Self-Counsel Press
Livres Canada Books
View Rights PortalGAPSK and YLPSK are the standardized test of Chinese language for children from 3 to 15. From the world- renowned Peking University, GAPSK and YLPSK are certified and approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education as language proficiency measuring tool for children . GAPSK, YLPSK could be conducted on site or completely online. Come join over 100,000 students who taken the tests, contact us at info@gapsk.org. Find out more at www.ylpsk.org
View Rights PortalFrom the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, Liverpool was frequently referred to as the 'second city of the empire'. Yet, the role of Liverpool within the British imperial system and the impact on the city of its colonial connections remain underplayed in recent writing on both Liverpool and the empire. However, 'inconvenient' this may prove, this specially-commissioned collection of essays demonstrates that the imperial dimension deserves more prevalence in both academic and popular representations of Liverpool's past. Indeed, if Liverpool does represent the 'World in One City' - the slogan for Liverpool's status as European Capital of Culture in 2008 - it could be argued that this is largely down to Merseyside's long-term interactions with the colonial world, and the legacies of that imperial history. In the context of Capital of Culture year and growing interest in the relationship between British provincial cities and the British empire, this book will find a wide audience amongst academics, students and history enthusiasts generally.
This volume is the first ever attempt to unite and translate some of the key texts which informed Johan Huizinga's famous study of the Burgundian court, The Waning of the Middle Ages, a work which has never gone out of print. It combines these texts with sources that Huizinga did not consider, those that illuminate the wider civic world that the Burgundian court inhabited and the dynamic interaction between court and city. Through these sources, and an introduction offering new perspectives on recent historiography, the book tests whether Huizinga's controversial vision of the period still stands. Covering subjects including ceremonial events, such as the spectacles and gargantuan banquets that made the Burgundian dukes the talk of Europe, the workings of the court, and jousting, archery and rhetoric competitions, the book will appeal to students of late medieval and early modern Europe and to those with wider interests in court culture, ritual and ceremony.
A rich and revealing examination of the legendary pop duo Soft Cell. Soft Cell are not your average pop band. Marc Almond and Dave Ball may be best known for the string of hits they released in 1981, but the powerful first phase of their collaboration embraced a staggering array of sounds, influences and innovations that would change the face of music to come. In Bedsit land, Patrick Clarke plunges into the archives and interviews more than sixty contributors, including the band members themselves, to follow Soft Cell through the many strange and sprawling worlds that shaped their extraordinary career. They lead him from the faded camp glamour of the British seaside to the dizzying thrills of the New York club scene. From transgressive student performance art to the sleaze and squalor of pre-gentrified Soho. From the glitz of British showbiz to the drug-addled chaos of post-Franco Spain. He emerges on the other side with the most in-depth, innovative and entertaining account of the duo ever written.
“This is a TRUE story. It’s about my world” There’s smoke in the kitchen. Dad acts normal but Mom is worried her head might explode. Even so, the biggest problem is global. You-Know-Who has been at it again and the world must be put right. Today! Big brothers are mean. Big brothers spell trouble. And Big Brothers are not to be trusted, especially if they turn your world upside down. Or is it downside up? In this book where the parallel crazy worlds with their upside-downness and downside-upness weave a fantastic, troubled, creased co-existence, nothing is what it seems like and everything is up for wonder. Ken Spillman adroitly plays around with words and situations both believable and unbelievable, while Silvana Giraldo spins a splendidly broken-but-beautiful world to bring alive an Orwellian dystopia into this picture book.
Lisa Downing's comprehensive study of the films of Patrice Leconte traces lines of continuity and revision through a body of apparently disparate films whose "messages" often appear both contradictory and controversial. Pursuing a close reading of the recurrent themes, styles, intertexts and techniques which structure Leconte's filmmaking, Downing re-evaluates Leconte's status as an enigmatic artist offering complex and paradoxical commentary on contemporary questions of sexuality, ethics and identity. This book is the first full-length critical work in English on Leconte's cinema. It provides essential reading for both enthusiasts of French cinema and for those fascinated by the relationship between popular culture and theory.
