Lotharingia : a personal history of europe's lost country - simon winder

From the bestselling author of Germania, Lotharinigia is the third installment in Simon Winder's personal history of Europe. In 843 AD, the three surviving grandsons of the great emperor Charlemagne met at Verdun. After years of bitter squabbles over who would inherit the family land, they finally decided to divide the territory and go their separate ways. In a moment of staggering significance, one grandson inherited the area we now know as France, another Germany and the third received the piece in between: Lotharingia. Lotharingia is a history of in-between Europe. It is the story of a place between places. In this beguiling, hilarious and compelling book, Simon Winder retraces the various powers that have tried to overtake the land that stretches from the mouth of the Rhine to the Alps and the might of the peoples who have lived there for centuries. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

In AD 843, the three surviving grandsons of the great Emperor Charlemagne met at Verdun. After years of bitter squabbles over who would inherit the family land, they finally decided to divide the territory and go their separate ways. In a moment of staggering significance, one grandson inherited what became France, another Germany and the third Lotharingia: the chunk that initially divided the other two. The dynamic between these three great zones has dictated much of our subsequent fate.In this beguiling, hilarious and compelling book we retrace how both from west and from east any number of ambitious characters have tried and failed to grapple with these Lotharingians, who ultimately became Dutch, German, Belgian, French, Luxembourgers and Swiss. Over many centuries, not only has Lotharingia brought forth many of Europe's greatest artists, inventors and thinkers, but it has also reduced many a would-be conqueror to helpless tears of rage and frustration. Joining Germania and Danubia in Simon Winder's endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, Lotharingia is a personal, wonderful and gripping story. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Danubia is the brilliant and entertaining companion to the Sunday Times top ten bestseller Germania. It was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013.For centuries much of Europe was in the hands of the very peculiar Habsburg family. An unstable mixture of wizards, obsessives, melancholics, bores, musicians and warriors, they saw off – through luck, guile and sheer mulishness – any number of rivals, until finally packing up in 1918. From their principal lairs along the Danube they ruled most of Central Europe and Germany and interfered everywhere – indeed the history of Europe hardly makes sense without them.Simon Winder’s extremely funny new book plunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Danubia is full of music, piracy, religion and fighting. It is the history of a dynasty, but it is at least as much about the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in many rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna. Readers who discovered Simon Winder’s genius for telling wonderful stories of middle Europe with Germania will be delighted by the eccentric and fascinating stories of the Habsburgs and their world.Danubia was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013 (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Drawing from the people who lived it, Homelands explores how Europe slowly recovered and rebuilt from World War Two. And then faltered.Timothy Garton Ash, our greatest writer about Europe, has spent a lifetime studying Europe and this deeply felt book is full of vivid experiences: from his father's memories of D-Day and his own surveillance at the hands of the Stasi to interviewing Albanian guerrillas in the mountains of Kosovo and angry teenagers in the poorest quarters of Paris, as well as advising prime ministers, chancellors and presidents.Homelands is at once a living, breathing history of a period of unprecedented progress, a clear-eyed account of how so much then went wrong and an urgent call to the citizens of this great old continent to understand and defend what we have collectively achieved. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Roku 843 se ve Verdunu sešli tři vnukové mocného císaře Karla Velikého. Po letech bouřlivých sporů o to, který z nich má zdědit rodové državy, se nakonec rozhodli říši rozdělit a jít každý svou vlastní cestou. V okamžiku dalekosáhlého významu získal jeden z vnuků území, z něhož se měla zrodit Francie, druhý budoucí Německo a třetí Lotharingii: zemi, jež původně druhé dvě od sebe oddělovala. Dynamika vztahů mezi těmito třemi celky předurčila mnohé z budoucích osudů Evropy.*****V této okouzlující, vtipné a zajímavé knize s napětím sledujeme, jak se řada ctižádostivých osobností ze západu i východu neúspěšně pokoušela podmanit si obyvatelstvo Lotharingie, z něhož se postupem doby stali Nizozemci, Němci, Belgičané, Francouzi, Lucemburčané a Švýcaři. V průběhu staletí vzešli z Lotharingie mnozí z největších evropských umělců, vynálezců či myslitelů, zároveň však tato země přiměla četné rádoby dobyvatele ronit slzy vzteku a frustrace. Spolu s Germanií a Danubií, v nichž Simon Winder fascinujícím způsobem předkládá svůj osobní pohled na evropské dějiny, je Lotharingia dalším nádherným a poutavým příběhem. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Hudební CD - Soundtrack k filmu The Personal History of David Copperfield z roku 2019. The Personal History of David Copperfield je film skotského režiséra Armanda Iannucciho. Ten je rovněž spolu se Simonem Blackwellem autorem scénáře, který vznikl na motivy románu David Copperfield od Charlese Dickense. Seznam stop My Own Story / Baby Davy / Yarmouth / Last Days of Innocence / The Murdstones / The Bottling Factory / I Fall Into Disgrace / A Corker of a Corker / Without a Home / 23 Miles to Dover / Notes and Impressions / A Blissful Summer / First Day at School / Mr. Dick and the Kite / Agnes / Tall Tales / Uriah Heep / Of Kites and Concertinas / Leaving Day / Meeting Dora / Adventures of a London Gentleman / Mock Turtle / Ruined / Mounting Troubles / Return To Yarmouth / Steerforth Mucks In / Emily Gone / The Search for Emily / David's Writings / The Shipwreck / Concluding Words / A Life Well Written / These Pages Must Show (End Credits) (alza.cz)

