv? alkalmából íródott. Err?l szól maga a darab is, a szerelemr?l, a házasságról, a szenvedélyr?l, az akadályok legy?zésér?l. A Szentivánéj egyetlen hatalmas nászéjszaka. Puck, a csúfondáros apród, aki miatt kit?r a háborúság a tündérkirály és tündérkirályn? k?z?tt, minden kerget?z?, egymást ?z? szerelmesnek jelképe lehet, akik szüntelen váltakozásban gerjednek egyért s taszítják el a másikat. Mintha a való életben is Puck gonosz varázslatára fordulna meg minden, majd jótékony varázslatára az éj végére valahogy mégis ?sszerendez?djék. Tündéri álomvilág cívódással, féltéssel, ellenállhatatlan vágyakkal.

William Shakespeare egyik legnagyobb m?ve a Macbeth, a hatalomvágytól megszállott gyenge ember drámája. Macbethnek egyszer azt j?vend?lik, hogy király lesz. Felesége ?szt?nzésére és segítségével, hogy beteljesedjék a jóslat, álmában meg?lik a náluk vendégesked? királyt. Tettüket a leitatott ?r?kre fogják, akiknek nincs is idejük tiltakozásra a hamis vád ellen, mert Macbeth sz?rny? ?felindultságában” meg?li ?ket. A hatalmat, a rangot azonban nem tudják élvezni…

Az álomszer?en meseszép hangulat hirtelen féltékenységi dührohammá változik, rémálommá: a szicíliai király barátját, Polixenést és feleségét (Hermione) házasságt?réssel vádolva küldi a halálba, el?bbi csupán Camillo h?ségének k?sz?nhet?en menekülhet el. Apollo jóslata sem tudja meggy?zni Leontest képzetei hamisságáról, csupán a sz?rny? látvány – szerettei holtteste – ébreszti fel zavaros állapotából. Már kés?, egyetlen utódját, a fattyúnak vélt csecsem?t távoli partokon hagyta sorsára. A t?rténetbe sok év múltán kapcsolódunk bele újra, Perdita – a csecsem?, akit megtalált fiával együtt (Mufurc) nevelt egy pásztor – felcseperedett, és mindenkit elámít vélt származását meghazudtoló szépsége, nemessége. Florizel királyfi beleszeret, és elhagyja érte apja, Polixenes királyi udvarát. A király, a h? Camillóval együtt, álruhában meglesi a pásztorok ünnepét, és haraggal veszi tudomásul fia vonzódását egy egyszer? pásztorlány iránt. Camillo, aki ráj?n Perdita kilétére, a fiatalokat Szicíliába küldi, ahol Leontes tárt karokkal fogadja elveszettnek hitt lányát, és Hermione szobra életre kel. A megbocsájtás, a feloldás pillanata lehetne ez, ha a t?rténetet mindvégig mozgató figura nem g?rdítené a néz?tér és a színpad k?zé az áttetsz?ség, a látomás, az álomszer?ség tüllfügg?nyét. ?s számunkra nem marad más, csupán a feloldatlanság feszültsége.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by "The Knight's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, written around 1594 to 1596. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

This Illustrated version of the "A Short History of the world" contains about 300 Illustrated picture, and many historic objects.. THE story of our world is a story that is still very imperfectly known. A couple of hundred years ago men possessed the history of little more than the last three thousand years. What happened before that time was a matter of legend and speculation. Over a large part of the civilized world it was believed and taught that the world had been created suddenly in 4004 B.C., though authorities differed as to whether this had occurred in the spring or autumn of that year. This fantastically precise misconception was based upon a too literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and upon rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith. Such ideas have long since been abandoned by religious teachers, and it is universally recognized that the universe in which we live has to all appearances existed for an enormous period of time and possibly for endless time. Of course there may be deception in these appearances, as a room may be made to seem endless by putting mirrors facing each other at either end. But that the universe in which we live has existed only for six or seven thousand years may be regarded as an altogether exploded idea. "A Short History of the world" by E-Kitap projesi, Illustrated version by Murat Ukray.. Also added "IN the last fifty years there has been much very fine and interesting speculation on the part of scientific men upon the age and origin of our earth. Here we cannot pretend to give even a summary of such speculations because they involve the most subtle mathematical and physical considerations. The truth is that the physical and astronomical sciences are still too undeveloped as yet to make anything of the sort more than an illustrative guesswork. The general tendency has been to make the estimated age of our globe longer and longer. It now seems probable that the earth has had an independent existence as a spinning planet flying round and round the sun for a longer period than 2,000,000,000 years. It may have been much longer than that. This is a length of time that absolutely overpowers the imagination. "

