Search results for ""epic""

In the West we tend to think of witches in terms of the witch trials, when fear, ignorance and religious fervour brought the poor to heel, and fostered suspicion of those who dared to be different, or knowledgeable, or independent of mind. Witches and wizards are often associated with pre-Christian societies, Celtic in particular, (and therefore popular in tales of fantasy), but the nature of their wisdom can be found in so many fascinating cultures across the world. Ancient societies, particularly where natural religions with many gods abound, often highlight the power of an elder, or a seer, a healer or a wise friend. Tales of wizards and witches reach across traditions as folk try to explain natural phenomena and engage with the world around them. Those who understood the properties of healing in plants, or could make a prediction of weather events to rescue crops, became worshipped as elders, as keepers of knowledge. In tribal African societies, Polynesian cultures and East Asian traditions there are tales of those with great knowledge who are often described as witches or wizards. The Baba Yaga of Eastern Europe, Bokwewa, the humpback magician of the Chippewa, Merlin and Morgana la Faye of Arthurian Legend and the fox witches of Japan are but a few of the many examples. Some work for good, others with ill-intent, but all become the focus of folkloric legend, collected here in this new book of myths and tales.

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A poem for the ages, freshly and accessibly translated by an international rising star, bringing together scholarly precision and poetic grace “Sophus Helle’s new translation . . . [is] a thrilling, enchanting, desperate thing to read.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe “Looks to be the last word on this Babylonian masterpiece.”—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Gilgamesh is a Babylonian story about love between men, loss and grief, the confrontation with death; the destruction of nature; insomnia and restlessness, finding peace in one’s community, the voice of women, the folly of gods, heroes, and monsters—and more. Translating directly from the Akkadian, Sophus Helle offers a literary translation that reproduces the original epic’s poetic effects, including its succinct clarity and enchanting cadence. Millennia after its composition, Gilgamesh continues to speak to us in myriad ways.

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A THIEF MADE A LORD. A PRINCE MADE A VILLAIN. A DEADLY GAME FOR POWER.The exhilarating sequel to the LatinX Sunday Times bestseller Nocturna, about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must reunite when a deadly enemy threatens their kingdom's chance at establishing a global peace.After joining forces to save Castallan from an ancient magical evil, Alfie and Finn haven't seen each other in months. Alfie is finally stepping up to his role as heir and preparing for an International Peace Summit, while Finn is traveling and reveling in her newfound freedom from Ignacio.That is, until she's unexpectedly installed as the new leader of one of Castallan's powerful crime families. Now one of the four Thief Lords of Castallan, she's forced to preside over the illegal underground Oculta competition, which coincides with the summit and boasts a legendary prize.Just when Finn finds herself back in San Cristobal, Alfie's plans are also derailed. Los Toros, the mysterious syndicate responsible for his brother's murder, has resurfaced-and their newest target is the summit. And when these events all unexpectedly converge, Finn and Alfie are once again forced to work together to follow the assassins' trail and preserve Castallan's hopes for peace with Englass. But will they be able to stop these sinister foes before a new war threatens their kingdom?

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The collection of essays in Romance Epic expertly examines the Romance epic as a genre, delving into its ever-changing period, audience, and region. The essays span across a wide range of different topics: the specificity of the Romance epic and how well it fits into the genre of epic at all, the structure of the chansons de geste, school influences on the Old French, the reconstruction of lost chansons de geste, the evolution of the genre through centuries, and topics specific to certain works, such as problems in the Chanson de Roland and the El Cantar de Mio Cid.

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Maggie Gunsberg examines the "poetica" and "poesia" of Tasso in the context of the historical and cultural climate in which he lived. His epic theory is explored from the point of view of three rhetorical faculties current in 16th-century poetics: "inventio", "dispositio" and "elocutio". His discussion of "dispositio" reveals a fascinating similarity with ideas on art expressed by the Russian Formalists in the 1920s, a coincidence that can be attributed to the lasting influence of Aristotelian writings on plot. In her textual analysis of "Gerusalemme liberata", Dr. Gunsberg uses modern methodologies drawing on Freud, Lacan and the ideology of body language to develop new ways of reading the epic text. The two parts of this study, dealing with Tasso's theory and practice respectively, offer complementary aproaches that together illuminate his epic contribution.

