eBooks de Literatura en otros idiomas, página 14 de 92

The figure of the gladiator is as compelling to us as it was to the Romans. Why are we drawn to this ancient blood sport?The usual explanation of the savagery lurking beneath our veneer of civilisation is too simplistic. Gladiatorial combat has always been far more than just an excuse for the enjoyment of violence. From its origins in the funerary religious practices of Republican Rome to the extreme form of entertainment we recognise today, the bloody business of the arena evolved into a microcosm of the Roman Empire: a self-contained world reflecting the culture, attitudes and history of Rome itself.The World of the Gladiator brings the games and the gladiators into focus, placing them in their historical and cultural context. Using evidence from all over the Roman world, including fresh archaeological discoveries, the minutiae of the arena are set out and discussed. A picture of the gladiators life is built up, from training and diet, to social status and mortality rates. The history of the amphitheatre, that iconic symbol of bloodletting, is also traced alongside the evolution of the gladiator.Films like Gladiator and Spartacus demonstrate that the idea of two men fighting each other for their lives has lost none of its power in over 2000 years. The particular persistence of this public taste for spectacle is explored, with unavoidable comparisons to the modern world.

In his foreword to The Ways of Paradise, Peter Cornell presents this so-called found manuscript, the work of a now-deceased, obscure researcher who spent three decades in the National Library of Sweden working on his magnum opus. Upon his death, no trace of this work remains aside from this set of notes and fragments which form an enigmatic set of texts on the connections between art, literature, spirituality and the occult through history, with a particular focus on spirals and labyrinths. Ranging from the Crusades to Ruskin, Freud to surrealism, cubism, automatic writing, Duchamp, the Manhattan Project, Pollock and Smithson, this cult book, first published in Sweden in 1987, is translated into English for the first time by Saskia Vogel.

Delightful... if you love Richard Osmans books, this will be right up your street TRIP FICTION After a gruelling stint as the most powerful woman in the world, Angela can finally put her feet up. With her quantum-chemist husband Achim, her bodyguard Mike and their new pug Putin, she has retired to the idyllic north German village of Kleinfreudenstadt-on-Dumpfsee. But it isnt easy to settle into country life. Baking and hiking just arent as exciting as global financial meltdowns or deranged American presidents. And Angelas fellow villagers all seem to want something, from her xenophobic AfD-voting namesake to the local aristocrat desperate to bury her familys Nazi past. So when the eccentric Baron von Baugenwitz is found poisoned in a castle dungeon locked from the inside, new life stirs in Angela. Finally, a problem to solve! Supported by her team of helpers foremost among them the doughty Putin she embarks on a perilous hunt for the killer. Will she succeed? Or will one of the six women suspects finish her off first?This is a warm, funny and sometimes touching read with a compelling mystery at its core cosy crime Deutschland-style!

In a decade of researching and writing about crime, Simon Farquhar has met many of those professionally or personally affected by it. They all carry with them stories that the rest of the world has forgotten, but which to them remain unforgettable.In A Deafening Silence, five of these stories are told, in full, for the first time. Retracing these historic tragedies with a modern eye, talking to surviving witnesses and police officers, exploring Home Office files and even previously unseen evidence, each investigation reveals powerful truths about those who take away a human life and those bereaved by their actions, while shining a new light on how our society has changed or still needs to change.Time is also taken to explore the untold stories of what happens after sentence is passed, after the press packs up and leaves, once the rest of the world has moved on. What becomes of the survivors, and what becomes of the criminals? What traces of these crimes still remain today?Exhaustively researched and sensitively written, these remarkable accounts are both harrowing and heartbreaking, presenting us with humanity at its cruellest, at its most vulnerable, at its most compassionate and at its most courageous.