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli ( 1445 – 1510), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He belonged to the Florentine school under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, a movement that Giorgio Vasari would characterize less than a hundred years later as a "golden age", a thought, suitably enough, he expressed at the head of his Vita of Botticelli. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century; since then his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting. Among his best known works are The Birth of Venus and Primavera. In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV summoned Botticelli and other prominent Florentine and Umbrian artists to fresco the walls of the Sistine Chapel. The iconological program was the supremacy of the Papacy. Sandro's contribution included the Temptations of Christ, the Punishment of the Rebels and Trial of Moses. He returned to Florence, and "being of a sophistical turn of mind, he there wrote a commentary on a portion of Dante and illustrated the Inferno which he printed, spending much time over it, and this abstention from work led to serious disorders in his living." Thus Vasari characterized the first printed Dante (1481) with Botticelli's decorations; he could not imagine that the new art of printing might occupy an artist. The masterpieces Primavera (c. 1482) and The Birth of Venus (c. 1485) were both seen by Vasari at the villa of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici at Castello in the mid-16th century, and until recently, it was assumed that both works were painted specifically for the villa. Recent scholarship suggests otherwise: the Primavera was painted for Lorenzo's townhouse in Florence, and The Birth of Venus was commissioned by someone else for a different site. By 1499, both had been installed at Castello. In these works, the influence of Gothic realism is tempered by Botticelli's study of the antique. But if the painterly means may be understood, the subjects themselves remain fascinating for their ambiguity. The complex meanings of these paintings continue to receive widespread scholarly attention, mainly focusing on the poetry and philosophy of humanists who were the artist's contemporaries. The works do not illustrate particular texts; rather, each relies upon several texts for its significance. Of their beauty, characterized by Vasari as exemplifying "grace" and by John Ruskin as possessing linear rhythm, there can be no doubt. In the mid-1480s, Botticelli worked on a major fresco cycle with Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi, for Lorenzo the Magnificent's villa near Volterra; in addition he painted many frescoes in Florentine churches. In 1491 he served on a committee to decide upon a fa?ade for the Cathedral of Florence.

