Puchner introduces us to numerous visionaries as he explores sixteen foundational texts selected from more than four thousand years of world literature and reveals how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs. Indeed, literature has touched the lives of generations and changed the course of history.At the heart of this book are works, some long-lost and rediscovered, that have shaped civilization: the first written masterpiece, the Epic of Gilgamesh; Ezra’s Hebrew Bible, created as scripture; the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus; and the first great novel in world literature, The Tale of Genji, written by a Japanese woman known as Murasaki. Visiting Baghdad, Puchner tells of Scheherazade and the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, and in the Americas we watch the astonishing survival of the Maya epic Popol Vuh. Cervantes, who invented the modern novel, battles pirates both real (when he is taken prisoner) and literary (when a fake sequel to Don Quixote is published). We learn of Benjamin Franklin’s pioneering work as a media entrepreneur, watch Goethe discover world literature in Sicily, and follow the rise in influence of The Communist Manifesto. We visit Troy, Pergamum, and China, and we speak with Nobel laureates Derek Walcott in the Caribbean and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, as well as the wordsmiths of the oral epic Sunjata in West Africa.Throughout The Written World, Puchner’s delightful narrative also chronicles the inventions—writing technologies, the printing press, the book itself—that have shaped religion, politics, commerce, people, and history. In a book that Elaine Scarry has praised as “unique and spellbinding,” Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into a written world.

    His peace is threatened when the local werewolf alpha and the sorcerer in charge of Las Cruces both mysteriously disappear. While investigating their disappearance he learns of a plot to seize control of the area as well as a group of brave, but untrained, defenders. While the defenders want Ambrose’s help he has his own reasons for preserving his pacifism as part of an old oath. Are a band of misfit supernaturals, and threats against his friends enough to bring out the warrior inside?

    This once-beautiful Appalachian land has fallen under what could almost be an evil enchantment. Disappearing jobs, pill-pushers, and boarded-up buildings have taken their toll, and the people are losing hope. A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER Right before Christmas, a handsome retired colonel in a Stetson comes to town, conjuring up an offer to buy the castle. For barkeep Misty Avalon, a woman who’s returned home to lick her wounds after surviving cancer and a devastating divorce, selling her grandfather’s castle could settle her debts. But can Col. Merle Emery be trusted? WELCOME TO YOUR NEW FAVORITE SERIES From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Emma Jameson and heartland mystery author Cyn Mackley, a charming new mystery series. Because it contains more sleuthing, romance, comedy, and surprises than any one regular-length book can contain, the authors are presenting the saga of Camelot, West Virginia in serial form, just like a bingeable series on Amazon Prime. Get ready for interlocking plots, big romances, and a huge cast of characters, some familiar to fans of the Arthurian legend, some brand spanking new. Find a cozy spot, silence your phone, and enjoy the first of many visits to Camelot, West Virginia.

    However, because it leaves no permanent trace, its evolution has long been a mystery, and it is only in the last fifteen years that we have begun to understand how language came into being. "The First Word" is the compelling story of the quest for the origins of human language. The book follows two intertwined narratives. The first is an account of how language developed?how the random and layered processes of evolution wound together to produce a talking animal: us. The second addresses why scientists are at last able to explore the subject. For more than a hundred years, language evolution was considered a scientific taboo. Kenneally focuses on figures like Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker, along with cognitive scientists, biologists, geneticists, and animal researchers, in order to answer the fundamental question: Is language a uniquely human phenomenon? "The First Word" is the first book of its kind written for a general audience. Sure to appeal to fans of Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct" and Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel," Kenneally's book is set to join them as a seminal account of human history.

    Throughout, the emphasis is on promoting a plain English style. This little book can help you communicate more effectively by showing you how to enliven your sentences.

    Recently, Oloitokitok, the planet survey team's physicist was found dead. Was he killed? If so, by whom? One of his fellow surveyors? Or by one of the Sprookjes, the birdlike natives of Lassti? Are the Sprookjes intelligent? If so, then parties that want the planet for development will lose it. Why is the survey team having so much trouble finding out? Into this situation arrives Tocohl, a Hellspark trader who just wanted to have a vacation on Sheveschke at the St. Veschke festival. After being attacked, rescuing a young woman, and going before a judge, Tocohl has learned all she ever wanted to know about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now she is on her way to find Lasti to find answers to the mysteries there.

