Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes historic accounts of the Countess' life and crimes *Includes footnotes, online resources, and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "She didn't fear death because inside herself, she didn't conceive it as a common destiny, although she had seen it several times, although it had upset her so many times. Death is what happens to others, to the weak ones, she might have thought in her delirious blindness. As far as the physical pains and punishments were concerned, these had been exciting her ever since she was a child." - Javier Garcia Sanchez, Contesa Dracula Erzs bet B thory The legends of vampires like Dracula have generated massive interest throughout time. Indeed, the story of a man (in some versions a very handsome, dashing man), who feeds on the blood of virgins in order to survive, and who walks the earth only at night, has been revived throughout the centuries in different forms. However, one famous tale that has been lost among the legends is the story of a female Dracula, an educated woman from a well-known family of 16th century Hungary who was so afraid to lose her beauty and young looks that she engaged in dangerous practices, combining witchcraft with exsanguination. Countess Elizabeth B thory is this female Dracula. She is said to have drained the blood of approximately 600 young women, in order to drink it, spread it all over her body as a nurturing blend, or simply to bathe in it. Her preferences for such practices can be explained by several factors, including the practices of the time as far as torture was concerned, her genetic heritage, personal madness, and the fear of fading beauty. Despite the general impression that B thory was exsanguinating these girls and bathing in their blood, it appears that she did much more. Sources indicate that most of the girls had been beaten, tortured, and even forced into particular sexual activities. Regardless, her attempts to do anything to keep her beauty apparently went for naught, because upon her death, B thory was no longer the beautiful and young woman she desired to be. In essence, it seems that all her criminal efforts had been in vain. Based on her behavior and the reactions to it throughout time, it is virtually impossible to set Erzs bet B thory in a character typology. On one hand, she could be considered a bored wife left alone by her husband for long periods of time, time that she used to develop passions for same-sex relations and an acute interest in inflicting pain on her victims. She might be seen as a mentally unstable person who found great joy in torturing others. Perhaps most disturbing of all, there's a possibility that the countess was a common character within the nobility of the 16th century who was acting normally based on the customs and norms of her era. Adding to the mystery of the story is that historical records are still mostly inaccessible because of the language barriers (most historical sources are in Hungarian). As a result, researchers interested in her life story and history usually rely on a limited number of available sources, such as biographies, articles, published letters said to have belonged to her, and scholarly articles on the topic. Countess Elizabeth Bathory: The Life and Legacy of History's Most Prolific Female Serial Killer details the mysterious and sordid history of one of the world's first and worst serial killers. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Countess Bathory like never before, in no time at all.
Описание: *Examines the lives, legends and legacies of the Caribbean's most famous and successful pirates. *Explains how the myths and legends of pirates like Blackbeard created the instantly recognizable pirate stereotypes today. *Includes pictures depicting the pirates and important people, places, and events in their lives. *Includes contemporary accounts of the pirates written by Captain Charles Johnson. *Includes Bibliographies Over the past decade, few movie franchises have been as successful as Pirates of the Caribbean, starring Johnny Depp as the stereotypical pirate Jack Sparrow, a flamboyant, colorful and cunning pirate of questionable morality. The popularity of the movies and the character Jack Sparrow demonstrate how the people who have lived outside the boundaries of normal societies and refused to play by the rules have long fascinated the world. Nowhere is this more evident than the continuing interest in the pirates of centuries past. As the subjects of books, movies, and even theme park rides, people continue to let their imaginations go when it comes to pirates, with buried treasure, parrots, and walking the plank all ingrained in pop culture's perception of them. While there is no question that the myths and legends surrounding history's most famous pirates are colorful, in some instances their actual lives made for even better stories. Before the Golden Age of Piracy, men like Sir Francis Drake straddled the line between pirate and privateer, and Drake was knighted for fighting the Spanish. While Captain Morgan's ruthless piracy has actually been overlooked due to his association with the spiced rum company using his name, he was a remarkably successful pirate, and one of history's best documented pirates. The Golden Age of Piracy generally refers to the era when history's most famous pirates roamed the seas of the West Indies from 1670-1720, and it is no coincidence that the beginning of it was marked by the rise of Henry Every. In his day Every was the "King of Pirates," and in addition to popularizing the famous skull and crossbones logo that would become the most famous pirate flag, Every conducted what is considered the most profitable pirate raid in history, leading to what is considered the first worldwide manhunt in history when the English put a large bounty on his head. It would be an understatement to say that pop culture's perception of piracy and pirates has been primarily influenced by Captain Edward Teach, known to the world as Blackbeard. Blackbeard is remembered today based more on myths than reality. People continue to let their imaginations go when it comes to Blackbeard, picturing a pirate who captured more booty than any other pirate, hid buried treasure, and lit his hair on fire before battle. People have long claimed that his ghost still haunts the Atlantic Ocean, and his contemporaries were so scared of him that they claimed to have seen his headless body swim around his pirate boat three times. Fittingly, some of history's most famous pirates sailed together. Black Bart Roberts is considered the most successful pirate in history, managing to capture about 500 ships before meeting his fate, but he learned the tricks of the trade from Howell Davis, whose cunning and courage led to some of the most spectacular acts of piracy in history. Then there are history's two most famous female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who actually sailed together on Calico Jack's pirate ship. Together the three became history's most famous pirate crew and had one of the most colorful years of the Golden Age of Piracy before being captured. Real Pirates of the Caribbean looks at all of these notorious pirates, examining their careers and analyzing their legacies. Along with pictures, contemporary accounts, bibliographies, and a Table of Contents, you will learn about these famous pirates like never before.
Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of fighting at major battles like D-Day, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, the Bulge, and more *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents During World War II, the free world literally hung in the balance, with the Axis and Allies engaging in warfare on an unprecedented scale. Although Hitler's Nazi Germany had overrun much of the European continent by 1940, the Allies began to reverse the momentum in 1942. By the end of 1943, with Allied forces firmly established in Italy and the Soviets on the verge of turning the tide in Russia, the British and Americans began to plot the invasion that would liberate Europe from the Nazis. After the successful amphibious invasion on D-Day in June 1944, the Allies began racing east toward Germany and liberating France along the way. The Allies had landed along a 50 mile stretch of French coast, and despite suffering 8,000 casualties on D-Day, over 100,000 still began the march across the western portion of the continent. By the end of August 1944, the German Army in France was shattered, with 200,000 killed or wounded and a further 200,000 captured. However, Adolf Hitler reacted to the news of invasion with glee, figuring it would give the Germans a chance to destroy the Allied armies that had water to their backs. As he put it, "The news couldn't be better. We have them where we can destroy them." After resisting the German attack at the Battle of the Bulge, the Allied armies began advancing, and with that, the race to Berlin was truly on. In the weeks it took for the Battle of Berlin to be fought, an American president passed away, a British Prime Minister had to make concessions he did not desire, a Russian leader fought his way into Western Europe to stay, and a German one took his own life. The battle's implications would be felt for the next 50 years. When Admiral Chester Nimitz was directed to capture an island in the Bonin group, Iwo Jima stood out for its importance in making progress against the mainland, with three airfields that would allow American air forces to attack the Japanese mainland. But the Japanese were also well aware of how important Iwo Jima was, and they fought desperately in bunkers and tunnels that required the Americans to carefully clear them out gradually. Near the end of 1944, as Allied forces were pushing across the Pacific and edging ever closer to Japan, plans were drawn up to invade the Ryuku islands, the most prominent of them being Okinawa. Military planners anticipated that an amphibious campaign would last a week, but instead of facing 60,000 Japanese defenders as estimated, there were closer to 120,000 on the island at the beginning of the campaign in April 1945. The Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific theater, and it would last nearly 3 months and wind up being the fiercest in the Pacific theater during the war, with nearly 60,000 American casualties and over 100,000 Japanese soldiers killed. In addition, the battle resulted in an estimated 40,000-150,000 Japanese civilian casualties. Given the horrific nature of the combat, and the fact that it was incessant for several weeks, it's no surprise that Okinawa had a profound psychological effect on the men who fought, but it also greatly influenced the thinking of military leaders who were planning subsequent campaigns, including a potential invasion of the Japanese mainland. The casualty tolls at Okinawa ultimately helped compel President Truman to use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an effort to end the war before having to attempt such an invasion. The End of World War II: The History of the Battles that Ended the Fighting in Europe and the Pacific chronicles the background leading up to the end of the war in 1945. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the end of World War II like never before.
Автор: Charles River Editors, Harasta Jesse Название: The Mythology and Religion of the Aztec ISBN: 1544877463 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781544877464 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 1404.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes Spanish accounts of the Aztec's human sacrifices *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading
"They strike open the wretched Indian's chest with flint knives and hastily tear out the palpitating heart which, with the blood, they present to the idols...They cut off the arms, thighs and head, eating the arms and thighs at ceremonial banquets. The head they hang up on a beam, and the body is...given to the beasts of prey." - Bernal Diaz, a Spaniard who described the Aztec's human sacrifice
From the moment Spanish conquistador Hernan Cort s first found and confronted them, the Aztecs have fascinated the world, and they continue to hold a unique place both culturally and in pop culture. Nearly 500 years after the Spanish conquered their mighty empire, the Aztecs are often remembered today for their major capital, Tenochtitlan, as well as being fierce conquerors of the Valley of Mexico who often engaged in human sacrifice rituals.
