This book presents a fresh exploration of happiness through the ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers. It introduces readers to the main currents of Greek ethical thought (Socratic living, Platonism, Aristotelianism, Epicureanism, Scepticism, Stoicism, Cynicism) and takes a close look at characters such as Socrates, Diogenes and Alexander the Great. Yet Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought is much more than just a casual stroll through ancient thinking. It attempts to show how certain common themes in Greek thought (the role of reason as a guide for all actions, regard for virtue as a type of internal stability of character, recognition that ethics is not just a public but also a personal affair, etc.) are essential for living a happy life in any age. The author stresses that the Greek ethical ideal was principally integrative and suggests that the right conception of happiness involves integration at three different, but nested levels: personal, socio-political, and cosmic. He argues that, in many respects, the Greek integrative ideal, contrary to the hedonistic individualism that many pluralistic societies today at least implicitly advocate, is a much richer alternative that warrants honest reconsideration today.

The Home Front in Britain explores the British Home Front in the last 100 years since the outbreak of WW1. Case studies critically analyse the meaning and images of the British home and family in times war, challenging prevalent myths of how working and domestic life was shifted by national conflict.

The column, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, had instant appeal from a broad spectrum of the public. The readership grew rapidly, crossing gender, age, background, and geographical lines. This volume contains a compilation of the most successful and noted published columns, From Our Perspective, covering a period of five years. Most of the pieces follow a pubic policy theme, either foreign or domestic. Included, are several columns of local interest, with overarching conceptual implications which cut across cultural lines. It can be said that the brilliance of the authors' writing style is only eclipsed by the quality and comprehensiveness of the substance. When reading these selections, there is no need to wonder, "Where is the beef?" One should note, there is a generational age difference between the authors but therein lies the unique creative strength of the two columnists as a team. It is the bridging of this generational gap, with the individual strengths and talents of each author, which adds vibrancy, relevance, and dynamism to the Heichberger/Burr team and contributes greatly to this combined writing venture. Welcome to FIVE YEARS ON THE CUTTING EDGE. Robert L. Heichberger, Ph.D. M. Andrew Burr Through the past fifty-seven years, Dr. Robert L. Heichberger has been a teacher, public school and university administrator, college professor, and public policy consultant. M. Andrew Burr is an economist and advanced graduate student with honors in economic theory and practice. He is a self-made business entrepreneur. Currently, Dr. Heichberger and M. Andrew Burr are serving as leadership, public policy and organizational consultants. They specialize in developmental strategies in. strategic planning, conflict management, and organizational management. Dr. Heichberger and Mr. Burr are weekly newspaper columnists on domestic, world, and human affairs. Their Column has generated a considerable following and is popular among people of all ages and backgrounds.

This book provides an introduction to the Stoics, ideal for undergraduate students taking courses in Ethics and Ancient Philosophy.Stoicism was a key philosophical movement in the Hellenistic period. Today, the Stoics are central to the study of Ethics and Ancient Philosophy. In "The Stoics: A Guide for the Perplexed", M. Andrew Holowchak sketches, from Zeno to Aurelius, a framework that captures the tenor of Stoic ethical thinking in its key terms.Drawing on the readily available works of Seneca, Epictetus and Aurelius, "The Stoics: A Guide for the Perplexed" makes ancient texts accessible to students unfamiliar with Stoic thought. Providing ancient and modern-day examples to illustrate Stoic principles, the author guides the reader through the main themes and ideas of Stoic thought: Stoic cosmology, epistemology, views of nature, self-knowledge, perfectionism and, in particular, ethics. Holowchak also endeavours to present Stoicism as an ethically viable way of life today through rejecting their notion of ethical perfectionism in favour of a type of ethical progressivism consistent with other key Stoic principles. Thus, "The Stoics: A Guide for the Perplexed" is the ideal companion to the study of Stoic thinking in philosophy.Continuum's "Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

It's accepted by most scholars that Thomas Jefferson had a lengthy affair with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. This conclusion is based on a 1998 DNA study published in Nature and on the work of historian Annette Gordon-Reed, assumed by many to be the last word on the subject. This book argues compellingly that the DNA evidence is inconclusive and that there are remarkable flaws in the leading historical scholarship purporting to show such a liaison. The author critically examines well-known books by Gordon-Reed, Fawn Brodie, and Andrew Burstein. Holowchak notes selective use of evidence, ungrounded speculation, tendentious psychologizing, and unpersuasive argumentation, among other defects in their work. He delves into what we know about Jefferson's character by showing that the historical facts do not suggest any romantic interest on Jefferson's part in his female slaves. He also points out that, though DNA analysis indicates the presence of a Y-chromosome from some Jefferson male in the Hemings family line, it is unwarranted to conclude that this must have come from Thomas Jefferson. Finally, he discusses Jefferson's racial attitudes and says that they argue against any liaison with Sally Hemings.

