Vintage books Mary Queen Of Scots. And the Murder of Lord Darnley Уэйр Элисон

Discover Charles Darwin's most important ideas • When the eminent naturalist Charles Darwin returned from South America on board the H.M.S Beagle in 1836, he brought notes and evidence that would form the basis of his landmark theory: that species evolve by a process of natural selection • This theory, published as The Origin of Species in 1859, is the basis of modern biology and the concept of biodiversity. It also sparked a fierce scientific, religious and philosophical debate that still rages today

The remarkable story of Bess of Hardwick, her ascent through Elizabethan society and the houses she built that shaped British architectural history • Born in 1521, Bess of Hardwick, businesswoman, money-lender and property tycoon, lived an astonishing eighty-seven years. Through canny choices, four husbands and a will of steel she rose from country squire's daughter to Dowager Countess, establishing herself as one of the richest and most powerful women in England, second only to Queen Elizabeth • Bess forged her way not merely by judicious marriage, but by shrewd exploitation of whatever assets each marriage brought. Wealth took concrete form in her passion for building and she oversaw every stage of the construction of her four houses including Hardwick New Hall, her sole surviving building, which stands as a celebration of one woman's triumphant progress through Elizabethan England

Following on from his epic ‘1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow’, bestselling author Adam Zamoyski has written the dramatic story of the Congress of Vienna • In the wake of his disastrous Russian campaign of 1812, Napoleon's imperious grip on Europe began to weaken, raising the question of how the Continent was to be reconstructed after his defeat. There were many who dreamed of a peace to end all wars, in which the interests of peoples as well as those of rulers would be taken into account. But what followed was an unseemly and at times brutal scramble for territory by the most powerful states, in which countries were traded as if they had been private and their inhabitants counted like cattle • The results, fixed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, not only laid the foundations of the European world we know; it put in place a social order and a security system that lie at the root of many of the problems which dog the world today

I felt that Mary was there, pulling at my sleeve, willing me to appreciate the artistry, wanting me to understand the dazzle of the material world that shaped her • At her execution Mary, Queen of Scots wore red. Widely known as the colour of strength and passion, it was in fact worn by Mary as the Catholic symbol of martyrdom • In sixteenth-century Europe women's voices were suppressed and silenced. Even for a queen like Mary, her prime duty was to bear sons. In an age when textiles expressed power, Mary exploited them to emphasise her female agency. From her lavishly embroidered gowns as the prospective wife of the French Dauphin to the fashion dolls she used to encourage a Marian style at the Scottish court and the subversive messages she embroidered in captivity for her supporters, Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story

Scruton argues that the tragedies and disasters of the history of the European continent have been the consequences of a false optimism and the fallacies that derive from it. In place of these fallacies, Scruton mounts a passionate defence of both civil society and freedom. He shows that the true legacy of European civilisation is not the false idealisms that have almost destroyed it – in the shapes of Nazism, fascism and communism – but the culture of forgiveness and irony which we must now protect from those whom it offends. The Uses of Pessimism is a passionate plea for reason and responsibility, written at a time of profound change

In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually - as this book compellingly relates - the relationships soured too • Anne Applebaum traces this history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades. When politics becomes polarized, which side do you back? If you are a journalist, an intellectual, a civic leader, how do you deal with the re-emergence of authoritarian or nationalist ideas in your country? When your leaders appropriate history, or pedal conspiracies, or eviscerate the media and the judiciary, do you go along with it? • Twilight of Democracy is an essay that combines the personal and the political in an original way and brings a fresh understanding to the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both now and in the recent past

From the author of You Are Awesome: Find Your Confidence and Dare to be Brilliant at (Almost) Anything • Essential reading for an astounding summer of sport; If you’ve ever wondered what makes a champion, Bounce has the answer • What are the real secrets of sporting success, and what lessons do they offer about life? Why doesn’t Tiger Woods “choke”? Why are the best figure skaters those that have fallen over the most and why has one small street in Reading produced more top table tennis players than the rest of the country put together • Two-time Olympian and sports writer and broadcaster Matthew Syed draws on the latest in neuroscience and psychology to uncover the secrets of our top athletes and introduces us to an extraordinary cast of characters, including the East German athlete who became a man, and her husband – and the three Hungarian sisters who are all chess grandmasters

Серия книг «Зарубежная классика — читай в оригинале» — это бессмертные произведения великих мастеров пера, написанные ими на их родном языке и наречии. Книги из этой серии помогут читателю углубленно изучать иностранные языки, обогатят его внутренний мир и по-новому откроют произведения известных классиков

Soap Saves Lives. But did you know that excessive use of soap and skin-care products is harming our health and the environment? Apart from in hand-washing there is no need to use soap on our bodies at all? • Doctor and preventative medicine expert James Hamblin gave up showering five years ago and only ever uses soap on his hands. In Clean, he takes us on an irreverent and entertaining journey through our complex relationship with our bodies and cleanliness. Drawing on the latest science, he introduces a new way to think about cleanliness - one that is cheaper, simpler and better for our skin, our immunity and the world in which we live

Долгое время характеризовавшийся как вероломный убийца за убийство Ричарда II, достижения Генриха IV как короля преуменьшались на протяжении всей истории. Однако в увлекательном исследовании его правления "Страхи Генриха IV. Жизнь английского короля, ставшего самозванцем" Иэн Мортимер переоценивает то, чего Генриху удалось достичь, несмотря на все невзгоды, как королю. Спровоцировав социальную революцию, а также политическую, он привел плохо управляемую нацию к новой династии Ланкастеров, и, хотя, возможно, это не самый славный король, который когда-либо был в Англии, он, безусловно, оказался одним из самых храбрых • Книга на английском языке • From the saviour of the realm to the subject of multiple attempted assassinations in the space of six years

Миллиардер Уоррен Баффет, который в настоящее время является занимает третье место среди богатейших людей мира, платил меньше налогов, чем все сотрудники его офиса, включая секретаря • В 2006 году три крупнейшие в мире банановые компании вели бизнес в Великобритании на сумму около 400 миллионов фунтов стерлингов, но сумма выплаченных налогов составила всего 128 000 фунтов стерлингов • В январе 2009 года правоохранительные органы США оштрафовали Lloyds TSB на 350 миллионов долларов после того, как компания признала, что осуществляла тайный перевод иранских и суданских денег в банковскую систему США • Офшоры - единственная причина, по которой бедные люди и бедные страны остаются бедными. Они лежат в самом сердце мировой экономики, через них проходит более половины мировой торговли