Metaphoric and dreamy, this tale of transformation arises from Smith's knowledge of Mapplethorpe as a young man and as a mature artist, his close relationship with his patron and friend, Sam Wagstaff, and his years surviving AIDS and his ascent into death. Rich in detail, it is filled with references to Mapplethorpe's work and shows the man beneath the persona. Set against photographs by Mapplethorpe, the work emerges as a hymn, a prayer, a fable wishing him Godspeed on his latest journey."She was once our savage Rimbaud, but suffering has turned her into our St. John of the Cross, a mystic full of compassion."--Edmund White

    Powerful pharaohs built great cities on the fertile banks of the Nile, and employed thousands of labourers to create lavish tombs and temples such as Thebes and the pyramids of the Giza plateau. The exceptional beauty and scale of ancient Egypt s antiquities still draws millions of visitors to Egypt s museums and monuments each year. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt is a celebration of these wonders, from Tutankhamun s tomb to Cleopatra s obelisks, from ancient papyrus scrolls covered with hieroglyphs to golden amulets in the form of ankhs and scarabs. The book also uncovers ancient Egyptian life from the role of women and the form of an Egyptian wedding banquet, to the weights, measures and currencies used in everyday trading and explores the modern archaelogy taking place on the ancient sites revealing the Egyptians artefacts and tools. With a combination of modern, specially commissioned colour illustrations and images of Egyptian antiquities and treasures alongside a detailed history of the civilisation to put it all into context, the world of the pharaohs is brought to life in vivid detail. For intrigued adults or fascinated children alike, The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt provides a wealth of information about the riches of the ancient world."

    From the appearance in 1936 of Kenneth Patchen's first book, the voice of this great poet has been protesting war and social injustice, satirizing the demeaning and barbarous inanities of our culture--entrancing us with an inexhaustible flow of humor and fantasy.

    Her journey takes readers from the great cities of Europe and America to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, as these countries face down the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She also introduces a cast of determined and implacable characters whose battles may strip these museums of some of their most cherished treasures.For readers who are fascinated by antiquity, who love to frequent museums, and who believe in the value of cultural exchange, Loot opens a new window on an enduring conflict.

    Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who took Egypt's throne without status as a king’s son and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty, was born into a privileged position of the royal household. Married to her brother, she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her inconceivable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of king in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular twenty-two year reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with the veil of piety and sexual expression. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to shrewdly operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh.Hatshepsut had successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.

    Then in "Barbecue Blunder," sometimes it's fun to reminisce about picnics gone by!

    DC Books' catalog primarily includes books in Malayalam literature, and also children's literature, poetry, reference, biography, self-help, yoga, management titles, and foreign translations.

    Set in Dresden in the early 1930's it chronicles Frabato's magical battles with the members of a powerful and dangerous black lodge. His escape from Germany during the final desperate days of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of his spiritual mission culminating with his classic books on Hermetic magic.More than an occult novel, Frabato the Magician is itself a work of magic which illuminates Bardon's other books as well as providing a revealing look into the dark occult forces which lay behind the rise of the Third Reich. Threaded throughout the true tale, and written between the lines, are many valuable and practical esoteric lessons.

    Highly recommended." --CHOICE Magazine"Who are these people? Where did they come from? What do they want? SHADOW WARS makes the answers painfully, damningly clear... if some future solution is discovered, it'll be thanks to the path-clearing of books like this one." --The Christian Science Monitor"Davidson is especially dogged at 'following the money'--e.g., the rise of crony-capitalist networks in the Gulf monarchies and the financing of al-Qaida and Islamic State... An exhaustively researched account."--Kirkus Reviews The brief euphoria that followed the 'Arab Spring' of 2011 quickly gave way to religious politics, sectarian war, and the most brutal incarnations of Islamic extremism ever seen. In the aftermath, people around the world once more lamented the Middle East's inability to build functioning modern states. However, the reality is that this turn of events fits firmly into a centuries-old pattern of uprisings and reactions involving not only the region's elites and their opponents but also the interests of foreign powers.Middle East expert Christopher M. Davidson makes the argument that the primary blame for the failure of the Arab Spring and the rise of Islamic extremists, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State, must rest with successive U.S. and U.K. governments. A systematic dissection of ongoing Western manipulations of the most powerful forces in the Middle East, Shadow Wars is a shocking book that demands to be read.

    Beneath the red cliffs of Botswanaland a magnificent unknown civilization has remained buried for millennia. But the magic of uncovering a lost culture is harshly interrupted by the violence of terrorists, love, intrigue and the breathtaking secrets of centuries.

    Pascal said the shape of her nose changed the history of the world. Shakespeare portrayed her as an icon of tragic love. But who was Cleopatra, really?Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Macedonian dynasty of Ptolemies. Highly intelligent, she spoke many languages and was rumored to be the only Ptolemy to read and speak Egyptian. Her famous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony had as much to do with politics as the heart. Ruthless in dealing with her enemies, many within her own family, Cleopatra steered her kingdom through difficult times, and very nearly succeeded in creating an eastern empire to rival the growing might of Rome.Her story was well documented by her near contemporaries, and the tragic tale of contrasts and oppositions—the seductive but failing power of ancient Egypt versus the virile strength of modern Rome—is so familiar we almost feel that we know Cleopatra. But our picture is highly distorted. Cleopatra is often portrayed as a woman ruled by emotion rather than reason; a queen hurtling towards inevitable self-destruction. But these tales of seduction, intrigue, and suicide by asp have obfuscated Cleopatra’s true political genius.Stripping away our preconceptions, many of them as old as Egypt’s Roman conquerors, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley offers a magnificent biography of a most extraordinary queen.

    Everytime, he looked at me, it broke my heart a little bit more.Everytime he went away, I wrote.When he came back, I lived again.And in the end it fell apart.

    Betrayed. Banished.Fifteen hundred years is a long time to wait to get revenge. The Fae know how to nurse a grudge, and now they have returned to England to claim their rightful place.This boxset collects the complete trilogy of 'The Wrath of the Fae,' with each book following three fae princes as they journey to break their curses and find their fated mates.Includes 'Kiss of the Blood Prince,' 'Heart of the Winter Prince,' 'Wings of the Night Prince,' and a sneak peek of the upcoming series based on Egyptian gods, 'Gods of the Duat.'

    When the rays reached our planet, they killed virtually all of the human population overnight, leaving only a handful of survivors. Sergeant major Tim Flannery was left to fend for himself in a dead and decaying world. He thought he’d fought his last battle for humanity on the atoll of Volivoli. Now he only wants to be left in peace, with his new family and a growing new society in northern Arizona. But he faces another battle. A new evil has risen from the ashes of a dead United States, threatening to take what little he has left and destroy his small enclave. Flannery must again take up arms to preserve what little sanity is left in a world gone mad.

    Subtitled "A Practical Guide to the Esoteric Sciences, " this volume examines the teachings of the Mystery Schools, the five steps of self-unfoldment, and how the practice of ancient disciplines can lead to a more purposeful life.