Penguin Books strana 60 z 485

North, south, east and west: almost all societies use the four cardinal directions to orientate themselves, to understand who they are by projecting where they are. For millennia, these four directions have been foundational to our travel, navigation and exploration and are central to the imaginative, moral and political geography of virtually every culture in the world. Yet they are far more subjective and various – sometimes contradictory – than we might realize. The Four Points of the Compass takes the reader on a journey of directional discovery. Jerry Brotton reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why the early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five colour-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever orientated themselves westwards. He ends by reflecting on our digital age in which we, the little blue dot on the screen, have become the most important compass point. Throughout, Brotton shows that the directions reflect a human desire to create order and that they only have meaning, literally and metaphorically, depending on where you stand.

From the author of the million-copy bestseller, The Little Book of Hygge, comes a beautifully designed guide on how to get more out of work and live like the happiest people in the world: the Danish. We often look to the Danish lifestyle as a utopia: they enjoy long summer holidays and the cosiest, hyggelig winters, but their happiness isn’t just limited to their free time. Almost two thirds report high job satisfaction, and 58% say they would continue working even if they won the lottery. But what exactly are the ingredients of happiness at work? And how can we live more like that? Meik Wiking, the world’s favourite happiness expert, is back with more of his wise yet simple snippets of inspiration from Danish culture, and shows us that nurturing a sense of purpose, trust between you and your manager and freedom within your role can mean more than any job title. Based on stats from his own research and designed with his trademark style, this book is sure to improve your happiness levels. We will spend around a third of our lives at work, so why not feel happier while we do it?

An explosive new vision of geopolitics from two trail-blazing political scientists Deep beneath our feet, vast and sprawling, lies one of the most sophisticated empires the world has ever known. At first glance, it might not look like much - it is made up of fibre optic cables and obscure payment systems. But according to prominent political scientists Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, the United States has turned the most vital pathways of the world economy into tools of domination over foreign businesses and countries, whether they are rivals or allies, allowing it to maintain global supremacy. Drawing on original reporting and ground-breaking research, Farrell and Newman explain how this underground empire has allowed the United States to eavesdrop on other countries and isolate its enemies. Now, efforts by countries such as China and Russia to untether themselves from this coercive US-led system are turning the global economy into a battle zone. Today's headlines about trade wars, sanctions, and controls on technology exports are merely tremors hinting at far greater seismic shifts beneath the surface, as we sleepwalk into a dangerous new struggle for empire. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how power is wielded today, Underground Empire weaves together tales of economic conflict, shadowy surveillance and covert infrastructure projects to explain how the world order has been brought to the brink of chaos - and how we might find a way back from the edge.

Ever since its publication in 1651, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan has unsettled and challenged how we understand the world. Condemned and vilified by each new generation, Hobbes' cold political vision continues to see through any number of political and ethical vanities. In his wonderfully stimulating book The New Leviathans, John Gray allows us to understand the world of the 2020s with all its contradictions, moral horrors and disappointments through a new reading of Hobbes' classic work. The collapse of the USSR ushered in an era of near-apoplectic triumphalism in the West: a genuine belief that a rational, liberal, well-managed future now awaited humankind and that tyranny, nationalism and unreason lay in the past. Since then, so many terrible events have occurred and so many poisonous ideas flourished, and yet still our liberal certainties treat them as aberrations which will somehow dissolve away. Hobbes would not be so confident. Filled with fascinating and challenging perceptions, The New Leviathans is a powerful meditation on historical and current folly. As a species we always seem to be struggling to face the reality of base and delusive human instincts. Might a more self-aware, realistic and disabused ethics help us all?

This is a book about how to optimise your mental health. Written with kindness and sympathy, it is a practical guide to emotional well-being, calm and psychological maturity. Alain de Botton explores how we can cope with a variety of mental challenges, from the mild to the severe. It considers how and why we can get overly anxious or low; how we can best understand our pasts and how they shape us; and how we can build resilience, so as to live wisely alongside certain difficulties. At heart this is a book about psychological happiness – about discovering equilibrium and meaning, and finding our way to connection and joy.

Sailing on a boat by yourself out at sea and out of sight of land can be exhilarating or terrifying, compelling or tedious - sometimes it can be all of these things just in one morning. It is an adventure at odds with our normal, sociable lives, carried out floating on a medium wholly inimical to our existence. But the deep ocean is also a remarkable place on which to think. Richard King's enormously engaging and curious new book is about the debt we owe to solo sailors: women and men, young and old, who have set out alone. Spending weeks and months alone, slowly, quietly and close to the ocean surface is to create the world's largest laboratory: an endlessly changing, capricious and startling place in which to observe oneself, the weather, the stars and myriad sea creatures, from the tiniest to the most massive and threatening. This is a book for anyone who is fascinated by sailing, solitude and the vast seas that cover so much of our planet.

FATES WILL COLLIDE IN THE FINAL BOOK IN THE SENSATIONAL FATE & FLAME SERIES! ‘Prophecy always finds a way.’ The will of the fates has come to pass. Monsters swarm from the depths, while dragons soar overhead. And the throne of Islor lies vacant… but not for long. Fleeing the merciless sirens, Tyree and Annika find themselves stranded on a distant shore. Forced together to survive, they find old magics and terrifying new enemies. For Romeria and Zander, the long-held secrets of the casters’ magic reveal a chance to finally master the power that has held all their lives in the balance for too long. But with power comes betrayal. And sacrifices must be made. The final book in the captivating Fate & Flame series: a fantasy romance from the author of The Simple Wild.

Mathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell introduce readers to the mathematical boundary-smashers who have been erased by history because of their race, gender or nationality. From the brilliant Arabic scholars of the ninth-century House of Wisdom, and the pioneering African American mathematicians of the twentieth century, to the 'lady computers' around the world who revolutionised our knowledge of the night sky, we meet these fascinating trailblazers and see how they contributed to our global knowledge today. This revisionist, completely accessible and radically inclusive history of mathematics is as entertaining as it is important.

READ THE INVENTIVE, HILARIOUS AND ORIGINAL THRILLER FROM THE WRITER OF EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE How do you catch a killer, when all your suspects know how to get away with murder? When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invites six authors to a festival aboard the Ghan – the famous Darwin to Adelaide train – it’s a who’s who of crime writing royalty. And me! (The lowly debut author.) But when one of us is murdered, six authors must become five detectives. This should be easy. Aren’t we all experts in whodunnits? Unfortunately, that also makes us experts in how to commit murder. And, when there’s been one, another’s sure to follow. Someone has to solve the case. But can I really outsmart the experts, and catch the killer?

An ode to lifelong friendships and discovering your queer community, perfect for fans of Girls Like Girls and Some Girls Do. You only get one soulmate, and I'm not throwing mine away. Alana and Gray have been the perfect pair all through high school, and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure, their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever dynamic is stronger than ever. Really, the only difference is that instead of kissing Gray herself, Alana sets him up with other girls to do that. Enter Talia: tall, confident, gorgeous. Gray's master plan is simple: befriend Tal and charm her into being his girlfriend. With Alana's help, of course. But as Alana spends more time with Tal, she is introduced to a world of possibilities. A world outside her small town. A world in which Alana can fully embrace her queer identity. A world where Alana and Talia are . . . together. As the two get closer, Alana must juggle her loyalty to Gray with her growing feelings for Tal. Can she stay true to herself and to her best friend? More importantly, does she want to? A tender and romantic exploration of identity, love and friendship that turns the 'friends to lovers' romance trope on its head.

Brimming with ballgowns and betrayal, magic and mystery, decadence and darkness Perfect for readers who crave morally grey characters, irresistible romance and dark academia ARE YOU READY TO ENROL INTO THE HOUSE OF MARIONNE? Quell Marionne was born cursed with Toushana – a perilous dark magic. The sentence for having it? Death . . . So when her secret is threatened, Quell hides in the one place that might save her: The House of Marionne. Run by her estranged grandmother, the school trains students to enter The Order, a society of magical elites. More importantly, it may be the key to burying Quell’s forbidden magic forever. Yet hiding who you truly are is hard – especially when handsome, brooding Jordon stands close. Must Quell really choose between her true nature and those she's growing to love? But if her Toushana is discovered, death awaits . . . Tropes: - Dark academic - Enemies-to-lovers - Family drama

How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway? Have your sense of art history overturned, and your eyes opened to many art forms often overlooked or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan, this is the story of art for our times - one with women at its heart, brought together for the first time by the creator of @thegreatwomenartists.

The deluxe companion guide to the #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. A gloriously rich and utterly delightful handbook perfect for longtime fans and new readers alike, covering everything from how to blend in with suspicious normals to the most popular time loops to visit as a temporal tourist. This essential volume is the ideal primer for anyone curious about the world of Miss Peregrine: an overview of its strange history, curious practices, fascinating places, the most famous (and infamous) members of its peculiar families, and much more. Written in Miss Peregrine's inimitable style, it's also a dramatic expansion of the universe fans have already come to love, introducing countless new peculiars, enemies, time loops, stories, and secrets, in addition to hundreds of never-before-seen vintage found photographs and select illustrations.

In this bestseller by the authors of Switch and Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explore why certain brief experiences can jolt, elevate and change us - and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our own life and work. What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a doctor or nurse knew how to orchestrate moments that would bring more comfort to patients? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children? Many of the defining moments in our lives are the result of accident or luck - but why leave our most meaningful, memorable moments to chance when we can create them? In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath explore the stories of people who have created standout moments, from the owners who transformed an utterly mediocre hotel into one of the best-loved properties in Los Angeles by conjuring moments of magic for guests, to the scrappy team that turned around one of the worst elementary schools in the country by embracing an intervention that lasts less than an hour. Filled with remarkable tales and practical insights, The Power of Moments proves we all have the power to transform ordinary experiences into unforgettable ones.

He has to marry by his thirty-fifth birthday. She’s sworn off love… Painfully shy Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his thirty-fith birthday. Texan animator Lark Thompson moved to Galway, Ireland, to restart her life and career, not be reminded of losing her husband by moving in next to a funeral home. But when she learns of Callum’s dilemma, Lark’s certain she can help him find The One, even if she’s sworn off love herself. Though as the dating project progresses and Lark spends more time with straight-laced, sarcastic Callum, he starts to crack the ice around her grieving heart. And the more joy that vivacious Lark brings to Callum’s grey existence, the less he can imagine letting her return to Texas. If they think they can ignore their connection, they’re dead wrong.

New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath asks what happens when we take our thinking upstream and try to prevent problems before they happen. What happens when we take our thinking upstream and try to prevent problems before they happen? Most of us are pretty good at dealing with problems – we’re used to being resourceful and improvising solutions. But we also tend to focus on reacting rather than preventing, which costs us unnecessary time and money. Across business, politics, and society, bestselling author Dan Heath shows us that we have the capacity to solve some of our thorniest issues – we just need to start to think about the system rather than the symptoms. Drawing on hundreds of new interviews with unconventional problem solvers, Heath shows the huge gains to be made when we stop dealing with symptoms and start to deliver practical solutions.