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The Trojan War A Very Short Introduction
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Book Synopsis The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction by : Eric H. Cline
Download or read book The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction written by Eric H. Cline and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-05-30 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a combination of archaeological data, textual analysis, and ancient documents, this Very Short Introduction to the Trojan War investigates whether or not the war actually took place, whether archaeologists have correctly identified and been excavating the ancient site of Troy, and what has been found there.
Download or read book Homer written by Barbara Graziosi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Iliad and the Odyssey are the cornerstones of Western literature, inspiring artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers throughout history. Barbara Graziosi introduces Homer's key works and discusses the main literary, historical, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homeric studies.
Book Synopsis Elizabeth Bishop: A Very Short Introduction by : Jonathan F. S. Post
Download or read book Elizabeth Bishop: A Very Short Introduction written by Jonathan F. S. Post and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-24 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Elizabeth Bishop has been described as the 'best-loved' poet in English of the second half of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction explores the 90 or so published poems that are at the core of her remarkable canon of verse. Drawing on biographical and critical material, Jonathan Post also makes frequent use of Bishop's letters and commentary by fellow poets, including Marianne Moore, Robert Lowell, and James Merrill to illuminate her writing and contemporary literary landscape. Throughout, Post places Bishop's lyric poetry within the context of her life and aesthetic values, showing how these shaped her work. The book covers a wide range of core themes present in her poetry, including her powerful use of description, the environment, balance, and ideas of love and loss, as well as looking at Bishop's interest in the visual arts. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis John Stuart Mill: A Very Short Introduction by : Gregory Claeys
Download or read book John Stuart Mill: A Very Short Introduction written by Gregory Claeys and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring John Stuart Mill (1806-73) is widely regarded as the leading liberal philosopher, economist, and political theorist of nineteenth century Britain. In his lifetime he was best known for his System of Logic (1843) and the Principles of Political Economy (1848). Today Mill is chiefly identified with On Liberty (1859), perhaps the definitive text of modern liberal statement of its subject, and probably the single most important work of modern political thought. Mill was also the first major male feminist thinker of the period (author of The Subjection of Women, 1869), and the first, as an MP, to introduce a bill for female enfranchisement before Parliament. This Very Short Introduction offers a brief survey of the life and key ideas of this most influential Victorian British writer. Moving chronologically, Gregory Claeys outlines the philosophical background out of which Mill developed, chiefly through the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and James Mill. He demonstrates how Mill's personal life, especially his 'mental crisis' of 1827, and his relationship with Harriet Taylor, were integral to his intellectual development. Throughout Claeys considers Mill's key works set within the context of his lesser writings and correspondence, and discusses the more controversial aspects of his thought concerning religion, secularism, and birth control. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by : Timothy Gowers
Download or read book Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction written by Timothy Gowers and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2002-08-22 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of this book is to explain, carefully but not technically, the differences between advanced, research-level mathematics, and the sort of mathematics we learn at school. The most fundamental differences are philosophical, and readers of this book will emerge with a clearer understanding of paradoxical-sounding concepts such as infinity, curved space, and imaginary numbers. The first few chapters are about general aspects of mathematical thought. These are followed by discussions of more specific topics, and the book closes with a chapter answering common sociological questions about the mathematical community (such as "Is it true that mathematicians burn out at the age of 25?") ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Human Resource Management: A Very Short Introduction by : Adrian Wilkinson
Download or read book Human Resource Management: A Very Short Introduction written by Adrian Wilkinson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-24 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The way in which organizations manage their people has always been pivotal to their performance, long before formal human resource management coalesced into a definable and somewhat fashionable discipline in the mid-1980s. Earlier campaigns for worker welfare in the 18th and 19th century were driven by a mix of humanitarian, religious, philanthropic, and business motives, and sought workplace amenities such as medical care, housing, and libraries. At the same time functionaries and departments specialising in HR processes such as hiring, payroll, and record keeping emerged. This Very Short Introduction describes how the key players and watershed moments in labour history shaped the state of human resource management today. In our era of globalization human resource management has to contend with a number of new and increasingly complex factors, such as global sourcing, regional trade agreements and labour standards, remote working, strategic alliances, and innovation driven by competition. As traditional sources of competitive advantage such as access to capital, protected markets, or proprietary technologies evaporate, firms increasingly look to human resource management to offer a competitive edge. In the 'laboratory' of university departments or in the gritty and sweaty reality of the shop floor, there is no single model of human resource management. Instead human resource management today is as able to impact everything from small owner-managed shops in Brick Lane to the high tech behemoths of Silicon Valley. Adrian Wilkinson shows how human resource management covers the relations between employees and their employers, and explores the range of HR practices, processes, and line management activities. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Prehistory: A Very Short Introduction by : Chris Gosden
