E-knihy

Formát: EPUB Původní název: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI Počet stran: 530 Velikost: 2,07 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: čeština ISBN: 978-80-7555-264-8 Cena: 399.00 CZK Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 31.05.2025, 10:36

Knihy šířily skvělé myšlenky, ale i mýty. Algoritmy nám usnadnily práci, a pak nás poštvaly proti sobě. Co nyní způsobí umělá inteligence? <<
Nejčtenější historik současnosti zkoumá, jak informační toky utvářely svět: od doby kamenné přes kanonizaci Bible, hony na čarodějnice, stalinismus a nacismus až po aktuální vzestup populismu a AI.
Harari ukazuje, že lidstvo získalo obrovskou moc prostřednictvím budování rozsáhlých informačních sítí. Vysvětluje, jak je různé společnosti a politické systémy využívaly k dosažení svých cílů i upevnění pořádku.
A proč je dnešní informační revoluce radikálně odlišná – a mnohem nebezpečnější – než všechny předešlé. Jaké volby staví před lidstvo existenciální riziko v podobě neúnavné, ale chybující AI?

V knize se mimo jiné dozvíte:
• Víra, že svobodný tok informací automaticky vede k pravdě, neodpovídá skutečnosti.
• Náš sklon vytvářet bez rozmyslu mocné entity nezačal s AI, ale s vynálezem náboženství.
• Právě vzniká nový druh moci, kterou nelze snadno volat k odpovědnosti: algoritmus za rozhodnutí nenese následky.
• Průmyslová impéria své kolonie vykořisťovala a utlačovala a bylo by bláhové očekávat, že se nové digitální říše zachovají lépe.
• Díky sebeopravným mechanismům budou demokracie vůči rizikům AI odolnější než diktátorské režimy.

„Právě prožíváme největší informační revoluci v lidské historii. Abychom ji zvládli, musíme pochopit, co jí předcházelo.“

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 362 Velikost: 11,72 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9781472862495 Cena: 14.46 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 31.05.2025, 10:33

A masterful history of how war and insecurity, both real and perceived, have driven Russia's destiny for centuries, including the disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

Putin retains his stranglehold on his position in Russia despite an almost ruinous invasion of Ukraine. The answer as to how and why can be found in Russian history. With no naturally defensible borders, and environmental factors constraining its economy, Russia has been pitched against the pre-eminent military powers of the age across the centuries, and often at a technological disadvantage. To respond to these challenges, it has had to sit heavily on the backs of its people, and so war – and the need to be able to fight it – has shaped its evolution, from tsars to commissars and presidents.

The national identity has been forged in the furnace of war. From the medieval kingdom of Rus battling against a Scandinavian princes and Mongol emperors, to its own empire-building conflicts in 19th-century Asia, to the formative wars of the 20th century which saw Russia pitch from Tsarist empire to communist state and defender against Nazism, all these conflicts stained the lands of Russia red with blood. A weak post-Cold War Russia then turned to Putin, who created a new mood for martial triumphalism which led directly to the Ukrainian war.

Packed with contemporary accounts, Forged in War strips away the myth to give an insider's view on Russia's past and present.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 188 Velikost: 4,79 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-78929-584-9 Cena: 9.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 31.05.2025, 10:29

Spend 24 hours immersed in the rich and fascinating everyday lives of the Vikings.

Between the infamous Lindisfarne raid in 793 CE and the Norman conquest of 1066, the peoples we know now as the Vikings became one of the most far-ranging and influential civilizations in history. The Vikings are frequently portrayed as raiders, marauding across medieval Europe and Britain, but the culture and society of the medieval Nordic peoples was so much more diverse, multifaceted and influential than it is often depicted.

In 24 Hours in the Viking World, author and Viking expert Kirsten Wolf chronicles an hour in the life of 24 individuals from every corner of Viking society over the course of a single day. From the warrior to the thrall, the shipbuilder to the farmer, the poet to the oracle, each chapter offers a snapshot of the world as it was in medieval Scandinavia, and an insight into how these people lived, loved, worked, fought and died.

