The Balkans, also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographic area in Southeast Europe with various definitions and meanings, including geopolitical and historical. Critic August Nemo has selected seven short stories by authors from the Balkans so that you can enjoy the rich and diverse literary culture of this region. This book contains: - Brother Clestin by Jaroslav Vrchlický. - Easter Candles by Ion Luca Caragiale. - The Journey by Svatopluk ech. - The Robbers by Lazar K. Lazarevi. - Naja by Ksaver andor Gjalski. - A Trip to the Other World by Kálmán Mikszáth. - A Pogrom in Poland by Joachim Friedenthal.
A new edition of the classic travelogue exploring the Balkan Peninsula’s political, social, religious, and economic past. From the assassination that triggered World War I to the ethnic warfare in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, the Balkans have been the crucible of the twentieth century, the place where terrorism and genocide first became tools of policy. Chosen as one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times, and greeted with critical acclaim as “the most insightful and timely work on the Balkans to date” (Boston Globe), Kaplan’s prescient, enthralling, and often chilling political travelogue is already a modern classic. This new edition of Balkan Ghosts includes six opinion pieces written by Robert Kaplan about the Balkans between 1996 and 2000, beginning just after the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and ending after the conclusion of the Kosovo war, with the removal of Slobodan Milosevic from power. Praise for Balkan Ghosts “The product of over a decade of travel and research, this is one of precious few works that allows a Western reader a look into the tortured soul of the Balkan peoples. . . . A superior narrative. . . . Kaplan is a master of this genre.” —Library Journal “A memorable portrait of an increasingly important region.” —Kirkus Review
'Undoubtedly the most powerful and immediate book to emerge from the Balkan horror of ethnic civil war' Antony Beevor, Daily Telegraph In 1993, Anthony Loyd hitchhiked to the Balkans hoping to become a journalist. Leaving behind him the legends of a distinguished military family, he wanted to see 'a real war' for himself. In Bosnia he found one. The cruelty and chaos of the conflict both appalled and embraced him; the adrenalin lure of the action perhaps the loudest siren call of all. In the midst of the daily life-and-death struggle among Bosnia's Serbs, Croats and Muslims, Loyd was inspired by the extraordinary human fortitude he discovered. But returning home he found the void of peacetime too painful to bear, and so began a longstanding personal battle with drug abuse. This harrowing account shows humanity at its worst and best. It is a breathtaking feat of reportage; an uncompromising look at the terrifyingly seductive power of war. 'As good as reporting gets. I have nowhere read a more vivid account of frontline fear and survival. Forget the strategic overview. All war is local' Martin Bell, The Times
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • The instant classic debut novel from the author of Inland and The Morningside, hailed as “a thrilling beginning to what will certainly be a great literary career” (Elle) “Spectacular . . . [Téa Obreht] spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop.”—Entertainment Weekly “Not since Zadie Smith has a young writer arrived with such power and grace.”—Time ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times; Entertainment Weekly; The Christian Science Monitor; The Kansas City Star; Library Journal In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her—the legend of the tiger’s wife. Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, hailed by Colum McCann as “the most thrilling literary discovery in years,” has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, O: The Oprah Magazine, The Economist, Vogue, Slate, Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, Dayton Daily News, Publishers Weekly, Alan Cheuse, NPR’s All Things Considered
The vampire is now a fixture in popular fiction. Such fiction began with 18th-century poetry and continued with 19th-century short stories. Over time, some attributes now regarded as integral became incorporated into the vampire's profile: fangs and vulnerability to sunlight appeared over the course of the 19th century. Implied though not often explicitly documented in folklore, immortality is one attribute which features heavily in vampire film and literature. Much is made of the price of eternal life, namely the incessant need for blood of former equals. The critic August Nemo selected seven short stories that were essential to the formation of the vampire's folklore: - The Vampyre by John William Polidori - Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Mrs. Amworth by E. F. Benson - Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker - Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe - Clarimonde by Théophile Gautier - The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker
Kosovo: the name conjures up blood: ethnic cleansing and war. This book reveals another side to the newest country in the world a land of generous families, strong tastes and lush landscapes: a land of honey. Elizabeth Gowing is rushed to Kosovo, on a blind date with the place, when her partner is suddenly offered the position of adviser to Prime Minister Agim ?eku. Knowing nothing of the language or politics, she is thrown into a world of unpronounceable nouns, unfamiliar foods and bewilderingly hospitable people. On her first birthday in Kosovo she is given a beehive as a gift, and starts on a beekeeping apprenticeship with an unknown family; through their friendship and history she begins to understand her new home. Her apprenticeship leads her to other beekeepers too: retired guerrilla fighters, victims of human trafficking, political activists, a women's beekeeping group who teach her how to dance, and the Prime Minister himself. She dons a beekeeper's veil, sees the bees safely through winter, manages to use a smoker, learns about wicker skeps, gets stung, harvests her honey and drizzles it over everything. In between, she starts working at Pristina s forgotten Ethnological Museum, runs a project in a restored stone house below the Accursed Mountains and falls in love with a country she had known only as a war.
If you had a time machine for when would you go? To travel through time as if it were a highway is an ancient dream of mankind. The first stories of time travelers go back to the beginning of civilizations, being found in Hindu, Jewish and Japanese mythologies. But it was with science fiction that the concept became popular and began to inhabit the dreams of all of us. In this book you will find seven classics of time travel specially selected by the critic August Nemo. For more books with thought-provoking themes, be sure to check out the other volumes of this series! *** This book contains: - Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. - The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell. - The Chronic Argonauts by H. G. Wells. - Lost in Time by Arthur Leo Zagat. - The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper by H. G. Wells. - The Gap in the Curtain by John Buchan. - A Dream of John Ball by William Morris.
Dystopian fiction- sometimes combined with, but distinct from apocalyptic literature - is the opposite: the portrayal of a setting that completely disagrees with the author's ethos. The critic August Nemo selected seven classic tales of dystopian scenarios. - The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster - The Answer by H. Beam Piper - The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel - The Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells - In The Year 2889 by Jules Verne - The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers - Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky For more books with interesting themes, be sure to check the other books in this collection!
The works of British short story author H.H. Munro, who wrote under the pen name "Saki" (a pen name he probably borrowed from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam), offer a satirical commentary on Edwardian society and culture.In this edition seven short stories selected to honor the author's great work, a reading that will please and surprise the reader.The Lumber RoomThe Open WindowSredni Vashtar Gabriel-Ernest TobermoryThe Unrest-CureLaura
In Fitzgerald's world, everything that's delicious turns bitter; every party is a tragedy. At first, things seem sexy and sumptuous and doused in champagne. When the music stops, though, everything falls apart. Money is the beginning and end of everyone's troubles, and the world is sharply divided between those who have it and those who need it. Travel through the rich universe of this great author through these seven short stories specially chosen to please old readers and newcomers to Fitzgerald's work. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz The Jelly-Bean May Day The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Bernice Bobs Her Hair Head and Shoulders The Cut-Glass Bowl
