Author: Marie Arana Publisher: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 1501105019 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 496
Book Description
Winner, American Library Association Booklist’s Top of the List, 2019 Adult Nonfiction Acclaimed writer Marie Arana delivers a cultural history of Latin America and the three driving forces that have shaped the character of the region: exploitation (silver), violence (sword), and religion (stone). “Meticulously researched, [this] book’s greatest strengths are the power of its epic narrative, the beauty of its prose, and its rich portrayals of character…Marvelous” (The Washington Post). Leonor Gonzales lives in a tiny community perched 18,000 feet above sea level in the Andean cordillera of Peru, the highest human habitation on earth. Like her late husband, she works the gold mines much as the Indians were forced to do at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Illiteracy, malnutrition, and disease reign as they did five hundred years ago. And now, just as then, a miner’s survival depends on a vast global market whose fluctuations are controlled in faraway places. Carlos Buergos is a Cuban who fought in the civil war in Angola and now lives in a quiet community outside New Orleans. He was among hundreds of criminals Cuba expelled to the US in 1980. His story echoes the violence that has coursed through the Americas since before Columbus to the crushing savagery of the Spanish Conquest, and from 19th- and 20th-century wars and revolutions to the military crackdowns that convulse Latin America to this day. Xavier Albó is a Jesuit priest from Barcelona who emigrated to Bolivia, where he works among the indigenous people. He considers himself an Indian in head and heart and, for this, is well known in his adopted country. Although his aim is to learn rather than proselytize, he is an inheritor of a checkered past, where priests marched alongside conquistadors, converting the natives to Christianity, often forcibly, in the effort to win the New World. Ever since, the Catholic Church has played a central role in the political life of Latin America—sometimes for good, sometimes not. In this “timely and excellent volume” (NPR) Marie Arana seamlessly weaves these stories with the history of the past millennium to explain three enduring themes that have defined Latin America since pre-Columbian times: the foreign greed for its mineral riches, an ingrained propensity to violence, and the abiding power of religion. Silver, Sword, and Stone combines “learned historical analysis with in-depth reporting and political commentary...[and] an informed and authoritative voice, one that deserves a wide audience” (The New York Times Book Review).
Author: Christopher Gidlow Publisher: The History Press ISBN: 0752476386 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 373
Book Description
Arthur: mythical hero, legendary king. But was he, as the legends claimed, an actual Dark-Age Briton? From Glastonbury and Tintagel to the supposed sites of Arthur's Camelot and his famous battles, this book investigates how archaeologists have interpreted the evidence. Might new discoveries and the latest theories finally reveal the real King Arthur? For 800 years the controversy over Arthur's existence has ebbed and flowed. Rusty swords, imposing ruins, the Round Table, even Arthur's body itself were offered as proof that he had once reigned over Britain. The quest was revived by the scientific archaeologists of the 1960s. Just as Greek legends had led to the discovery of Troy, so might the romances lead to Camelot. This optimism did not last. Sceptics poured scorn on the obscure manuscripts and strong imagination on which the questers relied. For 30 years academics closed ranks against King Arthur. The discovery at Tintagel of a mysterious slate, inscribed with names from the Arthurian legends, shook this scepticism to its roots. Was it a clue at last? This book argues that it is time to reassess the possibility of a real King Arthur and acknowledge the importance his legends still hold for us today.
