Pastimes is the first book in English on Chinese jinshi, or antiquarianism, the pinnacle of traditional connoisseurship of ancient artifacts and inscriptions. As a scholarly field, jinshi was inaugurated in the Northern Song (960-1127) and remained popular until the early twentieth century. Literally the study of inscriptions on bronze vessels and stone steles, jinshi combined calligraphy and painting, the collection of artifacts, and philological and historical research. For aficionados of Chinese art, the practices of jinshi offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of traditional Chinese scholars and artists, who spent their days roaming the sometimes seamy world of the commercial art market before attending elegant antiquarian parties, where they composed poetic tributes to their ancient objects of obsession. And during times of political upheaval, such as the nineteenth century, the art and artifact studies of jinshi legitimatized reform and contributed to a dynamic and progressive field of learning.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

This book investigates the demobilization and post-war readjustment of Red Army veterans in Leningrad and its environs after the Great Patriotic War. Over 300,000 soldiers were stood down in this war-ravaged region between July 1945 and 1948. They found the transition to civilian life more challenging than many could ever have imagined. For civilian Leningraders, reintegrating the rapid influx of former soldiers represented an enormous political, economic, social and cultural challenge. In this book, Robert Dale reveals how these former soldiers became civilians in a society devastated and traumatized by total warfare. Dale discusses how, and how successfully, veterans became ordinary citizens. Based on extensive original research in local and national archives, oral history interviews and the examination of various newspaper collections, Demobilized Veterans in Late Stalinist Leningrad peels back the myths woven around demobilization, to reveal a darker history repressed by society and concealed from historiography. While propaganda celebrated this disarmament as a smooth process which reunited veterans with their families, reintegrated them into the workforce and facilitated upward social mobility, the reality was rarely straightforward. Many veterans were caught up in the scramble for work, housing, healthcare and state hand-outs. Others drifted to the social margins, criminality or became the victims of post-war political repression. Demobilized Veterans in Late Stalinist Leningrad tells the story of both the failure of local representatives to support returning Soviet soldiers, and the remarkable resilience and creativity of veterans in solving the problems created by their return to society. It is a vital study for all scholars and students of post-war Soviet history and the impact of war in the modern era.

This book is the history of the Eastern Vikings, the Rus and the Varangians, from their earliest mentions in the narrative sources to the late medieval period, when the Eastern Vikings had become stock figures in Old Norse Romances. A comparison is made between sources emanating from different cultures, such as the Roman Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate and its successor states, the early kingdoms of the Rus and the high medieval Scandinavian kingdoms. A key element in the history of the Rus and the Varangians is the fashioning of identities and how different cultures define themselves in comparison and contrast with the other. This book offers a fresh and engaging view of these medieval sources, and a thorough reassessment of established historiographical grand narratives on Scandinavian peoples in the East.

This work provides a revealing look at the history of Hispanic peoples in the American West (or, from the Mexican perspective, El Norte) from the period of Spanish colonization through the present day. Hispanics in the American West portrays the daily lives, struggles, and triumphs of Spanish-speaking peoples from the arrival of Spanish conquistadors to the present, highlighting such defining moments as the years of Mexican sovereignty, the Mexican-American War, the coming of the railroad, the great Mexican migration in the early 20th century, the Great Depression, World War II, the Chicano Movement that arose in the mid-1960s, and more. Coverage includes Hispanics of all nationalities (not just Mexican, but Cuban, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan, among others) and ranges beyond the "traditional" Hispanic states (Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado) to look at newer communities of Spanish-speaking peoples in Oregon, Hawaii, and Utah. The result is a portrait of Hispanic American life in the West that is uniquely inclusive, insightful, and surprising. Includes maps, photos, and a comprehensive index as well as biographical sketches within each chapter that personalize the themes, recounting the lives of individuals caught up in the sweep of history Covers Hispanic Americans of all origins, offering discussions of the differences among these groups not found in other publications

Presentations of offerings to the emperor-king on anniversaries of his accession became an important imperial ritual in the court of Franz Joseph I. This book explores for the first time the identity constructions of Orthodox Jewish communities in Jerusalem as expressed in their gifts to the Austro-Hungarian Kaisers at the time of dramatic events. It reveals how the beautiful gifts, their dedications, and their narratives, were perceived by gift-givers and recipients as instruments capable of acting upon various social, cultural and political processes. Lily Arad describes in a captivating manner the historical narratives of the creation and presentation of these gifts. She analyzes the iconography of these gifts as having transformative effect on the self-identification of the Jewish communities and examines their reception by the Kaisers and in the Austrian and the Palestinian Jewish press. This groundbreaking book unveils Jewish cultural and political strategies aimed to create local Eretz-Israel identities, demonstrating distinct positive communal identification which at times expressed national sentiments and at the same time preserved European identification.