The latest entry in the bestselling 24 Hours series, 24 Hours in the Viking World presents an absorbing, grounded and tangible look at what it was really like to be alive during this pivotal era in history.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 213 Velikost: 3,17 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-78243-977-6 Cena: 9.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 31.05.2025, 10:26

During the course of a day we meet 24 Athenians from all strata of society—from the slave to the politician, the fishmonger to the philosopher, the soldier to the vase painter—and get to know what the real Athens was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters—all from different walks of life—every chapter, with each chapter forming an hour in a day in the life of the ancient city. We also get to spy on the daily doings of notable Athenians through the eyes of regular people as the city hovers on the brink of the fateful war that will destroy its golden age.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 227 Velikost: 8,97 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-78929-123-0 Cena: 9.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 31.05.2025, 10:22

Travel back to AD 17, during the fourth year of the reign of Wang Mang of the Han dynasty, a vibrant and innovative era full of conflicts and contradictions. But as different as the Han culture might have been to other great ancient civilizations, the inhabitants of ancient China faced the same problems as people have for time immemorial: earning enough money, coping with workplace dramas and keeping your home in order . . . although the equivalent in this era was more about bribing inspectors, avoiding bullying from abusive watchmen and trying to keep your house from being looted by Huns. In each chapter we meet one of 24 citizens of this ancient culture, from the midwife to the soldier, the priest to the performer and the blacksmith to the tomb looter, and see what an average day in ancient China was really like.

Formát: PDF Původní název: The Vital Question. Why Is Life the Way It Is? Počet stran: 301 Velikost: 6,81 MB Knižní žánr: biologie Jazyk: čeština ISBN: 978-80-7675-238-2 Cena: 349.00 CZK Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:43

Veškerý komplexní pozemský život má společného předka: buňku, která během 4 miliard let vznikla pouze jednou, a to z jednoduchých bakteriálních předchůdců. Byla to mimořádná náhoda, anebo ostatní "experimenty" v evoluci komplexity selhaly? V samém srdci biologie tak zeje černá díra. Řečeno bez obalu: netušíme, proč se život vyvíjel tak podivně, jak se vyvíjel, a proč jsou buňky poháněné tak zvláštním způsobem. Na obě otázky se snaží odpovědět kniha Nicka Lanea, která načrtne přesvědčivý scénář proměny jednoduchých buněk v buňky komplexní s jejich charakteristickými vlastnostmi, doprovozený nezbytným vysvětlením biochemických základů fungování živých buněk a miliardy let vzdáleného zrodu života v těsné blízkosti hydrotermálních průduchů.

Formát: PDF Původní název: How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom Počet stran: 270 Velikost: 3,47 MB Knižní žánr: ekonomie Jazyk: čeština ISBN: 978-80-7675-239-9 Cena: 349.00 CZK Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:41

Kniha známého britského zoologa a popularizátora vědy navazuje na bestsellery Racionální optimista a Evoluce všeho, v nichž líčí cestu lidstva od doby kamenné k současné prosperitě. Základním faktorem na této cestě jsou inovace, záhadný a nedoceňovaný proces, který vskrytu formuje historii lidské civilizace a je obdobou biologické evoluce. Inovace se zásadně liší od vynálezů, protože při nich nevzniká něco zcela nového, ale již existující vynálezy a myšlenky se přetvářejí ve spolehlivé, prakticky upotřebitelné a masově dostupné věci. Jde o postupný, nepředvídatelný, zdola poháněný proces, který často provází šťastná náhoda. Inovace také nejsou dílem jednotlivců, ale plodem spolupráce a výměny myšlenek mnoha lidí. V řadě příběhů se seznámíme s inovacemi od vzniku zemědělství přes parní stroj a očkování až po sociální média a sdílenou ekonomiku. Vůbec první a nejdůležitější inovací je však z hlediska planety Země vznik života samotného.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 272 Velikost: 13,66 MB Knižní žánr: logika a matematika Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-0-300-28359-4 Cena: 24.70 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:38

A lively, accessible history of mathematics throughout the ages and across the globe
 
Mathematics is fundamental to our daily lives. Science, computing, economics—all aspects of modern life rely on some kind of maths. But how did our ancestors think about numbers? How did they use mathematics to explain and understand the world around them? Where do numbers even come from?
 
