text: There also seem to have been interactions between the Byzantine realm and China at this time. Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered how silk was made. From this revelation monks were sent by Justinian I as spies on the Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal the silkworm eggs. This resulted in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace, in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe until the loss of its territories in Southern Italy. The Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta, writing during the reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641), relayed information about China's geography, its capital city "Khubdan" (Old Turkic: "Khumdan", i.e. Chang'an), its current ruler "Taisson" whose name meant "Son of God" (Chinese: "Tianzi", although this could be derived from the name of Emperor Taizong of Tang), and correctly pointed to its reunification by the Sui Dynasty (581-618) as occurring during the reign of Maurice, noting that China had previously been divided politically along the Yangzi River by two warring nations. This seems to match the conquest of the Chen dynasty in southern China by Emperor Wen of Sui (r. 581-604).


title: Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty

text: The Chinese "Old Book of Tang" and "New Book of Tang" mention (拂菻; i.e. Byzantium), which they equated with Daqin (i.e. the Roman Empire), beginning in 643 with an embassy sent by the king "Boduoli" (波多力, i.e. Constans II Pogonatos) to Emperor Taizong of Tang, bearing gifts such as red glass. These histories also provided cursory descriptions of Constantinople, its walls, and how it was besieged by "Da shi" (大食; the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate) and their commander "Mo-yi" (摩拽伐之; i.e. Muawiyah I, governor of Syria before becoming caliph), who forced them to pay tribute. Henry Yule highlights the fact that Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651), last ruler of the Sasanian Empire, sent diplomats to China for securing aid from Emperor Taizong (considered the suzerain over Ferghana in Central Asia) during the loss of the Persian heartland to the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate, which may have also prompted the Byzantines to send envoys to China amid their recent loss of Syria to the Muslims. Tang Chinese sources also recorded how Sassanid prince Peroz III (636–679) fled to Tang China following the conquest of Persia by the growing Islamic caliphate. Other Byzantine embassies in Tang China are recorded as arriving in 711, 719, and 742. From Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas (Mie li sha ling kai sa 滅力沙靈改撒) of "Fu lin" dispatched a diplomatic mission to China's Song dynasty that arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song.


text: Like his predecessors, the wars with the Saracens continued relatively unabated. Before becoming Emperor, Constantine IV was the administrator of his father's lands for the eastern portions of the Empire, what few territories they were. They became fewer still when the Arabs began taking one Imperial Byzantine city after another along the coast of Ionia. Finally in 672, Muawiya the Caliph captured the peninsula of Cyzicus, only from Constantinople. The scene was all too depressingly familiar — the capital was under threat and the odds were not favorable to the defenders — the Arabs had brought with them heavy siege weapons and began the siege of Constantinople in 674. Despite this, Constantinople was simply too much for the Arabs — where else before disunity, sheer bad luck or skill & zeal had given the warriors of Islam victory, now it was the defenders of the capital who, armed with Greek fire repelled every Arab assault. Finally in 678, after suffering massive casualties, the Saracens withdrew and Muawiya accepted an offer of peace. By 680, Muawiya was dead and Constantine IV, now at the height of his popularity, had managed to defeat the Arabs, both at land in Lycia and at sea.


text: With the Saracen threat averted, the Byzantines turned their attention to the west, where the Bulgars were encroaching on Imperial territory. In 680, Constantine IV launched a naval expedition to drive them back — the expedition failed and the Bulgars grew even bolder. Unable to stop them by force, Constantine settled for a humiliating, but not disastrous treaty whereby "protection" money had to be paid to the Bulgar King. The greatest implication of this treaty was that Byzantium would no longer have to worry about the Bulgars for the rest of Constantine's reign.


text: Constantine IV was determined to solve the problem of the monotheletism/chalcedon controversy once and for all. Calling forth representatives from all corners of Christendom to discuss the matter at hand, they debated until in 681 when Constantine IV, who had presided over much of the meetings, endorsed the virtually unanimous findings. Four years later in 685, Constantine IV died. His death at thirty three years robbed Byzantium of a good Emperor who had defeated her enemies from within as well as without.


text: Constantine's wife Anastasia had given him a son, Justinian. As it would turn out, his name would dictate his foreign policy in an attempt to emulate Justinian I's conquest of the West — a risky move considering what few resources the Empire had to defend herself.


text: The beginning of Justinian's reign continued the successes his father had enjoyed against the Arab invaders. Campaigning into Armenia, Georgia and even Syria, he was able to enforce a renewal of a peace treaty signed by his father and the Caliph. With the wars in the east favorably concluded, Justinian II turned his attention to the west where he sent an expedition against the Slavs between 688 and 689. His success in the west was crowned with a triumphant entry into Thessalonika, the second city of the Empire.


text: Following these victories, Justinian set about attempting to increase the Opsikion Theme by bringing in some 250,000 settlers of Slavic origin into Asia Minor. The benefit of the move was twofold — in addition to opening up more agricultural land, there would also have been an increase in the population and a larger number of Thematic militia troops could be raised — allowing the Empire to wage war with more. Furthermore, the increase in the lower classes shifted the balance of power from the aristocracy to the class of well-off peasants. These self-sufficient peasants, who owned their own land formed the backbone of the Thematic armies. Under such circumstances the power of the Empire and the Emperor increased simultaneously. Since pre-Imperial times the Plebeians looked towards a military champion to combat the rule of the aristocracy, thus the Plebs supported a strong emperor.


text: In 691, war with the Arabs resumed and Justinian began increasing taxes in order to finance the conflict. However, in the face of these extortionate requisitions some 20,000 Slavic soldiers deserted to the Arabs — with them went Armenia to the enemy. Enraged, Justinian ordered the extermination of all Slavs in Bithynia — countless men, women and children were put to the sword in rage.


text: Justinian then turned his attention to religious matters, which had been quieted down by the efforts of his father. When he called another council to wrap up loose ends from the previous (fifth and sixth - thus called Quinisext Council) ecumenical councils, trivial and strict proposals were laid out including excommunication for "crimes" ranging from provocative or seductive hair curling, the mention of the pagan gods (especially Bacchus during the grape harvest), the selling of charms, dealing with fortune tellers and even dancing. Hermits were forbidden from talking with townsfolk or presenting themselves in a particular manner. To make matters worse, no representatives were summoned from Rome so when Pope Sergius I was asked to approve of 102 canons he not only refused but managed to use the militias of Rome and Ravenna against the Exarch Zacharias. The clemency of the pope allowed the Exarch of Ravenna to escape with his life.


text: Upon hearing of this, Justinian is said to have gone into another one of his rages. He was already unpopular at the young age of 23. His heavy handedness in extracting the tax money from the peasants and the rich made him deeply resented, especially with his use of torture, which included the use of fire and whips. It was therefore to no one's surprise (though to many a Byzantine's delight) that rebellion came from the ranks of the aristocracy. The revolt found a leader in a professional but disgraced soldier, Leontius.


text: Leontius was in prison when a monk once told him that he would one day wear the Imperial diadem. Such talk was not only dangerous for the monk (who if discovered would have been blinded and exiled for treason) but also dangerous for the man whose ears received — and preyed upon Leontius' mind until in 695 (after being released) he immediately began a relatively unplanned coup. Fortunately for him many of his comrades had also been imprisoned (suggesting that perhaps his entire unit may well have been disgraced) so when he marched upon his former prison to release the inmates, many declared their support for him.


text: Marching on to the Hagia Sophia, he was fortunate enough to find the support of the Patriarch Callinicus I — whose recent insults to the incumbent Emperor left him in fear of his life and with little choice.


text: With the support of the fanatical Hippodrome Blue team, Leontius and his men overthrew Justinian II, cutting his nose off in the oriental process of "rhinokopia" and declaring himself as "Basileus".


text: Leontius' rule was both brief and a miserable failure. The armies of Islam were once more on the march and this time the Exarch of Carthage was in serious trouble. Earlier defeats had established Arab supremacy in the region. Leontius, despite his military background, had an unsuccessful expedition sent to Carthage. Rather than report their loss and face the inevitable wrath of the Emperor, the defeated troops decided to name one of their own as "Basileus" (a German called Apsimar) and with the support of the Hippodrome Green team (a serious rival of the Blue team that promoted Leontius to the Imperial throne) established Apsimar as "Basileus" Tiberius III.


text: Tiberius' rule was equally short but slightly more impressive for his successful campaigning against the Saracens — indeed it seems that his Germanic heritage had given him the same appetite for war that had allowed many of his "barbarian" kind to conquer the Western Empire, with his troops reaching into Armenia and even Muslim-held Syria. But by that time in 705, he was overthrown by military force. Justinian, who for ten years was in exile, returned. The Byzantine population could not have asked for a worse overthrow.


text: After having been deposed by Leontius, Justinian escaped to the Khagan of the Khazars who welcomed him and even gave his sister as a wife to him. Renaming his wife Theodora he settled at Phanagoria at the entrance to the Sea of Azov where they could keep an eye on Imperial events. Justinian was forced to act when in 704 word reached that he was wanted dead or alive for a handsome reward. Such rumors were confirmed when a band of soldiers arrived at his location. Realizing that his life was in danger, he invited two of the officers (whom he suspected as the assassins) to his house and murdered them. Leaving his wife in the safety of her brother, he fled to Bulgaria, Byzantium's chief opponent in the West. There he secured a pact with the Bulgar King Tervel granting him the title of Caesar if he aided him in regaining the throne of Byzantium.


text: In the spring of 705, Constantinople found herself surrounded by yet another army of Slavs and Bulgars, led by Justinian. After three days of scouting his men found an abandoned conduit running across the walls and managed to slip inside. There he surprised the sleeping guards at the Palace of Blachernae. Within moments, the building was his and Tiberius fled to Bithynia whilst the citizens of the capital surrendered — the alternative would have been a savage sack that in the mind of the vengeful Justinian, was what it needed. The following day, Justinian was given the title of Caesar and a purple robe.


