The Unversal History of Us

For much of recorded history, people considered the heart to be the most important organ in the body. In cultures around the world, the heart—not the brain—was believed to be the location of intelligence, memory, emotion, and the soul. Over time, views on the purpose of the heart have transformed as people sought to understand the life forces it contains. Modern medicine and science dismissed what was once the king of the organs as a mere blood pump subservient to the brain, yet the heart remains a potent symbol of love and health and an important part of our cultural iconography.

Timely, eye-opening, provocative – you will see the world differently after reading it.' - Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future

This book interprets the typical Chinese concepts of fengjian (feudalism) and jingji (economy) by reviewing the mistranslation and mismatching of concepts from ancient to modern times and from a Western language to Chinese and exploring Chinese and Western acculturation, which is in line with Mr. Chen Yinque’s theory—”To interpret a Chinese character is to write a history of culture”. In the coordinates of time and space for the transformation of Chinese concepts from ancient to modern times and their translation from Western languages, this book explores the generation and evolution of Chinese concepts; using the semantic window of Chinese characters, the book reviews the historical and cultural connotations of the semantic changes and the history of the long-lasting culture of Chinese characters. This volume moves from reviewing the semantic changes of fengjian and jingji to elaborating concepts of thought; it makes the study of the history of terms and concepts the study of the history of culture and thought; it analyzes words as part of cultural history to welcome the era of cultural and historical research with a focus on words.

A fascinating exploration of the uncrackable codes and secret cyphers that helped win wars, spark revolutions and change the faces of nations.

The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge—a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker)—covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, readable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history. From Richard the Lionheart to the mighty Saladin, from the emperors of Byzantium to the Knights Templar, Asbridge's book is a magnificent epic of Holy War between the Christian and Islamic worlds, full of adventure, intrigue, and sweeping grandeur.

Volume 1 of the General History of the Caribbean relates to the history of the origins of the earliest Caribbean people, and analyses their various political, social, cultural and economic organizations over time. This volume investigates the movement of Paleoindians into the islands, and looks at the agricultural societies which developed. It then explores the indigenous societies at the time of the Spanish Conquest, the hierarchy of the chiefdoms, and the development of slavery.

Before streets were brightly illuminated at night, astronomy was accessible to everyone and was a matter of great importance: for divination; for setting appropriate dates for planting, harvest, and festivals; for regulating lives. Phenomena in the heavens are still of great importance to many, and much of the lore of astronomy and astrology dates back to the earliest days of civilization. The astronomy of the ancients is thus of interest not only as history but also as the basis for much of what is known or believed about the heavens today. Because phenomena in the heavens are less familiar today than in earlier eras, this book begins with a brief description of what one can see in the sky on dark nights with the naked eye.

Embark on a captivating journey through 3000 years of Italy's rich history