A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology is a comprehensive and accessible survey of one of the world's richest mythological traditions. It covers the people, themes, concepts, places, and creatures of Celtic mythology, saga, legend, and folklore from both ancient pagan origins, and modern traditions.
Challenges the entrenched understandings of Machiavelli, arguing that he was a moral and political philosopher who consistently favored the rule of law over that of men, that he had a coherent theory of justice, and that he did not defend the 'Machiavellian' maxim that the ends justify the means.
This book gives a radical, new, chapter-by-chapter reading of Machiavelli's The Prince, arguing that it is an ironic masterpiece with a moral purpose. It outlines Machiavelli's most important ironic techniques: a normatively coded use of language.
Presents an introduction to the mythology of the peoples, who inhabited the northwestern fringes of Europe from Britain and the Isle of Man to Gaul and Brittany. This guide looks at the gods and goddesses of Celtic myth; at the nature of Celtic religion, with its rituals of sun and moon worship; and at the druids who served society as judges.
An invaluable contribution to the critique of nationalism theory. -Mike Davis, New Left Review
Niccol Machiavelli lived in a fiercely competitive world, one where brute wealth, brazen liars and ruthless self-promoters seemed to carry off all the prizes and a new breed of leaders - super-rich dynasties like the Medici or military strongmen like Cesare Borgia - promised radical alternatives to the status quo. In the republic of Florence, Machiavelli and his contemporaries faced a choice- should they capitulate to these new princes, or fight to save the city's democratic freedoms? In this book, Erica Benner follows Machiavelli's dramatic quest for political and human freedom through his own eyes. Far from the cynical henchman people think he was, Machiavelli emerges as his era's staunchest champion of liberty, a profound ethical thinker who refused to compromise his ideals to fit corrupt times. But he did sometimes have to mask his true convictions, becoming a great artist of fox-like dissimulation- a master of disguise in dangerous times.
'Invigorating . . . essential reading for anyone tempted to be complacent about the survival of democracy in the twenty-first century' Catherine Fletcher Democracy is a living, breathing thing and Erica Benner has spent a lifetime thinking about the role ordinary citizens play in keeping it alive: from her childhood in post-war Japan, where democracy was imposed on a defeated country, to working in post-communist Poland, with its sudden gaps of wealth and security. This book draws on her experiences and the deep history of self-ruling peoples - going back to ancient Greece, the French revolution and Renaissance Florence - to rethink some of the toughest questions that we face today. What do democratic ideals of equality mean in a world obsessed with competition, wealth, and greatness? How can we hold the powerful to account? Can we find enough common ground to keep sharing democratic power in the future? Challenging well-worn myths of heroic triumph over tyranny, Benner reveals the inescapable vulnerabilities of people power, inviting us to consider why democracy is worth fighting for and the role each of us must play.
Keltové byli jakýmisi všudybyly starověku. Jejich stopy jsou roztroušeny od Galatie, nacházející se v dnešním Turecku, přes střední Evropu až po Portugalskou Galicii a samozřejmě – Britské ostrovy. Po úvodní části, seznamující nás s dějinami a potížemi bádání nad keltským bájeslovím, se přehledně dovíme, to nejpodstatnější o irských a velšských mýtech stejně jako o dalších dochovaných vyprávěních z příbuzných oblastí.
