The secret world : a history of intelligence - christopher andrew

The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The first mention of espionage in world literature is in the Book of Exodus.'God sent out spies into the land of Canaan'. From there, Christopher Andrew traces the shift in the ancient world from divination to what we would recognize as attempts to gather real intelligence in the conduct of military operations, and considers how far ahead of the West - at that time - China and India were. He charts the development of intelligence and security operations and capacity through, amongst others, Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England, Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, right up to sophisticated modern activities of which he is the world's best-informed interpreter. What difference have security and intelligence operations made to course of history? Why have they so often forgotten by later practitioners? This fascinating book provides the answers. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Neil MacGregor, 614 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná A paperback reader's edition of this original and very successful history of humanity. The book's range is enormous, with each chapter immersing the reader in a past civilisation, not just describing the objects and how they were made, but what their significance is. 'Magnificent...brings home to our hearth the long-dead ancestors, the distant races, the heroes and brutes... there is poetry in their survival' "Times" (alza.cz)

Kniha - autor Nick Lloyd, 688 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná 'A tour de force of scholarship, analysis and narration . . . Lloyd is well on the way to writing a definitive history of the First World War' Lawrence James, The Times 'This well-researched, well-written and cogently argued new analysis . . . will undoubtedly now take its rightful place as the standard account of this vital theatre of the conflict' Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny _________________ In the annals of military history, the Western Front stands as an enduring symbol of the folly and futility of war. However, as bestselling military historian Nick Lloyd reveals in this highly-praised history - the first of an epic trilogy -- the story is not one of pointlessness and stupidity, but rather a heroic triumph against the odds. With a cast of hundreds and a huge canvas of places and events, Lloyd tells the whole tale, revealing what happened in France... (alza.cz)

A new translation of a great historical epic, recounting the turbulent life and times of Chinggis Khan'Bear the sword andHew asunder high and haughty necksSlash apart all strong and self-willed shoulders'Born poor into a world of dangers and hardships, Chinggis (or Genghis) Khan would grow up to unify Mongolia and conquer a vast empire stretching from modern-day Beijing to Baghdad. The Secret History of the Mongols, written after Chinggis's death in the thirteenth century, is a great historical saga recounting not only his turbulent life and times, but that of his loved ones, ancestors and heirs. This remarkable new translation of the earliest surviving work written in Mongolian gives insight into a world of warlords, kinship, horses, yurts, shamans and vast landscapes, where bloody battles and violent family conflicts are impelled by Heaven's destiny. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Rise and Fall opens with the Akkadian Empire, which ruled over a vast expanse of the region of ancient Mesopotamia, then turns to the immense Roman Empire, where we trace back our western and eastern roots. Next Strathern describes how a great deal of western classical culture was developed in the Abbasid and Umayyid Caliphates. Then, while Europe was beginning to emerge from a period of cultural stagnation, it almost fell to a whirlwind invasion from the East, at which point we meet the Emperors of the Mongol Empire . . . Combining breathtaking scope with masterful concision, Paul Strathern traces connections across four millennia and sheds new light on these major civilizations - from the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty to the Aztec and Ottoman, through to the most recent and biggest Empires: the British, Russo-Soviet and American. Charting 5,000 years of global history in ten succinct chapters, Rise and Fall makes comprehensive and inspiring reading to anyone fascinated by the history of the world. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Robert Service, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Robert Service's critically acclaimed and compellingly readable history of world communism (alza.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)

