Najnovšie - Encyklopédie populárno-náučné strana 13 z 36
História 
Príroda 
Vesmír, veda a technika 
Ľudské telo, človek 
Encyklopédie - ostatné
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The Struggle for Taiwan
'A rigorously researched and gripping account... a beautifully written book' Financial Times 'Deeply researched and fascinating' GuardianA gripping account of the past and future of Taiwan In the overwhelming chaos across Asia at the end of the Second World War, one relatively minor issue was the future of the Japanese colony of Taiwan, a large island some one hundred miles off the coast of Fujian. Handed to the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China, in 1949 it suddenly became the focus of global attention as a random cross-section of defeated Nationalists, including President Chiang Kai-shek, fled there from Mao's triumphant Communist forces. The Struggle for Taiwan is a balanced and convincing account of the sequence of events that has left Taiwan for generations as a political anomaly, with issues around its status and future continuing to threaten war. With deepening democratization, Taiwan further goads Beijing, remaining functionally independent from China even as Xi Jinping clamours for unification. This invaluable book allows readers to understand the complex story of this unique place and its role in international relations. With its striking economic dynamism and commitment to democracy, can Taiwan continue - as Hong Kong once did - to thrive, or will China conquer it? And will the world be able to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait or will it stumble into war?
The Man Who Stopped the Sultan
An extraordinary account of how one man defied the most powerful ruler of his age and in doing so changed the course of European history. Throughout the 16th century, wars raged across Europe as kings and republics jostled for wealth and power. Yet one man exceeded all these medieval princes of Christendom: Suleiman the Magnificent. As ruler of the Ottoman Empire, he governed 25 million people from Constantinople, his realm stretching from Persia to the Atlantic Ocean. Turning his gaze to Europe, Suleiman attacked Rhodes, the island fortress of the Knights Hospitaller but was opposed by Gabriele Tadino – an Italian who had risen through the ranks thanks to his genius as a military engineer. This is a fascinating history of crusading knights and gunpowder, of spies and tunnels, and of a crossroads in history when the medieval age gave way to the Renaissance. Delving deep into Italian source material, Edoardo Albert weaves together the story of an ordinary man alive in an extraordinary time and performing extraordinary feats of military genius. Through the lens of his life we discover how military tactics and fortifications rapidly changed thanks to the discovery of gunpowder, and how Europe, divided by power-hungry rulers and religion, almost fell to one of the greatest rulers the world has ever seen, but was prevented by a humble engineer.
Violence and Occupation
This groundbreaking history traces the Red Army's advances across central Europe and the Balkans in 1944–1945. It focuses on the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts that occupied Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria. Utilizing material from archives across Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia, alongside diaries, memoirs, and interviews, Vojin Majstorovic examines the official policies and troops' behavior in each country and analyzes military violations, from deserting and looting to widespread sexual violence. His findings show that the Red Army was an ill-disciplined force, but that military personnel committed fewer crimes against civilians in 'neutral Bulgaria' and 'friendly' Yugoslavia than in 'enemy' Romania, Hungary, and Austria. To explain the variation in troops' conduct, he stresses the interaction of several continuously evolving factors: Kremlin's policies, the severity of the fighting, the command's policies toward criminals, the official propaganda, and troops' martial masculinity, identity, and views of the local populations.
Drones
The second edition of Drones: What Everyone Needs to Know® provides a comprehensive and updated look at the rapidly evolving world of drones, otherwise known as unmanned or uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Covering the past, present, and future of military and civilian applications, this book explores how drones have transformed--and are transforming--industries and warfare. It delves into the ethical, legal, and safety concerns raised by their widespread use, examining issues from privacy violations to international security.While the US has historically been a dominant force in drone development, this fully updated volume addresses the global proliferation of drones. They quickly became one of the most effective weapons in the Russia-Ukraine War, and states like China, Iran, and Turkey are now supplying drones to states and violent non-state actors around the world. This book discusses the dramatic rise of commercial drones, from deliveries to emergency response, while analyzing the challenges of regulation and public perception. Drones also expands beyond the air to cover ground and maritime drones, and projects the future of drone technology across multiple domains with a focus on autonomous vehicles and lethal autonomous weapons. A must-read for anyone seeking a well-rounded understanding of this pivotal technology, Drones: What Everyone Needs to Know® provides crucial insights into how UAVs are reshaping modern warfare, domestic security, and civilian life.
