‘I would like to share with you what I saw.’The old international order is over, and a competition is underway to determine what comes next. Inflection Point is an insider account of how the Biden administration handled global crises and what is to come under Trump and beyond. Written by a senior member of President Biden’s National Security Council, this book argues there are now two Americas – one internationalist and the other America First – that will compete with each...

Wright chronicles Burton's many expeditions, including his famous journey to Mecca disguised as a Muslim pilgrim, which broke cultural and religious barriers of the time. The biography highlights Burton's fascination with diverse cultures, his proficiency in languages, and his contributions to the study of geography and anthropology. Wright also explores Burton's complex personality, marked by a mix of brilliance and controversy, as he often challenged social norms and held unorthodox view...

According to Wikipedia: "Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages. Burton's best-known achievements include trave...

The book begins with an overview of the ancient and medieval context of Palestine, emphasizing its importance as a center of religious pilgrimage for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Wright examines the motivations behind these early travels, often rooted in the desire to visit sacred sites, such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and to engage with the biblical landscape. He highlights the challenges these travelers faced, including difficult terrains, political instability, and the socio-cultural...

For Wilde, as for many people, reading could be as powerful and transformative an experience as falling in love. He devoured books, talked books, luxuriated in books and lavished books on his friends- they played, too, a vital part in his seductions of young men.Oscar's Books tells the story of Wilde's life through his reading, from his childhood in Dublin, where he was nurtured on Celtic myth, Romantic poetry and Irish folklore; through his undergraduate years in which he...

He stood six feet four inches tall, spoke seven languages, rode solo across frozen Russian steppes, and died with a lance through his chest at the Battle of Abu Klea. Colonel Fred Burnaby was not a man who did things quietly. A decorated officer of the Royal Horse Guards, a celebrated balloonist, a war correspondent, a political firebrand, and one of the most physically imposing figures of the Victorian age, Burnaby lived with the throttle wide open from the moment he drew breath to the mo...

In "A History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art," Thomas Wright embarks on an extensive exploration of the evolution of caricature and the grotesque across various forms of artistic expression. The book meticulously dissects the interplay between humor and social critique, presenting a scholarly examination of how caricature has shaped societal perceptions and artistic movements throughout history. Wright's literary style is characterized by its rigorous analysis and rich h...

Fifteen years have elapsed since the death of Sir Richard Burton and twelve since the appearance of the biography of Lady Burton. A deeply pathetic interest attaches itself to that book. Lady Burton was stricken down with an incurable disease. Death with its icy breath hung over her as her pen flew along the paper, and the questions constantly on her lips were "Shall I live to complete my task? Shall I live to tell the world how great and noble a man my husband was, and to refute the calum...

Much has been written at different times on the costume and some other circumstances connected with the condition of our forefathers in past times, but no one has undertaken with much success to treat generally of the domestic manners of the middle ages. The history of domestic manners, indeed, is a subject, the materials of which are exceedingly varied, widely scattered, and not easily brought together; they, of course, vary in character with the periods to which they relate, and at certa...

The Worship of The Generative Powersby Thomas Wright"This work first appeared as the second half of the 1865 printing of A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus. Wright's extended essay on Phallic worship is distinguished by much better scholarship and writing than some of the other works of this genre. Along with the usual suspects (ancient and modern phallic objects, fertility rituals and so on) Wright devotes the longest section of this text to exploring what would become k...

A groundbreaking look at the future of great power competition in an age of globalization and what the United States can do in responseThe two decades after the Cold War saw unprecedented cooperation between the major powers as the world converged on a model of liberal international order. Now, great power competition is back and the liberal order is in jeopardy. Russia and China are increasingly revisionist in their regions. The Middle East appears to be unraveling. And many Americ...

Few historical documents are more interesting or important than the contemporary songs in which the political partizan satirised his opponents and stirred up the courage of his friends, or in which the people exulted over victories gained abroad against their enemies or at home against their oppressors, or lamented over evil counsels and national calamities. Yet, though a few specimens have been published from time to time in collections of miscellaneous poetry, such as those of Percy and ...