In this Little History, Snezana Lawrence traces the fascinating history of mathematics, from the Egyptians and Babylonians to Renaissance masters and enigma codebreakers. Like literature, music, or philosophy, mathematics has a rich history of breakthroughs, creativity and experimentation. And its story is a global one. We see Chinese Mathematical Art from 200 BCE, the invention of algebra in Baghdad’s House of Wisdom, and sangaku geometrical theorems at Japanese shrines. Lawrence goes beyond the familiar names of Newton and Pascal, exploring the prominent role women have played in the history of maths, including Emmy Noether and Maryam Mirzakhani.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 256 Velikost: 20,67 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-68481-325-4 Cena: 11.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:34

“A captivating journey” through 15,000 years of fascinating yet often-forgotten ancient civilizations and cultures—includes maps and illustrations (Natasha Billson, host, The Great British Dig).
 
From the world's first peace treaty to daring expeditions across the Pacific, this book explores twenty ancient and historic cultures that have had monumental impacts on our modern world—but that few people know about.

Archaeologist Raven Todd DaSilva, creator of the popular platform Dig It With Raven, looks beyond the familiar names and places and delves into astounding finds unearthed at archaeological sites around the globe. Discover the archaeology that sheds light on the secret stories of the Nubians, Olmec, Xiongnu, Minoans, Akkadians, and many more. Rather than focusing only on great rulers and monumental buildings, the book highlights the everyday lives of peoples of the past, who they interacted with, and what we can learn from them.

Packed with summaries of current archaeological evidence, detailed maps, and striking images of artefacts and sites, The Other Ancient Civilizations reveals how archaeologists decode ancient cultures from what they left behind—and is an indispensable collection of fascinating stories and facts that illustrate both the differences and similarities between us and our long-distant ancestors.

“A succinct journey through some of the world’s less well-known complex societies … excellent, thoroughly researched, and admirably illustrated.” —Brian Fagan, author of People of the Earth

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 282 Velikost: 6,92 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-0-465-09618-3 Cena: 11.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:30

In this remarkable book, Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins hundreds of millions of years ago and spans the globe. Prized as "the best stone in Britain" by Roman invaders who carved jewelry out of it, coal has transformed societies, launched empires, and expanded frontiers. It made China an eleventh-century superpower, inspired the Communist Manifesto, and helped the North win the American Civil War. Yet coal's transformative power has come at tremendous cost, from the blackening of our lungs and skies, to the perils of mining, to global warming. Now updated with a new chapter describing the high-stakes conflict between coal's defenders and those working to preserve a livable climate, Coal offers a captivating history of the mineral that helped build the modern world but now endangers our future.

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Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 353 Velikost: 476 kB Knižní žánr: filozofie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-80429-213-6 Cena: 14.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:24

How a supposedly apolitical form of philosophy owes its continuing power to social and political forces. 

Analytic philosophy is the leading form of philosophy in the English-speaking world. What explains its continued success? Christoph Schuringa argues that its enduring power can only be understood by examining its social history. Analytic philosophy tends to think of itself as concerned with eternal questions, transcending the changing scenes of history. It thinks of itself as apolitical. This book, however, convincingly shows that the opposite is true.

The origins of analytic philosophy are in a set of distinct movements, shaped by high-ly specific sets of political and social forces. Only after the Second World War were these disparate, often dynamic movements joined together to make ‘analytic philosophy’ as we know it. In the climate of McCarthyism, analytic philosophy was robbed of political force.

