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Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America


Walter F. LaFeber - 1983
    This second edition is updated to include new material covering the Reagan and Bush years, and the Iran/Contra affair.

Must We Divide History Into Periods?


Jacques Le Goff - 2014
    Though the view of the Middle Ages as a dark age of unreason has softened somewhat, we still locate the advent of modern rationality in the Italian thought and culture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.Jacques Le Goff pleads for a strikingly different view. In this, his last book, he argues persuasively that many of the innovations we associate with the Renaissance have medieval roots, and that many of the most deplorable aspects of medieval society continued to flourish during the Renaissance. We should instead view Western civilization as undergoing several "renaissances" following the fall of Rome, over the course of a long Middle Ages that lasted until the mid-eighteenth century.While it is indeed necessary to divide history into periods, Le Goff maintains, the meaningful continuities of human development only become clear when historians adopt a long perspective. Genuine revolutions—the shifts that signal the end of one period and the beginning of the next—are much rarer than we think.

Coming to Our Senses: Body and Spirit in the Hidden History of the West


Morris Berman - 1989
    Finally back in print for a new generation of readers, Berman's treatise on the West's historic denial of physicality is relevant as ever in a society increasingly plagued by addiction, depression, and distraction. Berman deftly weaves threads of history, philosophy, and psychoanalysis into an elegant and accessible argument about the ways our physical experience of the world relates to the culture in which we exist.To make his case, Berman draws on studies of infant behavior with mirrors; analyzes symbolic expressions of human-animal relationships ranging from cave-wall etchings to Disney cartoons; investigates esoteric breathing techniques and occult rituals; and examines the nature of creativity. Berman also illuminates Christianity's origins in early Jewish meditation techniques, explains how the notion of romantic love evolved out of medieval Christian heresy, how modern science grew out of Renaissance mysticism, and how Nazism was the most recent episode in a recurring cycle of orthodoxy and heresy. A demanding and radical work of history, social criticism, and philosophy, Coming to our Senses is a beautifully-written and vastly important book.Readers interested in related titles from Morris Berman will also want to see: Are We There Yet (ISBN: 9781635610567), Spinning Straw Into Gold (ISBN: 9781635610536).

Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity


Stephen Toulmin - 1990
    While fueling extraordinary advances in all fields of human endeavor, this vision perpetuated a hidden yet persistent agenda: the delusion that human nature and society could be fitted into precise and manageable rational categories. Stephen Toulmin confronts that agenda—its illusions and its consequences for our present and future world."By showing how different the last three centuries would have been if Montaigne, rather than Descartes, had been taken as a starting point, Toulmin helps destroy the illusion that the Cartesian quest for certainty is intrinsic to the nature of science or philosophy."—Richard M. Rorty, University of Virginia"[Toulmin] has now tackled perhaps his most ambitious theme of all. . . . His aim is nothing less than to lay before us an account of both the origins and the prospects of our distinctively modern world. By charting the evolution of modernity, he hopes to show us what intellectual posture we ought to adopt as we confront the coming millennium."—Quentin Skinner, New York Review of Books

Henry VIII


J.J. Scarisbrick - 1968
    First published in 1968, Jack Scarisbrick's Henry VIII is a book which focuses on the personality of this flamboyant and forceful monarch, exploring an impulsive interventionist king whose impact on the government, society and religion of England is felt more than four centuries on.

A History of Archaeological Thought


Bruce G. Trigger - 1989
    The development of archeological thought is analyzed by examining archeological history to determine to what extent its trends reflect archeologists' personal & collective interests.List of IllustrationsPrefaceThe relevance of archaeological history Classical archaeology & antiquarianismThe beginnings of scientific archaeologyThe imperial synthesis Culture-historical archaeologySoviet archaeology Functionalism in Western archaeology Neo-evolutionism & the new archaeology The explanation of diversity Archaeology & its social contextBibliographical EssayReferencesIndex

Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art, Vol 1: Introduction & Parts 1-2


Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - 1994
    The substantial Introduction is his best exposition of his general philosophy of art. In Part I he considers the general nature of art as a spiritual experience, distinguishes the beauty of art and the beauty of nature, and examines artistic genius and originality. Part II surveys the history of art from the ancient world through to the end of the eighteenth century, probing the meaning and significance of major works. Part III (in the second volume) deals individually with architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature; a rich array of examples makes vivid his exposition of his theory.

The Magic of Metaphor: 77 Stories for Teachers, Trainers and Thinkers


Nick Owen - 2001
    Some of the stories motivate, some are spiritual, and some provide strategies for excellence. All promote positive feelings, encouraging confidence, direction and vision. The stories contained in The Magic of Metaphor focus on values, responsibility, and leadership in all its forms. Specially selected to promote change in people's ideas, attitudes, beliefs, visions and behaviours they act as reframes, challenging and disturbing our existing frames of reference, recharting our accustomed maps of the world, and shifting us away from our limited thinking towards new learning and discovery through the use of effective metaphor. Containing sixteen suggestions (or tips) for effective story telling, advice on organisation, style and story telling skills, and a selection of stories that can be adapted and developed, The Magic of Metaphor is an inspirational sourcebook for counsellors, health workers, psychologists, professional speakers, managers, leaders and NLP practitioners, as well as for teachers, trainers, therapists. Providing tools that assist people in making beneficial changes in their lives, the stories contained in this book will bring pleasure and power to all those that listen to or read them.