Author: T. H. White Publisher: McClelland & Stewart ISBN: 1551999145 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 705
Book Description
The definitive modern take on the timeless tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round table. The legends of King Arthur date back to medieval Europe, and have become some of the dominant myths of Western culture. In The Once & Future King, T. H. White reinvents the story for a modern audience. The novel starts by introducing the reader to a young Arthur – just a child, and far from the King he will become – as he is raised by the wizard Merlyn, and moves on to chronicle his rise to Kingship, the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, and the eventual destruction of the round table. The first section, released independently as The Sword in the Stone, was adapted into an animated film by Walt Disney Pictures. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Author: Mikkel Aaland Publisher: Travelers' Tales ISBN: 1609520076 Category : Travel Languages : en Pages : 279
Book Description
“Any attempt at peace must be attended by a knowledge of self,” discovers writer and photographer Mikkel Aaland, who grew up with a bomb shelter for a bedroom, in terror of nuclear war. At the height of the Cold War, Aaland finds himself drawn into a mysterious Shinto priest’s plan to save the world. Traveling from Norway to the Philippines, Iceland to South Africa, he places pieces of a sacred Shinto sword in key power spots around the world. Along the way, he comes face to face with his deepest childhood fears of war and destruction, encounters the compelling and mysterious Shinto religion, struggles with the uncertainties of love, and learns to face life with an open heart. The Sword of Heaven tells the extraordinary true story of a journey in which all boundaries are pushed—geographical, cultural, and personal—and in which the healing of the world and the healing of one man appear to be inextricably linked.
Author: Terry Goodkind Publisher: RosettaBooks ISBN: 0795346093 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 1280
Book Description
The Seeker of Truth embarks on his perilous training in wizardry in the 2nd novel of the #1 New York Timesbestselling author’s epic fantasy series. In Wizard’s First Rule, forest guide Richard Cypher becomes a Seeker of Truth in order to defeat the tyrannical Wizard Darken Rahl—only to discover that he is in fact Darken’s son. Now, with Darken vanquished, Richard and the beautiful Kahlan Amnell head back to the Mud People to be married. But their adventures are far from over. As the wedding day approaches, Richard is visited by three Sisters of Light who insist on bringing him to the Palace of the Prophets to be trained as a Wizard. Meanwhile, the veil to the underworld has been torn, and the Stone of Tears has passed through. According to prophecy, the only person who has a chance at closing the veil is the one bonded to the blade, the one born true.
Author: Tameri Etherton Publisher: Teacup Dragon Publishing, LLC ISBN: 1941955169 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 566
Book Description
Enjoy this steamy chosen one series by USA Today Bestselling epic fantasy romance author Tameri Etherton... Otherworldly portals. Mysterious powers. Evil hungrily awaits her return. Taryn’s simple life is all she’s ever known. Living above a busy London pub with her grandfather, they’re ripped from their reality and plunged into a strange world to jumpstart an ancient prophecy. And when he’s killed defending her from a vicious intruder’s magic, Taryn’s left nearly alone… and forced to trust a rugged savior. Rhoane has one job. Sworn to protect the young woman who has returned to fulfill her destiny, the assassin dare not let his feelings get in the way of her training. But he knows the time will come when she accepts her power and recognizes he’s her fated mate. As Taryn learns her life on Earth was a lie, she must unlock her hidden talents to save an entire world from destruction. And though Rhoane will show no mercy to anyone who stands in her way, he fears her biggest threat comes from the family she has never known. Will the destined pair rise to stop the annihilation of a vast kingdom? The Stones of Resurrection is the enthralling first book in the Song of the Swords fantasy series. If you like ensemble casts, intense action, and dark family sagas, then you’ll love Tameri Etherton‘s epic tale. Buy The Stones of Resurrection to step into a deadly new realm today!
Author: George Cameron Stone Publisher: Courier Corporation ISBN: 0486131297 Category : Antiques & Collectibles Languages : en Pages : 705
Book Description
DIVIndispensable resource employs alphabetized, easy-to-use format. Arquebuses, flintlocks, and other antique guns appear here, along with German armor, Roman short swords, Turkish crossbows, much more. Over 4,500 individual photos and drawings, 875 detailed figures. /div
Author: Marie Arana
Author: Christopher Gidlow
Author: T. H. White
Author: Leon Kapp
Author: T. H. White
Author: Mikkel Aaland
Author: Terry Goodkind
Author: Tameri Etherton
Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Author: George Cameron Stone