Recommendations based on "The Ancient Guide to Modern Life"

Based on your reading history, we think you will also enjoy the following books.

By Leonard Shlain

This groundbreaking book proposes that the rise of alphabetic literacy reconfigured the human brain and brought about profound changes in history, religion, and gender relations. Making remarkable connections across brain function, myth, and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brain modes that venerated the Goddess, images, and feminine values. Writing drove cultures toward linear left-brain thinking and this shift upset the balance between men and women, initiating the decline of the feminine and ushering in patriarchal rule. Examining the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, Shlain reinterprets ancient myths and parables in light of his theory. Provocative and inspiring, this book is a paradigm-shattering work that will transform your view of history and the mind.

By DK

Discover the pivotal political, military, and cultural events that shaped British and Irish history, from Stone Age Britain to the present day, in this revised and updated book.Combining over 700 photographs, maps, and artworks with accessible text, the History of Britain and Ireland is an invaluable resource for families, students, and anyone seeking to learn more about the fascinating story of the England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Spanning six distinct periods of British and Irish history, this book is the best way to find out how Britain transformed with the Norman rule, fought two world wars in the 20th century, and faced new economic challenges in the 21st century.DK's visual guide places key figures - from Alfred the Great to Winston Churchill - and major events - from Roman invasion to the Battle of Britain - in their wider context, making it easier than ever before to learn how they influenced Britain and Ireland's development through the age of empire into the modern era.

By Zinn

“It’s a wonderful, splendid book—a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future.” —Howard Fast, author of Spartacus and The Immigrants“[It] should be required reading.” —Eric Foner, New York Times Book ReviewLibrary Journal calls Howard Zinn’s iconic A People's History of the United States “a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those…whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories.” Packed with vivid details and telling quotations, Zinn’s award-winning classic continues to revolutionize the way American history is taught and remembered. Frequent appearances in popular media such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Good Will Hunting, and the History Channel documentary The People Speak testify to Zinn’s ability to bridge the generation gap with enduring insights into the birth, development, and destiny of the nation.

By Neil Price

The Viking Age - Between 750 And 1050 - Saw An Unprecedented Expansion Of The Scandinavian Peoples. As Traders And Raiders, Explorers And Colonists, They Reshaped The World Between Eastern North America And The Asian Steppe. For A Millennium, Though, Their History Has Largely Been Filtered Through The Writings Of Their Victims. Based On The Latest Archaeological And Textual Evidence, Children Of Ash And Elm Tells The Story Of The Vikings On Their Own Terms- Their Politics, Their Cosmology, Their Art And Culture. From Bj?rn Ironside, Who Led An Expedition To Sack Rome, To Gudrid Thorbjarnard?ttir, The Most Travelled Woman In The World, Price Shows Us The Real Vikings, Not The Caricatures They Have Become In Popular Culture And History.

By David McKittrick

First published ten years ago, Making Sense of the Troubles is widely regarded as the most comprehensive, considered and compassionate history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Written by a distinguished journalist and a teacher of history in Northern Ireland, it surveys the roots of the problems from 1921 onwards, the descent into violence in the late sixties, and the three terrible decades that followed. David McKittrick and David McVea have now fully updated the book to take into account the momentous events of last ten years, including the disbanding of the IRA, Ian Paisley's deal with the Republicans and the historic power-sharing goverment in Belfast.

By Joy Hakim

Recommended by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy as an exemplary informational text.Designed to accompany Joy Hakim's ten volume A History of US or as a stand alone reference, this collection of great American documents is ideal for all students of American history. Filled with primary sources, the Sourcebook and Index traces the gradual unfolding of ideas of freedom in America through letters, declarations, proclamations, court decisions, speeches, laws, acts, the Constitution, and other writings.About the Series:Master storyteller Joy Hakim has excited millions of young minds with the great drama of American history in her award-winning series A History of US. Recommended by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy as an exemplary informational text, A History of US weaves together exciting stories that bring American history to life. Hailed by reviewers, historians, educators, and parents for its exciting, thought-provoking narrative, the books have been recognized as a break-through tool in teaching history and critical reading skills to young people. In ten books that span from Prehistory to the 21st century, young people will never think of American history as boring again.