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This volume explores journeys across time and space in Greek and Latin literature, taking as its starting point the paradigm of travel offered by the epic genre. The epic journey is central to the dynamics of classical literature, offering a powerful lens through which characters, authors, and readers experience their real and imaginary worlds. The journey informs questions of identity formation, narrative development, historical emplotment, and constructions of heroism - topics that move through and beyond the story itself. The act of moving to and from 'home' - both a fixed point of spatial orientation and a transportable set of cultural values - thus represents a physical journey and an intellectual process. In exploring its many manifestations, the chapters in this collection reconceive the centrality of the epic journey across a wide variety of genres and historical contexts, from Homer to the moon.

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Heather Forest's artful prose and keen curatorial selection brings an array of ancient tales of adventure, quests, and heroics to life for modern readers. This multicultural anthology presents pivotal episodes from epic tales such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf, the Odyssey, the Ramayana, and more. The collection illuminates large-scale narratives that were passed on and preserved through the oral tradition long before being captured in written form by early scribes. With the publication of Ancient and Epic Tales, Heather completes her long awaited trilogy of Tales From Around the World including Wonder Tales and Wisdom Tales. These epic narratives remain relevant today as they provide insights into the complexity of human relationships and the intimate, personal journey of anyone seeking to understand the meaning of life. This collection of timeless stories includes Norse legends, Greek myths, Japanese folktales, Persian stories, Irish Ballads and Chinese lore. Offering a global overview, this anthology of concise retellings also provides endnotes with cultural and historical background to inspire readers' further inquiry into these enduring tales.

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Translated here for the first time into English, Sergio Zatti's The Quest for Epic is a selection of studies on the two major poets of the Italian Renaissance, Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso, by one of the most important literary critics writing in Italy today. An original and challenging work, The Quest for Epic documents the development of Italian narrative from the chivalric romance at the end of the fifteenth century to the genre of epic in the sixteenth century. Zatti focuses on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, written in the early 1500s, and progresses to Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, written at the end of the century, but also touches briefly on Boiardo, Ariosto's great predecessor at the Estense court in Ferrara, as well as on Pulci, Trissino, and many other Italian writers of the period. Zatti highlights the critical debates over narrative form in the sixteenth century that become signposts on the way to literary modernity and the eventual rise of the modern novel. Albert Russell Ascoli's introduction provides context by mapping Zatti's criticism and situating it among Italian and Anglo-American literary critical studies, making a case for the contribution this book will have for English-language readers.

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Buckle up for the next installment in our Epic series and the follow-up to Epic Drives of the World. Showcasing 50 of the Americas’ greatest road trips across North and South America as well as the Caribbean, you’ll discover classic drives including the Pacific Coast Highway, Gaspesie Loop in Canada and the Hana Highway in Hawaii, plus lesser-known routes. We cover a huge variety of themes and experiences across drives that range from a few hours to a week or more.Each of the featured drives include: First-person accounts from writers who have completed the drive Challenge level grading: easy / harder / epic Inspirational photography, maps and practical information to follow the writer’s journey Driving factbox: when is the best time to drive, vehicle hire information, how to get there, what to take Expert travel advice: where to stay, recommended detours, the best places to eat Suggestions for similar drives With a vibrant cover illustrated by Ross Murray, this beautiful hardback continues this collectible series. Whether you’re a regular road tripper or just want to explore your destination in a new way, Epic Road Trips of the Americas will inspire a lifetime of adventures out on the open road.About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' – New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' – Fairfax Media (Australia)

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Explore the world’s most thrilling waves with Epic Surf Breaks of the World. From Namibia’s wind-swept Skeleton Bay to Java’s G-Land, discover the best place to ‘hang ten’, whatever your surfing ability. Accompanied by a series of stunning photographs, maps and beautiful illustrations as well as first-person stories from surf writers all across the globe, including Pulitzer Prize winner William Finnegan, this is the quintessential guide for surfers looking for their next epic break.With 200 destinations, from Australia’s Bells Beach to the coral-flecked islands of the Maldives, you’re sure to find your perfect break in this 328-page, hardcover book. Plus, we take you to some of the most adrenaline-pumping breaks in the world, including Tahiti’s Teahupoo and Mexico’s Puerto Escondido, as well as easier options for beginners, such as Taghazout in Morocco, meaning all abilities are catered for. We cover the planet’s newest hotspots, such as Bundoran in Ireland, where world-class waves now lure surfers from all across the globe. About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You’ll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, eBooks, and more.

