This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of L. Frank Baum’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Baum includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Baum’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the text Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Annabel, a Novel for Young Folk by L. Frank Baum - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of L. Frank Baum’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Baum includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Annabel, a Novel for Young Folk by L. Frank Baum - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Baum’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the text Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Cleopatra by H. Rider Haggard - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of H. Rider Haggard’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Haggard includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Cleopatra by H. Rider Haggard - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Haggard’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the text Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Le classique Shakespeare joue en traduction fran?aise. Selon Wikipédia: "Périclès, prince de Tyr est une pièce jacobéenne écrite au moins en partie par William Shakespeare et incluse dans les éditions modernes de ses ?uvres rassemblées malgré des questions sur sa paternité, car elle n'était pas incluse dans le premier folio. conviennent que Shakespeare est responsable de presque exactement la moitié du jeu - 827 lignes - la partie principale après la scène 9 qui suit l'histoire de Périclès et Marina.Les études textuelles modernes indiquent que les deux premiers actes de 835 lignes détaillant les nombreux voyages de Périclès ont été écrits par un collaborateur médiocre, qui suggère fortement d'avoir été l'aviateur, pander, dramaturge et pamphlétaire George Wilkins.

Inspired by the real life experiences of Rwandan refugees in the UK, the play tells the story of two people from entirely different worlds who meet at a Refugee Centre in London: Juliette is a young Rwandan asylum seeker, detemined to write a book on the genocide that killed her famiily; Simon is a middle-aged failing novelist, whose job is to help people write. The play follows their funny and touching relationship and tackles issues that face many refugees who live in the UK today. Nominated as Time Out Critics’ Choice, the play has been broadcast by the BBC World Service and was toured nationally by iceandfire in Autumn 2004 with the support of the Arts Council England.

The Cherry Orchard is one of the best known plays by the prolific Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. It has been translated into practically all languages and is part of the classic repertoire of all world stages. Chekhov is known for his art of subtlety, humour, stream of consciousness technique, and fine balance which is often difficult to get right. Chekhov described the play as a comedy, with some elements of farce, though Stanislavski treated it as a tragedy. Since its first production, directors have contended with its dual nature. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. Unresponsive to offers to save the estate, she allows its sale to the son of a former serf. The story presents themes of cultural futility – both the futile attempts of the aristocracy to maintain its status and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. It dramatises the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the decline of the power of the aristocracy.

Uncle Vanya is different from Chekhov's other major plays as it is essentially an extensive reworking of his own other play published a decade earlier, The Wood Demon. By elucidating the specific changes Chekhov made during the revision process—these include reducing the cast-list from almost two dozen down to nine, changing the climactic suicide of The Wood Demon into the famous failed homicide of Uncle Vanya, and altering the original happy ending into a more problematic.

When Oedipus, King of Thebes, realized he had married his own mother and had two sons and two daughters with her, he blinded himself and cursed his sons to divide their kingdom by the sword. The two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, in order to avoid bloodshed, agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down, leading Polynices to raise an army of Argives captained by the eponymous Seven to take Thebes by force. This is where Aeschylus' tragedy starts.

Three Sisters was written for the Moscow Art Theatre and was directed by Staniskavski himself on first opening. The play is often included in Chekhov's list of four outstanding plays and part of the classic repertoire of many world theatres. The play follows Chekhovian tradition of subtle character development and humour which often makes it a challenge for both performers and directors.

A battle-cry for civilised behaviour from the author of the multi-million selling Eats, Shoots and Leaves. "Talk to the hand 'cause the face ain't listening," the saying goes. When did the world get to be so rude? When did society become so inconsiderate? It's a topic that has been simmering for years, and Lynne Truss says that it has now reached boiling point. Taking on the boorish behaviour that has become a point of pride for some, Talk to the Hand is a rallying cry for courtesy. Like Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Talk to the Hand is a spirited conversation, not a stuffy guidebook. It is not about forks, for a start. Why hasn't your nephew ever thanked you for that perfect Christmas present? What makes your builder think he can treat you like dirt in your own home? When you phone a utility with a complaint (and have negotiated the switchboard), why can't you ever speak to a person who is authorised to apologise? What accounts for the appalling treatment you receive in shops? Most important, what will it take to roll back a culture that applauds rudeness and finds it so amusing? For anyone who's fed up with the brutality inflicted by modern manners (and is naturally too scared to confront the actual yobs), Talk to the Hand is a colourful call to arms from the wittiest defender of the civilised world.

A practical, affordable and accessible home photography tutor. This inspiring project-based course book covers everything from basic composition to the latest digital darkroom techniques. Learn at your own pace as this practical, comprehensive course helps you develop your key photographic techniques. Contents include: step-by-step projects on exposure, aperture, lenses, light, filters, colour, black and white and image enhancement; plus professional secrets and stunning shots from around the world. The fully interactive and project-based approach of Collins Complete Photography Course will help you to raise both your camera confidence and your level of photography.