text: With his coup successful, Justinian II set about bringing his wife back and settling the numerous scores he had with his disloyal subjects. Tiberius and his predecessor Leontius were both executed the previous day after a humiliating pelting at the Hippodrome. Next the Patriarch Callinicus, whose offence had led to his hasty support of Leontius and the crowning of both of Justinian's successors led to his blinding and exile to Rome. After that Justinian set about killing Tiberius' brother, Heraclius who was perhaps the best general in the Empire. With him and his staff of officers dead, Byzantium's neighbours lost no time in exploiting the weakened army — suffering major defeats against the barbarian tribes near the mouth of the Danube and losing the vital stronghold of Tyana in Cappadocia.


text: Bent upon making others suffer as he had, Justinian had an expedition sent against the Exarchate of Ravenna, for reasons which elude historians today — though sheer madness cannot be ruled out. Upon arriving there the expedition led by Theodore sacked the city whilst his men deceptively invited the officials to a banquet where they were seized and sent to Constantinople. Upon arrival they were met by Justinian, who had them all executed except the Archbishop, who nonetheless suffered a blinding and the usual exile — not being able to return until Justinian was in his grave. It was this execution that led to Ravenna being looted by Theodore and his men.


text: In Rome however the mood was calmed by the Pope Constantine the Syrian. Relations between the Pope and the Emperor had greatly improved — with the Emperor kissing the Pope's feet and sending an impressive delegation before him to meet the Pope (consisting of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Justinian's son and co-emperor). Arriving at Constantinople in 711 he came to an accord with Justinian finally approving half of the 102 canons still outstanding from the Quinisext Council (dealing with the trivial matters he addressed before his exile) and agreeing to drop the other, perhaps less important canons. Satisfied he allowed the Pope a safe journey to Rome.


text: Justinian then targeted his former place of exile in the Crimea. There his brother-in-law, the Khagan, had infringed on Imperial territory by establishing a Khazar governor of his own to run Cherson. Upon arriving there, the expedition set about doing its work — countless citizens were drowned (apparently with weights attached) and seven were roasted alive. The "Tudun", the governor appointed by the Khagan was sent to Constantinople with 30 others. However, a storm destroyed his army and his fleet when he ordered it to return. Justinian is said to have greeted the news with great laughter. Another fleet was sent but the arrival of the Khagan's army made Justinian reconsider his move to a more diplomatic one. He decided to send the "Tudun" back to the Khagan with his apologies and had George of Syria to present the Imperial apology. The citizens of Cherson were naturally in no mood to hear any apology after what Justinian had done. When the Tudun died along the way, the Khazars took it upon themselves to send his 300-strong escort to the afterlife with him.


text: After the fiasco of the Cherson expedition, the citizens there proclaimed a new man, Bardanes (an exiled General) the "Basileus" of Byzantium. Justinian was enraged at these turn of events. Once more he began redirecting resources to another expedition under the Patriarch Maurus against Cherson, resources that could have been better spent against the Arabs or the Bulgars. The Khazars appeared at the scene preventing the expedition from destroying no more than two defense towers before being obliged to make terms. The Patriarch realized that returning to the capital in defeat would undoubtedly lead to a violent retirement at the hands of Justinian. Therefore, in a similar case to Leontius and Tiberius' usurpation, he defected and, with the army and navy under his command, declared his support for the renegade Bardanes, who changed his name to Philippicus.


text: As Philippicus headed for the Capital Justinian was making his way to Armenia, a warzone between the Byzantines and Arabs. He reached as far as Nicomedia when attempting to turn back, he was caught at the twelfth mile stone of the Capital and executed on the spot. Philippicus had arrived before he could and was greeted with open arms at the capital.


text: Theodora, the Khazar wife of Justinian II escaped to a nearby monastery with her son and former co-emperor Tiberius. The young boy was holding on to the True Cross when a soldier entered and forced his hand from it. It is said that the soldier then laid the Cross with great respect on the altar. Following this rather pious act, he then dragged the boy outside and beneath the porch of a nearby church, butchered the line of Heraclius into extinction forever.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: Konstantinos Mavropanos (; born 11 December 1997) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart and the Greece national team.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: Born in Athens, Mavropanos began his career with the youth side at Apollon Smyrnis, where he stayed for eight years. He then joined Super League side PAS Giannina in January 2016, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. Mavropanos made his competitive debut for PAS Giannina in the Greek Cup on 29 November 2016. He started and played the full match as PAS Giannina won 1–0.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: Mavropanos made his league debut for PAS Giannina on 5 April 2017 against Veria. He started and played 57 minutes as PAS Giannina lost 3–0. He scored his first goal for the club on 19 August 2017 during the first league match of the season against Asteras Tripolis. His 19th-minute goal would be the winner in a 2–1 victory. Mavropanos was then voted man of the match in PAS Giannina's draw against ΑΕΚ Athens a week later on 27 August.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: On 4 January 2018, Mavropanos signed for Premier League side Arsenal for a reported fee of €2.1 million. On 15 January, Mavropanos helped the Arsenal U-23 team beat Manchester United's reserves 4–0 at home, playing the entire 90 minutes. On 2 February, Mavropanos was added to the Europa League squad for the knockout phase. On 29 April, Mavropanos made his Premier League debut in a 2–1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford. His performance was praised by both fans and pundits. He made his home debut in the club's next match against Burnley. That match was also the final home game under manager Arsène Wenger, with Mavropanos keeping his first clean sheet as the team won 5–0.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: He also played in the following game away against Leicester City, but was sent off after 15 minutes to conclude his first season at Arsenal.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: At the beginning of October 2018, Mavropanos suffered a groin injury and was ruled out until mid-December. On 15 January 2019, he returned to competitive action after nearly four months, playing 70 minutes of the U23s' 5–1 win over Manchester City. On 3 February 2019, he made his 2018–19 season debut as a substitute for Shkodran Mustafi in a 3–1 away loss against champions Manchester City. On 12 May 2019, on the last matchday of the season, Mavropanos was partnered with Shkodran Mustafi at centre-back, but was replaced by Laurent Koscielny after half an hour due to injury in a 3–1 away win against Burnley.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: On 13 January 2020, after struggling for match time at Arsenal, Mavropanos moved to 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season, and the Greek international picked up momentum in the heart of the Nuremberg defence with three stellar performances in a row. He won consecutive Man of the Match awards in his second and third game for the club, before making a key goalline clearance in his fourth. On 25 February 2020, Mavropanos picked up an injury playing against Darmstadt 98; the club was unsure of how long he would be absent.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: On 16 July 2020, Mavropanos signed a new deal with Arsenal and joined VfB Stuttgart on a €250.000 loan for the 2020–21 season. At Stuttgart he was reunited with Sven Mislintat who had originally scouted and signed the player for Arsenal. On 3 October 2020, Mavropanos made his competitive debut for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga against Bayer Leverkusen; the game ended in a 1–1 draw. On 15 October 2020, Mavropanos suffered an injury during a friendly with SC Freiburg and underwent an operation on his meniscus.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: On 24 June 2021, his loan deal was extended for a second season, with an option to make the loan permanent with a purchase option of €3.5 million at the end of the season. On 7 August 2021, a week before hosting Greuther Fürth for the Bundesliga premiere, Mavropanos scored a header from a corner kick against BFC Dynamo as he started the first round of the DFB-Pokal.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: On 28 August 2021, Mavropanos scored his first Bundesliga goal as he battled his way through three defenders before exchanging passes with Hamadi Al Ghaddioui and sent a fine finish into the top corner in a home Bundesliga game against SC Freiburg. On 2 October 2021, with an hour played, Konstantinos Mavropanos collected the ball on the right, burst through the Hoffenheim defence, and unleashed a fierce left-footed drive to double Stuttgart's advantage in a 3–1 home Bundesliga win. On 16 October 2021, the Greek central defender opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a shot from 30 meters and against the flow of the match, eventually sealing a 1–1 away draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach. On 11 December 2021, he opened the score with a tremendous kick in a vital away 2–0 win against VfL Wolfsburg in the club effort to avoid relegation. This was the fourth goal of the season for the defender.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: After the German club avoided relegation in May 2022, a purchase option for Mavropanos with a contract until June 2025 at Stuttgart was triggered.


title: Konstantinos Mavropanos

text: On 24 March 2021, Mavropanos was called up to the Greek senior team by coach John van 't Schip for the forthcoming World Cup 2022 qualifiers against Spain and Georgia. On 28 March 2021, he made his debut with the national team as a substitute in a friendly against Honduras.


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: Lady May Helen Emma Abel Smith (formerly Lady May Cambridge, née Princess May of Teck; 23 January 1906 – 29 May 1994) was a relative of the British royal family. She was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a niece of Queen Mary. She led a private life in Britain. From 1958 until 1966, she lived in Brisbane, while her husband, Sir Henry Abel Smith, served as the governor of Queensland.


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: She was born as Her Serene Highness Princess May Helen Emma of Teck at Claremont House, near Esher in Surrey, England. Her parents were Prince Alexander of Teck, great-grandson of King George III, and the former Princess Alice of Albany, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was named May after her paternal aunt Princess Mary of Teck who was married to King George V, Helen after her maternal grandmother Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany and Emma after her maternal great-aunt Queen Emma of the Netherlands. During the First World War, anti-German feeling led her family to abandon their German titles. Princess May of Teck thus became known as Lady May Cambridge, after her father assumed the last name Cambridge and was granted the Earldom of Athlone.


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: Lady May served as a bridesmaid in 1919 to Princess Patricia of Connaught; in 1922 to her first cousin Princess Mary; and in 1923 to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage to Mary's brother the Duke of York (later King George VI).