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The first English translation of a Kalmyk epic nearly lost to history. This is the first English translation of Jangar, the heroic epic of the Kalmyk nomads, who are the Western Mongols of Genghis Khan’s medieval empire in Europe. Today, Kalmykia is situated in the territory that was once the Golden Horde, founded by the son of Genghis Khan, Juchi. Although their famed khanates and cities have long since disappeared under the sands of the Great Eurasian Steppe, the Kalmyks have witnessed, memorized, and orally transmitted some of the most transformative developments, both victorious and tragic, in the history of civilizations. A tribute to the protectors of the mythical country Bumba, Jangar reflects the hopes and aspirations of the Kalmyk people as well as their centuries-long struggle for their cultural existence. This new English translation is more than a tribute to the artistic creativity and imagination of the Kalmyk people—it is also an important step in their struggle for cultural survival. It was only after centuries of oral transmission that the songs and stories surrounding Jangar were written down. When the first translation, into Russian, finally appeared, Stalin had the entire Kalmyk population deported to Siberia and ordered that their national literature be eliminated from the published world. This Soviet repression has had enormous consequences for world literature, silencing nomadic voices and keeping hidden their distinctive contributions. Making Jangar available in English is a landmark event, bringing a lost classic to the world’s attention and restoring the voices of an almost-erased tradition at the heart of the history of Eurasia.

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Grace's story continues in Covet, the third in New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff's lush, action-packed and romantic young adult paranormal fantasy series.'Fandom's new favourite vampire romance obsession' Hypable'This generation's Twilight' Lynn Rush'I'm having the BEST book hangover. Filled with danger, humour, and heart, Crave proves that vampires are definitely back!' J. Kenner'Beautifully descriptive with amazing pacing and wonderfully sinister settings' Christine Feehan...................I may have reached my breaking point. As if trying to graduate from a school for supernaturals isn't stressful enough, my relationship status has gone from complicated to a straight-up dumpster fire.Oh, and the Bloodletter has decided to drop a bomb of epic proportions on us all . . . Then again, when has anything at Katmere Academy not been intense?And the hits just keep coming. Jaxon's turned colder than an Alaskan winter. The Circle is splintered over my upcoming coronation. As if things couldn't get worse, now there's an arrest warrant for Hudson's and my supposed crimes - which apparently means a lifetime prison sentence with a deadly unbreakable curse.Choices will have to be made . . . and I fear not everyone will survive....................Don't miss a single book in the series that spawned a phenomenon! The Crave series is best enjoyed in order:CraveCrushCovetCourtCharmCherish'Suffice it to say: I have a new book boyfriend!' Pintip Dunn'Intricately crafted, deeply romantic' Victoria Scott'Funny, smart, and compelling' Emily McKay

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The epic story continues in Court, the fourth in New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff's lush, action-packed and romantic young adult paranormal fantasy series.'Fandom's new favourite vampire romance obsession' Hypable'This generation's Twilight' Lynn Rush 'I'm having the BEST book hangover. Filled with danger, humour, and heart, Crave proves that vampires are definitely back!' J. Kenner'Beautifully descriptive with amazing pacing and wonderfully sinister settings' Christine Feehan...................No one survived the last battle unscathed. Flint is angry at the world, Jaxon is turning into something I don't recognize, and Hudson has put up a wall I'm not sure I'll ever break through.Now war is coming, and we're not ready. We're going to need an army to have any hope of winning. But first, there are questions about my ancestors that need answers. Answers that might just reveal who the real monster is among us.And that's saying something in a world filled with bloodthirsty vampires, immortal gargoyles, and an ancient battle between two gods.There's no guarantee that anyone will be left standing when the dust settles, but if we want to save this world, I have no choice. I'll have to embrace every part of me...even the parts I fear the most....................Don't miss a single book in the series that spawned a phenomenon! The Crave series is best enjoyed in order:CraveCrushCovetCourtCharmCherish'Suffice it to say: I have a new book boyfriend!' Pintip Dunn'Intricately crafted, deeply romantic' Victoria Scott'Funny, smart, and compelling' Emily McKay

