Search results for ""Author Marina""

Gloria is from a family of synchronized swimmers. They are gifted, graceful, and even groovy, and together they ALWAYS win gold at the Artistic Swimming Championships. But Gloria dreams of a prize she doesn''t have to share. So, when the Savannah Games come to town, Gloria decides to find a sport she can win all by herself!After dabbling in sprinting, gymnastics, and swimming, it dawns on Gloria that competing solo is rather lonely. She misses her family, but is it too late for her to fill the Gloria-sized hole in their team?Get ready for Gloria to make a splash, as this ambitious hippo learns that winning gold might not be the best prize at all.

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Presented in a luminous perspex slipcase, with gilt edges, stamping, and paper changes, throughout, Imitatio Vitae; features close-up photographs of the Doge's Palace capitals drawn from the Cameraphoto Arte archive and selected by photographer Marina Cicogna (born 1934), who also added her own shots. The column capitals of the Doge's Palace in Venice take us back in time, revealing glimpses of everyday life in the 14th century with their depictions of life in the fields and in the period's workshops, baskets of fruit and animals, cherubs and love scenes, marital relations and family groups, and images of cosmology and astrological houses. Sculpted by unknown but extraordinary masters, the carved bas-reliefs act out ancient and fascinating stories. In 1851, English art critic John Ruskin described these large capitals as a course of divinity and of natural history. A lavish volume coproduced by Gucci and Marsilio, Imitatio Vitae; brings the extravagant details of the Doge's Palace to life.

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Learn to paint 50 vibrant watercolour animals in seven simple stages, with award-winning artist Marina Bakasova. Paint 50 Watercolour Animals is the first title in a new beginner-friendly 'how-to-paint' series. This book will focus on a range of animals, from popular pets to wild creatures; from fun flamingos and doting dogs to mischievous monkeys. Over the course of 50 simple watercolour projects, this title will teach you how to paint! Each project can be completed in just seven simple steps from initial line drawing to finished creation, using a small selection of colours and a handful of easy-to-follow watercolour techniques. Whether you want to create a hand-painted card, decorate your wall or maybe you simply want to learn the relaxing art of painting with watercolours, with 50 cute motifs to choose from, you’ll easily find something to inspire you. No prior knowledge of watercolour techniques needed – This book contains a short list of tools and materials needed to get started and a clear and informative guide to the basic techniques needed to paint this varied collection of animals. No drawing skills required – The line drawings are provided at full size, ready to copy or trace – and all the information on how to do so is included. The line drawings are also available to download for free from Bookmarked (www.bookmarkedhub.com). Suitable for artists of all levels – Marina’s clear instructions guide the reader from start to finish in a way that makes it easy for anyone to pick up a brush and learn how to paint in her loose, characterful style.

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AS FEATURED ON ITV''S THIS MORNING, BBC RADIO 4 WOMAN''S HOUR AND BBC RADIO 2 WITH JEREMY VINE''Marina''s writing is as exquisite as her casting.'' - PAUL WHITEHOUSE''Unique and very enjoyable.'' - TRISTAN GOOLEY, author of How to Read a Tree''Meditative and revelatory'' - DAILY MAIL___________An inspiring true story about the healing power of water from one of the world''s best known female anglersIn her early twenties, drifting and directionless, Marina Gibson fled the city for the countryside, and picked up a fishing rod for the first time in years. She was returning to a childhood pursuit and a passion passed on by her mother.Fishing overtook Marina''s life as she grew enraptured by the quiet magic of angling. Whiling away hours by a Highland river or a local chalk stream, with only the ritual of casting and the music of the water for company,