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: Lady May married Sir Henry Abel Smith, member of the rich Smith family, on 24 October 1931 in Balcombe, Sussex, close to the Athlone residence at Brantridge Park. One of the bridesmaids,


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: Princess Ingrid of Sweden, introduced her brother Prince Gustaf Adolf to his future wife, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was also a bridesmaid. Elizabeth II attended her wedding as a bridesmaid at the age of 5.


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: Lady May, being only a distant relative of the royal family, did not carry out any royal duties. She attended some major royal events such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer. Between 1958 and 1966, Sir Henry Abel Smith served as the governor of Queensland. Lady May accompanied him to Brisbane as vice-regal consort. They retired in 1975 to Barton Lodge at Winkfield in Berkshire, England.


title: Lady May Abel Smith

text: Lady May died in hospital one year after her husband. They are both buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, not far from Windsor Castle. Her funeral was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, on 9 June 1994. It was attended by the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra, representing the royal family.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: Fleishman Is in Trouble is a 2019 novel by American writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner. The debut novel was published on 18 June 2019 by Penguin Random House. It tells the story of a Manhattan couple undergoing a bitter divorce. Brodesser-Akner also wrote the screenplay for a TV series based on the novel, which was released on Hulu in 2022.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: Brodesser-Akner was working as a staff writer at "The New York Times" during the writing of the novel. Its narrative style mirrors that of her celebrity profiles, by having the titular character's troubles presented through the eyes and ears of an intermediary, who has been seen as a stand-in for the author herself. She has stated that having the male as the center of the plot was a conscious decision so as to look at male sexuality from an outside perspective. The book has drawn comparisons to Philip Roth and John Updike, albeit from a feminist perspective. Brodesser-Akner has acknowledged the influence of those authors on her writing.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: Toby, a 41-year-old hepatologist, is undergoing a bitter divorce from his wife Rachel, a successful talent agent in New York. One day, she drops off their children, 11-year-old Hannah and 9-year-old Solly, at Toby's house while he is still sleeping and takes off. She does not respond to texts or calls from him for the following weeks. The story, narrated by Toby's college friend Libby (a former writer for a men's magazine), follows their lives over this period and the events that led to the breakdown of their 14-year-marriage, as well as reflections of Libby's own life.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: "Fleishman Is in Trouble" deals with the themes of gender roles, marriage and divorce, online dating, midlife crises, and class anxiety. The novel mocks the affluent Manhattan professional class and its pretensions while embracing their anxieties, especially those relating to marriage and gender. An underlying theme of the book is the relegation of women to the background in a male-centric society. At one point in the book, the narrator says that "the only way to get someone to listen to a woman [is] to tell her story through a man", which is what the book in itself does. The novel also deals with the nature of marriage and relationships, in particular the strain that arises in marriages in which the wife is the primary breadwinner. It has been seen as a larger commentary on marriage in modern America and the way in which it appears to strip people of their identities and force them into routines. Brodesser-Akner also parodies the app-based dating culture, from grammatically poor sexts to the names of dating apps (such as Hr, Choose, Forage and Reach). In particular, the novel focuses on the generation that got married before the advent of dating apps and who, upon divorcing, had to adjust to new dating practices.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: In March 2021, FX ordered a limited series of the novel. It is set to star Jesse Eisenberg as the title character and Claire Danes as his ex-wife. Lizzy Caplan and Adam Brody play Fleishman's best friends. Brodesser-Akner adapted her novel for the small screen, and it premieres on Hulu on November 22, 2022.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: The book received mostly positive reviews from critics. "The Guardian" called it "an honest, powerful, human story with no apologies", while "The Rolling Stone" praised its "unsparing yet sympathetic depiction of the way we live now". "The Washington Post" opined that the novel "slices through the demeaning rules of the patriarchy just as effectively as she slays the fatuous optimism of that 'girl-power' propaganda fed to modern girls".


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble

text: The BBC praised its "enjoyable satirical touch", but found it "laborious to read and ultimately not very interesting". "The Harvard Crimson" panned its writing as "lazy" and further said that the book "rarely [shows] more than the various characters' selfish desires to run away from the lives they've willingly signed up for". Similarly, Kay S. Hymowitz also criticized the characterization in the book, commenting: "What's telling about our current cultural moment is that Rachel's shallow, snobbish status obsessions didn't attract any attention from the book's many reviewers; it's as if those obsessions are so obviously acceptable that they don't notice their corrupting effect. Instead, they endorsed the novel's supposed depiction of 'the impossible pressures that talented women endure'."


title: Ghosteen

text: Ghosteen is the seventeenth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 4 October 2019 on Ghosteen Ltd and on 8 November 2019 on Bad Seed Ltd, both the band's own imprints. "Ghosteen" is a double album—the band's first since "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus" (2004)—and the final part of a trilogy of albums that includes "Push the Sky Away" (2013) and "Skeleton Tree" (2016).


title: Ghosteen

text: Produced by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, "Ghosteen" was written in the aftermath of the death of Cave's son Arthur in 2015. It was recorded primarily in Malibu and West Hollywood, California in the United States, with further sessions in Germany and England. Cave's lyrics, which continue his deviation from his usual narrative-based writing, explore themes of loss, death and existentialism, as well as empathy, faith and optimism. Like "Skeleton Tree", the album features extensive use of synthesizers, loops and ambient elements, particularly the minimal use of drums and percussion.


title: Ghosteen

text: Upon its release "Ghosteen" was met with widespread critical acclaim. It received several perfect scores and is the highest-rated album of 2019—as well as the second-highest-rated album of the 2010s—on Metacritic. The album placed in the top 10 album charts in several countries and was included in several publications' year-end and decade-end lists of best albums. Both European and North American tours in support for "Ghosteen" were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all shows rescheduled to later dates in 2021.


title: Ghosteen

text: In July 2015, during the recording sessions for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' sixteenth studio album "Skeleton Tree" (2016), Nick Caves 15-year-old son Arthur died after falling from the Ovingdean Gap near Brighton, England. "Skeleton Tree" and the related documentary film "One More Time with Feeling" were released the following year; "Skeleton Tree"s lyrical themes and its "bleak and disturbing" sound led to misconceptions that the album was entirely about Arthur's death. The majority of the songs on the album, however, were written prior to his death, with Cave only improvising and amending subsequent lyrics during the album's final sessions.


title: Ghosteen

text: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds returned to live performances in January 2017 and four months later released the compilation album "" (2017), which was originally due for release in 2015. In April 2018, Cave began a series of initially limited question-and-answer events called "Conversations with Nick Cave", in which he explored the relationship with his audience; Cave's efforts in engaging directly with his fans continued in September 2018 when he began a blog, "The Red Hand Files", with a similar concept where fans send in questions. In the same month, keyboardist Conway Savage—a member of the band since 1990—died of a brain tumor, which he had been diagnosed with a year earlier; "Ghosteen" was ultimately dedicated to Savage however Nick Cave discussed that the title of the album and lyrical imagery used is based on a metaphysical conversations with Arthur. In the weeks after his death, the band released the extended play "" (2018) and premiered a full-length concert film of the same name.


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" was recorded in various locations in the United States, England and Germany between early 2018 and early 2019, with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis heading production. Initial "improv" sessions began at Retreat Studios in Brighton, England in spring 2018, with a minimal setup of Cave on piano and Ellis on a Yamaha Reface DX synthesizer "sketch[ing] out pieces of music" together; the sessions lasted approximately a week.


title: Ghosteen

text: Ellis selected 20 tracks from the Retreat sessions to continue recording at Woodshed Recording Studios in Malibu and NightBird Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California in the US some months later. The Woodshed sessions—during which most of the album was recorded— were held in a single room "surrounded by an Eden-like garden." Cave and Ellis lodged in the house attached to Woodshed for the duration of the sessions, which was subsequently destroyed by the 2019 California wildfires.


title: Ghosteen

text: Further sessions were held at Candy Bomber Studio in Berlin, Germany and at Air Studios in London, England. The Air sessions featured the recording of a string ensemble with orchestrator Ben Foster. By January 2019, Cave said he and the Bad Seeds had "nearly finished a new record". "Ghosteen" was subsequently mixed by Cave, Ellis, Lance Powell and Andrew Dominik at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California and mastered by Chris Gehringer.


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" is a double album—Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' first since "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus" (2004)—and contains 11 tracks. The first part of the album features eight songs, which Nick Cave describes as "the children"; the second part of the album contains two longer songs and a spoken-word track, which he describes as "their parents". In summarising "Ghosteen", Cave referred to the album both as "a migrating spirit" and the final part of a trilogy of albums the band began with "Push the Sky Away" (2013), which also includes "Skeleton Tree".


title: Ghosteen

text: Cave began writing lyrics for the songs on "Ghosteen" in February 2017, when a series of images he visualised while in Oslo, Norway became the basis for a later verse in the song "Hollywood". According to Cave, "within this sudden vision the whole of the album presented itself". Cave, who had "very deliberately" not written since the end of 2015 when amending the lyrics for "Skeleton Tree", attributed a "new sort of lyrical confidence" to a subsequent process of "enforced shutdown", where he would "confine [him]self to barracks for a while". The album's lyrics were written at Cave's home in Brighton, a change from his usual "disciplined" routine of writing lyrics in a private office. The change in environment and routine led to Cave "amassing a stockpile of lines and thoughts, images and ideas" instead of writing songs in a more traditional manner.


title: Ghosteen

text: As with the lyrics on "Skeleton Tree", Cave abandoned the narrative-based approach he was known for, as he believed it to be "restrictive". Explaining his new approach to writing, Cave said: "The idea that we live life in a straight line, like a story, seems to me to be increasingly absurd and, more than anything, a kind of intellectual convenience … There is a pure heart, but all around it is chaos." In the first-ever issue of "The Red Hand Files", Cave elaborated that he found an authentic "way to write beyond the trauma … that deals with all manner of issues but does not turn its back on the issue of the death of my child". He said this new-found method allowed him to write "beyond the personal into a state of wonder. In doing so the colour came back to things with a renewed intensity and the world seemed clear and bright and new."


