Ansfried Scheifes Books

From bestselling author Walter Isaacson comes the landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In iSteve: The Book of Jobs, Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs\' professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with…

This moving collection of letters, diary entries, and writings offers a rare glimpse into Nelson Mandela's life through his own voice—direct, clear, and private. An international bestseller, it serves as an intensely personal complement to his autobiography. In the foreword, President Barack Obama notes that it provides an extraordinary picture of Mandela the man. The book reveals the darkest hours of Mandela's twenty-seven years of imprisonment, his troubled dreams on Robben Island, and includes drafts of an unfinished sequel to his autobiography, notes from his famous speeches, and even doodles from meetings. It features photos from his life, journals from his time on the run during the anti-apartheid struggles, and nearly 70 hours of recorded conversations with friends. This intimate journey traces the evolution of his political conscience and his pivotal role on the world stage. Critics have noted its emotional depth, with one calling it more revealing than his autobiography, while another describes it as a work that breaks the heart and then makes it sing. The narrative is intensely moving, blending personal reflections with significant historical events, providing the fullest picture yet of Mandela.

Onderzoek door een kunsthistoricus naar de geschiedenis en de echtheid van de lijkwade van Turijn en het verband van dit relikwie met het geloof in de opstanding van Christus.

Throughout his life Mozart was inspired, fascinated, amused, aroused, hurt, disappointed and betrayed by women; and he appeared equally fascinating to them. But, first and last, Mozart loved and respected women. His mother, his sister, his wife, her sisters, his patrons, his friends, his lovers and his artists all figure prominently in his life. Jane Glover introduces us to Mozart’s mother, Maria Anna and his beloved and talented sister, Nannerl. We meet, too, Mozart’s ‘other family’, the Webers: Constanze, his wife, much maligned by history, and her sisters Aloysia, Sophie and Josepha. This is their story. But it is also the story of the women in his operas, all of whom were – like his sister, his mother, his wife and entire female acquaintance – restrained by the conventions and strictures of eighteenth-century society. Yet through his glorious writing, he identified and released the emotions of his characters. They hold up the mirror to their audiences and offer inestimable insight, together constituting yet further proof of Mozart’s true genius and phenomenal understanding of human nature. Rich, evocative and compellingly readable, Mozart's Women illuminates the music and the man, but above all, the women who inspired him.

The God Delusion caused a sensation when it was published in 2006. Within weeks it became the most hotly debated topic, with Dawkins himself branded as either saint or sinner for presenting his hard-hitting, impassioned rebuttal of religion of all types. His argument could hardly be more topical. While Europe is becoming increasingly secularized, the rise of religious fundamentalism, whether in the Middle East or Middle America, is dramatically and dangerously dividing opinion around the world. In America, and elsewhere, a vigorous dispute between 'intelligent design' and Darwinism is seriously undermining and restricting the teaching of science. In many countries religious dogma from medieval times still serves to abuse basic human rights such as women's and gay rights. And all from a belief in a God whose existence lacks evidence of any kind. Dawkins attacks God in all his forms. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry and abuses children. The God Delusion is a brilliantly argued, fascinating polemic that will be required reading for anyone interested in this most emotional and important subject.

In this sweeping history, bestselling author Amy Chua explains how globally dominant empires—or hyperpowers—rise and why they fall. In a series of brilliant chapter-length studies, she examines the most powerful cultures in history—from the ancient empires of Persia and China to the recent global empires of England and the United States—and reveals the reasons behind their success, as well as the roots of their ultimate demise. Chua's analysis uncovers a fascinating historical pattern: while policies of tolerance and assimilation toward conquered peoples are essential for an empire to succeed, the multicultural society that results introduces new tensions and instabilities, threatening to pull the empire apart from within. What this means for the United States' uncertain future is the subject of Chua's provocative and surprising conclusion.

Lange tijd was de SLag om Moskou in de militaire geschiedenis van de Tweede Wereldoorlog genegeerd. Stalin associeerde deze slag vooral met zijn eigen verkeerde inschattingen en de beschamende paniek van de eerste maanden van de strijd tegen de Duitsers. Moskou moest daarom tot 1965 wachten voor het "Heldenstad" werd. Het Museum voor de Verdediging van Moskou werd zelfs pas in 1995 opgericht. Dat de Slag om Moskou van groot belang is geweest staat echter buiten kijf: deze slag zou de geschiedenisboeken ingaan als de grootste ooit met meer dan 7 miljoen soldaten aan beide zijden en een strijdtoneel dat even groot was als de oppervlakte van Frankrijk. Het aantal SOvjetslachtoffers bij deze ene slag was hoger dan het totale slachtoffers van de Britten en Amerikanen in de hele Tweede Wereldoorlog. Dit was de afschuwelijke prijs die ze betaalden voor het feit dat ze de Wehrmacht de eerste echte nederlaag toebrachten. In zijn verslag verwerkte Braithwaiten de levensverhalen van burgers en soldaten, maar ook politici, intellectuelen, kunstenaars, schoolkinderen en boeren. Zo ontstaat een indringend beeld van hoe de strijd het dagelijks leven in Moskou beïnvloedde en welke moed en opoffering - vrijwillig en gedwongen - werden gevraagd van de burgerbevolking. Daarnaast schetst Braithwaite levendige portretten van Stalin en zijn generaals.