'An indispensable guide to the tragic history of a great European nation' (David Blair Sunday Telegraph)Located at the western edge of the Eurasian steppe, Ukraine has long been the meeting place of empires - Roman to Ottoman, Habsburg to Russian - and they all left their imprint on the landscape, the language and the people living within these shifting borders. In this authoritative book, Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhy traces the history of Ukraine from the arrival of the Vikings in the tenth century to the current Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Fascinating and multilayered, The Gates of Europe is the essential guide to understanding not just Ukraine's past but also its future. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

From former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright comes a moving and thoughtful memoir of her formative years in Czechoslovakia during the tumult of Nazi occupation, World War II, fascism, and the onset of the Cold War. An intensely personal journey into the past that offers vital lessons for the future, Prague Winter combines the intimacy of an autobiography with the drama of an exciting and well-told story—all underpinned by the gravity and intelligence of a serious work of history. The result is a highly readable and incisive work filled with tragedy and triumph, a resonant narrative informed by Albright’s remarkable life experience and her characteristic candor in speaking hard truths. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Monografia zachytáva spoločné črty vývoja práva v priestore stredovýchodnej Európy za posledných približne 1500 rokov. Dôraz je v tejto publikácii kladený na vývoj práva na území štátov Vyšehradskej štvorky ako území doteraz zaznávanom predstaviteľmi prúdu porovnávacích právnych dejín či európskych právnych dejín. Vzájomná historická previazanosť skúmaných štátov sa prejavuje v ich podobnej právnohistorickej skúsenosti, čiastočne odlišnej od západoeurópskeho vývoja práva. Publikácia približuje vybrané príznaky právnych dejín spoločné štátom v tomto regióne, a to najmä v podobe pomerne neskoršej kristianizácie práva v období raného stredoveku, v podobe historickoprávnej skúsenosti s byzantským právnym vplyvom v rámci cyrilometodskej misie, ale tiež spočívajúce v zachovávaní domácich právnych tradícií s pomerne slabšou romanizáciou práva v období vrcholného stredoveku a v novoveku či v odlišnom chápaní feudálneho zriadenia v porovnaní so západnou Európou. Ďalšie spoločné znaky právnych dejín stredovýchodnej Európy predstavujú špecificky pretransformované vzory liberalizmu a západných právnych riešení v právnych dejinách 19. a 20. storočia, kedy táto časť Európy zároveň prešla rozsiahlymi premenami v dôsledku myšlienky etnického národa a národného štátu. Osobitnou spoločnou východoeurópskou skúsenosťou sú potom v 20. storočí rozsiahle zásahy do vlastníckych pomerov (pozemkové reformy, konfiškácie, znárodnenia), prudké štátoprávne premeny a viacnásobné zmeny hraníc v tejto časti Európy, či napokon doteraz badateľný vplyv sovietskych právnych vzorov. Jedinečnou je v tejto súvislosti tiež právna skúsenosť s opakovanými spoločenskými prechodmi medzi totalitou a demokraciou, v recentnom období spojená, navyše, s výzvami europeizácie a globalizácie práva. Všetky uvedené jedinečné skúsenosti spájajú štáty stredovýchodnej Európy a ovplyvňujú ich príbuznú právnu identitu a kultúru, často dostatočne nepochopenú mimo tohto regiónu. Nepochopenie a neznalosť je však tiež dôsledkom nedostatočnej prezentácie spoločných právnohistorických tradícií stredovýchodnej Európy na celoeurópskom fóre. Práve uvedený nedostatok sa snaží odstrániť predstavovaná monografia, ktorá je v záujme širšieho dosahu napísaná v anglickom jazyku. (patro.cz)

