Henry Smeathman, the Flycatcher: Natural History, Slavery, and Empire in the Late Eighteenth Century
Author: Deirdre Coleman File Type: pdf In 1771 Joseph Banks and other wealthy collectors sent a talented, self-taught naturalist to Sierra Leone to collect all things rare and curious, from moths to monkeys. Henry Smeathmans expedition to the West African coast, which coincided with a steep rise in British slave trading in this area, lasted four years during which time he built a house on the Banana Islands, married into the coasts ruling dynasties, and managed to negotiate the tricky life of a stranger bound to his landlord and local customs. In this book, which draws on a rich and little-known archive of journals and letters, Coleman retraces Smeathmans life as he shuttled between his home on the Bananas and two key Liverpool trading forts - Bunce Island and the Isles de Los. In the logistical challenges of tropical collecting and the dispatch of specimens across the middle passage we see the close connection between science and slavery. We also see the hardening of Smeathmans attitude towards the slaves, a change of sentiment which was later reversed by four years in the West Indies. The book concludes with the Flycatcher back in London - a celebrated termite specialist, eager to return to West Africa to establish a free, antislavery settlement. **
Author: Jessica Mann
File Type: epub
Many young women long to put the clock back to the post-war years when life seemed prettier and nicer. In this book Jessica Mann demolishes such preconceptions about their mothers or grandmothers young days, showing that in reality life was uglier and nastier. Born just before WW2, she describes growing up in the post-war era of austerity, restrictions and hypocrisy, before anyone even dreamed of Womens Lib. The Fifties Mystique is both a personal memoir and a polemic. In explaining the lives of pre-feminists to the post-feminists of today, Jessica Mann discusses the periods very different attitudes to sex, childbirth, motherhood and work, describes how she and other young women lived in that distant world with its forgotten restrictions and warns against taking hard-won rights for granted.
Author: Hongkyung Kim
File Type: pdf
With extensive research and creative interpretations, Dasans Noneo gogeum ju (Old and New Commentaries of the Analects) has been evaluated in the academia of Korean Studies as a crystallization of his studies on the Confucian classics. Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong 1762-1836) attempted through this book to synthesize and overcome the lengthy scholarly tradition of the classical studies of the Analects, leading it not only to represent one of the greatest achievements of Korean Confucianism but also demonstrate an innovative prospect for the progress of Confucian philosophy, positioning it as one of the ground-breaking works in all Confucian legacies in East Asia. Originally consisting of forty volumes in traditional book binding, his Noneo gogeum ju contains one hundred and seventy-five new interpretations on the Analects, hundreds of arguments about the neo-Confucian commentaries, hundreds of references to the scholarly works of the Analects, thousands of supportive quotations from various East Asian classics for the authors arguments, and hundreds of philological discussions. This book is an English translation of Noneo gogeum ju with the translators comments on the innovative ideas and interpretations of Dasan on the Analects. **
Author: Fred Ramen
File Type: pdf
The stories and myths of India are a rich and varied tapestry unlike any other in the world. Their purpose is greater than just entertainment they are examples of how to live, or not live, a good life. Placed within a context of history, archaeology, religion, folk beliefs, and culture, these richly embroidered, mysterious myths and folk tales encompass love, war, loyalty, feast, famine, treachery, magic, miracles, heroes, villains, And The eternal struggle between good and evil. Dozens of full-color images illuminate the rich storytelling.
Author: Jack Boss
File Type: pdf
Award-winning author Jack Boss returns with the prequel to Schoenbergs Twelve-Tone Music (Cambridge, 2014) demonstrating that the term atonal is meaningful in describing Schoenbergs music from 1908 to 1921. This book shows how Schoenbergs atonal music can be understood in terms of successions of pitch and rhythmic motives and pitch-class sets that flesh out the large frameworks of musical idea and basic image. It also explains how tonality, after losing its structural role in Schoenbergs music after 1908, begins to re-appear not long after as an occasional expressive device. Like its predecessor, Schoenbergs Atonal Music contains close readings of representative works, including the Op. 11 and Op. 19 Piano Pieces, the Op. 15 George-Lieder, the monodrama Erwartung, and Pierrot lunaire. These analyses are illustrated by richly detailed musical examples, revealing the underlying logic of some of Schoenbergs most difficult pieces of music.