Download or read book Prehistory: A Very Short Introduction written by Chris Gosden and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prehistory covers the period of some 4 million years before the start of written history, when our earliest ancestors, the Australopithecines, existed in Africa. But this is relatively recent compared to whole history of the earth of some 4.5 billion years. A key aspect of prehistory is that it provides a sense of scale, throwing recent ways of life into perspective. Humans and their ancestors lived in many different ways and the cultural variety we see now is just a tiny fraction of that which has existed over millions of years. Humans are part of the broader evolution of landscapes and communities of plants and animals, but Homo sapiens is also the only species to have made a real impact on planetary systems. To understand such an impact, we need a grasp of our longest term development and ways of life. In this new edition of his Very Short Introduction, Chris Gosden invites us to think seriously about who we are by considering who we have been. As he explains, many new discoveries have been made in archaeology over the last ten years, and a new framework for prehistory is emerging. A greater understanding of Chinese and central Asian prehistory has thrown Eurasian prehistory in quite a different light, with flows of the influence of culture over large areas now evident. This has eaten away at the traditional view of human progress around the invention of agriculture, the development of cities and (much later) the industrial revolution, and given us new geographies to think about. Chris Gosden explores the new landscape of our prehistory, and considers the way the different geographical locations weave together. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Homer: A Very Short Introduction by : Barbara Graziosi
Download or read book Homer: A Very Short Introduction written by Barbara Graziosi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Homer's mythological tales of war and homecoming,the Iliad and the Odyssey, are widely considered to be two of the most influential works in the history of western literature. Yet their author, 'the greatest poet that ever lived' is something of a mystery. By the 6th century BCE, Homer had already become a mythical figure, and today debate continues as to whether he ever existed. In this Very Short Introduction Barbara Graziosi considers Homer's famous works, and their impact on readers throughout the centuries. She shows how the Iliad and the Odyssey benefit from a tradition of reading that spans well over two millennia, stemming from ancient scholars at the library of Alexandria, in the third and second centuries BCE, who wrote some of the first commentaries on the Homeric epics. Summaries of these scholars' notes made their way into the margins of Byzantine manuscripts; from Byzantium the annotated manuscripts travelled to Italy; and the ancient notes finally appeared in the first printed editions of Homer, eventually influencing our interpretation of Homer's work today. Along the way, Homer's works have inspired artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers. Exploring the main literary, historical, cultural, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homer's narratives, Graziosi analyses the enduring appeal of Homer and his iconic works. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. This book was previously published in hardback as Homer.
Book Synopsis The Spartans: A Very Short Introduction by : Andrew J. Bayliss
Download or read book The Spartans: A Very Short Introduction written by Andrew J. Bayliss and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-12 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The myths surrounding Sparta are as old as the city itself. Even in antiquity, Sparta was a unique society, and considered an enigma. The Spartans who fought for freedom against the Persians called themselves 'equals' or peers, but their equality was reliant on the ruthless exploitation of the indigenous population known as helots. The Spartans' often bizarre rules and practices have the capacity to horrify as much they do to fascinate us today. Athenian writers were intrigued and appalled in equal measure by a society where weak or disabled babies were said to have been examined carefully by state officials before being dumped off the edge of a cliff. Even today their lurid stories have shaped our image of Sparta; a society in which cowards were forced to shave off half their beards, to dress differently from their peers, and who were ultimately shunned to the extent that suicide seemed preferable. The legend of Sparta was even perpetuated by later Spartans, who ran a thriving tourist industry that exaggerated the famed brutality of their ancestors. This Very Short Introduction separates myth from reality to reveal the best—and the worst—of the Spartans. Andrew Bayliss explores key aspects of Spartan society, including their civic structure, their day-to-day lifestyle, and traditions such as the krypteia, a brutal rite of passage where teenagers were sent into the countryside and ordered to eliminate the biggest and most dangerous helots. Alongside this, Bayliss also sheds light on the many admirable qualities of ancient Sparta, such as their state-run education system, or the fact that this society was almost unparalleled in the pre-modern world for the rights given to Spartan women. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis The American South by : Charles Reagan Wilson
Download or read book The American South written by Charles Reagan Wilson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American South is a distinctive place with a dramatic history, and has significance beyond its regional context in the twenty first century. The American South: A Very Short Introduction explores the history of the South as a cultural crossroads, a meeting place between western Europe and West Africa. The South's beginnings illuminate the expansion of Europe into the New World, creating a colonial slave society that distinguished it from other parts of the United States but fostered commonalities with other colonial societies. The Civil War and civil rights movement transformed the South in differing ways and remain a part of a vibrant and contested public memory. More recently, the South's pronounced traditionalism in customs and values was in tension with the forces of modernization that slowly forced change in the twentieth century. Southerners' creative responses to these experiences have made the American South well known around the world in literature, film, music, and cuisine. Charles Reagan Wilson argues for the significance of creativity in the South, emerging from the diversity of peoples, cultures, and experiences that the regional context fostered. The South has now become the new center of immigration, adding to the complexity of the region's cultural, social, economic, and political life. In this book, the burdens and tragedies of southern history are placed beside the creative achievements that have come out of the region, producing a portrait of a complex American place.