To this day, analytic philosophy is the ideology of the status quo. It may seem arcane and largely removed from the real world, but it is a crucial component in upholding liberalism, through its central role in elite educational institutions. As Schuringa concludes, the apparently increasing friendliness of analytic philosophers to rival approaches in philosophy should be understood as a form of colonization; thanks to its hegemonic status, it reformats all it touches in service of its own imperatives, going so far as to colonize decolonial efforts in the discipline.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 154 Velikost: 4,04 MB Knižní žánr: biografie Jazyk: čeština ISBN: 978-80-7335-909-6 Cena: 259.00 CZK Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 17.05.2025, 10:15

Dříve či později bude Oliver Cromwell uznán nejen za jednoho z největších Angličanů vůbec, ale za daleko nejlepšího anglického panovníka; za muže, který se v dobách, kdy byly lidské duše vystaveny zkouškám, potýkal s těžkými otázkami a řešil obrovské problémy; za muže, jenž se dopouštěl chyb a je vinen mnoha selháními, ale který usilovně směřoval ke světlu v té podobě, v níž mu bylo dáno jej vidět; za muže, jemuž leželo na srdci blaho jeho krajanů a velikost jeho země a který se pokoušel učinit z velkých zákonů spravedlnosti živoucí síly při správě světa.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 186 Velikost: 15,2 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978 1 03611 642 2 Cena: 16.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 08.05.2025, 14:35

Sotirios Drokalos explores the epic and often overlooked conflicts between the Greeks and Carthaginians in the Western Mediterranean.

Before the rise of Rome, the Greeks and Carthaginians were, for centuries, the two most powerful nations of the Western Mediterranean. From the Pillars of Hercules to Sicily and Cyrenaica, the Greeks and the Carthaginians founded cities, created trade routes, interacted with each other as competitors and collaborators, and often went to war. However, the long conflict between the Western Greeks and the Carthaginians has been neglected by modern historians, even though the wars between them are definitely among the greatest, longest, and most dramatic clashes of great powers in history when it comes to the historical breadth and the forces involved. Sotirios Drokalos gives these epic events the attention they deserve.

The competition and conflicts between Greeks and Phoenicians in the West began by the time of the first colonizations during the eighth century BCE and the development of the cultural and economic activity of the two cultures. They intensified after the Greek colonies' consolidation and Carthage's rise as the most significant Phoenician city and a commercial empire during the sixth century BCE. Especially from the beginning of the fifth century BCE and for the next roughly 200 years, the Western Mediterranean was the field of a ruthless bipolar confrontation between the Greeks of the West and the Carthaginians, marked by the actions of remarkable personalities of the ancient world. This historical clash, apart from the vast and bloody battles, the invasions of one side by the other, the sieges and the mass slaughters, also included elements of cultural interaction and exchange, consisting essentially of a practical test of constitutions, social systems, and political views. Under this prism, studying that tumultuous era could be necessary today to better understand Mediterranean and European historical evolution.

Formát: PDF Počet stran: 855 Velikost: 34,6 MB Knižní žánr: ekonomie Jazyk: čeština ISBN: 978-80-246-3002-1 Cena: 340.00 CZK Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 08.05.2025, 14:31

Spolu s nastupujícími trendy v oblastech IT, digitalizace a cloud bankingu prochází globální bankovnictví v posledních letech dynamickým vývojem. Předkládaná publikace se snaží zájemce uvést do široké problematiky bankovnictví v teoretické i praktické rovině, a to s důrazem na Českou republiku a Evropskou unii. Jedná se o unikátní bilingvní česko-anglické dílo vycházející z několikaletého výzkumu autorů v oblasti finančních trhů a risk managementu. Publikace je psána srozumitelným jazykem, a tudíž je vhodná jak pro odbornou, tak i pro širší veřejnost.

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Formát: PDF Počet stran: 98 Velikost: 1,19 MB Knižní žánr: ekonomie Jazyk: čeština Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 08.05.2025, 14:25

Pro posluchače 4 semestru bakalářského studia v prezenční a kombinované formě a pro všechny, kteří mají zájem se seznámit se základní problematikou bankovnictví.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 0 Velikost: 2,21 MB Knižní žánr: politologie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9780063437159 Cena: 15.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 14.04.2025, 23:53

In his travels through Israel and Gaza, #1 International Bestselling author Douglas Murray has seen the best and the worst humanity has to offer, and he has no trouble choosing a side.

