A pioneering, original work of synthesis that traces modern ideas about systems science and sustainable living back to Classical antiquity.

The Object of the Atlantic is a wide-ranging study of the transition from a concern with sovereignty to a concern with things in Iberian Atlantic literature and art produced between 1868 and 1968. Rachel Price uncovers the surprising ways that concrete aesthetics from Cuba, Brazil, and Spain drew not only on global forms of constructivism but also on a history of empire, slavery, and media technologies from the Atlantic world. Analyzing Jose Marti’s notebooks, Joaquim de Sousandrade’s poetry, Ramiro de Maeztu’s essays on things and on slavery, 1920s Cuban literature on economic restructuring, Ferreira Gullar’s theory of the “non-object,” and neoconcrete art, Price shows that the turn to objects—and from these to new media networks—was rooted in the very philosophies of history that helped form the Atlantic world itself.

The essays assembled here represent forty years of reflection about the European cultural past by an eminent historian. The volume concentrates on the Renaissance and Reformation, while providing a lens through which to view problems of perennial interest. A Usable Past is a book of unusual scope, touching on such topics as political thought and historiography, metaphysical and practical conceptions of order, the relevance of Renaissance humanism to Protestant thought, the secularization of European culture, the contributions of particular professional groups to European civilization, and the teaching of history. The essays in A Usable Past are unified by a set of common concerns. William Bouwsma has always resisted the pretensions to science that have shaped much recent historical scholarship and made the work of historians increasingly specialized and inaccessible to lay readers. Following Friedrich Nietzsche, he argues that since history is a kind of public utility, historical research should contribute to the self-understanding of society.

Complete edition of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Written in and describing the decadent period of 1920's America, Fitzgerald's lyrical verse is a tragically simple love story that is strangely profound. This is a haunting classic that stays with the reader.

Investigating the meanings and uses of "spiritus" in a variety of early modern disciplines and fields - natural philosophy, theology, music, literature and the visual arts - this book revisits the ambivalent history of a central ancient concept in a period of crisis and change.

A delightful anthology of classical Greek and Roman writings celebrating country living—ranging from a philosophy of compost to hymns to the gods of agriculture Whether you farm or garden, live in the country or long to move there, or simply enjoy an occasional rural retreat, you will be delighted by this cornucopia of writings about living and working on the land, harvested from the fertile fields of ancient Greek and Roman literature. An inspiring antidote to the digital age, How to Be a Farmer evokes the beauty and bounty of nature with a rich mixture of philosophy, practical advice, history, and humor. Together, these timeless reflections on what the Greeks called boukolika and the Romans res rusticae provide an entertaining and enlightening guide to a more meaningful and sustainable way of life. In fresh translations by classicist and farmer M. D. Usher, with the original texts on facing pages, Hesiod praises the dignity of labor; Plato describes the rustic simplicity of his ideal republic; Varro dedicates a farming manual to his wife, Fundania (“Mrs. Farmer”); and Vergil idealizes farmers as residents of the Golden Age. In other selections, Horace extols the joys of simple living at his cherished country farm; Pliny the Elder explains why all culture stems from agriculture; Columella praises donkeys and tells how to choose a ram or a dog; Musonius Rufus argues that farming is the best livelihood for a philosopher; and there is much more. Proof that farming is ultimately a state of mind we should all cultivate, How to Be a Farmer will charm anyone who loves nature or its fruits.