|
Showing 1 - 25 of
102 matches in All Departments
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
These Mortal Cells is the life story of an Australian man who was
sexually abused as a child. He suffers enormous trauma and social
exclusion as a result. As a kind of pain killer, when puberty sets
in, he drinks heavily and takes a lot of drugs. He tries to live a
normal life but can't. He goes to university in Brisbane, travels a
lot, does menial work and works as a teacher for ten years in
various non-English speaking countries, but can't escape childhood.
Wherever he goes, abuse goes too. He can never associate sex with
love because of the sexual abuse he suffered. He has long drawn out
obsessions with women that always end in a mess. Subsequently, in
London, he murders a man, a complete stranger, who is a symbol of
the world that he feels has rejected him. He goes on the run in
Poland for 14 months teaching English, but eventually is arrested
by Scotland Yard. He is extradited back to England where he
receives a life sentence for murder. During his 16 years in jail he
becomes a writer and learns how to succeed.
|
Robocroc (DVD)
Jackson Bews, Owen Davis, Lisa McAllister, Keith Duffy, Steven Hartley, …
1
|
R64
Discovery Miles 640
|
Ships in 10 - 20 working days
|
Sci-fi horror. Scientist Dr Riley (Dee Wallace) launches a rocket
bound for space containing top secret nanobots but disaster strikes
when the craft crash-lands in a zoo and the nanobots find their way
into a 25-foot Australian crocodile, turning it into a
single-minded killing machine. Zookeepers Duffy (Corin Nemec) and
Jane (Lisa McAllister) race against time to stop the croc as its
kill count continues to rise. In their pursuit, they are shocked to
discover the body of the homicidal croc is transforming into metal,
making the cyber reptile an even stronger force to be reckoned
with.
This book redresses popular interpretations of concealed objects,
enigmatically discovered within the fabric of post-medieval
buildings. A wide variety of objects have been found up
chimneybreasts, bricked up in walls, and concealed within recesses:
old shoes, mummified cats, horse skulls, pierced hearts, to name
only some. The most common approach to these finds is to apply a
one-size-fits-all analysis and label them survivals and apotropaic
(evil-averting) devices. This book reconsiders such
interpretations, exploring the invention and reinvention of
traditions regarding building magic. The title Building Magic
therefore refers to more than practices that alter the fabric of
buildings, but also to processes of building magic into our
interpretations of the enigmatic material evidence and into our
engagements with the buildings we inhabit and frequent.
A copiously illustrated global history of magic books, from ancient
papyri to pulp paperbacks  Grimoires, textbooks of magic and
occult knowledge, have existed through the ages alongside other
magic and religious texts in part because of the need to create a
physical record of magical phenomena, but also to enact magic
through spells and rituals. To understand the history of these
texts is to understand the influence of the major religions, the
development of early science, the cultural influence of print, the
growth of literacy, the social impact of colonialism, and the
expansion of esoteric cultures across the oceans. Â In more
than two hundred color illustrations from ancient times to the
present, renowned scholar Owen Davies examines little-studied
artistic qualities of grimoires, revealing a unique world of design
and imagination. The book takes a global approach, considering
Egyptian and Greek papyri, ancient Chinese bamboo scripts, South
American pulp prints, and Japanese demon encyclopedias, among other
examples. Â This book will enchant readers interested in the
history of magic and science, as well as in book and manuscript
history.
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license This book
explores the magical and medical history of executions from the
eighteenth to the early twentieth century by looking at the
afterlife potency of criminal corpses, the healing activities of
the executioner, and the magic of the gallows site. The use of
corpses in medicine and magic has been recorded back into
antiquity. The lacerated bodies of Roman gladiators were used as a
source of curative blood, for instance. In early modern Europe, a
great trade opened up in ancient Egyptian mummies and the fat of
executed criminals, plundered as medicinal cure-alls. However, this
is the first book to consider the demand for the blood of the
executed, the desire for human fat, the resort to the hanged man's
hand, and the trade in hanging rope in the modern era. It ends by
look at the spiritual afterlife of dead criminals.