Murray is not Jewish and before October 7, he had never lived in Israel. However, he objects to being lied to, and Israel has been on the receiving end of the biggest, deepest, longest lies in history. 

Israel's commitment to fundamental Western values—capitalism, individual rights, democracy, and reason—has made it a beacon of progress in a region dominated by authoritarianism and extremism. Israel’s principles vividly contrast with the ideology of Hamas, which openly proclaims its love of death over life. With incisive moral clarity, On Democracies and Death Cults exposes how the campus left and international establishment confuse this conflict by:

Calling on Israel for restraint and proportionality, while Hamas commits genocide.
Slandering Israelis as white colonialists, while only a third of Israelis are Jews of European ancestry.
Framing the conflict as oppressor vs. oppressed, when it is really between a thriving multi-ethnic democracy and a death cult bent on its annihilation. 

Drawing from intensive on-the-ground reporting in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, Douglas Murray places the latest violence in its proper historical context. He takes readers on a harrowing journey through the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, piecing together the exclusive accounts from victims, survivors, and even the terrorists responsible for the atrocities. If left unchecked, misplaced sympathy could embolden forces that seek to undermine not only Israel, but all of Western civilization.

Formát: PDF Počet stran: 188 Velikost: 15,16 MB Knižní žánr: religionistika a teologie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-4051-1073-0 Cena: 42.00 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 14.04.2025, 23:50

Bojana Mojsov tells the story of the cult of Osiris from beginning to end, sketching its development throughout 3,000 years of Egyptian history.

• Draws together the numerous records about Osiris from the third millennium B.C. to the Roman conquest of Egypt.
• Demonstrates that the cult of Osiris was the most popular and enduring of the ancient religions.
• Shows how the cult provided direct antecedents for many ideas, traits and customs in Christianity, including the concept of the trinity, baptism in the sacred river, and the sacrament of the Eucharist.
• Reveals the cult’s influence on other western mystical traditions and groups, such as the Alchemists, Rosicrucians and Freemasons.
• Written for a general, as well as a scholarly audience.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 0 Velikost: 3,43 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-3-030-97464-0 Cena: 99.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 14.04.2025, 23:47

This book explores the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) and, more generally, the political history of the third century, thus putting Constantine's career and many of his decisions in context. It traces events under the first Tetrarchy and then explores Constantine's rise to power, his rule and reforms, and continuity and change with regard to his predecessors. It considers how he was able to transform the empire and establish his own dynasty, highlighting his political and military prowess, and therefore provides an essential overview of the political history of the period. 

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 605 Velikost: 5,16 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9781541619777 Cena: 19.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 03.04.2025, 00:16

An essential new history of Central Europe, the contested lands so often at the heart of world history  
 
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture. Central Europeans launched the Reformation and Romanticism, developed the philosophy of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and advanced some of the twentieth century’s most important artistic movements. 
 
Drawing on a lifetime of research and scholarship, The Middle Kingdoms tells as never before the captivating story of two thousand years of Central Europe’s history and its enduring significance in world affairs.

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Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 221 Velikost: 1,13 MB Knižní žánr: mytologie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-83976-700-5 Cena: 7.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 03.04.2025, 00:13

Mythocracy examines the narrative mechanisms that script our lives through the stories we tell one another. Digging beneath common anxieties about fake news, Yves Citton looks at the attention economy, which organises our political perceptions around affective attractors. These are much more powerful than the truth value of any given narrative. The time has come for the left to reclaim the power of myth from reactionary populism.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 461 Velikost: 1,53 MB Knižní žánr: sociologie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9781541605770 Cena: 17.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 03.04.2025, 00:10

Most commentators look at the issue of immigration from the viewpoint of immediate politics. In doing so, they focus on only a piece of the issue and lose touch with the larger picture. Now Thomas Sowell offers a sweeping historical and global look at a large number of migrations over a long period of time.Migrations and Cultures: shows the persistence of cultural traits, in particular racial and ethnic groups, and the role these groups' relocations play in redistributing skills, knowledge, and other forms of “human capital.” answers the question: What are the effects of disseminating the patterns of the particular set of skills, attitudes, and lifestyles each ethnic group has carried forth—both for the immigrants and for the host countries, in social as well as economic terms?

