History Essays

In Robyn’s 2010 track Dancing on My Own, the Swedish pop-singer chronicles a night on the dance floor in the shadow of a former lover. She is bitter, angry, and at times desperate, and yet by the time the chorus arrives her frustration has melted away. She decides to dance on her own, and in this way, she transforms her solitude into a more complex joy. Taking inspiration from Robyn’s seminal track, emerging art critic and curator Simon Wu dances through the institutions of art, capitalism, and identity in these expertly researched, beautifully rendered essays.

In Search of a Beautiful Freedom brings together the best work from Farah Jasmine Griffin's rich forays on music, Black feminism, literature, the crises of Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19, and the Black artists she esteems. She moves from evoking the haunting strength of Odetta and the rise of soprano popular singers in the 1970s to the forging of a Black women's literary renaissance and the politics of Malcolm X through the lens of Black feminism.

Sir Francis Bacon, sometimes known as the father of empiricism, was one of the major political figures of his day, his career culminating as Lord Chancellor under King James I in 1617. Bacon wrote widely, but it is the Essays (published in its third edition in 1625, the year before his death) for which he is best known. Deftly written and often displaying a cutting wit, they cover a wide range of subjects including death, love, marriage, ambition and atheism.

As a lifelong learner fascinated by the myriad wonders of our world, I've always been driven by an insatiable curiosity to understand more. This book is a culmination of that curiosity, offering 30 diverse chapters that explore a wide range of scientific and thought-provoking topics. From the intricacies of spider web construction to the potential future of AI-assisted mindfulness meditation, each chapter delves into a unique area of interest. In creating this book, I harnessed the power of AI chatbots to sift through the vast ocean of information available on the Internet. These advanced ...

Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa. Two ancient lakes joined by underground rivers. Two lakes that seem to hold both the turbulent memories of the region's past and the secret of its enduring allure. Two lakes that have played a central role in Kapka Kassabova's maternal family. As she journeys to her grandmother's place of origin, Kassabova encounters a historic crossroads.

In this stunning debut, Laura Lee weaves unforgettable and eye-opening essays on a variety of taboo topics. In “History of Scars” and “Aluminum’s Erosions”, Laura dives head-first into heavier themes revolving around intimacy, sexuality, trauma, mental illness, and the passage of time. In “Poetry of the World”, Laura shifts and addresses the grief she feels by being geographically distant from her mother whom, after being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, is relocated to a nursing home in Korea.

Fictional? Authoritative? Fantastic? Deadpan? Investigations into the real, the true...and the things that should be true....

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

This highly entertaining travelogue from a bestselling author follows the adventures of a couple on their 102-mile hike along Britain’s famous Cotswold Way. Wendy and David, escaping the routine of home life, embark on a journey of wonder and discovery. It is one filled with romance, exquisite beauty, hilarious mishaps, and far more adventure than they had bargained for. Join them in the magic and fulfillment of this delightful journey from Chipping Campden in the north to the stunning city of Bath in the south. Wander through wildflower fields of kaleidoscopic colour, enter entranced ...

Le Guin’s sharp and witty voice is on full display in this collection of twenty-four essays, revised by the author a decade after its initial publication in 1979. The collection covers a wide range of topics and Le Guin’s origins as a writer, her advocacy for science fiction and fantasy as mediums for true literary exploration, the writing of her own major works such as A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness, and her role as a public intellectual and educator.

The writing of Death of a President, William Manchester's award-winning account of President Kennedy's assassination, is the topic of the title essay in this collection, as it was a controversy like few others, pitting one of the most prominent historians of the day against Jackie Kennedy, the most famous and private widow in the world. The essay provides an insider's account of the struggle to see the book published.

The one and only Zadie Smith, prize-winning, best-selling author of White Teeth, is back with a second unmissable collection of essays. No subject is too fringe or too mainstream for the unstoppable Zadie Smith. From social media to the environment, from Jay-Z to Karl Ove Knausgaard, she has boundless curiosity and the boundless wit to match. In Feel Free, pop culture, high culture, social change and political debate all get the Zadie Smith treatment, dissected with razor-sharp intellect.

Explore the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict through a powerful lens of transformation and truth. In Wake Up and Reclaim Your Humanity, author and narrator Richard Forer—once a passionate supporter of Israel—shares his remarkable spiritual awakening that redefined his identity and opened his eyes to the shared humanity between Israelis and Palestinians.

G. K. Chesterton was a journalist, playwright, poet, biographer, novelist, essayist, literary commentator, editor, orator, artist, and theologian. Orthodoxy is his great apologia for the Christian faith, which was prompted by a serious attack in 1903 against Christianity by well-known newspaper editor Robert Blatchford.

A Classic Collection of Philosophical Essays: Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell and Many Others by Will Durant offers an insightful and comprehensive anthology of essays on some of the most influential philosophers in Western thought. This collection captures the essence of each thinker's contributions to philosophy, making complex ideas accessible and engaging for a broad audience. Spinoza: Durant explores Spinoza's pantheism and his view of a universe governed by natural laws, presenting his ideas on ethics, politics, and the nature of reality.

Author Quintus Curtius continues his explorations in history, biography, and philosophy to extract inspiring, timeless lessons for modern listeners. The pervasive themes include courage in adversity, character and fate, moral problems, and the transcendent search for life's lessons. Special attention is given to Stoicism, Platonism, and the quest for meaning in a turbulent world.

Welcome to a fascinating collection of 30 explanations and essays that will tickle your brain with intriguing facts, thought-provoking perspectives, and imaginative tales. This book is part of an epic 50-volume series spanning diverse topics from science and philosophy to creativity and adventure. Together, these books aim to nurture a lifelong love of reading and learning. Welcome to a fascinating collection of 30 explanations and essays that will tickle your brain with intriguing facts, thought-provoking perspectives, and imaginative tales. This book is part of an epic 50-volume series ...

Imagine having the entire Jewish people over for dinner—and hosting a raucous, creative, riveting debate about their collective future. Jewish Priorities offers, for the first time, a wide-ranging, ambitious, and genuinely "pan-Jewish" conversation. Encompassing more than sixty top authors from around the Jewish world—Israelis and Diaspora writers; younger influencers and veteran opinion leaders; rabbinic and communal leaders, journalists and scholars, and literary and cultural figures, ranging from secular to ultra-Orthodox—each contributor offers a different priority for the Jewish people.

I’m not a musician. Not that I haven’t tried. My brain just doesn’t seem to be wired for it. I’m not a student of music either, at least not in the academic sense. I don’t work in music, but I do listen to music while I work. And I’m definitely not a music nerd. By that I mean I don’t memorize who’s in what band or who produced whatever album. The point I’m trying to make is, there’s no good reason why I should be writing a book about my personal music history, other than the fact that music is everything to me. Music has a hold on so many of us. It comforts us. It pumps...

The power, anger and fluency of Liang Qichao's writings make him one of the towering figures in modern Chinese literature. He saw his great, almost unmanageable task as an attempt to write China into the new era - to provide an ancient country, devastated by civil war and foreign predators, with the intellectual equipment to renew itself. This selection of pieces shows Liang's extraordinary range and the burning sense of mission which drove him on, attempting to galvanize and refresh an entire nation.