Kyoto, the ancient former capital of Japan, breathes history and mystery. Its temples, gardens and palaces are testimony to many centuries of aristocratic and religious grandeur. Under the veneer of modernity, the city remains filled with countless reminders of a proud past. John Dougill explores this most venerable of Japanese cities, revealing the spirit of place and the individuals that have shaped its often dramatic history. Courtiers and courtesans, poets and priests, samurai and geisha people the pages of his account. Covering twelve centuries in all, the book not only provides a historical overview but brings to life the cultural magnificence of the city of "e;Purple Hills and Crystal Streams"e;. City of Power: The seat of aristocrats and warriors; military might and spiritual authority; unification and the transition to modernity. City of Ritual: Buddhist sects and Shinto festivals; tea ceremony; the role of the geisha; the influence of Zen. City of Arts: Poetry and fiction; architecture and garden design; Heian verse and Noh theatre; art and handicrafts; the Japanese Hollywood.

In July 1936 insurgent Spanish troops organized a military coup to oust the elected Republican government in Madrid. The rebel generals expected to force a quick, clean regime change but they failed. The botched uprising turned into a bloody civil war. Hundreds of thousands died in a bitter conflict which tore the country apart and rapidly turned into the prelude for an even greater conflict yet to come--the Second World War. The siege of Madrid was the key battle of the war. The world watched and waited for the city to surrender as General Franco's Nationalist army, backed by Hitler and Mussolini, closed in on the Spanish capital. But Madrid did not fall. Madrilenos fought tooth and nail to defend their city. Helped by volunteers from fifty other countries--the International Brigades--they held out against all the odds until the end of the conflict in 1939. Despite its central role in twentieth-century history, the siege of Madrid is an episode largely hidden from today's visitor. There is no guide to the war sites and few clues for the inquisitive traveller who wants to know more. Frontline Madrid fills that gap. This unique guide book explains what life was like in the city under siege and what happened in the battlefield dramas. The simple to follow maps and diagrams make it easy to visit the frontline sites. The vividly written descriptions bring events and people compellingly to life. The role of prominent individuals, British and American--Orwell, Hemingway, John Cornford is explored. Off the beaten track, from the University district in the city centre to the mountains of Guadarrama less than an hour away, the remains of the war in Madrid can still be found--gun emplacements, bunkers, trenches and occasional debris. Frontline Madrid retraces the footsteps of those who lived through the conflict to take the reader on a tour in time. The usual tourist traps are left far behind to enter the gripping world of a war which shaped modern European history.

A collection of the three volumes by Yannis Andricopoulos on ancient Greek wisdom applied to modern culture and society, including:- Volume 1: In Bed with Madness- Volume 2: The Greek Inheritance- Volume 3: The Future of the PastIn Bed with MadnessGlobalism endowed us with McDonald's, 'the world's local bank', English football teams without English players and an irrepressible desire for more as enough is never good enough - the blanket is always too short. Our personal world as much as our social and political realities seem to have blithely surrendered to the madness of a civilization which views anything from corporate greed and global warming to military adventures and religious fundamentalism as normal as a door banging in the wind. The destructive capabilities of our age have run too far ahead of our wisdom. However, the process is not irreversible if our thinking can postpone its retirement. In Bed with Madness is 'a well-argued, powerful and profound indictment of contemporary culture', stylishly written - a reviewer said he would have bought it just for its humour!The Greek InheritanceThe culture of ancient Greece, a culture of joy, was replaced by the Judaeo-Christian culture of faith and then by the capitalist culture of profit. Yet it is the only culture worth fighting for if we want a world run by humans rather than theocracies, nanotechnologies or private equity funds. Yannis Andricopoulos views the Greek culture as the front line of the battle against individualism, materialism, authoritarianism and religious extremism. In a world turned into the corporations' playground, this is also the battle for human values, civic virtues and an ethical society. The Greek Inheritance traces the conflict between Greek values and those of the repressive, religious or capitalist order throughout the millennia. The book is challenging and well-written with a light, humorous touch.The Future of the PastUniversalism in its old forms has, just like door-to-door milkmen, gone for good. But the search for some universally accepted ethical standards cannot be abandoned - values are not colourless as the wind and odourless as thoughts. Looking into our world from the classical Greek point of view, Yannis Andricopoulos wonders whether we cannot place Justice again at the heart of our morality, look forward to the happiness of the individual rather than the upgrading of his or her consumer fantasies, and endeavour to create, not more wealth, but a just and honourable world. The Future of the Past is written in 'a lively, challenging style guaranteeing to stimulate debate on the most pressing issues of our time'.