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 434 Velikost: 38,09 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-63936-832-7 Cena: 22.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 03.04.2025, 00:07

A brilliant, profound, and authoritative history of the golden age of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britain.

For too long, the eighth century has been a neglected era in British history: a shadow land between the death of Saint Bede and the triumphs of King Ælfred and the eventual unification of England.

But before the victories of King Ælfred against the Viking invaders, the kingdom of Mercia—spread across a broad swathe of central England—was the reigning power that exercised central political authority for the first time since the Roman Empire. This authority was used to construct trading networks and markets; to develop strong economic, cultural, and political links with the Continent; and to lay the foundations for a system of defense that would be invigorated and reinvented by Ælfred at the end of the ninth century.

Two kings, Æthelbald (716–757) and Offa (757–796), dominated the political landscape of the rising power of Mercia. During their reigns, monasteries became powerhouses of royal patronage, economic enterprise, and trade. Offa constructed his grandiose dyke along the borders of the warlike Welsh Kingdoms and, more subtly, spread his message of political superiority through coinage bearing his image. But Æthelbald and Offa between them built something with an even more substantial legacy—a geography of medieval England. And these two kings engineered a set of tensions between kingship, landholding, and the church that were to play out dramatically at the dawn of the Viking Age.

In this illuminating history of Early Medieval Britain, Max Adams reconnects the worlds of the three kings—Æthelbald, Offa, and Ælfred—in an absorbing study of the landscape, society, and politics of a fascinating century of change.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 345 Velikost: 20,35 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9780691255477 Cena: 17.60 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 13:28

At the end of the acclaimed history 1177 B.C., many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean lay in ruins, undone by invasion, revolt, natural disasters, famine, and the demise of international trade. An interconnected world that had boasted major empires and societies, relative peace, robust commerce, and monumental architecture was lost and the so-called First Dark Age had begun. Now, in After 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the compelling story of what happened next, over four centuries, across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean world. It is a story of resilience, transformation, and success, as well as failures, in an age of chaos and reconfiguration.

After 1177 B.C. tells how the collapse of powerful Late Bronze Age civilizations created new circumstances to which people and societies had to adapt. Those that failed to adjust disappeared from the world stage, while others transformed themselves, resulting in a new world order that included Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, Neo-Hittites, Neo-Assyrians, and Neo-Babylonians. Taking the story up to the resurgence of Greece marked by the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., the book also describes how world-changing innovations such as the use of iron and the alphabet emerged amid the chaos.

Filled with lessons for today's world about why some societies survive massive shocks while others do not, After 1177 B.C. reveals why this period, far from being the First Dark Age, was a new age with new inventions and new opportunities.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 469 Velikost: 6,03 MB Knižní žánr: literatura faktu Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9781472863539 Cena: 14.46 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 13:25

A fascinating history of the great summer offensive launched by the Red Army in 1944 which turned the tide of the war.

Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a slow process of decline after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler became increasingly unwilling to delegate decision-making to commanders in the field, which had been crucial to earlier success. The long years of fighting had also taken a heavy toll. Thousands of irreplaceable junior officers and NCOs were dead, wounded or prisoners.

