Hľadanie: Rebeka
zobraziť:
Ember in the Ashes
INSTANT "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTELLER Perfect for fans of "Red Queen" and Marissa Meyer s "Lunar Chronicles" series, "An Ember in the Ashes, "is the first book in an exhilarating fantasy adventure series about the power of hope in the face of oppression. Debut novelist Sabaa Tahir tells the thrilling, heart-wrenching story of two unforgettable characters willing to sacrifice everything for the chance to write their own destinies. In a world inspired by ancient Rome and defined by brutality, seventeen-year old Laia has grown up with one rule for survival: Never challenge the Empire. But when Laia s brother Darin is arrested for treason, she leaves behind everything she knows, risking her life to try and save him. She enlists help from the rebels whose extensive underground network may lead to Darin. Their help comes with a price, though. Laia must infiltrate the Empire s greatest military academy as a spy. Elias is the Empire s finest soldier and its most unwilling one. Since childhood, he has trained to become one of the Masks, deadly fighters who ravage and destroy in the name of the Empire. But Elias is secretly planning a dangerous escape from the very tyranny he has sworn to enforce. Thrown together by chance and united by their hatred of the Empire, Laia and Elias will soon discover that their fates are intertwined and that their choices may change the destiny of the entire Empire. "
Vypredané
16,63 €
17,50 €
Game Changers
A celebration of "the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes" who have never stopped redefining the business of creative communications, this book marks the 60th birthday of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. From Volkswagen's "Think Small" to the "Nike Fuelband" to Levi's "Laundrette" and Burger King's "Subservient Chicken," this book looks at the history behind some 150 pieces of work to ask how and why those who "Just Do It" did it. Edited by Cannes Lions with Peter Russell and Senta Slingerland, with an introduction by Arianna Huffington and eyewitness accounts from the likes of Paula Green, Jeff Goodby, David Bailey, Lee Clow, Aaron Koblin, David Droga, Sir John Hegarty, and Lord Bell, this is the first definitive history of how advertising got from there to here, and where it's going next. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a long-established global benchmark for excellence in creative communications. Launched in 1954, the annual festival hosts more than 12,000 delegates from the creative and media industries, as well as advertisers, technologists and entrepreneurs, for a week-long series of seminars, exhibitions, and award shows. Around 36,000 campaigns are entered into the Festival each year in different categories including film, design, PR and digital, all vying for the much-coveted Lion trophy.
Vypredané
52,20 €
54,95 €
Hbr's 10 Must Reads 2016
A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've examined the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review to bring you the latest, most significant thinking driving business today. With authors from Marcus Buckingham to Herminia Ibarra and company examples from Google to Deloitte, this volume brings the most current and important management conversations to your fingertips. This book will inspire you to: * Tap into the new technologies that are changing the way businesses compete * Fuel performance by redesigning your organization's practices around feedback * Learn techniques to move beyond intuition for better decision making * Understand why your strategy execution isn't working--and how to fix it * Lead with authenticity by moving beyond your comfort zone * Transform your physical office space to promote creativity and productivity This collection of best-selling articles includes: * "Reinventing Performance Management," by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall * "The Transparency Trap," by Ethan Bernstein * "Profits Without Prosperity," by William Lazonick * "Outsmart Your Own Biases," by Jack B. Soll, Katherine L. Milkman, and John W. Payne * "The 3-D Printing Revolution," by Richard D'Aveni * "Why Strategy Execution Unravels--and What to Do About It," by Donald Sull, Rebecca Homkes, and Charles Sull * "The Authenticity Paradox," by Herminia Ibarra * "The Discipline of Business Experimentation," by Stefan Thomke and Jim Manzi * "When Senior Managers Won't Collaborate," by Heidi K. Gardner * "Workspaces That Move People," by Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi, and Greg Lindsay * "Digital Ubiquity: How Connections, Sensors, and Data Are Revolutionizing Business," by Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani.
