Hidden Galleries

Hidden Galleries
Author: James A. Kapaló
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2020
Genre: Hungary
ISBN: 3643912633

In a series of richly illustrated short essays, Hidden Galleries presents the ways in which the secret police of the communist-era and before collected and curated material religious images and objects in their archives. Based on painstaking documentation by a team of eight historians, anthropologists and scholars of religion in archives in Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova, this volume offers a rare window on the creativity of underground religious life, and its ideological representation as well as exploring the significance for religious communities and wider society today of this legacy of repression and surveillance.

The Hardest Hidden Pictures Book Ever

The Hardest Hidden Pictures Book Ever
Author: Highlights
Publisher: Highlights Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2021-03-09
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1644723344

Packed with dozens of the most difficult Hidden Pictures puzzles Highlights has ever created, this book is perfect for advanced puzzlers ages 8-12 looking for a next-level challenge! This jam-packed collection includes over 80 advanced Hidden Pictures puzzles, including photo puzzles, puzzles without clues, puzzles with scrambled clues and more. A great gift for anyone who loves a puzzle challenge, this engaging activity book is filled with more than 1,500 total objects to find. Kids (and grown-ups, too) will need to keep their eyes peeled searching through hilarious scenes like sloths playing ping pong, dogs enjoying a fiesta, and a fishy carnival. There are both full-color and classic black-and-white scenes to solve. Over 125 pages of puzzles adds up to hours of screen-free fun, great for keeping kids engaged during road trips or rainy afternoons at home. Plus, this book is crafted by puzzle experts to include learning benefits parents can count on. Searching for hidden objects is a great way for kids to develop important school skills like vocabulary, concentration and visual perception. Every puzzle solved will boost kids’ confidence and encourage them to take on new challenges.

Rogues' Gallery

Rogues' Gallery
Author: Philip Hook
Publisher: The Experiment
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1615194282

This “expert and elegantly written” book reveals how dealers have been a major force in art history from the Renaissance to the avant garde (The Guardian, UK). Philip Hook’s riveting narrative takes us from the early days of art dealing in Antwerp, where paintings were sold by weight, to the unassailable hauteur of contemporary galleries in New York, London, Paris, and beyond. Along the way, we meet a surprisingly wide-ranging cast of characters—from tailors, spies, and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, and connoisseurs, some compelled by greed, some by their own vision of art—and some by the art of the deal. Among them are Joseph Duveen, who almost single-handedly brought the Old Masters to America; Paul Durand-Ruel, the Impressionists’ champion; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; Leo Castelli, dealer-midwife to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby’s chairman who made a theater of the auction room. Full of unforgettable anecdotes and astute insight, Rogue’s Gallery offers “a front-row seat and a backstage pass to this arcane and obsessively secretive profession” (Hannah Rothschild, Mail on Sunday, UK).

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book II

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book II
Author: Maryrose Wood
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-04-21
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780062366948

The second book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place—the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood, perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Trenton Lee Stewart—has a brand-new look. Thanks to their plucky governess, Miss Penelope Lumley, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia are much more like children than wolf cubs now. They are accustomed to wearing clothes. They hardly ever howl at the moon. And for the most part, they resist the urge to chase squirrels up trees. Yet the Incorrigibles are not entirely civilized, and still managed to ruin Lady Constance's Christmas ball, nearly destroying the grand house. So while Ashton Place is being restored, Penelope, the Ashtons, and the children take up residence in London. As they explore the city, Penelope and the Incorrigibles discover more about themselves as clues about the children's—and Penelope's own—mysterious past crop up in the most unexpected ways....

The Secret Police and the Soviet System

The Secret Police and the Soviet System
Author: Michael David-Fox
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2023-10-24
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0822990180

Even more than thirty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the role of the secret police in shaping culture and society in communist USSR has been difficult to study, and defies our complete understanding. In the last decade, the opening of non-Russian KGB archives, notably in Ukraine after 2015, has allowed scholars to explore state security organizations in ways not previously possible. Moving beyond well-known cases of high-profile espionage and repression, this study is the first to showcase research from a wide range of secret police archives in former Soviet republics and the countries of the former Soviet bloc—some of which are rapidly closing or becoming inaccessible once again. Rather than focusing on Soviet leadership, The Secret Police and the Soviet System integrates the secret police into studies of information, technology, economics, art, and ideology. The result is a state-of-the-art portrait of one of the world’s most notorious institutions, the legacies of which are directly relevant for understanding Vladimir Putin’s Russia today.

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss
Author: Audrey Geisel
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 100
Release: 1995-10-03
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0679434488

These fabulous, whimsical paintings, created for his own pleasure and never shown to the public, show Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) in a whole new light. Depicting outlandish creatures in otherworldly settings, the paintings use a dazzling rainbow of hues not seen in the primary-color palette of his books for children, and exhibit a sophisticated and often quite unrestrained side of the artist. 65 color illustrations.