The Organic Garden redefines what it means to be an organic gardener. This practical and thought-provoking handbook is both a manual of organic practice and a starting point for ethical living. The meaning of 'organic' is changing fast, becoming more and more an umbrella term for all things environmental: from ethical consumerism, waste recycling and self-sufficiency to new trends in wildlife-friendly, sustainable and forest gardening. The Organic Garden shows how these popular new areas of green living are relevant to the ordinary gardener and demonstrates simple, achievable ways in which you can use these ideas to transform your garden. Includes: ? Essentials of organic practice ? Gardening for wildlife and ornament ? Gardening for food ? Ethical choices at the garden centre ? Shed’s Dead – how to create an ecological shed and explore alternatives for outdoor living ? Gardening beyond the garden – allotments, conservation volunteering, community gardening ? Climate change and today’s gardener

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.

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

Cei ce sus?in c? tr?im ?ntr-o er? a comunic?rii par s? confunde dezvoltarea telecomunica?iilor cu progresul comunic?rii interumane. Nu este c?tu?i de pu?in sigur c? suntem ast?zi mai capabili dec?t ?n trecut de solidaritate afectiv? cu semenii, de ?mp?rt??ire de tr?iri intime, de prietenie ?i dragoste. Poate chiar dimpotriv?. Ceea ce ?inea ?n trecut de normalitatea vie?ii de fiecare zi ?i, ca atare, nu mobiliza ?n mod special aten?ia celor implica?i, a devenit ast?zi obiect de analiz? tocmai pentru c? nu se mai produce spontan, ci necesit? un efort con?tient, inclusiv de natura teoretic-investigativ?.Cunoa?terea principiilor ?i a mecanismelor comunic?rii interpersonale a devenit indispensabil? pentru ameliorarea raporturilor dintre oameni ?i a ?ncetat s? mai fie numai o problem? a speciali?tilor. Dac? ?n trecut oamenii comunicau spontan, ?n felul ?n care f?cea proza ?burghezul gentilom“, ast?zi suntem tot mai mult ?n situa?ia unui domn Jourdain care, pentru a se apropia de semenii s?i, are nevoie de un ghid. Acestui imperativ ?ncearc? s?-i r?spund?, ?n felul s?u, ?i lucrarea de fa??.

Apariia n 1948 a primei reviste romneti n exil, la Paris, intitulat de creatorii ei, Virgil Ierunca i Mircea Eliade, Luceafrul“, a venit dup ce tvlugul sovietic reuise s anihileze n ar Romnia politic, iar pe cea spiritual parial, ducnd, dup cum spunea Julien Benda, la trdarea crturarilor. Reacia la aceast stare a venit, aa dup cum era i firesc, din partea unor intelectuali exilai i cu precdere a lui Virgil Ierunca, unul dintre cei doi componeni a ceea ce putem denumi instituia Lovinescu – Ierunca“. Acest cuplu a tiut s prezerve valorile romneti i nu numai pe cele spirituale, s anime, s conving, s scoat din inerie pe acei intelectuali romni exilai care i cutau menirea n acea lume care, pe atunci, nu oferea, ca mai trziu, linitea interioar att de necesar creaiei. Ierunca a fost deseori cel care l-a mpins pe Mircea Eliade s nu rmn ancorat ntr-o literatur de mrturii, ci ntr-o via activ de creaie, de cutri. Volumul de fa, care ne restituie“ Luceafrul“, se datoreaz meritului deosebit al autorilor Mihaela Albu i Dan Anghelescu.Studiul efectuat cu ntreaga dragoste i acribie a cercetatorului ne dezvluie, cu rafinament, ndeosebi o cunoatere aprofundat a simirilor celor care, cu 60 de ani n urm, nu abdicaser de la datorie. Impresioneaz nu numai relatarea faptic, dar i bogia cu care cei doi autori pun n relaie imensul lor bagaj cultural cu ceea ce au produs cu o jumtate de secol n urm autorii Luceafrului“.“ (Dinu Zamfirescu)

O istorie politico-sentimental? a capitalei noastre. De ce o istorie politico-sentimental?? Pentru c?, ?n evolu?ia Bucure?tiului, de-alungul secolelor, afacerile politice s-au ?mpletit adesea, inevitabil, cu b?t?ile inimii. Chiar prima perioad? a cet??ii, ca ?i capital? domneasc?, tutelat? de figu ra dominant? a doamnei Chiajna, poate fi b?nuit? de un senzualism crud care a deschis drum acelui fenomen pe care Ionescu-Gion ?l numea at?t de plastic ?ginecolatrie“, adic? ascultarea dovedit? de domnitorii valahi fa?? de so?iile lor.

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788. A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist, was published in 1788 by J. and A. McLean. The Federalist Papers serve as a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, as they outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government. The authors of the Federalist Papers wanted to both influence the vote in favor of ratification and shape future interpretations of the Constitution. According to historian Richard B. Morris, they are an "incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer."

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 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.

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.?