His deeper insight into this came from his own spiritual practices for which he found vivid allegorical descriptions in the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo was able to uncover the mystery of the double meanings, the inner psychological and yogic significance and practices and the consistent, clear sense brought by this psychological view of the Vedic hymns. Finally, the true inner meaning of the Veda and its relevance to the seekking after self-realization and enlightenment is revealed.

    For his owner's birthday Tubby, the elephant, constructs a huge paper lantern which carries them on a long trip.

     But as Ernle Bradford details, the Mediterranean, while geologically young, is home to a long and oft times bloody history. As he illustrates, it is a sea that has witnessed many an empire rise and fall. From its origins as arguably the cradle of both Western and Eastern Civilisations, where early Phoenicians used it traverse the known world for trade. Or the rise of the Ancient Greeks, whose early innovations allowed them to become the dominant empire, only to fall in the face of the Romans – the great tacticians. Only for the likes of the Byzantines, and later the Norseman and even the Venetians to make their own kingdoms, empires and republics. A sea later crossed by warring Crusaders and Moors. Bradford shows in great detail how the sea and innovations made in naval, navigational knowledge and shipbuilding often made or conversely, broke an empire. Everyone from Napoleon to Suleiman the Great to even pirates saw the importance of such waters – and the decisive battles fought on them. But Bradford also shows the importance of the Mediterranean in the spread of culture – in science, in art, in language, in religion, in agriculture and in philosophy. After all, it is the same sea where Homer set The Odyssey and where Lord Byron and Keats were inspired to write a wealth of poetry. Where arguably the filtering of scientific thought and art from the Islamic Golden Age, gave way to the birth of the Renaissance. Where the spread of advancements in agricultural enabled those ancient empires and kingdoms of Greece, Rome, Sparta and Catharge to thrive in the first place. For Bradford, this is the Portrait of A Sea, where life and death have reigned as long as human civilization has… Mediterranean is a fascinating read of maritime and military history from ancient to modern times across the Mediterranean. Praise for Ernle Bradofrd… 'A gripping story' - The Economist ‘a superior, readable treatment of an important but little-discussed epic from the Renaissance past ... An astonishing tale’ - Kirkus Reviews About the author… Ernle Bradford (1922-1986) was an historian who wrote books on naval battles and historical figures. Among his subjects were Lord Nelson, the Mary Rose, Christopher Columbus, Julius Caesar and Hannibal. He also documented his own voyages on the Mediterranean Sea.

    The same girl, now on the cusp of adulthood, shares her family’s growing fears that her father has disappeared. Acclaimed author Ann Petry penned these and the other unforgettable narratives in Miss Muriel and Other Stories more than seventy years ago, yet in them contemporary readers recognize characters who exist today and dilemmas that recur again and again: the reluctance of African Americans to seek help from the police, the rage that erupts in a black man worn down by brutality, the tyranny that the young can visit on their elders regardless of race. Originally published between 1945 and 1971, Petry’s stories capture the essence of African American experience since the 1940s.

    The setting of these various adventures and events is not the Southwest as we know it today, but a vast and largely unpeopled wilderness in which clans and families wandered in search of a final living place, and in search of their collective identity. Notes, a pronunciation guide, and a glossary enhance the reader's appreciation of the text.

    

    Exploring a tumultuous time in Japanese 19th-century history, when the country began to emerge from self-imposed exile, this study profiles activists such as Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro, who played an important role in the development of a unified nation state.

    Readers who have never been to Greece will want to go and those who have will want to return.

    This year, Grandmother is not making any pottery. All the special clay she uses is gone--until Johnny runs away and finds a surprise.

    When Joseph told the dream, his father asked, ". . . were not the eleven stars your eleven brothers?" Jealous and angry, his brothers nicknamed Joseph "the dreamer" and plotted to do away with him as the person who, according to the dream, would one day rule them. When the chance came, they seized him and sold him to some passing traders, who took him to faraway Egypt.Alone and enslaved, Joseph had nothing left but his faith in God and his marvelous ability to tell the meaning of dreams. Through these, he came to be a rich and powerful leader in Egypt. And one day, when their own land was suffering from famine, his brothers came to Egypt in search of food. As in the dream, they bowed down before Joseph. Many years had passed, and they did not know that the great leader was their brother. But Joseph recognized them. Would he choose to punish his brothers or to forgive them?Clyde Robert Bulla retells one of the greatest stories of the Old Testament with dramatic simplicity. The grandeur and adventurous sweep, as well as the deeper meaning of the story, are perfectly conveyed by Gordon Laite's beautiful illustrations.