The Ptolemaic period in Egypt (332-30 BC) is one of the most well-documented periods of the Hellenistic age: in addition to the papyrological record there are more than 600 surviving Greek and Greek/Egyptian bilingual and trilingual inscriptions, ranging from massive public monuments, such as the Rosetta Stone, to s...

What makes a just government? How can liberty be protected from tyranny? The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 powerful essays written in the late 18th century by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, advocating for the ratification of the United States Constitution. These writings remain essential to ...

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." The Art of War by Sun Tzu is one of the most influential works of military strategy and philosophical wisdom ever written. Over 2,500 years old, this Chinese classic has guided generals, CEOs, athletes, and thinkers through...

What is justice? What is the best way to live? Can an ideal society exist? In The Republic, the philosopher Plato presents a powerful conversation between Socrates and his disciples as they explore the meaning of justice, the role of education, the nature of reality, and the qualities of an ideal ruler. Written arou...

Nicht weniger als ein ganzes Leben erzählt Annett Gröschner mit der Geschichte der Blumenbinderin und Kranfahrerin Hanna Krause - mit einer Wucht und Poesie, wie sie nur dort entstehen können, wo die Literatur wirklichkeitssatt ist. Hanna Krause war Blumenbinderin, bevor das Leben sie zur Kranführerin machte. Sie ha...

At the turn of the twentieth century, the city of Tianjin was the diplomatic capital of the Middle Kingdom, where foreign consuls met Chinese dignitaries, and a hub of commerce and culture. Yet in the eyes of foreigners, the city remained provincial. After the tumult of the Boxer Rebellion, however, Tianjin transfor...

**伏義原來是忍術和茶道的始祖、神農竟然變成兩神及溫泉之神、關帝化身為佛教護法及海上保護者、鍾道則成了武士的時尚指標…… 一眾「漢神」離鄉別井、遠渡東洋，祂們如何接受日本文化的洗禮？又怎樣改變當地文藝和民俗面貌？** 渡海而來的中國神靈，在日本披上神道及民間習俗的外衣，成為日本文化及宗教系統的一部分。 在地化後的中國民間宗教...

A Sociology of Awkwardness shows how awkward feelings are the outcome of social interactions going wrong. Combing insights from cultural sociology and the sociologies of interactions and emotions, this book develops the first comprehensive sociology of awkwardness. It provides an understanding of how people define, ...

Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) was born into an illustrious lineage of poets just as Japan’s ancien régime was ceding authority to a new political order dominated by military power. Overcoming personal and political setbacks, Teika and his allies championed a new style of poetry that managed to innovate conceptually ...

When the Lonesome Lady was shot down during a bombing run in the Inland Sea of Japan, Pilot T. C. Cartwright and his crew became POWs. The men were interned at Hiroshima, and while the author was sent to Tokyo for interrogation, his entire crew was killed by the U. S. atomic bomb. The military failed to properly rep...

What does it mean to be cast outーnot just from society, but from your own conscience? In An Outcast of the Islands, Joseph Conrad explores the moral descent of Peter Willems, a corrupt European trader who flees to a remote Southeast Asian village after being disgraced. There, he finds a fragile peaceーuntil lust, a...

This volume examines the higher-level discussions convened at Wilton Park, the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s policy forum, since its inception in 1946. Originally a ‘re-education’ camp after World War II in the principles and practice of democracy, Wilton Park has evolved into a first-class inte...

The original international woman of mystery, Mata Hari is maligned as a spy and a traitor. Having seduced a number of the most powerful men in Europe, she was accused of spying for both Allied and Central Powers during the First World War. Mata Hari's biography tells a different story. From her remarkable transforma...

When historians discuss the great European empires of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Sweden is sometimes not included in their conversations. Despite this omission, Sweden amassed a wealthy, prosperous empire during these years. Their territory spanned several regions of Europe and even included colonies ...

Subhas Chandra Bose was a revolutionary who sought Indian independence, but as many would contend, he ended up on the wrong side of history. In order to shake off the British yoke, Bose enlisted aid from Germany and Japan during World War II. This has led some to roundly condemn Bose as nothing more than a fascist c...

The political theories of Lenin have long outlived him, and have even gone on to outlive the Marxist state he help to found; the Soviet Union. The name Lenin still reverberates around the world, and yet "Lenin" is not even his real name. He was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, the name Lenin was just the word he used t...