In issuing this second treatise on Crayon Portraiture, Liquid Water Colors and French Crystals, for the use of photographers and amateur artists, I do so with the hope and assurance that all the requirements in the way of instruction for making crayon portraits on photographic enlargements and for finishing photographs in color will be fully met. To these I have added complete instructions for free-hand crayons. This book embodies the results of a studio experience of twenty-four years spent in practical work, in teaching, and in overcoming the everyday difficulties encountered, not alone in my own work, but in that of my pupils as well. Hence the book has been prepared with special reference to the needs of the student. It presents a brief course of precepts, and requires on the part of the pupil only perseverance in order that he may achieve excellence. The mechanical principles are few, and have been laid down in a few words; and, as nearly all students have felt, in the earlier period of their art work, the necessity of some general rules to guide them in the composition and arrangement of color, I have given, without entering into any profound discussion of the subject, a few of its practical precepts, which, it is hoped, will prove helpful. While this book does not treat of art in a very broad way, yet I am convinced that those who follow its teachings will, through the work they accomplish, be soon led to a higher appreciation of art. Although this kind of work does not create, yet who will say that it will not have accomplished much if it shall prove to be the first step that shall lead some student to devote his or her life to the sacred calling of art? It has been said that artists rarely, if ever, write on art, because they have the impression that the public is too ill-informed to understand them—that is, to understand their ordinarily somewhat technical method of expression. If, therefore, in the following pages I may sometimes seem to take more space and time for an explanation than appears necessary, I hope the student will overlook it, as I seek to be thoroughly understood. My hope with reference to this work is that it may prove of actual value to the earnest student in helping him reach the excellence which is the common aim of all true artists. ? ?J. A. Barhydt. About Author: To many who know nothing about the art of crayon portraiture, the mastery of it not only seems very difficult, but almost unattainable. In fact, any work of art of whatever description, which in its execution is beyond the knowledge or comprehension of the spectator, is to him a thing of almost supernatural character. Of course, this is more decided when the subject portrayed carries our thoughts beyond the realms of visible things. But the making of crayon portraits is not within the reach alone of the trained artist who follows it as a profession. I claim that any one who can learn to write can learn to draw, and that any one who can learn to draw can learn to make crayon portraits. Making them over a photograph, that is, an enlargement, is a comparatively simple matter, as it does not require as much knowledge of drawing as do free-hand crayons. But you must not suppose that, because the photographic enlargement gives you the drawing in line and an indistinct impression of the form in light and shade, you are not required to draw at all in making a crayon portrait over such an enlargement. Some knowledge of drawing is necessary, though not a perfect knowledge. Many people err in supposing that only the exceptionally skilled can produce the human features in life-like form upon the crayon paper. While recognizing great differences in natural aptitude for drawing in different persons, just as those who use the pen differ widely in their skill, some being able to write with almost mechanical perfection of form, I still hold that any one who is able to draw at all can succeed in producing creditable crayons.. J. A. Barhydt.