'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 the Big Bang to the Gaia Mission, this is a very personal history of the universe through the author's favourite 100 stars. Astronomer Florian Freistetter has chosen 100 stars that have almost nothing in common. Some are bright and famous, some shine so feebly you need a huge telescope. There are big stars, small stars, nearby stars and faraway stars. Some died a while ago, others have not even yet come into being. Collectively they tell the story of the whole world, according to Freistetter. There is Algol, for example, the Demon Star, whose strange behaviour has long caused people sleepless nights. And Gamma Draconis, from which we know that the earth rotates around its own axis. There is also the star sequence 61 Cygni, which revealed the size of the cosmos to us. Then there are certain stars used by astronomers to search for extra-terrestrial life, to explore interstellar space travel, or to explain why the dinosaurs became extinct. In 100 short, fascinating and entertaining chapters, Freistetter not only reveals the past and future of the cosmos, but also the story of the people who have tried to understand the world in which we live. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

eBook:,A HISTORY OF THE CZECH LANDS podává soustavný výklad naší historie od pravěku až po vstup České republiky do Evropské unie v roce 2004. Kniha sleduje vývoj českého státu a národa, stejně jako menšin žijících na českém území, zejména Židů, Němců, Slováků a Poláků. Osu výkladu tvoří proměny státu (včetně území, která k němu patřila jen dočasně) a společnosti v něm žijící, ale pozornost je věnována rovněž kultuře, náboženství, populačnímu vývoji a tisíciletému přetváření krajinného prostředí. Za vedení dvojice předních českých historiků – Jaroslava Pánka a Oldřicha Tůmy – knihu zpracoval kolektiv odborníků z Historického ústavu a z Ústavu pro soudobé dějiny Akademie věd České republiky. Druhé, doplněné vydání obsahuje bohatý obrazový doprovod (133 ilustrací a fotografií) a 16 map zachycujících územní vývoj českých zemí. Knihu uzavírá nová kapitola, věnovaná událostem let 1993–2004. Dle zahraničních recenzí prvního vydání nejucelenější výklad českých dějin dostupný v angličtině. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Essays on acts of US imperialism, from the 1953 Iran coup to the 2019 ouster of Evo MoralesWashington Bullets is written in the best traditions of Marxist journalism and history-writing. It is a book of fluent and readable stories, full of detail about US imperialism, but never letting the minutiae obscure the larger political point. It is a book that could easily have been a song of despair―a lament of lost causes; it is, after all, a roll call of butchers and assassins; of plots against people’s movements and governments; of the assassinations of socialists, Marxists, communists all over the Third World by the country where liberty is a statue.Despite all this, Washington Bullets is a book about possibilities, about hope, about genuine heroes. One such is Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso―also assassinated―who said: ‘You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.’ (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)

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)

A fascinating journey through Western art from the 1910s to the 1960s, charting how artists wrestled with the headlong changes of a turbulent and conflict-ridden world From the chaos of the First World War to the ravages of the Second, from the Great Depression to the rise of consumer culture, artists we call “modern” faced the challenge of responding imaginatively to utterly new circumstances of life. Original thought, startling artistic techniques, and new attitudes to experimentation were required to produce exceptional and timely work.Make It Modern guides the reader through the art of the modern world. Works of celebrated artists, from Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky to Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, and Yayoi Kusama, alongside a panoply of undervalued or less-known figures, populate this decade-by-decade narrative. Make It Modern tells an unforgettable story of how art was changed forever. (knihydobrovsky.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)

Kniha - autor J. K. Rowlingová, 256 stran, anglicky, pevná bez přebalu lesklá Harry Potter: A History of Magic is the official book of the exhibition, a once-in-a-lifetimecollaboration between Bloomsbury, J.K. Rowling and the brilliant curators of the BritishLibrary. It promises to take readers on a fascinating journey through the subjectsstudied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - from Alchemy and Potionsclasses through to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.Each chapter showcases a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and othercollections around the world, beside exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrationsfrom the Harry Potter archive. Thereżs also a specially commissioned essay for eachsubject area by an expert, writer or cultural commentator, inspired by the contents of theexhibition - absorbing, insightful and unexpected contributions from Steve Backshall,the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger... (alza.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)

Here, Patrick Crowhurst identifies the crucial political problem that faced Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939 - the rift between the Czechs and the Sudeten Germans that would open the way for the rise of Konrad Henlein's right-wing 'Sudeten Deutsch' party, and which was exploited ruthlessly by Hitler during Nazi Germany's 1938 annexation of Czechoslovakia. A History of Czechoslovakia Between the Wars deepens our understanding of a fragile Europe before World War II, and is essential for students and scholars of 20th century history. (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)