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Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Discover 200 of the best places to ride a bike in this beautifully illustrated hardback. From family-friendly, sightseeing urban rides to epic adventures off the beaten track. Destinations range from France and Italy, for the world's great bike races, to the wilds of Mongolia and Patagonia. These journeys will inspire - whether you are an experienced cyclist or just getting started. The book is organised by continent. In the Americas we join a family bikepacking trip in Ecuador; we pedal the Natchez Trace Parkway and stop at legendary music spots; we ride the Pacific Coast Highway in Oregon and California; go mountain biking in Moab and Canada; and explore the cities of Buenos Aires and New York by bicycle. European rides include easy-going trips around Lake Constance, along the Danube and the Loire, and coast-to-coast routes; routes in Tuscany, Spain and Corsica; and professional journeys up Mt Ventoux and around the Tour of Flanders. In Asia, we venture through Vietnam's valleys; complete the Mae Hong Son circuit in northern Thailand; cross the Indian Himalayas; and pedal through Bhutan. And in Australia and New Zealand we take in Tasmania and Queensland by mountain bike; cycle into Victoria's high country and around Adelaide on road bikes; and try some of New Zealand's celebrated cycle trails. Each ride is illustrated with stunning photography and a map. A toolkit of practical details - where to start and finish, how to get there, where to stay and more - helps riders plan their own trips. There are also suggestions for three more similar rides around the world for each story. Each piece shows how cycling is a fantastic way to get to know a place, a people and their culture. About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, gift and lifestyle books and stationery, as well as an award-winning website, magazines, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in. TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)

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American history and self-understanding have long depended on the notion of a “colonial America”, an era that—according to prevailing accounts—laid the foundation for the modern United States. In Indigenous Continent, the acclaimed historian Pekka Hämäläinen shatters this Eurocentric narrative by retelling the four centuries between first contacts and the peak of Native power from Indigenous points of view. Shifting our perspective away from Jamestown, Plymouth, the American Revolution and other well-worn episodes on the conventional timeline, Hämäläinen depicts a sovereign world of distinctive Native nations whose members, far from simple victims of colonial aggression, controlled the continent well into the nineteenth century, fundamentally shaping the actions of the European imperialists and the development of the United States. Indigenous Continent restores Native Americans to their rightful place at the very fulcrum of American history.

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Yoshi’s Big Swim chronicles the impressive true story of Yoshi, a loggerhead turtle who was rescued by fishermen, then rehabilitated and cared for by scientists for many years. The scientists adored her, and Yoshi was happy in her aquarium home. But then, many years later, Yoshi let them know that it was time for her to move on. Would Yoshi be safe? Would she know what to do? After lots of preparation, and plenty of friendly back scratches for Yoshi, the determined loggerhead set off on her journey. Discover an amazing story celebrating teamwork, science and an animal hero who swam more than 22,000 miles to her true home, the longest journey of any animal ever tracked. In addition to being awe-inspiring, Yoshi's story underlines the importance of wildlife conservation and the power of one animal to unite people around the world for a common cause.

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A THIEF MADE A LORD. A PRINCE MADE A VILLAIN. A DEADLY GAME FOR POWER.The exhilarating sequel to the LatinX Sunday Times bestseller Nocturna, about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must reunite when a deadly enemy threatens their kingdom's chance at establishing a global peace.After joining forces to save Castallan from an ancient magical evil, Alfie and Finn haven't seen each other in months. Alfie is finally stepping up to his role as heir and preparing for an International Peace Summit, while Finn is traveling and reveling in her newfound freedom from Ignacio.That is, until she's unexpectedly installed as the new leader of one of Castallan's powerful crime families. Now one of the four Thief Lords of Castallan, she's forced to preside over the illegal underground Oculta competition, which coincides with the summit and boasts a legendary prize.Just when Finn finds herself back in San Cristobal, Alfie's plans are also derailed. Los Toros, the mysterious syndicate responsible for his brother's murder, has resurfaced-and their newest target is the summit. And when these events all unexpectedly converge, Finn and Alfie are once again forced to work together to follow the assassins' trail and preserve Castallan's hopes for peace with Englass. But will they be able to stop these sinister foes before a new war threatens their kingdom?

