DescriptionNational Book Award Winner Paul Fussell tells the breathtaking story of WWII from the young soldiers' points of view. WWII was not the glorified picture it is often depicted to be. For the American soldier it was a tiring, emotional, and gruesome experience. Fussell's extensive details and insight help to make this story come alive.
DescriptionSmallpox, the only infectious disease to have been eradicated, was one of the most terrifying of human scourges. It covered the skin with hideous, painful boils, killed a third of its victims, and left the survivors disfigured for life. In this riveting…
DescriptionFacets of Ayn Rand is based on 48 hours of interviews with Mary Ann and Charles Sures, longtime personal friends of Ayn Rand. Their recollections make vividly real the Ayn Rand they knew so well. Here are many examples of not only Ayn Rand's mind and intellectual generosity in action, but also lesser-known aspects of this unique woman. The result is the experience of an actual larger-than-life person.
DescriptionThe ancient Maya were the only fully literate pre-Colombian people in the Americas. Superb scientists, they developed highly sophisticated mathematics and an intricate and accurate calendar system. Theirs was one of the few complex societies to emerge in and to adapt successfully to a tropical-forest environment. Their architecture, sculpture, and painting were sophisticated and compellingly beautiful. In this comprehensive survey, updated for this new edition, Henderson explores the entire Maya cultural tradition, from the earliest traces of settlement through the period of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. His wide-ranging account treats diverse aspects of the Maya world, from religion and philosophy to the environments of the various Maya peoples, using deciphered Maya texts to reconstruct the ancient societies.
DescriptionDoes a piece of visual or musical art have any content? Do the fine arts have anything at all to say about ideas? How is a sonata different from a poem? In Art, the Arts, and the Great Ideas, Mortimer Adler challenges us to precision in language, tracing the historical permutations of pivotal words like "art, " "idea, " and "significance." He ambitiously defines these three words in terms of their everyday meanings, and then their (often very different) philosophical meanings. Fundamental to his argument is the question of whether art (such as paintings and sculptures) and the performing arts (such as music and dancing) can elicit the discussion of ideas and basic concepts as do books. Listeners will ultimately discover how the great ideas are related to the arts.
DescriptionFew philosophers have so extensively influenced thought and language as Aristotle. His conception of the universe pervades Christian theology. Knowledge of his thought is necessary to understand Bacon, Galileo and the modern scientific view of nature, a…
DescriptionThrough his own writings and inspiration of Aristotle and countless others, Plato continues to influence every area of philosophic thought, to say nothing of his enormous influence on Christian theology. His dramatic dialogues, including Republic…
DescriptionIt is 1956. Stevens, the ageing butler of Dalington Hall, has just embarked on a motoring trip through the west of England that will become a journey deep into his past. As he winds his way through the English countryside, from the medieval charm of Salisbury, through Dorset and Devon and on to Cornwall, Stevens reflects on a life in which professionalism and service have been the guiding principles, and personal relations have been kept in their proper place. Reaching his destination, past and present meet in a profoundly moving moment of self-awareness, acknowledged but denied in the same instant.
DescriptionWithout question the finest short biography of the world's greatest philosopher, Socrates provides us with an excellent introduction to Socratic thought. Although Socrates himself left no writings, Professor Taylor consolidates all that can be kno…
DescriptionOver two millennia after its compilation, the Politics still offers much to consider with regards to political science. Aristotle's succinct and thoughtful analysis is based on his study of over 150 city constitutions and covers the gamut of political issues in order to establish which types of constitution are best, ideally as well as for particular circumstances, and how they may be maintained. Aristotle believed, as did his predecessor Plato, that an ideal constitution would be good in itself, in accordance with nature, and therefore is needed by man, 'a political animal', in order to fulfill his potential. Aristotle's thoughts on the subject became the foundation for further philosophical inroads on the subject made by St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Jean Bodin, and Richard Hooker.
