We all “know” that Marco Polo went to China, served Ghengis Khan for many years, and returned to Italy with the recipes for pasta and ice cream. But... Frances Wood, head of the Chinese Department at the British Library, argues that Marco Polo not only never went to China, he probably never even made it past the Black Sea, where his family conducted business as merchants.Marco Polo’s travels from Venice to the exotic and distant East, and his epic book describing his extraordinary adventures, A Description of the World, ranks among the most famous and influential books ever published. In this fascinating piece of historical detection, marking the 700th anniversary of Polo’s journey, Frances Wood questions whether Marco Polo ever reached the country he so vividly described. Why, in his romantic and seemingly detailed account, is there no mention of such fundamentals of Chinese life as tea, foot-binding, or even the Great Wall? Did he really bring back pasta and ice cream to Italy? And why, given China’s extensive and even obsessive record-keeping, is there no mention of Marco Polo anywhere in the archives?Sure to spark controversy, Did Marco Polo Go to China? tries to solve these and other inconsistencies by carefully examining the Polo family history, Marco Polo’s activities as a merchant, the preparation of his book, and the imperial Chinese records. The result is a lucid and readable look at medieval European and Chinese history, and the characters and events that shaped this extraordinary and enduring myth.

Why did generations of people grow up thinking that Jews really had horns? Did Eve really eat an apple, and if not, why does everyone think she did? Did... Noah s ark really exist? Did Moses really write the Torah? This fascinating book explores these and many other assumptions about Jews and Judaism. Rabbi Sonsino uses history, archeology, and other scholarship to debunk familiar myths, showing how and why they developed over time. This book is for everyone who wants to know more about Judaism and get the real story behind the myth.

An original concept: in one volume, a study-size score of a major musical work, and a comprehensive body of tools for the study of that work.Music... examples and charts illustrate the analyses, and each essay is fully annotated by the editor. In some cases, the results of original research by the editor or by others working in the field are published here for the first time. Much of the material has never before appeared in English.A score embodying the best available musical text.Historical background-what is known of the circumstances surrounding the origin of the work, including (where relevant) original source material.A detailed analysis of the music, by the editor of the volume or another well-known scholar.Other significant analytic essays and critical comments, exposing the student to a variety of opinions about the music.

Undermining the liberal-democratic consensus that enables the designation of totalitarianism.In some circles, a nod towards totalitarianism is enough to... dismiss any critique of the status quo. Such is the insidiousness of the neo-liberal ideology, argues Slavoj Žižek.  Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism? turns a specious rhetorical strategy on its head to identify a network of family resemblances between totalitarianism and modern liberal democracy.  Žižek argues that totalitarianism is invariably defined in terms of four things: the Holocaust as the ultimate, diabolical evil; the Stalinist gulag as the alleged truth of the socialist revolutionary project; ethnic and religious fundamentalisms, which are to be fought through multiculturalist tolerance; and the deconstructionist idea that the ultimate root of totalitarianism is the ontological closure of thought.  Žižek concludes that the devil lies not so much in the detail but in what enables the very designation totalitarian: the liberal-democratic consensus itself.

"[Veyne's] present book has some kinship with his sprightly theoretical work Comment on ecrit l'histoire; and he declares that its aim was to provoke... reflection on the way our conception of truth is built up and changes over the centuries. . . . The style is brilliant and exhilarating."—Jasper Griffin, Times Literary Supplement

Die Klassiker der deutschen und weltweiten Literatur in einer einzigartigen Reihe. Lesen Sie die besten Werke großer Schriftsteller und Autoren auf... Ihrem Kindle Reader. Digital überarbeitet und in allerbester Qualität.Ein Roman aus dem Jahr 1896.

Every aspect of "courtly culture" comes to life in Joachim Bumke's extraordinarily rich and well-documented presentation. A renowned medievalist with an... encyclopedic knowledge of original sources and a passion for history, Bumke overlooks no detail, from the material realities of aristocratic society--the castles and clothing, weapons and transportation, food, drink, and table etiquette--to the behavior prescribed and practiced at tournaments, knighting ceremonies, and great princely feasts. The courtly knight and courtly lady, and the transforming idea of courtly love, are seen through the literature that celebrated them, and we learn how literacy among an aristocratic laity spread from France through Germany and became the basis of a cultural revolution. At the same time, Bumke clearly challenges those who have comfortably confused the ideals of courtly culture with their expression in courtly society."Monumental, exhaustive, definitive. These are the qualifiers that come to mind as one peruses the medieval scholar Bumke's astonishing and encyclopedic accomplishment. . . ."--R. J. Cormier, Choice"This book merits attention well beyond medieval German literary and historical circles. . . . Bumke is intent on demolishing the myth that the idealized patterns of behavior in courtly literature are an accurate reflection of the reality of aristocratic life."--William Henry Jackson, Speculum

