Najnovšie - Encyklopédie populárno-náučné strana 90 z 152
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Estonia
With only 1.3 million inhabitants, Estonia is one of Europe’s least populous nations -- yet it boasts one of the continent’s fastest growing economies. In the first serious English-language history of this small Baltic state, Neil Taylor charts Estonia’s long, arduous journey to its present-day prosperity, through a thousand years of occupation by Danes, Swedes, Germans and Russians. In the wake of the First World War, out of the heat of a national awakening and the collapse of the Russian and German empires, Estonia was recognised as an independent nation in 1920. This was not to last -- the country was tossed between the Soviets and Nazis during the Second World War, then fully integrated into the USSR, bringing on more than half a century of renewed occupation and misery. But hopes of true independence never dimmed and, in 1991, the Republic of Estonia was restored. This unflinching history includes charming moments of colour and levity, from ambassadorial reports on nude bathing and a presidential press conference deliberately held beside a dirty toilet, to the story of a blind pianist, the first foreigner allowed to visit the city of Tartu in the Soviet era.
How British Intelligence Plotted to Read Hitler's Mind
In the darkest days of the Second World War, as Europe fell under Nazi domination and Britain faced invasion, Louis de Wohl, a 36-year-old refugee from Germany, made a curious offer to British Intelligence. Based on the widely held belief that Hitler’s every action was guided by his horoscope, de Wohl claimed he could reveal precisely what advice the Führer’s astrologers were giving him.Rather than dismissing de Wohl out of hand as a crank, senior intelligence officers and chiefs of staff of the three armed services took him at his word. De Wohl was made an army captain and quartered in the Grosvenor House Hotel, from where his one-man ‘Psychological Research Bureau’ passed astrological readings and assessments to the War Office, before his deployment to the United States by the highly secret Special Operations Executive on a propaganda mission.Was it possible that Military and Naval intelligence officers could take the ancient and arcane practice of astrology seriously? Was de Wohl genuine or merely a charlatan? Did his astrological readings contribute to the downfall of Hitler and Nazi Germany?In How British Intelligence Plotted to Read Hitler’s Mind, the first fulllength study of Louis de Wohl, James Parris examines the evidence – including material from MI5, Military and Naval Intelligence files at the National Archives – and reaches remarkable conclusions about this bizarre aspect of the Second World War.
A Ramble Through the History of Walking
‘This book confirms the splendid eccentricity of the British, which often involves oddly dressed men opting to walk long distances for no apparent reason.’ – BBC Countryfile Magazine‘Laws’ sprightly, often arch, account of Britain’s hiking heroes is a pleasure to read.’ – Walk Magazine''The great affair is to move: to come down off this feather-bed of civilisation, and find the globe granite underfoot,'' wrote Robert Louis Stevenson. This book celebrates the history of walking for leisure and pleasure.There’s no shortage of the famous, and the not-so-famous, exponents of a good, long walk: Dr Jonson and his faithful Boswell on their Hebridean jaunt; John Taylor, whose Penniless Pilgrimage – a record of his 1618 journey from London to Edinburgh – provided the first account of a walking tour; and Samuel Coleridge who conceived his epic tale of the Ancient Mariner on a ramble through Devon. Celebrating the history of walking for leisure and pleasure, Bill Laws tells the stories behind key walking inventions such as the rucksack, bloomers, youth hostels and the long-distance route.Fully illustrated throughout, A Ramble Through the History of Walking is sure to delight anyone interested in the engaging history of one of man’s favourite pastimes.
