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Debugging Game History: A Critical Lexicon (Game Histories)
by Raiford Guins Henry LowoodEssays discuss the terminology, etymology, and history of key terms, offering a foundation for critical historical studies of games.Even as the field of game studies has flourished, critical historical studies of games have lagged behind other areas of research. Histories have generally been fact-by-fact chronicles; fundamental terms of game design and development, technology, and play have rarely been examined in the context of their historical, etymological, and conceptual underpinnings. This volume attempts to “debug” the flawed historiography of video games. It offers original essays on key concepts in game studies, arranged as in a lexicon—from “Amusement Arcade” to “Embodiment” and “Game Art” to “Simulation” and “World Building.” Written by scholars and practitioners from a variety of disciplines, including game development, curatorship, media archaeology, cultural studies, and technology studies, the essays offer a series of distinctive critical “takes” on historical topics. The majority of essays look at game history from the outside in; some take deep dives into the histories of play and simulation to provide context for the development of electronic and digital games; others take on such technological components of games as code and audio. Not all essays are history or historical etymology—there is an analysis of game design, and a discussion of intellectual property—but they nonetheless raise questions for historians to consider. Taken together, the essays offer a foundation for the emerging study of game history. ContributorsMarcelo Aranda, Brooke Belisle, Caetlin Benson-Allott, Stephanie Boluk, Jennifer deWinter, J. P. Dyson, Kate Edwards, Mary Flanagan, Jacob Gaboury, William Gibbons, Raiford Guins, Erkki Huhtamo, Don Ihde, Jon Ippolito, Katherine Isbister, Mikael Jakobsson, Steven E. Jones, Jesper Juul, Eric Kaltman, Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, Carly A. Kocurek, Peter Krapp, Patrick LeMieux, Henry Lowood, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Ken S. McAllister, Nick Monfort, David Myers, James Newman, Jenna Ng, Michael Nitsche, Laine Nooney, Hector Postigo, Jas Purewal, Reneé H. Reynolds, Judd Ethan Ruggill, Marie-Laure Ryan, Katie Salen Tekinbaş, Anastasia Salter, Mark Sample, Bobby Schweizer, John Sharp, Miguel Sicart, Rebecca Elisabeth Skinner, Melanie Swalwell, David Thomas, Samuel Tobin, Emma Witkowski, Mark J.P. Wolf
Debunking FDR: The Man and the Myths
by Mary GrabarThe myths about Franklin Delano Roosevelt live on. For the Left, FDR was a champion of the working class and the oppressed, suffering abuse as a &“traitor to his class.&” He gave up the lifestyle of the Hudson River gentry to lead his country out of the Depression and to victory against fascism. For many on the Right, FDR was out of his depth on economics but provided Americans with the optimism and confidence necessary to prevail during the Depression and gain victory in World War II.Debunking FDR: The Man and The Myths exposes the suppressed and distorted facts about FDR&’s life and the legends about him (many invented by FDR himself!) promoted by generations of historians. Born into immense wealth and insulated from the struggles of everyday Americans, FDR&’s young life was one of vast privilege and mediocre talents. Mary Grabar chronicles FDR&’s path to the presidency: his second-rate studies at Harvard, his indifference to law school and the legal profession, and his steady, insouciant rise through the government ranks. You will not think of FDR the same way again.
Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation against America
by Mary GrabarHoward Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States has sold more than 2.5 million copies. It is pushed by Hollywood celebrities, defended by university professors who know better, and assigned in high school and college classrooms to teach students that American history is nothing more than a litany of oppression, slavery, and exploitation. Zinn’s history is popular, but it is also massively wrong. Scholar Mary Grabar exposes just how wrong in her stunning new book Debunking Howard Zinn, which demolishes Zinn’s Marxist talking points that now dominate American education. In Debunking Howard Zinn, you’ll learn, contra Zinn: How Columbus was not a genocidal maniac, and was, in fact, a defender of Indians Why the American Indians were not feminist-communist sexual revolutionaries ahead of their time How the United States was founded to protect liberty, not white males’ ill-gotten wealth Why Americans of the “Greatest Generation” were not the equivalent of Nazi war criminals How the Viet Cong were not well-meaning community leaders advocating for local self-rule Why the Black Panthers were not civil rights leaders Grabar also reveals Zinn’s bag of dishonest rhetorical tricks: his slavish reliance on partisan history, explicit rejection of historical balance, and selective quotation of sources to make them say the exact opposite of what their authors intended. If you care about America’s past—and our future—you need this book.
Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America
by Mary GrabarIt&’s the New &“Big Lie&” According the New York Times&’s &“1619 Project,&” America was not founded in 1776, with a declaration of freedom and independence, but in 1619 with the introduction of African slavery into the New World. Ever since then, the &“1619 Project&” argues, American history has been one long sordid tale of systemic racism. Celebrated historians have debunked this, more than two hundred years of American literature disproves it, parents know it to be false, and yet it is being promoted across America as an integral part of grade school curricula and unquestionable orthodoxy on college campuses. The &“1619 Project&” is not just bad history, it is a danger to our national life, replacing the idea, goal, and reality of American unity with race-based obsessions that we have seen play out in violence, riots, and the destruction of American monuments—not to mention the wholesale rewriting of America&’s historical and cultural past. In her new book, Debunking the 1619 Project, scholar Mary Grabar, shows, in dramatic fashion, just how full of flat-out lies, distortions, and noxious propaganda the &“1619 Project&” really is. It is essential reading for every concerned parent, citizen, school board member, and policymaker.
Deburau: Pierrot, Mime, and Culture (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Edward NyeThis volume analyses the nature of the mime art of Deburau and of the pantomime performances of the Théâtre des Funambules in Paris in the context of Romantic art, literature and socio-political thought. Deburau and the Théâtre des Funambules are characteristic of Romantic art in that they are closely associated with certain aspirations for social reform, even revolution. Deburau was an iconic figure for intellectuals such as George Sand who effectively considered him to be part of the ‘poète-maçon’ movement. Edward Nye examines this fascination as well as the myth which developed from it. With its unique framing in art, literature and politics, this book is a must read for undergraduates and postgraduates in theatre, literary studies, and the Romantic period.
Debussy, Bergson and the Music of 'la duree'
by Charles FrantzCharles Frederick Frantz provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Debussy’s music through the lens of Bergson’s philosophical perspective of durée, revealing his "revolution" in musical time.In fin-de-siècle Paris, Debussy was revolutionizing musical time while Bergson was establishing a metaphysics that challenged the notion of measured or spatialized time. Bergson argued that real time or durée could be grasped only through intuition as opposed to analysis. Debussy eschewed analysis of music, declaring that separating it into parts was better left to engineers. Debussy’s music and Bergson’s durée were conceived and imagined in the environs of nature. The cycle of seasons, the gracefulness of a blooming flower, or a gentle breeze all suggest continuity, flow, and uninterrupted rhythm. The time of nature is the time of Debussy’s music and Bergson’s durée. Debussy’s use of open forms and Golden Sections create a time world of an expanded present, never ceasing. Bergson’s perception of real time is ever-changing, bringing the past into the present and open to unforeseen novelty.This book is intended primarily for scholars in the disciplines of musicology, music theory, and philosophy and can be used as a text for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses in musicology or music theory.
Debutante
by Anne MelvilleFour debutants find friendship as they seek love in a time of war in this WWII-era historical romance by the author of the Lorimer Family novels. England, 1939. Aristocratic families are preparing to present their daughters as debutantes, introducing them to society through a season of elegant parties. Bidding childhood farewell, the debutantes are thrust into a world of dancing, gossip, and young gentlemen, glamorous but fraught with rivalry. Ronnie, Peggy, Isabelle, and Anne could not be more different; four girls from four different worlds. Yet when their lives converge, they begin to rely on each other in ways they could never have imagined. But as World War II quickly approaches, it soon becomes clear that this season will be unlike any before. The world is changing, and all four young ladies will soon find their lives irrevocably changed along with it.
Debutante with a Dangerous Past
by Samantha HastingsA rags-to-riches Regency romanceShe&’s a counterfeit ladyBut he&’s stolen her heart! After her criminal father is killed, Miss Nancy Black is forced to seek out her estranged aristocratic grandfather. He offers her a new life as a debutante, but only if she stays out of trouble! Easier said than done when she starts to fall for rebellious Lord Matthew Stringham. Can Nancy risk her heart by telling Matthew the truth about her identity before her dangerous past catches up with her? From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.