Illusionism is the view that phenomenal consciousness (in the philosophers' sense) is an illusion. This book is a reprint of a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies devoted to this topic. It takes the form of a target paper by the editor, followed by commentaries from various thinkers, including leading defenders of the theory such as Daniel Dennett, Nicholas Humphrey, Derk Pereboom and Georges Rey. A number of disciplines are represented and different viewpoints are discussed and defended. The colleciton is tied together with a response to the commentaries from the editor.

Are you knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects? Do you enjoy learning new facts? Or are you swatting up for an upcoming quiz night? Whatever your reason for buying this quiz book you are certain to enjoy these questions with a common link - all of the answers begin with the same letter, arranged in sections from A-Z. Following on from the The Alphabetical General Knowledge Quiz Book, this book contains another 1,000 questions about general knowledge. Some are easy, some more challenging but as you are provided with the first letter of each answer, you will soon know if you are on the right track. Both educational and fun, this book is a good way for the whole family to broaden their general knowledge. Select a letter at random or work your way through the questions from A-Z to find out how much you know about the world we live in. Ideal for sharing, this book will provide hours or pleasure and appeal to people of all ages.

Are you a fan of horse racing? Do follow all the big races and enjoy the occasional bet? Can you name the great jockeys through the years and the events they have won? If you answered yes to any of the above, or would like to find out more about professional horse racing, you won't want to be without the new Horse Racing Quiz Book. Which two fences are only jumped once in the Grand National? Part of which UK racecourse is within a famous area known as the Knavesmire? What are the Christian names of the Hills twins, both Classic winning jockeys? The answers to these and many similar questions can all be found in this book.The 250 questions, some easy, some more challenging, will quickly uncover how much you know about the fast-paced world of horse racing. Covering all the big races, famous jockeys, racecourses, horses, owners and trainers as well as the history of horse racing, this is a must-have for anyone interested in this action-packed sport.

APPEARANCES is a collection of twelve short stories revealing how fragile and elusive reality is. It is full of playful and powerful images that exist all around us. Funhouse mirrors of life. Or maybe the other way round. Raw images of a reality normally photoshopped and made to look gorgeous in the beauty parlors of everyday society, now shown for what they are, revealing their true nature. The mirror theme helps reflect on this reality. Stories are mirrors of life, of people and circumstances. Images in those mirrors range from the exact to the distorted. They can be revealing, misleading, or indicative of something. They can be full of promises and lies, changing the world according to their whims, or brutally honest, revealing the world as it was never meant to be seen. Whatever the case, the images are real, and so are the mirrors, phenomena of the everyday world, reflecting back to us who we are, what we do and how we have set up the world around us. They indicate to us the various aspects of humanity and the human psyche, exposing our longings and fears. Victor and Xavier share these stories with us, offering their perspective on life through the prism of mirrors that are playful, powerful and present wherever one looks. Nothing can be taken for granted. Only one thing's for certain. Appearances are not what they seem.

Did you watch James Arthur win The X Factor? Did you enjoy the performances of the shy singer from Middlesbrough? Have you bought his debut single 'Impossible'? If you are a fan of James Arthur or would like to find out more about him and his rise to fame The James Arthur Quiz Book is for you.What English football team does James support? How many siblings does James have? What record company signed James when he won The X Factor in 2012? The answers to these questions and more can all be found in this new quiz book.Test your knowledge of James and his time on The X Factor by trying to answer the brain-teasing questions in this book and learn something new about the man and his music. This is a must-have book for everyone who supported James during his time on The X Factor and all his many fans who have followed his journey from the first audition through to becoming the X Factor final winner.

Today culture is everywhere as maybe never before. We read culture reviews, watch culture shows, live in Cities of Culture, and witness the Cultural Olympiad. Government, museums and arts councils worry that we are not getting enough culture and shape policy around notions of art and culture for all. Access and inclusion are in. Difficulty and exclusivity out. In "e;Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination"e; Angus Kennedy asks if this explosion of culture, and the breaking down of distinctions between high and low culture, has emancipated us or left us adrift without cultural moorings. Is it true that all cultures are equal? Is cultural diversity a good thing? Is it unacceptably elitist to insist on the highest standards of judgment? To argue that some cultural works stand the test of time and some don't? Can anyone dare to call themselves cultured anymore? Might it even be the case that culture no longer actually means anything much to us? That our nervousness about exercising discrimination and good taste - the erosion of cultural authority - might have left us with a culture that may be open to all, but lacking in depth? This provocative book strikes a blow for discrimination in culture and argues that there is a responsibility on each of us as individuals to always be becoming more cultured beings: our best selves. Kennedy revisits the tradition - from Cicero to Kant, Arnold to Arendt - of autonomy in culture: both in the sense of its intrinsic value and how it rests on our individual freedom - quite apart from state and society - to discriminate and judge. A freedom, without which, we risk a widening culture of consensus and conformity. But which is the constitutive element of a world in common.

