Genuine Reads

A lua vem da Ásia, romance emblemático de Campos de Carvalho (1916-1998), completa agora 60 anos e permanece atual, vibrante, único. Esta obra-prima da literatura brasileira ousou ser diferente num momento em que ser diferente era muito mais difícil. Surrealismo, humor nonsense, rebeldia, combate à hipocrisia e ao establishment são seus principais ingredientes. A narrativa, uma pseudobiografia em forma de diário, abriga as reminiscências de um herói bufão que vive em um hotel com um quê de claustro burlesco. Os funcionários do estabelecimento são sentinelas risíveis; o maître ministra sopas e banhos aos hóspedes; o gerente é aficionado por disciplina e horários; sua esposa aplica injeções em quem encontra pela frente; para evitar ladrões, grades nas janelas. Hotel de luxo, campo de concentração, mas, na verdade, um hospital de alienados. Aqui o nonsense, embora delicioso, é só um pretexto: o que se pretende é a representação da realidade crua à qual tentamos inutilmente escapar, evidenciando o absurdo da existência e a vida bruta que expõe suas vísceras. Campos de Carvalho não transigiu um milímetro no propósito de aliar a um profundo sentimento humanista a implacável lucidez de quem desconfia e sabe que o mundo se finge de sério. E isso importa muito. Noel Arantes, Doutor em Literatura pela Unicamp e professor universitário

For more than a hundred years, Central Asia was the heartland of the mightiest military power on the planet. But after the fragmentation of the all-conquering Mongol polity, the region began a steep decline which rendered this former domain of horse lords peripheral to world affairs. The process of deterioration reached its nadir in the second half of the nineteenth century, when the former territories and sweeping steppes of the great khans were overrun by Tsarist Russia.

In the concluding volume of his acclaimed Central Asia quartet, Christoph Baumer shows how China in the east, and Russia in the northwest, succeeded in throwing off the Mongol yoke to become the masters of their own previous rulers. He suggests that, as traditional transcontinental trade routes declined in importance, it was the 'Great Game' - or cold war between Imperial Russia and Great Britain - which finally brought Central Asia back into play as a region of strategic importance. This epic history concludes with an assessment of the transition to modern independence of the Central Asian states and their struggle to contain radical Islamism.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FINANCIAL TIMES

From Robert D. Kaplan, named one of the world’s Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine, comes a penetrating look at the volatile region that will dominate the future of geopolitical conflict.
 
Over the last decade, the center of world power has been quietly shifting from Europe to Asia. With oil reserves of several billion barrels, an estimated nine hundred trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and several centuries’ worth of competing territorial claims, the South China Sea in particular is a simmering pot of potential conflict. The underreported military buildup in the area where the Western Pacific meets the Indian Ocean means that it will likely be a hinge point for global war and peace for the foreseeable future.
 
In Asia’s Cauldron, Robert D. Kaplan offers up a vivid snapshot of the nations surrounding the South China Sea, the conflicts brewing in the region at the dawn of the twenty-first century, and their implications for global peace and stability. One of the world’s most perceptive foreign policy experts, Kaplan interprets America’s interests in Asia in the context of an increasingly assertive China. He explains how the region’s unique geography fosters the growth of navies but also impedes aggression. And he draws a striking parallel between China’s quest for hegemony in the South China Sea and the United States’ imperial adventure in the Caribbean more than a century ago.
 
To understand the future of conflict in East Asia, Kaplan argues, one must understand the goals and motivations of its leaders and its people. Part travelogue, part geopolitical primer, Asia’s Cauldron takes us on a journey through the region’s boom cities and ramshackle slums: from Vietnam, where the superfueled capitalism of the erstwhile colonial capital, Saigon, inspires the geostrategic pretensions of the official seat of government in Hanoi, to Malaysia, where a unique mix of authoritarian Islam and Western-style consumerism creates quite possibly the ultimate postmodern society; and from Singapore, whose “benevolent autocracy” helped foster an economic miracle, to the Philippines, where a different brand of authoritarianism under Ferdinand Marcos led not to economic growth but to decades of corruption and crime.
 
At a time when every day’s news seems to contain some new story—large or small—that directly relates to conflicts over the South China Sea, Asia’s Cauldron is an indispensable guide to a corner of the globe that will affect all of our lives for years to come.

Praise for Asia’s Cauldron
 
“Asia’s Cauldron is a short book with a powerful thesis, and it stands out for its clarity and good sense. . . . If you are doing business in China, traveling in Southeast Asia or just obsessing about geopolitics, you will want to read it.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Kaplan has established himself as one of our most consequential geopolitical thinkers. . . . [Asia’s Cauldron] is part treatise on geopolitics, part travel narrative. Indeed, he writes in the tradition of the great travel writers.”—The Weekly Standard
 
“Kaplan’s fascinating book is a welcome challenge to the pessimists who see only trouble in China’s rise and the hawks who view it as malign.”—The Economist
 
“Muscular, deeply knowledgeable . . . Kaplan is an ultra-realist [who] takes a non-moralistic stance on questions of power and diplomacy.”—Financial Times


From the Hardcover edition.

EYEDISCOVER is an exciting fusion of print, video, and audio, designed to engage children at the kindergarten to grade 2 levels in a fresh new way. Each optic readalong in this collection pairs the tactile experience of a printed book with interactive online content that truly brings each page to life.

A primeira edição de "A Luz da Ásia" foi publicada em 1879. Desde então milhões de leitores de todo o mundo vêm se deleitando com a história da vida de Buddha, contada de forma tocante. O autor utiliza uma linguagem poética e inspiradora para descrever em detalhe as várias fases da vida de Siddharta Gautama. Os ensinamentos do Budismo são expressos naturalmente como decorrência das vivências de Buddha. Com maestria ele faz o leitor viajar inicialmente pela atmosfera de encantamento e prazeres dos palácios onde Siddharta viveu os anos de sua juventude, em seguida pela vida de renúncia, austeridade e privação na floresta para descobrir depois o caminho do meio, atingir a iluminação e tornar-se um grande instrutor.

Learn about some of the most endangered animals in the world and the continents tat they live on. This series uses eye-catching imagery, informative diagrams and fascinating facts to bring key subject areas to life. It explores the reasons why some species are endangered and the steps that are being taken to ensure these species do not become extinct in the future.

Explore the world's seven continents and five oceans in this fantastic, globe-trotting series. Each book discovers one of the world's continents and its surrounding oceans with detailed maps, engaging photographs and age-appropriate text. Readers will be able to identify the location, countries, landscape, climate and wildlife of each continent.

As nações da Ásia constituem agora mais da metade da população mundial. Com uma classe média instruída, cada vez mais próspera, e indústrias inovadoras e vigorosas, estão mais populosas e poderosas do que jamais, e sua influência no resto do mundo só tende a aumentar. Colin Mason oferece uma introdução clara e compreensível às suas histórias e tradições, da Idade da Pedra aos nossos dias. Esta tradução para o Brasil corresponde à 3ª edição em língua inglesa, que foi completamente revisada, atualizada e expandida, contendo novos capítulos sobre a Mongólia, o Nepal e o Butão, capítulos expandidos em separado sobre as nações sul-asiáticas, e capítulos revisados sobre todos os Estados modernos. Uma nova introdução explora a natureza e implicações da nova política de ‘democracia guiada’, e o confronto atual entre a industrialização e as consequências da mudança climática. Enriquecido com mapas e um guia para leitura complementar, este livro é um guia essencial para a história de um continente fascinante e seus povos.