Soviet Tanks at Stalingrad 1942–43
Examines and analyses how the Soviet tank forces that fought at Stalingrad were rejuvenated in the months leading up to the battle, and the role they played in this iconic campaign. The Stalingrad campaign was a major turning point of World War II. The German Sixth Army’s 22 divisions and 250,000 troops were encircled and destroyed, while the Soviet 62nd Army’s desperate defense of the city and the suffering of the starving German troops receives much justifiable attention. Here, Soviet armor expert William E. Hiestand draws attention to the less-covered element of the battle: the reborn Soviet tank and mechanized corps that delivered the death blow to Hitler’s hopes. He explains how in summer 1942, the Soviet tank forces were failing to reach their potential; despite being equipped with superb T-34 and heavily armored KV-1 tanks, the Red Army’s newly formed tank corps were unable to integrate their armored thrusts with supporting infantry and artillery, and their disjoined attacks were repeatedly shattered. By November 19, however, Soviet organization, command and control, training, and tactics had matured, allowing the Fifth Tank Army to launch the decisive penetration through the Romanian Third Army. Packed with rare archive photos and superb profiles of the tanks involved, this book shows that it was at Stalingrad that the Red Army’s armored spearhead evolved into a force that could dominate the Eastern Front.
The Next World War: The new age of global conflict and the fight to stop it
'Incredibly well sourced . . . One of the most plugged-in voices in modern warfare'TELEGRAPH'Truly excellent . . . a gripping tour de force. Every politician and military expert needs to read this book'IAIN DALE'Vivid reporting'Economist'Reads like a real-life geopolitical thriller . . . The fact it doesn't feel like scaremongering says a lot about the state of the world'JONN ELLEDGE______________The Next World War takes readers behind the scenes of the most dangerous era of international tensions since the end of the Cold War, as countries and military forces prepare for potential large-scale combat on a scale unseen since 1945. From the corridors of power in Washington, Whitehall, Moscow and Beijing to the new frontlines of conflict in Ukraine, Taiwan, cyberspace and even the far side of the moon, Peter Apps unflinchingly explores the fault lines where global peace is already starting to unravel. Featuring the voices of the commanders, diplomats and technologists already shaping history, as well as the nervous conscripts and ordinary people directly caught up in events, The Next World War examines the real-world effects of this new era of global confrontation. For some - including millions of citizens told to stockpile food and water and prepare for potential mass disruption - it still may not feel entirely real. But for Russia, China and their growing 'axis of upheaval', today's conflicts represent a growing opportunity to reshape the world as they would like it - leading to potential disaster for the West if it cannot heed the warnings in time. From the return of Cold War-style atomic threats to new forms of sabotage and 'hybrid warfare', the battle for global dominance is already firmly underway. The Next World War is the book you need to understand the growing precariousness of our current situation - and the unending battle to stop it escalating past the point of no return. MORE PRAISE FOR THE NEXT WORLD WAR:'Gripping and important . . . A warning order for the future'GENERAL SIR TIM RADFORD KCB DSO OBE'Sweeping and compelling, with plenty of human stories that really pull you in. A must-read book from the expert I go to when I really want to get a sense of where things might be going'ANNA-JOY RICKARD
Past Lives, Forgotten Stories
In this richly woven tapestry of family, social, and local history, the lives of ordinary people unfold in extraordinary ways.The Jaques brothers were part of the infamous Long Company—a criminal gang that brought fear to the streets of Prescot in the mid-nineteenth century. A silk winder rose to fame as a blackfaced performer on the variety theatre circuit across northern England. In a bold leap of faith, a pawnbroker from Bolton emigrated to Canada with his family in the 1870s, going on to build a new life as a successful prairie farmer. And in a true rags-to-riches story, the illegitimate son of impoverished weavers in Victorian England rose through the ranks to manage a thriving cotton-spinning mill in Bolton.These compelling stories—drawn from the author’s own ancestors—reveal how individuals shaped and were shaped by the communities around them. From watchmakers and millers to miners and a possible link to landed gentry, this book explores the shifting landscapes of industrial Britain through deeply personal lenses.Meticulously researched and richly documented with archival material and contemporary press reports, it offers fresh insight into the lives that formed the backbone of a changing society.