Debutantes and the London Season
by Lucinda GoslingUntil the middle of the last century, the dominant feature of London's social calendar was 'the Season', and central to this was the phenomenon of the debutante. As the privileged classes descended on the capital to embark on a four-month whirlwind of key social events and smart parties, the daughters of the aristocracy and the wealthy prepared to make their 'debut' into society. From the preparations and rituals involved in court presentation to the exhausting round of parties, this book will look at the details of what it meant to be a debutante; exploring a lost world that incongruously blended glamour and privilege with archaic tradition.TOC: Introduction /The London Season /Origins and 'rules' /The ritual of court presentation /How to be a debutante /Parties /Famous debutantes /The last debutantes /Index
Debutantes: (Debutantes: 1): a delightful and stylish saga focusing on the battle for love, power, money and privilege from bestselling author Charlotte Bingham
by Charlotte BinghamFans of Louise Douglas, Dinah Jefferies and Bridgerton will love this wonderfully evocative and enthralling romantic saga by the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham."Charlotte Bingham...always tells a rattling good story...Pure escapism!" - Woman and Home"A big wallowy delicious read" - THE TIMES"I couldn't put it down - it is such compulsive stuff that when I finished it I couldn't wait to start it again" -- ***** Reader review"Fabulous reading" - ***** Reader review"Wonderfully clever and witty" -- ***** Reader review********************************************************************************THE ULTIMATE BATTLE FOR POWER, PRIVILEGE AND MONEY...London in the 1890s: nicely brought-up girls focus on one thing and one thing alone: marriage. The Season in London and, the ultimate goal, Coming Out as a debutante are therefore vital in leading them along this path. But along the way they have to survive a terrifying few months, a make-or-break time in which their family's hopes for them can only be fulfilled through a proposal.For Lady Emily Persse, Coming Out means leaving her beloved Ireland and its informalities for England and its stricter codes. For Portia Tradescant, released from the boredom of life in the English countryside, it means trying to get through the Season despite the best efforts of her eccentric Aunt Tattie. For beautiful May Danby, the Season is an entrée to a whole other life, worlds away from her strict convent upbringing in Yorkshire.A London Season is not just about the debutantes themselves. It is as much about the women who launch them, and the Society which supports their way of life. It is also about the battle for power, privilege and money, fought, not in the male tradition upon the battlefield, but in the female tradition...in the ballroom.
Decade Of Nightmares: The End Of The Sixties And The Making Of Eighties America
by Philip JenkinsWhy did the youthful optimism and openness of the sixties give way to Ronald Reagan and the spirit of conservative reaction--a spirit that remains ascendant today? Drawing on a wide array of sources--including tabloid journalism, popular fiction, movies, and television shows--Philip Jenkins argues that a remarkable confluence of panics, scares, and a few genuine threats created a climate of fear that led to the conservative reaction. <P><P> He identifies 1975 to 1986 as the watershed years. During this time, he says, there was a sharp increase in perceived threats to our security at home and abroad. At home, America seemed to be threatened by monstrous criminals--serial killers, child abusers, Satanic cults, and predatory drug dealers, to name just a few. On the international scene, we were confronted by the Soviet Union and its evil empire, by OPEC with its stranglehold on global oil, by the Ayatollahs who made hostages of our diplomats in Iran. Increasingly, these dangers began to be described in terms of moral evil. Rejecting the radicalism of the '60s, which many saw as the source of the crisis, Americans adopted a more pessimistic interpretation of human behavior, which harked back to much older themes in American culture. This simpler but darker vision ultimately brought us Ronald Reagan and the ascendancy of the political Right, which more than two decades later shows no sign of loosening its grip. <P> Writing in his usual crisp and witty prose, Jenkins offers a truly original and persuasive account of a period that continues to fascinate the American public. It is bound to captivate anyone who lived through this period, as well as all those who want to understand the forces that transformed--and continue to define--the American political landscape.
Decade of Disillusionment: The Kennedy Johnson Years
by Jim F. HeathThe sixties began optimistically, with Americans full of hope and expectation, voting to support a new, young, charismatic leader who promised to "move America forward. " Tragically, something went wrong. Instead of finding its Utopia, America became a country struggling desperately to escape its Armageddon. President Kennedy's New Frontier fell far short of its promise in tangible domestic legislation and his foreign policy decisions pushed the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust, while President Johnson's dream of a Great Society foundered in the quicksand of the Vietnam war. This revealing history of the Kennedy-Johnson years begins with the presidential primaries of 1960 and concludes with Johnson's final weeks as a lame duck President. An expert and objective history of an exciting period--its social, cultural, and economic facets as well as its political developments.