A year after saving the powers of Olympus by defeating Nyx, the Goddess of Darkness, Daphne is haunted by still-looming threats, her complicated feelings for the god Apollo, and the promise she made to the Olympian gods that she would help them again when they called upon her. When their command finally comes, it is deceptively simple: secure herself a spot as one of Queen Helen's guards. A war is coming, and all of Sparta must be prepared. In the midst of a treaty summit among the monarchs of Greece, Daphne and Helen uncover a plot of betrayal-and soon, a battle begins that leads to all-out war. As the kingdoms of Greece clash on the shores of Troy and the gods choose sides, Daphne must use her wits, her training, and her precarious relationship with Apollo to find a way to keep her queen safe, stop the war, and uncover the true reason the gods led her to Troy. But the gods are keeping more than one secret, and Daphne will be forced to decide how far she is willing to go to save those she loves-and whose side she's on in a war that is prophesized to be the downfall of her people.

The child who stops growing, infantile senility, the 'old-fashioned' child, child-wives and child-mothers, the rejuvenated adult - Dickens's writings parade before us a gallery of bizarre hybrids. Dickens and the Grown-up Child focuses on the complicated and unresolved relationship between childhood and adulthood in Dickens's fictional and non-fictional work. In challenging the familiar view that the source of such anomalies lies in Dickens's own childhood experiences, Malcolm Andrews explores the extent to which Dickens was heir to an older cultural debate about primitivism and progressivism, a debate which Dickens adapted to his own preoccupations with the tensions between childhood and maturity. In examining these issues, Malcolm Andrews concentrates on the fiction of Dickens's middle years, particularly David Copperfield, and on some of the journalistic essays.

During the decade that preceded Mikhail Gorbachev's era of glasnost and perestroika, the KGB headquarters in Moscow was putting out a constant stream of instructions to its Residencies abroad. These top secret documents were principally concerned with agent recruitment, infiltration of key foreign organizations, intelligence collection and interpretation, and influence operations, while endeavouring at all times to promote and protect the interests of the Soviet Union against countries seen as enemies.
Unknown to the KGB, many of these highly classified documents were being secretly copied by Oleg Gordievsky, at that time not only a high-ranking KGB officer based in London but also a long-serving undercover agent for the British.
The selected documents in this volume offer a revealing insight into the attitudes, prejudices and fears of the KGB during what were to prove its declining years.

This book describes the current state of international grape genomics, with a focus on the latest findings, tools and strategies employed in genome sequencing and analysis, and genetic mapping of important agronomic traits. It also discusses how these are having a direct impact on outcomes for grape breeders and the international grape research community. While V. vinifera is a model species, it is not always appreciated that its cultivation usually requires the use of other Vitis species as rootstocks. The book discusses genetic diversity within the Vitis genus, the available genetic resources for breeding, and the available genomic resources for other Vitis species. Grapes (Vitis vinifera spp. vinifera) have been a source of food and wine since their domestication from their wild progenitor (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris) around 8,000 years ago, and they are now the world's most valuable horticultural crop. In addition to being economically important, V. vinifera is also a model organism for the study of perennial fruit crops for two reasons: Firstly, its ability to be transformed and micropropagated via somatic embryogenesis, and secondly its relatively small genome size of 500 Mb. The economic importance of grapes made V. vinifera an obvious early candidate for genomic sequencing, and accordingly, two draft genomes were reported in 2007. Remarkably, these were the first genomes of any fruiting crop to be sequenced and only the fourth for flowering plants. Although riddled with gaps and potentially omitting large regions of repetitive sequences, the two genomes have provided valuable insights into grape genomes. Cited in over 2,000 articles, the genome has served as a reference in more than 3,000 genome-wide transcriptional analyses. Further, recent advances in DNA sequencing and bioinformatics are enabling the assembly of reference-grade genome references for more grape genotypes revealing the exceptional extent of structural variation in the species.