346 products in Books

“The most original and probably the most important writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley."—Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Prometheus Rising and other works Peter Carroll’s classic work has been profound influence on the Western magical world and on the practice of chaos magick in particular. In Liber Null and Psychonaut, Carroll presents an approach to the practice of magic that draws on the foundations of shamanism and animism, as well as that found in the Greek magical papyri, the occult works of Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley, and the esoteric meditative practices of classical India and China. Also very much at work in the text are 20th century scientific ideas of quantum physics and chaos theory. The result is a profoundly original work of magical studies that also includes a selection of extremely powerful rituals and exercises for committed occultists with instructions that lead the reader through new concepts and practices to achieve Carroll’s definition of magic itself: the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of infinity. This Weiser Classics edition is a thoroughly revised republication of Liber Null and Psychonaut, first published by Weiser in 1987, and includes a new foreword by Ronald Hutton, a leading authority on modern witchcraft and paganism.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize   A metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll   Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel, Escher, Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.

“If you only read one book this year on America’s unending ‘War on Terror,’ it should be this persuasive and devastatingly damning account of how the United States created the original al Qaeda terrorism threat by its own actions and then increased that threat by orders of magnitude by its wanton killings in one country after another in the name of ‘counter-terrorism.’ Once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop!” — Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower and author of The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner

Building real wealth and being truly happy are skills anyone can learn. Getting rich is about knowing what to do, who to do it with, and when to do it. True happiness isn't something that happens to you; it's a choice only you can make. No one knows this better than entrepreneur, philosopher, and investor Naval Ravikant. Naval's straightforward principles for building wealth and intentionally creating long-term happiness have captivated the world for years. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a curated collection of a full decade of Naval's wisdom and experience, featuring his most memorable and useful ideas. With over a million copies sold since its release in 2020, this powerful book has deeply affected readers' lives. Through Naval's own words, discover for yourself how to walk your own unique path toward a happier, healthier, wealthier life. This book has been created as a public service. It is available for free download in pdf and e-reader versions on navalmanack. Naval is not earning any money on this book. Naval has essays, podcasts, and more at naval and is on X, formerly Twitter, Naval.

Absolute Essentials of Ethereum is a concise textbook which guides the reader through the fascinating world of the emerging Ethereum ecosystem, from the basics of how its blockchain works to cutting-edge applications. Written by an experienced educator, each chapter is designed to progress potential students from class to class. Technical concepts are clearly explained for those new to the topic and readers are supported with definitions and summaries in each chapter. Real-life case studies situate the overviews in a contemporary context. Topics covered include the Ethereum Execution and Consensus layers, Ethereum governance and community, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs), Decentralised Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Layer 2. This book is the ideal text to support undergraduate and postgraduate courses on blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, Web3 and fintech, as well as for those who want to know how Ethereum really works.

The definitive account of the hyperinflation that occurred in the wake of the French Revolution of 1789, Fiat Money Inflation in France is a warning on the dangers of government overspending and the oversupply of paper money. A work of brevity and clarity, it is as relevant today as ever.

THE BEST BOOK THAT DESCRIBES THE WORLD OF 2020's Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often published as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modeled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated. The story takes place in an imagined future, the year 1984, when much of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and propaganda. Great Britain, known as Airstrip One, has become a province of a totalitarian superstate named Oceania that is ruled by the Party who employ the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Big Brother, the leader of the Party, enjoys an intense cult of personality despite the fact that he may not even exist. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a diligent and skillful rank-and-file worker and Party member who secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion. He enters into a forbidden relationship with a colleague, Julia, and starts to remember what life was like before the Party came to power. Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction. It also popularised the term "Orwellian" as an adjective, with many terms used in the novel entering common usage, including "Big Brother", "doublethink", "thoughtcrime", "Newspeak", "memory ho

The classic history of the political and economic devastation wrought by runaway inflation in Weimar Germany—“brilliant” (Guardian)   In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt. People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved. Germany's finances descended into chaos, with severe social unrest in its wake.   Money may no longer be physically printed and distributed in the voluminous quantities of 1923. However, "quantitative easing," that modern euphemism for surreptitious deficit financing in an electronic era, can no less become an assault on monetary discipline. Whatever the reason for a country's deficit— necessity or profligacy, unwillingness to tax or blindness to expenditure—it is beguiling to suppose that if the day of reckoning is postponed economic recovery will come in time to prevent higher unemployment or deeper recession. What if it does not? Germany in 1923 provides a vivid, compelling, sobering moral tale.