George Templeton Strong: Civil War Diaries (LOA #396)
Based on the original manuscripts, this new annotated edition vividly captures the impact of the nation''s worst conflict on the Northern home front. George Templeton Strong (1820-1875) was perhaps the most trenchant civilian observer of the experience of the Civil War in the North. His diary, alternating between despair and exultation and punctuated by crises and explosive episodes, unfolds like a brilliant historical novel. Strong was particularly attuned to the shifting moods in the North, to what he called ''the great mass of selfishness, frivolity, invincible prejudice and indifference to national life'' that hampered the Union war effort. His eyewitness accounts - whether of the 1863 Draft Riots, field hospitals teeming with wounded men, or his meetings with leaders such as Grant and Lincoln - are remarkably vivid and suffused with novelistic detail. And while Strong''s reflections on the war and the political situation are valuable because they often reflect ''the pulse of public opinion'' in the North, as the historian James M. McPherson writes, they also reveal the singular intelligence of an extraordinary writer whose views - above all toward President Lincoln - evolved over the course of the war. Carefully selected and rigorously faithful to Strong''s handwritten diaries, this Library of America edition presents an entirely new transcription of Strong''s text, superseding the only previous version, published in 1952 and now long out of print.
Traitor
The story of John Dunn Hunter's remarkable life, tragic betrayal, and disgraceful murder. John Dunn Hunter was many things: a frontier hero, a writer, a celebrity at home and abroad, and, ultimately, the victim of a deadly conspiracy. Born to white parents in 1800, he was captured as a young child by the Kickapoo and later raised by the Kansa and then the Osage. As a young man, he left his Osage family and crossed the Mississippi into the United States, where he became an ardent and persuasive voice in favor of Indigenous sovereignty in the face of western expansion and the removal of native populations. In this gripping biography, Andy Doolen chronicles Hunter's compelling life and disgraceful murder. Often referred to as the "white Indian," Hunter published a gripping account of his life story and held court with esteemed figures of his day, from Presidents Jefferson and Madison to the Duke of Sussex and visionary reformer Robert Owen. But advocating for the rights of Indigenous people and nations painted a target on his back. Officials in the War Department accused him of being an imposter and the author of a hoax, but Hunter never had the chance to defend himself. He was in Texas at the time, one of the leaders in a pan-Indian movement for sovereignty, when he was assassinated in the infamous Fredonian Rebellion. Although Hunter could not have known it at the time, he was at the vanguard of a movement for an inclusive vision of democracy that embraced Indigenous rights and humanity rather than excluding and denying them. Hunter's story is a stark reminder of the work that still must be done to fulfill the promises of the American experiment.
Abolitionists and the Politics of Correspondence
Argues that letter writing enabled a disparate and politically marginal assortment of abolitionists to take shape as a mass movementAbolitionists and the Politics of Correspondence examines how opponents of slavery harnessed the power of letter writing to further their political aims, arguing that this practice enabled a disparate and politically marginal assortment of people to take shape as a coherent and powerful movement. Mary T. Freeman fuses a political and social study of abolitionists with a focus on letter writing and epistolary culture. Through the analysis of correspondence, Freeman portrays abolitionism as a mass movement, made up of participants from a wide range of backgrounds, and she emphasizes the diversity of the movement's geography, membership, and political activities. The book highlights everyday Americans' involvement in abolition, shifting focus away from the affluent and publicly prominent white leadership. It pays particular attention to those who used letters to intervene in politics when other avenues were closed to them, especially women and Black Americans. Freeman expands scholarly understandings of abolitionism by showing how letters enabled activists to transmit information and ideas across long distances in a relatively secure format and how they connected people who otherwise would remain strangers. Correspondence also provided a means of political expression to people on the political fringes and disfranchised persons. Even antislavery leaders and those whose social positions were seemingly secure often used the semi-private medium of correspondence strategically. Letter writers could hone their ideas beyond the purview of public audiences, or, when private letters became public, cultural norms granted their contents a stamp of authenticity and directness. Abolitionists and the Politics of Correspondence concerns not just what people wrote about but also how they wrote about it: how they manipulated, exploited, and subverted cultural conventions to make political statements and claims.
Pantheon - The Romans
Enter through the Gates of Ancient Rome to meet the Roman Pantheon! Explore the deities, the beliefs, and the sacred landscape that birthed not just a city but also an empire. Ancient Rome was known as the 'City of a Thousand Gods'?and was believed to be destined for greatness through the patronage and presence of those gods. Pantheon: The Roman? sks: Who were the deities and heroes that motivated and inspired the Roman people? What was the mythology that defined the Roman sense of belonging and identity? What was the religion that gave Roman life its structure and purpose? And how were the everyday lives of Romans moulded by religious beliefs, practices, and rites of passage?