Decade of Disunion: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War, 1849-1861
by Robert W. MerryWith &“characteristic wisdom and grace&” (Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author) Robert W. Merry explores a critical lesson about our nation that is as timely today as ever demonstrating how the country came apart during the enveloping slavery crisis of the 1850s.The Mexican War brought vast new territories to the United States, which precipitated a growing crisis over slavery. The new territories seemed unsuitable for the type of agriculture that depended on slave labor, but they lay south of the line where slavery was permitted by the 1820 Missouri Compromise. The subject of expanding slavery to the new territories became a flash point between the North and South. First came the 1850 compromise legislation, which strengthened the fugitive slave law and outraged the North. Then in 1854, Congress repealed the Missouri Compromise altogether, unleashing a violent conflict in &“Bleeding Kansas&” over whether that territory would become free or enslaved. The 1857 Dred Scott decision—abrogating any rights of African Americans, enslaved or free—further outraged the North. And John Brown&’s ill-planned 1859 attack at the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry stirred anger and fear throughout the South. Through a decade, the divide between the North and the South widened until disunion became inevitable. Then, in December 1860, in the wake of the Lincoln election, South Carolina finally seceded, leading the South of the Union. Beginning with the deaths of the great second-generation figures of American history—Calhoun, Webster, and Clay—Decade of Disunion tells the story of this great American struggle through the aims, fears, and maneuvers of the subsequent prominent figures at the center of the drama, with particular attention to the key players from Massachusetts and South Carolina. Decade of Disunion is a &“thoughtful and accomplished&” (The Wall Street Journal) look at one of the most tumultuous times of American history, offering us a sobering reminder that democracy is not self-sustaining—it must be constantly and carefully tended.
Decade of Fear
by Michelle ShephardDecade of Fear is a darkly entertaining journey through the complicated, often bizarre world of national security since 9/11. On that night, Toronto Star journalist Michelle Shephard watched the remains of New York's World Trade Center fall from the sky, wondering what much of the world was asking: "Why?" So began a ten-year search for answers that took her through the streets of Mogadishu and Karachi, into the mountains of Waziristan and behind the wire of Guantanamo Bay two dozen times.Shephard conducted hundreds of interviews worldwide, and with sharp insight and an appreciation for the absurd, she weaves together stories of warlords, presidents, spies, grieving widows and global terrorists, to describe the historic decade where often the West's "solutions" for terrorism only served to exacerbate the problem. She cruises with former CIA bosses, runs alongside protestors in the streets of Sanaa to escape fire from Yemen's security services during experience the Arab Spring, meets victims of terrorism who leave her devastated, and earns enough stamps on her Gitmo Starbucks card for a free latte. Gripping, heartbreaking and infuriating, Decade of Fear broadens our understanding of a decade that was all too often described through panicked rhetoric.
Decadence and Modernism in European and Russian Literature and Culture: Aesthetics and Anxiety in the 1890s
by Jonathan StoneDecadence and Modernism in European and Russian Literature and Culture: Aesthetics and Anxiety in the 1890s rewrites the story of early modernist literature and culture by drawing out the tensions underlying its simultaneous engagement with Decadence and Symbolism, the unsustainable combination of this world and the other. With a broadly framed literary and cultural approach, Jonathan Stone examines a shift in perspective that explodes the notion of reality and showcases the uneasy relationship between the tangible and intangible aspects of the surrounding world. Modernism quenches a growing fascination with the ephemeral and that which cannot be seen while also doubling down on the significance of the material world and finding profound meaning in the physical and the corporeal. Decadence and Symbolism complement the broader historical trajectory of the fin de siècle by affirming the novelty of a modernist mindset and offering an alternative to the empirical and positivistic atmosphere of the nineteenth century. Stone seeks to recreate a significant historical and cultural moment in the development of modernity, a moment that embraces the concept of Decadence while repurposing its aesthetic and social import to help navigate the fundamental changes that accompanied the dawn of the twentieth century.