The Black Tax
Revealing a history that is deep, broad, and infuriating, The Black Tax casts a bold light on the racist practices long hidden in the shadows of America’s tax regimes. American taxation is unfair, and it is most unfair to the very people who critically need its support. Not only do taxpayers with fewer resources—less wealth, power, and land—pay more than the well-off, but they are forced to fight for their rights within an unjust system that undermines any attempts to improve their position or economic standing. In The Black Tax, Andrew W. Kahrl reveals the shocking history and ruinous consequences of inequitable and predatory tax laws in this country—above all, widespread and devastating racial dispossession. Throughout the twentieth century, African Americans acquired substantial amounts of property nationwide. But racist practices, obscure processes, and outright theft diminished their holdings and their power. Of these, Kahrl shows, few were more powerful, or more quietly destructive, than property taxes. He examines all the structural features and hidden traps within America’s tax system that have forced Black Americans to pay more for less and stripped them of their land and investments, and he reveals the staggering cost. The story of America’s now enormous concentration of wealth at the top—and the equally enormous absence of wealth among most Black households—has its roots here. Kahrl exposes the painful history of these practices, from Reconstruction up to the present, and tells, for the first time, the story of Black Americans’ experiences as taxpayers and their fight for a more fair and equitable system for raising and spending the public’s money. This is a history that deepens our understanding of the disadvantages and persistent inequalities that African American households continue to face and reveals hidden engines of economic inequality in America. Detailing the hows and whys of America’s profoundly unequal tax system, The Black Tax equips readers with the knowledge needed to combat inequality and injustice today.
Agents of Change
Years after her successful and impactful career at the CIA, Christina Hillsberg became enthralled with the stories of the trailblazing women who forged new paths within the Agency long before she began her career there in the aughts. These were women who sacrificed their personal lives, risked their safety, defied expectations, and boldly navigated the male-dominated spy organization. Through exclusive interviews with current and former female CIA officers, many of whom have never spoken publicly, Agents of Change tells an enthralling and, at times, disturbing story set against the backdrop of the evolving women''s movement. It was the 1960s, a ''secretarial'' era, when women first gained a foothold and pushed against the one-dimensional, pop-culture trope of the sexy Cold War Bond Girl. Underestimated but undaunted, they fought their way, decade-by-decade, through adversity to the top of the spy game. Seamlessly weaving together the individual stories of these exceptional women, Hillsberg deftly tackles not just the fight for gender equality at the CIA, but the current dilemma the Agency faces when dealing with the culmination of a decades-long culture of sexual harassment and assault. Each chapter sheds a light on women''s issues during that decade before bringing to life the stories of female CIA operations officers whose experiences were emblematic of that given era. In this fascinating and empowering chronicle, Hillsberg takes readers inside the Agency in a way that''s never been done before, paying long overdue tribute to the survivors and thrivers, the indispensable groundbreakers, and defiant rabble-rousers who made the choice to change their lives and in turn, changed history.
Written Treasures
For centuries, we have studied the works of Cicero, Lucretius and Horace. We draw inspiration from the knightly tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Our knowledge of the world builds on the writings of classical and medieval poets, philosophers, theologians and jurists. But without the diligent monks and copyists of the Middle Ages, these texts would not have been preserved. Today''s world is unthinkable without this transmission of written knowledge. Written Treasures introduces you to the fascinating world of medieval manuscripts. From the treasury of the Leiden University Library, 50 extraordinary manuscripts are selected: beautiful showpieces but also quickly notated works on second-rate parchment. Thirty-Eight experts highlight their content, appearance, design and their journey through generations of users and possessors to our times. With beautiful illustrations and accessible texts, this book is indispensable for history and book lovers. It is a celebration of cultural heritage and a tribute to the exceptional transmission of written knowledge through the ages.
American Civil War Amphibious Tactics
Reveals the tactics, technologies, and specially raised units at the heart of the Union’s conduct of combined operations in the American Civil War.During the Civil War, as well as confronting the Confederates on land, the Union forces mounted several ambitious amphibious operations, both on the coast and along the banks of the great rivers. In this book, renowned historian Ron Field explains how the growing effectiveness of the Union Navy, the willingness of the Union Army to countenance combined operations, and the efforts of officers such as Ambrose Burnside, David Farragut, and John Dahlgren, ensured that amphibious warfare played a key part in the defeat of the South.In May 1862, foreshadowed by the capture of Roanoke Island and New Bern in North Carolina and Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River, the Union forces’ use of combined operations to seize New Orleans dealt a major blow to the Confederacy. The potential of amphibious warfare was revealed by the Union efforts to capture Fort Fisher in North Carolina. While the initial attempt failed in December 1864, a renewed effort in January 1865 resulted in a Union victory. Fully illustrated, this study investigates the amphibious tactics and technologies adopted by the Union forces during the Civil War, and the units raised and equipped to conduct combined operations.
