Филип Паркер – лучшие книги

«Пал доблестный Тесей, – сказал Гермес. – Его останки и поныне сокрыты в лабиринте тоннелей Миноса. Духи твоих предков, находящиеся во владениях Аида, молят и требуют возмездие свершить. Эгей, отец твой благородный, оплакивает потерю старшего сына. Хоть гнев сжигающий терзает его дух, покоя не давая ни минуты, и жажда мести мучает его, однако телом слаб он стал. Уж в прошлом доблести блистающей пора, и сердце старика не выдержит волнений нового похода. Но ты, Альтей, могуч и юн, ты – тот, кто должен заменить отца в его пути кровавой мести. Так отправляйся в путь чрез море цвета темного вина и уничтожь тот бич, что угрожает родине твоей». Так говорил Гермес, сказав – исчез, лишь дыма облако оставив за собой.

В этой книге вам предстоит стать Альтеем – греческим героем, которому выпала удивительная миссия. Для достижения цели вам придется сразиться с множеством противников, как с людьми, так и нет, да и еще попутно добиваться расположения богов. Путешествие будет трудным, но только вы определяете свою судьбу.

According to Philip Parker, the relationship between physics-based physiology and macroeconomics may come to dominate explanations of economic growth. His argument focuses on the so-called equatorial paradox--the phenomenon that a country's latitude explains up to 70 percent of cross-country variances in per capita income. After introducing concepts from physics and physiology as the building blocks of homeostatic utility, he explains the role of homeostatic utility in economic growth. Specifically, he shows that a country's performance is gauged not by its absolute level of income or consumption, but by how far it is from a homeostatic steady state governed by what he calls physioeconomics. Countries closer to their homeostatic steady state grow more slowly than those farther away. Parker shows how factors such as income, aggregate savings, investment, technology, entrepreneurship, production, and outputs per worker are influenced by the more fundamental principles of physics and physiology. He focuses particularly on the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that drives motivation, monitors homeostasis, and ultimately keeps us alive via neural, autonomic, and hormonal adjustments. He presents evidence that long-run growth can be attributed to variances in hypothalmic activity. A physioeconomic approach to growth can lead to better economic policies, measures of performance, and predictions of progress. To take just one example, policymakers would be quicker to realize that food aid to warmer regions can destroy local farming economies that supply adequate caloric needs at a lower steady state.

The Northmen's Fury tells the Viking story, from the first pinprick raids of the eighth century to the great armies that left their Scandinavian homelands to conquer larger parts of France, Britain and Ireland. It recounts the epic voyages that took them across the Atlantic to the icy fjords of Greenland and to North America over four centuries before Columbus and east to the great rivers of Russia and the riches of the Byzantine empire. One summer's day in 793, death arrived from the sea. The raiders who sacked the island monastery of Lindisfarne were the first Vikings, sea-borne attackers who brought two centuries of terror to northern Europe. Before long the sight of their dragon-prowed longships and the very name of Viking gave rise to fear and dread, so much so that monks were reputed to pray each night for delivery from `the Northmen's Fury'. Yet for all their reputation as bloodthirsty warriors, the Vikings possessed a sophisticated culture that produced art of great beauty, literature of abiding power and kingdoms of surprising endurance. The Northmen's Fury describes how and why a region at the edge of Europe came to dominate and to terrorise much of the rest of the continent for nearly three centuries and how, in the end, the coming of Christianity and the growing power of kings tempered the Viking ferocity and stemmed the tide of raids. It relates the astonishing achievement of the Vikings in forging far-flung empires whose sinews were the sea and whose arteries were not roads but maritime trading routes. The blood of the Vikings runs in millions of veins in Europe and the Americas and the tale of their conquests, explorations and achievements continues to inspire people around the world.

This title offers more than 10,000 years of history in the palm of your hand. From the early beginnings of human civilization in prehistoric times, to the first manned space flight and beyond, discover all about the things that have influenced our past and shaped our world today. You'll meet great rulers and politicians, philosophers and revolutionaries who have changed world history. Travel to mighty civilisations to explore the progress of humanity. Follow earth-shattering wars and revolutions, major achievements in the fields of science and technology and milestones in the arts. Plus, take a look at the common threads running through the world's diverse and geographically distant cultures, as well as their many differences.

Himalaya is edited by writer and historian Philip Parker. Formerly publisher of the Times books list, Philip was responsible for The Times History of the World and numerous titles on ancient civilizations. He is also the author of The Empire Stops Here (2009), a book acclaimed as 'engaging' (FT), 'awe-inspiring' (The Scotsman) and 'a quite breathtaking and eccentric edifice of scholarship... extraordinary' (The Guardian).