The new book from one of TIME's 2021 most influential people Author was in Forbes 30 Under 30 Hall of Fame "A crucial contribution to development of a new technology that will impact all of our lives.” –Laura Shin, host of the Unchained podcast and author of The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze “Vitalik Buterin is one of the most influential creators of our generation....Like most of his work, it is sure to become a must-read.”–Camila Russo, author of The Infinite Machine, founder of The Defiant The ideas behind Ethereum in the words of its founder, describing a radical vision for more than a digital currency—reinventing organizations, economics, and democracy itself in the age of the internet. When he was only nineteen years old, in late 2013, Vitalik Buterin published a visionary paper outlining the ideas behind what would become Ethereum. He proposed to take what Bitcoin did for currency—replace government and corporate power with power shared among users—and apply it to everyday apps, organizations, and society as a whole. Now, less than a decade later, Ethereum is the second-most-valuable cryptocurrency and serves as the foundation for the weird new world of NFT artworks, virtual real estate in the metaverse, and decentralized autonomous organizations. The essays in Proof of Stake have guided Ethereum’s community of radicals and builders. Here for the first time they are collected from across the internet for new readers. They reveal Buterin as a lively, creative thinker, relentlessly curious and adventuresome in exploring the consequences of his invention. His writing stands in contrast to the hype that so often accompanies crypto in the public imagination. He presents it instead as a fascinating set of social, economic, and political possibilities, opening a window into a conversation that far more of us could be having. Media scholar Nathan Schneiderprovides introductions and notes.

Beginning with the dim prehistory of the mythical gods and their descendants, Heimskringla recounts the history of the kings of Norway through the reign of Olaf Haraldsson, who became Norway's patron saint. Once found in most homes and schools and still regarded as a national treasure, Heimskringla influenced the thinking and literary style of Scandinavia over several centuries.

I think Fraudcoin is the most engaging and easy to read book about inflation that has ever been written. It also offers a great level of detail on all the government moves and countermoves in the development of the inflation policy. Very well done. Lawrence W. Lepard, Investment Manager, Sherborn, Massachusetts, USA Congratulations, you should be very proud about your book! Excellent work! Ronald-Peter Stöferle, Managing Partner of Incrementum AG Fraudcoin is an excellent book exploring the role of inflation on politics and world history. Inflation is largely a political decision that impacts all aspects of society and can bring down mighty empires, yet there is little debate about why inflation occurs and the immense repercussions. This book is an important contribution toward educating the public that the destructive power of inflation is not an unfortunate act of nature, but the result of reckless policy. Glenn Diesen, Professor, University of South-Eastern Norway, Department of Business, History and Social Sciences This mini-series only scratches the surface of Rune Østgård's book "Fraudcoin", which I recommend everyone to buy and recommend to others."Fraudcoin is the best book I've read about inflation. It's the perfect mix between the description of historical evidence and the explanation of different economic theories. It certainly demonstrates that inflation is a policy, NOT an unfortunate spontaneously emerging calamity. Wolfgang Wee, the Wolfgang Wee Uncut podcast A book that's hard to put down. A bit like a thriller. Suddenly, you understand things you thought were insurmountable to gain insight into. Erika Hauffen, Librarian, Snåsa, Norway Fraudcoin is the best book I've read about inflation. It's the perfect mix between the description of historical evidence and the explanation of different economic theories. It certainly demonstrates that inflation is a policy, NOT an unfortunate spontaneously emerging calamity. David St-Onge, Author of “Tout sur Bitcoin" (Bitcoin: Everything you need to know), Montreal, Canada A wonderfully well-written and accessible book for everyone, regardless of your knowledge background. Children and young people really need to have access to this knowledge. Trine Sofie Bergh, Economics blogger, Trondheim, Norway This is an incredibly important book. It lays out the story of the inflation policy in a clear, precise, and easy-to-understand way. It is absolutely necessary for a healthy society to have healthy money, but that will not happen until most people understand what sound money is, and why the inflation policy creates sick money. @hodlonaut *** Rune Østgård’s easy-to-read book explains what inflation is and how it affects the society. The book takes us through 1000 Years of Inflation as a Policy, beginning with the Viking age and King Harald Hardrada, who introduced the death penalty for those who did not accept his coins as payment. With lessons learned from the historical narrative, it is easy to join the author on the ‘journey of money’ through modern society, as he demonstrates how inflation redistributes wealth from the working and middle classes to the upper class, speculators, and the state, and away from the countryside and into the big cities. The book includes a discussion on several issues related to monetary policy, including national security, cryptocurrency, saving and investment, and if it is correct to say that “a little inflation is good for the economy” and that “our system is based on trust”.

As the global economy struggles to avoid meltdown, so the greatest Ponzi scheme in history approaches its final death rattle. Politicians have stood by and watched the financial industry create a massive overhang of debt, a mountain of low quality assets - and ultimately, an economic disaster which has dwarfed all others. The Eurozone crisis and the LIBOR manipulaton scandal are just two symptoms of a much broader problem: one of vastly excessive debt, regulatory failure, a culture of deceit on Wall Street and the City of London, and governments that have promised their citizens far more than they can deliver. In "Planet Ponzi", Mitch Feierstein tells you what's happened, what will happen next and how to protect yourself and your family.