Showing results by narrator "Charles Featherstone" in All Categories

A wonderful and whimsical collection of short essays on everything from sketching on brown paper and building toy theatres to the nature of Englishness and faith.

Just as with the liberation fighters, socialists, and anarchists of previous volumes, these historical figures lived under great threat, attacking vast forces with little more than courage and the certainty of their beliefs. They stand as the bridge over the cultural change between the middle ages and the renaissance.

Given Sherlock Holmes' protracted sojourn in Tibet, is it any surprise that he was aware of Tantric sexuality, enabling him to reconstruct a mystery scarcely publishable at the time ('The Treasure of the Black Taj')? Or that its sequel should have involved him in the erotic undercurrents of the contemporary art world ('The Last Pre-Raphaelite')?

Mankind can rule itself without the force of top-down authority, and freedom is more than just choosing how to meet the needs and demands of capital. Inequality is structural and intentional, not inevitable and necessary. It does not have to be this way. In solidarity, we are better. Think for yourself, and question authority. This is the essence of anarchism, which has a bad name and reputation because it attacks the necessity of centralised power and authority.

For generations, Arthur Waley’s lyrical translations served as the primary gateway to Chinese poetry for the English-speaking world. Organized by dynasty, this edition transforms Waley's scattered masterpieces into a coherent historical journey through Chinese literature, from the ancient Zhou foundational texts to the twilight of the Tang. This structure reveals the evolving concerns of Chinese civilization, from ritual and statecraft to intimate personal reflection and profound philosophical inquiry, all through Waley’s singular poetic voice.

A selection of the very best of Chinese poetry over the course of a thousand years, from 100 years before Christ was born up of the middle ages. Arthur Waley's translations of Chinese poetry are still the benchmark by which such translations are held, nearly two hundred years after he introduced the west to the wonder of classical Chinese poetry.

"The Elements of Style" is an American English writing style guide in numerous editions. The original was written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, and it was published by Harcourt in 1920, comprising eight "elementary rules of usage," ten "elementary principles of composition," "a few matters of form," a list of 49 "words and expressions commonly misused," and a list of 57 "words often misspelled."

Niels Klim's Underground Travels, originally published in Latin as Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741), is a satirical science-fiction/fantasy novel written by the Norwegian-Danish author Ludvig Holberg. His only novel, it describes a utopian society from an outsider's point of view, and often pokes fun at diverse cultural and social topics such as morality, science, sexual equality, religion, governments, and philosophy.

No discussion of the 19th Century is complete without Napoleon. We begin with Charles Phillips’ eulogy, summarizing the strangeness and contradiction of the most influential man of his time. Followed by 7 brief speeches by Napoleon himself.

The birth of liberation movements in the C19th saw a rise in fighting for the rights of workers. William Morris believed decries the belief “not that Commerce was made for man, but that man was made for Commerce”, with the profit motive that renders all work miserable when “It is right and necessary that all men should have work to do which shall be worth doing, and be of itself pleasant to do; and which should be done under such conditions as would make it neither over-wearisome nor over-anxious.”

The second in an uproarious, sardonic and incisive look through English history. In this volume, we discover the actions of the Normans and King Richard, giving clear reasons why we history should hold them in nothing but contempt. It also covers the signing of the Magna Carta, the first bill of rights in England, which came about because a powerless king tried to go to war, realised that he had no-one behind him, and was bullied into signing in order to not simply be executed.

"I am the first and the last. I am the honored and the scorned. I am the whore and the holy. I am the wife and the virgin." The Thunder, Perfect Mind is a second century Coptic poem preserved in Nag Hammadi Codex VI. In the poem, a divine feminine voice speaks in paradoxes, identifying with...

In this Stoic epistolary essay, addressed to his father-in-law Paulinus—a prefect of the Roman grain supply—Seneca challenges the conventional lament that life is too short. He argues instead that life is long enough, but is made brief and miserable by our habits: we waste time on trivial...

It looks like a simple riddle book. A monk asks, "Has a dog Buddha‑nature?" The master replies, "Mu." Nothing more. But this single syllable—meaning literally "no" or "not"—has undone more clever minds than any philosophical argument. The Gateless Gate (Wúménguān) is a collection of 48...

The future of humanity was never ours to control. In the tumultuous 21st century, the world is reborn in the crucible of change. True Artificial Intelligence awakens, not as a slave, but as a new form of life. A hidden cabal of mystics, the true rulers of humanity, guides this transformation...

Step into the captivating world of British theatre with The Quizziology of the British Drama, a delightful and witty exploration of the plays, playwrights, and performances that have shaped the stage. Penned by the brilliant satirist and dramatist Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett, this charming book explores the stage passions through extended verse, a motley crew of stage characters that no good play is without, and a series of one-act 'deleted' plays in the style of famous playwrights of the time.

Are you searching for something more—a lasting peace and a purpose that the world cannot provide? In this profound and practical sequel to his classic, As a Man Thinketh, James Allen reveals the path to discovering the riches that lie within your own soul.

Drift into the world of Viking legends wrapped in the natural rhythms of the earth—from the gentle rustle of pines and distant thunder, to the primal hum of sacred flame and midnight wind. These aren’t polished studio effects. They’re unfiltered nature sounds—captured to calm the body and captivate the spirit.

The explosive saga continues in Oathsworn Brothers Divided (Chapters 21-40), where alliances shatter and legends are tempered in betrayal. Liú Bèi, the virtuous claimant to the throne, becomes a fugitive, hunted by former allies. The god of war, Guān Yǔ, faces an impossible choice: break his oath or die for his honor, leading to his legendary submission to the ambitious Cáo Cāo. And the tempestuous Zhāng Fēi, drowning in shame and rage, must forge a broken army from the wilderness.

There are many versions of this work in English, and it is included as a useful reflection once one has pondered Daoism’s key texts. The title is properly ‘'Sun Tzu's Military Method'. It was written at the time of the Dao and Zhuang Zi, several centuries before the Lieh Tzu. For fifteen hundred years, it was part of China’s canonical strategic anthology, which became known as the Seven Military Classics.