This book examines the social history of ghosts from the medieval
period to the present. Belief in them has been manipulated for
political and religious purposes, generated social panics and
scandals, been a perennial source of literary inspiration and
learned investigation. Underpinning Davies' approach is the
awareness that for all the intellectual and scientific advances of
the last five centuries the belief in ghosts continues to be
vibrant and socially relevant. Understanding the history of ghosts
helps explain why we continue to feel haunted by the people of the
past.
This volume is a collection based on the contributions to
witchcraft studies of Willem de Blecourt, to whom it is dedicated,
and who provides the opening chapter, setting out a methodological
and conceptual agenda for the study of cultures of witchcraft
(broadly defined) in Europe since the Middle Ages. It includes
contributions from historians, anthropologists, literary scholars
and folklorists who have collaborated closely with De Blecourt.
Essays pick up some or all of the themes and approaches he
pioneered, and apply them to cases which range in time and space
across all the main regions of Europe since the thirteenth century
until the present day. While some draw heavily on texts, others on
archival sources, and others on field research, they all share a
commitment to reconstructing the meaning and lived experience of
witchcraft (and its related phenomena) to Europeans at all levels,
respecting the many varieties and ambiguities in such meanings and
experiences and resisting attempts to reduce them to master
narratives or simple causal models. The chapter 'News from the
Invisible World: The Publishing History of Tales of the
Supernatural c.1660-1832' is available open access under a CC BY
4.0 license at link.springer.com.
Most studies of witchcraft and magic have been concerned with the
era of the witch trials, a period that officially came to an end in
Britain with the passing of the Witchcraft Act of 1736. But the
majority of people continued to fear witches and put their faith in
magic. Owen Davies here traces the history of witchcraft and magic
from 1736 to 1951, when the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act
finally erased the concept of witchcraft from the statute books.
This original study examines the extent to which witchcraft, magic
and fortune-telling continued to influence the thoughts and actions
of the people of England and Wales in a period when the forces of
"progress" are often thought to have vanquished such beliefs.
Reveals changing perceptions of ghosts at different social levels
from the Reformation through to the twentieth century in Britain
and America. This five-volume set focuses on the key published
debates that emerged in each century, and illustrates the range of
literary formats that reported or discussed ghosts.
The nineteenth century was a time of extraordinary scientific
innovation, but with the rise of psychiatry, faiths and popular
beliefs were often seen as signs of a diseased mind. By exploring
the beliefs of asylum patients, we see the nineteenth century in a
new light, with science, faith, and the supernatural deeply
entangled in a fast-changing world. The birth of psychiatry in the
early nineteenth-century fundamentally changed how madness was
categorised and understood. A century on, their conceptions of
mental illness continue to influence our views today. Beliefs and
behaviour were divided up into the pathological and the healthy.
The influence of religion and the supernatural became significant
measures of insanity in individuals, countries, and cultures.
Psychiatrists not only thought they could transform society in the
industrial age but also explain the many strange beliefs expressed
in the distant past. Troubled by Faith explores these ideas about
the supernatural across society through the prism of medical
history. It is a story of how people continued to make sense of the
world in supernatural terms, and how belief came to be a medical
issue. This cannot be done without exploring the lives of those who
found themselves in asylums because of their belief in ghosts,
witches, angels, devils, and fairies, or because they though
themselves in divine communication, or were haunted by modern
technology. The beliefs expressed by asylum patients were not just
an expression of their individual mental health, but also provide a
unique reflection of society at the time - a world still steeped in
the ideas and imagery of folklore and faith in a fast-changing
world.
Reveals changing perceptions of ghosts at different social levels
from the Reformation through to the twentieth century in Britain
and America. This five-volume set focuses on the key published
debates that emerged in each century, and illustrates the range of
literary formats that reported or discussed ghosts.
