從古波斯到現代伊朗，一個「心智的帝國」如何誕生？本書內容綱舉目張，文字流暢易讀，是一部難以替代的伊朗通史也是在西方主調之外，認識今日複雜世界情勢的快速入門伊朗是熱門的新聞名詞，卻又是我們極為陌生的國度。它在媒體上經常呈現為一個充滿敵意且難以親近的國家。但在這些頭條新聞的背後，其實隱藏著一個引人入勝的故事，這是一個擁有豐富知識、深度與巨大文化重要性的國家的故事。伊朗是好戰的侵略者，還是受害者？它是擴張主義國家，還是被動防禦的國家？關於伊朗，我們知道的不僅太少，而且大部分都是誤解。伊朗充滿了各種悖論、矛盾和例外，然而，這些悖論與矛盾為何存在？必須在歷史中尋找可能的答案。本書是一部以簡馭繁，卻又完整充實的伊朗通史，內容綱舉目張，文字流暢易讀。全書從先知瑣羅亞斯德的時代開始談起，接著介紹阿契美尼德帝國、帕提亞帝國、薩珊帝國等強大的古代波斯帝國。自七世紀起，阿拉伯人、突厥人、蒙古人相繼成為伊朗地區的主宰，也在伊朗歷史中占有重要的地位。十六世紀後，什葉派的伊朗成形，歷經薩法維王朝、卡札爾王朝、巴列維王朝，於一九七九年革命後建立伊朗伊斯蘭共和國至今。作者生動地描述伊朗數千年的歷史，並詳盡解釋古代伊朗複雜的王朝更迭，以及在共同的文化脈絡下各族群如何融合而成現代的伊朗共同體。作者認為在薩珊帝國時代之前，就有一種伊朗意識（Iranianness）的存在。而後來在這塊土地上的無論是阿巴斯、加茲尼、塞爾柱，或是帖木兒帝國，它們背後存續的是一個最終證明更為重要的帝國──即伊朗的心智帝國（the Iranian Empire of the Mind）。而伊朗對於它的鄰國，以及整個世界都產生了深遠的影響，而且這個影響是透過思想和創造力，不是透過武力來實現的，這正是由於伊朗一直是一個真正的心智帝國，這也是本書的重要主張。隨著伊朗再度成為全球關注的焦點，本書正是了解這個「心智帝國」的關鍵指南。相較於「擁有伊朗，就能掌握全世界」的大國地緣政治思維，臺灣更應該具備「閱讀伊朗，就能瞭解全世界」的視角，重新理解伊朗，重新認識世界。
Strap in for a rip-roaring ride through the history of the universe, starting with the Big Bang, and bringing us right up to present day. What was the universe like when it was a few seconds old? How
A vital, engaging, and hugely enjoyable guide to poetry, from ancient times to the present, by one of our greatest champions of literature--selected as the literature book of the year by the London Times “[A] fizzing, exhilarating book.”—Sebastian Faulks, Sunday Times, London“Delightful.’”—New York Times Book Review What is poetry? If music is sound organized in a particular way, poetry is a way of organizing language. It is language made special so that it will be remembered and valued. It does not always work—over the centuries countless thousands of poems have been forgotten. But this Little History is about some that have not. John Carey tells the stories behind the world’s greatest poems, from the oldest surviving one written nearly four thousand years ago to those being written today. Carey looks at poets whose works shape our views of the world, such as Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Whitman, and Yeats. He also looks at more recent poets, like De
An engaging look at ocean routes' complicated beginnings and elusive impact. Sara Caputo's Tracks on the Ocean is a sweeping history of how we have understood and accounted for routes of travel over the ocean and started to represent movement as a cartographical line. Focusing on the representation of sea journeys in the Western world from the early sixteenth century to the present, Caputo deftly argues that the depiction of these lines is inextricable from European imperialism, the rise of modernity, and attempts at mastery over nature. Caputo recounts the history of ocean tracks through an array of lively stories and characters, from the expeditions of Captain James Cook in the eighteenth century to tracks depicted in Moby Dick and popular culture of the nineteenth century to the use of navigational techniques by the British navy. She discusses how tracks evolved from tools of surveying into tools of surveillance and, eventually, into paths of environmental calamity. The impulse to
Visual History of Type is a comprehensive, detailed survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing with movable type in the mid-fifteenth century to the present day. Arranged chro
To know where we are going, we must also know where we came from. This book gives an account of Hong Kong’s medical and health development from the Second World War to the present day, investigat
A sweeping history of and meditation on humanity's relationship with machines, showing how we got here and what happens nextFaith in technological fixes for our problems is waning. Automation, which promised relief from toil, has reactivated the long-standing fear of job redundancy. Information technology, meant to liberate us from traditional authority, is placing unprecedented powers of surveillance and control in the hands of a purely secular Big Brother.And for the first time, artificial intelligence threatens anthropogenic disaster – disaster caused by our own activities. Scientists join imaginative writers in warning us of the fate of Icarus, whose wings melted because he flew too close to the sun. This book tells the story of our fractured relationship with machines from humanity’s first tools down to the present and into the future.It raises the crucial question of why some parts of the world developed a ‘machine civilisation’ and not others, and traces the interactions between
Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of what happened on April 26, 1986, when the worst nuclear reactor accident in history contaminated as much as three quarters of Eu
Strap in for a rip-roaring ride through the history of the universe, starting with the Big Bang, and bringing us right up to present day. What was the universe like when it was a few seconds old? How
A noted zoologist teams up with a playful illustrator to present a fun, fact-filled guide to the fascinating (if not fragrant) world of poop across species.Hippos navigate by it, sloths keep in touch
