n vara anului 1914, cea mai mare parte a Europei s-a prbuit ntr-un rzboi att de catastrofal nct a zdruncinat politica i nsui sistemul de credine al continentului ntr-un mod fundamental. Dezastrul i-a nspimntat pe supravieuitori i a ocat o civilizaie care i asumase total rolul de model pentru restul lumii. Totul s-a prbuit ntr-un haos de o slbticie aflat dincolo de orice termen de comparaie. n 1939, europenii aveau s nceap un al doilea conflict care a reuit s fie chiar i mai teribil – un rzboi n care uciderea civililor a ocupat scena central i care a culminat cu Holocaustul. Drumul spre iadne spune aceast poveste cu nelegere, fler i originalitate. Kershaw reia evenimentele ntr-o naraiune fascinant, dar abordeaz i problemele cele mai dificile pe care le ridic aceste ntmplri din trecut – ce au nsemnat ele pentru europenii care le-au declanat i care le-au trit i ce nseamn pentru noi. Istorie la dimensiuni epice... ar trebui s figureze n lista lecturilor obligatorii. –The New York Times Ne aflm n prezena unui istoric emerit.– Spectator Magistral.– The Economist

Volumul de fa?? reune?te portretele sclipitoare ale celor mai ilustre favorite. Apropiate puterii, exercit?ndu??i influen?a adesea ?ntr?o manier? clandestin?, ele alc?tuiesc un galant cortegiu de femei c?rora importan?i b?rba?i de stat le datoreaz? mult. Ce este o favorit?? Cuv?ntul, ne?ndoielnic originar din italian?, se refer? la o femeie care ?se bucur? de favorurile" unei persoane de rang foarte ?nalt. Spre deosebire de o amant?, favorita nu se mul?ume?te s? fie obiectul unei pasiuni amoroase, fie aceasta efemer? ori durabil?. Ea are putere, exercit? influen?? politic?, economic? sau artistic?; ob?ine rezultate, fericite sau dezastruoase. Fie c? e iubit? de popula?ie, tolerat? sau detestat?, nimic nu se face ?i nu se desface f?r? ea. Muzele prezentate de autor ?n acest periplu prin istoria Europei au jucat toate un rol propor?ional cu influen?a exercitat? asupra monarhului, prin?ului mo?tenitor, regelui sau ?mp?ratului l?ng? care s-au aflat, fie el c?s?torit, v?duv sau celibatar: Agnes Sorel, Diana de Poitiers, Gabrielle d’Estrées, Louise de La Valliere, marchiza de Montespan, doamna de Maintenon, surorile de Nesle, marchiza de Pompadour, doamna du Barry, Zoé du Cayla, Lol Montez, Miss Howard, Katia Dolgorukova, Blanche Delacroix, Magda Lupescu ?i Wallis Simpson. Optsprezece portrete de femei care au influen?at cursul istoriei. ?n bine ?i ?n r?u.?

Cititorul va redescoperi, citind aceast? carte, istoriile, uneori-adeseori, scandaloase ale celebrelor cupluri bucure?tene, inclusiv c?teva din pove?tile de dragoste care s-au legat ?ntre domni?ele noastre ?i str?inii ajun?i la Bucure?ti, fie ?n calitate de diploma?i, fie de militari. Nu lipsesc din aceste pagini nici arti?tii din galeria ?aman?ilor magnifici“ ai Bucure?tilor de odinioar?. Un exemplu este povestea rivalit??ii Eminescu – Caragiale ?n ceea ce-o prive?te pe Veronica Micle sau povestea dublei pasiuni a arhitectului Alexandru Orascu – pentru so?ia sa Elena Marcovici ?i pentru ora?ul natal pe care visa s?-l ridice din cenu?? ?i ruine. Un Bucure?ti al Afroditei ?i al lui Eros (cum ?i mergea vestea ?nca din veacul fanariot, potrivit calug?rului grec Daponte), nu era de ?nchipuit f?r? evocarea vestitelor baluri din palatul ?u?u ?i nici f?r? evocarea cuplului Grigore ?i Irina ?u?u, arbitri ai elegan?ei, ospitalit??ii ?i curtoaziei specifice secolului al XIX-lea.

