Essais & Culture

They said she was a tyrant, a murderer and the most wicked woman in history. She kicked her way into the male spaces of politics and demanded to be recognised as an equal and a leader. For her audacity, she was murdered by her son and reviled by history. She was the sister, niece, wife and mother of emperors. She was an empress in her own right. And she was a nuanced, fearless trailblazer in the Roman world. The story of Agrippina – the first empress of Rome – is the story of an empire at its bloody, extravagant, chaotic, ruthless height.

Accompanying the first ever exhibition on the storytelling around Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, this book charts the evolution of a legend that continues to captivate audiences today.

Alexander the Great acceded to the throne at the age of 20, as king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. By his death in 323 BC, he had created one of the largest empires in the world - but myth proved more powerful than historical truth, and Alexander's life remains lost in legend.

These stories permeate western and eastern cultures and religions, and have endured for more than 2,000 years. Even now, Alexander continues to appeal to new generations and his image persists today in film, theatre, literature and even video games.

This book explores the stories that began shortly after Alexander's mysterious death, and that by the Middle Ages had developed into a narrative of Alexander as the all-conquering hero who fought mythical beasts and explored the unknown using submarines and flying chariots. These incredible legends are brought to life here with exquisite original illustrations in books and manuscripts from around the globe.

The compelling story of the greatest warrior hero of ancient times, from award-winning writer, Jamila Gavin. Alexander the Great is hailed as the world’s greatest leaders of all time, renowned for his bravery, his loyalty and his generosity towards his enemies. Jamila Gavin’s vivid narrative brings the ancient world to life, as she follows Alexander’s campaign from Greece to India. From his taming of the wild horse Bucephalus, to the cutting of the Gordian Knot, through to his great battles and confrontations with Darius III, King of Persia, Alexander was a legend in his own lifetime. Alongside his campaigning feats, the legends from ancient Greece, Egypt, Persia and India told around the army campfires create a vivid and exciting picture of life under this great hero.

"He was a man like no other man has ever been" In twelve years that changed the world, Alexander the Great conquered a vast empire, extending from the Danube to the rivers of the Punjab, and from Egypt to Uzbekistan. Arrian, a Greek man of letters, military commander, and holder of the highest political offices in both Rome and Athens, wrote the definitive account of Alexander's life and campaigns, published as the Anabasis. A dramatic fast-moving story, told with great narrative skill, his work is now our prime and most detailed source for the history of Alexander--a compelling account of an exceptional leader, brilliant, ruthless, passionate, and complex. Martin Hammond's engaging translation-new for this volume--is fully alive to the literary qualities of Arrian's prose, making this the most readable and attractive modern version. This is also the only edition of the Anabasis to include Arrian's companion piece, the Indica, a fascinating account of the voyage of Alexander's fleet from south India to the Persian Gulf, with descriptions of the geography, customs, and natural curiosities of India. John Atkinson's Introduction sets Arrian in his historical context and describes the life of Alexander as it is reflected in his work. In addition. this volume includes extensive notes that identify historical references and allusions, and highlight the interplay of historical and literary issues. Lastly readers will also find three invaluable appendices, maps and site plans, and a comprehensive analytical index. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

"The word "love" is most often defined as a noun, yet...we would all love better if we used it as a verb," writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness. As bell hooks uses her incisive mind and razor-sharp pen to explore the question "What is love?" her answers strike at both the mind and heart. In thirteen concise chapters, hooks examines her own search for emotional connection and society's failure to provide a model for learning to love. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for the individuals and for a nation. The Utne Reader declared bell hooks one of the "100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life." All About Love is a powerful affirmation of just how profoundly she can.

Ένα καλλιτεχνικό πρότζεκτ που προάγει τον Ελληνισμό και την αγάπη για την Ελλάδα σε όλο τον κόσμο. H εικαστικός Καρολίνα Ροβύθη και η Key Books παρουσιάζουν το λεύκωμα All You Need is Greece, μία συλλογή πολύχρωμων, φωτεινών και ενδυναμωτικών έργων τέχνης που επιδεικνύουν την ομορφιά, το πνεύμα και τη δύναμη της χώρας μας, ακόμα και σε καιρούς ταραγμένους. Το All You Need is Greece αιχμαλωτίζει στις σελίδες του την ουσία της Ελλάδας. Διαχρονικά σύμβολα γεφυρώνουν την αρχαία ιστορία με τη σύγχρονη εποχή, συνδυάζοντας το ηρωικό παρελθόν της χώρας μας με έντονα χρώματα και μοντέρνα εικονογράφηση. Η έκδοση τελεί υπό την αιγίδα του Ε.Ο.Τ. και προλογίζεται από την πρόεδρό του, κυρία Άντζελα Γκερέκου.

*As heard on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour**A Blackwell's and Waterstones Best Popular Science Book of 2022*'Excellent ... one of those rare pop-science books that make you look at the whole world differently' The Daily Telegraph ***** 'Riveting' Mail on Sunday *****'Captivating' Guardian, Book of the Day'Compelling' ObserverSarah Chaney takes us on an eye-opening and surprising journey into the history of science, revisiting the studies, landmark experiments and tests that proliferated from the early 19th century to find answers to the question: what's normal? These include a census of hallucinations - and even a UK beauty map (which claimed the women in Aberdeen were "the most repellent"). On the way she exposes many of the hangovers that are still with us from these dubious endeavours, from IQ tests to the BMI.

Interrogating how the notion and science of standardisation has shaped us all, as individuals and as a society, this book challenges why we ever thought that normal might be a desirable thing to be.