Good hair day? Bad hair day? Hair has always evoked strong emotions.In this fascinating book, Patricia Malcolmson examines how British women over the past 150 years have managed their hair, from the extravagant styles of the late nineteenth century to the 'anything goes' attitude of today, taking in along the way the daring bobs of the 1920s, the wartime styles of women in uniform, the slavish copying of Hollywood stars, the beehive, the hippy and the Goth. In Me and My Hair you'll hear the voices of women from around Britain talking about their hair - whether it's their longing to have 'Shirley Temple' curls, the visits of the nit nurse, their first home perm, roasting under hood dryers, going platinum blonde, hilarious experiments with hair extensions, or fears of going grey.

Twenty-first century British kids are more comfortable with ethnic diversity than ever before. The 'mixed race' population is rising exponentially. In school playgrounds across Britain, kids are inventing a version of colour-blind, multi-ethnic interaction that should teach the adult world a thing or two - not least about the amazing, superdiverse generation that is to come.And yet, for over a decade, playgrounds and classrooms have endured unprecedented interference in the form of official racist-incident reporting, training on the importance of racial etiquette, and the reinforcement of racial identities. Such interference is viewed by modern day anti-racists as a necessary bulwark against the creeping influence of the far-right, 'Islamophobia', and more generally the supposed covert racism of the wider population. Many official policy documents written under the influence of this approach insist a failure to tackle racist behaviour at the earliest age will allow racism to incubate and grow. Here, 'racism' is something defined by the notion of what constitutes hate speech or wounding words. Often it can be detected from an entirely innocent phrase, so long as the phrase is perceived by the offence-taker or another party or policy as 'racist'.This mindset has, in recent years, permeated public discourse on the subject. Evidence of racism - such as a gaffe by a politician or celebrity, or a footballer's on-pitch insult - is always 'the tip of iceberg' (the moment that racist society breaks the surface and is revealed to all). The idea of a hidden mass of racists in our midst explains the advent of a racism-watch approach that turns up the attenuator and trawls the nooks and crannies of everyday life for tell-tale signs. Moreover, PC anti-racism synthesises many of today's worst cultural trends: the erosion of free speech and of adult moral authority; the elevation of victimhood and of identity politics (particularly the reinstatement of racial identity); the misanthropic view of rotten, vulnerable humanity (where the state becomes purifier); the cult of child protection and the emergence of a degraded and vulgar conception of child development.It is with some irony, then, that modern day anti-racism can be argued as having taken over from old-fashioned racism as the dominant racialising force in British society.

Emily had planted a tiny sunflower seed in her garden but it was not growing. So her Daddy took her to visit Mrs Handbag, a colourful lady with crazy hair and a sparkly dress. Could Mrs Handbag work some magic on Emily's seed? An ideal story for reading aloud to small children, with delightful colour illustrations.

Is good fortune just a matter of luck? Or being born under the right star? In this compelling book, Murdo MacLeod shows how you can load the dice in your own favour. Murdo MacLeod's easy-to-follow programme demonstrates how to harness the power within you in order to achieve:material wealthperfect healthpersonal charmthe conquest of anxietyFirst published in 1932, How to Achieve Good Fortune is strikingly modern in its approach, not just in its promotion of the 'power of positive thinking', but also in the method of picturing what it is that you desire. Many of the ideas that Murdo MacLeod proposed have since been taken up in New Age philosophy, particularly the concept of 'Cosmic Mind'.

From New York Times and USA Today Bestseller, CJ Lyons: ? Lucy’s back! In a story ripped from the headlines, the violence is the worst she’s ever seen, the stakes are higher than ever, and then…things get personal. ? It’s a vicious, horrific crime: the brutal killing of a teenaged girl. When Pittsburgh detectives call FBI Supervisory Special Agent Lucy Guardino to the scene, their focus is on who and why? ? Was it the girl’s Afghan father striving to regain his honor after she became too Westernized? Her Jewish boyfriend? Someone from Afghanistan settling an old grudge? Or one of the many drug cartels the father helped the DEA bring down seeking revenge? ? The answers seem clear when Pittsburgh becomes engulfed in flames as a violent narcoterrorist turns the city into a kill zone…But in the dark of night, surrounded by men intent on destroying the truth, Lucy learns that secrets hide in shadows.

