by Konstantin Nosov (2009)
"At the beginning of their 800-year existence in the 4th century BC, gladiatorial games served as a solemn funeral rite to honor high-born citizens. From the height of their popularity to their decline, they were the equivalent of a multi-billion dollar industry--run by entrepreneurs and highly regulated by the government. Nossov shows how, with few exceptions, Roman leaders embraced the spectacle and how over the centuries new events such as mortal combat with animals and full-scale naval battles were added to the games. Using updated research that has never before appeared in English, Nossov's chapter on the everyday life and social status of gladiators will surprise many readers. Despite the persistent myth that Gladiators were treated as expendable refuse by their Roman handlers, Nossov demonstrates that the reality was much more nuanced. The professional gladiator pool was comprised primarily of highly-trained men (and, for a time, women) who volunteered for the arena. In return for a long-term contract with a local games master, these athletes would earn an annual salary hundreds of times greater than an ordinary person. And slaves who were willing to become gladiators could earn their freedom with as few as four wins. These athletes lived communal lives together and trained year round for events that occurred no more than seasonally. As Nossov shows, being a professional gladiator was not much different from the lifestyle of a modern professional football player or boxer."--Publisher's description.
Allison Lassieur
"Describes the people and events involved during the colonial years before the Revolutionary War. The reader's choices reveal the historical details from the perspectives of an indentured Virginia servant, a Massachusetts colonist, and a resident of Philadelphia just before the revolution"--Provided by publisher.
Kathryn Lynn Davis
A rare, exquisite novel of courage and passion, betrayal and love. Dashing English diplomat Charles Kittridge relished the abundant pleasures of the world...and in his far-flung wanderings, he left behind three remarkable daughters: Ailsa Rose, a beauty of the Scottish highlands, endowed with her father's lust for adventure. She betrays her heart to follow the one man who promises her the world. Li-an hates the devil-father who made her a blue-eyed outcast in her Chinese homeland. But withher brilliant, reckless lover, she almost forgets her shame...until he is wrenched from her arms. Genevra, the gentle English daughter, lives amidst the splendor and squalor of India. Though unexpected passion promises her a joyous love, she must fight to escape the terrors and scandals of the past. Each of them has grown to womanhood haunted by a legacy of betrayal, longing and dreams. Now their father has but one final desire...to bring together the daughters he has never known....
Pío Baroja
Para Azorín esta novela resume mejor que ninguna el espíritu de Baroja. Y efectivamente: sus principios filosóficos y sociales, la reacción frente a la miseria y el dolor, y los elementos autobiográficos hacen de esta obra muestra privilegiada del mundo del autor. Médico, como Baroja, el protagonista de El árbol de la ciencia asiste impotente a los desafueros de una socidad mezquina y envilecida. Entre el determinismo fisiológico y la rebelión moral hay la búsqueda de una camino propio.
Gary Snyder
"Long rumored to exist, The Great Clod collects several essays published in The Coevolution Quarterly almost forty years ago when Snyder briefly described this work as 'The China Book,' and several others, the majority, never before published in any form. 'Summer in Hokkaido,' 'Wild in China,' 'Ink and Charcoal,' 'Wolf-Hair Brush,' these essays turn from being memoirs of travel to prolonged considerations of art, culture, natural history and religion"--Provided by publisher.