Kniha - autor Mary Beard, 606 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Britain's favourite classicist lifts the lid on the Roman Empire in this major non-fiction release for 2015. Covering 1,000 years of history, and casting fresh light on the basics of Roman culture from slavery to running water, as well as exploring democracy, migration, religious controversy, social mobility and more, this is a definitive and enlightening account. Now in paperback. (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)

A history of the world told through the prism of language, from Shakespeare to Anne Frank, Martin Luther King to Greta Thunberg. A History of Words for Children explores the uniquely human ability to transfer thoughts from one brain to another using words. Written in a lively narrative style, the book presents a history of the world and human development through the prism of language, introducing readers to the civilisations, inventions and wordsmiths who have shaped the way we communicate.Divided into themed chapters, the book explores what words are and how humans communicate using spoken language and sign; the development of written scripts and writing implements, including paper; the history of manuscripts and printed books, including worldwide bestsellers and famous libraries; the process of learning another language; dialects and accents and the way language can reflect our identity; the power of words to calm, inspire, rally crowds and rule nations; graffiti's role in spreading messages; codes and invented languages; the patterns of poetry; the future of words, including emojis; and languages facing extinction. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A History of Pictures for Children takes readers on a journey through art history, from early art drawn on cave walls to the images we make today on our computers and phone cameras. Based on the bestselling book for adults, this children's edition of A History of Pictures is told through conversations between the artist David Hockney and the author Martin Gayford, who talk about art with inspiring simplicity and clarity. Rose Blake's illustrations illuminate the narratives of both authors to bring the history of art alive for a young audience. (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)

Revolution, the fourth volume of Peter Ackroyd's enthralling History of England begins in 1688 with a revolution and ends in 1815 with a famous victory. In it, Ackroyd takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was - again - at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.Late Stuart and Georgian England marked the creation of the great pillars of the English state. The Bank of England was founded, as was the stock exchange, the Church of England was fully established as the guardian of the spiritual life of the nation and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation with responsibilities and duties far beyond those of the monarch. It was a revolutionary era in English letters, too, a time in which newspapers first flourished and the English novel was born. It was an era in which coffee houses and playhouses boomed, gin flowed freely and in which shops, as we know them today, began to proliferate in our towns and villages. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

eBook: An imaginary historian. One immaculately imagined history. Told from the invented Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker’s perspective, Washington Irving’s ‘A History of New York’ weaves a rip-roaringly funny and dangerously dark account of the rise – and fall- of The Big Apple. Kick-starting with the creation of the world, we follow the origins of life and love as we know it, through to the new world discoveries and dangers of the Dutch Dynasty. Crafting a tale full of mystery and might, Irving’s satirical ‘A History of New York’ is ideal for American literature fans of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz and Jim Broadbent in ‘Gangs of New York’. Washington Irving (1783- 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. A prolific author, Irving wrote ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle.’ Whilst his celebrated historical biographies span Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, his 15th-century histories of Span explore Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. Having served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s, Irving remains a rich cultural insight into both American and Spanish history. His human touch and deep emotional insight are reflected throughout his thought-provoking novels. (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 Helen Lewis, 320 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Well-behaved women don't make history: difficult women do. Feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Helen Lewis argues that too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It's time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. In this book, you'll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the pioneer of the refuge movement who became a men's rights activist; the 'striker in a sari' who terrified Margaret Thatcher; the wronged Victorian wife who definitely wasn't sleeping with the prime minister; and the lesbian politician who outraged the country. Taking the story up to the present with the... (alza.cz)