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As an especially beautiful and pure example of the archaic epic styles that were once current among the hunting and fishing peoples of northern Asia, the Ainu epic folklore is of immense literary value. This collection and English translation by Donald Philippi contains thirty-three representative selections from a number of epic genres including mythic epics, culture hero epics, women's epics, and heroic epics. This is the first time, outside of Japan, that the Ainu epic folklore has been treated in a comprehensive manner. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Aspects of History and Epic in Ancient Iran focuses on the content of one of the most important inscriptions of the Ancient Near East: the Bisotun inscription of the Achaemenid king Darius I (6th century BCE), which in essence reports on a suspicious fratricide and subsequent coup d’état. Moreover, the study shows how the inscription’s narrative would decisively influence the Iranian epic, epigraphic, and historiographical traditions well into the Sasanian and early Islamic periods.Intriguingly, our assessment of the impact of the Bisotun narrative on later literary traditions—in particular, the inscription of the Sasanian king Narseh at Paikuli (3rd–4th centuries CE)—necessarily relies on the reception of the oral rendition of the Bisotun story captured by Greek historians. As Rahim Shayegan argues, this oral tradition had an immeasurable impact upon the historiographical writings and epic compositions of later Iranian empires. It would have otherwise remained unknown to modern scholars, had it not been partially preserved and recorded by Hellanicus of Lesbos, Herodotus, Ctesias, and other Greek authors. The elucidation of Bisotun’s thematic composition therefore not only allows us to solve an ancient murder but also to reevaluate pre-Thucydidean Greek historiography as one of the most important repositories of Iranian epic themes.

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This is the third volume of a planned seven-volume translation of India's most beloved and influential epic tale--the Ramayana of Valmiki. This third volume carries forward the narrative by following the exiled hero Rama, his wife, and his brother on their wanderings. The book contains the narrative center of the epic, the abduction of Sita by the demon king Ravana. It provides a profound meditation on the paradox of the hero as both human and divine. The present translation seeks to provide a readable and trustworthy English version of the poem. It is accompanied by a full commentary elucidating the philological, aesthetic, and cultural problems of the text. Extensive use is made in the annotations of the numerous commentaries on the Ramayana. The substantial introduction to this volume aims to supply a historical context for an appreciation of the poem and a critical reading exploring the ideological components of the work. The volumes of this work will present the entire Ramayana, translated for the first time on the basis of the critical edition (Oriental Institute, Baroda).

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The concluding volume of a critical English edition of the monumental Indian epicThe seventh and final book of the monumental Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki, the Uttarakāṇḍa, brings the epic saga to a close with an account of the dramatic events of King Rāma’s millennia-long reign. It opens with a colorful history of the demonic race of the rākṣasas and the violent career of Rāma’s villainous foe Rāvaṇa, and later recounts Rāma’s grateful discharge of his allies in the great war at Lankā as well as his romantic reunion with his wife Sītā. But dark clouds gather as Rāma makes the agonizing decision to banish his beloved wife, now pregnant. As Rāma continues as king, marvelous tales and events unfurl, illustrating the benefits of righteous rule and the perils that await monarchs who fail to address the needs of their subjects. The Uttarakāṇḍa has long served as a point of social and religious controversy largely for its accounts of the banishment of Sītā, as well as of Rāma’s killing of a low-caste ascetic.This seventh volume in the critical edition and translation of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa includes an extensive introduction and describes the complex reception history of the Uttarakāṇḍa, as well as exhaustive notes and a comprehensive bibliography.

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This is the second volume of a translation of India's most beloved and influential epic saga, the monumental R?m?ya?a of V?lm?ki. Of the seven sections of this great Sanskrit masterpiece, the Ayodhyak???a is the most human, and it remains one of the best introductions to the social and political values of traditional India. This readable translation is accompanied by commentary that elucidates the various problems of the text--philological, aesthetic, and cultural. The annotations make extensive use of the numerous commentaries on the R?m?ya?a composed in medieval India. The substantial introduction supplies a historical context for the poem and a critical reading that explores its literary and ideological components.

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In The Many-Minded Man, Joel Christensen explores the content, character, and structure of the Homeric Odyssey through a modern psychological lens, focusing on how the epic both represents the workings of the human mind and provides for its audiences—both ancient and modern—a therapeutic model for coping with the exigencies of chance and fate. By reading the Odyssey as an exploration of the constitutive elements of human identity, the function of narrative in defining the self, and the interaction between the individual and their social context, The Many-Minded Man addresses enduring questions about the poem, such as the importance of Telemachus's role, why Odysseus must tell his own tale, and the epic's sudden and unexpected closure. Through these dynamics, Christensen reasons, the Odyssey not only instructs readers about how narrative shapes a sense of agency but also offers solutions for avoiding dangerous stories and destructive patterns of thought.