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The Firm meets McMafia in Marina Palmer''s thrilling and exciting novel, which opens the door on the Russian high life in London and corruption at the heart of British politics, reaching all the way into the Secret Services.Packed with twists, intrigue, betrayal, romance and suspense, The Russian Doll constantly wrong-foots the reader and delivers a perfect narrative, right to the last page.How much did she just say the salary was?When Ruth Miller returns a dropped scarf to Elena Shilkov, she is whisked from a dreary shared flat to a world of unimagined luxury.The super-rich Russian wants a new personal assistant and won''t take no for an answer.Ruth gets accommodation, a credit card, and a complete wardrobe makeover. And she''s good at the job; distributing gifts, attending galas, dealing with the high-society movers and shakers fighting for Elena''s attention.Then the sinister truth begins to reveal itsel

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Never before published, this self-curated, intensely personal collection of travel notes and sketches by the world's most revered performance artist offers readers a kind of iconography of Abramovic 's daring and utterly original body of work. An artist's notebooks are arguably the most authentic means of understanding her process, techniques, and impulses. And, for a performance artist, a rare, permanent record of how she develops her craft. Compiled over the course of four decades on stationery from various hotels, and other temporary residences, this collection of Marina Abramovic 's original drawings, collages, poetry, writings, cut-outs, photographs and doodles offers glimpses of a brilliant mind in constant motion. Beautifully produced and packaged, it takes readers on a journey through Abramovic 's thoughts-and traces the evolution of the most fruitful phase of her career. "I believe we humans need to keep moving forward, and my own life was purely nomadic," Abramovic writes of her travel diaries. "My home was everywhere I went because my home was my own body." With the archival material elegantly reproduced in their original size on high-quality paper, this collection offers Abramovic 's enormous fanbase unprecedented access to her creative process.

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The bestselling first historical love story set in Venice, from Marina Fiorato. For fans of Philippa Gregory, Sarah Dunant and Alison Weir.1681. Glassblowing is the lifeblood of the Republic and Venetian mirrors are more precious than gold. Jealously guarded by the murderous Council of Ten, the glassblowers of Murano are virtually imprisoned on their island in the lagoon.But the greatest artist of their number, Corradino Manin, sells his methods and his soul to the Sun King, Louise XIV of France, to protect his secret daughter . . . Centuries later his descendant, Nora Manin, escapes an unhappy life in London, determined to apprentice as a glassblower in the city of her ancestors. Passionate and gifted, her famous family name places her in danger within the ancient foundries when timeles rivalries rise to the surface. As she finds new life and love in Venice, Nora's fate becomes inextricably linked with that of Corradino as the treacherous secrets of his life come to light.

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This excellent resource for teachers of singing, voice coaches, and speech-language pathologists who work with singers and other voice professionals provides a new paradigm for improved kinesthetic awareness in order to produce better singing technique.

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Using real-life stories, Forgiveness explores the messy, complex and gripping subject of forgiveness. 'Cantacuzino's gift for empathy shines through her conversations... She tackles her complex [message] with clear prose and an open heart... This nuance feels like a cool breeze in a heatwave. If there is a message here, it's to listen more, think more and preach less'Sunday Times ‘This is an utterly memorable book – beautifully written, fascinating in its insights, and extraordinarily moving. We all need to forgive, and this book, through its recounting of the stories of people who have something really significant to forgive, will be an inspiration to help us reach a state of forgiveness. This is a book that will stay with the reader for a very long time’Alexander McCall SmithI forgive you. Three simple words behind which sits an intriguing and complex concept. These words can be used to absolve a meaningless squabble, or said to someone who has caused you great harm. They can liberate you from guilt, or consciously place blame on your shoulders. Forgiveness can often be perceived as saccharine and overtly religious, something just for the spiritually superior or mentally strong. But really it is a gritty, risky concept that is so often relevant to our ordinary everyday lives. Forgiveness explores the subject from every angle, coming from a place of enquiry rather than persuasion, presenting it as an offering, never a prescription. Marina Cantacuzino seeks to investigate, unpick and debate the limits and possibilities of forgiveness – in our relationships, for our physical and mental wellbeing, how it plays out in international politics and within the criminal justice system, and where it intersects with religious faith. Cantacuzino speaks to people across the globe who have considered forgiveness in different forms and circumstances. She talks to a survivor of Auschwitz; to someone who accidentally killed a friend; to people who have lost loved ones in acts of violence; to a former combatant in The Troubles as well as to the daughter of someone he murdered. Through these real stories, expert opinion and the author’s experience from two decades working in this field, the reader gets to better understand what forgiveness is and what it most definitely isn’t, how it can be an important element in breaking the cycle of suffering, and ultimately how it might help transform fractured relationships and mend broken hearts.