Monografia zachytáva spoločné črty vývoja práva v priestore stredovýchodnej Európy za posledných približne 1500 rokov. Dôraz je v tejto publikácii kladený na vývoj práva na území štátov Vyšehradskej štvorky ako území doteraz zaznávanom predstaviteľmi prúdu porovnávacích právnych dejín či európskych právnych dejín. Vzájomná historická previazanosť skúmaných štátov sa prejavuje v ich podobnej právnohistorickej skúsenosti, čiastočne odlišnej od západoeurópskeho vývoja práva. Publikácia približuje vybrané príznaky právnych dejín spoločné štátom v tomto regióne, a to najmä v podobe pomerne neskoršej kristianizácie práva v období raného stredoveku, v podobe historickoprávnej skúsenosti s byzantským právnym vplyvom v rámci cyrilometodskej misie, ale tiež spočívajúce v zachovávaní domácich právnych tradícií s pomerne slabšou romanizáciou práva v období vrcholného stredoveku a v novoveku či v odlišnom chápaní feudálneho zriadenia v porovnaní so západnou Európou. Ďalšie spoločné znaky právnych dejín stredovýchodnej Európy predstavujú špecificky pretransformované vzory liberalizmu a západných právnych riešení v právnych dejinách 19. a 20. storočia, kedy táto časť Európy zároveň prešla rozsiahlymi premenami v dôsledku myšlienky etnického národa a národného štátu. Osobitnou spoločnou východoeurópskou skúsenosťou sú potom v 20. storočí rozsiahle zásahy do vlastníckych pomerov (pozemkové reformy, konfiškácie, znárodnenia), prudké štátoprávne premeny a viacnásobné zmeny hraníc v tejto časti Európy, či napokon doteraz badateľný vplyv sovietskych právnych vzorov. Jedinečnou je v tejto súvislosti tiež právna skúsenosť s opakovanými spoločenskými prechodmi medzi totalitou a demokraciou, v recentnom období spojená, navyše, s výzvami europeizácie a globalizácie práva. Všetky uvedené jedinečné skúsenosti spájajú štáty stredovýchodnej Európy a ovplyvňujú ich príbuznú právnu identitu a kultúru, často dostatočne nepochopenú mimo tohto regiónu. Nepochopenie a neznalosť je však tiež dôsledkom nedostatočnej prezentácie spoločných právnohistorických tradícií stredovýchodnej Európy na celoeurópskom fóre. Práve uvedený nedostatok sa snaží odstrániť predstavovaná monografia, ktorá je v záujme širšieho dosahu napísaná v anglickom jazyku. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Germania je osobitý průvodce po regionech, které autor miluje a obdivuje. Živým jazykem líčí minulost Německa od jeho počátků až po zrod moderního německého státu. Kniha je svérázným převyprávěním evropských dějin a současně i nadšeným pohledem na skryté zázraky Německa. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Po staletí se většina Evropy nacházela v rukou velmi svérázného rodu Habsburků. Jako proměnlivá směsice mágů, ztřeštěnců, melancholiků, nudných patronů, hudebníků a válečníků se dokázali vypořádat – šťastnou náhodou, úskoky i prostou paličatostí – s jakýmkoli množstvím nepřátel, až se nakonec v roce 1918 sami museli poroučet. Ze svých nejvýznamnějších útočišť na Dunaji vládli většině střední Evropy i Německu a všude jinde významně zasahovali – dějiny Evropy jsou bez nich nepředstavitelné. Čtenáře, kteří již objevili přirozené nadání Simona Windera vyprávět nádherné historky o střední Evropě v jeho předcházející knize Germania, jistě potěší excentrické a fascinující příběhy o Habsburcích a jejich světě. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Central Europe is not just a space on a map but also a region of shared experience - of mutual borrowings, impositions and misapprehensions. From the Roman Empire onwards, it has been the target of invasion from the east. In the Middle Ages, Central Europeans cast their eastern foes as 'the dogmen'. They would later become the Turks, Swedes, Russians and Soviets, all of whom pulled the region apart and remade it according to their own vision.Competition among Europe's Middle Kingdoms yielded repeated cultural effervescences. This was the first home of the High Renaissance outside Italy, the cradle of the Reformation, the starting point of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, the symphony and modern nationalism. It was a permanent battleground too for religious and political ideas.Most recent histories of Central Europe confine themselves to the lands in between Germany and Russia, homing in on Poland, Hungary, and what is now the Czech Republic. This new history embraces the whole of Central Europe, including the German lands as well as Ukraine and Switzerland. The story of Europe's Middle Kingdoms is a reminder of Central Europe's precariousness, of its creativity and turbulence, and of the common cultural trends that make these lands so distinctive. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

For centuries much of Europe was in the hands of the very peculiar Habsburg family. An unstable mixture of wizards, obsessives, melancholics, bores, musicians and warriors, they saw off - through luck, guile and sheer mulishness - any number of rivals, until finally packing up in 1918. From their principal lairs along the Danube they ruled most of Central Europe and Germany and interfered everywhere - indeed the history of Europe hardly makes sense without them. Simon Winder's extremely funny new book plunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Danubia is full of music, piracy, religion and fighting. It is the history of a dynasty, but it is at least as much about the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in many rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna. Readers who discovered Simon Winder's genius for telling wonderful stories of middle Europe with Germania will be delighted by the eccentric and fascinating stories of the Habsburgs and their world. Danubia was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The first full, comprehensive account of the cultural representation of the Roma in European historyThis remarkable book describes a dark side of European history: the rejection of the Roma from their initial arrival in the late Middle Ages to the present day. To Europeans, the Roma appeared to be in complete contradiction with their own culture, because of their mysterious origins, unknown language and way of life. As representatives of an oral culture, for centuries the Roma have left virtually no written records of their own. Their history has been conveyed to us almost exclusively through the distorted images that European cultures project.Persecuted and shunned, the Roma nonetheless spread out across the continent and became an important, indeed indispensable element in the European imagination. It is impossible to conceive of the culture of Spain, southern France and much of Central Europe without this pervasive Romani influence.Europe and the Roma brilliantly describes the 'fascination and fear' which have marked Europeans' response to the Romani presence. Countless composers, artists and writers have responded to Romani culture and to fantasies thereof. Their projections onto a group whose illiteracy and marginalization gave it so little direct voice of its own have always been a very uneasy mixture of the inspired, the patronizing and the frighteningly ignorant. The book also shows the link between cultural violence, social discrimination and racist policies that paved the way for the genocide of the Roma. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Tomáš Gábriš, 220 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu lesklá Monografia zachytáva spoločné črty vývoja práva v priestore stredovýchodnej Európy za posledných približne 1500 rokov. Dôraz je v tejto publikácii kladený na vývoj práva na území štátov Vyšehradskej štvorky ako území doteraz zaznávanom predstaviteľmi prúdu porovnávacích právnych dejín či európskych právnych dejín. Vzájomná historická previazanosť skúmaných štátov sa prejavuje v ich podobnej právnohistorickej skúsenosti, čiastočne odlišnej od západoeurópskeho vývoja práva. Publikácia približuje vybrané príznaky právnych dejín spoločné štátom v tomto regióne, a to najmä v podobe pomerne neskoršej kristianizácie práva v období raného stredoveku, v podobe historickoprávnej skúsenosti s byzantským právnym vplyvom v rámci cyrilometodskej misie, ale tiež spočívajúce v zachovávaní domácich právnych tradícií s pomerne slabšou romanizáciou práva v období vrcholného stredoveku a v novoveku či v... (alza.cz)