Join New York Times bestseller and real life ER physician CJ Lyons as she returns to her medical thriller roots with a heart wrenching tale of good and evil, despair and hope, and the unexpected gift of grace that comes with embracing our mortality. Fatal. Insomnia. “FAREWELL TO DREAMS has it all: a heroine you'll never forget and a story that whips by at bullet speed." ~Tess Gerritsen, NYT bestselling author of DIE AGAIN “CJ Lyons scores a major triumph with FAREWELL TO DREAMS. Totally absorbing and impossible to put down.” ~Douglas Preston, #1 NYT bestselling author In the chaos of the ER, functioning without sleep is a prized skill. But even Dr. Angela Rossi will admit that five months is far too long, especially when accompanied by other worrisome symptoms: night sweats, tremors, muscle spasms, fevers. Then a dead nun speaks to her while Angela is holding the nun’s heart in her hand. “Find the girl,” the nun commands—although no one else in the trauma room can hear, the words drilling directly into Angela’s brain. “Save the girl.” Falling into catatonic states where she freezes in the middle of a resuscitation and hears dead nuns talking to her? Not good. Maybe she should check herself into her own hospital…except a lost girl’s life depends on Angela. Because the girl IS real. The threat to her is deadly. Aided by a police detective fallen from grace, Angela searches the midnight catacombs beneath the city, facing down a ruthless gangleader and stumbling onto a serial killer’s lair. Her desperate quest to save the girl leads her to the one thing she least expected to find: a last chance for love. As her symptoms escalate in bizarre and disturbing ways, Angie realizes exactly how serious her illness is. She might be dying, but she’s finally choosing how to live…

From New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons: International Thriller Writers 2015 Thriller Award Winner! 59 days ago FBI Special Agent Lucy Guardino had a perfect life…and almost lost it all. ? From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author CJ Lyons. WARNING: the Lucy Guardino FBI Thrillers are NOT for the faint of heart! They depict adult situations, realistic violence with consequences, and delve deep into the darkness of the human heart and mind. ? There comes a time in every hero’s life when they fall harder and farther than ever before and they face a choice that changes everything: to give up or claw their way back again. Lucy thought she’d made her choice two months ago when she sacrificed everything to save her family, but now she has to decide whether or not she can save herself… ? When honor, duty, and family collide…who would you save?

From New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons: Can a girl raised to kill give it up for a chance at a new life?? The only thing worse than being the girl raised by a serial killer is being the girl he blames for getting caught…and now Morgan Ames’ father has escaped prison. Morgan knows she’ll be at the top of her father’s hit list. After all, she dared to defy him, abandoning him to rot in jail while she escaped to live a normal life. Every instinct screams at Morgan to run and hide, but she’s as much a predator as her father and she refuses to allow him to turn her into prey. Because to Clinton Caine the entire world is populated by “fish,” victims to torture for his own twisted pleasure. Morgan is no fish. Past time her father learned that. But before she can take him on she has to stay alive long enough to find him…hopefully without getting anyone else killed along the way.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author CJ Lyons: ? Is she a predator? Or is she the prey? ? Morgan Ames never expected to survive when she threw herself and her serial killer father off a cliff. She was fine with that—as long as it stopped his killing spree. ? But she did live. After being in a coma, she’s awakened to a nightmare worthy of her sadistic father’s tortures: she’s trapped in the Pediatric unit at Angels of Hope Rehab Center.? ? Not only do the authorities now know that she’s only fifteen, but she’s been made a ward of the hospital until the legal system figures out what to do with her. Helpless, dependent on others…a fate worse than death. ? Her body weak, her mind broken, but her will as strong as ever, Morgan fights for her new life and freedom. Unfortunately, it seems her father wasn’t the only sadistic serial killer on the loose…someone is preying upon the innocent children of Angels and their families. ? Only Morgan sees the pattern, only Morgan glimpses the truth behind the horror. ? And only Morgan has what it takes to put a stop to it…even if it means sacrificing her own second chance at life.

Для Чехова мирный быт лучше и выше ?событий?, только в нём и может жить поэзия; так, в ?Трёх сёстрах? самое активное лицо — Наташа, одновременно и самый пошлый персонаж драмы; ей принадлежит почин сценического действия. Н. Полянский после премьеры ?Трёх сестёр? в рижском Русском театре отметил: ?Недоумение театралов и читающей публики по поводу произведений и пьес Чехова явление, уже давно замеченное критикой?.

Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the story learns the error of making hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential. The novel captures emotional development of our heroine and humour in the depiction of manners, education, marriage, and money during the British Regency period.

A government official Golyadkin has a formative discussion with his Doctor Rutenspitz, who fears for his sanity and tells him that his behaviour is dangerously antisocial. He prescribes 'cheerful company' as the remedy. Golyadkin resolves to try this, and leaves the office. He proceeds to a birthday party. He was uninvited, and a series of faux pas lead to his expulsion from the party. On his way home through a snowstorm, he encounters his double, who looks exactly like him. A new evolving relationship is formed.