Christmas in Shakespeares day was an extravagant festival that included a long season of merrymaking, feasting and, most important of all, masques and plays.Shakespeares Christmas is a delightful glimpse into an Elizabethan Christmas, comprising little-known stories such as the time Elizabeth I interrupted Shakespeares performance by walking across the stage and dropping a glove at his feet recipes of traditional Elizabethan desserts, ballads and poems.A must-read if you are interested in the ignoble goings-on of the Lord of Misrule and a chance to immerse yourself in the celebrations of a Shakespearean Christmas.

How do we write about the singular experience of parenthood? Written in a state of attachment, or under the influence of fatherhood, Childish Literature is an eclectic guide for novice parents, showing how the birth and growth of a child changes not only the present and the future, but also reshapes our perceptions of the past. Shifting from moving dispatches from his sons first year of existence, to a treatise on football sadness, to a psychedelic narrative where a man tries, mid-magic mushroom trip, to re-learn the subtle art of crawling, this latest work from Alejandro Zambra shows how children shield adults from despondency, self-absorption and the tyrannies of chronological time. At once a chronicle of fatherhood, a letter to a child and a work of fiction, Childish Literature is the latest, virtuosic addition to the oeuvre of one of the most exciting Latin American writers in recent decades.

THE TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR 2024GUARDIAN BEST BOOKS OF 2024THE TELEGRAPH BEST BOOKS OF 2024FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF 2024WINNER OF THE 2024 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVELWINNER OF THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVELWINNER OF THE 2024 BARRY BEST FIRST MYSTERY OR CRIME NOVEL AWARDWINNER OF THE 2024 MACAVITY BEST FIRST MYSTERY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE ANTHONY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVELNOMINATED FOR THE STRAND MAGAZINE BEST DEBUT MYSTERY OF THE YEAROne of the "top spy novelists of the 21st Century"The TimesGritty, propulsive, dark and twisty David McCloskey, author of Damascus StationIts fantastic, I loved it Steve Cavanagh, author of ThirteenDeservedly garlanded with high praise Adam Lebor, Financial Times..the most impressive debut of the year to date and a spy novel to rank alongside the best of Mick Herrons Slough House series.The Irish Timesimmediately elevates IS Berry, a former CIA case officer, alongside David McCloskey and Paul Vidich. John Dugdale, The Sunday TimesBerry has all of le Carres cynicism about Western intelligence services, and outsoars him in her ability to convincingly evoke a love affair against an espionage backdrop. This is a star in the making. Jake Kerridge, The Daily TelegraphA cracking debut thrillerThe New YorkerSensational...feels like every inch of the real world of espionage Alex Gerlis, author of Every Spy a TraitorI.S. Berry is at the vanguard of a new generation of American spy novelists who have electrified the genre. Charles Cumming, author of Judas 62Superbly captures the twilight world of espionage, where no one tells the truth, but a hero can still find love. Geoffrey Wansell, The Daily MailThe thrilling debut from author and former CIA officer I.S. Berry, following an American spys last dangerous mission.Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain for his final tour, hes anxious to dispense with his mission uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency. But then he meets Almaisa, an enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask.When his trusted informant becomes embroiled in a murder, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict, his romance and loyalties upended. In an instant, hes caught in the crosswinds of a revolution. He sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisas love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrains secrets end and Americas begin.Now optioned for film by Scott Delman of Shadowfox productions (Producer of HBO Max hit series Station Eleven).

There are so many insights even hardcore Bond fans will be surprised. Indispensable. David Lowbridge-Ellis MBEOnly six men can lay claim to wearing the famous Savile Row tuxedo of James Bond; more people have stepped on the Moon. Yet, hundreds more came within an inch of winning the coveted 007 role the pinnacle for so many actors.For the first time, The Search for Bond tells the extraordinary story of how cinemas most famous secret agent was cast, featuring exclusive interviews with many of the actors who were at one time considered to play Bond, interviewed for the role, or went as far as to be screen tested. From Sir Ranulph Fiennes to Sam Neill, their memories and stories give a fascinating insiders glimpse into the process of how the Bond producers, Broccoli and Saltzman, came up with the right man to play their famous spy.