eBook:,This monograph has set itself the goal to examine, outline, elucidate, and supplement the existing body of knowledge concerning a theme from patristic and medieval theology recalled in 1953 by Marie-Dominique Chenu, and that is the assertion that man was created as a replacement for fallen angels (Yves Congar: créature de remplacement; Louis Bouyer: ange de remplacement). The study first shows that the idea of man having being created to take the place of fallen angels was introduced by St. Augustine and developed by other church fathers. It then identifies the typical contexts in which the subject was raised by authors of the early Middle Ages, but goes on to focus on the discussion that developed during the twelfth century (Anselm of Canterbury, the school of Laon, Rupert of Deutz, Honorius of Autun), which represents the high point of the theme under investigation, culminating in the assertion that man is an "original" being, created for its own sake, for whom God created the world – a world which together with, and through, man is destined for the heavenly Jerusalem. The question as to whether man would have been created if the angels had not sinned (cur homo) bears a clear similarity to a further controversy, the origins of which also go back to the twelfth century, and that is whether the Son of God would have become incarnate if man had not sinned (cur Deus homo). Next, the book sheds light on how the subject begins to gradually fade away through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, both within monastic tradition, which nonetheless held onto Augustine's motif, and within scholastic theology, which asserted that man was created for his own sake. The conclusion summarizes the findings and points to the surprisingly contemporary relevance of the foregoing reflections, particularly in relation to the critique that the Swiss philosopher and theologian Romano Amerio († 1997) offers concerning a statement in the pastoral constitution of the Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et spes 24), according to which man is "the only creature on earth that God willed for itself". (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 irresistible romp through the history of magic, from alchemy to unicorns, ancient witchcraft to Harry's Hogwarts – packed with unseen sketches and manuscript pages from J.K. Rowling, magical illustrations from Jim Kay and weird, wonderful and inspiring artefacts that have been magically released from the archives at the British Library. This spellbinding book takes readers on a journey through the Hogwarts curriculum, including Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Divination and more. Discover the truth behind making the Philosopher's Stone, create your very own potion and uncover the secret of invisible ink. Learn all about the history of mandrake roots and dragons, discover what witches really used their brooms for, pore over incredible images of actual mermaids and read about real-life potions, astronomers and alchemists. The perfect gift for aspiring witches and wizards and any Harry Potter fan. Celebrating twenty years of Harry Potter magic, and produced in association with the British Library to support their major exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

From the codebreakers and problem solvers, to the engineers, mathematicians and other problem-solvers - what the secret world can teach us about performance and creativity How do you hire smart people who can work together to prevent terrorist attacks and decode encrypted technology?How do you come up with creative, counterintuitive solutions to solve major global problems?How do you provide the right environment for these people to thrive and work at their best when under immense pressure?Written by Robert Hannigan, the former Director of GCHQ, this book explores the role of the counter-intelligence services in history and today's world - from the codebreakers and problem solvers, to innovation and creativity, secrecy and transparency and the global tech community. It will trace the history of counter-intelligence - from the early days of Bletchley Park, to the ongoing work of GCHQ - while reflecting on some of the unique characteristics of the engineers, mathematicians and other problem-solvers that make up the world's intelligence community.An exhaustive and authoritative account of the history of counter-intelligence from Bletchley Park to modern day GCHQ, this brilliant and unique book will appeal to business readers, history readers and fans of smart thinking and big ideas around the world. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Peter Frankopan, 636 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná A major reassessment of world history in light of the economic and political renaissance in the re-emerging East, as well as a rediscovery of the seductive cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Isfahan and Constantinople. Now in paperback. (alza.cz)

In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited to attempt a history of the world for younger readers. Amazingly, he completed the task in six weeks, and "Eine kurze Weltgeschichte fur junge Leser" was published in Vienna. This book presents his history to English-language readers. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - 480 stran, anglicky, Pevná bez přebalu lesklá - 48 stran, anglicky, pevná bez přebalu lesklá (alza.cz)