Vypredané
27,23 €
28,66 €
Leonardo da Vinci
'To read this magnificent biography of Leonardo da Vinci is to take a tour through the life and works of one of the most extraordinary human beings of all time in the company of the most engaging, informed, and insightful guide imaginable. Walter Isaacson is at once a true scholar and a spellbinding writer. And what a wealth of lessons there are to be learned in these pages.' David McCullough
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.
He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius.
His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from having wide-ranging passions. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history’s most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo’s lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions.
Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it—to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.
Vypredané
27,08 €
28,50 €
Be More Pirate
FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH, MAY
'Ask forgiveness, not permission! A unique approach...reminds me of the fun we've had with our airlines' - Sir Richard Branson
'I'd rather be a pirate than join the navy' Steve Jobs
'Totally compelling' Ed Miliband, Reasons to be Cheerful podcast
'A model for how to break the system and create radical change' Joy Lo Dico, Evening Standard
'Be More Pirate feels so important as it looks to history to help us grip the future' Martha Lane Fox CBE, Founder of Lastminute.com
'This isn't a book, it's the beginning of a movement. Be More Pirate should come with a health warning' Tom Goodwin, #1 LinkedIn Influencer in Marketing & Social Media and author of Digital Darwinism
'A refreshing, entertaining and inspiring perspective on work, leadership and why we do what we do' Bruce Daisley, VP, Twitter
'A controversial call to arms, this contrarianism is exactly what we need to course correct 'the corporation' ' Arlo Brady, CEO of Freud Communications
--------
Pirates didn't just break the rules, they rewrote them. They didn't just reject society, they reinvented it. Pirates didn't just challenge the status-quo, they changed everyfuckingthing. Pirates faced a self-interested establishment, a broken system, industrial scale disruption and an uncertain future. Sound familiar?
Pirates stood for MISCHIEF, PURPOSE and POWER. And you can too.
In Be More Pirate, Sam Conniff Allende unveils the innovative strategies of Golden Age pirates, drawing parallels between the tactics and teachings of legends like Henry Morgan and Blackbeard with modern rebels, like Elon Musk, Malala and Banksy. Featuring takeaway sections and a guide to build you own pirate code 2.0, Be More Pirate will show you how to leave your mark on the 21st century.
Whatever your ambitions, ideas and challenges, Be More Pirate will revolutionize the way you live, think and work today, and tomorrow.
So what are you waiting for? Order now and join the rebellion.
--------
About the author: Sam Conniff Allende is the founder and former CEO of Livity, a multi-award-winning youth marketing agency. Sam has led the unlikeliest collaborations between brands and bright young people on the edges of society, resulting in real innovation. He has worked with Google, Unilever, PlayStation and Dyson, and regularly speaks and runs Be More Pirate workshops at these industry-leading companies. Sam believes in the power of professional rule-breaking and is on a mission to instigate modern mutinies in organisations around the world, where the team's takeover the running of the ship to ultimately become more accountable, motivated and rebellious.
Vypredané
14,20 €
14,95 €
A gyertyák csonkig égnek - Hangoskönyv (MP3)
Az 1942-ben megjelent, nagy indulatoktól feszülő, szuggesztív erejű regény - az író stílusművészetének remeke - vakító élességgel világít a barátság, a hűség és az árulás örvényeibe. Két régi barát évtizedek után újra találkozik, s végigbeszélik az éjszakát. A múltra visszatekintve egyikükből vádlott, másikukból vádló lesz: egyikük annak idején elárulta, sőt majdnem megölte barátját, elcsábította a feleségét, örökre tönkretette az életét. Ám a tragédiát valójában nem alkalmi gyengeség okozta: egy világrend széthullása a hagyományos erkölcsi értékek megrendülését is jelenti.
Teljes játékidő: 5 óra 28 perc.