'A spiritual polymath, the first and possibly greatest' Deepak ChopraThe spiritual is not to be separated from the material, nor the wonderful from the ordinaryOffering reflections on living for the present moment, the pleasures of listening to music, and finding the playfulness of day-to-day life, this beautiful guided meditation journal will help readers engage in the mindful practice of journaling. Pioneering Zen scholar Alan Watts combines insightful and pithy wisdom with charming line illustrations in this collection of journalling prompts and mindfulness observations. The text is full of Watt's warm encouragement and humour which accompany some of his most salient philosophical observations, from seeing through arbitrary separations prescribed by language and society to leaving behind assumptions to see things as they truly are: fleeting, yet everlasting - simple, but wondrous. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A new concise history of modern painting, offering an indispensable reference to the complexities and characteristics of this medium. While acknowledging the legacy of Herbert Read’s classic 1959 study A Concise History of Modern Painting in the World of Art series, academic and artist Simon Morley places the foundation of modern art much earlier than Read, at the emergence of Romanticism and the dawn of the industrial age. Structured loosely chronologically by period, the focus is as much on individual artists as well as movements, with works discussed within a broader context - stylistic, historical, geographical, and gender and ethnic frames - themes that recur throughout the chapters. Generously illustrated, the global and diverse range of artists featured include William Blake, Édouard Manet, Hilma af Klint, Kazimir Malevich, Willem de Kooning, Amrita Sher-Gil, Faith Ringgold, and Kehinde Wiley. This guide also includes an Appendix in the form of questions the reader might like to ask in relation to the artists and the ideas discussed - in order to reconsider the works from a contemporary perspective. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Over the past twenty years European cities have become the envy of the world: a Kraftwerk Utopia of historic centres, supermodernist concert halls, imaginative public spaces and futuristic egalitarian housing estates which, interconnected by high-speed trains traversing open borders, have a combination of order and pleasure which is exceptionally unusual elsewhere. In Trans-Europe Express, Owen Hatherley sets out to explore the European city across the entire continent, to see what exactly makes it so different to the Anglo-Saxon norm - the unplanned, car-centred, developer-oriented spaces common to the US, Ireland, UK and Australia. Attempting to define the European city, Hatherley finds a continent divided both within the EU and outside it. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

All the Living and the Dead is an exploration into the psychology of modern death, told through the remarkable people who deal with it every day. For readers of Caitlin Doughty's Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test, Sue Black's All That Remains and Elinor Cleghorn's Unwell Women.We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we're so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?Fuelled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending 62 lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.Through Campbell's incisive and candid interviews with these people who see death every day, she asks: Why would someone choose this kind of life? Does it change you as a person? And are we missing something vital by letting death remain hidden?A dazzling work of cultural criticism, All the Living and the Dead weaves together reportage with memoir, history, and philosophy, to offer readers a fascinating look into the psychology of Western death.'Campbell is a gorgeous writer, capturing the exquisite pathos and gallows humour found in folks who spend their lives working with the dead' - Caitlin Doughty, New York Times bestselling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The first one-volume, complete history of Europe, as told by Europeans themselves, from Homo Erectus to the Celts, to Greek wisdom and Roman grandeur, all of the way to the European phenomenon - the Industrial Revolution. This is the definitive way to discover the real, modern Europe progressively unfolding, because looking back to the past reveals more about our future than we ever expected, and only by knowing how Europe came to be, can we know what really lies ahead. Whilst experiencing constant turbulence and change, Europe has made an astonishing mark on the world. How did one small continent become so powerful? How did such diverse islands come together to act as one? How did a diplomatic society descend into bloodshed and what does that mean for Europe today? For two-millenia Europe has been a superpower; it's fretted coastlines, it's many religions and revolutions have all shaped what it is now, and with more change ahead Jean-Baptiste Duroselle's Europe including a special and up-to-date introduction from Anthony Teasdale, Director General for Parliamentary research and former Special Advisor for the Deputy Prime Minister, couldn't be better timed. It is a much needed portrayal of our ever turbulent Europe. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