Book Synopsis Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction by : Peter Salway
Download or read book Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction written by Peter Salway and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-05-28 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For four centuries Britain was an integral part of the Roman Empire, a political system stretching from Turkey to Portugal and from the Red Sea to the Tyne and beyond. Its involvement with Rome started long before the Conquest launched by the Emperor Claudius in 43 AD, and it continued to be a part of the Roman world for some time after the final break with Roman rule. Bringing together archaeological investigation and historical scholarship, Peter Salway explores some of the key issues arising from this period in Britain's history, discussing the question of identity at this time and analysing the importance of widespread literacy in Roman Britain. Covering the period from Julius Caesar's first forays into Britain and Claudius' subsequent conquest, as well as Britain under the later Roman Empire, Salway outlines the key events of this time period, providing a focus on society in Roman Britain, and offering a thoughtful consideration of the aftermath of Roman rule. In the new edition of this Very Short Introduction, Peter Salway makes a number of essential updates in light of recent research in the area. He looks at issues of ethnicity, 'Britishness', and post-colonialism, provides alternative theories to the end of the Roman period in Britain, and draws parallels between the history of Roman Britain and a wide range of other periods, territories, and themes, including the modern experience of empires and national stereotypes. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis The Future: A Very Short Introduction by : Jennifer M. Gidley
Download or read book The Future: A Very Short Introduction written by Jennifer M. Gidley and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the beginning of time, humans have been driven by both a fear of the unknown and a curiosity to know. We have always yearned to know what lies ahead, whether threat or safety, scarcity or abundance. Throughout human history, our forebears tried to create certainty in the unknown, by seeking to influence outcomes with sacrifices to gods, preparing for the unexpected with advice from oracles, and by reading the stars through astrology. As scientific methods improve and computer technology develops we become ever more confident of our capacity to predict and quantify the future by accumulating and interpreting patterns form the past, yet the truth is there is still no certainty to be had. In this Very Short Introduction Jennifer Gidley considers some of our most burning questions: What is "the future "?; Is the future a time yet to come?; Or is it a utopian place?; Does the future have a history?; Is there only one future or are there many possible futures? She asks if the future can ever be truly predicted or if we create our own futures - both hoped for and feared - by our thoughts, feelings, and actions, and concludes by analysing how we can learn to study the future. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Enzymes: a Very Short Introduction by : Paul Engel
Download or read book Enzymes: a Very Short Introduction written by Paul Engel and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-11-11 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enzymes are the molecular machines that make life possible. Working as catalysts, teams of enzymes carry out the processes that power the bodies of living things, from making DNA to digesting food. This book explains what enzymes are, what they do, and how they do it, from enzymes inside our cells to those in washing powders and food production.