Cartea t?n?rului universitar Mihai-Bogdan Marian consacrat? analizei conflictelor interna?ionale este o invita?ie la luciditate, la reflec?ie autonom?, dezinhibat?, la cercetare aplicat?, f?r? prejudec??i ?i partizanate apriorice. Autorul este un analist pentru care exerci?iul ?n sine al disec?rii cauzelor ?i ?mprejur?rilor ce favorizeaz? apari?ia ?i acutizarea conflictelor interna?ionale nu este unul fortuit sau gratuit. Ideea sa tutelar? este c? orice astfel de conflict poate fi pre?nt?mpinat. Iar dac?, fatalmente, el s-a declan?at ?i s-a dezvoltat, sc?p?nd poate de sub control, poate fi dezamorsat, factorii angrena?i ?n acest proces av?nd la ?ndem?n? algoritmi ?i proceduri standard care nu trebuie s? fac? obiectul unei ac?iuni in extremis, care s? justifice de fapt prin e?ec escaladarea ?n continuare a conflictului ca atare. (Mihai Milca)

The period included in the reigns of Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian, was remarkable for two memorable events in the annals of ecclesiastical history; the first persecution of the Christian Church by the sixth Roman sovereign, and the dissolution of the Jewish polity by Titus. The destruction of Jerusalem was stupendous, not only as an act of divine wrath, but as being the proximate cause of the dispersion of a whole nation, upon which a long series of sorrow, spoliation, and oppression lighted, in consequence of the curse the Jews had invoked, when in reply to the remonstrances of Pilate they had cried out, “His blood be upon us and our children.” The church below, represented in Scripture as a type of the heavenly Jerusalem above, and having its seat then in the doomed city, was not to continue there, lest the native Jews composing it should gather round them a people of their own nation, in a place destined to remain desolate till the time when the dispersed of Israel should be converted, and rebuild their city and temple. The city bearing the ancient name of Jerusalem does not indeed occupy the same site, being built round the sacred spot where the garden once stood, in which a mortal sepulchre received the lifeless form of the Saviour of the world. But happier times seem dawning on the dispersed of Judea. Our own days have seen the foundations of a Jewish Christian church laid in Jerusalem; our Queen Victoria and the King of Prussia united to commence a work of love, thereby fulfilling in part the promise made to the Jews of old, “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers.” To those readers who feel interested in the dispersed of Israel and Judea, these pages may afford, perhaps, information on an important subject as well as amusement.

THE Mesopotamian civilization shares with the Egyptian civilization the honour of being one of the two earliest civilizations in the world, and although M. J. de Morgan’s excavations at Susa the ruined capital of ancient Elam, have brought to light the elements of an advanced civilization which perhaps even antedates that of Mesopotamia, it must be remembered that the Sumerians who, so far as our present knowledge goes, were the first to introduce the arts of life and all that they bring with them, into the low-lying valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, probably themselves emigrated from the Elamite plateau on the east of the Tigris; at all events the Sumerians expressed both “mountain” and “country” by the same writing-sign, the two apparently being synonymous from their point of view; in support of this theory of a mountain-home for the Sumerians, we may perhaps further explain the temple-towers, the characteristic feature of most of the religious edifices in Mesopotamia, as a conscious or unconscious imitation in bricks and mortar of the hills and ridges of their native-land, due to an innate aversion to the dead-level monotony of the Babylonian plain, while it is also a significant fact that in the earliest period Shamash the Sun-god is represented with one foot resting on a mountain, or else standing between two mountains. However this may be, the history of the Elamites was intimately wrapped up with that of the dwellers on the other side of the Tigris, from the earliest times down to the sack of Susa by Ashur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, in the seventh century. Both peoples adopted the cuneiform system of writing, so-called owing to the wedge-shaped formation of the characters, the wedges being due to the material used in later times for all writing purposes—the clay of their native soil—: both spoke an agglutinative, as opposed to an inflexional language like our own, and both inherited a similar culture. A further, and in its way a more convincing argument in support of the mountain-origin theory is afforded by the early art of the Sumerians. On the most primitive seal cylinders1 we find trees and animals whose home is in the mountains, and which certainly were not native to the low-lying plain of Babylonia. The cypress and the cedar-tree are only found in mountainous districts, but a tree which must be identified with one or the other of them is represented on the early seal cylinders; it is of course true that ancient Sumerian rulers fetched cedar wood from the mountains for their building operations, and therefore the presence of such a tree on cylinder seals merely argues a certain acquaintance with the tree, but Ceteris paribus it is more reasonable to suppose that the material earthly objects depicted, were those with which the people were entirely familiar and not those with which they were merely casually acquainted. Again, on the early cylinders the mountain bull, known as the Bison bonasus, assumes the r?le played in later times by the lowland water-buffalo. This occurs with such persistent regularity that the inference that the home of the Sumerians in those days was in the mountains is almost inevitable. Again, as Ward points out, the composite man-bull Ea-bani, the companion of Gilgamesh, has always the body of a bison, never that of a buffalo. So too the frequent occurrence of the ibex, the oryx, and the deer with branching horns, all argues in the same direction, for the natural home of all these animals lay in the mountains.