title: Ghosteen

text: Several publications described "Ghosteen"s lyrics as dealing with themes of loss, death, grief, and existentialism, but also noted positive themes such as empathy, faith and optimism. Several lyrical motifs and phrases are repeated and referenced throughout different songs, as well as recurring imagery of nature, the elements and Christianity. In addition to Cave's Christian imagery, the lyrics for the closing track "Hollywood" reference the story of Kisa Gotami, a Buddhist "arhat" who seeks help from the Buddha after the death of her child and discovers that "no one is untouched by loss." Cave himself later commented on the inclusion of the Kisa story, saying it "had been of great significance and comfort to me for years and at some point I jotted it down in verse form, completely independent of anything else, and with no intention of it being a song."


title: Ghosteen

text: Described by "Pitchfork" as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "most musically esoteric record", "Ghosteen" is an ambient and electronic music album. Like "Skeleton Tree", it features extensive use of analogue synthesizers, sparse piano, choral harmonies and drones. Orchestral strings are also a prominent feature of the album; the strings were arranged by conductor Ben Foster, with assistance from Sam Thompson. A five-piece string ensemble—featuring two violins, viola, cello and double bass—are featured in addition to Warren Ellis' violin. Other instrumentation on the album includes several woodwinds, gamelan chimes, an ondes Martenot and tablas.


title: Ghosteen

text: Several critics emphasised "Ghosteen"s infrequent use of Thomas Wydlers drums and Jim Sclavunos percussion in contrast to the band's previous albums. Wydler had recorded drum tracks for several songs, but Cave felt "the drums anchored the songs to the ground and didn't allow them to float". Most of Wydler's tracks were subsequently removed from the final mix, a decision that Cave said was "not made lightly or on a whim, rather it was a tough artistic decision determined by the needs of the songs themselves."


title: Ghosteen

text: All of the music on "Ghosteen" was composed together by Cave and Ellis. Describing their writing process as "something chemical", Andrew Dominik—who co-mixed the album and who was present at the Woodshed sessions in 2018—said that "Nick is more into formal ideas of structure and whether or not a piece of music sounds good. Warren doesn't give a fuck about anything except how a piece of music feels. Nick doesn't really let his control go, but working with somebody like Warren allows him to move … They react to each other." "Hollywood" was based around a loop and "circular synth chords" that were originally composed by Ellis, which Cave further improvised on top of. The original "Hollywood" jam was significantly longer and only the final 15 minutes were edited for use as the album version, as Cave considered the track mostly "unusable" apart from the final "mysterious and compelling" section.


title: Ghosteen

text: Cave—usually known for his "stiff baritone"— sings on several tracks in a "falsetto" vocal register, which has been noted for its "quavering, trembling" and "tremulous" quality.


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen"s title is a combination of the word "ghost" and the Irish-language suffix ""ín"" (anglicised as "een"), which translates to English as "little", "small" or "benevolent". Cave took the title from a book about Irish tinkers, in which the author believes his crying child has been possessed by a ghost. However, the title has often been misinterpreted as a portmanteau of "ghost" and "teen".


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen"s sleeve was designed by Cave and Hingston Studio, an independent creative agency based in London which had designed several previous Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' releases. The album's front cover art features an edited version of "The Breath of Life", a 2001 painting by the artist Tom duBois from his "Eden" series. It depicts the biblical Garden of Eden, with various wildlife and colourful scenery. "Creative Review"s Rachael Steven commented that "in an era of … record sleeves with dark and dystopian themes, the image stands out for its radiant optimism", while "The Observer"s Kitty Empire described the artwork as a "kitsch paradise" that signified "a radical change of emotional landscape" for the band. The album's inner sleeve features photographs of Cave and Warren Ellis shot by Matthew Thorne.


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" was released on 4 October 2019 on streaming services and as a digital download on Ghosteen Ltd. Double CD and LP editions were released a month later on 8 November on Bad Seed Ltd; both Ghosteen and Bad Seed are the band's own imprints. The album was announced by Nick Cave in response to a fan question on "The Red Hand Files", on 23 September. The title, track listing and brief descriptions of the album's songs were revealed; a second follow-up post the same day included the album's cover art. The lyrics to "Fireflies", "Ghosteen"s penultimate track, had previously been published in the first-ever issue of "The Red Hand Files" a year prior.


title: Ghosteen

text: Several album-listening events were held in 33 cities in Australia, Europe and the US on 3 October, alongside a worldwide YouTube stream featuring an animated lyric film directed by Tom Hingston. The film, which was later released as separate parts per song, features "a kaleidoscopic backdrop that shift[s] in colour and texture as the viewer passe[s] through the sequence – each vista making subtle reference to the theme behind the individual song."


title: Ghosteen

text: In support of "Ghosteen", Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds announced a 33-date European and UK tour, due to begin on 19 April 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal and conclude on 17 June in Tel Aviv, Israel. An 18-date North American tour, beginning on 16 September in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US and concluding on 17 October in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was also later announced. A month prior to its commencement, it was announced that the European and UK tour was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all shows rescheduled to later dates in 2021; three months later the North American tour was also cancelled. In lieu of the cancelled shows, Cave recorded a solo performance that June at Alexandra Palaces West Hall in London, which featured songs from "Ghosteen". The full performance was streamed globally as a concert film, "Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace", on 23 July. An extended version of the film, featuring four songs omitted from the original stream, was released in cinemas worldwide on 5 November, followed by double CD and LP, download and streaming releases on 22 November. Songs from "Ghosteen" were first performed by Cave and Ellis with singers and a string quartet in the documentary film "This Much I Know to Be True", directed by Andrew Dominik and released in 2022. The documentary was filmed in spring 2021 before Cave and Ellis's UK tour.


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 96, based on 28 reviews, making it the highest-scoring album of 2019. Writing for "The Guardian", Alexis Petridis summarised that "Ghosteen" featured "the most beautiful songs [Cave] has ever recorded" and awarded it a full five-out-of-five-star rating. Petridis considered the album to be "an infinitely warmer, sweeter sibling" to "Skeleton Tree", noting that "it continues and extends the weightless, drifting style of its two predecessors." In another five-star review for "NME", Elizabeth Aubrey said "if "Skeleton Tree" gave a glimpse into grief in its immediate aftermath, "Ghosteen" is a grief considered", drawing comparisons between Cave's lyrics and C. S. Lewis "A Grief Observed" (1960), in that the album "feels like the trying-to-make-sense stage of grief, even when there's often no sense to be found." Aubrey praised "Ghosteen" as "a work of extraordinary, unsettling scope", calling it the Bad Seeds' most beautiful album "and also one of the most singularly devastating."


title: Ghosteen

text: "The Independent" reviewer Helen Brown called "Ghosteen" "astonishing" in a five-out-of-five-star review, praising in particular Cave's vocals and lyrics and Warren Ellis' use of analogue synthesizers, which she described as "a warm cloud of ambient solace". "Clash" reviewer Josh Gray awarded "Ghosteen" a nine-out-of-ten rating, calling the album "another chapter in Cave's captivating quest for meaningful connection in a world where we so often feel disconnected", and surmising that "Ghosteen" is "not a blissful or comfortable album, but it is a hopeful one … another open letter straight from artist to audience that cuts right to the core of what means to have loved, lost and loved again." "The A.V. Club"s Marty Sartini Garner gave the album an A rating, praising its instrumentation, the otherworldly and spiritual quality of Cave's lyrics and its surprising accessibility.


title: Ghosteen

text: In a full five-star review for "The Observer", Kitty Empire praised the "subtle evolutions in mood and instrumentation" in the band's sound on "Ghosteen", which she said "come to peaks that are made all the more stunning by their scarcity." Empire drew comparisons to "the gravitas" of Leonard Cohen and the "hoarse, harsh beauty" of Scott Walkers final releases. "Pitchfork" rated the album 8.8 out of 10, with reviewer Grayson Haver Currin calling it "sublime" and saying it "may be the most poignant album of [Cave's] storied career." Currin further praised "Ghosteen"s lyrical balance between abstract fantasies and the reality of grief, concluding that "you don’t need to be an expert in Cave's wider cosmology to be swept inside of "Ghosteen" … You only need the ability to suffer and the desire to survive." Writing in "Hot Press", Pat Carty stated that "Ghosteen" features "an artist laying himself bare" and called it "art as bleak as it is beautiful, and one can only hope it offers some sort of catharsis – some modicum of relief – to its creator."


title: Ghosteen

text: In a year-end essay for "Slate", Ann Powers cited "Ghosteen" as one of her favorite albums from 2019 and proof that but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis". She added that concept albums had reemerged through the culturally relevant autobiographical narratives of artists such as Cave, who "offered a grand tour of his own haunted house of mourning four years after the accidental death of his son".


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" placed in the top ten of several international album charts, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It peaked at number one in Belgium on Flanders Ultratop albums chart, in Portugal on the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP) albums chart, as well as multiple UK charts, including the Independent Albums and Vinyl Albums charts.