The Filthiest Village in Europe
The Filthiest Village in Europe traces how a community shrouded by "industrial fog," at the brink of gaping coal pits, became a symbol that galvanized grassroots ecology – campaigns by diverse local actors that exposed environmental and economic crises East Germany's political system could not resolve. Notoriously known by the late 1980s as "the filthiest village in Europe," Mölbis suffocated downwind from the massively polluting carbochemical Espenhain plant. Applying a myriad of private collections, interviews, and untapped archival sources, Andrew Demshuk reveals how pastors, parents, officials, inspectors, workers, and spies negotiated ossified party structures whose inability to reform was showcased by ever-worsening environmental conditions. After peaceful protests a few kilometers north in Leipzig triggered a revolution, pre-1989 grassroots players launched innovative reconstruction programs with financial and organizational expertise from West Germans. Together, they transformed Europe's filthiest village into a healthy place to live and imbued it with new symbolism, turning it into a sign of hope. The political will and social engagement that saved Mölbis and rejuvenated the surrounding wasteland can inform how to revitalize other postindustrial "filthy places" in our world today.
Saint Petersburg
‘Richly-layered and packed with insight, this riveting account of terrible events tells us as much about the present as it does the past’ Patrick Bishop, author of Paris '44From Peter the Great to Putin, a biography of the city Hitler tried - and failed - to wipe off the mapThe siege of Saint Petersburg – then known as Leningrad – stands as a testament to human endurance. Intended by the Nazis as civilian extermination, the numbers who perished in this 900-day ordeal almost outweighed the entire total of British and American troop deaths in the Second World War. The city’s 2.5 million residents began to starve as rations shrank and dwindled. As temperatures plunged to minus 43°C, electricity faltered, and fuel ran out. Yet, amid this suffering, the resilience of culture and hope shone through, with orchestras and theatres defiantly continuing their performances, a flicker of humanity against the backdrop of despair. In Saint Petersburg, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay book chronicles the horrors of the siege through immersive prose and gripping first-hand accounts. He also traces the pivotal importance of Saint Petersburg across the centuries, from Peter the Great’s visionary founding of the city to the way it has shaped its most infamous son, Vladimir Putin. From its darkest moments to its enduring spirit, Saint Petersburg explore the layers of history that have shaped this extraordinary place. 'McKay is a gifted writer; his prose has the cadence, tone and power of a Shostakovich symphony. Horror is majestically conveyed’ Gerard DeGroot, The Times
Soldier of the South
Military biography of Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson, whose career led him from West Point to Mexico, Charleston to Appomattox Soldier of the South is the first comprehensive examination of Anderson's life, providing a view of an officer's experiences on the frontier, in Mexico, and during the American Civil War. Anderson led Confederate soldiers first in Florida, then from the Peninsula Campaign to Sailor's Creek, where his patchwork corps disintegrated. Edward J. Hagerty considers both the strategic details of Anderson's failures and successes on the battlefield and his personal struggles off it. One of Robert E. Lee's corps commanders, Anderson was the most senior ranking soldier from South Carolina, yet he fell into relative obscurity after the war. Hagerty examines the causes for Anderson's postwar decline and makes the case for his continued significance.
A Shellshocked Nation
After the calamity of the Great War, there was a desire in Britain for escapist fun - the lights of the Jazz Age, radio comedies and the pictures were a welcome respite from the grim reality of the Great Depression. Yet the storm clouds were gathering, and Britain between the wars was a turbulent, restless place - and where the foundations of the modern nation were laid.Combining cultural, social and political history, A Shellshocked Nation is the next instalment in Alwyn Turner''s highly original history of the twentieth century, sketching a portrait of the interwar nation through its entertainments and scandals, its people and political crises. From the General Strike to the BBC, Irish Home Rule and the rise of fascism, this is the definitive story of Britain''s most anxious era.