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Set in the mysterious landscape of the bogs of rural Ireland, Carr's lyrical and timeless play tells the story of Hester Swane, an Irish traveller with a deep and unearthly connection to her land. Tormented by the memory of a mother who deserted her, Hester is once again betrayed, this time by the father of her child, the man she loves. On the brink of despair, she embarks on a terrible journey of vengeance as the secrets of her tangled history are revealed.'A piece of poetic realism steeped in the past . . . Carr has an extraordinary ability to move between the mythic and the real.' Guardian'A great play . . . a great work of poetry.' IndependentBy the Bog of Cats premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 1998. It was revived at Wyndham's Theatre, London, in November 2004.

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A LAUGH-OUT-LOUD NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTORS IN UKRAINIANAfter walking out on his wife to shack up with 'Brexit Brenda' next door, George Pantis thinks he's got it made - especially when he wins millions on a Kosovan lottery he barely remembers entering.Unfortunately, he can't access the money because he's forgotten his password. What is he meant to tell all the forceful people who keep appearing at his doorstep desperate to know his mother's maiden name?The situation is shadier than he thinks, and George is need of rescue. But will his dysfunctional family be able to save him, and in the process, can they save each other? ______________________________________________________'Lewycka has carved out a reputation for tackling Big Topics with wit and humour' Radio Times'Warmly funny' Daily Mail'Her state-of-the-nation novel crackles with zingy one-liners and shrewd humour' Mail on Sunday

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From wicked queens, beautiful princesses, elves, monsters, and goblins, to giants, glass slippers, poisoned apples, magic keys, and mirrors, the characters and images of fairy tales have cast a spell over readers and audiences, both adults and children, for centuries. These fantastic stories have travelled across cultural borders, and been passed on from generation to generation, ever-changing, renewed with each re-telling. Few forms of literature have greater power to enchant us and rekindle our imagination than a fairy tale. But what is a fairy tale? Where do they come from and what do they mean? What do they try and communicate to us about morality, sexuality, and society? The range of fairy tales stretches across great distances and time; their history is entangled with folklore and myth, and their inspiration draws on ideas about nature and the supernatural, imagination and fantasy, psychoanalysis, and feminism. In this Very Short Introduction, Marina Warner digs into a rich hoard of fairy tales in all their brilliant and fantastical variations, in order to define a genre and evaluate a literary form that keeps shifting through time and history. Drawing on a glittering array of examples, from classics such as Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, the Grimm Brothers' Hansel and Gretel, and Hans Andersen's The Little Mermaid, to modern-day realizations including Walt Disney's Snow White, Warner forms a persuasive case for fairy tale as a crucial repository of human understanding and culture. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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The Chinese state uses cultural heritage as a source of power by linking it to political and economic goals, but heritage discourse has at the same time encouraged new actors to appropriate the discourse to protect their own traditions. This book focuses on that contested nature of heritage, especially through the lens of individuals, local communities, religious groups, and heritage experts. It examines the effect of the internet on heritage-isation, as well as how that process affects different groups of people.