Ironically, and unlike the Mayans, the Aztecs are not widely viewed or remembered with nuance, in part because their own leader burned extant Aztec writings and rewrote a mythologized history explaining his empire's dominance less than a century before the Spanish arrived. While the Mayans are remembered for their astronomy, numeral system, and calendar, the Aztecs have primarily been remembered in a far narrower way, despite continuing to be a source of pride to Mexicans through the centuries. As a result, even though the Aztecs continue to interest people across the world centuries after their demise, it has fallen on archaeologists and historians to try to determine the actual history, culture, and lives of the Aztecs from the beginning to the end, relying on excavations, primary accounts, and more.
That said, more is known about Aztec religious practices than any other aspect of their culture, mostly because the major element in the public ceremonies was focused on human sacrifice. The rituals were apparently so gruesome that they horrified even the Spanish, who were not exactly known for their gentility when it came to war and religious fervor. A Spaniard named Bernal Diaz described what happened at one religious ceremony: "They have a most horrid and abominable custom which truly ought to be punished and which until now we have seen in no other part, and this is that, whenever they wish to ask something of the idols, in order that their plea may find more acceptance, they take many girls and boys and even adults, and in the presence of these idols they open their chests while they are still alive and take out their hearts and entrails and burn them before the idols, offering the smoke as sacrifice. Some of us have seen this, and they say it is the most terrible and frightful thing they have ever witnessed." Naturally, Cort s and other Spaniards depicted the Aztecs as savages greatly in need of conversion to Catholicism.
The Spanish used the Aztec's religious practices as a justification for Cort s' conquest, but even though the Spanish attempted to burn as much as they could, plenty of information about Aztec mythology also survived. The Mythology and Religion of the Aztec examines the history and legacy of the religion practiced by the famous Mesoamerican empire. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Aztec religion and mythology like you never have before, in no time at all.
Автор: Charles River Editors Название: American Legends: The Life of Marvin Gaye ISBN: 1500704458 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781500704452 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 1248.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes Whitman's quotes and excerpts of poetry *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it." - Walt Whitman Walt Whitman, the great American poet, is also in many ways a great American enigma, for more and less are known about him than other famous men in 19th century American history. On the one hand, he was the product of something of an all-American family, the sort of salt of the earth people he would later describe so vividly in his work. On the other, he was a complete bohemian and profligate, given to vanity in the way he dressed and lived. He started out his career as a school teacher and was later a newspaper man, but he left both those types of work for a job as a government bureaucrat. As a young man, when most of his peers were sowing their wild oats, he was considered by many to be a stick in the mud who neither drank nor chased women. Then, as a middle-aged man, when his peers had settled down into quieter lives, he remained single and seems to have pursued romantic relationships with both men and women. Then, of course, there was his poetry, words that summarized both the best and worst about his nation. His seminal work, Leaves of Grass, began as little more than a pamphlet but grew for decades, as each new edition added more poems. By the time of his death, it had become a large volume still studied today. While he wrote other pieces for publication, Leaves of Grass remained his magnum opus and his baby, nurturing and developing it throughout his life. And yet, through it all, the title remained the same self-deprecating play on words that he had given it when he first self-published the work in 1855. Floyd Stovall, who published a collection of Whitman's works in 1933, explained how Whitman's life and work affected the society around him: "Whitman, like the age that produced him, was both a culmination and a beginning. In him was the flower of romantic idealism in America, which had its roots in the eighteenth-century philosophy of progress, and in him also the seed of scientific realism, which throws its maze of branches about contemporary thought. He bridges the chasm made by the Civil War between the idealism of the past and the materialism of the present and thus becomes the representative of united America...Yet he was never popular. In the passionate conflicts of a changing civilization, the advocate of harmony is liable to be suspected by all factions. So it was with Whitman. The realist distrusted his faith in humanity, and the idealist was shocked because he extolled the animalism of man. On the one hand, he allowed his readers no escape from the imperfections of the world, while on the other he required them to transcend these imperfections. The popular writer, however, must be one who enables his readers to retain their faith in the actual world by obscuring its imperfections in the twilight of sentiment and fancy." Walt Whitman: The Life and Legacy of One of America's Most Influential Poets looks at the life and times of 19th century America's most controversial poet and the impact his famous work had. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Walt Whitman like never before.
