Knowledge = Power

"It is philosophy that has the duty of protecting us...without it no one can lead a life free of fear or worry." For  several years of his turbulent life, Seneca was the guiding hand of the  Roman Empire. His inspired reasoning derived mainly from the Stoic  principles, which had originally been developed some centuries earlier  in Athens. This selection of Seneca's letters shows him upholding the  austere ethical ideals of Stoicism—the wisdom of the self-possessed  person immune to overmastering emotions and life’s setbacks—while  valuing friendship and the courage of ordinary men, and criticizing the  harsh treatment  of slaves and the cruelties in the gladiatorial arena.  The humanity and wit revealed in Seneca’s interpretation of Stoicism is a  moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind. For  more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of  classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than  1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best  works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers  trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by  introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary  authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning  translators.

A masterfully researched history of Iran from 1501 to 2009 “The defiant spirit of [Iran] is brought to life in this monumental history of the past 500 years.”—Richard Spencer, The Times (London) “A majestic work that goes a long way in unraveling . . . the country’s  enigmas and apparent contradictions.”—Ervand Abrahamian, New York Review of Books This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense  but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a  revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by  currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers  the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran  against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars,  foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.  Abbas Amanat combines chronological and thematic approaches, exploring  events with lasting implications for modern Iran and the world. Drawing  on diverse historical scholarship and emphasizing the twentieth century,  he addresses debates about Iran’s culture and politics. Political  history is the driving narrative force, given impetus by Amanat's  decades of research and study. He layers the book with discussions of  literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and  society; and cultural identity and heritage.

Fucking History

TTC - Exploring The Roots Of Religion

The Revenge Of Geography What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate

In this inspiring, horrifying, and accessible collection of short,  entertaining, and vivid life stories, Simon Sebag Montefiore—one of our  pre-eminent historians and a prizewinning writer—presents the giant  characters who have changed the course of world history.  These titans of history—encompassing queens, empresses, and actresses,  kings, sultans, and conquerors, as well as prophets, artists,  courtesans, psychopaths, and explorers—lived lives of astonishing drama,  courage and adventure, debauchery and slaughter, virtue and crime. The  subjects range widely throughout time and geography from Buddha and  Genghis Khan to Nero and Churchill; from Catherine the Great and Anne  Frank to Toussaint l’Ouverture and Martin Luther King; from Mozart to  Mao; from Jesus Christ and Shakespeare to Einstein and Elvis. Through  these lives, Montefiore recounts the most momentous world events—from  ancient times to the Crusades, the Holocaust, and the Gulf Wars. These are the historical figures that everyone should know and the stories we should never forget.

This definitive  biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the  story of two rulers who gripped the world -- and their rise and fall  from power. Alexander the Great's  conquests staggered the world. He led his army across thousands of  miles, overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new  one in their place. He claimed to be the son of a god, but he was  actually the son of Philip II of Macedon. Philip  inherited a minor kingdom that was on the verge of dismemberment, but  despite his youth and inexperience, he made Macedonia dominant  throughout Greece. It was Philip who created the armies that Alexander  led into war against Persia. In Philip and Alexander, classical  historian Adrian Goldsworthy shows that without the work and influence  of his father, Alexander could not have achieved so much. This is the  groundbreaking biography of two men who together conquered the world.

An award-winning historian plumbs the depths of Hitler and Stalin's  vicious regimes, and shows the extent to which they brutalized the world  around them. Two 20th century tyrants stand apart from all  the rest in terms of their ruthlessness and the degree to which they  changed the world around them. Briefly allies during World War II,  Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin then tried to exterminate each other in  sweeping campaigns unlike anything the modern world had ever seen,  affecting soldiers and civilians alike. Millions of miles of Eastern  Europe were ruined in their fight to the death, millions of lives  sacrificed. Laurence Rees has met more people who had direct  experience of working for Hitler and Stalin than any other historian.  Using their evidence he has pieced together a compelling comparative  portrait of evil, in which idealism is polluted by bloody pragmatism,  and human suffering is used casually as a political tool. It's a  jaw-dropping description of two regimes stripped of moral anchors and  doomed to destroy each other, and those caught up in the vicious  magnetism of their leadership.

Suetonius  - The Twelve Caesars

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. In his lively and authoritative biography of  Alexander, 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.