Renowned Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar expertly brings these contrasting fortunes to life, trends which culminated in the huge battles of Bagration. As this masterful study conclusively shows, in 1944 the Red Army finally put together a campaign that utterly destroyed the German Army Group Centre. The Wehrmacht suffered the loss of over 300,000 men killed, wounded or taken prisoner and the Red Army rolled forward across Belarus to the outskirts of Warsaw. The end of the war was still many months away, and the Germans managed to reconstruct their line on the Eastern Front, but final victory for the Soviet Union was now only a matter of time as a direct consequence of Bagration.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 414 Velikost: 8,67 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-0-307-78858-0 Cena: 7.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 12:07

Drawing on archival materials released in Russia, Richard Pipes chronicles the upheaval that began as a conservative revolt but was soon captured by messianic intellectuals intent not merely on reforming Russia but on remaking the world. He provides fresh accounts of the revolution's personalities and policies, crises, and cruelties, from the murder of the royal family through civil war, famine, and state terror.

Brilliantly and persuasively, Pipes shows us why the resulting system owes less to the theories of Marx than it did to the character of Lenin and Russia's long authoritarian tradition. What ensues is a path-clearing work that is indispensable to any understanding of the events of the century.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 370 Velikost: 6,91 MB Knižní žánr: literatura faktu Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-61251-513-7 Cena: 33.56 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 11:48

This remarkable collection of works by some of the most authoritative naval historians in the United States draws on many formerly classified sources to shed new light on the U.S. Navy's role in the three-year struggle to preserve the independence of the Republic of Korea. Several of the essays concentrate on fleet operations during the first critical year of the war and later years when United Nations forces fought a static war. Others focus on the leadership of Admirals Forrest P. Sherman, C. Turner Joy, James H. Doyle, and Arleigh A. Burke and on carrier-based and ground-based naval air operations as well as the contributions of African American Sailors. >As a whole, this book documents how the Navy's domination of the seas around Korea enabled Allied forces to project combat power ashore the length and breadth of the Korean peninsula. It also shows how the powerful presence of U.S. and Allied naval forces discouraged China and the Soviet Union from launching other military adventures in the Far East, thus keeping the first limited war of the Cold War era confined to Korea. But far from being an aberration unlikely to be replicated, the Korean War proved to be only the first in a long line of twentieth-century and early twenty-first century conflicts involving U.S. naval forces confronting Communist and nontraditional adversaries, and a full understanding of the Korean War experience, as provided in this book, helps define the role of sea power in today's world.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 515 Velikost: 34,85 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-63936-546-3 Cena: 13.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 11:43

An original, authoritative, and lively cultural history of the first modern city, from pre-Homeric times to the present day.

Islam Issa’s father had always told him about their city's magnificence, and as he looked at the new library in Alexandria it finally hit home. This is no ordinary library. And Alexandria is no ordinary city.

Combining rigorous research with myth and folklore, Alexandria is an authoritative history of a city that has shaped our modern world. Soon after being founded by Alexander the Great, Alexandria became the crucible of cultural exchange between East and West for millennia and the undisputed global capital of knowledge. It was at the forefront of human progress, but it also witnessed brutal natural disasters, plagues, crusades and violence.

Major empires fought over Alexandria, from the Greeks and Romans to the Arabs, Ottomans, French, and British. Key figures shaped the city from its eponymous founder to Aristotle, Cleopatra, Saint Mark the Evangelist, Napoleon Bonaparte and many others, each putting their own stamp on its identity and its fortunes. And millions of people have lived in this bustling seaport on the Mediterranean. From its humble origins to its dizzy heights and its latest incarnation, Islam Issa tells us the rich and gripping story of a city that changed the world.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 455 Velikost: 79,64 MB Knižní žánr: biologie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 9780593598085 Cena: 14.99 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 11:38

From ancient megalodons to fearsome Great Whites, this book tells the complete, untold story of how sharks emerged as Earth’s ultimate survivors, by world-leading paleontologist John Long.

“Will keep you on the edge of your seat from its first page to its last page.”—Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

Sharks have been fighting for their lives for 500 million years and today are under dire threat. They are the longest-surviving vertebrate on Earth, outlasting multiple mass extinction events that decimated life on the planet. But how did they thrive for so long? By developing superpower-like abilities that allowed them to ascend to the top of the oceanic food chain.