History in the House
A Spectator Best Book of the Year; An Aspects of History Best Book of the Year; An Engelsberg Ideas Best Book of the Year Five hundred years ago, Thomas Wolsey endowed in Oxford a foundation he called Cardinal‘s College. Henry VIII, the monarch who dismissed and ruined him, re-established it as Christ Church later in his reign as an institution rich, spacious and imposing beyond any other. It would help young men of Tudor England and beyond to study history, improve their minds, enlarge imaginations and broaden experience for the benefit of the realm – under the tutelage, of course, of some remarkable dons. Generations of students had their intellects and world perspectives shaped by Oxford. It was believed that the study of history – touching the ancient world at one end and modern politics at the other – interlaced with geography, economics, political science, law and modern languages, would demonstrate the reasons for the success or failure of states. The student would be taught – in Sir Isaiah Berlin‘s memorable phrase – to ‘spot the bunk!’ In this book, acclaimed historian Richard Davenport- Hines examines the intimate connections between British politics, statecraft and the Oxford University history course. He explores the temperaments, ideas, imagination, prejudices, intentions and influence of a select and self-regulated group of men who taught modern history at Christ Church: Frederick York Powell, Arthur Hassall, Keith Feiling, J. C. Masterman, Roy Harrod, Patrick Gordon Walker, Hugh Trevor-Roper and Robert Blake; by turns an unruly Victorian radical, a staunch legitimist of the Protestant settlement, a Tory, a Whig, a Keynesian, a socialist, a rationalist who enjoyed mischief and a student of realpolitik. These dons, with their challenging and sometimes contradictory opinions, explored with their pupils the wielding of power, the art of persuasion and the exercise of civil and political responsibility. Intelligent, strenuous and aware of the treachery and uncontrollability of things in the world, they studied the crimes, follies, misfortunes, incapacity, muddle and disloyalty of humankind in every generation. History in the House offers an unforgettable portrait of these men, their enduring influence and the significance of their arguments to public life today.
Jagdpanther vs 17-pdr Achilles
This is the story of the 17-pdr Achilles and the Jagdpanther, two formidable tracked anti-tank guns that clashed in North-West Europe during 1944–45. Both mounting their country’s most effective anti-tank ordnance on a tracked chassis, the 17-pdr Achilles and the Jagdpanther were arguably the best self-propelled anti-tank guns used by the British, Canadian and German forces that fought in North-West Europe during 1944–45. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and carefully chosen photographs, this is the story of the two types’ development, combat use and legacy in the closing stages of World War II in North-West Europe. Based upon the mobile, lightly armoured M10 design originally developed for the US Army, the Achilles had its main armament, the 17-pounder QF anti-tank gun, mounted in a fully revolving turret. Conversely, the low-profile, heavily armoured Jagdpanther had its formidable 8.8cm PaK 43 cannon mounted in a fixed casemate. Both crewed by artillerymen rather than tankers, the Achilles and the Jagdpanther were anti-tank guns, not tanks or assault guns; their main purpose was to knock out enemy tanks, not to engage infantry or lead an assault or pursuit. Sometimes they faced each other, notably in the Reichswald fighting of February 1945. Fully illustrated, this work tells the story of their development and tactical use as well as what happened when these two very different designs met in combat.
