Can they escape the end of an empire? The pathways that link the stars are collapsing faster than expected, accelerating the fall of civilization. But though the evidence is insurmountable, many are still in denial. Some even attempt to profit from the final days of this golden age. Emperox Grayland II has wrested control of the empire from her enemies. However, even as she works to save her people, others seek to topple her from the throne. Grayland and her remaining allies must use every tool at their disposal to save humanity, and themselves - yet it still may not be enough. Will Grayland achieve the impossible . . . or become the last emperox to wear the crown? Praise for the series 'Scalzi at his best, with characters who are going to stay with you' Wil Wheaton 'Provocative and unexpected' Wall Street Journal 'Scalzi has constructed a thrilling novel' Entertainment Weekly 'I cannot recommend this book enough, it's jaw-droppingly brilliant' The Bookbag

History is always written from the perspective of the ruling or rising elite at the time of writing. Concepts like The Stone Age, The Bronze Age, et cetera, were of course unknown during those periods that used to be called the stone age and the bronze age. They were invented during the 19th century to make sense of a development that seemed to reach its climax with industrialisation and the modern factory. The Netocrats is a history of the world from the perspective of the netocrats, the rising elite of Informationalism, the emerging society of information networks, shaped by digital interactivity. And it also looks beyond the past and the present, far into the future of all the central aspects of society: politics, culture, economy, consumption, creation of social identity, et cetera. Why do these dramatic changes occur? How do they compare with information-technological revolutions in the past like speech, writing and print? Who will benefit? Which, of course, makes The Netocrats not only the most penetrating but also the most indispensable guide to the digital future. This book is part 1 of 3 in the Futurica Trilogy. About the triology: The Futurica Trilogy is a work of philosophy, sociology and futurology in three closely related movements. The first volume, The Netocrats, deals with human history from the perspective of the new elite of Informationalism, the emerging society of information networks, shaped by digital interactivity, making prophecies about the digital future of politics, culture, economy, et cetera. The second volume, The Global Empire, explores the near future of political globalisation and the struggle to form new, functioning ideologies for a world where global decision making is a necessity. The third volume, The Body Machines, deals with the sad demise of the Cartesian subject. It discusses the implications of a materialist image of humanity and explains how it relates to the new, emerging hypertechnological paradigm. It explains why we are all nothing but body machines, and why this is actually good news.

A full-color hardcover art book collecting concept art and in-depth commentary chronicling the development of Anno 117: Pax Romana. In Ubisoft’s Anno 117: Pax Romana, players take on the role of a Roman Governor whose duty is to create and explore new cities across diverse biomes in the year 117 AD—the height of the Roman empire! Ever expanding into uncharted provinces, players will encounter an array of historically-inspired characters with the goal of achieving glory for their Emperor. Experience the development of the most recent entry in the perennial real-time strategy economic simulator series with vibrant and painterly artwork beautifully displayed across attentively-designed pages. The Art of Anno 117: Pax Romana is an essential assembly of art and exposition that is perfect for fans of the iconic game series and connoisseurs of the golden age of Roman history.

Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M-y W-y M-e gathers Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's celebrated correspondence from her travels through Europe and the Ottoman Empire, especially Constantinople, during her husband's embassy. Combining epistolary intimacy with classical learning, social satire, and ethnographic attention, the book revises eighteenth-century travel writing by replacing inherited Orientalist fantasy with acute observation. Its accounts of women's spaces, dress, ceremony, and smallpox inoculation are at once literary performances and interventions in Enlightenment debates about manners, medicine, and empire. Montagu (1689-1762), aristocrat, poet, wit, and one of the most formidable female intellects of her age, wrote from a position both privileged and marginal. Scarred by smallpox and alert to the constraints placed upon women, she found in travel and letter-writing a medium for authority unavailable in many public genres. Her experience in Ottoman society, and her determination to introduce inoculation to Britain, shaped the letters' unusual blend of curiosity, advocacy, and self-fashioning. This volume is essential for readers interested in women's writing, travel literature, Enlightenment cosmopolitanism, or the history of medicine. It offers the pleasure of brilliant prose while challenging assumptions about gender, cultural difference, and the making of modern knowledge.