    From present tense of regular verbs to direct object pronouns, this comprehensive guide and workbook covers all aspects of French grammar that you need to master. Focusing on the practical aspects of French as it's really spoken, each unit of Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar features clear explanations, numerous realistic examples, and dozens of engaging exercises. Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar makes mastering grammar easy with: Clear, down-to-earth, easy-to-follow explanations that make even the most complex principles easy to understand Example sentences that illustrate and clarify each grammatical point Dozens of exercises in formats suited to every learning style Practical and high-frequency vocabulary used throughout A detailed answer key for quick, easy progress checks With help from this book, you can effortlessly use: * Verbs ending in -oir * Infinitives * Relative pronouns * Gerunds * Pronominal verbs * Passé Composé * Expressions of time * Passive voice

    Unless the neighbor is the extremely hot, mysterious billionaire Isaias Durant with his rock-hard body that Rebecca can’t take her eyes off of. There is no way that this piece of art is attracted to her…the shy virgin. Or is there? Book Two: The Bear Shifter's Second Chance She doesn’t need that sort of relationship in her life, right? It's hard to keep that in mind when Adela Choi sees Marcus Haught drive up on his motorcycle, his tattoos rippling over his hard muscles. So utterly mouth-watering that she can hardly think around him. Not to mention his animal side, that used to make Adela howl. But she has to stay strong, for her and her little toddler. People just don't change, and she isn't about to be hurt again. Book Three: The Bear Shifter's Nanny It's not easy being a shifter without a clan. But finally, Jasmine Rowland has a job at least. Well, being a nanny is not what she had dreamed of, but it pays the bills. Also, there are worse places to be than around that handsome Doctor Alava with his tight clothes, showing every vein and muscle of his body. But something is definitely wrong with him. What is he hiding? Book Four: The Bear Shifter's Baby Lori Rowlands is done with the loser boyfriends she’s always picked; the kind that would play for a while and then leave her high and dry. She wants something sweet but passionate, where they can count on one another in a crisis. And that means her new boss, the rich, delicious lawyer Clifford Boone, is off limits. Or, isn’t he? A little play can’t hurt anybody, right? Book Five: The Bear Shifter's Mate Serena Boone always knew it. Being the new matriarch of her bear shifter clan comes with big responsibility. Nothing she couldn’t handle alone, but now she has to be protected during the transition of power. But why does her protector have to be one hot and sexy masterpiece? He can’t be her mate. Mates are chosen in traditional fights. AUTHOR´S NOTE: This is a collection of paranormal romances with HEA, so no cliff-hangers! The collection contains mature themes and language, and is intended for 18+ readers only.

    But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization.Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding.The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries--the source of the Indo-European languages and English--and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.

    It teaches the fundamentals for reading German literary and scholarly texts of all levels of difficulty.  It can be used as an introductory text for scholars with no background in German, or it can serve as a reference text for students wishing to review German.  The grammar explanations are detailed and clear, addressing common problems students encounter while learning to read German.  The book includes thought-provoking and entertaining reading selections, consisting mainly of aphorisms and proverbs.  There are also 12 appendices, including a summary of German grammar, a partial answer key, strategies for learning German, and an extensive humanities vocabulary.  April Wilson has been offering German reading courses to graduate students in the University of Chicago community since 1972.  Her courses have an excellent reputation for providing students with the essentials of German grammar, quickly.

    The author employs insights from contemporary linguistic theories and builds them into a coherent system firmly rooted in traditional models. Focusing on the idea that students learn grammar by actually doing grammar, he provides down-to-earth explanations about the composition of English sentences, illustrating them at every step with diagrams and other visual models. The author constructs a sensible, even hospitable, approach to grammar. Doing Grammar, 3/e, features real, provocative, and intelligent sentences as examples and exercises. This new edition offers expanded coverage of parts of speech, using both traditional and descriptive explanations to provide definitions of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. It also features updated sentence exercises, clear diagrams, and an appendix containing answers to half the exercises.

    For example:The word adamant came into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for 'diamond,' very different from today's meaning of the word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion."Before the year 1200, the word silly meant "blessed," and was derived from Old English saelig, meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting today's meaning: "stupid or foolish."In Semantic Antics, lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an in-depth, fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used today.

    Now Karen Elizabeth Gordon has revised and enlarged her classic handbook with fuller explanations of the rules of punctuation, additional whimsical graphics, and further character development and drama -- all the while redeeming punctuation from the perils of boredom. For anyone who has despaired of opening a punctuation handbook (but whose sentences despair without one), THE NEW WELL TEMPERED SENTENCE will teach you clearly and simply where to place a comma and how to use an apostrophe. And as you master the elusive slashes, dots, and dashes that give expression to our most perplexing thoughts, you will find yourself in the grip of a bizarre and beguiling comedy of manners. Long-time fans will delight in the further intrigues of cover girl Loona, the duke and duchess, and the mysterious Rosie and Nimrod. The New Well-Tempered Sentence is sure to entertain while teaching you everything you want to know about punctuation. Never before has punctuation been so much fun!

    Drawing on a wide range of  great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works.

    Now he will marry a lovely young woman bearing the Bascombe stamp of approval. But on the eve of his wedding, a blizzard sweeps in–bringing with it an icy legend who calls into question everything Oliver believes about the world and his place in it….Pursued by a murderous creature who heeds no boundaries, Jack Frost needs Oliver's help to save both himself and his world–an alternate reality slowly being displaced by our own. To help him, Oliver Bascombe, attorney-at-law, will have to become Oliver Bascombe, adventurer, hero–and hunted. So begins a magnificent journey where he straddles two realities…and where, even amid danger, Oliver finds freedom for the very first time.