Vypredané
11,84 €
12,46 €
Imagines - Celebrity Encounters Starring You
Anna Todd (#1 internationally bestselling author of the After series) headlines this unique anthology of imagines the first book of its kind stories from Wattpad writers that immerse you in a fantasy world of fame, adventure, and flirtation with your favorite celebrities. Imagine running around the city, dodging paparazzi with Jennifer Lawrence Imagine Justin Bieber setting up a romantic scavenger hunt for your anniversary, retelling the story of your love Imagine selfies have been outlawed, making Kim Kardashian a freedom fighter who needs your help in bringing justice and good lighting to the people Let your fantasies take over! That s what the top Wattpad authors have done in this special collection of fictional scenarios that bring you up close and personal with the real celebrities you love star alongside Zayn Malik, Cameron Dallas, Kanye West, Selena Gomez, Dylan O Brien, Tom Hardy, Jamie Dornan, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many more! Authors included in the book are Leigh Ansell, Rachel Aukes, Doeneseya Bates, Scarlett Drake, A. Evansley, Kevin Fanning, Ariana Godoy, Debra Goelz, Bella Higgin, Blair Holden, Kora Huddles, Annelie Lange, E. Latimer, Bryony Leah, Jordan Lynde, Laiza Millan, Peyton Novak, C.M. Peters, Michelle Jo Quinn, Dmitri Ragano, Elizabeth A. Seibert, Rebecca Sky, Karim Soliman, Kate J. Squires, Steffanie Tan, Kassandra Tate, Anna Todd, Katarina E. Tonks, Marcella Uva, Tango Walker, Bel Watson, Jen Wilde, and Ashley Winters. Wattpad is a writing community in which users are able to post articles, stories, fanfiction, and poems about anything either online or through the Wattpad app. Note: Although this book mentions many real celebrities, they have not participated in, authorized, or endorsed its creation."
Vypredané
15,15 €
15,95 €
Star Wars Heir to the Jedi
Luke Skywalker's game-changing destruction of the Death Star has made him not only a hero of the Rebel Alliance but a valuable asset in the ongoing battle against the Empire. Though he's a long way from mastering the power of the Force, there's no denying his phenomenal skills as a pilot-and in the eyes of Rebel leaders Princess Leia Organa and Admiral Ackbar, there's no one better qualified to carry out a daring rescue mission crucial to the Alliance cause. A brilliant alien cryptographer renowned for her ability to breach even the most advanced communications systems is being detained by Imperial agents determined to exploit her exceptional talents for the Empire's purposes.
But the prospective spy's sympathies lie with the Rebels, and she's willing to join their effort in exchange for being reunited with her family. It's an opportunity to gain a critical edge against the Empire that's too precious to pass up. It's also a job that demands the element of surprise.
So Luke and the ever-resourceful droid R2-D2 swap their trusty X-wing fighter for a sleek space yacht piloted by brash recruit Nakari Kelen, daughter of a biotech mogul, who's got a score of her own to settle with the Empire. Challenged by ruthless Imperial bodyguards, death-dealing enemy battleships, merciless bounty hunters, and monstrous brain-eating parasites, Luke plunges head-on into a high-stakes espionage operation that will push his abilities as a Rebel fighter and would-be Jedi to the limit. If ever he needed the wisdom of Obi-Wan Kenobi to shepherd him through danger, it's now.
Vypredané
12,83 €
13,50 €
For Whom The Bell Tolls
High in the pine forests of the Spanish Sierra, a guerrilla band prepares to blow up a vital bridge. Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer, has been sent to handle the dynamiting. There, in the mountains, he finds the dangers and the intense comradeship of war. And there he discovers Maria, a young woman who has escaped from Franco's rebels...
Legami Súprava vedierka a formičiek do piesku
Máte radi ten pocit, keď vám piesok preteká pomedzi prsty? Noste plážové vedro a formičky do piesku -vo svojej plážovej taške a zabávajte sa so svojimi deťmi! Vedro, lopatka a formičky do piesku: táto súprava má všetko, čo potrebujete na vytvorenie čarovných zámkov, drobivých sušienok a slaných bazénov na pláži.