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, by Friedrich Nietzsche, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices... to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.Considered by many to be the most important philosopher of modern times, Friedrich Nietzsche influenced twentieth-century ideas and culture more than almost any other thinker. His best-known book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra—published in four parts in the last two decades of the nineteenth century—is also his masterpiece, and represents the fullest expression of his ideas up to that time.A unique combination of biblical oratory and playfulness, Thus Spoke Zarathustra chronicles the wanderings and teachings of the prophet Zarathustra, who descends from his mountain retreat to awaken the world to its new salvation. Do not accept, he counsels, what almost two thousand years of history have taught you to call evil. The Greeks knew better: Goodness for them was nobility, pride, and victory, not the Christian virtues of humility, meekness, poverty, and altruism. The existence of the human race is justified only by the exceptional among us—the “superman,” whose self-mastery and strong “will to power” frees him from the common prejudices and assumptions of the day.These and other concepts in Zarathustra were later perverted by Nazi propagandists, but Nietzsche, a despiser of mass movements both political and religious, did not ask his readers for faith and obedience, but rather for critical reflection, courage, and independence.Kathleen M. Higgins and Robert C. Solomon are both professors of philosophy at the University Texas at Austin. Together, they have written What Nietzsche Really Said and A Short History of Philosophy and co-edited Reading Nietzsche.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove... books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Prehistoric life is the archive of evolution preserved in the fossil record.  This book focuses on the meaning and significance of that archive and is... designed for introductory college science students, including non-science majors, enrolled in survey courses emphasizing paleontology, geology and biology.From the origins of animals to the evolution of rap music, from ancient mass extinctions to the current biodiversity crisis, and from the Snowball Earth to present day climate change this book covers it, with an eye towards showing how past life on Earth puts the modern world into its proper context. The history of life and the patterns and processes of evolution are especially emphasized, as are the interconnections between our planet, its climate system, and its varied life forms. The book does not just describe the history of life, but uses actual examples from life’s history to illustrate important concepts and theories.

From America's most trusted financial advisor comes a comprehensive guide to a new and utterly sane financial choice. In Die Broke, you'll learn that... life is a game where the loser gives his money to Uncle Sam at the end. There are four steps to the process: Quit TodayNo, don't tell your boss to shove it...at least not out loud. But in your head accept that from this day on you're a free agent whose number one workplace priority is your personal bottom line.Pay Cash You should be as conscious of spending as you are of saving. Credit should be a rarely used tool for those few times (buying homes and cars) when paying cash is impossible.Don't Retire Your work life should be a journey up and down hills, rather than a climb up a sheer cliff that ends with a jump into the abyss.Die Broke It sounds terrifying, the one intolerable outcome to your financial life. And yet, in truth, dying broke might be your best option for a life without fear: fear of failure and privation now, fear of impoverishment in the long run.

Retaining its unique and much praised organization, this leading text has been revised to reflect the most recent developments in design tools. It... provides balanced coverage of relevant fundamentals and real-world practices so that students, apprentices and on-the-job professionals can understand the important and often complex interrelationships between die design and the economic factors involved in manufacturing sheet-metal forming products. Following introductory material and a discussion of 20 types of dies in Chapter 2, the design process of a representative die is separated into seventeen distinct chapters. Each chapter is one step which is illustrated in two ways; first, as a portion of an engineering drawing, that is, as the component is actually drawn on the design. Second, the die design is shown pictorially in order to improve the user’s visualization. In successive sections each step is detailed as it is applied to the design of the various types of dies listed in Chapter 2. Includes English and Metric systems.Covers new methods of producing blanks, such as waterjet cutting and laser cutting.Contains a glossary of terms for the first time.Illustrates each step in pictorial view and as a portion of an engineering drawing.Offers a completely revised chapter on presses and quick die-changing systems and includes the addition of “Quick Die Change Systems.

Die Deutschen is a reader for second and third-year German civilization courses that looks at German culture, both historically and in the present day.... The reader consists of three parts: the geography, the history, and the culture of Germany.