Vasari says, and rightly, in his Life of Leonardo, "that he laboured much more by his word than in fact or by deed", and the biographer evidently had in his mind the numerous works in Manuscript which have been preserved to this day. To us, now, it seems almost inexplicable that these valuable and interesting original texts should have remained so long unpublished, and indeed forgotten. It is certain that during the XVIth and XVIIth centuries their exceptional value was highly appreciated. This is proved not merely by the prices which they commanded, but also by the exceptional interest which has been attached to the change of ownership of merely a few pages of Manuscript. That, notwithstanding this eagerness to possess the Manuscripts, their contents remained a mystery, can only be accounted for by the many and great difficulties attending the task of deciphering them. The handwriting is so peculiar that it requires considerable practice to read even a few detached phrases, much more to solve with any certainty the numerous difficulties of alternative readings, and to master the sense as a connected whole. Vasari observes with reference to Leonardos writing: "he wrote backwards, in rude characters, and with the left hand, so that any one who is not practised in reading them, cannot understand them". The aid of a mirror in reading reversed handwriting appears to me available only for a first experimental reading. Speaking from my own experience, the persistent use of it is too fatiguing and inconvenient to be practically advisable, considering the enormous mass of Manuscripts to be deciphered. And as, after all, Leonardo's handwriting runs backwards just as all Oriental character runs backwards—that is to say from right to left—the difficulty of reading direct from the writing is not insuperable. This obvious peculiarity in the writing is not, however, by any means the only obstacle in the way of mastering the text. Leonardo made use of an orthography peculiar to himself; he had a fashion of amalgamating several short words into one long one, or, again, he would quite arbitrarily divide a long word into two separate halves; added to this there is no punctuation whatever to regulate the division and construction of the sentences, nor are there any accents—and the reader may imagine that such difficulties were almost sufficient to make the task seem a desperate one to a beginner. It is therefore not surprising that the good intentions of some of Leonardo s most reverent admirers should have failed. Leonardo's literary labours in various departments both of Art and of Science were those essentially of an enquirer, hence the analytical method is that which he employs in arguing out his investigations and dissertations. The vast structure of his scientific theories is consequently built up of numerous separate researches, and it is much to be lamented that he should never have collated and arranged them. His love for detailed research—as it seems to me—was the reason that in almost all the Manuscripts, the different paragraphs appear to us to be in utter confusion; on one and the same page, observations on the most dissimilar subjects follow each other without any connection. A page, for instance, will begin with some principles of astronomy, or the motion of the earth; then come the laws of sound, and finally some precepts as to colour. Another page will begin with his investigations on the structure of the intestines, and end with philosophical remarks as to the relations of poetry to painting; and so forth. Leonardo himself lamented this confusion, and for that reason I do not think that the publication of the texts in the order in which they occur in the originals would at all fulfil his intentions. No reader could find his way through such a labyrinth; Leonardo himself could not have done it. ABOUT AUTHOR: Leonardo Da Vinci, Born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was concerned with the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work as a painter, sculptor, inventor and draftsmen. His ideas and body of work—which includes "Virgin of the Rocks," "The Last Supper," "Leda and the Swan" and "Mona Lisa"—have influenced countless artists and made da Vinci a leading light of the Italian Renaissance.Quotes"Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind."? ? ? ? ? – Leonardo da Vinci Humble Beginnings:Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy. Born out of wedlock, the love child of a respected notary and a young peasant woman, he was raised by his father, and his stepmothers. 'The Last Supper'In 1482, Lorenzo de' Medici, a man from a prominent Italian family, commissioned da Vinci to create a silver lyre and bring it to Ludovico il Moro, the Duke of Milan, as a gesture of peace. Da Vinci did so and then wrote Ludovico a letter describing how his engineering and artistic tal

