This Is Not Civilization

Hopscotching from Arizona to Central Asia to Istanbul, this inspired debut novel is “a vibrant mix of the serious and the absurd” (Publishers Weekly). In the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse, Anarbek Tashtanaliev singlehandedly supports his small village in Kyrgyzstan, despite struggles at his cheese factory and a ruthless blackmailer. In the canyons of Arizona, Adam Dale’s basketball prowess represents the hope of his entire Apache tribe, but his personal life is filled with poverty and the struggle to break free from his tyrannical tribal councilman father. In Turkey, American Jeff Hartig works as a refugee resettlement officer—until Anarbek and Adam, men he knew during his stint as an aid worker, suddenly reappear in his life. Sharing a small apartment in the magical, sprawling city of Istanbul, the three men form an unlikely bond, filled with confusion, compassion, hope, and friendship. But when tragedy strikes the city, each will have to examine his own journey and his capacity to endure. Hailed as “journalistic, humane, and heart-wrenching” by the New York Times Book Review, This Is Not Civilization is “an ambitious, bighearted debut . . . intelligent, earnest, and highly readable” (Kirkus Reviews).

"This novel tells the parallel stories of two native villages, each facing cultural extinction. It's the end of the twentieth century, and in the towering mountains of post-Soviet Central Asia, Anarbek Tashtanaliev is single-handedly providing for his small village in the face of a collapsed economy. But the cheese factory he manages no longer produces any cheese, and his favorite daughter has been stolen in an ancient nomadic courting ritual. He finds himself at a crossroads between the traditional past and the uncertain future." "Half a world away, in the high canyons of Arizona, Adam Dale is a young Apache basketball star and the future hope of his tribe. He struggles to keep his family together amid the pressures of reservation poverty and the corrupt rule of his increasingly bull-headed father, the tribal councilman." "Anarbek and Adam seek out the one person they think will be the solution to all their problems: a peripatetic American aid worker who'd volunteered in their villages. Now a refugee resettlement officer in Istanbul, Jeff Hartig must suddenly play host to first one, then both of these men from his past. Soon, Anarbek's disgraced daughter joins them, and the unlikely foursome find themselves sharing an apartment. Fascinated and perplexed by one another, they discover hope, then friendship, then love, unaware that they will soon face one of the most disastrous earthquakes of the century. Yet it is only in traveling so far, and surviving so much, that each person realizes the strength to endure."--BOOK JACKET.

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower “A dazzling history of Western ideas.” —The Economist “Mr. Ferguson tells his story with characteristic verve and an eye for the felicitous phrase.” —Wall Street Journal “[W]ritten with vitality and verve . . . a tour de force.” —Boston Globe Western civilization’s rise to global dominance is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five centuries. How did the West overtake its Eastern rivals? And has the zenith of Western power now passed? Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson argues that beginning in the fifteenth century, the West developed six powerful new concepts, or “killer applications”—competition, science, the rule of law, modern medicine, consumerism, and the work ethic—that the Rest lacked, allowing it to surge past all other competitors. Yet now, Ferguson shows how the Rest have downloaded the killer apps the West once monopolized, while the West has literally lost faith in itself. Chronicling the rise and fall of empires alongside clashes (and fusions) of civilizations, Civilization: The West and the Rest recasts world history with force and wit. Boldly argued and teeming with memorable characters, this is Ferguson at his very best.

"The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin" is a delightful children's book authored by Beatrix Potter. This enchanting tale follows the adventures of a mischievous squirrel named Nutkin and his companions as they navigate the idyllic world of the woodland. Nutkin, known for his spirited personality, constantly tests the patience of Old Brown, an owl who guards a special island and its nut store. Through rhymes, riddles, and playful banter, Nutkin and his fellow squirrels engage in a series of entertaining encounters with Old Brown, ultimately learning valuable lessons about respect, manners, and the consequences of impulsive behavior. Potter's captivating storytelling and charming illustrations make "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin" a timeless classic that continues to captivate young readers and ignite their imagination.

The idea of civilization is a complex one, tangled up for years in ideas of colonialism and politics. John Armstrong explores the nature and aims of civilization as he examines how civilizing forces from the Greeks to the Renaissance have shaped and coloured our ideas of what a good existence means.

The new edition of a milestone work on the global history of technology. This milestone history of technology, first published in 1990 and now revised and expanded in light of recent research, broke new ground by taking a global view, avoiding the conventional Eurocentric perspective and placing the development of technology squarely in the context of a "world civilization." Case studies include "technological dialogues" between China and West Asia in the eleventh century, medieval African states and the Islamic world, and the United States and Japan post-1950. It examines railway empires through the examples of Russia and Japan and explores current synergies of innovation in energy supply and smartphone technology through African cases. The book uses the term "technological dialogue" to challenges the top-down concept of "technology transfer," showing instead that technologies are typically modified to fit local needs and conditions, often triggering further innovation. The authors trace these encounters and exchanges over a thousand years, examining changes in such technologies as agriculture, firearms, printing, electricity, and railroads. A new chapter brings the narrative into the twenty-first century, discussing technological developments including petrochemicals, aerospace, and digitalization from often unexpected global viewpoints and asking what new kind of industrial revolution is needed to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.

Records the impact of taxation on events in world history, from ancient Egypt to the present, and concludes that taxation has been a force that has shaped world history and has had a direct bearing on the civilization process.

Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil—as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

...one of the biggest breakthroughs of all times... this is the definitive proof that civilisation is thousands of years older than historians believe' -Colin Wilson 'A breakthrough book. The last four thousand years are never going to be the same again' - Graham Hancock This is the amazing story of how a quest to try to crack the mystery of the Megalithic Yard - an ancient unit of linear measurement - led to the discovery of compelling evidence pointing to the existence of an unknown, highly advanced culture which was the precursor to the earliest known civilizations such as the Sumerians and the Egyptians. There must have been a Civilization One. Knight and Butler reveal the secrets of an extraordinary integrated measuring system which might have been lost to the world for ever. It was a system, far more advanced than anything used today, which forms the basis of both the Imperial and Metric measure systems! These ancient scientists understood the dimensions, motions and relationships of the Earth, Moon and Sun - they measured the solar system and even understood how the speed of light was integrated into the movements of our planet. Their conclusions fly in the face of everything that we thought we knew about the origins of the modern world - but the evidence is incontrovertible. And the implications of these revelations go far beyond the fascination of the discovery of a 'super-science' of prehistory; they indicate a grand plan which will have far reaching theological ramifications!

Enth.: "Historical and Cultural Pessimism. Jacob Burckhardt and Friedrich Nietzsche" (S. 76-108).