Ebooks de historia, página 2 de 7

The race to reach the South Pole is a compelling tale of courage and hardship. Begun by the Ancient Greeks, its history climaxed 2,000 years later with the ultimate triumph and tragedy of Amundsen and Scott, separated by a matter of weeks. Discover the role played by an ancient obelisk in early exploration, learn how the frozen land repulsed the advances of great explorers like Captain Cook and explore how the Antarctic continent was finally discovered by chance.It is a remarkable story that captures ambitious men like Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton along with the unsung heroes like Crean and Wild, who spent longer on the ice than the better-known explorers. This dramatic history is expertly woven by polar historian Michael Smith, who introduces us to the opportunistic Norwegian claiming to be the first to set foot on Antarctica, the kilted Scots piper performing to a puzzled penguin and the French captain who typified national sang-froid by cracking open the champagne. Smith also examines the life-changing differences between Amundsen and Scott in the final march to the Pole and how Scotts journey, a century after his death, continues to this day.Ultimately, Towards the Coldest Place highlights the great explorers and colourful characters whose incredible feats in the worlds most inhospitable region have made Antarctic exploration so enduringly popular.

From the author of A Ghost in the Throat, an unforgettable book - both history and ghost story - that will leave you gasping by its final page.In the city of Cork, a derelict Victorian mental hospital is being converted into modern apartments. One passerby has always flinched as she passes the place. Had she lived in another time, she too might have found herself held within those walls.Now, she notices a sign: FOR SALE.It is the first of many signs. Guided by an irresistible impulse, she follows them. Soon, she is trespassing, stealing, absconding from the routine of mother, spouse, daughter, as she uncovers a chorus of startling voices: those of the women who knew the hospital best. They murmur from archives and old records. They haunt from stairwells and walls. In them - and in one figure in particular -- she may find meaning and solace, righteous anger, salvation even. Or her final vanishing?A work of sublime intensity and tenderness, Said the Dead breaks the boundaries between worlds -- past and present, imagined and real, fact and fiction -- to make something new and lasting: an experience full of danger, full of love and full of truth.Praise for the work of Doireann Ni GhriofaThe effect is electric, like seeing a ghost returned to life.New Statesman Obliterates every clear definition of genre and form . . . Astounding and utterly fresh.Irish IndependentLush, lyrical prose that dazzles readers from the get-go . . . sumptuous, almost symphonic, in its intensity.Sunday TimesPast versus present, blood versus milk, birth versus death . . . dichotomies abound, but the questions of womens lived experiences and who history remembers link them all.Paris Review

Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be downtown, on Main Street. News footage shows office workers leaning out of windows, peering at the motorcade through a blizzard of ticker tape. On the sidewalks, the crowds are fifty deep, a wall of noise and celebration. Everyone thinks this is the place to be.A few blocks away, in Dealey Plaza, the air is different. There is no ticker tape here. The crowds are thin. The only person filming is a dressmaker balanced on a concrete plinth. In this quiet corner, theres a man opening an umbrella even though it isnt raining, a construction worker in a hard hat who claims he was sent here by God, three tramps who stand on the verge of becoming suspects, an unidentified witness known only as the Babushka Lady, and many more.This is not a book about conspiracies or a lone gunman. This is a book about memory, about how we construct our shared history, and about what happens when your life is defined by a single, fleeting moment. Its about a group of real people who opted out of the main event before John F. Kennedy was assassinated, only to find themselves accidental witnesses to the most scrutinised six seconds of the twentieth century.

We sat on our bags and waited, our cargo piled high beside us. The tide lapped at the stone wall below us, and in that moment, with the land behind and the sea in front, I felt the first real jolt of what we were doing. This is real. Its happening.Lesley Bond and her partner, Gordon, were the first couple to embark on the six-month caretaking residency on the Great Blasket Island, one of Irelands most remote and historically rich locations. With no electricity, hot water or modern conveniences, their daily existence was like nothing they had experienced before.A unique blend of personal reflection and rich heritage, Blasket Bound reveals how the past continues to shape the present. It is a deep exploration of identity, illustrating how the environments we inhabit and the histories we inherit leave an indelible mark.

