Sure to be hailed alongside H is for Hawk and The Hare with Amber Eyes, an exceptional work that is at once an astonishing journey across countries and continents, an immersive examination of a great artist’s work, and a moving and intimate memoir.

A small, insignificant-looking intellectual with absurdly long legs, Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a veritable Hans Christian Andersen caricature of a man. A strange combination of witty cosmopolite and melancholy introvert, he spent years writing under a series of fantastical pseudonyms, lavishing all the splendor of his magnificent mind on a seldom-appreciative world. He had a tragic love affair with a young girl, was dominated by an unforgettable Old Testament father, fought a sensational literary duel with a popular satiric magazine, and died in the midst of a violent quarrel with the state church for which he had once studied theology. Yet this iconoclast produced a number of brilliant books that have profoundly influenced modern thought. In this classic biography, the celebrated Kierkegaard translator Walter Lowrie presents a charming and warmly appreciative introduction to the life and work of the great Danish writer. Lowrie tells the story of Kierkegaard's emotionally turbulent life with a keen sense of drama and an acute understanding of how his life shaped his thought. The result is a wonderfully informative and entertaining portrait of one of the most important thinkers of the past two centuries. This edition also includes Lowrie's wry essay "How Kierkegaard Got into English," which tells the improbable story of how Lowrie became one of Kierkegaard's principal English translators despite not learning Danish until he was in his 60s, as well as a new introduction by Kierkegaard scholar Alastair Hannay.

"The last few years have witnessed an unprecedented stream of blockbuster-style claims about the man from Nazareth. Believers and sceptics alike have hardly had time to process one controversial theory before the next one hits the market." Recent claims about the life of Jesus have raised many questions about the historicity of the man from Nazareth. In this accessible book, John Dickson addresses such issues as: When and where was Jesus born? Did he marry? What should we make of the 'miracles' he is reported to have performed? How should we treat the claim that he rose from the dead? And can we be sure that he even existed? In eleven chapters - covering the historical reliability of the New Testament, Jesus' birth and family, his historical context, his teachings, miracles, death, resurrection and subsequent appearances - Dickson clears away the mists of speculation, revealing the founder of Christianity in sharp focus. This is a must-read for anyone wanting a lucid response to the controversial conspiracy theories of the post-modern age.

In A Short Life of Marie Antoinette historian John Abbott takes the reader from Marie Antoinette's marriage in mere girlhood to the royal stage and her ultimate role as a central figure in European history.

In the pages of this book published by Advaita Ashrama, a Publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India, will be found the story of a life which was lived so silently and unostentatiously that its very simplicity was bewildering. Yet the depth of its richness seemed unfathomable even to those who were universally respected for their spiritual greatness. Indeed such a life defies analysis, and it is much more difficult to portray it. Even if we fail to comprehend the greatness of this Great Wonder fully, still will not even a partial glimpse of it bring us infinite good? Thus this attempt to portray the life of Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort or Sri Ramakrishna, in short.

Presents interesting aspects of the habits and behavior of various insects, discussing in detail ant colonies and honeybee hives, and covering more briefly such insects as the cricket, dragonfly, monarch butterfly, and housefly.

Witchcraft is a subject that fascinates us all, and everyone knows what a witch is - or do they? From childhood most of us develop a sense of the mysterious, malign person, usually an old woman. Historically, too, we recognize witch-hunting as a feature of pre-modern societies. But why do witches still feature so heavily in our cultures and consciousness? From Halloween to superstitions, and literary references such as Faust and even Harry Potter, witches still feature heavily in our society. In this Very Short Introduction Malcolm Gaskill challenges all of this, and argues that what we think we know is, in fact, wrong. Taking a historical perspective from the ancient world to contemporary paganism, Gaskill reveals how witchcraft has meant different things to different people and that in every age it has raised questions about the distinction between fantasy and reality, faith and proof. Telling stories, delving into court records, and challenging myths, Gaskill examines the witch-hunts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and explores the reinvention of witchcraft - as history, religion, fiction, and metaphor. 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.

There is a complex web of infrastructure behind the day-to-day operation of a Canadian city. Flick the switch and the light comes on; turn the tap and the water is there; flush the toilet and the sewage disappears. But what price are we paying for these services that make our lives easier? In an age of blackouts, water problems, overflowing sewers, dangerously smoggy skies, and overburdened highways - problems that have led to an increasingly fragile environment with serious consequences for all Canadians - author Tony O’Donohue offers The Tale of a City, an essential primer in helping us to understand and improve our relationships with our engineered and natural environments.

"Strange World" is a collection of four short stories. The stories explore deep themes in a fascinating way and explode with a surprise ending, bringing the irony of life to the fore. It's food for thought, and at the same time a thoroughly entertaining read.

This 1920 volume offers an abridged version of Albert Bigelow Paine's definitive biography of Twain.

Provides insight into four each of Wilfred Owen's and Isaac Rosenberg's most influential works along with a short biography of each poet.

Hook struggling readers with high-interest, low-readability nonfiction stories using Strange and Unexplained in grades 4 and up. This 64-page book focuses on reading skills, such as determining the author’s purpose, defining vocabulary, making predictions, and identifying details, synonyms, antonyms, and figures of speech. It includes multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and true/false questions; short-answer writing practice; and comprehension questions in standardized test format. Students stay interested, build confidence, and discover that reading can be fun!

A Short History of the World is a period-piece non-fictional historic work. The book was largely inspired by Wells's earlier 1919 work The Outline of History. It summarises the scientific knowledge of the time regarding the history of Earth and life and begins with its origins, goes on to explain the development of the Earth and life on Earth, reaching primitive thought and the development of humankind from the Cradle of Civilisation.

Describes different forms of life which survive in remote places including hidden valleys, wetlands, deserts, frozen lands, wastelands, and oceans.