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" was the best-selling LP in the UK in its first week of physical release, with 15,135 copies sold. It previously sold 6,396 copies in the UK its first week of digital-only release. By the end of 2019, "Ghosteen" had sold 30,929 copies overall in the UK—with streams accounting for 12.5 per cent of sales—and was the twenty-sixth best-selling LP of the year. In January 2020 "Ghosteen" was certified Gold in Belgium, with 15,000 copies sold.


title: Ghosteen

text: At Metacritic, "Ghosteen" is the highest-rated album of 2019, the second highest-rated album of 2010s overall and the sixth highest-rated album of all time. It was ranked as the best album of 2019 by "Far Out", "Louder Than War", "Mojo", "musicOMH", "The Observer", "The Skinny" and "The Times". "Ghosteen" was further featured in the top ten of various publications' year-end lists, placing at number two in "The Line of Best Fit", "Treble" and "Uncut"; number three in the "Chicago Tribune", "Slant Magazine" and "Under the Radar"; number five in "Q"; number seven in "The A.V. Club", BrooklynVegan, "The Independent", "PopMatters" and "Stereogum"; number eight in "GQ" and "The Guardian"; and number ten by BBC 6 Music. In addition, "Ghosteen" was included in several publications' decade-end lists of best albums of the 2010s. The album was ranked at number 17 by "The Independent", number 28 by "Slant Magazine", number 50 by BrooklynVegan, number 65 by "Treble", number 72 by "Stereogum" and number 87 by "Rolling Stone".


title: Ghosteen

text: "Ghosteen" was nominated for Best Australian Album at the 2020 NME Awards, Best Independent Album at the 2020 Association of Independent Music (Aim) Independent Music Awards, Best Album at the 2020 Ivor Novello Awards, Best Independent Rock Album or EP at the 2020 Australian Independent Record Labels Association (Air) Awards and was shortlisted for the fifteenth annual Australian Music Prize.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: The 9.3×62mm (also known as 9.3×62mm Mauser) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge designed in 1905 by German gunmaker Otto Bock. It is suitable for hunting medium to large game animals in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. At a typical velocity of 720 m/s (2362 ft/s), its 286 gr (18.5 g) standard load balances recoil and power for effective use at up to about 250m (275 yds). The C.I.P. Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for the 9.3×62mm is .


title: 9.3×62mm

text: The 9.3×62mm was designed to fit into the Mauser 98 bolt-action rifle. European hunters and settlers in Africa often chose military rifles for their reliability and low cost, but colonial governments in Africa fearful of rebellions often banned military-caliber rifles and ammunition. The 9.3×62mm was never a military cartridge and so never had this problem. Like their military counterparts, Mauser rifles chambered in 9.3×62mm were relatively inexpensive and quite reliable. Because of these factors, 9.3x62mm quickly became popular, and usage of the cartridge became widespread.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: The 9.3×74mmR is a rimmed cartridge that evolved from the 9.3×72mmR black powder cartridge. The energy levels of the 9.3×62mm and 9.3×74mmR cartridges are similar, but the cartridges are unrelated. The rimmed cartridge is slightly longer than the 9.3x62mm, allowing for lower pressure in the case while retaining muzzle velocity and energy.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: The 9.3×62mm was first loaded with an bullet at a muzzle velocity of 655 m/s (2,150 ft/s). After World War I some companies increased the velocity to around 730 m/s (2,400 ft/s), and brought out lighter bullets. Rifles set up for the original load have their sights readjusted to shoot the newer load to point of aim. Adding to the confusion, loads at both velocities are still available. Several European firms load 9.3×62mm ammunition, including Lapua, Norma, RUAG Ammotec (RWS), SAKO, and Prvi Partizan (PPU) as well as Denel (PMP) of South Africa, and it is widely available in Africa.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: In England, Kynoch, the well-known cartridge manufacturer, produced ammunition, referring to the 9.3×62mm as "9.3mm Mauser". Typically it was loaded as "


title: 9.3×62mm

text: metal covered soft nose bullet", with the base marked simply"Kynoch 9.3 mm". This is no longer listed by them.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: In several European countries, the 9.3×62mm remains a popular cartridge for hunting game like moose and wild boar, and it is offered as a standard chambering in rifles from most makers there. The CZ-USA CZ 550 rifle in 9.3×62mm chambering became available in North America in 2002, and both rifle and cartridge are gaining a strong following there, as the cartridge has a slight power edge over the popular .35 Whelen cartridge. In the US, several ammunition makers including Federal, Hornady, Nosler, and Swift offer factory-loaded 9.3×62mm sporting ammunition. Since surplus Scandinavian and European Mausers were brought to Canada in 9.3 calibre in the early 1950s, Canadian hunters have used the 9.3×62mm cartridge to hunt large game including bison, all the deer species, and large bears. In recent years, CZ of Czech Republic, as well as SAKO and Tikka of Finland have imported many 9.3×62mm rifles to Canada and US where demand continues to be high.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: The 9.3×62mm is considered ideal for hunting the larger and tougher African game species, such as lions, leopards, gemsboks, elands, and wildebeests. Most hunters consider it a viable all-around cartridge comparable to .338 Winchester Magnum, 9.3×64mm Brenneke, and .375 H&H Magnum. The 9.3×62mm has taken cleanly every dangerous game species in Africa. Though it is of smaller bore than the legal minimum .375 calibre for dangerous game in most countries, many countries specifically make an exception for the 9.3×62mm. The 9.3×62mm is considered adequate for European and North American game animals that may become dangerous, such as feral hogs and bears.