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.

Europa acas“ este un album creat n urma unui turneu de conferine i lecturi publice inute de ctre autoare, Aura Christi, n ara lui Homer i Aristotel. Protagonitii albumului sunt Aura Christi, Nicolae Breban, Ion Ianoi, Janina Ianoi, Andrei Potlog, Victor Ivanovici, Monica Svulescu-Voudouri. Protagonistul cel mai important, ns, este fr ndoial Marea Elad i cultura ei, civilizaia acestei ri mitice - temelia civilizaiei europene moderne. Albumul conine poeme i comentarii, dar i imagini memorabile realizate de poeta Aura Christi la Delphi, Atena i alte epicentre legendare ale civilizaiei europene.

Cartea de fa?? vrea s? relateze succint, dar temeinic, evenimentele petrecute în cei dou?zeci de ani de insecuritate ?i criz? ce au urmat Marelui R?zboi. Indiferent cât de puternice sau de durat? au fost for?ele ce au dus la izbucnirea celui de-al Doilea R?zboi Mondial, a existat un moment când principalii actori pe scena istoriei s-au v?zut nevoi?i s? se confrunte cu aceste for?e ?i s? ia anumite decizii. Marile evenimente ale istoriei î?i genereaz? o dinamic? ?i o desf??urare proprii. Din perspectiva noastr?, a celor de acum, al Doilea R?zboi Mondial pare s? fi izbucnit din cauza crizei interna?ionale provocate de Germania lui Hitler. Îns? nimic din ce se întâmpl? în istorie nu este inevitabil, dup? cum va încerca s? demonstreze acest volum. Dialogul straniu între sistem ?i actorii lui se afl? la baza relat?rii istorice. Evenimentele înse?i pot fi, în acela?i timp, cauz? ?i efect – la fel cum s-a întâmplat ?

Istoria serviciilor de informa?ii sovietice continu? s? fie un mister“, m?rturise?te Boris Volodarski, fost c?pitan în Serviciul de Informa?ii Militare din URSS (GRU), unul dintre cei mai mari exper?i în studierea serviciilor secrete sovietice. ?i tot Volodarski este de p?rere c? majoritatea materialelor publicate pe aceast? tem? este plin? de falsuri ?i de informa?ii distorsionate, incluzând aici ?i memoriile publicate de fo?tii agen?i. Noile documente disponibile ast?zi ne permit s? cunoa?tem mult mai bine adev?rul despre interven?ia sovietic? în Spania ?i rolul jucat de agen?ii URSS: Gerö, Grigulevici, Philby (ini?ial trimis cu misiunea de a-l asasina pe Franco), Kol?ov ?i, mai ales, Lev Nikolski, cunoscut drept Aleksandr Orlov – omul care i-a în?elat pe Stalin ?i pe cei de la CIA, ?i chiar lumea întreag? cu memoriile sale. Acesta a condus, din februarie 1937, sta?ia NKVD din Spania ?i a fost responsabil de o etap? important? a regimului de teroare sângeroas?, care a inclus asasinarea lui Kurt Landau ?i a lui Andreu Nin. Cartea de fa??, care demonteaz? o cantitate impresionant? de fabula?ii, falsuri ?i minciuni, ce continu? s? fie propagate ?i ast?zi, va fi, f?r? îndoial?, o referin?? indispensabil? pentru to?i cei care î?i propun s? studieze R?zboiul Civil din Spania.