The Ottoman Scramble for Africa is the first book to tell the story of the Ottoman Empire's expansionist efforts during the age of high imperialism. Following key representatives of the sultan on their travels across Europe, Africa, and Arabia at the close of the nineteenth century, it takes the reader from Istanbul to Berlin, from Benghazi to Lake Chad Basin to the Hijaz, and then back to Istanbul. It turns the spotlight on the Ottoman Empire's expansionist strategies in Africa and its increasingly vulnerable African and Arabian frontiers. Drawing on previously untapped Ottoman archival evidence, Mostafa Minawi examines how the Ottoman participation in the Conference of Berlin and involvement in an aggressive competition for colonial possessions in Africa were part of a self-reimagining of this once powerful global empire. In so doing, Minawi redefines the parameters of agency in late-nineteenth-century colonialism to include the Ottoman Empire and turns the typical framework of a European colonizer and a non-European colonized on its head. Most importantly, Minawi offers a radical revision of nineteenth-century Middle East history by providing a counternarrative to the "Sick Man of Europe" trope, challenging the idea that the Ottomans were passive observers of the great European powers' negotiations over solutions to the so-called Eastern Question.

In the global world of the twenty-first century, martial arts are practised for self-defense and sporting purposes only. However, for thousands of years, they were a central feature of military practice in China and essential for the smooth functioning of society. This book, which opens with an intriguing account of the very first female martial artist, charts the history of combat and fighting techniques in China from the Bronze Age to the present. This broad panorama affords fascinating glimpses into the transformation of martial skills, techniques and weaponry against the background of Chinese history, the rise and fall of empires, their governments and their armies. Quotations from literature and poetry, and the stories of individual warriors, infuse the narrative, offering personal reflections on prowess in the battlefield and techniques of engagement. This is an engaging and readable introduction to the authentic history of Chinese martial arts.

In the global world of the twenty-first century, martial arts are practised for self-defense and sporting purposes only. However, for thousands of years, they were a central feature of military practice in China and essential for the smooth functioning of society. This book, which opens with an intriguing account of the very first female martial artist, charts the history of combat and fighting techniques in China from the Bronze Age to the present. This broad panorama affords fascinating glimpses into the transformation of martial skills, techniques and weaponry against the background of Chinese history, the rise and fall of empires, their governments and their armies. Quotations from literature and poetry, and the stories of individual warriors, infuse the narrative, offering personal reflections on prowess in the battlefield and techniques of engagement. This is an engaging and readable introduction to the authentic history of Chinese martial arts.

This book is written for an optional module within the scope of a European Master course of study: «European Perspectives on Social Inclusion». It reflects the situation of elderly people in Europe from empirical as well as theoretical points of view. Main life course transitions connected to old age are focused as well as concepts, theories and contemporary thinking among gerontologists. Special attention is given to recent societal trends that might influence aging and the elderly. Dieses Buch ist ein Wahlmodul im Rahmen eines europäischen Masterstudienganges zu europäischen Perspektiven sozialer Inklusion. Es thematisiert die soziale Lage älterer Menschen und Bedingungen des Alterns aus empirischer und theoretischer Sicht. Wichtige Lebensereignisse und Statuspassagen im Alternsprozess werden ebenso behandelt wie grundlegende Theorien und Ansätze der Gerontologie. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Reflexion aktueller gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungen und ihren Konsequenzen für den Alternsprozess und die Lage älterer Menschen.

Evil Is Coming - Worse than You Imagine We live in an anxious age. Long-held certainties, cherished beliefs, and social trust are crumbling. Don't expect things to get better. For too long we have taken our Christian heritage--the heritage upon which America was built--for granted. But we're rapidly, and now inevitably, losing the Christian culture that shaped the American republic. What will take its place is a despotism--and a new paganism, worse than the old, because it will be based on a hatred of Christianity. In his stunning new book, Pagan America, author John Daniel Davidson offers a stark but honest assessment of America's future: "America as we know it will come to an end. Instead of a republic of free citizens, we will be slaves in a pagan empire." There is, he warns, no escape. We can only brace ourselves and prepare for a future when power will determine every relationship. Morality as we know it, as a Christian inheritance, will be forfeit, replaced by state-enforced "morality." Violence will be common--doled out at the hand of an all-powerful state and its corporate allies. There are hard times ahead, but we are not without hope. Christianity emerged within the confines of a pagan empire. Davidson shows how with courage, fortitude, and faith, it will be our duty and privilege to defend Christianity and restore its claims in what is likely to be a terrible and brutal dark age.

