Ancient India

In this, the first prose history in European civilization, Herodotus describes the growth of the Persian Empire with force, authority, and style. Perhaps most famously, the book tells the heroic tale of the Greeks' resistance to the vast invading force assembled by Xerxes, king of Persia. Here are not only the great battles - Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis - but also penetrating human insight and a powerful sense of epic destiny at work.

Understanding Hinduism: A Beginner’s Guide to the Beliefs, Practices, and Spiritual Wisdom of India’s Ancient Religion Are you curious about Hinduism but don’t know where to start? Understanding Hinduism is your accessible and engaging guide to exploring the world’s oldest living religion. Whether you’re a spiritual seeker, a student of world religions, or simply interested in the cultural richness of Hindu thought, this book breaks down the core beliefs, practices, and philosophies in a clear and respectful way. In this comprehensive introduction, you’ll learn about: The sacred...

The great Indian epic - the Ramayana - has been told and retold over thousands of years by poets, performers, and writers. It is a tale of courage and fear, love and hate, devotion and betrayal. The epic spans the three worlds of gods, humans, and demons. Here, the forces of good and evil collide, locked in a battle for the ultimate supremacy. Rama, the crown prince of Kosala, descendent of the timeless Surya dynasty, must face unimaginable danger, but what lies in his destiny?

The History of Australia: From Indigenous Origins to a Modern Nation Australia is called the “land down under,” but how much do you really know about its past? Did you know that modern Australia started as a British prison colony? Or that for tens of thousands of years before that, Indigenous peoples lived there, building rich cultures and traditions? This book takes you through Australia’s history, from its first inhabitants to the arrival of European settlers to its fight for independence to its current role in world events. Learn about the convicts who built early settlements, the ...

Two stories from Vedic literature. The first is Nala and Damayanti, a magical love story set in Ancient India, taken from the Mahabharata. It was told by a sage to King Yudhisthira to assuage his sorrow when he was first exiled into the forest. The king had asked, “Who has suffered more than I?”, and the sage said, “Listen to the tale of Nala and Damayanti.” The second story is about King Rukmangada, a great monarch whose adherence to virtue was tested severely by the gods, who gave him the choice of either killing his son or abandoning truth. By his adherence to the sacred Ekadashi...

In this compact yet comprehensive history of ancient Greece, Thomas R. Martin brings alive Greek civilization from its Stone Age roots to the fourth century BC. Focusing on the development of the Greek city-state and the society, culture, and architecture of Athens in its Golden Age, Martin integrates political, military, social, and cultural history in a book that will appeal to students and general audiences alike. Now in its second edition, this classic work now features updates throughout.

For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilisation, creating around it a vast empire of ideas. Indian art, religions, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazed a trail across the world, along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific. William Dalrymple draws from a lifetime of scholarship to highlight India’s oft-forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia. For the first time, he gives a name to this spread of Indian ideas that transformed the world.

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It is of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (artha or 'purpose', kama or 'pleasure', dharma or 'duty' and moksha or 'liberation') takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'self') and the workings of karma.

These discourses are drawn from the sacred text of 'Agasthiyar Vazhipaadu' where Sage Agastya reveals the truth about Creation and walks us through 'time' itself, as he lovingly lays bare the world as it is now, and what must be done to change the way we live. In a series of practical down to earth explanations, Sage Agastya lays bare deeper meanings of different aspects of life. Questions such as, why is there an increase in population? Why some die at birth? Is rebirth necessary? What is that we must do to change ourselves, and thus, walk on the path to liberation? are all answered in ...

India has a rich body of spiritual wisdom handed down over millennia. This spiritual knowledge can help in healing the restlessness and stress faced by today’s generation. Unfortunately, despite our long heritage of spiritual teachings, many of today’s globally aligned people, especially the youth, are disdainful of spiritual pursuits, trashing them as ‘unfashionable’ although inwardly they long for peace and quiet to make sense of the frenetic world they inhabit. This book offers an understanding of India’s ancient spiritual wisdom. It is not just for seekers of spirituality and ...

The British wars began on the morning of 23 July 1637, heralding 200 years of battles. Most were driven by religious or political conviction, as Republicans and Royalists, Catholics and Protestants, Tories and Whigs, and colonialists and natives vied for supremacy. Of the battles not fought on home territory, many took place across Europe, America, India, and also at sea. Schama's examination of this turbulent period reveals how the British people eventually united in imperial enterprise, forming 'Britannia Incorporated'.

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

Written by Thiruvalluvar in Tamil 10,000 years ago, Thirukkural and its Pearls of Wisdom is as relevant today as it was when written. Hence, it is known as a book for all ages. The Thirukkural is a classic Tamil sangam literature consisting of 1,330 couplets or Kurals. The Tirukku is one of the most important works in the Tamil language. This is reflected in some of the other names by which the text known, such as Tami Marai (Tamil Veda), Poyyamozhi (words that never fail) and Deiva Nool (divine text).

Visit Ashok's official website meakalpa.com to read an exclusive excerpt from The Bombay Lovecraft Society! Membership comes at a price... From Bram Stoker and CWA nominated and Utopiales Nantes Award-winning author Ashok Banker comes a chilling new novel of occult horror set in 1980s Bombay A masterful fusion of Lovecraftian terror and Indian Gothic that will haunt your dreams long after you've turned the final page. In the shadows of 1980s Bombay lurks an ancient evil that makes the notorious Rockman serial killings pale in comparison. When a struggling artist is lured into the mysterious...

Psychology of Intelligence Analysis has been required reading for intelligence officers studying the art and science of intelligence analysis for decades. Richards Heuer, Jr. discusses in the audiobook how fundamental limitations in human mental processes can prompt people to jump to conclusions and employ other simplifying strategies that lead to predictably faulty judgments known as cognitive biases.

Lali's first mother was an elephant. When she was found and taken in by a hunter as a baby, her elephant mother joined the family, too. Years later, the beautiful animal catches the eye of the queen. Lali fears that she will lose her elephant.

INDIA: In Search of the Fourth Veda explores the esoteric culture of India with a variety of questions. Why are arranged marriages preferred? Why is each birth recorded by the minute? Why are horoscopes so common that computer stores offer them? Why are palmistry and numerology popular? Why is a caste system important? Why are there so many gods? A native English teacher explained, "Our culture is based on four sacred texts called Vedas. The fourth Veda gives instruction on astrology, horoscopes, palmistry, numerology, and other practical skills which make India unique." The author traveled...

When Sara Stanley, the Story Girl, returns to Carlisle to spend the winter with the King family, she comes up with a great idea. To help them through the dreary months ahead, she, Felicity, Cecily, and Dan will publish a magazine. From “Personals” to “Fashion Notes,” from the etiquette column to its stories of the most interesting happenings in Carlisle, Our Magazine quickly becomes the most entertaining publication anyone in town has ever read.

When one thinks of the world’s first cities, Sumer, Memphis, and Babylon are some of the first to come to mind, but if the focus then shifts to India, then Harappa and Mohenjo Daro will likely come up. These cities owe their existence to India’s oldest civilization, known as the Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan Civilization, which was contemporary with ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, and had extensive contacts with the former, making it one of the most important early civilizations in the world.

The Maurya empire, which existed more than 2,000 years ago, was the mightiest civilization that India has ever known. It was more than one and a half times the size of modern-day India in geographical extent. The Maurya empire was established just after the death of Alexander the Great. Fear had prevented his troops from marching farther to invade the subcontinent, which became the fuel for India to reinvent itself as an indomitable mega-culture.