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Книги издательства «Oxford University Press»
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From the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century to the entry into peace talks in the late twentieth century the Northern Irish people have been engaged in conflict — Catholic against Protestant, Republican against Unionist. Marc Mulholland explores the pivotal moments in Northern Irish history — the rise of republicanism in the 1800s, Home Rule and the civil rights movement, the growth of Sinn Fein and the provisional IRA, and of the opposition, the DUP, led by Dr. Ian Paisley. His detailed examination of the violent upheaval of the last century, epitomized by the killing of 13 civilian demonstrators on Bloody Sunday, culminates in the controversy surrounding the current ongoing peace process. Over 300 years on, the question still remains: can two identities and national allegiances be accommodated in the same state without oppression, rebellion, or violence? |
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What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are the main symptoms, and how does it relate to Asperger syndrome? Everyone has heard of autism, but the disorder itself is little understood. It has captured the public imagination through films and novels portraying individuals with baffling combinations of disability and extraordinary talent, and yet the reality is more often that it places a heavy burden on sufferers and their families. This Very Short Introduction offers a clear statement on what is currently known about autism and Asperger syndrome. Explaining the vast array of different conditions that hide behind these two labels, and looking at symptoms from the full spectrum of autistic disorders, it explores the possible causes for the apparent rise in autism and also evaluates the links with neuroscience, psychology, brain development, genetics, and environmental causes including MMR and Thimerosal.This short, authoritative, and accessible book also explores the psychology behind social impairment and savantism, and throughout, sheds light on what it is like to live inside the mind of the sufferer. |
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Benedict de Spinoza (1632-77) was at once the father of the Enlightenment and the last sad guardian of the medieval world. In his brilliant synthesis of geometrical method, religious sentiment, and secular science, he attempted to reconcile the conflicting moral and intellectual demands of his epoch, and to present a vision of humanity as simultaneously bound by necessity and eternally free. In this book Roger Scruton presents a clear and systematic analysis of Spinoza's thought, and shows its relevance to today's intellectual preoccupations. |
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The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was almost wholly neglected during his sane life, which came to an abrupt end in 1889. Since then he has been appropriated as an icon by an astonishingly diverse spectrum of people, whose interpretations of his thought range from the highly irrational to the firmly analytical. Thus Spoke Zarathustra introduced the 'superman' and The Twilight of the Idols developed the 'Will to Power' concept; these term, together with 'Sklavenmoral' and Herrenmoral, became confused with the rise of nationalism in Germany. Idiosyncratic and aphoristic, Nietzsche is always bracing and provocative, and temptingly easy to dip into. Michael Tanner's readable introduction to the philosopher's life and work examines the numerous ambiguities inherent in his writings. It also explodes the many misconceptions fostered in the hundred years since Nietzsche wrote, prophetically: Do not, above all, confound me with what I am not! |
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Schopenhauer is the most readable of German philosophers. This book gives a succinct explanation of his metaphysical system, concentrating on the original aspects of his thought, which inspired many artists and thinkers including Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud, and Wittgenstein. Schopenhauer's central notion is that of the will — a blind, irrational force that he uses to interpret both the human mind and the whole of nature. Seeing human behaviour as that of a natural organism governed by the will to life, Schopenhauer developed radical insights concerning the unconscious and sexuality which influenced both psychologists and philosophers. |
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The influence of Aristotle, the prince of philosophers, on the intellectual history of the West is second to none. In this book Jonathan Barnes examines Aristotle's scientific researches, his discoveries in logic and his metaphysical theories, his work in psychology and in ethics and politics, and his ideas about art and poetry, placing his teachings in their historical context. |
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Niccolo Machiavelli taught that political leaders must be prepared to do evil that good may come of it, and his name has been a byword ever since for duplicity and immorality. Is his sinister reputation deserved? In answering this question Quentin Skinner focuses on three major works, The Prince, the Discourses, and The History of Florence, and distils from them an introduction to Machiavelli's doctrines of exemplary clarity. |
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First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew's Very Short Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since the defeat of Napoleon, it was largely urban and English. Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew show the forces behind Britain's rise to its imperial zenith, and the continuing tensions within the nations and classes of the union state. |
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First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, John Guy's Very Short Introduction to The Tudors is the most authoritative short introduction to this age in British history. It offers a compelling account of the political, religious and economic changes of the country under such leading monarchs as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The work has been substantially revised and updated for this edition. In particular, the reigns of Henry VII, Edward VI, and Philip and Mary are comprehensively reassessed. |