By Michael King

New Zealand was the last country in the world to be discovered and settled by humankind. It was also the first to introduce a full democracy. Between those events, and in the century that followed the franchise, the movements and the conflicts of human history have been played out more intensively and more rapidly in New Zealand than anywhere else on Earth. This title tells that story in all its colour and drama. The narrative that emerges is an inclusive one about men and women, Maori and Pakeha. It shows that British motives in colonizing New Zealand were essentially humane; and that Maori, far from being passive victims of a "fatal impact", coped heroically with colonization and survived by selectively accepting and adapting what Western technology and culture had to offer. The latter part of the book reveals how an insulated and dependent British colony transformed itself into an independent nation, open to and competing with technological and cultural influences sweeping the globe.

By Sinead Fitzgibbon

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.The sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago in 1912, and the subsequent deaths of over 1,500 passengers, sent shock waves around the world. Never before or since has a maritime disaster in a time of peace had such an impact.TITANIC: HISTORY IN AN HOUR is an entertaining and well researched account of the events leading up to the sinking of this ‘unsinkable’ ship, providing an fascinating commentary on the pressures of the White Star Line, the importance of class to Titanic’s unfortunate passengers and the legacy of the disaster in Britain and America. TITANIC:HISTORY IN AN HOUR is a gripping and accessible account.Know your stuff: read about the Titanic in just one hour.

By Keith Hitchins

From the mid-nineteenth century until the Second World War, the energies of Rumanian political and intellectual élites were absorbed by the building of their nation. In this comprehensive and scholarly study Keith Hitchins traces these complex processes and explores how Rumania's leaders attempted to transform the ideology of modern nationhood into strong political, economic, and social institutions and to find ways of preserving independence in an international political and economic order dominated by the great powers. As the new Rumania took shape, the threads of historical continuity remained strikingly evident: in government a strong administrative centralization prevailed, despite the maturing of parliamentary institutions and the diversity of political expression; the national economy remained beholden to agriculture, despite the steady growth of industry; and in cultural life traditional values persisted, despite the adoption of modern forms. In foreign relations the most pressing aim was to unite all Rumanians in a single state and to defend its sovereignty within an uncertain international order. In all these endeavours, the measure of achievement was the West. After the Second World War, when the Communist Party came to power, this historical continuity was broken. The experiment in nation-building gave way to a new ideology, and Rumania now turned to the Soviet political and economic model.

By Richard Plunz

The French architect Le Corbusier once described New York as "a magnificent catastrophe." Since its emergence in the mid-nineteenth century as the nation's "metropolis"' New York has faced the most challenging housing problems of any American city, but it has also led the nation in innovation and reform. The horrors of the tenement were perfected in New York at the same time that the very rich were building palaces along Fifth Avenue; yet public housing for the poor also originated in New York, as did government subsidies for middle-class housing. A History of Housing in New York City traces New York's housing development from 1850 to the present in text and profuse illustrations. Richard Plunz explores the housing of all classes, with comparative discussion of the development of types ranging from the single-family house to the high-rise apartment tower. His analysis is placed within the context of the broader political and cultural development of New York, a city which in many ways summarizes in microcosm the evolution of urban housing in the United States. Plunz examines the multiple tensions among builders, government planners, housing reformers, and architects which have affected the course of housing development. He explains how the first high-rise apartments were built for the wealthy who preferred the security of living "above it all," and he looks at the technology which made them possible. The author examines the effect of the urban economy on development. He describes how the rising cost of Manhattan real estate and the growth of transportation networks have contributed to the departure of the middle class from the inner city, leaving it with little except luxury housing and slums. He offers fresh material on the creation of "garden apartments" which proliferated throughout the outer boroughs and remain among the finest models of urban housing. Plunz also offers insight into how and why modernist "tower in the park" designs of architects such as Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius were adapted into the design of much of New York's public housing, and the recent return to low-rise publicly subsidized housing, such as new "suburban cottages" set amidst the abandoned buildings and rubble strewn lots of the South Bronx. More than 300 illustrations are integrated throughout the text, depicting housing plans, neighborhood changes, and city architecture over the last 130 years. A History of Housing In New York City is a pioneering study of a largely unexplored realm of United States urban development, as well researched as it is well written.