From time immemorial Afghanistan has both been a fortress of faith and a mountainous crossroads. Through its high valleys merchants traded Chinese porcelains, bundles of indigo cloth, sacks of lapis lazuli, golden jewellery, emeralds and fine carvings from both east and west. Ancient scrolls and beliefs entered the land in satchels of Buddhist pilgrims and in the baggage of military invaders- from Alexander the Great to Mughal, Persian and Arab conquerors and even the ill-fated armies of t...

'Horace tells us in his poetry almost everything we need to know about his life; it is curiously entangled with the Italian earth, with the history of his times, and an exact moment in that brief early summer of Latin poetry which had no autumn.'The work of the great Roman poet, Horatius Flaccus (65 BC to 8 BC), spanned all aspects of Roman life: politics, the arts, religion, and the authority of the emperor, while his legendary poems (Satires, Odes, E...

Peter Levi paints a radiant portrait of the Greece he came to know through a lifetime of exploration. As a young scholar he sought out its ancient spirit, the keys to its mythology and civilisation, in its ruined cities and majestic mountains. Later, as a priest working as a diplomat and a friend of the oppressed, he lived in Athens through the dark days of the dictatorship. The sinews of political life led back to secret alliances made during the civil war and the earlier occupation of Gr...

This authoritative and extremely readable biography is the first since the Victorian Age to pay full attention to Shakespeare’s life and times and their numerous subtle connections to his works. Peter Levi emphasizes the background of Shakespeare’s life: the local and national events that shaped his experiences, his family and friends, and the Elizabethan people with whom he shared his life and populated his plays. Bringing together new research and new discoveries and reexamining the famo...

Civic matters affect all members of a community and are thus of potential concern to all. In Community Matters: Challenges to Civic Engagement in the 21st Century, six distinguished scholars address three perennial challenges of civic life: the making of a citizen, how citizens are to agree (and disagree), and how to define the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The thought-provoking essays in this volume discuss integral civic concerns such as: how can we improve civic e...

This volume contains a selection of early works by Yevgeny Alexandrovich Yevtushenko who blazed a trail for a generation of Soviet poets with a confident poetic voice that moves effortlessly between social and personal themes. ‘Zima Junction’ vividly describes his idyllic childhood in Siberia and his impressions of home after a long absence in Moscow. Private moments are captured in ‘Waking’, on the joys of discovering the unexpected in a lover, and ‘Birthday’, on a mother’s concern for he...

Échange appartementcontre tranquillité d’esprit…ou pas !Lorsque Corbin propose à Kate d’échanger leurs appartements respectifs de Boston et de Londres, Kate, récemment victime d’un ex à la jalousie pathologique, pense que cela l’aidera à remonter la pente et accepte avec joie la proposition de son cousin américain.Malheureusement, à peine arrivée, elle apprend qu’une Voisine, Audrey Marshall, a été assassinée. Troublée, elle se pose aussitôt des quest...

Written by a Greek traveller in the second century ad for a principally Roman audience, Pausanias' Guide to Greece is a comprehensive, extraordinarily literate and well-informed guidebook for tourists of the age. Concentrating on buildings, tombs and statues, it also describes in detail the myths, religious beliefs and historical background behind the monuments considered. In doing so, it preserves Greek legends, quotes classical literature and poetry that would otherwise have been lost, a...

The If Odyssey draws out the philosophy that lies behind each story in Homer'sepic tale to introduce children not only to the exciting fables of Odysseus,but also to that other great Ancient Greek tradition, philosophy. Explore withOdysseus the value of happiness, non-existent entities, moral dilemmas, thephilosophy of prophecy, and the nature of love among many other philosophicalissues. From the author of The If Machine, this book offers stories and

Why do representatives of different religious traditions find the transhumanist vision of the future not only theologically compatible but even inspiring? Transhumanism is a global movement seeking radical human enhancement. The trans in transhumanism marks the transition from the present stage in human evolution into the future, namely, post-human existence. Containing chapters written by adherents to a variety of religious traditions, Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics prov...

O organizador reuniu pesquisadores de diversos países para explicarem a identidade de suas respectivas nações em ensaios críticos e concisos, apresentando assim Argentina, Austrália, Brasil, Canadá, China, República Tcheca, Egito, Finlândia, França, Alemanha, Gana, Grã-Bretanha, Grécia, Hungria, Índia, Irã, Irlanda, Israel, Itália, Japão, México, Holanda, Polônia, Rússia, Espanha, Suécia, Turquia e Estados Unidos. A edição brasileira traz uma introdução crítica escrita pelo professor Robso...

Wealth, Health, and Hope in African Christian Religion offers a portrait of how contending narratives of modernity in both church and society play out in Africa today through the agency of African Christian religion. It explores the identity and features of African Christian religion and the cultural forces driving the momentum of Christian expansion in Africa, as well as how these factors are shaping a new African social imagination, especially in providing answers to the most challenging...