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Das Nachschlagewerk bietet ausführliche Informationen rund um die Themen Haut, Haare, Nägel, Nagelmodellage, Beauty-Medizin und Gerätekunde. Die Autorin listet kosmetische Inhaltsstoffe mit ihrer gültigen INCI-Bezeichnung auf, beschreibt und bewertet diese und gibt darüber hinaus Schmink- und Pflegetipps. Der Band liefert verständliche Erläuterungen zu insgesamt 11.500 Stichworten, die wichtigsten englischen und französischen Fachtermini sind übersetzt. Die Autorin wurde 2006 für ihr profundes Wissen mit dem Christine-Schrammek-Preis ausgezeichnet.

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How do states overcome problems of collective action in the face of human atrocities, terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction? How does international burden-sharing in this context look like: between the rich and the poor; the big and the small? These are the questions Marina E. Henke addresses in her new book Constructing Allied Cooperation. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis of 80 multilateral military coalitions, Henke demonstrates that coalitions do not emerge naturally. Rather, pivotal states deliberately build them. They develop operational plans and bargain suitable third parties into the coalition, purposefully using their bilateral and multilateral diplomatic connections—what Henke terms diplomatic embeddedness—as a resource. As Constructing Allied Cooperation shows, these ties constitute an invaluable state capability to engage others in collective action: they are tools to construct cooperation. Pulling apart the strategy behind multilateral military coalition-building, Henke looks at the ramifications and side effects as well. As she notes, via these ties, pivotal states have access to private information on the deployment preferences of potential coalition participants. Moreover, they facilitate issue-linkages and side-payments and allow states to overcome problems of credible commitments. Finally, pivotal states can use common institutional contacts (IO officials) as cooperation brokers, and they can convert common institutional venues into fora for negotiating coalitions. The theory and evidence presented by Henke force us to revisit the conventional wisdom on how cooperation in multilateral military operations comes about. The author generates new insights with respect to who is most likely to join a given multilateral intervention, what factors influence the strength and capacity of individual coalitions, and what diplomacy and diplomatic ties are good for. Moreover, as the Trump administration promotes an "America First" policy and withdraws from international agreements and the United Kingdom completes Brexit, Constructing Allied Cooperation is an important reminder that international security cannot be delinked from more mundane forms of cooperation; multilateral military coalitions thrive or fail depending on the breadth and depth of existing social and diplomatic networks.

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This volume covers the cultural history of race in ‘the long 19th century’ – the age of empire and nation-state, a transformative period during which a modern world had been forged and complex and hierarchical imperial formations were challenged by the emerging national norm. The concept of race emerged as a dominant epistemology in the context of the conflicting entanglement of empire and nation as two alternative but quite compatible forms of social imaginary. It penetrated all spheres of life under the novel conditions of the emerging mass culture and mass society and with the sanction of anthropocentric and positivistic science. Allegedly primeval and parasocial, ‘race’ was seen as a uniquely stable constant in a society in flux amid transforming institutions, economies, and political regimes. But contrary to this perception, there was nothing stable or natural about ‘race.’ The spread of racializing social and political imagination only reinforced the need for constant renegotiation and readjustment of racial boundaries. Therefore, avoiding any structuralist simplifications, this volume looks at specific imperial, nationalizing, and hybrid contexts framing the semantics and politics of race in the course of the long 19th century. In different parts of the globalizing world, various actors were applying their own notions of ‘race’ to others and to themselves, embracing it simultaneously as a language of othering and personal subjectivity. Consequently, the cultural history of race as told in this volume unfolds on many levels, in multiple loci, and in different genres, thus reflecting the qualities of race as an omnipresent and all-embracing discourse of the time

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Jews, Race, and the Politics of Difference explores how Russian Jewish writers and political activists such as Vladimir Jabotinsky turned to "race" as an operational concept in the late imperial politics of the Russian Empire.Building on the latest scholarship on racial thinking and Jewish identities, Marina Mogilner shows how Jewish anthropologists, ethnographers, writers, lawyers, and political activists in late imperial Russia sought to construct a Jewish identity based on racial categorization in addition to religious affiliation. By grounding nationality not in culture and territory but in blood and biology, race offered Jewish nationalists in Russia a scientifically sound and politically effective way to reaffirm their common identity.Jews, Race, and the Politics of Difference presents the works of Jabotinsky as a lens to understanding Jewish "self-racializing," and brings Jews and race together in a framework that is more multifaceted and controversial than that implied by the usual narratives of racial antisemitism.