This book looks at London's provision of financial and military support for parliament's war against King Charles I. It explores for the first time a series of episodic, circumstantial and unique mobilisations that spanned from late 1641 to early 1645 and which ultimately led to the establishment of the New Model Army. Based on research from two-dozen archives, Civil war London charts the successes and failures of efforts to move London's vast resources and in the process poses a number of challenges to longstanding notions about the capital's 'parliamentarian' makeup. It reveals interactions between London's Corporation, parochial communities and livery companies, between preachers and parishioners and between agitators, propagandists and common people. Within these tangled webs of political engagement reside the untold stories of the movement of money and men, but also of parliament's eventual success in the English Civil War.
Capoeira is a martial art developed by African slaves in Brazil from the 16th century, as a result of the fusion of several ethnic groups that originally brought with them to South America their cultural identity, as well as their seeds of liberty. Despite the strong evidence of influence from a plurality of other forms of ancient African martial arts, capoeira is essentially an original Brazilian expression with many practitioners and enthusiasts in every continent. Although capoeira values much of its cultural and historical aspects, no one should be misled - it is an efficient and deadly fighting system! As a result of its development throughout the years, capoeira became the richest and the most spectacular and beautiful martial art on the planet. However, what even most capoeiristas do not know is that this fascinating martial art can turn into a gracefully athletic and also lethal weapon at the hands (and feet) of any disciplined, serious practitioner. In this book you will learn unique secrets of capoeira as performed in the roda or in actual combat. Moves, ground fighting and aerial techniques are fully described to the level of perfection, with the help of hundreds of pictures. Diagrams explain special maneuvers never before published in the world of martial arts. Additionally, readers will have free access to exciting animated GIF files for the numerous moves presented in the book. Mestre Ricardo, a.k.a. Cachorro, a graduate of Mestre Adilson’s Grupo Bantus de Capoeira at Morro do Pavão e Pavãozinho – poverty-stricken slums in the midst of the rich suburbs of Rio de Janeiro – was the first Mestre of the YMCA Capoeira Group in Governor’s Island, achieving this honor in 1975. The following year, he became a certified Mestre from the first federation of capoeira of Rio de Janeiro, the FCP, and in the same year he introduced capoeira in a live TV show filmed in North Carolina, sponsored by the local YMCA. In the 1970’s Mestre Ricardo was a member of the Olympic gymnastics team of Rio de Janeiro’s Fluminense Football Club, where he specialized in floor exercises. During his professional career as a capoeira practitioner, Ricardo learned and practiced boxing, Shotokan karate and judo as a means to better understand the body mechanics of motion involved in different martial arts. An English-language edition was publlished in fall 2009, 288 pages, two colors, 16.5X24 cm, 200-plus illustrated practical moves. Further new title in the Capoeira series: The Amazing History of Capoeira
This book is a documentary work recording history of the Nanjing Massacre survivors. Through the testimony of the few still living survivors and a large number of detailed and meticulous historical archives, this book has fully restored scenes of daily life and stories of Nanjing citizens before and after the Nanjing Massacre. With complete and abundant details, it brings to light the profound disasters caused by Japanese aggression and atrocities.
A moving exploration of the life and work of the celebrated American writer, blending biography and memoir with literary criticism. Since James Baldwin's death in 1987, his writing - including The Fire Next Time, one of the manifestoes of the Civil Rights Movement, and Giovanni's Room, a pioneering work of gay fiction - has only grown in relevance. Douglas Field was introduced to Baldwin's essays and novels by his father, who witnessed the writer's debate with William F. Buckley at Cambridge University in 1965. In Walking in the dark, he embarks on a journey to unravel his life-long fascination and to understand why Baldwin continues to enthral us decades after his death. Tracing Baldwin's footsteps in France, the US and Switzerland, and digging into archives, Field paints an intimate portrait of the writer's life and influence. At the same time, he offers a poignant account of coming to terms with his father's Alzheimer's disease. Interweaving Baldwin's writings on family, illness, memory and place, Walking in the dark is an eloquent testament to the enduring power of great literature to illuminate our paths.
Many children wet the bed. This comic storybook takes us on the journey of Kizere trying to overcome it. Gladly, with the help from parents and friends, she overcame it.
This is a story about Chinese Go chess.The protagonist Xiao Wang lives in the North Lane. Go chess connects his life with other chess players such as Jiang Chong, Liu Yun, Tao Song, Chen Xiaodong and Chang Shuo. Through this novel, we see the modern life, the modern psychology and the modern society of China.
