Books with author John Carson

The Moon: 60 Fascinating Facts For Kids About the MoonThe Moon is our nearest neighbor in the Solar System and has fascinated mankind for thousands of years.Carl Johnson brings you 60 fun facts about the Moon - such as how it came into being and why it seems to change shape as it travels across the sky. He explains the effect the Moon has on our planet and tells the story of how man eventually came to walk on the surface of the Moon.Going through a complete science book can sometimes be daunting for a young person, but Carl Johnson brings you facts about the Moon in 60 easy to understand segments.We hope that that you will be fascinated by the facts about the Moon in this book and that you will be encouraged to discover more about our closest neighbor in space.Chapters: The Birth of the Moon | The Moon's Surface | The Moon's Orbit | The Lunar Cycle | Eclipses | Tides | Myths & Legends | Man on the Moon | Assorted Moon Facts

The 128-year dynasty of the Komneni (1057 to 1185) was the last great epoch of Byzantium, when the empire had to fend off Turkish and Norman foes simultaneously. Starting with the extremely able Alexios I, and unable now to count on help from the West, the Komneni played their strategic cards very well. Though the dynasty ended in cruelty and incompetence under Andronikos I (the Terrible), it fought a valiant rear-guard action in keeping eastern Christendom alive. The Komnene dynasty saw several changes in Byzantine military practice, such as the adoption of heavy cavalry on the western model, the extensive use of foreign mercenaries and the neglect of the navy (both of which were to prove a huge and possibly fatal disadvantage). A chapter is devoted to the famous Varangian Guard, which included many Saxons in exile following the Norman conquest of England. The terrible defeat at Myriokephalon in 1176 sealed the doom of the dynasty, preparing the way for the conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusaders.

Albert Einstein is considered to have been one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, changing the way we look at science and the universe.Einstein escaped from the tyranny of pre-war Nazi Germany where his fellow Jews were being persecuted and murdered.When Albert Einstein made his new life in America, he used his status as the first global superstar of science to work for peace throughout the world.At times a complete biography of a person might be intimidating, but Carl Johnson cuts it down into 75 easy to comprehend facts about Albert Einstein for a youngster to read.We are sure that the facts about Einstein in this book will fascinate you and stimulate you to learn even more about this remarkable scientist and human being.

Medievalist feminist studies' early concentration on the lives of prominent women has more recently given way to an interest in their less exalted sisters. Historians have seemingly avoided the careers of medieval queens, creatures of romance and legend, women who enjoyed rank and wealth merely as a consequence of birth or marriage. A renewed interest in such women has, however, followed the opening of new avenues to the study of women and power in the Middle Ages. That the lives of these women will reward reconsideration has been amply proven in the works of such historians as Pauline Stafford and Janet Nelson. Eleanor of Castile studies the wife of Edward I of England, a woman eulogized since the sixteenth century as a model of virtuous womanhood and queenly excellence, who overcame the impediment of her foreign birth to win all English hearts. This book shows that Eleanor's contemporaries in fact had a disquietingly different opinion of her, and develops as a central theme the formation of that opinion as her behaviour was observed by her subjects. The book thus becomes a study in the construction of one woman's imagery of power and her society's perception of that imagery. The evolution of the queen's posthumous legend is considered as well, as her reputation was fashioned and refashioned in response to changing opinions on women and power and about the medieval period itself.

The Moon: 60 Fascinating Facts For Kids About The Moon The Moon is our nearest neighbor in the Solar System and has fascinated mankind for thousands of years.Carl Johnson brings you 60 fun facts about the Moon - such as how it came into being and why it seems to change shape as it travels across the sky. He explains the effect the Moon has on our planet and tells the story of how man eventually came to walk on the surface of the Moon.Going through a complete science book can sometimes be daunting for a young person, but Carl Johnson brings you facts about the Moon in 60 easy to understand segments.We hope that that you will be fascinated by the facts about the Moon in this book and that you will be encouraged to discover more about our closest neighbor in space.Chapters: The Birth of the Moon | The Moon's Surface | The Moon's Orbit | The Lunar Cycle | Eclipses | Tides | Myths & Legends | Man on the Moon | Assorted Moon Facts