Griechenland

A captivating portrait of number-one bestselling author Yanis Varoufakis's political awakening, told through the extraordinary lives of five women, and the West's tumultuous history from 1924 to the present.<BR><BR>Eleni put an arm around him and said: 'Come, come, life is ahead of us. Raise your soul now. We have much to do.'<BR><BR>When Yanis Varoufakis was eight years old, his uncle made him a model airplane out of matchsticks and cigarette papers; all he could find in his cell. Yet, to his dismay, his mother Eleni broke open the fragile gift, revealing a hidden message: instructions for fellow dissidents ahead of their forthcoming court martial. It was 1969 and Uncle Panayis was a political prisoner, captured and tortured for resisting the military dictatorship.<BR><BR>Dramatic in scope and deep in feeling, Raise Your Soul is an intimate portrait of three generations caught up in the whirlwind of history. It is also a remarkable narrative spanning one hundred years, beginning in post-colonial Egypt in the 1920s, and then tracing Greece's tumultuous century through Nazi occupation, communist resistance, civil war, Cold War fracture, fascist dictatorship, socialist revival and present-day economic crisis.<BR><BR>At its heart are the women whose resilience, defiance and courage inspired the visionary economist most: Eleni, Anna, Trisevgeni, Georgia and Danaë. Through their lives, Varoufakis not only lays bare his own political soul, but confronts the dark forces of authoritarianism that still haunt Europe and beyond, reigniting hope in all of us that we can rise once more.

Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans Vol. 4 presents the concluding portion of Plutarch's great work of classical biography, moral history, and ancient political literature. Known variously in English as Plutarch's Lives, Parallel Lives, and Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, the work pairs Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers, reformers, rulers, orators, and public figures in order to examine character, leadership, virtue, ambition, judgment, patriotism, and failure. Plutarch is not merely recording events; he is studying the habits and choices that shape public life.This SMK edition is suited to readers of classical literature, ancient history, Greek and Roman biography, moral philosophy, political thought, and the long tradition of civic education shaped by Plutarch's work. Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans influenced Shakespeare, Renaissance humanists, Enlightenment thinkers, historians, statesmen, and generations of readers because it treats biography as a way to understand power, consequence, courage, vanity, discipline, and public responsibility. For anyone interested in Greece, Rome, leadership, virtue, and the classical tradition, Volume 4 continues one of the central monuments of ancient biographical writing.

In the first authoritative biography of Alexander the Great written for a general audience in a generation, classicist and historian Philip Freeman tells the remarkable life of the great conqueror. <BR><BR>The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history. He was a general of such skill and renown that for two thousand years other great leaders studied his strategy and tactics, from Hannibal to Napoleon, with countless more in between. He flashed across the sky of history like a comet, glowing brightly and burning out quickly: crowned at age nineteen, dead by thirty-two. He established the greatest empire of the ancient world; Greek coins and statues are found as far east as Afghanistan. Our interest in him has never faded.<BR> <BR> Alexander was born into the royal family of Macedonia, the kingdom that would soon rule over Greece. Tutored as a boy by Aristotle, Alexander had an inquisitive mind that would serve him well when he faced formidable obstacles during his military campaigns. Shortly after taking command of the army, he launched an invasion of the Persian empire, and continued his conquests as far south as the deserts of Egypt and as far east as the mountains of present-day Pakistan and the plains of India. Alexander spent nearly all his adult life away from his homeland, and he and his men helped spread the Greek language throughout western Asia, where it would become the lingua franca of the ancient world. Within a short time after Alexander’s death in Baghdad, his empire began to fracture. Best known among his successors are the Ptolemies of Egypt, whose empire lasted until Cleopatra.<BR> <BR> In his lively and authoritative biography of Alexander, classical scholar and historian Philip Freeman describes Alexander’s astonishing achievements and provides insight into the mercurial character of the great conqueror. Alexander could be petty and magnanimous, cruel and merciful, impulsive and farsighted. Above all, he was ferociously, intensely competitive and could not tolerate losing—which he rarely did. As Freeman explains, without Alexander, the influence of Greece on the ancient world would surely not have been as great as it was, even if his motivation was not to spread Greek culture for beneficial purposes but instead to unify his empire. Only a handful of people have influenced history as Alexander did, which is why he continues to fascinate us.

Alexandros Stefanidis erzählt die Geschichte seiner Familie, in deren Zentrum sein Vater Christoforos und das familiengeführte Restaurant 'Der Grieche' in Karlsruhe stehen. Seit 1971 spielt sich dort - im 'Wohnzimmer' der Stefanidis' - nicht nur das Leben der sechsköpfigen Familie ab, es ist gleichzeitig eine einzigartige Bühne für deutsche Zeitgeschichte: Von der Gründerszene der Grünen bis zu absurden Situationen mit rassistischen Stammgästen, von der Zeit, als griechisches Essen fast schon ein politisches Statement war, bis zur Kapitulation vor der Döner-Welle hat die Geschichte des 'Griechen' neben todkomischen Alltagsgeschichten alle Elemente einer griechischen Tragödie.

Xenophon's Anabasis is a classic tale of high adventure. An army of upwards of 10,000 Greek warriors, far from home, find themselves in hostile territory, vastly outnumbered and in great peril. Their leader, Cyrus the Great, has been killed in battle along with a number of their other generals. They must undertake an unparalleled arduous trek and make a heroic fighting retreat to save themselves from certain death.This true story, told by the man who became one of the leaders of the valiant band of warriors, was the stuff of legend. It is ingrained in the history of the Greeks as a cherished tale of overcoming hardship with courage and nearly superhuman endurance. Even Alexander the Great was said to have kept a copy of this book and to have often referred to it for inspiration.Told in the third person, as were Caesar's Commentaries, the style is simple, direct and unpretentious. Students of Greek Culture often find it a pleasure to read because of its uncomplicated style of writing in addition to being exciting story that accurately describes real people, places and times. This translation, by Professor H. G. Dakyns, retains the flavor of the original and includes embedded explanatory notes to help clarify references and unfamiliar geography.

"Of all General Fuller's brilliant books, this is his masterpiece." --B. H. Liddell Hart