The Secret Life of the Hotel
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in hotels? Hotels represent nations, hosting visiting monarchs, politicians, and diplomats. Hotels underpin global networks of travel and communication, on which national and international prosperity have increasingly depended since the end of the First World War. Yet hotels are also places where people can be anonymous; where murderers and thieves mix with adulterers and con artists; and where prejudice finds expression in who is refused access, and in the forms of ‘service’ provided by staff in the lowest-paid roles. The Secret Life of the Hotel: Sex, Crime and Protest in British Guesthouses Since 1918 is the first book to uncover how hotels entrenched inequality, prejudice, and exploitation in Britain’s tourist sector, and in wider society and culture, during the 20th century. Eloise Moss delves into hotel murders, swindles, and scandals, including the history of Agatha Christie’s disappearance in 1926, the ‘Margate Hotel Murder’, and the divorce of Wallis Simpson in 1936 so she could marry King Edward VIII. Moss’s exploration of the hotel also shines a light on the fight against the colour bar, the formation of the British civil rights movement, and the visit to London of Martin Luther King Jr. The Secret Life of the Hotel uniquely tells the story of Britain’s relationship with the world during the 20th century through the prism of its hotels, showing how their infrastructure and ‘welcome’ had profound consequences for women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ citizens, and people with disabilities.
Science, Religion, and the Human Future
Science, Religion, and the Human Future: Conflict, Collusion, and Consequences demonstrates that the myth of an inevitable conflict between science and faith is based on a misunderstanding of history, with potentially adverse consequences for human futures. The work focuses first upon ancient, medieval and Islamic scholars and the intimate connections they made between theology and the investigation of the natural world-and why we know so little about them. Moving into the modern era, it argues that one of the most concerning features of the science-faith relationship was their collusion in defining and validating the 'civilising mission' of Western imperialism. This collusion recontextualises the creation of the conflict thesis. Turning to the present day, the book investigates episodes of scientific controversy in which effective science communication was hindered not as a result of a clash between science and faith but because of a close and unexamined entanglement between the two. In cases ranging from space colonisation to AI, climate change to Covid-19, the problem is not so much science's split from faith as the unexamined and problematic theologies that remain implicit within it. Learning from these examples, the book outlines some productive and non-conflict-based frameworks for talking about science and faith in the future.
Axis of Empire
Ironic plot twists and colorful characters abound in Afshin Matin-Asgari's accessible history of relations between the United States and Iran. The missionaries and educators who descended on Iran in the early nineteenth century made way for the next century's oilmen, CIA agents, scholars, and arms dealers in the assertion of US imperial priorities. Whether Iran resisted or succumbed to US interests, it couldn't fail to be shaped by the superpower. Matin-Asgari offers fresh takes on familiar topics: America's rise as a Middle East hegemon during the Cold War; the special relationship between Washington and the shah; the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis; the Iran-Iraq war; the Islamic Republic's peculiar anti-imperialism; the decades of onerous American sanctions; Israel's intervention in Iran-US relations; the ascendance of Trump; and the 2025 attempt by the United States and Israel to bring regime change to Tehran. A labyrinthine tale of American imperial misadventures, Axis of Empire incorporates and challenges scholarly narratives while offering a sophisticated yet highly readable account of Iran-US history.
Rewriting the History of the Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx has guarded the Giza Plateau in Egypt for many thousands of years. Despite there being relatively little direct evidence, it is generally assumed that this iconic monument is some 4500 years old, built at the same time as Giza’s great pyramids. This book challenges the established history of the Giza Necropolis to present the only comprehensive, evidence-led account of the history and ritual meaning of the Great Sphinx. After re-examining the archaeological evidence and then considering the important role of geology, the book concludes that the Great Sphinx and a number of related monuments, were built at Giza in the earliest stages of the Pharaonic Era – in the period before Egypt’s first pyramids were built. Perhaps more surprisingly, evidence emerges that the Great Sphinx may not have been the first monument built at Giza, with indications of ritual activity at this important site, which pre-dates Egypt’s first pharaohs. By answering these uncertainties regarding the age of the Great Sphinx, a new picture unfolds of what the concept of the human-headed lion meant to the people that originally built it.
V kategórii populárno - náučné encyklopédie nájdete široký výber kníh, ktoré vám poskytnú poznatky z rôznych oblastí zaujímavým a zrozumiteľným spôsobom. Encyklopédie vám pomôžu získať komplexný prehľad o rôznych témach, ako ľudské telo a človek, príroda, vesmír, veda a technika a história.
Naša ponuka encyklopédií populárno-náučného charakteru vám umožní objaviť fascinujúci svet poznania a rozšíriť svoje vedomosti o rôznych témach.
