Knowledge = Power

Galahad is  a word from the Old Testament that means Mountain of Testimony; [Sir  Galahad] is a mountain of testimony to Christ. The whole tradition of  the virgin knight as the Grail knight belongs to a Cistercian monastic  line. Whereas the line of Wolfram is the secular line of a secular  knight [Parcival] who is married. And as we’re going to see it’s because  of his loyalty to his marriage under all circumstances and his courage  and resolution in combat, fearlessness and also integrity in love that  he becomes finally the Grail King. —Joseph Campbell Joseph Campbell explores the historical roots of the Grail legend. He  discusses the development of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dark  Ages, and shows how new conceptions of love, marriage, and worship gave  rise to a secular “religion,” that of courtly romance. He then examines  the quest for the Holy Grail, both as an expression of these new ideas  of love and as a reaction against the dogmatic practices of the medieval  Church. Finally, in his own inimitable style, he recounts the Grail  Legend.

Joseph Campbell’s collected writings on dance and art, edited  and introduced by Nancy Allison, CMA, the founder of Jean Erdman Dance,  and including Campbell’s unpublished manuscript “Mythology and Form in  the Performing and Visual Arts,” the book he was working on when he  died. Dance was one of mythologist Joseph Campbell’s  wide-ranging passions. His wife, Jean Erdman, was a leading figure in  modern dance who worked with Martha Graham and had Merce Cunningham in  her first company. When Campbell retired from teaching in 1972, he and  Erdman formed the Theater of the Open Eye, where for nearly fifteen  years they presented a wide array of dance and theater productions,  lectures, and performance pieces. The Ecstasy of Being brings  together seven of Campbell’s previously uncollected articles on dance,  along with “Mythology and Form in the Performing and Visual Arts,” the  treatise that he was working on when he died, published here for the  first time. In this new collection Campbell explores the rise  of modern art and dance in the twentieth century; delves into the work  and philosophy of Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and others; and, as  always, probes the idea of art as “the funnel through which spirit is  poured into life.” This book offers the reader an accessible, yet  profound and provocative, insight into Campbell’s lifelong fascination  with the relationship of myth to aesthetic form and human psychology.

At the beginning of his career, Joseph Campbell developed a lasting  fascination with the cultures of the Far East, and explorations of  Buddhist and Hindu philosophy later became recurring motifs in his vast  body of work. However, Campbell had to wait until middle age to visit  the lands that inspired him so deeply. In 1954, he took a sabbatical  from his teaching position and embarked on a yearlong voyage through  India, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and finally Japan. Asian Journals combines the two hardcover editions of Campbell’s journals, Baksheesh & Brahman and Sake & Satori,  into one paperback volume, an edited day-to-day travel diary of the  people he met and the historical places he visited on his trek through  Asia. Along the way, he enlivens the narrative with his musings on  culture, religion, myth, and politics, describing both the trivial and  the sublime. As always, Campbell’s keen intellect and boundless  curiosity shine through in his lucid prose. From these pages, Campbell  enthusiasts will come away with a deeper understanding of the man, his  work, and his enduring legacy.

Joseph Campbell - A Joseph Campbell Companion Reflections on the Art of Living

A prize-winning historian reveals how Stalin—not Hitler—was the animating force of World War II in this major new history. World  War II endures in the popular imagination as a heroic struggle between  good and evil, with villainous Hitler driving its events. But Hitler was  not in power when the conflict erupted in Asia—and he was certainly  dead before it ended. His armies did not fight in multiple theaters, his  empire did not span the Eurasian continent, and he did not inherit any  of the spoils of war. That central role belonged to Joseph Stalin. The  Second World War was not Hitler’s war; it was Stalin’s war. Drawing on ambitious new research in Soviet, European, and US archives, Stalin’s War revolutionizes  our understanding of this global conflict by moving its epicenter to  the east. Hitler’s genocidal ambition may have helped unleash  Armageddon, but as McMeekin shows, the war which emerged in Europe in  September 1939 was the one Stalin wanted, not Hitler. So, too, did the  Pacific war of 1941–1945 fulfill Stalin’s goal of unleashing a  devastating war of attrition between Japan and the “Anglo-Saxon”  capitalist powers he viewed as his ultimate adversary. McMeekin  also reveals the extent to which Soviet Communism was rescued by the US  and Britain’s self-defeating strategic moves, beginning with Lend-Lease  aid, as American and British supply boards agreed almost blindly to  every Soviet demand. Stalin’s war machine, McMeekin shows, was  substantially reliant on American materiél from warplanes, tanks,  trucks, jeeps, motorcycles, fuel, ammunition, and explosives, to  industrial inputs and technology transfer, to the foodstuffs which fed  the Red Army. This unreciprocated American generosity gave  Stalin’s armies the mobile striking power to conquer most of Eurasia,  from Berlin to Beijing, for Communism. A groundbreaking reassessment of the Second World War, Stalin’s War is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the current world order.

