Pious Pilgrims, Discerning Travellers, Curious Tourists: Changing Patterns of Travel to the Middle East from Medieval to Modern Times

Pious Pilgrims, Discerning Travellers, Curious Tourists: Changing Patterns of Travel to the Middle East from Medieval to Modern Times
Author: Paul Starkey
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2020-11-12
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1789697530

This volume comprises a varied collection of seventeen papers presented at the biennial conference of the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East (ASTENE) held in York in July 2019, which together will provide the reader with a fascinating introduction to travel in and to the Middle East over more than a thousand years.

How this Happened: Demystifying the Nile

How this Happened: Demystifying the Nile
Author: Dereje Befekadu Tessema
Publisher: Gashe Publishing
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2023-02-07
Genre: History
ISBN:

Ethiopians had to wait over a thousand years to be able to use their waters for their own development. Ethiopian emperors and leaders have tried to build a dam on the Nile River as part of their development efforts. Unfortunately, due to varying reasons and circumstances, including external pressure from countries near and far, geo- and hydro-political balance shifts, and internal conflicts, they were not successful in realizing their wishes. Instead of giving up, though, each leader contributed to different extents, by laying the foundation for and addressing challenges faced in making this dream a reality. The masterplan for the dam designed in 1964 has been the seed in waiting ever since, waiting for the right opportunity to arise for construction to start. Following the decade long negotiation and an agreement on the equitable use of the Nile waters by most Nile riparian countries, and the subsequent Cooperative Framework Agreement, the Ethiopian government started the construction of the GERD in 2011. The waiting had finally ended ... It was time for the seed to grow. Twelve years later, the construction program is almost done. The reservoir already holds billions of cubic meters of water, and the country has produced power from the first two turbines as part of the early power generation milestone. The seed has sprouted, and the tree is on track to be the tallest in Africa. In this six-part book, Dereje Befekadu Tessema discusses events that started thousands of years ago, culminating in the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). He also shares a recount of his trip from the sources to the mouth of the Nile River.

Pious Pilgrims, Discerning Travellers, Curious Tourists: Changing Patterns of Travel to the Middle East from Medieval to Modern Times

Pious Pilgrims, Discerning Travellers, Curious Tourists: Changing Patterns of Travel to the Middle East from Medieval to Modern Times
Author: Paul Starkey
Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2020-11-26
Genre:
ISBN: 9781789697520

This volume comprises a varied collection of seventeen papers presented at the biennial conference of the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East (ASTENE) held in York in July 2019, which together will provide the reader with a fascinating introduction to travel in and to the Middle East over more than a thousand years.

How to Read the American West

How to Read the American West
Author: William Wyckoff
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2014-05-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0295805374

From deserts to ghost towns, from national forests to California bungalows, many of the features of the western American landscape are well known to residents and travelers alike. But in How to Read the American West, William Wyckoff introduces readers anew to these familiar landscapes. A geographer and an accomplished photographer, Wyckoff offers a fresh perspective on the natural and human history of the American West and encourages readers to discover that history has shaped the places where people live, work, and visit. This innovative field guide includes stories, photographs, maps, and diagrams on a hundred landscape features across the American West. Features are grouped according to type, such as natural landscapes, farms and ranches, places of special cultural identity, and cities and suburbs. Unlike the geographic organization of a traditional guidebook, Wyckoff's field guide draws attention to the connections and the differences between and among places. Emphasizing features that recur from one part of the region to another, the guide takes readers on an exploration of the eleven western states with trips into their natural and cultural character. How to Read the American West is an ideal traveling companion on the main roads and byways in the West, providing unexpected insights into the landscapes you see out your car window. It is also a wonderful source for armchair travelers and people who live in the West who want to learn more about the modern West, how it came to be, and how it may change in the years to come. Showcasing the everyday alongside the exceptional, Wyckoff demonstrates how asking new questions about the landscapes of the West can let us see our surroundings more clearly, helping us make informed and thoughtful decisions about their stewardship in the twenty-first century. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYSmp5gZ4-I

Landscapes of Pilgrimage in Medieval Britain

Landscapes of Pilgrimage in Medieval Britain
Author: Martin Locker
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2015-02-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1784910775

This book seeks to address the journeying context of pilgrimage within the landscapes of Medieval Britain. Using four case studies, an interdisciplinary methodology developed by the author is applied to four different geographical and cultural areas of Britain to investigate the practicalities of travel along the Medieval road network.

Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World

Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World
Author: Peter Jan Margry
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2008
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9089640118

The modern pilgrimage—to sites ranging from Graceland to the veterans’ annual ride to to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Jim Morrison’s Paris grave—is intertwined with man’s existential uncertainties in the face of a rapidly changing world. In a climate that reproduces the religious quest in seemingly secular places, it’s no longer clear exactly what the term pilgrimage infers—and Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World critiques our notions of the secular and the sacred, while commenting on the modern media’s multiplication of images that renders the modern pilgrimage a quest without an object. Using new ethnographical and theoretical approaches, this volume offers a surprising new vision on the non-secularity of the “secular” pilgrimage. "This book will be sure to stoke our intellectual fire and heat up the discussion over the highly charged topic of secular pilgrimage.”—Simon Bronner, Penn State University

The Vertigo Years

The Vertigo Years
Author: Philipp Blom
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2010-11-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465020291

Examines how changes from the Industrial Revolution prior to World War I brought about radical transformation in society, changes in education, and massive migration in population that led to one of the bloodiest events in history.

Set This House on Fire

Set This House on Fire
Author: William Styron
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 455
Release: 2010-05-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1936317133

A New York Times bestseller by the author of Sophie’s Choice: Two Americans search for the truth about a mysterious long-ago murder in Italy. Shortly after World War II, in the village of Sambuco, Italy, two men—Virginia attorney Peter Leverett and South Carolina artist Cass Kinsolving—crossed paths with Mason Flagg. They both had their own reactions to the gregarious and charismatic movie mogul’s son. For the impressionable Peter, it was something close to awe. For the alcoholic Cass, it was unsettled rage. Then, after the rape and murder of a peasant girl, Mason’s body was found at the base of a cliff—an apparent suicide. He’d been distraught, the authorities said, over committing such a heinous crime. Peter and Cass went their separate ways, and never spoke of it again. Now, years later, Peter is still haunted by what he knows—and by what he doesn’t. He’s sought out Cass in Charleston for closure, and something close to the truth. Together both men will share their tales of that terrible season in Italy, each with their own ghosts—and their own reasons to exorcise them. But neither Peter nor Cass is prepared for where this path of revenge, complicity, and atonement will take them. A profound exploration of the evil that men do, and what the innocent must endure to accommodate it, Set This House on Fire is more than a byzantine murder mystery, it’s “one of the finest novels of our times” from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Confessions of Nat Turner, Darkness Visible, and other modern classics (San Francisco Chronicle). This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

Revival After the Great War

Revival After the Great War
Author: Luc Verpoest
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2020-12-08
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9462702500

The challenges of post-war recovery from social and political reform to architectural design In the months and years immediately following the First World War, the many (European) countries that had formed its battleground were confronted with daunting challenges. These challenges varied according to the countries' earlier role and degree of involvement in the war but were without exception enormous. The contributors to this book analyse how this was not only a matter of rebuilding ravaged cities and destroyed infrastructure, but also of repairing people’s damaged bodies and upended daily lives, and rethinking and reforming societal, economic and political structures. These processes took place against the backdrop of mass mourning and remembrance, political violence and economic crisis. At the same time, the post-war tabula rasa offered many opportunities for innovation in various areas of society, from social and political reform to architectural design. The wide scope of post-war recovery and revival is reflected in the different sections of this book: rebuild, remember, repair, and reform. It offers insights into post-war revival in Western European countries such as Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, as well as into how their efforts were perceived outside of Europe, for instance in Argentina and the United States.

First Ladies of the United States

First Ladies of the United States
Author: National Portrait Gallery
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2020-12-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1588346943

A gorgeous publication that reveals the historical importance of first ladies through portraiture. Each first lady has brought her own priorities and flair to the position that has never been officially defined. They have served as hostesses, trendsetters, activists, and political players. First Ladies of the United States features 84 portraits of the nation's first ladies, as varied in style and representation as the individual women they depict. From watercolors and oil paintings to engravings and photographs, this book celebrates the legacy of first ladies throughout history. First ladies are some of the most scrutinized public figures in the country, praised or criticized on everything from their fashion to their level of political involvement. There's no better way to explore their visibility and lasting impact than with First Ladies of the United States, which places remarkable portraits alongside an insightful essay and lively entries that illuminate the history of the women who have shaped the White House.