Books about Civilisation from Amazon.com

A sweeping and dramatic history of the last half century of conflict in the Middle East from an award-winning journalist who has covered the region for over thirty years, The Great War for Civilisation unflinchingly chronicles the tragedy of the region from the Algerian Civil War to the Iranian Revolution; from the American hostage crisis in Beirut to the Iran-Iraq War; from the 1991 Gulf War to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. A book of searing drama as well as lucid, incisive analysis, The Great War for Civilisation is a work of major importance for today's world..
Price: $11.64 [Notify me when price goes down.]

From the rise of Greece to the fall of Rome, this superbly illustrated volume is a wonderful account of the warriors and battles that dominated Europe and the Near East for more than 1,000 years. The story begins at Troy, drawing upon Homeric legend and modern archaeological evidence. It continues through Greece's Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, Alexander the Great, Rome's Punic Wars, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, and the barbarian invasions. Although John Warry's text is worth reading, the color drawings of uniforms, equipment, weapons, warships, siege engines, and more are the real highlight and make the chronicle extremely accessible. Warfare in the Classical World will excite both readers who have a mature interest in the period and, although it's not a kids' book, children becoming acquainted with ancient history for the first time..
Price: $16.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

'A fascinating book, well written and forcefully argued...Luttwak's formulations are as refreshing as they are convincing .. He has done for Roman historians what they have not done for themselves.' --Z. Yavetz, New Republic.
Price: $14.81 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This broadly conceived and enlightening look at how Homer's Odyssey has resonated in the West offers a thematic analysis of the poem's impact on social and political ideas, institutions, and mores from the ancient world through the present day.

Proving that the epic poem is timeless, Edith Hall identifies fifteen key themes in the Odyssey and uses them to illustrate the extensive and diverse effect that Homer's work has had on all manner of inquiry, expression, and art. She traces the text's pervasive thread of influence from the tragedies of classical Athens and the burlesque of Aristophanes to its contemporary artistic reinterpretations in literature, theatre, opera, popular music, film, and science fiction. In considering the mark of the Odyssey on the modern global world, Hall looks at how the poem affected colonialism and the frontier mentality in the American West, how it engendered contemporary attitudes toward sex, death, war, philosophy, violence, and race, and the ways in which the Odyssey forms the backbone of modern-day psychology.

Accessibly written and timely, The Return of Ulysses establishes the Odyssey as the founding text of Western Civilization and offers a major contribution to the study of Homer's epic poem, as well as modern insight into its cultural reception and continuing imprint on society.

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Price: $27.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Speaking Greek supports the second edition of the bestselling beginner's course, Reading Greek, by providing on two CDs lively new recordings of some of the ancient texts presented in the Text volume. Made by experts and accompanied by special sound effects, the tracks include readings from Homer, Herodotus, Euripides, Aristophanes and Demosthenes. There is also a new introductory track containing a talk by Professor David Langslow about the sounds of ancient Greek. An accompanying leaflet provides a summary, a description of technical terms and further reading. These new CDs will enlighten the experience of the student of ancient Greek, demonstrating that this was a living language, spoken as well as read..
Price: $26.06 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Rarely do science and literature come together in the same book.  When they do -- as in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, for example -- they become classics, quoted and studied by scholars and the general public alike.

Margaret Mead accomplished this remarkable feat not once but several times, beginning with Coming of Age in Samoa.   It details her historic journey to American Samoa, taken where she was just twenty-three, where she did her first fieldwork.  Here, for the first time, she presented to the public the idea that the individual experience of developmental stages could be shaped by cultural demands and expectations.  Adolescence, she wrote, might be more or less stormy, and sexual development more or less problematic in different cultures.  The "civilized" world, she taught us had much to learn from the "primitive."  Now this groundbreaking, beautifully written work as been reissued for the centennial of her birth, featuring introductions by Mary Pipher and by Mead's daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson.

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Price: $7.60 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Covers the latest competing theories in the field

Get a handle on the fundamentals of biological and cultural anthropology

When did the first civilizations arise? How many human languages exist? The answers are found in anthropology - and this friendly guide explains its concepts in clear detail. You'll see how anthropology developed as a science, what it tells us about our ancestors, and how it can help with some of the hot-button issues our world is facing today.

Discover:

• How anthropologists learn about the past
• Humanity's earliest activities, from migration to civilization
• Why our language differs from other animal communication
• How to find a career in anthropology

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Price: $11.29 [Notify me when price goes down.]

After the last person has gone from the earth, sheep take over the world, make the same mistakes as humans, and eventually disappear as well..
Price: $3.18 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book is a comprehensive up-to-date survey of the Aegean Bronze Age, from its beginnings to the period following the collapse of the Mycenaean palace system. In essays by leading authorities commissioned especially for this volume, it covers the history and the material culture of Crete, Greece, and the Aegean Islands from c. 3000-1100 BCE, as well as topics such as trade, religions, and economic administration. Intended as a reliable, readable introduction for university students, it will also be useful to scholars in related fields within and outside classics. The contents of this book are arranged chronologically and geographically, facilitating comparison between the different cultures. Within this framework, the cultures of the Aegean Bronze Age are assessed thematically and combine both material culture and social history..
Price: $25.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]