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.

Deadly Seven is a combination of monologues and ‘light’ script engagement of a psychologist with her seven clients, who each represent a deadly sin. Once the psychologist realises she lacks control over each of her clients’ lives, she decides to put an end to their madness. All characters represent an obsession which ultimately destroys them; leading to their deaths.

Galveston Architecture: A Visual Journey is a photographic journey of the architecture and history of select 100 buildings in Galveston, Texas, with photographs by Pino Shah, World Heritage Photographer and narratives by Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF). The book includes full illustrations of 100 buildings re ecting Greek Revival, Victorian, Italianate and Mid-century Modern architectural styles from 1840s through 1990s. Pino Shah is a world heritage photographer based in McAllen, Texas and Ahmedabad, India. Galveston Historical Foundation preserves and revitalizes the architectural, cultural and maritime heritage of Galveston Island. The Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-pro t charitable corporation.

TRAVELERS who go into Scotland take a great interest in visiting, among other places, a certain room in the ruins of an old palace, where Queen Mary was born. Queen Mary was very beautiful, but she was very unfortunate and unhappy. Every body takes a strong interest in her story, and this interest attaches, in some degree, to the room where her sad and sorrowful life was begun.??The palace is near a little village called Linlithgow. The village has but one long street, which consists of ancient stone houses. North of it is a little lake, or rather pond: they call it, in Scotland, a loch. The palace is between the village and the loch; it is upon a beautiful swell of land which projects out into the water. There is a very small island in the middle of the loch and the shores are bordered with fertile fields. The palace, when entire, was square, with an open space or court in the center. There was a beautiful stone fountain in the center of this court, and an arched gateway through which horsemen and carriages could ride in. The doors of entrance into the palace were on the inside of the court.??The palace is now in ruins. A troop of soldiers came to it one day in time of war, after Mary and her mother had left it, and spent the night there: they spread straw over the floors to sleep upon. In the morning, when they went away, they wantonly set the straw on fire, and left it burning, and thus the palace was destroyed. Some of the lower floors were of stone; but all the upper floors and the roof were burned, and all the wood-work of the rooms, and the doors and window-frames. Since then the palace has never been repaired, but remains a melancholy pile of ruins.??The room where Mary was born had a stone floor. The rubbish which has fallen from above has covered it with a sort of soil, and grass and weeds grow up all over it. It is a very melancholy sight to see.

SOME men are renowned in history on account of the extraordinary powers and capacities which they exhibited in the course of their career, or the intrinsic greatness of the deeds which they performed. Others, without having really achieved any thing in itself very great or wonderful, have become widely known to mankind by reason of the vast consequences which, in the subsequent course of events, resulted from their doings. Men of this latter class are conspicuous rather than great. From among thousands of other men equally exalted in character with themselves, they are brought out prominently to the notice of mankind only in consequence of the strong light reflected, by great events subsequently occurring, back upon the position where they happened to stand.??The celebrity of Romulus seems to be of this latter kind. He founded a city. A thousand other men have founded cities; and in doing their work have evinced perhaps as much courage, sagacity, and mental power as Romulus displayed. ?The city of Romulus, however, became in the end the queen and mistress of the world. It rose to so exalted a position of influence and power, and retained its ascendency so long, that now for twenty centuries every civilized nation in the western world have felt a strong interest in every thing pertaining to its history, and have been accustomed to look back with special curiosity to the circumstances of its origin. ??In consequence of this it has happened that though Romulus, in his actual day, performed no very great exploits, and enjoyed no pre-eminence above the thousand other half-savage chieftains of his class, whose names have been long forgotten, and very probably while he lived never dreamed of any extended fame, yet so brilliant is the illumination which the subsequent events of history have shed upon his position and his doings, that his name and the incidents of his life have been brought out very conspicuously to view, and attract very strongly the attention of mankind.??The history of Rome is usually made to begin with the story of ?neas. In order that the reader may understand in what light that romantic tale is to be re-garded, it is necessary to premise some statements in respect to the general condition of society in ancient days, and to the nature of the strange narrations, circulated in those early periods among mankind, out of which in later ages, when the art of writing came to be introduced, learned men compiled and recorded what they termed history.