O envolvente novo livro da autora do bestseller mundial A Rapariga no Comboio.Uma história sobre ambição, legado e traição.Bem-vindos a Eris: uma ilha isolada na Escócia com apenas uma casa, um habit

THE TWISTY AND INGENIOUS THIRD INSTALLEMENT IN THE BIZARRE HOUSE MYSTERIESThe famed mystery writer Miyagaki Ytar lives a life of seclusion in the remote Labyrinth House. When Ytar invites four young crime authors to his home for a birthday party, they are honoured to accept. But no sooner have they arrived than they are confronted with a shocking death, then lured into a bizarre, deadly competition...As the twisted contest gathers pace, murder follows murder. The ingenious sleuth Shimada Kiyoshi investigates, but can he solve the mystery of the house before all those trapped in its labyrinth are dead? And can you guess the solution before he does?

From one of the earliest mentions of its name in the sixth century to the Covid lockdowns of the twenty-first, this is a magnificent portrait of one of the worlds great cities in its many iterations, from Edinburgh, the sink of abomination to the Athens of the North and everything including the home of the Enlightenment, the Festival City, the Aids Capital of Europe and a Mecca for tourists seeking tartan tat in between. As the nations capital it has been critical to its progress and a witness to epochal events, such the tumultuous reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the Reformation, the Forty-Five rebellion, the Disruption of the Church of Scotland and the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament. All of these and more feature. But this is not simply a book about the great and good, the famous and infamous. There is testimony aplenty from ordinary folk who may not have made their mark on history but who have contributed to Edinburghs ever-expanding tapestry. There are stories of body snatching and murder, drunkenness and drug-taking, sex and shopping, as well rants against inclement weather and the city council.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE TIMES BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2025A rare combination of experience and talent Mick HerronHis best yet ... Superb, addictively suspenseful, its politics and tradecraft coolly accurate, scary, intricate and complex ... The newmaestro of espionage thrillersSimon Sebag MontefioreA John le Carre level game of cat and mouse. It could have only been written by someone like David McCloskey, who has an insiders sharp angle David BaldacciThis enthralling read cements McCloskeys place in the first division of spy writersFinancial TimesTerrific espionage seriesNew York TimesTHE THIRD NOVEL FROM FORMER CIA OFFICER, THE REST IS CLASSIFIED PODCAST CO-HOST AND THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ***THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR***DAMASCUS STATION (One of the best spy thrillers in yearsTHE TIMES) AND ***SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR*** MOSCOW XFOURTH NOVEL THE PERSIAN AVAILABLE NOW TO PRE-ORDERALL YOUR LIFE YOURE CIA. THEN YOURE NOT.A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat and run out of the service. Traded back in a spy swap, Sam appears at Procters central Florida doorstep months later with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole hidden deep within the upper reaches of CIA.As Procter and Sam investigate, they arrive at a shortlist of suspects made up of both Procters closest friends and fiercest enemies. The hunt soon requires Procter to dredge up her own checkered past in service of CIA, placing her and Sam into the sights of a savvy Russian spymaster who will protect Moscows mole in Langley at all costs, even if it means wreaking bloody havoc across the United States.Bouncing between the corridors of Langley and the Kremlin, the thrilling new novel by David McCloskey explores the nature of friendship in a faithless business, and what it means to love a place that does not love you back.*****FIVE STAR READER REVIEWS:Great spy thriller that is absolutely riveting in its intensityDavid McCloskeys novels are only getting betterThe best yet ... Hard to put downBest work to date! No shortage of intrigue, twists, characters that are real, written by someone in the knowA thoroughly exciting read which had me dashing to its conclusion

In September 1913, Mieczysaw Wojnicz, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at Wilhelm Opitzs Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in what is now western Poland. Every day, its residents gather in the dining room to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur, to obsess over money and status, and to discuss the great issues of the day: Will there be war? Monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women inherently inferior? Meanwhile, disturbing things are beginning to happen in the guesthouse and its surroundings. As stories of shocking events in the nearby highlands reach the men, a sense of dread builds. Someone or something seems to be watching them and attempting to infiltrate their world. Little does Mieczysaw realize, as he attempts to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target. A century after the publication of The Magic Mountain, Olga Tokarczuk revisits Thomas Mann territory and lays claim to it, blending horror story, comedy, folklore and feminist parable with brilliant storytelling.

The Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (170144) was arguably the worlds first true Earth scientist. In Celsius: A Life and Death by Degrees, Ian Hembrow reveals what his extraordinary, but tragically short, life and career can teach us about our today and humanitys tomorrow.Our modern understanding of many of the Earths most awe-inspiring phenomena owes much to a modest and quietly spoken, eighteenth-century Swedish astronomer, who died of tuberculosis aged just 42. From the Northern Lights, air pressure and magnetism to the shape of the planet, sea levels and early studies of climate change, Celsius unravelled some of the greatest mysteries of his time.Best known for inventing the 100-point centi-grade scale, Celsius name also now frames humanitys future in the international targets to limit average global temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. As our world faces this life-or-death struggle, theres much we can learn from Celsius if we will listen.

Vivien Leigh was one of the greatest film and theatrical stars of the twentieth century. Her Oscar-winning performances in Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire have cemented her status as an icon of classic Hollywood.Her meteoric rise to fame launched her into the gaze of fellow rising star Laurence Olivier. A tempestuous relationship ensued that would last for twenty years and captured the imagination of people around the world.Behind the scenes, however, Leighs personal life was marred by bipolar disorder, which remained undiagnosed until 1953. Largely misunderstood and subjected to barbaric mistreatment at the hands of her doctors, she also suffered the heartbreak of Oliviers infidelity. Contributing to her image as a tragic heroine, she died at the age of 53.Where Madness Lies begins in 1953, when Leigh suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalised. The woeful story unfolds as she tries to rebuild her life, salvage her career and save her marriage.Featuring a wealth of unpublished material, including private correspondence, bestselling author Lyndsy Spence reveals the woman behind the legendary image: a woman who remained strong in the face of adversity

Underpinned by rigorous academic research, (Martin Cawthorne) has crafted a highly readable narrative which brings to life the characters, events, the dilemmas facing the authorities and the enduring resilience of the Royal Hospitals Pensioners. General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, KCB, OBE, DL, Governor, Royal Hospital ChelseaIn May 1938 a confidential meeting was held between Officers of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and government departments responsible for civil defence planning. All participants agreed that, should war come, the 500 Chelsea In-Pensioners residing at the Royal Hospital should be evacuated to a place of safety outside London. However, toxic politics and complex logistics meant that, on the outbreak of war in September 1939, only fifty were evacuated, to a country house in Herefordshire. The remainder, many carrying physical and psychological scars from the First World War, sought sanctuary in hastily constructed air-raid shelters and awaited their fate.Using recently uncovered archive material, some stored for decades in an attic at the Royal Hospital, Martin Cawthorne chronicles the story of Chelseas old soldiers, once more in the line of fire as they faced the horrors of the London Blitz.

While travelling through the Great Alfold, the vast plain in south-eastern Hungary, Esther Kinsky stops in a small town near the Romanian border. Like many other things, the cinema, mozi in Hungarian, has long since closed. Entranced by the decaying mozi, she soon embarks on the colossal task of reviving it, compelled by the irresistible magic of the cinema, a site rooted in ritual that is steadily disappearing. Beautifully translated by Caroline Schmidt, Seeing Further is a powerfully eloquent declaration of love to the cinema and the collective experience of watching by Esther Kinsky, one of Germanys most important contemporary writers.