The sun is setting on the Western world. Slowly but surely, the direction in which the world spins has reversed: where for the last five centuries the globe turned westwards on its axis, it now turns to the east. For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture and is shaping the modern world. This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia. The Silk Roads are rising again. A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A harrowing account of brainwashing’s pervasive role in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries This gripping book traces the evolution of brainwashing from its beginnings in torture and religious conversion into the age of neuroscience and social media. When Pavlov introduced scientific approaches, his research was enthusiastically supported by Lenin and Stalin, setting the stage for major breakthroughs in tools for social, political, and religious control. Tracing these developments through many of the past century’s major conflagrations, Dimsdale narrates how when World War II erupted, governments secretly raced to develop drugs for interrogation. Brainwashing returned to the spotlight during the Cold War in the hands of the North Koreans and Chinese. In response, a huge Manhattan Project of the Mind was established to study memory obliteration, indoctrination during sleep, and hallucinogens. Cults used the techniques as well. Nobel laureates, university academics, intelligence operatives, criminals, and clerics all populate this shattering and dark story—one that hasn’t yet ended. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha z kolekce home & lifestyle. Historie automobilového průmyslu zobrazená na 100 příkladech legendárních automobilů. (answear.cz)

Kniha - autor Ronen Bergman, 756 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, the instinct to take every measure to defend the Jewish people has been hardwired into Israel's DNA. This is the riveting inside account of the targeted assassinations that have been used countless times, on enemies large and small, sometimes in response to attacks against the Israeli people and sometimes pre-emptively. Rise and Kill First counts their successes, failures and the moral and political price exacted on those who carried out the missions which have shaped the Israeli nation, the Middle East and the entire world. (alza.cz)

The concluding volume of The History of Middle-earth series, which examines the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings. The Peoples of Middle-earth traces the evolution of the Appendices to The Lord of The Rings, which provide a comprehensive historical structure of the Second and Third Ages, including Calendars, Hobbit genealogies and the Westron language. The book concludes with two unique abandoned stories: The New Shadow, set in Gondor during the Fourth Age, and the tale of Tal-elmar, in which the coming of the dreaded Numenorean ships is seen through the eyes of men of Middle-earth in the Dark Years. With the publication of this book, the long history of J.R.R. Tolkien's creation is completed and the enigmatic state of his work can be understood. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Julian Baggini, 432 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná In this groundbreaking global overview of philosophy, Julian Baggini travels the world to provide a wide-ranging map of human thought. One of the great unexplained wonders of human history is that written philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. These early philosophies have had a profound impact on the development of distinctive cultures in different parts of the world. What we call 'philosophy' in the West is not even half the story. Julian Baggini sets out to expand our horizons in How the World Thinks, exploring the philosophies of Japan, India, China and the Muslim world, as well as the lesser-known oral traditions of Africa and Australia's first peoples. Interviewing thinkers from around the globe, Baggini asks questions such as: why is the West is more individualistic than the East? What makes secularism a less... (alza.cz)

