Death was a bummer. Well, not for Akal. A death on Earth only meant a birth into the multiverse. It did for him, anyway. Just when he thought he was checking out and taking his last breath, he was standing... on an island. In space. With a pretty tree and bench on it. There was a little breeze, too. But, where was it coming from? Countless star systems, galaxies and universes stood before Akal but their numbers couldn't rival the amount of questions he had. He knew all the answers were out there somewhere, but they wouldn't do him any good if he didn't know where to start. Slowly but surely, through tribulations across a myriad of experiences, Akal starts to piece together what had happened to him, as well as his wife. His one true love across all of existence. Before long, Akal was dodging gunfire from the United States Army in 1877, sailing and fighting in space millennia later, and dodging the razor-sharp wings of assassins high in the skies of Kestrellia. The quests seemed unending but were absolutely necessary in the name of getting information. He dared someone to stop him. As insignificant as any single creature may be within the context of the multiverse, Akal eventually discovers how that margin can be narrowed by a single act. How he and others like him live their lives may show us how to more thoroughly live our one. Souls of Astraeus is a distinct and engaging science fiction and fantasy adventure that redefines the role of the hero and the hero's motives, without cynicism or naivete. Souls of Astraeus shows us that knowledge and love can be attained by everyone without having to sell their souls.

This is the first book in English to take Cicero's forensic speeches seriously as acts of advocacy, i.e. as designed to ensure that the person he represents is acquitted or that the person he is prosecuting is found guilty. It seeks to set the speeches within the context of the court system of the Late Roman Republic and to explore in detail the strategies available to Roman advocates to win the votes of jurors. The volume comprises a substantial introduction, fourteen chapters by prominent Ciceronian scholars in Britain, North America, and Germany, and a final chapter by a current British Appeal Court judge who comments on Cicero's techniques from the point of view of a modern advocate. The introduction deals with issues concerning the general nature of advocacy, the Roman court system as compared with other ancient and modern systems, the Roman "profession" of advocacy and its etiquette, the place of advocacy in Cicero's career, the ancient theory of rhetoric and argument as applied to courtroom advocacy, and the relationship between the published texts of the speeches as we have them and the speeches actually delivered in court. The first eight chapters discuss general themes: legal procedure in Cicero's time, Cicero's Italian clients, Cicero's methods of setting out or alluding to the facts of a case, his use of legal arguments, arguments from character, invective, self-reference, and emotional appeal, the last of these especially in the concluding sections of his speeches. Chapters 9-14 examine a range of particular speeches as case studies--In Verrem II.1 (from Cicero's only major extant prosecution case), Pro Archia, De Domo Sua, Pro Caecina, Pro Cluentio, Pro Ligario. These speeches cover the period of the height of Cicero's career, from 70 BC, when Cicero became acknowledged as the leading Roman advocate, to 49 BC when Caesar's dictatorship required Cicero to adapt his well-tried forensic techniques to drastically new circumstances, and they contain arguments on a wide range of subject-matter, including provincial maladministration, usurpation of citizenship rights, violent dispossession, the religious law relating to the consecration of property, poisoning, bribery, and political offences. Other speeches, including all the better-known ones, are used as illustrative examples in the introduction and in the more general chapters. An appendix lists all Cicero's known appearances as an advocate.

Double bill of BBC espionage drama mini-series based on the novels by John Le Carré and starring Alec Guinness as master spy George Smiley. In 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' (1979), Smiley has been in 'retirement' for some time, some say owing to his mishandling of the Czech scandal. However, the retiring superspy finds himself summoned back to the 'Circus' (British secret service) when it transpires that an enemy infiltrator is at work in the department. Smiley returns once again to his old department in 'Smiley's People' (1982) following the murder of his friend, General Vladimir, a Russian who once worked for British Intelligence. When it transpires that Vladimir was in fact a double agent, Smiley becomes engaged in a battle of wills with his old adversaries at the Moscow Centre.

