Government Fiction

In this acclaimed Plato masterpiece, you travel back in time to attend an elaborate high society dinner. At this party, you meet Plato's mentor, Socrates, and the comic poet Aristophanes. During the banquet, each of these men is invited to praise Eros, the god of love and desire. You witness them deliver speeches that embody their wisdom and philosophies on love. You hear Socrates' celebrated account of Diotima, the prophetess who taught him that love is the manifestation of human goodness. Finally, you even hear from the famous Alcibiades.

Deutschland ganz unten, Deutschland ganz oben - und mittendrin: Stuckrad-Barre, mit Stift, Papier und Kamera...

On February 1, 2016, the date of the Iowa caucus, David Breskin began a project that would carry him through the American presidential election. An ex-journalist, Breskin set out to "cover" this most strange and historic election, under the pressure of a reporter's daily deadline, by writing one poem a day. He created a deliberately awkward, rollickingly restrictive form - seven beats per line, 11 lines per poem - and, noting our preference for the convenience of sound-bite news and junk-food polls over more nutritious fare, called them "7-11s".

The Prince is a treatise that systematically charts the best strategies for successful governing. It unapologetically places realism above idealism, showing would-be kings how to get what they want while appearing to be generous and honourable, and advocates that the means — cruelty, duplicity and horror —justify the ends of secure monarchical rule. But it can also be read as the work of a secret republican subtly undermining the despotism of the ruling Medici family.

Published in 1532 five years after Machiavelli’s death, the philosophies and implications introduced in the manifesto are continually referenced by today’s top business executives for insight into leadership, political theory, and ethics.

The Second World War represents one of humanity’s greatest tragedies. Yet in the thick of cruelty, suffering, and loss, ordinary women secretly stood against the Nazi regime, selflessly serving as bearers of peace and hope. They risked their lives to protect the persecuted without seeking reward or recognition.

"Es precisamente esa otra consolación ante la vejez […] lo que me mueve a mí […] a dirigirte ahora esta larga misiva desde Atenas. […]. Tú has dejado claro en tu obra, al hablarnos de que las dificultades de la vejez no provienen tanto de la edad como del carácter y de la actitud vital de las personas, que envejecer es, en un alto grado, un empeño ético; y yo deseo ahora que reflexionemos sobre si el hecho de que nuestra sociedad esté o no organizada y facultada para posibilitar dicho empeño no hace del envejecer, también, un propósito político".

Wir haben mehr Wissen als je zuvor, aber dies stimmt nicht mehr mit unseren Erfahrungen überein. Deshalb rufen wir im Zeitalter der wachsenden Überforderung unsere Leistungen, unsere Gefühle, unsere ganze Lebensbahn immer stärker wie Informationen ab und zerstören so unsere Fähigkeit, mit Unerwartetem umzugehen. Die Frage lautet, ob wir damit begonnen haben, uns selbst wie Computer zu behandeln, und ob der Preis für intelligente Maschinen dümmere Menschen sind.

Oscar Wilde wurde am 16.10.1854 in Dublin geboren. Sein Vater war Arzt, seine Mutter Dichterin. Wilde studierte in Dublin und Oxford. Seit 1879 lebte er in London. 1895 wurde er vom Vater seines Freundes Lord Douglas wegen homosexueller Neigungen angezeigt und zu zwei Jahren Zuchthaus verurteilt. Wilde starb am 30.11.1900 verarmt in Paris.

Yeva Skalietska lebt ein normales Schülerinnen-Leben im ukrainischen Charkiw, als der Angriff der russischen Armee am 24. Februar 2022 ihrer Kindheit ein brutales Ende setzt. Denn fortan bestimmen Kriegsgeschehnisse ihren Alltag. Die Heimatstadt wird zerstört, Treffen mit Freundinnen sind nicht möglich, ein normaler Alltag existiert nicht mehr. Yeva ist zutiefst verstört und hält ihre Eindrücke seit Beginn des Krieges in ihrem Tagebuch fest.

La Primera República, 1873-1874, que acabó con el pronunciamiento de Martínez Campos y la restauración borbónica, y la Segunda República, de abril de 1931 hasta el inicio de la dictadura franquista, son dos épocas históricas vinculadas entre sí que guardan muchas de las claves para entender e interpretar nuestro presente ya que fundamentos ideológicos de la política actual tienen muchas de sus raíces en aquellos sucesos que marcaron definitivamente unos profundos cambios sociales.

Sergeant Major Seth Phoenix's story continues in The Phoenix Codes as he battles the CIA and the US government's plans to duplicate his DNA codes for future use in the human clone research programs already being explored in Russia. When he meets Russian Agent Nikita Oleshun for the second time during a rescue mission in Srebrenica, Bosnia, Phoenix realizes that the would-be enemy is actually an ally and attempting to defect from Russia. Phoenix races against time and certain death as he fights to protect his supernatural match.

In the first Quarterly Essay for 2011, David Malouf returns to one of the most fundamental questions and gives it a modern twist: what is it to live a good life? With grace and profundity, Malouf discusses new and old ways to talk about the self, morality and happiness. In an age of environmental peril, and in the wake of the global financial crisis, such questions have returned with new force - we live in unpredictable times and Homo economicus has been found wanting.

The wisdom within these pages has the power to unlock our potential as a species and establish an enduring civilization based on peace, self-ownership, and nonviolence. You, as a free, beautiful, independent human being with inalienable rights, own yourself! You can do what you want with your own body and the product of your labor. All human interactions should be free of force and coercion, and we are free to exercise our rights, limited only by respect for the rights of others. Governments rely on force, and force is a poor substitute for persuasion.

August 22, 1485, Bosworth, Leicestershire. By noon the King of England, Richard III, will be dead and his naked body will be on route to Leicester. This is the story of Richard's final 24 hours, told in a compelling minute-by-minute countdown, which ends with this final heroic battle charge and his death on the field at Bosworth.

Sverige är ett land som länge förskonats från krigets fasor, politiska ytterligheter, organiserade terrordåd, religiös fanatism och mycket annat som är realiteter i många länder. Men på hösten 1991 inträffade något som satte hela vår civiliserade livsstil i gungning. Människor med utländskt påbrå blev beskjutna på allmänna platser av en okänd person. Hur kunde något sådant inträffa i vårt upplysta samhälle som länge hade sluppit terror och denna typ av rasistiska seriemord?

Ona dumala s dosadoj: ee rovesnicy, - a ej shel dvadcat' shestoj god, teper' hlopochut po hozjajstvu, utomilis' i krepko usnut, a zavtra utrom prosnutsja v prazdnichnom nastroenii; mnogie iz nih davno uzhe povyhodili zamuzh i imejut detej.

"Manifesto of the Communist Party" is an 1848 political pamphlet by the Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It presents an analytical approach to the class struggle and the conflicts of capitalism and the capitalist mode of production.

The Gameshouse is an unusual institution. Many know it as the place where fortunes can be made and lost through games of chess, backgammon -- every game under the sun. But a select few, who are picked to compete in the higher league, know that some games are played for higher stakes -- those of...

The Gameshouse is an unusual institution. Many know it as the place where fortunes can be made and lost though games of chess, backgammon -- every game under the sun. But a select few, who are picked to compete in the higher league, know that some games are played for higher stakes -- those of...