title: 9.3×62mm

text: Sambar hunters in Australia are turning to the 9.3×62mm due to Federal Government's 1996 ban on self-loading rifles. Thousands of deer hunters at once needed bolt-action rifles which delivered one-shot knockdown power on Sambar, and the 9.3×62mm calibre has proven to be well up to that task.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She is a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open, both alongside Samantha Stosur. Zhang also finished runner-up at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships with Elise Mertens, and has reached four further major semifinals across women's and mixed doubles. She has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 2, achieved in July 2022, and has won 12 titles on the WTA Tour, including the 2021 Cincinnati Open with Stosur. Zhang has also qualified for the WTA Finals on two occasions.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She has also enjoyed success in singles, and reached her highest ranking of world No. 23 in November 2016. Zhang has won three WTA singles titles, at the Guangzhou International in 2013 and 2017, and the 2022 Lyon Open, and finished runner-up at three further tournaments. She has reached two major quarterfinals, at the 2016 Australian Open and 2019 Wimbledon Championships. Alongside Li Na, Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai, and Wang Qiang, Zhang is one of only five Chinese tennis players to have reached this stage at a Grand Slam. She has represented China in the Billie Jean King Cup since 2009, and also competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang, born in Tianjin, started playing tennis at the age of six, when her parents took her to a local tennis club.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She turned professional in 2003 and played her first singles event in Mollerusa in August of that year. After defeating Matilde Munoz-Gonzalves in the first qualifying round, she lost to Laura Figuerola-Foix. After a full year on the ITF Women's Circuit, Zhang finished 2004 with a year-end ranking of 901st.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She enjoyed considerable success in singles on ITF tournaments, having won one $50k event, eight $25k and three $10k events between 2006 and 2009. As of October 2009, however, she had won only two main-draw tournaments on the WTA Tour. However, she won her first singles title at the 2013 Guangzhou Open as a wildcard entrant.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang started her year at the Blossom Cup in Quanzhou. She defeated Nudnida Luangnam and Anna Floris in the first and second rounds, respectively, before falling to Tímea Babos in the quarterfinals. At the Australian Open, she had received a wildcard and was beaten by Aleksandra Wozniak in the first round, in straight sets. It was her seventh first-round loss in a major tournament.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: At the Monterrey Open, she lost to Gréta Arn in the first round. Next, Zhang went to Indian Wells to play at the Open where she was a qualifier. She lost to Simona Halep in the first round. At the French Open, she lost in the first round to Angelique Kerber.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang competed at the London Olympics tournament in the women's doubles with Li Na, reaching the second round.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Started the year as the top-seed at the ITF tournament Innisbrook Open in Florida on clay with a first-round loss to 468th ranked wildcard Asia Muhammad. Skipping the Australian Open and remaining in Florida for another ITF clay-court tournament, the $25k Tesoro Open in Port St. Lucie losing to 214th ranked and fourth seed Tadeja Majerič in the semifinal. In doubles, she and partner Sharon Fichman were seeded second and lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual winners, qualifiers Angelina Gabueva & Allie Will. Zhang entered three WTA Tour tournaments and played doubles with Janette Husárová: as the third seed in the qualifying draw, lost to 647th ranked Abigail Spears in the first round of the qualifier in the Qatar Open in Doha and lost to Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur in second round; lost to 61st ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round of qualifying in the Dubai Tennis Championships and lost to Julia Görges & Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the first round. and lost to 23rd and second seeded Hsieh Su-wei in the second round of the Malaysian Open and lost to second seeded team of Shuko Aoyama and Chang Kai-chen in an exciting final. Returning stateside losing to 131st ranked wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the qualifying final of the Miami Open, teaming up with Megan Moulton-Levy, lost in the second round to third seeded Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik. Zhang lost to Petra Rampre (No. 282) in the first qualifying round as the seventh seed in the Charleston Open. Zhang & Moulton-Levy were beaten in the semifinal by the top-seeded team of Andrea Hlaváčková & Liezel Huber. Playing as the fifth seed in the $25k Challenger in Pelham, Alabama, she lost to the 197th ranked Ashleigh Barty, in the second round. Playing in her first final as the eighth seed at the ITF Dothan, she lost to Ajla Tomljanović (No. 171). As the seventh seed at the ITF Charlottesville, she lost to 381st ranked wildcard Allie Will in the first round.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang entered the doubles tournament of the Madrid Open with Zheng Jie as the seventh seeded team, they lost in the first round to Kristina Mladenovic & Galina Voskoboeva. In Rome, she lost to the fifth-seeded Madison Keys (No. 60) at the Italian Open in the first qualifying round. Again partnering with Zheng, the eighth-seeded team lost to Dominika Cibulková & Monica Niculescu in the opening round. Zhang entered the French Open doubles with Zheng as the 13th seeds losing to the second-seeded team of Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the third round. She also entered the mixed-doubles tournament with Julian Knowle losing in the second round to the fifth-seeded team of Kristina Mladenovic & Daniel Nestor. She then played in the National Games of China in Dalian with team members Duan Yingying, Peng Shuai and Zheng Saisai representing Tianjin in the team competition winning the gold medal over Team Shanghai. Zhang entered Wimbledon doubles with Moulton-Levy losing to the 12th seeded team of Ashleigh Barty & Casey Dellacqua in the second round. She entered the mixed-doubles tournament once again with Knowle losing in the first round to Barty & John Peers. At the Beijing International Challenger, she, as the third seed, made her second final of the year beating the top-seed Misaki Doi. In the final, she defeated the fourth-seeded Zhou Yimiao winning her first title since 31 May 2010, at the Infond Open in Maribor. Zhang competed at the National Games of China in Dalian for the individual finals in the end of July. Playing as the third seed, she lost in the second round (after receiving a bye) to 728th ranked Zhang Kailin. In the doubles tournament, as the top seed with Peng, she won the gold medal in a walkover when the second team from Tianjin, Xu Yifan and Zheng Saisai withdrew because of Zheng's injury from her semifinal singles match.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang entered the Suzhou Open as the fourth seed, and lost to the unranked Zheng Saisai (No. 195) in the quarterfinal. At the Cincinnati Open doubles event, she lost with Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round to Vera Dushevina and Sílvia Soler Espinosa. Then, she entered the qualifying event at New Haven. After beating the 12th seeded Johanna Larsson in the first round, she lost to eventual qualifier Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the second round. Seeded fifth at the qualifying event for the US Open, she defeated Julie Coin in the first round but lost to CoCo Vandeweghe (No. 192) in second. She entered the doubles tournament with Yaroslava Shvedova losing to Alla Kudryavtseva & Anastasia Rodionova in the first round. At the ITF event in Sanya, China as the second seed, she lost to Zheng Saisai in straight sets in the first round. Zhang entered the Guangzhou International Open as a wildcard, winning her first WTA Tour singles title over qualifier Vania King (No. 124). She also entered the doubles tournament with Shvedova losing in the first round to the fourth-seeded team of Tímea Babos & Olga Govortsova. At the Ningbo International Open, she lost in the final round to the top seeded Bojana Jovanovski. She entered the doubles competition with Chan Yung-jan winning the title over the fourth-seeded team of Irina Buryachok & Oksana Kalashnikova. As a wildcard at the China Open in Beijing, she lost to tenth seed Roberta Vinci, in three sets in the second round. She received a wildcard in the doubles tournament with Shvedova, losing to Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie in the first round in three sets.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang played at the Japan Open in Osaka losing to the sixth seed Madison Keys in the second round. She entered the doubles tournament with Samantha Stosur losing in straight sets to the second seeded team of Kristina Mladenovic & Flavia Pennetta in the final. At the Nanjing Ladies Open, as the third seed, she won her third title of the year beating the fourth seed Ayumi Morita in match shortened by retirement after one set. Zhang also reached the final in doubles with Shvedova as the top-seeded team losing to the team of Misaki Doi & Xu Yifan in straight sets. She reached No. 51 as a career-high in singles on 4 November 2013. She entered the Taipei Open on carpet as the third seed, and lost in the first round to Katarzyna Piter (No. 122) retiring after first game in the second set being down a set. and played in the doubles competition with Kimiko Date-Krumm as the top-seeded team; they lost to the team of Misaki Doi & Hsieh Shu-ying in the first round, in three sets.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang started the season at the Shenzhen Open as the sixth seed losing to Chan Yung-jan in the first round, and played in the doubles tournament with Zheng Saisai as the top seeds, losing in the quarterfinal round to Monica Niculescu & Klára Zakopalová. Next, in the Hobart International, she lost to the seventh-seeded Zakopalová in the second round. She reached the doubles final with Lisa Raymond as the second seeded team losing again to Niculescu & Zakopalová in a match decided in the super tie-break. Zhang's winless streak in the Grand Slam tournaments reached nine as she had a disappointing opening-round loss to Mona Barthel in the Australian Open.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She also lost in first round with Kimiko Date-Krumm in doubles against the seventh-seeded team of Andrea Hlaváčková & Lucie Šafářová. She suffered another first-round lost to the wildcard and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Pattaya Open. After being three games from losing the doubles finals in the second, she and partner Peng Shuai as the fourth-seeded team rallied back to defeat the third-seeded Kudryavtseva & Rodionova in a thrilling match decided by a super tie-break. In early February, Zhang competed in the Fed Cup for China in Astana. Partnering with Liu Fangzhou, Zhang lost the deciding doubles match against Uzbekistan's Nigina Abduraimova & Sabina Sharipova in the first round-robin match. She teamed with Peng Shuai in a straight-set victory against South Korea's team of Han Na-lae & Yoo Mi in the second match. In the third round, she beat Juan Ting-fei from Taiwan in the second singles rubber and teamed with Wang Qiang to defeat the team of Juan & Lee Ya-hsuan. Later in the same month, Zhang lost to qualifier Petra Cetkovská in the second round of the Qatar Open. In the doubles competition with Lisa Raymond, she lost in straight sets to the top-seeded team of Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci in the second round. She failed to qualify for the Dubai Championships. Playing as the eighth seed, she lost to Karolína Plíšková in the second qualifier. Partnering with Lisa Raymond, she lost in the second round of the doubles draw against Hlaváčková & Šafářová. At the Mexican Open as the eighth seed, she reached the semifinal round only to retire because of her shoulder to top-seeded Dominika Cibulková after six games. With Chuang Chia-jung in doubles, she lost to the second seeds Kristina Mladenovic & Galina Voskoboeva in the quarterfinal round. At Indian Wells, Zhang lost to Mladenovic in the first round, and withdrew from the doubles competition because of her shoulder injury. At the Miami Open, she suffered another first-round loss against Lauren Davis. Zhang then also withdrew from the Oaks Club Challenger.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She began the clay-court season at the Charleston Open as the 16th seed losing to Ajla Tomljanović in the second round, but reached the semifinal round at the Malaysian Open as the second seed losing to the seventh seed and eventual winner Donna Vekić. As the seventh seed, she lost to Polona Hercog in the first round at the Morocco Open. At the Portugal Open, she lost to seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. and reached the quarterfinal round with Sílvia Soler Espinosa losing to the top-seeded team of Cara Black & Sania Mirza the doubles competition. Another first-round loss came at the Madrid Open against wild card Irina-Camelia Begu. Partnering with Janette Husárová in doubles, Zhang lost to the eighth-seeded team of Julia Görges and Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round. She defeated Petra Kvitová in the second round of the Italian Open in three exciting sets. In her win, she reached 300 victories and her second top-10 victory. Lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinal. She entered the doubles with Monica Niculescu withdrawing with a shoulder injury against Casey Dellacqua & Klaudia Jans-Ignacik, in the second round. Zhang withdrew from the Internationaux de Strasbourg. Her winless streak in the Grand Slam events reached ten as she lost to third seed Agnieszka Radwańska at Roland Garros, in two sets. She entered the doubles with Ajla Tomljanović, losing to Gabriela Dabrowski & Alicja Rosolska in the first round.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang began her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic as the ninth seed, losing to the top-seed and eventual champion Ana Ivanovic in the semifinal. Played in the doubles competition with Caroline Garcia losing to the second-seeded team of Ashleigh Barty & Casey Dellacqua in the semifinal round. Lost at the Eastbourne International to Varvara Lepchenko in the first round. Suffered another first-round loss in a Grand Slam event, the streak reached eleven as she lost at Wimbledon against 15th seed Carla Suárez Navarro in straight sets. Partnering with Yanina Wickmayer in doubles, lost the 11th-seeded team of Alla Kudryavtseva & Anastasia Rodionova in the first round. She then entered the mixed doubles with Nicholas Monroe, losing to the 13th-seeded team of Bruno Soares & Martina Hingis in the second round.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She withdrew from the Baku Cup and started preparing for the US Open at the San Jose Classic, but lost to qualifier Sachia Vickery in the first round. She entered the doubles competition with Caroline Garcia losing to the third-seeded team of Garbiñe Muguruza & Carla Suárez Navarro in the quarterfinals. She suffered another first-round loss at the Canadian Open against CoCo Vandeweghe. Zhang played doubles with Samantha Stosur losing against the sixth-seeded team of Raquel Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears in the first round. At the Cincinnati Open, she lost in the second round to 12th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. She was scheduled to play doubles with Stosur again, but withdrew with an injured right arm. The Grand Slam losing-streak reached twelve as she lost to Mona Barthel in the first round at the US Open, seeded 32nd.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: In September, Zhang withdrew from the Hong Kong Open and Guangzhou Open. She played in the Asian Games in the team event with Duan Yingying, Zheng Jie and Zheng Saisai. Zhang won her quarterfinal singles and doubles (with Zheng Jie) matches, but dropped the deciding doubles match in the final earning a silver medal. She lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia at the China Open, and played in the doubles with Samantha Stosur losing to Jarmila Gajdošová & Ajla Tomljanović in the first round.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang started new season at the Shenzhen Open. In the first round, she beat fellow wildcard Irina Khromacheva in straight sets before losing to top-seed and eventual champion, Agnieszka Radwańska, in the second.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Prior to the Australian Open, Zhang was contemplating retirement due to a lack of success in majors, having not won a match in a main draw in 14 attempts. She successfully qualified for the main draw by beating Mandy Minella, Tereza Martincová and Virginie Razzano. In the first round, Zhang caused a huge upset by defeating world No. 2, Simona Halep, in straight sets, finally ending her drought on the 15th attempt. Both her and her coach were seen in tears during the time between the match and the on-court interview, as well as the interview itself, where Zhang broke down in tears of joy. Following subsequent victories over Alizé Cornet and Varvara Lepchenko, she then proceeded to reach the fourth round where she defeated an injured Madison Keys in three sets and proceeded to the quarterfinals where she was defeated by Johanna Konta in straight sets. She became the fourth ever Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal after Li Na, Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai. This run earnt her the Breakthrough Performance of the Month Award by WTA for January, as she received 44% of the votes in a poll on the official WTA website. She also moved 68 places up the rankings, from 133rd to 65th, thus becoming the new Chinese No. 1.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: In February, Zhang returned to the ITF Circuit in Rancho Santa Fe. She won five matches to claim the Morgan Run Women's Open title, culminating in a three-set victory over Vania King.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: At the 2016 Olympics, she competed in both the singles and doubles (with Peng). She reached the second round in both events.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: In September 2017, Zhang won her second WTA Tour title at the Guangzhou Open. Seeded second, she reached the final without dropping a set and defeated the unseeded Serbian Aleksandra Krunić in the final in three sets to win the title for the second time.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: In 2018, Zhang reached the semifinals in Prague and Hiroshima. After defeating Angelique Kerber, she lost to Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals of China Open where she won the first set. She also triumphed in doubles in Istanbul and Hiroshima, partnering Liang Chen and Eri Hozumi respectively.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang won the biggest title of her career at the Australian Open. With home-favorite Sam Stosur, she won her maiden major doubles title, upsetting defending champions, Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, in straight sets. She became the fourth player from mainland China to win a Grand Slam women's doubles title, after Zheng Jie, Yan Zi and Peng Shuai.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: The pair also reached the final at Miami, where they lost to Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, in straight sets. She made her top-10 debut in doubles on 13 May 2019.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: At Wimbledon, Zhang reached the second quarterfinal of a major singles event of her career, before losing to Simona Halep in straight sets.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She reached the fourth round of the 2020 French Open for the first time in her career where she lost to seventh seed Petra Kvitová.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She finished the year ranked No. 8 in doubles, the highest ranking and year-end finish of her career.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She reached the third round in singles at the Australian Open and the second round in doubles with her regular partner Samantha Stosur who announced she is playing the last year of her career.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She also reached the semifinals in mixed doubles for the first time at this major with another Australian John Peers.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang entered at Lyon as eight seed. She beat Kristina Mladenovic, Arantxa Rus, Vitalia Diatchenko and Caroline Garcia to reach the final. Then she defeated wildcard Dayana Yastremska to win her first title since 2017 and third overall.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: At the Miami Open, she reached the third round in singles where she lost in a close match to Coco Gauff.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 5 in doubles on 11 April 2022, following her participation at the Charleston Open where she reached the semifinals in doubles with Caroline Dolehide.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: At the French Open, she reached the third round partnering Caty McNally. As a result she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 3 in doubles on 13 June 2022.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: At Wimbledon, she reached the final for the first time at this major, partnering Elise Mertens. She also reached a career-high of world No. 2 in the doubles rankings, on 11 July 2022.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: On her way to US Open, Zhang lost in the second round to eventual winner Simona Halep at the Canadian Open. At the Western & Southern Open, she reached the quarterfinals. At the US Open, Zhang became the oldest woman to reach the fourth round. In the fourth round, she lost to Coco Gauff in a thrilling match lasting almost 2 hours.