This is the first book in English to take Cicero's forensic speeches seriously as acts of advocacy, i.e. as designed to ensure that the person he represents is acquitted or that the person he is prosecuting is found guilty. It seeks to set the speeches within the context of the court system of the Late Roman Republic and to explore in detail the strategies available to Roman advocates to win the votes of jurors. The volume comprises a substantial introduction, fourteen chapters by prominent Ciceronian scholars in Britain, North America, and Germany, and a final chapter by a current British Appeal Court judge who comments on Cicero's techniques from the point of view of a modern advocate. The introduction deals with issues concerning the general nature of advocacy, the Roman court system as compared with other ancient and modern systems, the Roman "profession" of advocacy and its etiquette, the place of advocacy in Cicero's career, the ancient theory of rhetoric and argument as applied to courtroom advocacy, and the relationship between the published texts of the speeches as we have them and the speeches actually delivered in court. The first eight chapters discuss general themes: legal procedure in Cicero's time, Cicero's Italian clients, Cicero's methods of setting out or alluding to the facts of a case, his use of legal arguments, arguments from character, invective, self-reference, and emotional appeal, the last of these especially in the concluding sections of his speeches. Chapters 9-14 examine a range of particular speeches as case studies--In Verrem II.1 (from Cicero's only major extant prosecution case), Pro Archia, De Domo Sua, Pro Caecina, Pro Cluentio, Pro Ligario. Thesespeeches cover the period of the height of Cicero's career, from 70 BC, when Cicero became acknowledged as the leading Roman advocate, to 49 BC when Caesar's dictatorship required Cicero to adapt his well-tried forensic techniques to drastically new circumstances, and they contain arguments on a wide range of subject-matter, including provincial maladministration, usurpation of citizenship rights, violent dispossession, the religious law relating to the consecration of property, poisoning, bribery, and political offences. Other speeches, including all the better-known ones, are used as illustrative examples in the introduction and in the more general chapters. An appendix lists all Cicero's known appearances as an advocate.

Cicero may be best known as a politician, but he was also one of the few significant Roman writers of philosophy. This book presents a new and exciting selection of current scholarly work on this neglected side of him, establishing Cicero firmly on the agenda as a serious philosophical.

The relationship between the author and his audience has received much critical attention from scholars in non-classical disciplines yet the nature of much ancient literature and of its 'publication' meant that audiences in ancient times were more immediate to their authors than in the modern world. This book contains essays by distinguished scholars on the various means by which Latin authors communicated effectively with their audiences. The authors and works covered are Cicero, Catullus, Lucretius, Propertius, Horace's Odes, Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Senecan tragedy, Persius, Pliny's letters, Tacitus' Annals and medieval love lyric. Contributors have provided detailed analyses of particular passages in order to throw light on the many different ways in which authors catered for their audiences by fulfilling, manipulating and thwarting their expectations; and in an epilogue the editors have drawn together the issues raised by these contributions and have attempted to place them in an appropriate critical context.

This volume brings together six papers relating to oratory and orators in public fora of Classical Greece and Rome. Edwards and Bers explore aspects of oratorical delivery in the Athenian courts and Assembly, including the demands placed on orators by the physical settings. Tempest examines the conceptions of oratorical competence and incompetence, particularly in respect of performance, as they are implied in Cicero's criticisms of the rival prosecutor in the trial of Verres. Papers by Karambelas and Powell look at evidence for the importance of advocacy in the Second Sophistic and the late Roman Empire respectively. In an introduction, the editors discuss recurrent themes connected with the orator's competence and performance, while the final paper of the volume, by Lord Justice Laws, reflects on the continuing relevance of rhetoric in the modern, highly professionalised practice of the law in England.

Made-for-television film adaptation of Edith Nesbit' s classic novel. When their father (Michael Kitchen) is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying, young Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis are forced to move to Yorkshire with their mother (Jenny Agutter, who played Bobbie in the 1971 film version). The local railway provides a useful focus for them, and they strike up a friendship with an elderly gentleman (Richard Attenborough) who vows to help them prove their father's innocence.

Jane Eyre:
Jane Eyre is a mistreated orphan who learns to survive by relying on her independence and intelligence. Her first job in the outside world is governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester, a man of many secrets and mercurial moods. The tentative trust between them slowly develops into romance, but their hopes for happiness will soon be jeopardized by a terrible secret.

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall:
When Helen Graham becomes the new tenant of the dark, decaying Wildfell Halt, her independent spirit and radical views set her apart from the staid rural community around her. Gilbert Markham, a young farmer, finds himself powerfully drawn to her and a series of dramatic events brings them closer together. But the enigmatic Mrs Graham's unconventional life and behaviour disguise a hidden past with many secrets, secrets the world of Victorian England would rather bury forever...

Wuthering Heights:
When Mr. Earnshaw encounters Heathcliff, a ragamuffin orphan, he kindly brings the boy into his home and makes him part of the family. And from the start, Heathcliff falls hopelessly in love with the daughter of the house, the beautiful, headstrong Catherine. She adores him, too, but when a wealthy neighbour woos her, Catherine's material instincts get the better of her, and she agrees to marry the man. However, Catherine discovers that she cannot forget Heathcliff so easily... and that not even death can make them part...

`However one defines Man, the same definition applies to us all. This is sufficient proof that there is no essential difference within mankind.' (Laws l.29-30) Cicero's The Republic is an impassioned plea for responsible governement written just before the civil war that ended the Roman Republic in a dialogue following Plato. Drawing on Greek political theory, the work embodies the mature reflections of a Roman ex-consul on the nature of political organization, on justice in society, and on the qualities needed in a statesman. Its sequel, The Laws, expounds the influential doctrine of Natural Law, which applies to all mankind, and sets out an ideal code for a reformed Roman Republic, already half in the realm of utopia. This is the first complete English translation of both works for over sixty years and features a lucid Introduction, a Table of Dates, notes on the Roman constitution, and an Index of Names. 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.

