|
|
|
Oxford University Press
|
The prevailing image of European Jews during the Holocaust is one of helpless victims, but in fact many Jews struggled against the terrors of the Third Reich. In Defiance, Nechama Tec offers a riveting history of one such group, a forest community in western Belorussia that would number more than 1,200 Jews by 1944-the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. Tec reveals that this extraordinary community included both men and women, some with weapons, but mostly unarmed, ranging from infants to the elderly. She reconstructs for the first time the amazing details of how these partisans and their families-hungry, exposed to the harsh winter weather-managed not only to survive, but to offer protection to all Jewish fugitives who could find their way to them. Arguing that this success would have been unthinkable without the vision of one man, Tec offers penetrating insight into the group's commander, Tuvia Bielski. Tec brings to light the untold story of Bielski's struggle as a partisan who lost his parents, wife, and two brothers to the Nazis, yet never wavered in his conviction that it was more important to save one Jew than to kill twenty Germans. She shows how, under Bielski's guidance, the partisans smuggled Jews out of heavily guarded ghettos, scouted the roads for fugitives, and led retaliatory raids against Belorussian peasants who collaborated with the Nazis. Herself a Holocaust survivor, Nechama Tec here draws on wide-ranging research and never before published interviews with surviving partisans-including Tuvia Bielski himself-to reconstruct here the poignant and unforgettable story of those who chose to fight. The saga of the Bielski partisans is one of the most elevating and inspiring stories in the chronicle of death and despair that is the Holocaust... Defiance is an accomplished and startling work of Holocaust documentation. Los Angeles Times Powerful and meticulous. This story is like almost no other. |
|
Why do the innocent suffer in a world created by a loving God? Does this mean that God cannot prevent this suffering, despite His supposed omnipotence? Or is God not loving after all? This in brief is the problem of evil. The Devil provides one solution to this problem: his rebellion against God and hatred of His works is responsible for evil. The Christian Devil has fascinated writers and theologians since the time of the New Testament, and inspired many dramatic and haunting works of art. Today he remains a potent image in popular culture. The Devil: A Very Short Introduction presents an introduction to the Devil in the history of ideas and the lives of real people. Darren Oldridge shows us that he is a more important figure in western history than is often appreciated, and also a richly complex and contradictory one. Oldridge focuses on three main themes: the idea of the Devil being integral to western thought from the early Middle Ages to the beginnings of modernity; the principle of demonic inversion (the idea that as the eternal leader of the opposition, the Devil represents the mirror image of goodness); and the multiplicity and instability of ideas about the Devil. While belief in the Devil has declined, the idea of an abstract force of evil is still remarkably strong. Oldridge concludes by exploring demonological ways of thinking in our own time, including allegations of satanic ritual abuse and the on-going war on terror. |
|
Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction introduces the reader to the teachings of the Buddha and to the workings of Buddhism in daily life. Damien Keown looks at the distinctive features of Buddhism, examining who the Buddha was and what his teachings were. By considering how Buddhist thought has developed over the centuries, Keown considers how contemporary dilemmas can be faced from a Buddhist perspective. In this new edition Keown provides new perspectives on Buddhist thought, including up-to-date material about the evolution of Buddhism throughout Asia, the material culture of Buddhism and its importance, new teachings on the ethics of war and peace, and changes to ethnicity, class, and gender. |
|
«From 1789 in France to 2011 in Cairo, revolutions have shaken the world. In their pursuit of social justice, revolutionaries have taken on the assembled might of monarchies, empires, and dictatorships. They have often, though not always, sparked cataclysmic violence, and have at times won miraculous victories, though at other times suffered devastating defeat. This Very Short Introduction illuminates the revolutionaries, their strategies, their successes and failures, and the ways in which revolutions continue to dominate world events and the popular imagination. Starting with the city-states of ancient Greece and Rome, Jack Goldstone traces the development of revolutions through the Renaissance and Reformation, the Enlightenment and liberal constitutional revolutions such as in America, and their opposite-the communist revolutions of the 20th century. He shows how revolutions overturned dictators in Nicaragua and Iran and brought the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and examines the new wave of non-violent «colour» revolutions-the Philippines' Yellow Revolution, Ukraine's Orange Revolution-and the Arab Uprisings of 2011-12 that rocked the Middle East. Goldstone also sheds light on the major theories of revolution, exploring the causes of revolutionary waves, the role of revolutionary leaders, the strategies and processes of revolutionary change, and the intersection between revolutions and shifting patterns of global power. Finally, the author examines the reasons for diverse revolutionary outcomes, from democracy to civil war and authoritarian rule, and the likely future of revolution in years to come. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects-from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative-yet always balanced and complete-discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.» |