Central European Wars 1918–21
Depicts the forces involved in uprisings and border conflicts after the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I had included peoples of German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Serbian, Bosnian and other origins, whose ambitions for independent nationhood were complicated by mutual religious and ethnic hostilities. In this fully illustrated study, Philip Jowett examines the organization and appearance of the forces involved in the internal risings, border disputes and full-scale wars that followed the break-up of the Empire, as the composition and frontiers of new national states emerged from the immediate chaos. Principally, Poland restored and defended the nationhood it had lost in the 18th century, while the new republic of Czechoslovakia was established after hostilities against both the Poles and Hungarian communists. Austria became a republic, and its paramilitary Freikorps fought Slovenians in Carinthia and various Serbo-Croat forces. The Hungarian republic defeated a Hungarian Soviet Republic led by Bela Kun, and suffered temporary Romanian occupation of territory including Budapest, while Hungarian nationalists fought Austrian gendarmes. The colourful and diverse armies of these nascent countries are described and illustrated in this lively account of their foundational years.
Controlling Women
A compelling history of the women who started their own police force in 1914--as war, social upheaval and gender injustice gripped the UK.Violence against women is out of control. Conviction rates for rape are so low that most survivors think it pointless to report, or later regret doing so. Ruthless trafficking gangs run the sex trade. Women have no confidence in the Metropolitan Police. The year is 1914.As the First World War began, a group of British campaigners founded the Women Police Volunteers, hoping to protect the vulnerable both from crime and from patriarchal policing and justice. The movement''s pioneers included a militant suffragette who''d spent time behind bars, a moral purity activist, a blue-blooded radical, and a court reporter born in the workhouse to a single mother. Sandra Hempel follows their astonishing journey, through all of its troubling turns.Controlling Women is a vivid snapshot of rapid national change, and a rich tapestry of ethics and emotions among its fascinating characters. Reconciling political ideals with institutional compromise, these bold, complex women made history, despite establishment opposition and destructive infighting. They show us just how far we have to go in the fight for women''s justice.
Normandy 1944
Packed with illustrations, this is the first book to focus on the ''Transportation Plan'', the air campaign to isolate the D-Day beaches from German reinforcements.As the invasion of Europe grew closer, thought was given to how to use the Allies'' substantial forces of heavy bombers in preparation. After much controversy, the plan eventually adopted was the ‘Transportation Plan’, in which the railway and road networks of France (and hence the German logistical chain) were targeted in order to slow German reinforcements to the Normandy beachhead both before and during the Allied invasion.In this book, aviation researcher Julian Hale draws on new archive research to explain how this crucial, dangerous and often spectacular campaign was fought. Running from April to July 1944, it would eventually involve heavy and medium bombers of both the RAF and USAAF, with a starring role for the fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force. Early attacks by strategic bombers on the French rail nodes were only partially successful at best. In mid-May, the decision was taken to attack bridges and road and rail traffic intensively using fighter-bombers, mainly drawn from the US Ninth. Illustrated with carefully chosen photos, spectacular battlescene artwork and explanatory maps and 3D diagrams, this is the story of how Allied airpower paved the way for D-Day.
Cynoscephalae 197 BC
A fascinating, illustrated study of how the Roman Republican legions defeated the Macedonian army''s much-vaunted phalanxes.The battle of Cynoscephalae represents a key moment in the history of the Greco-Roman world. In this one battle the Macedonian hold over mainland Greece was broken, with the Roman Republic rising in its place as the pre-eminent power in the Greek East. At Cynoscephalae, the proud Macedonian kingdom of Antigonid monarch Philip V was humbled, its army shattered. Yet the battle, and campaign leading up to it, was hard fought and protracted. Philip V had defied Rome and its allies in the First Macedonian War and was poised to do so again, with the pike phalanx continuing to be a daunting opponent for the Roman legionaries. Here, classical archaeologist Dr Mark van der Enden, drawing on primary sources and recent scholarship, explores the battle not as an isolated event but as the culmination of three years of intensive campaigning; the battle of the Aous gorge (198 BC) is also considered. The opposing armies, their weaponry, organization, tactics and commanders, are covered in detail and revealed in battlescene artworks and photos of material culture. Maps and diagrams explore the movements to battle and command decisions taken. Also examined is the performance of the Roman manipular legion over the Antigonid pike phalanx and whether Flamininus’ victory truly demonstrated the superiority of Roman arms.