De la mano de uno de los historiadores más aclamados de nuestro tiempo llega la gran biografía de Rasputín. Cuando la emperatriz viuda de Rusia estaba embarazada del futuro zar, tuvo un sueño que marcaria el resto de sus dias: su hijo moriria a manos de un campesino. ¿Se cumpliria esa profecia con la llegada a la corte de Grigori Rasputin, un enigmatico monje apenas alfabetizado, procedente de Siberia?En este retrato extraordinario, Antony Beevor nos acerca como nunca antes a la escandalosa vida y muerte de Rasputin. Aunque nunca ocupo un cargo oficial en la corte, ejercio una influencia decisiva sobre los Romanov y protagonizo episodios de corrupcion politica y financiera y numerosos escandalos sexuales. Las consecuencias de los rumores y las teorias conspirativas a su alrededor propiciaron tal desafeccion hacia la corte del zar que, cuando estallo la Revolucion de febrero de 1917, casi nadie alzo una espada en su defensa.A traves de informes, entrevistas e interrogatorios ineditos, Beevor revela la verdad tras la leyenda de Rasputin: las motivaciones de su oportunismo politico, su profunda hipocresia y la lujuria desenfrenada. Entre un thriller politico y un misterio gotico, esta biografia revela una historia fascinante de perversion humana y caida de imperios.

Esta historia general de China y de su civilización es el único libro existente en el mercado que, en sólo 700 páginas, nos ofrece una síntesis global de la evolución de China en todos los campos y en todas las epocas. El profesor Jacques Gernet dibuja en este libro, paso a paso, las transformaciones sucesivas del mundo chino y la interrelacion entre sociedad, formas politicas, economia, tecnicas, religiones y vida intelectual que han ido trenzando la peculiaridad china. Esta obra es un libro unico en su genero porque situa a China en un contexto mundial, en relacion permanente con los otros grandes centros de la civilizacion, para ayudarnos a comprender mejor la trayectoria de nuestro propio mundo occidental.

El situacionismo no es historia, es un espejo incómodo en el que el presente sigue reconociéndose.En los años sesenta y setenta, una ola de revueltas recorrió el mundo en respuesta al creciente dominio de la mercancia y el Estado sobre todos los aspectos de la vida. El situacionismo fue decisivo en ese levantamiento, y su huella en Mayo del 68 marco para siempre la critica mas radical a la condicion moderna. Sus raices no estaban en el movimiento obrero, sino en las vanguardias artisticas del siglo xx: el dadaismo, el surrealismo, el letrismo, etc. Artistas disidentes, a medio camino entre la rebeldia y la transgresion, con un programa rupturista: rechazar las condiciones de vida impuestas al hombre moderno, tanto en las sociedades capitalistas avanzadas como en los regimenes que se consideraban comunistas, y experimentar formas de existencia verdaderamente nuevas.Este libro analiza con rigor las raices culturales de las teorias y practicas situacionistas y rastrea su legado plural y contradictorio, entre los intelectuales posmodernos y el arte contemporaneo, entre los estrategas del poder neocapitalista y los movimientos de resistencia de nuestros dias. Porque el situacionismo sigue siendo una de las criticas mas lucidas y perturbadoras de la modernidad.El libro de referencia sobre el situacionismo. Le MondeUn trabajo de historia de las ideas rico, exhaustivo y luminoso. A la vez introduccion y obra de referencia. Benjamin Caraco, NonfictionUn estudio entusiasta pero no idolatra sobre el situacionismo. Benoit Duteurtre, MarianneUna obra sobre el situacionismo y su historia que rapidamente se volvera indispensable. Recours au Poeme

La historiadora Mary S. Hartman ha escrito una obra sobre la historia social de las mujeres del sigloXIX desde una perspectiva reveladora: sus asesinatos preferidos.Time MagazineEsta obra fascinante, combinacion de true crime e historia social, analiza una docena de casos del siglo XIX que involucran a trece mujeres inglesas y francesas acusadas de asesinato. Todos estos sucesos fueron causes celebres y la autora se adentra en ellos evitando la categorizacion facil de sus protagonistas como fenomenos macabros o lunaticas; Hartman se preocupa por estudiar y entender las circunstancias que motivaron las acciones de esas asesinas respetables para desenmascarar un sistema que impedia y negaba la posibilidad de buscar justicia a las mujeres de la epoca.Cuidadosamente documentada y escrita con vivido dramatismo, Asesinas victorianas indaga en los motivos que llevaron a estas mujeres a actuar de una forma tan drastica y ofrece una vision unica de la vida tras las apariencias de la sociedad victoriana. La imagen prototipica de la mujer de aquel momento la de una respetable madre y esposa de clase media cambiara radicalmente tras leer este impactante relato que revela con rigor y perspicacia las dinamicas y actitudes imperantes hacia el papel de las mujeres y las relaciones domesticas: Las acusadas seran el centro, pero los relatos se enfocaran en su contribucion colectiva a nuestro entendimiento de sus hermanas menos sensacionales.

