Short Studies

In the book of Genesis, God bestows a new name upon Abram - Abraham, a father of many nations. With this name and his covenant, Abraham would become the patriarch of three of the world's major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Connected by their mutual - if differentiated - veneration of the one God proclaimed by Abraham, these traditions share much beyond their origins in the ancient Israel of the Old Testament. This Very Short Introduction audiobook explores the intertwined histories of these monotheistic religions.

Encompassing the 35 year span between the initial development of film technology in the mid-1890s and the adoption of synchronized sound in the late 1920s, the cinema's silent era is both one of the most important epochs of film history and one of the most misunderstood within the popular imagination. In this brief, engaging account, these formative decades come vividly to life.

Hinduism is practiced by nearly 80 percent of India's population, and by some 70 million people outside India. In this Very Short Introduction, Kim Knott offers a succinct and authoritative overview of this major religion, and analyzes the challenges facing it in the 21st century. She discusses key preoccupations of Hinduism such as the centrality of the Veda as religious texts, the role of Brahmins, gurus, and storytellers in the transmission of divine truths, and the cultural and moral importance of epics such as the Ramayana.

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales is an audiobook benefiting children orphaned and impacted by HIV/AIDS in South Africa, featuring Gillian Anderson, Benjamin Bratt, LeVar Burton, Ricardo Chavira, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Hayes, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Scarlett Johansson,

Debra Messing, Helen Mirren, Parminder Nagra, Sophie Okonedo, CCH Pounder, Alan Rickman, Blair Underwood, and more.

Despite the availability of "stuff", our lives are often not very fulfilling. As we pursue one shiny object after another we come to the realization that none of it is making us happy. And worse still, it estranges us from our true purpose in life. There must be another way. Alan Watts, in his book The Wisdom of Insecurity, proposes a solution. In this edition of Summary Shorts, we will analyze and summarize the ideas put forth in The Wisdom of Insecurity and learn how to truly experience life when consumerism fails us.

This volume introduces the field of gender history-its origins, development, reception, recalibrations, and frictions. It offers a set of working definitions of gender as a descriptive category and as a category of historical analysis, tracing the emergence, usage, and applicability of these entwined subjects.

Quando os antigos eslavos ouviam o trovão, sabiam que era Perun falando com eles; quando andavam pelas montanhas, sabiam que tinham de fazê-lo com muito cuidado, pois estavam no reino das vily, as ninfas da floresta. Quando olhavam para o fogo, ali estava Svarog, a divindade desse elemento.

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan Proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies", which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams.

In The Call of the Wild, Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life gets turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Alaskan Yukon in the 1890s. White Fang is the story of a wolf-dog that is rescued from its brutal owner and gradually becomes domesticated through the patience and kindness of its new owner. Lost Face (Including Other Short Stories) is a collection of seven short stories by Jack London.

Study Break, a collection of interconnected contemporary Young Adult short stories written by Gen Z authors, explores different parts of "the college experience," from questioning your major to questioning your identity.

How Not to Manifest is designed to help you identify your manifestation blocks so that you can create a life full of happiness, abundance, and love. You see, it’s not only about the manifestation methods you use. In reality, the true secret to success resides in your energy, vibration, and mindset. You don’t attract what you want; you attract who you are.

A Sherlock Holmes fan for most of her life, Gayle Lange Puhl has collected in this volume her latest stories and studies on the Great Detective. Included here are her well-reviewed “Colonel Warburton’s Madness” and “The Blood-Splattered Bridge”, plus other entertaining adventures. Essays on various Sherlockian subjects are also covered. Notable among them are the history of the real Criterion Bar and the contents of the Agra Treasure box.

Best Gay Erotica 2015 is filled to the pause-resisting brim with fantastic tales of fire dancers and TV repairmen, of hunky painters and electricians and magicians, solo sex, duo sex, and sweat-soaked triple onslaughts. Heck, throw in an alien and a priest, and you'll soon see why this anthology is head and shoulders - not to mention certain other body parts - above the rest, and always with the highest literary quality that listeners have come to expect from this esteemed and steamy collection.

A baby is born to an unwed mother in a barn. The child grows up in an obscure mountain village until he emerges a man with a revolutionary message. His out-of-the-box thinking and nonconformist charisma infuriate the guardians of the status quo who determine to destroy him along with his dangerous ideas. Love and hate, life and death stand their ground in the ultimate face-off. But who will have the last word?

Islamic law is one of the major legal systems in the world today, yet it is often misunderstood, particularly in the West. It is applicable in different forms as part of state law in countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and also has a strong influence on Muslim communities throughout the Western world. This Very Short Introduction provides an authoritative perspective on the evolution and nature of Islamic law.

Bush Studies is a collection of six short stories by the enigmatic Australian author, Barbara Baynton (1857–1929). Embedded in Baynton’s merciless, rugged vistas, these stories highlight the tragedy, harshness and humor of nineteenth century Australian bush life—particularly from the perspective of the women involved.

In this book, Dr. Kurschner traces the key topics and passages providing compelling biblical evidence that the church will first encounter the Antichrist's great tribulation before Christ returns to rapture his people and judge the world. Jesus warns us, "Remember, I have told you ahead of time." (Matt. 24:25). And Paul cautions us, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for that day will not arrive until the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness [Antichrist] is revealed, the son of destruction" (2 Thess. 2:3).

Este audiolibro está basado en el famoso libro de los Proverbios, en el cual podemos encontrar consejos y enseñanzas provenientes de varios sabios del pueblo de Israel. Partiendo de experiencias individuales y comunitarias, estos sabios recogieron enseñanzas para el bien de su pueblo. Hay mucha gente que va por esta vida todavía sin saber cuál es su propósito o se encuentran perdidos cuando tienen que tomar alguna decisión importante. Muy pocas personas saben que existe un libro muy antiguo que tiene principios de vida e instrucciones precisas y concretas para toda situación que vivamos.

In this Very Short Introduction, Roger Trigg argues that all faith needs reason. He puts contemporary discussions into historical perspective, particularly in the context of Christianity. The author argues that faith also involves a commitment to action and that matters for all social life.

Have you ever wondered how much that guy with the cardboard sign makes? One economics student did and he decided to find out. During the summer of his senior year at college, while earning a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, David P. Spears spent 80 hours undercover as a panhandler. Systematically recording every transaction at the exit ramp, Spears captured a rarely seen picture of how modern urban charity works.