Most Popular Books by David Edwards

Edwards explores how Josephus in Antiquities adapts the scriptural stories of Joseph and Esther in unexpected ways as models for accounts of more recent Jewish figures. Terming this practice “subversive adaptation,” Edwards contextualizes it within Greco-Roman literary culture and employs the concept of “discourses of exemplarity” to show how Josephus used narratives about past figures to engage Roman elites in moral reflection and pragmatic decision-making. This book supplies analysis of frequently overlooked accounts as well as Josephus’ broader literary strategies, and shows how ancient Jews appropriated imperial historiographical conventions and forms of discourse while countering Greco-Roman claims of cultural superiority.

An enlightening examination of the ways our capitalist system depends on three corrupt principles: greed, hatred and ignorance. After exploring in Free to be Human the ways the mass media distorts our understanding of many personal, ethical and spiritual issues to make us willing to accept the irrational values of corporate consumerism, political writer David Edwards is back with another powerful read. In The Compassionate Revolution, David builds on his argument, showing how our capitalist system is dependent on the promotion of the three Buddhist Poisons of Greed, Hatred and Ignorance: greed for profit at any cost in terms of human suffering; hatred of foreign obstacles to profit; ignorance of the cosy link between Western corporations and Third World dictators, helping to protect Western profits. Western activists need to recognise the truly revolutionary potential of the Buddhist conviction that compassion is the basis of all happiness. The antidote to exploitative social systems is rational awareness rooted in unconditional kindness and compassion for all. By marrying the political arguments of activists like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn with the compassionate awareness of Buddhist writers such as Aryasura, Geshe Gyeltsen and Stephen Batchelor, David shows how we can instigate a compassionate revolution in which the only enemies and casualties are greed, hatred and ignorance.

This book is a collection of essays in honor of Kenneth Nicholls, one of Ireland''s leading historians and author of numerous books and articles.

Do you trust the liberal media? While the tabloid and right-wing press - the Sun, The Times, the Mail and the Express - are constantly criticised for dangerous bias, outlets like the BBC and the Guardian are trusted by their readers to report in the interests of the public. However, the reality is that all corporate media is systematically filtered by the powerful interests that own, manage and fund it. Propaganda Blitz shows that the corporate media does not just ''spin'' the news - it fundamentally distorts everything it touches, hiding the real issues from public view, and often completely reversing the truth. This book uncovers a storm of top-down campaigns behind war reporting from Iraq, Syria and Palestine, as well as the destruction of the credibility of figures on the left, including Jeremy Corbyn and Hugo Chavez. Exposing propagandists at the top levels of the BBC, as well as their reporting on the Scottish independence referendum, the dismantling of the NHS and looming climate chaos, Propaganda Blitz explains the real meaning of ''objective'' journalism, exposes the fake news about ''fake news'' and outlines a model for anti-business media activism.

Media Lens'' mission is to correct the distorted vision of the liberal media. A thorn in the side of the Guardian, Independent, Channel 4 and the BBC, among many others, it is constantly under counterfire by those it attacks. These responses are collected in Newspeak. They expose the arrogance and servility to power of our leading journalists and editors, starring Andrew Marr, Alan Rusbridger, Roger Alton, Jon Snow, Jeremy Bowen and even George Monbiot. Packed with forensic media analysis, revealing the lethal bias in ''balanced'' reporting. Even the ''best'' UK media turn out to be cheerleaders for government, business and war. Alongside an A-Z of BBC propaganda and chapters on Iraq and climate change, Newspeak focuses on the demonisation of Iran and Venezuela, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the myth of impartial reporting and the dark art of smearing dissidents.

Graphical models in their modern form have been around since the late 1970s and appear today in many areas of the sciences. Along with the ongoing developments of graphical models, a number of different graphical modeling software programs have been written over the years. In recent years many of these software developments have taken place within the R community, either in the form of new packages or by providing an R interface to existing software. This book attempts to give the reader a gentle introduction to graphical modeling using R and the main features of some of these packages. In addition, the book provides examples of how more advanced aspects of graphical modeling can be represented and handled within R. Topics covered in the seven chapters include graphical models for contingency tables, Gaussian and mixed graphical models, Bayesian networks and modeling high dimensional data.

A Sufi tale has it that God plays a joke on us when we’re born. He whispers in our ear: ‘You are the special one!’ The joke is that He says it to everyone. Referring to the works of Eckhart Tolle, Osho, Michael Singer, Steve Taylor, Erich Fromm, Noam Chomsky, and others, A Short Book About Ego describes the three key strategies we use to be ‘special’ - the Successful Ego, the Suffering Ego, and the Righteous Ego - arguing that the drive to be ‘above’ others is the ultimate root of all misery and prejudice. Based on 30 years of meditation and 30 years of political activism, David Edwards provides a simple, direct guide to transforming the emotional pain of ego - of anger, resentment, dissatisfaction, boredom, jealousy, craving, and fear - into love and bliss through witnessing, watching, and presence. Nothing humanises us like the pain we’re willing to accept and embrace. Nothing dehumanises us like the pain we’re willing to reject and project onto others. Drawn from in-depth personal experience, A Short Book About Ego argues that the best way to escape from a man-eating tiger in hot pursuit is to stop, turn, and jump into the tiger’s mouth!

This comprehensive guide covers financing through to design and construction. Whether you''re installing a skylight or remodeling your entire house, this helpful, lavishly illustrated book gives you step-by-step instructions that make each task clear and easy to follow. Save money with good design, solid plans, and sound, professional remodelling techniques.