AS you open this book you will probably ask, "What is a golden deed?"?Let me tell you. It is the doing of something for somebody else doing it without thought of self, without thought of reward, fearlessly, heroically, and because it is a duty.??Such a deed is possible to you, to me, to everybody. It is frequently performed without forethought or definite intention. It is the spontaneous manifestation of nobility, somewhere, of mind or heart. It may consist merely in the doing of some kind and helpful service at home or at school. It may be an unexpected test of heroism a warning of danger, a saving of somebody's life. It may be an act of benevolence, or a series of such acts, world-wide in application and results.??This little volume is only a book of samples. Here are specimens of golden deeds of various kinds and of different degrees of merit, ranging from the unpremeditated saving of a railroad train to the great humanitarian movement which carries blessings to all mankind. To attempt to tell of every such deed, or of every one that is eminently worthy, would fill a multitude of books. ??The, examples which I have chosen are such only as have occurred on American soil, or have been performed by Americans, thus distinguishing the volume from Miss Charlotte Yonge's "Book of Golden Deeds," published for English readers fifty years ago. While some of these narratives may have the appearance of romance, yet they are all believed to be true, and in most cases the real name of the hero, or of the lover of humanity, is given.??Instances of doing and daring have always a fascination for young people, and when to these is added the idea of a noble underlying motive the lessons taught by them cannot fail to be beneficial. ?

Most of us know that we are not exercising our minds and bodies as much as we should. The Elite Forces Manual of Mental and Physical Endurance uses techniques developed by special forces units to train their recruits to show how we can improve our mental and physical fitness. The book is a detailed examination of what it takes to become as fit as a special forces soldier, taking a holistic view of the body and mind. It is equally important to focus on diet, rest patterns and mental discipline as it is to concentrate on physical exercises. Using simple steps, the book shows the reader how they can build up their endurance over a matter of weeks and months, and how their quality of life will benefit. Like elite soldiers, top athletes need the spur of competition to achieve their greatest successes, and The Elite Forces Manual of Mental and Physical Endurance demonstrates how you can gain the psychological edge over your opponent. Whether you are competing in unarmed combat sports, running a marathon or just looking to get ahead, the book has helpful and practical advice for you. Using photographs and artworks, The Elite Forces Manual of Mental and Physical Endurance shows how special forces units such as the SAS and Delta Force stretch themselves mentally and physically, giving the reader the opportunity to train as they do in easy-to-follow steps to reach their peak of mental and physical strength.

Catherine Morland, aged seventeen, is addicted to reading Gothic novels. She joins her wealthier neighbours on a trip to Bath to partake in the winter season of balls, and finds herself pursued by the rather rough-mannered, slovenly John Thorpe, and by her real love interest, Henry Tilney. Henry's father invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which she expects to be ancient and full of Gothic horrors and fantastical mystery.

Arthur Schnitzler gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Vertreter der Wiener Moderne. Diese riesige Sammlung bietet fast s?mtliche Werke dieses berühmten Schriftstellers. (Version 1) * die vollst?ndige Romane und Novellen, mit Inhaltsverzeichnissen * knappe Einleitungen zu den Romanen und anderen Werken * zahlreiche Bilder mit Bezug zu Schnitzler, seinem Leben und seinen Werken * umfasst 22 Theaterstücke * die autobiographischen Werk JUGEND IN WIEN. Erkunden Sie Schnitzlers erstaunliche Leben! * Chronologisch und nach Literaturgattungen geordnete Textreihenfolge, was Ihnen die Steuerung durch Schnitzlers Werke erleichtert. Inhalt: Romane Der Weg ins Freie Therese. Chronik eines Frauenlebens Erz?hlungen und Novellen Dramatische Werke Das M?rchen Anatol Anatols Gr?ssenwahn Liebelei Reigen. Zehn Dialoge Das Verm?chtnis Paracelsus Der grüne Kakadu Die Gef?hrtin Freiwild Der Schleier der Beatrice Lebendige Stunden Die Frau mit dem Dolche Die letzten Masken Literatur Der einsame Weg Zwischenspiel Der Ruf des Lebens Komtesse Mizzi oder der Familientag Das weite Land Professor Bernhardi Marionetten Autobiographisches Jugend in Wien