From one who set out to conquer Hollywood! Since his blockbuster "Independence Day" he is one of the most successful and influential directors in the world. As "Master Of Disaster", as master of cinematic apocalypses: Roland Emmerich - Germany's successful film maker in Los Angeles. But he is more than that. Not only does he show a keen sense of the zeitgeist in many of his films. Emmerich also has a knack for exciting cinematic material and knows how to translate this into powerful images and effective action. Unforgettable are the threatening pictures of the gigantic alien spaceships in "Independence Day", which hover over Los Angeles. While Emmerich had the Earth threatened by aliens in his most successful film to date, in "The Day After Tomorrow" he confronted mankind with the fatal consequences of a climate catastrophe: a gigantic tidal wave and a subsequent ice age threaten New York long before the dangers of global warming became a permanent media topic. In "2012" Emmerich devoted himself to an ancient Mayan prophecy that predicts the demise of the earth on the day of the winter solstice. 

In addition to his action and fantasy spectacles, however, he also made small, fine films such as the nested historical crime thriller "Anonymus" or his most personal film to date, "Stonewall", about the uprising of homosexuals in New York City. This personal Emmerich biography by Jo Müller, who has accompanied the star director's career for over 25 years, tells the fascinating story of a cinema enthusiast who set out from Sindelfingen to conquer and revolutionize the world of cinema. The Hollywood director gave no other director such a deep insight into both his work as a filmmaker and his private life. Not only Emmerich himself has his say, but also long-standing colleagues and relatives such as his sister Ute, who once emigrated with him to America and has since accompanied his projects as a producer.

The aim of this book is to present an account of the events surrounding the world-changing assassination of 1914 that is easy to understand even for non-historians. This seemed necessary because the assessments – particularly regarding the question of blame for World War I – vary widely among renowned historians.
Anglo-American authors, in particular, view the intentions of Russia, France, and to some extent England as far more war-mongering than the political and military measures taken by the Central Powers following the assassination.
Upon careful examination of the various publications, one must conclude that neither Emperor Franz Josef was a warmonger nor was the campaign against Serbia a vendetta, but rather that the double assassination in Sarajevo set a chain of events in motion that no one could or would stop. 

With their geocentric worldview, in which the sun and the universe revolve around the Earth, the powerful and influential people of medieval Europe placed humans, or rather the Earth, at the center of the universe. A modern counterpart to this is the misconception that humans are causing or can control climate change through their anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This book describes natural climate fluctuations, their evidence, and their effects on the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and sea level over the last million years, and explains and discusses the causes and processes from a geological, archaeological, and astrophysical perspective.
 It becomes clear that extremely complex astrophysical and heliophysical mechanisms cause climate fluctuations at periodically recurring long and short intervals without humans being able to influence this in any way, not even through increased or reduced anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This book was written in a style that is easy to understand for anyone who is affected by climate change and the extensive political measures being taken, and who wants to form their own opinion on the subject. However, it is also intended to serve as inspiration and a compact reference work for young scientists working in this field.

The contradictions between economics and ecology are bringing our planet to the brink of disaster unless we learn to provide energy in a form that helps to gradually reduce the surplus of pollutants. Nuclear power is not a good option, as the risks have become clear through recurring disasters. Burning coal and other materials to meet our energy needs is also not the most intelligent or environmentally friendly solution, and although so-called renewable energies would be inexpensive and have the potential to be a real alternative, they are not yet capable of meeting base load demand because we cannot control wind and sun. 

The most effective and environmentally friendly alternative to energy production has been flying around us for millions of years, so to speak. Although there were no humans who could have made use of it, it became interesting in 1912 when Austrian Nobel Prize winner Victor Franz Hess discovered cosmic radiation. 

This book with the mystical title “Das ewige Licht” (The Eternal Light) takes up what has surrounded us for hundreds of millions of years and presents a completely new approach to energy conversion. Until now, natural and artificial radiation have played no role in recent considerations of the energy industry and have been dismissed by so-called experts. However, it has been possible to develop combinations of materials on metallic surfaces that prevent neutrinos, as particles of cosmic radiation, from passing through. The result is vibrations of atoms that can generate electricity permanently. Is this the new way to keep the “eternal light” shining forever? Or, in other words, is this the beginning of a new energy age?

