The Black Obelisk

The Black Obelisk
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2013-12-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0812985559

From the author of the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Black Obelisk is a classic novel of the troubling aftermath of World War I in Germany. A hardened young veteran from the First World War, Ludwig now works for a monument company, selling stone markers to the survivors of deceased loved ones. Though ambivalent about his job, he suspects there’s more to life than earning a living off other people’s misfortunes. A self-professed poet, Ludwig soon senses a growing change in his fatherland, a brutality brought upon it by inflation. When he falls in love with the beautiful but troubled Isabelle, Ludwig hopes he has found a soul who will offer him salvation—who will free him from his obsession to find meaning in a war-torn world. But there comes a time in every man’s life when he must choose to live—despite the prevailing thread of history horrifically repeating itself. “The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure.”—The New York Times Book Review

The Martian Obelisk

The Martian Obelisk
Author: Linda Nagata
Publisher: Tor Books
Total Pages: 30
Release: 2017-07-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1250162408

A powerful science fiction story about an architect on Earth commissioned to create (via long distance) a masterwork with materials from the last abandoned Martian colony, a monument that will last thousands of years longer than Earth, which is dying. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Heaven Has No Favorites

Heaven Has No Favorites
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 081298563X

From one of the twentieth century’s master novelists, the author of the classic All Quiet on the Western Front, comes Heaven Has No Favorites, a bittersweet story of unconventional love that sweeps across Europe. Lillian is charming, beautiful . . . and slowly dying of consumption. But she doesn’t wish to end her days in a hospital in the Alps. She wants to see Paris again, then Venice—to live frivolously for as long as possible. She might die on the road, she might not, but before she goes, she wants a chance at life. Clerfayt, a race-car driver, tempts fate every time he’s behind the wheel. A man with no illusions about chance, he is powerfully drawn to a woman who can look death in the eye and laugh. Together, he and Lillian make an unusual pair, living only for the moment, without regard for the future. It’s a perfect arrangement—until one of them begins to fall in love. “The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure.”—The New York Times Book Review

Cleopatra's Needles

Cleopatra's Needles
Author: Bob Brier
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2016-04-21
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1474242944

In the half-century between 1831 and 1881 three massive obelisks left Egypt for new lands. Prior to these journeys, the last large obelisk moved was the Vatican obelisk in 1586 – one of the great engineering achievements of the Renaissance. Roman emperors moved more than a dozen, but left no records of how they did it. The nineteenth-century engineers entrusted with transporting the obelisks across oceans had to invent new methods, and they were far from certain that they would work. As the three obelisks, bound for Paris, London and New York, sailed towards their new homes, the world held its breath. Newspapers reported the obelisks' daily progress, complete with dramatic illustrations of the heroic deeds of the engineers and crews struggling under nearly impossible conditions. When the obelisks finally arrived safely in their new homes, bands played Cleopatra's Needle Waltz and silver obelisk pencils dangled from fashionable ladies' necks. This turbulent era, caught up in obelisk mania, is recreated by Bob Brier in all its glory. Amid astounding tales of engineering dexterity and naval endurance, the individuals involved in transporting the obelisks and receiving them in their future homes are brought to life through their letters and diaries, newspaper articles and illustrations. Written by a renowned Egyptologist and author, this compelling book will fascinate all those interested in Egypt, its iconic monuments and the history of great endeavour.

The Construction of the Assyrian Empire

The Construction of the Assyrian Empire
Author: S. Yamada
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 467
Release: 2021-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004496831

In numerous ambitious expeditions Shalmaneser III of Assyria (859-824) lay the foundation of the subsequent remarkable military advance to the West of the Neo-Assyrian empire. While systematically scrutinizing and analyzing all accounts of these western campaigns, Shigeo Yamada not only discusses the historiographical problems encountered, together with their impact on the jigsaw of ninth century Ancient Near East history, but also offers new results, and an original historical reconstruction. Ample attention is given to the campaigns’ economic and ideological aspects. The book will serve as a useful reference for all students interested in Assyrian historiography and the history of Assyria and Syria-Palestine. It includes an appendix on a new edition of the Kurkh Monolith, based on the author’s collation.

The Obelisk

The Obelisk
Author: Richard Barnes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2004
Genre: Obelisks
ISBN:

Richard Barnes' book celebrates the long history and variety of Britain's obelisks, and pursues the absorbing question of why this feature of art and architecture has survived and thrived through the centuries.