Author: Robert K. G. Temple
File Type: pdf
Did civilization on earth result from contact with inhabitants of a planet in the Sirius star system prior to 3,000 B.C.? To answer this question, Robert Temple traces the traditions of four African tribes back 5,000 years to the ancient Mediterranean cultures of Sumer and Egypt. He shows that these cultures possessed great knowledge, much of which they claimed was given them by visitors from Sirius. There are tribal cultures in present-day Africa (notably the Dogon of Mali) whose most sacred traditions are based on this theory their knowledge of the Sirius system is astounding in its accuracy and detail, including information only recently known to modern science. Many authors have speculated on the subject of extraterrestrial contact, but never before has such a detailed theory been formulated. The Sirius Mystery provides facts gathered during eight years of research. **From Scientific American A cautious, honest, and scientific attempt. Review Robert Temples massive research into the ancient mythologies of numerous civilizations and cultures one can only regard with awe. . . -- London Sunday Times
Author: Ralph Nader
File Type: epub
Naders assessment of how concentrated wealth and power undermine democracy is clear and compelling, but its his substantive vision of how we ought to respond that makes Breaking Through Power essential reading. Written just before Donald Trumps Electoral College victory, Naders latest book reads with even greater urgency now.--Yes Magazine In Breaking Through Power, Ralph Nader draws from a lifetime waging--and often winning--David vs. Goliath battles against big corporations and the United States government. In this succinct, Tom Paine-style wake-up call, the iconic consumer advocate highlights the success stories of fellow Americans who organize change and work together to derail the many ways in which wealth manipulates politics, labor, media, the environment, and the quality of national life today. Nader makes an inspired case about how the nation can--and must--be democratically managed by communities guided by the United States Constitution, not by the dictates of big businesses and the wealthy few. This is classic Ralph Nader, a crystallization of the core political beliefs and commitments that have driven his lifetime of advocacy for greater democracy. Ralph Nader is the grand progressive of our time. We overlook his words at our own peril! This book is required reading.--Cornel West Ralph Naders Breaking Through Power is a brilliant analysis of corporate power and the popular mechanisms that can be used to wrest back our democracy. No one has been fighting corporate domination longer, or understands it better, than Nader, who will go down in history not only as a prophet but an example of what it means to live the moral life. We disregard his wisdom and his courage at our peril.--Chris Hedges, Pulitzer-Prize winner and author of Wages of Rebellion The Moral Imperative of Revolt Nader goes beyond delineating the problem and provides a critical prescription to battle the toxicity of unjust power--one that every individual can, and must, embrace.--Nomi Prins, author, All the Presidents Bankers People are recognizing that our founding, fundamental values of fairness, justice, and opportunity for all--the very values that define our America--are being shoved aside to create an un-America of plutocracy and autocracy. Ralph Naders new book Breaking Through Power provides progressive boat-rockers with inspiration and a plan for reclaiming America from the greedy Plutocrats and Fat Cats who think democracy is for sale to the highest bidder.--Jim Hightower I read Ralph Nader for the same reasons that I read Tom Paine. He knows what he thinks, says what he means, and his courage is a lesson for us all.--Lewis Lapham Nader insists on speaking up for the little people and backs his arguments and decent sentiments with hard facts.--Publishers Weekly About Ralph Nader Named by The Atlantic as one of the hundred most influential figures in American history, and by Time and Life magazines as one of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century, Ralph Nader has helped us drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments for more than four decades. Naders recent books include Animal Envy, Unstoppable, The Good Fight, and the bestseller, Seventeen Traditions. Nader writes a syndicated column, has his own radio show, and gives lectures and interviews year round. **
Author: Roy Sorensen
File Type: pdf
Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift? Can time have a beginning? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Riddles, paradoxes, conundrums--for millennia the human mind has found such knotty logical problems both perplexing and irresistible. br Now Roy Sorensen offers the first narrative history of paradoxes, a fascinating and eye-opening account that extends from the ancient Greeks, through the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and into the twentieth century. When Augustine asked what God was doing before He made the world, he was told Preparing hell for people who ask questions like that. A Brief History of the Paradox takes a close look at questions like that and the philosophers who have asked them, beginning with the folk riddles that inspired Anaximander to erect the first metaphysical system and ending with such thinkers as Lewis Carroll, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and W.V. Quine. Organized chronologically, the book is divided into twenty-four chapters, each of which pairs a philosopher with a major paradox, allowing for extended consideration and putting a human face on the strategies that have been taken toward these puzzles. Readers get to follow the minds of Zeno, Socrates, Aquinas, Ockham, Pascal, Kant, Hegel, and many other major philosophers deep inside the tangles of paradox, looking for, and sometimes finding, a way out. br Filled with illuminating anecdotes and vividly written, A Brief History of the Paradox will appeal to anyone who finds trying to answer unanswerable questions a paradoxically pleasant endeavor.**
Author: Laurence Gardner
File Type: pdf
The incredible conclusion to the investigation into Jesus and Marys bloodline which first began in Gardners Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Now Gardner reveals centuries of previously inaccessible archives that show the truth about what became of Jesus and Mary Magdalenes offspring. Much has been written about the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, who Jesus was, whether he and Mary had children, and what became of them. The Grail Enigma is the first book that can answer those questions in amazingly accurate detail. Unique to any book on the subject, this contains full genealogical charts that trace the messianic offspring, historically named Tamar, Joshua and Joseph, and their lineage through 600 years through to Arthur Pendragon. Gardners unrivalled access to Vatican archives reveal Christian manuscripts dating back to the 2nd century that document Mary as the bride of Christ and Jesuss heirs who became very influential within the Roman Empire. In the years following the crucifixion they were hunted down. Four hundred years later, the New Testament gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke were compiled removing all reference to the messianic marriage and bloodline, but the older gospels still document their legacy. Tracing the messianic line through 600 years since Jesuss crucifixion, Gardner explains how the fate of the messianic line became encoded in the Grail legend of King Arthur. The mythology of Arthur also reflected his messianic ancestor Jesus - in the messianic tradition, these Once and Future Kings both chosen to lead their people and prophesied to return again. Using new and previously unpublished documentary archives, The Grail Enigma traces the detailed history of the descendants of Jesus and how the Roman Church sought to destroy their legacy and the most fundamental elements of the original Christian movement.ReviewPraise for the Bloodline series A controversial and uniquely comprehensive book of Messianic descent, compiled from the most intriguing histories ever written. Publishing News This book, provocative as it may be, is not a work of fiction, but the product of years of painstaking research. Committed Christians will find it casts fascinating light on the origins of their beliefs. Daily Mail About the AuthorLaurence Gardner, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is a historian, lecturer and broadcaster. Distinguished as the Chevalier de St. Germain, he is attached to the European Council of Princes as the Jacobite Historiographer Royal. He is a Knight Templar of St. Anthony and Prior of the Sacred Kindred of St. Columba.
Author: Tracey E. Hucks
File Type: pdf
Exploring the Yoruba tradition in the United States, Hucks begins with the story of Nana Oseijeman Adefunmis personal search for identity and meaning as a young man in Detroit in the 1930s and 1940s. She traces his development as an artist, religious leader, and founder of several African-influenced religio-cultural projects in Harlem and later in the South. Adefunmi was part of a generation of young migrants attracted to the bohemian lifestyle of New York City and the black nationalist fervor of Harlem. Cofounding Shango Temple in 1959, Yoruba Temple in 1960, and Oyotunji African Village in 1970, Adefunmi and other African Americans in that period renamed themselves Yorubas and engaged in the task of transforming Cuban Santera into a new religious expression that satisfied their racial and nationalist leanings and eventually helped to place African Americans on a global religious schema alongside other Yoruba practitioners in Africa and the diaspora. Alongside the story of Adefunmi, Hucks weaves historical and sociological analyses of the relationship between black cultural nationalism and reinterpretations of the meaning of Africa from within the African American community. **