A “riveting and thoroughly researched” history of language technology’s effect on society across millennia—from Sumerian syntax to social media hashtags (Phil Lapsley). Writing was born thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia. Spreading to Sumer, and then Egypt, this revolutionary tool allowed rulers to extend their control far and wide, giving rise to the world’s first empires. When Phoenician traders took their alphabet to Greece, literacy’s first boom led to the birth of drama and democracy. In Rome, it helped spell the downfall of the Republic. Later, medieval scriptoria and vernacular bibles gave rise to religious dissent, and with the combination of cheaper paper and Gutenberg’s printing press, the fuse of Reformation was lit. The Industrial Revolution brought the telegraph and the steam driven printing press, allowing information to move faster and wider than ever before through the invention of the newspaper. But along with radio and television, these new technologies were more easily exploited by the powerful, as seen in Germany, the Soviet Union, even Rwanda, where radio incited genocide. With the rise of carbon duplicates (Russian samizdat), photocopying (the Pentagon Papers), the internet, social media, and cell phones (the recent Arab Spring) more people have access to communications, making the world more connected than ever before. This “accessible, quite enjoyable, and highly informative read” will change the way you look at technology, history, and power (Booklist). “[Bernstein] enables us to see what remains the same, even as much has changed.” —Library Journal, “Editors’ Picks” “It brims with interesting ideas and astonishing connections.” —Phil Lapsley, author of Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell “[Bernstein’s] narrative is succinct and extremely well sourced. . . . [He] reminds us of a number of technologies whose changed roles are less widely chronicled in conventional histories of the media.” —The Irish Times

Traces the evolution of international trade, from ancient Mesopotamia to today's global marketplace, exploring the influence of commerce on agriculture, technology, politics, and civilization as a whole.

One of the fundamental theosophic beliefs is that there exists a collection of true knowledge that is the foundation of all world religions. In pursuit of this truth and the perfection of mankind, humans are constantly reborn, evolving toward their highest state. In this book, originally published in 1925, Charles Leadbeater discusses the existence of Masters, or men who have reached the highest state of human consciousness, and how they can be identified. He further explains to the reader how they may make their own way on the path toward perfection. Anyone interested in religious studies will be interested in this classic example of theosophical philosophy.English clergyman turned spiritualist CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER (1854-1934) was ordained as an Anglican priest, but later joined the prominent Theosophical Society and traveled to India to study alternative spiritual and occult practices, eventually settling into his life as a clairvoyant and author. His other works include Man Visible and Invisible and The Science of the Sacrament.

A new edition of the bestselling classic – published with a special introduction to mark its 10th anniversary This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain – the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the ‘rational’ side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true? Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master. As he shows, it is the right side which is the more reliable and insightful. Without it, our world would be mechanistic – stripped of depth, colour and value.

The fourth in the Strangers and Brothers series begins with the dying Master of a Cambridge college. His imminent demise causes intense rivalry and jealousy amongst the other fellows. Former friends become enemies as the election looms.

This is the story of a young man who was contacted by discarnate spiritual beings who spoke to him through the medium of an ex-monk, some 36 years his senior. It concerns the spiritual training of the younger man given by these Masters, for that is what they were, and although the contact lasted for 21 years, from 1979-1999, the greater part of the book has to do with the first year when the process was at its most intense. Although originally intended for just one individual the training imparted is actually suitable for any spiritual seeker at any level, and there is discussion of many different aspects of the spiritual path as well as elucidation of occasionally controversial points such as the nature of the ego, the problem of evil, the place of sex in the spiritual life, the relevance of spiritual experiences and the function of teachers, all in a form that combines simplicity with depth.

This “disturbing yet fascinating” exploration of mass mania through the ages explains the biological and psychological roots of irrationality (Kirkus Reviews). From time immemorial, contagious narratives have spread through susceptible groups—with enormous, often disastrous, consequences. Inspired by Charles Mackay’s nineteenth-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, neurologist and author William Bernstein examines mass delusion through the lens of current scientific research in The Delusions of Crowds. Bernstein tells the stories of dramatic religious and financial mania in western society over the last five hundred years—from the Anabaptist Madness of the 1530s to the dangerous End-Times beliefs that pervade today’s polarized America; and from the South Sea Bubble to the Enron scandal and dot com bubbles. Through Bernstein’s supple prose, the participants are as colorful as their “desire to improve one’s well-being in this life or the next.” Bernstein’s chronicles reveal the huge cost and alarming implications of mass mania. He observes that if we can absorb the history and biology of this all-too-human phenomenon, we can recognize it more readily in our own time, and avoid its frequently dire impact.

Teachings of the Masters is a compilation of writings, extracted from the various works of eminent Theosophists and other notable exponents of the Ancient Wisdom. The essays in this book have been compiled by Dr. Douglas Baker, a respected teacher of Theosophy and lecturer on the secret teachings of the ages, who devoted his life to making the Wisdom teachings available to the general public. These teachings have many forms and many different names, yet the central theme remains the same: that a spiritual reality exists and only through an understanding of humanity's holistic nature will we discover the answers to the great questions of existence: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where do we go from here? Why do we have to suffer pain? In this compilation you will find extracts from the works of a selection of authors. They all have one thing in common; they were inspired by members of the spiritual hierarchy of the planet, Masters of the Wisdom, the custodians, past, present and future, of humanity's spiritual inheritance.