Reveals changing perceptions of ghosts at different social levels
from the Reformation through to the twentieth century in Britain
and America. This five-volume set focuses on the key published
debates that emerged in each century, and illustrates the range of
literary formats that reported or discussed ghosts.
Reveals changing perceptions of ghosts at different social levels
from the Reformation through to the twentieth century in Britain
and America. This five-volume set focuses on the key published
debates that emerged in each century, and illustrates the range of
literary formats that reported or discussed ghosts.
Reveals changing perceptions of ghosts at different social levels
from the Reformation through to the twentieth century in Britain
and America. This five-volume set focuses on the key published
debates that emerged in each century, and illustrates the range of
literary formats that reported or discussed ghosts.
Reveals changing perceptions of ghosts at different social levels
from the Reformation through to the twentieth century in Britain
and America. This five-volume set focuses on the key published
debates that emerged in each century, and illustrates the range of
literary formats that reported or discussed ghosts.
"The Haunted "is the first truly comprehensive social history of
ghosts. Using fascinating and entertaining examples, Davies places
the history of ghosts within their wider social and cultural
context and examines why a belief in ghosts continues to be
vibrant, socially relevant and historically illuminating.
What is a grimoire? The word has a familiar ring to many people,
particularly as a consequence of such popular television dramas as
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. But few people are sure
exactly what it means. Put simply, grimoires are books of spells
that were first recorded in the Ancient Middle East and which have
developed and spread across much of the Western Hemisphere and
beyond over the ensuing millennia. At their most benign, they
contain charms and remedies for natural and supernatural ailments
and advice on contacting spirits to help find treasures and protect
from evil. But at their most sinister they provide instructions on
how to manipulate people for corrupt purposes and, worst of all, to
call up and make a pact with the Devil. Both types have proven
remarkably resilient and adaptable and retain much of their
relevance and fascination to this day. But the grimoire represents
much more than just magic. To understand the history of grimoires
is to understand the spread of Christianity, the development of
early science, the cultural influence of the print revolution, the
growth of literacy, the impact of colonialism, and the expansion of
western cultures across the oceans. As this book richly
demonstrates, the history of grimoires illuminates many of the most
important developments in European history over the last two
thousand years.
A Supernatural War reveals the surprising stories of extraordinary
people in a world caught up with the promise of occult powers. It
was a commonly expressed view during the First World War that the
conflict had seen a major revival of 'superstitious' beliefs and
practices. Churches expressed concerns about the wearing of
talismans and amulets, the international press paid considerable
interest to the pronouncements of astrologers and prophets, and the
authorities in several countries periodically clamped down on
fortune tellers and mediums due to concerns over their effect on
public morale. Out on the battlefields, soldiers of all nations
sought to protect themselves through magical and religious rituals,
and, on the home front, people sought out psychics and occult
practitioners for news of the fate of their distant loved ones or
communication with their spirits. Even away from concerns about the
war, suspected witches continued to be abused and people continued
to resort to magic and magical practitioners for personal
protection, love, and success. Uncovering and examining beliefs,
practices, and contemporary opinions regarding the role of the
supernatural in the war years, Owen Davies explores the broader
issues regarding early twentieth-century society in the West, the
psychology of the supernatural during wartime, and the extent to
which the war cast a spotlight on the widespread continuation of
popular belief in magic.
This richly illustrated history provides a readable and fresh
approach to the extensive and complex story of witchcraft and
magic. Telling the story from the dawn of writing in the ancient
world to the globally successful Harry Potter films, the authors
explore a wide range of magical beliefs and practices, the rise of
the witch trials, and the depiction of the Devil-worshipping witch.
The book also focuses on the more recent history of witchcraft and
magic, from the Enlightenment to the present, exploring the rise of
modern magic, the anthropology of magic around the globe, and
finally the cinematic portrayal of witches and magicians, from The
Wizard of Oz to Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
|
|