John Long, who for decades has been on the cutting edge of shark research, weaves a thrilling story of sharks’ unparalleled reign. The Secret History of Sharks showcases the global search to discover sharks’ largely unknown evolution, led by Long and dozens of other extraordinary scientists. They embark on digs to all seven continents, investigating layers of rock and using cutting-edge technology to reveal never-before-found fossils and the clues to sharks’ singular story. 

As the tale unfolds, Longintroduces an enormous range of astonishing organisms: a thirty-foot-long shark with a deadly saw blade of jagged teeth protruding from its lower jaws, a monster giant clams crusher, and bizarre sharks fossilized while in their mating ritual. The book also includes startling new facts about the mighty megalodon, with its sixty-six-foot-long body, massive jaws, and six-inch serrated teeth.

With insights into the threats to sharks today, how they contribute to medical advances, and the lessons they can teach us about our own survival, The Secret History of Sharks is a riveting look at scientific discovery with ramifications far beyond the ocean.

Formát: EPUB Počet stran: 531 Velikost: 42,47 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1-324-03529-9 Cena: 19.98 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 11:31

A masterful history of the Civil War and its reverberations across the continent by a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.

In a fast-paced narrative of soaring ideals and sordid politics, of civil war and foreign invasion, the award-winning historian Alan Taylor presents a pivotal twenty-year period in which North America’s three largest countries―the United States, Mexico, and Canada―all transformed themselves into nations. The American Civil War stands at the center of the story, its military history and the drama of emancipation the highlights. Taylor relies on vivid characters to carry the story, from Joseph Hooker, whose timidity in crisis was exploited by Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson in the Union defeat at Chancellorsville, to Martin Delany and Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Black abolitionists whose critical work in Canada and the United States advanced emancipation and the enrollment of Black soldiers in Union armies.

The outbreak of the Civil War created a continental power vacuum that allowed French forces to invade Mexico in 1862 and set up an empire ruled by a Habsburg archduke. This inflamed the ongoing power struggle between Mexico’s Conservatives―landowners, the military, the Church―and Liberal supporters of social democracy, led ably by Benito Juarez. Along the southwestern border Mexico’s Conservative forces made common cause with the Confederacy, while General James Carleton violently suppressed Apaches and Navajos in New Mexico and Arizona. When the Union triumph restored the continental balance of power, French forces withdrew, and Liberals consolidated a republic in Mexico.

Canada was meantime fending off a potential rupture between French-speaking Catholics in Quebec and English-speakers in Ontario. When Union victory raised the threat of American invasion, Canadian leaders pressed for a continent-wide confederation joined by a transcontinental railroad. The rollicking story of liberal ideals, political venality, and corporate corruption marked the dawn of the Gilded Age in North America.

Formát: PDF Počet stran: 81 Velikost: 21,46 MB Knižní žánr: historie Jazyk: angličtina ISBN: 978-1472848611 Cena: 17.60 USD Přečteno: NE Vloženo: 16.03.2025, 00:22

A fascinating and detailed exploration of one of the most famous warships of the Ancient world - the trireme - and its tactical employment by the opposing sides in the 5th-century BC Graeco-Persian Wars.

You may be familiar with the Athenian trireme – but how much do you know about the ram-armed, triple-oared warships that it dueled against at the battles of Artemision, Salamis and the Eurymedon River? How similar or different were these warships to each other? And why did the Persians rely on Phoenician vessels to form much of their navy?

Much attention has been devoted to the Greek trireme, made famous by modern reconstruction – with only passing notice given to the opposing Persian navy's vessels in illustrated treatments. Join us on the Aegean as, for the first time, we reveal a rarely attempted colour reconstruction of a trireme in Persian service.

Compare the form, construction, design, manoeuvrability, and tactical deployment of the opposing triremes, aided by stunning illustrations. Man the decks of these warships with the fighting complement of Greek citizen hoplites, Scythian archers and Persian marines, and learn why the Greeks placed a bounty of 10,000 drachmae on the head of Artemisia – the Karian queen and Persian admiral, and the only woman among Xerxes' commanders.