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Family Jewels is the official album-matching songbook to Marina and the Diamonds' debut release. This artist-approved deluxe edtion features all the songs from the album arranged for piano and voice with guitar chords, along with four pages of colour photos. Marina Lambrini Diamandis, better known by her stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer-songwriter who rose to fame after reaching number two on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll list, coming second to Ellie Goulding.

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Get Lost in the Fantastical World of Fungi!Embark on a journey of creativity and color as you bring your favorite fungi to life. Dance atop fly agaric with faeries, parachute down with snails onto the spongy tops of white morels or toast scarlet elf cups at a frog tea party. There are shroom houses, cities and even an entire planet all featuring intricate details and lines that will keep you mesmerized for hours. Or ground yourself by coloring in some simple yet stunning pieces such as an overflowing forager's basket or comforting mushroom soup. With the perfect balance of warmth and whimsy, these breathtaking illustrations will transport you to the cozy escape you've been dreaming of.

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The handbook interactively takes up all relevant topics in Latin didactics and constantly encourages readers to think along. As a workbook with tasks, suggestions and explanations, the volume contains all the basics that are necessary for teaching Latin. It is therefore particularly suitable for the basic development of the subject didactic sub-areas during the training phase. Solutions for the subject didactic interactive parts and concrete teaching examples can be found in the download area below in the media library.

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During the Stalin years Russia had four great poets to voice the feelings of her oppressed people: Pasternak, Akhmatova, Mandelstam and Marina Tsvetayeva. The first two survived the terror, but Mandelstam died in a camp and Tsvetayeva was driven to hang herself in 1941. This comprehensive selection of Tsvetayeva's poetry includes complete versions of all her major long poems and poem cycles: Poem of the End, An Attempt at a Room, Poems to Czechia and New Year Letter. It was the first English translation to use the new, definitive Russica text of her work. It also includes additional versions ascribed to F.F. Morton which first appeared in The New Yorker: these rhyming translations are actually the work of Joseph Brodsky (who lived at 44 Morton Street in New York).

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This lyrical non-fiction picture book celebrates the simple joys of football, whatever your background or ability. Rather than focusing on rules, skills, superstars, big clubs and record-breaking feats, this uplifting book for young children celebrates the planet's best-loved sport and shows how the world's most accessible game – where the only equipment needed is something that rolls – has evolved into a force for unity, and a sport for absolutely everyone. Spreads cover how football can be played by all ages, genders, and abilities, whatever your racial, cultural or economic background, and whether you’re in a state-of-the-art stadium or just a simple patch of scrubland.

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In 1994, 21 years after her disappearance, Lucy Partington's remains were discovered in Fred and Rosemary West's basement at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester. In this powerful and lyrical book, Lucy's elder sister, Marian, reclaims Lucy from the status of victim and finds an authentic and compassionate response to her traumatic loss. Her inspiring narrative of healing draws on Buddhist and Quaker practices and culminates in restorative justice work in prisons.

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Why our failure to consider the power of animals is to our deep detriment Animals are staging a revolution—they’re just not telling us. From radioactive boar invading towns to jellyfish disarming battleships, this book threads together news accounts and more in a powerful and timely work of creative, speculative nonfiction that imagines a revolution stirring and asks how humans can be a part of it. If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we should pay attention to how we bump up against animal worlds and how animals will push back. Animal Revolution is a passionate, provocative, cogent call for us to do so.Ron Broglio reveals how fur and claw and feather and fin are jamming the gears of our social machine. We can try to frame such disruptions as environmental intervention or through the lens of philosophy or biopolitics, but regardless the animals persist beyond our comprehension in reminding us that we too are part of an animal world. Animals see our technologies and machines as invasive beings and, in a nonlinguistic but nonetheless intensive mode of communicating with us, resist our attempts to control them and diminish their habitats. In doing so, they expose the environmental injustices and vulnerabilities in our systems. A witty, informative, and captivating work—at the juncture of posthumanism, animal studies, phenomenology, and environmental studies—Broglio reminds us of our inadequacy as humans, not our exceptionalism.

