Author: Christopher Hadnagy File Type: epub []

Author: Diana Wood File Type: pdf This book offers an introduction to medieval economic thought, as it emerges from the works of the twelfth to the fifteenth century academic theologians, lawyers and other sources. Using Italian merchants writings, vernacular poetry, parliamentary legislation, and manorial court rolls, it discusses property, charity, the role of money, weights, measures, coinage, trade, fair price and fair wage. It makes a relatively neglected subject accessible by exploring the relationship between theory and practice.ReviewInsightful....Highly recommended. Catholic Library WorldA very useful and up-to-date summary of current scholarship....No comparable work of synthesis exists. History Book DescriptionThis book offers an introduction to medieval economic thought, from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, as it emerges from the works of academic theologians and lawyers and a variety of secular sources--from Italian merchants writings to vernacular poetry, parliamentary legislation, and manorial court rolls. It discusses ideas of property, charity, the nature and role of money, weights, measures, coinage, trade, the just price and the just wage, and usury. Its aim is to make accessible a relatively neglected subject, and to explore the relationship between theory and practice.

Author: Rodney Castleden File Type: pdf King Arthur is often written off as a medieval fantasy, the dream of those yearning for an age of strong, just rulers and a contented kingdom. Those who accept his existence at all generally discard the stories that surround him. This exciting new investigation argues not only that Arthur did exist, as a Dark Age chieftain, but that many of the romantic tales - of Merlin, Camelot and Excalibur - are rooted in truth.In his quest for the real King Arthur, Rodney Castleden uses up-to-date archaeological and documentary evidence to recreate the history and society of Dark Age Britain and its kings. He revives the possibility that Tintagel was an Arthurian legend, and proposes a radical new theory - that Arthur escaped alive from his final battle. A location is even suggested for perhaps the greatest mystery, the whereabouts of Arthurs grave.King Arthur The Truth Behind the Legend offers a more complete picture of Arthurs Britain and his place in it than ever before. The books bold approach and compelling arguments will be welcomed by all readers with an interest in Arthuriana.

Author: Robert Cormier File Type: mobi From Publishers WeeklyMuch of Cormiers fiction poses a paradox you are most alive just as outside forces obliterate your identity. Cormiers protagonists want to be anonymous, and their wishes are fulfilled in nightmarish ways. In Fade , which encompasses three stories in three decades, 13-year-old Paul discovers an incredible secret gift he can become invisible. His long-lost uncle appears, to tell Paul that each generation of the family has one fader, and to warn him of the fades dangers. Paul, however, abuses his power and quickly learns its terrible price. Twenty-five years later, Paul, a successful writer, confronts the next fader, his abused nephew Ozzie, whose power is pure vengeance. And 25 years after that, in 1988, Pauls distant cousin Susan, also a writer, reads his amazing story, and must decide if Pauls memoir is fact or fiction. Fade is an allegory of the writers life. Pauls actions stem from his compulsion to understand the behavior of the people around him Susans questions and her awful dilemma, which concludes the book, result from her near-pathological writers focus on other persons, a purpose her unreachable late cousin serves well. Omniscient powerPauls invisibility and Susans access to his unpublished workleads to identity-consuming responsibility. At its best, Fade is an examination of the writers urge to lose identity and become purely an observer. As in all Cormiers novels, the protagonists are ciphers whose only affirming action seems to be to assert, however briefly, that they exist. The story is gripping, even when it approaches melodrama, and Cormier concentrates on each actions inner meaning. Fade works better as allegory than as fantasy this is Cormiers most complex, artful work. He seems to challenge himself as a writer, and in doing so, offers a respectful challenge to his readers. Through him, they will discover the extremes of behavior in the quietest human soul. Ages 13-up. 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library JournalGrade 10-12 Those who find Cormiers novels bleak, dark, disturbing, and violent will not be disappointed with his latest. And true to his past, he has given readers a story with more twists and turns than a mile of concertina wire. The first half is set in Frenchtown, a working-class section of a Massachusetts town. The time is the 1930s, and the evocation of life among the French-Canadians (with marvelous names like Omer LaBatt and Rudolphe Toubert), who toiled in sweatshops where celluloid combs were made, is the best thing about the novel. Not that the story line doesnt work. Cormier uses an old device that guarantees attentiona lead character who can make himself invisible. The rules for fading are as complicated as a missile defense treaty. Paul Moreaux is the teenage fader who narrates the first section, an autobiographical account written after he has become a famous novelist. Readers learn early on that there is a grim side to this gift of fading and that Cormier intends it to represent a potentially evil force within us all. Subsequent sections include a narration by a present-day female cousin, which throws into question the truth of the entire first section, and a concluding section that features another cousin who can fade but who is certainly mad and possibly possessed. So the novel has a bit of many things magic, murder, mystery, history, romance, diabolical possession, sex (not a lot, but what there is is explicit), and even a touch of incest. The character of Paul is developed especially well. The story is too long, and the plot is too contrived to be taken seriously, but Fade is riveting enough to be appreciated by Cormier fans. Robert E. Unsworth, Scarsdale Junior High School, N.Y. 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.