"The absurd, harrowing, and true story" of South Korean cinema stars kidnapped by Kim Jong-Il and forced to make movies before their daring escape (Esquire.com). Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Underwhelmed by the talent pool available to him, he took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi)—South Korea's most famous actress—and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country's most famous filmmaker. When Madam Choi vanished, Shin went to Hong Kong to investigate—where he, too, was abducted. While Choi lived in isolated luxury, Choi was sent to a prison camp and "re-educated." When the couple was reunited, it was announced that they would remarry and act as the Dear Leader's film advisors. Together they made seven films, gaining Kim Jong-Il's trust in the process. While pretending to research a film in Vienna, they flee to the US embassy and are swept to safety. A nonfiction thriller packed with tension, passion, and politics, A Kim Jong-Il Production offers a rare glimpse into a secretive world, illuminating a fascinating chapter of North Korea's history that helps explain how it became the hermetically sealed, intensely stage-managed country it is today.

One of the New York Times Best True Crime of 2022 A “spellbinding, thriller-like” (Shelf Awareness) history about the invention of the motion picture and the mysterious, forgotten man behind it—detailing his life, work, disappearance, and legacy. The year is 1888, and Louis Le Prince is finally testing his “taker” or “receiver” device for his family on the front lawn. The device is meant to capture ten to twelve images per second on film, creating a reproduction of reality that can be replayed as many times as desired. In an otherwise separate and detached world, occurrences from one end of the globe could now be viewable with only a few days delay on the other side of the world. No human experience—from the most mundane to the most momentous—would need to be lost to history. In 1890, Le Prince was granted patents in four countries ahead of other inventors who were rushing to accomplish the same task. But just weeks before unveiling his invention to the world, he mysteriously disappeared and was never seen or heard from again. Three and half years later, Thomas Edison, Le Prince’s rival, made the device public, claiming to have invented it himself. And the man who had dedicated his life to preserving memories was himself lost to history—until now. The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures pulls back the curtain and presents a “passionate, detailed defense of Louis Le Prince…unfurled with all the cliffhangers and red herrings of a scripted melodrama” (The New York Times Book Review). This “fascinating, informative, skillfully articulated narrative” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) presents the never-before-told history of the motion picture and sheds light on the unsolved mystery of Le Prince’s disappearance.

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Laozi, or Daodejing, is a classic of Chinese intellectual history and has been of foundational importance to cultural and religious history throughout East Asia. It is now venerated as a masterpiece of self-cultivation, with a poetic narrative that remains accessible and relevant even today. Paul Fischer's new, annotated translation aims for fidelity to the original text as well as clarity for a modern audience. Fischer's notes and explanations bring out obscure meanings in ancient Chinese wording and rhetoric, elucidate the connections among the eighty-one short chapters, and clarify the coherence of the work as a whole. Carefully considering the various manuscripts that have been archaeologically uncovered in recent decades, as well as the variations among received versions of the Laozi, Fischer's translation discloses the beauty and meaning of the original. This book will benefit students and readers interested in intellectual history as well as those who want to explore what the text has to say about the meaning of life.

Self-Cultivation in Early China is an introduction to multiple aspects of the foundational practice of self-cultivation in early China (c.1000 to 100 BCE). Drawing on the Chinese classics and the dozens of scholars' texts (both received and excavated) that together form the basis of intellectual history for China and all of East Asia, the book's analysis relies on the topics and categories that were central to the thought of these authors, including such well-known thinkers as Confucius and Laozi. This book describes a salient point of view from which we may consider the broader landscape of Chinese intellectual history and presents an important paradigm of the scholarly Chinese worldview that is ideal for comparison with paradigms in other communities, ancient or modern, across the globe.

Description - This book "A Fleeting Visitor" is a collection of short poems from poets and writers around the globe. A sit back and relax book for poem lovers, book readers, and quality time spenders. A mandatory book to add to your collection and in your libraries. Especially the poems like "Bumpy Road", "Homeless Gifts", "Worry", "The City Roar", and "No Brexit" are some masterpieces that will win your heart for sure. So go ahead, get one today for yourself, or gift your friends, relatives, and who not. Dive into the world of dreams and desires. Authors are from the mentioned countries: United States Australia Germany United Kingdom Ireland Phillipines Canada Italy About this book: Layout: Collection of poems Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 inches Page Count: 104 pages Page Quality: 90 GSM, acid-free paper Cover: Premium matte cover Binding: Strong, Paperback Note: A perfect gift idea for book readers, book lovers, and library collections.