Читанка для учн?в старших клас?в середньо? школи в ус?х ?вропейських кра?нах. Книжку створено в рамках сп?льного проекту орган?зац?й та установ, що працюють разом у Платформ? ?вропейсько? пам'ят? та сумл?ння. Зб?рка м?стить 30 дивовижних ?стор?й людей з 16 ?вропейських кра?н, що зазнали тотал?таризму. Це розпов?д? про см?ливц?в, як? протистояли тотал?таризмов? та загинули, а також про тих, кому пощастило вижити. Ц? розпов?д? сповнен? надзвичайного суму через незм?рн? страждання, що ?х завдали фанатичн? орудар?, поборники та п?дсобники тотал?таризму таким же людям, як ? вони. Але водночас вони осп?вують любов до свободи, людську г?дн?сть, несхитн?сть, см?лив?сть, в?ру та в?ддан?сть головним людським ц?нностям.

["The Elements of Drawing" was written during the winter of 1856. The First Edition was published in 1857; the Second followed in the same year, with some additions and slight alterations. The Third Edition consisted of sixth thousand, 1859; seventh thousand, 1860; and eighth thousand, 1861.The work was partly reproduced in "Our Sketching Club," by the Rev. R. St. John Tyrwhitt, M.A., 1874; with new editions in 1875, 1882, and 1886.Mr. Ruskin meant, during his tenure of the Slade Professorship at Oxford, to recast his teaching, and to write a systematic manual for the use of his Drawing School, under the title of "The Laws of Fésole." Of this only vol. i. was completed, 1879; second edition, 1882. As, therefore, "The Elements of Drawing" has never been completely superseded, and as many readers of Mr. Ruskin's works have expressed a desire to possess the book in its old form, it is now reprinted as it stood in 1859.] ? THE SECOND EDITION.As one or two questions, asked of me since the publication of this work, have indicated points requiring elucidation, I have added a few short notes in the first Appendix. It is not, I think, desirable otherwise to modify the form or add to the matter of a book as it passes through successive editions; I have, therefore, only mended the wording of some obscure sentences; with which exception the text remains, and will remain, in its original form, which I had carefully considered. Should the public find the book useful, and call for further editions of it, such additional notes as may be necessary will be always placed in the first Appendix, where they can be at once referred to, in any library, by the possessors of the earlier editions; and I will take care they shall not be numerous.August 3, 1857. ? PREFACE? i. It may perhaps be thought, that in prefacing a manual of drawing, I ought to expatiate on the reasons why drawing should be learned; but those reasons appear to me so many and so weighty, that I cannot quickly state or enforce them. With the reader's permission, as this volume is too large already, I will waive all discussion respecting the importance of the subject, and touch only on those points which may appear questionable in the method of its treatment. ? ii. In the first place, the book is not calculated for the use of children under the age of twelve or fourteen. I do not think it advisable to engage a child in any but the most voluntary practice of art. If it has talent for drawing, it will be continually scrawling on what paper it can get; and should be allowed to scrawl at its own free will, due praise being given for every appearance of care, or truth, in its efforts. It should be allowed to amuse itself with cheap colors almost as soon as it has sense enough to wish for them. If it merely daubs the paper with shapeless stains, the color-box may be taken away till it knows better: but as soon as it begins painting red coats on soldiers, striped flags to ships, etc., it should have colors at command; and, without restraining its choice of subject in that imaginative and historical art, of a military tendency, which children delight in, (generally quite as valuable, by the way, as any historical art delighted in by their elders,) it should be gently led by the parents to try to draw, in such childish fashion as may be, the things it can see and likes,—birds, or butterflies, or flowers, or fruit. ? iii. In later years, the indulgence of using the color should only be granted as a reward, after it has shown care and progress in its drawings with pencil. A limited number of good and amusing prints should always be within a boy's reach: in these days of cheap illustration he can hardly possess a volume of nursery tales without good wood-cuts in it, and should be encouraged to copy what he likes best of this kind; but should be firmly restricted to a few prints and to a few books.

Брошура в стисл?й та популярн?й форм? розпов?да? про под?? Укра?нсько? революц?? 1917–1921 рок?в – процеси державного буд?вництва, творення укра?нсько? пол?тично? нац??, в?дродження укра?нсько? науки, осв?ти, культури та духовност?. Багато уваги прид?ля?ться л?дерам Укра?нсько? революц?? – Михайлу Грушевському, Володимиру Винниченку, Симону Петлюр?, Павлу Скоропадському, ?вгену Петрушевичу, Номану Челеб?дж?хану та ?н., як? розробляли ?? ?деолог?ю, формували порядок денний, вели за собою народ. Розкрива?ться ?нституц?йне буд?вництво, творення законодавчо?, виконавчо?, судово? г?лок влади, розбудова в?йська, дипломат??, ф?нансово? системи тощо. Фотокартки ? св?дчення сучасник?в в?дтворюють атмосферу того часу, проливають св?тло на життя ? побут звичайно? людини в умовах революц?йних потряс?нь.??Брошура п?дготовлена на основ? матер?ал?в ?нформац?йно-просв?тницько? кампан??, яку Укра?нський ?нститут нац?онально? пам’ят? проводить до 100-р?ччя Укра?нсько? революц?? 1917-1921 рок?в, в ход? яко? п?дготовлено низку фотодокументальних виставок, комплект?в лист?вок та ?нформац?йних матер?ал?в, дитячу наст?льну гру, спец?ал?зовану веб-стор?нку, присвячену под?ям Укра?нсько? революц?? 1917–1921 рок?в (www.UNR.memory.gov.ua).??