|
The concept of law lies at the heart of our social and political life. Legal philosophy, or jurisprudence, explores the notion of law and its role in society, illuminating its meaning and its relation to the universal questions of justice, rights, and morality. In this Very Short Introduction Raymond Wacks analyses the nature and purpose of the legal system, and the practice by courts, lawyers, and judges. Wacks reveals the intriguing and challenging nature of legal philosophy with clarity and enthusiasm, providing an enlightening guide to the central questions of legal theory. In this revised edition Wacks makes a number of updates including new material on legal realism, changes to the approach to the analysis of law and legal theory, and updates to historical and anthropological jurisprudence. |
|
I, who would wish to feel close over me the protective waves of the ordinary, catch with the tail of my eye some far horizon. Intensely visionary yet absorbed with the everyday; experimental, daring and challenging, The Waves is regarded by many as Virginia Woolf's greatest achievement. It follows a set of six friends from childhood to middle age as they experience the world around them and explore who they are and what it means to be alive. As the contours of their lives are revealed, a unique novel is slowly unveiled. Enfolded within Woolf's lyrical and mysterious language, the mundane takes on a startling new significance while distant pasts are no less in play than the clamorous sounds and kaleidoscopic sights of the modern city. Yet precisely where the alluringly enigmatic pages of The Waves are leading, and what deeper meanings are held within its undulant chapters and shimmering interludes, are questions that have never ceased to enthral readers and critics alike. In this new edition David Bradshaw considers the spellbinding oddness and originality of The Waves, helping the reader to negotiate a way though this most poetic and haunting of novels. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. |
|
This is a new edition of the Concise Oxford Thesaurus, with updated and improved text, new choices of synonyms, and a new design. The Concise Oxford Thesaurus is a comprehensive reference text for the bookshelf at home or in the office. Its usefulness means that it won't stay on the shelf, however. The thesaurus is the perfect tool to use to improve your writing style, whether you are composing a letter, essay or report, or writing creatively. It is also great for finding the word on the tip of your tongue, or for word games. The new centre section in this Concise Oxford Thesaurus contains lists of nouns from illnesses to insects, and vegetables to veins to give you the edge in solving crosswords and word puzzles, as well as being a useful encyclopedic reference. The Concise Oxford Thesaurus also contains Word Links to help you find related words. So, for example, look up the word night and you will find nocturnal; look up light, and you will find optics. Hundreds more have been added new to this edition, helping you find the word you need every time. Explore our language resources on oxforddictionaries.com, Oxford's home for dictionaries and language reference. Updated regularly with the latest changes to words and meanings, the site provides hundreds of thousands of definitions, synonyms, and pronunciations in a range of languages. Access the highest quality language content, built from our extensive research, for free on your desktop or device. |
|
This addition to the Oxford thesaurus range should be handy for anyone who prefers an enlarged, easy-to-read page. Using the text of the popular Oxford Paperback Thesaurus, enlarged by 45%, it contains a straightforward A-Z listing of over 300,000 synonyms, with example phrases throughout to clarify meanings. The order of synonyms within entries is based on frequency of usage, with the commonest synonyms listed first. Words are labelled if they have a very specific field of use, e.g. if they are formal, informal, literary, medical, technical, vulgar, or specifically American or Australian. |
|
Based on the word-list of the Little Oxford Dictionary, and including its most helpful features, the Universal English-Gujarati Dictionary contains 34,000 English words and phrases covering a broad range of contemporary English, together with short, precise Gujarati definitions. It will be the standard English-Gujarati dictionary for use in Britain. |
|
