European Art

Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.

In the years leading up to 1606, since the death of Queen Elizabeth and the arrival in England of her successor, King James of Scotland, Shakespeare's great productivity had ebbed, and it may have seemed to some that his prolific genius was a thing of the past. But that year, at age 42, he found his footing again, finishing a play he had begun the previous autumn - King Lear - then writing two other great tragedies, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.

However, a historical transformation of similar magnitude also took place in northern Europe at the same time. This "Other Renaissance" was initially centered on the city of Bruges in Flanders (modern Belgium), but its influence was soon being felt in France, the German states, London, and even in Italy itself.

Are you ready to embark on a journey through the rich history of art? Discover the key movements and artists that have shaped the Western art tradition and gain a deeper understanding of how art reflects the world around us. With this book, you will: Expand your knowledge of art history in an easily digestible format. Engage with key facts and features from significant art movements. Delve into the Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism and other periods as well as lesser known but still highly ...

Charles Dickens: A Life gives full measure to Dickens's heroic stature - his huge virtues both as a writer and as a human being - while observing his failings in both respects with an unblinking eye. Renowned literary biographer Claire Tomalin crafts a story worthy of Dickens's own pen, a comedy that turns to tragedy as the very qualities that made him great - his indomitable energy, boldness, imagination, and showmanship - finally destroyed him.

Nine essential works by C. S. Lewis in one deluxe audio edition: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Miracles, The Problem of Pain, A Grief Observed, The Abolition of Man, The Weight of Glory, and George MacDonald.

Stefan Zweig's memoir, The World of Yesterday, recalls the golden age of prewar Europe - its seeming permanence, its promise and its devastating fall with the onset of two world wars. Zweig's passionate, evocative prose paints a stunning portrait of an era that danced brilliantly on the brink of extinction. It is an unusually humane account of Europe from the closing years of the 19th century through to World War II, seen through the eyes of one of the most famous writers of his era.

Blood oozes from the young duelist’s chin. The doctor moves to inspect the injury as the arbiter consults his pocket watch to note the precise time of the blutung (blooding) in his book. The swordsmen are allowed to return to their marks, and there they raise their heavily padded right arms above their heads. The weapon arm takes on an almost saurian character at this moment, and the opponents allow the points of their rapiers to hang down in the space which separates them. The seconds assume their positions, and at the command of “Los!” the combat begins anew. The motion of the ...

C. S. Lewis wrote of George MacDonald: "I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself." Lewis also claimed that everything he wrote was influenced by this Scottish pastor and novelist who lived a century before Lewis. George MacDonald serves as an act of appreciation, with Lewis gathering 365 of the best and most profound lines from his mentor as well as providing a preface detailing the impact MacDonald had on Lewis' own literary and spiritual career.

Juliette Binoche is more than an actress—she is a force of nature. From her breakout role in The Unbearable Lightness of Being to her Oscar-winning turn in The English Patient, from the raw grief of Blue to the daring intensity of Certified Copy and Clouds of Sils Maria, Binoche has built a career defined by bold choices, fearless performances, and a refusal to be categorized. In The Enigma of Juliette Binoche, acclaimed biographer Julien Peltier takes readers on a sweeping journey through the life and career of one of France’s greatest cinematic treasures. With a narrative blending ...

Some time in the 1920s Salmson Creak wrote this instructional manual which reads like a rambling love affair with the art of Jiu-Jitsu. I think that this is something many of us can relate to in this day and age, as we recall the recent golden age of Jiu-Jitsu in the various MMA formats, and the sense among all martial artists that this form of grappling was indeed the last word in fighting, a holy grail of hand-to-hand combat. But Creak is advising the reader to replace his other self defense preferences with jiu-jitsu for the very reasons we once heard offered for using more modern ...

In literary legend, Faustus is the quintessential occult personality of early modern Europe. The historical Faustus, however, was something quite different: a magus—a learned magician fully embedded in the scholarly currents and public life of the Renaissance. And he was hardly the only one. Anthony Grafton argues that the magus in sixteenth-century Europe was a distinctive intellectual type, both different from and indebted to medieval counterparts as well as contemporaries like the engineer, the artist, the Christian humanist, and the religious reformer.

More than any other canonical English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer lived and worked at the center of political life - yet his poems are anything but conventional. Edgy, complicated, and often dark, they reflect a conflicted world, and their astonishing diversity and innovative language earned Chaucer renown as the father of English literature. Marion Turner, however, reveals him as a great European writer and thinker.

The Da Vinci Legacy by Evan Blackmoor Hidden beneath the majestic beauty of France’s Loire Valley lies a secret Leonardo da Vinci never meant the world to discover… When art historian Claire Martin accepts an invitation to Château de Chambord, she imagines quiet research among Renaissance treasures. Instead, she stumbles into a centuries-old conspiracy guarding one of da Vinci’s most dangerous creations. With the help of Julien, a mysterious archivist whose family legacy ties him to the secret, Claire is drawn into a perilous game of codes, forbidden wings, hidden staircases, and a ...

Step into the extraordinary life of Isabelle Huppert, the actress who redefined what it means to be fearless on screen. From her quiet beginnings in Paris to international acclaim across Europe, Hollywood, and Asia, Huppert’s story is one of relentless daring. She has built a career not on safe choices, but on risks that pushed cinema itself forward—playing characters that disturb, provoke, and captivate in equal measure. In The Enigma of Isabelle Huppert, part of the acclaimed series The Stars of French Cinema, biographer Julien Peltier traces Huppert’s journey through decades of ...

Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of listeners the world over with his best-selling Discworld series - but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer's research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together for the first time the finest examples of Pratchett's nonfiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important).

Award-winning, best-selling author Edwidge Danticat taps her exceptional storytelling gifts for this memoir of the two men who raised her. When the author was only four years old, her parents emigrated from Haiti to New York in search of a better life, leaving their daughter in the care of her uncle Joseph. A peaceful pastor in Port-au-Prince, Joseph raised Edwidge with the love and devotion of a father, despite facing many hardships in politically turbulent Haiti.

Please do NOT read this if you believe all psychiatrists are wonderful. Read it if you have doubts and want a critical and informed view from an independent doctor. Dr Coleman, who has spent over 40 years campaigning for the mentally ill (and has been widely praised for his work by patients, doctors and the British Government),explains why psychiatry is not a science and psychiatrists should be treated with caution. Dr Vernon Coleman MB ChB DSc FRSA is a general practitioner and the author of over 100 books which have sold over 2 million hardback and paperback copies in the UK and been ...

“IT ALL STARTED WITH MY BALLS.” So begins Colm Tóibín’s fabulously compelling essay, laced with humor, about his diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Tóibín survives, but he has entered, as he says, “the age of one ball.” Tóibín describes his education by priests, several of whom were condemned years later for abuse. He writes about Irish history and literature, and about the long, tragic journey toward legal and social acceptance of homosexuality. A Guest at the Feast is both an intimate encounter with a creative artist and a glorious celebration of writing.

In this examination of Solzhenitsyn and his work, Lee Congdon explores the consequences of the atheistic socialism that drove the Russian revolutionary movement.