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The potential of films to educate has been crucial for the development of cinema intended to influence culture, and is as important as conceptions of film as a form of art, science, industry, or entertainment. Using the concept of institutionalization as a heuristic for generating new approaches to the history of educational cinema, contributors to this volume study the co-evolving discourses, cultural practices, technical standards, and institutional frameworks that transformed educational cinema from a convincing idea into an enduring genre. The Institutionalization of Educational Cinema examines the methods of production, distribution, and exhibition established for the use of educational films within institutions–such as schools, libraries, and industrial settings in various national and international contexts and takes a close look at the networks of organizations, individuals, and government agencies that were created as a result of these films' circulation. Through case studies of educational cinemas in different North American and European countries that explore various modes of institutionalization of educational film, this book highlights the wide range of vested interests that framed the birth of educational and nontheatrical cinema.

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With the crisis of the global capitalist economy, the topic of global culture is regaining its importance and needs to be revisited from both theoretical and practical standpoints. How do we make sense of this rapid flow of global consumer culture across national borders? What is the role of corporations, governments and social movements in shaping these flows? How do these flows of money, people, culture, goods and services work in practice? Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this volume examines the way cultures and people oppose, resist and re-centre globalisation.

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Zelensky is the first major biography of Ukraine's leader written for a Western audience. Told with flair and authority, it is the gripping story of one of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world. Action-packed biography of Ukraine's comedian-turned-President Millions who have admired Volodymyr Zelensky's defiance during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will learn much from this up-to-date biography of the Ukrainian President. Zelensky's life to date has been packed with drama and action. By the age of 20, the Jewish boy from the provincial town of Kryvyi Rih had become a star of the stage. At 30, he headed a multimillion-dollar TV company. At 40, he took on Ukraine’s corrupt political and business elite in a TV drama, playing a history teacher who becomes President. Then he launched a real-life political party named after the TV show, won a landslide victory and became Ukraine's real President. When Russian troops flooded across the border, Zelensky refused Western offers to leave Kyiv. He has marshalled Ukraine's resistance and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons. Zelensky said: ‘If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me. Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when I leave.’ Zelensky is written by a long-standing Russia and Ukraine reporter and a Russian- and Ukrainian speaking researcher. It’s a pithy biography of Zelensky for anyone who wants to understand Ukraine’s charismatic head of state, his complex country, and its vexed relationship with Russia. Covering Zelensky's life from his childhood to the Ukrainian presidency, Zelensky deals with his background in a Russian-speaking region of Ukraine, his early career in TV taking part in KVN talent competitions, and his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry. Then it deals with Zelensky's breakthrough moment in the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption. The show becomes a reality and Zelensky's party, Servant of the People, takes power. Zelensky's presidency is marred by his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of millions of dollars. Nonetheless, Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on powerful vested interests in Europe’s second-largest country. Then with his doggedness, speeches and strategy, he marshals Ukraine's staunch resistance to a superpower – a fight that most analysts assume Russia will quickly win. But they do not - and Ukraine starts to turn the tide of the war. Zelensky and his country become symbols of defiance against Vladimir Putin's aggression. Zelensky: A Biography of Ukraine's War Leader is both an uplifting story and an urgent message from Ukraine. About the authors STEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the Dutch newspaper NRC. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for NRC and De Standaard. ExtractVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent. At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the meticulous art of profiling ‘targets’ of the service, whether they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist apparatchiks. Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush told of how he had looked into the ‘soul’ of the former KGB officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black labrador Konni brought in. Merkel – who is terrified of dogs – dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the conversation. Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the name of the opposition leader to cross his lips – not even since Navalny’s incarceration in January 2021. Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as ‘that blogger.’ *** In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote. One month later, the Russian President attended the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since Russia’s annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still commonplace in eastern Ukraine. ‘Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he became President?’ asked the interviewer. Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was going to be good. ‘You know,’ said Putin, ‘he is still pushing a certain rhetoric. He labels us “enemies” and “aggressors.” Perhaps he should think about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.’ Putin had still not once uttered the name ‘Zelensky.’ ‘You are the President of a world power,’ the interviewer fawned, ‘and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country. Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture might completely change the course of world history. Why not simply arrange a meeting?’ Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople had died down. ‘Did I say “no”?’ replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added: ‘Nobody has invited me.’ ‘Are you prepared to meet with him?’ Putin now looked genuinely amused. ‘Listen, I do not know this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell, he’s amazing at what he does, he’s a marvellous actor.’ Laughter and generous applause filled the room. Putin continued: ‘But seriously: it’s one thing to play a person, but quite another thing to be that person.’ Buy the book to continue reading