From Norman Davies, the acclaimed author of Europe: A History, comes the magical history of Europe's lost realms, selected as a Book of the Year by the Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, Independent, Guardian and Financial Times. Europe's history is littered with kingdoms, duchies, empires and republics which have now disappeared but which were once fixtures on the map of their age. What happened to the once-great Mediterranean 'Empire of Aragon'? Where did the half-forgotten kingdoms of Burgundy go? Which current nations will one day become a distant memory too? This original and enthralling book peers through the cracks of history to discover the stories of lost realms across the centuries. 'Dazzling, provocative and brilliant' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times, Books of the Year 'A luminous account ... there are few better ways of understanding the multilayered splendours and horrors of Europe's past than through the pages of this wise, humane and unfailingly engaging book' John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph 'Vanished Kingdoms is great history and also great art. It is written with verve, passion and profound empathy' David Marquand, New Statesman, Books of the Year 'A magnificent achievement. Brocaded with scholarship, the book is unlikely ever to be equalled' Ian Thomson, Independent

From Norman Davies, the acclaimed author of Europe: A History, comes the magical history of Europe's lost realms, selected as a Book of the Year by the Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, Independent, Guardian and Financial Times. Europe's history is littered with kingdoms, duchies, empires and republics which have now disappeared but which were once fixtures on the map of their age. What happened to the once-great Mediterranean 'Empire of Aragon'? Where did the half-forgotten kingdoms of Burgundy go? Which current nations will one day become a distant memory too? This original and enthralling book peers through the cracks of history to discover the stories of lost realms across the centuries. 'Dazzling, provocative and brilliant' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times, Books of the Year 'A luminous account ... there are few better ways of understanding the multilayered splendours and horrors of Europe's past than through the pages of this wise, humane and unfailingly engaging book' John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph 'Vanished Kingdoms is great history and also great art. It is written with verve, passion and profound empathy' David Marquand, New Statesman, Books of the Year 'A magnificent achievement. Brocaded with scholarship, the book is unlikely ever to be equalled' Ian Thomson, Independent

A full-color hardcover art book collecting concept art and in-depth commentary chronicling the development of Anno 117: Pax Romana. In Ubisoft’s Anno 117: Pax Romana, players take on the role of a Roman Governor whose duty is to create and explore new cities across diverse biomes in the year 117 AD—the height of the Roman empire! Ever expanding into uncharted provinces, players will encounter an array of historically-inspired characters with the goal of achieving glory for their Emperor. Experience the development of the most recent entry in the perennial real-time strategy economic simulator series with vibrant and painterly artwork beautifully displayed across attentively-designed pages. The Art of Anno 117: Pax Romana is an essential assembly of art and exposition that is perfect for fans of the iconic game series and connoisseurs of the golden age of Roman history.

An epic history of how the so-called 'barbarians of the steppes' shaped the modern world. 'A rollercoaster of historical narration' History Today 'This is a history of epic scope that brings together the empires of the steppe land with the caravan cities of the Silk Road and imperial China' Martyn Rady, author of The Middle Kingdoms 'A sweeping account of forty-five centuries of nomadic tribes' Gillian Tett, Financial Times ' Flips the script to present the booted, felt-capped, leather-trousered and kaftan-wearing nomads as the bearers of civilisation . . . Harl's exhaustively researched book will ensure they rejoin the narrative of world history ' Marc David Baer, Guardian The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These tribes produced some of the world's greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, among others. And their deeds still resonate today. Indeed, these nomads built long-lasting empires, facilitated the first global trade of the Silk Road and disseminated religions, technology, knowledge and goods of every description that enriched and changed the lives of so many across Europe, China and the Middle East. From a single region emerged a great many peoples - the Huns, the Mongols, the Magyars, the Turks, the Xiongnu, the Scythians, the Goths - all of whom went on to profoundly and irrevocably shape the modern world. In this enthralling new history, Professor Kenneth W. Harl draws on a lifetime of scholarship to vividly recreate the lives of these peoples from their beginnings to the early modern age. Their brutal struggle to survive on the steppes bred a resilient, pragmatic people ever-ready to learn from their neighbours. In warfare, they dominated the battlefield for over fifteen hundred years. Under charismatic rulers, they could topple empires and win their own.

Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M-y W-y M-e gathers Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's celebrated correspondence from her travels through Europe and the Ottoman Empire, especially Constantinople, during her husband's embassy. Combining epistolary intimacy with classical learning, social satire, and ethnographic attention, the book revises eighteenth-century travel writing by replacing inherited Orientalist fantasy with acute observation. Its accounts of women's spaces, dress, ceremony, and smallpox inoculation are at once literary performances and interventions in Enlightenment debates about manners, medicine, and empire. Montagu (1689-1762), aristocrat, poet, wit, and one of the most formidable female intellects of her age, wrote from a position both privileged and marginal. Scarred by smallpox and alert to the constraints placed upon women, she found in travel and letter-writing a medium for authority unavailable in many public genres. Her experience in Ottoman society, and her determination to introduce inoculation to Britain, shaped the letters' unusual blend of curiosity, advocacy, and self-fashioning. This volume is essential for readers interested in women's writing, travel literature, Enlightenment cosmopolitanism, or the history of medicine. It offers the pleasure of brilliant prose while challenging assumptions about gender, cultural difference, and the making of modern knowledge.

LEISTUNG AUF DESKTOP NIVEAU – Mit diesem Prozessor, dieser Grafikkarte und diesem Arbeitsspeicher bewältigst du selbst die anspruchsvollsten Games überall problemlos AUSGEZEICHNETE LAPTOPKÜHLUNG – Performance spielt keine Rolle, wenn dein Laptop wie ein Stahltriebwerk klingt. Entscheide dich für die ultimative OMEN-Kühltechnologie UNGLAUBLICH SCHNELL – GPUs der NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Serie sind unglaublich schnell. Erlebe lebensechte virtuelle Welten mit Raytracing und Gaming mit besonders hohem FPS Spiele Age of Empires IV und Hunderte weitere Spiele mit der enthaltenen Game Pass Ultimate Mitgliedschaft (1 Monat) OMEN GAMING HUB - Ihre Anlaufstelle für ein neues Level beim Gaming - von der Kontrolle über jede kleine Funktion bis hin zu Beleuchtungsoptionen und mehr

GAMING: Das mobile Kraftpaket für anspruchsvolle Gamer überzeugt mit starker Hardware - mit großem 15,6 Zoll Display, ausgefeiltem Kühlsystem, Tastaturbeleuchtung und schickem Gehäuse PROZESSOR: Intel Prozessor der 13. Generation mit wahrhaft beeindruckender Leistung, Revolutionäre Technologie für unglaubliche Geschwindigkeit bei anspruchsvollen Multimedia-Anwendungen oder hochauflösendem Gaming LEISTUNG: Die Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 ist die leistungsstarke Grafikkarte für Gamer - ultrarealistische Grafikdarstellung und ultimativer Leistung Spiele Age of Empires IV und Hunderte weitere Spiele mit der enthaltenen Game Pass Ultimate Mitgliedschaft (1 Monat) OMEN GAMING HUB: Individueller Spielspaß mit dem OMEN Gaming Hub - Ihre Anlaufstelle für ein neues Level beim Gaming - von der Kontrolle über jede kleine Funktion bis hin zu Beleuchtungsoptionen und mehr