In derelict Dresden a cultivated, middle-class family does all it can to cope amid the Communist downfall. This striking tapestry of the East German experience is told through the tangled lives of a soldier, surgeon, nurse and publisher. With evocative detail, Uwe Tellkamp masterfully reveals the myriad perspectives of the time as people battled for individuality, retreated to nostalgia, chose to conform, or toed the perilous line between East and West. Poetic, heartfelt and dramatic, The Tower vividly resurrects the sights, scents and sensations of life in the GDR as it hurtled towards 9 November 1989. Uwe Tellkamp was born in 1968 in Dresden. After completing his military service, he lost his place to study medicine on the grounds of 'political sabotage'. He was arrested in 1989, but went on to study medicine in Liepzig, Dresden and New York, later becoming a surgeon. He has won numerous regional prizes for poetry, as well as the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for The Sleep in the Clocks. In 2008, he won the German Book Prize for The Tower. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece by one of the world's greatest thinkers. It begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral galaxies and strong theory. To this day A Brief History of Time remains a staple of the scientific canon, and its succinct and clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and its wonders. This new edition includes updates from Stephen Hawking with his latest thoughts about the No Boundary Proposal and offers new information about dark energy, the information paradox, eternal inflation, the microwave background radiation observations, and the discovery of gravitational waves. It is published to accompany the launch of a new app, Stephen Hawking's Pocket Universe. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Muzeum George Eastman House se sídlem v Rochesteru ve státě New York , je jednou z nejvýznamnějších světových institucí věnujících se výzkumu, vystavování a uchovávání fotografického umění. Bylo otevřeno v roce 1949 v domě George Eastmana, zakladatele Eastman Kodak Company, jako první muzeum v USA zaměřené na fotografii a film. Objevná publikace nabízí pohled zevnitř do hloubky a šířky jeho fotografických sbírek a sleduje bohaté dějiny fotografie od dávných počátků po moderní digitální obrazové technologie. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Edouard Louis, 198 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná ** Shortlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award ** The radical, urgent new novel from the author of The End of Eddy - a personal and powerful story of violence. I met Reda on Christmas Eve 2012, at around four in the morning. He approached me in the street, and finally I invited him up to my apartment. He told me the story of his childhood and how his father had come to France, having fled Algeria. We spent the rest of the night together, talking, laughing. At around 6 o'clock, he pulled out a gun and said he was going to kill me. He insulted me, strangled and raped me. The next day, the medical and legal proceedings began. History of Violence retraces the story of that night, and looks at immigration, class, racism, desire and the effects of trauma in an attempt to understand a history of violence, its origins, its reasons and its causes. 'It stays with you'... (alza.cz)

Monumenty těžkého průmyslu, které v Kladně a jeho okolí zůstaly napospas zubu času, přírodě nebo sběračům kovů. Fotograf Šimon Vejvančický zachytil jejich proměny prostřednictvím unikátních analogových fotografií, u kterých experimentuje s formáty, materiály i fotografickými postupy. Vzniká tak jedinečná umělecká výpověď, která nemůže chybět v knihovnách milovníků fotografie, urbexu nebo českého průmyslového dědictví. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The first one-volume, complete history of Europe, as told by Europeans themselves, from Homo Erectus to the Celts, to Greek wisdom and Roman grandeur, all of the way to the European phenomenon - the Industrial Revolution. This is the definitive way to discover the real, modern Europe progressively unfolding, because looking back to the past reveals more about our future than we ever expected, and only by knowing how Europe came to be, can we know what really lies ahead. Whilst experiencing constant turbulence and change, Europe has made an astonishing mark on the world. How did one small continent become so powerful? How did such diverse islands come together to act as one? How did a diplomatic society descend into bloodshed and what does that mean for Europe today? For two-millenia Europe has been a superpower; it's fretted coastlines, it's many religions and revolutions have all shaped what it is now, and with more change ahead Jean-Baptiste Duroselle's Europe including a special and up-to-date introduction from Anthony Teasdale, Director General for Parliamentary research and former Special Advisor for the Deputy Prime Minister, couldn't be better timed. It is a much needed portrayal of our ever turbulent Europe. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Almost every culture on earth has drink, and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place drunkenness is a little bit different. Tracing humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to Prohibition, it answers every possible question:What did people drink? How much? Who did the drinking? Of the many possible reasons, why?On the way, learn about the Neolithic Shamans, who drank to communicate with the spirit world (no pun intended), marvel at how Greeks got giddy and Romans got rat-arsed, and find out how bars in the Wild West were never like the movies.This is a history of the world at its inebriated best.'This book is a laugh riot. I mean the way the author has presented it is hilarious and to the point' Goodreads Reviewer (knihydobrovsky.cz)

His grandfather was the bloodthirsty Mongol leader Genghis Khan, his mother a Christian princess. Groomed from childhood for a position of authority, Khubilai snatched the position of Great Khan, becoming the overlord of a Mongol federation that stretched from the Balkans to the Korean coastline. His armies conquered the Asian kingdom of Dali and brought down the last defenders of imperial China. Khubilai Khan presided over a glorious Asian renaissance, attracting emissaries from all across the continent, and opening his civil service to 'men with coloured eyes' - administrators from the far west. His life and times encompassed the legends of Prester John, the pinnacle of the samurai (and, indeed, the Mongols), and the travels of Marco Polo. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Maja Lunde, 338 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná In the spirit of Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go, this dazzling and ambitious literary debut follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a spellbinding story of their relationship to the bees - and to their children and one another - against the backdrop of an urgent, global crisis. England, 1851. William is a biologist and seed merchant, who sets out to build a new type of beehive-one that will give both him and his children honour and fame. United States, 2007. George is a beekeeper and fights an uphill battle against modern farming, but hopes that his son can be their salvation. China, 2098. Tao hand paints pollen onto the fruit trees now that the bees have long since disappeared. When Tao's young son is taken away by the authorities after a tragic accident-and is kept in the dark about his whereabouts and condition-she sets out on a... (alza.cz)

Kniha - autor Martin Goodman, 656 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná A panoramic history of Judaism from its origins to the present. Judaism is by some distance the oldest of the three Abrahamic religions. Despite the extraordinarily diverse forms it has taken, the Jewish people have believed themselves bound to God by the same covenant for more than three thousand years. This book explains how Judaism came to be and how it has developed from one age to the next, as well as the ways in which its varieties have related to each other. (alza.cz)