Insults Every Man Should Know


Nick Mamatas - 2011
    Hard-Hitting Insults for Every OccasionIncluding      •  Insulting Someone’s Intelligence      •  Insulting Someone’s Sexual Prowess      •  Insults for the Office      •  Insults on Game Day     •  Insults throughout History     •  Insults from around the WorldPlus insulting gestures, backhanded compliments, comebacks, all the things you should never say about someone's mama, and much more!

Computers as Theatre


Brenda Laurel - 1991
    It shows how similar principles can help students understand what people experience when interacting with computers. The book also describes how the user's enjoyment of a computer system should be the biggest design consideration.

Gramophone, Film, Typewriter


Friedrich A. Kittler - 1986
    Previously, writing had operated by way of symbolic mediation—all data had to pass through the needle's eye of the written signifier—but phonography, photography, and cinematography stored physical effects of the real in the shape of sound waves and light. The entire question of referentiality had to be recast in light of these new media technologies; in addition, the use of the typewriter changed the perception of writing from that of a unique expression of a literate individual to that of a sequence of naked material signifiers.Part technological history of the emergent new media in the late nineteenth century, part theoretical discussion of the responses to these media—including texts by Rilke, Kafka, and Heidegger, as well as elaborations by Edison, Bell, Turing, and other innovators—Gramophone, Film, Typewriter analyzes this momentous shift using insights from the work of Foucault, Lacan, and McLuhan. Fusing discourse analysis, structuralist psychoanalysis, and media theory, the author adds a vital historical dimension to the current debates over the relationship between electronic literacy and poststructuralism, and the extent to which we are constituted by our technologies. The book ties the establishment of new discursive practices to the introduction of new media technologies, and it shows how both determine the ways in which psychoanalysis conceives of the psychic apparatus in terms of information machines.Gramophone, Film, Typewriter is, among other things, a continuation as well as a detailed elaboration of the second part of the author's Discourse Networks, 1800/1900 (Stanford, 1990). As such, it bridges the gap between Kittler's discourse analysis of the 1980's and his increasingly computer-oriented work of the 1990's.

A Short Introduction to Hermeneutics


David Jasper - 2004
    Throughout church history, interpreters have approached biblical interpretation in different ways, using different tools and methods. This book conveniently and accessibly surveys major biblical interpreters and approaches to hermeneutics from the patristic period to the present days. It provides a theoretical basis for understanding the processes of hermeneutics in different faith traditions.

It's All About the Dress: Savvy Secrets, Priceless Advice, and Inspiring Stories to Help you Find "The One"


Randy Fenoli - 2011
    Now choosing the perfect thing to wear on that special day is easier than ever! Drawing on his experience as fashion director at Kleinfeld Bridal, Randy Fenoli has written a guidebook bursting with insights and inspiration for helping brides-to-be determine what story they want their dress to tell. It's All About the Dress covers: -Suggestions on flattering cuts, fabrics, and styles for every body type-Price ranges and budget-Trains, veils, headpieces, undergarments, and accessories-Insider secrets on managing the bridal dress appointment-Options for bridesmaids, mother of the bride, and more!Featuring 100 inspiring photos plus invaluable tips on how to deal with bridal dress 911's, It's All About the Dress is the ultimate sourcebook no bride-to-be should say "I do" without!

Royal Murder


Marc Alexander - 1978
    . .’ So wrote Shakespeare in Richard II, and in his new book Royal Murder Marc Alexander investigates the sad stories of the victims of royal murders. Ignoring violent death by battle or political execution, this book is devoted to personal acts of jealousy and revenge which has stained the Crown with blue blood down the ages. The subjects range from those murders one may vaguely remember from schooldays without being aware of their backgrounds of intrigue and mystery, to lesser known scandals such as the secret murder of Count von Konigsmarck, the lover of Princess Sophia of Zell, wife of George the First. About the Author… Marc Alexander left Poverty Bay, New Zealand, to become a journalist in London. After four years on Fleet Street, he became the editorial director of a small magazine group, then the organiser of an annual film festival. Four years ago he became a full-time author, his books ranging from fiction to history.

The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology


Ernst H. Kantorowicz - 1957
    In The King's Two Bodies, Kantorowicz traces the historical problem posed by the King's two bodies--the body politic and the body natural--back to the Middle Ages and demonstrates, by placing the concept in its proper setting of medieval thought and political theory, how the early-modern Western monarchies gradually began to develop a political theology.?The king's natural body has physical attributes, suffers, and dies, naturally, as do all humans; but the king's other body, the spiritual body, transcends the earthly and serves as a symbol of his office as majesty with the divine right to rule. The notion of the two bodies allowed for the continuity of monarchy even when the monarch died, as summed up in the formulation The king is dead. Long live the king.Bringing together liturgical works, images, and polemical material, The King's Two Bodies explores the long Christian past behind this political theology. It provides a subtle history of how commonwealths developed symbolic means for establishing their sovereignty and, with such means, began to establish early forms of the nation-state.Kantorowicz fled Nazi Germany in 1938, after refusing to sign a Nazi loyalty oath, and settled in the United States. While teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, he once again refused to sign an oath of allegiance, this one designed to identify Communist Party sympathizers. He was dismissed as a result of the controversy and moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained for the rest of his life, and where he wrote The King's Two Bodies.