Für die fünfzehnjährige Ich-Erzählerin ist ihre Mutter Charlotte der Mittelpunkt der Familie, geliebt, alles beherrschend und geradeheraus. Das Offensichtliche aber wird auch von Charlotte totgeschwiegen: dass die Nachrichten von der Front beunruhigen und die Flüchtlingstrecks aus dem Osten in immer kürzeren Abständen durch die Stadt ziehen. Bis zu dem Januarmorgen 1945, an dem plötzlich vollgestopfte Bettensäcke im Flur bereitstehen, vom Führerbild an der Wand nur noch ein heller Fleck zu sehen ist und die Mutter ihren Silberfuchs mit einer endgültigen Geste, die ihre Tochter nicht mehr vergessen wird, in den Schrank zurücklegt. Mitreißend, anrührend und mit liebevoller Ironie erzählt Christa Wolf von den inneren Verflechtungen einer Familie, von einer Fünfzehnjährigen, die erwachsen wird, vom Trauma der Flucht. 1971 entstanden, ist diese Erzählung der Auftakt zum späteren, weit ausholenden Kindheitsmuster, dem autobiographischen Meisterwerk, das bis heute ein Weltecho hat.
Jiu-Jitsu, literally meaning "the gentle art," is a popular form of self-defense that does not necessarily rely on physical strength and power. Seven-time World Champion Fabio Gurgel presents us with a comprehensive two-volume series that brings simplicity to the complex movements of this Martial Art, as he reveals the secrets of Jiu-Jitsu step by step. The book, titled BJJ BASICS, is fully illustrated and simplify the technical expressions of the art form to allow any student to learn and improve. Originally, Jiu-Jitsu was developed for the Samurai, ancient warriors who had little or no armor to defend themselves against a more powerful and well-armed enemy. As such, Jiu-Jitsu is the father of Japanese Martial Arts, including Judo and Aikido, and it has influenced Karate and other styles of Martial Arts. It utilizes techniques of strikes, holds, locks, throws, and evasions. Mentally, Jiu-Jitsu teaches self-confidence, improves self-esteem, relieves stress, and increases the ability to focus. Jiu-Jitsu utilizes physics and science through leverage and knowledge of human anatomy to overcome any attacker, with as little effort and physical strength as possible. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu differs from traditional Jiu-Jitsu in that it was developed in a different environment and area as a response to different needs. This caused the development of additional techniques that are more relevant to ground fighting and some relevant needs for dealing with violence in modern day life. Today, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is famous for its excellent ground fighting, high-level competitions, and competitors, as well as for its tactical thinking and maneuvers. Seven-time World Champion Fabio Duca Gurgel do Amaral began practicing Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 13 and received his black belt at the age of 19. Along with his master, Romero Jacaré, he is the co-founder of the two-time World Champion Alliance Team with 40 academies around the world – from Venezuela to New York, from Finland to Germany. Gurgel continues to teach at his own academy in São Paulo and gives seminars throughout the world. He is president of the Professional League of Jiu-Jitsu. A North American English-language edition was published in February 2007. A Czech edition was published in Fall 2009. 152 pages; 16.5 x 24 cm.
On 25 January 1474, Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, appeared before his subjects in Dijon. Robed in silk, gold and precious jewels and wearing a headpiece that gave the illusion of a crown, he made a speech in which he cryptically expressed his desire to become a king. Three years later, Charles was killed at the battle of Nancy, an event that plunged the Great Principality of Burgundy into chaos. This book, innovative and essential, not only explores Burgundian history and historiography but offers a complete synthesis about the nature of politics in this region, considered both from the north and the south. Focusing on political ideologies, a number of important issues are raised relating to the medieval state, the signification of the nation under the 'Ancien Regime', the role of warfare in the creation of political power and the impact of political loyalties in the exercise of government. In doing so, the book challenges a number of existing ideas about the Burgundian state.
Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859) war eine vielseitige Frau; erst spät, nach dem Tod ihres Mannes 1831, begann sie ihr Leben als mutige und streitbare Schriftstellerin. Umgeben von ihren Kindern, von Bewunderern und Spöttern, wird sie zum Mittelpunkt des gesellschaftlichen Lebens im preußischen Berlin. Die einen sehen in ihr eine mutige Demokratin, die anderen eine versponnene Sibylle der Romantik. Goethe nannte sie »das wunderlichste Wesen von der Welt«. Gerhard Wolfs exemplarische Auswahl – Gedichte, philosophische Prosa und Briefe sowie Zeugnisse vieler Zeitgenossen – erschließt ein neues Bild der Verfechterin für die »freie Entwicklung aller«.