Ken Hutchison stars as the brooding and tormented lover Heathcliff in this BBC television adaptation of Emily Bronte's classic novel. Adopted as a boy by the kindly Mr Earnshaw (John Collin), Heathcliff comes to live with the family at their home, Wuthering Heights, in the Yorkshire moors. He soon falls in love with Earnshaw's headstrong daughter Cathy (Kay Adshead), a doomed relationship that plunges them both into despair when Cathy agrees to marry her rich neighbour Edgar Linton (David Robb). Tortured by his love, the dark and sinister Heathcliff refuses to relinquish his emotional hold on Cathy, and does everything in his power to destroy the lives of her and her family.

Since ancient times, humans have been engaged in a continual quest to find meaning in and make sense of sights and events in the night sky. Cultures spread around the world recorded their earliest efforts in artwork made directly on the natural landscapes around them, and from there they developed more and more sophisticated techniques for observing and documenting astronomy. This book brings readers on an astronomical journey through the ages, offering a history of how our species has recorded and interpreted the night sky over time. From cave art to parchment scribe to modern X-ray mapping of the sky, it chronicles the ever-quickening development of tools that informed and at times entirely toppled our understanding of the natural world. Our documentation and recording techniques formed the bedrock for increasingly complex forays into astronomy and celestial mechanics, which are addressed within these chapters. Additionally, the book explores how nature itself has recorded the skies in its own way, which can be unraveled through ongoing geological and archaeological studies. This tale of human discovery and ingenuity over the ages will appeal to anybody interested in the field of astronomy and its rich cultural history.

The relationship between the author and his audience has received much critical attention from scholars in non-classical disciplines yet the nature of much ancient literature and of its 'publication' meant that audiences in ancient times were more immediate to their authors than in the modern world. This book contains essays by distinguished scholars on the various means by which Latin authors communicated effectively with their audiences. The authors and works covered are Cicero, Catullus, Lucretius, Propertius, Horace's Odes, Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Senecan tragedy, Persius, Pliny's letters, Tacitus' Annals and medieval love lyric. Contributors have provided detailed analyses of particular passages in order to throw light on the many different ways in which authors catered for their audiences by fulfilling, manipulating and thwarting their expectations; and in an epilogue the editors have drawn together the issues raised by these contributions and have attempted to place them in an appropriate critical context.

In the ancient world Classical rhetoric and its practices raised major ethical doubts and questions which have continued to affect - even to prejudice - our judgment of orators and oratory today. One of the key components of practical oratory was rational argument. The six chapters in this volume examine different aspects of the role of rational argument in Classical oratory and rhetoric and its later tradition. Michael Gagarin discusses the role of argumentation in the works of Antiphon, the earliest Greek orator whose continuous texts survive. Christos Kremmydas analyses the argumentative strategies in a political speech of Demosthenes, the attack on the law of Leptines (Demosthenes 20). Two chapters then focus on Cicero: Jakob Wisse discusses Cicero's self-conscious use of logical structure and the ancient theory of the classification of issues (so-called stasis theory) while Lynn Fotheringham examines Cicero's habit of `having his cake and eating it', i.e. running two incompatible lines of argument at the same time. Peter Mack surveys the interrelation of rhetoric and dialectic in the Renaissance, highlighting the importance of the latter and its influence on styles of composition in English as well as Latin. Finally Malcolm Heath describes a fascinating experiment in the teaching of ancient rhetorical techniques to modern students, showing that the study of ancient rhetoric can be not only an interesting aspect of cultural history but also an effective means of developing the `transferable skills' valued by today's employers.

Superspy George Smiley (Alec Guinness) has for some time been in 'retirement' - some say due to his mishandling of the Czech scandal. However, the retiring masterspy finds himself summoned back to the 'Circus' (British secret service) when it transpires that an enemy infiltrator is at work in the department.

The universe contains many unusual sights and sounds, most of which are either very difficult to witness or simply go unnoticed. With the right tools, time, and location, some of the often talked about but seldom seen and heard gems in our skies can finally be observed. This book introduces readers to the rare and ephemeral happenings above our heads. It offers a crash course in astronomical history, detailing the observations, assumptions, and inventions of different cultures over time as they turned their studies to the stars. Using this as a baseline to redefine truly "rare" occurrences, Jonathan Powell then provides modern-day astronomers at all levels with pointers for what they can witness and when. From phenomena as old and far-off as a supernova witnessed a thousand years ago, and as recent and nearby as Sputnik's famous beeping, this book covers everything that one must know to see, hear, and appreciate the astronomical events happening around us.