Описание: *Includes pictures of important people and places. *Discusses the origins, history, religion, and social structure of the Natchez. *Explains the Natchez's association with the Ancient Moundbuilders. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. From the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn, the narrative of American history is incomplete without the inclusion of the Native Americans that lived on the continent before European settlers arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the first contact between natives and settlers, tribes like the Sioux, Cherokee, and Navajo have both fascinated and perplexed outsiders with their history, language, and culture. In Charles River Editors' Native American Tribes series, readers can get caught up to speed on the history and culture of North America's most famous native tribes in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Though they are not as well known as tribes like the Sioux or Cherokee, the Creek are one of the oldest and most important Native American tribes in North America. With roots that tie them to the Ancient Moundbuilders, the Natchez were one of the most established groups in the Southeastern United States, and came to be known as one of the Five Civilized Tribes. It's also believed that they were among the first natives encountered by Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto's historic expedition in the mid-16th century. Like various other indigenous groups, the Natchez quickly found themselves in conflict with European powers, most notably the French, who they engaged in a series of battles with during the early 18th century. The French decimated the tribe and led to the dispersal of their dwindling numbers, but the Natchez continue to occupy popular imaginations because of several unique features that make them stand out from other groups. Despite counting so many well-known tribes among their neighbors, the Natchez managed to maintain a distinctly different culture, most notably the fact that their language was so different that it is actually considered its own isolated language. Furthermore, they had a unique chieftain social structure, and for the past 80 years, scholars and archaeologists have been excavating a settlement known as the Grand Village of the Natchez that dates back about 1500 years. Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Natchez comprehensively covers the culture and history of the famous group, profiling their origins, their history, and the debates and mysteries surrounding their famous settlement. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Natchez like you never have before, in no time at all.
Описание: *Includes pictures of Teddy, FDR, Eleanor, and important people, places and events in their lives. *Explains the relationships among the Roosevelts and their family history. They were American legends who revolutionized the roles in the White House and the way the government deals with its citizens. They also happened to be related. For a man who grew up to become the "Bull Moose", Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child, suffering from asthma and other maladies. But his physical weakness actually drove him to be more active, which also fostered an interest in nature. It also helped that Teddy's family was wealthy, allowing him privileges including home school and the ability to attend Harvard, where he was an athlete and took an interest in naval affairs. After finishing at Harvard, Teddy entered politics, but it didn't stop him from writing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882, establishing himself as a professional writer and historian. In the 1890s, it was Teddy's turn to make history, leading the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War and being decorated for his service with a Medal of Honor. He parlayed his glory into the governorship of New York and then the Vice Presidency under William McKinley. When McKinley was assassinated in 1901, young Teddy was thrust into the presidency, one that would earn him a place on Mount Rushmore, Roosevelt's "Square Deal" domestic policies favored average citizens while busting trusts and monopolies. Roosevelt also promoted conservation as an environmental stance, while his "speak softly and carry a big stick" foreign policy is still an oft used phrase today. Roosevelt even earned a Nobel Prize during his presidency. If Teddy wasn't the greatest president of the 20th century, it might be due to his own relative. FDR was certainly the most unique. A well-connected relative of Theodore Roosevelt, FDR was groomed for greatness until he was struck down by what was widely believed to be polio at the time. Nevertheless, he persevered, rising through New York politics to reach the White House just as the country faced its greatest challenge since the Civil War, beginning his presidency with one of the most iconic lines ever spoken during an inaugural address. For over a decade, President Roosevelt threw everything he had at the Great Depression, and then threw everything the country had at the Axis powers during World War II. Ultimately, he succumbed to illness in the middle of his fourth term, just before the Allies won the war. If Dolley Madison was instrumental in molding the role of First Lady in the 19th century, credit can be given to Eleanor Roosevelt for revolutionizing the political nature of the role in the 20th and 21st centuries and making it possible for presidents like Bill Clinton to enlist their wives to handle political duties. At the same time, history might remember Eleanor more for what she did outside of the White House, as she became a critically acclaimed and world famous international author and advocate of civil rights, women's rights. By the time she had finished working for the United Nations, working on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, President Truman rightly called her "The First Lady of the World." The Roosevelts chronicles the amazing lives and careers of the Teddy, FDR and Eleanor and analyzes their relationships and legacies, but it also humanizes the Bull Moose, the man who was doggedly determined to conquer his enemies, and the dutiful wife who persevered through her husband's marital infidelities to become one of his most important political allies and spokesmen. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Roosevelts like you never have before.
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