Halo 2 Hacks

Halo 2 Hacks
Author: Stephen Cawood
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2005-09-07
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0596553366

Even if you've finished Halo 2 in Legendary Mode, you're not done with this game. Not by a long shot. You know there's a lot more you can squeeze out of Halo 2, and with the clever hacks we have in store, you'll turn the game into a whole new experience. Halo 2 Hacks is the creation of consummate gamer and Microsoft insider Stephen Cawood, an original member of the Halo 2 beta test team. He's got it all, whether you're into single or multiplayer games, a level 25 or above, or even a complete n00b. If you are a beginner, you may not yet appreciate that Halo 2 for Xbox is the biggest game to hit the galaxy. Ten million copies have already sold, including 2.4 million on the first day it hit the shelf. So you're in good company, even if you've never played its predecessor, Halo: Combat Evolved. Pick up this book and you'll be able to fully appreciate the Halo 2 universe. Halo 2 Hacks is packed with a horde of great hacks for weapons, levels, vehicles, game play and mods. You'll learn how to perform expert tricks, exploit glitches and find Halo 2 Easter Eggs - including the famous skulls. And discover all the nooks and crannies you didn't even suspect were there. Each hack has a thermometer icon to indicate its relative complexity, whether it's a beginner, moderate, or expert hack. Each one stands on its own, so you can either read the book from cover to cover, or jump around until you see a hack you want to try. This title was created with the help of numerous gamers from the Halo community. Whether it was a trick, a glitch or a mod, Cawood went straight to the source and gathered all of the necessary information to help you complete the hack. The mod section of the book features contributions from Grenadiac, MrMurder, Iron_Forge, GTJuggler, The Swamp Fox, and many more. Halo 2 Hacks also features a foreword by Ducain (the admin for HighImpactHalo.org), Louis Wu (the admin for Halo.Bungie.org) and Grenadiac (the admin for HaloMods.com). For all the brave souls who want to learn how to trick Halo 2 into running the hacks and mods of their choice, Halo 2 Hacks is a must read. Roughly half of this title is dedicated to creating your own Halo 2 mods. If you're a fan of tricking, glitching or modding, then this is the book for you. But only for gamers who think they're worthy of the distinction.

The Secret Police and the Religious Underground in Communist and Post-Communist Eastern Europe

The Secret Police and the Religious Underground in Communist and Post-Communist Eastern Europe
Author: James A. Kapaló
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-08-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000426068

This book addresses the complex intersection of secret police operations and the formation of the religious underground in communist-era Eastern Europe. It discusses how religious groups were perceived as dangerous to the totalitarian state whilst also being extremely vulnerable and yet at the same time very resourceful. It explores how this particular dynamic created the concept of the "religious underground" and produced an extremely rich secret police archival record. In a series of studies from across the region, the book explores the historical and legal context of secret police entanglement with religious groups, presents case studies on particular anti-religious operations and groups, offers methodological approaches to the secret police materials for the study of religions, and engages in contemporary ethical and political debates on the legacy and meaning of the archives in post-communism.

Secret State Police Operations in Cold War Czechoslovakia

Secret State Police Operations in Cold War Czechoslovakia
Author: Václava Jandecková
Publisher: LIT Verlag
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2021-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 3643963610

"Jande?ková pulls back the curtain to give us a glimpse of the inner workings of Communist Czechoslovakia’s secret police in connection both with the false border operation ‘Kamen’ and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk. A fascinating study that enhances our understanding of this tragic period." James R. Felak, University of Washington "Václava Jande?ková's text is based on a great variety of sources, which are thoroughly and resourcefully interrogated and clearly presented. It is in two parts: the first investigates the Communist Czechoslovak security police operation to flush out potential “troublemakers” by luring them to a false frontier on the pretence of organising their escape to West Germany. The second is a searching re-examination of the murder of Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk in March 1948. The author has long experience with security police archives and brings together material never before presented in a joint analysis. The text will be very valuable to all who are interested in the operations of Soviet-style authorities and in secret police methods generally." Geoffrey Hosking, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London "With this book Václava Jande?ková emerges as a star among historians of Cold War intelligence operations. Combing her analytical skills with deep understanding of Czech history, she has mapped out the scandalous Operation KAMEN and its many dimensions in astonishing detail. This study is a meticulously researched and convincingly argued masterpiece. It is also immensely readable and full of fascinating depictions of the personalities involved. It is a marvelous piece of work, a major contribution to our understanding of the early postwar years of the Cold War. I can’t recommend it highly enough." Igor Lukes, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University Václava Jande?ková is an independent researcher, a co-founder of the Association for Research of Communist Crimes, member of the International PEN Club (Czech Centre) and a graduate in international relations.