An enthralling new biography of a great composer, linking the life and music as never before.

This text explores the development of Russian musical life during the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the heart of this cultural history lies the Russian Musical Society, as both a driving force behind the institutionalization of music and a representative of the growing importance of voluntary associations in public life.

Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

How can we create more meaningful and intimate connections with our loved ones? By using moments of discord to strengthen our relationships, explains this original, deeply researched book. You might think that perfect harmony is the defining characteristic of healthy relationships, but the truth is that human interactions are messy, complicated, and confusing. And according to renowned psychologist Ed Tronick and paediatrician Claudia Gold, that is not only okay, but crucial to our social and emotional development. In The Power of Discord they show how working through the inevitable dissonance of human connection is the path to better relationships with romantic partners, family, friends, and colleagues. Dr. Tronick was one of the first researchers to show, via ‘The Still-Face Experiment’, that babies are profoundly affected by their parents’ emotions and behaviour. His work, which brought about a foundational shift in our understanding of human development, shows that our highly evolved sense of self makes us separate, yet our survival depends on connection. Working through the volley of mismatch and repair in everyday life helps us form deep, lasting, trusting relationships, resilience in times of stress and trauma, and a solid sense of self in the world. Drawing on Dr Tronick’s research and Dr Gold’s clinical experience, The Power of Discord is a refreshing and original look at our ability to relate to others and to ourselves.

A “richly anecdotal” account of the secluded LA neighborhood’s legendary music scene, a tale of groupies, cocaine, and California dreaming (Salon). Finalist, SCBA Book Award for Nonfiction A Los Angeles Times Bestseller In the late sixties and early seventies, an impromptu collection of musicians colonized a eucalyptus-scented canyon deep in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles and melded folk, rock, and savvy American pop into a sound that conquered the world as thoroughly as the songs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had before them. Decades later, the music made in Laurel Canyon continues to pour from radios, earbuds, and concert stages around the world. In Laurel Canyon, veteran journalist Michael Walker draws on interviews with those who were there to tell the inside story of this unprecedented gathering of some of the era’s leading musical lights—including Joni Mitchell; Jim Morrison; Crosby, Stills, and Nash; John Mayall; the Mamas and the Papas; Carole King; the Eagles; and Frank Zappa, to name just a few—who turned Los Angeles into the music capital of the world and forever changed the way popular music is recorded, marketed, and consumed. “An exhaustively researched and richly anecdotal book that will fascinate both rock aficionados and cultural historians.” —Salon “Captures all the magic and lyricism of an almost mythological geographical spot in the history of pop music . . . the story of a more melodious time in rock and roll where the great talents of the ‘60s and ‘70s cloistered together in a sort of enchanted valley populated by an all-star cast of characters.” —Steven Gaines, author of Philistines at the Hedgerow

Towards the end of the 1980s it looked as if television had displaced cinema as the photographic medium for bringing Shakespeare to the modern audience. In recent years there has been a renaissance of Shakespearian cinema, including Kenneth Branagh's Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing, Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet, Peter Greenaway's Prospero's Books and Christine Edzard's As You Like It. In this volume a range of writers study the best known and most entertaining film, television and video versions of Shakespeare's plays. Particular attention is given to the work of Olivier, Zeffirelli and Kurosawa, and to the BBC Television series. In addition the volume includes a survey of previous scholarship and an invaluable filmography.

Political parties are taken for granted today, but how was the idea of party viewed in the eighteenth century, when core components of modern, representative politics were trialled? From Bolingbroke to Burke, political thinkers regarded party as a fundamental concept of politics, especially in the parliamentary system of Great Britain. The paradox of party was best formulated by David Hume: while parties often threatened the total dissolution of the government, they were also the source of life and vigour in modern politics. In the eighteenth century, party was usually understood as a set of flexible and evolving principles, associated with names and traditions, which categorised and managed political actors, voters, and commentators. Max Skjönsberg thus demonstrates that the idea of party as ideological unity is not purely a nineteenth- or twentieth-century phenomenon but can be traced to the eighteenth century.