British masterspy George Smiley (Alec Guinness) returns to his old department following the murder of his friend, General Vladimir, a Russian who once worked for British Intelligence. When it transpires that Vladimir was in fact a double agent, Smiley becomes engaged in a battle of wills with his old nemesis, Karla of Moscow Centre.

Death was a bummer. Well, not for Akal. A death on Earth only meant a birth into the multiverse. It did for him, anyway. Just when he thought he was checking out and taking his last breath, he was standing... on an island. In space. With a pretty tree and bench on it. There was a little breeze, too. But, where was it coming from? Countless star systems, galaxies and universes stood before Akal but their numbers couldn't rival the amount of questions he had. He knew all the answers were out there somewhere, but they wouldn't do him any good if he didn't know where to start. Slowly but surely, through tribulations across a myriad of experiences, Akal starts to piece together what had happened to him, as well as his wife. His one true love across all of existence. His wife's fate was just the tip of an iceberg of multiversal manipulation and deranged hate for the weak and vulnerable. Akal's wife was not weak, but she was definitely vulnerable. Akal seethed and seeped with regret at his inaction before his transformation, but never strayed too far from his personal goal of making up for it. There had been a dark and grotesque exploitation of people going on since time seemingly began, and Akal planned to stop it. Before long, Akal was dodging gunfire from the United States Army in 1877, sailing and fighting in space millennia later, and dodging the razor-sharp wings of assassins high in the skies of Kestrellia. The quests seemed unending but were absolutely necessary in the name of getting information. He dared someone to stop him. Akal is quickly humbled, however. He is humbled numerous times in countless physical and emotional ways by friends and by the multiverse. Only when he learns that the power of patience and joy of learning outweigh any abilities or powers, does he start to reap the rewards of true strength and understanding. As insignificant as any single creature may be within the context of the multiverse, Akal eventually discovers how that margin can be narrowed by a single act. How he and others like him live their lives may show us how to more thoroughly live our one. Souls of Astraeus is a distinct and engaging science fiction and fantasy adventure that redefines the role of the hero and the hero's motives, without cynicism or naivete. Souls of Astraeus shows us that knowledge and love can be attained by everyone without having to sell their souls.

Making peace in Northern Ireland was the greatest success of the Blair government, and one of the greatest achievements in British politics since the Second World War. In Jonathan Powell's masterly account we learn just how close the talks leading to the Good Friday agreement came to collapse and how the parties finally reached a deal. Pithy, outspoken and precise, Powell, Tony Blair's chief of staff and chief negotiator, gives us that rarest of things, a true insider's account of politics at the highest level. He demonstrates how the events in Northern Ireland have valuable lessons for those seeking to end conflict in other parts of the world and shows us how the process of making peace is sometimes messy and often blackly comic.

Illustrating each of Machiavelli's maxims with a description of events that occurred during Tony Blair's time as prime minister, Blair's former close adviser gives a devastating, frank, and insightful analysis of how power is wielded in the modern world In a 21st-century reworking of Niccolo Machiavelli's influential masterpiece, Jonathan Powell argues that the Italian philosopher is misunderstood, and explains how the lessons derived from his experience as an official in 15th-century Florence can still apply today. Drawing on his own unpublished diaries during his time as Blair's chief of staff, Powell gives a frank account of the intimate details of the internal political struggles, including the failure to join the Euro or hold a referendum on the European constitution; the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo; the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland; and the relations with Clinton, Bush, and Chirac. Short, stark, and clear--much like" The Prince"--this gripping account of life inside "the bunker" of Number 10 draws lessons from those experiences, not just for political leaders but for anyone who has access to the levers of power.

Submerge yourself in classic BBC Dickens dramatisations that, like the great novelist's work, have stood the test of time.

The majesty of Charles Dickens' storytelling is captured in this DVD boxset that brings together BBC dramatisations of eight of the acclaimed author's classic novels. From the touching 1985 dramatisation of the semi-autobiographical Oliver Twist to the moving A Christmas Carol that sidesteps mawkish sentimentality and instead, offers viewers an affecting and sincere drama, each TV adaptation will delight fans of the author – and win over a generation of new ones.

Starring a wealth of celebrated actors including Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, John Mills and many more, the Charles Dickens Collection celebrates the author's work with authentic and beautifully-played mini TV-series from a broadcaster that is world-renowned for its adaptations.

In chronological order, the adaptations featured in this set are:

• A Christmas Carol (1977)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1980)
• The Pickwick Papers (1985)
• Oliver Twist (1985)
• Martin Chuzzlewit (1994)
• Our Mutual Friend (1998)
• David Copperfield (1999)
• Great Expectations (1999)