The national bestseller, now available in a non-illustrated, standard format paperback edition The Power of Myth launched an extraordinary resurgence of interest in Joseph Campbell and his work. A preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, he has had a profound influence on millions of people--including Star Wars creator George Lucas. To Campbell, mythology was the “song of the universe, the music of the spheres.” With Bill Moyers, one of America’s most prominent journalists, as his thoughtful and engaging interviewer, The Power of Myth touches on subjects from modern marriage to virgin births, from Jesus to John Lennon, offering a brilliant combination of intelligence and wit. This extraordinary book reveals how the themes and symbols of ancient narratives continue to bring meaning to birth, death, love, and war. From stories of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome to traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, a broad array of themes are considered that together identify the universality of human experience across time and culture. An impeccable match of interviewer and subject, a timeless distillation of Campbell’s work, The Power of Myth continues to exert a profound influence on our culture.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces is a work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths.

William Shakespeare may have been  the greatest playwright in the English language, but how does he measure  up as a historian? In this brilliant comparison between the events and  characters in Shakespeare's history plays and the actual events that  inspired them, acclaimed historian John Julius Norwich examines the nine  works that together amount to an epic masterpiece on England's most  fascinating period. Beginning with the newly authenticated  "Edward III," and proceeding through "Richard II; Henry IV Parts I" and  "II; " and "Henry V; Henry VI Parts I, II," and "III; " and finally  "Richard III," Norwich holds the plays up to the light of history,  answering questions such as: Who was the real Falstaff? How realistic is  Shakespeare's depiction of Joan of Arc? At the same time, he provides a  vibrant narrative of medieval life from 1337 to 1485, the era of the  100 Years War and the Wars of the Roses. It was a time of uncertainty  and incessant warfare, a time during which the crown was constantly  contested, alliances were made and broken, peasants and townsmen alike  arose in revolt. Here was the raw material that Shakespeare used to  explore the role of the monarch and the meaning of statehood. But  where does history stop and drama begin? Norwich concludes that  Shakespeare was a reliable enough historian. He was, however, always  willing to take liberties with the facts for the sake of his drama. As  Norwich explains, "In the vast majority of instances when Shakespeare  departed from the historic truth he did so for the best of all reasons:  to make a better play." Beyond assessing Shakespeare's accuracy, Norwich  provides the crucial knowledge that will enhance everyone's  appreciation and understanding of these glorious plays. No one  but John Julius Norwich, praised for his three-part history of  Byanztium, could weave drama and history together into such a lucid and  absorbing account of a distant yet vitally important era. Illuminating  and accessible, Shakespeare's Kings is an indispensable companion  to Shakespeare's rich imagination -- an imagination that continues to  inform the way we view the past today.

“This is an essential book for those who wish to understand a city that remains a nexus of world affairs.” —Booklist (starred) Jerusalem is the epic history of three thousand years of faith, fanaticism,  bloodshed, and coexistence, from King David to the 21st century, from  the birth of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to the Israel-Palestine  conflict. How did this small, remote town become the Holy  City, the “center of the world” and now the key to peace in the Middle  East? In a gripping narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals this  ever-changing city in its many incarnations, bringing every epoch and  character blazingly to life. Jerusalem’s biography is told through the  wars, love affairs, and revelations of the men and women who created,  destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem. As well as the many  ordinary Jerusalemites who have left their mark on the city, its cast  varies from Solomon, Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent to Cleopatra,  Caligula and Churchill; from Abraham to Jesus and Muhammad; from the  ancient world of Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod and Nero to the modern  times of the Kaiser, Disraeli, Mark Twain, Lincoln, Rasputin, Lawrence  of Arabia and Moshe Dayan. In this masterful narrative, Simon  Sebag Montefiore brings the holy city to life and draws on the latest  scholarship, his own family history, and a lifetime of study to show  that the story of Jerusalem is truly the story of the world.

An absorbing and original narrative history of American capitalism NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY THE ECONOMIST From  the days of the Mayflower and the Virginia Company, America has been a  place for people to dream, invent, build, tinker, and bet the farm in  pursuit of a better life. Americana takes us on a  four-hundred-year journey of this spirit of innovation and ambition  through a series of Next Big Things -- the inventions, techniques, and  industries that drove American history forward: from the telegraph, the  railroad, guns, radio, and banking to flight, suburbia, and sneakers,  culminating with the Internet and mobile technology at the turn of the  twenty-first century. The result is a thrilling alternative history of  modern America that reframes events, trends, and people we thought we  knew through the prism of the value that, for better or for worse, this  nation holds dearest: capitalism.  In a winning, accessible  style, Bhu Srinivasan boldly takes on four centuries of American  enterprise, revealing the unexpected connections that link them. We  learn how Andrew Carnegie's early job as a telegraph messenger boy paved  the way for his leadership of the steel empire that would make him one  of the nation's richest men; how the gunmaker Remington reinvented  itself in the postwar years to sell typewriters; how the inner workings  of the Mafia mirrored the trend of consolidation and regulation in more  traditional business; and how a 1950s infrastructure bill triggered a  series of events that produced one of America's most enduring brands:  KFC. Reliving the heady early days of Silicon Valley, we are reminded  that the start-up is an idea as old as America itself. Entertaining, eye-opening, and sweeping in its reach, Americana is an exhilarating new work of narrative history.