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER As seen on The Joe Rogan Experience! A groundbreaking dive into the role psychedelics have played in the origins of Western civilization, and the real-life quest for the Holy Grail that could shake the Church to its foundations. The most influential religious historian of the 20th century, Huston Smith, once referred to it as the best-kept secret in history. Did the Ancient Greeks use drugs to find God? And did the earliest Christians inherit the same, secret tradition? A profound knowledge of visionary plants, herbs and fungi passed from one generation to the next, ever since the Stone Age? There is zero archaeological evidence for the original Eucharist - the sacred wine said to guarantee life after death for those who drink the blood of Jesus. The Holy Grail and its miraculous contents have never been found. In the absence of any hard data, whatever happened at the Last Supper remains an article of faith for today's 2.5 billion Christians. In an unprecedented search for real answers, The Immortality Key examines the archaic roots of the ritual that is performed every Sunday for nearly one third of the planet. Religion and science converge to paint a radical picture of Christianity's founding event. And after centuries of debate, to solve history's greatest puzzle once and for all. Before the birth of Jesus, the Ancient Greeks found salvation in their own sacraments. Sacred beverages were routinely consumed as part of the so-called Ancient Mysteries - elaborate rites that led initiates to the brink of death. The best and brightest from Athens and Rome flocked to the spiritual capital of Eleusis, where a holy beer unleashed heavenly visions for two thousand years. Others drank the holy wine of Dionysus to become one with the god. In the 1970s, renegade scholars claimed this beer and wine - the original sacraments of Western civilization - were spiked with mind-altering drugs. In recent years, vindication for the disgraced theory has been quietly mounting in the laboratory. The constantly advancing fields of archaeobotany and archaeochemistry have hinted at the enduring use of hallucinogenic drinks in antiquity. And with a single dose of psilocybin, the psychopharmacologists at Johns Hopkins and NYU are now turning self-proclaimed atheists into instant believers. But the smoking gun remains elusive. If these sacraments survived for thousands of years in our remote prehistory, from the Stone Age to the Ancient Greeks, did they also survive into the age of Jesus? Was the Eucharist of the earliest Christians, in fact, a psychedelic Eucharist? With an unquenchable thirst for evidence, Muraresku takes the reader on his twelve-year global hunt for proof. He tours the ruins of Greece with its government archaeologists. He gains access to the hidden collections of the Louvre Museum to show the continuity from pagan to Christian wine. He unravels the Ancient Greek of the New Testament with the world's most controversial priest. He spelunks into the catacombs under the streets of Rome to decipher the lost symbols of Christianity's oldest monuments. He breaches the secret archives of the Vatican to unearth manuscripts never before translated into English. And with leads from the archaeological chemists at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he unveils the first scientific data for the ritual use of psychedelic drugs in classical antiquity. The Immortality Key reconstructs the suppressed history of women consecrating a forbidden, drugged Eucharist that was later banned by the Church Fathers. Women who were then targeted as witches during the Inquisition, when Europe's sacred pharmacology largely disappeared. If the scientists of today have resurrected this technology, then Christianity is in crisis. Unless it returns to its roots. Featuring a Foreword by Graham Hancock, the New York Times bestselling author of America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Taking readers on a global journey through human history, Natasha Tidd examines how lies can change the world around us, from Julius Caesar’s deceptive PR machine to the cover-ups that caused Chernobyl.From forgeries that created centuries worth of conflict and domination, such as The Donation of Constantine, the Protocols of Zion and the mysterious Testament of Peter the Great, to mass political and press cover-ups including Britain’s Boer War concentration camps, a Pulitzer Prize-winning whitewash of the Ukraine Famine and the infamous Dreyfus Affair in France.Alongside these are examinations of how our retellings of history can turn fiction into fact, including The Spanish Inquisition’s deceitful legacy. Plus, there is an in-depth look at how historic lies can still impact our lives today, such as the deadly legacy of America’s Tuskegee Experiment.Meet incredible people, including Jeanne de Clisson who became the fourteenth century's most feared pirate – all because of a lie.A Short History of the World in 50 Lies details the profound impact of this secretive side of history and shows that the truth really is stranger – and far more dangerous – than any fiction. (knihydobrovsky.cz)

For centuries humanity has engaged in a virtual exploration of space through astronomical observation, aided by astounding scientific and technological advances. In more than sixty years since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, more than 6,000 functioning satellites have been launched into Earth’s orbit and beyond – some to the farthest reaches of the Solar System – and more than 540 people have travelled into space. Unprecedented in its chronological and geographical scope, this book charts the history of space exploration from the first gunpowder rockets through the Moon landings, and into a future of space tourism. Numerous sidebars focus on the key individuals and inventions that brought us closer to the farthest reaches of the universe. Filled with astonishing images from the Smithsonian, NASA archives and other international collections, this is the first in-depth, fully illustrated survey of this universal human journey.Table of Contents1. Laying the Foundations for Space Exploration • 2. WWII Paves the Way for Space Exploration • 3. Making Space Exploration Real • 4. The Space Age Dawns • 5. The Race to the Moon • 6. New Nations/New Missions • 7. Spaceplanes and Orbital Stations • 8. The Lure of the Red Planet • 9. Beyond Mars • 10. Transterrestrial Expectations (knihydobrovsky.cz)