Book Synopsis Evil: A Very Short Introduction by : Luke Russell
Download or read book Evil: A Very Short Introduction written by Luke Russell and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-29 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring We regularly encounter appalling wrongdoing, with the media offering a depressing parade of violent assault, rape, and murder. Yet sometimes even the cynical and world-weary amongst us are taken aback. Sometimes we confront a crime so terrible, so horrendous, so deeply wrong, that we reach for the word 'evil'. The 9/11 terrorist attacks were not merely wrong, but evil. A serial killer who tortures his victims is not merely a bad person. He is evil. And as the Holocaust showed us, we must remain vigilant against the threat of evil. But what exactly is evil? If we use the word 'evil', are we buying into a naive Manichean worldview, in which two cosmic forces of good and evil are pitted against one another? Are we guilty of demonizing our enemies? How does 'evil' go beyond what is merely bad or wrong? This Very Short Introduction explores the answers that philosophers have offered to these questions. Luke Russell discusses why some philosophers think that evil is a myth or a fantasy, while others think that evil is real, and is a concept which plays an important role in contemporary secular morality. Along the way he asks whether evil is always horrific and incomprehensible, or if it can be banal. Considering if there is a special psychological hallmark that sets the evildoers apart from the rest of us, Russell also engages with ongoing discussions over psychopathy and empathy, analysing the psychology behind evildoing. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Insects: A Very Short Introduction by : Simon Leather
Download or read book Insects: A Very Short Introduction written by Simon Leather and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To date, more than a million insect species have been described, with probably at least another 5-8 million species waiting in the wings for a name. Insects are a fascinatingly diverse and beautiful spectrum of animals. They range in size from the tiny parasitic wasp, measuring a mere 139μm, to the aptly named Titan beetle, which can reach lengths of up to 17cm. They can be found on all continents of the world, from the Sahara Desert to the frozen wastes of Antarctica; in caves, under the ground, inside plants, other insects and vertebrates, in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds, in puddles, in the watery interiors of pitcher plants; and in our houses. While no insects live beneath the waves, the intrepid sea skaters skim the surface of some of the world's oceans. This Very Short Introduction explores the extraordinary world of insects. It analyses insect evolution, taxonomy and development, and describes their behaviour, their life styles, and the interactions they have with other insects and other animals. As Simon Leather shows, insects are the bedrock on which human civilisation rests; without them we would almost certainly not exist. Although they can be seen as pests of our crops plants, they are also invaluable for pollinating our flowering plants and are an invaluable link in all land ecosystems. As they face challenges from climate change and pesticides it has never been more important to understand these oft-dismissed creatures. Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Book Synopsis Religion: A Very Short Introduction by : Thomas A. Tweed
Download or read book Religion: A Very Short Introduction written by Thomas A. Tweed and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-25 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religion plays a central role in human experience. Billions of people around the world practice a faith and act in accordance with it. Religion shapes how they enter the world and how they leave it - how they eat, dress, marry, and raise their children. It shapes their assumptions about who they are and who they want to be. Religion also identifies insiders and outsiders, who has power and who doesn't. It sanctifies injustice and combats it. It draws national borders. It affects law, economy, and government. It destroys and restores the environment. It starts wars and ends them. Whether you notice it or not, religion plays a role in how billions conduct their lives. We are called, then, to understand this important factor in human life today. Beginning with the first signs of religion among ancient humans and concluding with a look at modern citizens and global trends, leading scholar Thomas Tweed examines this powerful and enduring force in human society. Tweed deftly documents religion as it exists around the world, addressing its role in both intensifying and alleviating contemporary political and environmental problems, from armed conflict to climate change. Religion: A Very Short Introduction offers a concise non-partisan overview of religion's long history and its complicated role in the world today.
Book Synopsis Ovid: A Very Short Introduction by : Llewelyn Morgan
Download or read book Ovid: A Very Short Introduction written by Llewelyn Morgan and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Vivam" is the very last word of Ovid's masterpiece, the Metamorphoses: "I shall live." If we're still reading it two millennia after Ovid's death, this is by definition a remarkably accurate prophecy. Ovid was not the only ancient author with aspirations to be read for eternity, but no poet of the Greco-Roman world has had a deeper or more lasting impact on subsequent literature and art than he can claim. In the present day no Greek or Roman poet is as accessible, to artists, writers, or the general reader: Ovid's voice remains a compellingly contemporary one, as modern as it seemed to his contemporaries in Augustan Rome. But Ovid was also a man of his time, his own story fatally entwined with that of the first emperor Augustus, and the poetry he wrote channels in its own way the cultural and political upheavals of the contemporary city, its public life, sexual mores, religion, and urban landscape, while also exploiting the superbly rich store of poetic convention that Greek literature and his Roman predecessors had bequeathed to him. This Very Short Introduction explains Ovid's background, social and literary, and introduces his poetry, on love, metamorphosis, Roman festivals, and his own exile, a restlessly innovative oeuvre driven by the irrepressible ingenium or wit for which he was famous. Llewelyn Morgan also explores Ovid's immense influence on later literature and art, spanning from Shakespeare to Bernini. Throughout, Ovid's poetry is revealed as enduringly scintillating, his personal story compelling, and the issues his life and poetry raise of continuing relevance and interest. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