Memorable... One of [Chinas] most astute and sensitive foreign observersFinancial TimesCompassionate... full of warmthGuardianMore than twenty years after teaching English to Chinas first boom generation at a small college in Sichuan Province, Peter Hessler returned to teach the next generation. At the same time, Hesslers twin daughters became the only Westerners in a student body of about two thousand in their local primary school. Through reconnecting with his previous students now in their forties - members of Chinas "Reform generation" - and teaching his current undergraduates, Hessler is able to tell an intimately unique story about Chinas incredible transformation over the past quarter-century.In the late 1990s, almost all of Hesslers students were the first of their families to enrol in higher education, sons and daughters of subsistence farmers who could offer little guidance as their children entered a brand-new world. By 2019, when Hessler arrived at Sichuan University, he found a very different China and a new kind of student - an only child whose schooling was the object of intense focus from a much more ambitious and sophisticated cohort of parents. Hesslers new students have a sense of irony about the regime but mostly navigate its restrictions with equanimity, and embrace the astonishing new opportunities Chinas boom affords. But the pressures of this system of extreme meritocracy at scale can be gruesome, even for much younger children, including his own daughters, who give him a first-hand view of raising a child in China.In Peter Hesslers hands, Chinas education system is the perfect vehicle for examining whats happened to the country, where its going, and what we can learn from it. At a time when relations between the UK and China fracture, Other Rivers is a tremendous, indeed an essential gift, a work of enormous human empathy that rejects cheap stereotypes and shows us China from the inside out and the bottom up, using as a measuring stick this most universally relatable set of experiences. As both a window onto China and a distant mirror onto our own education system, Other Rivers is a classic, a book of tremendous value and compelling human interest.

A lively and dramatic account of greed, corruption, and scandal that will captivate you from start to finish. FRANK W. ABAGNALE, subject of Catch Me If You CanEverything you feared was true about crypto and much worse are laid bare in this gripping and infuriating insider account... Funny, illuminating and beautifully written. LIAM VAUGHAN, author of Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in HistoryCrypto Confidential tells the salacious story of the industry everyone is talking about right now. In doing so, it sheds light on some of the most scandalous financial crimes of the twenty-first century. From billion-dollar fraud cases to international money laundering cartels, political bribery and even faked deaths, it lifts the lid on the intricate and immense web of malpractice that crypto founders spin to trap ordinary investors.Written by a prominent and well-connected insider, Crypto Confidential provides a first-hand account of how the industry truly operates, and how every aspect is engineered for one purpose: to make vast amounts of fast money for those on the inside, by any means necessary.

Elegant, erudite, ambitious, inventive - a remarkable blend of research, imagination and first-hand experience. Rory StewartA sweeping and superbly written epicWall Street Journal A work of great ambition... an account that is informed, filled with insights and a cracking read too.Peter FrankopanIraq is where civilisation was born, where East and West have mixed and clashed since long before Alexander, and it was here by the waters of Babylon where Judaism was born and the Sunni-Shia schism took its bloody shape. Inspired by extensive reporting from the region and a decade delving deep into its history, Land Between the Rivers chronicles Iraqs uniquely central role on the global stage throughout the past five millennia.We begin the story with ancient Sumer and Gilgamesh building the walls of Uruk (Iraq) to make a great name for himself at the edge of historical time. We end it in 1958, as the last royal family of Iraq is slaughtered on the steps of a small palace in Baghdad, the most effervescent, free and promising capital in the Middle East.Bartle Bulls remarkable, sweeping achievement reminds us that the region defined by the land between the rivers has, throughout history, played host to the contest pitting humanism against the machinations of power and fate.Conceptual originality and laudable ambition... Inspired by firsthand experience of the region.New York TimesA sweeping and superbly written epic... He is a more compassionate, and much better informed, heir to Gertrude Bell... Throughout his account, Mr. Bull highlights the human, and humanist, threads in the political tapestry.Wall Street JournalDazzling erudition and narrative flair come together in this superb history of Iraq... essential readingJustin Marozzi, author of Islamic EmpiresPanoptic, fearless and beautifully writtenChristopher de Bellaigue, author of The Lion House and The Islamic Enlightenment