In Arab culture, at the ineffable point where music meets emotion, lies ṭarab. Often glossed as the ecstasy experienced and expressed when performing or listening to singing, instrumental works, and recitations of poetry, ṭarab is both a practice and an orienting concept central to musical aesthetics and spirituality characteristic of Middle Eastern cultures.Gathering fifteen essays by scholars of music, affect, literature, religion, and education, Ṭarab extends the study ...

A COLLECTION OF AMERICAN SOLDIER MILITARY HEROICSJOHN BASILONEWar brings out the best and the worst in people. With the United States participating in countless wars over the years, there have been quite a few exceptional soldiers who have been able to shine during combat, having done their due diligence to protect their country and fellow troop members. Giovanni "John" Basilone was a war hero whose actions in the Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima campaigns of the WWII earned him two ...

Expert writers present the major traditions of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, together with personal accounts of performers, composers, teachers, and ceremonies. A special feature of this volume is the inclusion of dozens of brief snap-shot essays that offer "lifestories" of typical musicmakers and their art, as well as first-person descriptions of specific music performances and events. Also includes maps and music examples.

Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Creative Communication 2015There is a treasure trove of underappreciated music out there; this book will convince many to explore it. The EconomistWhatis classical music? This book answers the question in a manner never before attempted, by presenting the history of fifteen parallel traditions, of which Western classical music is just one. Each music is analysed in terms of itsmodes, scales, and theory; its instrument...

Maybe you were born to Christian parents and raised as a Christian. Or maybe you are just a part of a Christian nation. You might have attended church regularly, or maybe just on special occasions. If asked, you say that you believe in God, but you really never thought about what that means exactly. You are a well-educated person who accepts the idea of Biblical miracles, but only the more "reasonable" ones. You have read some of the Bible, mostly just parts of the New Testament, but n...

The bestselling "quackbuster" and "tireless tub-thumper against pseudoscience" fishes for the facts in a flood of misinformation ( Maclean's).Eat this and live to 100. Don't, and die. Today, hyperboles dominate the media, which makes parsing science from fiction an arduous task when deciding what to eat, what chemicals to avoid, and what's best for the environment. In Is That a Fact?, bestselling author Dr. Joe Schwarcz carefully navigates through...

For fans of the Netflix series The Crown, a meticulously researched historical tour de force about the secret ties among Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, the Duke of Windsor, and Adolf Hitler before, during, and after World War II.Andrew Morton tells the story of the feckless Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, his American wife, Wallis Simpson, the bizarre wartime Nazi plot to make him a puppet king after the invasion of Britain, and the attempte...

Drawn from the cutting-edge frontiers of science, This Explains Everything will revolutionize your understanding of the world.What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation? This is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org ("The world's smartest website"—The Guardian), posed to the world's most influential minds. Flowing from the horizons of physics, economics, psychology, neuroscience, and more, This Explains ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The groundbreaking exploration of probability and uncertainty that explains how to make better predictions in a world drowning in data, from the nation’s foremost political forecaster—updated with insights into the pandemic, journalism today, and pollingOne of The Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Works of Nonfiction of the Year“Could turn out to be one of the more momentous books of the de...

Dive into this binge-worthy epic fantasy series filled with action-packed drama and magic by urban fantasy author Thea Atkinson. Start with the first in series book: Water WitchThe series starter for a completed epic romantic fantasy with coming of age vibes and a morally grey heroine.Her magic is death. Her loyalty is a lie. And the truth may destroy her.Alaysha has been her father’s weapon for as long as she can remember—...

A crackling, highly imaginative thriller debut in the vein of W.E.B. Griffin and Philip Kerr, set in German-occupied London at the close of World War II, in which a hardened British detective jeopardizes his own life to save an innocent soul and achieve the impossible—redemption.London, 1946. The Nazis have conquered the British, and now occupy Great Britain, using brutality and fear to control its citizens. John Henry Rossett, a decorated British war hero and former police sergean...

"Enlightenment meets On the Road in this witty, insightful novel." — The Boston Sunday GlobeWhen his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger—and amuse himself—he decides to show the monk some "American fun" ...