John Emsley's Nature's Building Bocks was published in paperback in 2003. In this readable, informative, and fascinating guide to the elements are entries on each of the 100-odd chemical elements, arranged alphabetically from actinium to zirconium. Each entry comprises an explanation of where the element's name comes from, followed by Body element (the role it plays in living things), Element of history (how and when it was discovered), Economic element (what it is used for), Environmental element (where it occurs, how much), Chemical element (facts, figures, and narrative), and Element of surprise (an amazing, little-known fact). Since publication of the first edition there have been a number of developments. Three new chemical elements have been named and validated: darmstadtium, roetgenium, and copernicium and the section on 'transfermium elements' has now been incorporated into the main part of the book. Economic uses of elements have grown, and some quite rare elements such as Scandium are now economically important, along with updates to elements such as gold due to new roles in industry. Fully revised and updated for 2010, this browsable compendium holds a wealth of useful information. |
|
Pippi Longstocking is one of the most popular children's characters of all time and is still much loved by millions of children today. This collection of Pippi stories will introduce her adventurous spirit to a whole new generation of readers. Pippi Longstocking is nine years old and lives all by herself with a horse, a monkey, a suitcase full of gold, and no grown-ups to tell her what to do. She's wild and funny and her crazy ideas are always getting her into trouble! In this single-volume edition of three favourite books, Pippi performs at the circus, is reunited with her long-lost father, and takes her friends Tommy and Annika on a trip to the Canny Canny Islands. She also finds a squeazle, gives a shark a good telling-off, and turns 43 somersaults in the air before breakfast! Everything's fun with Pippi around! This edition is illustrated throughout with black and white line drawings by best-selling artist Tony Ross. |
|
In these four new stories, illustrated by Korky Paul, everyone's favourite witch is on the lookout! She's looking for her teddy bear, she's looking at Wilbur when he takes a starring role in a TV advert, she's looking pretty wobbly when she tries to ride a bike, and she's looking at stars (as well as the odd alien) on a stargazing sleepover! Fans who have grown up with Winnie, or those new to her charms, can enjoy her chaotic capers in this latest young fiction title, perfect for reading alone or for sharing at bedtime. Korky Paul's exuberant black line illustrations complement the humour, slapstick, and moments of real drama that run through each story. Pure magic! |
|
This handbook will be useful for both beginning and experienced teachers who want to improve their practical strategies in teaching second language reading and their understanding of the reading process. The book examines a variety of approaches from classrooms and research that are used in teaching reading, and explores teaching methods focused on strategies. Teachers are encouraged to think about their own beliefs and opinions on the nature of reading and to examine their own personal reading activities. |
|
This book is for teachers, trainers, and course organizers in the field of Business English or considering a move into it. It gives background to the business learner's world and strategies for approaching the training task, focusing on the learner's professional knowledge and experience. |
|
An accessible overview of this increasingly important field. English is the major language of international communication, and everyone wants to learn it. But which English, and how? This book questions the cultural assumptions underlying much English teaching, and suggests classroom aims and teaching methods based on the requirements of an international language. |
|
This is a comprehensive introduction to teaching the pronunciation of North American English. It includes an illustrated description of the sound system of English, ideas for overcoming pronunciation problems specific to fifteen different languages, and a variety of approaches and techniques for use in the classroom. |
|
A comprehensive and readable introduction to teaching English. Clear and jargon-free, it is easy to follow and suitable for initial teacher training, but also provides guidance and fresh ideas for more experienced teachers. It offers realistic ways of achieving success even with large classes and few resources. |
|
This series offers useful references for language teachers, teacher trainers, and trainees. This book provides an introduction to the theory and practice of intercultural business communication, and surveys some key cultural dimensions and case studies. |
|
A practical toolkit which helps teachers promote effective language learning among migrants and refugees who have come to settle in countries where English is the national language. The focus is on practical techniques and activities, underpinned by the latest thinking in linguistics, to enable teachers to develop their teaching skills. |
|
Doing Second Language Research provides an accessible introduction to language learning research, and a 'feel' for what research activities are like, by engaging the reader in several roles within a variety of mini-studies across a range of research design types, both quantitative and qualitative. Roles include that of research subject, research organizer, research data, research data collector, research data analyst, and research reporter. The book systematically explains the characteristics and purposes of various types of research, terminology, the logic underlying selection, and the steps typical of each type of research design. It also offers an intoduction to some of the classic research studies by engaging readers in thinking about and discussing these studies as well as participating as subjects in adapted versions of them. |
|
