522 products in Books, Music, Movies & TV

Already famous throughout Europe, this international bestseller plumbs recently opened archives in the former Soviet bloc to reveal the actual, practical accomplishments of Communism around the world: terror, torture, famine, mass deportations, and massacres. Astonishing in the sheer detail it amasses, the book is the first comprehensive attempt to catalogue and analyze the crimes of Communism over seventy years. "Revolutions, like trees, must be judged by their fruit," Ignazio Silone wrote, and this is the standard the authors apply to the Communist experience―in the China of "the Great Helmsman," Kim Il Sung's Korea, Vietnam under "Uncle Ho" and Cuba under Castro, Ethiopia under Mengistu, Angola under Neto, and Afghanistan under Najibullah. The authors, all distinguished scholars based in Europe, document Communist crimes against humanity, but also crimes against national and universal culture, from Stalin's destruction of hundreds of churches in Moscow to Ceausescu's leveling of the historic heart of Bucharest to the widescale devastation visited on Chinese culture by Mao's Red Guards. As the death toll mounts―as many as 25 million in the former Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 1.7 million in Cambodia, and on and on―the authors systematically show how and why, wherever the millenarian ideology of Communism was established, it quickly led to crime, terror, and repression. An extraordinary accounting, this book amply documents the unparalleled position and significance of Communism in the hierarchy of violence that is the history of the twentieth century.

Beginning with the dim prehistory of the mythical gods and their descendants, Heimskringla recounts the history of the kings of Norway through the reign of Olaf Haraldsson, who became Norway's patron saint. Once found in most homes and schools and still regarded as a national treasure, Heimskringla influenced the thinking and literary style of Scandinavia over several centuries.

THE BEST BOOK THAT DESCRIBES THE WORLD OF 2020's Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often published as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modeled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated. The story takes place in an imagined future, the year 1984, when much of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and propaganda. Great Britain, known as Airstrip One, has become a province of a totalitarian superstate named Oceania that is ruled by the Party who employ the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Big Brother, the leader of the Party, enjoys an intense cult of personality despite the fact that he may not even exist. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a diligent and skillful rank-and-file worker and Party member who secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion. He enters into a forbidden relationship with a colleague, Julia, and starts to remember what life was like before the Party came to power. Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction. It also popularised the term "Orwellian" as an adjective, with many terms used in the novel entering common usage, including "Big Brother", "doublethink", "thoughtcrime", "Newspeak", "memory ho

Béla Bartók wrote the first four volumes of the Mikrokosmos as a series of beginning piano exercises for his son Péter. The great Hungarian composer's complete six-volume collection represents one of the most comprehensive anthologies of contemporary technique ever assembled. This edition, consisting of the first two volumes, presents more than 100 pieces of study material suitable for first- and second-year students. In a 1945 radio interview, Bartók explained, "The Mikrokosmos is a cycle of 153 pieces for piano, written with a didactic purpose. That is, to give piano pieces which can be used from the very beginning and then going on. It is graded according to difficulties. And the word Mikrokosmos may be interpreted as a series of pieces in many different styles, representing a small world. Or it may be interpreted as 'world of the little ones, the children.'" This volume constitutes the definitive edition of Bartók's tutorials, drawing upon all known manuscripts and the printed originals for a corrected version approved by the composer's son and the first student to benefit from these exercises.

This classic guide offers clear, concise instruction in the basics as well as the finer points of pencil drawing. Appropriate for beginning and intermediate students, it features sixty-six well-chosen illustrations that encompass a wide range of subjects — mainly architectural, but also people, animals, and landscapes — and demonstrate a tremendous variety of techniques. An architect, painter, art director, and teacher, Arthur L. Guptill wrote several popular books on drawing. He begins this two-part treatment, aimed at architects, artists, and students, with discussions of drawing objects in outline and in light and shade, the principles of freehand perspective, methods of cast and life drawing, and sketching animals. The second part examines the choice of subjects and drawing in outline and in flat and graded tones. The important subject of composition receives considerable attention, with particular focus on unity and balance. Additional topics include working from photographs and from nature, the representation of buildings — including exteriors, interiors, and street scenes — and portraying details and accessories, from furniture, draperies, doors, and windows to clouds, water, and trees.

“Instead of 1984, read this.” —Washington Post From New York Times bestselling author Lionel Shriver, a near-future speculative fiction novel that explores the aftershocks of an economically devastating U.S. sovereign debt default on four generations of a once-prosperous American family In 2029, the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. In this gripping dystopian novel, the “almighty dollar” plummets in value overnight on the international currency exchange, to be replaced by a new global currency, the “bancor.” In retaliation, the president declares that America will default on its loans. “Deadbeat Nation” being unable to borrow, the government prints money to cover its bills. What little remains to savers is rapidly eaten away by runaway inflation. The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable fortune filtering down when their ninety-seven-year-old patriarch dies. Once the inheritance turns to ash, each family member must contend with disappointment, but also—as the U.S. economy spirals into dysfunction—the challenge of sheer survival. Recently affluent, Avery is petulant that she can’t buy olive oil, while her sister, Florence, absorbs strays into her cramped household. An expat author, their aunt, Nollie, returns from abroad at seventy-three to a country that’s unrecognizable. Her brother, Carter, fumes at caring for their demented stepmother, now that an assisted living facility isn’t affordable. Only Florence’s oddball teenage son, Willing, an economics autodidact, will save this formerly august American family from the streets. A potent work of financial fiction, The Mandibles is about money. Thus it is necessarily about bitterness, rivalry, and selfishness—but also about surreal generosity, sacrifice, and transformative adaptation to changing circumstances.