8 kusov: vedierko, sitko, lopatka, hrable, 4 pieskové formičky.
Materiál: PP, TPE
Vypredané
12,99 €
Lacná kniha La Bible /fran.TOB/ ekun+deut (-90%)
Rigueur scientifique et ouverture d'esprit furent les mots d'ordre de cette traduction (dite "TOB"), coordonnée par des catholiques, des orthodoxes et des protestants, sortie en 1988. L'équipe a manifesté les mêmes qualités en révisant le texte pour tenir compte de remarques faites au fil des années par de nombreux lecteurs. Oeuvre collective, ce travail ne prétend pas à l'originalité d'une traduction personnelle, mais les vérifications impitoyables auxquelles il a été soumis en font la nouveauté. Outre le texte et les notes, le volume comporte une introduction générale de la Bible et de chaque livre séparément, huit pages de cartes en couleurs, deux plans de Jérusalem aux temps bibliques, un tableau chronologique (12 pages) et un glossaire (20 pages). De l'esprit oecuménique témoignent, outre la traduction, l'ordre des livres et la présence des textes dits "apocryphes" ou "deutérocanoniques". L'Ancien Testament est traduit selon le texte hébreu fixé ne varietur par la tradition juive (les variantes importantes étant mises en notes), "comme une pierre d'attente" d'une future coopération judéo-chrétienne. --Colette-Rebecca Estin
Vypredané
1,05 €
10,46 €
dostupné aj ako:
1984
George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century, making famous Big Brother, newspeak and Room 101. 'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past' Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal. Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. All his novels and non-fiction, including Burmese Days (1934), Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) and Homage to Catalonia (1938) are published in Penguin Modern Classics. If you enjoyed Nineteen Eighty-Four, you might like Orwell's Animal Farm, also available in Penguin Great Orwell.
Vypredané
8,55 €
9,00 €
Man of Parts
The mind is a time machine that travels backwards in memory and forwards in prophecy, but he has done with prophecy now...' Sequestered in his blitz-battered Regent's Park house in 1944, the ailing Herbert George Wells, 'H.G.' to his family and friends, looks back on a life crowded with incident, books, and women. Has it been a success or a failure? Once he was the most famous writer in the world, 'the man who invented tomorrow'; now he feels like yesterday's man, deserted by readers and depressed by the collapse of his utopian dreams. He recalls his unpromising start, and early struggles to acquire an education and make a living as a teacher; his rapid rise to fame as a writer with a prophetic imagination and a comic common touch which brought him into contact with most of the important literary, intellectual, and political figures of his time; his plunge into socialist politics; and, his belief in free love, and energetic practice of it. Arguing with himself about his conduct, he relives his relationships with two wives and many mistresses, especially the brilliant student Amber Reeves and the gifted writer Rebecca West, both of whom bore him children, with dramatic and long-lasting consequences. Unfolding this astonishing story, David Lodge depicts a man as contradictory as he was talented: a socialist who enjoyed his affluence, an acclaimed novelist who turned against the literary novel; a feminist womaniser, sensual yet incurably romantic, irresistible and exasperating by turns, but always vitally human.