Decadent Genealogies: The Rhetoric of Sickness from Baudelaire to D'Annunzio
by Barbara SpackmanBarbara Spackman here examines the ways in which decadent writers adopted the language of physiological illness and alteration as a figure for psychic otherness. By means of an ideological and rhetorical analysis of scientific as well as literary texts, she shows how the rhetoric of sickness provided the male decadent writer with an alibi for the occupation and appropriation of the female body.
Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe (Parallax: Re-visions Of Culture And Society Ser.)
by Charles BernheimerAn illuminating exploration of fin de siècle decadence “by a well-known authority in the areas of European literature, culture, and psychoanalysis” (Pre-Raphaelite Studies).The influential writer and scholar Charles Bernheimer described decadence as a “stimulant that bends thought out of shape, deforming traditional conceptual molds.” In this posthumously published work, Bernheimer succeeds in making a critical concept out of this perennially fashionable, rarely understood term.This remarkable collection of essays shows the contradictions of the phenomenon, which is both a condition and a state of mind. In seeking to show why people have failed to give a satisfactory account of the term decadence, Bernheimer argues that we often mistakenly take decadence to represent something concrete, that we see as some sort of agent. His salutary response is to return to those authors and artists whose work constitutes the topos of decadence, rereading key late nineteenth-century authors such as Nietzsche, Zola, Hardy, Wilde, Moreau, and Freud to rediscover the very dynamics of the decadent. Through careful analysis of the literature, art, and music of the fin de siècle—including a riveting discussion of the many faces of Salome—Bernheimer leaves us with a fascinating and multidimensional look at decadence.Honorable Mention for the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association
Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siècle in Europe (Parallax: Re-visions of Culture and Society)
by Charles BernheimerHonorable Mention for the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies from the Modern Language AssociationCharles Bernheimer described decadence as a "stimulant that bends thought out of shape, deforming traditional conceptual molds." In this posthumously published work, Bernheimer succeeds in making a critical concept out of this perennially fashionable, rarely understood term.Decadent Subjects is a coherent and moving picture of fin de siècle decadence. Mature, ironic, iconoclastic, and thoughtful, this remarkable collection of essays shows the contradictions of the phenomenon, which is both a condition and a state of mind. In seeking to show why people have failed to give a satisfactory account of the term decadence, Bernheimer argues that we often mistakenly take decadence to represent something concrete, that we see as some sort of agent. His salutary response is to return to those authors and artists whose work constitutes the topos of decadence, rereading key late nineteenth-century authors such as Nietzsche, Zola, Hardy, Wilde, Moreau, and Freud to rediscover the very dynamics of the decadent. Through careful analysis of the literature, art, and music of the fin de siècle including a riveting discussion of the many faces of Salome, Bernheimer leaves us with a fascinating and multidimensional look at decadence, all the more important as we emerge from our own fin de siècle.
Decades of American History: America in the 1950s
by Charles A. WillsThis book is an exciting new set, encourages young readers to do just that, exploring each decade of the 20th century in all its colorful history. In addition to coverage of each presidential administration, important events, and historical trends, each compelling book includes information on what was happening in the arts, sciences, popular culture, fashion, and music. Each inviting and user-friendly volume includes 100 or more photographs, box features, pull-out quotations and facts in the margin, a glossary, a further reading list, and an index. Designed to be accessible to young readers, these volumes offer a unique way of learning about the history of America.
Decades of Caring: The Big Sister Story
by Helen Caister RobinsonDecades of Caring: The Big Sister Story is a record of the trials, errors, and accomplishments of an organization of Toronto women who have carried a torch for youth through good years and bad from 1912 to the present time. The author has endeavoured to set out those facts which have shaped the growth of the Big Sister Association from a small group of concerned women, inspired by th emotional concept of being a Big Sister to socially deprived young persons, to the present day organization which sponsors the many faceted youth agency, Huntley Youth Services.
Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe before World War II
by Ivan T. BerendOnly by understanding Central and Eastern Europe's turbulent history during the first half of the twentieth century can we hope to make sense of the conflicts and crises that have followed World War II and, after that, the collapse of Soviet-controlled state socialism. Ivan Berend looks closely at the fateful decades preceding World War II and at twelve countries whose absence from the roster of major players was enough in itself, he says, to precipitate much of the turmoil.As waves of modernization swept over Europe, the less developed countries on the periphery tried with little or no success to imitate Western capitalism and liberalism. Instead they remained, as Berend shows, rural, agrarian societies notable for the tenacious survival of feudal and aristocratic institutions. In that context of frustration and disappointment, rebellion was inevitable. Berend leads the reader skillfully through the maze of social, cultural, economic, and political changes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the Soviet Union, showing how every path ended in dictatorship and despotism by the start of World War II.