Guardianas
Out of necessity, women in El Salvador began attending births during the twelve-year-long civil war, when pregnant people in rural areas and guerrilla camps could not access medical care. From their mothers and older midwives, these women learned parteria - traditional midwifery that was once the norm in El Salvador and has since been prohibited. After the official end to the war, the parteras became central fixtures in the ''repopulation'' of their country, building new communities, often without electricity or running water or hospitals. In 1994, out of this organizing, the Association of Parteras Rosa Andrade (APRA) was born. Today, the founding members of APRA, along with a younger generation training with them, continue to fight for the reproductive rights of thousands of people living in the municipalities of Suchitoto, Cuscatlan. Three decades since the war, APRA''s work is increasingly criminalized by a government that has made homebirth illegal, synonymized miscarriage and homicide, and banned midwives from assisting in hospitals. Collected in 2019 by Salvadoran American birth worker Noemi Delgado, Guardianas weaves together testimonies from twenty members of APRA to tell a collective story of: the experiences of midwives, mothers, guerrilla fighters and ''gente de masa'' during the armed conflict that took approximately 75,000 lives; the role of the midwife during the period of repopulation after the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords, when thousands of displaced Salvadorans were finally allowed back into their homeland; the brutal obstetric violence that people giving birth in hospitals routinely face, and how this mistreatment compares to care provided by a midwife; the extreme repression Salvadoran midwives have faced since 2011, when the health ministry prohibited home births; the ancestral nature of parteria, an earth-based art practice that is passed down between generations, and derives from an extensive body of knowledge about safe and empowering births. This anthology is both a safeguarding of the caretaking traditions of parterea as well as a broader invitation to consider the role of birth work in organizing against war, imperialism, and corporate power. Here, the beauty of the testimonies - and the care with which they were compiled - ultimately come together to upend our ideas of what a medical ethnography can be and what an oral history can do.
This Land of Promise
‘Important, comprehensive, and superbly researched. All the more urgent at the present time’ BART VAN ES''A terrific, clear-eyed and balanced history that cuts through today’s toxic debates'' DAILY TELEGRAPHHow have those who arrived on Britain’s shores shaped its histor? efugees seeking to reach Britain today often face perilous journeys, impossible bureaucracy and acidic public opinion. But this hasn’t always been the way. For most of our history, Great Britain cherished its outward image as a safe haven for those displaced by religious persecution, political violence or economic crisis – an island of stability in the midst of a violent world.In This Land of Promise, migration scholar Matthew Lockwood overturns many popular modern-day misconceptions about Britain’s history of immigration. Exiles and refugees have been not only a constant presence in Britain across the centuries but also intrinsic to shaping Britain as it is today. This is a profoundly moving and illuminating history, told through the people who lived it: Frederick Douglass and the formerly enslaved men who followed in his footsteps, fleeing America on the hopes of kinder cultures. Little girls like Liesl Ornstein, who discovered they were Jewish only when Hitler took Austria, who were sent to England and told to call themselves ‘Elizabeth’. Sun Yat-sen, who found sanctuary in London – a brief abduction aside – before becoming the father of modern China. Freddie Mercury, who at every turn tried to shake Zanzibar from his bones.Almost every time, we see when we look back, Britain has not been an island refuge from the world, but an island refuge for the world. Not a country burdened by refugees, but instead transformed and strengthened by them.
Rio de Janeiro
What do nineteenth-century fiction, early twentieth-century popular music, 1930s soccer, 1950s film comedy, 1960s experimental art and 1970s soap operas have in common with one another? Each reveal the deep patterns structuring social and cultural life in Rio de Janeiro. Bringing a fresh perspective to one of the most visited cities in South America, Bryan McCann explores each manifestation in turn, mining their depths and drawing connections between artistic movements and political and economic transitions. The book explores the centrality of slavery to every aspect of life in nineteenth century Rio and its long legacy through to the current day, illuminating both the city''s grinding inequality and violence, as well as its triumphant cultural expressions. Rio de Janeiro is a unique and fascinating city, and through ten pivotal moments, McCann reveals its boundless creativity and contradictions, and shows how it has been continually remade by newcomers, strivers, and tricksters.