In June 2017, the Jews of Libya commemorated the jubilee of their complete exodus from this North African land in 1967, which began with a mass migration to Israel in 1948-49. Jews had resided in Libya since Phoenician times, seventeen centuries before their encounter with the Arab conquest in AD 644-646. Their disappearance from Libya, like most other Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East, led to their fragmentation across the globe as well as reconstitution in two major centers, Israel and Italy. Distinctive Libyan Jewish traditions and a broad cultural heritage have survived and prospered in different places in Israel and in Rome, Italy, where Libyan Jews are recognized for their vibrant contribution to Italian Jewry. Nevertheless, with the passage of time, memories fade among the younger generations and multiple identities begin to overshadow those inherited over the centuries. Capturing the essence of Libyan Jewish cultural heritage, this anthology aims to reawaken and preserve the memories of this community. Jewish Libya collects the work of scholars who explore the community's history, its literature and dialect, topography and cuisine, and the difficult negotiation of trauma and memory. In shedding new light on this now-fragmented culture and society, this collection commemorates and celebrates vital elements of Libyan Jewish heritage and encourages a lively intergenerational exchange among the many Jews of Libyan origin worldwide.

Real adventures are not always coming out of the make believe book factories. Instead the most fascinating and entertaining one are generated by the life.' The Hidden River' is such a story. A very young man caught in the infernal maelstrom of the World War two, his struggle for survival in an environment of carnage, destruction and hopelessness and of his discovery that sometimes challenges in life are the tools that makes us understand that we are more than we think we are. His adventures are endless, hard to believe but fascinating as they take us to a world few of us can imagine was existing. Victories are not always won by cloak and dagger plot. Sometime survival itself is the victory and endurance and resourcefulness are needed. The war ended .By a miraculous set of events he was able to come to the USA, then meet Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous Architect, then go on with a normal life. But his mental balance had been shattered and he was in need of healing and direction's he went on another adventure, the one of self discovery. From Frank Lloyd Wright he had glimpsed the world of beauty harmony and creativity. Not enough for him for, he needed the reassurance that all was not misery and ugliness in the world. A fateful meeting with Paramhansa Yogananda, the great Yogi, gave him the spiritual and mental direction he had been lacking .The new adventure of his Recovery is the last part of the book

This book investigates relations between humans and animals over several centuries with a focus on the Middle Ages, since important features of our perceptions regarding animals have been rooted in that period. Elucidating various aspects of medieval human-animal relationships requires transdisciplinary discourse, and so this book aims to reconcile the materiality of animals with complex cultural systems illustrating their subtle transitions 'between body and mind'.

The inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States of America in 2009 marked a crucial turning point in African American history. It was the culmination of a chain of events that started nearly four hundred years ago when the evil of slavery cast its shadow on America.

Tracing the history of black Americans, A Chain of Events documents how God gave them the freedom and will to rise from the ashes of slavery to become true Americans. Author Ruthie Green examines the harrowing life of slaves in early America, their emancipation by Abraham Lincoln, and their long struggle through the years for recognition as citizens of the United States.

Green also discusses some of the African American community's most prominent and influential early members, including W. E. B. Du Bois, George Washington Carver, and Marcus Garvey Jr. She profiles leading African American entertainers and delves into the tumultuous years of the civil rights movement and the impact of Martin Luther King Jr. In addition, she talks about such important African Americans as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Jesse Owens, the Tuskegee Airmen, Ethel Waters, and many more.

A Chain of Events offers an eye-opening glimpse into the remarkable history of African Americans.

This book investigates the phenomenon of slavery and other forms of servitude experienced by people of African or indigenous origin who were taken captive and then subjected to forced labor in Charcas (Bolivia) in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Translation of the Destruction of Czenstochow (Czestochowa, Poland) is the English translation of the Yizkor (Memorial) Book published in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1949 in Yiddish by survivors and former residents of the town. It details through personal accounts the destruction of the Jewish community by the Nazis and their Polish collaborators in World War II. This publication by the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of JewishGen, Inc., serves to provide the English speaking community with these first-hand accounts in book format, so that researchers and descendants of Jewish emigrants from the town can learn this history. 200 pages with Illustrations. Hard Cover Flight to Survival 1939-1945 by Peninah Cypkewicz-Rosin is an excellent companion book because it is a first-hand account of a young Jewish woman survivor of the ghetto and the Hasag Labor Camp both in Czestochowa.