Vypredané
8,54 €
8,99 €
Mandalás téli kifestő -- Vízfestékkel színezhető
Kedves Gyerekek!A tél újra eljött, és ez alkalomból különlegeskifestőkönyvvel szeretnénk kedveskedni Nektek! A képeka tél nyújtotta örömöket elevenítik fel, a hangoshócsatákat, a szilaj szánkózásokat, a jókedvűhóemberépítést, a friss hóban hempergést. Télen jön elhozzánk Mikulás, ekkor van a nagy álmodozások,ajándékozások ideje, és a szeretet ünnepét, akarácsonyt is ekkor tartjuk. Minden életképethangulatfestő versike kísér, és mindenik mellé egy-egymandalát rendeltünk, amit kedvetekre kiszínezhettek,majd akár ki is vághattok, és fali tablótokraragaszthattok. Te mit szeretsz a legjobban ebben az évszakban? Keresd ki a könyv képei közül ezt a pillanatot, és aztszínezd ki elsőként! Ha nem találod, rajzold meg magad,és próbálj meg saját mandalát készíteni hozzá, jólmegfigyelve a könyv szereplőit. A mandalakészítéscsodás tevékenység, nagyon nagy figyelmet, kreatívgondolkodást és némi szépérzéket igényel.
Vypredané
0,48 €
0,50 €
The House of the Dead
'An absolutely fascinating book, rich in fact and anecdote.' - David Aaronovitch 'A splendid example of academic scholarship for a public audience. Yet even though he is an impressively calm and sober narrator, the injustices and atrocities pile up on every page.' - Dominic Sandbrook 'A superb, colourful history of Siberian exile under the tsars' - The Times It was known as 'the vast prison without a roof'. From the beginning of the nineteenth century to the Russian Revolution, the tsarist regime exiled more than one million prisoners and their families beyond the Ural Mountains to Siberia. Daniel Beer's new book, The House of the Dead, brings to life both the brutal realities of an inhuman system and the tragic and inspiring fates of those who endured it. This is the vividly told history of common criminals and political radicals, the victims of serfdom and village politics, the wives and children who followed husbands and fathers, and of fugitives and bounty-hunters. Siberia served two masters: colonisation and punishment. In theory, exiles would discover the virtues of self-reliance, abstinence and hard work and, in so doing, they would develop Siberia's natural riches and bind it more firmly to Russia. In reality, the autocracy banished an army not of hardy colonists but of half-starving, desperate vagabonds. The tsars also looked on Siberia as creating the ultimate political quarantine from the contagions of revolution. Generations of rebels - republicans, nationalists and socialists - were condemned to oblivion thousands of kilometres from European Russia. Over the nineteenth century, however, these political exiles transformed Siberia's mines, prisons and remote settlements into an enormous laboratory of revolution. This masterly work of original research taps a mass of almost unknown primary evidence held in Russian and Siberian archives to tell the epic story both of Russia's struggle to govern its monstrous penal colony and Siberia's ultimate, decisive impact on the political forces of the modern world.
Vypredané
36,58 €
38,50 €
Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani považovaný za posledného parížskeho bohéma je neustále terčom populárnej literatúry, noviel a románov. Ako umelec, škaldalózny Modigliani, získal svoju povesť vďaka obrazom žien s výraznými očami a dlhým labutím krkom. Vo svojom die
le preberá vzory z umenia Afriky, ale v portrétoch velikánov svojich čias P. Picassa, J. Cocteaua a D. Riveru vytvára zaujímavý jedinačnýn štýl.
V tejto štúdii sa autorka zameriava najmä na senzitívnosť Modiglianiho maľby a skulptúry.
Vypredané
8,50 €
8,95 €
Az én kis bukott angyalom
Lady Rebecca Marshallt az a megtiszteltetés éri, hogy udvarhölgynek nevezik ki a Buckingham-palotában. Az anyja el van ragadtatva, és azzal biztatja, hogy ennél nagyobb szerencse nem is érhette volna. A fiatal lány azonban egy számára idegen világba csöppen, és nehezen szokja meg az udvar ... Folytatás ›› légkörét, az intrikát, az irigységet. Hamarosan ő is belekeveredik a kalandokba, és önhibáján kívül egy nőcsábász hálójába esik.
Rupert St. John márkinál szebb férfit nemigen láttak még Londonban. Kivételes külseje Rebeccát még otthon, Norfordban elbűvölte, és magában Angyalnak nevezte a fiatal lordot, akinek még a nevét sem tudta. Annál nagyobb a meglepetése, amikor a palotában újra találkozik vele, méghozzá igen kínos körülmények között...