The Red Brigades
''A compelling and sobering read'' JOHN DICKIE, author of Mafia Republic''Deeply researched and powerfully written'' ROSS KING, author of Brunelleschi''s DomeThe explosive story of the terrorist group who brought Italy to a standstill in the 1970s.In March 1978, the Red Brigades kidnapped former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, murdering his bodyguards. For nearly two months, they held him hostage while a shocked world looked on, before eventually killing him and dumping his body in the middle of Rome.But who were this terrorist group? What did they want? And how did they continue to operate for almost twenty years, terrifying a nation from 1970 to 1988? In John Foot’s remarkable new book, we learn how they became the most formidable left-wing terrorist organisation in post-war Western Europe. Drawing their support from the student protest movements of the 1960s, activists and workers radicalised by the ‘hot autumn’ of 1969, the Red Brigades were inspired by terrorist groups from across the world, especially in Latin America. They recognised no rules and authority other than their own, and launched a campaign of murder, kidnap, kneecapping and intimidation that paralysed Italy’s justice system and reshaped the political landscape. For a time, they were admired as freedom fighters by the Italian left and commemorated as martyrs.Through meticulous research, Foot uncovers the true story behind the myths that have grown around the Red Brigades, highlighting the human costs of their actions, as well as their impact on Italian society. He explains how the contradictions inherent in their actions eventually led to their downfall in a series of high-profile mass trials. The Red Brigades sheds new light on the shadowy world of the brigatisti, and highlights their legacy of conspiracy, distrust and bitterness that still lingers in Italy to this day.
The CEO
The CEOs of Britain''s largest companies wield immense power, but we know very little about them. How did they get to the top? Why do they have so much power? Are they really worth that exorbitant salary? Michael Aldous and John Turner provide the answers by telling the story of the British CEO over the past century. From gentleman amateurs to professional managers, entrepreneurs, frauds, and fat cats, they reveal the characters who have made it to the top of the corporate ladder, how they got there, and what their rise tells us about British society. They show how the quality of their leadership influences productivity, innovation, economic development and, ultimately, Britain''s place in the world. More recently, issues have arisen regarding high CEO pay, poor performance, and a lack of professionalisation and diversity. Are there lessons from history for those who would seek to reform Britain''s flagging corporate economy?
Stone Lands
''Superb'' Telegraph''There''s a real sense of peace and magic in this beautiful book'' Daisy Buchanan''Utterly endearing'' Dr James Canton''A fantastic book for weird walkers and megalith-obsessives alike'' Weird Walk ''I was alternately gripped and moved to tears by this brilliant, exquisite memoir. . . I can''t recommend it enough'' Harriet EvansJourneying across Britain, from West Penwith and Avebury to the Lake District and Orkney, Stone Lands uncovers the magic and rich history of our incredible prehistoric standing stones. It conveys the delight that lies in tracking them down, as well as the solace these ancient places offer in times of darkness.A few months after discovering that her beloved husband, Stephen, had incurable cancer, Fiona Robertson began to write this book. A long-time megalith enthusiast, she found the ancient stones resonated with her more profoundly than ever as she faced the prospect of losing him. Set upright thousands of years ago, the megaliths are symbols of endurance and survival, standing in contrast to our ephemeral human lives. Infused with folklore, legend and mystery, they enchant the landscape and bring magic to our modern world. This enthralling memoir is woven delicately around great grief but is ultimately about embracing life, joy and ancient wonder - a luminous reminder of what it means to exist on this earth.Stone Lands is beautifully illustrated inside with stunning black and white line drawings by the illustrator and printmaker Philip Harris. Find out more about his work: www.philipharrisillustration.com''A reminder that the ancient stones can be sources of reassurance and solidity, even in our times of greatest upheaval and loss'' Angeline Morrison''A very, very good read ... this is one to treasure'' Blackwell''sStone Lands is ''assiduously researched, full of anecdotes and makes you look anew at these enduring landmarks'' Country Life
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.