title: Zhang Shuai

text: Zhang is coached by Liu Shuo. Her parents are Zhang Zhiqiang (a former football player) and Wang Fengqin (a former basketball player). She has spoken of opening a coffee bar when she retires. Her English name is Rose.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolour, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Rackham's 51 colour pieces for the early American tale "Rip Van Winkle" became a turning point in the production of books since – through colour-separated printing – it featured the accurate reproduction of colour artwork. His best-known works also include the illustrations for "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", and "Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm".


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Rackham was born at 210 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, London as one of 12 children. In 1884, at the age of 17, he was sent on an ocean voyage to Australia to improve his fragile health, accompanied by two aunts. At the age of 18, he worked as an insurance clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: In 1892, he left his job and started working for the "Westminster Budget" as a reporter and illustrator. His first book illustrations were published in 1893 in "To the Other Side" by Thomas Rhodes, but his first serious commission was in 1894 for "The Dolly Dialogues", the collected sketches of Anthony Hope, who later went on to write "The Prisoner of Zenda". Book illustrating then became Rackham's career for the rest of his life.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: By the turn of the century, Rackham had developed a reputation for pen and ink fantasy illustration with richly illustrated gift books such as "The Ingoldsby Legends" (1898), "Gulliver's Travels" and "Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm" (both 1900). This was developed further through the austere years of the Boer War with regular contributions to children's periodicals such as "Little Folks" and "Cassell's Magazine". In 1901 he moved to Wychcombe Studios near Haverstock Hill, and in 1903 married his neighbour Edyth Starkie. Edyth suffered a miscarriage in 1904, but the couple had one daughter, Barbara, in 1908. Although acknowledged as an accomplished black-and-white book illustrator for some years, it was the publication of his full-colour plates to Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" by Heinemann in 1905 that particularly brought him into public attention, his reputation being confirmed the following year with J.M.Barrie's "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", published by Hodder & Stoughton. Income from the books was greatly augmented by annual exhibitions of the artwork at the Leicester Galleries. Rackham won a gold medal at the Milan International Exhibition in 1906 and another one at the Barcelona International Exposition in 1912. His works were included in numerous exhibitions, including one at the Louvre in Paris in 1914. Rackham was a member of the Art Workers' Guild and was elected its Master in 1919.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: From 1906 the family lived in Chalcot Gardens, near Haverstock Hill, until moving from London to Houghton, West Sussex in 1920. In 1929, the family settled into a newly built property in Limpsfield, Surrey. Ten years later, Arthur Rackham died at home of cancer.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Arthur Rackham is widely regarded as one of the leading illustrators from the 'Golden Age' of British book illustration which roughly encompassed the years from 1890 until the end of the First World War. During that period, there was a strong market for high quality illustrated books which typically were given as Christmas gifts. Many of Rackham's books were produced in a "de luxe" limited edition, often vellum bound and usually signed, as well as a smaller, less ornately bound quarto 'trade' edition. This was sometimes followed by a more modestly presented octavo edition in subsequent years for particularly popular books. The onset of the war in 1914 curtailed the market for such quality books, and the public's taste for fantasy and fairies also declined in the 1920s.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Sutherland, referring to Rackham's work in the 20th Century, states: "Rackman was, without doubt, one of the finest illustrators of the century." In his survey of British Book Illustration, Salaman stated: "Mr. Rackham stands apart from all the other illustrators of the day; his genius is so thoroughly original. Scores of others have depicted fairyland and wonderland, but who else has given us so absolutely individual and persuasively suggestive a vision of their marvels and allurements? Whose elves are so elfish, whose witches and gnomes are so convincingly of their kind, as Mr. Rackham's?"


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Carpenter and Prichard noted that "For all the virtuosity of his work in colour, Rackham remained an artist in line, his mastery having its roots in his early work for periodicals, then breaking free to create the swirling intricate pictures of his prime, and finally reaching the economy and impressionism of his last work." They also remarked on his decline: "Rackham made his name in a heyday of fairy literature and other fantasy which the First World War brought to an end." House stated that Rackham "concentrated on the illustration of books and particularly those of a mystical, magic or legendary background. He very soon established himself as one of the foremost Edwardian illustrators and was triumphant in the early 1900s when colour printing first enabled him to use subtle tints and muted tones to represent age and timelessness. Rackham's imaginative eye saw all forms with the eyes of childhood and created a world that was half reassuring and half frightening."


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Hamilton summarised his article on Rackham in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography thus: "Rackham brought a renewed sense of excitement to book illustration that coincided with the rapid developments in printing technology in the early twentieth century. Working with subtle colour and wiry line, he exploited the growing strengths of commercial printing to create imagery and characterizations that reinvigorated children's literature, electrified young readers, and dominated the art of book illustration at the start of a new century."


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Arthur Rackham's works have become very popular since his death, both in North America and Britain. His images have been widely used by the greeting card industry and many of his books are still in print or have been recently available in both paperback and hardback editions. His original drawings and paintings are keenly sought at the major international art auction houses.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Rackham's illustrations were chiefly based on robust pen and India ink drawings. Rackham gradually perfected his own uniquely expressive line from his background in journalistic illustration, paired with subtle use of watercolour, a technique which he was able to exploit due to technological developments in photographic reproduction. With this development, Rackham's illustrations no longer needed an engraver (lacking Rackham's talent) to cut clean lines on a wood or metal plate for printing because the artist merely had his works photographed and mechanically reproduced.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Rackham would first lightly block in shapes and details of the drawing with a soft pencil, for the more elaborate colour plates often utilising one of a small selection of compositional devices. Over this, he would then carefully work in lines of pen and India ink, removing the pencil traces after the drawing had begun to take form. For colour pictures, Rackham preferred the 3-colour process or trichromatic printing, which reproduced the delicate half-tones of photography through letterpress printing. He would begin painting by building up multiple thin washes of watercolour creating translucent tints. One of the disadvantages of the 3-colour (later 4-colour) printing process in the early years was that definition could be lost in the final print. Rackham would sometimes compensate for this by over-inking his drawings once more after painting. He would also go on to expand the use of silhouette cuts in illustration work, particularly in the period after the First World War, as exemplified by his "Sleeping Beauty" and "Cinderella".


