Figuring Out The Past

Download or read book Figuring Out the Past written by Peter Turchin and published by The Economist. This book was released on 2020-11-17 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the world records that define our history and jump headfirst into the past using scientific data that reveals accurate and insightful answers to life’s biggest questions. What was history's biggest empire? Or the tallest building of the ancient world? What was the plumbing like in medieval Byzantium? The average wage in the Mughal Empire? Where did scientific writing first emerge? What was the bloodiest ever ritual human sacrifice? ​ We are used to thinking about history in terms of stories. Yet we understand our own world through data: cast arrays of statistics that reveal the workings of our societies. In Figuring Out the Past, radical historians Peter Turchin and Dan Hoyer dive into the numbers that reveal the true shape of the past, drawing on their own Seshat project, a staggeringly ambitious attempt to log every data point that can be gathered for every society that has ever existed. This book does more than tell the story of humanity: it shows you the big picture, by the numbers.

Download or read book African Samurai written by Thomas Lockley and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography of the first foreign-born samurai and his journey from Africa to Japan is “a readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life” (The Washington Post). When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society. In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries and cultures offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan. “Fast-paced, action-packed writing. . . . A new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Eminently readable. . . . a worthwhile and entertaining work.” —Publishers Weekly “A unique story of a unique man, and yet someone with whom we can all identify.” —Jack Weatherford, New York Times–bestselling author of Genghis Khan

Download or read book Puzzling Out the Past written by Marilyn J. Lundberg and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2012-05-03 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bruce Zuckerman has transformed the way we look at ancient Semitic inscriptions. The series of articles included here honour his many contributions through discussions of a wide variety of inscriptional materials, Biblical texts, archaeology, lexicography and teaching methodology.

Download or read book Getting Past the Affair written by Douglas K. Snyder and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 2007-01-06 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has been replaced by Getting Past the Affair, Second Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-4748-7.

Download or read book Out Past the Stars written by K. B. Wagers and published by Orbit. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gunrunner empress Hail Bristol must navigate alien politics and deadly plots to prevent an interspecies war, in the explosive finale to the Farian War space opera trilogy. When Hail finally confronts the Farian gods, she makes a stunning discovery. There are no gods—only the Hiervet, an alien race with devastating powers who once spread war throughout the galaxy long before humanity’s ancestors crawled out of the sludge of Earth’s oceans. But this knowledge carries with it dire news: the Hiervet have returned, eager to take revenge on those of their kind who escaped. And they don’t care who gets caught in the middle of the battle—Shen, Farian, or Indranan. Once again, the fate of the galaxy is on the line and Hail will have to make one final gamble to leverage chaos into peace. Praise for The Farian War Trilogy: "A fantastic send-off for one of science fiction’s most remarkable recent protagonists." —Publishers Weekly "Action-and-emotion-packed, folding political tension, personal relationships, and trauma into a vivid space opera that does not pull any punches." —Library Journal (starred review) "An exciting dose of space opera and political intrigue peppered with hard choices. Highly recommended!" —Booklist The Farian War Trilogy There Before the Chaos Down Among the Dead Out Past the Stars For more from K. B. Wagers, check out: Indranan War Trilogy Behind the Throne After the Crown Beyond the Empire

Download or read book Out of the Past written by Denysé Bridger and published by Untreed Reads. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of killings has the Toronto Police Department in turmoil. The press has labelled the killer a "werewolf" and hysteria is on the rise in the heat of the summer. Detective Damien Knightley is the lead investigator, but he's got secrets of his own that need guarding in this very public investigation. Knightley is a vampire, and as the case gets more complex, what he discovers has him both baffled and worried. In the Northern Ontario town of Brighton, a visionary woman finds a stranger outside her door, and because he's near death she brings him into her home. In the wake of her kindness, dreams and visions expose things that terrify her. The stranger is a wolf, and history is about to repeat itself and explode in violent death if they can't reach Toronto and capture a renegade on a blood-hunt. As Damien recalls a love from a century ago, the threads of time are being pulled together, joining the past and the present. The beautiful woman he is falling in love with is bringing back memories he'd rather forget, and when the killer is finally revealed, there are more questions than answers in the identity?

Download or read book Out of the Past written by P X Duke and published by P X Duke. This book was released on 2013-07-01 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: