LITMIR.BIZ

The long agony of the American Civil War inspired a wealth of contemporary verse — from sentimental doggerel to sublime lyrics that rank among the finest American poetry. This inexpensive anthology brings together a superb selection of poems from both North and South, comprising the best and most representative poetry of those turbulent times.Over 75 poems include works by many of America's greatest 19th century writers: Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, and many more. Also included are many fine poems by lesser-known poets of the period: Julia Ward Howe, Henry Timrod, Edwin Markham, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Francis Miles Finch, George Henry Boker, and more.Among the selections in this volume: Julia Ward Howe's «Battle Hymn of the Republic,» Ralph Waldo Emerson's «Boston Hymn,» John Greenleaf Whittier's «Barbara Frietchie,» «The Death of Slavery,» by William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's «Killed at the Ford,» Henry Howard Brownell's «The Bay Flight,» «All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight» by Ethel Lynn Beers, «O Captain! My Captain!» and «When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd» by Walt Whitman, and many more.Ranging from boisterous calls to arms to poignant memorials for the slain, these poems reflect the heroism, horror, exaltation, and anguish of the bloodiest and most crucial conflict in the nation's history. Anyone interested in the Civil War or American literature of the period will want this collection on their bookshelves.

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This splendidly illustrated study by the distinguished Celticist T. W. Rolleston masterfully retells the great Celtic myths and illuminates the world that spawned them. Focusing principally on Irish myths, the book first takes up the history and religion of the Celts, the myths of the Irish invasion and the early Milesian kings.What follows is pure enchantment as you enter the timeless world of heroic tales centered around the Ulster king Conor mac Nessa and the Red Branch Order of chivalry (Ultonian cycle). These are followed by the tales of the Ossianic cycle, which center on the figure of Finn mac Cumhal, whose son Oisín (or Ossian) was a poet and warrior, and the traditional author of most of the tales. Next comes a summary of the Voyage of Maeldūn, a brilliant and curious piece of invention that exemplifies the genre of «wonder-voyages» — adventures purely in the region of romance, out of earthly space and time. Finally, the author recounts a selection of the myths and tales of the Cymry (Welsh).In these pages, readers will delight in the favorite and familiar tales of Cuchulain, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the Grail, Deirdre, and many more figures that haunt the shadowy, twilight world of Celtic legend. The magic of that world is further brought to life in more than 50 imaginative full-page illustrations by Stephen Reid, Arthur G. Bell, and the famed illustrator J. C. Leyendecker. Reprinted here in its first paperback edition, Celtic Myths and Legends also includes several helpful genealogical tables: Gods of the House of Dōn, Gods of the House of Llyr, and Arthur and His Kin, as well as a useful glossary.

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Noted French scholar and linguist discusses the gods of the continental Celts, the beginnings of mythology in Ireland, heroes, and the two main categories of Irish deities: mother-goddesses — local, rural spirits of fertility or of war — and chieftain-gods: national deities who are magicians, nurturers, craftsmen, and protectors of the people.

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One of the few members of the Russian aristocracy to become a revolutionary, Prince Peter Kropotkin (1842‒1921) renounced his title at the age of 12. He later became one of the leading theorists of anarchism. Forced to flee his homeland in the 1870s to avoid arrest for his revolutionary activities against the czarist government, the noted geographer and social philosopher lived in exile, mainly in England, for the next 42 years of his life. During this period Kropotkin wrote a number of pamphlets on the practical and moral aspects of the anarchist movement. Allowed to return to Russia in 1917, he continued to write but remained vigorously opposed to the Bolsheviks and Marxist socialism.This collection contains a number of his important writings, including the brief but moving «Spirit of Revolt»; «Modern Science and Anarchism,» an investigation of the scientific principles of revolutionary anarchism; «Law and Authority,» an argument for social control through custom and education; «Prisons and Their Moral Influence on Prisoners,» an unparalleled description of the evils of the prison system (which Kropotkin witnessed during his incarcerations); a note on the 1917 revolution and the Soviet government; and five other documents. Also reprinted is Kropotkin's article for the Encyclopaedia Britannica, «Anarchism,» widely considered the best statement in English on the meaning, history, and aims of revolutionary anarchism.A valuable addition to the libraries of instructors and students of history and government, this modestly priced volume also will appeal to anyone interested in aspects of anarchist thought.

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"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we've had," declared Ernest Hemingway. Millions of readers around the world would agree, having climbed aboard the raft with young Huck and Jim, the runaway slave, to drift along the Mississippi on a voyage of adventure and self-discovery. This economical two-part edition includes the complete text of Twain's classic novel plus a student-friendly study guide. Created to help the reader quickly gain a thorough understanding of the content and context of Huckleberry Finn, the guide includes: • Chapter-by-chapter summaries• Explanations and discussions of the plot• Question-and-answer sections• Mark Twain biography• List of characters and more Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams.

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"My purpose," Mahatma Gandhi writes of this book, «is to describe experiments in the science of <I>Satyagraha, </I>not to say how good I am.» <I>Satyagraha,</I> Gandhi's nonviolent protest movement (<I>satya </I>= true, <I>agraha </I>= firmness), came to stand, like its creator, as a moral principle and a rallying cry; the principle was truth and the cry freedom. The life of Gandhi has given fire and fiber to freedom fighters and&nbsp;to the untouchables of the world: hagiographers and patriots have capitalized on <I>Mahatma </I>myths. Yet Gandhi writes: «Often the title [<I>Mahatma, </I>Great Soul] has deeply pained me. . . . But I should certainly like to narrate my experiments in the spiritual field which are known only to myself, and from which I have derived such power as I possess for working in the political field.» <BR>Clearly, Gandhi never renounced the world; he was neither pacifist nor cult guru. Who was Gandhi? In the midst of resurging interest in the man who freed India, inspired the American Civil Rights Movement, and is revered, respected, and misunderstood all over the world, the time is proper to listen to Gandhi himself &#8212; in his own words, his own «confessions,» his autobiography. <BR>Gandhi made scrupulous truth-telling a religion and his <I>Autobiography</I> inevitably reminds one of other saints who have suffered and burned for their lapses. His simply narrated account of boyhood in Gujarat, marriage at age 13, legal studies in England, and growing desire for purity and reform has the force of a man extreme in all things. He details his gradual conversion to vegetarianism and <I>ahimsa </I>(non-violence) and the state of celibacy (<I>brahmacharya, </I>self-restraint) that became one of his more arduous spiritual trials. In the political realm he outlines the beginning of <I>Satyagraha </I>in&nbsp;South Africa and India, with accounts of the first Indian fasts and protests, his initial errors and misgivings, his jailings, and continued cordial&nbsp;dealings with the British overlords. &nbsp;<BR>Gandhi was a fascinating, complex man, a brilliant leader and guide, a seeker of truth who died for his beliefs but had no use for martyrdom or sainthood. His story, the path to his vision of <I>Satyagraha </I>and human dignity, is a critical work of the twentieth century, and timeless in its courage and inspiration. <BR>

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This is the fascinating and important story of how God’s Word came to East Africa. Beginning with the pioneering efforts of Krapf and Rebmann, Aloo Osotsi Mojola traces the history of Bible translation in the region from 1844 to the present. He incorporates four decades of personal conversations and interviews, along with extensive research, to provide the first comprehensive account of the translations undertaken in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The maps and tables included assist the reader, as does a history of the Swahili language – its standardization, role as lingua franca, and impact on the work of translation. Mojola’s writing is a tribute to those who sacrificed much in their quest to see the word of God accessible to all people, in all places – and the many who continue to sacrifice for the peoples of East Africa. This book is a key contribution to the important and ongoing narrative of how God has met us, and continues to meet us, in our own contexts and our own languages.

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Since the disintegration of the USSR many Russian Baptists have actively engaged in evangelism, church planting, and acts of social service. This book is a response to the need to critically evaluate the effectiveness of past mission efforts and their undergirding theology.
In this detailed study, Dr Andrey Kravtsev combines historical and qualitative studies to outline the understanding of mission developed by Russian Baptists during the Soviet era when they were almost completely isolated from global missiological developments. First, Kravtsev identifies four key missiological concepts and uses them to analyze the history of mission theology in global evangelical mission movements and the Russian Baptists. He then interviewed thirty leaders from the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists to find their view of these concepts, and their convictions of the need to reconsider traditional missiological views. From his findings, Dr Kravtsev suggests five themes for facilitating the transition of Russian Baptist mission theology from the late-Soviet model of eschatological escapism, to a holistic, missional evangelicalism. This book places evangelical mission in contemporary Russian socio-political and ideological contexts and provides an important contribution for leading churches to a renewed missionary encounter with culture.

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Since its founding in 1924, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) has grown to span five synods across Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa. Dr Rhodian Munyenyembe traces the history of these synods back to their shared roots in the Reformation and individual roots in three separate Presbyterian missions. Dr Munyenyembe skillfully explores both historic and contemporary challenges to the unity of the CCAP, and raises the question of whether the CCAP truly functions as a single denomination or could better be understood as a loose federation of five distinct churches. His in-depth explanation provides a critical look that goes beyond a surface understanding of what it means to unite churches from different cultural traditions, and brings honest answers to disputes and conflicts among the CCAP synods. Through this analysis and exploration, Dr Munyenyembe also sheds light on the political and socio-economic aspects of life in relation to the influence of religious denominations. In this objective yet astute account, Munyenyembe gives voice to the CCAP’s complex history, present reality, and future potential.

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Whether from the perspective of Islamic law&#8217;s advocates, secularism&#8217;s partisans, or communities caught in their crossfire, many people see the relationship between Islamic law and secularism as antagonistic and increasingly discordant. In the United States there are calls for &#8220;sharia bans&#8221; in the courts, in western Europe legal limitations have been imposed on mosques and the wearing of headscarves, and in the Arab Middle East conflicts between secularist old guards and Islamist revolutionaries persist&#8212;suggesting that previously unsteady coexistences are transforming into outright hostilities.Jeffrey Redding&#8217;s exploration of India&#8217;s non-state system of Muslim dispute resolution&#8212;known as the dar-ul-qaza system and commonly referred to as &#8220;Muslim courts&#8221; or &#8220;shariat courts&#8221;&#8212;challenges conventional narratives about the inevitable opposition between Islamic law and secular forms of governance, demonstrating that Indian secular law and governance cannot work without the significant assistance of non-state Islamic legal actors.

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