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Typically, Rackham contributed both colour and monotone illustrations towards the works incorporating his images – and in the case of "Hawthorne's Wonder Book", he also provided a number of part-coloured block images similar in style to Meiji era Japanese woodblocks.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Rackham's work is often described as a fusion of a northern European 'Nordic' style strongly influenced by the Japanese woodblock tradition of the early 19th century.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: Rackham's work influenced a number of artists. These include Gustaf Tenggren, Brian Froud, William Stout, Tony DiTerlizzi, and Abigail Larson. Froud cites the early influence of Rackham, "in particular, [Rackham's] drawings of trees that had faces", as sparking his interest in illustrating fairy tales, and describes having had a love of nature from childhood that has informed his style.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: According to Arthur Rankin, the visual style of the 1977 film "The Hobbit" was based on early illustrations by Rackham.


title: Arthur Rackham

text: In one of the featurettes on the DVD of "Pan's Labyrinth", and in the commentary track for "Hellboy", director Guillermo del Toro cites Rackham as an influence on the design of "The Faun" of "Pan's Labyrinth". He liked the dark tone of Rackham's gritty realistic drawings and had decided to incorporate that into the film. In "Hellboy", the design of the tree growing out of the altar in the ruined abbey off the coast of Scotland where Hellboy was brought over, is actually referred to as a "Rackham tree" by the director.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: Glechoma hederacea is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground, creeping charlie, alehoof, tunhoof, catsfoot, field balm, and run-away-robin. It is also sometimes known as creeping jenny, but that name more commonly refers to "Lysimachia nummularia". It is used as a salad green in many countries. European settlers carried it around the world, and it has become a well-established introduced and naturalized plant in a wide variety of localities. It is also considered an aggressive invasive weed of woodlands and lawns in some parts of North America. In the absence of any biological control, research conducted by the USDA herbicides are relied upon (despite their drawbacks) particularly for woodland ecosystems. The plant's extensive root system makes it difficult to eradicate by hand-pulling.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma hederacea" can be identified by its round to reniform (kidney or fan shaped), crenate (with round toothed edges) opposed leaves diameter, on long petioles attached to square stems which root at the nodes. The plant spreads either by stolon or seed, making it exceptionally difficult to eradicate. It is a variable species, its size being influenced by environmental conditions, from tall.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma" is sometimes confused with common mallow ("Malva neglecta"), which also has round, lobed leaves; but mallow leaves are attached to the stem at the back of a rounded leaf, where ground ivy has square stems and leaves which are attached in the center of the leaf, more prominent rounded lobes on their edges, attach to the stems in an opposite arrangement, and have a hairy upper surface. In addition, mallow and other creeping plants sometimes confused with ground ivy do not spread from nodes on stems. In addition, ground ivy emits a distinctive odor when damaged, being a member of the mint family.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: The flowers of "Glechoma" are bilaterally symmetrical, funnel shaped, blue or bluish-violet to lavender, and grow in opposed clusters of two or three flowers in the leaf axils on the upper part of the stem or near the tip. It usually flowers in the spring.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma" thrives in moist shaded areas, but also tolerates sun very well. It is a common plant in grasslands and wooded areas or wasteland. It also thrives in lawns and around buildings since it survives mowing. Part of the reason for its wide spread is its rhizomatous method of reproduction. It will form dense mats which can take over areas of lawn and woodland and thus is considered an invasive or aggressive weed in suitable climates where it is not native.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: A number of wild bees collect pollen from this plant, including "Anthophora furcata", "Anthidum manicatum", "Anthophora plumipes", "Anthophora quadrimaculata", "Osmia aurulenta", "Osmia caerulentes", and "Osmia uncinata". The plant is also galled by several insects, including "Rondaniola bursaria" (Lighthouse Gall), "Liposthenes glechomae" or "Liposthenes latreillei" (Kieffer, 1898) (a gall wasp).


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma hederecea" is gynodiecious, with genets being either female or hermaphrodite. The females depend upon pollen from hermaphrodites for pollination. Female flowers tend to be smaller than hermaphrodite flowers. There is disagreement among biologists as to whether hermaphrodite flowers can pollinate themselves. The plant spends the winter as either a small ramet or a small rosette. It produces flowers between April and July, which are visited by many types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalized pollination syndrome. Each pollinated flower can produce up to four seeds, which are dispersed by the stem bending over and depositing the ripe seeds in the ground adjacent to the parent plant, although ants may carry the seeds further. The seeds germinate a few days after contact with moisture, although they can be stored dry. Dry storage for a period up to a month is thought to improve the germination rate.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: The plant can also reproduce clonally, with the stems bending down to the earth and allowing roots to attach themselves. Single clones can grow several metres across, although precise data is not currently available.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: Some people consider "Glechoma" to be an attractive garden plant, and it is grown in pots and occasionally as a groundcover. Easily cultivated, it grows well in shaded places. A variegated variety is commercially available; in many areas this is the dominant form which has escaped cultivation and become established as an aggressive, adventitious groundcover.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: This species is considered a non-native invasive plant in the United States, and has invaded wild areas, sometimes choking out native wildflowers.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma" was also widely used by the Saxons in brewing ale as flavoring, clarification, and preservative, and later by the English, before the introduction of hops into brewing which changed the ale into beer, in the late 15th century. Thus the brewing-related names for the herb: alehoof, tunhoof, and gill-over-the-ground.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma hederacea" has been used in the traditional medicine of Europe going back thousands of years: Galen recommends the plant to treat inflammation of the eyes. John Gerard, an English herbalist, recommended it to treat tinnitus, as well as a "diuretic, astringent, tonic and gentle stimulant. Useful in kidney diseases and for indigestion." It has also been used as a "lung herb." Its presence as an invasive weed in North America is the result of the value placed on it by European settlers as a medicinal herb and ale preservative; the species was imported and widely cultivated in herb and kitchen gardens. Other traditional uses include as an expectorant, astringent, and to treat bronchitis. In traditional Austrian medicine the herb has been prescribed for internal application as salad or tea for the treatment of a variety of different conditions including disorders associated with the liver and bile, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, kidneys and urinary tract, fever, and flu.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: Although it has been used by humans as a salad green and in herbal medicines for thousands of years, the species is also believed to be toxic to livestock, particularly horses. Wild pigs, however, are reported to feed on it. Some accounts report it is toxic to rodents, while bank voles in Great Britain have been observed to use it as a food source. Like other members of the Lamiaceae, "Glechoma hederacea" contains bioactive volatile oils including terpenoids and pulegone; these are responsible for the characteristic "minty" odor and taste of plants in the mint family. Their activity in humans varies depending on many factors, including concentration, quantity of intake, and whether administration is internal or external. Lamiacaeae with very high volatile oil concentrations, such as European pennyroyal ("Mentha pulegium"), have traditional uses as disinfectants, flea-killers, and abortifacients"," and are hepatotoxic to humans. Other Lamiacaeae such as "Mentha spicata", spearmint, are widely and safely used in teas and flavorings for their volatile oils. The concentration of volatile oil in "Glechoma" is less than 1/30th that in European pennyroyal. The effects of "Glechoma" on humans have been little studied.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: A non-native invasive in North America, "Glechoma" is familiar to a large number of people as a weed, a property it shares with many others of the mint family. It can be a problem in heavy, rich soils with good fertility, high moisture, and low boron content. It thrives particularly well in shady areas where grass does not grow well, such as woodlands, although it can also be a problem in full sun.


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: Because the plant is stoloniferous and will continue to spread from its roots or bits of stem which reroot, even small infestations resist repeated hand weedings. Like crabgrass, "glechoma"'s root has a tough-to-remove ball (un-belied by its delicate wide leaves).


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: There are no biological control agents to help to reduce its spread in North America. Commercial herbicides containing triclopyr are used to control "glechoma".


title: Glechoma hederacea

text: "Glechoma" is also unusually sensitive to boron, and can be killed by applying borax (sodium tetraborate) in solution. However, borax is toxic to ants and to animals at only slightly higher concentrations, and does not break down in the environment. In addition to adverse long-term effects on soil or groundwater, recent research discounts the very efficacy of borax treatment, primarily because finding the correct concentration for a given area is difficult and the potential for damaging desired plants is high.


title: German Bundesrat

text: The German Bundesrat (lit. Federal Council; ) is a legislative body that represents the sixteen "Länder" (federated states) of Germany at the federal level (German: "Bundesebene"). The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin. Its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn.


title: German Bundesrat

text: The Bundesrat participates in legislation, alongside the Bundestag consisting of directly elected representatives of the German people. Laws that affect state powers, and all constitutional changes, need the consent of both houses. For its somewhat similar function, the Bundesrat is sometimes (controversially) described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the United States Senate, the Canadian Senate, and the British House of Lords.


title: German Bundesrat

text: "Bundesrat" was the name of similar bodies in the North German Confederation (1867) and the German Empire (1871). Its predecessor in the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the Reichsrat.


title: German Bundesrat

text: The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, and thus by elections in each state. Each state delegation in the Bundesrat is essentially a representation of the state government and reflects the political makeup of the ruling majority or plurality of each state legislature (including coalitions). Thus the Bundesrat is a continuous body and has no legislative periods. For organizational reasons, the Bundesrat structures its legislative calendar in years of business ("Geschäftsjahre"), beginning each year on 1 November. Each year of business is congruous with the one-year-term of the presidium. The sessions have been counted continuously since the first session on 7 September 1949. The Bundesrat's 1000th session, which was opened by a speech held by President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, took place on 12 February 2021.


title: German Bundesrat

text: The historical predecessor of the Bundesrat was the Federal Convention (Confederate Diet) of the German Confederation (1815–1848, 1850/1851–1866). That Federal Convention consisted of the representatives of the member states. The first basic law (Bundesakte) of the German Confederation listed how many votes a member state had, for two different formations of the diet. The diet was the only organ – there was no division of powers. The diet was chaired by the Austrian representative.


title: German Bundesrat

text: In the revolution of 1848 the Bundestag transferred its powers to the Imperial Regent and was reactivated only in 1850/1851. Several other attempts to reform the Confederation involved retaining the Bundestag and adding a parliament and a court. One of these attempts, the proposed Reform Act of 1863, had introduced the term "Bundesrath". With the dissolution of the Confederation in August 1866, the diet and the federal law ended.


title: German Bundesrat

text: On July 1, 1867, the North German Confederation was established as a confederal state. The Reichstag, elected by the North German men, was one legislative body. The other one was the Bundesrath (old spelling). This organ was expressly modelled after the old diet. When the Confederation was transformed and renamed "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire) in 1871, the Bundesrat kept its name.


title: German Bundesrat

text: Whilst appointed by state governments just as today, the delegates of the original Bundesrat—as those of the Reichsrat—were usually high-ranking civil servants, not cabinet members. The original Bundesrat was very powerful; every bill needed its consent, equaling it to the popularly elected Reichstag. It could also, with the Emperor's agreement, dissolve the Reichstag.