Power History

We pursue power, pleasure, and profit. We want as much as we can get, and we deploy instrumental reasoning-cost-benefit analysis-to get it. We judge ourselves and others by how well we succeed. It is a way of life and thought that seems natural, inevitable, and inescapable. As David Wootton reveals, it is anything but. In Power, Pleasure, and Profit, he traces an intellectual and cultural revolution that replaced the older systems of Aristotelian ethics and Christian morality with the instrumental reasoning that now gives shape and purpose to our lives.

This audiobook delves into six distinct episodes that helped to define the character of a Lincolnian foreign policy: his debate, as a young congressman, with law partner Billy Herndon over the conduct of the Mexican war; his conflict with William Seward over the control of the State Department; his standoff with Britain's Lord Palmerston during the Trent crisis of 1861; his race with Karl Marx to master the new art of molding public opinion; his deadlock with Napoleon III over the French occupation of Mexico; and John Hay's post-assassination battle to define Lincoln's legacy.

In gripping, novelistic detail, Saying It Loud tells the story of how the Black Power phenomenon began to challenge the traditional civil rights movement in the turbulent year of 1966. Saying It Loud takes you inside the dramatic events in this seminal year, from Stokely Carmichael’s middle-of-the-night ouster of moderate icon John Lewis as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to Carmichael’s impassioned cry of “Black Power!” during a protest march in rural Mississippi.

We live in times where we wield unprecedented power over our surroundings, and much seems possible in the future. In 1962 science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke formulated his famous Three Laws, of which the third law is: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." It could be said we live in magical times. But much knowledge and magic have been lost. This knowledge was revered and studied by the ancients through to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Today we have current fictional pop culture wizards like Gandalf and Dumbledore. But in the past, this type of ...

The racialized and exoticized cult of Voodoo occupies a central place in the popular image of the Crescent City. But as Kodi A. Roberts argues in Voodoo and Power, the religion was not a monolithic tradition handed down from African ancestors to their American-born descendants. Instead, a much more complicated patchwork of influences created New Orleans Voodoo, allowing it to move across boundaries of race, class, and gender.

We live in their buildings, work in their companies, shop in their stores, eat in their restaurants and elect politicians they fund. Founded more than 150 years ago by shepherding families in the toe of Italy, the 'Ndrangheta is today the world's most powerful mafia, with a crushing presence in Southern Italy, a market-moving size in global finance and a reach that extends to 50 countries around the world. And yet, remarkably, few of us have ever heard of it.

The Federalist Papers is a series of 85 articles arguing in favor of ratification of the United States Constitution by the 13 original colonies. Federalist No. 74 discusses the powers of the president as commander-in-chief and to grant pardons and reprieves. Hamilton asserts that the role of commander-in-chief is inherent in the office itself and requires the speed and resolve of a single decision-maker.

A mind-blowing adventure quest on an exotic island where dreams become nightmares and nightmares become deadly. “It’s worth a fortune, more than enough to save your father.” That message lures historian Christa Devlin to the prototype Dream Resort, where they inject nanobots into guests to create completely immersive, “family” amusement rides. It promises to be more thrilling than Jurassic Park. What could go wrong? How about prehistoric animals that morph into terrifying beasts, perilous booby traps, and romantic entanglements? And hidden somewhere deep within the island’s ...

Brunhild was a Visigothic princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law, Fredegund, started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet - in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport - these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms for decades, changing the face of Europe. The two queens commanded armies, developed taxation policies, established infrastructure and negotiated with emperors and popes.

What if I tell you that everything you believe to know about Kung Fu is wrong? Everything you you know about Kung Fu is wrong. This book explaines how many wrong belives and false claims replaced facts about Chinese martial arts

If you feel like you’ve “missed the boat” on the wonders of this healing and teaching plant medicine, think again. Now more than ever, people are taking self-development seriously and want to dive deeper into discovering who they truly are. This audiobook will give you plenty of information you can use immediately to begin your pursuit of this ancient medicine. So even if you’ve been unable to get your hands on information thus far, this book will give you the straight facts on ayahuasca without any of the hype or noise.

As the 20th century began, oil in Texas was easy to find, but the quantities were too small to attract industrial capital and production. Then, on January 10, 1901, the Spindletop gusher blew in. Over the next 50 years, oil transformed Texas, creating a booming economy that built cities, attracted out-of-state workers and companies, funded schools and universities, and generated wealth that raised the overall standard of living - even for blue-collar workers. No other 20th-century development had a more profound effect upon the state.

Carthage was one of the great ancient civilizations, and at its peak, the wealthy Carthaginian empire dominated the Mediterranean against the likes of Greece and Rome, with commercial enterprises and influence stretching from Spain to Turkey. In fact, at several points in history it had a very real chance of replacing the fledgling Roman Empire or the failing Greek poleis (city-states) altogether as master of the Mediterranean.

As a young man growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, Robert Morgan was a fast-driving party boy - a hell-raiser. But when his mother committed suicide upon learning she had inoperable brain cancer, Morgan's life changed dramatically. He was no longer a carefree playboy; he was a man searching for meaning. He found that meaning at the controls of an airplane, and in the flak-and fighter-filled skies over Occupied France and Nazi Germany.

This award-winning piece by NY Times best-selling author Wendy Goldman Rohm goes inside one of the world's biggest wine counterfeiting frauds. How a young, Indonesian Bacchus seduced the rich and powerful in the world's largest wine counterfeiting scheme. The author was on the scene in Hong Kong and elsewhere to report the Rudy Kurniawan story. This is a reprint of the author's original story that was first published in 2012.

Explore the Magical World of Wicca Religion! Learn the Basics of Wiccan Philosophy and Become Master of the Wiccan Practices! Would you like to: Get in touch with nature? Live in harmony with the world? Learn more about Wicca Religion? Start practicing Wiccan teachings? Acquire new powers that will help you in daily life? But you: Don't know where to start; Don't know anything about Wiccan teaching and practices; Think it is hard to master the concepts of Wicca religion; Most of the people, when they hear the words "Wicca" or "Wiccan," the first thing that comes to their minds is "...

From 2008-2016, the leader of the free world was a black man. Obama's presidency reshaped America and transformed the international conversation around politics, race and equality. But it attracted criticism and bred discontent as much as it inspired hope - so much so that the world now faces an uncertain future under a very different kind of US President. In this essential new book, peerless journalist and thinker Ta-Nehisi Coates takes stock of the Obama era.

There is no other anthology that brings together similar stories of ancient women in power. All of these stories were written by men, and none of them can be interpreted as affirmations or celebrations of women in power. They are instead misogynistic tales that aim to shore up masculine authority by exposing the consequences when women rather than men wield it.

Many see China's rise as a threat to US leadership in Asia and beyond. Thomas J. Christensen argues instead that the real challenge lies in dissuading China from regional aggression while eliciting its global cooperation. Drawing on decades of scholarship and experience as a senior diplomat, Christensen offers a deep perspective on China's military and economic capacity. Assessing China's political outlook and strategic goals, Christensen shows how nationalism and the threat of domestic instability influence the party's decisions about regional and global affairs.

Are you trying to connect with your ancestors? Are you looking for a good introductory guide to the Yoruba religion, its main feminine divinities and the main 7 Orishas? Explore now one of the oldest religions in the Africa culture: Learn the spiritual traditions of the 7 Orishas its spells and the way to have them by your side.