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First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Paul Langford's Very Short Introduction to Eighteenth-Century Britain spans from the aftermath of the Revolution of 1688 to Pitt the Younger's defeat at attempted parliamentary reform. |
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This stimulating Very Short Introduction to music invites us to really think about music and the values and qualities we ascribe to it. The world teems with different kinds of music-traditional, folk, classical, jazz, rock, pop-and each type of music tends to come with its own way of thinking. Drawing on a wealth of accessible examples ranging from Beethoven to the Spice Girls to Chinese zither music, Nicholas Cook attempts to provide a framework for thinking about all music. By examining the personal, social, and cultural values that music embodies, the book reveals the shortcomings of traditional conceptions of music, and sketches a more inclusive approach emphasizing the role of performers and listeners. |
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This beautifully illustrated volume tells the story of Britain and its people over two thousand years, from the coming of the Roman legions to the present day. Encompassing political, social, economic, and cultural developments throughout the British Isles, the dramatic narrative is taken up in turn by ten leading historians who offer the fruits of the best modern scholarship to the general reader in an authoritative form, illuminating their text with carefully chosen pictures and maps. A vivid, sometimes surprising picture emerges of a continuous turmoil of change in every period, and the wider social context of political and economic tension is made clear. But consensus, no less than conflict, is a part of the story: in focusing on elements of continuity down the centuries, the authors bring out that special awareness of identity which has been such a distinctive feature of British society. By relating both these factors in the British experience, and by exploring the many ways in which Britain has shaped and been shaped by contact with Europe and the wider world, this landmark work brings the reader face to face with the past, and the foundations of modern British society. The new edition, the first for almost twenty years, brings the story into the twenty-first century, covering the changes to British society and culture during the Blair years and the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. |
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One of the most important religious sites in the world is largely hidden and rarely visited. It lies under the piazza in front of Milan's cathedral, and was uncovered by archaeologists only after World War II. It is part of the foundations of a fourth century cathedral from the time of Bishop Ambrose, the most powerful figure in the Christian West during Late Antiquity. To reach it, one must go inside the huge later cathedral and find a stairway by its western wall. After descending narrow stairs one reaches an eight-sided pool (piscine) that was used for total-immersion baptisms by Ambrose. There at dawn on Easter of 387, a cluster of people seeking baptism had gathered after an all-night vigil. Among those seeking baptism was Augustine, an African who had served as the imperial orator at the Milan court of the Emperor. Augustine would go back to his native Africa to become the bishop of Hippo and the most influential writer of the Christian West during the whole later course of the Middle Ages. Alongside him stood his son, his mother, his brother, and two of his pupils and academic colleagues. Nothing less than the future of the Western church was being formed in this cluster of talent and devotion. The Font of Life tells the story of this crucial event in the history of the Church. Beginning with the archaeology of Ambrose's Milan and the discovery of the baptistery, Garry Wills tells the story of the at times prickly relationship between Ambrose and Augustine and its importance for the future history of the Church, illuminating the scene of the baptism itself, along with the sources of its ritual, and introducing us to the company of the relatives and friends who greeted Augustine as he emerged from the pool. Appropriately, the book ends with a reflection on the later relationship between Augustine and Ambrose and the influence of the latter upon Augustine's later thought — which has been so seminal in the development of Christian thought ever since. |
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Flora of North America Volume 27 is the first volume of three on the bryphytes (mosses, hornworts, and liverworts). Thirty-five authors treat the first half of the mosses, including 32 of the acrocarpous families, with introductory chapters on bryophyte morphology, the history of North America floristic bryology, and economic uses. The 84 species of sphagnum, of considerable economic importance, are fully treated. The number of taxa total 37 genera and 621 species. The taxa are fully described and keyed, illustrated with an estimated 136 panels of detailed line drawings of two or more species each, and geographic distributions are provided at the province and state level. This is the first installment of a full compilation of the mosses for North America since A. J. Grout's Moss Flora of North America of 60 years ago, and is sure to be an invaluable reference. The volume includes identification keys, descriptions, line drawings, and ecological characteristics for each of the species; distribution maps for the native and established species; and a list of the synonyms currently in use for the accepted names. |
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Flora of North America: Volume 7 is the seventh volume of nineteen on dicotyledons to be published in the Flora of North America series. It treats more than 910 species classified among 114 genera in five families in the following two orders of the subclass Dilleniidae: Salicales (Willow order) and Capparales (Caper order). The families covered in volume 7 include Salicaceae, Capparaceae, Brassicaceae, Moringaceae, and Resedaceae. Each genus has representative species illustrated with a line drawing that, in combination with keys and descriptions, will facilitate identifications of these groups of plants. Even though many genera of mustards (Brassicaceae-nearly 100 genera with c. 750 species) are known in the flora area due to introduced species, many quite species-rich genera-Draba (140 species), Boechera (109 spp.), Physaria (90 spp.), Lepidium (40 spp.), Streptanthus (33 spp.), and Rorippa (23 spp.) — have many endemic species that are known from quite restricted areas within North America. The volume includes identification keys, descriptions, line drawings, and ecological characteristics for each of the species; distribution maps for the native and established species; and a list of the synonyms currently in use for the accepted names. The treatments, each of which has been extensively reviewed, are based on a combination of original observations and critical review of the literature. |