An illuminating work revealing the long history of xenophobia and what it means for today's divided world Over the last few years, it has been impossible to ignore the steady resurgence of xenophobia. The European migrant crisis and immigration from Central America to the United States have placed Western advocates of globalisation on the defensive, and a 'New Xenophobia' seems to have emerged out of nowhere. In this fascinating study, George Makari traces the history of xenophobia from its origins to the present day. Often perceived as an ancient word for a timeless problem, 'xenophobia' was in fact only coined a century ago, tied to heated and formative Western debates over nationalism, globalisation, race and immigration. From Richard Wright to Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, writers and thinkers have long grappled with this most dangerous of phobias. Drawing on their work, Makari demonstrates how we can better understand the problem that is so crucial to our troubled times. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

In 1947, Bill Gaines inherited EC Comics, a new venture founded by his legendary father M. C. Gaines, who was responsible for midwifing the birth of the comic book as we know it during his tenure at All-American Comics, bringing the likes of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to the world. Over the next eight years, Bill Gaines and a "who's who" of the era including Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, and Wally Wood would reinvent the very notion of the comic book with titles like Tales from the Crypt, Crime SuspenStories, Weird Science, and MAD.EC delighted in publishing gory, morbid horror and crime comics that had snap, ironic endings-but they also pioneered the first true-to-life war comics, the first "real" science-fiction stories, and a series of tales about such then-taboo subjects as racism, bigotry, vigilantism, drug addiction, police corruption, and anti-Semitism. Too good to last, they were eventually caught up by various 1950s guardians of morality, who were convinced that EC's often over-the-top content was causing juvenile delinquency. A year or so after a full inquiry investigating horror and crime comics, the incredible EC Comics were no more.TASCHEN presents the full, fascinating story of this fabled company, written and expertly curated by EC-authority Grant Geissman. Even the most die-hard EC Fan-Addicts will find something new within these pages, with the Gaines family archives providing more than 100 rarities that have never seen print. Many of the cover images are reproduced from Gaines File Copies, which are widely regarded as the best surviving copies of the EC Comics.Gathering more than 1,000 illustrations that include the rarest and most notorious covers, interior pages and panels, photos, vintage original artwork, and some of the most celebrated stories ever to be printed in four colors for a dime, this is the ultimate EC Comics compendium and a must-have for any comics enthusiast or pop culture historian. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

The History of Espionage recounts the fascinating story of spies and spying from the cloak-and-dagger machinations of the Ancient Greeks and Romans to the high-tech surveillance operations of the post-9/11, post-truth world. It is a tale of clandestine agents, military scouts, captured documents, dead-letter drops, intercepted mail, decoded telegrams, secret codes and ciphers, bugging devices, desperate plots and honey traps. Featuring case studies on the most fascinating spies and plots through history and illustrated with rare photographs throughout, The History of Espionage decodes the sinister world of surveillance like never before. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Klasická point & click adventura, jejímž hlavním hrdinou je vojenský psycholog David Mc Namara, který po odchodu z aktivní služby prožívá hodně těžké období. Trpí silnými cholerickými záchvaty a jeho manželství je v troskách. V této situaci je David povolán do New Yorku, aby si zde prohlédl pět mladých žen a mužů, kteří byli nalezeni křičící, totálně zmatení a vystrašení na ulicích NY. David všechny své nové pacienty opatrně vyslýchá, jednoho po druhém a postupně se dopracuje k alarmujícímu zjištění. Hra je rozdělena na dvě části. V té první budete v roli Davida vyšetřovat v současnosti a v té druhé naopak ovládat jednotlivé pacienty, s nimiž si prožijete jejich flashbacky a postupně se tak dostanete na kloub všem záhadám co se po cestě objeví. Hlavní rysy : - Klasická point & click adventura s neobvyklými prvky. - Napínavý příběh odehrávající se ve zpětné chronologii. - Vyzkoušejte si role jedinečných šesti postav. - Prozkoumejte 45 vysoce detailních a precizně animovaných lokací. - Vysoce kvalitní dabing. - Od tvůrců „Moment of Silence“. Minimální konfigurace : Windows 2000, XP, Vista[32bit], procesor 1300MHz, paměť 256MB RAM, 1.50GB volno na disku, DVDROM (fitvyziva.cz)

Kniha - autor Mark Forsyth, 256 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná A comic history of humankind's love affair with booze, from the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of The Etymologicon 'Haha! . . . Highly suitable for Xmas!' - Margaret Atwood Almost every culture on earth has drink, and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place drunkenness is a little bit different. It can be religious, it can be sexual, it can be the duty of kings or the relief of peasants. It can be an offering to the ancestors, or a way of marking the end of a day's work. It can send you to sleep, or send you into battle. A Short History of Drunkenness traces humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to Prohibition, answering every possible question along the way: What did people drink? How much? Who did the drinking? Of the many possible reasons, why? On the way, learn about the Neolithic Shamans, who drank to... (alza.cz)