Through most of eight hundred years, Somerled of Argyll has been variously denounced as an intractable rebel against his rightful king and esteemed as the honoured ancestor of the later medieval Lord of the Isles, but he can be recognised now as a much more complex figure of major prominence in twelfth-century Scotland and of truly landmark significance in the long history of the Gael. In this book individual chapters investigate his emergence in the forefront of the Gaelic-Norse aristocracy of the western seaboard, his part in Gaeldoms challenge to the Canmore kings of Scots, his war on the Manx king of the Isles, his importance for the church on Iona, and his extraordinary invasion of the Clyde which was cut short by his violent death at Renfrew in 1164. Perhaps most impressive is the books demonstration of how almost everything that is known of or has been claimed for Somerled reflects the same characteristic fusion of Norse and Celt which binds the cultural roots of Gaeldom. It is this recognition which has led its author to his proposal of Somerleds wider historical importance as the personality who most represents the first fully-fledged emergence of the medieval Celtic-Scandinavian cultural province from which is directly descended the Gaelic Scotland of today.

Labours greatest ever Prime Minister is seen afresh in this concise and illuminating account. Attlees government did not simply respond to hardship; it reshaped the state, creating the NHS, extending welfare and redefining the relationship between citizen and country.As Jason Cowley, former editor of the New Statesman, attests, Attlees revolution was understated, but its effects proved enduring a reminder that long-lasting social and political change are more achievable than we often think.

There is a need to tell a better story about Britain because bad stories are being told. These are bad in the sense both of doing the historical facts an injustice, and of causing damaging political effects. One bad story currently dominant is one that portrays Britain as a systemically racist country, whose racism is rooted in its colonial history, which was nothing but a litany of worldwide oppression and exploitation. This bad story has real-time political consequences.A Better Story About Britain will counter these stories with a better one more historically honest, more appreciative of the legacy of Britains past, and more hopeful about Britains future.

When the Pipers Play is a fascinating account of the bagpipe as an instrument of war, packed full of remarkable stories. Based on the author Patrick Kings award-winning films, the book combines historical research with exclusive interviews and traces the crucial role of the military piper from the Highlander at Culloden to the carnage of Waterloo and from the trenches of the Great War to the beaches of Normandy. The author reveals how the use of music in war, including drums, bugles and pipes, has for centuries controlled the battlefield. His analysis of the pipes ranges from regulating the soldiers day in camp to a role in wartime propaganda films and how the instrument remains the one primal element in the sophistication of modern warfare. The regimental piper is the real hero of this book. A must read for anyone who enjoys stories of courage and adventure.

Often, they appeared just once, tucked away in the corner of a lavish stand at one of the big international motor shows; some were never shown in public, confined to technical conferences and seminars. Not flashy dream cars, rather, these are the real concept cars, produced less for show and eye-catching magazine covers, and more to demonstrate technological prowess of their makers. Ray Hutton delves into the archives to remember forty of these fascinating one-offs created through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, a time of rapid development for everyday cars and growth in sales for the premium brands. Between them, they predicted almost all of the features of todays production cars. And, just as important, are the ambitious failures and the purposely provocative that led nowhere. Most of these cars are long forgotten. They are, in a sense, the cars that never were, and they represent milestones in that development as well as being fascinating in their own right. This book brings them briefly back to life.

Visit any settlement in the land and there will be ancient buildings hidden in plain sight. Behind a Victorian façade is a Tudor house. Underneath a Georgian frontage is a mediaeval cottage. What is now a modern farm may once have been a castle. We know relatively little about the ancient buildings that surround us, yet buildings archaeology can offer us so many clues for discovering secret hidden historic houses. This book looks at the ways in which ancient buildings have been studied and conserved, the puzzling ways that some buildings became listed whereas others were overlooked, and how we can really understand the age and development of a structure. With over a quarter of a century of field experience, James Wright uses case studies drawn from his career to explain the fascinating, enigmatic, and frequently surprising world of The Buildings Archaeologist.