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Flora of North America Volume 8 will be the seventh of 19 volumes on dicotyledons to be published in the Flora of North America North of Mexico series. It treats 680 species classified among 125 genera in 19 families The larger families covered in Volume 8 include Crassulaceae (Stonecrop family), Ericaceae (Heath family), Grossulariaceae (Currant family), Myrsinaceae (Myrsine family), Primulaceae (Primrose family), and Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family). Each genus has representative species illustrated with a line drawing that, in combination with keys and descriptions, will facilitate identifications of these groups of plants. Some of the genera treated in this volume with the most species in the flora include: Ribes (Grossulariaceae) with 53 species; Dudleya and Sedum (Crassulaceae) with 26 and 41 species, respectively; Heuchera, Micranthes, and Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae) with 31, 45, and 25 species, respectively; and Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, and Vaccinium (Ericaceae) with 62, 25, and 25 species, respectively. Additionally, ten of the 46 genera of Ericaceae are endemic to the flora area. The ongoing publishing project Flora of North America is the first comprehensive taxonomic guide to the extraordinary diversity of plant life covering our continent north of Mexico. This ground breaking scholarly series is a collaborative effort by researchers at more than 30 U.S. and Canadian botanical institutions. The Flora provides revisions of many plant groups and synthesizes the results from studies published in hundreds of research papers over the last three centuries. The series, based on herbarium, laboratory and field studies by hundreds of leading botanists and taxonomic authorities, is this century's premier tool for identifying, understanding, and conserving North America's floristic heritage. Flora of North America, with beautiful illustrations accompanying many species, is concise and easy to use. It is an indispensable resource for botanists, conservationists, ecologists, agronomists, foresters, range and land managers, and horticulturists. |
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The Koran is a book apart, not only as Holy Scripture for Muslims, but as the supreme classic of Arabic literature. In its 114 Suras, or chapters, it comprises the total of revelations believed to have been communicated to the prophet Muhammad as a final expression of God's will and purpose for man. The revelations were received over a number of years, the first dating from AD 610, the last shortly before Muhammad's death in AD 632, and the definitive canon was established some twenty years later. The Koran is neither prose nor poetry but a unique fusion of both. In his attempt to convey the sublime rhetoric of the original, Professor Arberry has carefully studied the intricate and richly varied rhythms which — apart from the message itself — serve to explain the Koran's undeniable claim to rank among the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind. |
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A rich American art-collector and his daughter Maggie buy in for themselves and to their greater glory a beautiful young wife and a noble husband. They do not know that Charlotte and Prince Amerigo were formerly lovers, nor that on the eve of the Prince's marriage they had discovered, in a Bloomsbury antique shop, a golden bowl with a secret flaw. When the golden bowl is broken, Maggie must leave the security of her childhood and try to reassemble the pieces of her shattered happiness. In this, the last of his three great poetic masterpieces, James combined with a dazzling virtuosity elements of social comedy, of mystery, terror, and myth. The Golden Bowl is the most controversial, ambiguous, and sophisticated of James's novels. |
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The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia thrived between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates over 4,000 years ago. The myths collected here, originally written in cuneiform on clay tablets, include parallels with the biblical stories of the Creation and the Flood, and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale of a man of great strength, whose heroic quest for immortality is dashed through one moment of weakness. Recent developments in Akkadian grammar and lexicography mean that this new translation, complete with notes, a glossary of deities, place-names, and key terms, and illustrations of the mythical monsters featured in the text, will replace all other versions. |
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Referencing classroom-based research, Focus on Oral Interaction looks at the contribution of teacher-student interaction and peer-peer interaction in classrooms, among school-age English language learners. Key areas covered include formulaic and creative language use, the different ways of scaffolding learning, the use of corrective feedback, the relationship between oral interaction and print literacy, as well as differences that learner aptitude and motivation make to language learning. Additional activities are provided to help teachers relate the content to their own teaching context. The book includes: Spotlight Studies, highlighting important research on oral interaction in classrooms. Classroom Snapshots, featuring descriptions of teachers and students engaged in different approaches to teacher-student interaction and peer-peer interaction in classrooms. Activities which encourage comparison and reflection, helping you to relate research and theory on oral interaction to your own teaching context. This book is part of the Oxford Key Concepts for the Language Classroom series, focusing on key topics for teaching English as a second or foreign language. These research-led instructional guides link the theories of second language acquisition and pedagogy with classroom practice, helping you to reflect on what needs to happen in the language classroom. |
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