Andrew Gillett – författare

Warfare and dislocation are obvious features of the break-up of the late Roman West, but this crucial period of change was characterized also by communication and diplomacy. The great events of the late antique West were determined by the quieter labours of countless envoys, who travelled between emperors, kings, generals, high officials, bishops, provincial councils, and cities. This book examines the role of envoys in the period from the establishment of the first 'barbarian kingdoms' in the West, to the eve of Justinian's wars of re-conquest. It shows how ongoing practices of Roman imperial administration shaped new patterns of political interaction in the novel context of the earliest medieval states. Close analysis of sources with special interest in embassies offers insight into a variety of genres: chronicles, panegyrics, hagiographies, letters and epitaph. This study makes a significant contribution to the developing field of ancient and medieval communications.

Warfare and dislocation are obvious features of the break-up of the late Roman West, but this crucial period of change was characterized also by communication and diplomacy. The great events of the late antique West were determined by the quieter labours of countless envoys, who travelled between emperors, kings, generals, high officials, bishops, provincial councils, and cities. This book examines the role of envoys in the period from the establishment of the first 'barbarian kingdoms' in the West, to the eve of Justinian's wars of re-conquest. It shows how ongoing practices of Roman imperial administration shaped new patterns of political interaction in the novel context of the earliest medieval states. Close analysis of sources with special interest in embassies offers insight into a variety of genres: chronicles, panegyrics, hagiographies, letters and epitaph. This study makes a significant contribution to the developing field of ancient and medieval communications.

Take inspiration from the some of the greatest video games of the 1980s and learn how to write your own modern classicsCode the Classics Volume II not only tells the stories of some of the seminal video games of the 1980s, but shows you how to create your own games inspired by them, following examples programmed by Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton. In this book, you'll learn how to run and edit the games in this book by installing Python, Pygame Zero, and an IDE. You'll also:Get game design tips and tricks from the masters.Understand the fundamental tasks needed for every game: display images, play sound effects and receive inputs from the keyboard or a game controller.Learn how to code your own games with Pygame Zero, a library that helps automate those tasks.Explore the code listings and find out how they work.You'll meet these vintage-inspired games, and learn from their code in between rounds of play:Avenger: fly across a scrolling landscape while you save humans from malevolent aliens.Beat Streets: fight your way through a level, and defeat a notorious crime boss.Eggzy: collect gems and survive as long as possible before time runs out.Leading Edge: Race a car on a pseudo-3d race track.Kinetix: Break bricks with your paddle, and use powerups to avoid various menaces.

Take inspiration from the golden age of video games and learn how to write your own modern classicsCode the Classics Volume 1 not only tells the stories of some of the seminal video games of the 1970s and 1980s, but shows you how to create your own games inspired by them, following examples programmed by Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton. In this book, you'll learn how to run and edit the games in this book by installing Python, Pygame Zero, and an IDE. You'll also:Get game design tips and tricks from the mastersLearn how to code your own games with Pygame ZeroExplore the code listings and find out how they workYou'll meet these vintage-inspired games, and learn from their code in between rounds of play:Boing!: all it took was a couple of lines and a dot, and gamers would be queuing up to play.Cavern: Enduringly popular, the platform game genre is still packed with creative possibilities.Infinite Bunner: Play around with the benefits that a top-down perspective can lend to the classic platform genre.Myriapod: Some shooters confine the gameplay to a single screen while limiting the player's movement. Restrictions can build challenge and difficulty, making for truly addictive gaming.Substitute Soccer: Top-down games of pinball-style soccer built a huge cult following and kicked off a sports genre that's still going strong.