The Maya: a Very Short Introduction
The Maya: a Very Short Introduction

Author: Matthew Restall

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020-08-13

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 0190645024

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The Maya forged one of the greatest societies in the history of the ancient Americas and in all of human history. Long before contact with Europeans, Maya communities built spectacular cities with large, well-fed large populations. They mastered the visual arts, and developed a sophisticated writing system that recorded extraordinary knowledge in calendrics, mathematics, and astronomy. The Maya achieved all this without area-wide centralized control. There was never a single, unified Maya state or empire, but always numerous, evolving ethnic groups speaking dozens of distinct Mayan languages. The people we call "Maya" never thought of themselves as such; yet something definable, unique, and endlessly fascinating - what we call Maya culture - has clearly existed for millennia. So what was their self-identity and how did Maya civilization come to be "invented?" With the Maya historically subdivided and misunderstood in so many ways, the pursuit of what made them "the Maya" is all the more important. In this Very Short Introduction, Restall and Solari explore the themes of Maya identity, city-state political culture, art and architecture, the Maya concept of the cosmos, and the Maya experience of contact with including invasion by outsiders. Despite its brevity, this book is unique for its treatment of all periods of Maya civilization, from its origins to the present.

The Maya: A Very Short Introduction
The Maya: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Matthew Restall

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-09-21

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0190645040

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The Maya forged one of the greatest societies in the history of the ancient Americas and in all of human history. Long before contact with Europeans, Maya communities built spectacular cities with large, well-fed large populations. They mastered the visual arts, and developed a sophisticated writing system that recorded extraordinary knowledge in calendrics, mathematics, and astronomy. The Maya achieved all this without area-wide centralized control. There was never a single, unified Maya state or empire, but always numerous, evolving ethnic groups speaking dozens of distinct Mayan languages. The people we call "Maya" never thought of themselves as such; yet something definable, unique, and endlessly fascinating - what we call Maya culture - has clearly existed for millennia. So what was their self-identity and how did Maya civilization come to be "invented?" With the Maya historically subdivided and misunderstood in so many ways, the pursuit of what made them "the Maya" is all the more important. In this Very Short Introduction, Restall and Solari explore the themes of Maya identity, city-state political culture, art and architecture, the Maya concept of the cosmos, and the Maya experience of contact with including invasion by outsiders. Despite its brevity, this book is unique for its treatment of all periods of Maya civilization, from its origins to the present.

The Aztecs
The Aztecs

Author: David Carrasco

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2012-01-26

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 0195379381

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Illuminates the complexities of Aztec life. Readers meet a people highly skilled in sculpture, astronomy, city planning, poetry, and philosophy, who were also profoundly committed to cosmic regeneration through the thrust of the ceremonial knife and through warfare.

Russian Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Russian Literature: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Catriona Kelly

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2001-08-23

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0191577502

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This book is intended to capture the interest of anyone who has been attracted to Russian culture through the greats of Russian literature, either through the texts themselves, or encountering them in the cinema, or opera. Rather than a conventional chronology of Russian literature, the book will explore the place and importance of literature of all sorts in Russian culture. How and when did a Russian national literature come into being? What shaped its creation? How have the Russians regarded their literary language? The book will uses the figure of Pushkin, 'the Russian Shakespeare' as a recurring example as his work influenced every Russian writer who came after hime, whether poets or novelists. It will look at such questions as why Russian writers are venerated, how they've been interpreted inside Russia and beyond, and the influences of such things as the folk tale tradition, orthodox religion, and the West ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Time & Transformation
Time & Transformation

Author: Colette Obrien

Publisher: Wheatmark, Inc.

Published: 2008-03

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 1587369982

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The first time Colette Obrien, a noted Northern Californian therapist and creative artist, journeyed to the Yucatan, she realized that the Mayan civilization's attitudes toward time, transformation, and spirituality hold deep significance for questing men and women today. The Mayan culture had a wisdom about the meaning of life that is no longer available, lost long ago in the jungle. The Classic Maya created a civilization of astonishing sophistication, invention, and harmony. With their understanding of mathematics and astronomy, they conceived the world as based on time and transformation. Their home in the Yucatan was the enlightened Athens of our hemisphere. Drawing on actual events and beliefs of the Mayan culture, Obrien has crafted an unusual and profound novel of love and betrayal, religion and transcendence, where the needs of the gods will be fulfilled by mankind, and human culture will regain its balance. This is a message sorely needed in our own time. For the Maya, time was everything.

Typography: a Very Short Introduction
Typography: a Very Short Introduction

Author: Paul Luna

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2018-11-22

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 0199211299

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Typography, the art of designing printed words, was once the domain of an elite few artists but has become an area with which millions of people engage daily. The widespread usage of digital devices from laptops to tablets and smart phones which are used for written communications means that we are regularly asked to make decisions about the fonts, sizes, and layouts we use in our writing. This broadening engagement with the field of typography has led to a perceptible shift from debates about legibility and technicalities to conversations about which fonts best reflect the writer's personality or style. In this Very Short Introduction, Paul Luna offers a broad definition of typography as design for reading, whether in print or on screens, where a set of visual choices are taken to make a written message more accessible, more easily transmitted, more significant, or more attractive. Considering the development of letterforms and the shapes of letter we use, Luna discusses the history behind our modern day letters and fonts, before considering the issues behind key typographic decisions, and the differences between printed and on-screen typography. Presenting any piece of typography as a fundamental design choice, Luna introduces the options available today, and explores the reasons why key typographic decisions are made. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Mongols
The Mongols

Author: Morris Rossabi

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2012-04-26

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 019984089X

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The Mongols carved out the largest land-based empire in world history, stretching from Korea to Russia in the north and from China to Syria in the south in the thirteenth century. Along with their leader Chinggis Khan they conjure up images of plunder and total destruction. Although this book does not ignore the devastation and killings wrought by the Mongols, it also reveals their contributions to governance, arts, culture, and the promotion of trade. The Mongol peace resulted in considerable travel and relations among numerous merchants, scientists, artists, missionaries, and entertainers of different ethnic groups. It is no accident that Europeans, including Marco Polo, first reached China in this period. Eurasian and perhaps global history starts with the Mongol empire.