«Ein Internatsroman, ausgezeichnet mit dem Deutschen Buchpreis, der den Vergleich mit Robert Musil oder Hermann Hesse nicht scheuen muss.» Denis Scheck, ARD Druckfrisch Auf den ersten Blick ist es die Kulisse für ein großes Abenteuer: das traditionsreiche Internat mitten in Wien, umgeben von einem Park mit Hügeln, Sportplätzen und einer historischen Grotte. Aber Till kann weder mit dem Lehrstoff noch mit dem snobistischen Umfeld viel anfangen. Seine Leidenschaft sind Computerspiele, konkret: das Echtzeit-Strategiespiel Age of Empires 2 . Ohne dass jemand aus seiner Umgebung davon wüsste, ist er mit fünfzehn eine Online-Berühmtheit, der jüngste Top-10-Spieler der Welt. Nur: Wie real ist so ein Glück? «Eine witzige, kühl analysierende, einfühlsame Geschichte junger Menschen im 21. Jahrhundert ... Ein herausragender Gegenwartsroman.» FAS

At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Navy was a shadow of its former might, a reflection of the empire as a whole - the "Sick Man of Europe". Years of defeat, nepotism, and neglect had left the Ottoman Navy with a mix of obsolete vessels, whilst the list of prospective enemies was ever-growing. An increasing Russian naval presence in the Black Sea and the alarming emergence of Italy and Greece as regional Naval powers proved beyond all doubt that intensive modernization was essential, indeed, the fate of the Empire as a naval power depended on it. So the Ottoman Navy looked to the ultimate naval weapon of the age, the dreadnought battleship, two of which were ordered from the British with extreme alacrity. But politics intervened, and a succession of events culminated in the Ottoman Navy fielding a modern German battlecruiser and state-of-the-art light cruiser instead - with dramatic consequences. In this meticulous study, Ryan Noppen presents a fresh appraisal of the technical aspects and operations of the warships of the Ottoman Navy in World War I. It is the first work of its kind in the English language - produced with a wealth of rare material with the cooperation of the Turkish Consulate and Navy. Packed with precise technical specifications, revealing illustrations and exhaustive research, this is an essential guide to a crucial chapter in the Aegean arms race

Tales from the Works of G. A. Henty gathers representative adventures from the vast historical fiction of one of Victorian Britain's most prolific storytellers. Its episodes typically place youthful protagonists amid wars, voyages, sieges, and imperial frontiers, combining brisk narration with an instructive concern for courage, loyalty, discipline, and practical intelligence. The style is direct, event-driven, and vividly martial, reflecting the nineteenth-century tradition of boys' adventure literature while also revealing the period's assumptions about empire, nationhood, and moral education. George Alfred Henty (1832-1902) was a soldier, journalist, and special correspondent whose travels and experience of conflict deeply shaped his fiction. Having reported from battlefields and imperial campaigns, he brought to his narratives a strong interest in military detail, geography, and historical circumstance. His books were designed not merely to entertain but to teach young readers history through action, making the past immediate through protagonists who witness major events firsthand. This volume is recommended for readers interested in Victorian popular literature, historical adventure, and the cultural imagination of empire. Modern readers will find excitement and narrative momentum, but also a revealing document of its age, best approached with both enjoyment and critical awareness.

At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Navy was a shadow of its former might, a reflection of the empire as a whole - the "Sick Man of Europe". Years of defeat, nepotism, and neglect had left the Ottoman Navy with a mix of obsolete vessels, whilst the list of prospective enemies was ever-growing. An increasing Russian naval presence in the Black Sea and the alarming emergence of Italy and Greece as regional Naval powers proved beyond all doubt that intensive modernization was essential, indeed, the fate of the Empire as a naval power depended on it. So the Ottoman Navy looked to the ultimate naval weapon of the age, the dreadnought battleship, two of which were ordered from the British with extreme alacrity. But politics intervened, and a succession of events culminated in the Ottoman Navy fielding a modern German battlecruiser and state-of-the-art light cruiser instead - with dramatic consequences. In this meticulous study, Ryan Noppen presents a fresh appraisal of the technical aspects and operations of the warships of the Ottoman Navy in World War I. It is the first work of its kind in the English language - produced with a wealth of rare material with the cooperation of the Turkish Consulate and Navy. Packed with precise technical specifications, revealing illustrations and exhaustive research, this is an essential guide to a crucial chapter in the Aegean arms race