The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore is a fresh and original history of humanity, unlike any previous world history: it uses family, the one thing all humans have in common, to tell the story. It is genuinely global, spanning all eras and all continents, from the perspective of places as diverse as Haiti, Congo and Cambodia as well as Europe, China and America. Starting with the first footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago, Montefiore steers us through an interconnected world via palace intrigues, love affairs and family lives, linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the heart of the human drama.It features a cast of extraordinary span and diversity: as well as rulers and conquerors there are priests, charlatans, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, gangsters, lovers, husbands, wives and children. From Alexander the Great, Attila, Genghis Khan to Ivan the Terrible and Hitler, from Socrates, Michelangelo, Shakespeare to Mozart, Balzac, Newton and Tim Berners-Lee. There is Hongwu who started as a beggar and founded the Ming dynasty; Ewuare the Leopard-King of Benin; King Henry of Haiti; Kamehameha conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, Arab empress who defied Rome, Lady Murasaki first female novelist, Sayyida al-Hurra, Moroccan pirate-queen; Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Barack Obama.Here are the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads. All the way up to Putin and Zelensky, all human life is here. A dazzling achievement as spellbinding as fiction, The World is both a celebration and an indictment that takes the human story, from caves to drones, in a single narrative by a master storyteller. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author - the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family. We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads.A rich cast of complex characters form the beating heart of the story. Some are well-known leaders, from Alexander the Great, Attila, Ivan the Terrible and Genghis Khan to Hitler, Thatcher, Obama, Putin and Zelensky. Some are creative, from Socrates, Michelangelo and Shakespeare to Newton, Mozart, Balzac, Freud, Bowie and Tim Berners-Lee.Others are lesser-known: Hongwu, who began life as a beggar and founded the Ming dynasty; Kamehameha, conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, Arab empress who defied Rome; King Henry of Haiti; Lady Murasaki, first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, Moroccan pirate-queen. Here are not just conquerors and queens but prophets, charlatans, actors, gangsters, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, lovers, wives, husbands and children. This is world history on the most grand and intimate scale - spanning centuries, continents and cultures, and linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the centre of the human drama.As spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the story of humankind in all its joy, sorrow, romance, ingenuity and cruelty in a ground-breaking, single narrative that will forever shift the boundaries of what history can achieve. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Harry Potter: A History of Magic is the official book of the exhibition, a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Bloomsbury, J.K. Rowling and the brilliant curators of the British Library. It promises to take readers on a fascinating journey through the subjects studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – from Alchemy and Potions classes through to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Each chapter showcases a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and other collections around the world, beside exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrations from the Harry Potter archive. There's also a specially commissioned essay for each subject area by an expert, writer or cultural commentator, inspired by the contents of the exhibition – absorbing, insightful and unexpected contributions from Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake, who offer a personal perspective on their magical theme. Readers will be able to pore over ancient spell books, amazing illuminated scrolls that reveal the secret of the Elixir of Life, vials of dragon's blood, mandrake roots, painted centaurs and a genuine witch's broomstick, in a book that shows J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their cultural and historical forebears. This is the ultimate gift for Harry Potter fans, curious minds, big imaginations, bibliophiles and readers around the world who missed out on the chance to see the exhibition in person. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Patrick Radden Keefe, 528 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná The story of the Sackler Dynasty, Purdue Pharma, and their involvement in the opioid crisis that has created millions of addicts, even as it generated billions of dollars in profit. (alza.cz)

Kniha - autor Cassandra Clare, 208 stran, anglicky, Pevná bez přebalu matná - autor Cassandra Clare, 208 stran, anglicky, pevná bez přebalu matná A very special anthology that's a must for all fans of the Shadowhunter novels! Featuring characters from Cassandra Clare's international best-selling novels from the Shadowhunters world including The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices, this anthology showcases beautifully illustrated portraits from Cassandra Jean - creator of The Shadowhunter Tarot - alongside never-before-known details from Cassandra Clare about all your favourite characters. (alza.cz)

*WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2018*'As moving as it is painstakingly researched. . . a cracking read' Viv Groskop, ObserverOn 26 April 1986 at 1.23am a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded. While the authorities scrambled to understand what was occurring, workers, engineers, firefighters and those living in the area were abandoned to their fate. The blast put the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation, contaminating over half of Europe with radioactive fallout.In Chernobyl, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy draws on recently opened archives to recreate these events in all their drama. A moment by moment account of the heroes, perpetrators and victims of a tragedy, Chernobyl is the first full account of a gripping, unforgettable Cold War story.'A compelling history of the 1986 disaster and its aftermath . . . plunges the reader into the sweaty, nervous tension of the Chernobyl control room on that fateful night when human frailty and design flaws combined to such devastating effect' Daniel Beer, Guardian'Haunting ... near-Tolstoyan. His voice is humane and inflected with nostalgia' Roland Elliott Brown, Spectator 'Extraordinary, vividly written, powerful storytelling ... the first full-scale history of the world's worst nuclear disaster, one of the defining moments in the Cold War, told minute by minute' Victor Sebestyen Sunday Times'Plays out like a classical tragedy ... fascinating' Julian Evans, Daily Telegraph'Here at last is the monumental history the disaster deserves' Julie McDowall, The Times (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Rodinná knížka Dějiny udatného českého národa je určena nejen těm, co nedávali ve škole pozor (dozvědí se překvapivé informace z naší historie), ale i šprtům, ty zase pobaví (pro tyto vzdělanější čtenáře jsou připraveny zadní strany s podrobnějšími informacemi a zajímavostmi). Když rozložíme knihu jako harmonikovité leporelo, otevře se před námi 9 metrů dlouhá krajina v níž se odehrávají drobné děje od pravěkých lovců po současnost. Fakta, informace, chronologické tabulky ke všem obdobím nechybí a komiksové textíky a kreslené postavičky umožní hledět na minulost a naše předky s humorem, nadsázkou a ironií. Petr Prchal (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Rodinná knížka Dějiny udatného českého národa je určena nejen těm, co nedávali ve škole pozor (dozvědí se překvapivé informace z naší historie), ale i šprtům, ty zase pobaví (pro tyto vzdělanější čtenáře jsou připraveny zadní strany s podrobnějšími informacemi a zajímavostmi). Když rozložíme knihu jako harmonikovité leporelo, otevře se před námi 9 metrů dlouhá krajina v níž se odehrávají drobné děje od pravěkých lovců po současnost. Fakta, informace, chronologické tabulky ke všem obdobím nechybí a komiksové textíky a kreslené postavičky umožní hledět na minulost a naše předky s humorem, nadsázkou a ironií. Petr Prchal (patro.cz)