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Do you believe in magic? Even if you don't, you probably 'think magically' sometimes. We touch wood to stop bad things happening, or take a lucky object to a job interview or exam in an irrational attempt to influence the outcome. Spellbound: Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft was the first exhibition to examine how magical thinking has been practised over the centuries. With exquisitely engraved rings to bind a lover, enchanted animal hearts pierced with nails, mummified cats concealed in walls and many other intriguing objects, the exhibition catalogue shows that the use of magic is driven by our strongest emotions: the need to be loved, our fear of evil and the desire to protect our homes. Authors explore the practice of magic in the medieval universe, the early modern community and the modern home. While belief in magic and rituals can be comforting, it also led to the persecution of women as witches. This book examines both the idea of the witch and the reality of how women were accused of witchcraft. Even today, our tendency to think magically has not changed as much as we might think. Some of the chapters discuss contemporary ideas about magical thinking and the artworks produced especially for the exhibition to make connections between the ideas and experience of magic in the past and in the present. Contents: Introduction - Sophie Page and Marina Wallace; Love in a Time of Demons: Magic and the Medieval Cosmos - Sophie Page; Musica Universalis - Harmonia Mundi and Hayden - Chisholm's Medieval Jukebox - Marina Wallace; Concealed and Revealed: Magic and Mystery in the Home - Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook; The Fear and Loathing of Witches - Malcolm Gaskill; Modern Rituals and Magical Thinking - Ceri Houlbrook; Installations by Contemporary Artists - Marina Wallace

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The definitive guide to the life and work of Marina Abramovic, the world's most famous performance artist.Combining brand-new interviews, never-before-seen images and fascinating ephemera, this book is a testament to the extraordinary life and work of one of our most courageous and groundbreaking artists, and is published to coincide with the opening of Abramovic's Royal Academy exhibition - the first major show by a female artist in the Academy's 255-year history. Agreeing to answer any question that was posed, Abramovic embarked on 17 months of candid interviews conducted by her friend and confidante, Katya Tylevich. The result is a monolithic retrospective that takes us from the humble beginnings of a shy child sitting at the back of the class, to fearless pioneer, conquering and subverting the art world with boundary-pushing performances, and concluding with her most profound personal experience to date.Over 600 images from Abramovic's personal archives set these captivating memories alight, creating a fascinating, visual landscape and demonstrating the inextricably intertwined nature of her life and work.A breathtakingly intimate journey, we are led across deserts, oceans and cities to explore extreme highs and lows, all the while marvelling at how Abramovic approaches every success and setback with her signature humour and wit. Never shying away from the truth, no stone is left unturned, and Abramovic's fearlessness imbues every page.

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