Engelska

Cuba- A Brief History [Bok / Häftad]

<p><b>THE INSTANT <i>SUNDAY TIMES</i> BESTSELLER</b><br/><br/><b>'Holland, who co-hosts the podcast The Rest Is History, is at his best when having fun with Rome's bloody history' <i>The Times </i></b><br/><br/><b>'A book for lovers of traditional, grand sweep narrative history' <i>Sunday Times</i></b><br/><b><br/>The definitive history of Rome's golden age - antiquity's ultimate superpower at the pinnacle of its greatness</b><br/><br/>The Pax Romana has long been revered as a golden age. At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland to Arabia, and contained perhaps a quarter of humanity. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state the world had yet seen.<br/><br/>Beginning in 69AD, a year that saw four Caesars in succession rule the empire, and ending some seven decades later with the death of Hadrian, <i>Pax </i>presents a dazzling history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland portrays the Roman Empire in all its predatory glory. Vivid scene follows vivid scene: the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian's Wall, the conquests of Trajan. Vividly sketching the lives of Romans both ordinary and spectacular, from slaves to emperors, Holland demonstrates how Roman peace was the fruit of unprecedented military violence.<br/><br/>A stunning portrait of Rome's glory days, this is the epic history of the pax Romana.</p>

<p><b>'A magisterial contribution to the understanding of the cultural position of Romani people in Europe. ... nothing short of astounding' <i>Literary Review</i></b><br/><br/>This remarkable book describes a dark side of European history: the rejection of the Roma from their initial arrival in the late Middle Ages to the present day. To Europeans, the Roma appeared to be in complete contradiction with their own culture, because of their mysterious origins, unknown language and way of life. As representatives of an oral culture, for centuries the Roma have left virtually no written records of their own. Their history has been conveyed to us almost exclusively through the distorted images that European cultures project.<br/><br/>Persecuted and shunned, the Roma nonetheless spread out across the continent and became an important, indeed indispensable element in the European imagination. It is impossible to conceive of the culture of Spain, southern France and much of Central Europe without this pervasive Romani influence.<br/><br/><i>Europe and the Roma </i>brilliantly describes the 'fascination and fear' which have marked Europeans' response to the Romani presence. Countless composers, artists and writers have responded to Romani culture and to fantasies thereof. Their projections onto a group whose illiteracy and marginalization gave it so little direct voice of its own have always been a very uneasy mixture of the inspired, the patronizing and the frighteningly ignorant. The book also shows the link between cultural violence, social discrimination and racist policies that paved the way for the genocide of the Roma.</p>

<p><b>'Rich and wonderful . . . This is the world as you've never seen it before' Ian Mortimer</b><br/><br/><b>'A joyful, erudite book . . . A global Middle Ages for our times' Jerry Brotton</b><br/>_____________________<br/><br/>From the bustling bazaars of Tabriz, to the mysterious island of Caldihe, where sheep were said to grow on trees, Anthony Bale brings history alive in <i>A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages</i>, inviting the reader to travel across a medieval world punctuated with miraculous wonders and long-lost landmarks. Journeying alongside scholars, spies and saints, from western Europe to the Far East, the Antipodes, and the ends of the world, this is no ordinary travel guide, containing everything from profane pilgrim badges, Venetian laxatives and flying coffins to encounters with bandits and trysts with princesses.<br/><br/>Using previously untranslated contemporary accounts from as far and wide as Turkey, Iceland, Armenia, north Africa, and Russia, <i>A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages </i>is a living atlas that blurs the distinction between real and imagined places. It offers the reader a vivid and unforgettable insight into how medieval people understood their world - a world of stories, desire and fantasies, of cherished pasts and longed-for futures.<br/>_____________________<br/><br/><b>'Masterful, panoramic, beautifully written and vividly imagined . . . a book to be savoured' Dr Helen Castor, author of <i>Blood and Roses</i></b><br/><br/><b>'An enthralling journey into the past and across the world . . . this book takes us to barely imaginable places - but the most remarkable thing we find may be ourselves' Seb Falk, author of <i>The Light Ages</i></b></p>

<p><b>**A <i>Telegraph</i> Best History Book 2023 and<i> Spectator</i> Book of the Year**<br/><br/>The inspirational story of the ordinary people who forged the documents that saved thousands of Jewish lives in World War Two.</b><br/><br/><b>'Powerful ... gripping ... inspiring'</b> JONATHAN DIMBLEBY<br/><br/>Between 1940 and 1943, a small group of Polish diplomats and Jewish activists in Switzerland engaged in a wholly remarkable - and until now, almost completely unknown - humanitarian operation. Under the leadership of the Polish Ambassador, Aleksander Lados, they undertook a systematic programme of forging identity documents for Latin American countries, which were then smuggled into German-occupied Europe to save the lives of thousands of Jews facing extermination in the Holocaust.<br/><br/>The Lados operation was one of the largest rescue missions of the entire war, and The Forgers tells this extraordinary story for the first time. We follow the desperate bids of Jews to obtain these life-saving documents, and their painful uncertainty over whether they will be granted protection from the Nazis' murderous fury. And we witness the quiet heroism of those who decided to act in an attempt to save thousands of lives.<br/><br/><b>'Fascinating'</b> <i>THE TIMES</i><br/><b>'Remarkable'</b> <i>SUNDAY TIMES</i><br/><b>'As gripping as it is moving' </b>JULIA BOYD<br/><b>'An astonishing book</b>' KATJA HOYER</p>

<b>"A modern day Lafcadio Hearn is picking up his ghostly torch. Zack Davisson is the author, translator, and folklorist following in Hearn's footsteps."</b> -tofugu.com<br/><br/>Mysterious demons, ghosts and monsters have haunted Japan for centuries! <i>The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Yokai</i> presents 100 of the strangest creatures you have ever seen-from evil demons and terrifying monsters to mythical ghosts and enchanted beasts.<br/><br/>In this book, Yokai expert Zack Davisson explains how Yokai are highly elusive, and yet without understanding them you will never truly know Japan. The Yokai profiled in this book include:<br/><br/><ul><li><b>Amabie</b>: A mysterious half fish, half bird creature said to heal any affliction merely by gazing upon its image</li><li><b>Tofu Kozo</b>: A harmless Yokai that appears like a young child dressed in a fancy kimono with a straw hat carrying a plate of wobbly tofu</li><li><b>Kyokotsu</b>: The pitiful spirit of a person who was thrown down a well and died-with pale skin and a shock of white hair growing from a bleached-white skull</li><li><b>Akaname</b>: A disgusting Yokai who skitters about licking the scum from filthy bathtubs</li><li><b>Kanibozu</b>: Massive crabs, who shapeshift into human form, disguising themselves as monks asking riddles, but killing anyone who fails to answer correctly!</li><li>And many more!</li></ul><br/>Packed with interesting facts and entertaining stories, this book is richly illustrated with over 250 color woodblock prints and paintings that reveal the fascinating world of the Yokai.

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN & NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 'Extraordinary ... a deliciously varied tapestry of detail drawn from across nearly three centuries' Telegraph What was it really like to rule and be ruled in the Ancient Roman world? In her international best-seller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now, she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman (and our own) fantasies about what it was to be Roman, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.