Bringing to bear 60 years of research, travel, and teaching, Fairbank weaves a detailed history that reaches from China's neolithic days to its troubled present. He depicts a country ever-changing and yet constant in its effort to achieve a cohesive identity, an enormous and enormously complex nation perpetually balancing between the imperatives of force and the power of ideas. Here are the Chinese autocrats in their various times and guises, maintaining Confucian civility and order through - paradoxically - the perpetual threat of irrational imperial violence. Here is the intellectual class, revered for its wisdom and counsel and yet - as events from the Cultural Revolution to the massacre in Tiananmen Square demonstrate - eminently expendable. And here are China's farmers engaged in a never-ending attempt to tame their countryside only to face repeated famine as China's agrarian-based economy fails to develop. At the centre of all stands the Chinese family, until recently the model for both obedience and tyranny in society at large. Fairbank traces the growth of a civilization that could embrace so many contradictions and disruptions and yet retain a strong sense of its identity. Following China's ambivalent relations with the West and with the forces of modernization, he identifies, even in the great leap forward signaled by the Communist Revolution, the assumptions that have informed Chinese society for thousands of years. From the influences of Buddhism through the flowering of Song China to the reforms of Deng Xiaoping, this illustrated history unfolds.

. large format, 2002 2nd print, clean bright copy

103/4"X11"X1/2",PAPERBACK ,A PICTORIAL ENGLISH WRITTEN BOOK ABOUT THE FORBIDDEN CITY, THE GREAT WITHIN,

Book by El-Abbadi, Mostafa

1965 HARDCOVER

For the first time, a complete history of Alexandria, the greatest cultural capital ever. Archeologists and historians have revealed Alexandria to be a city built on the arts, sciences and religion, unique among ancient cities that usually could claim nothing more than military might. Now Theodore Vrettos delivers the first complete account of the city that was the fountainhead of peaceful, intelligent civilization. From its founding by Alexander the Great in 332 BC until the murder of the brilliant Hypatia in 452 AD, Alexandria was literally and figuratively a lighthouse guiding the most creative minds of the day. Scientists, philosophers, theologians and artists came from all over the Western world to study in Alexandria's university and immense library, which contained books and papyrus rolls from every corner of the civilized world, and made an extraordinary run of breakthroughs. Thales, Euclid and Apollonius invented mathematical proof. Aristarchus was the first person to put the sun at the centre of our solar system. Eratosthenes calculated the cirumference of the earth, and Herophilus invented anatomy. Clement founded the first school of Christian philosophy in Alexandria. Julius Caesar, Marc Anthony and Augustus Caesar came to Cleopatra's court there, sparking an intrigue that would affect the history of nations.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANCIENT EGYPT is the first single-volume reference guide to the remarkable culture that flourished on the banks of the Nile from the predynastic period, 3200 B.C., to the fall of the New Kingdom in 1070 B.C.
Illustrated with more than 175 line drawings, maps, and time charts, over 1,500 entries span all the gods, rulers, cities, and themes important in ancient Egypt, including:
-Art and Architecture
-Pyramids
-The Sphinx
-The Military
In addition, several extensive essays on such key topics as astronomy, mortuary rituals, agriculture, further illuminate this fascinating period of civilization.

Ancient Egypt has a rich tradition of stories and proverbs, recorded by scribes. This book raises these stories from the dust, and presents obscure ancient texts in a readable form. The selections date from the Old Kingdom to medieval times, the majority being based on religious themes. There are many surprising new texts here, but some of the themes seem familiar: the creation myth of Memphis theology is similar to the bible while 'The Capture of Joppa' is an older version of 'Ali Baba'.

Kent Weeks made international headlines when, seventy feet below the surface of Egypt's Valley of the Kings he found the largest and most complicated mausoleum yet discovered, the tomb of Ramesses II's sons. Now for the first time, Weeks shares up-to-the-minute details on the thrilling discovery and contemplates what the tomb, called KV5, will reveal as the excavation moves forward. Built in the age of Exodus, the tomb could potentially transform ancient and biblical history. Its lower levels, possibly containing mummies of Ramesses II's sons, may shed new light on many of the mysteries of the Old Testament, including the story of Moses and the flight of the Israelites from Egypt.

