Résultats lu par "Chris Macdonnell" dans Toutes les catégories

To the modern eye, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have many similarities to our own contemporary super-heroes. Equipped with magical powers, enchanted swords, super-strength, and countless villains to take on, they protect the weak and innocent and adhere to their own code of honor. Comparing Batman, Superman, and Captain America to Sir Launcelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Galahad isn't a huge leap of the imagination.

Slavoj Žižek's first book is a provocative and original work looking at the question of human agency in a postmodern world. In a thrilling tour de force that made his name, he explores the ideological fantasies of wholeness and exclusion which make up human society.

First published in nine volumes over the years from 1759 to 1767, The life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a, comic, bawdy, humorous, satirical novel. It purports to be the autobiography of Tristram Shandy beginning at his conception but, famously, Sterne's egoistic character digresses and side-tracks the listener with so many colorful observations of his family and cast of supporting characters that his birth doesn't take place until Vol 3.

While the Germans knew an invasion was inevitable, no one knew where or when it would fall. Those manning Hitler's mighty Atlantic Wall may have felt secure in their bunkers, but they had no conception of the fury and fire that was about to break. After the initial assaults of June established an Allied bridgehead, a state of stalemate prevailed. The Germans fought with great courage - hindered by lack of supplies and overwhelming Allied control of the air. This book describes the catastrophe that followed, in a unique look at the war from the losing side.

From colonial empire-building in the 19th century to the postcolonial culture wars of the 21st century, attempts at "comparison" have defined the international agenda of literature. But what is comparative literature? That is discussed in this audiobook....

England's Dreaming is the ultimate book on punk, its progenitors, the Sex Pistols, and the moment they defined for music fans in England and the United States. Savage brings to life the sensational story of the meteoric rise and rapid implosion of the Pistols through layers of rich detail and exclusive interviews. This fully revised and updated edition of the book covers the legacy of punk 25 years later and provides an account of the Pistols' 1996 reunion as well as a completely new introduction.

With the Awakening now fully realized, Elwin Escari must find allies in his war against Abaddon, the Seeker of Souls, who has returned to Arinth intent upon remaking the world in his image. Still hunted by the Guardians of Life and now with enemies at every turn and no way to defeat a being of such immense power, Elwin must forge his own destiny and discover new ways to fight Abaddon. The road ahead appears lonely, but Elwin holds to hope and has faith in his companions, even though they are now lost to him.

Five decades ago, The Limits to Growth shocked the world by showing that population and industrial growth were pushing humanity toward a cliff. Today the world recognizes that we are now at the cliff edge: Earth has crossed multiple planetary boundaries while widespread inequality is causing deep instabilities in societies. There seems to be no way out. Earth for All is both an antidote to despair and a road map to a better future.

In 1966, two columnists joined Newsweek magazine. Their assignment: Debate the world of business and economics. Paul Samuelson was a towering figure in Keynesian economics. Milton Friedman championed "monetarism" and insisted the Federal Reserve maintain tight control over the amount of money circulating in the economy.

In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful and examining how we can compare differing judgments of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely.

Over Easter weekend 2015, a motley crew of six English thieves, several in their 60s and 70s, couldn't resist coming out of retirement for one last career-topping heist. Their target: the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit, in the heart of London's medieval diamond district. Perhaps not the smoothest of criminals - one took a public bus to the scene of the crime; another read Forensics for Dummies in hopes that he would learn how to avoid getting caught - they planned the job over fish and chips at their favorite pubs.

This is the story of the greatest empire the world has ever known. Simon Baker charts the rise and fall of the world's first superpower, focusing on six momentous turning points that shaped Roman history. Welcome to Rome as you've never seen it before—awesome and splendid, gritty and squalid. From the conquest of the Mediterranean beginning in the third century BC to the destruction of the Roman Empire at the hands of barbarian invaders some seven centuries later, we discover the most critical episodes in Roman history.

Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire. Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent "barbarians" who destroyed "civilization," at least in the conventional story of Rome's collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive.

Set in rural Victorian England, Far from the Madding Crowd describes the life and relationships of a woman Farmer, Bathsheba Everdene. First with the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, then her lonely neighbor William Boldwood, and finally, the prodigal soldier Sergeant Frank Troy.

Charles Dickens's Hard Times (1854) is a satirical novel, as well as a romantic one. It is a commentary on social issues of the Industrial Revolution. He sets the tale in his imaginary northern location of Coketown. Gradgrind, father of Tom and Louisa, as the superintendent of schools wants education and life to be founded on facts alone. Bounderby, a Banker, and Industrialist is a boastful, bullying, self-proclaimed vagabond made good

Jim Hawkins (who narrates the tale) discovers the long-lost Treasure Map, on which X marks the spot, in the belongings of a dead pirate. He takes it to the local Doctor and Squire who determine to buy a ship, set sail, and recover the treasure from the Island. In a masterstroke of plot, Stevenson has the excited but gullible Squire recruit a crew made up, mostly, of the very crew of Buccaneers and Pirates who plundered this treasure in the first place, under the Captaincy of Flint! They are now led by the one-legged, cunning, and charismatic, Long John Silver.

"Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific" by Capt. Frederick Marryat, follows the adventures of a devoutly Christian family (The Seagraves) and their servant (Juno) who are shipwrecked at sea and find themselves having to survive on a desert island.

"Mr. Midshipman Easy" (1836) is mostly a humorous, sometimes ironic, satirical, seafaring adventure. However, the early chapters of the novel address the birth, upbringing, and education of "our Hero", Jack Easy, and set the stage for the rest of the book.

"The Wood Beyond the World" is perhaps the first modern fantasy novel to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural and is thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. The protagonist, (Golden Walter), gets married when he is a young man. His wife betrays him with another, so in his sorrow and to avoid a feud with her family, he sets off to sea.

The protagonist, Pip, lives with his sister “Mrs Joe Gargery” and her husband, Joe, in a secluded rural village in the marshlands of Kent. Both his parents are dead. Pip has always had a burning desire to become a Gentleman. The story follows how Pip, through circumstances not of his own making, rises to great wealth, becomes part of the London elite and is considered to have “Great Expectations”. However, as the story develops, he betrays or deserts his true friends and becomes eventually humbled by his own arrogance and pride.