The result of many years of research, this book aims to provide a factual and broad overview of the various facets of the “Mafia” phenomenon, beyond all the usual clichés and myths. Throughout its history, the Sicilian Mafia has proven to be a complex and extremely adaptable form of criminal infiltration of society. A particular concern of the book is to show how forms of resistance and movements – from the peasant movement to the remarkable engagement of civil society in recent decades – have repeatedly emerged against its supremacy, and to commemorate the victims of these struggles, who are all too often forgotten due to the media's focus on the perpetrators. Another chapter briefly presents other forms of national and international organized crime and provides information on the latest initiatives to combat them. The book is aimed at teachers, students, and social workers who are committed to fighting the mafia, but also at a wider audience who would like to learn more about one of the most disturbing phenomena of our time in a clear and concise form.

Shortly after being named King of Iraq, Faisal I turned his attention to the army. He didn't have much support from the people or a natural power base, so the army ended up playing a big role. The king insisted on bringing in military service, even though the UK and the tribes didn't want it. The use of the army for political purposes was common in the past, so the military was more involved in political duels than on the battlefield. Officers with political ambitions, some of them nationally oriented, were an effective extension of the ruling party. However, like their civilian partners, the officers had different loyalties and thus contributed to the disunity in the state. When King Faysal died in September 1933, completely exhausted and worn down, his young and popular son Ghazi took over. He was later perceived as a strong patriot, i.e., an anti-British ruler. But he lacked his father's authority and prestige. Rival political factions undermined the tribal structure and showed increasingly dictatorial tendencies. As a result, their governments were short-lived. The opposition was an alliance of the middle class, intellectuals, and patriotic officers inspired by Kemal Atatürk. The sudden death of King Ghazi in April 1939 was accompanied by rumors of assassination. Nuri as Said and influential officers appointed King Faysal's nephew, Abdalilah, as the new regent. The new political constellation was completely torn apart by the outbreak of World War II. France's defeat was a great motivation for the government of Rashid Ali al Kaylani to rid his country of British influence once and for all. However, British military intervention in May 1941 almost completely destroyed the Iraqi army and led to the reoccupation of Iraq.

A bibliographic documentation of two key players whose traces can be found under the code name “Rübezahl” from the Giant Mountains to Hiroshima. Robert Oppenheimer in America and Werner Heisenberg in Germany were rivals in the race to build the first atomic bomb. The scientific foundations for uranium fission were laid by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann in Berlin in 1938. A “cunning fox” sneaked into the most secret US laboratory and betrayed the atomic secret of Los Alamos to the Soviet Union. In 1941, a study was presented at Manfred von Ardenne's private institute in Berlin: “On the question of triggering nuclear chain reactions.” The atomic spy Klaus Fuchs, who went down in history, betrayed the Americans' atomic bomb secret out of conviction. He last taught physics at the Technical University of Dresden and, through his actions, had more than influenced the nuclear military balance between the superpowers. In mid-August 1945, Manfred von Ardenne was personally commissioned by secret service chief Marshal Beria in Moscow to collaborate on the Soviet atomic program. He, too, wanted to contribute to the balance of power. In February 1945, a mobile American defense unit pursued three main objectives on the European battlefield: the arrest of leading German nuclear scientists, the confiscation of all documents and materials relating to uranium research, and the dismantling or destruction of all apparatus and equipment. Their aim was to secure their monopoly on the atomic bomb for all eternity. "1938 – The Road to the German Atomic Bomb” recounts the impressive lives of Manfred von Ardenne and Nobel Prize winner Otto Hahn during a period when scientists from and in Germany made a particularly significant contribution to the advancement of the natural sciences. The second edition was edited by Hans-Jürgen Zboron, who was a close professional colleague of the author Uli Suckert, following Suckert's death in February 2016.

Before you lies my collection of poetry in German. When I wrote my first, timid poems over 50 years ago, I could not have imagined where these verses would take me. I can still remember a particular book that inspired me to become a poet myself. It was “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. My breath caught in my throat as I read the wonderful stories, poems, and descriptions. A new, dreamlike, and colorful world opened up before me – as if I were embarking on a journey to a fairy-tale land. I was there, in Middle-earth, cheering on the hobbits and fearing Sauron! I embarked on a journey back then, an adventure that has not yet come to an end and is still going on today.