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Could spiritual warfare be an essential part of God's plan for each of us? It's a battle that's been going on since soon after the beginning of time. What began as one archangel's rebellion set the course for all of humanity, unleashing a war of epic proportions. The answers to the basic questions of evil are rooted in this battle, as is the significance of Jesus' stunning victory over Satan on the cross. This heavenly war is all-encompassing, and no part of life remains untouched by it. In this expanded edition of his classic text, bestselling author and Bible teacher Derek Prince explores the inner workings of this intense conflict. His accessible, in-depth exploration will help you identify the devil's unchanging tactics, seize your biblical weapons and learn to wage war against the forces of evil around you. Now includes study questions for even more in-depth study and application. Don't wait. It's time to take your place in the battle--and declare victory.

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In the American psyche, the "Wild West" is a mythic-historical place where our nation’s values and ideologies were formed. In this violent and uncertain world, the cowboy is the ultimate hero, fighting the bad guys, forging notions of manhood, and delineating what constitutes honor as he works to build civilization out of wilderness. Tales from this mythical place are best known from that most American of media: film. In the Greco-Roman societies that form the foundation of Western civilization, similar narratives were presented in what for them was the most characteristic, and indeed most filmic, genre: epic. Like Western film, the epics of Homer and Virgil focus on the mythic-historical past and its warriors who worked to establish the ideological framework of their respective civilizations. Through a close reading of films like High Noon and Shane, this book examines the surprising connections between these seemingly disparate yet closely related genres, shedding light on both in the process.

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"Epic Encounters" examines how popular culture has shaped the ways Americans define their 'interests' in the Middle East. In this innovative book - now brought up-to-date to include 9/11 and the Iraq war - Melani McAlister argues that U.S. foreign policy, while grounded in material and military realities, is also developed in a cultural context. American understandings of the region are framed by narratives that draw on religious belief, news media accounts, and popular culture. This remarkable and pathbreaking book skillfully weaves lively and accessible readings of film, media, and music with a rigorous analysis of U.S. foreign policy, race politics, and religious history. The new chapter, titled "9/11 and After: Snapshots on the Road to Empire," considers and brilliantly analyzes five images that have become iconic: New York City firemen raising the American flag out of the rubble of the World Trade Center, the televised image of Osama bin-Laden, Afghani women in burqas, the statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Baghdad, and the hooded and wired prisoner in Abu Ghraib. McAlister's singular achievement is to illuminate the contexts of these five images both at the time they were taken and as they relate to current events, an accomplishment all the more remarkable since - to paraphrase her new preface - we are today struggling to look backward at something that is still rushing ahead.

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In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America’s known human history but also revealed the long-standing danger Homo sapiens presented to the continent’s evolutionary richness. Distinguished author Dan Flores’s ambitious history chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the “wild new world” of North America—a place shaped both by its own grand evolutionary forces and by momentous arrivals from Asia, Africa, and Europe. With portraits of iconic creatures such as mammoths, horses, wolves, and bison, Flores describes the evolution and historical ecology of North America like never before. The arrival of humans precipitated an extraordinary disruption of this teeming environment. Flores treats humans not as a species apart but as a new animal entering two continents that had never seen our likes before. He shows how our long past as carnivorous hunters helped us settle America, initially establishing a coast-to-coast culture that lasted longer than the present United States. But humanity’s success had devastating consequences for other creatures. In telling this epic story, Flores traces the origins of today’s “Sixth Extinction” to the spread of humans around the world; tracks the story of a hundred centuries of Native America; explains how Old World ideologies precipitated 400 years of market-driven slaughter that devastated so many ancient American species; and explores the decline and miraculous recovery of species in recent decades. In thrilling narrative style, informed by genomic science, evolutionary biology, and environmental history, Flores celebrates the astonishing bestiary that arose on our continent and introduces the complex human cultures and individuals who hastened its eradication, studied America’s animals, and moved heaven and earth to rescue them. Eons in scope and continental in scale, Wild New World is a sweeping yet intimate Big History of the animal-human story in America.