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece by one of the world's greatest thinkers. It begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral galaxies and strong theory. To this day A Brief History of Time remains a staple of the scientific canon, and its succinct and clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and its wonders. This new edition includes updates from Stephen Hawking with his latest thoughts about the No Boundary Proposal and offers new information about dark energy, the information paradox, eternal inflation, the microwave background radiation observations, and the discovery of gravitational waves. It is published to accompany the launch of a new app, Stephen Hawking's Pocket Universe. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A kaleidoscopic journey tracing the methods and means of visual communication from the cave paintings of the earliest humans to the 'photograph' of a black hole in deep space. Since the beginning of our time as humans, we have never stopped making images and inventing channels for visual communication. From the cave dweller creating paintings on a wall at the dawn of civilized time to Instagram influencers today, technology may keep changing, but our need to reach one another, to move one another, to persuade, inform and entertain, has never been so vital.Hello Human traverses the entire landscape of our diverse, expansive and yet familiar means of visual communication. From the use of the human hand as a symbol, the power and use of gestures and the genesis of the printed book, to the movement between dimensions of reality and the digital realm, pixilation, optics and the understanding of light, Horsham takes his readers on a journey full of unexpected twists and turns, laying out a temporal narrative in the form of an intricate map of objects, events and people tied together by a common purpose - to communicate. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A Brief History of Intelligence bridges the gap between AI and neuroscience by telling the evolutionary story of how the brain came to be. The entirety of the human brain’s 4-billion-year story can be summarised as the culmination of five evolutionary breakthroughs, starting from the very first brains, all the way to the modern human brains. Each breakthrough emerged from new sets of brain modifications, and equipped animals with a new suite of intellectual faculties. These five breakthroughs are the organising map to this book, and they make up our itinerary for our adventure back in time. Each breakthrough also has fascinating corollaries to breakthroughs in AI. Indeed, there will be plenty of such surprises along the way. For instance: the innovation that enabled AI to beat humans in the game of Go – temporal difference reinforcement learning – was an innovation discovered by our fish ancestors over 500 million years ago. The solutions to many of the current mysteries in AI – such as ‘common sense’ – can be found in the tiny brain of a mouse. Where do emotions come from? Research suggests that they may have arisen simply as a solution to navigation in ancient worm brains. Unravelling this evolutionary story will reveal the hidden features of human intelligence and with them, just how your mind came to be. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone.For too long, Africa's history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, or simply ignored. Now, Zeinab Badawi sets the record straight.In this fascinating book, Badawi guides us through Africa's spectacular history - from the very origins of our species, through ancient civilisations and medieval empires with remarkable queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, she unearths buried histories from across the continent and gives Africa its rightful place in our global story.The result is a gripping new account of Africa: an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A rich and engaging guide to psychology, the science devoted to understanding human nature What really drives our decisions? Where do language and memory come from? Why do our minds sometimes seem to work against us? Psychologists have long attempted to answer these questions, seeking to understand human behaviour, feelings, and thoughts. But how to explore something so elusive? In this fascinating history, leading expert Nicky Hayes tells the story of psychology across the centuries and around the world. Hayes introduces key thinkers, including Carl Jung, Anna Freud, Frantz Fanon, and Daniel Kahneman.We see how they tried to expand our understanding, from Pavlov and his dogs to Milgram and his famous electric shock experiments to the CIA’s secret mind-control projects. Hayes explores key concepts like child development, the inferiority complex, and PTSD and shows how psychological research has been used for both good and ill. This Little History shines a light on the ever-advancing study of psychology, how the field has evolved over time—and how much more we need to learn. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A much-loved author brings the world of literature alive for all ages This 'little history' takes on a very big subject: the glorious span of literature from Greek myth to graphic novels, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter. John Sutherland is perfectly suited to the task. He has researched, taught, and written on virtually every area of literature, and his infectious passion for books and reading has defined his own life. Now he guides young readers and the grown-ups in their lives on an entertaining journey 'through the wardrobe' to a greater awareness of how literature from across the world can transport us and help us to make sense of what it means to be human. Sutherland introduces great classics in his own irresistible way, enlivening his offerings with humor as well as learning: Beowulf, Shakespeare, Don Quixote, the Romantics, Dickens, Moby Dick, The Waste Land, Woolf, 1984, and dozens of others. He adds to these a less-expected, personal selection of authors and works, including literature usually considered well below 'serious attention' - from the rude jests of Anglo-Saxon runes to The Da Vinci Code. With masterful digressions into various themes - censorship, narrative tricks, self-publishing, taste, creativity, and madness - Sutherland demonstrates the full depth and intrigue of reading. For younger readers, he offers a proper introduction to literature, promising to interest as much as instruct. For more experienced readers, he promises just the same. John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature, University College London, has taught students at every level and is the author or editor of more than 20 books. He lives in London. (knihydobrovsky.cz)