Engelska

Ballast- Laden With History [Bok / Inbunden]

<p>Where do heroes come from? In his first work of nonfiction, Lee Child traces the origins of the hero, from the Stone Age, to the ancient Greeks, to Robin Hood and the inventor of heroin. Through this radical journey Lee Child celebrates a savage, feral, cunning, loving, storytelling species: mankind. And he explores how we have been shaped and sustained by our deep love of story. Heroes are protectors and defenders, but they are not always good. They are figures who have suffered and endured for a greater purpose. They are complicated individuals and they have always been at the centre of our story telling. The story of the hero is also the story of the human. It includes, vanity, failure, aggression, survival and love. Taking in everything from the Old Stone Age to the modern day, Lee Child, the creator of Jack Reacher, approaches the history, the challenge and the comfort that lies in the hero. And he explores how our understanding of these figures can help us all to triumph.</p>

<p>Between the years 1560 and 1721, the Swedes endeavored to turn the Baltic Sea into a Swedish lake. Generations of young men perished in a seemingly endless series of wars.</p><p>How was it possible for an insignificant country on the outskirts of Europe, with small cities and a scant population, to develop into a great power? </p><p>Convinced that God was on their side, the army marched across the ice of a frozen sea to take the enemy by surprise. They challenged continental Europes greatest generals on the battlefield. </p><p>In the end, the enemys superior numbers proved too great, and over one hundred years of empire building culminated in a long, desperate final battle.</p>

<b>A haunting book of rare courage. Kostyuchenkos searing reportage takes the reader under the skin of a Russia that few outsiders get to see. With spare, unflinching prose she lays bare the cynicism and corruption, but also the bravery and heart, of her beloved country. Clarissa Ward, CNN chief international correspondent and author of <i>On All Fronts</i>  <br/><br/>A fearless, cutting portrait of Russia and an essential cri de coeur for journalism in opposition to the global authoritarian turn</b><br/><br/>To be a journalist is to tell the truth. <i>I Love Russia</i> is Elena Kostyuchenkos unrelenting attempt to document her country as experienced by those whom it systematically and brutally erases: village girls recruited into sex work, queer people in the outer provinces, patients and doctors at a Ukrainian maternity ward, and reporters like herself.<br/><br/>Here is Russia as it is, not as we imagine it. The result is a singular portrait of a nation, and of a young woman who refuses to be silenced. In March 2022, as a correspondent for Russias last free press, <i>Novaya Gazeta</i>, Kostyuchenko crossed the border into Ukraine to cover the war. It was her mission to ensure that Russians witnessed the horrors Putin was committing in their name. She filed her pieces knowing that should she return home, she would likely be prosecutedand sentenced to up to fifteen years in prison. Yet, driven by the conviction that the greatest formof love and patriotism is criticism, she continues to write.<br/><br/><i>I Love Russia</i> stitches together reportage from the past fifteen years with personal essays, assembling a kaleidoscopic narrative that Kostyuchenko understands may be the last work from her homeland that shell publish for a long timeperhaps ever. It exposes the inner workings of an entire nation as it descends into fascism and, inevitably, war. She writes because the threat of Putins Russia extends beyond herself, beyond Crimea, and beyond Ukraine. We fail to understand it at our own peril.

<b>Britain's most distinguished historian of ancient Greek art recounts what the Parthenon and its sculptures meant to the citizens of 5th-century BCE Athens.</b><br/><br/>Surprising, questioning, challenging, enriching: the ON series celebrates writers and thinkers who have helped shape the conversation across the arts. Mixing classic and contemporary texts, reissues and abridgements, these are bite-sized, fully illustrated reads in an attractive, affordable and highly collectable package.

<p><b>Journey back in time to explore one the most fascinating and influential periods of ancient history.</b><br/><br/>In this concise and incredibly readable short history, Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts journeys from the warrior societies of The Bronze Age all the way to the invention of democracy during the golden age of Athens, charting the incredible rise and fall of the Greek world and revealing just how much the Greeks influenced the world we live in today, from art and philosophy to architecture and politics.<br/><br/><i>Brief Histories: Ancient Greece </i>is the perfect short introduction for anyone interested in the Greek world and all it has to offer.</p>

<p><b>Journey back in time to explore one the most fascinating and influential periods of ancient history.</b><br/><br/>In this concise and incredibly readable short history, Dr Campbell Price takes us through every aspect of Ancient Egypt, from the incredible architectural marvels of the pyramids of Giza to the visually stunning and complex language of hieroglyphics all the way through to those at the top of society, pharaohs such as Tutankhamen and queens like Cleopatra.<br/><br/><i>Brief Histories: Ancient Egypt </i>is the perfect short introduction for anyone interested in Ancient Egypt and all it has to offer.</p>