Weeks draws on his own diaries, as well as those of his wife and his foreman, to describe the excitement and risks that surround such a significant find. From floodwaters that threatened the opened tomb and the precarious craw spaces deep within it, to thieving tourists and scorpions, this adventure is not for the weak of heart. Photographs and sketches illustrate the crew's progress and the objects and decorations found in the tomb's chambers and hallways The result a true-life, impossibly thrilling Raiders of the Lost Arkwill entrance readers from beginning to end.

This art-filled treasury unfolds a vivid history of the Egyptian Christians called the Copts. A highly connected story of religion, art, literature, and customs over a period of 2,000 years, the book provides an intriguing look at a mystery-cloaked ancient sect from the land of the Bible.

An immense reservoir of art history, Cairo's Museum of Egyptian Antiquities contains fabulous collections of relics from the Mediterranean's most mysterious and ancient civilization, the true cradle of western culture. From the creation of the first state on the banks of the Nile to its submission to the Roman empire, the millennial story of ancient Egypt is recounted here through the artistic masterpieces, the everyday objects, the spectacular jewels, and the magnificent remains from the tombs of the pharaohs, all remarkably assembled within the walls of a single institution.

Structured as a guide, but fully illustrated with superb color photographs, this book suggests a simple but comprehensive itinerary through the museum, subdividing the tour into chapters devoted to the most important episodes in Egyptian history. Collected during the course of over a century of archaeological excavations, jewelry, tools, toys, models, religious objects, mummies, and monumental sculptures offer vivid glimpses of a formidable civilization. The rich funerary cache of Tutankhamun, the treasures of Tanis, and the jewels of Queen Ahhotep reflect the glory of the Egyptian monarchy, but there are insights too into the day-to-day lives of the more humble sections of society. Previously unpublished photographs and plans alongside texts prepared by the museum curators themselves help readers to penetrate the corridors and halls of the great museum in search of a heritage unique in its richness and variety, following in the footsteps of the great figures in Egyptian history: from the pharaohs, suspended between heaven and earth, to the archaeologists who, with their patient excavations, have helped to shed new light on the land of the pyramids.

In addition to his 40-year career at the British Museum, Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was a prolific and popular author who specialized in books on ancient Egypt. The Dwellers on the Nile remains among the most comprehensive and readable histories of daily life in ancient Egypt, covering the Egyptian family and school; furniture, jewelry, food and drink; society, work, and play; Egyptian religion and its numerous gods, temples, and priests; Egyptian writing — hieroglyphic, hieratic, demotic, and Coptic; literature, medicine, astrology, and alchemy. The book concludes with an exploration of practices related to burial of the dead and beliefs concerning the afterlife.
Using information from the excavations of tombs and excerpts from papyri, tomb inscriptions, and other sources, Budge brings to life the ancient culture of the Nile dwellers. The text is profusely illustrated with many reproductions of Egyptian art and artifacts. The great wealth of detail, primary information, and original interpretation make this volume indispensable to students and other readers interested in classical civilization and comparative religion.

Blending vividly written essays and over a hundred attractive illustrations—including 32 color plates—The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is a stunningly designed and authoritative account of the once glorious civilization on the Nile.
Ranging from 700,000 BC to 311 AD, this volume portrays the emergence and development of Egypt from its prehistoric roots to its conquest by the Roman Empire. The contributors—all leading scholars working at the cutting edge of Egyptology—incorporate the latest findings in archaeological research as they chart the principal political events of Egyptian history, from the rise of the Pharaohs and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, to the ascension of the Ptolemies and the coming of Roman legions. The book also includes the first detailed examinations of three periods which were previously regarded as "dark ages." Against the backdrop of the birth and death of ruling dynasties, the writers also examine cultural and social patterns, including stylistic developments in art and literature, monumental architecture, funerary beliefs, and much more. The contributors illuminate the underlying patterns of social and political change and describe the changing face of ancient Egypt, from the biographical details of individuals to the social and economic factors that shaped the lives of the people as a whole.
The only up-to-date, single-volume history of ancient Egypt available in English, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is a "must read" for everyone interested in one of the great civilizations of antiquity.