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One of the least-known stories of World War II, Operation Mars was an epic military disaster. Designed to dislodge the German Army from its position west of Moscow, Mars cost the Soviets an estimated 335,000 dead, missing, and wounded men and over 1,600 tanks. But in Russian history books, it was a battle that never happened-a historical debacle sacrificed to Stalin's postwar censorship.David Glantz now offers the first definitive account of this forgotten catastrophe, revealing the key players and detailing the major events of Operation Mars. Using neglected sources in both German and Russian archives, he reconstructs the historical context of Mars and reviews the entire operation from High Command to platoon level.Orchestrated and led by Marshal Georgi Kostantinovich Zhukov, one of the Soviet Union's great military heroes, the twin operations Mars and Uranus formed the centerpiece of Soviet strategic efforts in the fall of 1942. Launched in tandem with Operation Uranus, the successful counteroffensive at Stalingrad, Mars proved a monumental setback. Fought in bad weather and on impossible terrain, the ambitious offensive faltered despite spectacular initial success in some sectors: Zhukov kept sending in more troops and tanks only to see them decimated by the entrenched Germans.Illuminating the painful progress of Operation Mars with vivid battle scenes and numerous maps and illustrations, Glantz presents Mars as a major failure of Zhukov's renowned command. Yet, both during and after the war, that failure was masked from public view by the successful Stalingrad operation, thus eliminating any stain from Zhukov's public image as a hero of the Great Patriotic War.For three grueling weeks, Operation Mars was one of the most tragic and agonizing episodes in Soviet military history. Glantz's reconstruction of that failed offensive fills a major gap in our knowledge of World War II, even as it raises important questions about the reputations of national military heroes.

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In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America’s known human history but also revealed the long-standing danger Homo sapiens presented to the continent’s evolutionary richness. Distinguished author Dan Flores’s ambitious history chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the “wild new world” of North America—a place shaped both by its own grand evolutionary forces and by momentous arrivals from Asia, Africa, and Europe. With portraits of iconic creatures such as mammoths, horses, wolves, and bison, Flores describes the evolution and historical ecology of North America like never before. The arrival of humans precipitated an extraordinary disruption of this teeming environment. Flores treats humans not as a species apart but as a new animal entering two continents that had never seen our likes before. He shows how our long past as carnivorous hunters helped us settle America, initially establishing a coast-to-coast culture that lasted longer than the present United States. But humanity’s success had devastating consequences for other creatures. In telling this epic story, Flores traces the origins of today’s “Sixth Extinction” to the spread of humans around the world; tracks the story of a hundred centuries of Native America; explains how Old World ideologies precipitated 400 years of market-driven slaughter that devastated so many ancient American species; and explores the decline and miraculous recovery of species in recent decades. In thrilling narrative style, informed by genomic science, evolutionary biology, and environmental history, Flores celebrates the astonishing bestiary that arose on our continent and introduces the complex human cultures and individuals who hastened its eradication, studied America’s animals, and moved heaven and earth to rescue them. Eons in scope and continental in scale, Wild New World is a sweeping yet intimate Big History of the animal-human story in America.

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This is the untold story of black music – its triumph over racism, segregation, undercapitalised record labels, media discrimination and political anxiety – told through the perspective of the most powerful office in the world: from Louis Armstrong's spat with President Eisenhower and Eartha Kitt's stormy encounter with Lady Bird Johnson to James Brown's flirtation with Nixon, Reaganomics and the 'Cop Killer' scandal. Moving, insightful and wide-ranging, Hey America! charts the evolution of sixties soul from the margins of American society to the mainstream, culminating in the rise of urban hip-hop and the dramatic stand-off between Donald Trump and the Black Lives Matter movement.

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City of Dreams is the long overdue, inspiring, and defining account of New York's both famous and forgotten immigrants: the young man from the Caribbean who relocated to New York and became a founding father; Russian born Emma Goldman, who condoned the murder of American industrialists as a means of aiding downtrodden workers; Dominican immigrant Oscarde la Renta, who dressed first ladies from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama. Over ten years in the making, Tyler Anbinder's story is one of innovators and artists, revolutionaries and rioters, staggering deprivation and soaring triumphs. In so many ways, today's immigrants are just like those who came to America in centuries past - and their stories have never before been told with such breadth of scope, lavish research, and resounding spirit.

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