New insights into how the Book of Samuel offers a timeless meditation on the dilemmas of statecraft The Book of Samuel is universally acknowledged as one of the supreme achievements of biblical literature Yet the book's anonymous author was more than an inspired storyteller The author was also an uncannily astute observer of political life & the moral compromises & contradictions that the struggle for power inevitably entails The Beginning of Politics mines the story of Israel's first two kings to unearth a natural history of power providing a forceful new reading of what is arguably the first & greatest work of Western political thought Moshe Halbertal & Stephen Holmes show how the beautifully crafted narratives of Saul & David cut to the core of politics exploring themes that resonate wherever political power is at stake Through stories such as Saul's madness David's murder of Uriah the rape of Tamar & the rebellion of Absalom the book's author deepens our understanding not only of the necessity of sovereign rule but also of its costs--to the people it is intended to protect & to those who wield it What emerges from the meticulous analysis of these narratives

Includes:: such themes as the corrosive grip of power on those who hold & compete for power; the ways in which political violence unleashed by the sovereign on his own subjects is rooted in the paranoia of the isolated ruler & the deniability fostered by hierarchical action through proxies; & the intensity with which the tragic conflict between political loyalty & family loyalty explodes when the ruler's bloodline is made into the guarantor of the all-important continuity of sovereign power The Beginning of Politics is a timely meditation on the dark side of sovereign power & the enduring dilemmas of statecraft

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Shortlisted for the Booker Prize It is March 1913 & the grand old city of Moscow is stirring herself to meet the beginning of spring Change is in the air & nowhere more so than at 22 Lipka Street the home of English printer Frank Reid One day Frank's wife Nellie takes the train back to England with no explanation leaving him with their three young children Into his life comes Lisa Ivanovna a country girl untroubled to the point of seeming simple But is she? & why has Frank's accountant Selwyn gone to such lengths to bring them together? & who is the passionate Volodya who breaks into the press at night? Frank sees but only dimly that he is a rational man in Moscow a city where love & friendship power & politics are at their most unfathomable ...

This workbook combines methodology & practice for beginning translators with a solid proficiency in French It assumes a linguistic approach to the problems of translation & addresses common pitfalls including the delineation of "translation units" word polysemy false cognates & structural & cultural obstacles to literal translation The first part of the book focuses on specific strategies used by professionals to counter these problems including transposition modulation equivalence & adaptation The second part of the book provides a global application of the techniques taught in the opening sections guiding the student through step-by-step translations of literary & non-literary excerpts The revised edition clarifies some of the finer points of the translation techniques introduced in the first edition provides extra practice exercises & offers information on a website that can be used in class ...

A classic slice of Southern Gothic shot through with psychological suspense
- now the basis for Sofia Coppola's highly anticipated
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Please note this is a region B Blu-ray & will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play During the Civil War a wounded union soldier is sheltered by the headmistress & students of a girls’ academy in the south As his health returns his desire increases but can he trust these enemy women not to turn on him? He takes his chances but soon realises that his benefactress can’t be trustedwith his love or with his life! His lustful ambition turns quickly against him & the story follows him through a series of nerve shattering events including realistic scenes that are among the boldest most shocking ever witnessed on film ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play One man seven women in a strange house! Set in the Deep South during the Civil War The Beguiled stars Eastwood as John Mc Burney a severely wounded soldier who is near death when discovered by a teenage girl She takes him to the mansion that serves as her boarding school where he slowly begins to regain his health under the care of headmistress Martha Farnsworth (Geraldine Page) & the dozen or so girls who live there As Mc Burney gets better he begins to charm the girls all of whom are starved for affection because of the war&s claim on their men At length powerful undercurrents of jealousy saturate the atmosphere as the girls & even the headmistress begin to vie for Mc Burney&s attention He first becomes involved with one of the oldest of the girls Edwina Dabney (Elizabeth Hartman) but ultimately finds it difficult to resist the charms of some of her schoolmates His promiscuity becomes his undoing Actors Clint Eastwood Geraldine Page Elizabeth Hartman Jo Ann Harris Darleen Carr Mae Mercer Pamelyn Ferdin Melody Thomas Scott Peggy Drier Patricia Mattick & Matt Clark Director Don Siegel Certificate 15 years & over Year 1971 Screen Widescreen 1851 Anamorphic Languages English Subtitles English for the HOHDuration 1 hour & 40 minutes (approx) ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play From acclaimed writerdirector Sofia Coppola The Beguiled unfolds during the Civil War at a Southern girls’ boarding school Its sheltered young women take in an injured Union soldier who then cons his way into each of the lonely women&s hearts causing them to turn on each other & eventually on him Starring Nicole Kidman Colin Farrell Kirsten Dunst & Elle Fanning the film premiered at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year & earned Sofia Coppola the award for Best Director ...

In THE BEIDERBECKE AFFAIR Trevor & Jill are school teachers who enter a complex world of mysterious intrigue THE BEIDERBECKE CONNECTION tells of more unlikely adventures of the two schoolteachers THE BEIDERBECKE TAPES is another story of Trevor Chaplin & Jill Swinborne who enter a world of adventure as Trevor is offered some jazz tapes from the barman at his local pub One of the tapes contains some alarming information & when they return to challenge the barman they find he has disappeared The collection

Includes:: a CD

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WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY A S BYATTDora Greenfield erring wife returns to live with her husband in a a lay community encamped outside Imber Abbey home to a mysterious enclosed order of nuns Watched over by its devout director & the discreet authority of the wise old Abbess Imber Court is a haven for lost souls seeking tranquility But then the lost Abbey bell legendary symbol of religion & magic is rediscovered & hidden truths & desires are forced into the light ...

Herrnstein & Murray's The Bell Curve is a deeply controversial text that raises serious issues about the stakes involved in reasoning & interpretation The authors' central contention is that intelligence is the primary factor determining social outcomes for individuals
- & that it is a better predictor of achievement than income background or socioeconomic status One of the major issues raised by the book was its discussion of 'racial differences in intelligence' & its contention that there is a link between the low observed test scores & social outcomes for African-Americans & their lack of social attainment While the authors produce & interpret a great deal of data to back up their contentions they ultimately fail to tackle the problem that neither 'intelligence' nor 'race' have widely accepted definitions in biology anthropology or sociology In consequence the book has been termed both racist' & pseudoscientific' thanks to what its critics see as both its faulty reasoning & its uncautious interpretation of evidence The debate continues to this day with academics on both sides engaged in fierce arguments over what can be argued from the data that Herrnstein & Murray used
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