Popular education, a distinctive Swedish tradition of lifelong learning, has always concerned itself with the relationship between learning, power, and democracy in society, rather than having a purely individualistic and instrumental approach to learning for employability, which has dominated policy and practice. Through the themes of power and democracy, this book examines popular education's contribution to enhancing people's lives in communities. It reflects on the wider significance and explores the impact on the political culture of the state and the cultural politics of society within and outside Sweden, including the US, Japan, Canada, and Tanzania. As a comprehensive and unique collection, the book balances historical reflection, contemporary issues, and the international impact of popular education, combining theoretical analysis and empirical data. *** ...this book provides a wonderful introduction to the historical development and some of the current aspects and examples of Swedish popular education, both in Sweden and beyond....Its various chapters show the continued relevance of popular education approaches to addressing major educational and social issues and their diversity and rich theoretical grounding provide enough stimuli to engage educators and practitioners alike....a key resource in the worldwide struggles for social justice by demonstrating how education can be both (a) a tool for social change as well as for personal transformation and (b) how insights gained from others' actions and struggles can be used by people the world over. -- Tom Nesbit, Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education, in the European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 2013

Discover everything you ever wanted to know about secret societies like the Freemasons, the historical mystery of Atlantis, why King Arthur, Leonardo da Vinci and Hitler are key figures, plus conspiracy theories, forgotten sciences and ancient wisdom.

Hubert H. Bancroft's History of Colorado (part of Volume XX of Bancroft's History of the Pacific States) is a reprint that makes a very rare and costly research tool available and affordable to all Colorado historians, students, and history-buffs. Written between 1874 and 1890, the massive thirty-nine volume History of the Pacific States has been lauded as the finest history of the West of that time. However, the set was originally boycotted because writers hired by Bancroft to work on the project were never credited for their extensive contributions. Because complete sets are very rare and sell for thousands of dollars, this work has been little read. Bancroft begins his History of Colorado (Volume XX, copyrighted in 1889) with the geology, flora and fauna of Colorado and the history of its earliest recorded inhabitants. He then discusses early explorers, fur traders, and Spanish settlements, before delving into the initial discovery of gold on Clear Creek. Bancroft continues with the settlement of the state, the political organization of Colorado, treaties with the Indians, and details on mining, ranching and farming. Bancroft was involved early-on in the California gold rush, but made his money in printing, newspaper work, stationary, and selling books. He eventually sold his enormous collection of Western History manuscripts, books, and art to the University of California, where it now resides as the nucleus of the Bancroft Library. Because of his early interest in Western History, he personally preserved numerous narratives and artifacts that otherwise would have been lost to time.