Author: Mikhail Bakhtin File Type: pdf

Author: Christopher Phillipson File Type: pdf Ageing populations represent a key global challenge for the twenty-first century. Few areas of life will remain untouched by the accompanying changes to cultural, economic and social life. This book interrogates various understandings of ageing, and provides a critical assessment of attitudes and responses to the development of ageing societies, placing these in the context of a variety of historical and sociological debates. Written in a highly accessible style, this book examines a range of topics, including demographic change across high- and low-income countries, theories of social ageing, changing definitions of age, retirement trends, family and intergenerational relations, poverty and inequality, and health and social care in later life. The book also considers the key steps necessary in preparing for the social transformation which population ageing will bring. Ageing provides a fresh and original approach to a topic of central concern to students and scholars working in sociology, social policy and wider social science disciplines and the humanities. **

Author: Joseph T. Fuhrmann File Type: pdf Legend portrays Rasputin as the Mad Monk who rampaged through St. Petersburg in an alcoholic haze, making love to scores of women. A symbol of excess and religious extremism, he was believed to hold a mysterious power, emanating from his hypnotic eyes, over Tsar Nicolas II and his family. The fact that he was neither mad nor a monk has not stopped scores of writers from repeating these and other bogus claims.In Rasputin The Untold Story, Rasputin scholar Joseph Fuhrmann shares the fruits of his two-decade search for the truth about Rasputin through previously closed Soviet archives. The man he discovers is entirely human and even more fascinating than the Svengali-like caricature imagined by millions.This definitive biography unveils the truth behind Gregory Rasputins storied life, controversial relationships, and much-discussed death. Fuhrmann unearths previously unknown details from Rasputins childhood and his early years as a farmer and itinerant preacher to his decade-long relationship with the Romanovs.This expose features an account of the Church investigation into charges that Rasputin was a member of the heretical Khlysty, as well as the report from a new bishop that resolved the case in Rasputins favor. It provides a new and accurate account of a deranged womans attempt to murder Rasputin in the summer of 1914 and a pioneering exploration of Rasputins and the Romanovs surprising tolerance of homosexualsmen who were out of the closet and forging public careers that would have been inconceivable anywhere else in the world at the time.But what of Rasputins mysterious powers? Was he a faith healer who actually stopped the hemophiliac tsarevichs bleeding at will? Could he hypnotize and control others with his eyes? Is it true that his murderers first poisoned, then shot, then beat him, before throwing him into an ice-choked river, where he finally drowned? Was British intelligence involved in the plot to murder Rasputin? Fuhrmann answers these questions and many more.Whether or not he possessed superpowers, Rasputin was an undeniably powerful figure who played an important role in the Russian Empires collapse. Fuhrmann portrays Rasputins relationship with Nicholas and Alexandra through previously unpublished letters from the tsar and his wife to Rasputin and excerpts from Rasputins personal notebooks.Complete with many rare photos, including studio photographs of Rasputin, and samples of his handwriting, Rasputin The Untold Story does more than set the record straight. It tells the powerful and tragic story of a man who started out with noble intentions and sincere convictions but fell victim to greed, lust, temptation, and his own power.

Author: Michele Cammarosano File Type: pdf An innovative translation and analysis of Hittite local festivals and of their economic and social dimensions This English translation of the Hittite cult inventories provides a vivid portrait of the religion, economy, and administration of Bronze Age provincial towns and villages of the Hittite Empire. These texts report the state of local shrines and festivals and document the interplay between the central power and provincial communities on religious affairs. Brief introductions to each text make the volume accessible to students and scholars alike. Features ul lCritical editions of Hittite cult inventories, some of which are edited for the first time, with substantial improvements in readings and interpretationsl lThe first systematic study of the linguistic aspects of Hittite administrative jargonl lAn up-to-date study of Hittite cult images and iconography of the godsl ul **