Rupert St. John kettős életet él, és titokban a királynő egyik kémjének dolgozik. A rosszul sikerült találkozás miatt teljesen félreérti Rebecca szerepét és szándékait. Azt hiszi, hogy egy haszonleső nővel van dolga, aki ráadásul a korona ellenségeinek kémkedik.
Ezek után miért házasodnak mégis össze? Miért döntenek úgy, hogy a külvilág előtt eljátsszák a boldog ifjú házasok szerepét? Vajon az átélt kalandok és megpróbáltatások összekovácsolják őket, és eloszlatják a félreértéseket?
A(z) Az én bukott angyalom (Könyv) szerzője Johanna Lindsey.
Vypredané
10,93 €
11,50 €
Mekk Elek, az ezermester DVD
Bejelentem nektek: Mekk Elek, neves, egyetemes ezermester e helyen telepedett meg. Remek eme Mekk mester, gyere erre, keresd fel! Eke, veke, eresz kell? Gyere, keresd fel, s teremt neked Mekk Mester! Egyet ellenben véssetek eszetekbe, gyerekek: ha e derék mestert felkeresitek, szerencséteket temethetitek. Mert ha lehetne, mesteretek reggel-este egy kereveten heverne s eszegetne ebben bezzeg Elek szerfelett leleményes. Kétségtelen, e kecske serénységben nem remekel: eszetlen reszel, kever, szegel! Kezében rettenetesen esetlen ecset, fejsze és gereblye. Lehet: lelkes, de remeke rendre ferde, gyenge és selejtes Kecskénknek egyetlen perc elég, s itt a vég! Létezhet-e mesterség, egyetlenegy, melyhez elég tehetséges? Erről szól e remek, szellemes, mese, ezrek és ezrek kedvence.
Vypredané
3,53 €
3,72 €
Leonardo Da Vinci
`Walter Isaacson is not an art historian, he's simply a lover of Leonardo, who manages to communicate the sheer joy of this remarkable man'
Books of the Year - The Times
`Walter Isaacson keeps the mortal man to the fore. For all his supernatural gifts as an artist and natural scientist. Leonardo was resolutely human (illegitimate, vegan, in need of patrons) rather than the near deity of legend. Isaacson is an assured guide to Leonardo's fallibility - so many projects started, so few completed - as well as his extraordinary curiosity and his even more remarkable painterly skills that were sharpened by intense observation.' Michael Prodger, Books of the Year - The Sunday Times
'Infinitely curious, easily distracted, vain and vegetarian, Leonardo is brought to vivid life in this accomplished biography.' - The SundayTimes.
'an illuminating guide to the output of one of the last millennium's greatest minds.' - The Observer
'Isaacson doesn't claim to make any fresh discoveries, but his book is intelligently organised, simply written and beautifully illustrated.' Book of the Day, The Guardian.
'Isaacson's scholarship is impressive-he cites not only primary sources but secondary materials by art critics, essayists, and da Vinci's other biographers. This is a monumental tribute to a titanic figure.' - Publisher's Weekly
"A powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life...a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it."-The New Yorker
"Vigorous, insightful."-The Washington Post
"A masterpiece."-San Francisco Chronicle
"Luminous."-The Daily Beast
'To read this magnificent biography of Leonardo da Vinci is to take a tour through the life and works of one of the most extraordinary human beings of all time in the company of the most engaging, informed, and insightful guide imaginable. Walter Isaacson is at once a true scholar and a spellbinding writer. And what a wealth of lessons there are to be learned in these pages.' David McCullough
The creator of Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World) officially sold at auction in New York in November 2017 for the record-breaking sum of GBP341 million.
He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us?
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.
He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius.
His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from having wide-ranging passions. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history's most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo's lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions.
Leonardo's delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it-to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.