Showing results by narrator "John Sackville" in All Categories

What good are the arts? Why should we care about the past? For millennia, humanity has sought to understand and transmit to future generations not just the "know-how" of life, but the "know-why"—the meaning and purpose of our existence, as expressed in art, architecture, religion, and philosophy. This crucial passing down of knowledge has required the radical integration of insights from the past and from other cultures. In Culture, acclaimed author, professor, and public intellectual Martin Puchner takes us on a breakneck tour through pivotal moments in world history.

Art evolves and revolutionises itself through these simple - but ground-breaking - creative leaps. Art Firsts brings together 30 of these pioneering firsts to piece together an original approach to looking at and appreciating art, as well as understanding where it has come from and how it relates to you. Each first is approachable and engaging, while each work is simply and satisfyingly explained. Art Firsts offers a refreshing and fascinating narrative for those curious about why so-called 'masterpieces' are so important.

The complex in the simple and the simple in the complex go hand in hand throughout human life. We are all called to understand ourselves in order to comprehend our neighbors. Parables, which contain the great Laws of Being, enforced on the way to finding our vital--simple but wiser--daily decisions, favor this.

Direct democracy can no longer be thought of as something that belongs to the future.... This is the scarcely believable story of how, in just over three years, a political dotcom grew to become one of the most powerful forces in the affairs of a country of 60 million people. At the general election in Italy this year, Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement, which has its headquarters on a website, took a quarter of the vote - more than Silvio Berlusconi’s party.

Three generations struggle in this suspenseful and compelling saga, which begins in 1912, Kent, England, and ends during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. After fleeing from an abusive husband accused of murder, Celia Merrill becomes embroiled in a Spanish Civil War. Celia’s two sons march under opposing banners, whilst her twin daughters take different paths; one to the Catholic Church and the other to the battlefields. And in the shadow of war, a sinister villain from the past resurfaces.

Two 20th century tyrants stand apart from all the rest in terms of their ruthlessness and the degree to which they changed the world around them. Briefly allies during World War II, Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin then tried to exterminate each other in sweeping campaigns unlike anything the modern world had ever seen, affecting soldiers and civilians alike. Millions of miles of Eastern Europe were ruined in their fight to the death, millions of lives sacrificed.

Almost everyone is doing it. Aimlessly scrolling through their social media feeds. From presidents to the postmen, most people you know and probably even yourself. Mindlessly, your fingers move across the screen, and content, from selfies to memes, flickers by at a blistering pace. Why is it that the screen sometimes seems more important than looking up and being present in real life? And what does it mean that more and more people are turning into so-called "Scroll Zombies"? Sven Rollenhagen thoughtfully discusses social media use and how it affects us both psychologically and physically.

The book contains those thoughts which one keeps alone inside oneself. A person turns into the depths of the self, trying in the depths of his soul to find answers to painful questions: Why is one alone, not loved, not understood? We nurture everything within ourselves—pain and despair, joy and enlightenment... An invitation to look into the holy of holies, and there, as in a mirror, to see the reflection of our own thoughts....

It's 24 December 1999. Byron Easy, a poverty-stricken poet, half-cut and suicidal, sits on a stationary train at King's Cross waiting to depart. He has in his lap a bin-liner containing his remaining worldly goods - an empty bottle of red wine, a few books, a handful of crumpled banknotes. As the journey commences he conjures memories of the recent past, of his rollercoaster London life, and, most distressingly, of Mandy - his half-Spanish, Amazonian wife - in an attempt to make sense of his predicament.

As the Great War enters its most deadly phase, Patrick, Jenny, and Danny Carmody must cast aside their personal desires in order to stand with Britain against Germany and her allies. Danny, who is recovering from serious wounds, is devastated when he learns he must return to the Continent to fight at the front. Patrick prays for a shore posting, but the Royal Navy has something much more insidious in store for him. Jenny and Kevin rekindle their love for one another, but their relationship is tested when the Irish people demand their independence.

Chinese writer Fan Wen manages to weave a fable of love, dreams, sacrifice, and spirituality, starting from the conflict between two prominent families - beneath the snow mountain of a picturesque Eastern Tibet - and ending with a journey in pursuit of personal salvation, self-esteem, and enlightenment. Steep in the magical lore of Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism, Fan Wen brings his listeners into a world of magic and mystery, where no limitation of human capability is part of belief, and where legend turns often into myth and myth into history.

Unveiling our forgotten history, Zinovya Dushkova, PhD continues to reveal sacred texts that have been immortalized in the secret depositories of Shambhala. This time her new award-winning work represents a synthesis from the pages of the Book of Dzyan and the Book of Fiery Destinies, which tell about the creation of our world by Woman.

This book explains Cosmic processes as they are illuminated from the standpoint of the Sun-Moon relationship. Here is another secret page in the history of Mankind, creating a path to its Stellar Future in the rays of Sunlight and Moonlight.

The Teaching of the Heart has been given to Mankind as a Great Revelation of the Cosmic Light Forces standing guard over not only the planet Earth, but the entire Solar System too. The Messengers of Distant Worlds and unknown star systems, the Masters of Wisdom have Revealed the secret Treasures of Shambhala to you that store secret scrolls since time immemorial.

Francis of Assisi has inspired the church for centuries. Francis took the gospel literally, following all that Jesus said and did without limit, and his devotion led to a life filled with miracles and wonders. Born to a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, Italy, Francis didn’t seem destined for the life of prayer and poverty that he chose. Bankrolled by his father, and with natural good looks and personality, Francis indulged in worldly pleasure. He had a ready wit, sang merrily, and delighted in fine clothes and showy display.

"You go too far, my friend. You are near dangerous ground." Neil Fischer is travelling to a village in East Germany that he has unexpectedly inherited – his father’s former hometown of Marschwald. Knowing it has been left to deteriorate for decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Neil is determined to restore the derelict village to its former glory, as his demanding late father would surely have wanted. But when he arrives, he is met with hostility, mistrust and underlying menace.

Ships are sinking for no apparent reason, carrying hundreds to a dark underwater grave. Strange fireballs race through the sky above the deepest trenches of the oceans. Something is about to show itself, something terrible and alien, a force capable of causing global catastrophe.

The Banner of the Passing Clouds depicts life under the totalitarian communist regime in Georgia from the 50s to 90s, when Georgia gained independence from the USSR. Its narrator, born on the day Stalin dies, is given Stalin's name by hospital nurses - Iosif Dzhugashvili. When Iosif learns of his link to the 'man of steel', he becomes convinced that Stalin has found a new dwelling place within his chest, a burden he both welcomes and fears.

Let The Illumination of the Heart touch every person, who took this book in his hands, and highlight the most secret corners of his life. Reading and listening to its text will help you focus on what is most valuable to you, because this book contains priceless Gifts presented by the Great Mentors of Mankind, who studied the Human Race for many millions of years.