August Strindberg's classic trilogy of plays entitled To Damascus (also known as The Road to Damascus) is known as his greatest work.A very complex and thought provoking play series, it follows the conversations between two characters: the Stranger and the Lady.An excerpt from the Introduction:The Road to Damascus might be termed a marriage drama, a mystery drama, or a drama of penance and conversion, according as preponderance is given to one or other of its characteristics. The question then arises: what was it in the drama which was of deepest significance to the author himself? The answer is to be found in the title, with its allusion to the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles of the journey of Saul, the persecutor, the scoffer, who, on his way to Damascus, had an awe-inspiring vision, which converted Saul, the hater of Christ, into Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. Strindberg's drama describes the progress of the author right up to his conversion, shows how stage by stage he relinquishes worldly things, scientific renown, and above all woman, and finally, when nothing more binds him to this world, takes the vows of a monk and enters a monastery where no dogmas or theology, but only broadminded humanity and resignation hold sway. What, however, in an inner sense, distinguishes Strindberg's drama from the Bible narrative is that the conversion itself - although what leads up to it is convincingly described, both logically and psychologically - does not bear the character of a final and irrevocable decision, but on the contrary is depicted with a certain hesitancy and uncertainty. THE STRANGER'S entry into the monastery consequently gives the impression of being a piece of logical construction; the author's heart is not wholly in it. From Strindberg's later works it also becomes evident that his severe crisis had undoubtedly led to a complete reformation in that it definitely caused him to turn from worldly things, of which indeed he had tasted to the full, towards matters divine. But this did not mean that then and there he accepted some specific religion, whether Christian or other. One would undoubtedly come nearest to the author's own interpretation in this respect by characterising The Road to Damascus not as a drama of conversion, but as a drama of struggle, the story of a restless, arduous pilgrimage through the chimeras of the world towards the border beyond which eternity stretches in solemn peace, symbolised in the drama by a mountain, the peaks of which reach high above the clouds.

American horticulturalist and writer Edward Payson Roe's fantastic 1881 work on berries and other small fruits.

The Future Revisited examines Hollywood adaptations of Jules Verne stories and is an interdisciplinary study that offers a fresh perspective on film history, French literature, science fiction and America in the 1950s. It is a fascinating and authoritative account of how the stories of Jules Verne, a distinguished French novelist better known around the world as the father of science fiction and an accurate predictor of much of the twentieth century, found particular resonance with US filmmakers in the 1950s. Schiltz looks at four of the most popular films - Around the World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Mysterious Island - and argues that there were many parallels between Verne's technological adventures and postwar America, with its themeparks, shopping malls, Levittowns and plethora of consumer goods. Just as nineteenth-century readers of Verne's books could experience travel from the comfort of their seats, viewers of these films could be swept away on an imaginary flight, a voyage in a submarine, or a trek to the earth's core, all in spectacular widescreen and with ground-breaking special effects. Yet the pleasures offered were ambivalent: encounters with exotic places and cultures might have led the audience to question common assumptions such as gender roles; seeing futuristic domestic spaces could highlight the confusion of attitudes to private and public life in suburbia, and the films' blending of nostalgia and progress might draw attention to society's tug-of-war between innovation and conformity.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work on a film set? Are you curious to know what goes on behind the scenes of your favourite TV series? If so, you are certain to enjoy this 'fly-on-wall' account of life as a film and TV extra. Written by Harry 'Aitch' Fielder who spent over 30 years working in the film and TV industry, appearing in over 800 productions, this book will give you an insight to the life of an 'extra'. Over the years, the author has been involved with some of the UK's best-loved TV programmes from Z-Cars and The Saint through to Silent Witness and EastEnders as well as many blockbuster films such as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. In this candid account Harry spills the beans about some of the well-known characters he has worked with including Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier and the great James Cagney. Extra, Extra, Read All About It is a must-have book for all film and TV fans and anyone interested in finding out what really happens on set.

A fascinating look at the history and development of opera as an art form, looking at many famous examples.

Three writings taken from 'Celebrated Crimes', a series of essays on famous criminals and crimes by the author of 'The Count of Monte Cristo' and 'The Three Musketeers', Alexandre Dumas.

Are you the world's biggest Kim Kardashian Fan? Do you know everything there is to know about today's greatest style icon and reality TV star? Then this is the book for you! In this easy-to-digest eBook are 101 facts about your favourite celebrity - do you know all of them?Test yourself and your friends with these handily-packaged facts easily organised into categories for maximum enjoyment. Sections include Kim's TV work, her fashion, and some crazy facts about her life. Show everyone that you are the master of Kardashian Knowledge!