A visual history of the world under COVID-19, revealing stories of hope behind the headlines The Year That Changed Our World is the definitive, visual history of the Covid-19 Pandemic. With more than 400 photographs, this ambitious publication traces the arc of the Pandemic from China in early 2020 through to the vaccine breakthroughs of Spring 2021. Behind the relentless nature of the daily news since the events on Wuhan in early 2020 first broke, and the sense of fear and trepidation that the rapidly developing events provoked, what have we seen of the real stories of the world during the Pandemic? What can be told of how we lived through the pandemic and of the resilience, resourcefulness and sense of purpose with which we coped and adapted to the challenges we faced? How can we make sense of what we went through? The photographers of Agence France Presse are uniquely placed to be able to document the deeper, human stories of the Pandemic. Active in more than 150 countries, they have been able to capture all angles of the Covid-19 story. Organized into six chronological parts interleaved with thematic sections, including sport, animals and leisure, The Year That Changed Our World presents a comprehensive view, showing the extraordinary efforts to understand, control and cope with a previously unknown virus alongside the human stories of our lives at home: playing, caring, watching and sharing, both together and at a distance. Edited by Marielle Eudes, Director of Photography at Agence France Presse, and with an introduction by Eudes and further texts, quotes and insights from a range of contributors and public figures, The Year That Changed Our World is the definitive visual document of humankind's resilience in the face of the pandemic and the perfect way of understanding and showing to future generations the world during the time of Covid-19.With 500 illustrations in colour (knihydobrovsky.cz)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN HISTORY OF WESTEROS AND THE LANDS BEYOND WITH HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF ALL-NEW MATERIAL FROM GEORGE R. R. MARTIN If the past is prologue, then George R. R. Martin s masterwork the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with The World of Ice & Fire. This lavishly illustrated volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO s Game of Thrones. In a collaboration that s been years in the making, Martin has teamed with Elio M. Garcia, Jr., and Linda Antonsson, the founders of the renowned fan site Westeros.org perhaps the only people who know this world almost as well as its visionary creator. Collected here is all the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers, including full-color artwork and maps, with more than 170 original pieces full family trees for Houses Stark, Lannister, and Targaryen in-depth explorations of the history and culture of Westeros 100% all-new material, more than half of which Martin wrote specifically for this book The definitive companion piece to George R. R. Martin s dazzlingly conceived universe, The World of Ice & Fireis indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords." (knihydobrovsky.cz)

Kniha - autor Henry Kissinger, 420 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná The summation of Henry Kissinger's thinking about history, strategy and statecraft, WORLD ORDER examines the great tectonic plates of history to explain the attitudes that states and empires - and in particular his four great 'world orders', the European, Islamic, Chinese and American - have taken to the rest of the world from the formation of Europe to our own times. Henry Kissinger draws upon a lifetime's historical study and unmatched experience as a world statesman. (alza.cz)

Kniha - autor Donna Tartt, 576 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofThe Goldfinch. Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill. (alza.cz)

Kniha - autor Donna Tartt, 660 stran, anglicky, brožovaná bez přebalu matná Reissue for Tartt's superb psychological suspense novel set in an elite New England College. First published ten years ago, this, Donna Tartt's debut novel, has sold over 600,000 copies. "It takes my breath away, it's so accomplished" Ruth Rendell (alza.cz)

eBook: From singling out victims at bus stops, targeting women with long, blonde hair, saving trophies, or dismembering and even eating their victims, each serial killer set a unique ritual for their murder, and these rituals are what betrays them in the end. Serial killers often begin with a few unplanned murders, where they experiment with which actions give them the greatest release.Moving on they start to carefully select their victims, either by stalking them or staking out special locations where their victim – such as prostitute or child – can be found alone.But after a while the killer's hunt for satisfaction makes him overconfident.Follow on the heels of the police in their hunt for four relentless serial killers. These stories contain gruesome details and are not suitable for children.- (knihydobrovsky.cz)