Philip of Spain is known in England primarily as the husband of Mary I, the adversary of Elizabeth I. The Spanish Armada hangs about his neck like an albatross. Yet Philips life encompasses most of the major struggles and issues of the sixteenth century, as he battled to control the vast Empires acquired by his father, alongside his crippling debts.A complex and private man, Philip dealt with personal tragedy whilst fighting fires across Europe and presiding over a golden era of art and literature.As the 500th anniversary of Philips birth approaches, its time for a fresh look at the man, the myth and the marriages.

Eleven episodes examine every aspect of Agatha Christies famous disappearance, seeking as far as is possible to penetrate the blank space in the long and brilliant life, which leaves her ever more emblematic of the genre that she defines: the mystery writer who held her own mystery.Addressing the questions that have never been answered: why, for instance, a week into the eleven days, did Agatha place an advertisement in the personal columns of The Times? and following the clues that still reside, for instance, within the vast quantities of newsprint from the period, this is a short, stylish book. An examination of a myth; a gleaming sliver of biography; an irresistible puzzle that the reader, too, will feel compelled to try and solve.

During the London Blackout, in February 1942, RAF cadet Gordon Cummins unleashed a brutal killing spree, attacking six women in five days and murdering four. His victims ranged from a chemist to sex workers, leaving a trail of horror across darkened streets.Detective Chief Inspector Edward Greeno, aided by fingerprint pioneer Fred Cherrill, meticulously tracked Cummins down. Evidence piled up and despite his familys pleas of innocence, Cummins was convicted and hanged.Loved by his wife, popular with his superior officers, Cummins was a multi-layered enigma. However, crucial statements given by one woman who fought him off and another who survived his attack give chilling insight into the monstrous side of this affable, well-liked young psychopath.Robin Jarossi explores this extraordinary, frequently shocking and disturbing narrative, encompassing the harrowing stories of victims, survivors and the police work of the time, to offer insights into a society facing wartime upheaval and under siege, as gender roles and societal norms were cast aside.

Trail-blazing journalist Mea Allan was born in a leafy suburb of Glasgow in 1909 and made her name as a tenacious reporter on the grim streets of a city ruled by Peaky Blinders-style gangs, even interviewing members of the IRA. Soon she went south to Fleet Street, where she reported on life on the Home Front, witnessing the worst of the London Blitz and experiencing it too, as she was bombed out herself. As the war turned in favour of the Allies, she was the first woman accredited to the British Forces as a war correspondent, accompanying them across the Continent, witnessing the liberation of Belsen and the plight of thousands of displaced persons.After the traumas of the war, she immersed herself in village life, became an avid gardener whose works on the subject were immensely popular and finally found love and set up home with photographer Grace Woodbridge, with whom she collaborated on several books. By the time she died in 1982, Mea had 12 non-fiction books to her name, four novels, thousands of yards of newsprint, and a legacy that is begging to be told.

Cornwall Uncharted reveals the countys vibrant queer histories for the first time, tracing a hidden tapestry of creativity and community from the eighteenth century to today. Through an original synthesis of art and literary analysis examining studio paintings, poetry, novels and private manuscripts as well as meticulous archival research in coaching-inn records, market ledgers, architectural surveys and wartime reminiscences, this rigorous study reconstructs the social and cultural worlds where nonconforming lives were forged.Six thematic chapters from urban concealments and coastal artist retreats to lighthouses, rural hinterlands, du Mauriers literary landscapes and contemporary grassroots networks demonstrate how Cornwalls unique geography shaped queer expression and solidarity.Challenging metropolitan-centric narratives, this book offers a compelling model of peripheral resistance and belonging, inviting scholars and general readers alike to rediscover Cornwall as a crucial site of queer innovation.

One of Tudor historys rising stars. - Steven Veerapen, author of The Wisest FoolFIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER HER DEATH, MARY BOLEYN DESERVES HER STORY TO BE TOLD CORRECTLYMary Boleyn has long been dismissed as the great and infamous whore, her story overshadowed by scandal and myth.But what if everything we thought we knew about her was wrong?Drawing on newly retranslated original sources and rare archival material, Mary Boleyn: The Queens Slandered Sister peels away centuries of rumour to reveal the true Mary Boleyn. Far from the reckless wanton of legend, she emerges as a woman of ambition, resilience, and intelligence. Acclaimed historian Sylvia Barbara Soberton challenges outdated narratives, uncovering the real extent of Marys relationships with Henry VIII and Francis I, her role in the rise and fall of her younger sister Anne, and her life beyond the royal spotlight.This revelatory biography rewrites Mary Boleyns story a must-read for Tudor history enthusiasts.