From monarchy to the world’s first socialist state, from Communism to Capitalism, from mass poverty to Europe’s new super rich, Russia has seen immense revolutions in just the past century, including purges, poisonings, famines, assassinations and massacres.In that time, it has also endured civil war, world war and the Cold War. But the extremes of Russian history are not restricted to the past 100 years. When Napoleon invaded in 1812, the Russians retreated, slashing and burning th...

The gods and monsters, warriors and legends of Celtic mythologySpanning the whole of the Celtic world from Spain to the British IslesIncludes 180 photographs, maps and artworks

On 26 April 1986, the unthinkable happened near the Ukrainian town of Pripyat: two massive steam explosions ruptured No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, immediately killing 30 people and setting off the worst nuclear accident in history. The explosions were followed by an open-air reactor core fire that released huge amounts of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere for the next nine days, spreading across the Soviet Union, parts of Europe, and especially neighbourin...

The Templars, the Knights Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights – the chivalric orders founded during the Crusades evoke romantic images of warrior monks who were fierce but spiritual, chaste and pious yet battle-ready. But what were they really like? How did their organisations form, rise and decline? And how much of what we think about them is myth?The Knights Templar tells the stories of the major and minor military orders from the 11th century to – in the case of the surviving ord...

The world’s largest Christian organization with 1.2 billion members, the Catholic Church is one of the world’s oldest institutions and has played a crucial part in the development of Western civilization. But in its rise from Jewish sect to global faith, it has been both the persecuted and the persecutors; it has become powerful but guilty of corruption; and it has preached moral purity but has been marred by abuse scandals.From the persecution of the early Christians in ancient Ro...

A charming ebook full of Jane Austen’s wittiest and wisest thoughts and aphorisms.As any schoolgirl knows, ‘It is a truth universally acnowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ (Pride and Prejudice). However, in a letter to a friend, Jane Austen issues a word of warning: ‘Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection’. For Jane Austen’s views on marriage, the family, money and society are not only ascerb...

This books provides a critical perspective on entrepreneurialism in the creative industries. Split into three sections, the book first asks the contextual question; why, at this point in time, did we arrive at such a focus on entrepreneurship in the creative industries? Examining the historical, social, cultural, economic and political background, the book places the creative industries and entrepreneurship firmly within a systemic approach to creativity and cultural production. Given this...

This book provides innovative insights into how creativity can be taught within higher education. Preparing students for employment in a dynamic set of global creative industries requires those students to not only be resilient and entrepreneurial, but also to be locally focused while being globally aware. Therefore it is imperative that they acquire a thorough understanding of creative processes and practice as they try to keep pace with worldwide digital trends. As the creation of media ...

For a century Bram Stoker’s Dracula has reigned supreme as the undisputed masterpiece of horror writing. We have all grown up under the shadow of the elegant Count, at once an attractive, brutal and erotic creature of the night. In 1897 Bram Stoker wrote a story expressing the most persistent nightmare of the human condition. Take this opportunity to dream again…

THERE IS NO better way to introduce children to classical music than with Prokofiev's musical fairy tale of the little boywho, with the help of a bird, outsmarted the big, bad wolf. A new retelling by Janet Schulman follows the basic story, but with a kinder ending for both the big, bad wolf and the argumentative duck. Peter Malone's paintings have the luminous quality of old Russian masters.

The fifteenth century may be regarded as a period of transition from The ideals of The Middle Ages to those of modern times. The world was fast becoming more secular in its tendencies, and, as a necessary result, Theories and principles that had met till Then with almost universal acceptance in literature, in art, in education, and in government, were challenged by many as untenable. Scholasticism, which had monopolised The attention of both schools and scholars since The days of St. Ansel...

Skyros Publishing is dedicated to reproducing the finest books ever written and letting readers of all ages experience a classic for the first time or revisit a past favorite.Eusebius was a Roman Christian and historian who became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima in the 4th century. The History of the Church is Eusebius' magnum opus and is still one of the most famous Christian books.