![]() |
![]() Free Download Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Historical Dictionary of Slovakia" English | 2013 | ISBN: 0810880296 | EPUB | pages: 488 | 1.1 mb On the stroke of midnight on 1 January 2013, the inhabitants of Slovakia celebrated a major milestone in their history: two decades of democratic government and personal freedom. This is so far the longest period of such rule in their history. This anniversary surpasses by a few months their only previous, generation-long, experience, namely in the First Czecho-Slovak Republic (1918-1938). The difference, of course, is that the Slovaks no longer share a state with another nation but run their own affairs. Slovakia is now an accepted and recognized member in the family of nations whose athletes, artists, and other notable personalities are acknowledged around the world. It is a member of international organization's and multilateral institutions and participates in efforts to maintain peace and enhance prosperity around the world. ![]() Free Download Graham Harvey, Robert J. Wallis, "Historical Dictionary of Shamanism" English | 2015 | ISBN: 1442257970 | EPUB | pages: 392 | 1.4 mb A remarkable array of people have been called shamans, while the phenomena identified as shamanism continues to proliferate. This second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Shamanism contains with examples from antiquity up to today, and from Siberia (where the term "shaman" originated) to Amazonia, South Africa, Chicago and many other places. Many claims about shamans and shamanism are contentious and all are worthy of discussion. In the most widespread understandings, terms seem to refer particularly to people who alter states of consciousness or enter trances in order to seek knowledge and help from powerful other-than-human persons, perhaps "spirits". But this says only a little about the artists, community leaders, spiritual healers or hucksters, travelers in alternative realities and so on to which the label "shaman" has been applied. ![]() Free Download R. Andrew Nickson, "Historical Dictionary of Paraguay" English | 2015 | ISBN: 0810878194 | PDF | pages: 765 | 3.2 mb Land-locked Paraguay is one of the smaller nations of Latin America, whose global image is now changing very rapidly. In the process, the tired stereotype of a "forgotten" country comprising only military dictators, Nazis, and steam trains is being rapidly discarded. Indeed Paraguay is now no longer off the map and its unique history is attracting growing interest. ![]() Free Download Thomas K. Park, "Historical Dictionary of Morocco" English | 2016 | ISBN: 1442262966 | EPUB | pages: 998 | 37.2 mb A historical reference work on Morocco must take as its subject al-maghrib al-aqsa (the far west) as the Arabic scholars have generally referred to the approximate region of present-day Morocco, roughly the north-west corner of Africa but at times including much of the Iberian peninsula, because the modern nation-state is a relatively recent creation owing much to events in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. External influences on Morocco tend to come across the narrow straits of Gibraltar to the north, from the east along the Mediterranean litoral, or up from the Sahara. In each case, access is constrained by geography and continued control from outside the region has been difficult to manage over the long term. Although many of the dynasties that came to power in Morocco conquered much broader regions, history and topology have so conspired that there is still more coherence to an historical focus on al-maghrib al-aqsa than is the case for most modern nation-states. ![]() Free Download Vlad Spanu, "Historical Dictionary of Moldova" English | 2007 | ISBN: 0810856077 | EPUB | pages: 496 | 2.6 mb The Republic of Moldova claims a European lineage reaching back in time long before its 14th century accession to statehood. In the 15th century, it managed against all odds to avoid being conquered by Islam and―albeit an intermittent vassal after 1485―it maintained its autonomy and was never turned into a province of the Ottoman Empire. After this period, however, Moldova would not be so fortunate, as it altered between Russian, Romanian, and Soviet control until it finally gained its independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union. ![]() Free Download Ronald Bruce St John, "Historical Dictionary of Libya" English | 2014 | ISBN: 0810878755 | EPUB | pages: 550 | 1.0 mb Of all the states of the Middle East and North Africa, Libya has long been the country about which the least is known. It is only in recent times that scholars and the general public alike have begun to appreciate the complexity of Libya's turbulent history including the recent February 17th Revolution in 2011 when protests broke out throughout Libya, demanding better living conditions and more job opportunities. When the Qaddafi regime responded with force, killing scores of unarmed civilians, the protesters called for regime change. In what came to be known as the February 17th Revolution, the Qaddafi regime was overthrown and Qaddafi was killed in October 2011. In July 2012, the Libyan people elected a General National Congress charged with overseeing the drafting of a new constitution and the election of a national government. ![]() Free Download Thomas P. Ofcansky, "Historical Dictionary of Kenya" English | 2014 | ISBN: 0810856379 | EPUB | pages: 582 | 0.8 mb Kenya has a long and complex history that began thousands of years ago. Indeed, some archaeologists contend that the country was the "cradle of mankind" or, at the very least, one of the places that was home to the earliest hominids. In later centuries, Kenya's strategic location astride the Indian Ocean and the East African littoral attracted numerous foreign peoples, some of the most significant of which have been the Americans, Arabs, British, Chinese, French, Germans, and Portuguese. Additionally, Africans from throughout the subcontinent have settled in Kenya to escape conflict or political persecution, while others wanted an opportunity to begin a new life. As a result of being a gateway to the world, the country traditionally has been one of the most important business, cultural, diplomatic, and political centers in Africa. Although it has maintained this reputation during the post-independence period, Kenya, like most African countries, has been plagued by an increasing array of complex economic, political, and social problems. ![]() Free Download Ross Eaman, "Historical Dictionary of Journalism" English | 2009 | ISBN: 0810860759, 0810871548 | EPUB | pages: 432 | 1.6 mb Journalism is the discipline of gathering, writing, and reporting news, and it includes the process of editing and presenting news articles. Journalism applies to various media, including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet. The word 'journalist' started to become common in the early 18th century to designate a new kind of writer, about a century before 'journalism' made its appearance to describe what those writers produced. Though varying in form from one age and society to another, it gradually distinguished itself from other forms of writing through its focus on the present, its eye-witness perspective, and its reliance on everyday language. ![]() Free Download Bernard Reich, David H. Goldberg, "Historical Dictionary of Israel" English | 2016 | ISBN: 1442271841 | EPUB | pages: 780 | 1.8 mb Since its creation, the State of Israel has been a magnet for attention. A country beset by conflict in its region and faced with the need to integrate mainly Jewish immigrants of disparate backgrounds into a modern and advanced democratic state and society, Israel has preoccupied observers, scholars and journalists since its independence in May 1948. Although a Jewish state Israel is also a democratic state that guarantees the rights of all of its citizens, including its large Arab and Moslem minority, in law and in practice. Israel and its modern history and politics have been the subject of substantial and often highly partisan literature, being hotly and vigorously debated both at home and abroad. ![]() Free Download David Owusu-Ansah, "Historical Dictionary of Ghana" English | 2014 | ISBN: 0810872420 | EPUB | pages: 514 | 1.0 mb Ghana, the former British colony of the Gold Coast, is historically known for being the first country to the south of the Sahara to attain political independence from colonial rule. It is known for its exports of cocoa and a variety of minerals, especially gold, and it is now an oil exporting country. But Ghana's importance to the African continent is not only seen in its natural resources or its potential to expand its agricultural output. Rather the nation's political history of nationalism, the history of military engagement in politics, record of economic depression and the ability to rise from the ashes of political and economic decay is the most unique character of the country. |