The book brings studies of modern Thai history and culture into dialogue with debates in comparative intellectual history, Asian cultural studies, and postcolonial studies. It takes Thai Studies in new directions through case studies of the cultural hybridity and ambivalences that have emerged from the manifold interactions between Siam/Thailand and the West from 1850 to the present day. Central aims of The Ambiguous Allure of the West are to critique notions of Thai "uniqueness" or "exceptionalism" and locate Thai Studies in a broader, comparative perspective by arguing that modern Siam/Thailand needs to be understood as a semicolonial society. In contrast to conservative nationalist and royalist accounts of Thai history and culture, which resist comparing the country to its once-colonized Asian neighbours, this book's contributors highlight the value of postcolonial analysis in understanding the complexly ambiguous, interstitial, liminal and hybrid character of Thai/Western cultural
PROSE AWARDS MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES FINALIST 2024The Gutenberg Parenthesis traces the epoch of print from its fateful beginnings to our digital present – and draws out lessons for the age to come.The age of print is a grand exception in history. For five centuries it fostered what some call print culture – a worldview shaped by the completeness, permanence, and authority of the printed word. As a technology, print at its birth was as disruptive as the digital migration of today. Now, as the internet ushers us past print culture, journalist Jeff Jarvis offers important lessons from the era we leave behind.To understand our transition out of the Gutenberg Age, Jarvis first examines the transition into it. Tracking Western industrialized print to its origins, he explores its invention, spread, and evolution, as well as the bureaucracy and censorship that followed. He also reveals how print gave rise to the idea of the mass – mass media, mass market, mass culture, mass politics, and so
Experience the legendary history of Formula 1 in this definitive illustrated book. Foreword by Ross Brawn. Fully updated for 2024, Formula 1: The Official History is an electrifying account of the F1 phenomenon, telling the complete story of one of the world's most popular, thrilling, and glamorous sports.Bringing together a superbly written account of the history of the sport and an exceptional selection of stunning images from across seven decades of F1 racing, the book charts the FIA Formula One World Championship, decade by decade, from its first race at Silverstone in May 1950 right through to the present day. Each chapter tells the fascinating stories behind the greatest drivers and teams, important personnel, famous and infamous incidents, as well as key changes to the rules on design, safety and competitiveness. These tales are accompanied by more than 250 exceptional photographs featuring icons past and present, including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Sebastia
In the usual order of things, lives run their course and eventually one becomes who one is. Bodily and psychic transformations do nothing but reinforce the permanence of identity. But as a result of serious trauma, or sometimes for no reason at all, a subject’s history splits and a new, unprecedented persona comes to live with the former person - an unrecognizable persona whose present comes from no past and whose future harbors nothing to come; an existential improvisation, a form born of the accident and by accident. Out of a deep cut opened in a biography, a new being comes into the world for a second time. What is this form? A face? A psychological profile? What ontology can it account for, if ontology has always been attached to the essential, forever blind to the aléa of transformations? What history of being can the plastic power of destruction explain? What can it tell us about the explosive tendency of existence that secretly threatens each one of us?Continuing her reflections
“An intricately detailed, laser-cut book enabling children to explore homes from seven different eras, from the Middle Ages to the present day.”– Fiona Noble, The BooksellerIn this beautifully detailed, laser-cut book, children can travel back in time and explore homes from seven different eras: Late Middle Ages, Tudor, Georgian, Victorian, 1920s, 1960s and present day. Peek through the windows, discover the rooms inside and spot the family members. Then, learn a bit more about the family, spot the pieces of furniture that appear in more than one house, and find out what people wore in each era - from kirtles and crinolines to flat caps and flapper dresses.Written in consultation with experts from the National Trust and exquisitely illustrated throughout by Sarah Gibb.The perfect non-fiction picture book for doll’s house fans aged 6-10!