Decades of Reconstruction: Postwar Societies, State-Building, and International Relations from the Seven Years' War to the Cold War (Publications of the German Historical Institute)
by James Retallack Ute PlanertAs wars and other conflicts increase on a worldwide scale, the alleged 'new wars' of the present day have taught that military victory does not necessarily result in a sustained state of peace. Rather, societies in conflict experience a 'status mixtus' - a transformative period that includes substantial changes in economy, politics, society and culture. Focusing on these decades of reconstruction in Europe and North America, this book examines the transformation of state systems, international relations, and normative principles in international comparison. By putting the postwar decade after 1945 into a long-term historical perspective, the chapters illuminate new patterns of transition between war and peace from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Experts in the field show that states and societies are never restituted from a 'zero hour'. They also demonstrate that foreign and domestic policy are intermixed before and after peace breaks out.
Decapitados: Una historia contra los monumentos a racistas, esclavistas e invasores
by Peio H. Riaño¿Es lícito acabar con la propaganda de genocidas, dictadores, esclavistas, invasores y otros personajes tan deleznables en el espacio público? Este ensayo provocador y fascinante demuestra por qué es hora de retirar los homenajes que ofenden a la ciudad progresista. Ya en la Roma clásica la destrucción de monumentos y símbolos era una forma de borrar de la historia a los enemigos que habían sido derrotados. En épocas más recientes, esta práctica ha adquirido otro significado las estatuas de Colón, Lenin o Sadam Husein han sido expulsadas de los lugares donde una vez se alzaron , convirtiéndose en una reivindicación por el respeto a la nueva ciudadanía que no quiere esa carga. El historiador del arte y periodista Peio H. Riaño aborda un debate en auge que se pregunta cómo queremos que sea la ciudad del siglo XXI, mientras el movimiento Black Lives Matter protesta contra los símbolos racistas y en Latinoamérica miles de personas se manifiestan pidiendo la desaparición de los conquistadores de bronce y piedra que aún adornan sus calles. A través de un recorrido por una serie de representaciones «artísticas», desde Mao hasta Franco, esta investigación cultural cuestiona que se deban conservar los monumentos que representan valores insoportables como el racismo, el machismo y la exclusión. El resultado es un texto polémico y erudito, que nos demuestra por qué la decapitación de estos monumentos no pretende depurar la historia, como algunos sostienen, sino limpiar el presente con la verdad histórica y extirpar los elementos que tergiversan la lectura del pasado.
Decapitation in Sources on Alexander the Great
by Marc MendozaThis book explores cases of decapitation found in sources on the reign of Alexander the Great. Despite the enormous literature on the career of Alexander the Great, this is the first study on the characterisation of violent deaths during his hectic reign. This historiographical omission has involved the tacit and blind acceptance of the details found in the ancient sources. Therefore, this book seeks to illustrate how cultural expectations, literary models, and ideological taboos shaped these accounts and argues for a close and critical reading of the sources. Given the different cultural considerations surrounding decapitation in Greek and Roman cultures, this book illustrates how those biases could have differently shaped certain episodes depending on the ultimate writer.This book, therefore, can be especially interesting for scholars focused on the career of Alexander the Great, but also valuable for other Classicists, philologists, and even for anthropologists because it represents a good case of study of cultural symbolism of violent death, semantics of power, imperial domination and the confrontation between opposite cultural appreciations of a practice.
Decatur (Images of America)
by Joe EarleDecatur proudly proclaims itself a city of "homes, schools, and places of worship." While that motto might seem to describe any number of small towns, the words accurately capture the essence of Decatur, a place of fine and humble homes, well-regarded schools, and large, active churches. Founded by the Georgia legislature in 1823 to be the county seat of DeKalb County, Decatur took its name from Commodore Stephen Decatur, a U.S. naval hero of the early 1800s. In the years since, Decatur has grown into a busy suburb of neighboring Atlanta, produced Agnes Scott College, and attracted both the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital and Columbia Theological Seminary. Decatur has been home to fascinating Georgians, including Civil War memoirist Mary Gay and writer Rebecca Latimer Felton, the first woman to be seated as a U.S. senator (if only for a day).