- [Pickup system]: AODSK electric guitar features 5 types of pickup switches and 2 types of tone and volume controls to choose from. It is suitable for both beginners and professionals, accommodating a wide variety of musical styles - [Full Size Electric Guitar kit]: Your electric guitar set comes ready to play right out of the box.No need to buy any additional accessories, this full set comes with an amplifier and guitar cable, high-quality guitar bag, electronic tuner, 6 spare strings, guitar picks, whammy bar, capo, cleaning cloth, and guitar strap - [Electric Guitar Amplifier]: The beginners set includes a 5W amplifier with built-in dual speakers, headphone jack, and AUX input for playing music on your phone or MP3 player. The amplifier also features charging and Bluetooth capabilities for convenient use when you're out and about. It also has gain and reverb functions - [Quality Materials]: Custom-designed and handcrafted laurel fingerboard and birch neck. It translates vibrations into the rich, classic tones in the guitar through 3 pickups. The design of the C -type neck is more comfortable. The tremolo bridge system allows you to bend the pitch while playing, and the detachable tremolo arm produces a tremolo effect. Overall dimensions: 46.45*14.96*3.14 inches - [Holiday Gift]: Musical instruments and music-related gifts can not only meet the needs of music lovers,but also add a special atmosphere to the festival.Therefore,this product is a good choice for Christmas gifts,birthday gifts,and New Year gifts

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The internationally bestselling and highly personal account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Declining birth-rates, mass immigration and cultivated self-distrust and self-hatred have come together to make Europeans unable to argue for themselves and incapable of resisting their own comprehensive change as a society. The Strange Death of Europe is not only an analysis of demographic and political realities, but also an eyewitness account, reporting from across the entire continent, from the places where migrants land to the places they end up, from the people who appear to welcome them to the places which cannot accept them. Told from this first-hand perspective, and backed with impressive research and evidence, the book addresses the disappointing failure of multiculturalism, Angela Merkel's U-turn on migration, the lack of repatriation and the Western fixation on guilt. Murray travels to Berlin, Paris, Scandinavia, Lampedusa and Greece to uncover the malaise at the very heart of the European culture, and to hear the stories of those who have arrived in Europe from far away. He ends with two visions of Europe – one hopeful, one pessimistic – which paint a picture of Europe in crisis and offer a choice as to what, if anything, we can do next.

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller—nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. Who is John Galt? When he says that he will stop the motor of the world, is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battles not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the amazing men and women in this book. You will discover why a productive genius becomes a worthless playboy...why a great steel industrialist is working for his own destruction...why a composer gives up his career on the night of his triumph...why a beautiful woman who runs a transcontinental railroad falls in love with the man she has sworn to kill. Atlas Shrugged, a modern classic and Rand’s most extensive statement of Objectivism—her groundbreaking philosophy—offers the reader the spectacle of human greatness, depicted with all the poetry and power of one of the twentieth century’s leading artists.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR HUMANITY is our ninth textbook in a series covering the world of UASs / CUAS / UUVs / Space. In this book, we change our perspective from advanced weapons and intelligence (potentially harmful to humanity) to exploring the use of advanced technologies to benefit society. The authors chose vital technologies that we envision can be used to help humanity survive or turn into less threatening outcomes for society. Chapter One introduces Wargaming and Artificial intelligence. In it, we understand how OODA decision loops can be used for plans and societal decisions. Chapter two addresses Mobility. It is a deep look into the devices that control our daily lives. It presents a holistic view of connectivity and the changes that need to be made. Chapter three discusses the Metaverse and the risks that society is taking. Chapter four brings us back to basics. It teaches how to write in plain language and research important information. It brings a slew of support links to the table. Chapter five shows us the plan and promise of IoT. Everything is connected. Chapter six focuses on advanced robotics and how it is transforming humanity. What autonomous systems will we have to contend with in the future? Chapter seven is a powerful look into the intersection of biotechnology and AI. It is a combination of warning and future possibilities. Chapter eight is crucial to leveraging advanced technologies to enhance food production. Chapter nine presents a systems-dynamic view of humanitarian efforts. It introduces a balanced humanitarian technology security system. Chapter ten is a complex review of quantum computing limits, enhancements, applications, and core principles. It is not for the faint of heart. Chapter eleven asks the question: has social media worn out its welcome? It reveals the laws that protect us and censor us. It is a needed reality check. The ending chapter entitled Feed The Planet is a story to be heard. It envisions organizing hanging gardens in Africa that can produce food for millions of families. It is a beautiful vision that sums up our goals.

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Bitcoin was promised to be a liberating technology, a free market alternative to state-controlled money. But that promise was broken after a small group of insiders took over the project and fundamentally changed Bitcoin's design. Few people know the true history of Bitcoin and its original design due to years of heavy censorship, social media engineering, and tight information controls online. Hijacking Bitcoin destroys the most popular narratives that surround Bitcoin and sets the historical record straight. Roger Ver's passion and pain come through as he tells the story of a beloved project corrupted in front of his eyes. Written by one of the most prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry, this book is impossible to ignore. From the inside flap: Bitcoin has been captured and changed for the worse. That's the undeniable conclusion of Hijacking Bitcoin. Chocked full of history and inconvenient truths, this book goes on a myth-busting rampage against the most popular narratives that surround BTC. Is Bitcoin truly decentralized? Is it supposed to be digital gold or digital cash? Did the original design really have scaling problems? Roger Ver addresses these questions head-on and provides uncomfortable answers. Roger Ver is the world's first investor in Bitcoin startups and has been a prominent name in the cryptocurrency industry since the beginning. Yet, as he confesses in the introduction, this book is not a love story. It's a devastating exposé of the corruption, propaganda, and centralization of power in Bitcoin.